Former L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca's pleads guilty, the meaning of 'progressive' politics, body positive campaigns and the rate they trickle down to young women.
The California Coastal Commission fires its Executive Director
Charles Lester, who had been the head of the California Coastal Commission since 2011, was voted off the powerful agency yesterday.
The vote, made behind closed doors, went against overwhelming public support.
We talked about it with LA Times reporter Tony Barboza, who was at the meeting ad has been reporting on it for years.
What former LA sheriff Baca's guilty plea means for department reforms
Former Los Angeles county sheriff Lee Baca has pleaded guilty in an on-going federal investigation into brutality within the jails, as well as a cover-up by sheriff's officials.
In a deal with the U.S. attorney's office, Baca admits he lied during a probe into his department's dealings stretching back to 2011.
Take Two talks with Miriam Krinsky, former head of the Citizens' Commission on Jail Violence, about whether this marks the end of a long-running saga and how the department has changed since that time.
Progressive or nah? Clinton and Sanders squabble over political pedigree
Democratic hopefuls, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, hit the stage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Thursday evening for — what's certain to be — a dramatic debate.
Fresh off his win in New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders has the wind at his back, and nearly seven million more dollars in his war chest — a sum amassed just one day after his victory.
Hillary Clinton — to quote Taylor Swift — has to "shake it off" and move past Tuesday's loss to focus on young people and minorities.
Their pitches may differ, but policies will be held to one sliding standard: are they progressive?
Progressive pedigree took center stage at CNN's Democratic town hall last week. At one point, Bernie Sanders called Clinton's progressive credentials into question:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djxCtHmXpd8
Clinton later responded to these remarks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXrGNFKb9v0
So, is Clinton progressive, is Sanders progressive, both, or neither?
It’s a fitting time to ask these questions; this evening’s debate takes place in the birthplace of progressive politics.
For answers to these questions, Take Two turned to David Canon. He chairs the department of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Press the blue play button above to hear the interview.
Scientists confirm the existence of gravitational waves
Thursday morning was a pivotal time in the science community. While in Washington D.C., scientists from Cal Tech scientists confirmed the existence of gravitational waves.
Only existing in theory for almost 100 years, these waves are ripples in the fabric of space and time. Scientists at LIGO say they offer a new way of observing the universe and will give us more information about the cosmos that we would never have been able to see without them.
"This gives us a new window to the universe," explained KPCC science reporter Sanden Totten. "One scientist from USC explained it to me this way: you walk into an art gallery and you're only allowed to see yellow. You may pick up some of the paintings, you may be able to see some of the images but you're missing a lot, right? And then you add the color blue and you get a little bit more. Well, gravitational waves are like adding another filter to our ability to look at the universe."
So now that we have this new tool to look further into the universe, what are we going to look for? Totten broke it down in layman's terms for Take Two's Deepa Fernandes:
"Scientists today said, 'We may see things we've never even thought to look for before.' There's a chance that these black holes and neutron stars are just the beginning but there's a whole wild wooly universe out there that we've never been able to experience and now that we have the ears for it, these gravitational wave detectors, we might find out about them."
To better understand the implications of this announcement, click the blue play button above.
Update: LIGO's Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2017 for confirming the existence of gravitational waves.
The Wheel Thing: Can a computer get a driver's license?
NHTSA, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is trying to craft regulations for self-driving cars. In a letter to Google, the agency held out the possibility that it might consider the computer system in a self-driving car to be, in fact, the "driver."
That's important to the people trying to develop autonomous cars, because they want them to operate without the need to have a human monitoring.
California's Dept. of Motor vehicles has taken a much different tack. They've indicated they will require a licensed, human driver in self-driving cars, and that human must have a way to take control of the vehicle.
The DMV's position prompted a protest by a wide array of technology and automotive companies involved in developing self-drivers. Companies like Google point to disabled people, who may not be able to obtain drivers licenses, as an example of a group that could greatly benefit from autonomous vehicles. They also say requiring humans to be able to take control will make self-driving cars more, and not less dangerous.
There's lots of work to be done to develop regulations for autonomous cars, but California's role in setting standards is critical. Not only is the state home to a huge population, and lots of early adopters, but many of the companies working on self-drivers are based in California. In many cases, NHTSA follows the lead of the Golden State. But not in this one, and it's likely that in light of NHTSA's letter to Google, California regulators may be rethinking their position.
New series '11.22.63': what if you could stop JFK's death?
What if you could go back in time? Would you stop one of the biggest assassinations in history?
On Presidents' Day, Hulu debuts the new series, "11.22.63," based on the Stephen King book of the same name.
James Franco stars as Jake Epping, a modern day teacher who finds a time portal that deposits people in the 1960s.
Epping then develops an elaborate plan to save President John F Kennedy from being shot.
"This story is wearing the coat of a thriller, but underneath it it's a love story," says executive producer Bridget Carpenter. "There's this idea of going back – of wishful thinking. The idea of going back to the day before, or the year before, or when I was in high school if I only let that guy know that I really liked him, maybe life would be different."
"11.22.63" is steeped in nostalgia for America's past, too. Even the food is tastier and more flavorful than today's meals, as seen when one character bites into and marvels at a cob of corn.
"I do think that there was a purer energy and optimism of that time," says Carpenter. "My desire for this entire for this series was to have you feel like you were vacuumed into a documentary of the 1960s."
Carpenter, also a playwright, collaborated on the series with King as well as producer J.J. Abrams, but she admits that cramming 849 pages into an eight-part series was both a blessing and a curse.
"With this book, it's a doorstop of a book. And yet at the same time, it's a barn burner," she says. "You have this incredible high-class problem of there's too much story which is, in fact, the problem that you want as an adapter."
"11.22.63" debuts February 15th, 2016, on Hulu.
State of Affairs: President Obama in CA, political mic drops, and 16-year-old voters?
On this week's State of Affairs, President Obama arrives in California, surprise drop-outs from presidential and senate hopefuls, and a bill that would give 16-year-olds the right to vote (in some cases).
Joining Take Two to discuss:
- Carla Marinucci, POLITICO's California Playbook reporter
- Scott Shafer, Senior Editor for KQED's California Politics and Government Desk
Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and body psychology
"Sports Illustrated" swimsuit edition: some say that it's the best issue of the magazine to come out every year. Others, accuse the magazine of body-shaming, as the editors only pick the most modelesque women to appear in their pages.
This year, however, a different model is getting attention. Ashley Graham will appear as the first plus-sized model in the history of the swimsuit issue.
Sarah Banet-Weiser, professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at USC and a director of the Annenberg School of Communication, joined the show to talk about this shift and what is says about how we view body image in this country.
To hear the full interview, press the blue play button above.
The floating library comes to Echo Park Lake
If you head out to Echo Park Lake today, you might think your eyes are playing tricks on you — but rest assured — that's really a floating library in the middle of the lake.
In order to visit the library, you'll have to get friendly with a pedal boat to check out the new reads.
Thursday marks the first day of the floating library's weekend at Echo Park Lake. The library will feature books and creations submitted by L.A. artists.
Sarah Peters, joined us from on the show, calling in from the lake's boathouse. Peters is the creator of the floating library and she collaborated with local art organization Machine Project to bring it to L.A.
The library will be out on the lake 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
Click through the slideshow above to see the floating library in Minneapolis, where it first started. For more info on the project, visit the floating library's website.
To hear the full interview, press the blue play button above.