Headlines From The Times

The Roots drummer and music legend Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson sifted through 40 hours of archival footage of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival for his documentary, “Summer of Soul.” It was a festival where legends like Nina Simone and Stevie Wonder performed in the same summer as Woodstock.The film is now in the running for Best Original Documentary at this year’s Oscars. So today, we’re airing an episode with Questlove from our sister podcast, “The Envelope.”More reading:Review: ‘Summer of Soul’: A rousing cultural and musical revolution, now finally seenQuestlove’s ‘Summer of Soul’ is much more than a music documentaryMeet the archivist who saved the historic footage that became ‘Summer of Soul’

With more economic development and rents on the rise, Inglewood is struggling to meet its goal of encouraging more investment while trying to preserve one of California’s last remaining Black enclaves. Today, we examine this through the prism of SoFi Stadium, which is hosting the Super Bowl this Sunday.More reading:Op-Ed: For Inglewood, it won’t be a Super Sunday‘A crisis for renters’: Football sent Inglewood home prices and rents skyrocketingMust Reads: One of California’s last black enclaves threatened by Inglewood’s stadium deal

 Even if you don’t like football, you probably have opinions about the Super Bowl halftime show. Today, we look at the history of this curious spectacle, from its humble beginnings to the mega-star extravaganzas of today. And along the way, we’ll take a look at how this roughly 15-minute intermission became an unlikely reflection of American culture.More reading:At SoFi Stadium, Dr. Dre assembles a hip-hop dream team for Super Bowl halftime showJanet Jackson says she and Timberlake ‘have moved on’ from Super Bowl scandalAdam Levine thanks you for hating Maroon 5’s Super Bowl performance

In a league where Black players make up 70% of active rosters, the NFL currently has only two Black head coaches. League officials and even fans have offered all sorts of excuses about this discrepancy for decades. But now there’s an explosive federal lawsuit about the matter. It was filed this month by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. In it, he puts this persistent and longstanding problem on stage.Today, we dive into why the NFL just can’t seem to hire Black head coaches.More reading:Seven things you need to know about Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the NFLOp-Ed: The NFL fails on Black leadership. So do most institutions in AmericaColumn: Brian Flores’ lawsuit features memorable receipts that could force the NFL to change

For the latest installment of our “Masters of Disasters” series, we talk tsunamis in the wake of a volcanic eruption near Tonga last month that caused waves felt across the Pacific. There was none of the devastation like the world saw in Fukushima in 2011, or across the Indian Ocean in 2004. But what happened in Tonga got us thinking: How are the effects of tsunamis so devastating, yet so little is known about them?More reading:The tsunami that battered Santa Cruz highlights the threat facing California’s coastCan a tsunami happen in Southern California? What should you do about it?Surprising tsunami triggers may lurk off California’s coast, scientists say 

Everybody is talking about the metaverse right now. But Times host Gustavo Arellano didn’t want to just talk about it; he wanted to experience it firsthand.And so off he went inside the metaverse with a guide. Is it all it’s cracked up to be?More reading:Explainer: What is the metaverse and how will it work?Want to glimpse our metaverse future? Theme parks are already on the caseOp-Ed: Mark Zuckerberg makes a ‘mwahahaha’ metaverse move

A first-of-it’s kind case in Los Angeles County is going to play a big role in determining culpability whenever self-driving cars get into accidents. Prosecutors have charged a driver with felony manslaughter after his Tesla crashed into a car in 2019, killing two people. The accused was in the driver’s seat, but prosecutors say his Tesla … was on autopilot.More reading:A Tesla on autopilot killed two people in Gardena. Is the driver guilty of manslaughter?Are self-driving cars safe? Highway regulator orders industry to cough up the dataWhy do Tesla cars keep crashing into emergency response vehicles? Federal safety agency is investigating

There’s a growing realization that the brilliance of the world’s best athletes isn’t enough anymore to cover some glaring problems that come with putting on the Olympics every two years.The International Olympics Committee has always claimed the Games are about promoting goodwill and celebrating the brotherhood of mankind. But as it turns out, not only do Olympics not do that, they tend to make democratic states… more authoritarian.So what does that mean for the Games coming to Los Angeles in 2028?Guests: Human Rights Watch China Director Sophie Richardson, and Pacific University political science professor Jules BoykoffMore reading:The ‘Feel Guilty Games’?: China human rights issues have forever marked the Beijing Olympics2028 L.A. Olympics: Agreement outlines key issues but final price tag remains unclearOp-Ed: Tokyo’s Olympics have turned nightmarish. L.A., are you watching?

Mexico trails just Syria and Iraq as the deadliest country in the world to be a journalist. That’s according to data collected from 2000 through 2022 by the Committee to Protect Journalists. And the Mexican government has done little to stop it.But in the wake of the murder of four reporters so far this year — José Luis Gamboa, Margarito Martínez Esquivel, Lourdes Maldonado López and Roberto Toledo — Mexican journalists are openly criticizing President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador and government officials like never before.More reading:Journalists throughout Mexico say enough to killings and crimes against pressPhotojournalist shot to death outside his home in TijuanaShe told Mexico’s president she feared for her life. Then she was killed  

Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, is a national holiday, not just in Vietnam but all over the world wherever Vietnamese may be. And in the United States, red envelopes filled with money, special dishes and other traditions have become a part of life in major American cities such as San Jose, Houston and especially in Orange County, which is home to the largest Vietnamese expat community in the world.Today, we talk about Tet memories and its evolution with the authors of the recently released “The Red Boat Fish Sauce Cookbook.”More reading:Buy “The Red Boat Fish Sauce Cookbook”A new nuoc mam: Red Boat ‘first press extra virgin’ fish sauceGifts for food lovers: Red Boat fish salt, kids chef caddy, cooking classes