As part of the 103rd Commemoration of the Triangle Factory Fire in Manhattan, yesterday, a fire truck demonstrated how a ladder couldn’t reach the upper floors of the burning factory, forcing workers to jump to their deaths. One hundred and forty-six workers died that day. The outrage over the Triangle Fire helped usher in a new era of workers’ rights and occupational health and safety.

Video by Alexandra Lescaze.  

Tune in tonight at 10pm Eastern to see Hillman Executive Director Alexandra Lescaze’s new documentary, “All of Me,” a revealing look at how weight-loss surgery is changing the lives of women in a fat acceptance group in Austin, Texas. “The Girls,” as they call themselves, have been supporting each other as fat women for decades. One by one, longtime members are peeling off to have surgery, with very mixed results.

The spate of surgeries forces The Girls to reassess their friendships, their priorities, and even their marriages. “All of Me” uses these women’s stories of weight-loss surgery to examine universal themes like friendship, sexuality, and the nature of self-acceptance.

Whether you think weight-loss-surgery is mutilation or liberation, “All of Me” will make you reconsider your position. 

“All of Me” premieres Monday, March 24 at 10pm Eastern on PBS’s Independent Lens, TV’s leading showcase of independent documentary film.

Fun fact: Utah has no campaign contribution limits. None. That’s one reason it was so easy for a payday loan tycoon to capture the Attorney General and turn Utah’s top law enforcement officer into a rubber stamp for the usury industry. 

[Photo credit: robad0b, Creative Commons.]

A private research group’s analysis of federal crash safety data links faulty GM airbags to 303 deaths, the New York Times reports. GM has acknowledged 12 deaths from faulty air bags in 2005-7 Chevrolet Cobalts, 2003-7 Saturn Ions, and four other models. The company announced last month that it was recalling 1.6 million cars worldwide because of a defective air bag switch. 

[Photo credit: Jm3, Creative Commons.]