Headlines From The Times

The pandemic has made a lot of us rethink a lot of things. On the forefront of that existential rethink: restaurant workers. This realignment of priorities and personal interests drove lots of restaurant workers to quit. Now, two years after COVID-19 upended the restaurant industry, so many food spots are still short-staffed and help-wanted signs are seemingly everywhere. That's motivating employers to offer better pay, conditions and perks. Today, L.A. Times business reporter Samantha Masunaga discusses why the labor shortage is still a big problem for restaurant owners across the country and how they can persuade workers to come back. Read the full transcript here. 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which detains hundreds of thousands of people nationwide, typically says fewer than a dozen detainees die in its custody each year. But if the agency releases a person in dire health, they're not in custody when they die — so ICE doesn't need to count that death. Today, L.A. Times immigration reporter Andrea Castillo tells the stories of two people who were abruptly released by ICE just days before their deaths and pulls back the curtain on the system that allows this to happen. Read the full transcript here. 

The ups and downs of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin can bring quick wealth — or quick bankruptcy. It's the hope for a huge payoff that keeps people hooked on these fluctuations, to the point where their attention turns to addiction. Today, in the wake of the crypto market's recent crash, we look at how obsessing over digital currency can affect people and their lives. Read the full transcript here.

On Saturday, a heavily armed 18-year-old white man rolled up to a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood of Buffalo, N.Y., and killed at least 10 people. The suspect is said to have committed the act to stop the so-called “Great Replacement,” a conspiracy theory that gained popularity among the far right across the world in recent years.Its premise says that a secret cabal of elites are supposedly helping people of color take the place of white people. In the United States, the great replacement theory was turned into political strategy and policy long ago. And it started here, in California.Today, we hear how the Golden State helped the fringe conspiracy go mainstream. Read the full transcript here.Host: Gustavo ArellanoGuests: L.A. Times columnists Erika D. Smith and Jean GuerreroMore reading:Column: I’m part of the ‘great replacement.’ It’s not what believers say it isColumn: Buffalo shooting is an ugly culmination of California’s ‘Great Replacement’ theoryColumn: How the insurrection’s ideology came straight out of 1990s California politics

In the late 1990s, a turf war between the Arellano-Felix and Sinaloa cartels in Tijuana led to mayhem and corruption. But as the cartel-fueled violence continued, residents in the city lived their lives.Sandra Dibble was a reporter for the San Diego Union-Tribune at the time, and she treated her visiting mom to handmade corn tortillas, Cafe de la olla, and eggs drenched in mole in Tijuana’s upscale neighborhood. She took her brother to Tijuana’s famous Mercado Miguel Hidalgo to buy tamales. And she got on stage to play a noblewoman in a Tijuana Opera performance of “Romeo and Juliet.”During the day, though, she reported on the mayhem. She talks about this dichotomy in Episode 5 of “Border City.” Read the transcript here.Host: Sandra DibbleMore reading:The collapse of Mexico’s ‘invincible’ drug cartelLos Tucanes de Tijuana: Banned in their namesake border cityArts are beginning to blossom in Tijuana

Roe vs. Wade is expected to be struck down this summer, which would mean abortion will no longer be a federally protected right. If that happens, about half the states will probably ban abortion altogether, or make getting one a lot more difficult. But for those who live in Texas, especially in the Rio Grande Valley, it’s already hard to get an abortion.Today, we look at how Texas has made it nearly impossible for low-income women to get an abortion. And how other states want to copy that. Read the transcript here.Host: Gustavo ArellanoGuests: L.A. Times Houston Bureau Chief Molly Hennessy-FiskeMore reading and listening:Even with Roe vs. Wade in place, low-income women struggle to get abortions in TexasPodcast: Future of Abortion Part 1 | MedicineFuture of Abortion Part 2 | Church

It’s barely spring in 2022 and California has already broken record heat and drought levels never before seen in 1,200 years. Major reservoirs across the American West are at record lows. Groundwater is drying up. It’s projected to get even worse in the upcoming summer months. Come June 1, millions of Southern Californians will have to learn how to live with the region’s most severe water restrictions ever.So who can we blame? Today, our Masters of Disasters tell us. Read the transcript here. Host: Gustavo ArellanoGuests: L.A. Times earthquake reporter Rong-Gong Lin II, L.A. Times wildfire reporter Alex Wigglesworth and L.A. Times breaking news reporter Hayley SmithMore reading:A drought so bad it exposed a long-ago homicide. Getting the water back will be harder than everIt’s not even summer, and California’s two largest reservoirs are at ‘critically low’ levelsYour lawn will suffer amid the megadrought. Save money and put it out of its misery

The arrest in Russia earlier this year of WNBA superstar Brittney Griner made worldwide headlines. But few dug into why she was playing abroad in the first place.Today, we hear how Griner is just one of many female athletes who find themselves abroad year after year to play the games they love, geopolitics be damned. All because they can’t get a fair wage in the United States. Read the full transcript here.Host: Gustavo ArellanoGuest: L.A. Times sports editor Iliana Limón RomeroMore reading:Brittney Griner’s arrest in Russia: What you need to knowWNBA to honor Brittney Griner with decal on teams’ floorsCommentary: Why Brittney Griner was in Russia, and what it says about women’s sports in the U.S.

Mickey Mouse has been the mascot for Disney going back to the days of, well, Walt himself. But the copyright for the mouse that Disney has zealously guarded for decades is set to expire in just two years. That means the black-and-white version of Mickey Mouse depicted in “Steamboat Willie” would be in the public domain, where anyone can do anything with him and all of his magic and fame.A group of Republicans, mad at some of Disney stances on social issues recently, want that to happen. Disney though, ain’t going to let Mickey go without putting up a hell of a fight. Read the full transcript here.Host: Gustavo ArellanoGuests: L.A. Times travel reporter Hugo MartínMore reading:Republicans are trying to exterminate Mickey Mouse. Does anyone care?Whose mouse is it anyway?Disney Wins Big in Battle to Keep Company IconsDisney Led Push to Add 20 Years to Copyrights

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 ArellanoGuests: L.A. Times Middle East correspondent Nabih BulosMore reading:Syrian fighters ready to join next phase of Ukraine warHumanitarian corridors, from Syria to Ukraine, explainedRussia has been Assad’s greatest ally — as it was to his father before him