Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Hair Forensics, the Story of Armenians in L.A., and Dabbing
The FBI has helped convict hundreds of suspects using hair analysis based on faulty science. Also, on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, how did L.A.’s huge Armenian-American population come to be?
By Madeleine Brand • • 50m ListenFBI experts have given bad testimony that helped convict hundreds of suspects in murder, rape, and other violent crime cases. It’s all about inaccurate hair analysis. And the LA County DA’s office is creating a wrongful-convictions unit. Today marks the 100th anniversary of the start of the Armenian genocide in 2015. We look at L.A.’s huge Armenian-American population and how it came to be. In our weekly film segment, The Age of Adeline, Adam Sandler’s new film, and a Kurt Cobain documentary are up for discussion. And finally, the booming business of “dabbing.”
Banner Image: Armenian community march during Armenian Genocide Commemorative March at Little Armenia, Hollywood on April 24, 2011; Credit: Hayk Shalunts
In this episode
4 storiesForensic Testimony Called Into Question
Crime lab scenes on television are full of forensic mumbo jumbo -- and now it seems that the real-life experts at the FBI have been making stuff up too. The FBI and the Justice Department have announced that agency experts’ bad testimony helped convict hundreds of suspects of murder, rape, and other violent crimes.
Read the story17 minArmenians in Los Angeles
Today officially marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian genocide. More than 1 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks between April 1915 and 1918. Los Angeles has one of the world’s largest Armenian communities outside Armenia, and the largest in America.
Read the story8 minFriday Movies: 'The Age of Adeline,' Adam Sandler, and More
It’s Friday, so it’s time to talk movies. New releases this weekend include the dreamy love story The Age of Adeline starring Blake Lively, a comedy about an immature man, the latest Adam Sandler vehicle, and the Kurt Cobain documentary Montage of Heck.
Read the story15 minDabbing
A fire and explosion did serious damage to a home in Long Beach on Wednesday. It seems that someone there was using an explosive gas to make what’s known as “honey oil,” a potent pot extract. There have been an increasing number of hash-oil related explosions in the last few years, a disturbing testament to the oil’s popularity.
Read the story8 min
