The issue of terror and its impact on the election through the lens of San Bernardino, Selena Quintanilla at Hollywood's Madame Tussauds, saying goodbye to Gene Wilder.
A Nation Engaged: Months after terror, police chief leery of political rhetoric
The U.S. is just weeks away from the next presidential election, and a raft of local contests. As part of the NPR series 'A Nation Engaged', KPCC examines some of the key issues facing the next president of the United States. This week, the focus is on America's place in the world, and how federal policies impact at the local level.
France. Belgium. Bangladesh. Saudi Arabia. Orlando, Florida. All scenes of terror attacks around the globe in the past 12 months. Southern California has also experienced terrorism firsthand.
On December 2, 2015, husband and wife Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik targeted a holiday gathering at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. 14 people were killed. 22 were injured.
San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan was at the helm of the department that day. He and more than 300 officers were among the first to arrive at the Center.
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The November election comes just one month before the one-year anniversary of the attacks. Since the killings, homeland security has taken on a new political timbre, as fears of self-radicalized extremists continue to rise.
Chief Burguan says that, in the days that followed the attack on San Bernardino, he received ample support from federal law enforcement and Congressman Pete Aguilar. When asked about the support he feels that officers have received from the Obama Administration in recent years, however, his tone changes.
"I think that law enforcement, in general, feels that there have been some challenges with the current administration," Burguan says. "We've had some flashpoint incidents that have happened in the last couple of years in this country in police-community relationships that have not been helped by things that have been said in Washington and the current administration — and words are powerful."
In California's 31st congressional district, which encompasses the city of San Bernardino, Democratic incumbent Pete Aguilar and Republican challenger Paul Chabot have made terror policies a cornerstone of their campaigns.
Chabot, a naval veteran, favors a strong-handed approach, as is evident by the bumper stickers offered by his campaign. A tactic that Chief Burguan called, "political silliness."
From #CA31 @DrPaulChabot swag in the house #CAGOP pic.twitter.com/rdJVVlDS1a
— Javier Panzar (@jpanzar) May 1, 2016
Congressional hopeful Chabot says the stickers make a statement.
"There is no silliness about terrorism in this country," Chabot says. "It is a direct symbol that this country is unable to protect the American people, so we've got to arm our local police to give them the military tactics and training and equipment that my opponent has fought to take away from them," he says.
Congressman Aguilar, who was unavailable for comment, directed Take Two to his past writings on the subject.
Take Two's A Martinez continues the conversation with Brian Michael Jenkins, senior adviser to the president of the RAND Corporation, with his take on how America's counterterrorism policies play out at the local level.
Series: A Nation Engaged
NPR and KPCC's coverage of critical issues facing the nation before November's presidential election. The stories seek to build a nationwide conversation around these issues, focusing on a specific question each time.
Read more in this series and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or on Facebook.
Don’t panic: 5 things to do when your kid points at someone who is different
For a young child, a new experience often elicits a strong audible response, but what happens when that experience is seeing someone who is different for the first time?
Picture a day out at an amusement park. Your kid sees someone in a wheelchair or another child with Down’s Syndrome. It prompts stares, pointing, and questions.
This can be embarrassing for the parent and hurtful to the person being pointed at, so how should you respond as a parent?
This week on the Brood - Take Two's weekly parenting segment - we look at how to talk with kids about differences.
Take Two’s Alex Cohen spoke with adolescent therapist and social worker, Katie Hurley. She's author of "The Happy Kid Handbook: How to Raise Joyful Children in a Stressful World.”
They were joined by Courtney Westlake. She's author of the new book, "A Different Beautiful: Discovering and Celebrating Beauty in Places You Never Expected." Courtney's book explores her life raising a daughter with physical differences. Her daughter Brenna was born with Harlequin Ichthyosis, a severe genetic skin disorder.
Don’t run away from the situation
Courtney Westlake: Usually, the typical response is that parents get very embarrassed so they tend to just pull their child away and hush them. They just get away from us as fast as they can. What I’ve really noticed is, that doesn’t really help the situation, at least not from my end. I suspect not from their end either because I feel like it teaches those kids that we’re scary because Brenna looks different and they shouldn’t talk to us because we’re uncomfortable.
Engage with the person or family who is different
Courtney Westlake: When we have had parents keep the conversation open and be honest with their child, encouraged their kids to ask Brenna’s name and talk to us, that helps to make an uncomfortable situation better.
Katie Hurley: In the moment when a little kid [points or makes a comment], I always tell parents to just get down on their eye level and say, ‘Hey, I noticed that you are seeing someone who appears different than you. Let’s talk about it, let’s go over and say hi and make a new friend.'
Remember that the person or family is enjoying a day out just like you, so they may not be up for answering lots of questions
Courtney Westlake: I tend to want to educate but there are a lot of days where I do just want to be another family at the park and I don’t want to field one more question because even though it’s your first time seeing my daughter, I have been asked that question every single day. So, you don’t necessarily have to approach everyone but you can still leave that conversation open so that you’re not running away but you answer your child and you leave it open for me if I want to explain or I can just say ‘Hi, how are you? This is Brenna. She loves Minnie Mouse and the swings, just like you.” Then I don’t have to explain, I can just say hi and talk.
I really encourage people just to treat us like anybody else. You wouldn’t go up to anybody and ask how much they paid for their purse. Just because you can see Brenna’s differences, doesn’t mean you have to ask about it. Obviously a lot of little kids do, but it’s not my obligation to educate about it. I like to, but I would rather you just treat us like any other kid at the park.
Katie Hurley: I always say to parents with kids on the other end, it’s not your job to educate every single person you encounter. It's perfectly acceptable to just say, 'Hey, let’s go play together.'
Talk to your kid about differences at home
Katie Hurley: Elementary school children are starting to make connections. ‘Is this something that could happen to me? Is this something that makes it hard for this person to talk or walk, or does this person also like to play soccer?’ They’re trying to figure out, how does this difference that they are seeing with their eyes change the person. With older kids we are really working on empathy and sensitivity and also just, pointing out similarities. For Courtney’s daughter, it's saying, ‘Yes she has this skin disorder, but really loves to do puzzles, she’s really into Shopkins, and she likes to do all the same things as you.’
I always think it's good to talk to your kids about this stuff before it even happens because they’re going to encounter different people in the world. That’s part of social skills development and that begins at home. Teaching kids, ‘what does it feel like if someone points at you?’
The more parents can talk about the fact that everybody is an individual, everybody is unique, everybody looks different, we all bring different strengths to the table. Talking about that a lot with kids, like every day, really helps send the message, let’s embrace differences. When you teach kids to embrace differences, then they learn not to do the pointing and staring.
Be aware of your own reaction
Katie Hurley: It’s really important for parents to examine their own responses. Not necessarily in the moment but just in general. A lot of parents do feel anxious and uncomfortable. Part of the problem is that because we’re adults, we do have empathy. We might see a child and say, oh my gosh, that’s so sad, that must be so hard. But that mom probably isn’t feeling like that. We presume that people are having this uphill battle and that they’re feeling sad all the time. Really, that child is just wanting to have a day at the park.
When we respond in an anxious or uncomfortable way, we show that to our kids and our kids internalize that. Then, they even stop asking questions or they just look away. They learn to avert their gaze and walk away, and that’s not fair either.
The wonderful thing about kids is that they come into every day with a blank slate. They see another kid and they just want to play.
Tuesday Reviewsday: Frank Ocean, Vince Staples and Noname
Each week one of our experts joins us to talk about what's new in music on Tuesday Reviewsday. This week Oliver Wang from Soul-Sides.com and A Martinez talk about Frank Ocean, Vince Staples and Noname
Artist: Frank Ocean
Songs: "Pink + White" and "Nights"
Album: Blonde
"Blonde" is the long awaited sophomore album from Frank Ocean, released a day after his “visual album” Endless.
It’s been described as “formless” and “lacking in songs,” but even if the album feels fragmented, those shards are compelling on their own. It's loose, melancholy, disillusioned.
Artist: Vince Staples
Song: "War Ready"
Album: Prima Donna EP
North Long Beach’s finest dropped an EP that I fear may get overshadowed with all the focus on Frank.
But for fans of Staples’s incredible debut from last summer, "Summertime ’06," this is the perfect snack-sized EP to stave you off until his next album. Production by James Blake on this track. It's terse, propulsive, dark.
Artist: Noname
Songs: "Bye Bye Baby" and "Shadow Man"
Album: Telefone EP
Noname is a Chicago rapper and poet who first came to light alongside Chance the Rapper. She has a very conversational, stream of conscious style that’s similar to Chance’s, but also reminds me of Project Blowed MCs like Abstract Rude and Figures of Speech.
The production on the EP is great, too. Many of the melodies seem built from children’s instruments or weird harp settings on synthesizers. Cam Obi and Phoenix produced both songs. It's bright, playful, melodic.
One of the world's foremost medical research institutions is being sued for gender bias
For more than a century, the National Institute of Health has been one of the world's foremost institutes on medical research.
Studies at the NIH have led to the development of the MRI, an understanding of how viruses can cause cancer ... even a treatment for multiple sclerosis.
That last advance was made by neuro-immunologist, Bibiana Bielekova.
Recently, Dr. Bielekova filed an Equal Employment Opportunity complaint against the NIH - claiming gender bias.
She joins Take Tow to explain her concerns about the Institute and how gender disparity might influence our understanding of human health.
To hear the full conversation, click the blue player above
What do Central Valley voters want to hear from Donald Trump?
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is back in California this week.
This afternoon he'll be in Tulare County for a fundraising luncheon at an undisclosed location.
Jeff Cummins, Professor of Political Science at Fresno State University, joined Take Two for a conversation about the issues that matter to Central Valley voters.
To hear the full interview, click the blue player above.
California wealth makes for top fundraising stop for both Trump, Clinton
For almost 30 years, California has been a reliably Democratic state, but when it comes to campaign fundraising, the state is ripe for both parties.
California provides the biggest share of funds to the Clinton campaign of any state at about 23 percent of her total, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. For Trump, California is matched by Texas as a lead contributor, though the totals are much lower.
For more on how the candidates are tapping California for cash this election, we're joined by Matt Artz, reporter at the San Jose Mercury News.
'He never was from this place': 'Wonka' writer remembers Gene Wilder
Gene Wilder died on Monday of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 83.
Wilder was known for his comedic work in films such as "The Producers," "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein."
But perhaps his most memorable role was the wonderfully bizarre candy magnate he played in the film "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."
David Seltzer wrote the screenplay for the film. He joined host Alex Cohen to remember Wilder.
Interview Highlights
Why Gene Wilder was cast as Willy Wonka:
"Well, I was actually brought aboard a bit late, Gene had already been cast. But I heard all the stories about how many people wanted to do it, how many people didn't want to do it, they wanted a dancer, they wanted a comedian. Gene came in and said, 'I'm really none of those things. I'd do it, but I'm not it. I'm not really a comedian, I don't give punch lines. I'm a reactor, I'm a funny reactor, so whoever writes that has got to understand.' ...I can only repeat a story, I wasn't there. He came in and saw Mel (Stuart, the director). Gene had read the book, and at that time there actually was a piece of a screenplay written by Roald Dahl, who never finished it... But Gene, he came in and said to Mel, 'Look, I'll do this part if it's written in a way that no one knows what I'm thinking, and no one really knows if I'm nice, or evil, or sane, or insane.' So he picked up something that wasn't even in the book. When we finally got together on the set, we were already shooting the musical numbers and didn't have a script, Gene told me what he wanted and I said, 'Gene, I'm confused.' He said, 'Good! Stay confused. Stay confused. Write it that way.'"
What Gene Wilder was like when the cameras stopped rolling:
"I'm sure everybody will describe Gene as being unlike anybody they ever met before. He was the most open, warm, generous, delightful person. He had a smile that I described as warmed the back of my knees. He could just, just thrill you with his openness and generosity and curiousness, and the way he would listen, and the way he would advise. You know, somebody asked me how it felt for people who had been calling in the last few days what it was like to not have Gene on the planet, and I said, 'Well, he never was from this place. We visited him. He was from some place better.'"
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
Nearly 10,000 fans asked Madame Tussauds for a Selena figure, they finally got their wish
Twenty-one years ago today, Selena's album "Dreaming of You" came out. At the time, the release was bittersweet-- the Tejano singer/songwriter and fashion icon didn't live to see her crossover album hit the airwaves. She was shot dead by a friend who was also a former employee just months before.
Since then, the Queen of Tejano music has reached near-mythical status-- her titular biopic launched the career of a young woman named Jennifer Lopez. Now, Madame Tussauds created a wax figure of the Grammy award-winning Selena.
The model will be on display alongside other icons such as Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe, and Audrey Hepburn.
It's being revealed today, and fans were already lined up at 9am for the evening event. "Madame Tussauds has turned Hollywood Blvd into a Selena block party!" exclaimed Selena superfan Roger Gomez, who coordinates a Selena tribute at Plaza de la Raza every year.
The clamor over having Selena immortalized in wax form started with a change.org peition that garnered nearly 10,000 supporters online.
"We have always listened to our visitors to figure out who to create," Colin Thomas told Take Two, "The difference with this one was the incredible outpouring of support of people who hadn't necessarily visited us before." Thomas said that of all the figures he's been involved with, this one was the most emotional. "When we're working with someone who's no longer living, we have to rely on family, friends, any research material we can get our hands on. We worked closely with her family to make sure we really captured her personality."
That personality is why, at 9am, the crowd hoping to get in had already reached 300, the max allowed in for the 6pm event. "There even was a woman camped out here last night when I left work," he remarked. "I've literally never seen anything like it."