Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Carson Approves NFL Stadium, California Raisins in Court, and Ben Affleck
The Carson City Council has approved plans for an NFL stadium. If they build it, will any teams come? The comedy duo the Sklar Brothers give us the scoop. Also, the controversy over PBS whitewashing Ben Affleck’s slave-owning ancestor.
By Madeleine Brand • • 52m ListenWe start today with sports news and the Carson City Council’s approval of plans for an NFL stadium. If they build it, will any teams come? Then, the California Raisins were before the Supreme Court today, or, actually, an old law that allows the government to seize some raisin crops. We get an explainer. Then, Heidi Julavits discusses her new memoir, The Folded Clock. Finally, Ben Affleck has admitted that he asked the PBS show Finding Your Roots not to air the discovery that one of his ancestors owned slaves. What does the censoring say about how our culture handles our history of slavery?
Banner Image: Adam Day, chairman of San Diego's football stadium advisory group, has a picture taken with a San Diego Chargers football fan after announcing the selection of Mission Valley as the proposed site for a new multi-use stadium in San Diego, California March 12, 2015. Mission Valley, the home of NFL's San Diego Chargers for the past 50 years, has been chosen as the site where the new stadium would be built, as the city hopes to stop the team from moving to Los Angeles. REUTERS/Mike Blake
In this episode
4 storiesNFL in Carson?
We start with a sports roundup today, kicking off with big news out of Carson. The city council there unanimously approved plans for an NFL stadium. So, will it happen? And if they build it, will any teams come? Also, the Clippers are playing the two-time repeat champion San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.
Read the story12 minCalifornia Raisins at the Supreme Court
The singing, dancing California Raisins were on a different stage today: they were before the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices heard arguments over a Depression-era law that allows the government to seize part of a raisin farmer’s crop in order to keep prices high. This isn’t the first time raisins have gone to Washington.
Read the story9 minDiary as Literature
A diary is usually one of two things: Ourselves at our worst, i.e. complaining or self-aggrandizing. Or, perhaps more disappointing, ourselves at our most mundane. For the next two days, we’re speaking with the authors of two new books, both of which orbit around the idea of keeping a diary.
Read the story14 minBen Affleck, PBS, and Whitewashing a Slave-Holding Ancestor
What happens when academia and Hollywood collide? Ben Affleck has now admitted that he asked Henry Louis Gates, Jr., of the PBS show Finding Your Roots, to omit the fact that one of his ancestors owned slaves. The cover-up was revealed after WikiLeaks published emails between Gates and Sony Pictures co-chairman Michael Lynton.
Read the story10 min
