Hollywood

On Wednesday, on the last day of the term, Justice Kennedy announced his retirement. We look at Kennedy’s departure through the focus of his role as the swing vote; we seek to better understand why people are continuing to cross the border; we have a dispatch from Saudi Arabia where a family of women drove for the first time on Sunday; a look at the police department in Pittsburgh in light of the news that the DA has charged the officer with criminal homicide; a look at the political turmoil roiling the state of West Virginia; and using the new Sicario sequel as a lens to understand how Hollywood depicts the border. 

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.

October 11, 2017: In a special new series from The Takeaway, science fiction writers imagine what the world will look like in 2067. Today, we hear from author Kristen Simmons, who pictures an earth altered by climate change, with disappearing coastlines, droughts, and rampant disease. Plus, a look at the wildfires in California; how the Trump Administration is taking on science and environmental rules; the 1990s immigration fight that gave rise to the border wall; and the media self-censorship that protected Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. 

October 10, 2017: Deadly wildfires ripped across northern California on Sunday. More than 20,000 people have been evacuated, and at least 13 people have died as a result of the blazes. The Takeaway looks west as the Golden State burns, plus an analysis of President Trump’s latest feud; recovering from a mass shooting; the allegations facing Harvey Weinstein; Joseph Stalin’s deadly secret in Ukraine; and the hidden female codebreakers of World War II. 

July 26, 2016:

1. Bernie Delegates Struggle Towards Unity at DNC (8 min)

2. The Legacy of First Lady Michelle Obama (7 min)

3. California Congresswomen See History and Hope in Clinton (7 min)

4. Trump: The American President Russia Wants (7 min)

5. Marni Nixon: Hollywood’s Most Famous Hidden Voice (6 min)

Click on the audio player above to hear this interview.

From Broadway to television and the big screen, Mike Nichols was a prolific director. His success put him in an elite group of people—he earned an Oscar, Grammy, Emmy, and Tony award, among numerous other accolades.  

His screen and stage career spanned decades. His early film classics included “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “The Graduate,” which helped launch Dustin Hoffman’s big screen career.

On the stage, he directed Neil Simon’s comedies  like “The Odd Couple” and “Barefoot in the Park.”  He helped launch another career in 1984 with his one woman show called “Whoopi Goldberg.”  Nearly three decades later, at the age of 80, he would accept a Tony award for his direction of “Death of a Salesman.” 

The documentary “Becoming Mike Nichols,” which premieres tonight on HBO, is a tribute to Nichols’ career and legacy. Shot interview style over the course of two nights at Broadway’s Golden Theater, it’s a revealing look at the early life of Nichols, who died, at age 83 a few months after it was shot.

Directed by his friend and filmmaker Douglas McGrath, it’s an intimate look at Nichols talking about his earliest beginnings from childhood, to directing and his entertaining start as an improvisational actor with actress Elaine May.  

Check out a trailer for the film below.

Click on the audio player above to hear this interview.

Actress Viola Davis grew up in Central Falls, Rhode Island by way of St. Matthews, South Carolina. She was born into a family with five siblings, and as a child, Davis says she often was just looking for a meal or a bar of soap. She has far exceeded those desires and achieved measures of success many of us couldn’t even imagine.

Viola Davis is a star. She’s won Tony Awards and has been nominated for an Oscar—twice. In 2015, she became the first African-American woman to win an Emmy for lead actress in a drama series for her role as Annalise Keating on ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder.” You may remember that she made the most of her acceptance speech that year.

“The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity,” Davis told the audience.

In life there are few universal truths, except this one: Just because everything is going right for you, doesn’t mean it’s going right for everyone else in the world. That fact has pushed Davis into charity work with the The Vaseline Healing Project, which provides skin care and medical supplies to people living on the frontlines of poverty and disaster.

“We all want to be successful—that’s the goal in life—and then you reach it and there is a disillusionment that comes,” Davis tells The Takeaway. “There’s not one celebrity that I know who does not have that. I think people would be surprised by the lack of fulfillment that it brings you. Because I think the last step that we forget is significance, and that’s something thats much greater. That is, when I pass, what do I want to leave behind?”

What Viola Davis has already left in her wake is a will to push the Hollywood and the country to see the value in providing opportunity to women and minorities. 

February 25, 2016: 1. Viola Davis: Diversity in Hollywood ‘Not Just a Hashtag’ | 2. Why America’s Money Men Won’t Fund Black Women | 3. Libya Struggles in The Fight Against ISIS | 4. Curing Blindness in the Developing World | 5. Planned Parenthood Chief Looks Ahead | 6. New Debate Model Could Actually Challenge Presidential Candidates

January 29, 2016: 1. A Game of Cat and Mouse in Iowa | 2. The Hearing Aid: America’s Greatest Innovation? | 3. Shaking Up the College Admissions Process | 4. Reshaping Education for The Real World | 5. Epic Rescue at Sea Recreated for Hollywood Film | 6. Films to Catch and Skip This Weekend

January 26, 2016: 1. A New Hope for Juveniles Serving Life Without Parole | 2. Filmmakers Fight Piracy, Teach Diversity With Storytelling | 3. The Sewing Machine: America’s Greatest Innovation? | 4. Designing for an Equal Future | 5. Infomagical: The Solution to Infomania and Content Overload

January 20, 2016: 1. #OscarsSoWhite: How the Hollywood Machine Plays Racial Politics | 2. Ambassador Samantha Power: Politics Gets Personal | 3. From Gang Life to Life on Campus | 4. New Doc Chronicles Innovative Life in a Syrian Refugee Camp