Today we take a look at Nelson Mandela's fight to end apartheid in South Africa, and we discuss his influence on the American film industry. Then, a French court will decide whether Hopi objects are sacred or art, a Goya painting makes its West Coast debut, the Academy of Motion Pictures celebrates the films of 1913, plus much more.
A look back at Nelson Mandela's fight to end apartheid
Nelson Mandela was one of the world's most well-loved leaders. A man who fought against the apartheid practices of the South African government and eventually served as his country's first black president.
Mandela began his fight against injustice at a young age and became a symbol for the anti-apartheid movement when he was put on trial for treason in 1963. Mandela was sentenced to life in prison and the Apartheid government did everything it could to make Mandela invisible.
No photos were released from his time in prison and he wasn't heard from except through letters to intermediaries. But needless to say, the influence of Mandela didn't vanish. Instead he grew into a near-mythic symbol of resistance. A resistance that gathered strength and exploded in the '70s and '80s.
Michael Parks was a reporter for the Los Angeles Times in South Africa during this period of struggle. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage there and he's now the director of the USC Annenberg School of Journalism. He joins the show to talk about Mandela's legacy.
Nelson Mandela's influence on the US film industry
Nelson Mandela's two youngest daughters learned of her father's passing last night while watching the royal premiere of "Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom" in London. In the film, actor Idris Elba plays the South African leader.
Given Mandela's incredibly compelling life story, it's no surprise that a slew of films have been made about him. More than a dozen actors, including Morgan Freeman, Sidney Poitier and Danny Glover have taken on the role.
For more on how Mandela has been portrayed in film, we turn now to Brenda Stevenson, professor of history at UCLA.
Friday Flashback: Job numbers, minimum wage, Obamacare and more
We've made it to the end of another working week, which means it's time for our review and analysis of the news, The Friday Flashback. Joining the show is James Rainey of the LA Times, and Nancy Cook of National Journal.
Before we delve into Congress, and the economy and all that, we reflect on the passing of Nelson Mandela.
A couple of encouraging economic reports this week. Today, the Labor Department's employment figures for November are out: 200,000 new jobs, unemployment down to seven percent, labor participation up.
Early in the week, the Commerce Department said the nation's output grew by 3.6 percent. That's a good deal better than expected. A lot of economists are saying maybe this is a blip, but it seems like pretty good news, right?
Still, a lot of these new gigs are low-wage jobs, and a push for a raise in the federal minimum wage is gaining steam. This week we had more demonstrations by fast-food workers, and the President made a speech about income inequality.
The president dismissed arguments that a higher minimum wage will mean fewer jobs. He said there was no evidence for that, but with a Republican-controlled House, what are the chances of minimum-wage workers seeing a higher paycheck anytime soon?
Is there a way the President could do an end run, and raise the minimum wage by some executive action?
Maybe he was sending a message to Republicans, because in the same speech, the President quoted Adam Smith. He's often called the father of free market economics, and he's a favorite of many conservatives.
It's pretty easy to understand an argument that a higher minimum wage might make employers less likely to hire workers, and that it could drive prices up for everyone. But there is a counter argument that by putting more money in people's pockets, everyone benefits. What evidence exists for each of those views?
There's other good news out there. Several surveys show a healthy increase in consumer confidence. Housing prices are now rising at the quickest pace since 2006, and the stock markets may end the year with gains that haven't been seen in a decade. When will we reach a tipping point, and when will what has been a painfully slow recovery start to feel like a real recovery?
Congress is facing another budget deadline, and the negotiations have come down to a committee of two: Senator Patty Murray and Representative Paul Ryan. They say they'll announce the framework of an agreement next week, before Congress leaves for their Christmas break. Do we know any details of this proposed deal?
We should remind everyone that the current budget deal runs out in January. Is there a sense that nobody wants another budget crisis and government shutdown?
Early this week, the administration said the problems with federal web site, healthcare.gov, had been mostly fixed. But there was some new polling that showed young people aren't very interested in signing up for health care, and, interestingly, a report that frustration with health care reform may cost Democrats another important constituency: white women.
Republicans have a plan to keep attacking Democrats over Obamacare. What are the Dems doing to try and counter all the bad news? There was also a story this week about a California GOP website that was promoted as providing information about how to sign up for Obamacare, but was actually a screed against it.
Angeleno remembers growing up under apartheid in South Africa
Today throughout the program, we're remembering the life of South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela. Our next guest lives in LA now, where he works as an accountant. But Selwyn Gerber grew up under apartheid in the Cape Town suburb of Sea Point.
He joins the show to talk about his experiences growing up during this tumultuous time.
Ken Burns on his new documentary 'Yosemite: A Gathering of Spirit'
Legendary film maker Ken Burns has created lush documentaries about a wide variety of very American subjects, such as the Civil War, baseball and jazz.
One of his most popular series was "The National Parks: America's Best Idea". Now his latest documentary focuses on just one of those parks, right here in California.
"Yosemite: A Gathering of Spirit" is sponsored by the Yosemite Conservancy and debuts this Sunday in Hollywood.
Ken Burns joins the show to talk about his latest project and his love of California's most famous National Park.
California farmers call in wild boar hunters to control overpopulation
California farmers are dealing with the overpopulation of wild pigs, a problem that is threatening their crops. Though there are various methods they can use to protect their crops — fencing, traps, etc. — sometimes these hands-off methods aren't enough, and hunting the pests by hand is the only way. KPCC's Jacob Margolis reports.
It's a hot fall day along the border of a Bakersfield almond orchard. There are piles of almonds reaching 10 to 15-feet high that were just harvested, in plain sight of the wild pigs that live among the rolling hills surrounding the farm.
RELATED: AudioVision: See more photos of the wild boar hunters
"All this matted grass that we see. It gives us an idea of where the pigs are coming in. The number of pigs that are coming in," said Erik Sun - a chef. He's also a partner at two LA restaurants, Bestia and Republique. "If the trails are really wide and it’s really heavy then it’s probably quite a number of pigs or at least some big wild boars."
Erik and his friend Erez (who asked that we not use his last name) are here to help the owner of the farm with his wild pig problem. First they're trying to figure out how the pigs are getting into the orchard.
"You see it’s just the whole area covered with footprints. Big pigs, little ones, just covered with footprints. I know 99 percent that we’ll see pigs here tonight," said Erez.
Wild pigs are a big problem on farms throughout California as they they tear up irrigation lines looking for water, and destroy tons of crops, like the almonds in this orchard. These pigs can eat up to 10,000 calories a day each, so groups of them can make a serious dent in a farmers haul.
"Food is scarce for them most the year," said Mark Kenyon, senior environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. "In the situation where the almonds or fruit is lying on the ground, it’s a smorgasbord for pigs."
Kenyon says there's no genetic difference between pigs and wild boars. It's believed that pigs were brought to the area by the Spanish in the 1700s. Some of them escaped and became the wild boars we see today.
California has tons of food and the perfect climate for them to reproduce, but there was a tipping point in their population 20 years ago. The state of California started issuing permits to farmers that said they could kill any wild pig that comes onto their property if they’re doing damage.
"Pigs will live most of their life within three square mile area. And as long as the resources in that area is suitable for their breeding and feeding they have no reason to leave," said Kenyon.
It’s hard for farmers to keep the pigs off their properties. They can try fencing — that’s what PETA suggests — but fencing is expensive and if it’s not deep enough the pigs can dig under it. So they call in hunters.
Back at the truck, Erez and Erik prepare their equipment. The guns they use can take down 300-pound pigs from as far as 500 yards away, and since April, they have killed more than 70 of them on this farm alone.
But it is also possible to spend all night out there and never see one pig. On this night, Erik thought that they'd be out there for a long time, but soon a female pig with piglets ran along a series of power lines towards the orchard.
Erik and Erez decided that the piglets were old enough and close enough to a food source that they’d be able to survive on their own, so they shot her. The pig died quickly, and her piglets took off into the orchard.
It was a young sow, probably about 100 pounds, and it would later be made into a wild boar ragu.
Obama among Occidental College students who pressed school to divest from South Africa
In the 1980s while Mandela was still a political prisoner and the struggle over Apartheid was at its height, a growing number of people here in the United States were also taking up the cause.
A divestment campaign that began in the 1970s on college campuses began to reach critical mass. At demonstrations, supporters demanded a boycott on financial companies with ties to South Africa.
Here in Southern California, at Occidental College, a young Barack Obama was one of those students who spoke out. The speech he made in 1981 to protest Oxy's investments in companies doing business South Africa is considered Obama's first ever political action.
CSULA conference to focus on how Millennials are shaping the future
More now on this group we call the Millennials.
These are the young Americans who came of age during the blossoming of the Internet and during the withering of the economy. This afternoon a group of elected officials, journalists, policy wonks and young people will gather at Cal State University, Los Angeles to talk about how this generation is faring, and how they might shape the future.
One of the moderators of today's event is Ron Brownstein, editorial director of National Journal, and a former political columnist at the LA Times. He joins the show with more.
Goya painting 'Don Pedro, Duque de Osuna' makes its West Coast debut
Starting today, art fans in Southern California will get a chance to see a rare sight: a portrait of Don Pedro, Duque de Osuna, now on display at Pasadena's Norton Simon Museum.
Painted in the late 18th century by Spanish artist Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, it's the first time this work will be publicly displayed on the West Coast. Susan Grace Galassi is the senior curator at the Frick Collection in New York. She joins the show to talk about the importance of this work of art.
Update: Annenberg Foundation buys Hopi masks from French auction house, returns to tribe
UPDATE Dec. 12:
The Hopi tribe had argued these ceremonial masks were sacred and should be returned to the tribe, not left to a French auction house to sell. A judge ruled private collectors could buy the ceremonial items, and the Annenberg Foundation paid more than a $500,000 24 of the masks.
In a surprising twist, the Foundation will be returning the auction items to the tribe. The Fronteras Desk's Laurel Morales has been following the story and joins the show with more.
UPDATE: Judge approves sale of Hopi sacred items
The question "What is Art?" can have an open-ended answer. But what if that art is a really important part of your own culture?
In France, a judge will decide on Friday whether 32 Hopi artifacts can go up for sale at an art auction. However, the Hopi tribe say those objects contain the spirits of their ancestors, and selling them as commercial art is illegal.
Laurel Morales is a reporter for Fronteras based in Flagstaff, and she explains the details of the case and whether this case may end different than a similar suit earlier this year.
Longtime LA school board member Margueritte Lamotte dies unexpectedly
We now have a remembrance of Los Angeles Unified school board member Marguerite LaMotte.
She died unexpectedly yesterday while attending a conference in San Diego. Information on funeral services for the board's longest-serving member is still to come. From KPCC's Education Desk, Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has more on her legacy.
Academy of Motion Pictures celebrates the films of 1913
1913 was a pretty pivotal year. A century ago, the LA Aqueduct got its start, New York City's Grand Central Terminal opened, and the temperature in Death Valley hit 134 degrees, the highest temperature ever recorded in the United States.
It was also a big year for film, and to mark the occasion, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is hosting a screening of 1913 movies this weekend.
Randy Haberkamp, the Academy's managing director of programming, education and preservation, joins the show with more.
Navigating the 2014 FIFA World Cup draw
We're down to 187 days and counting before the 2014 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Brazil on June 12 next year. Earlier this morning, the 32 competing countries were sorted into groups and each now knows what their path is like to bring the cup home.
To help us navigate these futbol roads is Dave Denholm, who does soccer play by play for Fox Sports.
Wu-Tang Clan's GZA raps about science
A little more than 20 years ago the music world experienced a revolution. "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" was the debut of the Staten Island based hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan.
One of the founding members was Gary Grice, better known as GZA or The Genius. But now he's turning from rapping about New York, crime and martial arts films to rapping about black holes and the universe.
GZA joins the show to talk about his career and what he's looking forward to in the future.