Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Snail Mail Surveillance and Tough Choices for Transgender Kids
The government might be spying on your non-electronic mail. Also, Madeleine takes a firsthand look at the tough choices faced by families of very young transgender kids.
By Madeleine Brand • • 51m ListenWe start with the details of a recent report showing the U.S. government has been surveilling snail mail in addition to electronic records. Then, trial lawyers are facing off against California doctors in an expensive fight over Proposition 46, one of the measures on next Tuesday’s ballot. What’s the fight all about? Next, a look at the “romance novel gold rush” we’re in the midst of now. Then, Madeleine takes a firsthand look at the tough choices faced by families of very young transgendered children. And finally, what went wrong with the now defunct L.A. soccer team Chivas USA?
Banner Image: United States Post Office mail collection boxes by EraserGirl
In this episode
5 storiesSnail Mail Surveillance
The U.S. government can tap phones, search emails and track cell phones. Now, a recent report shows investigators also do a fair amount of analog spying through snail mail. The United States Postal Service approved nearly 50,000 requests to monitor Americans’ mail last year for criminal and security investigations.
Read the story9 minDoctors v Lawyers in Ballot Fight
Election day is one week away, and doctors and lawyers in California are locked in an expensive fight over one ballot measure. Proposition 46 would raise the cap on certain damages in medical malpractice lawsuits from $250,000 to $1.1 million, and require random drug testing of doctors. What are opponents and advocates arguing?
Read the story8 minGoodbye, Chivas USA
Los Angeles is down to one soccer team. On Monday , Major League Soccer announced that it was shutting the team down, “effective immediately.” Chivas USA first entered the league in 2004 with the idea of appealing to the city’s Latino soccer fans.
Read the story7 minTransgender Kids, Tough Choices
What would you say if your three-year-old boy told you that he’s not a boy, he’s a girl: not just once, but over and over again? More and more people are identifying as transgender -- at younger and younger ages.
Read the story15 minRomance Novel Gold Rush
The bodice ripper -- the campiest of romance novels, the guiltiest of literary pleasures -- is also a billion-dollar-a-year business. Indeed, we’re in the midst of a romance novel gold rush, with something to satisfy even the most obscure preferences. We survey the romance genre landscape.
Read the story7 min
