Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Fighting Parking Fines, Saving Big Words & Coaching Lives
Today on Press Play: Parking tickets, wage theft, life coaching, vocab, and our weekly film roundup.
By Madeleine Brand • • 52m ListenMayor Eric Garcetti’s new budget plans to bring in more revenue by issuing more parking tickets. Two Angelenos are suing, saying the fines are unconstitutionally expensive. And McDonalds and other big companies and their franchisees are being sued for wage theft: not paying their employees all the wages they’ve earned. Life coaching seems like a flaky thing, but it has gone mainstream and become a $2 billion industry. In our weekly film roundup, we look at some new releases, including John Turturro’s attempt to depict an aging gigolo with Woody Allen and Transcendence, the new Johnny Depp movie. American logophiles were apoplectic this week when they heard that the College Board is dumbing down the vocab section of the SAT.
Banner Image Credit: J. Stephen Conn
In this episode
5 storiesThe Cost of Parking
This Sunday is Easter: a day of chocolate, jellybeans, sunshine and one of the busiest days of the year for public parks. And in Orange County, parks officials have decided to charge higher parking rates on the holiday. Here in L.A., a similar move: this week, Mayor Eric Garcetti released his first budget.
Read the story8 minWage Theft
Wage theft is when employers find ways to keep wages they should be paying their employees. There are several class action lawsuits filed against big companies like McDonald’s over this.
Read the story8 minLife Coaches
Life coaches tend to be the butt of jokes in mainstream culture, but the field has been exploding, thanks in part to the slow economy and all the people looking for help finding work. Now, life coaching is a $2 billion industry, and more mainstream.
Read the story9 minComputerized Depp, Old Gigolos, and the Return of Doubtfire
Today in our weekly film roundup, we look at some new releases, including John Turturro’s attempt to depict an aging gigolo with Woody Allen and Transcendence, the new Johnny Depp movie. Plus, what’s in and what’s out at Cannes.
Read the story14 minSAT Vocab Changes
American logophiles were apoplectic this week after receiving some dispiriting news about the S.A.T. test. In fact, it’s now unlikely students will see words like “logophile”, “apoplectic” or “dispiriting” on those tests. The College Board announced that it’s making changes to the vocabulary section.
Read the story9 min
