Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Airline Fares, Amy Winehouse Doc, and KCRW in Berlin: Surveillance
The DOJ is investigating four major airlines for collusion. Just how do airlines set fare prices anyway? And KCRW is in Berlin: Madeleine tours the former Stasi prison, where the East German Secret Police held and interrogated political prisoners.
This fourth of July weekend, millions of Americans will be flying somewhere, and those holiday plane tickets probably didn’t come cheap. So this week’s announcement that the Department of Justice is investigating the four major airlines for collusion caught our attention here at Press Play. Then, KCRW in Berlin: Madeleine tours the famous former Stasi prison—now a museum—where the East German Secret Police held and interrogated political prisoners during the Cold War. Next, the director of the new Amy Winehouse documentary talks about the singer’s early, jazzy, coherent years...before Back to Black, fame, and drugs. And in our weekly web roundup, we cover the backlash to the New York Times’ suggestion of putting peas in guacamole, “Zero UI,” and more.
In this episode
4 storiesAirline Collusion and Price Fluctuations
This fourth of July weekend, millions of Americans will be flying somewhere, and those holiday plane tickets probably didn’t come cheap. So this week’s announcement that the Department of Justice is investigating the four major airlines for collusion caught our attention.
Read the story8 minKCRW in Berlin: Surveillance
Madeleine tours a former Stasi prison in Berlin—now a museum—where the East German Secret Police held and interrogated political prisoners during the Cold War.
Read the story15 minAsif Kapadia, Director of the Amy Winehouse Documentary
The documentary Amy comes out this week. Director Asif Kapadia talks with us about the deeply autobiographical nature of the singer’s lyrics, and how a smart, cocky young jazz singer turned into a cliched media-mobbed drug zombie.
Read the story15 minWeb Roundup: PeaGate and Zero UI
The internet went crazy yesterday when the New York Times committed Mexican food sacrilege. The paper of record published a recipe for guacamole that includes green peas. Also, Zero UI: a push to remove physical interface from our digital devices. And for all of us, how to deal with dogs and fireworks on the Fourth of July.
Read the story9 min