Pam Wald's husband, Ben, utilized the Death with Dignity law in Oregon in 2012. She talks about going through the experience with him. Actress Jennifer Aniston talks about her leading role in the film, 'Cake.' And, Eater LA contributor Lucas Peterson set off a controversy when he wrote a glowing piece about a street vendor in Lincoln Heights who sells corn.
Death with Dignity: What it's like for loved ones and their families
Several California lawmakers have put forward an aid-in-dying bill to help terminally ill patients end their lives when they so choose.
The legislators made the announcement Wednesday, standing alongside the husband and mother of Brittany Maynard. Maynard left California to move to Oregon so that she could make use of the right to die laws there, following a diagnosis of terminal brain cancer. She passed away at age 29.
The decision to end one's life is not just about the patient, but also his or her family and medical team.
Pam Wald's husband, Ben, utilized the death with dignity law in Oregon in 2012, and Dr. David Grube was Ben Wald's prescribing physician. They both joined Take Two to talk about making this tremendously difficult choice.
Ben Wald's colon cancer struck twice -- with the second bout metastasizing to his lungs in 2011. About four week before he died, Ben spoke to Pam about his desire to utilize Oregon's Death with Dignity law.
"I listened, but I didn't really want to listen," Pam said. "I hoped the next morning he'd get up, he'd start eating, and something would happen. Well, nothing happened the next day. And the next night, he brought it up. And that's when I knew I had to listen ... I knew what I had to do. So I did what I did because I love him. I listened."
Gruber explained that while he did take an oath to heal people, participating in Ben's death was a decision that was not easy.
"It is a thing that you have to think about for a long time, and think very seriously about. A physician is a healer, but a doctor is a teacher. And in cases such as Ben's, it's hard for us to realize as healers and teachers that we cannot heal sometimes. A dying person such as Ben who has been through all the medical treatments available, the point of healing has passed. So then we need to move to sort of a different role, and not be concerned about the cure, but be more concerned about care."
Hear the rest of the interview by clicking the button near "Listen Now" above.
Jennifer Aniston and her challenging new role in the film, 'Cake'
The new film "Cake" has received a ton of critical acclaim and positive reviews.
The film tells the story of one scarred and injured woman who lives her life in constant pain.
Claire is kind of the polar opposite of Aniston's most famous role - Rachel in the hit TV show "Friends."
She is a lawyer scarred both inside and out - living in constant and chronic pain.
We talk to her about the movie, and the buzz its created.
Rethinking the path of your life and retirement
Retirement shouldn't be something that causes worry, fear or anxiety - after all it's the time in your life when you stop working!
But with the recent economic downturn and all the calls to limit or reduce Social Security, many people wonder if they will ever be able to retire.
But there is alternative to the traditional retirement, its called un-retirement.
Chris Farrell is a Senior Economics Contributor at Marketplace public radio and author of the new book, Unretirement: How Baby Boomers Are Changing the Way We Think About Work, Community and the Good Life.
Lab Notes: Chimp chatter, deadly sea snails, ancient reptiles and parenting
On this edition of Lab Notes: Chimp chatter, super deadly sea snails and the parenting habits of ancient reptiles.
Southern California Public Radio's Sanden Totten has this latest look at what's happening in weird science.
State of Affairs: Paid sick leave, UC tuition, and a new assisted suicide bill
In this week's State of Affairs, California leads the way with paid sick leave, the fight over how to fund the University of California, and a new bill that would legalize assisted suicide.
Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, Senior Fellow at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, and Katie Orr, State Government Reporter for Capital Public Radio, join Take Two to discuss the week in California politics.
Writer Susan Orlean's dilemma: to burn a book or not?
This week, the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction in the fire at a massive downtown L.A. construction complex jumped to $170,000.
Sadly, this was not the first time a deliberately-set fire hit the region. Back in 1986, arson hit the Central Library on Flower Street, destroying 20 percent of the library's holdings.
But who would want to burn so many books? Who would want to burn any book for that matter? And what does it feel like when you do?
Those are some of the questions writer Susan Orlean has been grappling with lately as she does research for her upcoming book about the fire at the Central Library, aptly titled "The Library Book."
Orlean is kind of author who goes in pretty deep with her topics (she trekked through the swamps of Florida to research her book "The Orchid Thief"), so she thought at some point she might have to burn a book herself. But it still it wasn't an easy decision to make.
"Destroying a book...there's something emotional about it. I don't think it's only because I'm a writer. I think books feel like they have some animate quality that makes it uncomfortable to throw them out. So the idea of setting one on fire was just crazy," Orlean says.
But then the idea started to nag at her and she decided to do it. The next big decision was which book to burn.
Orlean considered burning one of her own books or a book she didn't like, but it all felt wrong. Finally, her husband offered an idea: "Farenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury.
"It was just obvious instantly that that was the book," Orlean says.
Not only did Bradbury write part of the book at the Central Library, Orlean says, but the book itself is about "the idea that burning books was a way of erasing civilization."
As the book went up in flames, Orleans says she thought, "somewhere in heaven Ray Bradbury is smiling down on this."
But she doesn't recommend others try it.
"This was strictly research. And if you have extra books that you don't want anymore, I highly recommend donating them instead of burning them."
You could even donate them to your local public library.
Can you write about street food in East LA if you're not Latino?
What started out as a simple story about corn unexpectedly became a debate about racism, gentrification and "columbusing."
Food writer Lucas Peterson wrote a piece last week for Eater LA about a street vendor in Lincoln Heights who sells elote: "Meet the Man Who's Peddled LA's Best Street Corn for 27 Years."
For those who've yet to try some, it's a Mexican street food. A cob of corn is slathered with butter, mayo, chili powder and cheese.
But by reporting about this man, who's been selling elote for decades, Peterson ended up with a bit of a controversy: Can you write about a neighborhood if you're not from there?
Several people took to social media to comment and complain.
“@eaterla: This Was The Insane Line at the Lincoln Heights Corn Man Last Night http: pic.twitter.com/ourrtrwyLZ” lol, oh you silly gentrifiers!
— Robert Cuadra (@robertcuadra) January 15, 2015
Couldn't even get corn from the corn man cus stupid ass Asians hipsters saw a post about it and are buying everyone fuck you china
— Bryan Cares (@BryanFunes18) January 17, 2015
wasn't so nice; it took a stab at "Asian hipsters." (Warning: explicit content.)
Peterson posted a follow-up to address the claims he was "columbusing" — the practice of reckless appropriation, usually by white people, of something that's been around for a long time belonging to another culture.
Peterson joined Take Two to explain.
"To say, 'You're not from this neighborhood, you can't go into East L.A. and write about Mexican businesses,' I just think it ultimately deprives people — the public – of good writing. I think anybody can write about anything," he says.
Mexican-American writers Gustavo Arellano and Bill Esparza also came to his defense, arguing food is food and that claims of gentrification or race should step aside when it comes to eating.
Peterson was also called out for drawing too much attention to this man.
"Another writer had said, 'Did I ever think about the ethics of covering an unlicensed vendor?'" he said. "By doing so, I could be putting this man in jeopardy. Exposing him to unwarranted or unwanted attention."
Peterson counters that the real problem isn't writing about street vendors.
"Frankly, it's about the bigger issue about legalizing street vending so that the people who work as street vendors out in the open without fear of reprisal," he says.
Peterson adds that Timoteo the corn man isn't naive about how publicity works.
"He's been doing it for 27 years. Tell me this isn't a man who doesn't know the drill. I think it's vaguely patronizing to assume this guy doesn't know how to handle attention."
For what it's worth, Timoteo still operates in Lincoln Heights but isn't out on the sidewalk for as long as he used to be.
Peterson paid him a visit after his initial story blew up.
"I said to him, 'I wrote that article a couple days ago,'" he recounted. "His attitude was, 'Yeah, great, I get to go home earlier. We sold out.'"
To hear our full interview with Lucas Peterson, click on the audio above.
California's forests see significant change over last century
A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week takes a close look at just how much the forests of the state have changed over the last century.
The study's lead author Patrick McIntyre, a scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, joins take Two with more.
Doomsday Clock ticks two minutes closer to midnight
If you feel a little different today, perhaps it's because humanity is a little closer to its doom.
The symbolic Doomsday Clock was moved two minutes closer to midnight -- the end -- by its timekeepers at the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
It's meant to measure how close we are to a global disaster brought on by nuclear war and other man-made threats.
Sivan Kartha serves on the Bulletin's science and security board, and he explains why they've nudged the minute hand closer to midnight: climate change.