The state of US-Mexico relations, including kids in activism, and the Autry launches the pop-up dinner series, "Flavors: Historic California"
Mexican import tax could hit Californians right in the avocados
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing the construction of a southern border wall between the United States and Mexico.
Throughout the campaign, Trump contended that Mexico would foot the bill for the barrier. When asked how the administration would pay for the wall Thursday, however, a White House spokesperson suggested that the United States could impose a 20 percent tax on Mexican imports — a move that would actually have Americans paying for said wall.
California and Mexico have a long established trade history. One report estimates that "Mexico purchases 16.2 percent of all California exports." Conversely, California imports about $41 billion worth of goods from Mexico.
Former US trade representative Peter Cowhey joined Take Two to talk about how an import tax could impact people living in California. He's now a professor at UC San Diego.
Produce
Peter Cowhey says avocados are just one of the items that will cost consumers more. Tomato lovers may also be forced to shell out more:
"Tomatoes actually represent an interesting story," Cowhey says. "There is an enormously complex canning industry tied to tomatoes which operates on both sides of the border. So some of these would actually be manufactured goods that would be taxed."
Cowhey adds that consumer demand for fresh food has forced farmers both north and south of the border to work together to keep certain produce in stock year round. Take raspberries for example:
"You'll notice if you look in the grocery stores that, depending on the exact cycle of the year, more of the raspberries will come from Mexico than they will from the United States," Cowhey says.
That could lead to dwindling supplies — or some expensive berries.
Cars
Manufactured goods from Mexico are often sophisticated in nature (think computers and refrigerators). Peter Cowhey says a border tax could present an enormous hurdle to companies that have come to depend on Mexico.
"U.S. firms now have an integrated North American production strategy," Cowhey explains. "What that simply means is — let's say for an automobile — any automobile you have that has been stamped 'Made in the United States' probably had components and production activities cross the border 20 times among the US, Canada and Mexico."
As a manufactured product bounces between two or three countries, it picks up added value. This can make figuring out how to tax extremely complicated. It also blurs the line between what constitutes a Mexican good and an American good.
One might be led to ask, "can't we just make it all in-house?"
Well, maybe. But Cowhey says it could take a long time.
"The United States automobile plants depend on those inputs from Canada and Mexico," Cowhey says. "To recalibrate that production network in the United States will be a slow, multi-year process."
What to expect when you're expecting taxes
As far as agricultural goods go, Peter Cowhey says there's already a pretty stiff tax in place: about 17 percent. An additional 20 percent tax would lead to an "enormous" jump on agricultural goods. "And that is going to be directly manifested on the grocery shelves of our state," Cowhey says.
For manufactured goods, the current import tax is about 4.5 percent. If the item getting imported was say, a car, Southern Californians could wind up paying a "couple hundred" dollars more.
"And it may be more depending on how they do it," Cowhey says.
Overcharged
If Trump's suggested tax did become a reality, Cowhey says that, given the volume of goods imported from Mexico, Americans would wind up paying for the border wall four times over.
"We import about $300 billion a year in goods, including manufactured and agricultural goods in Mexico each year," Cowhey says. "[If] you added another 20 percent tax effectively on the border on these, that's about a $60 billion dollars, which is far more than you need to build the wall — if those estimates of cost of construction are accurate."
Click the blue media player above to hear the full interview.
This post has been updated.
What's the way forward for US-Mexico relations?
It's been a rough few days for U.S.-Mexico relations.
The meeting that was scheduled for next week between President Donald Trump and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto at the White House is off.
President Peña Nieto cancelled after President Trump signed an executive order this week moving forward with construction of a new wall along the border.
Relations have hit a new low with Trump's continued insistence that Mexico would foot the multi-billion dollar bill.
, Executive Vice President and Senior Adviser to the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center, joined Take Two to discuss where this week's tensions leave the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue media player above.
John Doe goes deep on punk's LA origins
Musician John Doe, co-founder of the band X has a new book out about the history of LA's punk scene called "Under the Big Black Sun." It features not only Doe's stories, but also contributions from people like Henry Rollins, Jane Wiedlin and Mike Watt.
The audio version of the book is nominated for a Grammy next month in the Spoken Word category.
John Doe recently joined Take Two's Alex Cohen to talk about the start of the punk scene and how Southern California's brand of punk compared with what was being heard in other cities.
To hear the entire interview, click on the audio embedded at the top of this post.
The Autry's 'Flavors' combines flavors from California's past and present
When it comes to dining experiences, Los Angeles has never shied away from innovation.
Temporary, experimental eateries have cropped up in all sorts of places and Angelenos have shown up...HUNGRY. These pop-ups take place in venues ranging from private residences to former fabric factories to enjoy meals prepared by chefs who are eager to cook without the constraints of a typical restaurant.
If you've missed out on the trend, it's never too late. The Autry Museum of The American West is launching a series of dinners called Flavors: Historic California.
Organizers promise the flavors of authentic Longhorn cattle, Churro sheep, and other breeds from California's past plus some dinner conversation about the future of farming in the Golden State.
For a sneak preview, Alex Cohen spoke with Ben Fitzsimmons, the Autry's senior manager of programs, and Brad Robertson, executive chef behind the series "Flavors."
Interview Highlights
How did it start?
Ben: "I was having a conversation with the livestock conservancy, which is a national organization that preserves livestock breeds from extinction as a genetic resource, about ways we could work with them. They mentioned the food that they'd had at the recent conference and all these historic breeds...and also we've just opened a series of new galleries at the museum and in a section of the galleries we look at California indigenous plants and the use of those plants as food and medicine."
Executive chef Brad Robertson, you're from Cincinnati, you may not have been familiar with these sorts of things. What was the first thing that came to mind?
Brad: "That I got homework for the first time in 10 years. It's cool for me because they're not animals that not everyone gets an opportunity to work with, you know? Livestock nowadays is bred for fat content, flavor, these things. They've decided what the masses like and that's what the bulk of production in the United States is. These animals are very different, they have fat contents, they have different textures, different flavors...all these things that are really cool for me to get to play with and not a lot of people have an opportunity to use."
How did you prepare?
Brad: "Working with Ben, we looked at how these things were prepared traditionally, we looked at traditional recipes from the rancho historical period and saw how people then treated these animals. 'Cause that's the same way we're going to treat them. I assume that the people who saw them everyday knew what they were doing, so we're not deviating from this for the first event. We're trying to be as historically accurate as we can. So, we're doing traditional techniques, traditional animals and it's something different than any lamb that you'll have anywhere else in L.A."
The "Flavors" series is Friday January 27th at 7:00pm. Their next series is next month and it's called Flavors: Future of Food? Click here for more information.
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.
BET scores big with their New Edition mini-series
This week, cable network BET had a huge hit with their miniseries, The New Edition Story.
The 3 night offering chronicled the life and early career of legendary music group New Edition. It follows their humble beginnings in Boston to individual solo success and everything in between.
To say it was a success was sort of an understatement - the first episode brought in more than 4 million viewers … it was BET’s highest rated debut for the last five years.
Throughout the show, other original content was promoted, causing many to think that it could have a spillover effect. We speak to
about it.
The Brood: Taking political action as a family
There have been a lot of marches, protests and demonstrations in this nation of late.
In Washington DC, the 44th annual March for Life takes place today.
Last weekend, hundreds of thousands of people turned out on the streets of downtown LA for the Women's March.
But of course the march wasn't just populated by women... men came, too, and so did kids.
Current events have raised all sorts of questions about how to participate in political action as a family.
To help sort through some of those questions, three women joined Take Two's Alex Cohen with advice on how to protest with children:
Yvonne Condes and Sarah Auerswald from the MOMS LA blog and Mahdis Keshavarz, founder of the Make Agency, a global PR consultancy with social justice at its core.
For reading resources, check out the list below. Our thanks to Branches Atelier Preschool for sharing.
To listen to the interview, click on the blue media player above.
Your go-to guide for the weekend in SoCal
Alex Cohen says goodbye to 'Take Two' and hello to 'Morning Edition'
It's official. Starting Monday, "Take Two" will become a one-hour show, hosted by A Martinez, starting at 9 a.m.
"AirTalk" will move to 10 a.m. and "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross will air at noon.
"Take Two" co-host Alex Cohen goes to "Morning Edition," where she will rule the early hour airwaves. That begins toward the end of February. Please stay tuned for details and join us for that when it happens.
Today, Jan. 27, we said goodbye. Alex aired her thoughts at the end of "Take Two." Please click on the audio link to hear her reflections. You can read a transcript below.
This past four years and four months has been a wild and wonderful ride.
Tom Hanks taught me how to take a proper selfie...
During the height of the drought, I asked Governor Jerry Brown if he flushed after he peed.
I shared cocktails made by a robot at the RedCat theater with my co-host A Martinez and a guy dressed in a banana suit...
I have held my tears back as a father described how he turned the death of his young son into a video game so his family could cope with the grief.
And I have listened.
I have listened to some of the most talented, smart, creative people in Southern California and that has been such a true joy... an honor and a privilege.
I've also worked with some of the most talented, smart and creative people in Southern California — the Take Two team.
You hear their names in credits each Friday. Their titles may indicate a bit about what they do... but they don't really tell you who they are. So on this last day of mine here, I will.
Hasmik Pohosian is an engineer who is also a woman. But truthfully, that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what makes her special. She listens so carefully not only because she cares about the quality of the sound on this show, but because she cares about the content. Thank you for your tremendous attention to detail.
Steve Proffitt is a very cantankerous guy and I honestly would not have it any other way. He makes radio sing. He pushes us all to be better. Thank you for remembering all the things in this world — everyone else here seems to be too young to do so.
When I first met Leo Duran, he had just moved here from New York and he told me he wasn't going to get a car. I doubted he'd last longer than a few months. He still doesn't own a car. Which is only the slightest indication of how tenacious Leo is in his beliefs. Thank you for your dedication — especially to the voices that aren't as often heard.
Julia Paskin has a huge appetite to do this work. I could tell that the moment she walked through our doors. Keep on pitching, and learning and growing. The fun for you has just begun.
Stephen Hoffman is the quiet storm. If you ever meet him, ask him to tell you about the time he met Mel Brooks, because it's a really good story. Hoffman is so calm even in the most hair-raising situations... sometimes I worried there might be something off about his blood pressure system. But this is exactly the type of person you need in the director's chair.
It's a shame you can't see people on the radio, because Lori Galarreta has the most amazing wardrobe. It's classy and fascinating and wonderful — much like she is. Lori — you are a gem.
Speaking of wardrobes... Julian Burrell wears a bow tie to work almost every day. He even has a spider man one. Julian is constantly watching the world and asking all the right questions... even on his days off. He has a real spidey sense of this news business.
Dorian Merina is so very smart. And so very caring. And wickedly funny in ways you'd never imagine. His work is impeccable and I'm so thrilled you'll be hearing more of him on our airwaves in the future. Thank you for all your solitary Sundays — you make this show so much better.
When you make radio with Austin Cross, it's a bit like going to church. Austin listens like his life depends on it, but better yet, he responds. Behind the glass wall of studio B, He jumps. He claps. His smile makes me remember why I got into this business in the first place.
Megan Larson may have just one title, but she easily does the work of five people most days. And never complains about it. And she has three kids, which is probably why she has done such an amazing job of mothering Take Two and this crazy crew of kids.
If you could put sunshine in a bottle, you'd have Joanne Griffith. I don't usually trust people who are that perennially optimistic, but Jo — I'd jump off a cliff if you said it was a good idea. Because you are always right. Your empathy, your strength, your heart ... they have sustained me more than you will ever know.
Monica Bushman has done an amazing job of birthing our parenting podcast the Brood. She is a jacqueline of all trades — who deftly handles every assignment with grace, clarity and a tranquility I'm deeply envious of. Monica is moving to KPCC's show The Frame. They have no idea how lucky they are.
What you hear on the radio, most of the time, is beautifully mixed, carefully crafted audio. It doesn't always start out that way... Like a great chef — Jacob is able to conjure an amazing dish no matter what ingredients he is served. He'll be working on this station's new podcast initiatives — which is fabulous because -- he gets it.
Now.... you may think you know A Martinez because he'll tell you certain things on the radio — A is NOT his real name. He is scared of butterflies. He will not eat anything with his hands. The most important things are the ones he'd never say, but I will. A's compassion runs as wide and as deep as the ocean. He is not just into sports — he is a team player unlike any I've ever met in this business. A may not have been born a news man, but he has become one. And I'm so lucky I got to be here to watch and listen.