What Is a Life Worth?

Following the terror attacks on 9/11, attorney Kenneth Feinberg battled against cynicism, bureaucracy and politics to deliver monetary relief to victims’ families. He led the team that authored the Victim Compensation Fund, a deal authorized by Congress that offered payments to families in exchange for their agreement to not sue the airlines. As the nation reflects on the 20th anniversary of the attacks, Feinberg is the subject of the Netflix movie “Worth.” He sat down with the late Neal Conan, a long-time journalist for NPR, at the 2012 Aspen Ideas Festival to discuss how the law values human life. “I met personally with more than 900 families of victims,” Feinberg tells Conan. “It is so emotional and so debilitating that you worry about losing your mind and certainly your objectivity.” (Images: misu and Linda Harms)