Today on the show, we'll start with a look at President Obama's review of U.S. deportation practices. Then, Hollywood Reporter music editor Shirley Halperin wraps up the SXSW festival for us. Plus, filmmakers of 'Better Living Through Chemistry' talk about the film, CVS us under fire for missing painkiller prescriptions, Sierra Madre's giant wisteria trees and much more.
President Obama orders review of US deportation practices
President Obama says he is ordering a review of deportations. The move was announced in a meeting at the White House Thursday with leaders of the Hispanic Caucus.
Obama has come under heat lately for his immigration policies. The number of deportations under his administration is approaching 2 million. For more, we're joined by Representative Xavier Becerra of Los Angeles, who was at yesterday's meeting at the White House. Then, Fawn Johnson, correspondent for the National Journal, joins the show to talk about the political impact of Obama's decision.
SXSW Wrap-Up: Tragedy aftermath, Lady Gaga's outrageous performance and more
Just a few more days before Austin's annual South by Southwest Festival wraps up.
We've been there for a week, covering wearable technology, secret apps, custom Oreo Cookie printers, and, of course, the music.
RELATED: SXSW: A conversation with French-Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux
But then things turned to the tragic yesterday after a suspected drunken driver plowed through a group of festival goers, killing two and injuring 23 others.
The mood since has been somber but the show, as they say, did go on. To reflect on that all has happened this week in Austin, we turn to one of our favorite music critics Shirley Halperin from the Hollywood reporter.
Friday Flashback: Deportation, overtime pay, Paul Ryan on poverty and more
It's the end of another week and time for the Friday Flashback, Take Two's look at the week in news. This morning we're joined in-studio by Los Angeles Times columnist James Rainey, and we welcome back Jamelle Bouie of The Daily Beast.
Let's start with President Obama, who just hours ago vowed to take another look at deportations in an effort to try and make them more humane. This is of course coming off the heels of the immigration advocacy group The Council of La Raza calling him "Deporter in Chief." How is this playing politically?
Is this just the president trying to save face or could this be some legitimate movement towards comprehensive immigration reform?
Of course, President Obama made a splash on the Funny or Die Show "Between Two Ferns" with Zack Galifianakis this week:
The point was to push the Affordable Care Act to millennials. The website got its most hits in one day, but March numbers were down overall. Was this effective?
This week, President Obama also started pushing this overtime pay initiative. Where did this come from and where is it going to go?
While the president was talking about overtime, Congressman Paul Ryan was talking about the culture of poverty in America's inner cities:
“We have got this tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working and just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning the value and the culture of work, and so there is a real culture problem here that has to be dealt with.”
Senator Dianne Feinstein this week spoke out against the CIA, claiming it essentially spied on a deleted information from her staff's computers. After she was considered to have given the intelligence community a "pass" on spying on private citizens, a lot of people are calling her a hypocrite. This is just the beginning, where is this going from here?
Last week, the California Democratic Delegation held their convention here in Los Angeles, this weekend the California Republicans will hold theirs: Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice will be headlining. What can we expect from this weekend?
We'll forever remember this as the week that Malaysia Air flight 370 disappeared from radar screens. There've been a lot of dramatic leads but no sighting yet of the actual wreckage. Where is this investigation headed next week?
CVS under fire for missing prescription painkillers
Earlier this week came the news that CVS could face as much as $29 million dollars in fines for allegedly losing track of prescription painkillers at four California stores. David Lazarus of the LA Times has been following this and he joins us now.
'Better Living Through Chemistry,' a pharmacist's debacle
The new film "Better Living Through Chemistry" shows just how easy and dangerous it can be for a pharmacist to slip into his own supply.
The film is set in the small fictional town of Woodbury and stars Sam Rockwell as a pharmacist named Doug. Doug's got a wife and a kid, and his life seems like something right out of a modern day "Leave It To Beaver."
Then everything starts to change when he meets a customer named Elizabeth, played by Olivia Wilde, a woman who loves pills of all kinds.
Doug quickly falls for Elizabeth and for a wide variety of his own medications. Eventually the two come up with a plot to kill Elizabeth's husband and split town.
Writer and director Geoff Moore and David Posamentier join the show to talk about the film.
Report: Economics and operations of the sex trade industry
Trading sexual services for money is a huge industry in this country. But due to the illegal nature of sex for hire, it's hard to get an exact sense of how much money is generated or how sex businesses are run.
A new study commissioned by the Justice Department looks at the operations and economics of commercial sex in eight different cities, including San Diego. Researchers interviewed convicted pimps and police officers on the trade.
Take Two spoke with Meredith Dank, a Senior Research Associate with the Urban Institute and lead author on the report, the Hustle: Economics of the Underground Commercial Sex Industry to talk more about this industry.
We also checked in with Ami Carpenter, who studies how gangs and prostitutes interact in the border town of San Diego, to find out what the situation is like there.
Facing risk of rape, migrant women prepare with birth control
Rape is one of the most widely known risks for women migrants crossing the US-Mexico border. and yet justice for those crimes is almost always elusive.
From the Fronteras Desk, as Jude Joffe-Block reports about the women who make the journey and what they can do to prepare for that grim possibility.
How did Sierra Madre's record-setting wisteria get so big?
This Sunday, the town of Sierra Madre holds its 97th annual Wistaria Festival. The public is invited to check out the town's massive, woody shrub that's grown so large it's in the Guinness Book of World Records.
So how did Sierra Madre's wisteria get to be so big? We sent KPCC's Science Reporter Sanden Totten out to investigate.
Winning this game may just mean you get into the college of your choice
You know those the hours and hours teenagers spend playing computer games? Well, several years ago a group of researchers asked themselves if they could harness that effort into something useful. Like getting into college.
KPCC's Adolfo Guzman-Lopez reports on what they came up with.
Taco Madness Tournament: Vote for your favorite LA taco
For many people, this time of year means one thing: March Madness. The NCAA college basketball tournament gets started with Selection Sunday this weekend.
But if your taste runs more to the spicy than the sporty, then let the games begin. The annual Taco Madness tournament opened yesterday, and here to break it down for us is our own taco bracketologist, Meghan McCarty.
Visit the L.A. Taco site to vote!
In 'Grand Piano,' Elijah Wood feels the pressure of a world-class pianist
Actor Elijah Wood is perhaps best known for his role as Frodo Baggins in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, but he's been acting for more than 20 years now.
His latest project opens today, a movie called "Grand Piano."
Wood plays a famous concert pianist named Tom Selznick who retires after botching a notoriously difficult piece of music known as La Cinquette, written by his mentor a piano legend named Patrick Godureaux.
To take on the role of a rattled musician who's preparing for a big comeback, Elijah had to take a crash course in music.
"Basically I spent about three weeks working with a piano teacher," said Wood. "Though she knew that we were making a film and that i didn't have to play note for note, she definitely taught me like I was a pianist."
But his role isn't just of a concert pianist, it's a pianist with a lot at stake. Moments into his performance, stage fright quickly turns into sheer terror as Tom Selznick discovers that a one wrong note could lead to dire consequences. Enter actor John Cusack as a mad man who whispers in the musician's ear piece as he begins to play.
There's a very strong Alfred Hitchcock vibe to Grand Piano. Suspense and scares are elements Elijah Wood is more than comfortable with. In fact, he relishes them.
A few years back, Wood and a few friends launched a production company which specializes in horror and dedicated to the creation of probing films that test the definitions of what horror can be.
"The inspiration for the company is certainly driven by a love for the genre. At the time, it was really in reaction to the films that we felt weren't being made here. Films like 'Let The Right One In,' in Sweden," said Wood. "We felt like there wasn't one place for these kinds of films to be made. We were also really excited at the notion of pushing the bounds about what one considers a horror film.
Song stuck in your head? New earworm study may have the cure
Almost everyone has had an earworm moment. You know, that song you just can't get out of your head. An uncontrollable loop that you can't stop hearing on, and on and on.
We asked listeners for their earworms and we got a lot of responses. Many of which blamed Disney for earworm infections.
Doug Larson and Curtis Page posted on Facebook with: "It's A Small World." Elise Woodward says "My kids won't stop singing "Let It Go" from "Frozen." Pharrell's "Happy" got a few vote, and Jennifer Barbee wrote:
"At least several times a week I catch myself whistling 'Yellow Submarine.' This has been going on for over a decade. I don't even like that song. I'll accept any suggestions for deprogramming tactics!"
Well, take heart Jennifer, because there may be a cure. Researchers in London and Switzerland have been examining what makes a song an earworm and what types of situations trigger them. They came up with some strategies for getting rid of earworms based on thousands of survey responses.
Joining us is one of those researchers, Vicky Williamson, visiting professor at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Switzerland.