Dylann Storm Roof, the man suspected of killing nine people at a church in South Carolina, has been arrested. Also, move over, Alexander Hamilton. A woman is coming to the $10 bill. Then, do you remember your first time? Your first time in Hollywood, that is.
Charleston massacre felt here in Southern California
Dylann Storm Roof, the man suspected of killing nine people at a church in South Carolina, has been arrested.
Yesterday’s shooting at the historic Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston left six women and three men dead, including the Reverend Clementa Pinckney. Investigators are trying to determine if the suspect had links to hate groups, particularly as the attack may have been a hate crime.
As more details come out, how have you responded to the shooting in Charleston? Will this have an effect on the national conversation surrounding gun violence? Can (and should) this crime be brought into a larger context about race relations in America?
Guests:
Chris Haire, Editor of the Charleston City Paper
Pastor J. Edgar Boyd, Senior Minister of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles, a 142-year old institution
Charles Kurzman, teaches sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Kurzman co-wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times this week highlighting the threat posed by white supremacists, “The Other Terror Threat”
As Treasury Dept. announces woman to appear on $10 bill, a look at the history of U.S. currency
Move over, Alexander Hamilton. A woman is coming to the $10 bill.
The U.S. Treasury Department has announced that it will be redesigning the $10 and release it in 2020 as a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which allowed women to vote.
Hamilton, whose face currently graces the front of the $10, will still appear on the bill somewhere, but a woman to be named will be the new, prominent face.
Who will that woman be? The final decision will be left up to U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, but there is sure to be plenty of speculation leading up to that decision. Current federal law states that the chosen person must be dead, but the Treasury Department says Secretary Lew is looking for a woman “who was a champion for our inclusive democracy.”
Who do you think should be on the new $10 bill? What qualifies a person to be on U.S. currency? Is it a contribution to politics? Society? Civil/human rights?
Tweet @AirTalk using #TheNew10 with your suggestions. Also, vote on our Ranker below, and make sure to add anyone you think we missed!
Guest:
Matthew Whitman, assistant curator of American coins and currency at the American Numismatic Society
New billboard campaign seeks to rebrand Islam in America
A series of billboards in California are part of a campaign by the religious group, Islamic Circle of North America, to change Islam’s image in America, amid an increase in anti-Islamic sentiment in the country.
New billboard campaign started by ICNA pic.twitter.com/AkidTHMcsf
— Khaled Bey (@KhaledBeydoun)
The billboards have gone up in Sacramento and Los Angeles and will eventually stretch to the East Coast. The Sacramento billboard reads: “Looking for the answers in life? Discover Muhammad.” The one in New Jersey states, “Kindness is a mark of faith.” Another in Miami says, “Muhammad believed in peace, social justice, women’s rights.”
What do you think of the billboards? How successful do you think they will be?
Guests:
Waqas Syed, Deputy Secretary General of the Islamic Circle of North America, which is behind the billboard campaign
Salam Al-Marayati, President, Muslim Public Affairs Council, public service agency working for the civil rights of American Muslims
How SCOTUS’s Confederate flag decision affects your license plate
The Supreme Court ruled today that Texas was within its rights in refusing to issue a Confederate flag-themed license plate to a heritage group.
In 2013, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles rejected the proposed plate and the Sons of Confederate Veterans sued calling it a violation of their free speech rights. Today’s decision was 5-4, with Justice Clarence Thomas joining the four liberal members of the court. The justices ruled that messages that appear on license plates are “government speech,” giving the state ultimate power to decide what can go on them.
Guest:
David Savage, Supreme Court reporter for the Los Angeles Times. He wrote about the court’s decision for the publication today
My first time in Hollywood: Film historian brings alive stars’ first impressions
Do you remember your first time? Your first time in Hollywood, that is.
That’s the theme of film historian Cari Beauchamp’s new book. In it she traces the paths of stars such as Mary Pickford, Gloria Swanson and Cecil B. DeMille. She also highlights the lesser sung heroes of Hollywood, whom you might not have heard of, like set decorator Winfrid Kay Thackrey, who was determined to persuade studios to hire a woman.
Their experiences are as wide-ranging as were their talents. Beauchamp reveals how screenwriter Ben Hecht recounted how his first day in 1926 Hollywood felt like “a year in Siberia,” but by all accounts paints a robust picture of a pioneering community fueled by its members’ streaks of serendipity.
Guest:
Cari Beauchamp, film historian and author of “My First Time in Hollywood: Stories from the Pioneers, Dreamers and Misfits Who Made the Movies” (Asahina & Wallace, 2015)
Don’t feed the trolls: Navigating free expression in the digital age
Social media backlash has recently impacted the resignations of biochemist Tim Hunt, who had some unsavory words about women in science and former NAACP leader Rachel Dolezal who claimed to be black despite having two white parents.
Where do we draw the line between expressing opinions and online abuse, or trolling? Author Whitney Phillips breaks down the troll phenomena in her latest, “This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship Between Mainstream Media and Online Culture” (MIT Press, 2015).
Though anonymous users posting insensitive remarks on Facebook memorial pages, known as RIP trolling, or creating memes like Pedobear or Rape Sloth are obscene to many, she argues it’s not all that deviant. Trolls are simply an allegory of an entitled culture where dominance and success is gendered.
Phillips compares what trolls do online to what corporate media uses as a moneymaking strategy. Take for example, how President Obama was vilified during elections where his place of birth was in question. What trolls do outright, mainstream media does covertly.
How do you respond to online trolling? Should more websites do more to prevent trolling or is it a necessary evil in our society?
Guest:
Whitney Phillips, Ph.D, author “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship Between Mainstream Media and Online Culture” (MIT Press, 2015)