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Goodbye, Title 42 Apr 04, 2022

Show notes

Title 42 has plugged up the asylum system since it was put in place at the start of the coronavirus crisis. Since March 2020, U.S. border officials have used the policy to quickly remove migrants by sending them back to Mexico or to their home countries.

But now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says migrants are not a public health threat, so Title 42 will come to an end on May 23.

Today, we talk about the ramifications of the controversial public health order.

Guests: L.A. Times immigration reporter Andrea Castillo

More reading:

Biden administration could revoke controversial border policy blocking asylum in weeks

Biden administration announces asylum system overhaul: What you need to know

Fearing for their lives, Mexicans fled a gang-ruled town. Now they seek political asylum in California

The takedown of a dial-up drug network Apr 01, 2022

Show notes

Beverly Hills resident Ray Mascolo died of a drug overdose in 2020. His passing led investigators to a sprawling, Hollywood-based drug-dealing network with a business model resembling a food-delivery app.

We tell this saga today.

Host: L.A. Times courts reporter Michael Finnegan

More reading:

How a man’s death in Beverly Hills exposed a sprawling Hollywood drug delivery business

California lawmakers target fentanyl as opioid overdoses surge

How drug overdose deaths surpassed 100,000 in one year

In praise of long-scorned Black women's hair Mar 31, 2022

Show notes

When Will Smith slapped Chris Rock during the Oscars for a joke the latter made about the hairstyle of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, it brought forth the politics of Black hair, especially the hair of Black women. Long maligned, it’s getting more attention than ever, from the sisterlocks of prospective Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to anti-discrimination bills passed on the state and local level.

Today, we talk about the issue with two L.A. Times writers who bring their own personal history to the subject.

Host: L.A. Times D.C. reporter Erin B. Logan

Guests: L.A. Times columnist Erika D. Smith

More reading:

Column: Will Smith’s Oscars slap of Chris Rock settles it. We’re done with Black hair jokes

California becomes first state to ban discrimination based on one’s natural hair

The world of Black hair magic, according to an icon of L.A.’s hair avant-garde

A soldier's funeral in Ukraine Mar 30, 2022

Show notes

L.A. Times foreign correspondent Patrick J. McDonnell has covered Ukrainian refugees flooding into Poland and the funerals for Ukrainian soldiers in Lviv. He’s heard from mayors urging Americans to approve a no-fly zone over Ukraine, and men returning to their country to fight on the front lines.

Today, we hear some of Patrick’s stories.

Guests: L.A. Times Mexico City bureau chief Patrick J. McDonnell

More reading:

A funeral for Ukraine soldiers brings war to small town

Refugee flows from Ukraine mount. Meantime, aid and would-be fighters head in other direction

In Ukraine, the flood of displaced people fleeing the war only grows

California tries to figure out reparations Mar 29, 2022

Show notes

Two brothers near Sacramento are fighting for compensation for the land they say was taken from their formerly enslaved ancestors during the Gold Rush. Their story got pulled into an even bigger debate happening right now in California. A first-of-its-kind task force is trying to decide: Will the state pay reparations to Black people? And if so, who should get it?

Guests: L.A. Times columnist Erika D. Smith

More reading:

Column: They say California stole their ancestors’ land. But do they qualify for reparations?

Column: It’s a guaranteed income program, but think of it as a test case for reparations

California created the nation’s first state reparations task force. Now comes the hard part

A lot of magic with "Winning Time" Mar 28, 2022

Show notes

“Binge Sesh” is a new L.A. Times podcast taking a deep dive into the television shows everyone is talking about. For its inaugural season, the series gets into the HBO show “Winning Time,” which talks about the Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s who dominated the NBA with its Showtime approach to basketball.

Host: Matt Brennan and Kareem Maddox

Guests: Author Jeff Pearlman

More reading:

‘Winning Time’ began as the seminal book on the Showtime Lakers; it’s Hollywood now

How a pair of unknowns made themselves into Lakers legends for HBO’s next big drama

Four years. Four coaches. Inside the off-court drama that made the Showtime Lakers

An existential crisis for the Oscars Mar 25, 2022

Show notes

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has added and subtracted elements to this year’s Oscars. A roundtable of L.A. Times film and television experts discuss those changes, plus offer up other commentary and criticism about this Sunday’s Academy Awards.

Today, we’ve got a special episode from our sister podcast, “The Envelope.”

Host: Mark Olsen

Guests: Justin Chang, Glenn Whip, Mary McNamara

More reading:

The Oscars are embracing better movies. The show acts like it’s embarrassed by them

How the Oscars have, and haven’t, changed since Halle and Denzel’s historic victories

Column: ‘Belfast’ isn’t my favorite movie in the Oscar race. But it gave me the most hope

Where's Jack? Mar 24, 2022

Show notes

What lengths would you go to find someone you love? Even as their disappearance edges closer and closer to becoming a cold case? Today, we have the story of a family working to find their missing loved one.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times reporter Lila Seidman

More reading:

Was Jack here? A sister asks the beach community whether they’ve seen her missing brother

Help Find Jack Stein Facebook page

The medieval prince that Putin adores Mar 23, 2022

Show notes

In the war for Ukraine, it’s Zelensky versus Putin. Two men with essentially the same first name fighting for their place in history — not just for their respective countries but for the ancestral roots that Russia and Ukraine share, and that both rulers claim to be the true defender of.

And a prince, who ruled more than 1,000 years ago — known in Russia as Vladimir the Great and in Ukraine as Volodymyr the Great — lies at the heart of that intertwined history. We get into that today.

More reading:

Putin’s rationale for Ukraine invasion gets the history wrong

Ukrainian Tales

In battle between Russia and Ukraine, even God is in dispute

Disney's stumbles on "Don't Say Gay" bill Mar 22, 2022

Show notes

For the past two decades, Disney’s reputation in the LGBTQ community has been stellar. It was one of the first Fortune 500 companies to offer same-sex couple benefits. And tens of thousands of people attend their unofficial Gay Days. More and more out characters are appearing in television shows, movies and cartoons. But critics now say Disney has thrown away all that goodwill. Just another thing to blame on…Florida.

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