The conditions in Mexico following Hurricane Patricia, does the lack of Latinos on 'SNL' make Donald Trump's appearance OK? The debut of 'Supergirl.'
After Patricia, damaged crops could hinder Mexico's rural recovery
Along Mexico's Pacific coast, recovery efforts are now turning to remote areas, where strong winds and rain damaged thousands of homes.
Mexican officials were prepared for the worst when Hurricane Patricia approached the country last Friday, but the damage was not nearly as bad as expected.
The storm is now creating heavy rains across Texas and Louisiana.
"Primarily, families are telling us that their homes are damaged but OK, but a lot of people have lost crops," said Christy Delafield, senior communications officer for MercyCorps, speaking from Mascota, Mexico.
That could have lasting impact for longer-term recovery efforts.
"The jobs that would have been there to do the harvest have disappeared," said Delafield.
A map provided by the Mexican government's response website shows affected communities (in blue) along the country's Pacific coast.
Are you anxious about the economy? You're not alone
Eight years ago, the United States was in a financial free fall. Now that things seemed to have improved, do people feel better?
That’s the question behind the new economic gauge created by the public radio program, Marketplace.
It’s called the Economic Anxiety Index, and we talk to Marketplace host
about it.
If 'SNL' had Latino cast members, would Trump still host?
"Saturday Night Live" hasn't pulled punches with political controversies, but its upcoming host has Latino groups out there swinging.
On Nov. 7, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will host the show.
Organizations like the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda are considering a boycott of the broadcast or possibly even the whole network, saying that Trump's incendiary comments on the campaign about Latino immigrants are offensive.
"People were surprised," says NPR's television critic Eric Deggans. "To see a major NBC property like 'Saturday Night Live' welcome Trump as a guest host seemed a bit of a backtracking."
Prior to this announcement, NBC cut ties with Trump. NBC has not indicated what led them to change.
"They're giving him an advantage in the contest that they probably won't extend to anyone else that's running against him," he says.
According to Deggans, if other candidates want equal time, they will have to ask the individual stations where "SNL" airs – they cannot ask "SNL" itself if they can host, too.
Deggans also questioned if Trump would have even been cast if "SNL" had any Latino cast members.
"There are practical benefits to that," he says about a diverse staff. "The people who run the show can get a wide range of opinions and material from people who have different life experiences."
That does not always prevent controversial sketches, however.
Last year, "SNL" was criticized for not having many female African-American cast members. There are now two, but performer Leslie Jones drew fire for one sketch that joked about slavery and dating.
"'SNL' has done half the work. They've hired people, they've brought them on, but they haven't really internalized the discussion about diversity and stereotypes that you really need to have if you're going to this button-pushing comedy," says Deggans.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
WHO report links processed meats to cancer: A SoCal dietitian weighs in
A new report from the World Health Organization shines new light on the potential of eating meat.
The organization examined more than 800 studies exploring possible connections between processed meat and colorectal cancer.
Scientists also determined that eating 100 grams of red meat per day raises cancer risk by 17 percent.
Andrea Giancoli is a registered dietitian and nutrition communications consultant. She shared her reaction with Take Two.
Press the blue play button above to hear more.
On The Lot: 'Jem' tanks, goodbye to Maureen O'Hara
On this week's On the Lot with
:
- "Jem and the Holograms" barely makes a dent at the box office. Keegan analyzes what went wrong, and if this failure might make Hollywood even less likely to back films aimed at young women.
- Maureen O'Hara, one of the last great stars of Hollywood's golden era, died over the weekend. She was 95. Keegan says she's one of the few women who could stand up on screen to big, male stars like John Wayne.
- Plus, who's buying those advance tickets for Star Wars, and a dust-up between Quentin Tarantino and the NYPD.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
Is it demeaning to call a super woman 'Supergirl'?
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a female superhero!
CBS on Monday night launches the new show "Supergirl," starring Melissa Benoist as the main character, Kara Zor-El, cousin of Superman, or Kal-El.
Host Alex Cohen recently had a chance to speak with Ali Adler and Sarah Schecter, two of the show's executive producers, about casting Melissa Benoist, why they're excited about a female superhero on network television and the debate around calling her Supergirl.
To hear the entire conversation click on the audio link embedded at the top of this post.
Obama calls for less school testing: What California's classrooms do now
The White House made a quiet announcement on Saturday: Testing in schools has gone too far, and it needs to be reeled in.
The administration wants teachers to spend no more than 2 percent of class time on prepping for and taking tests.
President Barack Obama also acknowledged his administration's role in excess testing, but this new announcement is a "plan" and has no force of law.
If our kids had more free time at school, what would you want them to do with it? A) Learn to play a musical instrument?B) Study a new language?C) Learn how to code HTML?D) Take more standardized tests?Take the quiz, then watch President Obama's message about smarter ways to measure our kids’ progress in school.
Posted by The White House on Saturday, October 24, 2015
, president of the California Board of Education, says right now, testing in California is mostly up to local school boards. The state only requires testing for grades three through eight, in addition to 11th graders in the subjects of English and math. There are also tests for students who are low-performing or severely handicapped, Kirst said.
"California has cut testing under Gov. Brown by over 50 percent since 2013, so I don't think the state in California is anywhere close to 2 percent. But the locals have the right to add on and do whatever they want. So you need to pay attention to each school district," he said.
While California has altered state testing to be based on critical thinking and not just multiple-choice answers, some teachers might feel they are still teaching toward a test. Kirst said while there is nothing wrong with teaching toward a quality test, the exams can also help teachers.
"There's nothing wrong with teaching to a really, really good test," Kirst said. "We feel that our new test is partly an instructional improvement system, and so we are giving teachers more and more details, in the future, about how students are doing and how they can revise their teaching practice and approach. So its not just test to take a test. The California system is assessment or testing to improve teaching and get better instruction."
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
'Invisible Front' tackles the stigma of suicide in the military
In the book, "Invisible Front," long-time military journalist Yochi Dreazen tells the story of Major General Mark Graham and and his wife Carol, who take the military to task over the the death of their two sons.
Their first son, Jeff, was heralded as a hero after being killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. The other, Kevin, suffered from PTSD and committed suicide.
Dreazen says that Kevin's death was treated negatively by Graham's colleagues.
"They thought that he was a coward and that if they were to give Kevin even a fraction of the same honor they'd given Jeff they'd be saying 'cowardice is OK,'" says Dreazen.
Hear the full conversation in the blue link above.
Dreazen will be at the Nixon Library Monday night for a lecture and book signing. Click here for more information.
https://www.scribd.com/doc/287117150/The-Invisible-Front
Could these radical building designs fix LA's housing problem?
Los Angeles is one of the least affordable regions in the country when it comes to housing, and the situation has only gotten worse, as incomes have stagnated and rent has gone up.
But there's a new exhibition open at the Architecture and Design Museum in Downtown L.A. that's hoping to help fix some of the city's biggest housing problems by reimagining what housing in L.A. could be like.
It's called "Shelter: Rethinking How We Live In Los Angeles," and host A Martinez recently had a chance to speak with its co-creator, Danielle Rago, on location.
The exhibition is on display through Nov. 6, 2015.
How new emojis make it to your smartphone
The fate of an avocado, a clown, a shark and a drooling face all rest in the hands of one organization.
The company is Unicode Consortium, and next spring they'll vote "yea" or "nay" on 67 new emojis. Once selected, software makers will begin to adopt the new images.
Mark Davis is the co-founder of the company. He joined Take Two to talk about the selection process.
Press the blue play button above to hear more.