In January of 2012 the public radio show This American Life aired an episode (later available a podcast) titled Mr Daisey and the Apple Factory. Excerpting parts of monologist Mike Daisey's one-man show The Agony And The Ecstasy Of Steve Jobs, which purported to reveal a lot of nasty goings on at Apple's factories, most of which are found in East Asia. The episode became even more controversial when it was revealed Daisey had fabricated a lot of the stuff in his performance. They simply didn't happen. That was enough to get Apple off the hook for a lot of people, and this may be a little uncomfortable to confront given you may well be reading this on an iPhone or iPad, but they shouldn't be. Just this past December the company came under fire again for working conditions at their factories in China, where most of their products are made. A BBC investigation following up a previous spate of suicides of workers something Daisey reported on and didn't make up found people were being overworked and underpaid. Yikes.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
