On Tuesday, Take Two discusses NFL wives who were told to keep quiet about domestic abuse for the good of the NFL, Toyota announces a hydrogen fuel cell-powered sedan and a new MTV show that chronicles music, youth and global social change.
How the NFL tried to keep women silent about domestic abuse
There is an elaborate system in place to keep NFL wives silent when they've faced domestic abuse.
New York Times reporter Steve Eder unveiled this culture and how sometimes the team, local law enforcement and other wives are complicit.
However, recent news has forced the league to take a bigger public stand against these cases.
For example, the NFL suspended Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson for at least the rest of the season without pay for what they term "an incident of abusive discipline inflicted on his 4-year old son."
Eder joins Take Two to explore what options there are for women who are caught in this system that tries to keep them quiet.
Are women more willing to speak publicly about personal sexual assault, misconduct?
Two women spoke out against the very powerful National Football League this week. Meanwhile, more women on U.S. college campuses, in the workplace, and in the military are coming forward with stories of sexual assault.
Are women more willing to speak publicly about personal sexual assault and misconduct?
It seems society may have reached a tipping point, where more people are talking about issues typically seen as women's issues in public than ever before. But are we really seeing a change in culture? Or does social media simply aid in expanding how fast and how far these stories reach?
For some thoughts on this, Take Two welcomes Michelle Erai, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Gender Studies at UCLA, and Lindsey Horvath, Global Coordinator of One Billion Rising, a global effort to end gender-based violence.
4 Israelis dead after Palestinians attack Jerusalem synagogue
An attack at a synagogue in Jerusalem Tuesday has left four Israelis and two Palestinians dead after the two Palestinians attacked a group of worshipers using a pistol and meat cleavers, the BBC reports.
President Obama strongly condemned the attack - saying there can be no justification for such an act.
He urged Palestinians and Israelis to work together to reject violence and seek a path towards peace.
For more on what's happened in Israel, Take Two is joined by Paul Danahar, BBC America Bureau Chief.
Tuesday Reviewsday: Nick Jonas, TV on the Radio and more
It's time for Tuesday Reviewsday, our weekly new music segment. This week,
- music editor of Billboard Magazine and music journalist
join A Martinez for a discussion about their favorite, recently released, albums.
Chris Martins
Artist: TV on the Radio
Album: "Seeds"
Songs: "Happy Idiot," "Test Pilot"
Notes: It's TV on the Radio, on the radio. Can I tell you how delighted I am to get to say that? It's not just the how silly that sounds. This is, hands down, my favorite band. It was tough to narrow down the picks for the show, because I love them so much, and also, because every song on their new album could indeed be played on the radio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaKVy-FlaUA
The album is called "Seeds" and it's their fifth. TVOTR are an institution at this point, but of what exactly? They are a band without a leader, who make music without a genre. They sound like nobody but themselves, but each album sounds different from the last. Seeds has their strongest hooks, their least oblique lyrics, and it's not messy-sounding. Personally, I feel in love with their wild side, but these songs are beautiful and resonant.
These guys deserve to take a victory lap. It's been 13 years of blazing their own trail. They put David Bowie on an album. They have a song forever embedded in Breaking Bad, the greatest TV ever known. And Pee-wee Herman is in their latest music video. And shortly after their 2011 album, they lost a member to cancer. They absolutely will not talk about Gerard Smith publicly, which is hard for us fans. And those of us interviewing them. But I like to think he's in there somewhere, absorbed into the mix.
If you'd like to see my Spin.com cover story on the band, check it out here.
Artist: Mr. Oizo
Album: "The Church"
Songs: "Mass Doom," "Torero"
Notes: Mr. Oizo is a one man audio-visual department. And his fame is by far outpaced by a puppet he created 15 years ago. Listeners may recall the lil yellow fella named Flat Eric, a techno-loving Henson collaboration who appeared in a series of cult-adored Levi's ads. But dance geeks know Oizo's been busy since. And his fifth album "The Church" is out today on Brainfeeder, the label run by L.A.'s own electronic music guru Flying Lotus.
The thing I love the most about Oizo's music is the sense of humor you can hear in the mix. If you close your eyes, you can see a goofy cartoon bunny hopping through a field in the middle of a rave. I can at least. But that's by design. The man's also on the verge of releasing his fifth feature film in which he's writer, director, and scoring the thing. Moved here from Paris four years ago and has been on a tear. And his secret, he says, is that when he gets blocked up on a movie, he makes a song. So, back to the music. Oizo's "Flat Beat" sold over 3 million copies abroad in 1999. He had a second life with the same crew responsible for Justice - that's Ed Banger Records. Now he's getting increasingly, awesomely far out. Which is par for the course for a guy who made a slasher-flick about a homicidal car tire. That's 'Rubber,' if you care.
Shirley Halperin
Artist: Nick Jonas
Album: Self-Titled
Songs: “Teacher,” “Santa Barbara”
Notes: With the Jonas Brothers, Nick Jonas released four albums that sold millions. On his own as a solo singer, he has to start over at age 22 which is exactly what he’s trying to do with his first proper debut.
But when you graduate from a boy band, that next step can be tricky. The JoBros weren’t quite bubblegum, they leaned towards the rock side, but that sound is kind of out of favor now. So what’s a Jonas to do?
If you’re Nick, the youngest of the three siblings (not counting the bonus Jonas), you start by taking a cue from Marky Mark and getting yourself a six-pack, then you follow the Justin Timberlake rulebook to the T.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvAPbAinlcY
Yes, the funk is abundant and mostly done well, but Jonas’ R&B doesn’t quite compare to today’s stars of the genre, and that becomes apparent on some songs that, quite simply, try too hard.
But then, I give Jonas credit for a song like Santa Barbara, which is really beautiful in its simplicity and downright wistful.
Artist: The New Basement Tapes
Album: "Lost On The River"
Songs: “Nothing to It,” “Liberty Street”
Notes: And now for an entirely different kind of idol worship. Bob Dylan is always in fashion, but this has been a particularly big month for him.
There’s the just-released repackaging of Dylan’s much heralded Basement Tapes bootlegs, which were recorded in 1967 and have circulated in many forms over the years and decades, and now comes a collection called The New Basement Tapes, featuring a supergroup of sorts taking Dylan’s unused lyrics and putting them to music.
This aforementioned supergroup is made up of the likes of Elvis Costello for starters. Marcus Mumford from Mumford and Sons. Jim James from My Morning Jacket. Taylor Goldsmith from Dawes, among others. The matchmaker here is T Bone Burnett, who spearheaded the project and is putting out the album, called Lost On the River, on his own imprint at Capitol Records.
The result of putting all these people together is nothing short of magical.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq66_lWB7I4
So to hear the musicians tell it, as they did, last Thursday night at the Montalban Theatre in Hollywood, where the New Basement Tapes performed in a concert organized last-minute, each was handed a sheets of certain lyrics and sent off into isolation to come up with a song.
In 12 days, they recorded almost 50 of them. Most have a distinct Americana feel, which isn’t surprising considering who the players are, but the melding of influences and generations makes this collection so delightfully diverse.
At the concert, there were two standouts even among special guests like Johnny Depp and the girls from Haim: Rihannon Giddens, an alum of T Bone Burnett’s Inside Llewyn Davis concerts who hails from North Carolina, and Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith from right here in our backyard.
He’s understated in the way he carries himself but you can’t say that of his vocals. Check out this song which he played practically unaccompanied at the Basement Tapes concert — you could’ve heard a pin drop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-lnSzDr83U
In terms of lyrical themes, you can hear many mentions of travel and references to specific cities or regions. Which makes sense since he was always touring … and still is.
And that’s ultimately what makes this collection so cool and cohesive: it, like Dylan, bridges generations in music, the kind of songs where you can’t instantly tell what era they’re from. I think they call that timeless.
Mexico crime: Has President Enrique Peña Nieto changed anything?
To Mexico now and its ongoing issues of violent crime.
In the 2012 presidential election Enrique Peña Nieto pledged no pacts with criminals and a fight against organized crime.
So what happened?
Joining Take Two is Vanda Felbab-Brown. She's a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute's Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence.
Felbab-Brown authored the paper "Changing the Game or Dropping the Ball? Mexico’s Security and Anti-Crime Strategy under President Enrique Peña Nieto."
Brave new vehicle: Toyota's hydrogen fuel cell-powered Mirai
Back in 1997, Toyota rolled the dice on a new technology. Its Prius hybrid was odd-looking, and it sold tepidly at first. Now, it's one of the most profitable vehicles in the company's line. Six million have been sold.
Act Two, the Mirai. It means "future" in Japanese, and Take Two's auto critic, Susan Carpenter, says Toyota is doubling down, this time on hydrogen. That's the fuel used to power this mid-size sedan, which uses fuel cell technology to convert the hydrogen, along with oxygen in the air, into electric power. The result is a car that runs 300 miles on a fill-up, and produces zero emissions.
Toyota will begin with a limited roll-out of 700 cars late next year. Priced at about $57,000, the car will be eligible for state and federal credits that will bring the out-of-pocket cost down to the mid-forties. Toyota is also offering a lease at $499/mo.
Buy or lease, the company is throwing in the hydrogen fuel for free, along with a 24/7 concierge service that will help out with any problems.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in nature, but it's also very explosive. Toyota says it's done extensive crash testing to insure safety, and the Mirai's fuel tank is wrapped in carbon fiber.
Toyota has plans to invest in infrastructure, both in plants that extract hydrogen, and in service stations that will supply it to drivers. They're focusing on California, where the state has already committed $200 million to construct as many as 100 hydrogen filling stations.
'Rebel Music': Film highlights youth and music across Native America
Across the country, Native Americans face many challenges, fears and frustrations. That makes things especially tough for youth.
"We have the highest rates of suicide in the country. These kids feel like they can't talk to anybody. They just give up," says Nataanii Means, Lakota/Diné musician, in a new MTV documentary. "What I can do as an artist is just tell them, write down your story, man. I'll listen to it."
Means is one of four indigenous musicians featured in the new MTV film, "Rebel Music: Native America." It tells the story of four young musicians from reservations and cities across North America and how they're using music and art to confront stereotypes and forge new paths.
For more, Take Two is joined by Rebel Music's director Billy Luther, whose previous credits include Miss Navajo and Grab.
Check out the full episode, Rebel Music: Native America, here.
New UC board member talks possible tuition hike
Governor Jerry Brown announced two new appointments to the University of California Board of Regents Monday.
Former state assembly speaker John A. Perez and Long Beach City College president and superintendent Eloy Ortiz Oakley.
The appointments come as the Board of Regents is set to vote this Wednesday and Thursday on a controversial proposal to raise tuition at UC schools by as much as 5 percent a year for the next five years.
Eloy Ortiz Oakley joins Take Two.
What if your employer didn't let you earn time off?
Imagine a world where you have "unlimited vacation."
That's the term used to describe a new approach to time off at a number of companies. Instead of earning vacation and sick days, taking off is left up to your boss's discretion.
The LA Times is adopting this new policy for employees, but adds that they have to make a case "subject to their professional judgment and to the performance expectations of their supervisor that apply to their job."
However the system is a hit at places like Netflix and Motley Fool, where companies emphasize that they trust employees to get their work done regardless of how much time they have off.
Washington Post staff writer Brigid Schulte, author of, "Overwhelmed: Work, love and play when no one has the time," explains how well this policy works and what's in it for employees and employers.
Mayo lawsuit: What defines mayonnaise?
While the mere thought of mayonnaise may make some people queasy, most Americans love the goopy white stuff.
Even the word mayonnaise itself seems to have a lot of cache.
Hellman's has sued a small California company for using the name "Just Mayo" to describe its product.
To give Take Two the dish on this is Candice Choi, food industry writer with the Associated Press.
The Science of Superheroes: The super materials behind great comic book characters
How can anyone listen to the "Superman" theme and not want super powers?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9vrfEoc8_g
Superman's not alone. There's Captain America with his shield, Spider-Man's web, Thor's hammer and Batman with his cape and really cool car.
But there's more to comic books than superheroes running around saving us from impending doom.
There's science.
Suveen Mathaudhu is a professor of mechanical engineering at UC Riverside and curator of the Comic-tanium: The Super Materials of the Superheroes exhibit at the ToonSeum in Pittsburgh.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
Who is your favorite superhero?
Wolverine by far. I like his attitude, the science behind him.
So you're more of a Marvel person?
Totally. Marvel depicts a lot of interesting science, and they always have, whereas DC characters to me are somewhat mythological and hard to be defeated. Other than Batman, [they're] very omnipotent creatures. In Marvel we have a lot of superheroes who are actually scientists that use science to super-power their superpowers.
What got you thinking about the link between superheroes and science?
It started when I was a kid reading these comic books, and I would see these depictions of science and cue off how interesting some of these things were, however unrealistic they may be. Going back to something like "G.I. Joe," you see people shooting red and blue lasers all over the place and we're still talking about lasers as tactical weapons.
When it comes to superheroes, what kind of science got you interested in that?
Definitely the X-Men. I used to watch the X-Men cartoons and read the comic books, and I identified with that you had a very diverse group of people with superpowers that had different scientific backgrounds. It was only later I found out Stan Lee gave the X-Men their mutation powers because he was tired of making scientific and technical backstories for characters.
When you're talking to kids and having a presentation, what do you bring up? How do you make the connection to get kids interested?
Two things. I talk about the materials used in the comics that they know about, they know the properties of, but they don't necessarily understand that there's a science behind making those things. Like Captain America's shield having to be made; adamantium in Wolverine's skeleton; Spider-Man making his own web; Iron Man making his own suits and designing them for whatever applications he needs.
Then I take that as a jumping point to telling kids that all of these characters are actually scientists. A lot of these kids don't connect to the fact that a lot of these superheroes and super villains are actually scientists that in their line of work have discovered many of these things that gave them their powers.
What about Captain America's shield? It must be made of something stronger than steel.
There's a lot of people that would argue but I know I'm right. The shield is made of steel, vibranium and a mystery element that fell in. It started out as a development project from FDR to develop tank materials to fight Red Skull and the Panzer divisions, and the scientist who was making it, Myron MacLain, was casting a tank hatch, and it formed into this shape and a mystery element fell in, and he was never ale to duplicate it. And it became one of the strongest elements in the Marvel universe perhaps, other than, Hulk's purple pants.
What about Batman who has a utility belt and even Iron Man?
The way I like to think about Batman is he's a detective, first and foremost. He's not some guy that just goes slugging into any sort of battle like Wolverine does. So he does his research beforehand. And if you look at the schematics they have for the Batcave, they have scientific equipment: a scanning electron microscope, X-ray machines, tools where he can use these scientific principles the same way somebody would do it in a lab to figure out how to get the best in whatever situation he's going into. So he's a tinkerer: He uses all these tools and uses the same sort of scientific logic and reasoning principles to solve what it is he needs to solve.
Are films getting science more right or at least close to being right?
They're making an effort to get it closer to right. One filmmaker who has played a large role in this is James Cameron, who, when you look at "Avatar," Titanic," "Terminator," he was very concerned with the science and physics of what was going on. National Academy has a free consultation service based in L.A. where scientists and engineers can consult on films on a volunteer basis. And more and more people are using those kind of things to depict science in a realistic way.
Are you hoping that maybe some late night you're working on a project at UC Riverside, maybe using chemicals or a laser and something goes awry, it falls on you and a few hours later you wake up with superhuman powers?
Everyone wants superpowers. Every kid, every adult dreams of doing something beyond what's humanly possibly. It could be a lab accident, maybe it's the work being done in the U.K. on engineering three different genetic donors into DNAs. We may get to a point in time where we can engineer superpowers. I don't know.
5-year-old youngest person to qualify as computer specialist
Six-year-old Ayan Qureshi is the youngest person ever to qualify as a computer specialist.
He took the professional IT exam administered by Microsoft and passed it - a month before he turned six.
The BBC's Ben Geoghegan paid a visit to this uber-prodigy.
Sea star 'wasting disease' cause may have been found
About a year ago, Take Two started reporting on a mysterious ailment that was killing off sea stars all along the Pacific Coast.
It had been described by researchers as a "wasting disease" but no one had been able to put a finger on what was causing it.
Now a group of scientists think they have the answer.
Their findings were published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Co-author Kevin Lafferty is a Marine ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He joins Take Two for more.
Parents rebel against heavy academic focus with alternative schools
Schools in California are feeling the pressure to focus more heavily on academics -- as early as kindergarten.
That emphasis on book learning at such a young age has some parents looking for alternatives.
The California Report's Katrina Schwartz says some are drawn to schools where kids spend their days exploring the outdoors and guiding their own learning.
Disney brings musical theater program to elementary schools
Disney is bringing its musical theater program to California for the first time. Four elementary schools in Orange County will choose a Disney musical to put on and the Disney staffers will work with the schools to create sustainable theater programs.
"We need future theater makers as much as we need future theater goers,” said Lisa Mitchell, senior manager of education and outreach for Disney Theatrical Group, the division that supports the school program and produces Disney's Broadway shows like "The Lion King."
SCPR’s Mary Plummer has more.