A CLEAR Path to the Front of the Line

一条通往前排的清晰之路

Up First

2025-08-31

23 分钟
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单集简介 ...

Air travel is stressful enough–and then there are people who can pay to jump the queue. How do some people get ushered straight to the front of the airport security line, while others find themselves waiting? The answer lies in the rise of a private company, CLEAR. Today on The Sunday Story, we look at how CLEAR inched its way into airport security. What actually happens when public and private interests try to coexist? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
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  • I'm Ayesha Roscoe, and you're listening to The Sunday Story,

  • where we go beyond the news of the day to bring you one big story.

  • It's Labor Day weekend, and if you're lucky,

  • you might be hanging out at the beach and napping or cooking out.

  • You know, but maybe you aren't so lucky.

  • Maybe.

  • Like so many on this peak travel weekend,

  • you're standing in a security line at the airport and you're feeling like some other line is moving faster than yours.

  • It always feels like that.

  • But you might be right because all is not equal in airport security.

  • That fact.

  • got us to thinking about what happens when private companies offer services in what we perceive as a public space.

  • So we asked producer Kim Naderfane-Petersa to tell us a story of how one company got a stake in airport security.

  • Hi, Kim.

  • Hey, Aisha.

  • Nice to be here.

  • Glad to have you here.

  • So we are going to start today at the airport security line with this guy.

  • My name is David Zipper.

  • I am a senior fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative.