Examining the psychology of internet trolls, the creator of little versions of buildings from LA's past and John Krasinski talks about moving past 'Jim' and directing 'The Hollars.'
The death of an 11-year-old sparks questions about LA county child welfare system
To begin the show, we take a look at child protection in Los Angeles County. An 11-year-old boy died Monday in Echo Park. His mother, Veronica Aguilar, was charged yesterday with murder and child abuse, resulting in death.
Police say there had been previous reports of abuse in the family. The tragedy has raised fresh questions about LA's systems designed to detect and prevent child abuse.
For more, Southern California Public Radio's Rina Palta joins us to discuss those issues.
Catch us up on the latest in this case - what do we know?
"Well, we know that the boy, Yonatan Aguilar, was found dead in a closet after his step-father reported his death to police. The mother has now been charged with murder as you said, a prosecutor has filed court documents, yesterday afternoon saying that the boy showed signs of abuse and severe malnutrition, when they found him. The siblings, he had older siblings, have been taken into child protective custody. The department of children and family services, our child welfare agency here, won't comment on what contact, if any, the family had with the system but police have said that previous reports of abuse were made."
This is not the first time we've seen a child die in this kind of circumstance. Just a few years ago, Gabriel Fernandez, an 8-year-old boy, was killed by his mother and her boyfriend. And that was after repeated reports were made to authorities that the boy was being abused. What changes have been made since?
"Yeah, that was a really sad case as well. That was up in Palmdale and Gabriel's death actually did spark a lot of outrage in the county and brought massive changes to how they oversee the child welfare protection system in Los Angeles county. You know, there was really an overhaul, the board of supervisors got involved, they created this new office of child protection to basically coordinate all the different agencies, police, mental health, everything that deals with children and the county to see if they could coordinate and try to prevent these tragedies from happening in the future. They hired former child judge Michael Nash to lead the office. He's been a reformer and an advocate for children for a long time and they put together a massive list of changes they wanted to see. So we're starting to see some of those come to fruition now."
And just this year, the social workers involved in that case were prosecuted - what's the situation there?
"That's an incredibly rare move and the DA did decide that this case warranted actual criminal charges. They've charged the social workers involved for allegedly filing false reports and basically child abuse saying that they could've prevented this from happening and they didn't. They've plead not guilty, they have a court date next month coming, and as you probably know, the mother and the boyfriend in that case, have also been charged with homicide, they have a court date in January."
The death of another child does raise questions in my mind - and I imagine in others - about whether they've made any progress....
"I think that's what everyone's asking this week. Have we made any progress since Gabriel Fernandez's death? It's hard to draw conclusions from what's happening from one case like this. You know, DCFS isn't commenting on this case but I'm guessing if they did, they would just point out how rare it is to see a child end up in these circumstances, you know there's tens of thousands of children who come into contact with the child welfare system every year. Deaths are very rare of children, any death is of course too common but they are fairly rare and it's not always children who had contact with the child welfare system."
How rare – do you have any stats on this?
"Well, the last comprehensive report we have on this issue is from 2014. There were 15 homicides of children in LA county by a parent or caregiver, which could mean a babysitter or something. That's pretty consistent over the past few years, but way down from the early 2000's when you used to see way more of these tragedies. There are patterns in these cases, they're much younger children, zero to five is at much higher risk. A lot of the times, parents did have contact with the child welfare system, either as parents or when they were minors themselves. They could've been subjects of abuse, domestic violence is common, substance abuse is common. Since these are fairly rare, it's kind of hard to draw conclusions from these outlier cases and see if they do point to blindspots in the system basically."
Now that the boy's mom has been charged - what's next in a case like this?
She's going to be due for arraignment to plea guilty or not guilty in a couple weeks, but as the court case continues, we'll obviously find out a lot more about what was happening behind the scenes in this house.
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.
Are internet trolls psychopaths? It's more complicated than that
For months now, comedian Leslie Jones has been harassed online with racist and sexist comments- so many, she left Twitter temporarily.
This week, she was hacked. Private information, including her driver's license, passport, and explicit and racist photos were posted online.
This is a very high-profile case of cyberbullying and trolling, but ... what makes a troll a troll?
"The way the term is used these days is sort of a catch-all descriptor of behavior that people deem problematic," says Whitney Phillips, Assistant Professor of Literary Studies and Writing at Mercer University and author of This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture.
She says because the definition is so broad and unwieldy, it can cause problems contextualizing troll-ish behavior. "These days I don't even like using the word troll, I like referring to the behaviors based on what the accomplish. So if it's racist expression, I call it racist expression."
Phillips also says that behavior online that folks perceive as sadistic may be viewed as harmless to the person doing it because that person may not be aware of the wide-ranging implications.
Daniel Jones, professor of Psychology at University of Texas El Paso and expert on so-called "dark" personality traits explains, in real life, an individual expressing troll-ish behavior might be labeled a psychopath. "Engaging in this type of behavior," posits Jones in reference to online harassment of Leslie Jones, "requires a certain level of interpersonal malevolence."
"There's a cluster of personalities we study called the 'dark tetrad.' The personality types that are most likely to engage in this level of interpersonal harm are individuals who are high in levels of psychopathy, Machiavelianism, narcissism, and sub-clinical sadism," he adds. "So the people with these personalities would engage in troll-isn behavior for different reasons."
So, what to do if someone trolls you? "It depends on the nature of the individual and what they're after," says Jones. "There are sometimes when the individual thinks they're engaging in a harmless type of activity, but when you're dealing with somebody who's more sadistic, engaging may lead to a snowball effect."
John Krasinski: 'I didn't want to play anything that seemed like Jim' from 'The Office'
Actor John Krasinski played the role of Jim Halpert for all nine seasons of NBC's "The Office," It's the kind of part that can freeze an actor in people's minds, and not always in a good way.
But Krasinski has been busy since saying goodbye to that popular sitcom. For one, he's got a new film out. It's called "The Hollars" and he produced, directed and stars in it.
The film centers around a dysfunctional family that is forced to come together under tragic circumstances - the protagonist's mother has brain tumor.
Krasinski dropped by earlier to talk to Take Two's A Martinez about the film, life after "The Office" and his signature "face acting."
The role of Jim Halpert and "The Office"
It's been three years since "The Office" bid farewell to its viewers, but the shadow of Jim Halpert continues to follow John Krasinski everywhere. So A Martinez started by asking, was the role a blessing or a curse?
"People ask me that all the time, 'Are you bummed that people see you as Jim Halpert?' and I said, not at all. In fact, it's a huge honor to be honest, I mean what that means is that you let me into your house, you let that show into your house, you cared that much about that character," said Krasinski.
"I think what it is for me, it's totally fine and I understand that. I've always been a realist about my career and I understand that people might see me as that," continued Krasinski, "I just think that as long as they're open to seeing me as other things then we're good, which they have been which has been really nice."
Personal re-branding after 'Jim'
"I didn't rebrand but I definitely made decisions where I got to try new things. I think the only strategy I had was I didn't want to play anything that seemed like Jim. There was interest in me doing things like that. I think strategy can get you in trouble, I think doing what you believe in and what you love is the best way to go and certainly directing this movie was...this is pretty much the first big thing I did since 'The Office'...this was a big transitional phase for me."
Directing "The Hollars"
"The thing that I think is the magic trick of what Jim Strouse, this incredible writer wrote in his script and what we're trying to do in the movie is that some point this family onscreen stops being the family on screen and becomes the projection of your own family," said Krasinski, "I come from a very loving, tight-knit, communicative family, very different from this family and yet when I got done with this script I said 'Oh my God that's my family', there's something in there that I can relate to..."
In addition to loving the script, Krasinski also went on to explain why he thinks movies that center around family stories are necessary:
"You know it's funny, let's be honest, there's a lot of family movies out there and some of them are good, some of them aren't. For me, I had no intention of doing a family movie I had no intention of doing anything derivative and then I read this script by Jim Strouse and I thought, this isn't derivative, this is incredibly well-written. It's the most honest specific take of a family I've seen in a long time, certainly anything that I've read, it's very real. The nuance of it is very interesting and all the small tiny bits of storytelling...I hadn't seen in a script before."
"So I signed on as an actor about six or seven years ago and then four years later the financier at the time as happens with these smaller movies came to me and said, 'I can't get this movie made do you want to buy the script rights off me and you can make it on your own.' And I think I made some joke about, you made the wrong call I'm not George Clooney...thought about it for a second and then decided, I did want to take this on because I do think these movies aren't being made anymore. I think that I grew up loving earnest, sincere movies about family like 'Terms of Endearment'...I hope people go see it because...not as the director or the actor...I hope everybody goes and sees it because I love these types of movies and I don't think they're being made anymore..."
The "Lip Sync Battle" and his signature "face acting"
Some may or may not know, that in addition to acting, directing and producing, John also created the hit show Lip Sync battle. He shared the story of how the show was created:
"Basically what happened was, Jimmy Fallon called, I was going to do his show the next week and that weekend my wife and I were away with our friends...I always had this idea we could like a '8 Mile' type battle but lip sync...so we started trying it out and I was lipsync battling ...my wife in the car and we were laughing hysterically..."
"We got to Jimmy, I did it, Jimmy thought it would be fun and I think the electricity in the room and how much fun we had doing it...Jimmy said 'This could be something big' and so he asked if I wanted to do a show and we took it to Spike and they've really run with this..."
If people don't know him for creating "Lip Sync Battle", they certainly know him for his signature "face acting," which his "Office" character Jim Halpert is known for. A Martinez asked him his method and if there was any practice involved:
"I don't work on it. I think that would be slightly psychopathic if I stood in the mirror and worked on my face acting. I know I'm a sensitive person, I'm a big cryer, I know that I have a lot of emotion that comes up very fast, but I think for me, I think that's a huge compliment, I don't even know what to say..."
Krasinski went on to gush about Denzel Washington's face acting in the movie "Philadelphia", "I'd never be able to do that, he acted so much emotion and so much specificity without doing anything."
A Martinez was encouraging, "I think you could, though."
"If you're asking if I will have a literal face-off with Denzel Washington, don't even get me started, I won't come close," said Krasinski, "He would destroy me, he's Denzel Washington."
Don't sell yourself short, John.
These answers were edited for clarity
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.
The funniest thing this weekend just so happens to have an all Asian roster
The 2nd annual Comedy Comedy Festival kicked off yesterday here in Los Angeles. The three day event is packed with more than 100 performers including Randall Park from 'Fresh Off The Boat' and Youtube's Anna Akana. The lineup is also exclusively made up of performers of Asian descent. So, why not point that out in the festival's name?
"Let's be honest," says comedian and festival founder Jenny Yang "For the most part, comedy festivals or other institutions that are predominantly white, they feel comfortable using universal language to describe their experience so we thought you know what? It's time."
Yang adds, "Remember that movie, 'Boyhood'? It wasn't called, "White Boy from Texas Boyhood." Paras interjects, "There's no need to 'other' us at our own festival."
Visibility of performers of Asian descent is especially critical in this cultural moment, where "yellow face"-- the practice of white actors getting cast as Asian characters, endures despite a rallying cry from the public to increase racial diversity in Hollywood.
"You want an Asian face," provokes Yang, "Look, I have one. It's real." Take Two host Libby Denkmann jocularly asks, "You woke up like that?" Paras jokes, "No CGI. I was born with it. It's crazy."
The Comedy Comedy Festival runs August 25-August 28th at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center.
'It is life-changing:' LA City College receives $10 million for music students
This week, LA City College received an unprecedented gift of $10.1 million.
The donor is Herb Alpert, a music executive, composer, singer, trumpeter, and all-around musician.
And that's who his gift will benefit: future musicians. It will help expand LACC's music department and all of its students will pay no tuition.
A Martinez spoke with Christine Park, chair of the LACC music department, and Moses Audrey, a student studying bass in the program.
For more on this story, click here to read an article by KPCC's arts education reporter Priska Neely.
Click the blue audio player to hear the full interview.
Saving Farrell's: Will reality TV bring the family friendly chain back from the brink?
If you grew up in Los Angeles or Orange County, it's likely you celebrated a birthday at Farrell's.
If you’ve never visited the ice cream shop chain, you could expect 1950’s ice cream parlor nostalgia, decadent hot fudge sundaes, and raucous happy birthday songs with sirens and drums.
Since the 2007 Farrell’s reboot, the chain has been unable to recapture the success of its heyday.
Now, the ice cream shop is in danger of going under. Some locations have closed and the company is nearly two million dollars in debt.
For Farrell’s loyalists, all hope is not lost.
The restaurant chain was featured this week on The Profit - a CNBC reality TV show where host, Marcus Lemonis assesses struggling businesses and determines if he will personally invest to turn them around.
Farrell’s inspired Lemonis to go above and beyond in his investment to try and save it from going out of business forever.
Will Lemonis’ advice and money be enough to rescue Farrell’s and will it offer the same childhood nostalgia when he’s done?
Take Two’s Libby Denkmann spoke with Nancy Luna business reporter at the Orange County Register. She covers food and the restaurant industry.
To hear the full interview, click the blue arrow above.
The Dish: Traditional Japanese green tea meets innovative flavors at Shuhari Matcha Cafe in Venice
This summer on our food series, the Dish, which takes a look at all the great eats in Southern California:
We’ve taken you to Mofongos in North Hollywood, Greenbar Distillery in Downtown LA and Kim Hoa Hue in San Gabriel Valley, just to name a few.
But how about some dessert? Maybe something sweet and cold to help with the heat.
Shuhari Matcha Cafe opened in Venice last month and it offers up some refreshing treats that combine the traditional matcha drink with the innovative flavors of LA.
For more, our producer Lori Galarreta spoke to Green "Tea-e-o", Sam Murata, about the company behind the cafe, their mission, and topped it off with a little sundae demonstration.
The story behind the name
"Our store name Shuhari is Japanese word and concept, that's often found in Japanese martial arts as a stage of learning," explained Murata.
It's apparent that everything in at the Shuhari Matcha cafe is carefully thought out in an effort to carry out the restaurant's mission which is to combine the traditional with the new.
Murata continued by breaking down the name of the cafe, "'Shu' means respect tradition or basics. 'Ha' means break through the boundaries and 'Ri' is a departure or development of revolutionary new things that you have not ever seen."
Combining tradition and modern flavors
The cafe's business model, which combines Japanese green tea traditions with modern life flavors is especially visible in its menu selection.
"In our Shuhari Matcha cafe, we care about Matcha in this traditional way is because we respect the tradition," said Murata, "But at the same time why we offer like a sweetened latte with the kinako and black sugar in it is because...it's tasty and people like it...so that's sort of like a 'Ha' category drink"
Murata continued to list examples off of the menu which creatively combine old and new, "And the Matcha sparklers...Green tea with carbonation? Why not? People here in the states like soda or beers, I do like beers and sodas, so why don't we offer a carbonated tea beverage? That's how we develop Matcha sparklers and that is sort of "Ri" category."
"So, we like to represent the store in our store menus," said Murata, "Apart from beverages, we have desserts and we've come with the recipe with one condition, that is to complement tea, because we're a tea house. Our signature dessert item is a sundae."
A sundae demonstration
Erissa Takeda, cafe staff at Shuhari proceeded to give a step-by-step tutorial of the Matcha Affogato sundae.
For about $8, this sundae includes two scoops of green tea ice cream, one scoop of vanilla ice cream, Adzuki beans (sweet red bean paste), Matcha sauce, cornflakes, Kuromitsu (black sugar), Kinako (ground up soy beans), freeze dried raspberries, and some whipped cream to top it off.
"It has the creamy and the crunch...all the textures you need in a sundae," said Takeda.
"One person could easily finish this but I would share it with someone else. It's pretty big," advised Takeda. So remember, if you get one, be kind and share.
To hear the full segment, click the blue play button above.
Summer concert series: Enjoy your Saturdays 'off the 405' at The Getty museum
This summer, it's been all about exploring opportunities to enjoy music outdoors right here in Southern California.
If you're not jazzing out at LACMA, dancing away at the Autry, taking in a sunset concert at the Skirball, or enjoying some green space at once upon a canyon night, maybe fine art is more your thing.
Over to the Westside, the hilltop perch of the Getty Museum, offers a little something for everyone. The museum is known for its art collection and beautiful gardens, but it also has a summer music series called Saturdays off the 405.
For more, Laurel Kishi, head of public programs at the Getty Museum, spoke to Take Two's Libby Denkmann about the series.
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.
Meet the man who miniaturized LA's formerly iconic landmarks
Many would consider Los Angeles to be a city with an eye on the future. A lot of old landmarks have been demolished or altered to make room for something new.
Some enjoy that change. Others have a greater taste for tradition.
"Los Angeles doesn't appreciate what it has, in my estimation," says Gerald Cox from Glendora. "They're too anxious to tear down the past, and they just build on the same location."
Cox has a big appreciation for L.A. history, especially the old buildings.
"Los Angeles architecture is special," he say
One of his favorites is the old Richfield Oil Company Building, also known as the Richfield Tower. In the mid-20th century the structure was a massive symbol of industry located in Downtown L.A. — it had a black-and-gold paint scheme with a wire frame tower on top.
"It was so iconic," Cox says. "And I remember in '55 the first time I drove through Los Angeles. It was at night. And that was one of the buildings you could see."
In 1968, demolition began on the Richfield building. For Cox, it was like saying good-bye to an old friend.
"I wanted to remember it, and so I started constructing it," he says.
That's right, Cox rebuilt the Richfield tower — as a miniature model. It was the first of roughly 20 miniature models of Los Angeles landmarks he's built over the years. Take Two's A Martinez joined him at his home in Glendale to see a bunch of the models in person.
Building his first building
The Richfield Building is one of the largest models in Cox's home. A roughly 1/8-scale version of the original — including the paint job, the angels around the rim, and the tower — is carefully constructed to a striking resemblance.
"I did not know how to construct the tower," Cox says. "And then I was in a hobby shop up in Pasadena and I saw this plastic ... bridge or something. And I thought I could utilize that."
Cox even went so far as to coat the lettering tower with neon paint to give it a glow. "It lights up if I have a blacklight on it."
Normally, his models are made of wood, plastic and paper. But Cox also goes out of his way to use other materials in unexpected places.
"Finding the materials is like the hunt," he says. "Some of the materials, you never know where you're going to find them."
The goal of miniaturizing the past
Cox says that his goal isn't to create an entire miniature form of Los Angeles. "Someone told me it would take about 20 square miles to do that," he says.
Rather, he just wants Angelenos to take a moment to notice the value of what's around them.
"L.A. has many architectural styles and they're interesting. It's part of our history and I hate to see it just tossed away."
And while he acknowledges the notion to only think in forward terms and that the past is just a distraction, he respectfully disagrees.
"I believe in moving forward, but I don't believe we have to plow up the past," Cox says. "I don't feel that everything should be saved. But I think that we should save things that could be passed on so that younger generations can see what it was like in the past.
Cox is also the subject of a new mini-documentary by filmmaker Matthew Arnold-Ladensack . It's entitled "
".
To hear the full conversation, click the blue player above.