Today, Take Two looks at recruiting jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria in the context of the death of American journalist James Foley. Also, we look at the racial disparity in Ferguson, Missouri, and actor Alfred Molina stops by to talk about his new film 'Love Is Strange.' All this and much more.
Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria attract foreign recruits
The killing of American journalist James Foley by Islamic militants in Syria this week has sparked widespread outrage. It's also renewed concerns about the jihadi fighters' ability to recruit foreigners, including Europeans and Americans. The killer in the video posted online is a masked, English-speaking man with a British accent.
Colin Clarke, an associate political scientist with the RAND Corporation, explains the recruiting tactics of the group, which calls itself the Islamic State.
How the government carries out hostage rescue missions
The Pentagon made a surprising announcement Wednesday regarding the James Foley case. It acknowledged that U.S. ground troops had attempted, but failed, to rescue several American hostages, including Foley, earlier this summer in Syria.
The statement revealed the mission was not successful because the hostages weren't present at the targeted location. Chris Voss, a former FBI hostage negotiator and found of Black Swan Group, which consults businesses on negotiation tactics, explains more on when and why the U.S. government will intervene in a hostage situation.
Below, read some highlights from the interview:
On whether he approves of the Obama administration revealing to the public that the Foley rescue mission had failed:
I was heartened to hear that they made the attempt. It’s not like the terrorists don’t know that the rescue attempt was made and who made it. So the terrorists are aware that the U.S. is going to come out and if we get the opportunity, that special forces are going to land close by. … I don’t think that by stating publicly that we revealed anything to the bad guys. I was actually happy to see that the Obama administration had decided to make that move.
On why kidnappings in Syria presents different circumstances than those in more stable countries:
The governments are are always open to rescuing hostages. In a place like Syria, which is actually a war zone, it’s a little less complicated compared to if someone is kidnapped in a country where there is a functioning government that everyone recognizes the legitimacy of. Then there are diplomatic problems then. But western European governments are always keeping an eye out to do a rescue.
On the frequency of these types of operations:
It’s one in a thousand. It would have to be a palace where they can cleanly perform a rescue, and that is unfortunately rare.
On which parts of the government are responsible for rescuing international kidnapping victims:
That is an ongoing bone of contention among the different agencies. They try to coordinate that with the National Security Council, but there are overlapping jurisdictions in terms of assigned responsibilities and legal responsibilities. But principally is a combination of the department of defense, the department of state and the FBI (as part of the department of justice).
On what factors the government considers before staging a rescue attempt:
The rescue is principally in the domain of the department of defense. They have to consider whether they can get out. A rescue operation is very much like kicking over a hornet’s nest; it might be easy to get in, but it might be very difficult to get out. In fact, they have to consider how the person [became a hostage] in the first place. If someone had no business being in a country, then the American government is not willing to put as much on the line for them. In the case of a journalist, clearly the United States views that as a legitimate mission.
The racial disparity in Ferguson
Following the shooting of 18-year old Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, much has been made about racial disparity in this part of the United States. Ferguson is more than two-thirds African American, but the police department is largely white.
The same goes for the city council, where only one of the six members is black.
Seth Masket is a professor of political science at the University of Denver, and he studied racial disparity in local government. Host A Martinez talked to him about it.
St. Louis hip-hop station becomes an outlet for locals to speak about Ferguson
Throughout the events in Ferguson, many residents have been tuning in to two local radio stations in the St. Louis area — WFUN and WHHL — which serve primarily African American audiences. And while usually they play hip hop and R&B music, they've changed up their format recently. In the wake of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, the station made the choice to stop the music and open up their phone lines so that listeners could talk about what was happening in their hometown.
Alex Cohen speaks with Operations Manager Jowcol Dolby, or Boogie D, about what he's been hearing from the community.
Bill could improve Californians' access to health providers
California is considered an Affordable Care Act success story. Recent studies show the number of uninsured people in the state has been reduced by half, but having a health insurance policy doesn't necessarily mean you have timely access to doctors and other providers.
Southern California Public Radio's Stephanie O'Neill reports on proposed legislation which could help fix that problem.
You can read the full story here.
Mark Duplass gives a "multi-faceted" performance in "The One I Love"
The new film "The One I Love" stars Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss as a married couple whose relationship is on the rocks. They go to see a therapist, who suggests the two spend some time together at a vacation property, which has a guest house where some pretty strange things happen.
There are some big twists in the film — twists the filmmakers want to keep secret.
What we can reveal is that Mark Duplass' character is, in Duplass' words, "very multi-faceted." And "The One I Love" is a unique "Twilight Zone-esque" film worth seeing.
Here's the trailer:
Duplass is are so protective about the film's surprises, in fact, that he had to redirect his interview with Take Two. (Listen to the audio clip to hear Alex Cohen's interview with Duplass stop and then start again in a way that didn't spoil the plot.) So what could Duplass talk about?
On why “The One I Love” is a a movie that couldn’t have been made in mainstream Hollywood:
We live in a filmmaking system that tends to reward you for what you've done in the past and tends to ask you to keep doing that again. And so one of the reasons why I make movies the way I do — most of the things I act in are things I create and produce, so I can do the things I want to do. That being said, I think that the things I’m interest in — particularly the themes of relationships and interpersonal dynamics — tend not to be straight comedy or straight drama. [“The One I Love”] is a kind of funny, charming romantic comedy at times, as then it’s a very strange and twisted and almost “Twilight Zone”-like at times, and that allowed me to do lots of different things as an actor.
On whether the film’s protagonists should stay together or split up:
For all of its plot twists and crazy genre-bending, this is a movie about a couple struggling to figure out whether they should stay together or whether they should cut their losses and break up. And that was so exciting to me, to start with a couple that in our opinion was 50/50 — half of us felt, “You know what? They don't have kids they should just get divorced. You should never have to work that hard.” And the other 50 percent was saying, “You know what, man? Just stay in there and work it out and try to find that spark that’s kept you together in the first place.”
On similarities between this and a previous movie, “Safety Not Guaranteed”:
I think subconsciously when I’m making these sorts of relationship movies, I have a desire for them not to turn into another version of a late-70s Woody Allen movie where it’s just a couple on a couch, talking about their feelings. I’m constantly trying to find ways to divert the romantic comedy into different areas so it can stay fresh. In 2008, I did that with “Baghead” by sticking it inside a horror movie. And in “The Puffy Chair,” I stuck it inside a road movie. … For whatever reason, in the last couple of years I’ve been very interested in the fantastic, and I guess the element is magic realism is not a wrong way to describe what’s going on in “The One I Love” but also “Safety Not Guaranteed.” And that is exciting to me, where these sort of insane elements are happening in the atmosphere but the couple is ideally grounded in very real conflicts and scenarios that we deal with at home with our loved ones.
The Wheel Thing, KPCC's new segment on everything auto
Recently the Petersen Automotive Museum released plans for a dramatic new reboot. Renovations are set to begin this October, but few people are privy to what the big plans are.
One of them is auto critic Susan Carpenter. She writes about cars, motorcycles and just about anything else with wheels for the L.A. Register and she talked to us about it for a new segment we're calling The Wheel Thing. Below, read some highlights from the segment.
Why you should go check out the museum now if you haven’t yet:
It's ultimately good news for everybody, but if you really have a hankering to see any of the cars they currently have, I would say go now, before November 1. They're going to be closing down the whole thing, with the exception of the vault in the basement. that's going to stay open and is going to expand to 150 different cars. But [the main museum] is going to close down for a year, maybe a year and a half, while they completely overhaul the place, inside and out.
What kind of changes to expect:
They're going to theme the three floors. They're going flow the traffic so it starts out on the top. It's going to be history of the automobile, with a heavy emphasis on Los Angeles and its role in the development of the car, and how the car became so pivotal here because the city spread out. Then you flow down to the second floor, and it's going to be technology and the future of cars. it's even going to have a live studio populated with real Art Center College of Design students designing cars.
How much it will cost:
A year ago when i first spoke to the chairman of the board, he estmaited the cost would be $40 million. It is now with a pricetag of $125 million. They have scraped together $70 so far, and the board members themselves have contributed $20 million.
When will it reopen?
At the very earliest, December 2015, but more likely early 2016.
Alfred Molina and director Ira Sachs on 'Love Is Strange'
The new film "Love Is Strange" tells the story of older gay couple Ben and George, played by John Lithgow and Alfred Molina. After decades together, the two decide to get married. But when word of that marriage makes it to George's employer, a strict Catholic school, he loses his job.
The couple is forced to sell their New York City apartment and they turn to their family and friends for help. Ben moves in with his nephew and his family, George moves in with neighbors downstairs. It's not an ideal situation for a pair of newlyweds, to say the least.
The film's writer and director, Ira Sachs, says the heart of the story is about love enduring many challenges.
"To me, all of those human issues were really what I was excited to explore," he says. "The political structure was what makes the film contemporary."
Star Alfred Molina adds that his character's sexuality was simply a way to tell the story. "The fact that these two men were gay and in a long term relationship — their sexuality was almost not irrelevant but a circumstance," he says.
San Juan Capistrano residents challenge city's water pricing system
On Wednesday, we told you how some local water agencies have tweaked the rates they charge to encourage customers to save water. But KPCC's Molly Peterson says not every customer is happy about it.
If one group wins its rate battle in court, San Juan Capistrano may have to refund as much as $10 million.
Drought-stricken town struggles to keep the water flowing
As the drought continues, a growing number of cities and towns are taking increasingly dramatic steps to keep the taps flowing. The California Report's Daniel Potter has the story of one small city desperately trying to avoid trucking water in.
State of Affairs: Gov. Jerry Brown agrees to debate, the Ezell Ford shooting and more
It's time for State of Affairs, KPCC's weekly roundup of politics in the Golden State with Southern California Public Radio's Alice Walton and Frank Stoltze.
So much for political reform this year: A ballot measure to tighten the reigns on California legislators passed the Senate but failed in the Assembly this week. Maybe that's no surprise — the Senate saw three of its members indicted over the past year. What was the reform? What does its defeat mean for honest government? Would these reforms have made any difference?
Governor Jerry Brown this week agreed to just one debate with his Republican opponent, Neel Kashkari. What's happening with the race for governor?
In Los Angeles, political and police officials are working to keep the lid on a controversial shooting in South L.A. What's happening behind the scenes in the police shooting of Ezell Ford?
The L.A. City Council may actually do something about the miles of crumbling, buckling and broken sidewalks across Los Angeles. The city will spend $27 million this year to fix sidewalks, but officials must still figure out a way to prioritize other sidewalk repairs. This appears to be a daunting task for City Hall.
In the contest to replace legendary West L.A. Congressman Henry Waxman, the Republican candidate has won a distinction that may hinder him in the relatively liberal district. Elan Carr has been named a "young gun" by the National Republican Congressional Committee. What's a young gun, and how will it play with voters?
Why this image is not a thigh bone on Mars
Since the rover Curiosity landed on Mars two years ago, it's taken tons of pictures of the Martian surface, and people have seen all sorts of things in those images that don't really exist.
They include things like faces and aliens. And now you can add a thigh bone to that list, according to the folks over at UFO Blogger.
Check out the images above, provided to us by our guest Emily Lakdawalla, senior editor at The Planetary Society.
She joined A Martinez in studio to talk about what the rocks really are, where Curiosity is headed on Mars and why people see all sorts of things in the Martian landscape that aren't really there.
To hear the interview, click on "Listen Now" above.
Street Art springs from 17th-century texts at Getty show in El Segundo
What do L.A.'s top graffiti artists have in common with a rare, 17th-century text found in the Getty's rare book collection?
As it turns out, plenty. And that's the focus of a current show from the Getty Institute that features new work from graffiti and tattoo artists across Los Angeles. It all comes together at the El Segundo Museum of Art.
"Los Angeles has the best light in the world and the best darkness in the world, and you can see that reflected in the way the artists approach the work," said David Brafman, rare books curator of the Getty Research Institute.
The show draws on the Getty's rare book archives, including a 17th-century manuscript called Liber Amicorum, or Book of Friends, that to Brafman shares a theme with current-day "black books," in which artists collect samples of work or tags from fellow artists.
Graffiti artist Jose Reza, also known as Prime, was tapped to come up with the logo for the Getty's "black book."
A page from the L.A. Liber Amicorum, or Book of Friends, that inspired the show at El Segundo's ESMoA. Photo credit: Getty Research Institute.
"I really wanted to put a new face on L.A., a more classier face, more clean," said Reza, also a noted tattoo artist who hails from the Pico-Union area of Los Angeles.
He said he went through 50-80 versions of the logo in a two-day spurt of creativity, until he settled on the final design.
"It just felt right," he said. "It flowed in just about the right temperature."
The show in El Segundo is an effort to bring that "black book" to a gallery, taking advantage of an 80-foot-by-27-foot space as the primary canvas.
"It's basically a big white rectangle that was covered over by plywood from head to toe for the artists to paint, draw, write," said Brafman. "We want to explode the Getty black book. We want to explode it on the wall."
In just over two weeks, 57 artists converged at the El Segundo space to create the overlapping artwork.
"Graffiti is not only an individual thing," said Gaijin Fujita, an artist from Boyle Heights who worked with a team on a side wall. "It can be collaborative and collective and that's the part that I really enjoyed working on in this show."
What: Experience 11: Scratch – Jun 8 until Sept 21, 2014
Where: 208 Main Street, El Segundo, California, 90245, Phone: 424 277 1020
More info
Is there cool street art in your neighborhood? Share with us on Twitter or Instagram @KPCC using the hashtag #LAstreetart. Geotag the photo so we can map it later.