Watched We Need to Talk About Cosby, Part I from Netflix
Part 1: Directed by W. Kamau Bell. With Bill Cosby, Gloria Allred, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Harry Belafonte. In the 1960s Bill Cosby is collecting accolades for his comedy, breaking barriers for Black stunt performers and participating in the nation's sexual liberation and civil rights movement. He also allegedly begins exploiting his power.
Finally popped up on Netflix! 

I hadn’t known about his history of promoting the underrepresented in the stunt space in entertainment. 

I had forgotten about (?) or simply missed (based on my age and exposure) his history with “Spanish Fly”. I don’t recall any of these references during any of the news coverage of his trials or subsequent conviction.

The documentary is very well done and subtle so far, particularly with some snarky/clever images undergirding some of its political position. I appreciate that I’m just a year and change younger than W. Kamau Bell, so I’ve lived in roughly the same time frame he has. I have strong memories of having grown up with Picture Pages, The Electric Company, Fat Albert, et al. I’m curious to see how my experiences are similar and different to Bell’s perspective.

Read How an unknown British actress played a role in the downfall of two Hollywood moguls by Stacy Perman (Los Angeles Times)
Ron Meyer, the former vice chairman of NBCUniversal, was the second mogul embroiled in a sex scandal with Charlotte Kirk to be toppled in less than two years.
Listened to The Daily: The Weinstein Jury Believed the Women from New York Times
In a case fraught with complexity, the former Hollywood mogul was convicted of two felony sex crimes. Will this be a watershed moment for such prosecutions?

Listened to OTM presents: Here's the Thing with Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor by Alec Baldwin from On the Media | WNYC Studios

Our colleagues at "Here's the Thing" produced a great episode this week that we think you'll enjoy:
Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey are the New York Times reporters who broke the Harvey Weinstein story. For five months -- perpetually in danger of losing the scoop -- they cultivated and cajoled sources ranging from the Weinsteins’ accountant to Ashley Judd. The article that emerged on October 5th, 2017, was a level-headed and impeccably sourced exposé, whose effects continue to be felt around the world. Their conversation with Alec Baldwin covers their reporting process, and moves on to a joint wrestling with Alec’s own early knowledge of one of the Weinstein allegations, and his ongoing friendship with accused harasser James Toback. The guests ask Alec questions about the movie industry’s ethics about sex and “the casting couch.” Over a respectful and surprising half-hour, host and guests together talk through the many dilemmas posed by the #MeToo movement that Kantor and Twohey did so much to unleash.

Listened to The Weinstein Trial Begins from On the Media | WNYC Studios

As Harvey Weinstein faces trial, we discuss the essential role of gossip and whisper networks in protecting the vulnerable and spreading news that threaten the powerful.

In New York this week, jury selection began in the trial of former Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein. News of his alleged sexual predations launched the #MeToo movement in October 2017, through investigative reporting from both The New York Times and The New Yorker. Even as he prepares to stand trial in New York, sexual assault charges were filed against him in Los Angeles. To date, over eighty women in the film industry have accused him of rape and sexual assault and abuse. Weinstein claims they were all consensual acts. 

The reporting has been groundbreaking in its detail, laying out the allegations for the public. But in Hollywood, Weinstein’s abuses already were an open secret. In 2017, Brooke spoke with Buzzfeed senior culture writer Anne Helen Petersen about the essential role of gossip and whisper networks in protecting the vulnerable and spreading news that threatens the powerful.

Listened to The Daily: The Harvey Weinstein Case, Part 1 from New York Times

More than 80 women have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Harvey Weinstein, but as he goes on trial in New York, the criminal charges center on just two. The story of Lucia Evans helps explain why.

👓 Donald Trump Assaulted Me, But He’s Not Alone on My List of Hideous Men | The Cut

Read Donald Trump Assaulted Me, But He’s Not Alone on My List of Hideous Men (The Cut)
“I made a list of hideous men in my life. It includes the president — who assaulted me in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman 23 years ago.”

🎧 Sheila Nevins on Age, Sex, Love, Life, and Everything Else | Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda

Listened to Sheila Nevins on Age, Sex, Love, Life, and Everything Else by Alan Alda from Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda

Sheila Nevins has explored the human condition in the thousand or so documentaries she produced for HBO. From more than 30 years of telling us stories about ourselves, to her experience as a woman in the workplace, Sheila has plenty to say about communicating. And she never holds back. In this delightful episode, Alan Alda talks with Sheila about her life, how she feels about aging, the #MeToo movement, sex, divorce, documentaries, storytelling, and just about everything else! This episode is sponsored by Calm. Check out www.calm.com/alda for more details.

I always forget that Sheila is as old as she is. She does have a great sense of humor.

She makes an interesting point about humility that people with power (and especially within the entertainment industry) should be aware of and work to improve.

Most shocking was the story she tells about her me too moment and how she viewed it. Definitely a perspective I wouldn’t have expected.

Her perspective about looking at individuals as a way into human problems and making documentaries is similar to a philosophy I remember hearing from Masha Gessen in an interview that Jeffrey Goldberg did with her. The upshot is that, especially for righting wrongs and general atrocities, focusing a story on a particular individual has a lot more power than focusing on the nameless and faceless masses. Sheila’s example of the Holocaust survivor is a particular apt one. (As I think about it Masha would be a great interview for this podcast.)

In fact, I recently watched an immigration related documentary on Frontline and while I didn’t personally find the lead woman very relate-able or sympathetic, I was still pissed off at the process because her individual story was still so powerful.

This general ideal also reminds me of the gut-punch scene at the end of the film A Time To Kill (1996) [spoiler alert] which ends with the command to the jury “Now imagine she’s white.”

🎧 Episode 002 – James Bond and Wonder Woman | Media and the End of the World Podcast

Listened to Episode 002 – James Bond and Wonder Woman by Adam Croom and Ralph Beliveau

On this episode, Adam and Ralph have their first guest, Dr. Lisa Funnell. Dr. Funnell’s research explores the performance and intersection of identities—specifically gender, race, sexuality, nationality, and ethnicity—in Hong Kong martial arts films, Hollywood blockbusters, and the James Bond franchise. We recognize we should have held out this discussion for episode 007, but we were too excited to contain ourselves.

Show Notes

👓 Mario Batali officially out at all 16 of his restaurants, including Mozzaplex in L.A. | LA Times

Read Mario Batali officially out at all 16 of his restaurants, including Mozzaplex in L.A. (latimes.com)
The celebrity chef, who has been accused of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct spanning at least two decades, no longer has a financial stake in his former restaurant empire.

👓 #MeToo law restricts use of nondisclosure agreements in sexual misconduct cases | LA Times

Read #MeToo law restricts use of nondisclosure agreements in sexual misconduct cases (latimes.com)
Among victims and advocates, an important step in dismantling the pervasive problem of harassment and the system that has kept it under wraps for so long is to void or curb the use of NDAs to settle sexual abuse cases.
The tough part is recreating a better system and predicting the potential future abuses that may continue in such a system. How do we enforce fairness fairly? What unintended consequences might there be?

📺 Weinstein | Watch S36 E6 | FRONTLINE | PBS

Watched Weinstein from FRONTLINE
SEASON 36: EPISODE 6
FRONTLINE investigates how Harvey Weinstein allegedly sexually harassed and abused dozens of women over four decades. With allegations going back to Weinstein’s early years, the film examines the elaborate ways he and those around him tried to silence his accusers.

👓 Ousted NPR news chief, ex-Fox News execs team up on new site | Politico

Read Ousted NPR news chief, ex-Fox News execs team up on new site (POLITICO)
The site's founder says it will remedy the media's trust problems, but two top hires left their previous jobs after allegations of harassment and racism.
There’s a lot of forgiveness built into allowing these two executives to redeem themselves. I would worry about hiring them and not protecting both the company as well as its employees against potential harm. What happens if they continue their abuse. Then the company will have known about their prior problems and tacitly allowed them to continue on.

This is the second story I’ve seen now about abusive men from the me too movement being given a second chance. How is society taking these “comebacks”? How is the market reacting to them economically? Will advertisers shy away?

📺 "House of Cards" Chapter 73 | Netflix

Watched "House of Cards" Chapter 73 from Netflix
Directed by Robin Wright. With Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Diane Lane, Campbell Scott. Claire tries to tarnish Frank's legacy. Doug provokes Claire by releasing excerpts from Frank's diary. A rift develops between the Shepherds.
Holy crap! Not the ending expected and one they can only get away with because it’s the end of the series and they don’t have to show what’s next.

I do like the bookends of the entire series with the quote about pain and putting down a wounded animal. It’s only in this sense that there’s actually any real closure here, otherwise the show really just whimpered to a close.

I still have to admit that the way they got rid of Francis in the first episode of the season was awesome both within the series itself as well as a comment on Spacey in light of the movement.