SEAL Sentencing, Van Life, Fourth Of July Fireworks

Speaker 1: 00:00 Moments ago, a court martial jury sentenced Navy Seal, Eddie Gallagher at the 32nd street naval station. This after he was acquitted on all but one charge that is for posing with the Corp seven Isis fighter. Here's Gallagher speaking publicly about the outcome of the trial. Earlier this morning in an interview on Fox and friends, Speaker 2: 00:18 this smaller group of seals that decided to, uh, concoct this story, um, and no way, shape or form represent the community, the community that I've, you know, loved and, um, gave my soul to. So, um, this has put a, uh, a black eye on the, uh, this community. Um, but I want the nation to know that this is not what our community is about. This community is full of elite warriors that I've been honored and blessed to work with for the past 20 years. Speaker 1: 00:47 KPBS military reporter Steve Walsh joins us from the courthouse with more. Steve, welcome. Speaker 3: 00:54 Hi Jake. How's it going? Speaker 1: 00:55 Good, Steve, how did the Court Marshall Jury Sentence Eddie Gallagher this morning? Speaker 3: 01:01 Well, you know, he's been, he was found not guilty of all of the most serious crimes. But on this last one, this posing with a corpse on the battlefield, it looked, it appears as if the jury really did give him pretty close to the maximum sentence. The maximum was only four months in confinement and they gave him four months in confinement. They also, um, their a sentence was to reduce him in rank from an e a seven to an e six and a forfeit, uh, four months of pay, $2,697 each one of those months. So this was pretty much the maximum they could have given him under this one last remaining sentence. Speaker 1: 01:44 How will that reduction in rank to Aesics Affect Gallagher? Speaker 3: 01:49 Well, and before we even get into that, there's a, there has been a kind of a question in court. Um, some of the attorneys are wrangling back and forth and there is a, in the military law, there is a, uh, a caveat that says if you're convicted of confinement, even even a day, um, you receive a reduction in rank. And most of the attorneys believe that's all the way down to e one, which would be just a recruit sailor right at the beginning. So that would have, uh, an a, just a tremendous impact on his retirement. If that's the case though the jury, um, they said [inaudible] there's some questions of whether or not they may have to go even farther, but, um, you know, he's at 18 years, so if he's going to retire at 20, which is the norm, they usually take the, your last three years of PE as the, as the, as the, uh, it's sort of the base rate for how you retire. So if he's going to get a reduction in rent, even the six, that, that's going to have an impact on the amount of money he's going to receive for the rest of his clients. Speaker 1: 02:50 And let me ask you this. You say they gave him four months since Gallagher already served seven months in the Brig. He's now a free man. Is that right? Speaker 3: 02:58 Yeah, that's what it'd be. That is what is expected. In fact, he even had some, uh, um, he had both time in the break and the judge had tacked on a few extra weeks because, uh, even when he was released from the break that he felt he was not able to fully participate in his defense. So, um, yeah, he seems to have plenty of time so he should be able to walk out of here. In fact, we were expecting a press conference, uh, within the hour Speaker 1: 03:27 and Gallagher took the stand a what did he have to say? Speaker 3: 03:31 So unlike that quote, you played from Fox and friends, um, this morning in courts, you had a, a very contrite Eddie Gallagher who took responsibility for this. Uh, what he said was a mistake posing with his dead fighter on the battlefield and encouraging members of his platoon to participate in similar photos. And he said, I've made mistakes throughout my 20 year career. Tactical, ethical, and moral. I'm not perfect, but I've always bounced back and I'm ready to bounce back from this. And again, he said it in a very muted tone. It was actually a little bit difficult to hear him at times. Speaker 1: 04:10 Steve, another seal, the commanding officer, Lieutenant Jacob Portiere is also fighting a court martial for not disclosing information related to the same charges. Gallagher faced a, what does the outcome of this case mean for protease a court Marshall. Speaker 3: 04:26 So what we know at this time is that court Marshall is going forward. In fact, there's a hearing that's scheduled to go really within the hour in this very same courtroom on that case, even though Gallagher was exonerated of the underlying charge of, of murder, there's still the discharge that, uh, um, Portier did not do enough to, uh, um, to advance this case and obstructed it. Um, there's also a, another charge of, uh, uh, related to the posing with a corpse. So we'll see where that case goes. But for the moment the lieutenants quarter year is still charged with war crimes Speaker 1: 05:08 and there are implications for more than just Gallagher in this outcome. What can you tell us about how this trial has affected the careers of other seals? Speaker 3: 05:16 Well, again, from the very beginning of this was a case where we do not get this window into navy seals. This is very secretive community for a lot of good reasons. And so it was not only Gallagher's career who that it was on the line, but many of his accusers as well. Uh, that Dylan Tolbert had moved on to what is commonly what is called the development group, which we would call field team six on the stand. He said he was now quite unlikely that he'll ever deploy, uh, with seal team six because his name is out there in the public. Many of the seals have moved on from seal team seven. They're at respective places. Chief Craig Miller is over at, uh, at buds here on [inaudible]. So, um, going forward, um, this is going to have a last lasting impact on many of the people who are in this courtroom over the last three weeks. Speaker 4: 06:09 As Gallagher said. Anything else about what's next for him? I mean, will he remain in the navy or retire? Speaker 3: 06:16 Well, it seems quite likely that he will have to remain in the, in the navy 20 years is the marks for your retirement. So people do their 20. It seems very clear that he is expected to stay in the navy. So he's got, he'll probably never deploy again. He was already been on his eighth deployment and wasn't expected to deploy ever again. But um, it's quite likely that he will remain in the navy, uh, for at least next couple of years. Speaker 4: 06:43 I've been speaking with KPBS military reporter Steve Walsh. Steve, thank you very much. Speaker 3: 06:48 Thanks you Speaker 5: 06:50 [inaudible] Speaker 4: 06:54 the Court Martial of Edward Gallagher was riddled with delays, missteps and shocking testimony. But the bottom line is that once again, a high profile war crimes trial has ended in the almost complete acquittal of a US service member seven years ago and other major war crimes prosecution here in San Diego involving the US military in Iraq ended in a similar fashion, the lone marine to stand trial for civilian killings and had dita pled guilty to one minor offense. So what is the problem with these prosecutions? Are they baseless as the defense attorneys have claimed, or is it difficult for members of the military to convict one of their own four combat offenses? And if so, what does that mean for the integrity of the U s military? Joining me to discuss this are David Brahms, a retired brigadier general who served in the u s marine corps and a former military judge. David, welcome to the program. Thank you. And Gary Solas is a retired marine corps lieutenant colonel and former military judge who teaches law at Georgetown and who joins us by Skype. But Gary, welcome. Thank you. Glad to be here. First, let me direct this to you, David, and I want to get both of your feelings on this. What was your reaction to the outcome of this case? Speaker 6: 08:10 Justice who served justice as defined in a criminal process in which prosecution under the fence develop a narrative and then tried to sell it with the ultimate determiners being a court Marshall Panel, not a jury, as it has been frequently referred to that paddle starts with the presumption of innocence. It's the government's burden to prove guilt beyond the reasonable doubt, which is a very high standard. Speaker 4: 08:42 Let me go to you, Gary. What was your reaction? Well, I was not surprised whether or not justice was served as another question, but I was not surprised because this was a difficult case from the get go. They had no body, they had no autopsy. That hours makes it a murder prosecution, a slog. There was dissension in the ranks of the possible witnesses. Some were pro gallacher, others who are protective of Gallagher and the sealed brand and some wanted to do the w in my view, was the right thing and get word of the possible criminality to senior authority as required by dod orders. And in addition to that, there was the navy commands negligence and not bringing the case forward for a year after it had been reported to them. And predictably there were pro Gallagher witnesses that were there to screw up the prosecution case, not to mention the unbelievably stupid prosecution cyber tracking thing that they had in an email to the defense. That was unbelievably ignorant of them. And then there was Scott, the government witness who flipped on the stand. Yeah. I wanted to ask David about that. The the medics testimony on the stand. How much of an impact do you think that had on the triers of fact? Speaker 6: 09:55 It was significant. You have to understand that in the context of a court Marshall Trial, here's this chief petty officer, but true warrior every day, the left side of his chest blues loud on your start with a maybe a little sympathy, I'm willing to hear, uh, the gee, I'd really like that the government put on too many witnesses as mine and my view regarding the stabbing, I didn't need more than a couple. And by virtue of that and the fences mean that this was a group of people who got together to tell a story, I would say it differently. It was a group of people who was prevailed upon by poor investigators, unconvinced perhaps frightened into telling the story that they told. In that context, we now have a key bit of evidence which allows the members of the court Marshall Pedal to feel, yeah. This story isn't quite right. Speaker 4: 11:03 David, you were here and you were talking to us here on midday edition during the court, Marshall, uh, about [inaudible] Speaker 6: 11:11 the Dessa and hummed the Nia, both of which would try to a, and I was a cultural on each one of those. Speaker 4: 11:19 Tell me, how does this Gallagher case compare with that in your estimation? Speaker 6: 11:24 I think it's kin to it a at least akin to the hum, the near case in which the allegation was that the eight marines took a fellow out of his house, shot and killed him after setting up a scene to cover their tracks. It was an intentional murder and as I recall, most of those fellows work, convicted and sentenced to significantly long periods of time. Speaker 4: 11:50 Gary, what do you think this case about the struggles of military courts in prosecuting alleged war crimes? I think this tells us that if the prosecution can't get its act together, then a not guilty verdict should not be surprising. And I believe that in this case, although it was a difficult case for the prosecution, I nevertheless believe that the defense did not win the case so much as the government lost the case, which is true of Hadida as well, where prosecutorial and aptitude was on, on full display. Gary, what do you think, what influence, if any, did the interjection of the President uh, with, with a possible pardon reports of a possible pardon? Uh, releasing Edward Gallagher from custody. What influence, if any, do you think that had? It's very hard to tell, isn't it? Because you never know what goes through the minds of the members that the commonly referred to as jurors when they hear something like that. Speaker 4: 12:53 But this jury in the Gallagher case struck me as a particularly good jury. That is, they were officers and I believe they're, there may have been an enlisted person as well, but they had all been, or almost all had been in combat. And so they are intelligent enough, mature enough, experienced enough to understand the personality that's making these statements into, give it no weight, no public's been very attentive to this case from the president on down apparently. Do you think that's going to lead to any changes in the way that war crimes allegations are investigated or prosecuted? Speaker 6: 13:26 I hope not because what happens in this aftermath is that legislators just do crazy things and they set up new processes, perhaps a new offense, uh, and maybe, God forbid they even decide that they should be tried by civilian courts. There is jurisdiction. I don't think we're going to go there, but this is a dangerous time. Uh, the process work on, we sitting on the outside all have opinions, but we were not in that jury room. But Gary, if members, so the Speaker 4: 14:03 u s military get the reputation of being able to commit heinous acts, war crimes with no consequences or virtually no consequences, what does that do to our international standing and to morale within the services? We'll obviously, that's not a good thing for our international standing. But as for morale and our services, I think that this prosecution may be a cautionary tale in that it will remind seals and other, shall we say, secret operators, that they too are subject to the laws of the military jurisdiction. It may remind a NCIA this, that they should put more experienced investigators on war crimes cases, and it should remind judge advocates who are prosecuting that they're going to have to stand up to civilians, civilians who know their way around the UCM J and that they had better get their act together and put on a credible case. So I think it's not an entirely bad outcome. I have to leave it there. I want to thank my guest, David bronze. He is a retired brigadier general with the U S Marine Corps and Gary Solis, who is a retired Marine Corps lieutenant and a former military judge. He teaches law at Georgetown. I want to thank you gentlemen. Thank you both. Speaker 5: 15:30 [inaudible]. Speaker 1: 00:00 The California dream used to be a car and a house, but for some people today, the dream is a car that is your house. These are not people pushed by high rands to live in their cars. They are people who choose it. They call it van life as part of our California dream collaboration, Capitol Public Radios at Sam e k Ola goes in search of the van life community. Speaker 2: 00:26 Okay, Speaker 3: 00:27 so I hop in with this guy. He goes by the name Travis wild. We're in his shiny navy blue. Speaker 2: 00:33 Yes. It's the bumpy road, like this looks at a cool spot. Then I get back into potentially, Speaker 3: 00:37 he's been living in this van for about three years. He's constantly looking for a new campsite to call home tonight. He rolls up on a rocky bank near the south Yuba river and lets his dog out. Speaker 2: 00:48 Yes. Got a lot of energy to get out. It was probably a little less than seven hours of driving. Speaker 3: 00:53 Did you hear people in the van life share a big dream of living small and going places? It's taking off in California. We're rising. Housing costs and a sense of adventure are inspiring more and more people to go wheels only. The first thing I notice about the insight of Travis's van is how comfortable and clean it is. Pretty simple. His walls are pine, the floor is bamboo. His bed is surrounded by bookshelves and a surfboard hangs from the ceiling. He shows me some space saving tricks like this hidden table, that slides, Speaker 2: 01:25 I'm right here. I'm just from under the bed Speaker 3: 01:30 and then continuing just all of this, the storage on the sides. Travis is part of a community that's choosing the nomadic lifestyle to save on rent, to live greener or just because it seems like fun, but there's a whole other set of people who are forced to live in their vehicles because they can't afford housing. Sometimes these two groups joined forces to fight local bands on sleeping in cars. Those are popping up in places like San Diego and Berkeley. As more people go mobile, voluntary van dwellers say they know it's a privilege, but it's not always easy. Vehicle maintenance, Internet shortages, and even finding a place to use the bathroom can be a struggle. Speaker 2: 02:07 Well, there's always like these little kinks that are, at first it's like, oh, this is part of the adventure, and then you're like, oh, this is like, it's rainy and I have to stay inside here a little bit more than I would've liked to. Speaker 3: 02:19 None of this stops fan lifers from doing their thing. Gabrielle Lewine is a Grad student in psychology at the University of Southern California. She's researched millennials, their hopes and goals. She says some are rebelling against their parents' dreams. Speaker 4: 02:33 Millennials are just questioning whether that's worth it. You know, it's a very traditional thing to think about. The primary thing you need is, is a roof over your head in the same way that millennials are to use the very trendy word of disrupting other kinds of marketplaces. Non Traditional living situations is I think just another, another piece of that trend. Speaker 3: 02:53 Van dwellers tend to work remotely. They're artists, accountants and web developers. The lifestyle even generating its own micro economy. Some travelers become social media influencers who make money by tagging gear companies. On Instagram, others run van life websites and apps. I stopped by to see Josh Thompson. He's converting a van into a mobile home right now. Country Music plays as he measures out space for cabinets and other furniture. Speaker 5: 03:20 So the bed will be up here and this'll be like kind of storage area for um, extra bike space. And then also we're just like climbing deer and whatnot. He's getting pretty good at building these. Sometimes he sells the band, he's keeping this one for himself. Like life's pretty short, you know, it's just a minimal living that allows you like the freedom to make choices of what you do with your time and what you do with your money. Speaker 3: 03:45 Travis says the same thing, that it's about freedom that and the people he meets on the road, Speaker 2: 03:50 it actually allows like face to face interactions, which are really important and becoming less and less common in today's world I guess is a big thing. Like you can chat online all you want, but like you'll really get to know somebody if you like. You know, I have a couple of beers around a campfire and go on a hike and like that sort of thing. That's really the fun part. Speaker 3: 04:12 I say goodbye as Travis starts boiling noodles on his countertop stove. Speaker 5: 04:16 So we'll get that going. Speaker 3: 04:18 I notice a plank above the door scribbled with a dozen signatures from friends who have stood right here, but tomorrow, like hundreds of other California vagabonds he'll set out alone. And Yuba city. I'm Sammy Cola. Speaker 6: 04:34 Uh. Speaker 1: 00:00 Jackson, California is acquainted gold rush era town with brick buildings on its main street. It's pretty quiet except when you walk into Rosebuds cafe. Rosebuds is a place that shouts its values from its bright green walls, huge family portraits and tons of posters and flyers announcing programs for the arts, supporting local homeless initiatives and advocating for LGBTQ rights. KQ Edis. Elisa Morehouse tells us this place has become a refuge for people who don't always feel accepted. Rose beds is like a beam of light. Mary's son ty works the front of the house like he's done for nearly 30 years. I started on the cash register when I was six years old. It's like my sibling rosebuds. It's like the fourth child. Mary says the family really started supporting LGBTQ issues when her daughter Megan came out as a lesbian in high school and this community, it was really scary. She worried her daughter would be bullied, but that was just the beginning because Thai stood out even more. There was the controversial neon pink baseball cap, the short hair dyed purple that provoked a teacher. Speaker 2: 01:13 He pulled me aside on the way out to PE one day and told me that I was Speaker 1: 01:16 ruining my life. I knew, I knew then that she was wrong, but what I didn't know was how those, her saying that would still be a part of my consciousness 30 years later and that's obscene. I mean, I was just a fat little girl. I was just trying to be okay because he didn't know it then. But ty is a trans man playing with his look. He learned about himself. There was a Mohawk clothes cut up and pieced back together, decorated with safety pins. For me, my parents Speaker 2: 01:50 giving us the room to express ourselves through our physical aesthetic was a, was a matter of my survival. What else would I have done if I couldn't cut my hair? I maybe would've been cutting myself. Speaker 1: 02:03 I've Ashley for for it since he was a kid. Ty's moved through the restaurant with ease and authority. Today he's wearing a kilt. His full red beard braided where you up for [inaudible] hill this weekend. Awesome. Did you go already? One of the neat things about Speaker 2: 02:18 having grown up in a restaurant is that I was able to feel powerful school never felt, felt safe, and that's not healthy for our brains. Speaker 1: 02:26 As high school began, ty knew he was attracted to women. Ties started the gay straight alliance at amateur high school and it caused a just an uproar in the community. It was just like I did not go to glee. Okay. That was about my life. A school was rough. Yeah. His tires were slashed on campus. Speaker 2: 02:46 I mean, I have been followed home. I have been run off the highway. I had dog smeared in the front seat of my car parked in front of my childhood home. It was, it was difficult times. Oh, I mean, I had friends whose parents grounded them from me, so it didn't seem unusual that there were people that weren't interested in dining with us. Speaker 1: 03:08 In a school of only 800 students, ty says he collected over a hundred signatures in support of starting the club as high school wound down. Ty still didn't know the word transgender, but he did something really dramatic for a new teenage driver. Speaker 2: 03:23 I just couldn't stop myself. I cut my driver's license in half right over the gender marker. Speaker 1: 03:28 Soon after going off to college, Thai sat his parents down and said, if it's all right, you know, I think I'd like to be your son. Now, after college in Santa Cruz and a few years in Sacramento, Thai, return to Jackson, he loves the country and the rolling hills of Amador county and wanting to be part of his family's farm to fork efforts at Rosebuds and coming home and returning to the sanctuary of the restaurant. Speaker 2: 03:54 Aye have experienced that. A great deal of trauma at points in my life where my brain was still developing. Speaker 1: 04:04 He says he deals with PTSD and agoraphobia and went through periods when he couldn't work. Speaker 3: 04:13 [inaudible] Speaker 1: 04:14 one night after closing, rosebuds hosts a potluck for the Tri County LGBT alliance, which puts on a pride parade in nearby Murphy's ties. Mom, Mary welcomes the guests. It's people like you that have made the world safer for my baby. And so I appreciate you. If you're ever scared or worried, just know that there's someone out there in the world who appreciates and from the bottom of my heart, thank you for being an ally or for being out and welcome. Speaker 3: 04:45 Okay. Speaker 1: 04:48 16 year old miles goes to the youth group. Ties started in the region but is attending the potluck for the first time. Speaker 3: 04:55 I'm basically here cause like I think meeting a lot of people who are going through the same thing helps like you know, develop like who I'm going to be when I grow up. Speaker 1: 05:04 Miles. His mom is here in support but struggling with pronouns. Speaker 3: 05:08 I love her to death. So [inaudible] keep correcting. Don't worry. Whatever miles decides to be. That's choice. Her hills. I'm still happy. No worry. We'll get there. Speaker 1: 05:28 Help from gatherings like this one at Rosebuds ties says that's what this space is all about. We try to Speaker 2: 05:35 use the bounty that comes through the cafe and reinfuse it right back into Jackson. You know the saying we are the salt of the earth. I never understood what that meant, but, uh, it was explained to me to be that we have to flavor this space. Speaker 1: 05:53 Ty says, no one should hold back their flavor. I'm Lisa Morehouse in Jackson. Speaker 4: 06:03 [inaudible]. Speaker 1: 00:00 There are plenty of documentaries on climate change and inconvenient truth before the flood, 11th hour chasing ice, and all of these try to build a case to convince people that climate change is a real catastrophic emergency as part of coverage from the KPBS climate change desk. K PBS film critic Beth AHCA, Mondo and movie walls podcast, or Yahtzee [inaudible] spoke with KPBS round table host Mark Sauer about feature films that attempt to prevent climate change issues in a different way. Speaker 2: 00:32 Well, best start off. What do you think a genre films and narrative films can do differently from documentaries and tackling these issues? Well, I think when people go to documentary, sometimes if the documentaries have a point of view, people put up their guard a little bit and they tend to preach to the converted more. But with a narrative film you're using usually personal stories and something that really engages the audience, I think it really hooks them and brings them into a story so that they're more open to ideas. Right. And Yaz do talk about that engagement a little bit. I mean, people may not really realizing they're getting a climate change message when they're watching a feature film. Speaker 3: 01:06 Yeah. I think it's like, you know, a good, a good dose of medicine when, when it's wrapped properly, when it's weakened enough that it goes down. You spoonful of sugar. Yeah. Spoonful of sugar goes down. Well and, and you know, not, not to make it sound terrible, but I think there's the history of science fiction has been the history of climate change in a way. Speaker 2: 01:24 And uh, well let's get onto the role of science fiction. How has it played in the role of the world of real science, science fiction? Speaker 3: 01:31 I mean, being a scientist myself, I mean I think I see a lot of parallels. A, I think certainly a lot of the early star Trek, you know, they've borrowed heavily from science, so I think they've kind of helped each other out. Speaker 2: 01:41 And uh, Beth, how can pop culture work to influence public opinion or help focus attention on certain issues? Well, pop culture, like as you said, it goes down easy. So people go to get entertainment and a lot of times filmmakers will hide messages underneath or just make them a little more digestible. So I think people are more game to go to a film that looks appealing or that's an art house film and possibly get a message they weren't anticipating getting. But these climate fiction films, is the real purpose behind a lot of them climate change in this message or is that incidental? Well, I think a lot of films and a lot of filmmakers have something to say and they choose to say it in a particular manner because narrative fiction or science fiction appeals to them. Because you know, with science fiction there's so much about it that is engaging from a filmmaking point of view that a filmmaker is very attempted to work within that genre. Speaker 3: 02:37 Josie, yeah, I mean it takes regular situations and makes them extreme. So I think from a, from a plot and script writing perspective, it's fabulous because you know, you can, you can put characters to very extreme situations and watch what happens. Speaker 2: 02:51 All right, well let's get onto your top climate fiction film picks. And Beth, your top pick. It's being screened Monday at digital. Jim Cinema. Tell us about silent running white's your topic. Sure. This film was made in 1972 but it really feels like a holdover from the 1960s Joan Baez does a song at the end of the movie. Bruce dern plays kind of the environmental astronaut because this is set in a future where earth can no longer grow any plants. The plants are all on a spaceship that's floating around waiting to find out what the decision of the lawmakers are. So in this scene, Bruce dern tries to explain to the other astronauts why it's important to keep these forests alive Speaker 4: 03:31 and that it calls back a time when there were flowers all over the earth and there were valleys and there were planes of tall green grass that you could lie down in that you could go to sleep in. And there were blue skies and that was fresh air. And there were things growing all over the place, not just in some domed and closures blasted some millions of miles out into space. Speaker 3: 03:51 Your top pick Yazdi my topic is, uh, the Mad Max movies and they've all been set in a very dystopian future where all of arts resources of La have run out. But I think more so the very last one, uh, Mad Max fury road, uh, really brings to point, you know, this, this, this future world where the most precious commodity is water because there's so little of it now I've Seen Mad Max fury road didn't occur to me that was a climate change film. Can you kind of explain the context? So that's precisely the point of we were talking about earlier is that when it's packaged as entertainment, I still think mad max fury road is the epitome of action. And within the context of that action movie, this whole point about water being a very precious resource, resources being seemed in and you don't even realize that, you know, that's the message that we could very easily get to a point there. Uh, while you're having fun and watching things blow up. Speaker 5: 04:46 [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] its absence Speaker 2: 05:08 thirsty. Just listening to that though. You're number two pick. This is a beautiful film called beast of the southern wild and it's about a by you community called the bathtub where a storm is threatening to flooded out and completely destroy it. And it's very kind of sad and melancholy and in the sense that it's not just climate change, but it's the loss of a whole culture. And there's a little girl at the center of it and she talks a little bit about what they're expecting in the by you Speaker 6: 05:38 one day till the storm the ground's gonna see and the water's gonna rise up so high ain't going to be no bathtub, just a whole bunch of water. Speaker 3: 05:50 Al Gore couldn't have said it better himself and a Jasta, you're a number two pick. My number two pick is a movie called Melancholia came out in 2011 and it's about two sisters and they're frayed relationship, but it's set in the context of a looming disaster in that a, this, this, this giant planet is going to collide into planet earth. And it's about how do you live your life knowing that this is happening. And it's kind of curious because the main character played by Christian Dunn suffers from acute depression. And for her, the end of the world is a daily occurrence. So she's the only one who is well adjusted in a way. Speaker 2: 06:26 All right. And quickly, I want to get to each of the films that came in last and your top three Beth. Sure. Snowpiercer reminds me a little bit of Mad Max in that it's set in a dystopian future. And the thing about both of those films is they show that if there's climate change and if something like water or something else becomes a valuable commodity than it shifts the whole power structure too. And that's one of the dangers. Alright, in a Jasta you're third Speaker 3: 06:49 before I go to my third. I have extreme love for Snowpiercer as well. If you haven't seen it, you need to, my topic is take shelter and this is a movie about a man who has visions that something bad is going to happen and that a storm is going to come and it's going to engulf everyone. And in a way becomes an allegory about those people who believe in climate change versus those who are deniers. And where do you put your faith? Who Do you believe? And it's a, it's a pretty good film. Speaker 7: 07:16 You gotta go crazy. Is that what he told her? Well listen up [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] you [inaudible] Speaker 2: 07:37 and I remember when George h w Bush called the Al Gore ozone man. And that was kind of friend, son from that glip right there. Well A, it's, it sounds like a, a lot of thing to, to think about and plenty of things that you want for moviegoers, especially if they're passionate about climate change or what to do about it. And even if they're not. Thanks very much Beth and Yazdi. Thank you very much. Thank you. And they were speaking to KPBS is mark Sauer for more coverage from the KPBS climate change desk? Go to kpbs.org/climate change. Speaker 1: 00:00 From sea to shining sea. We'll be celebrating America's birthday tomorrow. Forecasters say the weather will be just about perfect here in San Diego for barbecues, parades, beach parties, and some good old fashioned fireworks here to tell us about what's happening on the fourth is KPBS arts calendar editor, Nina Garren, you know, welcome. Hello. It seems like most neighborhoods in San Diego have their twist on 4th of July celebrations. Can you tell us about some of them? Speaker 2: 00:30 I think that many neighborhoods begin the day with like a morning parade and these are really community building and it's when the kids come out and they decorate their bikes and local, you know, local high school bands play. And so you can find those in places like Scripps Ranch, Coronado, bird rock, um, even Julian, they're going to have one along their main street. So really that's a nice traditional way to start the 4th of July. A neighborhood way. Yeah, neighborhood way. Right. Speaker 1: 01:02 Then we have some all day celebrations to tell us about those. Speaker 2: 01:06 Yeah. If you're looking for more of a place to go and hang out all day and that way you don't have to cook anything. Um, there's some old fashioned celebrations going on. There's one at old Poway park and they're going to have, um, kind of turn of the 20th century style games. There'll be Western reenactors. Um, there's going to be train rides for a small fee and then over an old town they're going to also do kind of San Diego early experience. They're going to have costumes and they're going to have wagon rides and you can play old fashioned games like egg toss and cherry pit spitting and have a pie eating contest. And are they all free? Yeah. Most of these neighborhood celebrations are free. And there's even, I hear a pool party somewhere. Yeah, the Pool Party is not free. That one's at the Lafayette Hotel. It's from noon to five, and there's going to be a DJ and your ticket includes a drink and you just kinda hang out, dance, swim, and just pass the time there until the fireworks begin. Speaker 1: 02:11 Okay. You're talking about it now. The main event is the fireworks on the 4th of July. But before we talk about the big bay boom, tell us about the neighborhood displays. Speaker 2: 02:21 Again, a lot of your neighborhoods are going to be doing small shows. Most of those start at nine. You can see them at like Marie Escondido, Chula Vista del Mar. Um, we have a website that I will pitch later that you can see where they are. Um, I do want to point out that people are used to going to La Jolla for fireworks. Last year they didn't have them, and again this year they won't have them. So do not go to La Jolla shores or scripts park expecting fireworks. You'll have a nice day at the beach, but there will not be fireworks there. But of course the del Mar Fair on his final day has a big fireworks. Are that? Yes. So if you're up in that area, you can head on over to the del Mar Fair Ground and watch those fireworks. So then of course there's the big bay boom that we mentioned earlier. Speaker 2: 03:10 The biggest of all the fireworks displays. What happens at it now that is the biggest one in San Diego. There are fireworks released from four barges along the bay and it's accompanied by music that you can hear on seven different radio stations. I think their iHeart radio stations had just your pop stations. Um, and you can see it from all over from shelter island, Harbor Island Embarcadero, Cesar Chavez Park, and the ferry landing. So it's basically the big star and about how many people show up for the big bay boom. They estimate it at about 500,000 people. Wow. Yeah, that's a lot. So how early do people have to show up to get a spot? You really should just plan on going there all day. You should go as early as possible. If you can't do that, there are parking spots that you can pay for. They range from $20 to $40 and they're also shuttles that you can get from point Loma and from airport parking structures. Speaker 2: 04:08 But really to have a nice day and to get a good spot, just wake up and just go over there. Is there anything to do? Say if you want a, I don't know, more of a low key 4th of July celebration, if that means hiking a little bit. I have a really fun event at the Cabrio National Monument. They're doing something called above the fireworks and it's kind of like a sunset picnic and you can see views from dozens of displaced from around the county. You're supposed to bring your own chairs, flashlights and some blankets, but once you're all set up, you have this gorgeous view. They are saying to not arrive until six o'clock because if you get there early, they'll just make you drive around. So show up for that at six. And if you want to celebrate it, you know, without being obviously 4th of July, but still want to go out. Lyle Lovett is going to be in town and he's doing a show called celebrate America with Leia. Love it. It's part of Bayside summer nights. And so he'll be performing part of his usual repertoire, which is Americano, music, Gospel, blues, Jazz, all of that. So you do get a feel of America, but it's just not, you know, so obvious traditionally, right? Yeah. Let's listen to Lyle Lovett and his large band. This is, that's right. You're not from Texas. Speaker 3: 05:25 That's right. That's right. That's right. Down about the Texas, Texas pumps. It was obvious. I was born and raised in Texas Speaker 2: 05:37 so much. Speaker 3: 05:40 No Mag girl, Joe. See as we would drive down, she asked me, so how come you foleys about [inaudible]? Speaker 4: 06:04 That's it. That's what, or even more 4th of July events in San Diego. Go to kpbs.org/fireworks. I've been speaking with KPBS arts calendar editor, Nina Garren, Nina, happy 4th of July. Happy 4th of July, Texas. Speaker 3: 06:20 The, it looks so she's on the set. She who small [inaudible] is a good, eh.