How far would you go to maintain privacy for yourself online? Reporter Julia Angwin shares the length's she took to do just that. It's Filmweek on AirTalk and guest host Patt Morrison is discussing "Bad Words," "The Veronica Mars Movie," and more!
State auditor blasts California unemployment agency for glaring blunders
California's Employment Development Department has been slammed for missing out on over 500 million dollars in revenue. In a new report, the state auditor described the beleaguered department as "appalling" after it ignored federal assistance to help recover millions in overpaid unemployment benefits.
EDD officials told auditors they lacked the manpower and finances to make necessary software upgrades in order to join the Treasury Offset program in February 2011. Yet a whistleblower informed the auditor's office that EDD would have needed just 323 thousand dollars in staff time to make the changes.
This comes amid calls from California lawmakers to explain why the EDD is denying so many unemployment insurance claims. What issues have you had with the EDD? How long has it taken you to deal with a claim?
Guest:
Marc Lifsher, business reporter in the Sacramento bureau at the Los Angeles Times.
McDonald’s workers bring class action suit to court
McDonald’s workers in California, New York, and Michigan have filed a class action suit against the chain and several of its franchises over wage disputes. The suit follows months of strikes about wage theft, unpaid overtime, timecard issues, and unfair payment.
McDonald’s has been criticized by its employees for its low wages, even acknowledging itself in an guide for its workers that they may need second jobs to earn a livable wage. The cases filed yesterday allege that employees were forced to work off the clock, had time taken from their documented hours, and were not paid overtime.
McDonald’s is expected to argue that the corporate offices aren’t responsible for franchise practices.
Who’s really in charge of employee wages at large companies? How much control and liability does corporate McDonald’s have when it comes to franchisees and employees? How will the suit pan out -- is it about the money, the information, or the publicity?
Guest:
Josh Eidelson, staff reporter at Salon.com specializing in labor and politics
Lisa Klerman, Lecturer in Law at the University of Southern California and mediator with her own private practice in employment law disputes
Dragnet Nation: What one reporter did to avoid being tracked online
We are in the midst of a data revolution, and driving this seismic change isn't just Facebook or Google, but information we readily give up everyday through our online activities.
In "Dragnet Nation," journalist Julia Angwin reports from the front lines of America's surveillance economy, offering a look at how the government, private companies, and even criminals use technology to indiscriminately sweep up vast amounts of our personal data.
In the book, Angwin details a series of experiments she took to try to protect herself, ranging from quitting Google to carrying a "burner" phone, showing how difficult, and expensive, it is for an average citizen to resist the dragnets' reach.
Guest:
Julia Angwin, author “Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, Security, and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance”(Times Books, 2014) and a senior reporter for Propublica.
'Nymphomaniac' takes on psychosexual drama
Lars Von Trier’s Nymphomaniac: Vol. I is part of the writer-director’s two-part series, and tells the story of a self-professed nymphomaniac who winds up in the care of an older bachelor.
The film stars Charlotte Gainsbourg as a woman recounting erotic stories from her youth and Stellan Skarsgård as a charming older man who rescues her after finding her beaten in an alley.
Von Trier takes viewers on a psychosexual journey, linking protagonist Joe’s sexual exploits to art, music, and fly fishing. Stacy Martin, who plays the sexually-charged young Joe recounts a steady stream of lovers and sexual adventures, drawing comparisons and parallels from Skarsgård’s Seligman.
Though the film is incredibly explicit, there’s depth behind Von Trier’s sexual storytelling, Seligman and Joe delve into familial relations and walking the thin line between childhood and adulthood.
Nymphomaniac Vol. I, out March 21, is only the beginning – the series ends with Nymphomaniac Vol. II, due to be released in April.
How does a film walk the line between near-pornographic explicitness and artistic and emotional depth? How did the actors prepare for the intensity of these roles?
Guest:
Stellan Skarsgård, actor, producer, and co-star of Lars Von Trier’s Nymphomaniac series
Filmweek: Bad Words, Veronica Mars, Le Week-End and more
Guest host Patt Morrison and KPCC film critics Wade Major and Peter Rainer review this week’s releases, including Bad Words, Veronica Mars, Le Week-End and more. TGI-Filmweek!
Bad Words
Veronica Mars
Le Week-End
Guests:
Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and producer and host for IGN’s DigiGods.com podcast.
Peter Rainer, film critic for KPCC and the Christian Science Monitor; author of “Rainer on Film: Thirty Years of Film Writing in a Turbulent and Transformative Era”
How Hollywood shaped World War II
Before World War II, Hollywood had a rocky relationship with Washington. The hugely influential motion picture industry was viewed suspiciously—seen by some as too foreign, too Jewish, or too “un-American.” But when the U.S. government sought to rally Americans behind the war effort, they turned to American cinema’s premier directors to win the hearts and minds of the country.
Author Mark Harris’ latest book, ‘Five Came Back,’ tells the story of how John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra and George Stevens lent their movie-making prowess to the war effort. Harris explores how these directors’ creative visions shaped American perceptions of World War II—and how World War II forever shaped these legendary directors.
These men abandoned Hollywood at the height of their careers to join the war effort in different capacities. Frank Capra ran Washington’s propaganda efforts, including his seven “Why We Fight” films—which all GIs were required to watch. William Wyler joined the Army Air Force, lost his hearing, and made war-related films including “The Best Years of Our Lives”—a drama about servicemen readjusting to civilian life after World War II.
John Ford joined the Navy and filmed the battle of Midway—one of the war’s most important naval battles—which became the documentary “The Battle of Midway.” The product of five years of archival research, ‘Five Came Back’ reveals the untold wartime experiences of these five men and explores how the war transformed Hollywood.
Guest:
Mark Harris, author of “Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and The Second World War.”