Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Gay Veterans, The 'Dancing Baby' Lawsuit, and Wrestling's Comeback
Until “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” was repealed four years ago, gays and lesbians could be discharged from military. Now, there’s an effort change their less-than-honorable discharges to “honorable” ones. Then, pro wrestling is once again getting its due. And there’s more to it than you might think.
By Madeleine Brand • • 51m ListenThe world’s two biggest greenhouse gas offenders are meeting at a climate change summit today in Los Angeles. U.S. and Chinese leaders will discuss ways to combat the worsening climate situation. Both nations face similar challenges when it comes to reducing carbon emissions and have set ambitious goals for the next ten years. Then, a look at how the bark beetle is thriving in California’s drought conditions. And until “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” was repealed four years ago, gays and lesbians could be discharged from military. Now, there’s an effort to change their less-than-honorable discharges to “honorable” ones. That could affect tens of thousands of people. Next, in 2007 Stephanie Lenz put a 29-second clip of her baby dancing on YouTube. Once the video was online, Universal Music cried copyright infringement for the background music, and the video was taken down. Lenz filed a lawsuit arguing that her video was protected by fair use, and yesterday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco basically found that she has enough of a case to go to trial. Finally, pro wrestling was once to sports what hair metal was to music: cheesy, over-the-top, and insanely popular. Since then, wrestling has faded from mainstream pop culture. For years it’s been treated as a sports sideshow. But there’s more to it than you might think.
