The Jewish Anti-Defamation League has added the "Pepe the frog" meme to its database of hate symbols, the history of left turns in LA, gamers head to the classroom at UC Irvine.
Pepe the Frog has gone over to the dark side
Say it ain't so, Pepe.
The Jewish Anti-Defamation League has added the "Pepe the Frog" meme to its database of hate symbols.
You might recognize the cartoon frog from internet comment sections with his big red lips and smug grin:
Pepe hasn't always been synonymous with racist attitudes, but the League says in recent months, the meme been co-opted by groups associated with anti-Semitism and the alt-right.
For a deeper look at racist symbols of the web, Take Two spoke to Mark Potok, senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Press the blue play button above to hear the full interview.
How to trust your bank after Wells Fargo's scandal
Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf is before lawmakers again, today, to answer tough questions about the bank's practice where employees would use customers' personal information to create millions of fake accounts without their knowledge.
And yesterday, California's Treasurer John Chiang announced that he's suspending the state's business relationships with banking giant Wells Fargo for at least a year.
But what can the millions of Californians do if they still have a checking account or mortgage loan with Wells Fargo?
Take Two turns to financial advisor Delia Fernandez for advice on how to monitor your accounts for fraud and, if it comes to it, switch banks.
State of Affairs: New CA laws, the presidential debate, and the US Senate race
On this week's State of Affairs, Governor Jerry Brown signs and vetoes a mountain of legislation, Californians react to the presidential debate, and a look ahead to the one and only debate in the race to replace Senator Barbara Boxer.
Joining Take Two to discuss:
- Marisa Lagos, political reporter with KQED's California Politics and Government Desk
- Ben Adler, Capitol Bureau Chief or Capital Public Radio
Left out: Why LA is the city of unprotected left turns
Anyone who has navigated LA traffic knows the horror of ... the unprotected left turn.
You pull up to the intersection. You indicate left. And you wait. And wait. And then turn ... and hope you don't get hit by oncoming traffic.
It's such a point of dread, in fact, that the popular navigation app, Waze introduced a feature to minimize left turns on routes. So why is L.A. the land of the unprotected left turn? For that, A Martinez spoke to Nathan Masters, host of KCET's "Lost LA."
Interview Highlights
Take us through the history of the left turn here in LA.
"There really were no formal rules about left turns until the 1920s. In fact, it wasn't until the 1920s that the state decided it wanted to start regulating how people, including bicyclists and pedestrians who used the roadway.
When they started promulgating these rules they had to actually tell people, 'Hey, you need to signal your intention to make a left turn by sticking your arm out the window.' That was back before we had left turn signals...
That was a big moment, when there were formal rules about how you can make a left turn and when you could make a left turn. The biggest changes actually came in the 1950s. That was when the city started installing what are called left turn pockets, which are places where you could wait to make a left turn before there's a break in oncoming traffic.
They also installed some of the first left turn signals which gave you a protected left turn. You know, exclusive use of the intersection to make a left turn for a short amount of time. In 1957, there was a major change in the law of left turns. Prior to that if you were at the intersection first...you have the right of way to make a left turn, even if there's oncoming traffic as long as there's no imminent threat that you're going to be hit by somebody or hit somebody, you're allowed to make a left turn. After that, you had to wait till there was a big break in traffic."
At first, L.A. motorists had trouble with the left-hand turn and the city tried to engineer it out of existence, what were some of the experimental things they tried?
"Well, there were a few practices that stand out. One of them was called 'darting'... I've seen people practice it to this day. The light turns green and suddenly, you gun it...
The automobile club had to create a big public advocacy program to convince people to stop doing that. Drivers also would make left turns from the right lane, in the 1920s without any regard for what traffic might be coming up on your left and then other drivers would make a big grand 270-degree tour of the intersection, you know, a huge wide turn for no reason really. These were all big problems that the auto club and the city and police officers had to correct."
Orange County is L.A.’s not too far off neighbor and yet their streets look very different from ours. Why is that?
"One of the biggest differences is there are just a lot more protected left turn signals. A couple reasons for that: Left turn signals weren't introduced until the 1950s. Well, most of Orange County was built after the 1950s, including its transportation infrastructure. And then of course there's also the fact that much of Orange County consists of these master plan communities and they were able to plan ahead, they were able to build roadways that would have the capacity to handle future growth."
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.
(Answers have been edited for clarity.)
LA Magazine explores immigration in Los Angeles
Quick quiz: what do the bird of paradise flower, the Watt's Tower and See's Candy have in common? For one, all of them are Los Angeles icons, but they are also either created or brought here by immigrants.
Those are just a few of the tidbits in the Los Angeles Magazine, which devotes its entire October issue to the topic of immigration. It delves into politics, economy, culture and, of course, food.
READ: "How waves of Latino immigrants turned a purple state blue" in LA Magazine
"We put it out there because we wanted to make a statement," said editor Mary Melton. "Once a year we do something unexpected on the cover – to shake up our readers, to shake up the newsstand and just because it's important to do. And this really felt like the time is right to do it."
To listen to the interview, click on the blue button
Drought pits agriculture's livelihood against the environment
In the fifth year of California's drought, farmers in the San Joaquin Valley are fighting to stay in business. A record breaking number of wells have been drilled as farmers try to access much needed groundwater.
While the economy of California's Central Valley depends on the area's farming industry, there are concerns that the unregulated spike in ground drilling and water pumping has serious implications for wildlife and community access to water.
Sacramento Bee reporter, Ryan Sabalow joined Take Two to discuss the nexus between livelihood and environmental protection.
To hear the interview, click the Blue Arrow above.
Young entrepreneurs struggle, succeed in 'Generation Startup'
We hear all the time about new companies springing up to disrupt the economy, and so on the surface, it may seem like entrepreneurship is at an all-time high.
But that isn't the case.
The creation of new businesses in the U.S. is at a nearly 40-year low, according to the Census.
One of the reasons is that starting your own business is really, really hard.
In the new documentary, "Generation Startup," co-director Cheryl Miller Houser followed six young entrepreneurs to uncover their challenging lives.
Alex Cohen welcomed Miller Houser as well as Dextina Booker, a fellow Venture for America, a program that places recent college grads with jobs in startups and early-stage companies.
"Generation Startup" premieres in Los Angeles September 30th at the Laemmle Monica.
Interview highlights
Cheryl, you and fellow director Cynthia Wade spent nearly a year and a half following these young entrepreneurs. Of all the things to make a documentary about, why young entrepreneurship?
The project originated because my son was a Venture for America fellow, too, and I saw the experience he was having. He had graduated with a degree in English, joined a start-up and was made head of marketing. He really had no idea what he was doing, but was growing so much from the experience. ... I was so inspired by these kids. When you're coming out of college – 22, 23, 24 years old, which is already such a difficult time in life – the fact that they were willing to take these risks that it took me three decades to get up the courage to do, I found them so inspiring.
Dextina, you graduated from MIT. A lot of other students you went to school with, they moved to Detroit like you did and took on lucrative and more stable jobs at car companies. You decided to go the entrepreneurial route. Why?
It's a little scary but it's also exciting because there's a fire under the seat of my pants, and I just didn't want to have my path laid out for me by someone else for the next 20 to 30 years.
Especially for young people, you're just barely out of college where you're studying, but you're also going out to parties and enjoying your youth. Dextina, can you relate the idea that starting a business is just too much?
Sometimes I do feel like that. I feel like I came out here and had this really lofty goal of creating jobs, and there's those days where you don't see those results and you're not going to see those results immediately. ... But somedays I just need to be surrounded by friends, and most of my friends live elsewhere, all of my family lives elsewhere. So there are a ton times where I just want to be a young person. ... But it always comes back to reminding myself why I'm here and I really do think that I can create opportunities for myself and others.