Big news today. President Obama has accepted the resignation of Eric Shinseki, secretary of Veterans Affairs. Also, former Microsoft CEO Steve Baller is reportedly in talks to purchase the LA Clippers. Plus, the California Supreme Court rules police must release names of officers involved in shootings, Brazilian street artist Paul Ito causes stir with World Cup mural, and much more.
The Flashback: VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigns, Clippers sale and more
Eric Shinseki, secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, has been facing criticism over mismanagement of some veterans services. This morning President Obama announced at a press conference that he'd accepted Secretary Shinseki's resignation. Was this something that had to happen?
RELATED: Update: Shinseki resigns amid veterans' health care issues
The president referred to Shinseki as "a very good man." He's a 4-star general and well-respected, in spite of these systemic problems in the VA. What do you think his legacy will be after this?
$2 billion is the reported amount that former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has agreed to pay for the Los Angeles Clippers. That breaks the record for the amount paid for any NBA franchise. How many buyers did Steve Ballmer outbid?
Is this a done deal? Can Donald Sterling have any recourse to block the sale?
Now this isn't the first time that a group that includes Ballmer has tried to buy an NBA team. Last year, Ballmer tried to buy the Sacramento Kings, but the sale was rejected because the team would move to Seattle. Is there a chance that the Clippers could move if the sale does go through?
Google discloses the lack of diversity in its workforce
Google may be one of the most influential and powerful companies in the world, but its workforce of 50,000 doesn't really reflect that global reach.
The company released data this week showing that its employees are overwhelmingly white and male, with African American and Hispanics making up just 2 and 3 percent respectively. Women make up just 30 percent of their workforce.
Laszlo Bock, Senior Vice President for People Operations at Google said:
"We’re not where we want to be when it comes to diversity. And it is hard to address these kinds of challenges if you’re not prepared to discuss them openly, and with the facts. All our diversity efforts, including going public with these numbers, are designed to ensure Google recruits and retains many more women and minorities in the future."
For more on the tech giant's plans to diversify, we're joined by Freada Kapor Klein, co-founder of the Kapor Center for Social Impact. Google is partnering with the Kapor Center to improve diversity at the company.
National Parks struggle to increase diversity among visitors, employees
There are nearly 84 million acres of National Park Service land, from the Acadia National Park in Maine to Zion National Park in Utah. It's a diverse terrain, but the people who visit and man those parks are less diverse.
Nearly 80 percent of yearly visitors to National Parks are white, compared to their roughly 70 percent of the general population. Of the workforce, 80 percent are also white, and 85 percent of management positions are white.
Jodi Peterson writes in piece for High Country News, that the Parks system has known for decades about this problem. It has tried — mostly unsuccessfully — over the years to address it.
But as the country changes into a majority minority population and budgets for preserving park lands are increasingly threatened, the urgency in making the National Parks a priority for all Americans has never been greater.
'Common Ground': The Alvin Brothers return with their first album in 30 years
In 1979, two brothers from Downey, California — Phil and Dave Alvin — started a band called the Blasters. Their sound was a mix of blues and rock with the occasional tinge of punk:
The band enjoyed a loyal following and were fixtures in the L.A. 1980s music scene, but in 1986, Dave Alvin left the band to pursue a solo career. It's been nearly 30 years since the brothers have recorded an album together, but they're back at it again.
Their new album is called "Common Ground: Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin Play and Sing the Songs of Big Bill Boonzy." The Alvin brothers joins Take Two in studio to talk about music, life and brotherhood.
Getting to know former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer
As we've been discussing this morning, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has agreed to pay 2 billion dollars for the L.A. Clippers.
For a little more insight into who Mr. Ballmer is we turn to the Wall Street Journal's Monica Langley. Last fall, she spent a few days with him as he was getting ready to leave Microsoft.
Where does the $2 billion price for Clippers come from?
There is a deal on the table to buy the LA Clippers and it comes with a hefty price tag: $2 billion.That breaks the record for the amount paid for any NBA franchise.
But is the price right? And will the deal go through?
For more, we’re joined by Andrew Zimbalist, professor of economics at Smith College and author of the new book, "The Sabermetric Revolution: Assessing the Growth of Analytics in Baseball."
Meet Helen Molesworth, MOCA's new chief curator
The Museum of Contemporary Art has announced that Helen Molesworth of the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston will join MOCA as new chief curator on Sept. 1.
Molesworth will bring with her a set of skills and experience to take on the challenges that have faced MOCA in recent years, MOCA said.
"We needed someone who loved art," said MOCA director Phillippe Vergne on Take Two. "The capacity to engage with artists, to engage with the history of the museum, with the amazing collection that MOCA has."
Molesworth spoke with Take Two's A Martinez to explain more about how their leadership will help push the museum into the future.
Interview Highlights:
Why did you want this position?
"I'm so excited about the position. I've loved the Museum of Contemporary Art in L.A. from afar for so many years. I hope everyone knows in your audience [that] it has the most extraordinary reputation worldwide for its exhibition history and for its collection and for, really, its commitment to artists. And I hope to continue to build on those incredible strengths and help it move into this new 21st century landscape where the public's interest in contemporary art seems to grow in leaps and bounds. It's the role of the museum, I think, to present the most challenging art of our time, within a context that makes it available to new audiences."
What are some of the challenges you can see already?
"As a native New Yorker, I think my number one challenge will be the freeway system. More seriously, I think the challenges that MOCA faces are the challenges that almost all museums of contemporary art face. Which is that contemporary artists, even though we are very reticent to use the phase avant garde, they are typically working at the edge of what the culture is doing. We have to be on the edge, but always trying to figure out how to give people a context for assimilating and understanding and having pleasure in being on that edge."
Do you see Eli Broad's upcoming museum near MOCA as a competitor?
"I think that the two museums will be really complementary. I think it makes it an extraordinary destination for outsiders visiting L.A. For native Los Angelenos, that's a great day of art on Grand Avenue."
What are some of the resources here in L.A. you hope to draw on?
"One of the things that [has] made L.A. so unique as a major center now for contemporary art is the density and number of art schools in your city. I think that, for many of us from afar, that has always seemed so compelling, because you have many of the best artists in the world teach at the art institutions in L.A. There's a sense that teaching art is a privilege, a responsibility, something that's interesting and good for you to do if you're an artist. I think that MOCA will be able to draw on a really deep well of intellectual capital throughout the art schools in the area."
Can you give us a hint to what your first exhibition will be?
"The first exhibition that I will bring to MOCA is a retrospective survey of the artist Kerry James Marshall, who actually spent his childhood in Los Angeles and went to Otis and studied with the very famous and very important artist Charles White. The exhibition will be a bit of a homecoming for Kerry James and then Phillippe and I will work on making a really terrific program of exhibitions."
Calif. court rules police must release names of officers involved in shootings
The California Supreme Court ruled yesterday that law enforcement must release the names of officers involved in shootings.
The decision stems from a 2010 case in Long Beach when the police department withheld the names of two officers involved in an incident. They claimed the officers' safety could be jeopardized if that information was released.
Jessica Levinson, professor of law at Loyola Law School, explains more about the case and its ramifications for public safety.
Brazilian street artist Paulo Ito causes stir with World Cup mural
As the World Cup nears, excitement is building for soccer fans across the globe, except for some in the host country of Brazil.
But a piece of Brazilian street art has called attention to the darker side of the sporting event. It's a spray-painted image of a crying child sitting at a table with a soccer ball on his plate, and it's created a firestorm of reaction.
Here to tell us more about Paulo Ito, the artist behind the piece, is Vincent Bevins, who covers Brazil for the LA Times.
Calif. legislature wraps up marathon week of votes
The California legislature is wrapping up a marathon week of work. Both the Assembly and Senate finished voting on hundreds of bills before an end-of-the-week deadline.
The Senate approved several measures including one that would raise the minimum wage in California to $13 by 2017, and another that would require health labels on sugary drinks. In the Assembly, a bill requiring that porn actors use condoms and get regularly tested for STDs passed, while a bill that would regulate medical marijuana was rejected.
Katie Orr, State Government Reporter with Capitol Public Radio, joins the show to help us sort through this week's winners and losers.
Actor Griffin Dunne ventures west in 'The Discoverers'
The new film "The Discoverers" tells the story of a divorced and down on his luck history professor named Lewis Birch.
Lewis has a real passion for history, but he also has a hard time making ends meet in the world of academia. He embarks on a road trip to a scholarly conference out west in hopes of jump starting career and takes his two teenage kids along for the ride.
But their adventure is anything but the typical family vacation.
The role of Lewis Birch is played by Griffin Dunne. The actor has a long resume in TV and film including roles in "Dallas Buyers Club", "American Werewolf in London" and Martin Scorsese's "After Hours."