Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Ebola Treatment Challenges, and Bay Guardian Shutdown Reflects Cultural Change in San Francisco
Why is it so hard for local hospitals to contain the Ebola virus, even if they take protective measures? Also, what does the shuttering of the San Francisco Bay Guardian say about the city’s changing culture?
By Madeleine Brand • • 51m ListenOne of the nurses who contracted Ebola at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas is being transferred to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Why is Ebola hard for local hospitals to contain? Then, big news in the TV world: HBO has announced it will launch a streaming service sometime in the next year. Next up, we talk to a writer who tested the limits of where pet owners can bring “emotional support animals.” Journalist and author Jenny Nordberg talks about the phenomenon of Afghan families raising their girls as boys to give them better opportunities. And finally, after nearly 50 years, the San Francisco Bay Guardian is ceasing publication. We talk about the paper’s legacy and what its demise says about the changing culture of San Francisco.
Banner Image: "San Francisco Bay Guardian" newspaper cover page.
In this episode
5 storiesEbola 101
One of the nurses who contracted Ebola at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas is being transferred to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, where the two infected aid workers were treated. Health officials are now considering transferring all infected patients to hospitals with special expertise treating Ebola.
Read the story8 minHBO Goes Streaming
Good news for anyone who’s borrowed an HBO Go password to watch “Game of Thrones”: sometime in the next year, HBO plans to launch its own streaming service, so viewers can watch the channel’s content without subscribing to cable. How will it work, and what does it mean for the TV business?
Read the story4 minThe Dubious Rise of Emotional Support Animals
The use of service animals is protected by federal law. But what about emotional support animals? Why is it that you can take an Alpaca with you to a museum as a treatment for anxiety? One writer investigated and tested the boundaries of where one can take animals designated for emotional support?
Read the story9 minUnderground Girls of Afghanistan
Afghanistan is the most dangerous place in the world to be born a girl, according to UNICEF. While most girls are illiterate and forced into marriage, boys have a lot more freedom, including the right to go to school. So, some parents are disguising their girls and raising them as boys, a practice known as bacha posh.
Read the story14 minRequiem for the San Francisco Bay Guardian
The owners of the San Francisco Bay Guardian announced that it will cease publishing today. The progressive weekly newspaper was founded in 1966 by muckraking reporter Bruce Brugmann and his wife, Jean Dibble. They vowed "to print the news and raise hell."
Read the story8 min
