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News at 6 on WNUR News – November 10, 2021 Civic Love, Avatar Live Action, and NU’s Taylor Swift Society WNUR News broadcasts live at 6 pm CST on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays on WNUR 89.3 FM
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Speaker 1 00:00:18 <inaudible> you're listening to the six o'clock news on WMUR 89.3, FM HD one Edmonson Chicago it's Wednesday, November 10th, 2021. Tonight on WMUR news, chicken soup for the soul and socially active conversations on civic love and spirituality avatar. The last Airbender returns to TV in live action and a look into the Taylor swift society on Northwestern university's campus, those stories, and more coming up tonight on WMUR news. Thanks for returning, uh, tuning in to WMUR news. Religious communities have long played a role in the fight for social justice and continuation. With this long standing tradition, Northwestern hosted a conversation on civic love Tuesday evening as part of a continuing series on the intersection of spirituality and social justice. WMUR news reporter Justine Fisher has more.
Speaker 2 00:01:25 The civic love spirituality and social action program had its third event. Tuesday in parks hall. We're around 15 students in faculty came together to discuss the intersection of spirituality and social justice. This week on d'Alene called GoDaddy who observes the high faith and is an educator came to speak and converse with the audience.
Speaker 2 00:01:53 An idea that started over the summer that will Buchanan a co-organizer with Kristen glass Perez talks about the setup of the event and the aim of the program.
Speaker 3 00:02:03 Be responsive to creating environments that we desire to see for Northwestern students. Um, so thinking about social justice and activism, um, and equity in the pursuit of those things in a space also where we could lift up meaning-making spirituality, um, giving students that opportunity to hear from people who are working on trying to do that well in their own lives locally. So kind of a, um, a mashup between, um, space for students to think about their inward lives and then their outward
Speaker 2 00:02:41 Kristen glass Perez describes the religious and spiritual component.
Speaker 3 00:02:45 A lot of work in communities across the globe, really, but especially here in Chicago and Evanston, a lot of community work is carried out by organizations that have some kind of religious or spiritual connection
Speaker 2 00:03:02 Battle. Buchanan describes Tuesday's event.
Speaker 3 00:03:06 We've set up the room in a circle. So we have the guest in conversation so far, it's been with one of us, right? One of the members of our teams. Um, and then we basically kind of like a fishbowl, right? Like people are sitting in, in the round and are able to, we kind of get ourselves situated. Uh, and then there's a listening to the conversation developed between the conversation partners and then an opening up to questions from everyone sitting around. So that's kind of been our format so far. So it's a nice conversation space that's meant to be non-hierarchical, you know, and kind of not in a classroom style, but in a space that kind of promotes everyone being able to see one another, appreciate one another. Listen. Well, and also kind of feel the connectedness of the person that we're inviting tomorrow is on delayed <inaudible>. And he is the assistant superintendent in district 65 schools. That's the Evanston school district and he's also a board member at books and breakfast. And we have a relationship with books and breakfast where a lot of Northwestern students are tutors in that, in that program. So it'll be hopefully an opportunity for Northwestern students who are currently involved in Evanston schools to learn directly from on to leap
Speaker 2 00:04:24 On the leap, spoke about his feelings, going into the circle,
Speaker 4 00:04:27 The space tonight, seeing a circle in here. Um, I think it really speaks to my heart of promoting unity, helping people recognize that they're not alone, that we're all on this journey together, uh, unit, I don't know if you've heard, but there's a lot of like change in society in terms of people changing jobs and resignations and all of that. I just feel like some of that is just a disconnect. People want to feel connected. And so one of my hopes for those students who joined us tonight is that we can really engage in a fruitful conversation of like, how do we support each other through these tough times,
Speaker 2 00:05:03 Unbelievable elaborated on his background and how it brought him to where he is today.
Speaker 4 00:05:07 Growing up, I was in multiple educational systems and west Africa, east Africa, and I live in new Orleans and then Massachusetts. So just had a lot of different educational experiences. And one of the things that I realized when I was an undergrad, I'm studying at the university of Massachusetts, was that in many of the ways in which injustice was promoted, it really came through schools. When we look at even the construction of public education in America, it really was through this model of like we had to create a working class of people who knew how to punch in, punch out the focus. It wasn't really a true education, which is how do we help people achieve the best of what they are seeking to achieve rather, how do we create auto Mons or robots, so to speak, to achieve, to help the rich to right. And so for me as an undergraduate, much like yourself, it was really a commitment that I realized that if I was wanting to help and really address injustice in the world, I felt like the best way to do that was to become a disruptor in public education and to be somebody who could really help change the way in which the trajectory of students in public school systems.
Speaker 2 00:06:21 He also expresses faith as an important motivator
Speaker 4 00:06:25 Founder of the high faith I'm a behind and the founder of the beehive phase said that the fundamental purpose of the faith of any religion is to carry forward an ever advancing civilization. So our goal was Bahamas and my goal is to be a service feeling really, I don't know, the psychologic may not be the right word, but just like, um, in a few weeks from now, but highs all around the world, we're celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the passing of Abdu'l-Baha, who actually spoke here on campus in 1912. And so I think the relationship to Northwestern is very profound in terms of this is a very special place for us because of his visit here. He could have been at lots of places in America in 1912, but he came here and spoke on campus about just the power of connection
Speaker 2 00:07:18 Beyond a single speaker. Kristen glass Perez has a larger vision of building a civic love community.
Speaker 3 00:07:25 Really, these are wonderful and rich conversations. That's what I would just say. Like there you leave a civic love thinking like, wow, there are people doing really good things in this community,
Speaker 1 00:07:43 Water earth, air fire, Longo avatar, the last Airbender aired on Nickelodeon when the world needed it. Most the show vanished well, it ended, but recently Netflix announced a reboot of the Cole classic animated show. This time in live action for casting controversies and other updates on the show here's reporter party pre-dawn
Speaker 5 00:08:25 Long ago in 2005, to be exact the first episode of the animated show avatar. The last Airbender was released on Nickelodeon. The show is set in a world where some people can control one of the four elements, water, earth, fire, and air. The main character, a twelve-year-old Airbender named Ang is the avatar. The only person capable of controlling all four elements and is tasked with maintaining peace among the four nations each representing one of the elements, the show up a hundred years after the fire nation went to war against the rest of the world during this time and has been frozen underwater. And it's only brought back when two siblings from the Southern water tribe, Katara and Saka find him the three kids then set off on a journey to help Ang master all four elements and saves the world. The show shaped much of our generation's childhoods and has now become a cult classic for kids and adults alike in 2018, Netflix announced that they would be making a live action version of the cartoon and partnership with Nickelodeon they'll production was initially set to begin in 2019, it was delayed to 2020, and then delayed yet again, due to the pandemic.
Speaker 5 00:09:38 This live action series has garnered a lot of excitement as well as skepticism from avatars. Huge following. Well, many are excited to see their favorite fictional characters brought to life. Avatar does not exactly have the best track record when it comes to live action adaptations and 2010 film remake of the show directed by <inaudible> is considered one of the worst live action adaptations ever made. In fact, Wikipedia even listed as one of the worst movies of all time. The movie has a 5% critics rating on rotten tomatoes and is widely hated due to its bad CGI bending, huge tonal shift from the show and controversial casting choices. The original avatar takes a lot of inspiration from Asiatic and indigenous cultures. For instance, the Southern water tribe in the show reflects a lot of Inuit culture, the film, however, cast, mostly white people in place of characters.
Speaker 5 00:10:31 That seemed quite obviously to be people of color members of the fire nation who were representing the villains were played by brown actors, despite their characters representing as east Asian within the animated show. The enormous flop that was the last Airbender film has made people rightfully doubtful of the quality of the upcoming Netflix series. However, in the past few weeks, Netflix has released some casting decisions that show that they're at least making an attempt to stay true to the original shows, cultural influences so far the representation of Asian and indigenous actors has made at least some of the audience a bit more optimistic about what's to come. The cast that has been announced as of now consists of a mix of up and coming child actors and respected names. For instance, 12 year old Filipino Canadian actor Gordon Cormier was cast as a lead role of Ang a choice that made fans especially excited when learning about his martial arts background, a skill that will definitely come into play in bending scenes in the show.
Speaker 5 00:11:31 Additionally, just this week, a claim Dr. Daniel Dae Kim was announced at the show's main villain fire Lord Jose. Hopefully this new cast will capture the amazingly written characters of the animated series and went over the original shows, doubtful, get content hungry fan base. Another large source of skepticism for the show is the withdrawal of involvement from the original show runners, the creators of the avatar universe, Michael Dante DiMartino and Brian Connie ex-co were initially a core part of the Netflix productions, creative team. However, they announced that they would be dropping the project in August of 2020 due to creative differences and the conflict with the Netflix team. And the new series was first announced. Netflix, very publicly stated that DiMartino and Connie ex-co would get creative control over how their characters and universe would be represented in live action form. However, Coney ex-co stated the project actually had a quote negative and unsupportive environment. This announcement greatly upset fans and soured their opinions of the series as the live action remake of avatar. The last Airbender is in pre-production and grows closer to its eventual release. We can only hope that Netflix will be able to surpass the low bar set by the last avatar live action adaptation and capture the magic and charm that made the original show so special while no official release date has been announced yet. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled. As more announcements are made, this was party prod hunt for WMUR news.
Speaker 1 00:13:13 After the break a student group for Swifties WMUR news will return.gov
Speaker 7 00:13:21 To learn safe. Since your child can help themselves be more than <inaudible> dot com to a life of courage and new commitment to something greater than themselves. They have always defended this nation and each other brown greens
Speaker 8 00:13:52 Air travel is a big part of making kids' wishes come true for the Make-A-Wish foundation. More than half of all the wishes. Granted last year, traveling, you can help children with life threatening illnesses, continue to go wherever their imagination takes them by donating your frequent flyer miles to donate. Please visit the Make-A-Wish foundations [email protected] or call toll free 1-800-722-NINE 4 7 4.
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Speaker 1 00:14:57 Welcome back to w on your news at six it's six, 15:00 PM central time I'm Nixon Taylor swift swift will drop her rerecorded read on Thursday night. In honor of the news. A group of Northwestern students created the end. You Taylor swift society, WMUR News's Ali Bianco sat down with the group founders to discuss the rerecording and the listening party on Friday night
Speaker 11 00:15:28 On June 18th, 2021, Taylor swift announced on Instagram and Twitter at her next rerecording would be her third album read and will be released on November 12th. The announcement came after months of anticipation following the release of her first rerecording, her sophomore album fearless on what felt like a random day in June, Rhea Kumar, a junior in Weinberg couldn't contain her surprise and excitement for the new album.
Speaker 12 00:15:57 I think I was looking in the car with my parents. We were like going to lunch somewhere and I like got like the Twitter notification and I like screamed in the back seat. And the parents were like, are you okay? And I was like, no, he was so unexpected, especially because Taylor had been like teasing 1989 at that point. And then I was like, where did this come from?
Speaker 11 00:16:16 Months of waiting have gone by. And November 12th is finally upon us after a conversation with her friend at eco Kumar and co both realized that was so many Taylor swift fans on campus. There had to be a way to celebrate together.
Speaker 12 00:16:32 So it's been something that, uh, I've been thinking about doing for a long time. Of course, we all heard when Oxfords tell us a society drops, cause I've made news in a bunch of my friends, sons sends to me Instagram posts about that. And so that's when I really began thinking about it seriously, this is a little story, but I wore a, you belong with me costume for Halloween. And like everyone who recognized my luck, I like told them about the tears of society, maybe becoming a thing, and everyone was so enthusiastic about it. And so that, that really, really, really made me think that I had to do it
Speaker 11 00:17:03 On November 2nd, 10 days before the release Kumar and co made a group me called the Northwestern Taylor swift society today, the group B has over 200 members, the group plans to gather in tech on the night of November 12th to celebrate the release.
Speaker 12 00:17:21 So we have, uh, like a lecture room booked in tech. We like tested out the speakers and everything was so we're just going to be like listening to the whole album through, I think it's two hours and 11 minutes long. So it's literally crazy. We're going to like buy sacks, hopefully have like a little photo wall set up with like streamers and balloons. So people can take pictures.
Speaker 11 00:17:42 Kumar described how Taylor swift has not been known in recent memory to be predictable. The release of Swift's 2020 album folklore and its sister album evermore had no promotion or warning. They were dropped the same day as the announcement ever since then, Swifties have been aware of the looming possibility that their beloved Blondie might drop anything at any moment with red Taylor's version. That moment has yet to come. And the release is tomorrow. Yes,
Speaker 12 00:18:13 It's weird. And like she released a wildest dreams from a different album. I just like live in fear.
Speaker 11 00:18:20 Uh, Taylor swift has not been hiding these past few months in August. Swift released a cryptic video detailing the names of her volt songs. These volts songs are previously unreleased tracks that never made it onto the original album. Kumar said that of all the volts songs, Swifts better, man, which was recorded by little big town is the song she's been waiting for swift to release for years.
Speaker 12 00:18:54 I am like, uh, I'm like a big country music fan as well. And like I just saw a little big town in concert. So I got to hear them sing that songs live. And I'm really excited that we're finally getting Taylor's version of it.
Speaker 11 00:19:04 Um, co explained that the biggest anticipation for him is the beliefs of Swift's beloved heartbreak, Anthem all to well Taylor swift wrote in her announcement that the rerecording of red will include the original version of all too well timed at a whopping 10 minutes long,
Speaker 12 00:19:22 Of course, all too loud. The 10 minute version. I, I think, I think everyone is intrigued by that and really, really excited and wondering what that's going to sound like.
Speaker 11 00:19:31 Swift announced only five days ago at the 10 minute version of all too well would be accompanied by a short film, starring Dylan O'Brien and Sadie sink for Swifties like Kumar and co the excitement of this rerelease stems from their longstanding appreciation for Taylor's music.
Speaker 12 00:19:48 I think I was like seven or something. It was like around fearless. I don't know exactly what year that was, but that's like when I first heard her, I think I want to say you belong with me was probably the first song I heard of hers. Um, and I just like had loved her ever since I was a little kid I remember, and this is controversial, but I stand by it. It was, uh, 2017 with reputation. Um, and Don Simon, the album is my all time favorite and I think it will always be my favorite just because of the context edited the story of it. The business moves up. It it's also captivating to me
Speaker 11 00:20:26 Because of central standard time. Swifties here in Evanston. We'll be able to listen to red Taylor's version tomorrow night at 11:00 PM.
Speaker 12 00:20:35 Oh gosh, Thursday night. I'm probably just inviting a bunch of friends over to my apartments that we can listen to. Right when it drops, I feel like I was going to have the press or listening parties on Thursdays, but Friday will be like one. We're hearing it for like the third or like second time all together.
Speaker 1 00:20:56 After the break, we'll look at the weather ahead and recap. Today's news.
Speaker 8 00:21:06 Air travel is a big part of making kids' wishes come true for the Make-A-Wish foundation or that half of all the wishes. Granted last year involve traveling. You can help children with life-threatening illnesses, continue to go wherever their imagination takes them by donating your frequent flyer miles to donate. Please visit the Make-A-Wish foundations [email protected] or call toll free 1-800-722-NINE four seven.
Speaker 14 00:21:38 Most of us like to be out in the sun. That's why sunscreen and other safety measures are key to protecting your skin from aging and cancer. The FDA recommends using a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher. Also look for broad spectrum on the label. That means both harmful ultraviolet, a and B. Rays are blocked. Remember SPF plus broad spectrum equal healthy fun in the sun. Visit www.fda.gov/sunscreen. For more information, a message from the U S food and drug administration.
Speaker 15 00:22:10 It has created over 14 million orphans worldwide. That's the equivalent of every child under five in America with no one to watch over them. Won't you please help defeat this tragic global epidemic at current rates aids is turning another child into an orphaned every 14 seconds. That's two more children orphaned than just the time it takes to make this announcement. Please go to apathy is lethal.org or call 1 8 6, 6 8 7 toll free. Now aids is preventable. Apathy is lethal. A public service message brought to you by the United nations foundation, the ad council and WMUR.
Speaker 0 00:22:44 Um,
Speaker 1 00:22:50 Welcome back to WMUR news. It's 6:23 PM central time. I'm Nick song and other news today. No fraternity recruitment until earlier, uh, until the start of winter quarter, Northwestern announced Northwestern's Interfraternity council announced the news yesterday. The initial ban came after multiple individuals reported dragons at fraternity houses on campus. Last month, Northwestern, senior officials, uh, officials emailed the student body yesterday concerning the school's policy on student demonstration. The email came after a group of student protestors ran out onto Ryan field on Saturday during the football game against Iowa. The email said the university protects students, freedom of speech, but will enforce repercussions for students who violate the demonstration policy ramifications may involve quote, suspension, expulsion, or legal consequences as appropriate and quote. The statement says the November six protests presented unique challenges for the safety and wellbeing of all involved. Kyle warden house took the stand in his murder trial today.
Speaker 1 00:24:03 He acknowledged using deadly force when he shot three people during a protest against police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year were in house claimed he didn't intend to kill anyone but fired insult defense against three men who attacked him. Now taking a look at the weather ahead, a low of 54 degrees tonight on the Evanston lakefront. It's going to be a rainy morning tomorrow with a high of 55, but should clear up around midday with partly cloudy skies. Temperatures will drop to the high thirties by the night and stay there with some more showers on Friday. That's all for WMUR news at 6:00 PM. For more news updates and reports. Follow us on Twitter at WMUR news, you can listen to these and other stories of the day on our Spotify, Google podcasts and on our website, w and U r.news again, that's w and U r.news. Our producer today is Angelina company'll and our reporters are Justine Fisher party pre-dawn and Ali Bianco from all of us here at WMUR news. I am Nick song. Thank you so much for joining us. Join us next time. On Friday, November 12th at 6:00 PM. Now scheduled for
