Take Two is on holiday today, so today's show is a collection of some of our favorite segments from the past few months. Hope you enjoy!
Super-storm Sandy and our relationship with the ocean
Humans have lived by the shoreline for thousands of years but now that relationship is changing.
Author John R. Gillis's new book,"The Human Shore," tells us the history of human's relationship with the shore and how we can protect its future.
Does taxing the rich really drive them out of the state?
One of the arguments against propositions that raise taxes for the wealthy — like Props 30 and 38 this time around — is that when taxes go up on the wealthiest, they move to states where the rates are lower.
And we need millionaires. Their taxes pay for one fourth of California's general budget, but there's data that shows they might not flee after all.
San Jose Mercury News reporter Mike Rosenberg has been looking into it.
New book explores the works of Ansel Adams
Andrea G. Stillman, a longtime executive assistant for photographer Ansel Adams, joins the show to talk with A Martinez.
She’s the author of “Looking at Ansel Adams,” a new collection of photography.
Monarch: The sad, amazing story of the bear on California's state flag
We might be biased — but California has one of the best state flags, no? The bold star on the left, the green patch of land… and — of course — the California grizzly bear, our state animal, forever trudging along.
But why a bear? Where did it come from? Does it have a name?
KPCC's Kevin Ferguson asked those same questions.
The study of flags — their history, meanings, and symbols — is a little known practice known as vexillology, named after the Latin word for flag, vexillum. To learn more about the bear on our state flag, I called the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) and talked with William Trinkle. He's a former director of NAVA and runs the Bear Flag Museum.
He said the flag’s story goes back to 1846, when California was still a territory of Mexico.
"Once upon a time there were a number of Americans who had come to what was then Mexican California," said Trinkle. "There was at that point in time the possibility of a war between the United States and Mexico."
And one particular group of American settlers, based in Northern California, took matters into their own hands. They banded together and captured the city of Sonoma from the Mexican Government.
The Republic of California was formed and it needed a flag. On their hastily made banner was an uneven red star, a red line and a crudely drawn animal that in theory was supposed to be a grizzly bear.
"These were farmers and ranchers and adventurers, and they did not have great artistic skill," said Trinkle. "The grizzly bear at that point in time was extraordinarily common. It was described as you couldn't ride on a horse for a mile without seeing ten grizzly bears. And they could be dangerous. So the idea was to put an emblem on the flag that would scare the Mexican authorities, that these people were serious."
Serious as they were, the flag flew for just under a month. Once the settlers found out the U.S. had declared war with Mexico, they swapped out the bear flag for the stars and stripes.
In 1850, California was declared a state. As the population grew, the number of California Grizzlies declined. Habitat destruction, gold miners and hunting brought the bear to the brink of extinction.
But in 1889, an up-and-coming newspaper mogul decided to bring the bear back into the spotlight. William Randolph Hearst, in one his very first publicity stunts, wanted to bring a live California Grizzly Bear to San Francisco.
Hearst sent Allen Kelly, one of his own journalists, to find a grizzly.
"Kelly had no hunting experience, so it was an odd choice," said Susan Snyder, a librarian and author of the book Bear in Mind: The California Grizzly. "But he was game and went down to Ventura County, because that was one of the last strongholds of wild grizzlies in California."
It took Kelly months to find his grizzly: he hired help, fired help, had several close calls. Finally he found the assistance he needed in a group of hired Mexican hunters.
Once he had the bear, it was time for the glamour. Hearst put the bear on display in Golden Gate Park and named him Monarch. At more than 1,200 pounds, Monarch was the largest bear ever held captive.
"It's interesting, because when he first arrived, Hearst reported that 20,000 people showed up for his arrival," said Snyder. "But then, five years later… we have photographs in the library of him later on. He looks very despondent, and he's in his concrete cage. And I guess not very many people came to see him at all, he was kind of passé."
Monarch died in 1911. His skeleton was taken to the Berkeley Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, his pelt stuffed and put on display at the California Academy of Sciences. That same year, though, California at last adopted a state flag.
Taking a cue from the Sonoma revolt in 1846, the state again decided to make the California Grizzly the flag's focal point. Only this time they wanted a bear that actually looked like a bear.
Illustrators used the recently deceased Monarch as the model for the bear on our state flag.
In San Francisco is one of the world's only experts on Monarch: Psychologist Rodney Karr. He runs a website called the Monarch Bear Institute and, for Karr, Monarch is more than just a bear. "The story of my own developing relationship with him is very magical and strange," said Karr.
Karr first learned of the bear and his story in the early 90s. He was depressed and taking walks in Golden Gate park to deal with it — he said he was seeking a spiritual connection. "I wandered through the National AIDS Memorial Grove and up to this hill next to it," said Karr. "Which I subsequently was told by the gardners in Golden Gate Park is Monarch Bear Hill."
The more he learned about Monarch, the more fascinated he became. Now, to get the message out, he's working on an eight-part documentary about Monarch and his history in California, complete with interviews of researchers, authors and footage of druid rituals.
After weeks of research, I needed to meet to the bear. He’s still at Golden Gate Park—but now he’s at the California Academy of Sciences. Moe Flannery, the Collections Manager for birds and mammals met me in the Academy’s basement, where he’s housed.
After 100 years on display, it's clear that Monarch has seen better days. Monarch was originally a very dark grizzly, almost black. Today, the sun has faded and bleached his fur into a medium brown.
Walking around the stuffed bear, Flannery points to Monarch's face. "We assume he had fur on his nose when he was first mounted," she said. "We think that over the years when he was first on display, people were able to touch him.
Flannery says that now the mission is to preserve as much of the bear as they possibly can. She and the Academy hope to show Monarch again someday.
Rodney Karr, the operator of the Monarch Bear Institute says that Monarch is still a potent symbol.
"We need heroes," he said. "And we need a connection to how powerful nature is, and how beautiful it is. This bear really epitomizes that. And also epitomizes the dark and the light. I mean, here's the last bear and he was kept in a cage for 22 years. I also saw some writing from Allen Kelly, who caught the bear, that much later he'd go visit the bear. And that he'd regretted and would apologize to the bear. He felt badly for that the bear went through. I think that's a beautiful thing."
Audra Ang's debut book is a love story about China's food and its people
Audra Ang spent seven years as a reporter in China where she fell in love with its food and its people.
She has just published a book called “To the People, Food is Heaven: Stories Of Food And Life In A Changing China,” and she talks to A Martinez about how she connected with the Chinese people through their cuisine.
Can a training course help a man become a better father?
That old cliche that a baby doesn’t arrive with an instruction manual might not be as true now as before. There's a flourishing industry of parenting books, DVDs and online resources. But how often do new fathers do the reading and research?
In an attempt to engage men, fatherhood training classes are popping up across the Southland.
At one of these “Parent Cafe” trainings in Highland Park, men gather in a small conference room. The class is not so much about basics, like diaper changing or sleep techniques. Ray Estrella Jr., who initiated the 12-week training course at the American Indian Family Partnership where he works, says it’s about active paternal engagement.
“Most of our dads are new dads. They have no idea of what being a father is,” Estrella says. The course emphasizes concepts like “being responsible, being caring, being trusting.”
Estrella points out that the training is a place for men to meet and share their struggles, joys, and fatherhood questions with other dads. It's also the place where experts offer tips and best practices. Francisco Oaxaca, director of public affairs at the child advocacy non-profit First Five LA, is a big supporter of these fatherhood trainings (his organization funds many of them).
“We know that anyone who has children is doing the best job that they can," he says, "and we’re hoping that these programs are making it safe to say, 'you know what, I would like to learn more and do more and be more as a parent.'”
The role a father plays in a child’s early years is crucial, says Oaxaca, who bases his argument on mounting academic research. “Studies have shown how important the role of fathers is in terms of helping male children learn how to control their emotions and act in social situations, and helping female children have better self esteem, and better control of their emotions as well.”
Oaxaca also points out that, given the incredible ethnic and racial variety of Southern California, the trainings have to be culturally sensitive to the fathers' backgrounds. Ray Estrella Sr., a trainer at the American Indian Family Partnership, refers to his own family history to illustrate the point.
As a Pascua Yaqui Indian, Estrella grew up in a large family in Arizona. He lost contact with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins when his parents moved to California for better opportunities. Estrella sees this pattern among many immigrants whose experiences include losing their family network.
“The need," he says, "is to try and hold the familes together, to teach them to become better families based on old traditional values. Values that we learned from our ancestors about the importance of family, the importance of honor, the importance of taking caring of your family.”
Francisco Oaxaca of First Five LA insists that most families could use some support because of what he describes as “today’s reality” of child-rearing - in which fathers are not the sole breadwinners. “Today we see dual-income families, we see even more and more cases where the female parent is the primary breadwinner and the male parent is staying at home taking on that role.”
Arnold Carle, who tells his story in the radio feature, believes the training he received at the American Indian Family Partnership helped him understand how to be a better and more engaged father because it helped him “see things in a different way. I’m more understanding about the way a family should be.” That seemingly small realization has helped Carle become a more active and engaged presence in his 18-month-old son’s life.
Here's a sampling of fatherhood training centers:
Young Dads Program, Friends of the Family, 15350 Sherman Way, Suite 140, Van Nuys. Call Robert Santos at 818-988-4430 or visit www.fofca.org.
Project Fatherhood, Operation Life, 7143 Baird Ave., Reseda. Call 818-705-3140 or visit www.operationlife.org.
Fatherhood Journey (American Indian Partnership), Rudy Ortega Sr. Park, 2025 Fourth St., San Fernando. Call 818-336-6105 or visit www.pukuu.org.
24/7 Dad Youth Speak Collective, 444 S. Brand Blvd., Suite 201, San Fernando. Call Mateo Ozelotzin at 818-890-2928 or visit www.youthspeakcollective.org.
SPIRITT Family Services, 2000 Tyler Ave., South El Monte (Spanish). Call 855-714-8800.
Bienvenidos, English and Spanish, 501 South Atlantic Blvd., East Los Angeles. Call Hugo Garcia at 323-268-5442 or email hgarcia@bienvenidos.org.
Positive Parenting for Padres (Spanish), The Help Group Child & Family Center, 15339 Saticoy St., Van Nuys. Call Rubi Rodriguez at 818-267-2738 or visit www.thehelpgroup.org.
Afghan army struggling with low enlistment, high desertion from soldiers
With 195,000 soldiers, the Afghan army is bigger than ever. But it's also unstable.
Enlistment is low and desertion is high, so much so that the army has to replace a third of its force each year.
For more on the challenges the army is now facing, we're joined by New York Times reporter Rod Nordland.
Do animals enjoy drugs and suffer diseases and disorders like humans? 'Zoobiquity' suggests they do
On a recent morning at the Los Angeles Zoo, head veterinarian Dr. Curtis Eng points out to a visitor a pair of hairy teenage brothers who are two of the zoo’s seven gorilla stars.
“We actually have this bachelor group here," Eng said as he pointed through a glass barrier that separates zoo visitors from the giant apes.
One of the apes makes his way toward the humans staring at him. "That’s Hasani. He’s about two-and-a-half years older than his younger brother."
The zoo primates are treated to top-notch health care, including preventive heart screenings from UCLA cardiologist Barbara Natterson-Horowitz. She's among the physicians calling for more communication between human doctors and veterinarians.
Natterson-Horowitz said a research visit to a zoo forever changed the way she practices medicine.
“We were going to do at the zoo what we do with human patients, which is screen them with an ultrasound of the heart,” she said. "As one of the animals was being sedated, I was making a lot of eye contact because in a human patient that's what you'd do to create trust and connection."
But the veterinarian prepping the primate cautioned Natterson-Horowitz against close-up eye contact with the squirrel-sized Tamarin monkey, telling her that it might trigger “capture myopathy.”
Unfamiliar with the term, Natterson-Horowitz later looked it up. It described an often deadly syndrome in restrained wild animals. But she realized it was almost identical to something researchers had just reported in humans who suffer extreme stress, such as that caused by witnessing the death of a loved one.
“It occurred to me these were probably the same disorders with different names, or they were very connected," said Natterson-Horowitz. "But the piece of it that was just startling was that in veterinary literature and wildlife biology literature, this has been written about for decades, literally decades.”
She said the journal "Nature" had reported it more than 30 years ago.
"So that gulf raised the possibility that there were many other gulfs like that," she said. "And I'm just one cardiologist having this one 'aha' moment and I realized we needed to amplify that."
So Natterson-Horowitz set out to research the wealth of medical information that’s long been hiding in plain sight in the journals of veterinary medicine and wildlife biology. Scientific literature, she said, that few human doctors take the time to read.
"When you know that breast cancer doesn’t just affect human patients, that breast cancer affects big cats like jaguars and tigers and lions and also affects Beluga whales and also affects certain dog breeds, I believe it will improve and expand investigation which could benefit animals and human patients with the same problem.”
Natterson-Horowitz and journalist Kathryn Bowers gathered hundreds of these findings in a book they co-authored called “Zoobiquity." It offers insight into hundreds of human-animal health overlaps that include even harmful psychological behaviors considered uniquely human.
Take anorexia nervosa. Think it's just a problem for teenage girls and young women? Think again: some farm pigs are known to self-starve, said Natterson-Horowitz.
There are documented cases of obesity in dragonflies and bulimia – or self-induced vomiting - in marine mammals. There’s even drug addiction among many species: birds that get buzzed on fermented berries; cows that get high off loco weed; even Tasmanian wallabies that can’t keep their paws out of medical opium fields.
"They’re known to jump over fences and grab the poppies and ingest the poppy sap and the poppy straw until they’re intoxicated," Natterson-Horowitz said. "We learned about big horn sheep attracted to hallucinogenic lichen that grows on the tops of cliffs and they will actually scale cliffs to access this lichen."
It doesn't stop there. Self-injury, also long-believed to be a uniquely human behavior, is shared by some animals. Natterson-Horowitz said veterinarians have long identified and successfully treated it in many of their patients - from caged birds that pluck out all their feathers or peck themselves bloody to stallions that bite serious injuries into their own flanks.
"I think the human psychiatrist, psycyotherapists even a parent dealing with the challenging issue of self-injury in a patient child could look to the success that animals experts have in treating self-injury," she said.
And Dr. Eng agrees. "That’s really what our goal is with this whole 'Zoobiquity' thing," he said. "To have the conversation between human physicians and DVMs talking about the various things they have in common and then what they don’t have in common and how to make things better for both sides."
Will Schwalbe's End of Your Life Book Club
People join book clubs for all sorts of reasons — to read more, to meet new people, to get out of the house.
But Mary Ann Schwalbe started a book club with her son for a very different reason: because she was dying of pancreatic cancer.
Her son Will Schwalbe joins Alex to talk about the End of Your Life Book Club he started with his mother, and the two-year journey it took them on.
Guest:
Will Schwalbe, author of "The End of Your Life Book Club"
Will Schwalbe will be speaking at Vroman's Book Store and signing copies of his book at 4 pm on October 21st
Vintage California license plates get green light from Governor Brown
Governor Brown recently signed off on legislation that will enable classic car enthusiasts to buy brand new license plates with a retro look.
For $50, car owners can get their hands on retro black-and-yellow license plates, which were originally used in California during the '50s and '60s, or a yellow-on-blue plate that adorned many a Pinto in the '70s.
"California black plates are unusual because when a car traded hands in the day you normally got a brand new plate, you didn't just get a new sticker to put on it, you got a whole new license plate," said Leslie Kendall, curator of the Petersen Automotive Museum. "The more a car changed hands the more likely it was to not make it through with its original black and yellow plate."
With the passing of AB 1658, lawmakers hope to appeal to vintage car collectors to rake in a bit of extra cash to California's economy. However, to classic car enthusiasts, the program is an affront to good taste.
"People like the original black and yellow plate because it means the car was owned by fairly few people, it may be even an original owner car, so that usually says something, you can also advertise it as an original black plate California car," said Kendall. "An original black plate car can add value, that's why people are so anxious about having them and a little bit hesitant about what's coming around the corner."
The Department of Motor Vehicles will only begin producing the retro designs if its receives 7,500 or more applications requesting the plates. Interested parties will be able to order the plates beginning in January 2013.
PHOTOS: Idaho resident re-creates Downtown LA in his basement
Ten years. That's how long it took one man to recreate his youth.
70-year-old Larry Kmetz spent five decades living in Southern California, so when he and his wife retired to Idaho he found himself missing the streets of downtown LA.
So he turned, of all places, to his basement.We'll talk to him from his home in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho
Click here to see a photo of Kmetz's creation.
New Music Tuesday: Very Be Careful, Staff Benda Bilili, Tim Maia and more
This week LA music journalist Steve Hochman shares three albums. The first is by the LA band Very Be Careful, it’s called “Remember me from the Party?”
He also talks about new music from Staff Benda Bilili, an album called “Bouger Le Monde ('Make The World Move')," and he reviews a collection from Brazilian artist Tim Maia, it’s called “Nobody Can Live Forever: The Existential Soul of Tim Maia.”