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    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    Photo Symbolizes Refugee Crisis; LA Restaurants Accused of Price-Fixing

    The photo of a young boy, drowned and washed ashore on a Turkish beach, has captured the world's attention. The photo has become a striking emblem of the refugee crisis in Europe and the Middle East. And, if you've eaten at upscale restaurants in the last year, you may have noticed a 3 percent charge added to your check to pay for employee healthcare. One customer was unhappy enough with the fee to file a lawsuit on Tuesday.

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    By Madeleine Brand • Sep 3, 2015 • 50m Listen

    The photo of a young boy, drowned and washed ashore on a Turkish beach, has captured the world's attention. It's one of many such pictures — but this photo has become a striking emblem of the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe and the Middle East. And the photograph has revived an old debate about the use of graphic images in the media.

    More than 2,000 refugees and migrants poured into a train station in Hungary this morning hoping to catch trains to Germany and other Western European countries. But Hungary has halted all trains out of the country, leaving thousands of people in limbo in a country whose prime minister said today that the migrant crisis is "Germany's problem."

    Then, how far will a gallon of gas take you? In ten years, new cars will need to average 54.5 miles per gallon to meet federal fuel efficiency standards. But automakers are running out of easy ways to get there. They're now looking to improve not your car, but your gasoline.

    Next, author Elena Ferrante has been called the most important Italian writer of her generation. But nobody knows who she is. Elena Ferrante isn't her real name, she's never given a public, in-person interview, and there are no pictures of her online.

    Finally, some of L.A.'s swankiest restaurants are accused of price fixing. If you've eaten at upscale places like Republique or Lucques in the last year, you may have noticed that a three percent charge was added to your check to pay for employee healthcare. One customer was unhappy enough with the fee to file suit on Tuesday. She's claiming that the restaurants got together to agree on the charge - and that that's price-fixing.

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Madeleine Brand

      Host, 'Press Play'

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Matt Holzman

      Producer, 'The Document'

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Anna Scott

      Former KCRW Housing and Homelessness Reporter

    • KCRW placeholder

      Jolie Myers

      Managing Producer, 'Press Play'

      News
    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand