Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Is Sochi Ready?, California Egg Laws & Priest Abuse Update
On today's show, we cover the surprising hotel conditions in Sochi, California's agricultural laws, sexual abuse and the Vatican, and a student athlete labor union.
By Madeleine Brand • • 51m Listen‘I’ve got 3 light bulbs, will trade for a door handle’... $50+ billion have been spent preparing for the Winter Games. We hear from two reporters in Sochi about surprising hotel conditions. The UN has launched a broadside against the Vatican over its handling of priest abuse. What’s happening in the LA archdiocese? California’s agricultural laws are driving the food industry crazy. We’ll talk to the President of the Missouri Farm Bureau about who's got the biggest cages. And football players at Northwestern University want to form their own labor union.
Banner Image: Samsung’s Sochi 2014 outdoor advertising campaign displayed on the Russian Seasons Hotel in Olympic Park, Sochi. The campaign is running on 55 landmark locations throughout Sochi and expresses the theme, “Note your dreams; Design your life” through featured athletes and devices. Credit: SamsungTomorrow
In this episode
5 storiesSochi Conditions
Reporters from around the world are arriving in Sochi, Russia, to cover the Winter Olympics. But the conditions they’ve discovered in the city are not what they expected. Journalists are tweeting out horror stories of buildings without lobbies, broken elevators and toilets, door knobs falling off in their hands, and worse.
Read the story12 minGary Shteyngart on the Olympics
Russian-born author Gary Shteyngart has been acclimating to life in these United States since he was 7 years old. He joins us to discuss the Sochi Olympics and what it’s like to see his former home country - of which he is certainly no fan - take the international stage.
Read the story6 minUN on Vatican Abuse
The United Nations is blasting the Vatican over its handling of sexual abuse by priests. We'll talk to the head of a victims group about what's changed - or not changed - since Cardinal Roger Mahony left the Los Angeles archdiocese.
Read the story8 minFood Fight
Missouri is suing California over a law that says any eggs sold in our state have to come from hens that are raised in more spacious cages. This is just the latest California regulation that has food industries around the country concerned. We’ll find out why beef, pork, bread and olive producers are also frustrated with our laws.
Read the story15 minUnionizing Student Athletes
College athletes raise a lot of money for their schools, but some football players say their schools aren’t always looking out for their best interests. Now players at Northwestern University are trying to form their own labor union.
Read the story9 min
