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For decades, NFL teams actively discouraged Black players from playing quarterback, the sport’s marquee position.
Today, we go through this shameful history — and celebrate this year’s historic Super Bowl, which features two Black starting quarterbacks for the first time. Read the full transcript here.
Host: Gustavo Arellano
Guest: L.A. Times opinion columnist LZ Granderson
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Column: The NFL should stop running from its racial history
California’s Imperial Valley has some of the lowest rainfall in the state, yet uses the largest allotment of Colorado River water. Why is such an arid part of the state an agricultural powerhouse?
Today, we look into how the region secured its rights. Read the full transcript here.
Host: Gustavo Arellano
Guests: L.A. Times water reporter Ian James
More reading:
In California’s Imperial Valley, farmers brace for a future with less Colorado River water
Colorado River in Crisis: A Times series on the Southwest’s shrinking water lifeline
California is isolated and alone in battle over Colorado River water cuts
Black people have been part of the American West for centuries. But mainstream cowboy culture long downplayed their contributions, even as they exist in the present day.
Today, we hear from some of them. Read the full transcript here.
Host: L.A. Times national reporter Tyrone Beason
More reading:
Black Californians have long celebrated cowboy culture. We’re just catching up
A proud group of Black Californians keep the traditions of the Old West and cowboy culture alive.
Excerpt: Cowboys in Compton find hope and healing on horseback
All across California, people are asking the same question: Why are eggs so expensive?
Californians walk into grocery stores only to find them sold out, or that they’re going for $7 or more a dozen. Thanks to inflation, everything is more expensive right now. But when it comes to eggs, there’s more to the story.
Today, how a history of California policy and a global bird flu scrambled the economics of a food staple. Read the full transcript here.
Host: Gustavo Arellano
Guests: L.A. Times metro reporter Sonja Sharp
More reading:
$7 a dozen? Why California eggs are so expensive — and increasingly hard to find
Watch: California eggs are becoming expensive, and increasingly hard to find
For over a century, Native American tribes along the Colorado River have seen other entities take water that had nourished them since time immemorial. With the depletion of this vital source for the American West, Indigenous leaders see an opening to right a historical wrong.
Today, we check in on one tribe doing just that. Read the full transcript here.
Host: The Times senior producer Kasia Broussalian
Guest: L.A. Times water reporter Ian James
More reading:
Colorado River in Crisis, Pt. 1: A Dying River
Colorado River in Crisis, Pt. 2: The Source
Inside the water crisis: A journey across the Colorado River Basin
In a span of 25 hours, three men of color died after encounters with Los Angeles police officers. Could a change in tactics long asked for by activists have prevented the deaths?
Today, we talk about the incidents, the aftermath — and what’s next. Read the full transcript here.
Host: Gustavo Arellano
Guests: L.A. Times investigative crime reporter Richard Winton and L.A. Times metro columnist Erika D. Smith
More reading:
Column: MLK had a dream about ending police brutality. In L.A., we’re clearly still dreaming
LAPD’s repeated tasing of teacher who died appears excessive, experts say
A gunman shot and killed 10 people just after a Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park, California. This attack, one of California's worst mass shootings in recent memory, is sparking concerns about public safety and conversations about anti-Asian hate — and renewing calls for gun control. Read the full transcript here.
Host: Gustavo Arellano
Guests: L.A. Times Asian American communities reporter Jeong Park
More reading:
Authorities identify 72-year-old man as suspected gunman in Lunar New Year mass shooting
Terror at Monterey Park dance studio: What we know about Lunar New Year mass shooting
Lunar New Year shooting: A grim moment in Monterey Park, America’s first suburban Chinatown
The main way the American West harvests the Colorado River for its water use is by dams that create reservoirs, which are quickly drying up because of climate change. Can knocking some dams down help?
Today, in our continuing series on the Colorado River, we go to Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell to talk to some people who think so. Read the full transcript here.
Host: “The Times” senior producer Denise Guerra
Guests: L.A. Times water reporter Ian James
More listening:
Colorado River in Crisis, Pt. 1: A Dying River
Colorado River in Crisis, Pt. 2: The Source
Colorado River in Crisis homepage
For decades, Republicans across the country looked to California for conservative stars and ideas even as the GOP lost its way in the state. Not anymore.
Today, we talk about how how Kevin McCarthy’s tortuous path to become Speaker of the House was yet another loud death rattle for the California GOP. Read the full transcript here.
Host: Gustavo Arellano
Guests: L.A. Times politics columnist Mark Z. Barabak
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Column: Kevin McCarthy ‘won’ the House speakership. Now the country will pay the price
Something unexpected is going on in traditionally conservative Saudi Arabia.
Over the last few years, the kingdom has been announcing a loosening of social restrictions at a surprising rate. Movie theaters are reopening, new professional opportunities for women are popping up and the country is hosting Western-style music festivals.
It’s all part of a plan by the country’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who says he wants to dramatically transform his country.
Today, how the prince’s push comes with a price: While dancing in Saudi Arabia might be in these days, political dissent is still most definitely out. Read the full transcript here.
Host: Gustavo Arellano
Guests: L.A. Times Middle East bureau chief Nabih Bulos
More reading:
Dancing is in, dissent is out as Saudi Arabia’s crown prince transforms his country
Saudi Arabia is giving itself an extreme makeover with ‘giga-projects.’ Will it work?