Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Shrimp Boy, The Pritzker Prize and Free After 32 Years
Shigeru Ban wins the Pritzker, football players are allowed to unionize, the arrest of Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow, and more.
By Madeleine Brand • • 52m ListenWe follow up with the latest on Senator Leland Yee, Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow, and the sweeping FBI raids in which they and two dozen others were arrested yesterday. A federal official has ruled that football players at Northwestern University should be allowed to unionize. KCRW’s own Frances Anderton tells us about Japanese architect Shigeru Ban who won architecture’s biggest prize, the Pritzker. Madeleine talks with Mary Jones who was released this week after 32 years in prison on a sentence of life without parole. Mary had been an unwilling bystander when her boyfriend at the time shot and killed a drug dealer. And finally, in “Lab Rats,” our science segment, we talk about mugshots made from DNA, the Rex Block weather pattern, and a new dwarf planet: “Biden.”
Banner Image: Police investigators remove boxes from the Ghee Kung Tong building, which houses the Chinese Freemasons, in the Chinatown neighborhood in San Francisco, California March 26, 2014. California state Senator Leland Yee was arrested on Wednesday as federal investigators conducted public corruption raids across California, shaking up the election season in the nation's most populous state. In addition, federal authorities arrested Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow, FBI spokesman Peter Lee said, referring to a figure previously convicted in a San Francisco organized crime probe. Chow once served as head of the Chinese Freemasons, who own the Ghee Kung Tong Supreme Lodge, now being searched by investigators in connection to the case. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith
In this episode
5 storiesLeland Yee and "Shrimp Boy" Chow
Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow, a longtime Chinese gang member and convicted felon, was arrested yesterday along with State Senator Leland Yee and more than 2 dozen others swept up in a massive FBI raid. The criminal complaint against Yee has been released, and it reads like a crime novel.
Read the story9 minCan College Athletes Unionize?
The regional director of the National Labor Relations Board ruled yesterday that football players at Northwestern University should be allowed to unionize. The 24-page ruling said that, by any measure, the athletes could not be classified as “primarily students.”
Read the story9 minShigeru Ban Wins Architecture's Biggest Prize
The Pritzker Prize is architecture’s highest honor - sort of the Nobel Prize for buildings. This week it was awarded to a Japanese architect named Shigeru Ban. He is best known for creating innovative temporary structures for disaster areas such as homes, schools, and churches. But he’s also known for high-end designs, like mobile art museums.
Read the story7 minFree After 32 Years
32 years ago, Mary Virginia Jones went to prison for murder. She was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for her involvement in the killing of a drug dealer. But it was her boyfriend who pulled the trigger. Mary Jones was an unwilling bystander, forced to be there by her abusive boyfriend.
Read the story15 minLab Rats: Genetic Mugshots, Rex Block, and Biden
On our “Lab Rats” science segment, we discuss the effort to develop genetic mugshots based solely on DNA. We also look at the Rex Block, the weather pattern responsible for the late winter storm weather that has been hitting the East Coast.
Read the story7 min
