Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Four SoCal men have been killed by police in less than a week
Four SoCal men have been killed in confrontations with police in less than a week. In the most recent incident, officers were wearing body cameras. What effect do body cams have on police behavior?
Four Southern California men have been killed in confrontations with police in less than a week. In one of the recent shootings, LAPD officers were wearing body cameras. Body cams are seen by many as a valuable tool to reducepolice violence – that officers will be less likely to shoot or assault a suspect if they know their actions are being recorded. But is that true? Then, Gordon Davidson, considered the patriarch of Los Angeles theater, has died. KCRW theater critic Anthony Byrnes worked with Davidson and joined Press Play for a remembrance. Next, for more than two decades, filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has traveled the world with her camera capturing footage for documentaries. Now, she’s cut some of that footage into a film of her own: a meditation on what it means to turn a camera on the world, aptly named “Cameraperson.” And finally, the true identity of the Italian novelist Elena Ferrante has, allegedly, been revealed, but many fans and other writers are not happy about it.
Image: A woman protests in the face of a police officer wearing a body camera as people protest the death of Alfred Olango, who was shot by El Cajon police Tuesday, by blocking traffic near the parking lot where he was shot in El Cajon, California, U.S. September 29, 2016. REUTERS/Patrick T. Fallon
In this episode
5 storiesStudy: Complaints against police drop when cops wear body cams
Two black men were shot and killed by police over the weekend. In one of the shootings, LAPD gang officers were wearing body cameras. Body cameras are seen by many as a valuable tool to reduce police violence – that officers will be less likely to shoot or assault a suspect if they know their actions are being recorded. But is that true?
Read the story12 minFour SoCal men have been killed by police in less than a week
An 18-year-old man named Carnell Snell Jr. was shot and killed by police Saturday afternoon in South Los Angeles. LAPD said that Snell and another man ran from a car that police suspected was stolen, and that Snell had a gun and was turning toward police when he was shot.
Read the story7 minPatriarch of Los Angeles theater, Gordon Davidson, dies at 83
Gordon Davidson, considered the patriarch of Los Angeles theater, died Sunday night at the age of 83.
Read the story8 min'Cameraperson': a meditation on a life behind the camera
For more than two decades, filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has traveled the world with her camera capturing footage for documentaries. She filmed the desperation of war-torn Sudan and the stories of sexual assault victims in the American military; she followed French philosopher Jacques Derrida as he tossed out bon mots.
Read the story14 minElena Ferrante’s 'unmasking' is causing outrage
The true identity of the Italian novelist Elena Ferrante has, allegedly, been revealed, but many fans and other writers are not happy about it. Elena Ferrante is the pen name of a bestselling author who’s been publishing anonymously for almost a quarter of a century.
Read the story8 min