Today on AirTalk we have the latest updates on the fire raging in Ventura County. We'll also consider whether media organizations should release videos made from embarrassing police cruiser footage and discuss potential transformations to the condom. On FilmWeek, Larry and the critics review this week's releases and talk about the crossover between American and Chinese film industries.
The risks and technologies behind night-time fire-fighting:
The risks and technologies behind night-time fire-fighting: The Summit fire continues to rage across Ventura County as high winds and low humidity fuel the flames. So far the fire has burned more than 10,000 acres from Camarillo south of the 101 Freeway all the way to the Pacific Coast Highway.
The blaze is only 10 percent contained as firefighters battle tough conditions. Overnight, firefighters suspended aerial drops of water and were fighting the fire from the ground. The aerial drops resumed at sunrise this morning.
What are the special challenges of fighting a fire at night? When do firefighters use nighttime water drops from small planes or helicopters?
Guest:
Corey Moore, KPCC reporter at the Camarillo command center
Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire (CalFire)
What’s the public good of salacious police cruiser videos?
On Monday, the local ABC News in Michigan ran footage of Deerfield Elementary School principal Kim Warren in the backseat of a police cruiser after being picked up on the suspicion of drunk driving when she was swerving in her car on the way back to school at lunchtime. The video, shot by a camera mounted in the rear area of the cruiser, shows Warren crying and the officer trying to console her.
The video is compelling enough that a story which would have been little more that a quickly forgotten local news mention found traction at the national level, but watching it feels somehow like a violation of Warren’s personal space, if not her rights.
Though the video is public record, should journalists be broadcasting video shot inside police cruisers? Does it work to inform the population, or is it just sensationalistic?
Guests:
Judy Muller, Journalist and Professor, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism; an Emmy, duPont-Columbia and Peabody Award-winning television correspondent and NPR commentator.
Ms. Kelly McBride, Senior Faculty for Ethics, Poynter Institute
Redesigning the condom for both pleasure and usability
Personal computer. Philanthropy. And now, you can add prophylactic to the list of things Bill Gates is working to revolutionize. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as part of its Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative, is offering a $100,000 grant for any organization or aspirant engineer to design a next generation condom to make it more widely-used.
RELATED: Develop the Next Generation of Condom
It’s part of the foundation’s efforts to prevent unwanted pregnancies and the transmission of AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases. "The primary drawback from the male perspective is that condoms decrease pleasure as compared to no condom, creating a trade-off that many men find unacceptable, particularly given that the decisions about use must be made just prior to intercourse," the challenge read. "Is it possible to develop a product without this stigma, or better, one that is felt to enhance pleasure?" The challenge ends May 7.
Guests:
Davin Wedel, President and Founder of Global Protection Corp. and ONE Condoms in Boston, Mass.
Sarah MacCarthy, Global Health and Human Rights fellow at the Program of Global Health and Human Rights at the Institute of Global Health at USC. Fellow at Brown University.
FilmWeek: Iron Man 3, Midnight’s Children, The Iceman, and more
Larry and KPCC critics Tim Cogshell and Andy Klein review this week’s releases, including Iron Man 3, Midnight’s Children, The Iceman, and more. TGI-FilmWeek!
Iron Man 3
Midnight's Children
The Iceman
Guest:
Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC and Alt Film Guide
Andy Klein, film critic for KPCc and the L.A. Times Community Papers chain
Iron Man 3: The beginning of the end of the Hollywood-China 'co-production' era?
China places a strict quota on foreign film imports. For Hollywood, the most popular way to bypass that quota has been to co-produce films with Chinese companies. But that means giving China’s state film more control over a film’s creative process. And some Hollywood filmmakers are wondering if it’s worth the sacrifice.
“Iron Man 3,” the new Robert Downey Jr. tent pole provided by Walk Disney Co., Marvel Pictures and Beijing-based DMG, has gotten a lot of attention in terms of how it has gained entry into the world’s second-biggest film market. The film is not a co-production, but is enjoying some of the privileges of one and has just set a new box office record in China, having brought in over $21 million on its opening day.
Guests:
Clayton Dube, Executive Director of the US-China Institute at USC
Michael Peyser, Producer and Professor at The school of Cinematic Arts at USC.