Examining the similarities between refugee crises around the world, Ken Burns' 'Civil War' documentary gets remastered, the best movies for back to school.
As ISIS destroys ancient sites, experts race to digitally preserve others
The militant group known as the Islamic State destroyed three ancient tombs in the city of Palmyra in Syria on Friday.
Late last month, government officials confirmed reports that the group had also leveled the Roman era Baal Shamin temple in the city.
The Islamic State has destroyed other sites it considers sacrilegious, often publishing video or photographs of the demolitions.
But now a group of archaeologists has launched a project aimed at preserving Middle Eastern historical sites, and it hinges on a small and simple 3D camera.
Joining Take Two to discuss:
- Roger Michel with the Institute for Digital Archaeology
'Civil War' director Ken Burns on the days that would shape America's racial future
Nearly 40 million people tuned in to PBS for the Ken Burns documentary, "The Civil War," when it premiered 25 years ago.
The 11-part series was the most extensive program produced on the subject, bringing together historical accounts, letters and pictures, many of which had never been made public.
Now, PBS is re-airing the digitally-remastered documentary 150 years after the end of the war, and just in time to add to the national conversation on race and freedom in America.
In an interview with Take Two, Burns reflected on President Abraham Lincoln and what his reaction to modern racism might be.
“I think he’d be saddened, but I don’t think he’d be surprised … I think he’d understand that the human heart is going to be a hard thing to tame … I think he’d be flabbergasted that we have an African American President. At the same time, I think he’d be deeply saddened by what’s happened in Ferguson, what’s happened in Charleston, in North Charleston and what’s happened all around the country.”
Abraham Lincoln didn’t live long enough to enact his postwar plans to reunite the country. He was shot just six days after the Confederacy surrendered. Burns says this had a profound impact on how the country would come to see race.
“It was a period of experimenting with enforcing civil rights in the vanquished Confederacy, and its collapse is the tragedy -- its collapse led to the imposition of Jim Crow, and the ascendency of the Klu Klux Klan, and lynching as a form of justice […] Americans went to war over this issue, then they kind of forgot it.”
While the subject of slavery will forever remain a sensitive one in America, he contends that the painful history is made worse by the reality that true equality has yet to be achieved.
“I think it’s less feeling the sting of history, than it is feeling the sting of being black-skinned in a culture that has yet to see people for the content of their character, as Dr. King said. Job discrimination, housing discrimination, all sorts of indignities --big and small-- that take place every day.”
Press the blue play button above to hear more.
91-year-old woman at Silicon Valley firm smashes older worker stereotypes
IDEO is a global design firm ranked No. 10 on Fast Company's list of the Top 25 Most Innovative Companies.
It's considered innovative not only for the work it does, but the people who do that work, like 91-year-old Barbara Beskind. Writer
profiled her for the latest issue of Pacific Standard Magazine.
"Barbara is such an important component of the work that they do now," said Tsui.
Beskind, who has extensive design experience, landed at IDEO after writing a letter to the company. She received a call a few days later, and her new job soon began.
"Her philosophy, I think we can all learn from," said Tsui. "She says, 'I expect change every day. There isn't a day that I don't.' So you just design for it, you prepare for it. She has macular degeneration -- she's losing her eyesight -- but she figures out a way to handle it."
And, Beskind is a hit with younger workers.
"Usually when she arrives, there's an email that goes around the office, 'She's here!' And everyone is buzzing," said Tsui. "She's an integral part of the company culture now, and everyone talks to her like a peer."
Tsui thinks that Beskind is a glimpse into the future of the workforce.
"So many Americans now are going to be working longer, living longer, and the capabilities and the knowledge that they [older workers] have in all their experiences is something that companies and businesses need to take advantage of and be aware of how to fully rely on," said Tsui.
It goes without saying that Beskind is an anomaly, and our current attitudes toward older workers could be the problem.
"This culture of agism that we have here in our society, it kind of affects how we think about our abilities," said Tsui. "They've done studies on memory tests, and older people might perform worse than younger people on these memory tests because they expect to."
As for Beskind, it may not come as a surprise that she has no plans to slow down any time soon.
"She keeps telling me that she keeps trying to retire. She's tried to do it five times," Tsui said. "And every time, it never sticks."
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above
Back to school: the four best movies about college
The university is a place of so many emotions: excitement and anxiety for the students, the sweet blend of pride and sadness for parents saying goodbye, so it's no surprise then that college has been a theme for plenty of filmmakers.
Seeing as so many students are heading off to campus right about now, we thought it was a good time to survey the college movie landscape. So, we invited
in to talk about his favorite college films.
Here are his top four picks:
1. Horse Feathers (1932)
2. Animal House (1978)
3. Back To School (1986)
4. Starter for 10 (2006)
To hear the entire conversation click on the audio link embedded above.
Jeremy Sisto talks tennis training, casting in 'Break Point'
The new film "Break Point" stars actor Jeremy Sisto as a once-promising tennis player named Jimmy who is not faring all that well on the courts, or in life.
His latest partner on the doubles circuit dumps him, leading his dad, played by J.K. Simmons, to wonder if it might be time to call it quits.
Darren, Jimmy's estranged younger brother, reluctantly accepts an offer to team up. By training together, the two start to rekindle their relationship as siblings.
joins host Alex Cohen to tell more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CvcMHShHe8
Weekend on the cheap: Michelada with vegan worcestershire and watermelon paleta
Let out a sigh of relief. It's Friday, and we're about to embark on a three-day weekend. How about paleta micheladas followed by fried peanut butter pickles and free ice cream? Yeah, we're going all out.
Here to tell us more is KPCC's social media producer
, who joins us every Friday with a rundown of fun and almost-free things for us to do with our time off.