Today on the show we begin by saying goodbye to 'Unbroken' Olympian and WWII hero Louis Zamperini. Then, we take a look at U.S. flag etiquette ahead of the July 4th holiday. Plus, we meet the Griffith, LA's new signature cocktail, Migrants say dire conditions in Central America reason for rise in crossings, we reveal the winner of our best sausage in SoCal contest and more.
'Unbroken' Olympian and WWII hero Louis Zamperini dies at 97
Former Olympic runner and World War II hero Louis Zamperini died yesterday at the age of 97.
His incredible story of resilience and survival at the hands of Japanese POW camps made him the subject of the best-selling book "Unbroken," written by 'Seabiscuit' author Laura Hillenbrand. The story is now being made into a feature film, directed by Angelina Jolie.
Hillenbrand joins Take Two to talk more about Louis' legacy.
Interview Highlights:
I imagine this is a very hard day for you.
"This is a terribly dark day for me. It's very sad to let go of this beautiful man."
How close were you to him?
"I was extremely close to him, he really became the surrogate grandfather to me. I worked on the book for seven years and we would do interviews almost every day, sometimes three hours at a time and became so very close and he was very, very dear to me."
You mention seven years... I was amazed though to find out that you never actually met Louis during that time. How did you interact with him?
"We ran up some very big phone bills. My health is such that I can't fly on planes, so I couldn't get out to him and he couldn't get to me. We did meet in the end after the book was done, which was one of the great days of my life. I couldn't meet him at the time, but it was remarkable what we could accomplish together just working on the phone and through the mail. He sent me all his scrapbooks and he was a very generous source."
In some ways that actually helped you write the book?
"Yeah we began working on this when he was 86 years old and for me, as he told his story to me, it became so vivid that he was not a man in his 80s or 90s that I was talking to he was the 25-year-old he was telling me about. It was very vivid and real to me. In a way I think it became an advantage that I wasn't sitting in a room with him."
How did he come to live in California?
"He came out in 1919, two years after he was born — he was born during WWI, after he had pneumonia and they told him to move to a better climate. He had been in New York. He took Los Angeles by storm and became a juvenile delinquent out there until he discovered he was a great runner."
At Torrance High School he set a record in the mile, I believe.
"Yeah he was the greatest high school miler of all time in his era. He smashed the all-time record. He probably would have been the first man to break the 4-minute mile had the war not intervened. He was that good."
He went on to compete in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and actually got to meet Adolf Hitler?
"Yes, he finished 8th in the 5,000-meters there after an extraordinary final lap of 56 seconds. Anything under 70 seconds in that era was extremely fast. Hitler caught sight of him and asked to meet him after the race. Louis really had no idea who Hitler was, and this is prior to the Holocaust. He was a teenager at the time. Goebbels brought him up to meet him and Hitler said through a translator, 'Ah, you are the boy with the fast finish,' and Louis reached up and touched his hand, and that was his moment of meeting Hitler."
After the Olympics he enlisted in the Army Air Corps. served in the Pacific during WWII. His plane crashed and he spent 47 days floating on a raft, fighting off not only starvation, but sharks as well. How did he get through that?
"I don't know how he got through that. It was an effort of extraordinary will and ingenuity. He found ways to catch fish, including two sharks, he caught two sharks and dragged them on the rafter and killed them with a screwdriver and ate their livers. He gathered rainwater, he was strafed by the Japanese during this experience, and one of the two rafts that he and his two crew mates were on sank. He manages to survive all of that and make it almost to safety until he was captured by the Japanese on the 47th day."
Can you tell us a little of what he went through at the POW camp?
"38 percent of Americans who were held by the Japanese died in captivity, because the Japanese were so cruel. Louis was enslaved and he was singled out by a terribly vicious monster of a man that they called The Bird. He spent 2.5 years tormenting him emotionally and physically trying to break him, and it was a great war of wills between these two men. Louis kept it together and survived this man, survived the war."
He came back to the U.S., but had a lot of bad memories that he couldn't shake...
"Like a lot of prisoners of war and veterans, he suffered from severe PTSD. He became an alcoholic, he became consumed by rage, he wanted to go back to Japan and kill this man who had tortured him. He actually woke up one night in a dream in which he thought he was strangling The Bird, the man who tortured him, and he was in fact strangling his pregnant wife. He did not hurt her, but that was when he hit bottom."
What eventually got him on the road to redemption?
"I don't know if I want to give it away, but he did find a way out of his troubles. he found true peace, he was a very, very happy man for the latter half of his life. The happiest man I ever knew."
Why are so many Central American children migrating to the US?
This week, protesters blocked several buses transporting mostly women and children to a processing center in Murrieta.
That's part of a federal plan to bring migrants to sites in the region, including in El Centro to help with the overflow from South Texas. Officials say more than 50,000 children have been detained this year for making the crossing.
There are a few reasons why there's been a recent influx of young people coming to the U.S. For one, dire conditions in Central America is the most recognized reason, but there are also rumors that children coming to the U.S. alone will have an easier time staying here.
For more on why these kids are coming to the United States, we're joined by Southern California Public Radio's Leslie Berestein Rojas.
July 4th Flag etiquette: 6 ways to properly display the US flag
It’s not just polite. It’s a federal law. The Flag Code was officially enacted by Congress in 1942. There are no civil penalties for improper display but if you're going to learn the rules, there's no better day than the Fourth of July.
Below is everything you need to know about proper flag etiquette. For more tips and history, The American Legion's resident "Flag Guru" Mike Buss offers these tips. You can find full audio by clicking "Listen Now" in the upper left.
1. Light the flag at night
It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flag staffs in the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed 24 hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.
2. Marching? Keep it right.
The flag, when carried in a procession with another flag or flags, should be either on the marching right — that is, the flag's own right — or, if there is a line of other flags, in front of the center of that line.
3. All flags are not created equal
No other flag or pennant should be placed above or, if on the same level, to the right of the flag of the United States of America, except during church services conducted by naval chaplains at sea, when the church pennant may be flown above the flag during church services for the personnel of the Navy.
When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from separate staffs of the same height. The flags should be of approximately equal size. International usage forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of another nation in time of peace.
4. When a flag is hoisted, you should ...
During the ceremony of hoisting or lowering the flag or when the flag is passing in a parade or in review, those present in uniform should render the military salute. Members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are present but not in uniform may render the military salute. All other persons present should face the flag and stand at attention with their right hand over the heart, or if applicable, remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Citizens of other countries should stand at attention. All such conduct toward the flag in a moving column should be rendered at the moment the flag passes.
5. Don't wear it
The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.
The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.
The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free.
The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free.
6. Show some respect
No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, state flags and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.
Bonus: here's a handy GIF showing how to properly fold an American Flag:
Thousands of youth soccer players hit SoCal for AYSO National Games
This week about 7,000 young soccer players from around the country are gathered in Southern California for the AYSO National Games.
The American Youth Soccer Organization was started 50 years ago here in Torrance, Calif. Since then, soccer has become the second-most popular sport among kids in this country. Over the last two decades alone, the number of youth soccer players has doubled to about 4 million.
The AYSO National Games started June 29 and run through July 7 in games in Riverside and Carson, Calif. Boys and girls from age 8 to 18 will compete in a tournament structured to mirror the FIFA World Cup.
Take Two producer Meghan McCarty attended the opening ceremony of the AYSO games to talk to this young generation of soccer-lovers.
Why doesn't the US create world class soccer stars?
Despite being a wealthy and populous country with a love of sport, America has always lagged behind countries in Europe and Latin America in churning out world class soccer stars.
Some critics say it's not about a lack of love for the game but rather how our players are being developed. Writer Michael Sokolove recently visited the rigorous Ajax Academy in the Netherlands for his latest piece in the New York Times Magazine.
Ajax recruits soccer players young and subjects them to strenuous scientific training and strict evaluation. The academy routinely sells its best players for millions of dollars in the European premier leagues.
Sokolove said a combination of the American sport ethic of the self-made athlete, the college athletic system and the pay-to-play system in place in this country hampers the development of finely tuned soccer players.
Lab Notes: Sanden Totten talks bass beats and mythical monsters
Having trouble finding the beat when you're on the dance floor? Wondering whether or not a mysterious patch of hair you found in the woods may be from Bigfoot? These are two topics covered in this edition of "Lab Notes".
KPCC Science Reporter Sanden Totten joins Take Two to share a couple of quirky science news stories that can tell us a little more about the world around us.
'Life Itself' documentary a fitting cinematic tribute to Roger Ebert
The new documentary, "Life Itself," follows the life and death of legendary film critic, Roger Ebert.
Directed by Steve James, whose documentary, "Hoop Dreams," was championed by Ebert, the film gives us access to the final months of Ebert's life as he suffers and eventually succumbs to cancer.
Based on Ebert's own memoir by the same name, the film chronicles Ebert's early career, his winning of the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1975, and his ascension to film icon as co-host of a show with Gene Siskel which changed the way film and criticism are regarded in popular culture.
"To have these two guys talking about movies in a way where you could see they thought it was important to discuss the movies, you know they weren't just entertainment," said Ebert's wife, Chaz.
The two film critics also entertained viewers with witty and often heated repartee over the films they discussed. Director Steve James compared their dynamic to a championship heavyweight fight. But despite their early animosity, Siskel and Ebert developed a brotherly affection for each other in later years, which made it all the more difficult when Siskel died suddenly of brain cancer in 1999.
"It affected Roger deeply because Roger felt like Gene was his brother," said Chaz. "He didn’t have a chance to tell his brother goodbye and he was devastated by that. He said if anything like this ever happens to me we must not keep it from people who mean something to us."
Thus, when Ebert was diagnosed with cancer, he was very public about his health battle all the way to the end, as he invited director James to intimate moments in the hospital in what turned out to be the final months of his life.
"It was hard to watch and film those difficult moments," said James. "But I think he clearly understood that if this film was going to be a true and honest portrait of his life that we needed to show everything."
Chaz said she believes Ebert would give the final film "two thumbs up."
"I think it's so poetic that a man who spent his entire career writing about movies ended his career in a movie. There was a cosmic smile there," she said.
State Of Affairs: State controller race, Neel Kashkari and more
How Super Pacs could play a key role in an upcoming local election, who will be on the ballot on the race for state controller and there just may be some resolution in sight in the race for state controller.
Plus, a new poll drills down on how Californians feel about income inequality. All this news means it's time for State of Affairs with KPCC political reporters Frank Stoltze and Alice Walton.
We start with the race for state controller. After the primary election, Republican Ashley Swearingen, the mayor of Fresno, took first place. it's been a really heated battle for second place between two democrats, Assemblyman John Perez and Betty Yee, a member of the Board of Equalization. Where does this stand?
We're talking about a difference of 481 votes in a contest with 4 million ballots cast. How rare is this in politics today?
What might Betty Yee's candidacy mean for the state? And what becomes of John Perez?
Let's move over to a local race. L.A. County supervisor candidate Bobby Shriver announced he will not self-finance his runoff against Sheila Kuehl. He will be getting help from a number of Super Pacs. What't the role of money in this race.
Now to the capitol where earlier this week, state Assembly Republicans have elected a new leader.
One issue that Californians seem to care a lot about is income inequality. A new field poll out this week found that 54 percent of California adults said they were dissatisfied with the wage and income gap. This opinion was shared by both Democrats and Republicans in almost all ages, incomes and genders. Is this surprising?
As we mentioned both Republicans and Democrats were polled and felt dissatisfied with income disparity, but the poll found differences in how the two parties want to solve the problem. What were the different outlooks here?
Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari has sought to highlight California's status as having the highest poverty rate in the nation. How big of an issue do you see this being as we head toward the election?
It was announced this week that the city of Los Angeles reached a new labor agreement with the union that represents rank and file members of the LAPD. What does this contract mean for police officers? How will residents be effected?
Sticking with pensions for a moment, there was a major decision this week regarding the city of L.A.'s pension plan for future employees. This decision could cost the city billions of dollars. What's happening here?
This week marks Eric Garcetti's first year in office. The mayor himself celebrated by asking Angelenos to tweet what they love about the city with the hashtag #OneLA. What did folks have to say?
Mosquito-borne Chikingunya virus spreading to the Americas
'Tis the season for camping and pool parties, outdoor barbecues...and mosquitos.
It seems like every year at this time we hear about the little buggers wreaking havoc and spreading diseases: West Nile, Dengue Fever, and now Chikingunya.
For more on these vector-borne diseases and whether we should worry about them out in the West, we're joined by Dr. Claire Panosian Dunavan, professor of medicine and infectious diseases at UCLA School of Medicine.
Meet the Griffith, LA's new signature cocktail
The California Artisanal Distillers Guild, the trade association for the state's burgeoning craft distillers, called this year for Los Angeles cocktail lovers to help create a drink that embodies the City of Angels.
The winner of the search for L.A.'s signature cocktail is the Griffith.
The vodka cocktail was created by Culver City resident, Josh Lurie, and is named for the large park in the heart of Los Angeles. The cocktail is a mix of organic ingredients distilled and grown in L.A. County.
Litty Mathew, founder and spirits maker at Greensbar Distillery, joins Take Two to talk about (and taste) the winning cocktail.
Griffith
- 1 oz TRU organic garden vodka
- 1 oz GRAND POPPY organic bitter liqueur (made with Calif poppies)
- 1 oz freshly squeezed local lemons
- 1 oz simple syrup (half sugar, half water)
- 2-3 slices fresh local cucumbers
Directions:
Muddle cucumbers, add rest and shake with ice. Strain into martini glass and garnish with a cucumber ribbon.
5 things to do July 4th weekend
Fourth of July weekend is upon us. You know what that means: Outdoor BBQs and time off to enjoy with friends and family. And of course, fireworks.
KPCC’s social media editor
joins us to share her picks for fun and cheap events happening around SoCal this weekend. Plus, she’s got a few firework safety tips to ensure there aren’t any run-ins with the police.
For more on the events mentioned in this segment, click here.
For a full rundown of fireworks displays and cities that allow personal use of fireworks, click here.
You Voted: Who has the best sausage in SoCal?
As a lead up to all the grilling that'll be happening on the fourth, last week, we announced that we wanted you to tell us which restaurant had the best sausage in Southern California.
It was a tough competition, but Wurstküche — with locations in downtown L.A. and Venice — came out on top. But, their owners weren't in town to tell us their story or claim their prize, so we had to go with number two, Seoul Sausage.
Which to be fair, looks just as delicious on the grill. How about Galbi beef sausage? It's stuffed with a mix of beef and Korean spices, topped with kimchi relish and garlic jalapeno aioli on a soft roll.
Seoul Sausage was started in L.A. a couple of years ago by chef Chris Oh and brothers Ted and Yong Kim. The goal was to create sausages with uniquely korean flavors.
"We just figured hey if like italian people can have sausages, and chinese people can have sausages, why can't korean people have sausage?" said Ted Kim.
They had humble beginnings, making their sausages at home for their friends. Over time they graduated to food festivals, then to food trucks and eventually they opened up a restaurant.
So you're wondering, what's in a Korean sausage anyway?
"You got the standard soy, soy sauce, sesame oil, you got green onions, brown sugar...these are familiar flavors that korean people are used to eating with their bulgogi marinade," said Yong Kim.
It might not seem surprising to people in L.A. to see a sausage mixed with kimchi, but a couple of years ago the trio had to test our their food in parts of the country where Korean food is unknown.
They were competing on Food Network show, "The Great Food Truck Race."
"We went to cities like amarillo texas where they had no idea what Kimchee was. And we don't want to intimidate these people, so I think what we do a good job... is kind of I wouldn't say dumbing down, but kind of making the flavors very easy to digest. So, if you put these flavors into common foods like a hot dog and fried chicken... people understand it and they're more willing to try it out because they're more comfortable with it."
They ended up winning the competition, they sold a lot of product and they won over plenty of folks who were reluctant to try Korean food before they came along.
They're doing pretty well here in LA too and are currently in the process of opening their second restaurant in Downtown L.A.
But for now if you want to try a Seoul Sausage, you'll have to hunt down their truck or to head to their restaurant on the West Side.
The retro and lively sounds of The Dustbowl Revival
If you're looking to be dazzled long after the July 4th fireworks have shimmered away, then don your tweed vest and vintage dress to see The Dustbowl Revival.
The group, dubbed as the city's best live band by LA Weekly, performs at LA's Ford Theatres this Saturday for the Zev Yarosklavsky Signature Series. The concert series pairs world-renowned artists with some of the area's best local musicians.
Despite The Dustbowl Revival's mix of genres that come from the American South — like bluegrass, hot swing and swamp blues, and more — it's a distinctly L.A. band.
Founder Zach Lupetin and vocalist Liz Beebe joins Take Two to talk about their energetic retro sound and how Craigslist brought the band together.
THE DUSTBOWL REVIVAL - BALLAD OF THE BELLHOP - LIVE IN THE BACKYARD from The Dustbowl Revival on Vimeo.