The Affordable Care Act takes another hit, as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor places a stay on the mandate for birth control coverage for a Catholic Group. Then, we talk about New Year's resolutions: how to make them, and how to make them stick. Later, we announce AirTalk's 1st annual Californian of the Year! Who will it be? The listeners have spoken.
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor delays mandate for birth control coverage
At the request of a small group of nuns in Colorado, Justice Sotomayor issued a stay on the contraception mandate for Roman Catholic groups using the Christian Brothers Employee Benefit Trust health plan.
Sotomayor’s decision came on Tuesday night, just before the law would have gone into effect for the new year, and will temporarily block the mandate for these small subsets until a more permanent decision is made by the federal government on Friday.
What is the significance behind Justice Sotomayor’s decision? What expectations can healthcare providers and consumers have for the more permanent issuance to be handed down on Friday?
Should the contraception mandate be universal, or should some groups be exempt? What’s fair?
Guest:
Lisa McElroy, Associate Professor of Law, Drexel University School of Law
How can you keep your resolutions this year?
You might be packing a bag for the gym or starting the first day of a juice cleanse -- it’s the season for keeping New Year’s resolutions, at least for now.
But after days, weeks, or months of hard work, many people find themselves back where they started.
What’s the best way to approach a New Year’s resolution? How can making the right kind of resolution or laying out a plan for following through change your life in the new year?
We’re talking about resolutions from start to finish -- call in at 866-893-5722 and tell us what you have planned for this year.
Guest:
D.P. Waldman, Professional Certified Life Coach with the International Coach Federation
'20 Feet From Stardom' puts back-up singers in the spotlight
Award-winning documentary producer and director Morgan Neville wanted to give the limelight to an often unnoticed voice that has filled millions of American homes - the backup singer. In his new documentary, "Twenty Feet from Stardom," Neville featured the stories and voices of Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Tata Vega, and Judith Hill.
You might not recognize their names, but you probably have heard their voices, singing on chart topping songs with Frank Sinatra, The Rolling Stones, Sting, Elton John and Stevie Wonder. "Twenty Feet from Stardom" explores the power of their voices and their stories of lost record deals as they worked to make ends meet.
Gil Friesen, prolific music and film executive and former chairman of A&M Records, realized there was an untold story about the profession and the lives of backup singers. For the next two years, the producer and director interviewed about 70 backup singers, exhausted resources for footage and discovered that the core of this untold story was about community and family.
"Backup singing does go way back through all kinds of music history and beyond, but I really wanted to tell the story of these largely African American voices that came into pop music and the revolution they brought with them," said Neville on AirTalk.
For most of these singers, the beginning of their careers began in church choirs. Neville cited how that gospel background enhanced songs like "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones, which was originally sung by Merry Clayton and later by Lisa Fischer.
Singer Judith Hill said the difference for backup singers is caring for the group sound versus owning the stage as a soloist. Although she enjoys both roles, she said, "When I know that I’m going into a background singing situation, I find joy in the fact that these women are like sisters and we can create this moment"
One of the featured singers in "Twenty Feet from Stardom" is Darlene Love. Under her producer, Phil Spector, Love’s vocals powered "He’s a Rebel" and "Today I Met The Boy I’m Gonna Marry," but throughout her career, she remained largely nameless and sang song after song credited under someone else’s name. Love shares how she felt hearing her voice on the radio as she worked as a housekeeper to pay the bills.
"Darlene just never got the hits under her name. Somebody said, ‘What’s the difference between a lead singer and a backup singer?’ And I said, ‘A hit,’" said Neville. "In Darlene’s case she actually had the hit, but she was in such a unique situation with Phil Spector, her producer at the time, that she just never got the proper credit; and she spent the rest of her life trying to get that credit."
Hill said about watching the completed film, "I was just like 'Oh my gosh' because I never knew the stories about Darlene and the things she went through, and it’s just really mind-blowing."
Morgan Neville says this documentary really changed how he listens to music.
"If you just say to somebody, 'Name some songs with great backing vocals,' you can maybe come up with a couple, but you’re not trained to think about it that way," said Neville. "So the entire time I made the film, I had the radio on, and I would constantly discover amazing backing vocals in songs I heard a thousand times."
Perhaps "Twenty Feet from Stardom" even reminisces a different time in music, when background vocals subtlety brought a broader dimension to the songs. Hill said that artists now often overdub their own voices on tracks instead of using background singers.
Many critics have given this documentary quite a bit of attention because it’s smartly chosen topic. Neville said many people reacted to the movie asking, "Why hasn’t this happened before?"
"Nobody had done anything about backup singers — no documentaries, no books, hardly a website. It was really an invisible art, and I’m just so happy to finally give these people the glory they deserve," said Neville.
He hopes that this documentary will make audiences want to see these singers perform live on a tour of their own.
Also on AirTalk, Patt asked Judith Hill about her experience stepping into a more solo role. Hill teased listeners with an a capella snippet of "Desperation" and talked about singing Michael Jackson’s "The Way You Make Me Feel" on NBC’s "The Voice."
Hill said about her newfound fame, "In every chapter of your life, you enjoy it … so never take any of it for granted. And I’m just blessed to be in this position, and I know it’s also feast or famine because tomorrow I could be back in another place. So you just take it one day at a time and work hard."
Guests:
Morgan Neville, director of “Twenty Feet from Stardom”; founder of documentary company Tremolo Productions; producer, director and writer for Grammy-nominated “Johnny Cash’s America” (2008).
Judith Hill, singer and featured performer in “Twenty Feet from Stardom”; Hill was going to be part of Michael Jackson’s “This Is It Tour” and was a recent contestant on NBC’s “The Voice.”
Announcing AirTalk's inaugural 'Californian of the Year': Prop 8 plaintiffs
It's been a big year in the gay rights movement and two couples here in California stepped into the spotlight to make history.
Back in 2009 when Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo joined Sandy Stier and Kris Perry to challenge the constitutionality of Proposition 8, they became the face of the fight for marriage equality in California and across the nation.
It took four years of legal back and forth but the couples fighting against Prop 8 finally won in June when the Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional. Two days later, Katami and Zarrillo rushed to city hall to be married by then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The two couples became the face of a movement and - together with a formidable legal team - brought down Prop 8, putting them at the top of the list for Californians of the Year!
Guest:
Paul Katami, Prop 8 plaintiff
Jeff Zarrillo, Prop 8 plaintiff
'Zen Master' NBA coach Phil Jackson reveals his secrets to success
In May, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich caught up to one of former Lakers coach Phil Jackson's incredible records. Popovich tied Jackson for the most best-of-7 series sweeps in NBA history.
Does Jackson ever feel tempted to return to the sidelines to keep his stats up? He says he has no plans to return, but rumors continue to fly about various cities trying to tempt him, especially because of how close he came to returning to the Lakers at the start of the season.
Jackson served as head coach of the L.A. Lakers from 2000 to 2010, winning five NBA titles for the franchise. He was head coach of the Chicago Bills from 1989 to 1998, winning six NBA titles. Jackson also played professional basketball for the NBA championship-winning New York Knicks.
In his new memoir, "Eleven Rings," the former Lakers coach talks about the love and spirituality that won all those games, swept all those series and scored all those rings.
Interview Highlights:
On how Bill Fitch's coaching style informed his own:
"Bill was a task master, that seemed to be the way college coaches were at the time. Militaristic, a lot of that hierarchy that was in the ranks of the military. Coming home during a Christmas holiday, having a bad game against the Univ. of Iowa, getting off the plane at 10:00 and going to right to practice through midnight. A three-hour practice to emphasize how badly we played and the discipline that would come after it. Bill was a young man at that time, 32, 33, so that was the style that he chose. He was a terrific NBA coach...but this is a style that I felt was not going to mesh with NBA players."
On how he gained the respect of his players:
"I think there's a deep respect for coaches that players have. Its ingrained. Some players have always rebelled, or maybe they started out in high school rebelling, but for the most part you're taught that your coach is your leader. He's going to direct the play and do what you have to get done. If you appeal to that part of them, you can win them over.
"There's a little exercise that was something my assistant coach John Bach got from Vince Lombardi, who coached his freshman Fordham basketball team. He had them all line up on the baseline and make a declaration. I would do that before the season started to let them physically know that they were buying into what we were going to do here. I would started out with God has ordained me and the owner to teach you and coach you about the system of basketball."
On how using rituals help solidify a team:
"Having grown up in a church, there's a certain thing that you fall into. One of the things that you find when you're in a religious service is the ability to relax when a ritual comes into play. It gives a person that's used to a ritual or format a comfort zone to feel like this is a place I belong. When you do that everybody seems to find a bond together. I use rituals and routines that I thought weren't too mundane, but brought some of the espirit d'corps into the group."
Excerpt from Eleven Rings by Phil Jackson