window.__IS_SSR__=true
window.__INITIAL_STATE__={
"attachmentsReducer": {
"audio_0": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_0",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background0.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_1": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_1",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background1.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_2": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_2",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background2.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_3": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_3",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background3.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_4": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_4",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background4.jpg"
}
}
},
"placeholder": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "placeholder",
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-768x512.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 512,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"small": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1280,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 32,
"height": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 50,
"height": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 64,
"height": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 96,
"height": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 128,
"height": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
}
},
"arts_10136923": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_10136923",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136923",
"found": true
},
"parent": 10136920,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/west-400x225.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 225
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/west-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/west.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 450
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/west-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/west-300x168.jpg",
"width": 300,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 168
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/west-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/west-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/west-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/west-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1401407212,
"modified": 1401407212,
"caption": null,
"description": null,
"title": "west",
"credit": null,
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_10136693": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_10136693",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136693",
"found": true
},
"parent": 10136690,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0210_custom-4be61fa5c457deb6436224a6f646920f4f747dc81-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0210_custom-4be61fa5c457deb6436224a6f646920f4f747dc81-e1401081035193-400x225.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 225
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0210_custom-4be61fa5c457deb6436224a6f646920f4f747dc81-e1401081035193-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0210_custom-4be61fa5c457deb6436224a6f646920f4f747dc81-e1401081035193.jpg",
"width": 798,
"height": 450
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0210_custom-4be61fa5c457deb6436224a6f646920f4f747dc81-1440x958.jpg",
"width": 1440,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 958
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0210_custom-4be61fa5c457deb6436224a6f646920f4f747dc81-e1401081035193-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0210_custom-4be61fa5c457deb6436224a6f646920f4f747dc81-e1401081035193-300x169.jpg",
"width": 300,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 169
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0210_custom-4be61fa5c457deb6436224a6f646920f4f747dc81-e1401081035193-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0210_custom-4be61fa5c457deb6436224a6f646920f4f747dc81-e1401081035193-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0210_custom-4be61fa5c457deb6436224a6f646920f4f747dc81-e1401081035193-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0210_custom-4be61fa5c457deb6436224a6f646920f4f747dc81-e1401081035193-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1401080735,
"modified": 1401080735,
"caption": "Jeff Goldblum performs with his band The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra on Wednesdays at Rockwell club in L.A.",
"description": "Jeff Goldblum performs with his band The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra on Wednesdays at Rockwell club in L.A.",
"title": "Jeff Goldblum performs with his band The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra on Wednesdays at Rockwell club in L.A.",
"credit": "Hayley Bartels for NPR",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_10136634": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_10136634",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136634",
"found": true
},
"parent": 10136631,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/XMen-400x224.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 224
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/XMen-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/XMen.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 449
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/XMen-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/XMen-300x168.jpg",
"width": 300,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 168
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/XMen-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/XMen-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/XMen-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/XMen-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1400881368,
"modified": 1400881368,
"caption": "Professor Xavier and Magneto scheme to send Wolverine back to the Nixon-era past to avert a devastating war in X-Men: Days of Future Past.",
"description": "Professor Xavier and Magneto scheme to send Wolverine back to the Nixon-era past to avert a devastating war in X-Men: Days of Future Past.",
"title": "XMen",
"credit": "Alan Markfield/Twentieth Century Fox",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_10136626": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_10136626",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136626",
"found": true
},
"parent": 10136625,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/normalheart-e94b7e8722c9a4a2f7f031f5f3e775494bcf1768-e1400874853668-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/normalheart-e94b7e8722c9a4a2f7f031f5f3e775494bcf1768-e1400874853668-400x224.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 224
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/normalheart-e94b7e8722c9a4a2f7f031f5f3e775494bcf1768-e1400874853668-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/normalheart-e94b7e8722c9a4a2f7f031f5f3e775494bcf1768-e1400874885722.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 450
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/normalheart-e94b7e8722c9a4a2f7f031f5f3e775494bcf1768-e1400874853668-1440x809.jpg",
"width": 1440,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 809
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/normalheart-e94b7e8722c9a4a2f7f031f5f3e775494bcf1768-e1400874853668-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/normalheart-e94b7e8722c9a4a2f7f031f5f3e775494bcf1768-e1400874853668-300x168.jpg",
"width": 300,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 168
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/normalheart-e94b7e8722c9a4a2f7f031f5f3e775494bcf1768-e1400874853668-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/normalheart-e94b7e8722c9a4a2f7f031f5f3e775494bcf1768-e1400874853668-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/normalheart-e94b7e8722c9a4a2f7f031f5f3e775494bcf1768-e1400874853668-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/normalheart-e94b7e8722c9a4a2f7f031f5f3e775494bcf1768-e1400874853668-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1400874499,
"modified": 1400874499,
"caption": "Mark Ruffalo in HBO's filmed version of \u003cem>The Normal Heart\u003c/em>",
"description": "Mark Ruffalo in HBO's filmed version of \u003cem>The Normal Heart\u003c/em>",
"title": "Mark Ruffalo in HBO's filmed version of The Normal Heart.",
"credit": "Jojo Whilden/HBO",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_10136591": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_10136591",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136591",
"found": true
},
"parent": 10136590,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/angriestman_wide-d31476157525dad7a1a0fbcdec24ad21f7fa0fdc-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/angriestman_wide-d31476157525dad7a1a0fbcdec24ad21f7fa0fdc-400x224.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 224
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/angriestman_wide-d31476157525dad7a1a0fbcdec24ad21f7fa0fdc-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/angriestman_wide-d31476157525dad7a1a0fbcdec24ad21f7fa0fdc-e1400802429840.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 449
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/angriestman_wide-d31476157525dad7a1a0fbcdec24ad21f7fa0fdc-1440x808.jpg",
"width": 1440,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 808
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/angriestman_wide-d31476157525dad7a1a0fbcdec24ad21f7fa0fdc-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/angriestman_wide-d31476157525dad7a1a0fbcdec24ad21f7fa0fdc-300x168.jpg",
"width": 300,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 168
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/angriestman_wide-d31476157525dad7a1a0fbcdec24ad21f7fa0fdc-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/angriestman_wide-d31476157525dad7a1a0fbcdec24ad21f7fa0fdc-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/angriestman_wide-d31476157525dad7a1a0fbcdec24ad21f7fa0fdc-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/angriestman_wide-d31476157525dad7a1a0fbcdec24ad21f7fa0fdc-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1400802380,
"modified": 1400802380,
"caption": "Robin Williams thinks he's living on borrowed time in \u003cem>The Angriest Man In Brooklyn\u003c/em>.",
"description": "Robin Williams thinks he's living on borrowed time in \u003cem>The Angriest Man In Brooklyn\u003c/em>.",
"title": "Robin Williams thinks he's living on borrowed time in The Angriest Man In Brooklyn.",
"credit": "Jojo Whilden/Lionsgate",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_10136584": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_10136584",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136584",
"found": true
},
"parent": 10136583,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/wp-02842_wide-78f0a3dea3f9c782d9b60de428d78cc5a56ac098-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/wp-02842_wide-78f0a3dea3f9c782d9b60de428d78cc5a56ac098-400x224.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 224
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/wp-02842_wide-78f0a3dea3f9c782d9b60de428d78cc5a56ac098-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/wp-02842_wide-78f0a3dea3f9c782d9b60de428d78cc5a56ac098-e1400802179502.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 450
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/wp-02842_wide-78f0a3dea3f9c782d9b60de428d78cc5a56ac098-1440x809.jpg",
"width": 1440,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 809
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/wp-02842_wide-78f0a3dea3f9c782d9b60de428d78cc5a56ac098-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/wp-02842_wide-78f0a3dea3f9c782d9b60de428d78cc5a56ac098-300x168.jpg",
"width": 300,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 168
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/wp-02842_wide-78f0a3dea3f9c782d9b60de428d78cc5a56ac098-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/wp-02842_wide-78f0a3dea3f9c782d9b60de428d78cc5a56ac098-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/wp-02842_wide-78f0a3dea3f9c782d9b60de428d78cc5a56ac098-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/wp-02842_wide-78f0a3dea3f9c782d9b60de428d78cc5a56ac098-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1400802097,
"modified": 1400802097,
"caption": "Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche do their best in the watery \u003cem>Words And Pictures\u003c/em>.",
"description": "Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche do their best in the watery \u003cem>Words And Pictures\u003c/em>.",
"title": "Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche do their best in the watery Words And Pictures.",
"credit": "Doane Gregory/Roadside Attractions",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_10136360": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_10136360",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136360",
"found": true
},
"parent": 10136354,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Fed-Up-400x225.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 225
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Fed-Up-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Fed-Up.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 450
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Fed-Up-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Fed-Up-300x168.jpg",
"width": 300,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 168
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Fed-Up-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Fed-Up-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Fed-Up-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Fed-Up-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1400537018,
"modified": 1400537018,
"caption": "The true stars of the documentary film \u003cem>Fed Up\u003c/em> are several children -- including Maggie Valentine, 12 -- who are trying to lose weight",
"description": "The true stars of the documentary film \u003cem>Fed Up\u003c/em> are several children -- including Maggie Valentine, 12 -- who are trying to lose weight",
"title": "fed-up-1",
"credit": "YouTube",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_10136350": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_10136350",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136350",
"found": true
},
"parent": 10136343,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Gordon-Willis1-400x225.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 225
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Gordon-Willis1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Gordon-Willis1.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 450
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Gordon-Willis1-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Gordon-Willis1-300x168.jpg",
"width": 300,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 168
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Gordon-Willis1-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Gordon-Willis1-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Gordon-Willis1-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Gordon-Willis1-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1400534184,
"modified": 1400534184,
"caption": "Cinematographer Gordon Willis poses with his honorary Oscar following a 2009 ceremony in Los Angeles.",
"description": "Cinematographer Gordon Willis poses with his honorary Oscar following a 2009 ceremony in Los Angeles.",
"title": "willis",
"credit": "Chris Pizzello/AP",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"pop_12176": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "pop_12176",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "pop",
"id": "12176",
"found": true
},
"parent": 12162,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/godzilla-400x225.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 225
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/godzilla.jpg",
"width": 640,
"height": 360
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/godzilla-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/godzilla-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/godzilla-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/godzilla-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/godzilla-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1400528811,
"modified": 1400528811,
"caption": null,
"description": null,
"title": "godzilla",
"credit": null,
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_10136235": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_10136235",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136235",
"found": true
},
"parent": 10136232,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Hamm-Mandvi-400x225.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 225
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Hamm-Mandvi-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Hamm-Mandvi.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 450
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Hamm-Mandvi-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Hamm-Mandvi-300x168.jpg",
"width": 300,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 168
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Hamm-Mandvi-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Hamm-Mandvi-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Hamm-Mandvi-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Hamm-Mandvi-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1400202087,
"modified": 1400202087,
"caption": "Aasif Mandvi (left) and Jon Hamm check out the talent in Million Dollar Arm.",
"description": "Aasif Mandvi (left) and Jon Hamm check out the talent in \u003cem>Million Dollar Arm\u003c/em>.",
"title": "milliondollararm",
"credit": "Ron Phillips/Walt Disney Pictures",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_10136226": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_10136226",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136226",
"found": true
},
"parent": 10135727,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Godzilla1-400x225.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 225
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Godzilla1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Godzilla1.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 450
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Godzilla1-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Godzilla1-300x168.jpg",
"width": 300,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 168
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Godzilla1-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Godzilla1-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Godzilla1-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Godzilla1-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1400201208,
"modified": 1400201208,
"caption": "Godzilla goes after San Francisco in this newest update to the classic monster movie.",
"description": "Godzilla goes after San Francisco in this newest update to the classic monster movie.",
"title": "Godzilla!",
"credit": "Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"arts_10135742": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "arts_10135742",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10135742",
"found": true
},
"parent": 10135739,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas1-400x224.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 224
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas1-e1399882016603.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 450
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas1-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas1-300x168.jpg",
"width": 300,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 168
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas1-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas1-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas1-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas1-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1399862059,
"modified": 1399862059,
"caption": "Jose Antonio Vargas attends a Mitt Romney presidential campaign rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa",
"description": "Jose Antonio Vargas attends a Mitt Romney presidential campaign rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa",
"title": "Vargas1",
"credit": null,
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
}
},
"audioPlayerReducer": {
"postId": "stream_live",
"isPaused": true,
"isPlaying": false,
"pfsActive": false,
"pledgeModalIsOpen": true,
"playerDrawerIsOpen": false,
"liveAudioPlayStartedAt": 0,
"liveAudioPlayContext": ""
},
"authorsReducer": {
"128435": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "128435",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "128435",
"name": "Jonathan Curiel",
"firstName": "Jonathan",
"lastName": "Curiel",
"bio": "Jonathan Curiel has written widely about music, film, books, art, photography and other cultural subjects. \u003ci>SF Weekly's\u003c/i> art critic, he is a former staff writer with the \u003ci>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/i>, and has also written on the arts for \u003ca href=\"http://www.salon.com/\">Salon\u003c/a>, the \u003ci>Christian Science Monitor\u003c/i>, \u003ci>The Wire\u003c/i> (a London music magazine), \u003ci>Tablet\u003c/i> and \u003ci>GlobalPost\u003c/i>. He has researched architecture at England's Oxford University, taught music journalism at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, and been a juror at the San Francisco International Film Festival.",
"email": "jonathancuriel@hotmail.com",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_arts_10136920": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_arts_10136920",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_arts_10136920",
"name": "Ian Buckwalter",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_arts_10136690": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_arts_10136690",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_arts_10136690",
"name": "Tom Dreisbach",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_arts_10136631": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_arts_10136631",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_arts_10136631",
"name": "Mark Jenkins",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_arts_10136625": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_arts_10136625",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_arts_10136625",
"name": "Eric Deggans",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_arts_10136590": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_arts_10136590",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_arts_10136590",
"name": "Tomas Hachard",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_arts_10136583": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_arts_10136583",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_arts_10136583",
"name": "Ella Taylor",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_arts_10136354": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_arts_10136354",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_arts_10136354",
"name": "Peggy Lowe",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_arts_10136343": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_arts_10136343",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_arts_10136343",
"name": "Alan Greenblatt",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_arts_10136232": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_arts_10136232",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_arts_10136232",
"name": "Tomas Hachard",
"isLoading": false
},
"mfox": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "22",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "22",
"found": true
},
"name": "Michael Fox",
"firstName": "Michael",
"lastName": "Fox",
"slug": "mfox",
"email": "foxonfilm@yahoo.com",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [],
"title": "KQED Contributor",
"bio": "Michael Fox has written about film for dozens of publications since 1987. He is a founding member of the San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d9849d6c659c41414795c471d907bb97b396e2a32b88e20e6ff66f65fbdd6dcd?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": null,
"bluesky": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"Contributor",
"contributor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Michael Fox | KQED",
"description": "KQED Contributor",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d9849d6c659c41414795c471d907bb97b396e2a32b88e20e6ff66f65fbdd6dcd?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d9849d6c659c41414795c471d907bb97b396e2a32b88e20e6ff66f65fbdd6dcd?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/mfox"
},
"sshearer": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "2553",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "2553",
"found": true
},
"name": "Stephen Shearer",
"firstName": "Stephen",
"lastName": "Shearer",
"slug": "sshearer",
"email": "stephen.shearer@gmail.com",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [],
"title": null,
"bio": "Stephen Shearer is a San Francisco- based artist, musician, and self-appointed critic.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a4d6aef0ea3453174fe326924d89981b?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "pop",
"roles": [
"contributor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Stephen Shearer | KQED",
"description": null,
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a4d6aef0ea3453174fe326924d89981b?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a4d6aef0ea3453174fe326924d89981b?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/sshearer"
}
},
"pagesReducer": {
"arts_category_movies": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_74",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "74",
"score": 12.557205
},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Movies",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Movies Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 75,
"slug": "movies",
"isLoading": false,
"title": "Movies",
"pageMeta": {
"site": "arts",
"WpPageTemplate": "page-topic-editorial",
"currentPage": 223
},
"blocks": [
{
"blockName": "kqed/post-list",
"attrs": {
"layout": "cardArticle2",
"query": "posts/arts?category=movies",
"seeMore": false,
"paginated": true,
"page": 223
}
},
{
"blockName": "kqed/ad"
}
]
}
},
"pfsSessionReducer": {},
"postsReducer": {
"stream_live": {
"type": "live",
"id": "stream_live",
"audioUrl": "https://streams.kqed.org/kqedradio",
"title": "Live Stream",
"excerpt": "Live Stream information currently unavailable.",
"link": "/radio",
"featImg": "",
"label": {
"name": "KQED Live",
"link": "/"
}
},
"stream_kqedNewscast": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "stream_kqedNewscast",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/RDnews/newscast.mp3?_=1",
"title": "KQED Newscast",
"featImg": "",
"label": {
"name": "88.5 FM",
"link": "/"
}
},
"arts_10136920": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_10136920",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136920",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1401454831000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "macfarlanes-million-ways-to-die-in-the-west-is-an-assault-of-its-own",
"title": "MacFarlane's 'Million Ways To Die In The West' Is An Assault Of Its Own",
"publishDate": 1401454831,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "MacFarlane’s ‘Million Ways To Die In The West’ Is An Assault Of Its Own | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"site": "arts"
},
"content": "\u003cp>There’s a scene in Seth MacFarlane’s animated sitcom, \u003cem>Family Guy\u003c/em>, in which the precocious baby Stewie attempts to get his mom’s attention through a solid 30 seconds of just repeating her name or variations on the word “Mom.” That’s the whole joke: A kid just keeps repeating essentially the same word for 30 seconds until he wears her down, and then he doesn’t have anything more to say then “hi” once he finally gets her attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s MacFarlane’s \u003cem>A Million Ways to Die in the West\u003c/em> in a nutshell: A constant assault of repetitive jokes designed to wear the viewer down, without much to say in the end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s frustrating about MacFarlane — who writes, directs and stars in this Western about Albert, a cowardly sheep farmer who inadvertently falls in love with the wife (Charlize Theron) of a dangerous outlaw (Liam Neeson) — is that sometimes, maybe even as much as half the time, he actually is legitimately funny. There are subtle, smart jokes scattered throughout the film, but they tend to get drowned by the bleating volume of lazy jokes about bodily functions, racial and gender stereotypes and learning-disabled sheep. The problem isn’t that the jokes are crass; they’re just not that funny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>http://youtu.be/LhmP8UYtipA\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MacFarlane’s obvious touchstone here is another western comedy that was both crass and smartly provocative, Mel Brooks’ 1974 \u003cem>Blazing Saddles.\u003c/em> Like Brooks, MacFarlane attempts to hit satirical hot buttons, making jokes at the expense of racists and the closed-minded, and employing strategic anachronisms and fourth-wall breaking to help make points about the ridiculousness of old-fashioned attitudes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s odd to point to Brooks as a model of restraint, but \u003cem>Blazing Saddles\u003c/em> is a model of Bergmanesque austerity in comparison to \u003cem>A Million Ways to Die\u003c/em>. Where Brooks made a funny point about bean-sparked frontier flatulence in one brief and memorable scene, MacFarlane can’t let five minutes go by without a fart joke. Poor Neil Patrick Harris, playing the foppish owner of a moustache-accessory store who steals Albert’s girlfriend (Amanda Seyfried), has to play a seemingly endless scene of violent diarrhea in the middle of a street, with a particularly unnecessary payoff at the end.\u003cem> Bridesmaids\u003c/em> did nearly the same thing, but MacFarlane is determined to up the ante on that scene in every respect except the humor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Occasionally, quietly, MacFarlane plays the thoughtful provocateur rather than the carnival huckster, and it comes down to the old storytelling rule of showing rather than telling. Albert sitting at a table self-consciously telling a couple of friends a bunch of terrible ways the West can kill you, like a second rate stand-up comic? Not so funny. But when his character shows blithe insensitivity, by accepting the government’s propaganda about Native American relations, it’s a funnier way of poking at 19th century racial attitudes than the moments when Albert just comes out and tells us what we’re supposed to be getting out of a scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All creative projects are about choice, and more than anything else,\u003cem> A Millions Ways to Die in the West\u003c/em> comes off as an abdication of creative choice. There’s no sign of a filter here, no indication that MacFarlane and his co-writers Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild ever looked at a gag and thought, “You know, this one isn’t good enough.” Instead, we get everything that crossed their minds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, the movie is a good 20 minutes too long. There are a lot of repeated jokes that just start to feel stale: the sixth joke about the prostitute played by Sarah Silverman being called away from her virginal boyfriend (Giovanni Ribisi) to have loud sex within earshot isn’t any funnier than the first. But the lack of editing also means that they can’t resist trying to hit every Western trope they can. Just when the movie seems like it should be about to end, we get an extended sequence with Indians and a mescaline-induced vision quest that just drags the already choppy pacing of the film off a hallucinogenic cliff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other choice that might have benefited the movie is a different lead. MacFarlane may have a facility for playing voice characters, but when he’s onscreen himself, he just seems like a version of the same smirking presence that hosted the Oscars, in a cowboy hat instead of a tux. With MacFarlane onscreen as a minor variation of his real life persona, it’s that much harder to get away from the feeling that he’s playing the role of Stewie here, spending two hours tapping us on the shoulder, constantly asking, “Is this funny? Is this funny? What about this? Is this funny?” \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=MacFarlane%27s+%27Million+Ways+To+Die+In+The+West%27+Is+An+Assault+Of+Its+Own&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Seth MacFarlane writes, directs and stars in this Western about a sheep farmer who falls in love with an outlaw's wife. But jokes that weren't funny the first time aren't funny the sixth time either.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1726705647,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 11,
"wordCount": 852
},
"headData": {
"title": "MacFarlane's 'Million Ways To Die In The West' Is An Assault Of Its Own | KQED",
"description": "Seth MacFarlane writes, directs and stars in this Western about a sheep farmer who falls in love with an outlaw's wife. But jokes that weren't funny the first time aren't funny the sixth time either.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "MacFarlane's 'Million Ways To Die In The West' Is An Assault Of Its Own",
"datePublished": "2014-05-30T06:00:31-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-18T17:27:27-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "Ian Buckwalter",
"nprStoryId": "315128727",
"nprApiLink": "http://api.npr.org/query?id=315128727&apiKey=MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004",
"nprHtmlLink": "http://www.npr.org/2014/05/29/315128727/macfarlanes-million-ways-to-die-in-the-west-is-an-assault-of-its-own?ft=3&f=315128727",
"nprRetrievedStory": "1",
"nprPubDate": "Thu, 29 May 2014 17:03:00 -0400",
"nprStoryDate": "Thu, 29 May 2014 17:03:19 -0400",
"nprLastModifiedDate": "Thu, 29 May 2014 17:03:19 -0400",
"path": "/arts/10136920/macfarlanes-million-ways-to-die-in-the-west-is-an-assault-of-its-own",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>There’s a scene in Seth MacFarlane’s animated sitcom, \u003cem>Family Guy\u003c/em>, in which the precocious baby Stewie attempts to get his mom’s attention through a solid 30 seconds of just repeating her name or variations on the word “Mom.” That’s the whole joke: A kid just keeps repeating essentially the same word for 30 seconds until he wears her down, and then he doesn’t have anything more to say then “hi” once he finally gets her attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s MacFarlane’s \u003cem>A Million Ways to Die in the West\u003c/em> in a nutshell: A constant assault of repetitive jokes designed to wear the viewer down, without much to say in the end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s frustrating about MacFarlane — who writes, directs and stars in this Western about Albert, a cowardly sheep farmer who inadvertently falls in love with the wife (Charlize Theron) of a dangerous outlaw (Liam Neeson) — is that sometimes, maybe even as much as half the time, he actually is legitimately funny. There are subtle, smart jokes scattered throughout the film, but they tend to get drowned by the bleating volume of lazy jokes about bodily functions, racial and gender stereotypes and learning-disabled sheep. The problem isn’t that the jokes are crass; they’re just not that funny.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/LhmP8UYtipA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/LhmP8UYtipA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>MacFarlane’s obvious touchstone here is another western comedy that was both crass and smartly provocative, Mel Brooks’ 1974 \u003cem>Blazing Saddles.\u003c/em> Like Brooks, MacFarlane attempts to hit satirical hot buttons, making jokes at the expense of racists and the closed-minded, and employing strategic anachronisms and fourth-wall breaking to help make points about the ridiculousness of old-fashioned attitudes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s odd to point to Brooks as a model of restraint, but \u003cem>Blazing Saddles\u003c/em> is a model of Bergmanesque austerity in comparison to \u003cem>A Million Ways to Die\u003c/em>. Where Brooks made a funny point about bean-sparked frontier flatulence in one brief and memorable scene, MacFarlane can’t let five minutes go by without a fart joke. Poor Neil Patrick Harris, playing the foppish owner of a moustache-accessory store who steals Albert’s girlfriend (Amanda Seyfried), has to play a seemingly endless scene of violent diarrhea in the middle of a street, with a particularly unnecessary payoff at the end.\u003cem> Bridesmaids\u003c/em> did nearly the same thing, but MacFarlane is determined to up the ante on that scene in every respect except the humor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Occasionally, quietly, MacFarlane plays the thoughtful provocateur rather than the carnival huckster, and it comes down to the old storytelling rule of showing rather than telling. Albert sitting at a table self-consciously telling a couple of friends a bunch of terrible ways the West can kill you, like a second rate stand-up comic? Not so funny. But when his character shows blithe insensitivity, by accepting the government’s propaganda about Native American relations, it’s a funnier way of poking at 19th century racial attitudes than the moments when Albert just comes out and tells us what we’re supposed to be getting out of a scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All creative projects are about choice, and more than anything else,\u003cem> A Millions Ways to Die in the West\u003c/em> comes off as an abdication of creative choice. There’s no sign of a filter here, no indication that MacFarlane and his co-writers Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild ever looked at a gag and thought, “You know, this one isn’t good enough.” Instead, we get everything that crossed their minds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, the movie is a good 20 minutes too long. There are a lot of repeated jokes that just start to feel stale: the sixth joke about the prostitute played by Sarah Silverman being called away from her virginal boyfriend (Giovanni Ribisi) to have loud sex within earshot isn’t any funnier than the first. But the lack of editing also means that they can’t resist trying to hit every Western trope they can. Just when the movie seems like it should be about to end, we get an extended sequence with Indians and a mescaline-induced vision quest that just drags the already choppy pacing of the film off a hallucinogenic cliff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other choice that might have benefited the movie is a different lead. MacFarlane may have a facility for playing voice characters, but when he’s onscreen himself, he just seems like a version of the same smirking presence that hosted the Oscars, in a cowboy hat instead of a tux. With MacFarlane onscreen as a minor variation of his real life persona, it’s that much harder to get away from the feeling that he’s playing the role of Stewie here, spending two hours tapping us on the shoulder, constantly asking, “Is this funny? Is this funny? What about this? Is this funny?” \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=MacFarlane%27s+%27Million+Ways+To+Die+In+The+West%27+Is+An+Assault+Of+Its+Own&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/10136920/macfarlanes-million-ways-to-die-in-the-west-is-an-assault-of-its-own",
"authors": [
"byline_arts_10136920"
],
"categories": [
"arts_74"
],
"featImg": "arts_10136923",
"label": "arts"
},
"arts_10136690": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_10136690",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136690",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1401109203000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {
"site": "arts",
"term": 137
},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1401109203,
"format": "standard",
"title": "Jeff Goldblum Plays a Jazz Show Almost Every Week. No, Really.",
"headTitle": "Jeff Goldblum Plays a Jazz Show Almost Every Week. No, Really. | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Did you know the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOmJLk1lu08&t=1m25s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">theme music\u003c/a> to \u003cem>Jurassic Park\u003c/em> has lyrics?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, according to Jeff Goldblum, who played “Dr. Ian Malcolm” in the film, here they are:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>In Jurassic Park\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Scary in the dark\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>I’m so scared that I’ll be eaten.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>At least that’s what Goldblum said — or, rather, sang — at a recent performance of the jazz show he plays in Los Angeles almost every week. He’s been playing there since the 1990s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Goldblum’s long-time hobby might come as a surprise to his fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The actor, now 61 years old, has been performing in movies, television, and on stage for more than four decades. In addition to \u003cem>Jurassic Park\u003c/em>, he’s acted in \u003cem>Independence Day\u003c/em>, \u003cem>The Grand Budapest Hotel\u003c/em>, \u003cem>The Big Chill\u003c/em>, \u003cem>The Fly\u003c/em> and dozens of other films and TV shows, where he provides that uniquely wry, charming, and unpredictable edge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But before Jeff Goldblum was an actor, he played piano.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m from Pittsburgh, and I played piano when I was a kid,” Goldblum says before a recent performance. “I got the idea to play out and about in cocktail lounges when I was, like, 15, and got a job or two.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10136700\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0029.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0029.jpg\" alt=\"Goldblum's acting career still comes first, but when he's not busy acting, he gets his band together for an improvised set.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10136700\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0029.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0029-400x266.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0029-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Goldblum’s acting career still comes first, but when he’s not busy acting, he gets his band together for an improvised set. \u003ccite>(Hayley Bartels for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ever since, whenever he’s not playing a character on set, he’s playing a piano at home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These days and for many years, I just hardly spend a day where I don’t pass a piano in my place and just play for as long as I can,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Meet The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometime in the 1990s — and he can’t recall exactly when — Goldblum got a band together through a friend of a friend named John Mastro, who had connections in the local music scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just started playing,” says Mastro, who still manages the band. There was “no advertising or anything. It was just something to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The semi-regular group of professional jazz players that perform with Goldblum even took on a name, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. They’re named for a friend of Goldblum’s family back in Pittsburgh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Goldblum says he still prioritizes his acting career, so the shows have not always been exactly weekly. But when he’s not busy, he’ll get his band together for the very loose, improvised three-hour show at an L.A. club called Rockwell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So we have a kind of hootenanny, or be-in, or some kind of a jam session is what they call it,” Goldblum says, “and people seem to enjoy it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Working The Room\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10136702\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0083.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0083.jpg\" alt=\"Fans take their picture with Goldblum before the show at Rockwell club in Los Angeles. Goldblum likes to mingle with audience members before the show. "Nobody works the room like Jeff Goldblum," says John Mastro, the band's manager.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10136702\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0083.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0083-400x266.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0083-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fans take their picture with Goldblum before the show at Rockwell club in Los Angeles. Goldblum likes to mingle with audience members before the show. “Nobody works the room like Jeff Goldblum,” says John Mastro, the band’s manager. \u003ccite>(Hayley Bartels for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A big part of the audience’s enjoyment comes from the joy Goldblum takes in working a room full of Goldblum acolytes and fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I consider myself a social lubricant as much as a musician really,” Goldblum says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a recent show, Goldblum meets two musicians in the audience, Ryan Thorn and Jessica Hall. The three spontaneously start singing the aria, “Caro Mio Ben” together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the greatest moment ever,” says Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the greatest moment of \u003cem>my\u003c/em> life,” Goldblum shoots back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Goldblum’s willingness to interact with everyone, taking photos, and playing little games with people in the audience, tends to put many of the very nervous fans at ease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After hundreds of shows, I’m amused every time,” says Mastro, as Goldblum takes photo after photo with people in the audience. “Nobody works the room like Jeff Goldblum.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘Exactly How He Is In The Movies’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many of the fans, the show has nothing to do with jazz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“\u003cem>Jurassic Park\u003c/em> was my favorite movie since I was a little kid,” says Jay Salahi. “I’ve probably seen that movie 200 times.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The generation of people who grew up watching Goldblum star in 1990s blockbusters have embraced the actor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, both his \u003ca href=\"http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/20xynh/hi_this_is_jeff_goldblum_go_ahead_im_all_ears_ask/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">“Ask Me Anything”\u003c/a> on Reddit, and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJelEXaPhJ8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fan tribute on YouTube\u003c/a> to his eccentric way of laughing in \u003cem>Jurassic Park\u003c/em> went viral online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As someone born in the 80s,” says Lucy Shanahan in between songs, “\u003cem>Jurassic Park\u003c/em> was kind of up there in terms of life moments.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And at least for fan Zach Johnson, Goldblum makes good on those expectations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His persona, his stage presence, how he is in person,” Johnson says, are “exactly how he is in the movies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Show Comes First\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10136704\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0235.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0235.jpg\" alt=\"Goldblum's band is named The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, after a family friend back in Pittsburgh.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10136704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0235.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0235-400x266.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0235-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Goldblum’s band is named The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, after a family friend back in Pittsburgh. \u003ccite>(ayley Bartels for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the rotating group of musicians that plays with Goldblum, it’s been an odd but fun ride.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They perform loose, improvised versions of jazz standards like “Summertime,” “Watermelon Man” or “The Sidewinder.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I actually like to play things that I’m surprised that I’m playing, have never played before,” Goldblum says. “I like to cold read stuff and kind of, you know, make it up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, Goldblum says, until very recently, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra never rehearsed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between songs, Goldblum banters with the audience, plays the movie game, or assures people that he tied his bow tie himself. “I can undo it right now and show you,” he says of a green Brooks Brothers number. “It’s not a clip-on!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What the group might lack in technical discipline, bassist Tim Emmons says, they make up in showmanship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Jeff’s much more personable than most band leaders,” Emmons says. “I go sometimes to play jazz gigs, and the people [in the band] don’t talk to the audience.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drummer Kenny Elliott says Goldblum provides a welcome shot of joy to the local jazz scene. When he got the call to perform with the group, he says, “I jumped out of my pants to do it!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘I Just Like To Play’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Goldblum makes clear that he has no “careerist ambitions” about his music. “I just like to play,” he says. At the end of the show, he’s fairly unassuming about the three-hour performance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had no idea what we were gonna do, actually,” he says. “It was kind of fun, wasn’t it?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He stays after the final set to chat with fans, take photos and say his goodbyes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if he’s not up to anything else, Goldblum will be out there again next Wednesday, working the room.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Tom Dreisbach is an associate producer with NPR’s \u003c/em>\u003cem>weekend \u003c/em>All Things Considered\u003cem>. NPR’s Daniel Hajek also contributed to this story.\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Jeff+Goldblum+Plays+A+Jazz+Show+Almost+Every+Week.+No%2C+Really.&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 1254,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 49
},
"modified": 1705048888,
"excerpt": "Known for his roles in \u003cem>The Big Chill\u003c/em> and \u003cem>The Fly\u003c/em>, the actor hosts a weekly show in Los Angeles with his band, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. Among the songs: the lyrics to \u003cem>Jurassic Park's\u003c/em> theme music.",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "Known for his roles in The Big Chill and The Fly, the actor hosts a weekly show in Los Angeles with his band, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. Among the songs: the lyrics to Jurassic Park's theme music.",
"title": "Jeff Goldblum Plays a Jazz Show Almost Every Week. No, Really. | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Jeff Goldblum Plays a Jazz Show Almost Every Week. No, Really.",
"datePublished": "2014-05-26T06:00:03-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-01-12T00:41:28-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "jeff-goldblum-plays-a-jazz-show-almost-every-week-no-really",
"status": "publish",
"nprApiLink": "http://api.npr.org/query?id=312857631&apiKey=MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004",
"nprByline": "Tom Dreisbach",
"nprStoryDate": "Sun, 25 May 2014 16:21:27 -0400",
"nprLastModifiedDate": "Sun, 25 May 2014 16:21:27 -0400",
"sticky": false,
"nprHtmlLink": "http://www.npr.org/2014/05/25/312857631/jeff-goldblum-plays-a-jazz-show-almost-every-week-no-really?ft=3&f=312857631",
"nprAudio": "http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/atc/2014/05/20140525_atc_jeff_goldblum_plays_a_jazz_show_almost_every_week_no_really.mp3?orgId=1&topicId=1008&ft=3&f=312857631",
"nprAudioM3u": "http://api.npr.org/m3u/1315825883-d14122.m3u?orgId=1&topicId=1008&ft=3&f=312857631",
"nprStoryId": "312857631",
"nprRetrievedStory": "1",
"nprPubDate": "Sun, 25 May 2014 18:57:00 -0400",
"path": "/arts/10136690/jeff-goldblum-plays-a-jazz-show-almost-every-week-no-really",
"audioUrl": "http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/atc/2014/05/20140525_atc_jeff_goldblum_plays_a_jazz_show_almost_every_week_no_really.mp3?orgId=1&topicId=1008&ft=3&f=312857631",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Did you know the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOmJLk1lu08&t=1m25s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">theme music\u003c/a> to \u003cem>Jurassic Park\u003c/em> has lyrics?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, according to Jeff Goldblum, who played “Dr. Ian Malcolm” in the film, here they are:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>In Jurassic Park\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Scary in the dark\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>I’m so scared that I’ll be eaten.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>At least that’s what Goldblum said — or, rather, sang — at a recent performance of the jazz show he plays in Los Angeles almost every week. He’s been playing there since the 1990s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Goldblum’s long-time hobby might come as a surprise to his fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The actor, now 61 years old, has been performing in movies, television, and on stage for more than four decades. In addition to \u003cem>Jurassic Park\u003c/em>, he’s acted in \u003cem>Independence Day\u003c/em>, \u003cem>The Grand Budapest Hotel\u003c/em>, \u003cem>The Big Chill\u003c/em>, \u003cem>The Fly\u003c/em> and dozens of other films and TV shows, where he provides that uniquely wry, charming, and unpredictable edge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But before Jeff Goldblum was an actor, he played piano.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m from Pittsburgh, and I played piano when I was a kid,” Goldblum says before a recent performance. “I got the idea to play out and about in cocktail lounges when I was, like, 15, and got a job or two.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10136700\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0029.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0029.jpg\" alt=\"Goldblum's acting career still comes first, but when he's not busy acting, he gets his band together for an improvised set.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10136700\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0029.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0029-400x266.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0029-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Goldblum’s acting career still comes first, but when he’s not busy acting, he gets his band together for an improvised set. \u003ccite>(Hayley Bartels for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ever since, whenever he’s not playing a character on set, he’s playing a piano at home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These days and for many years, I just hardly spend a day where I don’t pass a piano in my place and just play for as long as I can,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Meet The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometime in the 1990s — and he can’t recall exactly when — Goldblum got a band together through a friend of a friend named John Mastro, who had connections in the local music scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just started playing,” says Mastro, who still manages the band. There was “no advertising or anything. It was just something to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The semi-regular group of professional jazz players that perform with Goldblum even took on a name, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. They’re named for a friend of Goldblum’s family back in Pittsburgh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Goldblum says he still prioritizes his acting career, so the shows have not always been exactly weekly. But when he’s not busy, he’ll get his band together for the very loose, improvised three-hour show at an L.A. club called Rockwell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So we have a kind of hootenanny, or be-in, or some kind of a jam session is what they call it,” Goldblum says, “and people seem to enjoy it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Working The Room\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10136702\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0083.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0083.jpg\" alt=\"Fans take their picture with Goldblum before the show at Rockwell club in Los Angeles. Goldblum likes to mingle with audience members before the show. "Nobody works the room like Jeff Goldblum," says John Mastro, the band's manager.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10136702\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0083.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0083-400x266.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0083-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fans take their picture with Goldblum before the show at Rockwell club in Los Angeles. Goldblum likes to mingle with audience members before the show. “Nobody works the room like Jeff Goldblum,” says John Mastro, the band’s manager. \u003ccite>(Hayley Bartels for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A big part of the audience’s enjoyment comes from the joy Goldblum takes in working a room full of Goldblum acolytes and fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I consider myself a social lubricant as much as a musician really,” Goldblum says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a recent show, Goldblum meets two musicians in the audience, Ryan Thorn and Jessica Hall. The three spontaneously start singing the aria, “Caro Mio Ben” together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the greatest moment ever,” says Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the greatest moment of \u003cem>my\u003c/em> life,” Goldblum shoots back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Goldblum’s willingness to interact with everyone, taking photos, and playing little games with people in the audience, tends to put many of the very nervous fans at ease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After hundreds of shows, I’m amused every time,” says Mastro, as Goldblum takes photo after photo with people in the audience. “Nobody works the room like Jeff Goldblum.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘Exactly How He Is In The Movies’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many of the fans, the show has nothing to do with jazz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“\u003cem>Jurassic Park\u003c/em> was my favorite movie since I was a little kid,” says Jay Salahi. “I’ve probably seen that movie 200 times.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The generation of people who grew up watching Goldblum star in 1990s blockbusters have embraced the actor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, both his \u003ca href=\"http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/20xynh/hi_this_is_jeff_goldblum_go_ahead_im_all_ears_ask/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">“Ask Me Anything”\u003c/a> on Reddit, and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJelEXaPhJ8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fan tribute on YouTube\u003c/a> to his eccentric way of laughing in \u003cem>Jurassic Park\u003c/em> went viral online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As someone born in the 80s,” says Lucy Shanahan in between songs, “\u003cem>Jurassic Park\u003c/em> was kind of up there in terms of life moments.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And at least for fan Zach Johnson, Goldblum makes good on those expectations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His persona, his stage presence, how he is in person,” Johnson says, are “exactly how he is in the movies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Show Comes First\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10136704\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0235.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0235.jpg\" alt=\"Goldblum's band is named The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, after a family friend back in Pittsburgh.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10136704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0235.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0235-400x266.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/goldblumjazz_0235-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Goldblum’s band is named The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, after a family friend back in Pittsburgh. \u003ccite>(ayley Bartels for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the rotating group of musicians that plays with Goldblum, it’s been an odd but fun ride.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They perform loose, improvised versions of jazz standards like “Summertime,” “Watermelon Man” or “The Sidewinder.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I actually like to play things that I’m surprised that I’m playing, have never played before,” Goldblum says. “I like to cold read stuff and kind of, you know, make it up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, Goldblum says, until very recently, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra never rehearsed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between songs, Goldblum banters with the audience, plays the movie game, or assures people that he tied his bow tie himself. “I can undo it right now and show you,” he says of a green Brooks Brothers number. “It’s not a clip-on!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What the group might lack in technical discipline, bassist Tim Emmons says, they make up in showmanship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Jeff’s much more personable than most band leaders,” Emmons says. “I go sometimes to play jazz gigs, and the people [in the band] don’t talk to the audience.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drummer Kenny Elliott says Goldblum provides a welcome shot of joy to the local jazz scene. When he got the call to perform with the group, he says, “I jumped out of my pants to do it!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘I Just Like To Play’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Goldblum makes clear that he has no “careerist ambitions” about his music. “I just like to play,” he says. At the end of the show, he’s fairly unassuming about the three-hour performance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had no idea what we were gonna do, actually,” he says. “It was kind of fun, wasn’t it?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He stays after the final set to chat with fans, take photos and say his goodbyes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if he’s not up to anything else, Goldblum will be out there again next Wednesday, working the room.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Tom Dreisbach is an associate producer with NPR’s \u003c/em>\u003cem>weekend \u003c/em>All Things Considered\u003cem>. NPR’s Daniel Hajek also contributed to this story.\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Jeff+Goldblum+Plays+A+Jazz+Show+Almost+Every+Week.+No%2C+Really.&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/10136690/jeff-goldblum-plays-a-jazz-show-almost-every-week-no-really",
"authors": [
"byline_arts_10136690"
],
"categories": [
"arts_74",
"arts_69"
],
"affiliates": [
"arts_137"
],
"featImg": "arts_10136693",
"label": "arts_137"
},
"arts_10136631": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_10136631",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136631",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1400881395000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "dizzy-from-time-travel-overstuffed-with-mutants",
"title": "Dizzy from Time Travel, Overstuffed with Mutants",
"publishDate": 1400881395,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Dizzy from Time Travel, Overstuffed with Mutants | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 137,
"site": "arts"
},
"content": "\u003cp>As the seventh X-Men movie begins, New York City is in ruins, its residents nearly annihilated. Yet \u003cem>X-Men: Days of Future Past\u003c/em>‘s true plight is overpopulation. The film is so stuffed with characters that including twin versions of Professor X and Magneto scarcely boosts the confusion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first X-flick directed by Bryan Singer since 2003’s \u003cem>X2\u003c/em> clicks in its middle section, which mostly focuses on the younger crew of heroes introduced in 2011’s \u003cem>X-Men: First Class\u003c/em>. But that story, set in 1973, is framed by another tale that transpires 50 years later and is both ponderous and overcrowded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Very loosely based on a 1981 Marvel Comics series, \u003cem>Days\u003c/em> uses a sort of time travel to dovetail the two casts. In the future, robotic mutant-hunters called Sentinels murderously pursue the X-folks around the globe. Hiding at a ruined mountain temple in China — can’t ignore the largest cinema market outside North America — a tentatively allied Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellan) discuss a plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) can transfer the 2023 consciousness of the near-immortal Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to his pumped ’70s body. Then he can rally that era’s Professor X (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) to stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from killing mutie-hating inventor Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage), who’s about to get Nixon administration funding for his Sentinels program. By killing Trask, you see, Mystique has intensified — or will intensify — fear of mutants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If that premise weren’t complicated enough, most of the characters sport multiple names. The Prof calls Mystique “Raven,” and he and Magneto address each other as, respectively, Charles and Erik. And don’t even think about catching the handles of the globalized new recruits who make their first X-bows in this episode.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One exception to that advice: Quicksilver (Evan Peters), a hyperactive adolescent mutie who carries the movie’s niftiest set piece. He helps Wolverine and the Prof rescue Magneto from a super-secure cell under the Pentagon — don’t ask — in a sequence that uses slo-mo to depict how the speed demon views everyone else’s snail’s pace. Then the kid has the good taste to vanish and not further congest the story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The filmmakers riff on 1973 with lava lamps, simulated 8mm film and a Roberta Flack ballad, and also enlist in the Vietnam War. Mystique flits from a Mekong Delta battlefield to the Paris Peace Talks, and finally to the White House, where she tangles not only with Sentinels but also Richard Nixon (comically impersonated by Mark Camacho).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the younger Prof, who’s rejected his mutant powers, McEvoy gets to be soulfully despairing, and Lawrence has a few frisky moments when she’s not in her blue-reptile-skinned Mystique getup. Most of the time, though, they’re as confined as the other actors: trapped in their supersuits, upstaged by the CGI and buffeted by editor/composer John Ottman’s sub-Wagnerian score.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At least the droning Teutonic music befits the movie’s heavier themes. The first \u003cem>X-Men\u003c/em> movie opened at a Nazi death camp where the young Magneto was imprisoned; this one’s introduction dumps piles of corpses in a scene that emulates archival footage of Auschwitz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such self-importance is a perennial problem with superhero movies. But \u003cem>Days of Future Past\u003c/em> is lively enough to mostly overcome it. With characters like the impish Quicksilver, the movie recaptures something of the spirit of the comic’s early days. Back then, \u003cem>The X-Men\u003c/em> was all about that persecuted minority that knew the world hated it for being smarter, faster and just plain cooler than everyone else: the teenager. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Dizzy+From+Time+Travel%2C+Overstuffed+With+Mutants&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "\u003cem>X-Men: Days Of Future Past \u003c/em>brings in the old mutants, the young mutants, some new mutants and a whole lot of everything. Still, it's lively enough to capture something of the comics' spirit.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1726705651,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 12,
"wordCount": 659
},
"headData": {
"title": "Dizzy from Time Travel, Overstuffed with Mutants | KQED",
"description": "X-Men: Days Of Future Past brings in the old mutants, the young mutants, some new mutants and a whole lot of everything. Still, it's lively enough to capture something of the comics' spirit.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Dizzy from Time Travel, Overstuffed with Mutants",
"datePublished": "2014-05-23T14:43:15-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-18T17:27:31-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "Mark Jenkins",
"nprStoryId": "313115948",
"nprApiLink": "http://api.npr.org/query?id=313115948&apiKey=MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004",
"nprHtmlLink": "http://www.npr.org/2014/05/22/313115948/dizzy-from-time-travel-overstuffed-with-mutants?ft=3&f=313115948",
"nprRetrievedStory": "1",
"nprPubDate": "Thu, 22 May 2014 17:03:00 -0400",
"nprStoryDate": "Thu, 22 May 2014 17:03:19 -0400",
"nprLastModifiedDate": "Thu, 22 May 2014 17:03:19 -0400",
"path": "/arts/10136631/dizzy-from-time-travel-overstuffed-with-mutants",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As the seventh X-Men movie begins, New York City is in ruins, its residents nearly annihilated. Yet \u003cem>X-Men: Days of Future Past\u003c/em>‘s true plight is overpopulation. The film is so stuffed with characters that including twin versions of Professor X and Magneto scarcely boosts the confusion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first X-flick directed by Bryan Singer since 2003’s \u003cem>X2\u003c/em> clicks in its middle section, which mostly focuses on the younger crew of heroes introduced in 2011’s \u003cem>X-Men: First Class\u003c/em>. But that story, set in 1973, is framed by another tale that transpires 50 years later and is both ponderous and overcrowded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Very loosely based on a 1981 Marvel Comics series, \u003cem>Days\u003c/em> uses a sort of time travel to dovetail the two casts. In the future, robotic mutant-hunters called Sentinels murderously pursue the X-folks around the globe. Hiding at a ruined mountain temple in China — can’t ignore the largest cinema market outside North America — a tentatively allied Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellan) discuss a plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) can transfer the 2023 consciousness of the near-immortal Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to his pumped ’70s body. Then he can rally that era’s Professor X (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) to stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from killing mutie-hating inventor Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage), who’s about to get Nixon administration funding for his Sentinels program. By killing Trask, you see, Mystique has intensified — or will intensify — fear of mutants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If that premise weren’t complicated enough, most of the characters sport multiple names. The Prof calls Mystique “Raven,” and he and Magneto address each other as, respectively, Charles and Erik. And don’t even think about catching the handles of the globalized new recruits who make their first X-bows in this episode.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One exception to that advice: Quicksilver (Evan Peters), a hyperactive adolescent mutie who carries the movie’s niftiest set piece. He helps Wolverine and the Prof rescue Magneto from a super-secure cell under the Pentagon — don’t ask — in a sequence that uses slo-mo to depict how the speed demon views everyone else’s snail’s pace. Then the kid has the good taste to vanish and not further congest the story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The filmmakers riff on 1973 with lava lamps, simulated 8mm film and a Roberta Flack ballad, and also enlist in the Vietnam War. Mystique flits from a Mekong Delta battlefield to the Paris Peace Talks, and finally to the White House, where she tangles not only with Sentinels but also Richard Nixon (comically impersonated by Mark Camacho).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the younger Prof, who’s rejected his mutant powers, McEvoy gets to be soulfully despairing, and Lawrence has a few frisky moments when she’s not in her blue-reptile-skinned Mystique getup. Most of the time, though, they’re as confined as the other actors: trapped in their supersuits, upstaged by the CGI and buffeted by editor/composer John Ottman’s sub-Wagnerian score.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At least the droning Teutonic music befits the movie’s heavier themes. The first \u003cem>X-Men\u003c/em> movie opened at a Nazi death camp where the young Magneto was imprisoned; this one’s introduction dumps piles of corpses in a scene that emulates archival footage of Auschwitz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such self-importance is a perennial problem with superhero movies. But \u003cem>Days of Future Past\u003c/em> is lively enough to mostly overcome it. With characters like the impish Quicksilver, the movie recaptures something of the spirit of the comic’s early days. Back then, \u003cem>The X-Men\u003c/em> was all about that persecuted minority that knew the world hated it for being smarter, faster and just plain cooler than everyone else: the teenager. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Dizzy+From+Time+Travel%2C+Overstuffed+With+Mutants&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/10136631/dizzy-from-time-travel-overstuffed-with-mutants",
"authors": [
"byline_arts_10136631"
],
"categories": [
"arts_74"
],
"affiliates": [
"arts_137"
],
"featImg": "arts_10136634",
"label": "arts_137"
},
"arts_10136625": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_10136625",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136625",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1400880624000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "a-painful-but-critical-reminder-from-the-normal-heart",
"title": "A Painful but Critical Reminder from 'The Normal Heart'",
"publishDate": 1400880624,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "A Painful but Critical Reminder from ‘The Normal Heart’ | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 137,
"site": "arts"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Every so often, storytellers land on the same idea close enough to the same time that it rattles the zeitgeist like an earthquake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s how it felt, sifting through the well-crafted, emotionally exhausting scenes that fill HBO’s version of \u003cem>The Normal Heart\u003c/em>. Created as a searing, tragic look at the early days of the AIDS crisis in New York City, this TV movie joins the Oscar-winning film \u003cem>Dallas Buyer’s Club\u003c/em> and Peabody-winning documentary \u003cem>How to Survive a Plague\u003c/em> as a trio of excellent works documenting this country’s shameful first reaction to the spread of a mysterious disease that ravaged marginalized communities across America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I asked \u003cem>How to Survive a Plague\u003c/em> director David France why right now felt like a good time to peel back 30 years of history, he talked about time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Specifically, he said the storytellers who lived through those times needed some distance before they could handle talking about what they experienced; when the director first tried to talk with activists for his film, many of them still couldn’t speak easily. Even France, an openly gay journalist who covered the emerging AIDS crisis before it had a name, admitted he initially had trouble pushing himself to relive the days when too many friends died too soon and the world didn’t seem to care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One look at HBO’s \u003cem>The Normal Heart\u003c/em> shows why. The story centers on Ned Weeks (Mark Ruffalo), a writer and gay activist with a reputation for heated passion and baldfaced commentary; a not-so-thinly veiled version of the gay author and activist who created the play and wrote this film’s screenplay, Larry Kramer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We meet Weeks in 1981 as the goofy, undersexed man out during a wild weekend at Fire Island, the Long Island area vacation destination for gay men. He’s already drawn ire for writing that the promiscuity of gay men makes love impossible; we see Weeks wander through the unbridled hedonism of the Island like a tourist too scared to jump into a cold stream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ironically, that reserve may have saved his life. Cute-as-a-button \u003cem>Glee\u003c/em> alum Jonathan Groff plays the first among Weeks’ friends to get sick; within months, cases are piling up at the offices of Dr. Emma Brookner, seemingly the only physician in New York who takes this epidemic seriously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Played with a decided lack of glamour by Julia Roberts, Brookner is passionate and blunt as Weeks, unable to use her legs after a childhood bout with polio. But the pair’s efforts to rally support in the gay community initially falls on deaf ears, as men who seem to define their political identity by their promiscuity resist any suggestion that they should stop having sex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If having sex can kill you, doesn’t anyone with half a brain stop f—ing?” Roberts-as-Brookner barks in exasperation. Apparently, she’s not familiar with smokers, who keep puffing even though they absolutely know what they’re doing will shorten their lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The movie becomes a sorrowful documentation of all the horrors packed into the first three years of the AIDS crisis. Brookner and Weeks tour a gruesome hospital ward, where uncertainty over how the disease is transmitted leads workers to shun patients as they lay dying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City officials turn a blind eye even as emergency rooms refuse to treat people with full blown AIDS, amid rumors that Mayor Ed Koch is a closeted gay man. News reports initially call it “gay cancer” then GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency); the sense that the world isn’t concerned with a disease killing gay men and intravenous drug users is palpable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film enlists a cast of beloved, well-known actors keep the audience engaged through such wrenching scenes, including Ruffalo, Roberts, Matt Bomer (\u003cem>White Collar\u003c/em>), Jim Parsons (\u003cem>Big Bang Theory\u003c/em>), Taylor Kitsch (\u003cem>Friday Night Lights\u003c/em>) and B.D. Wong (\u003cem>Law & Order: SVU\u003c/em>). Director Ryan Murphy, who deserves a cheer just for bringing Kramer’s play to the small screen after many others failed, scores in every casting choice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bomer reportedly lost 40 pounds to play Felix Turner, the closeted \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> reporter who falls for Weeks and eventually contracts AIDS. And Ruffalo’s rumpled charm is key in making a likable figure of Weeks, a cantankerous agitator who seemed to anger everyone in his quest to end the deadly silence surrounding this epidemic. Just like Kramer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is hard to remember, at a time when HIV-positive celebrities like Magic Johnson have lived nearly 25 years, that there was a long period of widespread disagreement over how AIDS was transmitted and how to treat it. And in an age where a kid falling down a skateboard ramp can become national news, it’s also hard to imagine how an emerging disease could kill over 1,000 Americans and get little attention from journalists, lawmakers or public health institutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That is the greatest value of movies like \u003cem>The Normal Heart\u003c/em>, which takes us back to a time before gay weddings were featured on popular sitcoms and cable news conflicts made the politics of confrontation commonplace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the film, Weeks’ insistence on passionate, public anger earns enemies among some gay activists, who feared exposure and political pressure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if there is any criticism of \u003cem>The Normal Heart\u003c/em> that resonates, it’s that the story stops before events proved that the Weeks/Kramer style of activism actually works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As David France’s \u003cem>How to Survive a Plague\u003c/em> documents, New York’s gay activists eventually helped push public officials and pharmaceutical companies to provide effective treatments to AIDS. They educated themselves about the disease enough to serve as consultants to drug makers and public policy types\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But none of those victories are shown in \u003cem>The Normal Heart\u003c/em>, which ends in 1984. Weeks is awkwardly attending another event where gay men are pairing up – a gay dance at Yale University — alone and an outsider. He’s been kicked out of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis group he helped found and the deaths keep piling up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the struggle to legalize gay marriage continues and some complain of a “gay agenda” in public life, films like \u003cem>The Normal Heart\u003c/em> have arrived to remind us when the fight for gay rights was even more directly a matter of life and death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And perhaps only now, as we pat ourselves on the back for the mainstreaming of gay life and culture in today’s America, are we ready to look back with open eyes on a time when our lack of acceptance killed far too many people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judged by that timetable, looks like \u003cem>The Normal Heart\u003c/em> has arrived just in time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Normal Heart airs at 9 p.m. Sunday on HBO.\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=A+Painful+But+Critical+Reminder+From+%27The+Normal+Heart%27&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Eric Deggans looks at HBO's \u003cem>The Normal Heart\u003c/em>, which, alongside \u003cem>Dallas Buyers Club \u003c/em>and the documentary \u003cem>How To Survive A Plague\u003c/em>, serves as a reminder of a response that was late to begin.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1726705656,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 25,
"wordCount": 1180
},
"headData": {
"title": "A Painful but Critical Reminder from 'The Normal Heart' | KQED",
"description": "Eric Deggans looks at HBO's The Normal Heart, which, alongside Dallas Buyers Club and the documentary How To Survive A Plague, serves as a reminder of a response that was late to begin.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "A Painful but Critical Reminder from 'The Normal Heart'",
"datePublished": "2014-05-23T14:30:24-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-18T17:27:36-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "Eric Deggans",
"nprStoryId": "315122183",
"nprApiLink": "http://api.npr.org/query?id=315122183&apiKey=MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004",
"nprHtmlLink": "http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2014/05/23/315122183/a-painful-but-critical-reminder-from-the-normal-heart?ft=3&f=315122183",
"nprRetrievedStory": "1",
"nprPubDate": "Fri, 23 May 2014 14:09:00 -0400",
"nprStoryDate": "Fri, 23 May 2014 11:50:00 -0400",
"nprLastModifiedDate": "Fri, 23 May 2014 14:09:10 -0400",
"path": "/arts/10136625/a-painful-but-critical-reminder-from-the-normal-heart",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Every so often, storytellers land on the same idea close enough to the same time that it rattles the zeitgeist like an earthquake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s how it felt, sifting through the well-crafted, emotionally exhausting scenes that fill HBO’s version of \u003cem>The Normal Heart\u003c/em>. Created as a searing, tragic look at the early days of the AIDS crisis in New York City, this TV movie joins the Oscar-winning film \u003cem>Dallas Buyer’s Club\u003c/em> and Peabody-winning documentary \u003cem>How to Survive a Plague\u003c/em> as a trio of excellent works documenting this country’s shameful first reaction to the spread of a mysterious disease that ravaged marginalized communities across America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I asked \u003cem>How to Survive a Plague\u003c/em> director David France why right now felt like a good time to peel back 30 years of history, he talked about time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Specifically, he said the storytellers who lived through those times needed some distance before they could handle talking about what they experienced; when the director first tried to talk with activists for his film, many of them still couldn’t speak easily. Even France, an openly gay journalist who covered the emerging AIDS crisis before it had a name, admitted he initially had trouble pushing himself to relive the days when too many friends died too soon and the world didn’t seem to care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One look at HBO’s \u003cem>The Normal Heart\u003c/em> shows why. The story centers on Ned Weeks (Mark Ruffalo), a writer and gay activist with a reputation for heated passion and baldfaced commentary; a not-so-thinly veiled version of the gay author and activist who created the play and wrote this film’s screenplay, Larry Kramer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We meet Weeks in 1981 as the goofy, undersexed man out during a wild weekend at Fire Island, the Long Island area vacation destination for gay men. He’s already drawn ire for writing that the promiscuity of gay men makes love impossible; we see Weeks wander through the unbridled hedonism of the Island like a tourist too scared to jump into a cold stream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ironically, that reserve may have saved his life. Cute-as-a-button \u003cem>Glee\u003c/em> alum Jonathan Groff plays the first among Weeks’ friends to get sick; within months, cases are piling up at the offices of Dr. Emma Brookner, seemingly the only physician in New York who takes this epidemic seriously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Played with a decided lack of glamour by Julia Roberts, Brookner is passionate and blunt as Weeks, unable to use her legs after a childhood bout with polio. But the pair’s efforts to rally support in the gay community initially falls on deaf ears, as men who seem to define their political identity by their promiscuity resist any suggestion that they should stop having sex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If having sex can kill you, doesn’t anyone with half a brain stop f—ing?” Roberts-as-Brookner barks in exasperation. Apparently, she’s not familiar with smokers, who keep puffing even though they absolutely know what they’re doing will shorten their lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The movie becomes a sorrowful documentation of all the horrors packed into the first three years of the AIDS crisis. Brookner and Weeks tour a gruesome hospital ward, where uncertainty over how the disease is transmitted leads workers to shun patients as they lay dying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City officials turn a blind eye even as emergency rooms refuse to treat people with full blown AIDS, amid rumors that Mayor Ed Koch is a closeted gay man. News reports initially call it “gay cancer” then GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency); the sense that the world isn’t concerned with a disease killing gay men and intravenous drug users is palpable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film enlists a cast of beloved, well-known actors keep the audience engaged through such wrenching scenes, including Ruffalo, Roberts, Matt Bomer (\u003cem>White Collar\u003c/em>), Jim Parsons (\u003cem>Big Bang Theory\u003c/em>), Taylor Kitsch (\u003cem>Friday Night Lights\u003c/em>) and B.D. Wong (\u003cem>Law & Order: SVU\u003c/em>). Director Ryan Murphy, who deserves a cheer just for bringing Kramer’s play to the small screen after many others failed, scores in every casting choice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bomer reportedly lost 40 pounds to play Felix Turner, the closeted \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> reporter who falls for Weeks and eventually contracts AIDS. And Ruffalo’s rumpled charm is key in making a likable figure of Weeks, a cantankerous agitator who seemed to anger everyone in his quest to end the deadly silence surrounding this epidemic. Just like Kramer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is hard to remember, at a time when HIV-positive celebrities like Magic Johnson have lived nearly 25 years, that there was a long period of widespread disagreement over how AIDS was transmitted and how to treat it. And in an age where a kid falling down a skateboard ramp can become national news, it’s also hard to imagine how an emerging disease could kill over 1,000 Americans and get little attention from journalists, lawmakers or public health institutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That is the greatest value of movies like \u003cem>The Normal Heart\u003c/em>, which takes us back to a time before gay weddings were featured on popular sitcoms and cable news conflicts made the politics of confrontation commonplace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the film, Weeks’ insistence on passionate, public anger earns enemies among some gay activists, who feared exposure and political pressure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if there is any criticism of \u003cem>The Normal Heart\u003c/em> that resonates, it’s that the story stops before events proved that the Weeks/Kramer style of activism actually works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As David France’s \u003cem>How to Survive a Plague\u003c/em> documents, New York’s gay activists eventually helped push public officials and pharmaceutical companies to provide effective treatments to AIDS. They educated themselves about the disease enough to serve as consultants to drug makers and public policy types\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But none of those victories are shown in \u003cem>The Normal Heart\u003c/em>, which ends in 1984. Weeks is awkwardly attending another event where gay men are pairing up – a gay dance at Yale University — alone and an outsider. He’s been kicked out of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis group he helped found and the deaths keep piling up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the struggle to legalize gay marriage continues and some complain of a “gay agenda” in public life, films like \u003cem>The Normal Heart\u003c/em> have arrived to remind us when the fight for gay rights was even more directly a matter of life and death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And perhaps only now, as we pat ourselves on the back for the mainstreaming of gay life and culture in today’s America, are we ready to look back with open eyes on a time when our lack of acceptance killed far too many people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judged by that timetable, looks like \u003cem>The Normal Heart\u003c/em> has arrived just in time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Normal Heart airs at 9 p.m. Sunday on HBO.\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=A+Painful+But+Critical+Reminder+From+%27The+Normal+Heart%27&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/10136625/a-painful-but-critical-reminder-from-the-normal-heart",
"authors": [
"byline_arts_10136625"
],
"categories": [
"arts_74"
],
"affiliates": [
"arts_137"
],
"featImg": "arts_10136626",
"label": "arts_137"
},
"arts_10136590": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_10136590",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136590",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1400853625000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "the-angriest-robin-williams-sadly-becomes-the-inspirational-one",
"title": "The 'Angriest' Robin Williams Sadly Becomes the Inspirational One",
"publishDate": 1400853625,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "The ‘Angriest’ Robin Williams Sadly Becomes the Inspirational One | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 137,
"site": "arts"
},
"content": "\u003cp>The last time Robin Williams had a leading role in a film was in 2009, a year when, apart from the Razzie-nominated \u003cem>Old Dogs\u003c/em>, he starred in the \u003cem>World’s Greatest Dad\u003c/em>. Bobcat Goldthwait’s film, about a dad who finds his son dead in the bathroom and turns him into a posthumous celebrity by writing him a moving fake suicide note and online diary, turned an innocuous plot into delightfully dark satire. Five years later, Williams is back to play another superlative in \u003cem>The Angriest Man in Brooklyn\u003c/em>, but the result is an example of how to take a promising premise and reduce it to tedium, making it safe rather than inventive, complacent rather than subversive, and worst of all dull rather than funny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Williams’ fuming Brooklynite is named Henry Altmann, and we first meet him on the way to a doctor’s appointment, where Dr. Sharon Gill (Mila Kunis) informs him that he has a large brain aneurysm. When Henry hounds her to reveal how long that gives him to live, Sharon throws out an arbitrary number: 90 minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From there, Henry begins a journey to reconcile with everyone who he has driven away with his irate personality, which he developed after his son’s death two years earlier. He visits his brother (Peter Dinklage), wife (Melissa Leo), and other son (Hamish Linklater), each of whom rebuffs his offer of reconciliation before hearing about his brain aneurysm from Sharon, who is only a few steps behind in pursuit of Henry, trying to take back her prognosis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Angriest Man\u003c/em>, adapted by Daniel Taplitz from a 1997 Israeli film, marks not only Williams’ return to a leading role, but also the first film in over a decade from director Phil Alden Robinson (\u003cem>Field of Dreams, Sneakers\u003c/em>). Last time Robinson made a movie, in 2002 (when he directed \u003cem>The Sum Of All Fears\u003c/em>), Williams was beginning his forays into darker material with \u003cem>One Hour Photo\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Insomnia\u003c/em>. Those two movies, along with more audacious comedies like \u003cem>World’s Greatest Dad\u003c/em>, pushed Williams beyond the family-friendly roles he focused on in the ’90s. Gone was the inspirational high school teacher, replaced by a series of restrained and unsettling performances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi3k65MlDCA\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if \u003cem>Angriest Man\u003c/em> hopes to split the difference between the dark and the light—to lead, in this case, a coarse and unhinged Williams to a heart-warming ending—its balance breaks early in the process. Henry’s temper never registers as anything more than exasperation, constrained as it is by wooden dialogue that includes a distracting habit of beginning rants, much like Foghorn Leghorn, with the looping phrase, “What the hell, I’m asking you what the hell!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The script fails to capitalize on Williams’ potentially manic energy, but it has no trouble crafting speeches and flashbacks that add mawkish fluff where liveliness is needed. The film’s most egregious fault is that it gives Henry 90 minutes to live but hardly anything to do with that time. Predictably enough, he decides to have sex one final time with his wife, only to discover that she’s been carrying on an affair with their neighbor. In the film’s most wasted opportunity, Henry tries to host a going-away party of sorts for himself, but only one person shows up: his high school friend, Bix, played by Richard Kind, the only member of the film’s rich supporting cast (even Louis C.K. shows up) who manages to shove some personality into his role.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most people, upon learning they only had 90 minutes to live, would probably go into a panic and seek out family, just as Henry does. But following those cues offers the most facile kind of realism and unlocks the inspirational, warm and fuzzy version of Robin Williams that is his least interesting iteration. Considering its outlandish premise, what the film lacks are any outlandish scenes—or, if not outlandish, then at least ones in the realm of the creative. As it stands, \u003cem>The Angriest Man in Brooklyn\u003c/em>‘s overstated title is the first and only step it takes in that direction. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=The+%27Angriest%27+Robin+Williams+Sadly+Becomes+The+Inspirational+One&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "If \u003cem>The Angriest Man In Brooklyn \u003c/em>actually kept Williams in his dark and angry persona, it would be one thing. But regrettably, it takes him in the direction of his less interesting, uplifting side.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1726705662,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": true,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 9,
"wordCount": 727
},
"headData": {
"title": "The 'Angriest' Robin Williams Sadly Becomes the Inspirational One | KQED",
"description": "If The Angriest Man In Brooklyn actually kept Williams in his dark and angry persona, it would be one thing. But regrettably, it takes him in the direction of his less interesting, uplifting side.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "The 'Angriest' Robin Williams Sadly Becomes the Inspirational One",
"datePublished": "2014-05-23T07:00:25-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-18T17:27:42-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "Tomas Hachard",
"nprStoryId": "313116016",
"nprApiLink": "http://api.npr.org/query?id=313116016&apiKey=MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004",
"nprHtmlLink": "http://www.npr.org/2014/05/22/313116016/the-angriest-robin-williams-sadly-becomes-the-inspirational-one?ft=3&f=313116016",
"nprRetrievedStory": "1",
"nprPubDate": "Thu, 22 May 2014 17:03:00 -0400",
"nprStoryDate": "Thu, 22 May 2014 17:03:19 -0400",
"nprLastModifiedDate": "Thu, 22 May 2014 17:03:19 -0400",
"path": "/arts/10136590/the-angriest-robin-williams-sadly-becomes-the-inspirational-one",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The last time Robin Williams had a leading role in a film was in 2009, a year when, apart from the Razzie-nominated \u003cem>Old Dogs\u003c/em>, he starred in the \u003cem>World’s Greatest Dad\u003c/em>. Bobcat Goldthwait’s film, about a dad who finds his son dead in the bathroom and turns him into a posthumous celebrity by writing him a moving fake suicide note and online diary, turned an innocuous plot into delightfully dark satire. Five years later, Williams is back to play another superlative in \u003cem>The Angriest Man in Brooklyn\u003c/em>, but the result is an example of how to take a promising premise and reduce it to tedium, making it safe rather than inventive, complacent rather than subversive, and worst of all dull rather than funny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Williams’ fuming Brooklynite is named Henry Altmann, and we first meet him on the way to a doctor’s appointment, where Dr. Sharon Gill (Mila Kunis) informs him that he has a large brain aneurysm. When Henry hounds her to reveal how long that gives him to live, Sharon throws out an arbitrary number: 90 minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From there, Henry begins a journey to reconcile with everyone who he has driven away with his irate personality, which he developed after his son’s death two years earlier. He visits his brother (Peter Dinklage), wife (Melissa Leo), and other son (Hamish Linklater), each of whom rebuffs his offer of reconciliation before hearing about his brain aneurysm from Sharon, who is only a few steps behind in pursuit of Henry, trying to take back her prognosis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Angriest Man\u003c/em>, adapted by Daniel Taplitz from a 1997 Israeli film, marks not only Williams’ return to a leading role, but also the first film in over a decade from director Phil Alden Robinson (\u003cem>Field of Dreams, Sneakers\u003c/em>). Last time Robinson made a movie, in 2002 (when he directed \u003cem>The Sum Of All Fears\u003c/em>), Williams was beginning his forays into darker material with \u003cem>One Hour Photo\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Insomnia\u003c/em>. Those two movies, along with more audacious comedies like \u003cem>World’s Greatest Dad\u003c/em>, pushed Williams beyond the family-friendly roles he focused on in the ’90s. Gone was the inspirational high school teacher, replaced by a series of restrained and unsettling performances.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/yi3k65MlDCA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/yi3k65MlDCA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if \u003cem>Angriest Man\u003c/em> hopes to split the difference between the dark and the light—to lead, in this case, a coarse and unhinged Williams to a heart-warming ending—its balance breaks early in the process. Henry’s temper never registers as anything more than exasperation, constrained as it is by wooden dialogue that includes a distracting habit of beginning rants, much like Foghorn Leghorn, with the looping phrase, “What the hell, I’m asking you what the hell!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The script fails to capitalize on Williams’ potentially manic energy, but it has no trouble crafting speeches and flashbacks that add mawkish fluff where liveliness is needed. The film’s most egregious fault is that it gives Henry 90 minutes to live but hardly anything to do with that time. Predictably enough, he decides to have sex one final time with his wife, only to discover that she’s been carrying on an affair with their neighbor. In the film’s most wasted opportunity, Henry tries to host a going-away party of sorts for himself, but only one person shows up: his high school friend, Bix, played by Richard Kind, the only member of the film’s rich supporting cast (even Louis C.K. shows up) who manages to shove some personality into his role.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most people, upon learning they only had 90 minutes to live, would probably go into a panic and seek out family, just as Henry does. But following those cues offers the most facile kind of realism and unlocks the inspirational, warm and fuzzy version of Robin Williams that is his least interesting iteration. Considering its outlandish premise, what the film lacks are any outlandish scenes—or, if not outlandish, then at least ones in the realm of the creative. As it stands, \u003cem>The Angriest Man in Brooklyn\u003c/em>‘s overstated title is the first and only step it takes in that direction. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=The+%27Angriest%27+Robin+Williams+Sadly+Becomes+The+Inspirational+One&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/10136590/the-angriest-robin-williams-sadly-becomes-the-inspirational-one",
"authors": [
"byline_arts_10136590"
],
"categories": [
"arts_74"
],
"affiliates": [
"arts_137"
],
"featImg": "arts_10136591",
"label": "arts_137"
},
"arts_10136583": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_10136583",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136583",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1400850043000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "love-blooms-in-midlife-but-halfheartedly",
"title": "Love Blooms in Midlife, but Halfheartedly When Depicted on Film",
"publishDate": 1400850043,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Love Blooms in Midlife, but Halfheartedly When Depicted on Film | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 137,
"site": "arts"
},
"content": "\u003cp>No fewer than three comedies about finding love in midlife open this week, all of them shiny with major stars. Is it time to stop whining about the dearth of romantic comedy for mature audiences? Only if you prefer quantity to quality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I haven’t seen \u003cem>Blended,\u003c/em> a Warner Bros. picture featuring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore (talk about milestones, Gertie’s turning 40!) as failed blind-daters marooned in a recreation park with their respective kids. Leaving aside the fact that Sandler is a terrible fit with family fare (he was magnificently dark and dangerous in \u003cem>Punch-Drunk Love\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Grown Ups 2\u003c/em>), any movie that isn’t \u003cem>Neighbors \u003c/em>but boasts a song titled “You Suck” has to give prior pause.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MuWt2X59fo\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Love Punch,\u003c/em> an overbearingly chipper caper from director Joel Hopkins, shoots for vintage screwball and misses for lack of wit. The plot is topical and mostly to be expected: A divorced couple repairs to France to recover lost pensions from horrid corporate fat cats and — following the usual recriminatory flimflam — rediscovers one another against scenic backdrops. Spark renewal ensues obediently after much falling about and some of the lamest banter I’ve heard since \u003cem>Sex and the City 2\u003c/em>. The movie is only worth your time if you like looking at Emma Thompson (who’s never looked English-rosier) and Pierce Brosnan (aging enviably as the rangy and craggy invariably do) putting in the best teamwork they can muster. Unfortunately, chemistry-wise, they appear to be playing brother and sister.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3NsHnVGQPo\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To its credit, \u003cem>Words and Pictures\u003c/em> gets that there’s no need to dispatch skittish lovers to exotic climes in the service of a satisfying midlife romance. In fact, you can pretty much jettison plot, if only because by that stage in life almost everyone is lugging enough emotional baggage to fill a whole archive of verbal swordplay. The action in most middle years is inner life and halting connections, which require a script incisive enough to get at the back and forth and to and fro of two people sidling up to love while backing away from the hurt they see barreling toward them \u003cem>again\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, you can have too much chat if the repartee is not up to snuff. The movie, which is set in a moderately posh Connecticut high school, is at least half an hour too long. The windy script, by former teacher Gerald Dipego, feels more like hard-working ping-pong than an escalating, sexy flirtation between two scarred arty types. It doesn’t help that, ludicrously, they’re facing off over which has more power, literature or fine art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>British actor Clive Owen is miscast as tweedy Eng. Lit. teacher Jack Marcus. His American accent keeps slipping, and he’s too much the recessive hunk to play a once-acclaimed poet who never shuts up so as to drown the voices in his boozed-up head, the ones that tell him he’s a failure and possibly a cheat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Where on earth do movies get their teachers from? Jack addresses his students as “droids,” inveighs against their use of social media and lack of critical skills, and brooks no alternative to his own fairly middlebrow tastes, which run to Updike and Ian McEwan. In the real world, where fee-hungry schools now cater to rather than instruct their pupils, his disdain would earn him a rap over the knuckles from the Dean. Here the Dean (a refreshingly cast Navid Negahban, who plays a terrorist on \u003cem>Homeland\u003c/em>) is displeased because Jack is neglecting the groundbreaking literary mag he founded at the school. He’s not too happy about the frequent benders, either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkHrVw-cDmU\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, so familiar. Enter Juliette Binoche, though, and \u003cem>Words and Pictures\u003c/em> wakes right up. Binoche has a face made for woe, which has gotten her into a trap playing beautiful, glum women to whom terrible things happen. And a bad thing has happened to Dina DeSanto, an abstract painter whose worsening rheumatoid arthritis has thrust her into teaching art at the school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There, she enters into a transparently pre-coital war of words with Jack. Ludicrous as it is, Binoche’s gusto (her own paintings are featured as Dina’s work in progress) and her filthy bark of a laugh more than make up for Jack letting off recurrent steam with a double Scotch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Words and Pictures\u003c/em> is no more than a middling offering from Australian director Fred Schepisi’s long and uneven oeuvre, which includes \u003cem>The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, A Cry in the Dark, Six Degrees of Separation\u003c/em> and an underappreciated little gem,\u003cem> Last Orders\u003c/em>. But it’s worth seeing for Binoche’s Dina, a woman who hangs onto her principles and her appetite for life even when it shows her careless disrespect. I’m not sure what she sees in Jack, but it’s no stretch to guess what he sees in her. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Love+Blooms+In+Midlife%2C+But+Halfheartedly&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "The good news is that there are multiple new films following the arrival of love for mature adults. The bad news is that they're not very satisfying.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1726705666,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": true,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 12,
"wordCount": 876
},
"headData": {
"title": "Love Blooms in Midlife, but Halfheartedly When Depicted on Film | KQED",
"description": "The good news is that there are multiple new films following the arrival of love for mature adults. The bad news is that they're not very satisfying.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Love Blooms in Midlife, but Halfheartedly When Depicted on Film",
"datePublished": "2014-05-23T06:00:43-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-18T17:27:46-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "Ella Taylor",
"nprStoryId": "314782852",
"nprApiLink": "http://api.npr.org/query?id=314782852&apiKey=MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004",
"nprHtmlLink": "http://www.npr.org/2014/05/22/314782852/love-blooms-in-midlife-but-halfheartedly?ft=3&f=314782852",
"nprRetrievedStory": "1",
"nprPubDate": "Thu, 22 May 2014 17:03:00 -0400",
"nprStoryDate": "Thu, 22 May 2014 17:03:19 -0400",
"nprLastModifiedDate": "Thu, 22 May 2014 17:03:19 -0400",
"path": "/arts/10136583/love-blooms-in-midlife-but-halfheartedly",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>No fewer than three comedies about finding love in midlife open this week, all of them shiny with major stars. Is it time to stop whining about the dearth of romantic comedy for mature audiences? Only if you prefer quantity to quality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I haven’t seen \u003cem>Blended,\u003c/em> a Warner Bros. picture featuring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore (talk about milestones, Gertie’s turning 40!) as failed blind-daters marooned in a recreation park with their respective kids. Leaving aside the fact that Sandler is a terrible fit with family fare (he was magnificently dark and dangerous in \u003cem>Punch-Drunk Love\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Grown Ups 2\u003c/em>), any movie that isn’t \u003cem>Neighbors \u003c/em>but boasts a song titled “You Suck” has to give prior pause.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/8MuWt2X59fo'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/8MuWt2X59fo'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>The Love Punch,\u003c/em> an overbearingly chipper caper from director Joel Hopkins, shoots for vintage screwball and misses for lack of wit. The plot is topical and mostly to be expected: A divorced couple repairs to France to recover lost pensions from horrid corporate fat cats and — following the usual recriminatory flimflam — rediscovers one another against scenic backdrops. Spark renewal ensues obediently after much falling about and some of the lamest banter I’ve heard since \u003cem>Sex and the City 2\u003c/em>. The movie is only worth your time if you like looking at Emma Thompson (who’s never looked English-rosier) and Pierce Brosnan (aging enviably as the rangy and craggy invariably do) putting in the best teamwork they can muster. Unfortunately, chemistry-wise, they appear to be playing brother and sister.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/m3NsHnVGQPo'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/m3NsHnVGQPo'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To its credit, \u003cem>Words and Pictures\u003c/em> gets that there’s no need to dispatch skittish lovers to exotic climes in the service of a satisfying midlife romance. In fact, you can pretty much jettison plot, if only because by that stage in life almost everyone is lugging enough emotional baggage to fill a whole archive of verbal swordplay. The action in most middle years is inner life and halting connections, which require a script incisive enough to get at the back and forth and to and fro of two people sidling up to love while backing away from the hurt they see barreling toward them \u003cem>again\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, you can have too much chat if the repartee is not up to snuff. The movie, which is set in a moderately posh Connecticut high school, is at least half an hour too long. The windy script, by former teacher Gerald Dipego, feels more like hard-working ping-pong than an escalating, sexy flirtation between two scarred arty types. It doesn’t help that, ludicrously, they’re facing off over which has more power, literature or fine art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>British actor Clive Owen is miscast as tweedy Eng. Lit. teacher Jack Marcus. His American accent keeps slipping, and he’s too much the recessive hunk to play a once-acclaimed poet who never shuts up so as to drown the voices in his boozed-up head, the ones that tell him he’s a failure and possibly a cheat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Where on earth do movies get their teachers from? Jack addresses his students as “droids,” inveighs against their use of social media and lack of critical skills, and brooks no alternative to his own fairly middlebrow tastes, which run to Updike and Ian McEwan. In the real world, where fee-hungry schools now cater to rather than instruct their pupils, his disdain would earn him a rap over the knuckles from the Dean. Here the Dean (a refreshingly cast Navid Negahban, who plays a terrorist on \u003cem>Homeland\u003c/em>) is displeased because Jack is neglecting the groundbreaking literary mag he founded at the school. He’s not too happy about the frequent benders, either.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/EkHrVw-cDmU'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/EkHrVw-cDmU'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>So far, so familiar. Enter Juliette Binoche, though, and \u003cem>Words and Pictures\u003c/em> wakes right up. Binoche has a face made for woe, which has gotten her into a trap playing beautiful, glum women to whom terrible things happen. And a bad thing has happened to Dina DeSanto, an abstract painter whose worsening rheumatoid arthritis has thrust her into teaching art at the school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There, she enters into a transparently pre-coital war of words with Jack. Ludicrous as it is, Binoche’s gusto (her own paintings are featured as Dina’s work in progress) and her filthy bark of a laugh more than make up for Jack letting off recurrent steam with a double Scotch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Words and Pictures\u003c/em> is no more than a middling offering from Australian director Fred Schepisi’s long and uneven oeuvre, which includes \u003cem>The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, A Cry in the Dark, Six Degrees of Separation\u003c/em> and an underappreciated little gem,\u003cem> Last Orders\u003c/em>. But it’s worth seeing for Binoche’s Dina, a woman who hangs onto her principles and her appetite for life even when it shows her careless disrespect. I’m not sure what she sees in Jack, but it’s no stretch to guess what he sees in her. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Love+Blooms+In+Midlife%2C+But+Halfheartedly&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/10136583/love-blooms-in-midlife-but-halfheartedly",
"authors": [
"byline_arts_10136583"
],
"categories": [
"arts_74"
],
"affiliates": [
"arts_137"
],
"featImg": "arts_10136584",
"label": "arts_137"
},
"arts_10136354": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_10136354",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136354",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1400537155000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "fed-up-portrays-obese-kids-as-victims-in-a-sugar-coated-world",
"title": "'Fed Up' Portrays Obese Kids as Victims in a Sugar-Coated World",
"publishDate": 1400537155,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "‘Fed Up’ Portrays Obese Kids as Victims in a Sugar-Coated World | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 137,
"site": "arts"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Just who’s to blame for the childhood obesity epidemic? Over the years, the finger has been pointed at parents, video games, Happy Meals and the hamburgers in the school cafeteria.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A new documentary, \u003cem>Fed Up\u003c/em>, alleges it all boils down to a simple substance most of us consume every day: sugar. The pushers of “the new tobacco,” according to the film, are the food industry and our own government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With a mix of dramatic music, scary soundbites and powerful images of kids injecting insulin into their chubby tummies, \u003cem>Fed Up\u003c/em> argues that the children are not to blame. For the rising number of overweight and obese kids, the mantra of “eat less, move more” is an impossible goal. They simply can’t circumvent the onslaught of marketing that has made them into junk-food junkies, the film says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What if our whole approach to this epidemic has been dead wrong?” the film’s narrator, TV journalist Katie Couric, says in the film’s opening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hoping to do for childhood obesity what \u003cem>An Inconvenient Truth\u003c/em> did for climate change, \u003ca href=\"http://fedupmovie.com/#/page/home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fed Up\u003c/a> takes on the U.S. Department of Agriculture, first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign and Big Food: Coca Cola, Nestle, Kraft and Kellogg, to name a few. Laurie David, who produced the Oscar-winning \u003cem>An Inconvenient Truth\u003c/em>, is executive producer along with Couric; \u003ca href=\"http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3253001/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stephanie Soechtig\u003c/a> is the director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film sometimes resorts to hyperbole to describe the obesity epidemic and its related health costs, but the message is backed up with sobering statistics and the history of the policies that got us here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.cbsnews.com/news/in-the-us-childhood-obesity-is-a-heavy-burden/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Childhood obesity rates\u003c/a> have grown exponentially in the past 30 years. And they’ve tracked with the huge increase in sugar added to packaged food to make it “hyper-palatable,” as one scientist says, during the \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/03/28/295332576/why-we-got-fatter-during-the-fat-free-food-boom\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">low-fat craze\u003c/a> of the 1980s and 1990s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All the while, the food and beverage lobby spent millions winning political battle after political battle to defend their place in the market, as Reuters \u003ca href=\"http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/27/us-usa-foodlobby-idUSBRE83Q0ED20120427\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported\u003c/a> in 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film features scientist-doctors like \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/02/28/173170149/sugars-role-in-rise-of-diabetes-gets-clearer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Robert Lustig\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/04/15/301473319/wheres-the-whole-grain-in-most-of-our-wheat-bread\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">David Ludwig\u003c/a>, and real food advocates like Michael Pollan, Marion Nestle and Mark Bittman. Couric also takes Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to task, as well as former President Bill Clinton, for failing to combat the problem during his administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the film’s true stars are several overweight children who are trying — and failing — to lose weight. It’s heartbreaking to watch as the kids tape private video diaries of their struggles, with fears of death and tears of frustration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want people to know that childhood obesity isn’t as simple as TV and press make it seem … and even Mrs. Obama,” says a tearful Maggie Valentine, a 12-year-old girl who weighs more than 200 pounds. “No matter how hard you try, it’s always going to be an ongoing battle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The food industry, which got a lashing from the film \u003cem>Food, Inc.\u003c/em>, is already fighting the message of\u003cem> Fed Up\u003c/em>, despite its still limited release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10136356\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/fed-up-2-21d68d916c3da23b9edd062562a3223359a6781a.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/fed-up-2-21d68d916c3da23b9edd062562a3223359a6781a-400x300.jpg\" alt=\"A list of individuals and organizations who declined to be interviewed by the filmmakers of Fed Up.\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-10136356\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/fed-up-2-21d68d916c3da23b9edd062562a3223359a6781a-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/fed-up-2-21d68d916c3da23b9edd062562a3223359a6781a-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/fed-up-2-21d68d916c3da23b9edd062562a3223359a6781a.jpg 724w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A list of individuals and organizations who declined to be interviewed by the filmmakers of Fed Up. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Radius TWC)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The loudest cry is coming from the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which has launched a website called \u003ca href=\"http://fedupfacts.com/\">Fed Up Facts\u003c/a> that mimics the plate-and-menu graphics of the documentary’s website. It claims, among other things, that childhood obesity rates have dropped by as much as 43 percent, and obesity rates overall have plateaued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokeswoman for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which is also the lead in \u003ca href=\"http://harvestpublicmedia.org/content/bill-bar-gmo-labeling-unveiled#.U3TkNyg3PZg\">fighting state’s GMO labeling\u003c/a> efforts, did not respond to The Salt’s request for comment on the film.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://www.foodintegrity.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Center for Food Integrity\u003c/a>, a Kansas City-based nonprofit that gets funding from dairy, soybean, poultry and pork producers and companies like ConAgra, Monsanto and Tyson, is also preparing to battle the message of \u003cem>Fed Up\u003c/em>. The group’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.cfiengage.com/archive/post/documentary-fed-up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">talking points and social media tips\u003c/a> urge farmers to engage in what it calls “values-based discussions about today’s food system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Terry Fleck, executive director of the Center for Food Integrity, tells The Salt that the film errs in singling out sugar as the culprit in childhood obesity. And many companies like Nestle and General Mills are already reducing sugar in products like breakfast cereals, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Obesity is this reality that we are consuming more calories than we are burning off, and that’s easy to do in our society,” Fleck says. “The reality is we are a society that’s busy. We want convenience foods. We drive everywhere. We don’t walk like others in other cultures.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.eatdrinkpolitics.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Michele Simon\u003c/a>, a public health lawyer who appears in \u003cem>Fed Up\u003c/em>, says it’s becoming increasingly common for companies to create “front groups” to try to help shape the public discourse. She \u003ca href=\"http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/front_groups_final_84531.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">names\u003c/a> the Center for Food Integrity as one such group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s going on here is that the food industry has a credibility problem,” Simon says. “So they funnel their money into these front groups that can look like they’re doing this with the sheen of credibility — and sometimes even scientists — that are bringing the industry messages into the public discourse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The public discourse, Simon says, is finally questioning whether individuals are to blame when it comes to childhood obesity\u003cem>. Fed Up\u003c/em> will help that conversation, she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film concludes with a list of the 20 companies, industry groups and politicians who refused to talk to the producers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Peggy Lowe is a reporter for \u003ca href=\"http://harvestpublicmedia.org/\">Harvest Public Media\u003c/a>. \u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Fed+Up%27+Portrays+Obese+Kids+As+Victims+In+A+Sugar-Coated+World&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "A new documentary argues that the food industry and government policies have pushed too much sugar on children and caused the childhood obesity epidemic. But the industry says society is to blame.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1726705671,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 24,
"wordCount": 991
},
"headData": {
"title": "'Fed Up' Portrays Obese Kids as Victims in a Sugar-Coated World | KQED",
"description": "A new documentary argues that the food industry and government policies have pushed too much sugar on children and caused the childhood obesity epidemic. But the industry says society is to blame.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "'Fed Up' Portrays Obese Kids as Victims in a Sugar-Coated World",
"datePublished": "2014-05-19T15:05:55-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-18T17:27:51-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "Peggy Lowe",
"nprStoryId": "313156681",
"nprApiLink": "http://api.npr.org/query?id=313156681&apiKey=MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004",
"nprHtmlLink": "http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/05/19/313156681/fed-up-another-food-documentary-war-wades-into-the-obesity-debate?ft=3&f=313156681",
"nprRetrievedStory": "1",
"nprPubDate": "Mon, 19 May 2014 16:50:00 -0400",
"nprStoryDate": "Mon, 19 May 2014 12:08:00 -0400",
"nprLastModifiedDate": "Mon, 19 May 2014 16:50:32 -0400",
"path": "/arts/10136354/fed-up-portrays-obese-kids-as-victims-in-a-sugar-coated-world",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Just who’s to blame for the childhood obesity epidemic? Over the years, the finger has been pointed at parents, video games, Happy Meals and the hamburgers in the school cafeteria.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A new documentary, \u003cem>Fed Up\u003c/em>, alleges it all boils down to a simple substance most of us consume every day: sugar. The pushers of “the new tobacco,” according to the film, are the food industry and our own government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With a mix of dramatic music, scary soundbites and powerful images of kids injecting insulin into their chubby tummies, \u003cem>Fed Up\u003c/em> argues that the children are not to blame. For the rising number of overweight and obese kids, the mantra of “eat less, move more” is an impossible goal. They simply can’t circumvent the onslaught of marketing that has made them into junk-food junkies, the film says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What if our whole approach to this epidemic has been dead wrong?” the film’s narrator, TV journalist Katie Couric, says in the film’s opening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hoping to do for childhood obesity what \u003cem>An Inconvenient Truth\u003c/em> did for climate change, \u003ca href=\"http://fedupmovie.com/#/page/home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fed Up\u003c/a> takes on the U.S. Department of Agriculture, first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign and Big Food: Coca Cola, Nestle, Kraft and Kellogg, to name a few. Laurie David, who produced the Oscar-winning \u003cem>An Inconvenient Truth\u003c/em>, is executive producer along with Couric; \u003ca href=\"http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3253001/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stephanie Soechtig\u003c/a> is the director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film sometimes resorts to hyperbole to describe the obesity epidemic and its related health costs, but the message is backed up with sobering statistics and the history of the policies that got us here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.cbsnews.com/news/in-the-us-childhood-obesity-is-a-heavy-burden/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Childhood obesity rates\u003c/a> have grown exponentially in the past 30 years. And they’ve tracked with the huge increase in sugar added to packaged food to make it “hyper-palatable,” as one scientist says, during the \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/03/28/295332576/why-we-got-fatter-during-the-fat-free-food-boom\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">low-fat craze\u003c/a> of the 1980s and 1990s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All the while, the food and beverage lobby spent millions winning political battle after political battle to defend their place in the market, as Reuters \u003ca href=\"http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/27/us-usa-foodlobby-idUSBRE83Q0ED20120427\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported\u003c/a> in 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film features scientist-doctors like \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/02/28/173170149/sugars-role-in-rise-of-diabetes-gets-clearer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Robert Lustig\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/04/15/301473319/wheres-the-whole-grain-in-most-of-our-wheat-bread\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">David Ludwig\u003c/a>, and real food advocates like Michael Pollan, Marion Nestle and Mark Bittman. Couric also takes Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to task, as well as former President Bill Clinton, for failing to combat the problem during his administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the film’s true stars are several overweight children who are trying — and failing — to lose weight. It’s heartbreaking to watch as the kids tape private video diaries of their struggles, with fears of death and tears of frustration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want people to know that childhood obesity isn’t as simple as TV and press make it seem … and even Mrs. Obama,” says a tearful Maggie Valentine, a 12-year-old girl who weighs more than 200 pounds. “No matter how hard you try, it’s always going to be an ongoing battle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The food industry, which got a lashing from the film \u003cem>Food, Inc.\u003c/em>, is already fighting the message of\u003cem> Fed Up\u003c/em>, despite its still limited release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10136356\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/fed-up-2-21d68d916c3da23b9edd062562a3223359a6781a.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/fed-up-2-21d68d916c3da23b9edd062562a3223359a6781a-400x300.jpg\" alt=\"A list of individuals and organizations who declined to be interviewed by the filmmakers of Fed Up.\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-10136356\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/fed-up-2-21d68d916c3da23b9edd062562a3223359a6781a-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/fed-up-2-21d68d916c3da23b9edd062562a3223359a6781a-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/fed-up-2-21d68d916c3da23b9edd062562a3223359a6781a.jpg 724w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A list of individuals and organizations who declined to be interviewed by the filmmakers of Fed Up. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Radius TWC)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The loudest cry is coming from the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which has launched a website called \u003ca href=\"http://fedupfacts.com/\">Fed Up Facts\u003c/a> that mimics the plate-and-menu graphics of the documentary’s website. It claims, among other things, that childhood obesity rates have dropped by as much as 43 percent, and obesity rates overall have plateaued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokeswoman for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which is also the lead in \u003ca href=\"http://harvestpublicmedia.org/content/bill-bar-gmo-labeling-unveiled#.U3TkNyg3PZg\">fighting state’s GMO labeling\u003c/a> efforts, did not respond to The Salt’s request for comment on the film.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://www.foodintegrity.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Center for Food Integrity\u003c/a>, a Kansas City-based nonprofit that gets funding from dairy, soybean, poultry and pork producers and companies like ConAgra, Monsanto and Tyson, is also preparing to battle the message of \u003cem>Fed Up\u003c/em>. The group’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.cfiengage.com/archive/post/documentary-fed-up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">talking points and social media tips\u003c/a> urge farmers to engage in what it calls “values-based discussions about today’s food system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Terry Fleck, executive director of the Center for Food Integrity, tells The Salt that the film errs in singling out sugar as the culprit in childhood obesity. And many companies like Nestle and General Mills are already reducing sugar in products like breakfast cereals, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Obesity is this reality that we are consuming more calories than we are burning off, and that’s easy to do in our society,” Fleck says. “The reality is we are a society that’s busy. We want convenience foods. We drive everywhere. We don’t walk like others in other cultures.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.eatdrinkpolitics.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Michele Simon\u003c/a>, a public health lawyer who appears in \u003cem>Fed Up\u003c/em>, says it’s becoming increasingly common for companies to create “front groups” to try to help shape the public discourse. She \u003ca href=\"http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/front_groups_final_84531.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">names\u003c/a> the Center for Food Integrity as one such group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s going on here is that the food industry has a credibility problem,” Simon says. “So they funnel their money into these front groups that can look like they’re doing this with the sheen of credibility — and sometimes even scientists — that are bringing the industry messages into the public discourse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The public discourse, Simon says, is finally questioning whether individuals are to blame when it comes to childhood obesity\u003cem>. Fed Up\u003c/em> will help that conversation, she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film concludes with a list of the 20 companies, industry groups and politicians who refused to talk to the producers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Peggy Lowe is a reporter for \u003ca href=\"http://harvestpublicmedia.org/\">Harvest Public Media\u003c/a>. \u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Fed+Up%27+Portrays+Obese+Kids+As+Victims+In+A+Sugar-Coated+World&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/10136354/fed-up-portrays-obese-kids-as-victims-in-a-sugar-coated-world",
"authors": [
"byline_arts_10136354"
],
"categories": [
"arts_74"
],
"affiliates": [
"arts_137"
],
"featImg": "arts_10136360",
"label": "arts_137"
},
"arts_10136343": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_10136343",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136343",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1400533057000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "gordon-willis-cinematographer-who-gave-woody-allen-films-their-look-dies",
"title": "Gordon Willis, Woody Allen's Cinematographer, Dies",
"publishDate": 1400533057,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Gordon Willis, Woody Allen’s Cinematographer, Dies | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 137,
"site": "arts"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Gordon Willis, the cinematographer behind such classic 1970s films as \u003cem>Annie Hall\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Klute\u003c/em>, \u003cem>All the President’s Men\u003c/em> and the \u003cem>Godfather\u003c/em> series, died on Sunday. He was 82.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One cinematographer had established a kind of noir color look, rich in brown, amber and shadow, that was a vital force in the noir movies made in Hollywood in the 1970s,” film historian David Thomson wrote of Willis in his \u003cem>New Biographical Dictionary of Film\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Willis won an honorary Academy Award in 2009, but never took home the prize for best cinematography. He was nominated twice, for \u003cem>The Godfather Part III\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Zelig\u003c/em>, but not for the earlier works that had established him as a giant among his peers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For a while, I really didn’t know what to do with that movie,” he said of the original \u003cem>Godfather\u003c/em> in a 2002 \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120386781\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">interview\u003c/a> on NPR’s \u003cem>Fresh Air\u003c/em>. “I finally decided this should have this brassy, yellow look to it. Don’t ask me why. It just felt right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The New York native got his start working in makeup. He worked on documentaries for a motion picture unit as part of his Air Force service during the Korean War.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He shot a total of eight films for Woody Allen and was dubbed the “Prince of Darkness” by fellow cinematographer Conrad Hall for his use of shadows. (Think of the scene in Allen’s \u003cem>Manhattan\u003c/em> where he and Diane Keaton duck out of the rain into the American Museum of Natural History, or the garage scenes in \u003cem>All the President’s Men\u003c/em>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s an artist,” Allen \u003ca href=\"http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20086223,00.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told\u003c/a> \u003cem>People\u003c/em> in 1983. “He’s got a great sense of humor. He taught me a lot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Willis’ last film was \u003cem>The Devil’s Own\u003c/em> in 1997, directed by Alan J. Pakula.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I got tired of trying to get actors out of trailers, and standing in the rain,” Willis said. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Gordon+Willis%2C+Cinematographer+Who+Gave+Woody+Allen+Films+Their+Look%2C+Dies&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "He shot eight films with Woody Allen and was particularly known for his work on dark films of the 1970s, such as the \u003cem>Godfather\u003c/em> series. Wills was dubbed the \"Prince of Darkness\" for his use of shadows.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1726705678,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 11,
"wordCount": 351
},
"headData": {
"title": "Gordon Willis, Woody Allen's Cinematographer, Dies | KQED",
"description": "He shot eight films with Woody Allen and was particularly known for his work on dark films of the 1970s, such as the Godfather series. Wills was dubbed the "Prince of Darkness" for his use of shadows.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Gordon Willis, Woody Allen's Cinematographer, Dies",
"datePublished": "2014-05-19T13:57:37-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-18T17:27:58-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "Alan Greenblatt",
"nprStoryId": "313934977",
"nprApiLink": "http://api.npr.org/query?id=313934977&apiKey=MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004",
"nprHtmlLink": "http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/19/313934977/gordon-willis-cinematographer-who-gave-woody-allen-films-their-look-dies?ft=3&f=313934977",
"nprRetrievedStory": "1",
"nprPubDate": "Mon, 19 May 2014 10:00:00 -0400",
"nprStoryDate": "Mon, 19 May 2014 09:53:00 -0400",
"nprLastModifiedDate": "Mon, 19 May 2014 10:00:59 -0400",
"path": "/arts/10136343/gordon-willis-cinematographer-who-gave-woody-allen-films-their-look-dies",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Gordon Willis, the cinematographer behind such classic 1970s films as \u003cem>Annie Hall\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Klute\u003c/em>, \u003cem>All the President’s Men\u003c/em> and the \u003cem>Godfather\u003c/em> series, died on Sunday. He was 82.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One cinematographer had established a kind of noir color look, rich in brown, amber and shadow, that was a vital force in the noir movies made in Hollywood in the 1970s,” film historian David Thomson wrote of Willis in his \u003cem>New Biographical Dictionary of Film\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Willis won an honorary Academy Award in 2009, but never took home the prize for best cinematography. He was nominated twice, for \u003cem>The Godfather Part III\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Zelig\u003c/em>, but not for the earlier works that had established him as a giant among his peers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For a while, I really didn’t know what to do with that movie,” he said of the original \u003cem>Godfather\u003c/em> in a 2002 \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120386781\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">interview\u003c/a> on NPR’s \u003cem>Fresh Air\u003c/em>. “I finally decided this should have this brassy, yellow look to it. Don’t ask me why. It just felt right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The New York native got his start working in makeup. He worked on documentaries for a motion picture unit as part of his Air Force service during the Korean War.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He shot a total of eight films for Woody Allen and was dubbed the “Prince of Darkness” by fellow cinematographer Conrad Hall for his use of shadows. (Think of the scene in Allen’s \u003cem>Manhattan\u003c/em> where he and Diane Keaton duck out of the rain into the American Museum of Natural History, or the garage scenes in \u003cem>All the President’s Men\u003c/em>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s an artist,” Allen \u003ca href=\"http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20086223,00.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told\u003c/a> \u003cem>People\u003c/em> in 1983. “He’s got a great sense of humor. He taught me a lot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Willis’ last film was \u003cem>The Devil’s Own\u003c/em> in 1997, directed by Alan J. Pakula.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I got tired of trying to get actors out of trailers, and standing in the rain,” Willis said. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Gordon+Willis%2C+Cinematographer+Who+Gave+Woody+Allen+Films+Their+Look%2C+Dies&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/10136343/gordon-willis-cinematographer-who-gave-woody-allen-films-their-look-dies",
"authors": [
"byline_arts_10136343"
],
"categories": [
"arts_74",
"arts_235"
],
"affiliates": [
"arts_137"
],
"featImg": "arts_10136350",
"label": "arts_137"
},
"pop_12162": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "pop_12162",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "pop",
"id": "12162",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1400531211000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {
"site": "pop"
},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1400531211,
"format": "aside",
"disqusTitle": "Godzilla Is A Monster Hit Thanks To Our Collective Guilt",
"title": "Godzilla Is A Monster Hit Thanks To Our Collective Guilt",
"headTitle": "KQED Pop | KQED Arts",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://blogs.kqed.org/pop/2014/05/19/godzilla-is-a-monster-hit-thanks-to-our-collective-guilt/godzilla/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-12176\">\u003cimg class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12176\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/godzilla.jpg\" alt=\"godzilla\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/godzilla.jpg 640w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/godzilla-400x225.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last Friday, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIu85WQTPRc\">the latest\u003c/a> \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIu85WQTPRc\">Godzilla\u003c/a> \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2014/05/18/godzilla-million-dollar-arm-box-office/9242945/\">crushed box offices\u003c/a> across the country. Updated for the post-9/11, tsunami-prone era, this latest reboot from \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njeofv4dr9Q\">\u003ci>Monsters\u003c/i>\u003c/a> director and relative newcomer Gareth Evans brings epic mayhem to our beloved City by the Bay. Godzilla has lurked beneath our seas for ages, surfacing now and again to wreak havoc, punishing us for our sins, reminding us that we are not the ones in charge. We keep rebooting Godzilla, inviting him back to rampage again and again, like a soured affair we can’t break off. We like it that way; we get satisfaction from feeling guilt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Victim fantasy and guilt has played a role in monster movies since the beginning. In 1954, director Ishirō Honda devised a monster to represent the dangers of the atomic age by making \"radiation visible.\" Named \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1Rm3bnFxKs\">\u003ci>Gojira\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, Honda's creation turned into a Toho Studios franchise, destroying Tokyo again and again. Honda's more generalized meaning notwithstanding, Gojira's decimation of fishing vessels and attacks on Tokyo can only be inferred as U.S. actions (intentional and unintentional) against Japan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nuclear attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 marked the shocking start of the Atomic Age. Lesser known is that in 1954, during the U.S.' \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Mg5exGIHSo\">Operation Castle\u003c/a> program, the most powerful thermonuclear warhead to date was \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5_9Gi7w19Y\">detonated at Bikini Atoll\u003c/a> on March 1. Due to miscalculations, the bomb was bigger than expected. Significant radioactive fallout ash was blown well beyond the declared safety zone, snowing down upon nearby islands and a Japanese tuna boat, \u003ca href=\"http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/03/18/general/lucky-dragons-lethal-catch/\">\u003ci>Daigo Fukuryū Maru\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, or “Lucky Dragon.” The ship's crew was morbidly contaminated, and some members died later that year. The U.S. tried to cover up involvement; Atomic Energy Commission head Lewis Strauss accused the \u003ci>Lucky Dragon \u003c/i>of spying for the Soviet Union. During this same time, in a secret hearing, Strauss was muckraking the career of J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, to ruin. Then as now, secrets were federal currency, and Evan's opening credits sequence in the new Godzilla cleverly illustrates this with a motif of redacted documents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12167\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/gojiraandhonda.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-12167 size-medium\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/gojiraandhonda-300x227.jpg\" alt=\"Toho Studios\" width=\"300\" height=\"227\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ishiro Honda with Godzilla. Photo: Toho Studios\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Toho Studios' producer read about the \u003ci>Lucky Dragon \u003c/i>incident in the news, and set out to make a monster movie. Originally octopus-like, Gojira's reptilian design was derived from the successful 1953 Hollywood flick \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9HxCkBYum8\">The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms\u003c/a>\u003c/i>, a monster closer to the realm of the anthropomorphic. The Tyrannosaurus Rex-like Beast, imagined by Ray Bradbury and designed by Ray Harryhausen, was thawed from arctic hibernation by a nuclear blast and traveled underwater seeking vengeance along the eastern seaboard. Gojira would trade stop motion, for a man in a rubber suit, trudging with a different kind of menace. Rising from the depths of Tokyo Bay, his arms flail in the waves as if mere presence is his enemy, the cause of his anger. When asked if there is a way to kill Gojira, Professor Yamane responds, \"Instead, we should focus on why he is still alive.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientific and political events awaken Godzilla from his slumber, and he is psychically compelled to act out our fantasies of self destruction, magnetically attracted to our guilt. Do we deserve this or want this? Our desires rage inside of us, and our guilt lays waste to our psyche, destabilizing our sense of place. We raze the natural world to inhabit an edifice, and we are gratified to see that edifice subject to disaster; yet even disaster must be personified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Godzilla is a figuration of the nuclear blast, a visible rendering of radiation, uniting all peoples against a common threat. Godzilla is exponentially reptilian, a subconscious horror escalated. By contrast, King Kong is primal instinct; he takes what he wants, kidnapping the beautiful Ann Darrow while rampaging through New York City. It is the savage world taking revenge on civilization, punishing our desire for mapping the unknown, revealing our guilt for violating virgin wilderness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12170\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/godzilla_1954_poster_03.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-12170\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/godzilla_1954_poster_03-300x142.jpg\" alt=\"Toho Studios, via Geekexchange.com\" width=\"400\" height=\"191\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Toho Studios\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The victimized urban citizens of Japan and the U.S., repeatedly attacked by monsters, clearly \u003ca href=\"http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8oqwe_destroy-all-monsters-1968-godzilla_shortfilms\">live in a dangerous world\u003c/a>; that we are alternately attacked and defended by the same monster throughout the franchise shows us to be victims in a perverse relationship, emblematic of the struggle between desire and guilt. Darren Aronofsky's bold, if misguided, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OSaJE2rqxU\">\u003ci>Noah\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> \u003c/i>recently updated the flood parable. Through this common myth, we learn a lesson: our ancestors were bad, they soiled the Earth, and a vengeful god cleansed that which was unclean. Geologic evidence may exist for global flooding events, but the myth's persistence is explained differently. Ultimately, a major event, destructive and natural, is to be read as punishment for man's evil ways. And so our iconic cities from Tokyo to San Francisco are regularly offered up for sacrifice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003cem>Godzilla\u003c/em> franchise is fiction, but that doesn't make our memories of it less real. Neuroscientist Daniela Schiller, \u003ca href=\"http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/05/19/140519fa_fact_specter\">profiled in last week's \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/05/19/140519fa_fact_specter\">\u003ci>New Yorker\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, explains that realized memory is \"what you are now, not what you think you were in the past. When you change the story you created, you change your life.\" Memory is changed, updated by our experience, and Hollywood strives for nothing short of creating experience. Godzilla exists in our memories, individual and shared, by tapping into an exploitable resource -- the overwhelming emotions we experienced watching the spectacles of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and tsunamis in Asia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And what spectacles they make on-screen. All throughout Gareth Evans’ \u003ci>Godzilla, \u003c/i>\"AMERICA UNDER ATTACK\" and similar headlines emblazon across the ubiquitous flatscreens. Godzilla travels by tsunami, inundating the cities he's saving. He tail-whips a flying Muto, who crashes into a building which looks like a shorter Twin Tower. F-15s fall from the sky, while aircraft carriers rise up out of the sea. Building after building comes down; one ultimately collapses on Godzilla. But, if history is any indication, he will rise again.\u003c/p>\n\n",
"disqusIdentifier": "12162 http://blogs.kqed.org/pop/?p=12162",
"disqusUrl": "https://ww2.kqed.org/pop/2014/05/19/godzilla-is-a-monster-hit-thanks-to-our-collective-guilt/",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 1004,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 12
},
"modified": 1400536569,
"excerpt": "Godzilla acts out our fantasies of self destruction. Do we secretly want this?",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "Godzilla acts out our fantasies of self destruction. Do we secretly want this?",
"title": "Godzilla Is A Monster Hit Thanks To Our Collective Guilt | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Godzilla Is A Monster Hit Thanks To Our Collective Guilt",
"datePublished": "2014-05-19T13:26:51-07:00",
"dateModified": "2014-05-19T14:56:09-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "godzilla-is-a-monster-hit-thanks-to-our-collective-guilt",
"status": "publish",
"path": "/pop/12162/godzilla-is-a-monster-hit-thanks-to-our-collective-guilt",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://blogs.kqed.org/pop/2014/05/19/godzilla-is-a-monster-hit-thanks-to-our-collective-guilt/godzilla/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-12176\">\u003cimg class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12176\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/godzilla.jpg\" alt=\"godzilla\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/godzilla.jpg 640w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/godzilla-400x225.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last Friday, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIu85WQTPRc\">the latest\u003c/a> \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIu85WQTPRc\">Godzilla\u003c/a> \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2014/05/18/godzilla-million-dollar-arm-box-office/9242945/\">crushed box offices\u003c/a> across the country. Updated for the post-9/11, tsunami-prone era, this latest reboot from \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njeofv4dr9Q\">\u003ci>Monsters\u003c/i>\u003c/a> director and relative newcomer Gareth Evans brings epic mayhem to our beloved City by the Bay. Godzilla has lurked beneath our seas for ages, surfacing now and again to wreak havoc, punishing us for our sins, reminding us that we are not the ones in charge. We keep rebooting Godzilla, inviting him back to rampage again and again, like a soured affair we can’t break off. We like it that way; we get satisfaction from feeling guilt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Victim fantasy and guilt has played a role in monster movies since the beginning. In 1954, director Ishirō Honda devised a monster to represent the dangers of the atomic age by making \"radiation visible.\" Named \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1Rm3bnFxKs\">\u003ci>Gojira\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, Honda's creation turned into a Toho Studios franchise, destroying Tokyo again and again. Honda's more generalized meaning notwithstanding, Gojira's decimation of fishing vessels and attacks on Tokyo can only be inferred as U.S. actions (intentional and unintentional) against Japan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nuclear attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 marked the shocking start of the Atomic Age. Lesser known is that in 1954, during the U.S.' \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Mg5exGIHSo\">Operation Castle\u003c/a> program, the most powerful thermonuclear warhead to date was \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5_9Gi7w19Y\">detonated at Bikini Atoll\u003c/a> on March 1. Due to miscalculations, the bomb was bigger than expected. Significant radioactive fallout ash was blown well beyond the declared safety zone, snowing down upon nearby islands and a Japanese tuna boat, \u003ca href=\"http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/03/18/general/lucky-dragons-lethal-catch/\">\u003ci>Daigo Fukuryū Maru\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, or “Lucky Dragon.” The ship's crew was morbidly contaminated, and some members died later that year. The U.S. tried to cover up involvement; Atomic Energy Commission head Lewis Strauss accused the \u003ci>Lucky Dragon \u003c/i>of spying for the Soviet Union. During this same time, in a secret hearing, Strauss was muckraking the career of J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, to ruin. Then as now, secrets were federal currency, and Evan's opening credits sequence in the new Godzilla cleverly illustrates this with a motif of redacted documents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12167\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/gojiraandhonda.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-12167 size-medium\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/gojiraandhonda-300x227.jpg\" alt=\"Toho Studios\" width=\"300\" height=\"227\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ishiro Honda with Godzilla. Photo: Toho Studios\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Toho Studios' producer read about the \u003ci>Lucky Dragon \u003c/i>incident in the news, and set out to make a monster movie. Originally octopus-like, Gojira's reptilian design was derived from the successful 1953 Hollywood flick \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9HxCkBYum8\">The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms\u003c/a>\u003c/i>, a monster closer to the realm of the anthropomorphic. The Tyrannosaurus Rex-like Beast, imagined by Ray Bradbury and designed by Ray Harryhausen, was thawed from arctic hibernation by a nuclear blast and traveled underwater seeking vengeance along the eastern seaboard. Gojira would trade stop motion, for a man in a rubber suit, trudging with a different kind of menace. Rising from the depths of Tokyo Bay, his arms flail in the waves as if mere presence is his enemy, the cause of his anger. When asked if there is a way to kill Gojira, Professor Yamane responds, \"Instead, we should focus on why he is still alive.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientific and political events awaken Godzilla from his slumber, and he is psychically compelled to act out our fantasies of self destruction, magnetically attracted to our guilt. Do we deserve this or want this? Our desires rage inside of us, and our guilt lays waste to our psyche, destabilizing our sense of place. We raze the natural world to inhabit an edifice, and we are gratified to see that edifice subject to disaster; yet even disaster must be personified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Godzilla is a figuration of the nuclear blast, a visible rendering of radiation, uniting all peoples against a common threat. Godzilla is exponentially reptilian, a subconscious horror escalated. By contrast, King Kong is primal instinct; he takes what he wants, kidnapping the beautiful Ann Darrow while rampaging through New York City. It is the savage world taking revenge on civilization, punishing our desire for mapping the unknown, revealing our guilt for violating virgin wilderness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12170\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/godzilla_1954_poster_03.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-12170\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/godzilla_1954_poster_03-300x142.jpg\" alt=\"Toho Studios, via Geekexchange.com\" width=\"400\" height=\"191\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Toho Studios\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The victimized urban citizens of Japan and the U.S., repeatedly attacked by monsters, clearly \u003ca href=\"http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8oqwe_destroy-all-monsters-1968-godzilla_shortfilms\">live in a dangerous world\u003c/a>; that we are alternately attacked and defended by the same monster throughout the franchise shows us to be victims in a perverse relationship, emblematic of the struggle between desire and guilt. Darren Aronofsky's bold, if misguided, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OSaJE2rqxU\">\u003ci>Noah\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> \u003c/i>recently updated the flood parable. Through this common myth, we learn a lesson: our ancestors were bad, they soiled the Earth, and a vengeful god cleansed that which was unclean. Geologic evidence may exist for global flooding events, but the myth's persistence is explained differently. Ultimately, a major event, destructive and natural, is to be read as punishment for man's evil ways. And so our iconic cities from Tokyo to San Francisco are regularly offered up for sacrifice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003cem>Godzilla\u003c/em> franchise is fiction, but that doesn't make our memories of it less real. Neuroscientist Daniela Schiller, \u003ca href=\"http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/05/19/140519fa_fact_specter\">profiled in last week's \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/05/19/140519fa_fact_specter\">\u003ci>New Yorker\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, explains that realized memory is \"what you are now, not what you think you were in the past. When you change the story you created, you change your life.\" Memory is changed, updated by our experience, and Hollywood strives for nothing short of creating experience. Godzilla exists in our memories, individual and shared, by tapping into an exploitable resource -- the overwhelming emotions we experienced watching the spectacles of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and tsunamis in Asia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And what spectacles they make on-screen. All throughout Gareth Evans’ \u003ci>Godzilla, \u003c/i>\"AMERICA UNDER ATTACK\" and similar headlines emblazon across the ubiquitous flatscreens. Godzilla travels by tsunami, inundating the cities he's saving. He tail-whips a flying Muto, who crashes into a building which looks like a shorter Twin Tower. F-15s fall from the sky, while aircraft carriers rise up out of the sea. Building after building comes down; one ultimately collapses on Godzilla. But, if history is any indication, he will rise again.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/pop/12162/godzilla-is-a-monster-hit-thanks-to-our-collective-guilt",
"authors": [
"2553"
],
"categories": [
"pop_51"
],
"tags": [
"pop_1562"
],
"featImg": "pop_12176",
"label": "pop"
},
"arts_10136232": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_10136232",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10136232",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1400248810000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "million-dollar-arm-is-a-sales-pitch-in-search-of-stillness",
"title": "'Million Dollar Arm' is a Sales Pitch in Search of Stillness",
"publishDate": 1400248810,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "‘Million Dollar Arm’ is a Sales Pitch in Search of Stillness | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 137,
"site": "arts"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Where does Don Draper’s formidable presence come from in \u003cem>Mad Men\u003c/em>? From his impeccable style, sure, and from his brooding good looks, of course, but also from his stillness. A few drug-induced exceptions aside, Don is as restrained in movement as he is in his speech. The combination gives him an irresistible, if unsettling, allure; in meetings, it’s his solid stare that holds your attention as much as his words.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jon Hamm’s stillness playing Don in \u003cem>Mad Men\u003c/em> became particularly noticeable after I watched him in \u003cem>Million Dollar Arm\u003c/em>, which, among other things, lacks a noteworthy performance to ground an otherwise loosely-constructed film. Hamm doesn’t play Don in \u003cem>Million Dollar Arm\u003c/em>, of course, but he does play another salesman: the sports agent JB, who, after leaving a large agency to start his own business, is struggling to sign a big name athlete and pay his bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, \u003cem>Million Dollar Arm\u003c/em> begins with a pitch from JB to a superstar NFL linebacker he hopes to represent. JB doesn’t quite offer the same satisfactions as Don, though. He’s something closer to Jerry Maguire in need of an editor, concluding his promise to secure countless riches with the supplication: “Will you let me help you do that?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JB leads a hurried existence, rushing around LA in his Porsche convertible. Eventually he takes that energy to India, where, with the prospect of a billion new baseball fans on his mind, he hopes to save his career by converting Indian cricket bowlers into professional pitchers. To that end, he holds a contest called Million Dollar Arm, offering two finalists an opportunity to try out for the major leagues in the U.S. And when the winners, Rinku (Suraj Sharma) and Dinesh (Madhur Mittal), return with JB to LA, one of the first English words they learn is the essence of JB’s way of life: Hustle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking at Hamm’s previous roles, you can chart his range by whether his characters default to a smile or a stone-faced stare. If deadpan, he’s Don—assertive, composed, unflappable. With a smile—which, unlike most things about Hamm, is generally strained and awkward—he flips: now he’s goofy and approachable, characteristics he used to great effect on \u003cem>30 Rock\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Either way, he has presence. In \u003cem>Million Dollar Arm\u003c/em>, he disappears. And he’s not the only one: Between director Craig Gillespie (\u003cem>Lars and the Real Girl\u003c/em>), writer Thomas McCarthy (\u003cem>The Station Agent\u003c/em>), and co-stars Bill Paxton, Alan Arkin, and Lake Bell (who is good enough to make you realize how wasteful her love-interest-as-motherly-sidekick role is), there’s a lot of potential talent subsumed here by plain studio-fare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003c/em>Whoever you want to blame, \u003cem>Million Dollar Arm\u003c/em> is a film that, like JB, is in a needless rush. This isn’t the hurry of a tense thriller. Instead, with time to kill, the film resembles a long car ride, with McCarthy and Gillespie producing the closest approximations to excitement possible so no one realizes they’re bored. The scenes in India stuff a series of montages in between jokes about animals roaming the streets and a brief, preposterous stop at the Taj Mahal. (A Disney movie isn’t where one ought to search for nuanced multiculturalism, of course, and here, at least, both sides are reduced to stereotypes: America is baseball, luxury, and cultural insensitivity; India is spicy food, crowded streets, and poverty.) In other moments, when a montage is too clearly out of the question, the film resorts to sudden leaps in time: Anything, that is, but a stop for breath.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, Hamm is most affected—there’s a strain to his performance that suggests something about JB, perhaps, but also strips the character of any charisma. As a result, \u003cem>Million Dollar Man\u003c/em> may be the first hint that Hamm is unable to rise above mediocre material and demand our attention regardless (an essential feature of any leading Hollywood actor or actress). But before passing judgment, I’d like to see a film that lets him sit still and prove otherwise. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Million+Dollar+Arm%27+Is+A+Sales+Pitch+In+Search+Of+Stillness&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Jon Hamm's riveting work on television relies heavily on stillness that is sadly not present in \u003cem>Million Dollar Arm\u003c/em>, which casts him as a salesman of a different sort.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1726705684,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 10,
"wordCount": 728
},
"headData": {
"title": "'Million Dollar Arm' is a Sales Pitch in Search of Stillness | KQED",
"description": "Jon Hamm's riveting work on television relies heavily on stillness that is sadly not present in Million Dollar Arm, which casts him as a salesman of a different sort.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "'Million Dollar Arm' is a Sales Pitch in Search of Stillness",
"datePublished": "2014-05-16T07:00:10-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-18T17:28:04-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "Tomas Hachard",
"nprStoryId": "312705132",
"nprApiLink": "http://api.npr.org/query?id=312705132&apiKey=MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004",
"nprHtmlLink": "http://www.npr.org/2014/05/15/312705132/million-dollar-arm-is-a-sales-pitch-in-search-of-stillness?ft=3&f=312705132",
"nprRetrievedStory": "1",
"nprPubDate": "Thu, 15 May 2014 17:04:00 -0400",
"nprStoryDate": "Thu, 15 May 2014 17:04:05 -0400",
"nprLastModifiedDate": "Thu, 15 May 2014 17:04:05 -0400",
"path": "/arts/10136232/million-dollar-arm-is-a-sales-pitch-in-search-of-stillness",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Where does Don Draper’s formidable presence come from in \u003cem>Mad Men\u003c/em>? From his impeccable style, sure, and from his brooding good looks, of course, but also from his stillness. A few drug-induced exceptions aside, Don is as restrained in movement as he is in his speech. The combination gives him an irresistible, if unsettling, allure; in meetings, it’s his solid stare that holds your attention as much as his words.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jon Hamm’s stillness playing Don in \u003cem>Mad Men\u003c/em> became particularly noticeable after I watched him in \u003cem>Million Dollar Arm\u003c/em>, which, among other things, lacks a noteworthy performance to ground an otherwise loosely-constructed film. Hamm doesn’t play Don in \u003cem>Million Dollar Arm\u003c/em>, of course, but he does play another salesman: the sports agent JB, who, after leaving a large agency to start his own business, is struggling to sign a big name athlete and pay his bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, \u003cem>Million Dollar Arm\u003c/em> begins with a pitch from JB to a superstar NFL linebacker he hopes to represent. JB doesn’t quite offer the same satisfactions as Don, though. He’s something closer to Jerry Maguire in need of an editor, concluding his promise to secure countless riches with the supplication: “Will you let me help you do that?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JB leads a hurried existence, rushing around LA in his Porsche convertible. Eventually he takes that energy to India, where, with the prospect of a billion new baseball fans on his mind, he hopes to save his career by converting Indian cricket bowlers into professional pitchers. To that end, he holds a contest called Million Dollar Arm, offering two finalists an opportunity to try out for the major leagues in the U.S. And when the winners, Rinku (Suraj Sharma) and Dinesh (Madhur Mittal), return with JB to LA, one of the first English words they learn is the essence of JB’s way of life: Hustle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking at Hamm’s previous roles, you can chart his range by whether his characters default to a smile or a stone-faced stare. If deadpan, he’s Don—assertive, composed, unflappable. With a smile—which, unlike most things about Hamm, is generally strained and awkward—he flips: now he’s goofy and approachable, characteristics he used to great effect on \u003cem>30 Rock\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Either way, he has presence. In \u003cem>Million Dollar Arm\u003c/em>, he disappears. And he’s not the only one: Between director Craig Gillespie (\u003cem>Lars and the Real Girl\u003c/em>), writer Thomas McCarthy (\u003cem>The Station Agent\u003c/em>), and co-stars Bill Paxton, Alan Arkin, and Lake Bell (who is good enough to make you realize how wasteful her love-interest-as-motherly-sidekick role is), there’s a lot of potential talent subsumed here by plain studio-fare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003c/em>Whoever you want to blame, \u003cem>Million Dollar Arm\u003c/em> is a film that, like JB, is in a needless rush. This isn’t the hurry of a tense thriller. Instead, with time to kill, the film resembles a long car ride, with McCarthy and Gillespie producing the closest approximations to excitement possible so no one realizes they’re bored. The scenes in India stuff a series of montages in between jokes about animals roaming the streets and a brief, preposterous stop at the Taj Mahal. (A Disney movie isn’t where one ought to search for nuanced multiculturalism, of course, and here, at least, both sides are reduced to stereotypes: America is baseball, luxury, and cultural insensitivity; India is spicy food, crowded streets, and poverty.) In other moments, when a montage is too clearly out of the question, the film resorts to sudden leaps in time: Anything, that is, but a stop for breath.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, Hamm is most affected—there’s a strain to his performance that suggests something about JB, perhaps, but also strips the character of any charisma. As a result, \u003cem>Million Dollar Man\u003c/em> may be the first hint that Hamm is unable to rise above mediocre material and demand our attention regardless (an essential feature of any leading Hollywood actor or actress). But before passing judgment, I’d like to see a film that lets him sit still and prove otherwise. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Million+Dollar+Arm%27+Is+A+Sales+Pitch+In+Search+Of+Stillness&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/10136232/million-dollar-arm-is-a-sales-pitch-in-search-of-stillness",
"authors": [
"byline_arts_10136232"
],
"categories": [
"arts_74"
],
"affiliates": [
"arts_137"
],
"featImg": "arts_10136235",
"label": "arts_137"
},
"arts_10135727": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_10135727",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10135727",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1400245226000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "godzilla-and-other-hollywood-monsters",
"title": "Godzilla and Other Hollywood Monsters Coming this Summer",
"publishDate": 1400245226,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Godzilla and Other Hollywood Monsters Coming this Summer | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"site": "arts"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Summer movies, by tradition and definition, are mindless guilty pleasures. We can always count on Hollywood for mindlessness, all right, but pleasure is often harder to come by. Superheroes, supervillains, sequels—blockbusters can be awfully exhausting. But there’s nothing else to do, frankly, but grab a bucket of popcorn, adjust your expectations and wade into the fray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/series/summer-arts-guide-2014/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/SummerArtsGuide-300x250-5.png\" alt=\"SummerArtsGuide-300x250-5\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-10136791\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Godzilla\u003c/em> (May 16) The original Japanese monster movie, back in the ‘50s, was born of nuclear radiation and Cold War paranoia. What fears stalk our dreams today, and rise with the beast from the depths of the ocean?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco Silent Film Festival (May 29-June 1) A pair of Soviet gems stand out among the many and varied vintage films on display: The sci-fi adventure trip \u003cem>Cosmic Voyage\u003c/em> (1936) imagines socialist space travel (talk about flights of fancy), while \u003cem>The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks\u003c/em> (1924) is an utterly delightful satire of, well, the West.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10136250\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways.jpg\" alt=\"Charlize Theron and Seth MacFarlane in <i>A Milion Ways to Die in the West</i>\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10136250\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways-400x400.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways-32x32.jpg 32w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways-64x64.jpg 64w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways-96x96.jpg 96w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways-128x128.jpg 128w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways-75x75.jpg 75w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Charlize Theron and Seth MacFarlane in \u003ci>A Milion Ways to Die in the West\u003c/i> \u003ccite>(Universal Pictures)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A Million Ways to Die in the West\u003c/em> (May 30) Seth MacFarlane chews the scenery and the sagebrush in a comedy that aims squarely for the broad side of a barn. A manically anachronistic Western crammed with expletives and sex jokes, it aspires to make Mel Brooks’ \u003cem>Blazing Saddles\u003c/em> look like Budd Boetticher’s \u003cem>Ride Lonesome\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Fault In Our Stars\u003c/em> (June 6) The inevitable screen adaptation of John Green’s widely praised teen romance stars the luminous Shailene Woodley and the gorgeous Ansel Elgort, supported by national treasures Laura Dern and Willem Dafoe. Kleenex sales will be HUGE.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>How to Train Your Dragon 2\u003c/em> (June 13) Hollywood history is filled with sequels, none of which had the tagline, “Expect the unexpected.” “More of the same” is more like it, but this children’s crowd-pleaser will likely provide enough wit and freshness to carry the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Frameline\u003c/i> (June 19-29) The San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival presents, among its many, many offerings, a pair of long-awaited documentaries by local filmmakers. Nancy Kates’ \u003cem>Regarding Susan Sontag\u003c/em> is a probing study in scarlet (and other shades) of the New York Jewish lesbian intellectual, while Jennifer Kroot’s \u003cem>To Be Takei\u003c/em> is an affectionate portrait of \u003cem>Star Trek\u003c/em> actor and activist George Takei.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Jersey Boys\u003c/em> (June 20) The high-energy doo-wop of the Four Seasons, led by Frankie Valli, leapt out of car radios in the ‘60s. Four decades later, baby boomers embraced the high-octane stage musical, which married the group’s songs to a riveting behind-the-scenes saga. The same demographic is already queuing up for Clint Eastwood’s glossy, gorgeous take.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Transformers: Age of Extinction\u003c/em> (June 27) Our bet for the loudest movie of the summer. What, you want more?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIwuCs1Yovw\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>They Came Together\u003c/em> (June 27) David Wain and Michael Showalter (\u003cem>Wet Hot American Summer\u003c/em>) send up the winsome charm and pervasive inanity of the romantic comedy in a witty spoof that could be a word-of-mouth hit among urban twenty-somethings. Immerse yourself in the collected works of Meg Ryan ahead of time to get the full effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Deliver Us From Evil\u003c/em> (July 2) A cop and a priest team up to solve a harrowing series of crimes that are freaking out seen-it-all New Yorkers (aka godless heathens). Repent before it’s too late.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Life Itself\u003c/em> (July 11) Documentary maker Steve James deftly and poignantly transposes the late, great film critic Roger Ebert’s memoir to the screen. Not exactly summer escapism, perhaps, but there are many ways to be reminded of the special joy of movies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Venus In Fur\u003c/em> (July 11) Roman Polanski’s late-career penchant for intimate dramas originally written for the stage continues with this black comedy starring his wife, Emmanuelle Seigner, as an actress and the estimable Mathieu Amalric as a director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Jupiter Ascending\u003c/em> (July 18) The Wachowski siblings offer another delirious and probably deranged slab of chromosome-determined destiny, starring Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum. It takes place in a near future where computer-generated effects still have the power to make people mutter, “Cool,” but you knew that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10136252\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Boyhood.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Boyhood.jpg\" alt=\"<i>Boyhood</i>\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10136252\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Boyhood.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Boyhood-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Boyhood-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u003ci>Boyhood\u003c/i> \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Sundance Institute)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Boyhood\u003c/em> (July 18) Richard Linklater’s unique and remarkable epic of adolescence was shot over a dozen years with the same actors. Arguably the film of the year, it’s a remarkable accomplishment with an exceptional emotional impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>San Francisco Jewish Film Festival\u003c/i> (July 24-Aug. 10) The SFJFF’s eclectic potpourri of (primarily) European, Israeli and American cinema encompasses nostalgia (20th Century culture), controversy (current perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian morass), adult comedy (the province, typically, of the U.S. and French narratives) and personal histories (from fading echoes of the Holocaust to contemporary searches for identity).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Magic in the Moonlight\u003c/em> (July 25) Woody Allen’s latest piffle trafficking in the mores and machinations of another era is set on the Cote d’Azur in the 1920s. A talented cast, including Colin Firth and Jacki Weaver, partakes of Jazz Age clothes, libations and flings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Hercules\u003c/em> (July 25) Brett Ratner directs Dwayne Johnson in a movingly profound and poetic character study of a barbaric mercenary who redeems himself by joining a just cause. Much blood is shed along the way, because you can’t get to Redemption City without going through the Valley of Death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lucy\u003c/em> (August 8) Scarlett Johansson plays an over-the-top action heroine in Luc Besson’s latest exercise in genre worship and stylized mayhem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>November Man\u003c/em> (August 27) No summer is complete without a nail-biting tale of double-crossing spooks trying to avert geopolitical catastrophe. Pierce Brosnan furrows his brow while director Roger Donaldson choreographs the fusillades and French kisses.\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "It’s the season of the witch, and the dragon, and the Transformer, and the Greek demigod, and Scarlett Johansson. Buckle up.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1726702804,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": true,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 23,
"wordCount": 998
},
"headData": {
"title": "Godzilla and Other Hollywood Monsters Coming this Summer | KQED",
"description": "It’s the season of the witch, and the dragon, and the Transformer, and the Greek demigod, and Scarlett Johansson. Buckle up.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Godzilla and Other Hollywood Monsters Coming this Summer",
"datePublished": "2014-05-16T06:00:26-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-18T16:40:04-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"sticky": false,
"path": "/arts/10135727/godzilla-and-other-hollywood-monsters",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Summer movies, by tradition and definition, are mindless guilty pleasures. We can always count on Hollywood for mindlessness, all right, but pleasure is often harder to come by. Superheroes, supervillains, sequels—blockbusters can be awfully exhausting. But there’s nothing else to do, frankly, but grab a bucket of popcorn, adjust your expectations and wade into the fray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/series/summer-arts-guide-2014/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/SummerArtsGuide-300x250-5.png\" alt=\"SummerArtsGuide-300x250-5\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-10136791\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Godzilla\u003c/em> (May 16) The original Japanese monster movie, back in the ‘50s, was born of nuclear radiation and Cold War paranoia. What fears stalk our dreams today, and rise with the beast from the depths of the ocean?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco Silent Film Festival (May 29-June 1) A pair of Soviet gems stand out among the many and varied vintage films on display: The sci-fi adventure trip \u003cem>Cosmic Voyage\u003c/em> (1936) imagines socialist space travel (talk about flights of fancy), while \u003cem>The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks\u003c/em> (1924) is an utterly delightful satire of, well, the West.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10136250\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways.jpg\" alt=\"Charlize Theron and Seth MacFarlane in <i>A Milion Ways to Die in the West</i>\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10136250\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways-400x400.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways-32x32.jpg 32w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways-64x64.jpg 64w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways-96x96.jpg 96w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways-128x128.jpg 128w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Million-ways-75x75.jpg 75w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Charlize Theron and Seth MacFarlane in \u003ci>A Milion Ways to Die in the West\u003c/i> \u003ccite>(Universal Pictures)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A Million Ways to Die in the West\u003c/em> (May 30) Seth MacFarlane chews the scenery and the sagebrush in a comedy that aims squarely for the broad side of a barn. A manically anachronistic Western crammed with expletives and sex jokes, it aspires to make Mel Brooks’ \u003cem>Blazing Saddles\u003c/em> look like Budd Boetticher’s \u003cem>Ride Lonesome\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Fault In Our Stars\u003c/em> (June 6) The inevitable screen adaptation of John Green’s widely praised teen romance stars the luminous Shailene Woodley and the gorgeous Ansel Elgort, supported by national treasures Laura Dern and Willem Dafoe. Kleenex sales will be HUGE.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>How to Train Your Dragon 2\u003c/em> (June 13) Hollywood history is filled with sequels, none of which had the tagline, “Expect the unexpected.” “More of the same” is more like it, but this children’s crowd-pleaser will likely provide enough wit and freshness to carry the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Frameline\u003c/i> (June 19-29) The San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival presents, among its many, many offerings, a pair of long-awaited documentaries by local filmmakers. Nancy Kates’ \u003cem>Regarding Susan Sontag\u003c/em> is a probing study in scarlet (and other shades) of the New York Jewish lesbian intellectual, while Jennifer Kroot’s \u003cem>To Be Takei\u003c/em> is an affectionate portrait of \u003cem>Star Trek\u003c/em> actor and activist George Takei.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Jersey Boys\u003c/em> (June 20) The high-energy doo-wop of the Four Seasons, led by Frankie Valli, leapt out of car radios in the ‘60s. Four decades later, baby boomers embraced the high-octane stage musical, which married the group’s songs to a riveting behind-the-scenes saga. The same demographic is already queuing up for Clint Eastwood’s glossy, gorgeous take.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Transformers: Age of Extinction\u003c/em> (June 27) Our bet for the loudest movie of the summer. What, you want more?\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/YIwuCs1Yovw'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/YIwuCs1Yovw'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>They Came Together\u003c/em> (June 27) David Wain and Michael Showalter (\u003cem>Wet Hot American Summer\u003c/em>) send up the winsome charm and pervasive inanity of the romantic comedy in a witty spoof that could be a word-of-mouth hit among urban twenty-somethings. Immerse yourself in the collected works of Meg Ryan ahead of time to get the full effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Deliver Us From Evil\u003c/em> (July 2) A cop and a priest team up to solve a harrowing series of crimes that are freaking out seen-it-all New Yorkers (aka godless heathens). Repent before it’s too late.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Life Itself\u003c/em> (July 11) Documentary maker Steve James deftly and poignantly transposes the late, great film critic Roger Ebert’s memoir to the screen. Not exactly summer escapism, perhaps, but there are many ways to be reminded of the special joy of movies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Venus In Fur\u003c/em> (July 11) Roman Polanski’s late-career penchant for intimate dramas originally written for the stage continues with this black comedy starring his wife, Emmanuelle Seigner, as an actress and the estimable Mathieu Amalric as a director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Jupiter Ascending\u003c/em> (July 18) The Wachowski siblings offer another delirious and probably deranged slab of chromosome-determined destiny, starring Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum. It takes place in a near future where computer-generated effects still have the power to make people mutter, “Cool,” but you knew that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10136252\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Boyhood.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Boyhood.jpg\" alt=\"<i>Boyhood</i>\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10136252\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Boyhood.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Boyhood-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Boyhood-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u003ci>Boyhood\u003c/i> \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Sundance Institute)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Boyhood\u003c/em> (July 18) Richard Linklater’s unique and remarkable epic of adolescence was shot over a dozen years with the same actors. Arguably the film of the year, it’s a remarkable accomplishment with an exceptional emotional impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>San Francisco Jewish Film Festival\u003c/i> (July 24-Aug. 10) The SFJFF’s eclectic potpourri of (primarily) European, Israeli and American cinema encompasses nostalgia (20th Century culture), controversy (current perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian morass), adult comedy (the province, typically, of the U.S. and French narratives) and personal histories (from fading echoes of the Holocaust to contemporary searches for identity).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Magic in the Moonlight\u003c/em> (July 25) Woody Allen’s latest piffle trafficking in the mores and machinations of another era is set on the Cote d’Azur in the 1920s. A talented cast, including Colin Firth and Jacki Weaver, partakes of Jazz Age clothes, libations and flings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Hercules\u003c/em> (July 25) Brett Ratner directs Dwayne Johnson in a movingly profound and poetic character study of a barbaric mercenary who redeems himself by joining a just cause. Much blood is shed along the way, because you can’t get to Redemption City without going through the Valley of Death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lucy\u003c/em> (August 8) Scarlett Johansson plays an over-the-top action heroine in Luc Besson’s latest exercise in genre worship and stylized mayhem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>November Man\u003c/em> (August 27) No summer is complete without a nail-biting tale of double-crossing spooks trying to avert geopolitical catastrophe. Pierce Brosnan furrows his brow while director Roger Donaldson choreographs the fusillades and French kisses.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/10135727/godzilla-and-other-hollywood-monsters",
"authors": [
"22"
],
"categories": [
"arts_74"
],
"tags": [
"arts_1006",
"arts_596"
],
"featImg": "arts_10136226",
"label": "arts"
},
"arts_10135739": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "arts_10135739",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "10135739",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1400158806000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {
"site": "arts"
},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1400158806,
"format": "standard",
"title": "Ex-SF Chronicle Reporter Details Life as Undocumented Resident",
"headTitle": "Ex-SF Chronicle Reporter Details Life as Undocumented Resident | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Between the summers of 2000 and 2003, a college student named \u003ca title=\"Vargas link\" href=\"http://joseantoniovargas.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jose Antonio Vargas\u003c/a> worked at the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> as an editorial assistant. Chronicle management told Vargas he could never make an immediate leap to full-time editorial staffer. Never.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vargas would disprove them. Chronicle management, in fact, promoted Vargas to full-time reporter in 2003, but along the way they asked him to fill out forms that verified his status as an American citizen. Vargas lied. He said he was in the United States legally. He presented identification that proved it. Yet the ID was a forgery, but he still signed his name under penalty of perjury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vargas told no one at the paper about his deception. Not Chronicle management, and not any colleagues – which included me. I was a full-time reporter then at the Chronicle. I was friendly with Vargas. One day in the newsroom he walked by my desk and said that the kinds of stories I was doing – stories about Arab and Muslim Americans; stories about social issues and cultural trends – were the kinds of stories he admired. Lots of people admired Vargas for being ambitious and wanting to report on articles that mattered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>http://youtu.be/SYJ28AZPxZE\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fast forward to 2014. Vargas has become a national figure in the debate over immigration reform – a polarizing activist who is doing everything he can to change people’s perception about an issue that, as debated in Congress and in state governments from Sacramento to Tallahassee, has become one of the most contentious in American politics. Vargas’ \u003ca title=\"doc link\" href=\"http://documentedthefilm.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new documentary\u003c/a>, which details his boyhood immigration to the United States from the Philippines and his life since then, humanizes his story the stories of others who entered the United States as children without legal documentation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vargas tells me he felt incredible guilt as he worked at the Chronicle under false pretense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I almost wanted to tell (the editor) who got me the job,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vargas left the Chronicle in 2004 for the \u003cem>Washington Post\u003c/em>, where he shared in a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting that killed 32 people. He joined the \u003cem>Huffington Post\u003c/em> in 2009, and then wrote an exclusive profile of Mark Zuckerberg for \u003cem>The New Yorker\u003c/em> – the culmination of a meteoric rise in mainstream journalism that saw Vargas interviewed regularly on cable news shows. He was still only 29 years old and his career was really just getting started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Except that Vargas also lied about his immigration status to every other employer, telling only a senior editorial staffer at the \u003cem>Washington Post\u003c/em>, who kept Vargas’ admission a secret. Vargas would out himself in a 4,000-word \u003cem>New York Times Magazine\u003c/em> \u003ca title=\"nyt link\" href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/magazine/my-life-as-an-undocumented-immigrant.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0\">cover story\u003c/a> in 2011.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His mother, he wrote in the piece, had sent him to the United States on an airplane to live with her parents in Mountain View. Vargas, who flew from Manilla, had been all of 12 years old. He assumed he was flying to the U.S. with everything in order. Neither his mother nor his grandparents told him the truth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>Documented\u003c/em>, he says he first realized his status when he tried, as a teenager, to get a driver’s license with the Department of Motor Vehicles, using what he thought was a valid green card. A DMV official told Vargas his green card was a fake. Vargas’ grandfather admonished him for putting himself at legal risk. It was at the Chronicle that Vargas first took on the lies himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was duped,” Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein wrote just hours after Vargas’ \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> essay appeared online. “I once hired an illegal immigrant to be a reporter for the Chronicle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the scene in \u003cem>Documented\u003c/em> where he admits to deceiving the Chronicle by falsifying a form, Vargas tells me: “I didn’t even show it to my lawyers, because I knew for them, it would be like, ‘Take that out of the film.’ “ Adds Vargas: “What is the point of my coming out and trying to have an honest conversation about immigration reform if I’m not honest about my own culpability? I lied to my employers. I lied to my friends. I lied to my own family members. And guess what? I had to lie to myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas3.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-10135744\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas3-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"g9510.20_Immigration.cover\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas3-225x300.jpg 225w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas3-400x533.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas3.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\">\u003c/a>After Vargas’ \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> essay appeared in 2011, he wrote a cover story for \u003cem>TIME\u003c/em> magazine, for which he appeared on the cover, along with other young Americans who were raised in the United States but don’t have legal papers to be here. Like Vargas, they think of themselves as proud Americans but aren’t legally entitled to be here (though that would change if Congress ever passes the Dream Act.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of his success as a journalist, and his continuing high profile, Vargas is often the first undocumented American that people meet in person. Vargas is speaking at many places where \u003cem>Documented\u003c/em> is screening, including those being held at San Francisco’s Roxie Theater on Friday night. He has spoke in rural parts of the United States to “preach beyond the choir.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For too many people (including journalists), immigration reform is an academic exercise — an issue they can mull over in their head but never have to confront personally. One of the more moving scenes in \u003cem>Documented\u003c/em> comes when Vargas is in the American south and interviewing someone in public – only to be interrupted by a different man who seems drunk and racist. The drunkard thinks all undocumented Americans should be deported. “You need to get your ass on,” he says. But then Vargas tells the drunkard about paying taxes for most of his life, and about his Pulitzer Prize-winning career. The man suddenly relents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the documentary, Vargas also films himself at a Mitt Romney campaign rally during the 2012 presidential campaign. Vargas is holding a large sign that says: “I am an American w/o papers.” Romney tells the assembled that all undocumented Americans should be forced to leave the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By becoming an activist on the issue of immigration, Vargas leaves behind the idea of “objective journalism,” which he’s happy to do, he says. Vargas has established an organization, \u003ca title=\"org link\" href=\"http://www.defineamerican.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Define American\u003c/a>, that has sought to shift the terms of the debate over language like “illegal immigrant.” He prefers the term “undocumented immigrant.” The film goes in-depth into Vargas’ difficult relationship with his mother, who has stayed behind in the Philippines. For years, Vargas refused to open her letters. Vargas plans to move back to the Bay Area from New York by the end of this year, then split his time between here and Los Angeles. He could still be deported at any time, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10135745\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10135745\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas2-300x168.jpg\" alt=\"Jose Antonio Vargas testifies in front of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas2-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas2-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas2.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jose Antonio Vargas testifies in front of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m still undocumented,” Vargas tells me. “In theory,” he says, U.S. authorities could go after him at any time. In \u003cem>Documented\u003c/em>, he calls the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service and asks about his case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was an interesting scene,” he says. “At one point, I said, ‘I’m on deadline. I need a comment.’ And the woman on the line said, ‘We can’t comment on your case. No comment.’ I started thinking, ‘Isn’t that a metaphor for how the American public in general thinks of us? They all know we’re here. You know the economy would collapse without us. And you know that we’re completely integrated into all areas of American society.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Jose Antonio Vargas’ documentary, Documented, \u003ca title=\"2nd Roxie link\" href=\"http://www.roxie.com/ai1ec_event/documented/?instance_id=2366\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">opens Friday, May 16, at the Roxie\u003c/a> in San Francisco, and at other Bay Area theaters. Vargas will appear in person for the Roxie’s 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. screenings on Friday, May 16.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 1365,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 22
},
"modified": 1705048961,
"excerpt": "Jose Antonio Vargas went from being an editorial assistant at the \u003ci>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/i> to sharing a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter at the Washington Post. One thing he didn't report on during his rise in the journalism world was his lack of citizenship.",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "Jose Antonio Vargas went from being an editorial assistant at the San Francisco Chronicle to sharing a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter at the Washington Post. One thing he didn't report on during his rise in the journalism world was his lack of citizenship.",
"title": "Ex-SF Chronicle Reporter Details Life as Undocumented Resident | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Ex-SF Chronicle Reporter Details Life as Undocumented Resident",
"datePublished": "2014-05-15T06:00:06-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-01-12T00:42:41-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"guestAuthors": [
{
"userLogin": "jonathan-curiel",
"firstName": "Jonathan",
"lastName": "Curiel",
"website": "",
"displayName": "Jonathan Curiel",
"linkedAccount": "jcuriel",
"nickname": "",
"description": "Jonathan Curiel has written widely about music, film, books, art, photography and other cultural subjects. \u003ci>SF Weekly's\u003c/i> art critic, he is a former staff writer with the \u003ci>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/i>, and has also written on the arts for \u003ca href=\"http://www.salon.com/\">Salon\u003c/a>, the \u003ci>Christian Science Monitor\u003c/i>, \u003ci>The Wire\u003c/i> (a London music magazine), \u003ci>Tablet\u003c/i> and \u003ci>GlobalPost\u003c/i>. He has researched architecture at England's Oxford University, taught music journalism at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, and been a juror at the San Francisco International Film Festival.",
"userEmail": "jonathancuriel@hotmail.com",
"ID": "128435",
"type": "guest-author",
"userNicename": "jonathan-curiel"
}
],
"slug": "ex-sf-chronicle-reporters-details-life-as-undocumented-resident",
"status": "publish",
"sticky": false,
"path": "/arts/10135739/ex-sf-chronicle-reporters-details-life-as-undocumented-resident",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Between the summers of 2000 and 2003, a college student named \u003ca title=\"Vargas link\" href=\"http://joseantoniovargas.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jose Antonio Vargas\u003c/a> worked at the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> as an editorial assistant. Chronicle management told Vargas he could never make an immediate leap to full-time editorial staffer. Never.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vargas would disprove them. Chronicle management, in fact, promoted Vargas to full-time reporter in 2003, but along the way they asked him to fill out forms that verified his status as an American citizen. Vargas lied. He said he was in the United States legally. He presented identification that proved it. Yet the ID was a forgery, but he still signed his name under penalty of perjury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vargas told no one at the paper about his deception. Not Chronicle management, and not any colleagues – which included me. I was a full-time reporter then at the Chronicle. I was friendly with Vargas. One day in the newsroom he walked by my desk and said that the kinds of stories I was doing – stories about Arab and Muslim Americans; stories about social issues and cultural trends – were the kinds of stories he admired. Lots of people admired Vargas for being ambitious and wanting to report on articles that mattered.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/SYJ28AZPxZE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/SYJ28AZPxZE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Fast forward to 2014. Vargas has become a national figure in the debate over immigration reform – a polarizing activist who is doing everything he can to change people’s perception about an issue that, as debated in Congress and in state governments from Sacramento to Tallahassee, has become one of the most contentious in American politics. Vargas’ \u003ca title=\"doc link\" href=\"http://documentedthefilm.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new documentary\u003c/a>, which details his boyhood immigration to the United States from the Philippines and his life since then, humanizes his story the stories of others who entered the United States as children without legal documentation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vargas tells me he felt incredible guilt as he worked at the Chronicle under false pretense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I almost wanted to tell (the editor) who got me the job,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vargas left the Chronicle in 2004 for the \u003cem>Washington Post\u003c/em>, where he shared in a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting that killed 32 people. He joined the \u003cem>Huffington Post\u003c/em> in 2009, and then wrote an exclusive profile of Mark Zuckerberg for \u003cem>The New Yorker\u003c/em> – the culmination of a meteoric rise in mainstream journalism that saw Vargas interviewed regularly on cable news shows. He was still only 29 years old and his career was really just getting started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Except that Vargas also lied about his immigration status to every other employer, telling only a senior editorial staffer at the \u003cem>Washington Post\u003c/em>, who kept Vargas’ admission a secret. Vargas would out himself in a 4,000-word \u003cem>New York Times Magazine\u003c/em> \u003ca title=\"nyt link\" href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/magazine/my-life-as-an-undocumented-immigrant.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0\">cover story\u003c/a> in 2011.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His mother, he wrote in the piece, had sent him to the United States on an airplane to live with her parents in Mountain View. Vargas, who flew from Manilla, had been all of 12 years old. He assumed he was flying to the U.S. with everything in order. Neither his mother nor his grandparents told him the truth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>Documented\u003c/em>, he says he first realized his status when he tried, as a teenager, to get a driver’s license with the Department of Motor Vehicles, using what he thought was a valid green card. A DMV official told Vargas his green card was a fake. Vargas’ grandfather admonished him for putting himself at legal risk. It was at the Chronicle that Vargas first took on the lies himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was duped,” Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein wrote just hours after Vargas’ \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> essay appeared online. “I once hired an illegal immigrant to be a reporter for the Chronicle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the scene in \u003cem>Documented\u003c/em> where he admits to deceiving the Chronicle by falsifying a form, Vargas tells me: “I didn’t even show it to my lawyers, because I knew for them, it would be like, ‘Take that out of the film.’ “ Adds Vargas: “What is the point of my coming out and trying to have an honest conversation about immigration reform if I’m not honest about my own culpability? I lied to my employers. I lied to my friends. I lied to my own family members. And guess what? I had to lie to myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas3.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-10135744\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas3-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"g9510.20_Immigration.cover\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas3-225x300.jpg 225w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas3-400x533.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas3.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\">\u003c/a>After Vargas’ \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> essay appeared in 2011, he wrote a cover story for \u003cem>TIME\u003c/em> magazine, for which he appeared on the cover, along with other young Americans who were raised in the United States but don’t have legal papers to be here. Like Vargas, they think of themselves as proud Americans but aren’t legally entitled to be here (though that would change if Congress ever passes the Dream Act.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of his success as a journalist, and his continuing high profile, Vargas is often the first undocumented American that people meet in person. Vargas is speaking at many places where \u003cem>Documented\u003c/em> is screening, including those being held at San Francisco’s Roxie Theater on Friday night. He has spoke in rural parts of the United States to “preach beyond the choir.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For too many people (including journalists), immigration reform is an academic exercise — an issue they can mull over in their head but never have to confront personally. One of the more moving scenes in \u003cem>Documented\u003c/em> comes when Vargas is in the American south and interviewing someone in public – only to be interrupted by a different man who seems drunk and racist. The drunkard thinks all undocumented Americans should be deported. “You need to get your ass on,” he says. But then Vargas tells the drunkard about paying taxes for most of his life, and about his Pulitzer Prize-winning career. The man suddenly relents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the documentary, Vargas also films himself at a Mitt Romney campaign rally during the 2012 presidential campaign. Vargas is holding a large sign that says: “I am an American w/o papers.” Romney tells the assembled that all undocumented Americans should be forced to leave the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By becoming an activist on the issue of immigration, Vargas leaves behind the idea of “objective journalism,” which he’s happy to do, he says. Vargas has established an organization, \u003ca title=\"org link\" href=\"http://www.defineamerican.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Define American\u003c/a>, that has sought to shift the terms of the debate over language like “illegal immigrant.” He prefers the term “undocumented immigrant.” The film goes in-depth into Vargas’ difficult relationship with his mother, who has stayed behind in the Philippines. For years, Vargas refused to open her letters. Vargas plans to move back to the Bay Area from New York by the end of this year, then split his time between here and Los Angeles. He could still be deported at any time, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10135745\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10135745\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas2-300x168.jpg\" alt=\"Jose Antonio Vargas testifies in front of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas2-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas2-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/05/Vargas2.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jose Antonio Vargas testifies in front of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m still undocumented,” Vargas tells me. “In theory,” he says, U.S. authorities could go after him at any time. In \u003cem>Documented\u003c/em>, he calls the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service and asks about his case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was an interesting scene,” he says. “At one point, I said, ‘I’m on deadline. I need a comment.’ And the woman on the line said, ‘We can’t comment on your case. No comment.’ I started thinking, ‘Isn’t that a metaphor for how the American public in general thinks of us? They all know we’re here. You know the economy would collapse without us. And you know that we’re completely integrated into all areas of American society.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Jose Antonio Vargas’ documentary, Documented, \u003ca title=\"2nd Roxie link\" href=\"http://www.roxie.com/ai1ec_event/documented/?instance_id=2366\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">opens Friday, May 16, at the Roxie\u003c/a> in San Francisco, and at other Bay Area theaters. Vargas will appear in person for the Roxie’s 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. screenings on Friday, May 16.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/arts/10135739/ex-sf-chronicle-reporters-details-life-as-undocumented-resident",
"authors": [
"128435"
],
"categories": [
"arts_74"
],
"featImg": "arts_10135742",
"label": "arts"
}
},
"podcastsReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"podcasts": {}
},
"radioProgramsReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"radioPrograms": {}
},
"radioSearchSegmentsReducer": {},
"programsReducer": {
"all-things-considered": {
"id": "all-things-considered",
"title": "All Things Considered",
"info": "Every weekday, \u003cem>All Things Considered\u003c/em> hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro, and Kelly McEvers present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features. Michel Martin hosts on the weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 1pm-2pm, 4:30pm-6:30pm\u003cbr />SAT-SUN 5pm-6pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/All-Things-Considered-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/all-things-considered"
},
"american-suburb-podcast": {
"id": "american-suburb-podcast",
"title": "American Suburb: The Podcast",
"tagline": "The flip side of gentrification, told through one town",
"info": "Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/American-Suburb-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/american-suburb-podcast",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 19
},
"link": "/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=1287748328",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/American-Suburb-p1086805/",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/feed/podcast",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMzMDExODgxNjA5"
}
},
"baycurious": {
"id": "baycurious",
"title": "Bay Curious",
"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Bay Curious",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/baycurious",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 3
},
"link": "/podcasts/baycurious",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/category/bay-curious-podcast/feed/podcast",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9a90d476-aa04-455d-9a4c-0871ed6216d4/bay-curious",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/bay-curious",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/6O76IdmhixfijmhTZLIJ8k"
}
},
"bbc-world-service": {
"id": "bbc-world-service",
"title": "BBC World Service",
"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "BBC World Service"
},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-news-podcast/id135067274?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/",
"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
}
},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The California Report",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-the-california-report/id79681292",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/26099305-72af-4542-9dde-ac1807fe36d5/kqed-s-the-california-report",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432285393/the-california-report",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-the-california-report-podcast-8838",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcram/feed/podcast"
}
},
"californiareportmagazine": {
"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Magazine-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The California Report Magazine",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 10
},
"link": "/californiareportmagazine",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-california-report-magazine/id1314750545",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/564733126/the-california-report-magazine",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-california-report-magazine",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcrmag/feed/podcast"
}
},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
"title": "Close All Tabs",
"tagline": "Your irreverent guide to the trends redefining our world",
"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/CAT_2_Tile-scaled.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Close All Tabs",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 1
},
"link": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/close-all-tabs/id214663465",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC6993880386",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/92d9d4ac-67a3-4eed-b10a-fb45d45b1ef2/close-all-tabs",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/6LAJFHnGK1pYXYzv6SIol6?si=deb0cae19813417c"
}
},
"code-switch-life-kit": {
"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
"airtime": "SUN 9pm-10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Code-Switch-Life-Kit-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/code-switch-life-kit",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/1112190608?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3bExJ9JQpkwNhoHvaIIuyV",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510312/podcast.xml"
}
},
"commonwealth-club": {
"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Commonwealth-Club-of-California-p1060/"
}
},
"forum": {
"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/forum",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
"link": "/forum",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-forum/id73329719",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432307980/forum",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-forum-podcast",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9557381633"
}
},
"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 7pm-8pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Fresh-Air-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Fresh-Air-p17/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
}
},
"here-and-now": {
"id": "here-and-now",
"title": "Here & Now",
"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
"airtime": "MON-THU 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Here-And-Now-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/here-and-now",
"subsdcribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=426698661",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Here--Now-p211/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
}
},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/hiddenbrain.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-brain/id1028908750?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Hidden-Brain-p787503/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510308/podcast.xml"
}
},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/How-I-Built-This-p910896/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
}
},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
"imageAlt": "KQED Hyphenación",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hyphenaci%C3%B3n/id1191591838",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
"youtube": "https://www.youtube.com/c/kqedarts",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/6c3dd23c-93fb-4aab-97ba-1725fa6315f1/hyphenaci%C3%B3n",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
}
},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/790253322/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/jerrybrown/feed/podcast/",
"tuneIn": "http://tun.in/pjGcK",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/54C1dmuyFyKMFttY6X2j6r?si=K8SgRCoISNK6ZbjpXrX5-w",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/44420f75-3b0e-4301-ab3b-16da6b09e543/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown"
}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/xtTd",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Latino-USA-p621/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201853034&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/APM-Marketplace-p88/",
"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"
}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/onourwatch",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0OLWoyizopu6tY1XiuX70x",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-Our-Watch-p1436229/",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Perspectives",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id73801135",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"
}
},
"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/sections/money/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/M4f5",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/Planet-Money-p164680/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
}
},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Political Breakdown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/political-breakdown/id1327641087",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0c2d153-ad36-4c8d-901d-f1da6a724824/political-breakdown",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/572155894/political-breakdown",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/political-breakdown",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/07RVyIjIdk2WDuVehvBMoN",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/political-breakdown/feed/podcast"
}
},
"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/possible/id1677184070",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
}
},
"pri-the-world": {
"id": "pri-the-world",
"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pri.org/programs/the-world",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "PRI"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pri-the-world",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pris-the-world-latest-edition/id278196007?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/PRIs-The-World-p24/",
"rss": "http://feeds.feedburner.com/pri/theworld"
}
},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
"airtime": "SUN 12am-1am, SAT 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/radiolab1400.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/radiolab/",
"meta": {
"site": "science",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/radiolab",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radiolab/id152249110?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/RadioLab-p68032/",
"rss": "https://feeds.wnyc.org/radiolab"
}
},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
"airtime": "SAT 4pm-5pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/reveal300px.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/reveal",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/reveal/id886009669",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Reveal-p679597/",
"rss": "http://feeds.revealradio.org/revealpodcast"
}
},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rightnowish-Podcast-Tile-500x500-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Rightnowish with Pendarvis Harshaw",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/rightnowish",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 16
},
"link": "/podcasts/rightnowish",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/programs/rightnowish/feed/podcast",
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMxMjU5MTY3NDc4",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I"
}
},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
"title": "Science Friday",
"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
"airtime": "FRI 11am-1pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Science-Friday-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/science-friday",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/science-friday",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=73329284&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Science-Friday-p394/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/science-friday"
}
},
"snap-judgment": {
"id": "snap-judgment",
"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
"airtime": "SAT 1pm-2pm, 9pm-10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Snap-Judgment-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Snap Judgment",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://snapjudgment.org",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 4
},
"link": "https://snapjudgment.org",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/snap-judgment/id283657561",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/449018144/snap-judgment",
"stitcher": "https://www.pandora.com/podcast/snap-judgment/PC:241?source=stitcher-sunset",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3Cct7ZWmxHNAtLgBTqjC5v",
"rss": "https://snap.feed.snapjudgment.org/"
}
},
"soldout": {
"id": "soldout",
"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
"info": "Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Sold-Out-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/soldout",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 13
},
"link": "/podcasts/soldout",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/911586047/s-o-l-d-o-u-t-a-new-future-for-housing",
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/introducing-sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america/id1531354937",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/soldout",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/38dTBSk2ISFoPiyYNoKn1X",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america",
"tunein": "https://tunein.com/radio/SOLD-OUT-Rethinking-Housing-in-America-p1365871/"
}
},
"spooked": {
"id": "spooked",
"title": "Spooked",
"tagline": "True-life supernatural stories",
"info": "",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Spooked-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Spooked",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://spookedpodcast.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 7
},
"link": "https://spookedpodcast.org/",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spooked/id1279361017",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/549547848/snap-judgment-presents-spooked",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/76571Rfl3m7PLJQZKQIGCT",
"rss": "https://feeds.simplecast.com/TBotaapn"
}
},
"tech-nation": {
"id": "tech-nation",
"title": "Tech Nation Radio Podcast",
"info": "Tech Nation is a weekly public radio program, hosted by Dr. Moira Gunn. Founded in 1993, it has grown from a simple interview show to a multi-faceted production, featuring conversations with noted technology and science leaders, and a weekly science and technology-related commentary.",
"airtime": "FRI 10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Tech-Nation-Radio-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://technation.podomatic.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "science",
"source": "Tech Nation Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/tech-nation",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://technation.podomatic.com/rss2.xml"
}
},
"ted-radio-hour": {
"id": "ted-radio-hour",
"title": "TED Radio Hour",
"info": "The TED Radio Hour is a journey through fascinating ideas, astonishing inventions, fresh approaches to old problems, and new ways to think and create.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm, SAT 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/tedRadioHour.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/?showDate=2018-06-22",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/ted-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/8vsS",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=523121474&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/TED-Radio-Hour-p418021/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510298/podcast.xml"
}
},
"thebay": {
"id": "thebay",
"title": "The Bay",
"tagline": "Local news to keep you rooted",
"info": "Host Devin Katayama walks you through the biggest story of the day with reporters and newsmakers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Bay-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Bay",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/thebay",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 2
},
"link": "/podcasts/thebay",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bay/id1350043452",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d800ea4c-7a2c-42f2-b861-edaf78a5db0b/the-bay",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/586725995/the-bay",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-bay",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/4BIKBKIujizLHlIlBNaAqQ",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC8259786327"
}
},
"thelatest": {
"id": "thelatest",
"title": "The Latest",
"tagline": "Trusted local news in real time",
"info": "",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/The-Latest-2025-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Latest",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/thelatest",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 6
},
"link": "/thelatest",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-latest-from-kqed/id1197721799",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/1257949365/the-latest-from-k-q-e-d",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/5KIIXMgM9GTi5AepwOYvIZ?si=bd3053fec7244dba",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9137121918"
}
},
"theleap": {
"id": "theleap",
"title": "The Leap",
"tagline": "What if you closed your eyes, and jumped?",
"info": "Stories about people making dramatic, risky changes, told by award-winning public radio reporter Judy Campbell.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Leap-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Leap",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/theleap",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 17
},
"link": "/podcasts/theleap",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-leap/id1046668171",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/447248267/the-leap",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-leap",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3sSlVHHzU0ytLwuGs1SD1U",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/programs/the-leap/feed/podcast"
}
},
"the-moth-radio-hour": {
"id": "the-moth-radio-hour",
"title": "The Moth Radio Hour",
"info": "Since its launch in 1997, The Moth has presented thousands of true stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. Moth storytellers stand alone, under a spotlight, with only a microphone and a roomful of strangers. The storyteller and the audience embark on a high-wire act of shared experience which is both terrifying and exhilarating. Since 2008, The Moth podcast has featured many of our favorite stories told live on Moth stages around the country. For information on all of our programs and live events, visit themoth.org.",
"airtime": "SAT 8pm-9pm and SUN 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/theMoth.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://themoth.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "prx"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-moth-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-moth-podcast/id275699983?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/The-Moth-p273888/",
"rss": "http://feeds.themoth.org/themothpodcast"
}
},
"the-new-yorker-radio-hour": {
"id": "the-new-yorker-radio-hour",
"title": "The New Yorker Radio Hour",
"info": "The New Yorker Radio Hour is a weekly program presented by the magazine's editor, David Remnick, and produced by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker. Each episode features a diverse mix of interviews, profiles, storytelling, and an occasional burst of humor inspired by the magazine, and shaped by its writers, artists, and editors. This isn't a radio version of a magazine, but something all its own, reflecting the rich possibilities of audio storytelling and conversation. Theme music for the show was composed and performed by Merrill Garbus of tUnE-YArDs.",
"airtime": "SAT 10am-11am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-New-Yorker-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/tnyradiohour",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-new-yorker-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1050430296",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/New-Yorker-Radio-Hour-p803804/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/newyorkerradiohour"
}
},
"the-sam-sanders-show": {
"id": "the-sam-sanders-show",
"title": "The Sam Sanders Show",
"info": "One of public radio's most dynamic voices, Sam Sanders helped launch The NPR Politics Podcast and hosted NPR's hit show It's Been A Minute. Now, the award-winning host returns with something brand new, The Sam Sanders Show. Every week, Sam Sanders and friends dig into the culture that shapes our lives: what's driving the biggest trends, how artists really think, and even the memes you can't stop scrolling past. Sam is beloved for his way of unpacking the world and bringing you up close to fresh currents and engaging conversations. The Sam Sanders Show is smart, funny and always a good time.",
"airtime": "FRI 12-1pm AND SAT 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Sam-Sanders-Show-Podcast-Tile-400x400-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.kcrw.com/shows/the-sam-sanders-show/latest",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "KCRW"
},
"link": "https://www.kcrw.com/shows/the-sam-sanders-show/latest",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://feed.cdnstream1.com/zjb/feed/download/ac/28/59/ac28594c-e1d0-4231-8728-61865cdc80e8.xml"
}
},
"the-splendid-table": {
"id": "the-splendid-table",
"title": "The Splendid Table",
"info": "\u003cem>The Splendid Table\u003c/em> hosts our nation's conversations about cooking, sustainability and food culture.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Splendid-Table-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.splendidtable.org/",
"airtime": "SUN 10-11 pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-splendid-table"
},
"this-american-life": {
"id": "this-american-life",
"title": "This American Life",
"info": "This American Life is a weekly public radio show, heard by 2.2 million people on more than 500 stations. Another 2.5 million people download the weekly podcast. It is hosted by Ira Glass, produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards.",
"airtime": "SAT 12pm-1pm, 7pm-8pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/thisAmericanLife.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.thisamericanlife.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wbez"
},
"link": "/radio/program/this-american-life",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201671138&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"rss": "https://www.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/rss.xml"
}
},
"tinydeskradio": {
"id": "tinydeskradio",
"title": "Tiny Desk Radio",
"info": "We're bringing the best of Tiny Desk to the airwaves, only on public radio.",
"airtime": "SUN 8pm and SAT 9pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/300x300-For-Member-Station-Logo-Tiny-Desk-Radio-@2x.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/g-s1-52030/tiny-desk-radio",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/tinydeskradio",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/g-s1-52030/rss.xml"
}
},
"wait-wait-dont-tell-me": {
"id": "wait-wait-dont-tell-me",
"title": "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!",
"info": "Peter Sagal and Bill Kurtis host the weekly NPR News quiz show alongside some of the best and brightest news and entertainment personalities.",
"airtime": "SUN 10am-11am, SAT 11am-12pm, SAT 6pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Wait-Wait-Podcast-Tile-300x300-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/wait-wait-dont-tell-me",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/Xogv",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=121493804&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Wait-Wait-Dont-Tell-Me-p46/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/344098539/podcast.xml"
}
},
"weekend-edition-saturday": {
"id": "weekend-edition-saturday",
"title": "Weekend Edition Saturday",
"info": "Weekend Edition Saturday wraps up the week's news and offers a mix of analysis and features on a wide range of topics, including arts, sports, entertainment, and human interest stories. The two-hour program is hosted by NPR's Peabody Award-winning Scott Simon.",
"airtime": "SAT 5am-10am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-saturday/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/weekend-edition-saturday"
},
"weekend-edition-sunday": {
"id": "weekend-edition-sunday",
"title": "Weekend Edition Sunday",
"info": "Weekend Edition Sunday features interviews with newsmakers, artists, scientists, politicians, musicians, writers, theologians and historians. The program has covered news events from Nelson Mandela's 1990 release from a South African prison to the capture of Saddam Hussein.",
"airtime": "SUN 5am-10am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-sunday/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/weekend-edition-sunday"
}
},
"racesReducer": {},
"racesGenElectionReducer": {},
"racesGenElection2026Reducer": {},
"radioSchedulesReducer": {},
"listsReducer": {
"posts/arts?category=movies": {
"isFetching": false,
"latestQuery": {
"from": 2664,
"size": 12
},
"vitalsOnly": false,
"totalRequested": 12,
"isLoading": false,
"isLoadingMore": true,
"total": {
"value": 3243,
"relation": "eq"
},
"items": [
"arts_10136920",
"arts_10136690",
"arts_10136631",
"arts_10136625",
"arts_10136590",
"arts_10136583",
"arts_10136354",
"arts_10136343",
"pop_12162",
"arts_10136232",
"arts_10135727",
"arts_10135739"
],
"complete": true
}
},
"recallGuideReducer": {
"intros": {},
"policy": {},
"candidates": {}
},
"savedArticleReducer": {
"articles": [],
"status": {}
},
"newslettersReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"newsletters": {},
"isSubscribing": false,
"isUnsubscribing": false,
"subscribedNewsletters": {}
},
"termsReducer": {
"about": {
"name": "About",
"type": "terms",
"id": "about",
"slug": "about",
"link": "/about",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"arts": {
"name": "Arts & Culture",
"grouping": [
"arts",
"pop",
"trulyca"
],
"description": "KQED Arts provides daily in-depth coverage of the Bay Area's music, art, film, performing arts, literature and arts news, as well as cultural commentary and criticism.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts",
"slug": "arts",
"link": "/arts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"artschool": {
"name": "Art School",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "artschool",
"slug": "artschool",
"link": "/artschool",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"bayareabites": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "bayareabites",
"slug": "bayareabites",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"bayareahiphop": {
"name": "Bay Area Hiphop",
"type": "terms",
"id": "bayareahiphop",
"slug": "bayareahiphop",
"link": "/bayareahiphop",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"campaign21": {
"name": "Campaign 21",
"type": "terms",
"id": "campaign21",
"slug": "campaign21",
"link": "/campaign21",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"careers": {
"name": "Careers",
"type": "terms",
"id": "careers",
"slug": "careers",
"link": "/careers",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"checkplease": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "checkplease",
"slug": "checkplease",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"education": {
"name": "Education",
"grouping": [
"education"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "education",
"slug": "education",
"link": "/education",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"elections": {
"name": "Elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "elections",
"slug": "elections",
"link": "/elections",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"events": {
"name": "Events",
"type": "terms",
"id": "events",
"slug": "events",
"link": "/events",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"event": {
"name": "Event",
"alias": "events",
"type": "terms",
"id": "event",
"slug": "event",
"link": "/event",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"filmschoolshorts": {
"name": "Film School Shorts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "filmschoolshorts",
"slug": "filmschoolshorts",
"link": "/filmschoolshorts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"food": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "food",
"slug": "food",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"forum": {
"name": "Forum",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/forum?",
"parent": "news",
"type": "terms",
"id": "forum",
"slug": "forum",
"link": "/forum",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"futureofyou": {
"name": "Future of You",
"grouping": [
"science",
"futureofyou"
],
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "futureofyou",
"slug": "futureofyou",
"link": "/futureofyou",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"jpepinheart": {
"name": "KQED food",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/food,bayareabites,checkplease",
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "jpepinheart",
"slug": "jpepinheart",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"liveblog": {
"name": "Live Blog",
"type": "terms",
"id": "liveblog",
"slug": "liveblog",
"link": "/liveblog",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"livetv": {
"name": "Live TV",
"parent": "tv",
"type": "terms",
"id": "livetv",
"slug": "livetv",
"link": "/livetv",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"lowdown": {
"name": "The Lowdown",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/lowdown?",
"parent": "news",
"type": "terms",
"id": "lowdown",
"slug": "lowdown",
"link": "/lowdown",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"mindshift": {
"name": "Mindshift",
"parent": "news",
"description": "MindShift explores the future of education by highlighting the innovative – and sometimes counterintuitive – ways educators and parents are helping all children succeed.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift",
"slug": "mindshift",
"link": "/mindshift",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"news": {
"name": "News",
"grouping": [
"news",
"forum"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "news",
"slug": "news",
"link": "/news",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"newsletters": {
"name": "newsletters",
"type": "terms",
"id": "newsletters",
"slug": "newsletters",
"link": "/newsletters",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"perspectives": {
"name": "Perspectives",
"parent": "radio",
"type": "terms",
"id": "perspectives",
"slug": "perspectives",
"link": "/perspectives",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"podcasts": {
"name": "Podcasts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "podcasts",
"slug": "podcasts",
"link": "/podcasts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"pop": {
"name": "Pop",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "pop",
"slug": "pop",
"link": "/pop",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"pressroom": {
"name": "Pressroom",
"type": "terms",
"id": "pressroom",
"slug": "pressroom",
"link": "/pressroom",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"quest": {
"name": "Quest",
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "quest",
"slug": "quest",
"link": "/quest",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"radio": {
"name": "Radio",
"grouping": [
"forum",
"perspectives"
],
"description": "Listen to KQED Public Radio – home of Forum and The California Report – on 88.5 FM in San Francisco, 89.3 FM in Sacramento, 88.3 FM in Santa Rosa and 88.1 FM in Martinez.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "radio",
"slug": "radio",
"link": "/radio",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"root": {
"name": "KQED",
"image": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"imageWidth": 1200,
"imageHeight": 630,
"headData": {
"title": "KQED | News, Radio, Podcasts, TV | Public Media for Northern California",
"description": "KQED provides public radio, television, and independent reporting on issues that matter to the Bay Area. We’re the NPR and PBS member station for Northern California."
},
"type": "terms",
"id": "root",
"slug": "root",
"link": "/root",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"science": {
"name": "Science",
"grouping": [
"science",
"futureofyou"
],
"description": "KQED Science brings you award-winning science and environment coverage from the Bay Area and beyond.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "science",
"slug": "science",
"link": "/science",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"stateofhealth": {
"name": "State of Health",
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "stateofhealth",
"slug": "stateofhealth",
"link": "/stateofhealth",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"support": {
"name": "Support",
"type": "terms",
"id": "support",
"slug": "support",
"link": "/support",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"thedolist": {
"name": "The Do List",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "thedolist",
"slug": "thedolist",
"link": "/thedolist",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"trulyca": {
"name": "Truly CA",
"grouping": [
"arts",
"pop",
"trulyca"
],
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "trulyca",
"slug": "trulyca",
"link": "/trulyca",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"tv": {
"name": "TV",
"type": "terms",
"id": "tv",
"slug": "tv",
"link": "/tv",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"voterguide": {
"name": "Voter Guide",
"parent": "elections",
"alias": "elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "voterguide",
"slug": "voterguide",
"link": "/voterguide",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"guiaelectoral": {
"name": "Guia Electoral",
"parent": "elections",
"alias": "elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "guiaelectoral",
"slug": "guiaelectoral",
"link": "/guiaelectoral",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"arts_category_movies": {
"isLoading": true
},
"arts_74": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_74",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "74",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Movies",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Movies Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 75,
"slug": "movies",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/category/movies"
},
"arts_69": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_69",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "69",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Music",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Music Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 70,
"slug": "music",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/category/music"
},
"arts_137": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_137",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "137",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/04/logo-npr-lg1.png",
"name": "NPR",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "affiliate",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "NPR Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 138,
"slug": "npr",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/affiliate/npr"
},
"arts_235": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_235",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "235",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "News",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "News Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 236,
"slug": "news",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/category/news"
},
"pop_51": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "pop_51",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "pop",
"id": "51",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Movies",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Movies Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 51,
"slug": "movies",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/pop/category/movies"
},
"pop_1562": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "pop_1562",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "pop",
"id": "1562",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "godzilla",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "godzilla Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1566,
"slug": "godzilla",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/pop/tag/godzilla"
},
"arts_1006": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_1006",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "1006",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "guide",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "guide Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1023,
"slug": "guide",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/guide"
},
"arts_596": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts_596",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "arts",
"id": "596",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "ntv",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "ntv Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 602,
"slug": "ntv",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/arts/tag/ntv"
}
},
"userPermissionsReducer": {
"wpLoggedIn": false
},
"eventsReducer": {},
"fssReducer": {},
"tvDailyScheduleReducer": {},
"tvWeeklyScheduleReducer": {},
"tvPrimetimeScheduleReducer": {},
"tvMonthlyScheduleReducer": {},
"userAccountReducer": {
"user": {
"email": null,
"emailStatus": "EMAIL_UNVALIDATED",
"loggedStatus": "LOGGED_OUT",
"loggingChecked": false,
"articles": [],
"firstName": null,
"lastName": null,
"phoneNumber": null,
"fetchingMembership": false,
"membershipError": false,
"memberships": [
{
"id": null,
"startDate": null,
"firstName": null,
"lastName": null,
"familyNumber": null,
"memberNumber": null,
"memberSince": null,
"expirationDate": null,
"pfsEligible": false,
"isSustaining": false,
"membershipLevel": "Prospect",
"membershipStatus": "Non Member",
"lastGiftDate": null,
"renewalDate": null,
"lastDonationAmount": null
}
]
},
"authModal": {
"isOpen": false,
"view": "LANDING_VIEW"
},
"error": null
},
"youthMediaReducer": {},
"checkPleaseReducer": {
"filterData": {
"region": {
"key": "Restaurant Region",
"filters": [
"Any Region"
]
},
"cuisine": {
"key": "Restaurant Cuisine",
"filters": [
"Any Cuisine"
]
}
},
"restaurantDataById": {},
"restaurantIdsSorted": [],
"error": null
},
"userAgentReducer": {
"userAgent": "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)",
"isBot": true
}
}
