Latest news with #Finkel
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Bad Sisters' Execs Ready New European Series ‘Dead End' For An English-Language Remake
EXCLUSIVE: A trio of key creative forces on Apple TV+'s Bad Sisters say their Flemish comedy-drama Dead End is primed for an English-language remake. Malin-Sarah Gozin, who created the Belgian series on which Bad Sisters was made and co-created the Apple show, is attending Canneseries with fellow producers Brett Baer and Dave Finkel with quirky drama Dead End, which is playing in competition. Gozin has directed Dead End with Hans Vercauter. More from Deadline 'Bridgerton' Star Nicola Coughlan Trashes UK Supreme Court Ruling On Definition Of A Woman 'S Line' Director Jooyoung Ahn On The Canneseries Drama, Pushing Society's Boundaries & The Future Of Korean TV 'Pachinko' Creator Soo Hugh Says "Studios Have To Figure Out What A Library Is" The show is a six-part drama out of Belgium starring Peter Van den Begin and Elise Schaap about a man with a peculiar eating disorder that makes him a potentially tasty aid to police – he can see the final moments of whatever he puts in his mouth. Federation Studios recently picked up international sales rights to the finished tape, but Gozin, Baer and Finkel are eyeing an English-language remake, akin to Bad Sisters. 'Whether it's an American version or an English-language version, that has been the game plan all along,' said Baer, who along with production and writing partner Finkel is known for work on shows such as New Girl and United States of Tara. 'Bad Sisters was an eight-year process for us – and even longer for Malin – to get it into production, so how do we shorten that process, especially with the industry as it is right now? Recognising that Dead End is unique and extraordinary, Malin does an incredible job with the Flemish version, then we have this piece of IP to be able to say 'Trust us, it works.' This is hopefully the shortcut for us to take it to other audiences.' Gozin, who is among Europe's top creative screenwriters, was itching to team with Baer and Finkel after their experience on Bad Sisters, she revealed. 'On Bad Sisters, we vibed so well. I could immediately feel like we share the fascination for the genre blend and how to use dark comedy as a grammar to talk about something real. At the same time, not being afraid of digging deeper.' She noted that it is one thing to sell a foreign-language scripted title to an American or other English-language buyer, but that the chemistry with the local producer had to click for success. 'You can sell the format, but then you have to look for the creatives who really understand the heart of the show,' she said. 'Often you don't have a say in it, so it's Russian roulette. When I met these guys, it was like 'finally.' They fell in love for the right reasons.' Finkel added: 'What we fell in love with originally many years ago when we saw Clan – and then when we first met Malin and when we worked on Bad Sisters – was the synergy of what she has been trying to do by creating these universes and giving the audience something that is gripping, bizarre, unique, dramatic, gruesome and surprising. When she pitches an idea like that, you immediately can see seasons of expanse going deeper and deeper into the characters.' The series – which is for Play Media and Streamz in Belgium and comes from Lompvis and Caviar – stars Tabula Rasa's Peter van den Begin as the unfortunate Ed, who wants to put his unusual gift to good use but struggles with the life it has given him. The producers and stars were in Cannes over the weekend with the show, which is competing against the likes of Belgian-German co-pro How to Kill Your Sister, Korean drama S Line and Norway's Nepobaby among others. 'In general, I like these unique universes where you start from a crazy concept and then try to dig into it and look for something relatable,' said Gozin. 'The crazy idea came from when I had food poisoning from a rotten strawberry, and I started thinking about the concept.' 'Bad Sisters' Season 3 Update Gozin noted that a third season of Apple TV+ comedy-drama Bad Sisters remains on the boil. She told Deadline that 'nothing has been confirmed yet' in regards to a third run of the Apple show, which stars Sharon Horgan, Eve Hewson and Anne-Marie Duff among others. Baer added: 'Sharon, who has more direct involvement with Apple UK, has been a little coy about it in interviews recently. She has a new show that she's just started working on, so I'm not sure.'Best of Deadline Everything We Know About The 'Reminders of Him' Movie So Far Everything We Know About 'The Phoenician Scheme' So Far Everything We Know About 'Another Simple Favor' So Far
Time Magazine
08-05-2025
- Health
- Time Magazine
Richard Finkel and Kelly Hennings
In 2015, Kelly Hennings got the devastating news that her infant son had a severe form of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a disease that causes progressive muscle loss starting before birth. There were no treatments, and he passed away before his second birthday. Hennings and her husband were both carriers of SMA, meaning that there was a 25% chance any future biological children would also be affected. When Hennings got pregnant again years later, she learned via amniocentesis that this child, too, had SMA. Treatment options had expanded since their first child, but Hennings wanted to give her baby the best shot at a stronger life. 'I was willing to do anything we could,' she says. There is no approved prenatal drug for SMA. But she asked Dr. Richard Finkel, an SMA expert and director of the Center for Experimental Neurotherapeutics at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, if there was anything they could try. He had been mulling this very idea. 'It's something I've been thinking about for some time but had not actively pursued, so this kind of fell in my lap,' Finkel says. He had a hunch that the oral SMA treatment risdiplam, made by Roche, had prenatal potential because it's safe for kids and adults and crosses the placenta. Finkel set up a single-patient trial, got it approved by the FDA, and had Hennings take the drug for the last six weeks of her pregnancy—'a first-in-human situation,' he says. It appears to have worked. Baby March was born in 2022 and shows no signs of SMA at nearly three years old, according to a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine in February. She continues to take the drug every day. Finkel, who is considering doing a full clinical trial on the prenatal use of risdiplam, credits the parents with helping to advance science. 'They understood that, in effect, they were going to be pioneers, and that they were taking some added risk without any clear assurance that there would be added benefit.'
CBC
04-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
Piece of Passover tradition lost as U.S.-made Manischewitz wine removed from liquor stores: rabbi
Social Sharing A popular brand of kosher wine that has become a staple at Passover will be missing from the Seder tables of many Manitoba families this year, with the U.S.-made Manischewitz pulled from shelves in Manitoba's liquor stores in response to the ongoing trade war. Manitoba removed American-made alcohol from the shelves of its provincially run Liquor Marts in early March, after the first round of tariffs imposed by the U.S. administration on some imported Canadian goods. That included Manischewitz kosher wine, a New York state-made beverage that has become a staple in Jewish religious celebrations passed from one generation to the next, said Allan Finkel, rabbi at Winnipeg's Temple Shalom. "It's really sweet, syrupy — it's like cough syrup, but it's still … very much tied to the Passover Seder experience," Finkel said, referring to the ceremonial dinner that marks the start of Passover. Not having it this year will be "a loss of a piece of tradition," he said. Passover, which begins on April 12 this year, is an eight-day celebration that marks the liberation of the Jews from slavery and their exodus from ancient Egypt. During Passover Seder, four cups of wine are drunk at different stages during the meal. Request to bring Manischewitz back Ahead of Passover, Jeff Lieberman, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, wrote to the province requesting an exemption to bring Manischewitz back to Liquor Marts, given its importance to the Jewish community. "Time is running short," he said Thursday. "I'm hoping that the wine will be back, certainly with enough time for people to buy it." Others said they hope so too. Wine is "one of the most important" parts of the Passover meal, said Winnipegger Laura Marjovsky. "It's a staple of the Seder, and it should be available," said Shayla Fink, another Winnipeg resident. But speaking to reporters about U.S. tariffs on Thursday, Premier Wab Kinew said American alcohol, including Manischewitz, will stay off Manitoba's shelves. "That's gotten attention south of the border," the premier said. He also described the action as an "act of solidarity" with other provinces that have taken similar measures. "I apologize if that causes disappointment, but from what I understand, there are substitutes," Kinew said. WATCH | Passover staple may be missing in Manitoba this year due to U.S. booze boycott: Passover staple may be missing in Manitoba this year due to U.S. booze boycott 2 hours ago Duration 2:11 A wine popular at Passover may be absent from the holiday for Manitobans this year. Manischewitz kosher wine is made in the U.S., and Manitoba, along with many other provinces, has pulled U.S. liquor from shelves amid ongoing tariffs. Jews looking for kosher wine might still find some Israeli wine in government-operated liquor stores. Manitoba Liquor Marts offer three kosher wines, both red and white, from the Galil Mountain Winery, a spokesperson said. However, about a half dozen liquor stores CBC spoke with — both private and provincial — said they didn't have kosher wines in stock at the moment. Another replacement is kosher grape juice, said Rabbi Finkel, already in use by families who don't drink liquor. "It's about the blessing of the fruit of the vine. It's actually not about a fermented or an alcoholic drink necessarily," he said. "The tradition disappears, but in no way are we changing the real ritual experience."
CBC
28-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
From taboo to tactic: How strategic voting could shake up this election
West of Centre is a weekly podcast about the priorities, preoccupations and politics of Canadians living in the West. Listen here or wherever you find your podcasts. Alvin Finkel still remembers the day he was kicked out of the NDP. The lifelong New Democrat from Edmonton had been running a website during Alberta's 2012 provincial election to consolidate progressive votes behind certain Liberal, NDP and Alberta Party candidates. His hope was that "strength in numbers" might help turn the tide against the then-dominant Progressive Conservatives and their rising rival, the Wildrose Party. About 50 like-minded volunteers joined his cause, obsessing over polling data and fanning out across key ridings in Edmonton and Calgary to count lawn signs for each party, pinpointing non-conservative candidates with a real shot at victory. The argument was simple: if left-of-centre urban voters concentrated their ballots behind one person, rather than splitting between three parties, they stood a better chance of winning. It's a much-maligned practice known as strategic voting — and among smaller political parties, it's borderline heresy. "All parties have this notion that you're supposed to park your brains at the front door and assume that your party could win," he said. "It's a fairy tale." For his efforts, Finkel was given the orange boot — for a while anyway. He was eventually let back into the party in 2016. So imagine his bewilderment this month when he heard about Cheryl Oates's appearance on CBC Radio, where she openly mused about voting Liberal in the upcoming federal election. Oates, who served as a top aide for Alberta NDP premier Rachel Notley from 2015 to 2019, admitted during an Alberta at Noon call-in show that she'd consider voting strategically to block a Conservative win. "I've been an NDP supporter for a really long time," she said on March 10. "But I really, really don't want Pierre Poilievre to be the next prime minister." Finkel says he never expected that sentiment from hardcore party faithfuls like Oates because "those are the kinds of the people who threw me out of the NDP." Yet as the federal campaign heats up, the perennial debate over strategic voting — choosing a less-preferred party to block a more-disliked one — has resurfaced. If current polling holds, it could loom larger on voting day. Finkel believes his 2012 initiative helped the Alberta NDP narrowly capture two of its four seats that year. But some observers say a similar strategy might now boost Mark Carney's Liberals at the expense of the NDP on the federal stage. Just this week, former federal NDP leader Tom Mulcair wrote an editorial in Bloomberg urging voters on the left —including those who normally vote NDP, Bloc or Green — to consider this election a two-party race. "One thing is clear is this election is more and more shaping up to look like it's a binary choice," said Calgary-based pollster Janet Brown about the choice between Poilievre and Carney. "The NDP has got to just focus on … saving the deck chairs, making sure they come out of this with official party status," she told CBC host Kathleen Petty on West of Centre. In the last federal election, 217 of 338 ridings were won with less than 50 per cent of the vote. That suggests the numbers exist in many districts for strategic voting to make a difference. Polarization, tight race and high stakes Sometimes, voters don't choose the party they like best. They pick their second — or even third — preference if it helps defeat their least-favourite option. While skepticism abounds regarding the practicalities of strategic voting, those who have studied the phenomenon in Canada agree this election might have set the right conditions for it to play a role in the outcome. Razor-thin margins, polarization and concerns over U.S. policy are all potential motivating factors, said Jean-François Daoust, who teaches political science at the University of Sherbrooke. He co-wrote a 2020 paper on the motivations behind strategic voting, using provincial survey data from Ontario in 2011, Quebec in 2012 and federal data from 2015. His study suggests that while only around seven to 12 per cent of voters fit the "strategic" definition overall, that small group can tip close races. "They tend to come from small parties. So even if it's a few percentage points, if it's a tight race, it can be important," he explained to West of Centre, adding that those voters are especially motivated if they severely dislike the alternative frontrunner. In practice, the study suggests this could translate to a concentrated 20 to 35 per cent of "non-viable" party supporters engaging in strategic voting. Daoust says when it's a close race — especially with two major parties at the top — strategic voting tends to rise because voters don't want to "waste" their ballot. In the current election cycle, he said, a key question then becomes whether the NDP under Jagmeet Singh has become "non-viable." Recent polling data suggests NDP support has dropped sharply since Justin Trudeau resigned as Liberal leader. Already, the Liberals have recruited notable New Democrats, including former Vancouver mayor and NDP MLA Gregor Robertson and Alberta NDP MLA Rod Loyola, possibly signalling to NDP supporters they're free to switch parties. Political strategist Jean-Marc Prevost, who worked as a staffer for NDP provincial governments in Alberta and Manitoba, says the move also allows the Liberal Party to evoke a sense of stability for voters. "That's hearkening to a more stable time — remembering the faces that we used to see around the cabinet table or in politics at a time when things seemed more certain in the world," he said on the West of Centre podcast. What about right-of-centre parties? Those who switch between voting Liberal and Conservative go by many names: centrists, "red Tories," "blue Liberals," fiscal conservatives, pragmatists and so on. They are, however, not typically considered the same kind of strategic voters as those on the farther ends of the political spectrum, since neither of their top choices — Conservative or Liberal — is generally viewed as "non-viable," except in a few historic blips and parts of the country. In other words, though these "squishy middle" voters may feel they're making a strategic choice, they're simply voting for a party that best represents them at a moment in time. Theoretically then, it's those who support a smaller party ranking in third place or lower who "strategically" park their vote with a different party. However, choices are slimmer for conservative or farther right-of-centre voters following the "unite the right" merger between the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance in 2003. A far-right voter might choose the Conservatives over the People's Party of Canada (PPC) to stop a Liberal or NDP candidate. Daoust said it comes down to "the ideological gap between my strategic option and the worst option I'm trying to block." In 2021, the increase in support for the PPC, from 1.6 per cent to 4.9 per cent of the vote share, failed to win the party any seats in Parliament, but it didn't stop pundits from speculating that it may have cost the Conservatives a dozen or so ridings because of vote splitting. In fact, during the campaign, former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole equated a vote for the PPC to a throwaway vote for Liberals — effectively asking PPC supporters to vote strategically for his more mainstream party. But while strategic voting can help narrow the margin on either side, there is greater risk on the left for the move to backfire due to more fractured options, and therefore potential outcomes. Public opinion researcher Mario Canesco, who runs Vancouver-based Research Co., points to several ridings in his jurisdiction — including Granville and Kingsway — where if enough NDP supporters decide to switch their vote to Liberal, it could contribute to their opposite desired outcome. "So you could have a situation where if you're urging people to vote for a specific candidate or the other, the Conservatives could come through the middle and essentially win," Canesco said. "This was definitely more likely to be a factor when the Conservatives were riding significantly higher levels of public support." Plenty of skeptics Not everyone is convinced that strategic voting meaningfully alters election outcomes. Trevor Harrison, a retired political sociologist at the University of Lethbridge, argues the efficacy of the practice can be overstated — especially when voters lack reliable, riding-level data to inform their choice. "First, the people themselves who are voting aren't actually really sure," he said, noting that most Canadians only see national polling numbers, which can bear little resemblance to on-the-ground realities. "They don't have great information about the accuracy of the polls," he said. "And they are also voting locally." Without credible local surveys, voters can't reliably deduce which non-preferred candidate actually stands a better chance of beating the contender they dislike the most. That makes strategic voting a gamble — not a precise calculation. "It's really complicated because you're trying to do all this in your head without actually having very much information," Harrison said. In places where a party consistently dominates — such as many rural areas in Alberta that vote Conservative by wide margins — no amount of strategic voting can tip the scales. Conversely, in a close three-way urban race, strategic balloting might matter, but only if voters can accurately guess which candidate is truly viable. Malcolm Bird, who teaches political science at the University of Winnipeg, is similarly cautious about reading too much into dramatic polling shifts. He points to the NDP's history of ups and downs — and questions the assumption that left-leaning voters will line up neatly behind the Liberals to block a Conservative win. "I think for your average public sector, urban woman voter — OK, you're going to be able to convince her to vote [Liberal]," Bird said. "The bigger question for the progressives is actually getting working people to vote for them." He says any "fear factor" around Poilievre or the Conservatives may not seal the deal. Bird also points to the number of variables that are underrepresented in polling data, including the voting patterns of new Canadians living in suburbia. "They tend to be more family-oriented ... more faith-oriented, and the Conservative Party is the only party that even has a place for people of faith," he said. Poilievre says it's election day result that matters, not polling 12 hours ago Duration 1:51 Divining one's own riding Back in Edmonton, Finkel didn't let his NDP expulsion keep him from promoting strategic voting in the next provincial election. He was back at it in 2015. That year, Notley's NDP unexpectedly formed government — ironically less from left-wing unity than a split in support between the Progressive Conservatives and the Wildrose Party. Once those two parties merged into the United Conservative Party, it reclaimed a majority in 2019. Finkel, a retired Athabasca University history professor, stayed dedicated to rallying votes against conservative candidates on all levels of government because, in his words: "I'm left-wing and want to preserve our social, environmental programs." But he says anyone trying to make their ballot count strategically must focus on their own riding, especially in the final week of campaigning. "This isn't like a [U.S.] presidential race," Finkel said. "We don't vote nationally in Canada." This time, he's volunteering for the local NDP incumbent Heather McPherson, not the Liberals, because he believes the NDP is more viable in his riding of Edmonton Strathcona. "There's a Calgary riding right now that has a Liberal MP. If I lived there I'd be tempted to vote for that fellow even though I don't think he's a great MP," he said. "But in my riding, the NDP has the best chance of winning here." In other words, one of Alberta's best-known champions of strategic voting — and a one-time outcast from his own party for urging progressives to unite — won't be checking the Liberal challenger's box on April 28.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
This rare genetic disorder was just treated in the womb for the first time ever
Following the first-ever treatment for spinal muscular atrophy in the womb, physicians say a 2-year-old girl shows no signs of the rare genetic disorder. Spinal muscular atrophy is a genetic condition set in motion before birth that causes worsening muscle weakness. There are four types of the disorder, each with varying degrees of severity. However, for those with the most common and severe form, children typically do not live past age 2. There is no cure, but treatment can help to manage symptoms and prevent complications. The child's mother was given the drug risdiplam, which is the first oral medication approved to treat the progressive neurodegenerative disorder by the Food and Drug Administration. It is manufactured by Swiss biotech firm Roche. 'Our primary objectives were feasibility, safety and tolerability, so we're very pleased to see that the parent and child are doing well,' Dr. Richard Finkel, the director of the St. Jude Center for Experimental Neurotherapeutics, said in a statement. Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital led the first in utero treatment. 'The results suggest it would be worthwhile to continue investigating the use of prenatal intervention for SMA.' Finkel was the corresponding author of the research which was published Wednesday in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine. Until now, treatments were given after birth. 'There was still room for improvement,' Finkel told Nature on Thursday. This progress came about by understanding the cause of spinal muscular atrophy. Approximately one in every 6,000 babies is born with the disorder. The research hospital noted in a release that it is caused by a lack of survival motor neuron protein. The protein is essential because it enables muscles to receive signals from the nerves, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. The absence of the protein occurs in around one in every 11,000 births in the U.S. The drug works by helping produce more of the protein. Because the protein is most needed in the third trimester of fetal development and the first three months of life after birth, St. Jude's says that symptom severity is closely linked with intervention time. So, they launched the clinical protocol to study risdiplam in a single patient. The Food and Drug Administration approved the study. The parents of the patients had a prior infant born with Type 1 and were known carriers of genetic variants. Testing confirmed that their child would likely be born with Type 1. The idea of giving the drug in utero came from the parents, and doctors gave the mother the drug within the final six weeks of her pregnancy. After her birth, the baby was diagnosed with several abnormalities that are considered to have occurred before exposure to the drug. She started taking it at a week old and will likely continue to take it for the rest of her life. They are continuing to monitor her periodically at the research center. 'During the course of the assessment, we really have seen no indication of any signs of SMA,' Finkel said.
