Patt Morrision is guest hosting on AirTalk today. The Intergovernmental panel on climate change released a summary showing that it is extremely likely that human influence is the cause of global warming. Does this report leave room for doubt about global warming? Then, McDonalds announced it will offer more fruits and vegetables on its menu. How will this impact people's diets? Next, we talk with Los Angeles' first film czar, Tom Sherak about his plans for keeping production in the area. Then, some are calling for a boycott after Barilla Pasta's anti-gay comments. Lastly, TGI-Filmweek!
IPCC reports it’s ‘extremely likely’ that ‘human influence’ is the cause of global warming
After five years of silence, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a summary today stating they are 95 percent sure global warming is caused by “human influence.”
The full report will be released on Monday, but they are today calling for international action to limit CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions. In their last report in 2007, the IPCC called global warming because of human activity “very likely,” but scientists are now more certain of that assessment. Although the report also states that global warming has slowed down over the past 15 years, the IPCC says long-term trends are more telling.
They predict that the earth’s temperature will get hotter, heat waves will increase and last longer and dry regions will get even less rain. The report also states that ocean temperatures will rise, and sea levels are projected to rise 10-32 inches.
However, critics of climate change say that climate change predictions are faulty and unreliable. They say that the lack of climate change these past 15 years could be show that global warming has slowed down or stopped altogether.
Does this report leave room for doubt about global warming? Are climate prediction models faulty? Will this report lead to an international climate deal?
Guest:
Coral Davenport, energy and environment correspondent for National Journal
Are fast food giants banking on sneaky "healthy halo" effect with new diet options?
McDonald’s has announced that it would no longer market junk food to kids and it’s going to include more fruits and vegetables in on its adult menu. The move came after another fast food joint, Burger King, rolled out the lower-calorie French fries it has dubbed “Satisfries.” Apparently, they are 20% healthier but “taste the same.”
The fast food industry has been under pressure to do their part in the fight against obesity. But what Burger King and McDonald’s doing might have the opposite effect, if a much-cited study is to be believed. In a research paper published in 2009, a team of researchers found that the inclusion of healthier choices on a menu has a way of causing people to choose items that are worse for them.
In other words, if both veggie burgers and bacon-cheeseburgers are on the menu, consumers typically go for the latter thing. The academics called the phenomenon “vicarious goal fulfillment.”
Guest:
Dr. Peter Ubel, physician and behavioral scientist who specializes in healthy policy and economics; Professor of Business Administration and Medicine & Professor of Public Policy, Duke University
Meet Tom Sherak, Los Angeles’ first film czar
Mayor Eric Garcetti appointed the Hollywood veteran to be the city’s first film czar and head up the new Entertainment Industry and Production Office. The office is designed to make it easier to film movies and television shows in the city and to lobby for money to boost the California’s film incentive program. Sherak is a familiar face around Hollywood.
He was president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 2009 to 2012, held numerous roles at Twentieth Century Fox and was a partner with Revolution Studios. Garcetti said it was his goal to stop ‘runaway’ film production from leaving the state and Sherak says he’s up for the job of keeping production here in California.
What is Sherak’s plan for keeping production in the area? What’s the state of the industry in Los Angeles? Is there more money out there to offer studios to film here in California?
Interview Highlights:
On why the term "film czar" is not quite accurate:
"I realized yesterday that I am definitely not the czar. And the reason I shouldn't be called the czar, if I was this probably would have been solved already."
Why we haven't been able to fix the problem with film production leaving LA:
"It's a long conversation, but I think it has to do with a state of mind about big studios and their wealth. Why do they need a tax break? They've got a lot of money, why should we help them save money? I think that the studios — and I'm talking about TV studios, motion picture studios, digital studios that have content — they, no different than any other business, have has a business plan. That business plan is to try to make a movie for a certain amount of money, because they're looking at it like everybody looks at a business, the bottom line. I think what it is, it seems simple, and here's the simple part of it. Those productions that other states are dying to get and giving them tax incentives to get them...Because these productions spend hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Are we being outbid by other states and other state and countries?:
"Oh yeah, we're being outbid. Yes, all this money, all of these rebates has made it where the studios are much more comfortable going to these places, getting the rebates, spending the money that these productions cost. These productions cost millions of dollars. They're hiring labor there and the people they're taking with them from Los Angeles, leaving their homes for three, six, nine months, whatever it is. A year? I don't think there are too many people that want to leave their home if they can stay here.
"A lot of studios will hire a lot of local help to make a movie, the below the line people, the middle class who need jobs, who's profession is in our business. As they see it dry up...In Los Angeles we have a lottery [for film incentives] and as soon as that number was met, all these other productions that were waiting, they all left.
Is this all about persuading the powers that be to put up some money?:
"Yes, and it has to be done. You and I can talk about this and it seems so simple. There are studies that have been done about how much money the city or the state gets if a production stays in town, here's what happens when they lose it. The bottom line is I don't have to tell you that last night I had 300 emails, 'congratulations this, congratulations that,' and I think the stuff that I got from the people, the grips and the gaffers, and the electricians? "Please help us get a job. Please help us keep working" the transportation guys, "we can't get jobs."
"The mayor believes in this, I know he does I wouldn't have taken this if he didn't believe in it. Look, I don't have a magic wand here, but I know that if we can put together a plan and go with the mayor and try to sell that plan. Trying to go into that bureaucracy of people thinking one way and try to convince them why this means so much to not only Los Angeles, but to the state of California. If we let Hollywood go and we let it go completely and we can't bring some of that back here, in the long run, we're going to be very unhappy."
Guest:
Tom Sherak, Senior Advisor and Director of the Mayor’s Entertainment Industry and Production Office
Barilla Pasta in hot water after anti-gay comments
Guido Barilla, chairman of the Italy-based pasta brand Barilla, stated in an Italian radio interview that the company would never display gay families in their ads. This led to a firestorm on Twitter by gay rights activists sounding the call to boycott Barilla productions, including pastas, cookies and bread.
Barilla has apologized if the comments offended anyone but stands by his statement. He said that the company would not display a homosexual couple out of sensitivity to those who don’t support homosexuality. Barilla also stated that he personally supports gay marriage but opposes gay adoption because women play a “central role” in a family.
Will the pasta brand be forever associated with these comments? Can companies backpedal from offensive comments and boycotts? Do apologies and explanations band-aid up the wound or just make it worse?
Guest:
Sasha Strauss, founder of Innovation Protocol, a management consulting firm focused on brand marketing; Professor at UCLA & USC
Filmweek: Don Jon, Baggage Claim, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 and more
Guest host Patt Morrison is joined by KPCC critics Tim Cogshell, Andy Klein and Charles Solomon to review this week’s releases including Don Jon, Baggage Claim, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 and more! TGI-FilmWeek!
Don Jon
Baggage Claim
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
Guests:
Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC and Alt Film Guide
Andy Klein, film critic for KPCC and the LA Times Community Papers chain
Charles Solomon, animation film critic for KPCC and author and historian for amazon.com