Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Walmart and Mexican Farm Conditions, SNL at 40, and a One-Way Ticket to Mars
Two months ago, the Los Angeles Times documented in appalling detail the living conditions at Mexican megafarms that produce half our tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers. Now, Mexican growers and distributors and Walmart have vowed to improve the situation. But how?
By Madeleine Brand • • 52m ListenTwo months ago, the Los Angeles Times documented in appalling detail the living conditions at Mexican megafarms that produce half our tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers. Now, Mexican growers and distributors and Walmart have teamed up to improve the situation. But how? In other farming news, we take a look at how Harvard University became one of California's most unlikely wine producers, and what it says about the state's agriculture industry. In our weekly television roundup, a look at "Saturday Night Live's" 40-year anniversary special. Then we kick off a week of interviews with the filmmakers behind this year's Oscar-nominated documentaries with a co-director of "Salt of the Earth." And finally, a look at a competition for a one-way ticket to Mars. Great adventure, or death wish?
In this episode
5 storiesMexico and Walmart Team Up to Improve Farmworker Conditions
Living conditions at huge Mexican farms that produce about half the tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers consumed in the US were recently revealed in appalling detail by the Los Angeles Times: children working in hot fields; families sleeping in rat-infested hovels, often on concrete; unreliable water; and pay as low as $8 a day.
Read the story9 minCalifornia's Hottest Winemaker: Harvard?
Harvard University has been quietly snapping up swaths of farmland along California's central coast, turning the school into one of the top -- and most unlikely -- wine producers in the region. And Harvard's not alone in picking up thousands of acres of California farmland.
Read the story7 minTV Roundup: 'SNL' Turns 40
"Saturday Night Live" celebrated 40 years on the air over the weekend with an elaborate and lengthy special. Wayne and Garth were just two of the characters brought back for the reunion, which featured cast members from every generation of the show. In true SNL fashion, the broadcast was hit-and-miss.
Read the story9 min"Salt of the Earth"
Sebastião Salgado has traveled the world taking photographs of human suffering. For 40 years, he's taken brutal and beautiful black and white pictures of starvation in the African Sahel, workers in the burning oil fields of Kuwait, and the hellish conditions of gold miners in Brazil. Now, the documentor has become the documented.
Read the story14 minA One-Way Ticket to Mars
A one-way ticket to Mars sounds like a suicide mission, but a lot of people are interested in getting one. Two years ago, a Dutch group called Mars One created a competition to find applicants and more than 200,000 people signed up. Now the selection process has narrowed the field to 100 candidates, 38 of whom are from the United States.
Read the story7 min
