Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Obama’s Immigration Plan, Nazis Next Door, and From Wildcats to House Cats
What’s likely to be in President Obama’s upcoming immigration overhaul? Also, a look at the science behind how wildcats domesticated themselves to become house cats.
By Madeleine Brand • • 52m ListenWe start with a look at what’s likely to be in the immigration plan President Obama is expected to announce as early as next week. Then, a long dispute between Amazon and the publisher Hachette has finally ended, making it easier for consumers to buy certain books online. In our regular car segment, a look at how lower gas prices are affecting what vehicles are on the road. Then, author Eric Lichtblau talks about his new book, The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men. And finally, a look at the science of how wildcats turned into domesticated house cats, the world’s most popular pets.
Banner Image: "Yawning wildcat" by Peter Trimming
In this episode
5 storiesObama’s Pending Immigration Plan
House Majority Leader John Boehner warned President Obama last week not to act on his own to reform immigration. But despite such statements from Republicans, Obama is expected to announce a vast immigration overhaul, perhaps as early as next week. What are the expected details?
Read the story8 minThe End of a Long Book War
A nearly year-long war between Amazon and Hachette, the country’s fourth largest publisher, finally appears to be over. The dispute centered around the pricing and revenue-sharing of Hachette e-books, and made it difficult to get Hachette books by authors like Malcolm Gladwell and James Patterson through Amazon.
Read the story8 minGas Guzzlers Are Back
Gas prices continue to fall: The average price for a gallon of regular gas in L.A. county dropped to $3.23 today, the lowest it’s been in 4 years. And those changes at the gas station are changing the types of cars we see on the road. We talk about that and more in our recurring auto news roundup.
Read the story7 minThe Nazis Next Door
In the final months of World War II, American leaders were already thinking ahead to the next war: The Cold War. In anticipation, U.S. officials secretly agreed to bring nazis to the U.S. to work on the space program and act as spies against the Soviet Union. But as many as 10,000 other Nazis who weren’t part of the initiative also emigrated.
Read the story18 minFrom Wildcats to Housecats
It’s easy to forget that the purring little feline curled up on your lap is descended from fierce, wild beasts. We know that cats and humans started to cohabitate about 10,000 years ago, but scientists still don’t know exactly how that happened. A recent study of the cat genome, however, may shed some light on what drove this transformation.
Read the story7 min
