Gov. Nathan Deal's decision could result in a film production boycott from huge corporations like Disney and Time Warner;do voter polls need a revamp to accommodate large turnouts?;and Radar scans have revealed hidden rooms in the King's tomb.
Hollywood takes a stand against Georgia’s religious liberty bill
Billions of dollars are at stake in a battle between Hollywood production companies and Georgia lawmakers.
Georgia governor Nathan Deal has until May 3 to sign into law a religious liberty bill that would shield faith-based groups refusing to provide services that they argue would violate their beliefs.
The law would effectively provide greater legal protections for people opposed to same-sex marriage. Entertainment giants like Disney, Marvel, Time Warner, and HBO are threatening a boycott on film production in the state if the bill becomes law.
A spokesman from Disney gave this statement, “Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies, and although we have had great experiences filming in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law.”
The economic impact on both film companies and Georgia are massive as the state has attracted a large portion of entertainment industry production in recent years through lower tax incentives.
The state’s film industry ranked third only to California and New York for feature film production, according to a 2014 study by research group FilmL.A.. Several Fortune 500 companies including Coca-Cola, IBM, and Verizon have also joined in coalition urging Governor Deal to not to sign the bill.
Guests:
Greg Bluestein, a political reporter who covers the governor's office and state politics for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution who’s been covering the story
Gregg Kilday, Film Editor at The Hollywood Reporter who's been following the story
Long lines and flawed lists mar presidential primaries in Arizona and beyond
Shuttered polling locations and large voter turnout amounted to frustration and anger for some Arizona voters.
In Maricopa county, voters waited five hours or more in some places to cast primary ballots, while police were called to help control traffic.
Election officials said they miscalculated the demand for polling places and due to cost-cutting reduced the number of polling places to 60 from 200-plus four years ago. In Utah, caucus-goers were dispatched by poll workers to local stores with orders buy reams of paper and photocopy fresh ballots amid huge turnout.
The state Democratic Party's website crashed due to high traffic. In Idaho, some lines stretched a mile long. Are caucus and primary processes too arcane and flawed? What could improve the primary process?
Guest:
Lonna Rae Atkeson, Professor of Political Science, University of New Mexico; Director for the Center for the Study of Voting, Elections, and Democracy, University of New Mexico; Rae has been monitoring elections in various states this cycle, including Washington this coming Saturday
In honor of Pulitzer's centennial, scholars bring important conversations to California cities
California Humanities and the Pulitzer Prize Board have partnered together to launch an “On the Road” series to commemorate 100 years of recognizing excellence in American journalism, music and literature.
With the help of a $40,000 grant award from the Pulitzer Prize Board, California Humanities has organized six-city tour to “deepen the the public’s engagement with current issues through the humanities lens of critical discourse and multiple viewpoints.”
Conversations will focus on critical community issues such as journalism and democracy, the future of nonrenewable resources and the lessons learned from Cesar Chavez farm labor movement. The tour kicks off Thursday at the Huntington Library in San Marino. Pulitzer Prize winners Alan Taylor and Elizabeth Fenn will host a conversation about the importance of historical literacy in the modern day, click here for tickets.
Tour stops also include San Jose, Salinas, Fresno and Oakland.
Guests:
William Deverell, professor and chair of the history department at USC, where he also directs the Huntington - University of Southern California Institute on California and the West
Alan Taylor, historian and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner (1996 and 2015). He will join fellow historian and Pulitzer winner Elizabeth Fenn for a conversation on the need for historical perspective in our times
The power of California’s June primary
On June 7, Californians will head to the polls to place their votes on who they want to go head-to-head in the general presidential election.
With 172 delegates at stake, a look at the influential role California could play in determining the Republican party’s candidate and why California’s say in the Democratic race is not likely to be as pivotal in comparison.
Then a look at the one proposition in the June ballot, it’s significance, and what its solitary standing means for the size of the California ballot in November.
Guests:
Bob Stern, former president of the LA-based Center for Governmental Studies
Larry Gerston, professor emeritus of political science at San Jose State University and author of many books, including “Public Policy Making in a Democratic Society: A Guide to Civic Engagement”
How to make an altruist
Are people born selfish and self-interested or is it the environment that makes a person anti-social?
Two neuroscientists at UCLA who study the brain’s empathetic impulses say there’s evidence that the brain is more hardwired for altruism that we thought, and that it’s possible to teach people to be less selfish.
In the first study, they found that subjects who showed strong responses in the parts of the brain believed to deal with perceiving pain and emotion, behaved more generously, than those whose responses were stronger in another area, the prefrontal cortex.
In the second study, the scientists used a noninvasive procedure to weaken parts of the prefrontal cortex, and discovered that disrupting impulse control there led to greater generosity.
Your brain might be hard-wired for altruism
Guests:
Marco Iacoboni, a UCLA psychiatry professor and lead author of two recently released studies looking at the neuroscience of human empathy
New rooms discovered in King Tut’s tomb could hold 'discovery of the century'
Egypt’s most famous mummified monarch may have more to tell us about his life, death, and maybe even where his equally famous mother is buried.
Radar scans of the tomb of King Tutankhamun, also known as King Tut, have revealed two previously undiscovered rooms that Egypt’s antiquities ministry says contain metal and organic masses. It has also been theorized that Queen Nefertiti, King Tut’s mother, may be buried in one of these rooms. If the radar scans are correct, there’s no telling what other artifacts or funerary items could also be inside.
British archaeologists originally discovered the tomb in 1922, creating a worldwide wave of interest in ancient Egyptian history. Tutankhamun became King Tut at the age of 10, earning him the nickname ‘The Boy King.’ He died at age 18, and though the cause of his death is still unknown, it is believed he died from a combination of complications due to a broken leg and malarial infection.
Guest:
James Phillips, Professor Emeritus at The University of Illinois-Chicago, and Curator of Ancient Egypt at The Field Museum in Chicago. He was Curator of the recent Mummies exhibit at Los Angeles Museum of Natural History