Friday Take Two will discuss how people will deal with the weekend heat wave, if rent control is helping LA, Bill Hader in a new dramatic role, a story of the day after deportation, placebos treating depression, the growing Antelope Valley homeless population and how film and television composer Brian Reitzell makes creepy music for the "Hannibal" series.
Heat wave: How zoo animals, Disney characters and tourists are beating the heat
There's a heat wave on the way in Southern California. Forecasters are predicting triple-digit temperatures and possibly record-breaking heat in some parts of the Los Angeles area.
At the Los Angeles Zoo, they're preparing for the worst (with some fun thrown in) with an event called "Cool at the Zoo."
Mike Maxcy, the principle animal keeper at the L.A. Zoo says they'll be feeding the animals some special cool treats: "fishsicles," "fruitsicles" and "meatsicles."
And what about the people that play animals? You know, the folks that wear those fuzzy costumes at Disneyland?
Garrett Kraemer used to play Goofy, the Genie from "Aladdin," and Baloo from "The Jungle Book." As he explains it, "it would be like going out in 100-degree weather wrapped in 10 quilts. And walking around and dancing in it? Yeah, it's not super pleasant in the heat."
When temperatures got too high, Kraemer says, their regular 30-minute shifts would be shortened.
And frequent Take Two guest and "King of Kitsch" Charles Phoenix will also have to contend with the brutal heat this weekend. He's planned a Disneyland-themed six-hour walking tour of downtown L.A.
The tour happens "rain or shine," but this is a lot of shine, so he's traded in the school bus he usually uses for his tours for an air-conditioned coach.
Californians cutting back water use, but not by enough
A new report out this week shows that Californians are finally getting the message about water conservation. Sort of.
Three years into a severe drought, we're finally tapering back on water use.
Compared with last summer, residents slashed how much they used by 7.5 percent.
That's good, but nowhere near the 20 percent Governor Brown called for earlier this year to cope with the drought.
Lester Snow, executive director of the California Water Foundation, explains what more Southern California residents can do when, historically, they already have some of the lowest per capita use of water in the state.
The Flashback: President Obama's anti-terror plan, political bosom buddies Bill Clinton and George Bush, Ray Rice fallout
This week in news included calls for broader action against Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria, the President's plan to defeat the Islamic State terrorist group and what the Ray Rice incident means to the NFL.
And two former presidents show what political relationships used to be--and maybe should be like.
Marketplace reporter
from Washington DC and NPR West's
, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, weigh in.
President Obama and ISIS
We start with the President's plan to defeat ISIS, which includes increased airstrikes aimed at destroying Islamic militants trying to take control of Syria and Iraq, and also funding to train moderate Syrian rebels. But while he's seeking approval from Congress for training the Syrian rebels, he said that he doesn't need approval from Congress for the airstrikes. Why does he feel that he doesn't need to go to Congress for the action?
This week Take Two spoke to California Senator Barbara Boxer before the President addressed the nation. She said that she was familiar with the plan, but that it wasn't related to prior actions in the region. But is this a counter terrorism effort or a new military action?
Bill Clinton and George W. Bush - BFFs
Earlier this week former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were on stage at the DC Newseum to talk about their new Presidential Leadership Scholars Program. They were not only hilarious but they displayed a not so hidden secret: they're actually pretty good friends.
President Clinton was describing an incident he had with former Senator Trent Lott who one day appeared on one of the Sunday talk shows and called Clinton a spoiled brat. Clinton described the conversation they had on the phone the next day where he said the most important thing was that he was able to work with him the next day. Is that what's missing from politics today?
Ray Rice fallout
The other big story of the week was the NFL and Ray Rice. Yesterday Rice's former team, the Baltimore Ravens, played the Pittsburgh Steelers. And it definitely didn't go off the way it was initially planned. Rihanna had been a part of the CBS broadcast, but that was changed because of her history with domestic abuse. And next week the team will host a Ray Rice jersey buy back. From a business perspective, what might the Ray Rice incident do the the Ravens' brand?
Abcarian wrote about NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his actions in the incident. Does she think that if it's proven that he knew more than what he initially said that he will be removed?
LA rent control: Has it been successful?
Los Angeles has the dubious distinction of being ranked as the most unaffordable city in America.
Yet 80 percent of apartments in the city of LA are covered by rent control - a program designed to make living here affordable.
KPCC's Ben Bergman looks at whether rent control has been successful.
Related: LA Rent: Has rent control been successful in Los Angeles?
Actor Bill Hader was almost too funny for his role in 'The Skeleton Twins'
When casting first began for the new movie, "The Skeleton Twins," a drama, actor Bill Hader wasn't even being considered.
"I went to my agent and said, 'I want to do a drama,' and he said, 'You know I pitch you for dramas and no one sees it,'" Hader told Take Two.
People only saw him as the funny man from "Saturday Night Live." But after an opportune table read and a lunch with director Craig Johnson, the producers decided to take a chance on the star.
"So then there was two years of having money, not having money, ..." Hader says. That is, until Kristen Wiig, Hader's SNL co-star, was also cast in the film.
"And then the next day we got the money for the movie, because they went, 'You got Kristen Wiig in the movie?!'" Hader says. "And it was, like, yoing! And then they started throwing money at us."
Wiig and Hader play fraternal twins, Maggie and Milo, who haven't talked to each other in many years. When Maggie hears about Milo's attempted suicide, she rushes to his side, and that's when they start to repair their estranged relationship and help each other with their personal problems.
For Milo, a lot of his issues are related to having moved out to Los Angeles to become an actor, only to have failed. Hader elaborates:
"He goes out to L.A. and strikes out, big time, and has to come back home and live with his sister. And that's a hard thing to come to terms with. And he's seeking out his old teacher, who he had a relationship with, played by Ty Burrell. And he just wants that person who told him he was good, you know, to tell him he's good."
And that's something that Hader, himself, could relate to:
"I moved out to L.A. from Tulsa, Okla. And that fear of, 'Gosh, I hope I can make it out here.' ... Nothing's happening. I've been out for four years, and nothing's happened. And you just want that person who's like, 'No, no, you're good,' who validates you."
But even though it was a drama, it wasn't all serious on set. The two managed to have so much fun that Johnson had to rein them in.
"He was smart enough to say, ... 'Some of these things are hilarious, but now you guys seem like two people from 'Saturday Night Live.' ... You're kind of like, 'Why didn't Milo make it in L.A.? He can do all of these voices?'"
Placebos can have a positive effect in treating depression, study finds
Major depression is one of the most common mental health issues for adults in the U.S., according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
A new study out of UCLA finds that placebos — sugar pills that patients think are medication — can be a powerful way to treat depression.
Dr. Andrew Leuchter is a professor of psychiatry at UCLA's Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. He is also the lead author of the placebo study.
“In short,” said Leuchter in an article on UCLA's website, “if you think a pill is going to work, it probably will.”
The UCLA researchers examined three forms of treatment, the article explains. One was supportive care in which a therapist assessed the patient’s risk and symptoms, and provided emotional support and encouragement but refrained from providing solutions to the patient’s issues that might result in specific therapeutic effects. The other two treatments provided the same type of therapy, but patients also received either medication or placebos and were told that what they were taking could be either one.
Leuchter talks more about the study and the power of placebo.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
Why this study?
We were originally testing only anti-depressant medication and we had placebos as a control condition. What we discovered was the assumption that placebos are not treatment and are of no benefit is a false assumption. That, in fact, there are a number of people that feel better with placebos. So we wanted to know how is it that some feel better with placebos?
What did you discover with people with the placebo?
The degree to which people engaged in the process, trusted the doctors and nurses, felt the people cared about them, that predicted improvement regardless of what treatment they got.
We also looked at belief in power of medications. To what degree do you believe medication is powerful and can help you get well. And the degree to which they endorsed a strong belief in medication predicted who was going to respond to placebo. So it turns out whether you believe in medication or not, you can get better with medication. But if you're taking a placebo, that belief in the power of medication is an essential ingredient to actually getting benefit from the placebo.
The expectations we bring to treatment, which are a summation of all of our experiences in the world--seeing doctors, hearing about people's expectations with medication--say a lot about how we are going to do in treatment. It was what they already believed when they came in that shaped a lot of their expectations.
What do you think people should take away from this study? Many might think, 'If I just have the power of positive thinking that should solve all my problems.'
That's definitely not the message we want people to take home. Depression is a serious medical illness. It affects 15 million people a year. Most people don't get adequate treatment; medications and psychotherapy are definitely effective. People who suffer from depression should get treatment. Expectations, hopes and desires, those play a role on whether people get well, but they are not a substitute for a genuine effective medical treatment. What we want people to take home from this: Get treated and if you doubt the effectiveness of treatment, tell the person treating you and work on your expectations.
After years apart, Honduran parents reunited with their daughters - for now
There has been a lot of talk recently about the thousands of unaccompanied minors crossing into the United States.
The magnitude of the influx of these migrants makes it easy to forget that with each individual child comes a unique story of why they left and what happens when they try to make it to America.
Reporter Kate Linthicum spent time with one family who traveled from Honduras to the United States and she recently told their compelling story in the LA Times.
The two sisters in the story, Katheryn, 13, and Dayana, 9, are among more than 60,000 unaccompanied children, mostly from Central America, who have been apprehended at the border over the last 10 months, she reports.
The day after deportation: One teenager's story
Immigration courts are gearing up to decide the fate of tens of thousands of children from Central America who came to the U.S. border in recent months.
Meanwhile, Mexico has been cracking down on these migrants en route to the U.S., and is already sending children back to their home countries.
Fronteras Desk reporter Jude Joffe-Block met a teenager in El Salvador who had just been deported from Mexico the day before.
As homeless population grows, Lancaster officials want to shut down public transit station
The Antelope Valley, about an hour and a half north of Los Angeles, is home to about 12 percent of the county's homeless population.
City leaders in Lancaster claim that number grows by the day because homeless people arrive from neighboring cities by hopping metro trains.
From the California Report from San Francisco Public radio station KQED, reporter Steven Cuevas says the city wants to shut down this apparent surge by shutting down the only public transit station linking Lancaster and LA.
Affordable Care Act: Millions still lack health insurance
When the Affordable Care Act rolled out last fall, Californians enrolled in health coverage plans through Covered California and Medi-Cal.
But, there are still millions who lack health care insurance.
Undocumented people don't qualify for Obamacare benefits and many others find coverage too expensive, or difficult to enroll in.
The California Report's Lisa Morehouse met such a man.
Band Best Coast teams up with Chef Josh Drew for 'One Night Only' musical dinner party
When you think of fine dining, indie rock bands are usually not the first thing that comes to mind.
Usually at a concert, you are lucky if you can grab a greasy slice of pizza, or maybe you hit a late night diner after the last encore.
But one LA duo is hoping to change that.
The LA-based indie rock band Best Coast is teaming up with chef Josh Drew and hosting a special event called One Night Only featuring food, cocktails and music.
The event's web page shares more:
Every detail of the evening will be curated by Best Coast themselves, from conceptual food stations (elevated tour favorites from the road, tastes informed by their native Angeleno upbringing, as well as their shared Italian-American heritages) to cocktails (cucumber infused vodka to spicy mezcal) to music (every song hand-chosen by the band).
Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino tells more about the evening and the band's vision for their dream dinner party.
Brian Reitzell brings horror to life with music in NBC's 'Hannibal'
Even if you haven't heard of music supervisor Brian Reitzell, it's still very possible that you've heard his work. He's teamed up with Sofia Coppola to score most of her films, including "Lost in Translation" and "The Bling Ring," he recently scored the hit video game "Watch Dogs" and he's responsible for the haunting compositions in NBC's show "Hannibal." The second season is out on Blu-Ray this week.
Disclaimer: Graphic Content
"Disclaimer: Graphic Content - Hannibal Season Two Trailer"
He recently joined A Martinez in studio to talk about how he became a music supervisor, what it's like scoring a horror show and how the key to good horror music is that "...it should be kind of unfamiliar. So, if your brain isn't saying 'oh it's an electric guitar'... it's like this new experience. And I think the scariest things in life are these things that happen to you that you're not prepared for. You don't know what's going on."
Reitzell also recently released a solo album that's meant to score your drive through Los Angeles. It's called "Auto Music."
After years of putting together random tracks, Reitzell started listening to them in his car, and he realized that they perfectly scored his commute around LA. So, they're now available to the public.