Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Fukushima Anniversary, The Non-Rockefeller & Joe McGinniss
Today: looking back at the Fukushima disaster of 2011, the tale of a Rockefeller impostor, remembering journalist Joe McGinniss, and an update from SXSW.
By Madeleine Brand • • 51m ListenIt’s been three years since the earthquake and tsunami that killed over 15,000 people in Japan and crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant there. And for tens of thousands of Japanese, the nightmare that started on March 11, 2011, continues to this day. We also talk to Walter Kirn about his new memoir about his relationship with a fraudster and murderer who claimed to be a Rockefeller. We look back on the controversial career of journalist Joe McGinniss. And we check in with SXSW, where there’s now a special section for TV creators.
Banner Image Credit: Thierry Ehrmann
In this episode
5 storiesFukushima Anniversary
It’s been three years since the earthquake and tsunami that killed over 15,000 people in Japan and crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant there. And for tens of thousands of Japanese, the nightmare that started on March 11, 2011, continues to this day.
Read the story7 minDispelling Fukushima Fallout Myths
Hundreds of tons of radioactive water escaped from the Fukushima Daiichi plant into the Pacific. It created what’s been called the “Fukushima Plume.” And over the last three years, ocean currents have slowly been moving the plume eastward. So how worried should we be?
Read the story8 minTV at SXSW
The ever-expanding South-By-Southwest festival in Austin opened its doors to a new group this year: The TV industry. But they’re not calling the new section “TV” - because, what is TV anymore, when so much original content is coming from sites like Netflix and Hulu?
Read the story9 minMurder, Mystery and Masquerade
When Clark Rockefeller was arrested for kidnapping his daughter several years ago, police discovered that he wasn’t really Clark Rockefeller at all. He was a German man who’d taken many aliases over the years and had committed murder. But this fraudster had convinced many people - including his own wife - that he was a Rockefeller.
Read the story14 minRemembering Joe McGinniss
Journalist Joe McGinnis died this morning at the age of 71. He was one of America’s most famous (and infamous) journalists. In the age of Slate and Politico, it’s hard to imagine what it was like to read his book The Selling of the President in 1968.
Read the story8 min
