Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Harry Reid Retires, Call of Duty Championship, and Hollywood Bear Wrangler
This weekend, Los Angeles is hosting the Call of Duty championship. The winning team gets $400,000. And we talk to a Hollywood bear wrangler...
By Madeleine Brand • • 52m ListenSenator Harry Reid says he’s going to retire at the end of his term in 2016. What will that mean for Nevada politics? California is relaxing its laws about where sex offenders can live. And this weekend, Los Angeles is hosting the Call of Duty championship. The winning team gets $400,000. In our weekly film roundup, a Dreamworks family-friendly animated flick, a Will Ferrell comedy, and a Noah Baumbach movie about 40-somethings trying to relive an imagined youth. And, finally, we talk to a Hollywood bear wrangler.
In this episode
5 storiesHarry Reid Won’t Run Again
The Senate’s Democratic minority leader, Harry Reid, says he won’t be seeking re-election in 2016. He took a nasty fall while he was working out at his home on New Year’s Day. He broke ribs and bones in his face and damaged his right eye, but he says that’s not why he’s retiring.
Read the story8 minNew Sex Offender Laws
The state is relaxing the restrictions on where registered sex offenders can live. A nine-year-old ballot measure bans ALL sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a park or school.
Read the story9 minCall of Duty
March Madness tournament games will be played at Staples Center this weekend. A few blocks away there will be another, less physically-athletic competition: the Call of Duty championship. The popular series of first-person-shooter video games is having its third annual tournament at LA Live. Top prize: $400,000.
Read the story8 minNew Movie Releases
Finally, a little variety at the movie theater this weekend. Coming out today: a family-friendly animated flick, a raunchy comedy and a movie about 40-somethings trying to relive an imagined youth.
Read the story13 minHollywood Bear Wrangler
A new thriller called Backcountry comes out today. It’s about a couple on a backpacking trip… that goes horribly awry. You will not find Chester and Charlie in the credits of Backcountry, but the twins play a central character in the film: the big black bear that is the horrible undoing of a romantic trip into the woods.
Read the story10 min
