Headlines From The Times

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Coachella 2022, Coachella forever Apr 18, 2022

Show notes

Some of the biggest names in the music industry have played the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival since it debuted in 1999 on large grass fields out in the California desert. It turned into a global phenomenon and tastemaker in the process. But for the past two years, along with the rest of the live-music industry, Coachella went on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic...but it’s BACK.

Today, what Coachella’s return this past weekend and next weekend says about the state of the music industry.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times pop music reporter Mikael Wood

More reading:

Live updates from Coachella 2022

The best moments of Coachella 2022 in photos

Inside the Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia’s very last-minute Coachella collab

Future of Abortion Part 2: Church Apr 15, 2022

Show notes

In anticipation of the Supreme Court making its landmark abortion decision this summer and very likely undoing Roe v Wade, The Times is looking at the issue from a number of perspectives. Today, we’ll tell the complicated story of how evangelicals mobilized around restricting abortion — and one women’s place in it all.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times national correspondent Jaweed Kaleem

More reading:

Read the L.A. Times’ “The Future of Abortion” series

As Supreme Court weighs abortion, Christians challenge what it means to be ‘pro-life’

The pastor thought Trump was ‘evil.’ So he quit his conservative church

The case that ended 'Mexican-only' schools Apr 14, 2022

Show notes

In 1945, five families sued school districts in Orange County to challenge the practice of so-called Mexican schools, which kept Latino students from attending white schools with better resources. The daughter of one of the plaintiffs, Sylvia Mendez, has spent her retirement telling the story of the landmark desegregation case, which was decided 75 years ago on April 14, 1947.

But she goes from school to school talking about the importance of this case at a time when Latino students are, in many ways, more segregated than ever.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times education reporter Paloma Esquivel

More reading:

Mendez vs. segregation: 70 years later, famed case ‘isn’t just about Mexicans. It’s about everybody coming together’

Op-Ed: How Mexican immigrants ended ‘separate but equal’ in California

Westminster council takes steps to recognize historic civil rights case

Tijuana beyond the bad headlines Apr 13, 2022

Show notes

When reporter Sandra Dibble started covering Tijuana in the 1990s, many of her stories dealt with violence and corruption in the city. But like most Tijuanenses, Sandra actually felt pretty. She didn’t let the terrifying headlines she was writing stop her from settling into her new life and exploring her adopted home of Tijuana.

Today, in the second episode of “Border City,” Sandra talks about that era and what she learned.

Host: Sandra Dibble

More reading:

Tijuana: Through a Mirror, Darkly

Tijuana killings may signal fall of Arellano Felix cartel

Making a Tijuana art scene built to last

Earth Day: Binge or cringe? Apr 12, 2022

Show notes

In 1969, off California’s coast, an ecological disaster gained worldwide attention. The state’s largest oil disaster shocked a nation into action: It led to the creation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, and the passing of California’s Environmental Quality Act and the federal Environmental Protection Act. The catastrophe also inspired a day to reflect and learn about environmentalism — Earth Day.

But in a world where climate change is ravaging the earth, what good is just a day anymore?

Today, we get into Earth Day’s fails and wins.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times earthquake reporter Ron Lin, L.A. Times wildfire reporter Alex Wigglesworth and L.A. Times coastal reporter Rosanna Xia

More reading:

Editorial: Happy 50th birthday, Earth Day

An Earth Day message for California: Move faster on climate change

8 ways to get active on Earth Day

Come fly the toxic skies Apr 11, 2022

Show notes

An L.A. Times investigation found that jet engine oil can leak into the air supply of passenger planes, creating a toxic cocktail that can lead to health problems. It happens with an alarming frequency across all airlines — and that’s despite the airline industry and its regulators saying otherwise. The Times investigation just might result in real-world change.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times investigations reporter Kiera Feldman

More reading:

After Times investigation, Congress is moving to curb toxic fumes on airplanes

How toxic fumes seep into the air you breathe on planes

Smells on a plane: Have you been exposed to toxic chemicals while flying?

What COVID-19 wrought on Black men Apr 08, 2022

Show notes

Black people are two and a half times more likely to be hospitalized, and 1.7 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than whites.

That stat from the CDC is shocking. But it’s not exactly surprising. Not to people like L.A. Times reporter Marissa Evans.

Her father, Gary Evans, is now one of nearly 97,000 Black people in America who’ve died from COVID-19 complications.

And while Marissa is willing to accept her father’s death, on today’s episode, she says she refuses to accept that losing all these Black men is normal ... or OK.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times healthcare reporter Marissa Evans

More reading:

The way we lose Black men never makes sense. Losing my father to COVID is another example

Black L.A. residents have highest COVID hospitalization rate: ‘A deplorable reality’

Op-Ed: A COVID diary: My Black family’s struggle with vaccine hesitancy

Welcome to Tijuana Apr 07, 2022

Show notes

Reporter Sandra Dibble spent more than 25 years covering the U.S.-Mexico border for the San Diego Union-Tribune. And what she found out after her first day on the job is that Tijuana is ... complicated.

The impact of being home to the Western Hemisphere’s busiest border crossing — how the border has shaped Tijuana — is a big part of what Sandra spent her career digging into.

And she pulls all that work together in "Border City," a new eight-part narrative podcast series. Today, we air its debut episode.

Host: Sandra Dibble

More reading:

Border City: A podcast about beauty, violence and belonging in Tijuana from a journalist who spent more than 25 years reporting at the border

The Backstory: Sandra Dibble discusses “Border City,” her upcoming podcast about reporting in Tijuana

Opinion: After writing about Tijuana for decades, I can’t imagine my life without this city

The lawyer behind Trump's Jan. 6 attack Apr 06, 2022

Show notes

Before Jan. 6, 2021, John Eastman was known as a fringe figure in conservative circles. But now, Eastman’s not so fringe anymore.

A California-based federal judge said Trump probably committed felonies in connection with the events of that day. And he says that Eastman was the person Trump chose to find “a coup in search of a legal theory.”

Today, in the second part of a miniseries on the Jan. 6 investigation, we get into Eastman’s career — and what his emails and actions on Jan. 6 might mean for Trump’s future.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times Justice Department reporter Sarah D. Wire

More reading:

How a California lawyer became a focal point of the Jan. 6 investigation

Judge rules against Trump lawyer John Eastman in dispute with Jan. 6 investigators

John Eastman, Trump’s lawyer on overturning election, under investigation by California Bar

What's slowing down the Jan. 6 investigation Apr 05, 2022

Show notes

Hundreds of people have been charged with federal crimes in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. The amount of evidence against many of the insurrectionists is growing. But sorting through it all has ground many of these criminal cases to a halt. Today, in the first of a two-part series on the Jan. 6 investigations, why it might take years to prosecute all the rioters who invaded the Capitol, and how difficult it will be to make charges stick.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times Capitol Hill reporter Sarah D. Wire

More reading:

The evidence in the Jan. 6 investigations is overwhelming — literally

Jan. 6 defendant pleads guilty to a single charge after prosecutors forgot to indict him

Beverly Hills anti-vaccine doctor pleads guilty in Jan. 6 Capitol riot case