Headlines From The Times

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 ArellanoGuests: L.A. Times healthcare reporter Marissa EvansMore reading:The way we lose Black men never makes sense. Losing my father to COVID is another exampleBlack L.A. residents have highest COVID hospitalization rate: ‘A deplorable reality’Op-Ed: A COVID diary: My Black family’s struggle with vaccine hesitancy

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 DibbleMore reading:Border City: A podcast about beauty, violence and belonging in Tijuana from a journalist who spent more than 25 years reporting at the borderThe Backstory: Sandra Dibble discusses “Border City,” her upcoming podcast about reporting in TijuanaOpinion: After writing about Tijuana for decades, I can’t imagine my life without this city 

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 ArellanoGuests: L.A. Times Justice Department reporter Sarah D. WireMore reading:How a California lawyer became a focal point of the Jan. 6 investigationJudge rules against Trump lawyer John Eastman in dispute with Jan. 6 investigatorsJohn Eastman, Trump’s lawyer on overturning election, under investigation by California Bar

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 ArellanoGuests: L.A. Times Capitol Hill reporter Sarah D. WireMore reading:The evidence in the Jan. 6 investigations is overwhelming — literallyJan. 6 defendant pleads guilty to a single charge after prosecutors forgot to indict himBeverly Hills anti-vaccine doctor pleads guilty in Jan. 6 Capitol riot case

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 CastilloMore reading:Biden administration could revoke controversial border policy blocking asylum in weeksBiden administration announces asylum system overhaul: What you need to knowFearing for their lives, Mexicans fled a gang-ruled town. Now they seek political asylum in California 

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 FinneganMore reading:How a man’s death in Beverly Hills exposed a sprawling Hollywood drug delivery businessCalifornia lawmakers target fentanyl as opioid overdoses surgeHow drug overdose deaths surpassed 100,000 in one year 

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. LoganGuests: L.A. Times columnist Erika D. SmithMore reading:Column: Will Smith’s Oscars slap of Chris Rock settles it. We’re done with Black hair jokesCalifornia becomes first state to ban discrimination based on one’s natural hairThe world of Black hair magic, according to an icon of L.A.’s hair avant-garde

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. McDonnellMore reading:A funeral for Ukraine soldiers brings war to small townRefugee flows from Ukraine mount. Meantime, aid and would-be fighters head in other directionIn Ukraine, the flood of displaced people fleeing the war only grows

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

“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 MaddoxGuests: Author Jeff PearlmanMore reading:‘Winning Time’ began as the seminal book on the Showtime Lakers; it’s Hollywood nowHow a pair of unknowns made themselves into Lakers legends for HBO’s next big dramaFour years. Four coaches. Inside the off-court drama that made the Showtime Lakers