Producer, 'The Document'
Mike Schlitt is a producer for The Document. An amateur historian who is traveling around the country throughout the 2016 presidential election, collecting voices and trying to find out what it means to be an American citizen today, he is also a contributor to Press Play.
The End of the Endless Summer A look at back at The Endless Summer -- the most influential surf movie ever -- 50 years after it came out.
Because It's There A former mountaineer returns to the Himalayas for one last climb...to bury his long lost friend. [EXPLICIT LANGUAGE]
The Three Owls: The Face of Evil A documentary filmmaker follows a real life exorcist in search of evil…but what happens if he finds it? [EXPLICIT LANGUAGE]
Electoral college: a history full of drama Members of the Electoral College are expected to officially elect Donald Trump to the presidency today. Some have pushed for them to reject Trump. Others called for delaying the vote until the president-elect resolves potential conflicts of interest. Some electors themselves have requested a briefing on possible Russian interference in the election. None of this is likely to change things today, but this election has brought an unusual spotlight to the Electoral College.
Why Florida is pivotal in presidential campaigns Florida has been a central focus for presidential campaigns ever since it put George W. Bush in the White House with a margin of 537 votes. As Tim Kaine has said, “If you win it in Florida, it’s won.” That’s why Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and their surrogates have been crisscrossing the state in the last few days.
A trip to the new Nixon Library The Richard Nixon Presidential Museum and Library reopened this weekend after a year-long reboot. With 70 new exhibits and hundreds of new artifacts, the library takes a more comprehensive look at Nixon than ever before.
A history of presidential health – disclosed and not Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s health is in the spotlight after a pneumonia diagnosis forced her to cancel a two day campaign swing through California. She’s being criticized for not disclosing it initially and opponents were quick to claim her illness is proof she’s not up to the task of being commander in chief. Of course, presidents are humans who get sick like the rest of us, but in the past, the public was rarely notified when a sitting president faced health problems. For instance, President William Henry Harrison, who became ill after his inaugural address and died of pneumonia after 32 days on the job. He was one of four presidents – along with Taylor, Harding and Franklin Roosevelt – who died in office.
Vignettes From the Floor of the Republican National Convention Conventions aren’t just formal nominating venues, they’re also big parties. Press Play producers in Cleveland walk us through scenes of revelry replete with costumed delegates, vendors, floods of journalists, and a mighty show of force from law enforcement.
The Man In Charge of the Balloons The GOP Convention comes to its climactic end on Thursday night with Donald Trump’s speech. When he’s done speaking, the balloons will drop. One hundred thousand of them in red, white, and blue will float down upon all those assembled inside Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena. The guy behind the balloon drop is Treb Heining. He’s been the balloon drop guy at every Republican Party convention since 1988.
Alexander Hamilton Will Remain on the $10 Bill The US Treasury has announced that civil war era freedom fighter Harriet Tubman will replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. And in other currency news, Alexander Hamilton, who was going to be replaced on the $10 bill, is staying put. How much did the popularity of the Broadway musical “Hamilton” sway the decision to keep Hamilton on the ten-spot? Apparently Jack Lew and the Treasury Department had faced opposition from the show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, a recent Pulitzer Prize-winner, and furor from the musical’s fans.
Alexander Hamilton Will Remain on the $10 Bill The US Treasury has announced that civil war era freedom fighter Harriet Tubman will replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. And in other currency news, Alexander Hamilton, who was going to be replaced on the $10 bill, is staying put. How much did the popularity of the Broadway musical “Hamilton” sway the decision to keep Hamilton on the ten-spot? Apparently Jack Lew and the Treasury Department had faced opposition from the show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, a recent Pulitzer Prize-winner, and furor from the musical’s fans.
A 14th Amendment History Lesson Part of the reason that banks got so big in the first place are the legal rights granted them by the federal government; rights that you might think were only granted to people, like free speech. There was a lot of attention paid to the idea of corporate personhood after the Citizen’s United case in the Supreme Court in 2010, but the idea that corporations are people goes further back than that. In fact it goes all the way back to the constitutional amendment that granted rights to former slaves, the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868. We get a history lesson from Mike Schlitt, a regular commentator on “Press Play,” amateur historian and political junkie.
On the Ground in Arizona Utah, Idaho, and Arizona go to the polls tomorrow . Donald Trump is eying Arizona, in particular, which has 58 winner-take-all delegates. The GOP frontrunner showed up there for two rallies this past weekend, in Tucson and Phoenix, and political junkie Mike Schlitt couldn’t stay away. Photos by Mike Schlitt
On the Ground in the South This is proving to be perhaps the most unpredictable presidential campaign in recent memory, and it's hard to know whether the results of tomorrow's Super Tuesday voting will make things clearer or stir up the muck even more. We hear from one of our regular contributors, who's been traveling around the country trying to make sense of it all. He just wrapped up a 10-day tour of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.
Schlitt Does Iowa Tonight’s Iowa caucuses mark the official start of the 2016 presidential election, and Mike Schlitt is there. He’s a Press Play regular and a lifelong political junkie who decided to go to Iowa to see democracy at work. He shares his quirky take with Madeleine to kick off today’s show.
Politicon Mixes Politics and Entertainment More than ever, politics feels like entertainment. Case in point, it’s just been announced that Donald Trump will host Saturday Night Live. An event this past weekend in L.A. called Politicon doesn’t think mixing politics and entertainment is a bad thing. In fact, its motto is “Entertain Democracy.”
How do Trump supporters feel about the Paris Accord? Globally and around the U.S., there are strong opinions whether or not the Paris Climate Accord is a good idea. The American exit is either a horrifying abdication of American leadership or a forceful and long overdue statement about U.S. sovereignty.
Revisiting showrunner Steven Bochco on his memoir Steven Bochco, the writer-producer behind record-breaking Emmy winners Hill Street Blues, LA Law and NYPD Blue, fought battles with everyone from out-of-control actors to network censors in his long career. He isn’t afraid to tell those tales in his memoir, Truth Is a Total Defense. This week we revisit the conversation where he shared some of his favorite stories with us.
Farewell LA freeways, Peter Shire is back Angelenos don't want more freeways but we seem not to want mass transit either. Metro has killed the 710 freeway extension, and bus and train ridership is down across the region. What's the future of getting around in LA? And, Peter Shire is having a comeback. What attracts a new generation to his playful ceramics and furniture?