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    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    The Dark Power of Fraternities

    The appeal of fraternity life to college students is no mystery. But there’s an obvious downside to a bunch of unsupervised, mostly underage college students binge drinking at a frat house. Deaths, serious injuries, and sexual assaults have led to countless lawsuits that at one time threatened to destroy Greek life on campuses across the country.

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    By Madeleine Brand • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    The appeal of fraternity life to college students is no mystery. But there’s an obvious downside to a bunch of unsupervised, mostly underage college students binge drinking at a frat house. Deaths, serious injuries, and sexual assaults have led to countless lawsuits that at one time threatened to destroy Greek life on campuses across the country. Yet they’ve survived (and thrived) because colleges are reluctant to crack down, and fraternities have found a way to protect themselves.

    The full episode

    4 of 5
    WhatsApp, The Power of Fraternities & Flu Vaccine Myths
    1. 0:00Big Buys in the Tech World
    2. 7:51Inequality and Prosperity
    3. 16:49Design and Architecture
    4. 25:57The Dark Power of FraternitiesYou’re reading this
    5. 41:44Vaccination Myth Busting
    • 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

      Andrew Walsh

      Too Beautiful to Live

    • KCRW placeholder

      Christian Bordal

      Managing Producer, Greater LA

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

      Matt Holzman

      Producer, 'The Document'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Caitlin Flanagan

      writer, the Atlantic

    • KCRW placeholder

      Brianna Sacks

      climate change and natural disasters reporter for The Washington Post

      News

    The full episode

    4 of 5
    WhatsApp, The Power of Fraternities & Flu Vaccine Myths
    1. 0:00Big Buys in the Tech World
    2. 7:51Inequality and Prosperity
    3. 16:49Design and Architecture
    4. 25:57The Dark Power of FraternitiesYou’re reading this
    5. 41:44Vaccination Myth Busting
    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand