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.
Inside Voice A young singer-songwriter's voice starts out sounding like a girl, ends up sounding like a man...and helps him find his true voice along the way. [EXPLICIT LANGUAGE]
Eating Diane When exotic food writer Eddie Lin asked his pregnant wife if she'd consider letting him eat her placenta, she said, "no way". But she asked him when their second child came along...and Eddie had to figure out how to cook it.
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.
Claudio Magris: Blameless In Claudio Magris' Blameless, a museum of the implements of war and destruction is created to inspire peace. But this conversation is not just about war and peace.
Trump says goodbye Paris Accord: What does it mean for U.S. and the planet? President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the U.S. will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, the landmark international agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Trump was to renegotiate a new deal, but will that happen?
What did Trump accomplish on his first trip abroad? President Trump is wrapping up his Mideast and European tour. We find out what he has accomplished -- good and bad -- and look at what he faces when he comes home.
In 'Speechless,' Scott Silveri combines comedy, family & disability Scott Silveri has written and produced sitcoms for more than 20 years. In all that time, he never encountered a TV family that looked anything like the one he grew up in -- with a mom, a dad...and a brother with cerebral palsy. He changed that with his show Speechless on ABC. Silveri tells us about looking to his own past for stories, and why he was determined to make a family comedy and not just a "disability show."