The New Yorker's latest cover features the women who have accused Bill Cosby of sexual crimes, a modeling agency for transgender people in LA.
35 of Bill Cosby's accusers featured on New York magazine cover
Forty-six women have come forward to publicly accuse Bill Cosby of rape or sexual assault.
Thirty-five of them agreed to be photographed and interviewed by New York magazine.
The cover of the current issue features a black and white photograph of all 35 women, lined up in four rows, staring straight into the camera. The dates of the alleged assaults, ranging from the 1960s to 1996, are listed below each woman.
Read now on Tumblr: 35 women tell their stories about being assaulted by Bill Cosby. http://t.co/0X3jzztACH pic.twitter.com/UWYQ3367Pm
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) July 27, 2015
Inside the magazine are their stories, portraits, and an accompanying essay by New York magazine senior editor Noreen Malone. Malone joined Take Two to discuss the project.
Special Olympics World Games kick off in LA
The 2015 Special Olympics World Games is now underway in Los Angeles. The Games kicked off Saturday with opening ceremonies attended by first lady Michelle Obama.
The Special Olympics are drawing large crowds to the city, here to watch the more than 7,000 athletes from 170 countries competing throughout the week It's quite a logistical feat... Steve Vanderpool, Sr. Vice President of Communications for the 2015 Special Olympics joined Alex Cohen to discuss how it's been going.
'Tomorrowland' shows readers just how inventive humans can be
Technology at its most basic is meant to make our lives easier and better. Think bionic limbs, flying cars and techniques that want to help humans live for 120 years or more. Some of these things are possible, but all of them have piqued the interest of certain people who might be able to make them a reality.
Over the years Steven Kotler has written about this extensively for publications like the New York Times, Popular Science and Wired, and he's drawn on those essays for his new book "Tomorrowland." He and A Martinez sit down to talk about how human inventiveness can push the bounds between science fiction and reality.
To hear the entire interview, click on the audio embedded above.
Boy Scouts set to end ban on gay leaders
On Monday, the Boy Scouts is expected to formerly end its ban on gay scout leaders, ratifying a decision that has been months in the making.
The deal, however, still allows local scouting groups, such as those run by conservative churches, to keep gay adults from leadership roles.
Zach Wahls, an Eagle Scout and executive director of Scouts for Equality, a group that supports the change, joined the show with more.
To listen to the full interview, click the blue audio player above.
Uber, facing challenges, lobbies on multiple fronts
The ride-hailing company Uber has become a popular service in the past six years. But it's also run into legal and regulatory problems. All that has led to a powerful lobbying force as the company seeks to shape what comes next.
David McCuan, political science professor at Sonoma State University, explained more.
To listen to the full interview, click the blue audio player above.
The rise of the 'lone wolf' gunman
The theater shooting in Lafayette, Louisiana last week is just the latest in a series of public killings committed by ‘lone wolf’ gunmen. Just days before that, a gunman killed four Marines at a naval center in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Domestic terrorism is now one of the biggest threats to public safety in America.
Heidi Beirich studies lone wolf-style domestic terrorism for the Southern Poverty Law Center. She profiled gunman John Russell Houser for Take Two:
"He basically believed every idea that is propagated by the radical right in this country. He was looking for white power groups, he liked Hitler, he expressed anti-Semitism, he hated the government, and we know there was at least one case in 2005 that he registered for a conference that was being hosted by David Duke, the long-time klansman," she said.
She says Houser may have chosen to attack at the movie “Trainwreck” because of actress Amy Schumer’s outspoken feminist views. "He also did not like liberated women," Beirich explains.
Prior the attack, Duke posted a disturbing message on the website for Golden Dawn, a right-wing neo-Nazi group based in New York. The post has since been taken down. In it, he wrote, "I do not want to discourage the last hope for the best, but you must realize the power of the lone wolf, is the power that [comes] forth in [all] situations." Beirich says this post was particularly disturbing for a number of reasons.
"When he’s talking about the power of the lone wolf, he’s talking about the power of a lone gunman who kills people who are opposed to a political ideology that a lone wolf believes in … The basic idea is [that] it’s easier to commit that kind of violence and have the government not find out about it because you’re not involved in a cell. You’re not part of a group. You can commit the violence you want and basically be successful [with] it," she said.
Beirich says people like Houser frequently use the internet to air grievances and conspire with like-minded extremists. She refers these people as ‘wound collectors,’ for their inability to let go of everyday injustices. She says older gunmen like Houser often carry around anger for decades. "We’re actually seeing that some of these folks, as they approach the end of their lives, may decide to take the route of violence when they become desperate," she explains.
Beirich contends, even though shooters gain infamy in the media, the coverage lends to an ongoing national conversation about political policies, and where the country is focusing its anti-terrorism resources.
"The United States needs to not forget that, until the 1960s, until things like the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act, we were basically a white supremacist country by law," she said. "So it’s not surprising that these kinds of beliefs continue, and they’re held by hundreds-of-thousands of people. And that makes it, I think, very important as a part of public discussion."
On the Lot: Hollywood reacts to theater shooting
Once again, gunfire rang out inside a movie theater. This time it was in Lafayette, Louisiana. Two patrons and the shooter were left dead.
After the shooting, last Thursday, there were concerns that people might stay away from the movies this weekend. But there's little they did. Even though box office dropped a bit compared to the same weekend a year ago, that was what most analysts expected, given the limited appeal of films like Adam Sandler's Pixel, and Paper Towns, based on the young adult novel.
Which left Ant-Man to nibble on the left-overs and finish at the top for the second week running. And left many Hollywood wags wondering if Adam Sandler, who capped off a long run of stinkers with Pixel, can still be considered a movie star.
Rebecca Keegan writes about film for the LA Times and joins us on Monday's for On the Lot
LA's first transgender modeling agency set to open
The first modeling agency catering to transgender men and women is opening its doors in Los Angeles.
Apple Model Management first set up shop in Bangkok in 2002, serving cisgender adults and kids, or people who agree that they are the gender they were born as. In 2014, the agency began to take on transgender people. Those models soon appeared in fashion shows and commercial ads.
Soon after, the agency decided to expand to Los Angeles, and to focus solely on transgender men and women. Cecilio Asuncion, director of Apple Model Management in L.A., said the goal is to eliminate the need to advertise their models as transgender.
"Because the thing is, what we're really, really excited for, is for training these women, these transgender women, to be the best possible model they can be, and achieve supermodel status," said Asuncion.
As with any modeling agency, there are requirements potential talent must meet. The agency scouts women who are 5 feet 8 inches tall and above, and men who are 6 feet and above. Asuncion says it all stems from the need to be competitive with other agencies, but there are other necessary elements that outweigh looks.
"You need to have a good, good support system," he said. "Because I think whether [you're] a cisgender model or a transgender model, you basically get picked apart ... And that's what's important, you need to have a good support system, because it's not easy."
Anyone who is interested in learning more about modeling for Apple Model Management can email Cecilio Asuncion: Cecilio@applemodels.com.
How we understand tragic events
When tragic shootings occur, like the one that happened in Louisiana last week, we find it almost impossible to fathom. It shakes us to our very core. As humans, we are wired to seek meaning, even if events are random. Laurence Miller, a forensic and criminal police psychologist in Florida who has also treated victims of trauma, spoke to A Martinez about how we process such events.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
Do GMO food labels make us more or less safe?
What do you think about genetically modified organisms (GMOs)? Worried? Don't really care? Chances are, if anything, you're confused.
The term GMO describes an organism that's been genetically engineered to take on certain qualities, like resistance to a virus or an added nutritional element.
There are claims and counter-claims about the safety of GMOs, so the debate in recent years has come down to food labeling.
Vermont, Connecticut and Maine have all passed laws requiring GMO foods to be labeled as such. But opponents of GMO labeling won big last week when the House of Representatives voted in favor or a law that would block states from mandating GMO labels.
Slate writer Will Saletan examined the claims on both sides of the GMO debate for a recent piece called "Unhealthy Fixation." Saletan joined Take Two to discuss the debate over GMO labels.
To hear the full interview with Will Saletan, click the link above.