California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, faces a once-unthinkable scenario: a recall. Election day is Sept. 14, just a week away. If he loses, his putative replacement would be one of the most conservative governors California has ever seen. How did California, one of the bluest states, get to the point where a Republican might win the governor’s seat? How did that candidate, radio talk show host Larry Elder, become the top challenger? And what would Elder do if he wins? Today, we start a...
Sep 07, 2021•20 min
Growing up in Queens, N.Y., Lucy Liu felt like she was from another planet — until she found the arts. But when the fiercely independent daughter of Chinese immigrants set her sights on acting, she was told repeatedly she wouldn’t make it in Hollywood, where opportunities for Asian American talent were scant. Now she’s a household name. In this crossover episode with The Los Angeles Times’ “Asian Enough” podcast, the actor talks about how her memorable roles — including Ling Woo on “Ally McBeal”...
Sep 06, 2021•44 min
The U.S. has seen a historic number of illegal border crossings this summer — a 21-year high, according to federal figures. Why is this happening? One reason: Thousands of migrants are waiting in northern Mexico — some for months — to claim asylum in the U.S. because President Biden extended a Trump-era pandemic policy that effectively bars them from entering the country. In Mexico, the migrants — many from Central America — are at risk of being kidnapped, extorted or killed by smugglers. Yet mo...
Sep 03, 2021•23 min
Fewer ethnic groups in the U.S. have been harder hit by COVID-19 than Native Americans. It’s killed them at more than twice the rate of whites. The pandemic has exacerbated longstanding health inequities, and a deep-rooted distrust in the federal government made tribal leaders fearful that members would reject the government-endorsed vaccines. But the opposite happened. Native Americans now have the highest vaccination rates of any major racial or ethnic group in the United States. L.A. Times Se...
Sep 02, 2021•24 min
The pandemic has devastated national economies and the futures of young people. Few countries have been hurt more than Colombia. Since April, nationwide strikes — led by students, Afro-Colombians, and Indigenous people — have repeatedly shut down parts of the South American country. What’s happening here is a case study of whether the old adage of the Latin American left remains true in the age of COVID-19: Otro mundo es posible. Another world is possible. Today, L.A. Times Mexico City bureau ch...
Sep 01, 2021•18 min
If you’ve worked from home during the pandemic, you probably haven’t used your local dry cleaner as much. Maybe you noticed a little bit more savings and thought, “Oh, cool.” But think about it: Your dry cleaner is run by people. If you’re in Southern California, they're most likely Korean immigrants. And if you’re not spending money, that means they’re not making it. Today, we talk about the history of the Korean dry cleaner in the United States. How did people get into this business? And are t...
Aug 31, 2021•22 min
Tequila is the national drink of Mexico, wrapped up in the country’s mythology via film, song and art. But makers have long relied on American consumers — 72% of all tequila produced last year was exported to the United States. Now celebrities see Mexican spirits as a way to expand their brand and make easy bucks. L.A. Times Latin America correspondent Kate Linthicum talks about the phenomenon. And host Gustavo Arellano gets a few people together for a taste test to see whether celebrity tequila...
Aug 30, 2021•35 min
Welcome, new listeners! Here's one of our favorite episodes from earlier this year, with a brand-new segment at the end. It's been quite the year for the Los Angeles Public Library — and the COVID-19 pandemic is only part of the story. Inauguration Day saw a reading by Amanda Gorman, who got her start with poetry readings via the L.A. Public Library's youth program. And teen punk group the Linda Lindas got worldwide fame after a concert at the library system's Cypress Park branch. Today, we talk...
Aug 27, 2021•24 min
The last time we talked to L.A. Times photographer and foreign correspondent Marcus Yam, he and L.A. Times Middle East bureau chief Nabih Bulos had just gone on a ride-along with the Afghan Air Force. Toward the end of the episode, the two mentioned how the Taliban was barreling through Afghanistan on the march to regain control over a country it last ruled 20 years ago. Now, the organization is busy setting up a government as the United States vows to withdraw completely by Aug. 31. Yam returns...
Aug 26, 2021•18 min
Mj Rodriguez has busted through a tough barrier as the first transgender performer nominated for an Emmy in a lead acting category. Now that she’s wrapped up her successful run in the hit FX show “Pose,” will there be more great mainstream opportunities for trans performers in the future? “Pose” took us into New York’s LGBTQ ballroom scene amid the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and early ‘90s, and Rodriguez brought it all together as Blanca, the mother of the House of Evangelista. Regardless of wheth...
Aug 25, 2021•29 min
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer hasn't played a Major League Baseball game since late June, when a woman received a temporary restraining order against him after alleging that consensual sexual encounters turned into sexual and physical assaults on two occasions. Bauer has not been charged with any crimes and denies the allegations, and a judge denied last week a request to make the restraining order permanent. But the controversy has cast a harsh light on sexism in baseball, which has ...
Aug 24, 2021•19 min
Today we talk about California’s huge role in influencing gun control laws in the U.S. and about the backlashes. We discuss the state’s historic 1989 ban on assault weapons and why a federal judge recently issued an order to overturn that ban. And we talk to the mayor of San Jose, who wants his city to be the first in the United States to require gun owners to buy liability insurance. Gun rights advocates are already threatening a lawsuit. More reading: California’s long history on assault weapo...
Aug 23, 2021•25 min
Democrats and progressives helped Alex Villanueva rise to power back in 2018, excited about his left-leaning campaign promises. But that support did not last long. The sheriff has been criticized over his response to issues including homelessness, COVID-19 and police brutality, as well as transparency and reinstating fired deputies. The Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission, a sitting county supervisor and the Democratic Party have called for him to step down. He’s up for reelection next year, a...
Aug 20, 2021•19 min
The Dixie fire is now the largest single wildfire in California history. At more than 600,000 acres, it’s been burning in Northern California for over a month and has destroyed more than 500 homes in areas that never imagined wildfires to be a year-round risk. That inferno continues at the same time that the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has released its bleakest report yet, saying: “It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.” Tod...
Aug 19, 2021•22 min
Today, we continue our collaboration with our sister podcast “The Envelope” and its host Yvonne Villarreal. In this episode, she talks with Hannah Waddingham about Waddingham’s Emmy-nominated performance in “Ted Lasso,” the feel-good Apple TV + comedy series that centers on the upbeat, fish-out-of-water American coach of an English soccer team. Waddingham plays the coach’s initially vindictive and cynical boss, Rebecca. Waddingham also discusses her turn as the “Game of Thrones” nun who infamous...
Aug 18, 2021•25 min
Today we talk to L.A. Times education and science reporters about the full reopening of schools, which will affect millions of families in California and beyond. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mostly OKed this reopening, with the provision that everyone should mask up in schools and, if 12 or older, be vaccinated against COVID-19. But what if your kids are younger than that? How about if they develop symptoms or come into contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavir...
Aug 17, 2021•20 min
President Biden wants 40 percent of new cars to be electric by 2030. As automakers race to meet demand, they're setting off a mining rush worldwide from rare earth and critical metals. Cobalt, lithium, manganese and nickel here in the United States are hard to come by, but exist in sensitive habitats like the ocean floor and indigenous land. Now, environmentalists and activists are questioning whether electric cars are the wisest way to tackle climate change. In this episode we take you to the l...
Aug 16, 2021•19 min
Black police officers are facing new challenges in the current atmosphere around policing, especially in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the many demonstrations against police brutality that have taken place over the last 18 months. In addition to heckling from activists on the streets, some of whom call them traitors, Black officers experience internal racism within the police department — which has always existed but has surfaced in new ways since last year’s protests began. Today, Offic...
Aug 13, 2021•17 min
Corn is a part of modern life in all sorts of ways: It fattens up livestock and gets turned into biofuels. We eat it on the cob, as grits, polenta and tortillas, and as syrup that sweetens so many other foods. Most of the corn used in the U.S. is sprayed with weed killers such as glyphosate and is genetically modified to survive those weed killers and to create bigger yields — controversial practices. Mexico, corn’s birthplace, imports millions of tons of U.S. corn each year. But there’s about t...
Aug 12, 2021•18 min
In this collaboration with our sister podcast “The Envelope,” we talk all things Emmys, which are coming up Sept. 19. Who are the favorites? The snubs? The underdogs? In this roundtable, host Gustavo Arellano — who still subscribes to DirecTV and mostly watches local news and Bravo, so at least he’s familiar with “Below Deck” — joins his entertainment-side colleagues, columnist Glenn Whipp and television editor Matt Brennan. They know what’s up. More reading: Last year, we turned to TV for comfo...
Aug 11, 2021•22 min
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing sounds like a bureaucratic borefest, but it’s actually pretty important. It files lawsuits against companies and landlords accused of discrimination. Now it’s tackling sexism in the world of video games. Today we talk about California’s lawsuit against Activision Blizzard. The Santa Monica company made $8 billion last year on the strength of classic video game titles like “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft.” But the state argues the com...
Aug 10, 2021•21 min
The Medical Board of California was established to protect patients by licensing doctors and investigating complaints when things go wrong. But even when it accuses a doctor of causing patients to lose limbs, become paralyzed or die, the board often lets the doctor continue to practice. There’s no limit on the number of times the board can put a doctor on probation. Today we speak with L.A. Times investigative reporter Jack Dolan. He, along with our colleague Kim Christensen, looked into how and...
Aug 09, 2021•17 min
When a warehouse filled with ammonium nitrate and fireworks exploded at the Port of Beirut on Aug. 4, 2020, it pushed out a fireball into the air, followed by a shock wave that raced inland at supersonic speed. A trail of devastation followed: 200 people dead, thousands wounded and 300,000 homeless. The Lebanese capital’s more than 2 million residents have spent the last year trying to rebuild not just their lives and buildings but also the pride and confidence of a city and country left in tatt...
Aug 06, 2021•25 min
Graceful, playful and tough, the gray whale is a beloved icon of the Pacific coast. The whales’ annual migration from the waters off Alaska to Baja California is one of the longest undertaken by any mammal, a journey that has happened for thousands of years. But in the last couple of years, fewer gray whales have made the trip. These magnificent giants are dying in numbers unseen in decades. Nobody knows exactly why, but there are some clues. Today, we speak with Los Angeles Times investigative ...
Aug 05, 2021•15 min
He was a legendary lawyer. She’s a Real Housewife. Together, Tom and Erika Girardi made a striking couple. He funded their lavish lifestyle with multimillion-dollar settlements. She used that money to create a career as a pop singer named Erika Jayne. But did they break the law to build their dream life? In this crossover episode with our sister podcast “The Envelope,” we get into a story straight out of a reality TV plotline. (The couple’s unraveling and legal travails are, in fact, included in...
Aug 04, 2021•22 min
It takes skills to get a tiny golf ball into a faraway hole. It also takes money, connections, power, time and privilege — things historically denied to people of color. Data compiled by the PGA of America show that people of color make up about 18% of golfers in the United States. Black people: only 3%. Pro basketball superstar Steph Curry has stepped up to change that, in partnership with Howard University, a historically Black institution. The school recently restarted a men’s and women’s gol...
Aug 03, 2021•22 min
Thanks to the Delta variant, the coronavirus is stronger than ever. Medical and government officials blame the rise largely on one group: the unvaccinated. So a debate that has persisted for months is now raging hotter: Does shaming persuade folks to finally get the shots? Today, we talk about what’s being done to increase vaccinations among Black people and Latinos. The two groups have suffered inordinately from COVID-19 — yet they don’t have nearly the same shot rates as whites and other group...
Aug 02, 2021•25 min
We conclude Drought Week with a panel of L.A. Times foreign correspondents who are reporting on droughts in their areas of coverage. In Mexico, a drought in the northern state of Sonora imperils the cattle industry. In Taiwan, water shortages threaten to disrupt the semiconductor industry. And in China, alternating years of drought and floods threaten the nation’s infrastructure. After that, stick around to hear from skateboarder Cory Juneau about his path to the Tokyo Olympics and why he never ...
Jul 30, 2021•30 min
In Episode 4 of Drought Week, we focus on Lake Mead, created by the Hoover Dam and fed by the Colorado River. It’s the nation’s biggest reservoir, providing water to 25 million people in California, Nevada, Arizona and Mexico. Lake Mead is projected to shrink this year to levels that would trigger the first-ever official shortage declaration in the region. That means Nevada, Arizona and Mexico would have to make do with less water. If the trend continues another year, California gets partially c...
Jul 29, 2021•27 min
In Episode 3 of Drought Week, we take a journey through the American Southwest to Las Vegas, down to Arizona’s Sonoran Desert and through California’s Mojave Desert. We speak to a social scientist, a folklorist and a politician about their efforts to understand the plants and animals affected by this historic drought. We’ll focus on three iconic plants: Joshua trees. Saguaro cactuses. And, well, lawn grass. After that, pistol shooter Alexis Lagan describes the discipline of her sport and how she...
Jul 28, 2021•32 min
