Nominations are out for the world’s biggest film event. “Birdman” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” both notched 9 Oscar nominations, leading the field. Also, is violence as a response to violence justified when it’s morally motivated? Then, Mark Lukach met his future wife Giulia when they were in college. It was love at first sight for Mark, but he thought she was out of his league. To his surprise, she felt the same way about him. Things took a sudden turn
Oscars 2015: Nods to ‘Birdman,’ ‘Grand Budapest Hotel’; Snubs for ‘Nightcrawler,’ ‘Selma’
Nominations are out for the world’s biggest film event. “Birdman” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” both notched 9 Oscar nominations, leading the field.
The Michael Keaton comedy earned nominations in all major categories, including best picture, best actor, best director, and best original screenplay. The Wes Anderson-helmed film got nods for best picture, cinematography, original screenplay, director, and others.
“Boyhood,” which took 12 to make, and “American Sniper,” starring Bradley Cooper, also had strong showings, earning 6 nominations each.
There were plenty of snubs, too. Civil rights film ‘Selma’ got nearly shut out, getting only two nominations: one for best picture, one for best original song. Despite early buzz, the Angelina Jolie-directed “Unbroken” failed to gain traction in any major categories and is nominated only for best cinematography, original score, sound editing, and sound mixing. Both Jennifer Aniston and Amy Adams didn’t make the best actress list for their turns in “Cake” and “Big Eyes” respectively.
For the list of Oscar Nominations: http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/01/15/49291/oscars-2015-academy-set-to-announce-nominations-li/
Guest:
, Awards Editor of "The Hollywood Reporter".
New policy gives federal workers six weeks of paid parental leave
A memorandum that President Obama is expected to sign would give federal government employees access to at least six weeks of paid maternity or paternity leave. As he travels to Baltimore today to speak to Democratic lawmakers, Mr. Obama is also expected to urge Congress to adopt the Healthy Families Act, which would give Americans seven paid sick days every year. The White House says that 43 million Americans working in the private sector don’t have a single day of paid sick leave, and that expanding paid leave would make U.S. businesses more competitive and would increase productivity.
Critics are skeptical that the new policies will actually help improve work conditions. They argue that extending paid parental leave will drive up the cost of hiring women and make employers less likely to hire them.
What kind of challenges might this new policy present to employers and employees? Is this the right move for the federal government to make? Will there be an effect on the number of women in the workforce?
Guests:
Ann O'Leary, Vice President & Director of the Children and Families Program at The Center for the Next Generation, a national and California think tank that works on children and family policy issues
Kay Hymowitz, William E. Simon Fellow at the Manhattan Institute in New York. She is the author of four books and writes extensively on childhood, family issues, poverty, and cultural change in America.
Killing for good? ‘Virtuous Violence’ examines morality in violence
Is violence as a response to violence justified when it’s morally motivated? The recent killings at Charlie Hebdo are an example of what authors Alan Fiske and Tage Shakti Rai refer to as “morally motivated violence” in their new book ‘Virtuous Violence: Hurting and Killing to Create, Sustain, End and Honor Social Relationships.’ Those who commit violent acts are motivated by their personal moral emotions or judgments. For example, the brothers suspected in the attacks on Charlie Hebdo took innocent lives because they felt they were defending their beliefs.
The authors have found this to be a common reason for violence throughout history from interviewing thousands of violent offenders and doing scholarly research on violence.
The few exceptions they found were psychopaths who make up a small percentage of the population and make up a small portion of violent acts committed. However, individuals with other mental illnesses committing violence often did so believing they were doing the right thing. Abusers may feel entitled or obligated to use violence because they perceive that as the right way to act in a relationship. Gang members kill as an act of retaliation.
In order to stop violence, the authors stress the importance of understanding what motivates it. They say change can only happen once a violent person understands that their actions are wrong. As Fiske notes in a recent article in response to the Charlie Hebdo attacks, “When we make it clear that regulating our relationships to each other don’t require violence, we can stop that cycle.”
Can society truly put an end to violence? How far away are we from making that a reality?
Guest:
Alan Fiske, professor of Anthropology at UCLA and co-author of “Virtuous Violence: Hurting and Killing to Create, Sustain, End and Honor Social Relationships” (Cambridge University Press, 2015), anthropology professor at UCLA
Asian-American band 'The Slants' asks federal court for right to trademark slur
Simon Tam, bassist for poppy Portland rock band "The Slants," wants a federal court to permit a trademark for the band's controversial name. Since 2011, the US Patent and Trademark office has refused to permit trademark for the Asian-American band's name because "slant" is considered disparaging. A USPTO attorney characterized the word as "a negative term regarding the shape of the eyes of certain persons of Asian descent" and "an inherently offensive term that has a long history of being used to deride and mock."
Tam has said his band was trying to reclaim the word: “We deliberately chose this outdated, generational term to inject pride into Asian American culture.”
The case was heard last week in a federal court; the decision is pending.
How is the legal case similar to or different from the trademark fight over the Washington Redskins? What about the trademark victory of the lesbian motorcycle group Dykes on Bikes? What do you think of Tam’s intent?
Guests:
Jesse Saivar, Attorney and Partner with Greenberg Glusker based in Los Angeles who specializes in intellectual property law
Geoffrey Nunberg, Linguistics expert at UC Berkeley and former chairman of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary
Simon Tam, founder and member of The Slants
When your significant other suffers from a mental illness
Mark Lukach met his future wife Giulia when they were in college. It was love at first sight for Mark, but he thought she was out of his league. To his surprise, she felt the same way about him.
Two years after graduation they got married and moved to San Francisco, where Giulia landed her dream job and the couple was thinking seriously about starting a family.
Things took a sudden turn. Giulia had a high-powered and stressful job and she became increasingly paralyzed by anxiety. She was eventually diagnosed with suffering from acute psychosis. “She existed in an almost constant state of delusion, consumed by paranoia that would not fade,” Mark writes in a piece for Pacific Standard, detailing their struggles.
Guests:
Mark Lukach, a teacher and writer in the San Francisco Bay Area. He’s the author of the piece, “My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward” in the Jan/Feb issue of Pacific Standard magazine.
Giulia Lukach, Mark’s wife who’s suffered from a mental illness