Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
Workplace harassment continues to dominate the headlines this week.
On Tuesday, there was yet another prominent resignation from NPR, after at least three women accused former Chief News Editor David Sweeney of harassment.
That was followed by more surprises, as harassment claims led NBC to fire longtime "Today Show" anchor, Matt Lauer, and Minnesota Public Radio severed ties with Garrison Keillor, the former host of "A Prairie Home Companion" after allegations of inappropriate behavior.
And that's just in the media sphere.
Meanwhile, in California's Capitol, a new committee has begun examining the way the state Assembly handles claims of harassment.
"What everybody knows here is that we have rapists in this building," California Democratic Party Women's Caucus chair Christine Pelosi told the committee.
KQED's Katie Orr tells Take Two she was at that meeting, where few people seemed surprised to hear that harassment persists in the Capitol:
Even the Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, who was leading the subcommittee, said everyone [has] heard these stories. We all know that this goes on. The Capitol is having a reckoning of its own of sorts. We've already seen the fallout from that: Los Angeles Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra resigned on Monday following several accusations against him. Senator Tony Mendoza has been stripped of his leadership positions following accusations against him. This is something the Capitol is dealing with, and we don't know that it will slow down anytime soon.
Press the blue play button above to hear the full interview.