A look at Pope Francis's 'Amortis Laetitia', the role of statement tees in the recent years, Padma Lakshmi talks to A Martinez about her new memoir.
Papal proclamation urges a more welcoming church
The latest proclamation by Pope Francis signals a bold change of direction for the Roman Catholic Church and its approach to family life.
The pontiff's exhortation is titled "Amoris Laetitia," Latin for "The Joy of Love." In it, he calls on church leaders to welcome several groups long excluded on moral grounds, including cohabiting couples, single parents, divorcees, and gays. He encourages priests to greet families with understanding and comfort.
Father Joe Palacios is a university fellow at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at USC. He shared his reaction to the apostolic exhortation with Take Two.
What did Pope Francis say today?
“He basically opened up a pastoral approach to marriage and family life around the world. He provided a context for the various social, economic, political challenges that the families [are] facing in the world today, and he provided a very broad pastoral approach that addresses both individuals, couples, families [and] public policy issues regarding the family. I think this is a very strong turn away from a more legalistic or canonical approach to marriage and family life [opening] up a very broad and pastoral approach, especially in the formation of conscience and how people make decisions about [the] most intimate parts of their life.”
Equally important to note is what the Pope didn’t say. For one, he did not relax the church's stance on same-sex marriage, saying they are not equivalent to heterosexual unions. Did this surprise you?
“No, it didn’t because I think the challenge of the church in the modern world is facing the new empirical evidence regarding sexuality, sexual orientation, gender identity, and the new forms of partnership in marriage that have been evolving in society. As long as the church is still very beholden to a natural law of anthropology — which is imbedded in the laws of the church — it’s going to continue to approach [the subject of marriage like this].”
Pope Francis is from Argentina. The ones that preceded him were Europeans. Do you think his experiences in South America influenced this shift to accept — what he calls — "irregular" lifestyles such as unmarried couples living together?
“Argentina has gone through the most social changes in Latin America. Their economy has been up and down. The effect of the economy on family life and just the stability of communities has been tremendous. And so I think he’s bringing that vast experience into the papacy.”
Press the blue play button above to hear the full interview.
Bernie Sanders closing the gap on Hillary Clinton in California, field poll shows
The political landscape in California is heating up.
On Thursday, we brought you the results of the latest field poll, showing that, among Republicans voters, Donald Trump has a 7-point lead over Senator Cruz.
Today, the pollsters have released data on how the Golden State's Democrats are feeling about their candidates.
Hillary Clinton is ahead of Bernie Sanders — no surprise there.
But Sanders has significantly closed the gap, especially among younger voters.
For more we welcome back Mark DeCamillo, director of The Field Poll.
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.
This post has been updated.
DCFS director responds to child abuse charges against social workers
About three years ago, an 8-year-old boy, Gabriel Fernandez, was found in his home in Palmdale, California.
His skull was cracked, three ribs were broken, he had BB pellets embedded in his lung and groin. Two days later, Fernandez died.
The boy's mother and her boyfriend were charged with murder in his death.
Then, yesterday, additional allegations— four L.A. County social workers were charged with felony child abuse and falsifying public records in connection with the case.
Philip Browning, Director of the Department of Children and Family Services, joined Take Two to discuss the charges.
"One of the things I'm asking staff to do is to look at each case individually. Our primary goal... is safety of the child. So if our workers have a reason to believe that safety is at issue, then they need to take the proper precautions, which include going to the court and getting a warrant to allow removal. But I don't want our workers to change the way they're doing business so that they take every child out of the home. Because that's not what we really need to do."
To hear the full interview, click the link above.
Padma Lakshmi and her new memoir: Love, Loss, and What We Ate
Model and reality TV personality Padma Lakshmi is best known for hosting the popular cooking series, Top Chef.
But fans of the show will be happy to know that she has a new item on the menu - her new book.
Love, Loss, and What We Ate: A Memoir, is a cookbook, but also a look into some really personal issues - her love life, the father of her child and a painful, near life-long battle with endometriosis.
Bomani Jones' T-shirt highlights the intersection of fashion and protest
For some time now, there's been plenty of concern about sports teams with offensive names and mascots: the Washington Redskins, the Atlanta Braves, the Cleveland Indians.
ESPN journalist Bomani Jones filled in on Thursday as host on his network's Mike and Mike show. He was sporting a T-shirt that looked much like a Cleveland Indians shirt, but instead of the word "Indians," it said "Caucasians." And instead of red-faced mascot Chief Wahoo with a feather poking up from his head, there was a white dude with a dollar sign in lieu of the feather.
.@bomani_jones href="https://twitter.com/bomani_jones">@bomani_jones
Some viewers were not too happy about the shirt. But Jones says hey, if you are offended by this shirt, you must be offended by the Indians' logo, too. And if not, you're hypocritical.
It's just the latest example in a long tradition of using fashion to make a social or political point.
Kim Jenkins is a visiting assistant professor for the department of fashion at Pratt Institute in New York. She joined the show to tell more about the intersection of fashion and protest.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
Female skater Cindy Whitehead to be inducted into Skateboarding Hall of Fame
Each year the world's best skaters are inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame in Simi Valley, California.
Among those who will join the ranks this year is Cindy Whitehead. She was one of the first young women on L.A.'s skate scene in the 1970s.
She's skated pools. She's skated on the 405 Freeway. She even skated inside KPCC's newsroom on Friday.
And now, she will be inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame in May.
Cindy Whitehead joined host Alex Cohen to talk more about the honor.
Interview Highlights
On her reaction to being chosen for the Skateboarding Hall of Fame:
"I found out last Saturday. I literally got off a plane and I got a phone call saying, 'You've been inducted.' It was really exciting, and it was from one of my fellow nominees, and it was really nice to get that phone call and have a very supportive female call me and do that."
On the very first time she ever picked up a skateboard:
"The very first time I was 8 years old in my driveway on a Black Knight skateboard. And then I didn't really pick it up again until I was 14 1/2, and it was my brother, in Hermosa Beach, California, and it was just all my friends supporting me and skating."
How California's drought of the 1970s fueled the rise of pool skating:
"We had a drought, people were draining pools, and people were skating. People like Greg Weaver were carving tile below the pool light, and we thought that was amazing. We couldn't believe people could do that. That's how it all started for vert."
On the state of young women in skating today:
"There's so many girls skating. We promote them daily on our Instagram, and I can't even keep up with how many girls are skating. But, what we do need more is more media coverage so that the public knows that these girls are out there, and that they're ripping. They're amazing."
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
Look inside the first dog cafe in Los Angeles
Hankering for a ca-pooch-ino? You lucky dog: Los Angeles's first dog cafe is now open in Silver Lake. Called simply the Dog Cafe, owner Sarah Wolfgang originally started it as a pop-up in downtown L.A., but now it has a permanent home at its own storefront.
The way it works: a $10 entrance fee gets you into a room to play with dogs for 55 minutes, as well as a beverage from the attached cafe next door.
The dogs come from the South L.A. Animal Shelter and are also adoptable, with the proceeds going to cover the medical costs of the pups. Wolfgang describes the cafe format as a way to revolutionize how people come to meet and adopt dogs.
"A lot of times, the only way people can go through dog adoption is to go to a shelter," she says, "and dogs don't have the opportunity to show adopters their true selves."
The dog cafe's environment is designed so that dogs and people can meet in a relaxed and playful setting.