With Larry Wilmore gone, who will speak humor into the nation’s racial divide? A look at how we talk to kids about grief, and one of LA's restaurants wins a big national honor.
Trump's call for 'extreme vetting' of immigrants departs from past tests
Republican nominee Donald Trump's call for "extreme vetting" of immigrants as a way to guard against terrorism in the U.S. has a long history and hints at broad promises and potential risks.
A screening test for potential immigrants goes back decades to when the U.S. sought to exclude people associated with anarchism or communism, said Hiroshi Motomura, professor of law at the University of California, Los Angeles and author of Immigration Outside the Law.
"It intensified during the Cold War, but it's been on the books on American immigration law really for over a century," said Motomura.
But there's an important difference to Trump's proposal, said Motomora, one that could lead to "unintended consequences."
"The difficulty is once you go beyond these organizational affiliations and past acts that people have committed, then you're really trying to read the minds of people as to what they may want to do in the future and that leads to a lot of questions as to exactly how that would be implemented," he said.
It could also lead to the immigration system being vulnerable to prejudices, as local officials wield greater power in an effort to define broad terms, such as "values" and "respect," to determine which candidates to accept or reject.
"You're sitting as the Secretary of State in Washington, D.C, and you don't really know what's going on," said Motomura. "Ultimately, it means these decisions are likely to be made on these subjective prejudices."
Speaking in Youngstown, Ohio yesterday, Trump said that his system would "only admit into this country those who share our values and respect our people."
Of race and comedy: Who will fill Larry Wilmore's void?
Comedy Central announced Monday that comedian Larry Wilmore's "The Nightly Show" will air its final episode Thursday.
The reason given by the network: Wilmore hasn’t resonated with viewers.
Wilmore carried his proclivity for stinging racial commentary with him from the Daily Show when he was tapped to take over for Stephen Colbert early last year.
The end of his show leaves just one comedian of color in the cable lineup: Trevor Noah, whose ratings flounder.
With Larry Wilmore gone, who will speak humor into the nation’s racial divide?
Take Two posed that question to two guests:
- Eric Deggans, TV critic for NPR
- Robert Townsend, actor, comedian, film director
Press the blue play button above to hear the full interview.
The Brood: How to talk with kids about death and grief
Conversations about death and dying are never easy. Add kids into the mix, and it can get a little more complicated.
Questions like "Mom, what does dying mean?" or "Dad, when am I going to die? When are you going to die?" can catch parents off guard.
Debbie Weisberg, a licensed marriage and family therapist and Clinical Coordinator of Children's Programs at Our House Grief Support Center in Los Angeles, offered some advice for parents.
Interview highlights:
How to be honest without instilling fear
Children are very, very resilient and they can handle a lot more than we think they can. So we explain death and dying in very concrete, plain, simple language. One definition that we use for very young children is we say, "Death is when a person's body stops working and they no longer can hear or feel or breathe or touch, but the part of them that you love remains in their heart forever." We also explain that when somebody dies, they no longer feel pain. And that's a very simple, direct way of explaining death and dying to children. Being honest is the most essential component. Being open and honest is what helps kids begin the path to hope and healing.
The five "goals" of mourning
The first is to help understand what death means and what happened in someone's family. The second goal is to help the child process all the feelings around death-- so that's talking about fear and sadness and confusion and guilt. The third is trying to help kids get their needs met in the absence of the person who died. The fourth is to help kids maintain the connection with that person and to hold on to the memories. The fifth goal is to teach kids coping skills-- that's how to breathe and how to talk about feelings of sadness.
How kids who are grieving can help each other
Bringing kids together to talk about their grief can be essential to the healing process. It helps them feel understood and heard and no longer isolated. They can ask advice of each other. In our support groups, there are kids who may be six months ahead of what a new griever is experiencing and it's really wonderful for them to be able to ask advice of one another. Things like "What did you do on the first anniversary? What did you do when the holidays came around? What did you do on Father's Day?" That kind of support can be really helpful.
To hear the full interview, click the blue player above.
A 'magic' summer camp for kids facing cancer at home
To a passing observer, Camp Kesem seems like a typical sleepaway camp. There’s swimming, arts and crafts, canoeing and tons of other fun-filled activities.
But the secret to what sets this camp apart from others can be found in its name: ‘Kesem’, which is Hebrew for magic. It’s Camp Kesem’s mission to create magic for kids whose families have been touched by cancer.
It started at Stanford University in 2000, and it has continued to grow, spreading to 80 chapters in 38 states. The camp, which has a chapter in Los Angeles, is completely run by college students and free of charge to its campers.
The Camp Kesem chapter at USC is entering its fifth year and it's one of seven universities in Southern California that offer the summer camp. One of the counselors at this year’s Camp Kesem USC is Claire Witzke. She was a camper from 2007-2012. In 2014, she returned as a counselor.
Claire shared her story with Take Two.
Joining the magic
Claire’s father was diagnosed with colon cancer when she was in third grade. “Then it went away, and then it came back. Then it went away and then it came back again, and that final time he passed away.” Claire was in sixth grade.
“And then this other guy in my sixth-grade class, he said ‘Has your mom told you about the camp yet?’ I went home and asked my mom, ‘What’s this camp? What’s going on?’ and she told me it was a camp for kids whose parents have cancer and that I was signed up to go that summer.”
When Claire arrived at camp she was taken aback. “Everyone seemed like they cared more about each other than cancer,” she said. “It was still very hard for me, the first two maybe like, two years of Camp Kesem...I really did love it but it was so hard for me to make friends because I was still so angry and confused and I didn’t know how to open up yet.”
While it was hard for Claire to adjust, one of the things that made it easier were the counselors: college students who volunteer their time to the camp and its mission. "It was really nice to see all the counselors pay so much attention to us and really care, what we were feeling and even though they weren't in the same situation...they just wanted to be there for us and they just wanted to see us happy and just have a time where we can just be kids," she said. "And the fact that we were all going through that, all of our parents had cancer, it didn't matter as much. Outside of camp that was the only thing that mattered, it was what defined us... "
Paying it forward
Camp Kesem not only helped Claire feel like a regular kid again—it also gave her a space to be emotional. "One of my counselors, he had a brother that passed away and he was just this huge guy, very very huge track star. And he just got up and he cried about it and that was honestly...very eye opening because I was able to cry about it then."
The Stanford counselor's example left an impression on Claire so when she became a counselor herself, she was ready to pay it forward. "I knew that, well, now it's my time to be that huge Stanford track star guy. Get up there and show that it's okay to cry and it's okay to be emotional and tell people about cancer. And it's okay to tell people if you're sad or what you need."
During Claire's first week as a Camp Kesem counselor, she was hit with some devastating news, "My mom was diagnosed with leukemia and so I was stuck in this same rut of 'why did this happen to me? I can't believe this happened again.' I was so glad that I had that new Camp Kesem USC family, that I could talk to them about it and they knew exactly what to say and how to comfort me and how to be there for me a lot more than my other friends at USC...
"So, I had my campers and the counselors at the Camp Kesem Stanford when I was grieving my dad's passing and going through that and now I had this new Camp Kesem USC family for not only my mom and what she went through with leukemia but...what else might come."
Claire just finished up her third summer as a counselor and she plans to continue spreading the Camp Kesem mission. Her mother is in remission.
For more information on Camp Kesem, click here.
To hear the full segment, click the blue button above.
Trump's name will appear twice on California ballot
When Californians cast their ballot for president this November, they will see one name listed under two different political parties: Donald J. Trump.
Trump is already the Republican Party's nominee for president, but he's also now officially the pick of the American Independent Party (AIP) – a far-right party, not a party for independents as the name suggests.
The L.A. Times' John Myers explains to Take Two that it's legal for Trump to be on the California ballot in this way, even if he's not a member of the AIP.
The challenges of getting young black swimmers in the water
Olympic swimmer Simone Manuel won four medals at the Olympics in Rio this summer. She is young, inspiring, and she may even be part of a new generation of young black swimmers.
According to research from the USA Swimming Foundation and University of Memphis, 70 percent of African American children cannot swim.
Tankeeya Butts is the executive director of the Ohio-based non-profit The Josh Project. She joined Take Two to talk about the organization and inspiring more young black swimmers.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
LA restaurant makes list of America's top 10 best new restaurants
The magazine Bon Appetit just released its list of the year's 10 best new restaurants in the country.
One Los Angeles restaurant made the cut, and it's located in a Hollywood strip mall. How LA is that?
The restaurant is Baroo, and the cuisine is a very labor-intensive and flavorful blend of Korean food, rice bowls and pasta and other treats. With dishes priced at $15 and under, the menu items are affordable considering how elevated the cuisine is, said Julia Kramer, Bon Appetit senior editor.
One menu item received a special honor—Baroo's kimchi fried rice was named Bon Appetit's best dish of the year. The magazine requested the recipe from chef Kwang Uh, and a simplified version is on their website (the original was seven pages long, Kramer said).
Libby Denkmann spoke to Julia Kramer, Bon Appetit senior editor, who developed the list.
Click the blue audio player above to hear the full interview.
Tuesday Reviewsday: Quiero Creedence, Rio Roma, Justin Quiles and Gaby Moreno
If you don't have the time to keep up with the latest in new music, we've got the perfect solution for you: Tuesday Reviewsday.
Every week our music experts come in to talk about the best new tunes in one short segment. This week, Billboard's
and music journalist
join the show to talk about their picks for the week.
Leila's picks
Quiero Credence is a set of 14 classic Creedence Clearwater Revival tracks, performed mostly by alternative Latin bands.
Surprising, you say? Turns out the largest concentration of Creedence’s Facebook fans anywhere is in Mexico City.
The arrangements here are sometimes surprising and they highlight how big an influence American rock continues to have throughout Latin America. John Fogerty should be proud.
In this selection, singer Juan Gabriel sings "Have You Ever Seen the Rain":
And Los Lonely Boys doing "Born on the Bayou":
Latin musicians are increasingly willing to go out on a limb with fusions. A great example is Rio Roma, a Mexican sibling duet best known for romantic ballads and Mexican songs. They’ve paired up with Colombian pop act Fonseca for their song, "Caminar de Tu Mano."
Justino's picks
Gaby Moreno (Illusion)
Gaby writes four songs herself and the rest are co-written, mostly on the music because she does the majority of the lyrics.
On "Se Apago/Love Is Gone," Gabe Roth, band leader and bassist for Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, produces.
Other guests include James King on horns from Fitz and The Tantrums and Saunn & Starr, a vocal group who sing back up to Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings.
Justin Quiles (La Promesa)
La Promesa debuted No. 1 on iTunes among all Latin albums and No. 1 on Spotify Latin Urban. The album was recently No. 1 in sales among the Latin Rhythm Albums on Billboard and No. 2 in sales in the Top Latin Albums charts.