Press Play with Madeleine Brand
The Biden Agenda, Comic Con Blues, and Student Debt Crisis
Today on Press Play, we look at the state of community colleges, especially in California, and we discuss the growing student debt crisis. We also talk to a New Yorker writer who offers an in-depth dissection of Vice President Joe Biden’s time in the White House.
By Madeleine Brand • • 51m ListenToday, President Obama speaks at LA Trade Tech; but how are California community colleges doing? And with the cost of higher education going up so fast, what can be done about skyrocketing student debt? Comic Con is underway in San Diego, and the nerds are making their annual pilgrimage. The New Yorker’s Evan Osnos takes a closer look at Joe Biden, the Obama administration’s gaffe-prone foreign policy expert. And, finally, the Dodgers head to San Francisco this weekend, adding another chapter in one of sport’s longest running rivalries.
banner image: Joe Biden and Barack Obama photo credit: Dschwen
In this episode
5 storiesFuture of Community Colleges
President Obama is scheduled to speak at a Los Angeles community college this afternoon to promote alternatives to four-year schools. California enrolls a quarter of the country’s community college students, yet we lag behind other states in arming those students with the degrees employers are looking for.
Read the story8 minStudent Debt Crisis
With the cost of a college education going up so fast, students are graduating with more and more debt, and a growing number of them are defaulting on that debt. That’s bad for their future finances, and it could have a huge impact on the U.S. economy.
Read the story7 minComic Con Blues
The San Diego Comic Con is underway! That’s great news for many geeks making their annual pilgrimage. But to other veteran comic fans, the event has given-in to crass commercialism. image: Comic Con 2014 by Pat Loika
Read the story6 minThe Biden Agenda
Joe Biden has had to balance his reputation as a gaffe machine with his tasked mission of constructing the administration's foreign policy footprint, especially in reignited hotspots in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Read the story16 minThe Rivalry
The Dodgers are headed to San Francisco this weekend for the third of four series they’ll play this season against their arch enemies the Giants. Their rivalry is one of the most heated in all of American sport. It may also be the longest.
Read the story8 min
