A look into the less than ideal broadcast numbers for the biggest award show of the year, as well as an analysis of Frances McDormand's "inclusion rider" speech. We also conduct our weekly political roundtable; examine if an app has the ability to determine sexual consent; and more.
Week in politics: Response to Trump’s tariffs, Israeli PM visits White House amid corruption allegations, and the president’s dwindling inner-circle
AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable recaps the weekend headlines in politics and looks ahead to what to watch for this week. Here’s what we’re following:
Netanyahu visits the White House today, corruption allegations still swirling; Haaretz discusses what’s on the agenda
The latest on tariffs & trade wars: Trump says he’ll yank tariffs if new NAFTA is negotiated, and one report from NBC quoted an anonymous official who said Trump came ‘unglued’ on Wednesday evening before announcing the new tariffs
Trump bounces back and forth on his gun control stance while Florida looks to be considering legislation today
With Hope Hicks leaving the White House, the number of non-family members who are loyalists is dwindling, adding fuel to the alleged White House dysfunction
State of the Trump-Sessions relationship after Trump calls Sessions out on Twitter
A report says H.R. McMaster could be out in next month, but the White House says it’s fake news
Kushner’s shrinking role and the political impact of his downgraded security clearance
Ben Carson on his position as secretary of housing and urban development (Carson has said brain surgery was easier than running that department)
Oakland mayor draws ire from the Department of Justice with her warning of ICE raids
Guests:
Sean T. Walsh, Republican political analyst and partner at Wilson Walsh Consulting in San Francisco; he is a former adviser to California Governors Pete Wilson and Arnold Schwarzenegger and a former White House staffer for Presidents Reagan and H.W. Bush
Matt Rodriguez, Democratic strategist and founder and chief executive officer of Rodriguez Strategies; former senior Obama advisor in 2008; he tweets
An app for consent? The legal and psychological implications of digitally consenting to sex
As the conversation about what constitutes sexual consent in the age of #MeToo continues, some have proposed a technological solution.
Yes, there is indeed an app for that.
LegalFling is one recent example, beta launched today, which creates a live contract in which users can affirmatively consent to sex, adjust their boundaries (condoms? bondage?) and update their preferences as the encounter continues.
Some legal experts say that this digital record could be used in court to signify someone’s intent, in the same way that texts can be incorporated into a case. But what happens if the app is used abusively?
Then there’s the variability of human emotion and consent. Does the app make it more difficult and awkward for one partner to change their mind? Is this a misguided attempt at addressing consent?
Guests:
Michelle Drouin, expert on technology, relationships and sexuality; professor of psychology at Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne
John Manly, an Irvine-based attorney who specializes in representing victims of sexual assault and abuse with the firm Manly, Stewart & Finaldi
Forget about the winners and losers, how was the Oscars broadcast as a media event?
The 90th annual Academy Awards took place in Los Angeles last night, bringing an end to an exciting awards season.
“The Shape of Water” took best picture and Frances McDormand made headlines with a passionate acceptance speech for the best actress award. But what about the show itself? Early estimates show Oscar ratings at its all-time low.
Did you watch the show last night? Let us know what did you think. Did you find the show to be boring? Was it “divisive” or politically charged?
Call 866-893-5722
Guest:
Brian Lowry, media critic for CNN who covered the Oscars ceremony last night in Los Angeles
Oscar winner Frances McDormand turns spotlight on ‘inclusion rider’ clause in Hollywood contracts – what is it, and can it work?
Frances McDormand left a lot of Academy Awards viewers confused when she ended her best actress acceptance speech with two unfamiliar words: “inclusion rider.”
It turns out the phrase was also new to McDormand, who only heard about it for the first time the week before her Oscar win. It’s an addendum to a contract that “sets clear goals for inclusion” in Hollywood by defining the underrepresented groups that should be focused on, establishing casting and hiring objectives, and then laying out steps for auditioning and interviewing that can help obtain those objectives.
Want to learn more about the
? Here’s why we need it and what it is. From the people responsible for it:
. Contact us to learn more.
— Annenberg Inclusion Initiative (@Inclusionists)
Want to learn more about the #InclusionRider? Here’s why we need it and what it is. From the people responsible for it: @KalpanaKotagal @fanshen @Inclusionists. Contact us to learn more. @THR @Variety @latimes pic.twitter.com/uAl42sIZgJ
— Annenberg Inclusion Initiative (@Inclusionists) March 5, 2018
The idea is big-name actors, directors and investors would add an inclusion rider to their contracts when signing on to a project, using their clout to ensure a diverse environment both on screen and behind the scenes.
But what would abiding by an inclusion rider look like in practice? How likely is it they will become commonplace, and are there any reasons a studio wouldn’t want to work under one?
And if you work in the entertainment industry, what are your thoughts on the concept? Could inclusion riders help diversify sets? Would you ever use one yourself?
Guests:
Stacy Smith, co-inventor of the concept of the inclusion rider; founder and director of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, a think tank at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism that studies diversity and inclusion in entertainment
Kalpana Kotagal, co-inventor of the concept of the inclusion rider; civil rights and employment practice attorney at Cohen Milstein in Washington D.C.
Are job fairs on college campuses discrimination based on age? Lawsuit accusing PwC says so
Two job applicants filed a lawsuit against PricewaterhouseCoopers arguing that campus recruiting hurts chances for men and women over 40 to land those same jobs.
Attorneys for the candidates, who say they applied to London-based PwC dozens of times, aimed to convince San Francisco District Judge Jon Tigar on Tuesday that thousands of other older workers were similarly disadvantaged by the accounting firm’s system. PwC argued in court that its hiring practices are merit-based. A spokeswoman for the firm said that campus recruiting is an approach used by many large employers and that half of the company’s full-time hires in 2018 will come from campus-recruiting efforts.
A ruling on whether a bias for young recruits prevented those applicants from getting jobs at PwC could be years away. Meanwhile, the judge is expected to decide whether to add a roughly 14,000 other older workers who didn’t get job offers from PwC to the case in the coming weeks.
We ask our experts, can job applicants prove they weren’t hired due to age discrimination.
What about a job description that says candidates can't have more than a particular number of years of experience, can this be considered a form of discrimination as well?
Guests:
Steven J. Kaplan, a labor employment lawyer and former chair of LA County Bar's labor and employment section; he is also an adjunct professor at UCLA
Lisa Klerman, a mediator specializing in employment law disputes; a former attorney, she is also a clinical professor of law at USC