On Nov. 2, Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai published a letter on her verified social media account that accused a former top Chinese government official of sexual assault. Then suddenly, she disappeared. But it’s not just people with name recognition who are disappearing in the country. Human rights group Safeguard Defenders estimates that more than 45,000 people were subjected to a form of secret detention since President Xi Jinping assumed power in 2013. Today, we speak with L.A. Times Beijing ...
Dec 03, 2021•22 min
Today, we’ll spend the show with food personality David Chang to talk about his new Hulu series, "The Next Thing You Eat," which — full disclosure — our host Gustavo Arellano appears in. We’ll discuss what David found, why he thinks Southern California is such a great place for food, and also the future of the food industry in the era of COVID-19. He also has a raw conversation about how the harsh working conditions in restaurants can be improved, and about his own anger. More reading: Watch "Th...
Dec 02, 2021•37 min
For more than a century, California's approach to incarcerating people has gone mostly like this: Incarcerate them. But now, there’s a program offered by the Cal State University system that helps incarcerated folks not only develop skills but also reimagine themselves — as people who could have lives after serving long prison terms, as scholars. Today, we’re going to talk about this new educational opportunity for those on the inside with L.A. Times education reporter Colleen Shalby. More readi...
Dec 01, 2021•17 min
An L.A. Times investigation found that from 2017 to July of this year, 70% of bicyclists that L.A. County sheriff’s deputies pulled over were Latinos, even though the group makes up only about half of the county’s population. And they searched 85% of bike riders they stopped, even though deputies often had no reason to think they’d find something illegal. They ended up making arrests or writing citations 21% of the time. Today, we talk to the L.A. Times journalists who reported this story. And w...
Nov 30, 2021•20 min
Our guest host Faith E. Pinho, a Metro reporter at the L.A. Times, speaks with Times culture writer Daniel Hernandez about the cast of characters and cars that have been lining the wide boulevards of Southern California for decades. They look at who is embracing cruising culture and its uneasy relationship with law enforcement. An earlier version of this episode was published May 28, 2021. More reading: The lowrider is back: The glorious return of cruising to the streets of L.A. Here are 8 key l...
Nov 29, 2021•21 min
Alison Roman is a chef, food writer, cookbook author and video maker whose unfussy recipes pack a punch. Those recipes, along with her fun persona, made her a bright spot for many fans especially as the pandemic began taking hold. Then Roman, who is white, lobbed some criticism at celebrities Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo — women of color — and controversy engulfed her. Roman was canceled. Or was she? What exactly does being canceled mean, anyway? What can a person learn, and where can they go ...
Nov 23, 2021•30 min
Sohla El-Waylly is famous for her cooking videos for outlets like the History Channel’s “Ancient Recipes,” Bon Appetit’s “Test Kitchen,” and so, so much more. She also writes a column at Food52 and contributes to the cooking section at the other big-time Times newspaper (the one on the East Coast). Today, we do another crossover episode with our sibling podcast “Asian Enough,” where El-Waylly talks about food appropriation, her inspirations and much more. Hosts: Johana Bhuiyan and Tracy Brown Gu...
Nov 22, 2021•44 min
This story of Los Angeles’ 1930s era of gambling boats — and Tony Cornero, the underworld boss at the center of the action — is a portal to another version of the city, one that’s glamorous and seedy. Business reporter Daniel Miller spent months chasing down the tale, poring over FBI records, reviewing newspaper accounts and interviewing the few people alive who remember when barges bobbing off the coast of Santa Monica offered the chance at a sea-sprayed jackpot. He tells us about this world of...
Nov 19, 2021•26 min
Last month, former Facebook employee Frances Haugen revealed she had released thousands of documents that showed how the company knew yet did little to curb harmful content for its billions of users. Those documents also showed that Facebook’s parent company, Meta, knew disinformation on its platforms was particularly corrosive to Latino communities — yet the company did little to stop it. Today, we talk about the damage and what activists are doing to try to stop it. More reading: What Facebook...
Nov 18, 2021•24 min
When it rains, it pours, and when it pours after a long dry spell, water can become dangerous. Fire-scarred lands see mudslides devastate homes. Parched soil can’t absorb the rain that comes. Water, water everywhere, and California is still on the brink.Today, we reconvene our Masters of Disasters to discuss how too much rain after a drought can be bad. And who knew the term "mudslide" could be so controversial? More reading: Threat of mudslides returns to California after devastating fires. How...
Nov 17, 2021•20 min
Last month, In-N-Out Burger made national news when health officials in San Francisco shut down one of its restaurants. The company’s sin: refusing to comply with a law that requires restaurants to ask customers for proof of COVID-19 vaccination. An In-N-Out spokesperson described the mandate as “intrusive, improper and offensive” — and suddenly, the burger chain became a flashpoint in the country’s culture wars. Today, we talk about this beloved company with L.A. Times reporter Stacy Perman, au...
Nov 16, 2021•19 min
Over the last few years, Leyna Bloom has been the first in many categories. In 2017, she became the first trans woman of color to grace the pages of Vogue India. In 2019, she became one of the first trans women to walk Paris Fashion Week. And most recently, she broke barriers again as the first trans cover model for Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue. On this crossover episode with our sister podcast “Asian Enough,” Bloom talks about her ties to ballroom, her Black and Filipina identity and reu...
Nov 15, 2021•36 min
In 2011, a group of Muslims in Orange County sued the federal government, alleging that the FBI violated the constitutional rights of Muslims by spying on them solely because of their religion. The feds denied the allegations, but they also said they couldn't disclose why they had spied on this community. To do so, according to the government, would reveal state secrets. Now the lawsuit is before the U.S. Supreme Court, and the feds want it dismissed. Today, we hear from L.A. Times reporter Suha...
Nov 12, 2021•18 min
This fall, a commemoration in downtown Los Angeles marked the 150th anniversary of when a mob lynched 18 Chinese men and boys — one of the biggest such killings in American history. The recent memorial comes in a year when many similar remembrances have bloomed across the United States. Anti-Asian hate crimes have soared during the pandemic, but that has also spurred an interest in learning the long, and long-hidden, history of such bigotry. More reading: History forgot the 1871 Los Angeles Chin...
Nov 11, 2021•18 min
Marijuana use is now ubiquitous in mainstream culture — even Martha Stewart’s into CBD products thanks to her good pal Snoop Dogg. Despite this, the federal government classifies basically all cannabis-related products as illegal. That stands in the way of things like medical research. Can California, which sparked a revolution 25 years ago with the legalization of medical marijuana by voters, push the federal government to legalize marijuana once and for all? More reading: California changed th...
Nov 10, 2021•18 min
At USC, hundreds of students have been protesting university officials and so-called Greek life itself over the last month after a series of drugging and sexual assault allegations that the school kept quiet about for weeks. It's the latest scandal to hit the school, and some of the loudest criticism has come from an unexpected source: fraternity and sorority members. Today, we talk to L.A. Times higher education reporter Teresa Watanabe about the matter. And a USC student who's a proud sorority...
Nov 09, 2021•21 min
In this crossover episode with our cousin podcast “Asian Enough,” hosts Suhauna Hussain and Johana Bhuiyan speak with sociologist Anthony Ocampo. He’s spent his career studying the intersection of race, gender and immigration, which guided his groundbreaking book “The Latinos of Asia: How Filipino Americans Break the Rules of Race.” Today, Ocampo also speaks about another facet of his work: what it means to be brown and gay in Los Angeles. And he reflects on Filipino nurses’ role in battling the...
Nov 08, 2021•45 min
Skateboarding is a mainstay of California street culture, from San Diego to San Francisco and beyond. It’s so popular that L.A. County filled outdoor skateparks with sand earlier in the pandemic so no one could grind on them. But during the pandemic, skateboard sales surged — and communities long marginalized from the sport are now making their own spaces. Today we talk to reporter Cerise Castle, who’s covering and participating in this rise, and skateboarders from various parts of America — inc...
Nov 05, 2021•21 min
Less than 4% of Los Angeles’ firefighters are women — a number that, despite the mayor’s goals, has inched up only slightly in recent years. Many of the female firefighters say their ranks are so small because of a hostile, sexist culture pervading the Los Angeles Fire Department. Today, we talk about what women in the LAFD have been dealing with, including trash in their lockers, feces on bathroom floors and nasty remarks from co-workers they need to trust with their lives. We talk to L.A. Time...
Nov 04, 2021•24 min
Every year, people in the American West die from scorching temperatures. Experts fear that the number of deaths is undercounted — and, that as the climate continues to heats up, the death rate is going to rise. Officially, California says 599 people died due to heat exposure from 2010 to 2019. But a Los Angeles Times investigation estimates the number is way higher: about 3,900 deaths. Today we talk to Tony Barboza and Anna M. Phillips, who, along with Sean Greene and Ruben Vives, spearheaded th...
Nov 03, 2021•20 min
The Valle de Guadalupe in Baja California is Mexico’s premier wine country, a lush valley that makes Napa seem as gorgeous as a parking lot. But a lot of development is coming to the Valle — and many locals aren’t happy. Today, we travel to this beautiful, contested space with two experts. Javier Cabral is the editor of LA Taco and wrote about a recent anti-development protest there. Javier Plascencia, a pioneering chef, has seen Valle grow and wants the world to come in — in a sustainable way. ...
Nov 02, 2021•20 min
Over the next two weeks, leaders from nearly 200 countries are gathering in Glasglow, Scotland, for a United Nations climate summit known as COP26. They’ll tell us what we’ve heard before: that scientists have warned about rising oceans, sinking cities, famines and millions of refugees if we don’t dramatically reduce carbon emissions. Officials will tell us we all need to act ASAP. But the fate of humanity really rests with a handful of countries. Today, we’re gathering our panel of corresponden...
Nov 01, 2021•26 min
For decades, late October meant one holiday in American popular culture: Halloween. But over the past couple of decades, more and more people are also marking another fall festival: Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Today, we get into how this Mexican holiday took hold in the United States: its history, its customs, how it’s different here from the way it’s observed in Mexico. We talk to L.A. Times culture reporter Daniel Hernandez, who has written extensively about the subject. And we tal...
Oct 29, 2021•27 min
On Oct. 11, 1985, Palestinian American activist Alex Odeh opened the door to the Orange County offices of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. He served as its West Coast regional director. The moment he turned the doorknob, a bomb went off. Thirty-six years later, his assassination remains officially unsolved, but his family thinks the United States government knows more than it wants to admit. Decades after Odeh’s killing, Hugh Mooney, one of the first police officers on the scene,...
Oct 28, 2021•31 min
Vigils from Southern California to Albuquerque were held last weekend to mark the death of Halyna Hutchins. The up-and-coming cinematographer was working on the film “Rust,” a Western that featured Alec Baldwin as an actor and producer. Meanwhile, investigators are still trying to figure out how Baldwin was handed a gun with a live round despite being assured it was safe. Today, we talk about the fatal incident. We check in with L.A. Times reporters Wendy Lee and Meg James — who cover the busine...
Oct 27, 2021•19 min
Hundreds of thousands of sailors worldwide are stuck on cargo ships far longer than they’d intended, with few chances to contact the outside. Usually ports offer opportunities for a break, but most of these sailors haven’t had access to COVID-19 vaccines, so they’re not allowed to set foot in the United States. Today, L.A. Times Business reporter Ronald D. White takes us to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation’s largest. A huge backlog of cargo ships is waiting offshore for a turn...
Oct 26, 2021•16 min
Shea Serrano is beloved in the sports, movie and music worlds for his wickedly funny essays and podcasts on everything from Selena to the Houston Texans, Jay-Z to Jason from “Friday the 13th.” And yet his journalism is probably the least impressive part of the guy who’s probably the nicest cholo nerd in the world. His latest book, “Hip-Hop (and Other Things),” is dropping tomorrow, Oct. 26. We talk about Shea’s unlikely entry into journalism, why Mexicans are perfect, why representation matters ...
Oct 25, 2021•26 min
Disabled people get pregnant and give birth at the same rates as nondisabled ones. But their outcomes are often far worse — for reasons that can’t be explained by anatomical difference or medical complexity — and modern medicine has largely turned its back on them. L.A. Times Metro reporter Sonja Sharp has experienced the discrimination firsthand, and she’s reported on the issue as well. Today, she speaks with Dr. Marie Flores, a physician who uses a wheelchair and is trying to become a mother, ...
Oct 22, 2021•23 min
Twenty-one years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that national adult cases of syphilis had reached their lowest levels ever, and entirely eliminating the disease among newborns seemed to be within reach. But syphilis cases have risen dramatically over the last decade for both adults and infants — even though the disease is curable, and even though we could protect babies by getting pregnant people tested and treated in time. Today, L.A. Times public health reporter E...
Oct 21, 2021•17 min
Nearly half of imports in the United States go through the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. They're the largest in the U.S., but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there's a humongous backlog of ships stuck at sea, making imported goods more expensive. The wait to unload cargo is so bad at the ports of L.A. and Long Beach that President Biden is taking action. Today, we're going to discuss the backup's repercussions with three L.A. Times reporters who cover the ports, the global market and th...
Oct 20, 2021•14 min
