Bill Cosby admits to obtaining drugs to give to women, a browser blocker that lets you filter out election coverage, how women are doing in Top 40 music.
Testimony reveals the only time Cosby admitted to drugging women
The sexual assault allegations against comedian Bill Cosby have taken a dramatic turn.
Courts on Monday unsealed the records from a 2005 civil suit against Cosby. In a sworn deposition, he admitted to drugging women in order to have sex with them.
It's the first and only known time he's talked about what took place behind closed doors. In the past, he's opted to stay silent and only offer no comment.
While the statute of limitations have passed on bringing sexual assault charges against Cosby, Eriq Gardner, senior editor of The Hollywood Reporter, says this new revelation could affect the defamation suits currently filed in civil court.
Listen to the full interview by clicking the blue audio player above.
LA Times 'black Twitter' reporter on the emergence of a community and conversation
The L.A. Times recently announced the hire of several new reporters, which is normally nothing newsworthy. But this time, someone mentioned in a company-wide email naming the new roles and individuals caught everyone’s eye: new hire Dexter Thomas, or more specifically, his beat.
Thomas explicitly is charged with covering so-called "black Twitter," the space where African Americans from across the country converge to talk about community issues and advance social movements.
The black Twitter phenomenon has proven itself a powerful instrument in promoting national conversations about race and diversity. Many of the year’s top racial stories started first among black Twitter participants. In addition to fomenting viral movements online, black Twitter has organized boycotts and even publicly chastised figures in the media.
Thomas told Take Two that his job will be to find the stories that often go untold.
“I think what people talk about, when they talk about 'black Twitter,' is a very, very narrow version of what black people are doing on Twitter,” Thomas said. “A lot of my job is to talk about these stories and talk about how complicated this really is … So really, my job more than anything is about communities and showing how those communities interact, and working with those communities to tell their own stories.”
University of North Texas journalism professor Meredith Clark penned the dissertation, “To tweet our own cause: A mixed-methods study of the online phenomenon ‘black Twitter.” She tells Take Two that reaction from the Twitter community has been mixed.
“I’ve seen [a little bit] of fear about being surveyed all the time," she said. "I’ve seen some encouraging words about someone paying attention to what young black people are talking about on social media. I think, overall, people are cautious about where this is going to go and what implications it has for larger news networks.”
Click the button above to hear the full conversation with L.A. Times’ Dexter Thomas and professor Meredith Clark.
Tired of 2016 election coverage? There's a browser extension for that
The 2016 presidential election is almost a year and a half away, but at least 16 Republicans and five Democrats are already out stumping for the White House.
For some news consumers, the campaign fatigue is already starting to set in.
Slate columnist Daniel Engber has come up with a solution for anyone who's already hit their breaking point. No, it's not throwing your laptop out the window, it's a free web browser extension called "I Haven't Got Time for the 'Paign."
To hear the full interview with Daniel Engber, click the blue audio player above.
New music from Janet Jackson, The Internet, Miguel, Daye Jack and Emily King
Every week on Take Two we're joined by our regular music experts who bring in their top new music picks for our segment Tuesday Reviewsday. This week, music supervisor
and Oliver Wang join A Martinez with their hot summer picks.
Oliver's picks
Artist:
feat. Janelle Monae
Album: Ego Death
Song: "Gabby"
Artist: Miguel
Album: "Wildheart"
Song: "Hollywood Dreams"
Artist: Janet Jackson
Album: TBD
Song: "No Sleep"
Morgan's picks
Artist:
Album: "Soul Glitch"
Song: "Easy"
Artist: Emily King
Album: "The Switch"
Song: "Already There"
If you'd like to hear Oliver and Morgan talk about why they chose to feature these artists, you can listen to the full piece embedded above.
Think Taylor Swift and Beyonce rule Top 40? Think again
Attention to the disparity of women in the film industry has been high as of late. But how are women faring in music?
With female acts like Taylor Swift, Beyonce and Nicki Minaj constantly in the headlines, many would say all's well for women on the Billboard charts. But as it turns out, T Swift and Queen Bey don't have a whole lot of lady company.
According to a study of from Fusion, which looked at the Billboard charts for the first half of the year, women made up just 29 percent of the rankings.
Culture writer Kelsey McKinney was at the helm of this examination, and she joined host Tess Vigeland to explain more.
Listen to the full interview by clicking the blue audio player above.
Folsom Lake at risk of reaching lowest water levels ever
It appears there is more bad news in store for Folsom Lake, a large reservoir near Sacramento. The lake grabbed international attention last year when photos revealed shockingly low levels of water.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is now projecting Folsom Lake could reach the lowest water levels in recorded history in just a few months.
Tom Gohring, executive director of the Sacramento Water Forum, explains more.
Listen to the full interview by clicking the blue audio player above.
Canal flows 'backward' in California drought
In another bizarre turn of events due to California’s drought, a canal that feeds the San Luis Reservoir in the San Joaquin Valley now flows 'backward' for the first time in its 64-year history.
If you've ever driven up the 5 Freeway to Northern California, you've passed by the 117-mile channel called the Delta-Mendota Canal. It normally flows from north to south.
But due to cuts in pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and Lake Shasta — because of tightened water-use restrictions and regulations that protect Chinook salmon — farms and communities that use water from the canal as it flows downstream are now being forced to pump water back upstream, north from the San Luis Reservoir.
How do you change the direction of a stream of water?
Ara Azhderian is the water policy administrator for the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority. "It's energy and pumps. Rather than the water flowing downhill, we have to lift it up and push it uphill," he said. "It's crazy. It's just crazy."
Azhderian estimates the operation could cost approximately $2.5 million by summer's end. The San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority hopes to receive financial assistance from state and federal agencies to help cover the cost.
Listen to the full interview by clicking the blue audio player above.
'Tough Love' documentary spotlights the child welfare system
How to define who is and is not a fit parent is the question posed by a new documentary, "Tough Love," on PBS.
It tells the stories of two families on opposite sides of the country, both of them featuring parents in an emotional tug-of-war with Child Protective Services.
Stephanie Wang-Breal, director of the documentary, joined the show with more.
Listen to the full interview by clicking the blue audio player above.
Dolores Huerta exhibition opens at the Smithsonian
Dolores Huerta is a major figure in California history. In the mid-1960s, she stood side-by-side with Cesar Chavez through the Delano Grape Strike. Together, and with others, they secured better working conditions and wages for farm workers across the state.
Now, Huerta's life is the subject of a new exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. "One Life: Dolores Huerta" is the first in the series dedicated to a Latina.
Host A Martinez spoke with curator Taína Caragol.
Listen to the full interview by clicking the blue audio player above.
Calexico's Joey Burns on the band's new album and where they got their name
With roots in Southern California and the South West, for more than a decade now, Calexico has been releasing albums that are as at home in the desert as they are along the coast. Their latest, "Edge of the Sun" is out now and they're playing on July 7th in Los Angeles.
Founding member Joey Burns stopped by to talk to Alex Cohen to talk about how the band got their name, their musical influences and what he hopes his daughters get out of the songs that he writes with them in mind.
If you'd like to hear the entire interview, click on the audio link embedded at the top of this post.