In Buffalo, Biden condemns racism, mourns new victims

S1: How white supremacy festers in our body politic.
S2: We are seeing this unbroken line of manifesto style extremists.
S1: I'm Jade Hindman with Maureen CAVANAUGH. This is KPBS Midday Edition. A judge strikes down state law that made space for women on boards.
S2: What the court said was that what you're talking about is imposing a quota. You have qualified men and women seeking those same seats , and that makes it suspect because everybody is titled to equal protection under the law.
S1: And a look at how ICE is collecting your personal information. Plus , we'll tell you about a musical opening tonight at the La Hoya Playhouse. That's ahead on Midday Edition. This morning , President Joe Biden traveled to Buffalo , New York , to pay his respects to a community in mourning after a racially motivated mass shooting claimed the lives of ten black people at a supermarket. He called the shooting domestic terrorism and spoke about the dangers of white supremacy , saying evil will not win. But we didn't get here overnight and this is not a new problem. The alarms have been ringing for years. Joining me is Professor Brian Levin , director of the nonpartisan Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University , San Bernardino. Professor Levin , welcome.
S2: Thank you so much for having me. Okay.
S1: Okay. So the white supremacist who carried out this terror attack in Buffalo mentioned the great replacement conspiracy theory in his manifesto. Can you explain what that is ? Sure.
S2: And you know , there have been aspects of this going on for decades and decades. But the bottom line , what it says is , is that European whites are being replaced and eventually eliminated in their own countries. By people of color , including immigrants.
S1: This morning , President Biden said white supremacy is a poison in our body politic that's been allowed to fester.
S2: Look , we've been warning for years for the federal government to start to do things about this. We begged Congress to hold hearings when they finally did. Bennie Thompson , God bless you. This is a national security issue. We have white supremacists across many institutions and we've seen this. Just bear with me real quick. What we have seen is replacement theory or doctrine be used in a constellation of of of racist , vile diatribes to legitimate aggression against people of color and immigrants. 2020 , after the social justice protests , was the worst. June was the worst month for anti-black hate crime ever since FBI data collection started. And we're seeing these tropes kind of get rotated around. And the latest is the replacement theory. One. But before that , it was Antifa. BLM. They're destroying the country. Then it was. Blacks were stealing the election. Then it was their stealing our schools. And now they're stealing us.
S1:
S2: And I did just that on Fox News Channel during the social justice protests. And I called out Tucker Carlson and his deceptive use of data by name. And you know what ? Haven't been invited back in over two years.
S1:
S2: And I can tell you that the party of Reagan and McCain and they were they were you know , both were against the MLK holiday. But at least there was a line when President Reagan , who launched his campaign in Philadelphia , Mississippi , where the three civil rights workers were murdered when the Klan endorsed him , he didn't say who were they ? I think Liz Cheney is exactly right. We have to make sure that we're not exploiting these fears , conspiracies and stereotypes , because what that does is label groups who you may disagree with or even diverge from , who may be different as legitimate targets for aggression. And we're seeing that combined with eliminationist language. You hear Ted Nugent last weekend crack the skulls of Democrats. We need to stop this kind of garbage.
S1: You touched on this , but do you think on a federal , state and local level that law enforcement agencies are putting enough resources behind surveilling these white supremacist terror organizations and the people who follow them ? No.
S2: We have so many open investigations. We really have to put more resources on it. And I think that the Justice Department , the FBI are making an assiduous effort. But the problem is so big , white supremacists have been the leading cause of extremist terrorist homicides , along with far right extremists since 2018. And it's continuing into today. Unfortunately.
S1: You know , also , we can talk about a gun laws , but I want to go a bit beyond that , because even when gun laws are in place , there typically seems to be a loophole that allows them to get into the wrong hands.
S2: Okay. So that's something. But listen to this. I think incompetence and and not tightening these laws is key. One of one of the victims families from the San Bernardino terror attack called me just yesterday and said , you know , we may not be able to eliminate all hate , but we hope we can eliminate the weaponization of it as much as possible. And what we've seen with regard to the South Carolina Mother Emanuel Church massacre , that assailant wasn't eligible for a handgun , but the FBI took too long to do the check. So he got it. We saw with regard to El Paso , the family go to authorities and say , hey , he's trying to get weapons and authorities said there's nothing we can do. So I think we really have to look at limiting access of certain types of weapons of war to the most dangerous people in our society. And we're not doing a good job. So irrespective of the systemic racism. Never underestimate incompetence and loopholes.
S1: And let's not forget the Habana , Poway shooting , too. Right. Absolutely.
S2: Absolutely. Ernest , who is now going to be serving life in prison , if it wasn't for the fact that that gun jammed , we would have had a worse situation than we had there. But the bottom line is we are seeing this unbroken line of manifesto style extremists , and they go to the darker edges of the net , like we saw with this Buffalo teenage terrorist who self radicalized quite quickly. But when we have even if someone is just on the darker part of the Internet and that turn it onto cable news at night , these kinds of means and stereotypes label who are legitimate targets for aggression in a community , in a subculture that cascades down to eliminationist rhetoric. It's got to stop. And I believe Fox News Channel's Tucker Carlson may not be responsible for this particular one directly , but he swims in a stream of it that's then broadcast this all over.
S1:
S2: I think we also have to have avenues where what we call leakage when someone talks or does some behaviors with respect to impending risk that we make that. A clear conduit to mental health and legal authorities. And we're not we're not doing the job we can. In so many instances , there were warning signs , and in some instances , these warning signs were reported , including the case of Buffalo. But we dropped the ball.
S1: I've been speaking with Professor Brian Levin , director of the nonpartisan Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University , San Bernardino. Professor Levin , thank you very much for your time today.
S2: And thank you so much for what you do.
S3: A state effort to mandate more women on corporate boards of directors has not passed legal scrutiny. A judge in Los Angeles Monday struck down the women on boards law , saying it violated the equal protection clause in California's constitution. Many lawmakers say they knew the law was on shaky legal ground to begin with , but they point to the changes it made in corporate boardrooms. State Senate Leader Tony Atkins , a Democrat from San Diego who authored the bill , said the ruling was disappointing and a reminder that , quote , Sometimes our legalities don't match our realities. Joining me is KPBS legal analyst Dan Eaton. And , Dan , welcome back.
S2: Thank you. Good to be with you. Worry.
S3:
S2: Those with five directors had to have two , and the boards with six or more directors had to have at least three of women. What the court said was that what you're talking about is imposing a quota. You have qualified men and women seeking those same seats , and that makes it suspect because everybody's entitled to equal protection under the law. That's what the court said in her ruling.
S3: Now , supporters of this law , actually , the state said it didn't create an unconstitutional quota because boards could always add seats.
S2: The bottom line was that created the constitutional problem for Judge Duffy Lewis was that she felt that the purpose of SB 826 was gender balancing , not remedying specific discrimination. And it was only for the latter purpose that you could have a law such as this. And she said after a weeks long trial , the evidence was simply lacking that this was necessary or appropriate to remedy specific discrimination in the corporate boardroom.
S3: Now , there was a similar California law that mandated racial and ethnic diversity on corporate boards , and that was struck down earlier this year.
S2: But there's an important distinction procedurally , and this is not one of these points that only a lawyer could law. But the fact is that that particular ruling came in a summary proceeding and it did not come after a weeks long trial. What makes this particular ruling , Judge Jeffrey Lewis's ruling more difficult to challenge on appeal is that this was after a fairly long trial , and she made specific factual findings in the Court of Appeal reviewing. This is going to have to defer to that. But the essential argument with respect to equal protection and the basis of invalidating the two laws is essentially the same. Yes , for.
S3: Former Governor Jerry Brown signed this law into effect largely because legislators were frustrated in their attempts to persuade businesses to include more women and minorities on their governing boards.
S2: But the fact is that , as you pointed out in the opening , Jerry Brown , who was a Yale trained lawyer , Alex Padilla , who was the secretary of state at the time and is now a U.S. senator , and various legislative analysts all said that this was potentially problematic. But the bottom line with respect to diversity , the corporate boardroom is really undisputed in that it isn't as diverse as I think a lot of people would like to see it. And that's why this law that Annabeth Jackson and Senator Tony Adkins championed was perceived as necessary.
S3: In the year 2022.
S2: In fact , what is interesting is that you do have this increasing diversity of corporate boards. The issue is , for those who champions this law is that there was a perception it was not moving fast enough. There was some suggested it would take something like 50 or more years to get sort of gender parity. And there was a question of speeding up the progress. It is not true , though , that the general rule is that corporate boardrooms are all male.
S3:
S2: There is an entire code , a separate code that California has that regulates corporations , but they don't address gender and racial makeup. And that's that is the important distinction here. That's what made this gender , I should say SB 826 only dealt with gender. That's what. Made this vulnerable to a challenge. And this is why it was struck down , even though the broader rules regulating corporations would would not be suspect and would not be subject to legal challenge on constitutional grounds.
S3: Now , Washington State followed California's lead and created a similar women on boards law.
S2: The answer is no , because , of course , this ruling was based on a reading of California's state constitution and was a trial court ruling which has no precedential value even in this state. But that said , courts look at what other courts do. Even courts from other states. And they will be looking at this very , very closely. And the interesting thing is , even though this law has been invalidated and these others may be subject to attack as well , what you are seeing is because of pressure from large shareholders , institutional shareholders and institutional investors , you are seeing some pressure on boards to be diversified. So the law may not end up doing it , but this broader shareholder pressure may end up getting to the same place.
S3: Yeah , I have a question about that. You know , even though the law was struck down , it's already credited with raising the percentage of women on corporate boards in California from 17% to nearly 30%. And then , according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal , the law has succeeded in almost eliminating all male boards in the state.
S2: The fact is that the passage of a law that comes with it , the potential of penalties , which is , by the way , one of the reasons these taxpayers had the right to challenge this law , that state money would be spent doing it. The passage of a law tends to concentrate the mind of private businesses , and they tend to take action in the face of it , even if the law itself is unenforceable , as this one apparently will turn out to be. And you are seeing this broader and broader diversity of corporate boards , you can expect that that will continue , notwithstanding the fact that this law has been validated , assuming that this ruling is upheld on an expected appeal.
S3: I've been speaking with KPBS legal analyst Dan Eaton. Dan , thank you so much.
S2: Great to be with you , Ari.
S1: You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman with Maureen CAVANAUGH. Immigration and Customs Enforcement , better known as ICE , has created a vast digital surveillance program , secretly netting the personal information of millions of immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. That's the finding of a recent report by the Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown Law. I'm joined by Alison MacDonald , Research Fellow and one of the authors of American Dragnet Data Driven Deportation in the 21st Century. Allison , welcome to Midday Edition. Thanks for having me. This report calls ICE's surveillance program a dragnet. Why is that ? What we found from our report , which was the result of over two years of research , was that ICE has access to a staggering amount of data about all residents in the U.S.. So just as a couple of examples , we found that facial recognition technology has been used on at least one in three of all adults with driver's license in the U.S.. We also found that ICE had access to utility records , which means home addresses and legal names of three and four adults through data sharing with companies and other government agencies. So this isn't something that's restricted just to a small number of people. It's a dragnet because it's really not targeted. It's collecting data from anyone it has access to. I mean , how has ICE collected all this data and where is it coming from ? So part of the problem is that there are so many different ways that that ICE has access to data. So , for example , many state DMVs have shared their data with third party databases , sometimes commercial databases. ICE is able to purchase access to many of those. In some cases , ICE has access to directly query DMV databases for utility companies. It's sort of the same thing. Utility companies might share their customer data with trade groups or other organizations for the purposes of credit reporting. And then those organizations like Equifax are able to sell it. And through this chain , ICE is able to get access. The report calls ICE's surveillance program one that was created by crossing legal and ethical lines. How so ? One of the things that we did was looked at the laws that are already in place to protect people's information around the data that we were looking at. And in nearly every case , what we found is that the laws that are in place are completely insufficient to protect this data. This is often because the lawmakers themselves have little to no idea what ICE is doing and what data ICE is accessing , which means that even well-intentioned lawmakers have passed laws that result in data being put into the hands of ice. So , for example , multiple states have the option for driver privilege cards , which means that immigrants can have access to a legal way to drive. The folks that are pushing for these bills often don't know that the DMV is themselves are turning around and giving their data to ICE. What surprised you most from what you and your co-authors found during your two year investigation ? Well , we obviously expected to find , you know , something worth reporting. We've been worried about ice for a while , but the scope of access is honestly stunning. The vast majority of U.S. residents have been touched by their programs. Another thing that I'll say is that it's clear that ICE does not worry about the negative impacts that this has on communities. You know , the numbers that we present in the report are scary. Three in four people having their utility records available to ICE. That's scary. But these are also programs that have real impacts on communities. The result of ICE having access to the is that folks are going to be less likely to get their driver's licenses , which makes roads less safe. If folks are worried about their doctor or the hospital turning over their personal information to ICE , they're going to be less likely to go to the hospital. The chilling effects that this has on communities across the board is really , really terrifying. You know , this report talks about a lot of different data types that ice collected. What is problematic about face recognition technology specifically ? The center has been looking at face recognition technology for a number of years. And what we see time and time again from academic research is that it's an unreliable way to identify people. It is far from trustworthy as a technology. And the way that it's being used here is that it's not just a technology that's looking at a small number of people , anyone who is in a DMV database. If you have your photo taken at the DMV , your face is in a database that's being scanned by ICE. So what conclusions does the report make ? The most important thing that we need to do moving forward is have more comprehensive oversight of ICE. To date , there has not been a full congressional hearing looking at the surveillance capabilities of ICE , and largely the agency has been able to fly under the radar in amassing these different data sets and technologies. So the most important thing we need to do is continue to do fact finding about what technology and data they have access to , because in two years we were able to uncover a number of really scary things. But there is still so much we don't know about how they're using the data and what additional data they might have access to. Is it safe to assume that other government agencies have similar data capture programs ? In many cases , ICE is getting access to databases that were explicitly designed for other law enforcement agencies. That in itself is concerning. ICE By presenting itself as a law enforcement agency , which it's not , has been able to get access to some of these databases that already exist and yes , do raise significant concerns. I'm curious , what has been the response to your report ? Has ICE or any other government officials commented on it ? We shared a copy of our report with ICE , and they haven't denied any of our findings , but by and large , haven't made any sort of public rebuttal of any sort. In your view , does the U.S. need stronger privacy protections ? Absolutely. Our report also has a detailed sort of overview of the different ways that we think laws going forward can better protect U.S. residents data. In many cases , there have been attempts to protect it , and in different ways it's fallen short because of the access that ice has to different pathways to getting the data. And so our report also walks through the different ways that state governments can step up to better protect their residents data. Is there anything people can do to protect their information ? This is actually I think one of the a question that gets to the heart of what's so scary about this is that you can opt out of participating in these systems. You can't opt out of going to the DMV or paying your your utility bill without significant negative impact on your life. Right. So as individuals , we can't escape this. What we need to do is call lawmakers and encourage them to conduct rigorous oversight of ICE and their access to this data. I've been speaking with Allison McDonald , research fellow at Georgetown Law School's Center on Privacy and Technology , and co-author of a new report on ICE's surveillance program. Allison , thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for having me.
S3: The U.S. military has been involved in outer space for decades with the Air Force and other military branches taking the lead. But about two years ago , Congress created the Space Force to take over most of those responsibilities. Eric Schmitt of the American Homefront Project traveled to Colorado to see some of what the Space Force does.
S4: Oh , it's good.
S5: Good signal. A small group of cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy is training to become guardians. That's what the military calls members of the Space Force , the newest service branch that may conjure up images of rocket ships , aliens or warriors fighting in zero gravity. In reality , the work looks a lot like a desk job in front of a computer.
S4: Alpha signal acquired alpha frame stats as scrolling.
S5: In a room no larger than a typical office. Six cadets monitor two sets of computer screens waiting for a satellite to fly over. They download the data from it and check it for problems in the few moments they're connected.
S4: Alpha write down faults 301 cumulative 51 max.
S5: Two satellites orbit over the academy north of Colorado Springs a few times every day. They give the squadron of about 125 cadets practice managing objects in space. Master Sergeant Philip Shane says it's similar to the kind of work the Space Force does to protect troops on the ground.
S4: We have several constellations of satellites that do air syncing , right ? So we're looking on the earth and trying to find heat signatures from various different missile types. And that's all we're doing. We're tracking those and giving our troops downrange enough time to duck and cover next door.
S5: The Academy recently revamped the teaching labs to include new computers and flight simulators that resemble the controls in a cockpit.
S2: And which want to watch out. Bull's eye to explore.
S1: It's still Spilsby area , which is really awesome.
S5: Major Katherine Brewer is an instructor at the academy and says the institution is shifting to meet what the Space Force needs.
S3: Obviously we put out a bunch of great pilots from the Air Force Academy , but we also now.
S1: Need to focus on future.
S3: Operations , future technologies , future disruptive.
S1: Technologies , a lot of which are going to come from.
S3: The space area.
S5: The creation of the Space Force recognizes this different reality that the environment in space is no longer benign. Major General Sean Bratton leads the command that trains and develops Space Force guardians. He says some countries see what the United States gains from its technology in space and want to take that advantage away.
S4: We see electronic warfare capabilities being fielded , spacecraft that can do harm to another spacecraft and then things from the ground that shoot into space and destroy the spacecraft. We've seen both Russia and China test those.
S5: If that ever happens , it could affect more than the military. For instance , one of the Space Force's responsibilities is protecting the satellites that make up the GPS system , which we use in our cars , on our phones and many other ways.
S4: GPS provides a timing signal that we use for money transfers. For example , we use GPS in agriculture for automated farming activities. That's on the civilian side.
S5: Right now , a lot of the Guardians work is firmly on the ground.
S4: Guardians won't go to space , certainly not anytime soon anyway.
S5: Even so , many people are excited to be part of the Space Force. Cadet Katelyn Roberts enrolled in the Air Force Academy to become a pilot , but changed her mind and is now planning to become a guardian.
S1: It was a hard battle to choose between the two , but ultimately I was thinking , you know , I'm going to spend my pilot career just waiting to get back into the space industry , so I might as well just stay in it.
S5: This kind of enthusiasm for outer space runs throughout the new force. Captain Perry Van Zandt is part of the 57th Space Aggressor Squadron.
S6: It's rocket science. So. So there's always going to be more we can learn.
S5: But the military's youngest branch has also been on the end of jokes. Netflix has been airing a sitcom called Space Force that makes fun of it. Colonel Eric Darmanin , a director of Information Mobility for Space Operations Command , says this satire isn't anything new or different. Yeah , I think it's.
S4: Valuable to be able to kind of laugh at yourself a little bit , but that does not.
S5: Detract from the.
S2: Seriousness of the business that we. Do.
S5: Do. The Netflix series was just canceled. The Real Space Force remains looking to add hundreds more military and civilian members. I'm Eric Schmid in Colorado Springs.
S3: That report was produced by the American Homefront Project , a public media collaboration that reports on American military life and veterans. Funding comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The GI Film Festival returns tonight with in-person screenings at the Museum of Photographic Arts. The festival , presented by KPBS , features films for , by and about the military and veterans. This year's selections include dramas , documentaries and animation , focusing on a wide range of topics , including military , mental health and transitioning home. Tonight's Opening Night feature is a documentary that follows the filmmaker as he retraces his grandfather's steps as a P.O.W. in World War Two. Here's a clip from the film.
S2: To spend every day together and be so much of who.
S6: You are on this person. And then you realize you know nothing. That's totally crazy.
S1: It started when I was staying here. I found that knife in your grandmother's bed.
S3: What is this.
S1:
S6:
S4: And to see a version of.
S6: Him that I never met. Then it becomes real.
S3: Joining me is filmmaker Marc Pedri , director of the GI Film Festival documentary Dear Sirs. And Mark , welcome to the program.
S2: All right. Thanks for having me. Big night. We're excited to be here.
S3: Well , I'm happy that you could make it. Now , let me ask you some questions about the documentary. I know that your grandfather helped raise you , but you didn't know about his experiences in the war.
S2: Yeah. So growing up from maybe ten years old on until I left for college , I spent every day with him helping do odd jobs in his mobile home park , things like that. So , you know , he was a significant person in my life in terms of people I spent time with. He was probably the person I spent the most time with. And it just it was never something that he brought up. I had known that he was a World War Two veteran. Try to ask him a couple of questions here and there. But , you know , every time it became clear that it was something that he just wasn't ready to to tell me about.
S3:
S2: And all of these things held a little piece to his story as a prisoner of war. So it was that experience that really caused me to look into this and say , you know , we really have to put this down on paper and get it all in some clear format because no one really knows what happened to him.
S3:
S2: He was advanced in age and in his eighties. And he wrote this letter to to apply for benefits finally after 60 some years later. And the first sentence was , Dear Sirs. And then it went on to tell how he was creating a bridge for general patterns , armor to cross and subsequently captured. And that's what began his journey as a P.O.W..
S3:
S2: And so I kind of went down the rabbit hole , and that's when I decided to make the film. But the documents and letters , they only got me so far. And after putting it all together on paper.
S6: I kind of realized.
S2: There was still some gaps in this story. And the only way I think I was able or I thought I was able to to be able to close those gaps would be to go to the places , try to , you know , move through this space in in a similar time of year that he was there and really try to tell his story by going to the places on the map.
S3: And were there discoveries you made about his captivity ? Shocking.
S2: They were to learn that , you know , he was moved to a number of different camps. And , you know , some of them he was marched to , others he was put into a boxcar. And each one of these camps was vastly different than the previous. So even his experience , you know , certain certain parts of it were were much different than others.
S3:
S2: I just come in encountering the details of the experience. It just shed light on how complicated this must have been for him to process , you know , the trauma that he went through with this.
S6: The people that he went through.
S2: It with , a lot of them didn't make it out of it. So trying to , I guess , explain that to your grandson is just not not an easy task and maybe even to explain it to himself. I'm not sure he ever fully processed it or if it's even possible to fully process something like this. So I think maybe I just wasn't ready to hear the story. He wasn't ready to share it. And maybe , maybe we never would have had that intersection in our life. And perhaps this film is the only way I was able to connect with him during this time.
S3: Well , it is the opening night feature for the GI Film Festival. I've been speaking with Mark Pedri , director of Dear Sirs. As I say , it opens the festival tonight at seven at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. And Mark , thank you very much.
S2: Yeah , thank you. We're excited for tonight.
S3: The GI Film Festival presented by KPBS , will screen 26 films from tonight through Saturday. And you can find more information at Jai Film Festival SD dot org.
S1: You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman with Maureen CAVANAUGH. Come From Away originated at La Jolla Playhouse seven years ago. It's a musical inspired by the true story of the small Newfoundland town of Gander that welcomed travelers stranded after 911. The North American tour brings the play back to San Diego starting tonight. KPBS arts reporter Beth ACCOMANDO speaks with La Hoya , Playhouse's artistic director Christopher Ashley about the show's origins.
S3: Chris Come From Away is now opening here at the Civic Theatre. So how.
S1: Does it feel to.
S3:
S6: You come see it at the Civic Center through Broadway , San Diego. You will see the national tour. It's also currently running on Broadway and London and Australia.
S3: And remind people of the origins of the show and how the La Hoya Playhouse got involved with it.
S6: David Hein and Irene sank off. It was just about to be a ten year anniversary in Newfoundland. Of the events of the show , if you haven't seen the show , it takes place in the week after 911 when America shut its airspace and 38 planes have to find someplace to ground. And 7000 people ended up being landed in Gander , Newfoundland. So it's the events of that week when this tiny town basically doubled its population high on.
S4: The northeast tip of North America on an island called Newfoundland. There's an airport and next to it is a town called Gander.
S2: Tonight , we honor what was lost.
S4: But we also commemorate what we found.
S6: In terms of the evolution of the show. David and Irene went to the ten year anniversary in Gander. Interviewed everyone , got hundreds of hours of face time with everyone. They thought they were going for two days and they ended up staying four months. Subsequently , we went back and I did a lot of research there as well before we did our first production and the first time ever up was at the La Jolla Playhouse seven years ago in 2015.
S3:
S6: That seemed to me like such a great thing to put out there in the world. And also , I had four songs and I really fell in love with the music , even though.
S4: It may seem away. And if we do retire , tell you what they paid us back. Cable if.
S6: It's like the kind of music you'd hear in a bar band in Newfoundland. Very Celtic Lee influenced , very rock driven. So I fell in love with the music and I fell in love with the way I tell this story.
S3: And how does it feel to have this show touring right now as we're emerging from a pandemic ? And it feels like the tone of this has a very kind of , I don't know , healing quality.
S4: Well , it's.
S6: Amazing to be back in a theater with people live. I've missed it so much. Two years off was unimaginable to me. And I just think people are back in the theater with so much enthusiasm and it's like they are finally able to reconnect with sitting in an audience and watching live theater. Everybody has gone through this kind of extraordinary , unparalleled , two years of so many difficult things happening in this country and around the world. It's amazing to watch people bond together around. Yeah , it's possible to really behave well and be amazing hosts and take the best kind of care of each other. I keep being so happy that we can send that story out into the world.
S1: Well , it really seems to be about kindness and community.
S6: And there's certainly dark tones in it as well. One woman is is trying to get news of her son , who is a firefighter , and she know that he had gone into the World Trade Center. There's another character who's Muslim and is kind of grappling with the beginnings of racial profiling. So there's all kinds of difficulties that these characters face. But the generosity of the people of Newfoundland and the people of Gander is remarkable. I have incredible admiration for the people of that town and people in that province.
S1: And how is.
S3:
S6: There's so many different ways that these stories develop after the Playhouse. But there's real pride in being a place where new stories get made. And I think artists like to bring their plays to the Playhouse because the audience is super smart and very experienced in watching new work. And if you listen to the the conversations in the lobby and in the aisles , you get some really good clues to how your rewrite should go if you're an author.
S3: And this is welcoming people back to theater here at the Civic Theatre. But talk a little bit about La Hoya Playhouse itself , because you just returned to live performances there recently as well.
S6: We did. I was so pleased to see how many of the subscribers and long time ticket holders really stuck with us through two years of no performances. So we came back with a three show season , which we've just finished with two plays and a musical bang in it , which I think you did a piece about. And now we're beginning our first full season. First up is a musical called Lempicka about the extraordinary life of the painter Tamara de Lempicka , who had to flee from Russia during the Russian Revolution , settled in Paris , had to flee from the approaching Nazis and ended up settling in Southern California. So kind of amazing story about resilience and also outsiders , a musical version of it , which you may remember from reading the reading the book in high school. I certainly do. And four plays. I am co-directing it as you like it with an amazing director , Will Mann. Moises Kaufman is back. You may remember him from The Laramie Project with a play called Here There Are Blueberries about these photographs that were discovered of staff members who worked during the Second World War at Auschwitz. And it's sort of about that unbelievable ness of these regular lives happening right next to this kind of extraordinary evil and how people are able to kind of divide their like partition in their minds. We're doing fandango beautiful , a piece about emigration and the impulse to celebrate.
S3: And how has it been for the Playhouse in terms of surviving this pandemic ? Because when you can't do the one thing that you're.
S1: Really designed.
S3:
S6: They just went do their work from home. Everybody's gotten much better at Zoom than we were two years ago. We did. We really leaned into the digital programming because we had all of this experience making while pieces outdoors and site specific and immersive. We said , Well , what does that look like on your computer screen ? So we invited , I think , 14 different artists to make digital pieces and did them during the course of that two years , all planning was fiendishly difficult because you sort of never knew. The shape of of how time was going to lay out and when we could come back. So we we drove several artists kind of crazy with we think next month. No , no , we think the month after that. But finally , we're back. And I think that the the joy in being back in live performance , everybody is feeling and I think there's not like a re new connection to the importance of community and how we help each other get through these difficulties together. Part of why it's great to be doing come from away again in this in this climate.
S1: Well thank you very much for talking about Come From Away.
S6: My absolute pleasure. It's great to see you.
S1: That was Beth ACCOMANDO speaking with La Jolla Playhouse artistic director Christopher Ashley. Broadway San Diego Presents the North American Tour of Come From Away Tonight through Sunday at the Civic Theatre.