❗Let's close the gap: We still need your help to raise $40,000 by April 1. Donate now
Small Talk

Small talk: Church of Copyism, fake wine, BA’s oops

Marketplace Contributor Jan 20, 2012

Kai Ryssdal: This final note on the way out, a chance to get away from the news of the day and catch up on the things that didn’t quite make the headlines. Courtesy of Rico Gagaliano, Brendan Francis Newnam, and the rest of the Marketplace staff.


Rico Gagliano: George Judson, managing editor, what story are you going to be talking about this weekend?

George Judson: Well there’s a new religion. It’s called the “Church of Copyism” and they worship file sharing.

Gagliano: Like music file sharing?

Judson: Music, movies. The head of the church says, ‘We don’t believe that copying is stealing.’

Gagliano: And this is a religion that’s been recognized by the government of Sweden?

Judson: It’s been recognized by the government. The two shortcuts for copy and paste are the church’s sacred symbols.

Brendan Newnam: Stacey Vanek Smith, senior reporter,

Stacey Vanek Smith: Well Brendan, it is a wine crime.

Newnam: Red wine with fish?

Vanek Smith: No worse. Actually fake pinot noir. Gallo Mondavi, the big winery, just had to settle a class-action suit for $2 million because apparently for years, it’s been selling wine as pinot noir when it in fact was not.

Newnam: And were they aware of that?

Vanek Smith: No actually. Apparently this French wine distribution company has been selling grapes to the Gallo Mondavi company for years saying they were pinot noir when actually they weren’t.

Newnam: So all right, that sounds like a legitimate wine crime. Except there are no hard-boiled detectives, there are no femme fetales, so is it really a pinot noir?

Vanek Smith: Ohhh.

Gagliano: John Haas, editor, what story are you going to be talking about this weekend?

John Haas: Earlier this week on a British Airways flight the passengers started freaking out when they heard an announcement saying that the plane was about the crash into the ocean.

Gagliano: Oh my god.

Haas: Yeah, but fortunately the pilot quickly came on and reassured passengers that it was not about to crash, he had accidentally hit a wrong button.

Gagliano: That launched the emergency recording?

Haas: Yes. The airline did issue an apology for what they called undue concern.

Gagliano: That’s a start, but maybe they could also pay for the dry cleaning bills on everyone’s pants. Don’t you think?


Ryssdal: There’s plenty more where that came from. The radio show they do is called The Dinner Party.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.