Will California Trump supporters be more vocal now that their candidate has won? A chat with Rams stadium designer, what's the future of Tesla and solar energy?
What the election says about the political faultlines of SoCal
Voters in Southern California chose Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump by a wide margin in the recent presidential election. Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties all went to the Democratic candidate. A majority of Orange County voters chose the Democrat for the first time since the Great Depression.
But there were plenty of people who selected Donald Trump on their ballots and the political map is more complex than first glance suggests.
"The real story about California, is that in some ways it's kind of like America fast-forward," said Manuel Pastor, professor of Sociology, American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. "Its demographic change between 1980 and 2000 is roughly the demographic change the U.S. is going to go through between 2000 and 2050."
That's led to a younger and more diverse population, but it also points to what could be increasing division in the future.
"I think California is about to get into a fairly big conflict with the federal government," said Pastor. One of the most contentious issues is likely to be immigration, he said, but other issues, such as the economy, trade and education could also be points of conflict.
House Democrats consider new Minority Leader after bruising election
Democrats in the House sustained heavy losses this election season. Now, those who remain face a new reality. This is especially true for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
The 76-year-old Congresswoman was easily re-elected to serve a 16th term representing San Francisco, but she's now being challenged as her party's leader in the House. The Democrats will vote on their leadership when they return after Thanksgiving.
For a look at Pelosi's chances of retaining her position, Take Two spoke to Scott Shafer, senior California politics and government editor for KQED.
Highlights
When Nancy Pelosi first became Speaker of the House a decade ago, she broke a lot of records at the time; she was the first woman, the first Californian, and the first Italian-American to hold the Speakership. Remind us of some of the highlights of her career since that time.
She has been someone who has worked her way up very assiduously, and she's done it largely through personal relationships.
There's sort of an outside, and inside game in politics and Nancy Pelosi plays the inside game extremely well. She's somebody who her caucus likes personally. She's somebody who remembers birthdays and divorces and death dates — all kinds of things that matter to people — with little notes. And those kinds of relationships have served her well.
In terms of what she's gotten done, you have to look at things like funding for AIDS, affordable housing money, defending high-speed rail and sanctuary cities from attacks by Republicans: things we're going to certainly see in the coming session.
Some Democrats might see it differently. You just highlighted there that she's great at playing the inside game, but some are saying that this might be a little bit complicated as this goes into a secret ballot election that will be held on November 30th. Why would some Democrats not be feeling 100 percent about her continued leadership?
Well, first of all, you have to look to the last election where the Democrats were hoping — I think they knew getting 30 seats was a real stretch — but the fact that they only picked up six was a big disappointment. You look at the bigger election — the presidential election — and where the Democrats fell short with working class and rural whites. If you're going to look for somebody who can reach out to those people, Nancy Pelosi might not be the best person.
She comes from a very wealthy, mostly liberal district in San Francisco. She is well-off, so Democrats who are worried about going forward might look at someone like Tim Ryan from Youngstown, Ohio. He's a 43-year-old guy who comes from a union family. They might see someone like that as better able to reach out to the people that they didn't get in this last election cycle.
Press the blue play button above to hear the full interview.
(Questions and answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.)
Tesla acquires SolarCity to offer solar roofs that power electric cars
Tesla's acquisition of solar energy provider SolarCity closed Monday in a deal worth almost $2 billion. Tesla shareholders voted unanimously in favor of the deal Thursday, making Tesla the world's first vertically integrated energy company.
"We look forward to showing the world what Tesla and SolarCity can achieve together," Tesla said in a statement issued shortly after 85% of Tesla shareholders voted to approve the acquisition that had first been proposed in June.
SolarCity is the country's largest solar energy provider. Headquartered in San Mateo and led by Elon Musk's cousin, Lyndon Rive, the company installed almost 110,000 rooftop systems in 2015.
The SolarCity acquisition is critical to Elon Musk's vision of making a fully sustainable lifestyle affordable and convenient for the masses. Starting next year, Tesla customers could purchase a SolarCity solar roof, a PowerWall battery electric storage system and an electric vehicle all under one roof.
Tesla first began piloting the solar energy integration system in December 2013, when the electric vehicle maker partnered with SolarCity and the electricity utility, Southern California Edison, to offer Tesla batteries as an energy storage system for SolarCity customers who purchased a solar roof for a home or business.
In March 2015, Tesla commercialized the idea with Tesla Energy, introducing its PowerWall and PowerPack renewable energy storage systems using Tesla batteries.
This year, Tesla has put together the remaining pieces of the puzzle. In March, it unveiled the mass-market Model 3 battery-electric sedan, with a price tag of $35,000 and a production date of late 2017. And in October, it unveiled a new Solar Roof that seamlessly integrates rooftop solar by turning the photovoltaic system into rooftop shingles; installations are scheduled to begin in 2017.
LA Rams stadium architect gives an inside look on the project
Construction of the long awaited Los Angeles Rams stadium is officially underway.
Shovels literally broke ground last week to in a ceremony to celebrate the stadium's construction and the next steps to bring the NFL back to Los Angeles after 20 years.
The new sports venue will cost 2.6 BILLION DOLLARS, seat 70,000 people and mark the center of a new sports and entertainment district spanning two hundred and ninety-eight acres of land.
The plan? To have the stadium completed by the 2019 football season.
Take Two's Alex Cohen spoke to the principal architect on the project, Mark Williams, to get an inside look at the design of the space.
Here are some interview highlights:
This venue is going to cost roughly 2.6 billion. What can we expect to get for all that?
Williams: It's going to be an incredible, multipurpose venue for all the fans. We've got about 3 million square feet that has great environments. The seating bowl is what a lot of people think of, but we've got outdoor landscape areas, lakes and parks, indoor enclosed areas and a performance venue. So there's a whole host of great amenities and features that fans are gonna love.
What's informed the design of the whole complex?
Williams: The DNA of Southern California. So if you look at climate, how people live, work and play in that environment, we've translated that into the venue. And for the first time, you're gonna see a large indoor/outdoor experiential venue in the NFL. What I mean by that is, we don't have the traditional enclosed building and it doesn't just open up when the weather's nice.
What do you mean by indoor/outdoor design?
Williams: We have three components: the 70,000 seat stadium, a 6,000 seat performance venue and in between there is a plaza area that's an open space. All three of those pieces are covered by the exterior shell which includes a high strength plastic roof component that lets all the natural light come into those three areas. Around the perimeter of the building, it's all open air. So there's no exterior skin, it's all open air. You can walk right into the venue. So the breezes from the ocean flow through. We tune the building so that the climate has been a big factor in how to maximize or minimize the wind speed.
Scientists offer front-lines look at California's tree mortality epidemic
Danger on the set: the fatal accidents that aren't talked about
Filmmaking isn't ALL fun and glamor, it can be grueling... and deadly.
Since 1990, at least 43 people have died on film and T.V. productions in the U.S. That's according to a report out Monday from the Associated Press. It was put together by the AP's Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney.
Alex Cohen spoke with McCartney about his findings, the sorts of things that lead to fatalities and more.
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.
'Asperger's Are Us': A documentary about comedy on the autism spectrum
"Asperger's Are Us" is the name of the first comedy troupe made up of openly autistic performers.
It's also the title of a new documentary which follows these young, comic comrades around Boston as they get ready for what could be their final show:
The film was directed by Alex Lehmann and produced by Mark Duplass. The two recently spoke with Take Two's Alex Cohen about the film.
Interview highlights:
On how to describe the 'Asberger's Are Us' style of comedy
Mark Duplass:
"The first and easiest way, which is a bit reductive, is to describe it as extremely dry. And I think that's fair. And we understand dry humor as stuff that's a little bit subtle and you're not sure if they're kidding or not... but it's way beyond dry. Sometimes it is the comedy of discomfort, sometimes it is them specifically— even though they like you a lot— trying to derail any preconceptions you have about them to throw it off and get into that interesting energy. For whatever reason, there are a lot of puns in the comedy. It's a big wordplay thing."
Alex Lehmann:
"All of their comedy is victim-less. They don't ever make fun of specific individuals. They don't make fun of other groups or anything. That's something that they've always focused on, is making sure that there's no harm in their comedy. Which is why they end up focusing on puns, literal humor, and absurdity because those are a couple of the ways that you can make people laugh without hurting anyone."
On the troupe's struggle between being seen as spokespersons for Asperger's and just wanting to make people laugh
Alex Lehmann:
"There's a little bit of a paradox there for sure. They're honest, sweet performers and they're trying to validate their work by not just being spokespersons for autism. And you have to respect that because if they did embrace the spokesperson role too much, it would cheapen what they're doing. If they pursue being legitimate comedians and, by happenstance, other people look up to them for that, then they're doing the legitimate thing of being artists and being successful as comedians, instead of being successful as spokespersons. So I respect it, but it's really interesting to watch that struggle."
On what the film reveals about the similarities between people on the autism spectrum and people who are neurotypical
Mark Duplass:
"As I watched the movie and spent more time with the guys off-screen, I guess what I realized is like, for me, there's a lot of things that I can relate to as just standard social anxiety stuff that I have here and there. You know, where you walk into a room and you feel like there's preconceptions of who you are, you feel like there's an expectation of how you're supposed to be, you find yourself performing to that. And the guys talk about that a lot— it's like 'We're not feeling certain things people are expecting us to feel, so we are taught to perform them for people.' And when I heard that I was like, 'Oh I do that all the time!' And that was a big connection point for me."
To hear the full interview, click the blue player above.
"Asperger's Are Us" is currently playing at Arena Cinelounge in Los Angeles and is available on iTunes.
A Trump impersonator's take on Alec Baldwin's feud with Donald Trump
Over the weekend, actor Alec Baldwin was back in action on Saturday Night Live with his impersonation of President-elect Donald Trump:
The real Donald Trump was none too pleased, tweeting on Sunday:
I watched parts of
Saturday Night Live last night. It is a totally one-sided, biased show - nothing funny at all. Equal time for us?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
I watched parts of @nbcsnl Saturday Night Live last night. It is a totally one-sided, biased show - nothing funny at all. Equal time for us?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2016
Then came Alec Baldwin's response, through the Twitter account of his charitable foundation:
...
Equal time?
Election is over. There is no more equal time. Now u try 2 b Pres + ppl respond. That's pretty much it.— ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin)
...@realDonaldTrump
— AlecBaldwin(HABF) (@AlecBaldwin) November 20, 2016
Equal time?
Election is over. There is no more equal time. Now u try 2 b Pres + ppl respond. That's pretty much it.
So is it an impersonator's job to be fair? Or to just be funny? We called up Tim Watters, a comedian who's impersonated Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, to hear his take.
To hear the full interview with Tim Watters, click the blue player above.