Press Play with Madeleine Brand
UPS Pregnancy Case Reaches Supreme Court and Leaks from Sony Hack
Was it OK for UPS to place a pregnant driver on 7 months of unpaid leave, because she couldn’t lift more than 20 pounds? The Supreme Court heard arguments in that case today. Also...a look at the damage done in the hack of Sony Pictures.
By Madeleine Brand • • 52m ListenThe U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments today in a case brought by a UPS driver who was put on unpaid leave after becoming pregnant. Then, Sony Pictures is still reeling from a devastating hacker attack; we hear about what’s been leaked, and the damage it’s done. Next, we hear from a science writer who recently devoted a week to writing about the concept of personhood: What is it, and how is being a person different from being human? Then, filmmaker Lacey Schwartz talks about her new autobiographical documentary, which chronicles her experience of finding out as a teenager that she’s actually black, not white. And finally, a look at what’s new online in our weekly web roundup, including an apology from the man who created pop-up ads.
Banner Image: "PregnantWoman" by Ken Hammond (USDA)
In this episode
5 storiesSCOTUS Pregnancy Protection
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case about the rights of pregnant women in the workplace. Peggy Young was a driver for UPS when she got pregnant eight years ago. Her doctor said she shouldn’t lift anything over 20 pounds. When she told UPS, she was put on unpaid leave for seven months.
Read the story9 minWho Hacked Sony?
Sony Pictures is still reeling from an attack by hackers last week. The damage so far: five new or upcoming movies have been leaked to torrent sites, along with a trove of information about the company and its employees, including the salaries of top Sony executives.
Read the story8 minWhat Is a Person?
To be human and to be a person are not necessarily the same thing. While our definition of human has remained pretty constant, personhood has taken on all kinds of technical, philosophical, and legal definitions over the years.
Read the story9 minLittle White Lie
Lacey Schwartz's new documentary, "Little White Lie" examines what happens when you've identified as white your whole life only to find out as a teenager that you're actually black. That happened to Schwartz, who grew up in Woodstock, New York. Her parents are white, but she has darker skin and tight, curly black hair.
Read the story13 minRacism Vigilantes and the Man Who Broke the Internet
Racism: it’s bad. And there are people on the Internet who want to put an end to it. That’s good, right? Well, it depends how you go about it. We talk about how one site went awry. Also, the inventor of online pop-up ads apologizes...and more, in our weekly Internet roundup.
Read the story7 min
