Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Reveal: Turbulent Times, Turbulent Skies

Anna Vignet for Reveal

The man who served as chairman in the last few months of Donald Trump’s campaign is headed to the White House.

Steve Bannon, Trump’s strategist-in-chief, has been widely criticized for fanning divisive racism and sexism and running a news platform aimed at right-wing groups, including white nationalists.

We begin this episode of Reveal by taking a look at how Bannon operates and what he really believes. Based on interviews with people who know Bannon and speeches he's given, we trace his journey to the extreme right.

From his frustrations in the Navy in the 1970s and ’80s to his outrage when America was attacked on 9/11 and his alignment with the Tea Party, we explore why Bannon believes America is fighting an epic battle between good and evil. After this look at Bannon,

Reveal switches gears just in time for the holiday travel season. A lot of us are packing our bags and heading to an airport to visit family and friends. But for some of us, things won't go according to plan.

We’ll relive a travel nightmare and find out how one minor delay caused a chain reaction of snafus. Then we take a close look at Spirit Airlines, arguably the most profitable “ultra-low-cost carrier”in America.

Spirit is known for charging fees for everything from carry-on bags to water, and we meet the man who came up with this idea. Charging ancillary fees saved Spirit from bankruptcy and has become a model for larger, more established airlines, which have been adopting Spirit’s policies for years.

And finally, we’ll hear from a special guest who was decades ahead of her time in predicting that no frills would become the new reality of air travel.

Reveal is a weekly radio program produced by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX. For more, check out our website andsubscribe to our podcast.

Tags