Is Paul Ryan the right person to be Speaker of the House? Then, Two Greek organizations at UCLA have come under criticism after holding a Kanye West-themed party where some attendees wore blackface. Also, woe to the casual film-goer who might not be familiar with the work of Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman who died this week.
Rumors swirl as Paul Ryan’s camp continues to deny a run for Speaker. Is he right for the job?
While yesterday’s news that House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy was dropping out of the race for Speaker of the House shocked everyone and sent Republicans on Capitol Hill into a frenzy, the question still remains: Who is the right person to be Speaker of the House?
Thus far, that answer seems to be Paul Ryan, at least for the GOP establishment. The Wisconsin Congressman and former vice presidential candidate’s name has been mentioned as a party favorite by several other members of Congress, including California’s Devin Nunes. However, Ryan’s camp remained adamant this morning that the Congressman will not run for Speaker.
A noted budget expert, Ryan was formerly head of the House Budget Committee and currently chairs the House Ways and Means Committee. But there are definitely still concerns about whether Ryan has the right personality to be Speaker. The last two Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner, have been more of the wheeling-and-dealing type of politician. Ryan is more of a wonk.
Is Paul Ryan the right Republican for the job? Which of his credentials do you think best qualify him for Speaker of the House?
Guests:
Craig Gilbert, political reporter and Washington Bureau Chief for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and author of ‘The Wisconsin Voter’ blog
Chuck Quirmbach, reporter for Wisconsin Public Radio who has covered Ryan for seventeen years
Former SeaWorld trainer, PETA lawyer debate future of ocean park after Orca breeding ban
SeaWorld got a mixed decision yesterday from the California Coastal Commission, which unanimously approved a $100 million expansion of the tanks SeaWorld uses to hold killer whales in San Diego — but banned breeding of the captive orcas that would live in them.
The vote also prevents the whales from being bred somewhere else and transported to the park. SeaWorld currently has 11 orcas, but once they die, it would mean the end of SeaWorld's live orca shows.
Animal rights activists praised Thursday's decision as a death blow to the use of killer whales at the California ocean park. But others defend SeaWorld's practices and say they know more about the animals than anyone and are qualified to humanely care for them. Do you agree with the California Coastal Commission's ban?
Kyle Kittleson, a former senior killer whale trainer at SeaWorld in Orlando, and an animal behavioral expert, spoke to AirTalk about the potential impact Thursday's decision would have:
"There's a lot of implications and again this really just affects the San Diego SeaWorld. SeaWorld has parks in San Antonio and Orlando, but the biggest of facts is that SeaWorld and its scientists and outside teams of scientists learn so much from being able to work so intimately with these animals, and this year SeaWorld has been able to donate $10 million to wild killer whales research and obviously that comes from the success of its parks and killer whales are a huge draw for that ... To phase out killer whales as people are putting it, is to really phase out wildlife conservation and wildlife care, education and research. These animals are able to reproduce so they should be able to be reproduce. This is a natural behavior and they should be able participate and partake in that natural behavior."
Jared Goodman, Director of Animal Law at PETA, offered his take on AirTalk:
"We fully support the commission's decision and we think they did right by orcas in requiring as a condition of approval for the Blue World Project that Sea World stop breeding them. This isn't putting SeaWorld out of business, it's ensuring that this is the last generation of orcas who are going to suffer in tanks at SeaWorld of California and ultimately end long suffering [of] orcas in the state. SeaWorld has admitted that it intended this new tank to breed, which would in fact cause the orcas who are there to have less space than they currently do now."
What were they thinking? UCLA frat party reignites questions over millennials' relationship with blackface
Two Greek organizations at UCLA have come under criticism after holding a Kanye West-themed party where some attendees wore blackface.
Condemnation by African American student groups was swift after photographs of the party hit social media. One of these organizations, the Afrikan Student Union, met yesterday to discuss the incident.
UCLA said in a statement that it’s looking into what happened at the party.
“We remind students that while they are free to celebrate in ways that draw on popular culture, their specific choices can cause harm and pain to fellow members of their community. Put simply: Just because you can do something, does not mean you should,” the statement reads.
Guest:
Jeffrey Stewart, Chair of Department of Black Studies at UC Santa Barbara. His work focuses on black culture, and black popular culture
FilmWeek: ‘Steve Jobs,’ ‘Pan,’ ‘The Final Girls’ and more
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Amy Nicholson and Andy Klein review this week’s new movie releases, including the Aaron-Sorkin-penned biopic about Apple founder “Steve Jobs,” Hugh Jackman starring in the family flick, “Pan,” the well-received comic horror, “The Final Girls,” and more. TGI-FilmWeek!
Guests:
Andy Klein, Film Critic for KPCC and the LA Times Community Newspaper Chain
Amy Nicholson, Film Critic for KPCC and Chief Film Critic, LA Weekly
Arthouse cinema as glorified by late Chantal Akerman & self-described snob A.O. Scott
Woe to the casual film-goer who might not be familiar with the work of Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman who died this week.
Her often experimental films are just the kind of fare that NY Times film critic A.O. Scott celebrated in a recent essay, "Film Snob? Is That So Wrong?"
Akerman was lauded for revolutionizing cinema by creating films "often experimental and without concessions." Her landmark work, 1975's three-hour-plus "Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles," depicted in real time the drab routines of a Belgian housewife forced into prostitution to make money. There are no fast edits, no Sorkin-like dialogue, no meet-cutes.
For all those reasons, Scott loves it. He writes "I like my pleasures slow and difficult. I would rather watch a mediocre film from South America or Eastern Europe about the sufferings of poor people than a mediocre Hollywood comedy about the inconveniences of the affluent."
When it comes to movie culture, proclivities of extremes seem to mirror politics of the day. The Scotts of the world would veto popcorn-fare entirely, and the populists cannot abide subtitles, black & white, nor documentary. Where do you fall?
Guests:
Andy Klein, Film Critic for KPCC and the LA Times Community Newspaper Chain
Amy Nicholson, Film Critic for KPCC and Chief Film Critic, LA Weekly