Colombian president Juan Miguel Santos visits the White House; Cyber Monday sales break records; 'Junkyard Planet' traces our trash's epic journey around the world; The battle of the Hollywood trade mags; Tuesday Reviewsday: Khari Mateen, Solange Knowles, and more
'Junkyard Planet' traces our trash's epic journey around the world
When you drop a piece of paper or a used plastic bottle into that recycle bin, where does it actually go? The answer: It depends.
Our trash, whether it's an old car, Christmas lights or newspaper, may travel the world before it becomes something new.
Author Adam Minter knows this all too well. Growing up, his family owned a scrap yard in Minneapolis. He's taken the lesson he learned there into his journalism work, and in his latest book, "Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion Dollar Trash Trade."
Record-breaking sales numbers click in during Cyber Monday
Feeling a little hungover today, America? Well it could have been that shopping binge you went on yesterday.
Cyber Monday — as we're wont to call it — broke all time records, becoming the biggest online shopping day in history. Online sales were up 21 percent from 2012 according to IBM reports, and mobile traffic accounted for about 1 in 3 of those visits.
To help us put those numbers in some perspective, we're joined now by John Talbott, assistant director at Indiana University's Center for Education and Research in Retailing.
Colombian president Juan Miguel Santos visits the White House
Today, the White House welcomes the Colombian president, Juan Miguel Santos, to his second official visit to the U.S.
His country has been a rare Latin American ally for the United States, as leftist governments in the region have been largely critical of their neighbor to the north. Here to tell us more about Colombia-U.S. relations is Jeremy McDermott, former correspondent for the BBC and now a research fellow for the the think tank Insight Crime.
The battle of the Hollywood trade mags
Movie making is business in this town, and like most major industries, Hollywood has its own trade publications.
For decades, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety were Tinsel Town's go-to sources for film news. But times have changed, and now there are four competing entertainment "rags". Lately, that competition has become very, very nasty.
Patrick Goldstein, reporter for Los Angeles Magazine, joins the show to explain.
Tuesday Reviewsday: Khari Mateen, Solange Knowles and more
It's time for Tuesday Reviewsday, our regular segment in which we talk about the best in new music. This week we're joined by music supervisor Morgan Rhodes and Oliver Wang of Soul-Sides.com.
Morgan's Picks:
Artist: Flume and Chet Faker
Album: Lockjaw EP
Release Date: 11/22/13
Songs: "Drop the Game", "This Song Is Not About A Girl"
This brand new EP just came out, and it's just a collaboration between two very hot Australian producers. Australia is hot right now. Chet Faker, the vocalist, did a cover of Blackstreet's "No Diggity", which no one was expecting from him, but it was sort of cool and sexy. This is ethereal, electronic sort of pop Indie rock and I'm very happy about the two of them performing together. They are also touring together so this collaboration is long awaited and very excited. -- Morgan Rhodes
Artist: Khari Mateen
Album: Qualia
Release Date: 11/26/13
Song: "Where Did They Go Now"
Khari Mateen's song "Where Did They Go Now," from his new album, "Qualia," is based on a conversation that he had with two vets, one from the war in Iraq and a Vietnam war veteran. He got interested in PTSD, did some digging into it and made this song. He is more well known for his work with The Roots, Grammy nominated for his production on Game Theory. This album is very bluesy, folksy. -- Morgan Rhodes
Artist: The Delegators
Album: All Aboard
Release Date: Nov. 26
Song: "It Ain't Love"
This has a lot of ska in it and ska was based on a lot of R&B and soulful rhythms to begin with. There were three waves of ska, but it definitely started in Jamaica in the '60s and at its base there is soul and R&B. I found them on Band Camp, which is the most excellent repository for underground sounds. Beautiful album. -- Morgan Rhodes
Oliver's Picks:
Artist: Solange Knowles
Album: Saint Heron
Release Date: Nov. 3
Songs: "Relax"
This is a new compilation album called Saint Heron, which is also the name of Solange Knowles' new collective. I think people probably know Solange as being Beyonce's younger sister and far less famous, but while Beyonce is basically queen of the universe as we know it, Solange has been really happy doing much more of the boutique thing. She has brought together a collective of different artists, most of them up-and-coming, to collaborate with her. It's not just music, I think they are getting him to design.
I think Solange has been very good about not trying to compete in the same territory. If you look at the music that she has put out over the last 10 years at the same time that Beyonce has gone meteoric. Solange has been very happy carving out these different niches for herself, in a way that she is not trying to compete with big sister. She is just trying to do her own thing. That's a smart way to go rather than always dwelling under the shadow. -- Oliver Wang
Artist: Compilation from Numero Group
Album: Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound
Songs: "Got to be Something" by Louis Connection, "Sunshine Lady" by Mind & Matter
Release Date: Dec. 3
Ever wonder how Prince or The Time developed their particular brand of Minnesota funk? This new compilation from Numero Group looks at the early roots of that sound in disco, soul and funk releases of the 1970s and early '80s, coming out of Minneapolis. -- Oliver Wang
Hell's Angels bike gang sues often, despite outlaw image
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club has a reputation as one of the nation's oldest and toughest biker gangs. Turns out, they're also quite litigious.
The Hells Angels has gone after companies like Toys "R" Us, shoe vendor Zappos, and even Walt Disney for what it claimed was illegal use of the group's name and insignia. Reporter Serge Kovaleski wrote about this for the New York Times. He joins the show with more.
What does piecemeal reform mean for immigrants living in the US?
As this year's legislative calendar quickly draws to an end, immigration reform remains in limbo.
President Obama recently hinted that he's willing to consider a piecemeal approach to overhauling the nation's immigration laws, something many Republicans have favored all along. That sort of arrangement would entail compromises, but just what sort of compromise are the millions of immigrants living in this country willing to make?
RELATED: Citizenship vs. legal status: Some immigrants willing to take less, but advocates warn against it
KPCC immigration reporter Leslie Berestein-Rojas has been looking into this. She joins the show to explain.
Judge rules that Palmdale must change city election practices
Earlier this year, a L.A. County judge found that Palmdale's at-large elections — where the whole city votes on each district's representative — was in violation of the California Voting Rights Act and therefore illegal.
The decision is based on the interpretation that the old system denies Latinos and African Americans a shot at sending one of their own to city council. Now the same judge ordered the city to hold new by-district elections for their four City Council seats.
Professor Richard Hasen at UC Irvine joins the show with more.
Inside the Kelly Thomas trial
Now for a look at the trial of two Fullerton police officers, accused of beating homeless man Kelly Thomas to death. Two years ago, Thomas was hospitalized after a run-in with six officers at a bus depot. Thomas died five days later when he was taken off life support.
KPCC's Orange County reporter Ed Joyce is covering the trial and he joins Take Two to fill us in.
A new threat looms for the San Francisco Bay
Now we head north, where the San Francisco Bay finally recovering from 150 years of mining pollution.
When miners started blasting the Sierra Nevada during the Gold Rush, it sent millions of tons of mud, dirt and gravel downstream to this shallow body of water. A century and a half later, that silt has finally washed out to the ocean and the bay's waters are getting clearer.
But now those clear waters are causing another problem for the bay's ecosystem. Paul Rogers, the environmental writer for the San Jose Mercury News, is here to tell us more.
Author Jeff Howe talks 'Murder on the Mekong'
The Atavist has a new piece about a mass murder in one of the most mysterious regions on the planet. Thirteen Chinese merchant sailors, killed execution style in Asia's Golden Triangle.
Set in an area long known for drug smuggling and other criminal activity, it highlights the tension between the local, mostly Thai population, and Chinese entrepreneurs, who are turning the Triangle into a tourist zone, complete with luxury hotels and casinos. But mostly, it's a fascinating detective story, full of shady characters, and intrigue.
The author, Jeff Howe, joins Take Two to talk about the story and the setting.
Catchphrases and the American cultural psyche
"Where's the beef?" and "Wassup?" aren't just questions, but famous catchphrases that once captured the American cultural psyche. Take Two talks about what makes a phrase take on a life of its own, and how the way Americans watch movies, TV, and ads make it harder for phrases to stay alive.