By Jonathan Miller, on Fri Jul 12, 2013 at 3:00 PM ET
This afternoon (generally in the 6:00 PM EDT hour on most NPR stations), Friend of RP, Mark Nickolas will be appearing on National Public Radio’s “Marketplace,” discussing his critically-praised new short film, “The Story of the Wall Street Bull.”
Nickolas, who singlehandedly started Kentucky’s political blogosphere, has become a documentary filmmaker, and his new short film on Occupy Wall Street is up for a Smithsonian In Motion award.
Watch the film below, and vote here to support Mark’s effort. (The film is listed as “The Story of the Wall Street Bull” and is in the ‘Arts’ category. You’ll see when you click on the link.)
By Jason Atkinson, on Wed Jul 10, 2013 at 8:30 AM ET
Save The Great South Bay, a non-profit organization founded in August 2012, is a local grassroots organization dedicated to the revitalization of the bay.
We want future generations to fish, clam and swim in these waters as we had. We want to restore marine and shoreline habitats so that the South Shore and beach communities that ring the bay can become sustainable for this century.
At present, we are at a moment of crisis. The water quality on Long Island is such that due to septic tank seepage, pesticides, storm runoff, and lawn and agricultural fertilizer, we may not have water to drink, bathe in and cook with before long. As our polluted ground water seeps into our aquifer, it also seeps into our rivers, bays and ponds, and it is killing our bodies of water at an accelerating pace, and the costs of over-development and poor infrastructure mount.
Science has both the diagnosis here and the cure. Save the Great South Bay relies greatly on the collective expertise of researchers from a variety of institutions, many of them in The Long Island Clean Water Coalition, a group formed to address this urgent problem of ground water pollution before it is literally too late.
By Jonathan Miller, on Sat Jul 6, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
Click here to find out how you can support this important effort
Three years ago Kiley Lane Parker started to research why the United States didn’t have more women in elected office, something that troubled her after the 2008 and 2010 elections. Although there were some pretty significant female breakthroughs during these years, studies were showing that the high profile campaigns of Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton actually dampened women’s political ambition. Her research turned into Raising Ms. President, a documentary about raising the next generation of female political leaders. It’s in its final week of seeking finishing funds through Kickstarter.
In 2011, Parker traveled to California where she interviewed Richard Fox of It’s Takes A Candidate, Why Women Don’t Run For Office. Fox’s findings over a ten year period indicated that women don’t run for office because they a. feel less qualified than men and b. they lack the ambition to run for office. Unlike 20 years ago, most of the other obstacles like party support and money had little indication on whether or not a women decided to become a political leader in the 21st century, therefore, Parker began to ask the question, “well then, where does political ambition start?”
Her focus on the “next generation” became apparent after sitting with students from Ignite in Oakland, California and Running Start in Washington, D.C. These were the young women who were different. They didn’t have the same baggage of many women who grew up in the later half of the 20th century. They didn’t know what it was like to be told they couldn’t do something because they were a girl, yet they shared the same insecurities about running for office.
Fox’s research was right, therefore, Parker realized that perhaps getting more qualified women to run for office isn’t going to be that easy and that they only way to do so it to start encouraging all young women at an early age, before they leave high school.
It might be that we need to reevaluate how we raise our daughters and teach them in school. How social and cultural pressures still play a major role in how young women view themselves, seek leadership roles and stand out among a crowd.
Parker believes that with more women in office there will be better outcomes for everyone involved. Not only will younger women aspire to be political leaders because they see politics as a place where women serve, but policy decisions will be made with a broader view on life, family and living, strengthen our overall democracy.
Raising Ms. President answers the many questions about why women don’t strive to be our nation’s political leaders and what is being done to encourage more women to think about politics early.
I encourage you to join me in supporting this important film. Click here to find out how.
By John Y. Brown III, on Mon Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
You never know when you are getting a history or literature lesson ….so it’s always good to keep an open mind. Especially if an 11 year old is involved.
When I was 10 years old, my neighbor Kyle Hibbs, had me over to spend the night. Kyle was 11 and clearly more sophisticated than I was. I ran the Lemonade stand in our neighborhood with Kyle as my CFO and Kyle ceded basketball and a few board games to me. But when it came to culture and coolness, Kyle had an edge over me I knew I might never be able to challenge.
So when he excitedly asked me over to spend the night and watch the movie “The Odyssey” which was in channel 41 at 12:30am, I had no socially acceptable response but to pretend that sounded like an awesome idea even though it sounded suspiciously like something one of my boring school teacher aunts might recommend when I spent the night with them.
Everybody was asleep except Kyle and me and we loaded up on soft drinks and candy as our big movie was about to start.
I pretended from the start to be really into it. Even though I wasn’t. I focused mostly on the soda pop and candy and my wondered on to other more interesting topics.
And then something happened.
The story pulled me in just a little bit even though it seemed like a grown-up story. I didn’t realize that they weren’t playing fair and I was watching a classic, a timeless and age-agnostic tale. And then pulled me in a little more and a little more until I was entranced.
To this day, many years after finally reading—and loving– the full literary masterpiece The Odyssey (including the Cliff Notes), whenever the famous Homer Epic comes up, it’s the images from the famous movie starting Kirk Douglas that I see.
And also how I learned to ingeniously fend off an angry Cyclops and to escape by clinging the underbelly of scampering sheep.
I’m glad I played it cool and pretended like I wanted to watch The Odyssey —until I actually did want to watch it. And led to a life-long interest in Homer.
And having cool and sophisticated 11 year old friends who encourage us along the way to try new things that aren’t obvious or “popular” is absolutely essential.
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Jun 28, 2013 at 9:15 AM ET
Sometimes, Sigmund Freud, was quoted as saying, “A cigar is just a cigar.”
And if Siggie were alive today he’d probably offer a corollary that “Sometimes same sex marriage is just same sex marriage.”
I don’t want to get all controversial about this….but this DOMA decision by the SCt has me worried.
No, not worried so much about the threat to the institution of marriage between a man and a woman caused by same-sex couples wanting to marry. We heteros have already done a fine job of that ourselves and can’t–with a straight face, so to speak–even try to blame same sex couples for piling on.
Frankly, I don’t think same sex couples care a great deal about what we heterosexuals do in our personal lives. It’s not all that interesting, I admit. But I kind of like knowing that gays are analyzing our sex life every chance they get. And lucky them! That allows gay people time to think about other things—like decorating and dressing nice. They sure got us on those two fronts.
I’d even go so far as to say we heteros could probably learn a thing or two about not always talking and thinking about gay sex and gays marrying. Maybe it does scare some of us. But I suspect anybody who talks all the time about how bad gay sex is, is talking about gay sex because, well, he just likes talking about the topic…. and it gives him a sort of cheap thrill he doesn’t get by talking about heterosexual sex.
And that’s fine. I’m not judging them. I’m really not.
Heck, when I was in elementary school I acted that way myself. At recess I’d chase girls pretending they were gross and I didn’t want to have anything to do with them. But even though I swore I was trying to avoid gettin’ the cooties, there I’d go chasing after these very girls who we thought had cooties and trying to touch, pinch or push them anyway I could. And it wasn’t a coincidence that I’d always chase and push the ones I wanted the most to like me back.
It didn’t really work out well for me. And wont for politicians talking about animal marriage this time. But on that playground I did get a little thrill out of it all and suspect these older fellers talking about gay-this and gay-that get some kinky thrill in their own way, too, when they are chasing and pushing around gay people in the political playground. I could be wrong. But I know what it looks like when someone says they don’t want girl cooties and then can’t stop chasing and talking about girls.
Read the rest of… John Y. Brown, III: The DOMA Decision
James Gandolfini, the New Jersey-bred actor who delighted audiences as mob boss Tony Soprano in “The Sopranos” has died following a massive heart attack in Italy, a source told the Daily News.
“Everyone is in tears,” the source close to the 51-year-old TV tough guy said.
ANTHONY NESTE/AP
James Gandolfini (center) is best known for his role as Tony in HBO’s ‘The Sopranos,’ acting alongside Tony Sirico (from left), Steven Van Zandt, Michael Imperioli and Vicent Pastore.
A press-shy celeb who got his start as a character actor and became famous relatively late in his career — thanks to his breakout role on “The Sopranos,” Gandolfini has largely avoided the spotlight since the last season of the beloved show aired in 2007.
James Gandolfini (right) with ‘The Sopranos’ creator David Chase.
The burly Westwood, N.J. native has appeared in several supporting roles since then, playing the director of the CIA in “Zero Dark Thirty” and the gruff blue-collar father of a wannabe rock star in “Not Fade Away” last year.
Gandolfini hit Broadway in 2009 with the Tony Award-winning comedy “God of Carnage.”
CORKERY, RICHARD
James Gandolfini and his wife Deborah Lin, who gave birth to a baby girl in October. The couple married in Hawaii in 2008.
“I seek out good stories, basically — that’s it,” he told The Star-Ledger last December.
James Gandolfini (from left) played a tough-guy mob boss on ‘The Sopranos’ with costars Steven Van Zandt and Tony Sirico.
“The older I get, the funnier-looking I get, the more comedies I’m offered. I’m starting to look like a toad, so I’ll probably be getting even more soon.”
Gandolfini’s wife, former model Deborah Lin, gave birth to a baby girl last October. The couple married in Hawaii in 2008.
CRAIG BLANKENHORN /HBO
The Sopranos family from the wildly popular HBO drama series ‘The Sopranos.’ The series ran from 1999 through 2007 and starred Edie Falco (from left), James Gandolfini, Robert Iler and Jamie-Lynn Sigler.
Gandolfini — who spent part of his early career supporting himself as a bartender and nightclub manager — also has a son with his ex-wife, Marcy Wudarski.
Actress Edie Falco (left) and actor James Gandolfini attend the premiere of ‘Boardwalk Empire’ at the Ziegfeld Theatre in 2010. Falco and Gandolfini played opposites in Broadway’s ‘God of Carnage’ in 2009.
His first break came in 1992 when he landed a role in a Broadway version of “A Streetcar Named Desire” that starred Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange.
Smallish parts in major films followed — Gandolfini played a submarine crew member in “Crimson Tide” in 1995 and a gangland bodyguard in “Get Shorty” the same year.
JOHNNY NUNEZ/WIREIMAGE
James Gandolfini won three Emmy Awards for his role as Tony Soprano.
Fame came for the Italian-American actor after 1999, as “The Sopranos” garnered critical acclaim and cult popularity on its way to becoming a TV classic.
Gandolfini won three Emmy Awards for his sparkling depiction of protagonist Tony Soprano, a mobster trying to balance the mundane stresses of family life and his unusual occupation: organized crime.
By Nancy Slotnick, on Tue Jun 18, 2013 at 8:30 AM ET
I love girls.
I love girls. Ok, I should really say I love Girls, the new HBO show, but the previous sentence was my feeble attempt to capture the attention of my male readership. Anyway, the show is awesome. The guy’s line “I want you to know, the first time I f*ck you, I might scare you a little, because I’m a man, and I know how to do things,” makes Marni need to masturbate before she even makes it back to her apartment. This is alpha male behavior. Does it exist outside of cable television? Can it be taken seriously or are players, pick up artists and sketch comedians the only guys who really talk this way?
Women want a contradiction in terms, and Lena Dunham does a fantastic job of pointing this out. We want men to take us by storm. We tell ourselves “If he really wanted to meet me, he would come over and talk to me.” But yet when they do take charge, we don’t want to be bossed around. Our girlfriends shame us if we cancel plans because we have a date, as if a whipped boyfriend is the only kind of boyfriend that is acceptable. Maybe they’re just jealous?
I’ve been a dating coach for the last decade, and every girl I meet wants to nab the bad boy who is also a good guy: a husband/father candidate who is an Alpha male in the bedroom. Because I found one for me, I’m in a pretty good position to help in this regard. But the first rule of being married to an Alpha male is very similar to the first rule of Fight Club. In case you haven’t seen it- the rule is you do not speak of it- but I shouldn’t even tell you this because if you want to date an Alpha male you should see Fight Club. And commit not to cringe. Then see it again and watch it as a relationship movie- fascinating on a whole nother level. But I digress.
Here’s the clip!
