And the winner is... Oscar nominations are announced. New warnings about sharing our beds with our pets. A check in from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Riots break out in Cairo. Food labels grow up. Are humans getting dumber?
And the winner is… The King’s Speech and True Grit lead Oscar nominations
Nominations were announced this morning for the 83rd annual Academy Awards. “The King’s Speech” led the pack with 12 nominations, including the categories for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. Although largely snubbed by the Golden Globes, the Coen Brothers’ reworked version of “True Grit” racked up 10 nominations. Last year’s Best Actor winner, Jeff Bridges, received another Best Actor nomination for his portrayal of “True Grit’s” grizzled U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn, a role for which John Wayne picked up his only Best Actor Oscar in 1970. Eight other films round out the Best Picture category, marking the second year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences bumped up the number of nominees from 5 to 10. Other films with multiple nominations include “The Social Network,” and “Inception"- each with 8 - and “The Fighter” with 7. The ceremony will be hosted by actors James Franco and Anne Hathaway at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on February 27th. Which films represent the best of Hollywood in 2011? Did the Academy overlook any Oscar-worthy films from last year?
Guest:
Wade Major, film critic for boxoffice.com
Is it unhealthy to sleep with pets?
Most households in the U.S. have pets and in more than half of those, dogs and cats are allowed to sleep in their owner’s beds. But according to a new study from U.C. Davis and the Centers for Disease Control, sleeping with pets puts us at increased risk from diseases including parasites, bacterial infections and even plague. Owning a pet may have health benefits like stress reduction but it also brings a wide range of pathogens into the household environment and closeness through “bed-sharing, kissing and licking” can expose owners to sometimes life-threatening illnesses. So how close is too close? And how does one weigh the benefits of snuggling up with our furry friends against the risk of getting ringworm?
Guest:
Bruno Chomel, Professor of Population, Health and Reproduction at U.C. Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and co-author of the study documenting the health risks of sleeping with pets called “Zoonoses in the Bedroom.”
Sundance Film Fest check in
It’s roughly midway through Robert Redford’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The news: Kevin Smith announced he will auction off distribution rights to “Red State,” his horror thriller about a gun-toting evangelical. In its second purchase of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, Fox Searchlight has nabbed worldwide rights to Sean Durkin's dark drama Martha Marcy May Marlene. Fox’s independent shop, which paid about $2 million for the film, plans a release this year. What other movies are making waves at the festival? KPCC’s own Shirley Jahad fills us in.
Guest:
Shirley Jahad, reporter for KPCC
Riots break out in Cairo
Thousands of anti-government protesters clashed with riot police in Egypt today. The demonstration, one of the country’s largest in years, appears to have been inspired by the ouster of the longtime leader in neighboring Tunisia. Protesters marched through the streets of Cairo chanting anti-government slogans, after an internet campaign by activists called for a "day of revolt." Riot police have tackled protesters in the capital, using tear gas and batons to try to disperse them. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the U.S. is monitoring developments in Egypt, which is a key Arab ally. We get the latest news from Cairo.
Guest:
Dan Murphy, Staff writer for The Christian Science Monitor
Where’d that food come from?
In 2008, an outbreak of salmonella sickened more than 1,300 people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified tomatoes as the culprit and warned the public not to eat them. Months later, the actual source was identified as peppers from Mexico. This costly and potentially deadly mistake inspired the FDA to improve its food tracking abilities. Some companies took it a step further. YottaMark, a company based in California, will start imprinting some fruits and vegetables with a bar code sticker. Consumers will be able to scan the barcode with a smart phone to get instant information on where the produce came from. How does this system work? And are you interested in knowing so much detail about your food? Will this make you feel safer about the food on your table?
Guest:
Elliot Grant, chief marketing officer and founder of YottaMark, which makes the HarvestMark food-tracking system
Are humans getting dumber?
The human race is losing weight. Unfortunately, it’s in the wrong place. 20,000 years ago, the average human brain was 1,500 cubic centimeters. Now it’s more like 1,350—it’s lost the volume of a tennis ball’s worth of neural matter. What’s the cause of the shrinkage? Scientists are divided, but some think civilization itself permits weaker-minded individuals to propagate, pulling down the Bell curve. Other scientists aren’t convinced the loss of volume equates to loss of intelligence. Our ability to communicate and record past knowledge means that what we lack as individuals, we make up for as a society. Still, it’s a weird phenomenon…so are we evolving into pin heads?
Guest:
Kathleen McAuliffe, an Alicia Patterson Journalism Fellow, and writer for Discover magazine.