Courtesy the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Editor’s note: We were elated to hear that earlier this week Seattle documentary filmmaker James Longley was one of 24 recipients of the MacArthur Genius Grant, an fellowship program of the John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Winners receive $500,000 over a 5-year period. Longley is the founder of Daylight Factory, a production company committed to creating documentary films about international subjects, and wrote a dispatch from Tehran during the post-election protests earlier this year in Iran. His previous films include Iraq in Fragments, Sari’s Mother and Gaza Strip. Max Follmer interviewed Longley via email.

Q. The MacArthur Foundation doesn’t let nominees know that they are being considered for a Genius grant. Where were you when you learned you had been chosen, and what was your reaction?

A. I was at home in Seattle—just getting out of the shower around 8 am. The people at the MacArthur Foundation knew I was about to travel to India to work on a film project, so they had called me a couple weeks early to let me know about the fellowship. I was sworn to secrecy, of course, so I had to keep a poker face until the news broke officially.

Q. Was winning something like a MacArthur grant anything that had entered your mind in the past?

A. It’s something I think every documentary filmmaker dreams about, since we tend to be a poor and struggling people. Maybe not the MacArthur exactly, but just the idea of not having to constantly worry about cash–that’s something that crosses the minds of many people in my field. Read the rest of this entry >>

Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Animal Planet’s hit television series “Whale Wars” also plays a prominent role in the new film The Cove. Watson answered questions from TakePart.com about the film, the dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan, and what moviegoers can do to take action.

TAKEPART: What action can moviegoers take after they’ve seen The Cove? What are some simple, and not-so-simple steps people can take to try to change the status quo?

CAPTAIN PAUL WATSON: The Cove points out where the problems are. Marine aquariums like Sea World must stop supporting the brutal and deadly dolphin drives. People need to boycott seaquariums that exploit marine mammals for amusement. We need to pressure and shame Japan into ending this atrocity.

TP: What would you say to people who walk away from the film angry with Japan or the Japanese people?

PW: The government of Japan endorses this slaughter and the people are responsible for their government, so ultimately the Japanese people are, in fact, to blame. We need not hate them for this but we should firmly make it understood that this slaughter has no place in the civilized world, and that the fishermen of Taiji are shaming all the people of Japan.

TP: Has the operation depicted in the movie changed anything on the ground in Taiji?

PW: It is to early to tell but I am confident that the Japanese government is feeling the pressure.

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Actors Ben Stiller and Isabel Lucas joined hundreds of moviegoers in Los Angeles Friday for a screening of the new film “The Cove” at the Landmark Theater.

Stiller opened the screening by praising the film’s crew for shining a light on the clandestine mass killing of dolphins in Taiji, Japan. And he highlighted the role that his co-presenter Lucas played alongside actress Hayden Panetierre in taking action to help protect the dolphins of Japan.

The actors were joined by Captain Paul Watson of Animal Planet’s “Whale Wars” and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Charles Hambleton — who handled Clandestine Operations for the “Cove” team, and champion surfer Dave Rastevich.

Visit the “Cove” page at TakePart.com for more information on the movie, and how to take action to protect Taiji’s dolphins.

Isabel Lucas, Paul Watson, and Q’orianka Kilcher

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Author and lifestyle coach Ivy Larson answered TakePart’s questions Wednesday about the basics of switching to a whole foods diet and the associated health benefits. Today, she outlines seven easy changes that the average person can make to their diet to transition to the whole foods lifestyle.

Adopting a whole foods diet involves more than just ditching the processed foods, it also involves adding more nutrient-rich foods. By making the following seven dietary changes one day a week (or one week at a time) you can slowly transition into eating a whole foods diet without feeling overwhelmed.

1. Eliminate Trans Fats. Trans fats are truly terrible fats: they raise “bad” LD cholesterol and total cholesterol, decrease “good” HDL cholesterol, increase triglycerides, and impair artery dilation. Trans fats are directly linked with heart disease, and they also decrease sensitivity to insulin, making it easier for your body to store fat and increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes. If that weren’t enough, trans fats increase inflammation, thereby exacerbating symptoms of conditions such as asthma, allergies, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, and eczema. To eliminate trans fats, avoid fried foods, margarines, vegetable shortening, and foods containing hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.

2. Avoid Refined Carbohydrates. The three most common refined carbohydrates in the typical American diet are sugar, refined flour (any flour that does not have the word “whole” in front of it is refined), and white rice. Sugar and refined flour are particularly ubiquitous in packaged foods. All three of these refined carbohydrates contribute directly to diabetes, obesity and heart disease and indirectly increase inflammation and worsen the symptoms of numerous inflammatory conditions. Note: if weight loss is not a concern you can allow yourself one daily sweet treat made with sugar.
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For families and singles frantically working their way through jam-packed schedules, prepackaged so-called “convenience” foods can seem to offer an easy way to squeeze in meals between appointments and events. Author and lifestyle coach Ivy Larson cautions consumers that by reaching for prepackaged, processed foods, they are often trading nutritional value for perceived time gains. Ivy and her husband Andy, a board certified general, laparoscopic, and bariatric surgeon in South Florida, are the co-authors of a new book that offers 200 recipes incorporating “whole foods,” or nutrient-rich foods in their natural, unrefined, unprocessed state. The Larsons write that switching to a whole foods diet delivers marked health benefits, including reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Ivy Larson answered TakePart’s questions about the basics of switching to a whole foods diet, common healthy eating mistakes, and how parents can get their children away from processed junk food.

TAKEPART: For those that are just beginning to explore changes in their diet and eating habits, what are “whole foods?” How do you define them?

IVY LARSON: Whole foods are unadulterated, all-natural, and nutrient-rich foods packaged the way nature intended: they come straight from the plant or animal (and ideally from an animal that hasn’t been treated with hormones and antibiotics, and one that has been raised on food nature intended the animal to eat). Whole foods should be free from stabilizers, preservatives, and artificial flavors. And while whole foods can be packaged as convenience items, they should be minimally processed, thus keeping the complete nutrition of the food intact. Oatmeal is an excellent example of a “whole food;” a granola bar made with oats that also contains high fructose corn syrup and processed vegetable oil is not a whole food.

TP: How difficult is it for the average household to shop for a whole foods diet? Do you have to go to a specialty store, or an up-market grocery chain?

IL: Shopping for whole foods in a mainstream supermarket is not only doable, it’s also affordable. The fresh produce section is an excellent place to start. All fruits and all vegetables are considered whole foods. If fresh produce is too expensive you can purchase frozen fruits and frozen vegetables. Vegan sources of protein-rich foods such as beans, nuts, seeds and nut butters are also affordable and readily available in any supermarket. Canned wild salmon, tuna and sardines are very healthy sources of inexpensive omega-3 rich protein. Whole grains such as brown rice, barley, oatmeal and 100% whole grain breads are also widely available. Most mainstream grocery stores also now carry foods such as flaxseeds, quinoa, millet, etc. The most difficult part of shopping for whole foods in a mainstream supermarket is finding high quality grass-fed beef, free-range chicken and eggs, organic dairy from grass fed cows and wild fish.

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