Headlines From The Times

The pandemic has devastated national economies and the futures of young people. Few countries have been hurt more than Colombia. Since April, nationwide strikes — led by students, Afro-Colombians, and Indigenous people — have repeatedly shut down parts of the South American country. What’s happening here is a case study of whether the old adage of the Latin American left remains true in the age of COVID-19: Otro mundo es posible. Another world is possible.Today, L.A. Times Mexico City bureau chief Patrick J. McDonnell, who was in Colombia this summer, describes the social and political fallout and how the U.S. is involved. And we’ll hear from Colombians themselves about why they’re angry.More reading:The pandemic plunged millions of Latin Americans into poverty. Young people are inheriting the consequencesSlain Colombian activist becomes icon of resistance as protests and deaths mountColombia reaches 100,000 COVID-19 deaths as cases surge 

If you’ve worked from home during the pandemic, you probably haven’t used your local dry cleaner as much. Maybe you noticed a little bit more savings and thought, “Oh, cool.” But think about it: Your dry cleaner is run by people. If you’re in Southern California, they're most likely Korean immigrants. And if you’re not spending money, that means they’re not making it.Today, we talk about the history of the Korean dry cleaner in the United States. How did people get into this business? And are their days of dominating it over?Host: Gustavo ArellanoGuest: L.A. Times San Gabriel Valley reporter Andrew J. Campa and Arroyo Cleaners owners Yoon Dong Kim and Stacy KimMore reading:Long a path to success for Korean immigrants, dry cleaners struggle in the pandemicFrom the archives: Korean immigrants run 70% of Orange County’s dry cleaners and 27% of its neighborhood grocery storesFrom the archives: Korean Americans move on to franchises

Tequila is the national drink of Mexico, wrapped up in the country’s mythology via film, song and art. But makers have long relied on American consumers — 72% of all tequila produced last year was exported to the United States. Now celebrities see Mexican spirits as a way to expand their brand and make easy bucks.L.A. Times Latin America correspondent Kate Linthicum talks about the phenomenon. And host Gustavo Arellano gets a few people together for a taste test to see whether celebrity tequila can be ... good?After that: a profile of wheelchair basketball player Josie Aslakson, who is competing in the Paralympic Games.More reading:Kendall Jenner, Michael Jordan, the Rock. How American celebrities are changing Mexico’s tequila industryKendall Jenner has a new tequila brand, and Twitter wants to know whyFlamin’ Hot Cheetos, natural wine and toilet paper: Sara’s Market in East L.A. adapts to the times

Welcome, new listeners! Here's one of our favorite episodes from earlier this year, with a brand-new segment at the end. It's been quite the year for the Los Angeles Public Library — and the COVID-19 pandemic is only part of the story. Inauguration Day saw a reading by Amanda Gorman, who got her start with poetry readings via the L.A. Public Library's youth program. And teen punk group the Linda Lindas got worldwide fame after a concert at the library system's Cypress Park branch. Today, we talk to L.A. librarian Kevin Awakuni about how the city's public library has turned into an incubator for making libraries hip worldwide. We also get L.A. Times columnist Patt Morrison to explain how a city long dismissed as an intellectual wasteland learned to treasure its libraries in the wake of a devastating fire.Also: We hear from an athlete currently competing in the Paralympic Games: Team USA wheelchair rugby player Chuck Aoki. More reading:‘Whoa, this is crazy’: L.A. teen punks the Linda Lindas on going viral (just before finals)How a 22-year-old L.A. native became Biden’s inauguration poet Who started the 1986 fire at the Los Angeles Library? Susan Orlean investigates in her new book

The last time we talked to L.A. Times photographer and foreign correspondent Marcus Yam, he and L.A. Times Middle East bureau chief Nabih Bulos had just gone on a ride-along with the Afghan Air Force. Toward the end of the episode, the two mentioned how the Taliban was barreling through Afghanistan on the march to regain control over a country it last ruled 20 years ago. Now, the organization is busy setting up a government as the United States vows to withdraw completely by Aug. 31.Yam returns to tell us what he’s seeing in Afghanistan, what people are telling him, and how Taliban members assaulted him, detained him — then apologized and let him go.More reading:News Analysis: What went wrong in AfghanistanEncounter with the Taliban: Punched, detained — then offered an energy drinkAs Afghans try to figure out Taliban’s new rules, burqas are barometer of sorts

Mj Rodriguez has busted through a tough barrier as the first transgender performer nominated for an Emmy in a lead acting category. Now that she’s wrapped up her successful run in the hit FX show “Pose,” will there be more great mainstream opportunities for trans performers in the future?“Pose” took us into New York’s LGBTQ ballroom scene amid the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and early ‘90s, and Rodriguez brought it all together as Blanca, the mother of the House of Evangelista. Regardless of whether she wins the Emmy next month for outstanding lead actress in a drama series, she’s already made history.Today’s episode continues our collaboration with our sister podcast “The Envelope.” Rodriguez talks about her background as a musical theater performer and Berklee-educated songwriter, the night she learned that the part of Blanca was hers and how she feels the doors are opening up for trans performers. Plus we’ve got a clip of her new single.More reading:How Mj Rodriguez and Billy Porter are saying goodbye to ‘Pose’‘Pose’ cast celebrates Mj Rodriguez’s historic Emmy nomination: ‘About mf’n time’Queer actors are finally playing queer roles. Next up? More chances to play it straight 

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer hasn't played a Major League Baseball game since late June, when a woman received a temporary restraining order against him after alleging that consensual sexual encounters turned into sexual and physical assaults on two occasions. Bauer has not been charged with any crimes and denies the allegations, and a judge denied last week a request to make the restraining order permanent. But the controversy has cast a harsh light on sexism in baseball, which has been present in the sport since its start and continues to plague the national pastime. And this time, the reaction seems different. More reading:What we know about the Trevor Bauer case, and what we’ll never know2021 hindsight: Inside the Trevor Bauer disaster and how the Dodgers got hereCommentary: Trevor Bauer, faced with report of previous protective order, plays old card: Bullying

Today we talk about California’s huge role in influencing gun control laws in the U.S. and about the backlashes. We discuss the state’s historic 1989 ban on assault weapons and why a federal judge recently issued an order to overturn that ban. And we talk to the mayor of San Jose, who wants his city to be the first in the United States to require gun owners to buy liability insurance. Gun rights advocates are already threatening a lawsuit.More reading:California’s long history on assault weapons on the line in court battleThe judge upending California’s gun laws: ‘Blessed’ jurist or ‘stone-cold ideologue’?Biden huddles with local officials over gun violence as ownership rises

Democrats and progressives helped Alex Villanueva rise to power back in 2018, excited about his left-leaning campaign promises. But that support did not last long. The sheriff has been criticized over his response to issues including homelessness, COVID-19 and police brutality, as well as transparency and reinstating fired deputies.The Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission, a sitting county supervisor and the Democratic Party have called for him to step down. He’s up for reelection next year, and he doesn’t agree with the criticism.Today, we run a condensed version of a conversation Villanueva had on “Los Angeles Times Today” with host Lisa McRee.More reading:Column: Sheriff Villanueva is angry — at elected officials, at the L.A. Times, at lawlessness‘Running against the woke left’: Can Sheriff Villanueva’s shift to the right work in L.A.?Op-Ed: Villanueva’s bogus Venice ‘outreach’ is just a cover for criminalizing homelessness

The Dixie fire is now the largest single wildfire in California history. At more than 600,000 acres, it’s been burning in Northern California for over a month and has destroyed more than 500 homes in areas that never imagined wildfires to be a year-round risk.That inferno continues at the same time that the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has released its bleakest report yet, saying: “It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.”Today, we welcome our good-natured Masters of Disasters — L.A. Times earthquake reporter Ron Lin, coastal reporter Rosanna Xia and wildfire reporter Alex Wigglesworth — to make sense of these dark and hot times.More reading:Dixie fire generates fire whirl, pyrocumulonimbus cloud at 40,000 feetPG&E power line suspected in Dixie fire was set to be buried underground in safety moveCalifornia builds a ‘Noah’s Ark’ to protect wildlife from extinction by fire and heat