The fight for U.S. Senate is heating up between California democrats Attorney General Kamala Harris and Rep. Loretta Sanchez. Also, ABC News’ chief anchor is in hot water after it was disclosed that he donated $25,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Then, Charlize Theron's role in in "Mad Max" has men's rights activists in a huff.
How Loretta Sanchez could shake up the field for the California Senate race
The fight for U.S. Senate is heating up between California democrats Attorney General Kamala Harris and Rep. Loretta Sanchez.
Sanchez announced Thursday that she will be running for the open senate seat, currently held by retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer. For months, California Attorney General Kamala Harris has been the top candidate for the seat but Sanchez’s announcement could be a game changer for the Harris campaign.
Republicans running for the seat include former state party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro and Oceanside state Assemblyman Rocky Chavez.
Both Harris and Sanchez would bring new representation to the senate. If elected, Sanchez would be the first Latina ever elected to the U.S Senate.
While Harris’s support is primarily coming from the Bay Area, Sanchez is drawing much of her support from Southern California. Will she dominate the latino vote in the state? Will she be able to raise the money necessary to compete with Harris? And can she get Southern California Democrats to buck historic trends and turn out in larger numbers than their partners to the north?
Guests:
Loretta Sanchez, representative (D-46) for California's 46th congressional district, which includes Santa Ana, Anaheim, and parts of Garden Grove and Orange.
Michael Finnegan, politics reporter for The Los Angeles Times who’s been covering the race.
In news we trust: How Stephanopoulos and Williams shake our faith
ABC News’ chief anchor is in hot water after it was disclosed that he donated $25,000 to the Clinton Foundation in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
George Stephanopoulos says that he failed to report the donations because he didn’t want to “compromise his integrity,” but that integrity is now being brought into question. On Thursday, he announced that he will no longer be involved in moderating the Republican presidential debate. ABC has yet to indicate if there will be any disciplinary action.
It wasn’t long ago that another prominent anchor’s integrity was challenged; NBC’s Brian Williams ignited a scandal after claims that he was shot-down in a helicopter while reporting from Iraq were debunked. Williams was given a six month suspension in February for misrepresenting the incident. While that suspension is due to end in August, NBC has yet to reveal whether he will actually be allowed to return to his old post.
In an industry where trust is value, how can news watchers be sure they’re being told the full story? What is the responsibility of the news organization?
Guest:
Kelly McBride, media ethicist at Poynter
Plan to raise LA’s minimum wage heads to council for decision
The proposal to raise LA’s minimum wage to $15 by 2020, from its current $9 dollars an hour is closer to becoming a reality.
The Los Angeles City council is expected to decide early next week whether or not they will advance the proposal on to the city attorney to draft as an ordinance. The plan to increase minimum wage has been in a holding pattern for months, as studies were done to measure the impacts of raising the minimum wage.
We’ll look at both sides of issue and what the next steps will be if the plan is approved.
Ruben Gonzalez, senior vice president for public policy and political affairs for the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce joins us to discuss study findings and what some of the negative implications are in raising the minimum wage.
We’ll also hear from Michael Reich, professor at UC Berkeley and director of the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at UC Berkeley on who would benefit from the raise and the research behind it.
Cost-Benefit Analysis: Los Angeles Minimum Wage Proposal
The Proposed Minimum Wage Law for Los Angeles: Economic Impacts and Policy Options
Guests:
Ruben Gonzalez, Senior Vice President for Public Policy and Political Affairs for the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Michael Reich, Professor at UC Berkeley and Director of the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at UC Berkeley, Author of "When Mandates Work: Raising Labor Standards at the Local Level” and lead member of the UC Berkeley team that was chosen by the Los Angeles City Council to assess its minimum wage proposals
The King is gone: Remembering blues guitar legend B.B. King
He was born Riley B. King to Mississippi sharecroppers in 1925. But his legacy will forever be known as B.B. King, a pioneer for jazz and blues musicians everywhere. King died Thursday evening at the age of 89 at his home in Las Vegas.
His simple but soulful guitar licks and smooth vocals would influence an entire generation of jazz and blues musicians like Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and John Mayer. King struggled to sing and play guitar at the same time, so he created his own style by laying down the vocals first and following it with an extended guitar solo, a model that would become a standard in rock and blues for years to come.
His guitar, a black Gibson hollow-body he named ‘Lucille,’ became one of the most iconic musical instruments in all of popular music. He was nominated for Grammy Awards 15 times and is often ranked among the best guitarists of all time, in any genre.
How big was B.B. King’s impact on jazz and blues music? How do we still hear B.B.’s influence in modern rock and blues? Where does B.B. rank among the greatest guitarists of all time? How will you remember B.B. King?
Guests:
Barbara Morrison, a three-time Grammy-nominated jazz and blues singer. She has performed with many music legends, including Etta James, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, and Tony Bennett. She also owns and operates the Barbara Morrison Performance Arts Center here in L.A., and is an adjunct assistant professor of jazz performance and vocals in the Department of Ethnomusicology at UCLA’s Alpert School of Music.
Filmweek: ‘Mad Max,’ ‘Pitch Perfect 2,’ ‘Good Kill,’ and more
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Wade Major and Tim Cogshell review this week’s new film releases, including “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Pitch Perfect 2,” “Good Kill,” and more. TGI-Filmweek!
Guests:
Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC and Alt Film Guide
Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and host for IGN’s DigiGods.com
Mad Max: Perpetuating or combating how women are represented in film?
In a recent interview with The Guardian, actress Charlize Theron summed up the average female role in Hollywood: “You’re either a really good mother, or a really good hooker.”
Theron stars in the new action thriller "Mad Max: Fury Road" as Imperator Furiosa, an amputee with little patience and even less hair. She takes guff from exactly no one and ferries sex slaves across the desert while fending off bad guys.
Despite her portrayal as a strong, no-nonsense woman in the film, some are crying foul about her character. One men’s rights activism group took issue with Theron’s character ordering Mad Max around (no one orders Max around, they say), saying that the film is just another example of Hollywood ruining a perfectly good action film by trying to jam a female character into the cast in order to draw in those extra few million women.
Theron sees it the opposite way. “George [Miller] just showed the truth of who we are as women, and that’s even more powerful,” she told The Guardian. “Women thrive in being many things. We can be just as dark and light as men.”
In what ways are women portrayed in action films? Do you think they help perpetuate or combat gender stereotypes about female characters in movies? How are feminist themes represented in film? Who are your favorite female action heroes? What made them memorable to you?
Guests:
Amy Nicholson, film critic for L.A. Weekly
Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC and Alt Film Guide
Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and host for IGN’s DigiGods.com