Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Steve Bannon's America, free speech, and the refugee experience
White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon is behind many of Donald Trump’s policies, including the recent travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries. Protests over Milo Yiannopoulos are stirring up conversations around free speech v. hate speech. And Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen shares his new short story collection “The Refugees.”
By Madeleine Brand • • 51m ListenPhoto credit: White House senior advisor Steve Bannon attends as U.S. President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. January 28, 2017. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
In this episode
5 storiesHow Steve Bannon shapes policy here and abroad
White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon is behind many of Donald Trump’s policies, including the recent travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries. Bannon’s views on religion, global politics and the economy are not exactly mainstream.
Read the story11 minMilo Yiannopoulos stirs up debate on limits of free speech
White nationalist Milo Yiannopoulos sparked violent protests at Berkeley yesterday. His speech was cancelled. Should he have been allowed to talk under free speech rules, or should all hate speech be banned?
Read the story7 minThe European view of Donald Trump
Former U.S. Ambassador to Germany John Emerson was relieved of his duties on inauguration day. He’s back home in LA, and joins us to discuss Europe’s reaction to Trump.
Read the story11 minViet Thanh Nguyen on being a refugee and being unwanted
Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen’s new short story collection, “The Refugees,” focuses on people living between two worlds — how they switch identities and navigate issues of love, family and immigration. Nguyen talks about his personal sense of being a refugee, and points out the important difference between an immigrant and a refugee.
Read the story14 minDoes Twitter have what it takes against trolls?
Twitter announced this week that they’ll implement a fix to combat repeat trolls. Reddit banned two subreddits yesterday. Snapchat, valued at $25 billion, is expected to publicly file its IPO next week.
Read the story7 min
