New legislation could bar grand juries from police shooting cases, 'Imitation Game' director Morten Tyldum, a local man is a finalist in the Mars One mission.
Grand juror's firsthand account of the power of prosecutors
Between the cases of the police officer-involved deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, there has been a lot of talk about grand juries over the last six months or so. Before those two cases, though, journalist Gideon Lewis-Kraus served his civic duty on a grand jury in New York.
For 60 hours over a four week period, Lewis-Kraus and his peers heard 100 cases, on everything from attempted murder to petty theft, and almost all of those cases ended in indictment.
After the high-profile grand jury cases of last year, Lewis-Kraus felt compelled to write about his experience. But, jurors cannot disclose information about the cases they serve on. The intent is to ensure the full cooperation of the witnesses who appear before the grand jury, to protect the jurors from outside interference, and to protect an innocent person who may be investigated but never indicted. Violation of secrecy in a grand jury case is a Class E felony, punishable with imprisonment.
However, after receiving assurances from attorneys, Lewis-Kraus decided to write about his experience. His essay, "A Grand Juror Speaks: The inside story of how prosecutors always get their way," is in the latest edition of Harper's Magazine.
In that essay, Lewis-Kraus writes that, over the course of his grand jury service, he only really heard from the prosecution and a handful of witnesses, rarely the accused. Most often, the state’s version of events is the only story offered to jurors.
Lewis-Kraus also writes that many of the jurors he served with simply leaned towards expediting the process, clearing through cases as quickly as possible. Only some questioned the prosecution's push for indictment, introducing friction into the process, and that created some tense interpersonal relations among jurors.
Lewis-Kraus shared more on his firsthand experience and how the system installs prosecutors as "singularly powerful narrators."
Federal judge delays President Obama's immigration action
There's trouble for the White House plan to help the millions who came to the U.S. illegally.
The initial phases of President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration were supposed to take effect as early as Wednesday.
But late Monday, a federal judge in Texas put that all on hold while 26 states challenge the orders.
Michael Olivas, professor of law at the University of Houston, explains what this means for the President's attempt to affect immigration reform.
Deborah Nadoolman Landis honored at Costume Designers Guild Awards
The Oscars are a few days away, but there's another film-related awards celebration happening Tuesday night. The Costume Designers Guild Awards celebrate excellence in film, television and commercial costume design.
This year, costume designer, historian, and UCLA professor Deborah Nadoolman Landis will be presented with the 2015 Edith Head Award for the Advancement and Education of the Art of Costume Design.
Nadoolman Landis joins Take Two for more on the award and the role of costume design in film.
'The Imitation Game' Director Morten Tyldum on his first Oscar nomination
"As a filmmaker this is what you dream of when you start making movies," says Morten Tyldum, the Director of "The Imitation Game," on his first Oscar nomination.
While the film is about British scientist Alan Turing and his journey to break coded Nazi messages during World War II, Tyldum seems to have broken the Hollywood code.
The film's been nominated for eight Academy Awards, with Tyldum himself being nominated for Best Director. And it's the first major US film for the Norwegian movie-maker, in fact, it's his first Engish language film, ever.
Tyldum isn't inexperienced though. He previously directed one of the highest grossing Norwegian films of all time, "Headhunters," but hadn't tried his hand at a big budget Hollywood film until he created the story about the man that some call the father of computers.
"The movie is told like a mystery. Like a thriller. Where you as an audience have to piece it together. And that is how it was for us."
Without any video or recordings of Turing, Tyldum explains that he had to piece together the life of the famous physicist, what he was like, his mannerism and his actions, old texts and interviews with people who knew him.
Tyldum joins fill-in host Tess Vigeland for a discussion about what it's like to be nominated for his first Oscar, why he decided to tell the story of Alan Turing and what it's like having his first Hollywood film do so well.
Tuesday Reviewsday: Ricked Wicky, Slutever, The Amazing and more
Tuesday always means it's time for Tuesday Reviewsday, our weekly new music segment.
This week,
- news director at Billboard Magazine and music journalist
join Alex Cohen in the studio.
Shirley Halperin
Artist: Robert Pollard / Ricked Wicky
Album: "I Sell the Circus"
Songs: "Well Suited," "Mobility"
Notes: At 57 years old, Bob Pollard is one of the most prolific indie-rock stars of the last 20 years. And by star, I mean really mean, one of the godfathers.
Pollard is Guided by Voices, the beloved lo-fi band from Dayton, Ohio, who, in the last three decades, have released 22 studio albums and 17 EPs. Add to that count Pollard's 20 solo albums and you're looking at nearly 50 Lps and some 3,000 minutes of music.
But this record, under the name Ricked Wicky, precedes all that output and consists of songs written in his early teens for a nonexistent group, or, in his mind, "a sophisticated arena rock band."
What do the songs of a budding Bob sound like? No surprise here - young Pollard had the same knack for irresistible power pop that the future rock star would make his trademark. The proof is right there in the album's opening track, "Well Suited."
Where you do get the sense that there's a teenager at work here is in some of the sillier song titles, like "Uranus Flies," "Piss Face" and "Guts" - all, incidentally, among the more rocking tracks on this collection, along with the gritty number, "Mobility."
As in all Guided By Voices records, songs average 2 1/2 minutes with the longest clocking in at 3:30 and the shortest at 1:38. Now, here's an artist for the short attention span of these modern times.
Artist: Elle King
Album: "Love Stuff"
Songs: "Ex's & Ohs," "Under the Influence"
Notes: There's something really special about a girl who can handle herself on the banjo, and Elle King plays it like nobody's business. In fact, she's somewhat of a six-string savant - I saw her play at South By Southwest last year and was really wowed by her proficiency.
And also by her songs, which have a throwback feel to female singers of the 50s and sixties both from the pop realm and the country side, so maybe a touch of Patsy Cline and a hint of Mama Cass or Ronnie Spector, whose influence you can certainly hear in the song "Ex's & Ohs."
This is Elle King's debut album, but she had released an EP in 2012 which got her some valuable attention - namely that of music supervisors for Mad Men, which featured her song ("Playing for Keeps") in an ad campaign.
It's easy to hear why - she has a retro vibe that doesn't feel like shtick.
Her producers are partly to credit and she certainly worked with some heavy hitters, including Jeff Bhasker, who's most affiliated with Fun and Kanye West and Eg White who worked with Adele and Sam Smith. Patrick Carney of the Black Keys and Mark Ronson also play on the album, which was recorded in multiple studios from Malibu to Memphis to Manhattan.
Elle King's influences are many, from Elvis and Johnny Cash to the Runaways and Blondie, but they come together in a sound that really her own, which you can really hear in the song "Under the Influence."
Chris Martins
Artist: Slutever
Album: "Almost Famous" EP
Songs: "Smother," "Open Wide"
Notes: We've got a duo whose name is almost radio unfriendly. Rachel Gagliardi and Nicole Snyder are Slutever. And yes, that's a portmanteau of "slut" and "whatever," which is dumb and awesome.
As you might hope, Slutever make grungy punk that owes to Hole, Nirvana, the Breeders, and the Pixies. Or, if you want more modern touchstones: Wavves and Best Coast. This duo originally hails from Philadelphia, but moved to Los Angeles, "in hopes of becoming celebrities," as their bio says. Fittingly, their new EP, out today, is named Almost Famous. It's got six songs that shred and slink their way through themes of booze and creepy dudes, television and love, teen motherhood and friendship. Also, you can buy it in cassette form, which is always a plus for me.
Better still: Slutever are releasing their music on their own. It's also available digitally, by the way. They met at Philly's Drexel University studying the music industry and they continue to handle most band business on their own. They also both play guitar, play drums, and sing, so they pretty much win at the rock 'n' roll thing.
Artist: The Amazing
Album: "Picture You"
Songs: "Safe Island," "Picture You"
Notes: The Amazing are a Swedish supergroup of sorts. Of you listen to the track "Safe Island," you'll notice layered guitars doing a ride-like dream-pop sort of thing. That's Reine Fiske of psych favorites Dungen, who broke out here in the States in '04. There's wild drumming too, reminiscent of krautrock icons Can. Well, that's Moussa Fadera, one of Stockholm's best jazz drummers and a former sticksman for mythical Detroit singer Rodriguez. And the voice you hear belongs to a guy from another Swedish outfit that's more obscure outside of Scandinavia. The point is, they've got chops.
Also, as their name might imply, they aren't interested in pandering for our approval. They already know they're Amazing, literally. So for these guys, there's no reason they can't release singles that hover around nine minutes - as both the songs we're going to hear do. In fact, the whole album, which is called Picture You, is full of long players that span Pink Floyd-like prog, Tame Impale-like psych, Nick Drake-evoking folk, baroque pop, soft rock, and just about anything kinda meandering and beautiful.
In other words, it's great music for long drives, or long periods spent on the couch in a state of mind that allows your imagination to navigate the astral plane.
Ron Lieber and the art of raising money smart kids
If you're a parent there are probably a few topics that you don't feel comfortable talking about.
Certainly one of those topics is money, but why?
New York Times columnist Ron Lieber has been writing about money issues for years, but his new book deals with a fairly new issue: talking to your kids about money.
His book is called The Opposite of Spoiled.
Say goodbye to cheaper gas prices
It's the end of the road for cheap gas prices.
For months, drivers throughout the country couldn't contain their joy when they were filling up.
Car-obsessed Southern Californians were probably the most ecstatic. Really, many of us hadn't seen prices so low in years!
But it had to end sometime. Allison Mac, L.A.-based analyst for the site GasBuddy.com, explains why.
FAA releases new drone rules, and Amazon isn't happy
The Federal Aviation Administration released long-awaited draft regulations for the commercial operations of small unmanned aircraft. Before now, it's been a bit of a wild west scenario on the skies.
The new rules establish requirements for drone operators - they must be 17 years old, pass an aeronautical knowledge test, and hold an FAA UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) operator certificate. And, most notably, the rules state that a commercial drone cannot be operated outside the visual line-of-sight of its operator. That virtually eliminates drone-based delivery of goods - at least for now.
Take Two's favorite drone expert Greg McNeal has been writing about this for Forbes Magazine, and he joined the show to talk about the new rules and the reaction from businesses such as Amazon.
North Hollywood artist finalist in Mars One mission
One-hundred finalists have been announced for Mars One's one-way trip to the red planet. Ben McClean of North Hollywood is one of those finalists.