The crisis in Flint, Mich., goes far beyond the lead in its water, and a new Netflix docu-series sheds light on the city’s much deeper economic and social problems.
“Outside investment is needed to really rebuild this community,” Zackary Canepari, one of the directors of “Flint Town,” told Cheddar.
Flint, home to about 100,000 people, reportedly has fewer than 100 police officers, and violence has run rampant.
Part of the reason is the city’s high unemployment, according to co-director Drea Cooper. He points out that issue stems from General Motors’ leaving town in the 1980s.
“It’s a town that’s missing a core industry,” Cooper said. “It was a town that was built on a singular industry, and now it’s trying to make its way.
“There’s been influx of universities coming in through the University of Michigan, hospitals are coming in, so they’re starting to find a new sort of niche and a new industry. But I think so many of these things start with education and job opportunities.”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/welcome-to-flint-town).
Vikings are often misunderstood and while their brutality is what's shown in popular culture, there are many misconceptions about who they really were. Philip Parker, Historian and author of 'The Northmen's Fury', joins Cheddar Reveals to break down the true Viking history.
Jill and Carlo cover the latest developments with the Omicron variant that are spooking markets once again. Twitter's @Jack is leaving, SCOTUS takes up abortion rights and the world has a brand new republic.
An episode of "The Simpsons" alluding to the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre was removed from Disney+ in Hong Kong. It is unclear whether Disney or Hong Kong initiated the removal, but the change comes amid mainland China's crackdown on tech companies and entertainment.
Jon Lowen, Co-Founder of Surfside, joined Wake Up With Cheddar's Baker Machado to discuss Uber's partnership with cannabis retailer Tokyo Smoke, as it's the first time a cannabis merchant has been listed on UberEats across all of its global markets.
According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, Hollywood has been falling short on financial support for transgender-specific organizations despite some improvements in on-screen representation. Actor and producer Scott Turner Schofield, the founder of the consultancy Speaking of Transgender, joined Cheddar to note that rather than focusing on the dearth of donor dollars itself, fixing media representation helps fund those service groups, even if the money isn't yet flowing. "If you ask people, 'are trans people more visible in media,' everybody is going to say yes because it's very clear, but are there commercials for those direct service organizations? No. That's something you'll get from social media — maybe — if you're following people," Schofield said.
Thanksgiving fueled a lucrative weekend at the box office, even during a pandemic. Over the five-day holiday weekend, moviegoers in the U.S. and Canada spent around $142 million on tickets. Sean O'Connell, Managing Director at CinemaBlend, joins Cheddar News to discuss what the numbers mean for the industry.
