Should the personal finances of presidential candidates matter to voters? The Latino influence in Iowa's early caucuses, game companies turn attention to e-sports.
What personal finances tell us about presidential candidates
Presidential candidate and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is carrying more than $20,000 worth of credit card debt with some high interest rates. He's also got more than $100,000 in student loan debts on behalf of his children.
That's according to financial disclosures analyzed by National Journal.
This follows earlier reports about Sen. Marco Rubio's troubled personal finances. Both generated headlines that could be described as debt-shaming, but what do these disclosures tell voters about potential candidates?
Eric Sussman, who teaches accounting and finance at UCLA's Anderson School of Management, weighed in
"They have been quite vocal about the level of government debt and irresponsible spending, so maybe it's a little bit of 'do as I say and not as I do," he said.
Why Latinos could make an impact in the Iowa caucus
Iowa is home to the early caucus that often determines who will stay and who will go in the ongoing Presidential races. In recent election cycles, Latinos have not been much of a factor in Iowa, but that may be set to change.
For more, we're joined by Matt Vasilogrambros, reporter at National Journal.
Impatient: Should you use price comparison tools when shopping for medical procedures?
Shopping for a hotel reservation is easy these days because you can just hop on the computer, do a price check, make sure there aren't any reports of bedbugs, and you're good to go.
Some sites, like Priceline, even let you do the online version of haggling: name the price you're willing to pay and the site matches you with a hotel willing to accept your bid. And now some entrepreneurs are now trying to mold this approach to the field of health care, where it's notoriously difficult to shop around.
Southern California Public Radio's Rebecca Plevin has been looking into the pros and cons of these types of tools and she joins Tess Vigeland in studio to talk about them. She joins the show every week for our regular consumer health segment "Impatient."
For a full breakdown click on the audio embedded at the top of the post, or check out Rebecca's blog.
Sports roundup: Second chance for Ray Rice? Tom Brady and deflategate, Ronda Rousey
NFL training camps are open to prep for the upcoming season, will Ray Rice find a team that will sign him after his domestic abuse scandal? Tom Brady denies involvement under oath a role in deflating footballs. And a Ronda Rousey movie is coming, starring the MMA champ.
look at this week in the world of sports.
Video game makers catch on that e-sports can be great marketing
Kids of the 80s might remember the film, "The Wizard," which was basically a 96-minute commercial for Nintendo. The climax was a video game competition that showcased the new Super Mario Bros 3.
"The Wizard" starred video games. There was a supporting cast of actors, too, I guess.
Almost 30 years later, life is imitating fiction: video game makers are finally coming around to the idea that competitions are great way to market their new titles.
Competitions, or e-sports, have grown faster than Mario eating a Super Mushroom. Prize pools often reach into the millions.
However, game makers rarely paid that much attention to them. But Tuesday, Microsoft announced it will personally invest $1 million in prize money for a competition featuring the upcoming "Halo 5."
Nick Wingfield, tech reporter for the New York Times, explains that appealing to elite players can generate buzz and long-lasting interest in titles.
Some California felons regain voting rights
Under California state law, people in prison, on parole or under community supervision for a felony can't cast a ballot.
But that policy is about to change, thanks to an announcement yesterday from California Secretary of State Alex Padilla.
Los Angeles Times criminal justice reporter Paige St. John joins Take Two to explain.
Civil rights attorney considers newly-announced federal oversight of LA County jails
The US Department of Justice will be stepping in to protect mentally ill inmates in LA County jails.
The decision comes in light of a recent federal government report on the state of mental care in jails. It revealed jail officials often did little to prevent suicides among mentally ill inmates.
The brief says dimly lit, vermin-infested cells along with a lack of oversight led to four suicides in 2012 and ten the year after that.
Civil rights attorney Ron Kaye spoke with Take Two about what the decision will mean for inmates.
Press the play button above to hear more.
KPCC reporter Frank Stoltze has even more here.
'I Build the Tower' tells struggle of Watts Towers creator, community
Next Tuesday marks 50 years since the Watts Riots. Even though it's been a half century, the name Watts is still synonymous with the tumultuous event.
But ask residents, and they'll tell you the South L.A. neighborhood is so much more than the 1965 unrest. It's also known for its arts scene — music, painting, poetry — and the iconic interconnected sculptures that make up the Watts Towers.
The history of the towers and the man who built them — by hand — is documented in a film called "I Build the Towers."
It was produced by Edward Landler and Brad Byer, who is the great nephew of Sam Rodia, the man behind the towers.
Landler sat down with host A Martinez to talk about Rodia and what his work means to the Watts community.
"I Build the Tower" screens at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. The film will be followed by panel discussion. For more information, click here.
When a TV show stops being enjoyable, why do we keep watching?
Maybe the second season of HBO's "True Detective" was doomed to fall short of expectations.
The show's first season wasn't without its critics, but overall the reviews were good, the show got a lot of positive buzz, and the bar for season two was high.
Safe to say, this time around, it hasn't measured up.
The show has become a big target with critics. Take one look at Twitter, and you can feel the hate:
A visual guide to
's season two decline: http://t.co/GCeJ2w8iMl pic.twitter.com/oIhKkfQQnA
— Variety (@Variety)
A visual guide to #TrueDetective's season two decline: http://t.co/GCeJ2w8iMl pic.twitter.com/oIhKkfQQnA
— Variety (@Variety) August 4, 2015
There is of course still some love out there for the show, but there's also a good amount of "hate-watching" and even "hope-watching" going on— that is, when you keep watching a show hoping that that it will get better:
Slowest show ever
. It's like the ex you keep going back to hoping it will change.
— Vicki G. (@kcvickig)
Slowest show ever @TrueDetective. It's like the ex you keep going back to hoping it will change. #truedetective
— Victoria R. (@kcvickig) July 27, 2015
I am
True Detective 2 because I have high hopes for Rachel McAdam's hair improving.
— CPM Yamaguchi (@MimsyYamaguchi)
@KPCC @taketwo I am #hopewatching True Detective 2 because I have high hopes for Rachel McAdam's hair improving.
— Mimsy (@MimsyYamaguchi) August 4, 2015
And it's not just "True Detective"— legions of TV watchers find themselves continuing to follow along even when their shows start to generate an immodest amount of eye-rolling.
Variety columnist and critic Brian Lowry has been mulling over this bizarre behavior, and wrote about it recently. He joined Take Two to talk about the phenomenon.
To hear the full interview with Brian Lowry, click the link above.
'Legions of Boom: Filipino American Mobile DJ Crews in the San Francisco Bay Area'
For years, Take Two regular Oliver Wang, has been researching his new book 'Legions of Boom: Filipino American Mobile DJ Crews in the San Francisco Bay Area.' The influence of these DJ crews on popular music shouldn't be understated, even though most of them were only in high school when they were dropping beats and crossfading their favorite albums.
Oliver joins A Martinez for a discussion about the influence of these groups, why they were largely Filipino and how they churned out some well known musicians, including Mixmaster Mike.