Ben Trefny

Samsara is a new film that takes viewers around the world – from Burmese temples, sulfur mines, and hot-air balloon rides – all without a word of narration. One of the stops along the way was in Japan, where the directors encountered robot clones. What does that mean? KALW's Ben Trefny asked director Ron Fricke and producer Mark Magidson to explain. 

Click the audio player above to hear the answer. Audio available after 5pm. 

Listen to the full interview here. 

Imagine you can witness the most beautiful, and most disturbing, sights in the world. Riding a hot air balloon over exquisite Burmese temples; descending into poisonous sulfur mines in Java; meeting robot clones in Japan; exploring factory farms in China. These are some of the images of Samsara: a new feature film from Emeryville director Ron Fricke and producer Mark Magidson now showing in Berkeley and San Francisco.

Photographer Richard Morgenstein has lived in Pacific Heights since the late 1990s. Before that, he lived in Manhattan and enjoyed it. In many ways, Morgenstein is still very New York. He doesn’t have a car. He relies on public transportation to tote his camera bags around. But the new construction soaring above a growing San Francisco doesn’t really make him nostalgic for his former hometown. Rather, he’s inclined to give a Bronx cheer.

The Democratic National Convention kicked off in North Carolina Tuesday with an aggressive response to the criticism doled out last week at the Republican National Convention in Florida. Here's a few of the remarks that stood out:

TED STRICKLAND: If Mitt was Santa Claus, he would fire the reindeer and outsource the elves.

JULIAN CASTRO: Governor Romney has undergone an 'extreme makeover’, and it ain't pretty.

MICHELLE OBAMA: Barack knows the American dream because he's lived it.

Today is the last day of the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida. Although initially delayed due to Hurricane Isaac, the RNC has featured a number of politicians and notable persons throughout the past few days. Oakland’s Youth Radio has reporters on the ground at the RNC. Brandon McFarland spoke with KALW’s Ben Trefny.