Randall Emmett had built a career for himself in Hollywood over the past decade as a producer of schlocky action films featuring cameos of iconic actors like Bruce Willis and Al Pacino. But in recent years, he was at the cusp of finally gaining mainstream respect. He had a recurring role on the reality TV hit “Vanderpump Rules” and produced Martin Scorsese’s last two films. But a Times investigation found that multiple former assistants and people who worked for Emmett alleged improper behavior....
Jul 07, 2022•23 min
Few things are more beautiful on a California summer evening than the sight of lowriders cruising slow and low and bouncing up and down through the streets. But for decades, municipalities across the Golden State have been declaring war on lowriding. Today, why cities banned car cruising in the first place and how activists are finally winning. Read the full transcript here. Host: Gustavo Arellano Guests: San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Tammy Murga More reading: California Assembly urges cities...
Jul 06, 2022•18 min
Classic cars are a staple of California culture, but they have a dirty secret – they're gas guzzlers. And with gas prices so high, collectors are beginning to convert their cars into electric vehicles. In this episode, L.A. business reporter Ronald D. White talks about the creative ways that Californians are getting their hands on electric cars.
Jul 05, 2022•20 min
A 22-year-old woman and an abortion doctor from California played key roles in the legal fight that eventually led to Roe vs. Wade. But now that Roe’s been struck down, is that history our future? Today, we look at what it was like for women seeking abortions in California and the doctors who served them before the procedure was legalized, and what that past might say about a future without the constitutional right to abortion. Read the full transcript here. Host: Gustavo Arellano Guests: L.A. T...
Jul 01, 2022•25 min
For decades, weekly lunches between the American president and his vice president have piqued the interest of D.C. insiders. Today, we take a look at this unique tradition and examine what the most exclusive meal in D.C. tells us about the evolution of the vice presidency. Read the full transcript here. Host: Gustavo Arellano Guests: L.A. Times White House reporter Noah Bierman More reading: It’s not just a meal: Inside the nation’s most secretive and exclusive power lunch Opinion: Obama and Bid...
Jun 30, 2022•23 min
President Biden has vowed to help protect the ability of those who seek abortions to travel to other states. California and other states have stepped up to offer expanded access. And now companies are vowing to do what they can to help their employees continue to access abortion. But how much do those vows from private businesses really matter? Today, we talk about how corporations are stepping up when the government won’t. But are they actually changing anything in a meaningful way? Read the fu...
Jun 29, 2022•17 min
We’ll be having fun all summer long ... or not. Hazards are everywhere this season — in the bonfires we set, the trash we leave behind, the sunburns we get. Today, our Masters of Disasters talk about all the hazards out there, including us. Read the full transcript here . Host: Gustavo Arellano Guests: L.A. Times earthquake reporter Rong-Gong Lin II, L.A. Times wildfire reporter Alex Wigglesworth and L.A. Times coast reporter Rosanna Xia More reading: In California’s high-risk fire country, Airb...
Jun 28, 2022•21 min
More than 20 states have already worked to ban or severely limit abortion in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe vs. Wade. But in California, access to abortion will continue to be protected. In fact, the state’s Democratic leaders want to expand the right to abortion — for those who live here, and even for those who don’t. Today, how and why California is setting itself up as a “beacon of hope” for people who want an abortion. Read the full transcript here. Host: Gustavo Are...
Jun 27, 2022•20 min
Roe vs. Wade protected the constitutional right to an abortion for nearly 50 years. Now that the Supreme Court has overturned it, at least 20 states are banning or putting extreme limitations on access to abortion. The outcome was expected, but the country still erupted when the ruling posted — abortion opponents gathered in celebration while abortion-access advocates reacted with anger. Over the last few months, The Times has looked at the issue of abortion from a number of perspectives to help...
Jun 24, 2022•23 min
In celebration of Juneteenth, this week we're running some of our favorite episodes about the Black experience. L.A. Times features writer Jeanette Marantos takes us from modern-day Southern California back to 1860s Massachusetts and Maryland for a look at an unsung civil rights hero. This episode first aired on Sep 24, 2021. Read the full transcript here. Host: L.A. Times features writer Jeanette Marantos More reading: She was the Rosa Parks of her day. So why was she in an unmarked grave for 1...
Jun 24, 2022•18 min
In celebration of Juneteenth, this week we're running some of our favorite episodes about the Black experience. Today, we revisit the showdown centering on proposals to ban menthol cigarettes and how the tobacco companies enlists Black community leaders to ensure that any ban never happens. This episode first aired on Apr 26, 2022. Read the show transcript here. Host: Gustavo Arellano Guests: L.A. Times medical investigations reporter Emily Baumgaertner, and Ben Stockton of the Bureau of Investi...
Jun 23, 2022•30 min
In celebration of Juneteenth, this week we're running some of our favorite episodes about the Black experience. Today, housing and affordability reporter Liam Dillon dives into the historical and continuing impact of the 10 freeway on Black communities in Santa Monica. This episode first aired on Jan. 31, 2022. Read the full transcript here. Host: Gustavo Arellano Guests: L.A. Times housing reporter Liam Dillon, and Santa Monica native Nichelle Monroe More reading: Santa Monica’s message to peop...
Jun 22, 2022•22 min
The Supreme Court’s decision on Roe vs. Wade in 1973 was supposed to end the debate on abortion once and for all. But instead, it has led to decades of division. In our “ Future of Abortion ” series, The Times looks at abortion from a number of perspectives. Today, we dig into where Roe went wrong. Read the full transcript here. Host: Gustavo Arellano Guests: L.A. Times reporter David G. Savage More reading: Where Roe went wrong: A sweeping new abortion right built on a shaky legal foundation Su...
Jun 21, 2022•30 min
In the wake of the Uvalde massacre, Emmett Till’s name is again at the forefront of a national conversation, this time about gun control. Till was the 14-year-old boy lynched by a group of white men in 1955 in Mississippi. Images of his mutilated body shocked the country and galvanized civil rights activists. As people inside and outside newsrooms struggle with whether showing brutal images of slain children might move people and politicians toward collective action, Emmett’s family talks about ...
Jun 20, 2022•25 min
Just this year, Singapore’s top court upheld section 377A. That’s a British colonial-era law prohibiting consenting sex between men. And while the government says it doesn’t strictly enforce that law, anyone who breaks it could face up to two years behind bars. Meanwhile, thousands of Queer Singaporean activists and LGBTQ allies will gather in Hong Lim Park this weekend for an annual gay pride event — and send a clear message to lawmakers that they’re done being denied their basic human rights. ...
Jun 17, 2022•29 min
After more than a year of investigations and thousands of hours of depositions, the Jan. 6 committee is looking to prove that former president Donald Trump had a plan to overturn the 2020 election. Today, a look at the most explosive moments so far — and to come — as the committee lays out its case to show Trump’s connection to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and the role he may have played in spreading debunked conspiracy theories that the election he lost two years ago was rigged. Read the ful...
Jun 16, 2022•21 min
Pregnancy centers offer services like free pregnancy tests, and sometimes resources like diapers or baby clothes — even classes and counseling. Their main focus, though, is to persuade women not to have abortions — and support those who continue their pregnancies. Today, how religious organizations and state funding have led to the rise of these pregnancy centers, as abortion rights fall nationwide. Read the full transcript here. Host: Gustavo Arellano Guests: L.A. Times Houston bureau chief Mol...
Jun 15, 2022•26 min
For most renters across the United States, having a refrigerator come with your unit is a given. Not in Southern California. For reasons no one can fully explain or understand, renters must furnish their living spaces with their own fridges, which has created an underground economy for the essential unit. Today, we try to crack this mystery. Read the full transcript here. Host: Gustavo Arellano Guests: L.A. Times housing reporter Liam Dillon More reading: Why do so many L.A. apartments come with...
Jun 14, 2022•17 min
In the late 1980s, the Diggs family of Southern California came across a family Bible with an incredible backstory. Notes written in the margin documented their family history to an enslaved ancestor who learned to read and write — rare at the time. The Diggs eventually donated their heirloom to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., where it’s now on display. Historians say artifacts like the Bible are rare and offer a valuable portrait into...
Jun 13, 2022•19 min
Drag culture is one of the most iconic forms of expression within the LGBTQ community. For outsiders looking in, drag culture looks fun and flamboyant. But for lots of queens, it’s about so much more than the flashy fun. It’s about family. Today, we dig deep into drag, specifically drag mothers who keep the culture afloat and show us what family can be for some in the LGBTQ community. Read the full transcript here. Host: Times producer Ashlea Brown More reading: All hail the drag queens raising ...
Jun 10, 2022•30 min
This year’s midterm elections were expected to be a referendum on the economy, but as gun violence is on the minds of Americans, yet again, millennials and zillennials, who’ve grown up in an era of massacres, might prove a constituency that no politician can ignore. If they show up to the ballot box, that is. Today, we talk about how gun violence affects the politics of young voters. Read the full transcript here. Host: Gustavo Arellano Guests: L.A. Times 2021-22 Los Angeles Times Fellow Anumita...
Jun 09, 2022•22 min
The Summit of the Americas. It’s when the leaders of all the nations of the Western Hemisphere get together every three to four years and and talk shop. This year’s edition is in the United States, for the second time ever — and the Summit will happen right here in Los Angeles. Today, we get into this conference — how it began. What usually happens. And whether the U.S. wields the same influence in the Americas as it has for two centuries. Read the full transcript. Host: Gustavo Arellano Guests:...
Jun 08, 2022•21 min
Ocean breezes, mountain views, stunning architecture, great food. Fala vocé português? Even if you don’t; Portugal is it right now, and has been for years. But recently, more Americans and especially Californians are looking to make their vacations in the small European country permanent. Today, why more Americans are trading in their SUVs and fast food drive-throughs for the affordable homes and easy living of Portugal. And what that means for local residents. Read the full transcript here. Hos...
Jun 07, 2022•20 min
The U.S. has lost more than 1 million people to COVID — and the virus isn’t done with us yet. Frontline hospital workers have experienced the devastation up close and in real time. And for one L.A. Times photographer who documented the losses and wins against COVID, looking back at the images she captured and revisiting the hospital rooms where people fought for their lives — spaces a hospital chaplain now calls ‘sacred ground’ — has helped her process the pain and remember the moments of connec...
Jun 06, 2022•17 min
Ukraine was never a utopia for gays and transgender people, but activists there say things have improved over the years. Now, though, people are worried that Russia’s invasion could put all of that progress at risk. Today we talk to two LGBTQ+ Ukrainians, one who’s fighting against Russia for his country — and another who fled Ukraine but is continuing her fight for LGBTQ+ rights. Read the full transcript here. Host: The Times: Daily News from the L.A. Times producer David Toledo Guests: L.A. Ti...
Jun 03, 2022•27 min
Patriots for America patrols the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, stops migrants, and questions children. They call it faith-based ministry work; civil rights groups say they’re just another racist group of extremists. Today, we follow them in action. Read the full transcript here. Host: Molly Hennessy-Fiske More reading: Texas border militia stops migrants and shoots video of kids. Rights groups say they’re racist Texas militia sanctioned by sheriff seeks government support to halt flow of migrants...
Jun 02, 2022•34 min
Unprecedented water restrictions in Los Angeles County are going to ensure the slow demise of lawns. And now, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is ready to deal green lawns a final blow. Today, how Southern Californians will have to get used to browner lawns — and why even that might not make a dent in a historic drought. Read the full transcript here. Host: Gustavo Arellano Guests: L.A. Times water reporter Ian James More reading: Newsom urges aggressive water conservation and warns of statewide res...
Jun 01, 2022•20 min
It’s pitting neighbors against neighbors in suburbs across the United States. Tempers are flaring. Tension is high. And nope, all the drama has nothing to do with politics or COVID or any of the usual suburban suspects. The culprit now: pickleball. Today, we serve you the rapid rise of a sport whose popularity boomed during the pandemic and the intense backlash rising right alongside it. Read the full transcript here . Host: Gustavo Arellano Guest: L.A. Times investigative and enterprise reporte...
May 31, 2022•15 min
Overdose deaths in the United States have risen rapidly during the pandemic. It’s a trend driven largely by the spread of fentanyl. In California, the push to save lives and stop the fallout has led some activists and politicians to propose safe injection sites — places where people can take drugs with clean needles, without fear of arrest. There’s already one site like this operating in San Francisco. But in Vancouver, Canada, there’s a neighborhood that has hosted a safe injection site for alm...
May 27, 2022•21 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 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. Read the full transcript here . An earlier version of this episode was published Aug. 23, 2021....
May 26, 2022•26 min
