Category: 1-HeadlineNews

Aerial strikes, targeting civilians, cutting off supply chains: Russia’s brutal war tactics in Ukraine are shocking, but also hauntingly familiar. These are tactics the country has used before.

Six years before Russia launched its brutal attack on Ukraine, it began another horrific military operation in Syria. Today, we talk about what we can learn about Russia’s strategy in Ukraine from its involvement in Syria. Read the full transcript here.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times Middle East correspondent Nabih Bulos

More reading:

Syrian fighters ready to join next phase of Ukraine war

Humanitarian corridors, from Syria to Ukraine, explained

Russia has been Assad’s greatest ally — as it was to his father before him

More and more companies worldwide are making the switch to a 32-hour work week. And in California, there’s even talk of making it the law. Today, we discuss what the State Legislature is discussing. And we hear from people at companies that already have done that. And guess what? Worker productivity, at least according to them, is as great as ever. 

Read the transcript. 

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times breaking news reporter Hayley Smith, and Andrew Barnes, 4 Day Week Global co-founder

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Proposed bill would shorten California workweek to 32 hours. Here’s what you need to know

Editorial: What if every week was a four-day workweek?

Working 7 to 5—Four days a week : Companies are increasingly turning to a compressed workweek to meet anti-pollution laws and to recruit workers.

Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has been campaigning to become the next president of the Philippines via the power of TikTok and other social media. And Bongbong’s whitewashing of his family’s violent past has him on the cusp of victory.

Today we go to the Philippines, where the presidential election is taking place next week. And we talk about how social media disinformation, yet again, might put a populist onto the global stage of power. Read the transcript.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times Asia correspondent David Pierson

More reading:

Dictator’s son uses TikTok to lead in Philippine election and rewrite his family’s past

Troll armies, a growth industry in the Philippines, may soon be coming to an election near you

The Marcos diary : A lust for power, an eye on glory

We repeat our episode from last year on Cinco de Mayo because it’s that good. Axios reporter Russell Contreras takes us to the forgotten history of the holiday that’s more American than Mexican, and offers a case for why we should celebrate it. Read the transcript here. 

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: Axios reporter Russell Contreras

More reading:

If it’s Cinco de Mayo, the cooking should be Mexican

Op-Ed: Cinco de Mayo -- a truly Mexican American holiday

Five ways to celebrate Cinco de Mayo at home

On June 7, voters in Los Angeles will elect their preferred candidates in the primary. A couple of races — the mayor’s seat, L.A. County Sheriff, a possible recall of Dist. Atty. George Gascón — are earning national attention against a backdrop of voters angry with what they think is out-of-control crime and homelessness.

Today, we air a live panel on all this and more, originally held during the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Read the full transcript here.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times columnist Erika D. Smith, L.A. Times mayor’s race reporter Julia Wick, and L.A. Times sheriff’s department reporter Alene Tchekmedyian.

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Rick Caruso’s campaign spending tops $23 million in L.A. mayor’s race

Column: Sheriff Villanueva acts like he’s above the law in L.A. County. What if he’s right?

First eyewitness account of Sheriff Villanueva lying in a cover-up revealed in filing

 

In this installment of the podcast “Border City” from our sister paper, the San Diego Union-Tribune, longtime border reporter Sandra Dibble talks about what it was like covering the assassination of a police chief in Tijuana and the arrest of a powerful drug suspect.

She also moonlights as an opera singer in Tijuana, puts on a concert for friends from both sides of the border and navigates living a binational life after 9/11, which changed the flow of traffic from one side of the border to the other.

Read the full transcript here.

Host: Sandra Dibble

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Listen to all the “Border City” episodes

Streaming services were one of the few winners from the pandemic, especially Netflix. But the pandemic’s binge boom seems to have burst.

Today, the winners and losers in the streaming wars and how providers are handling the post-quarantine subscriber drop. 

Read the transcript. 

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times film business reporter Ryan Faughnder

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After Netflix’s week from hell, why streaming is becoming more like ‘just TV’

Same-day streaming film releases are ‘dead,’ cinema group leader says

Layoffs at Netflix have some staffers questioning company strategy and culture

After South L.A. erupted in anger 30 years ago, government officials promised to end the community’s economic disparity once and for all, and invest. It’s a promise that many residents say remains unfulfilled. But is that finally going to change?

Today, Part Two of our L.A. riots anniversary coverage will focus on the Crenshaw Line, a light-rail system that some South L.A. leaders say will help the neighborhood improve — and others fear will bring gentrification. 

Read the transcript. 

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times business reporter Samantha Masunaga

More reading:

Facing schedule delays, L.A. Metro seeks $120 million more for Crenshaw Line

Meet six artists making the public art you’ll soon see on Metro’s Crenshaw/LAX Line

Opinion: The Crenshaw Line is a start, but L.A.'s most transit-dependent neighborhoods need more options

April 29, 1992. A date that forever changed Los Angeles. Six days of chaos erupted after the acquittal of four police officers in the videotaped beating of Rodney King, an unarmed Black motorist. This is the first of two episodes on the 30th anniversary of the L.A. riots.

Today, Black, Latino and Asian communities reflect on the uprising. We also discuss the racial reckoning of the L.A. Times newsroom in its aftermath. Read the transcript. 

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times columnists Sandy Banks and Frank Shyong

More reading:

Column: What we got wrong about Black and Korean communities after the L.A. riots

Column: He was murdered during the L.A. riots. We can’t forget Latinos like him

The damage went deep

For more than a decade, #BlackTwitter — a community of millions that has harnessed the power of the social media platform to create real-world change — has been a cultural phenomenon. But with Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, many Black activists fret for the future of the space they created and say they might not stick around to see what changes the platform’s new owner will make.

Today, how Twitter’s influential Black community is reacting to the controversial new leader — and where Black online social activism might thrive next. Read the full transcript here.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

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

More reading:

Column: With Elon Musk in charge, it’s the beginning of the end for #BlackTwitter

Elon Musk reaches $44-billion deal to buy Twitter

Black Tesla employees describe a culture of racism: ‘I was at my breaking point’