

Headlines From The Times
LA Times Studios
Get essential Los Angeles Times news highlights from the L.A. Times Studios in “Headlines From The Times.” Each episode brings you a bite-sized breakdown of the day’s top news stories and biggest headlines from California and beyond. From politics and climate to entertainment and food, you’ll get the basics behind the trending topics and key news stories that matter most.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 21, 2021 • 20min
Biden shut a migrant camp. Then this bigger one appeared
Right now, migrant camps are popping up on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. They’re filled with people who escaped dire circumstances in their home countries and seek a chance at officially living in the United States. But the Biden administration is telling these people, much like in the Trump years: Better luck next time.Today, we launch the first in a two-part series on these camps. We start in Reynosa, Mexico, where about 2,000 Central Americans wait for their U.S. amnesty cases to be heard. Later this week, we’ll head to Del Rio, Texas, where more than 16,000 Haitians have gathered — and are currently getting deported. L.A. Times Houston bureau chief Molly Hennessy-Fiske explains the situation. More reading:Biden vowed to close a border migrant camp, then a worse one emerged under his watchSupreme Court rules Biden may not end Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policyWhat’s next for the ‘Remain in Mexico’ immigration policy?

Sep 20, 2021 • 17min
Abortion rights spread in Latin America
This month, Mexico’s Supreme Court decriminalized abortion in the country. Argentina legalized abortion last December, becoming one of just three countries in Latin America to fully allow it.Today, we talk about the slow liberalization of abortion rights in Latin America at a time that state governments in the United States have chipped away at access. It’s a dramatic flip of circumstances. L.A. Times Mexico City bureau chief Patrick McConnell and L.A. Times Latin America correspondent Kate Linthicum discuss what we can learn from the situation. More reading:Across Latin America, abortion restrictions are being loosenedMexico Supreme Court rules abortion is not a crimeArgentina legalizes abortion, a move likely to reverberate across Latin America

Sep 17, 2021 • 20min
What California lost in the war on terror
No state has lost as much as California in the war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks; 776 men and women who called the Golden State home have died — that’s 11% of the nation’s total casualties from the war. Nearly 20% of those Californians who perished were old enough to die for their country but too young to buy a drink. They left behind 453 children. For the families — and the state — the loss from the war on terror is incalculable. We spoke to three families about loss, grief and the years that have passed since their loved ones were killed in April 2004.More reading:What did California lose in the war on terror? More than any other state in the U.S. With prayers and promises, a California city remembers a fallen Marine The young Marines wanted to help. They were the last Americans to die in the Afghanistan war

Sep 16, 2021 • 25min
Let's settle the "Latinx" debate once and for all
We're delving into the term “Latinx.” Whom does it refer to? Who uses it? And why do people on both the left and the right, Latino and not, get so worked up about it?Fidel Martinez, who writes the Latinx Files newsletter for the L.A. Times, breaks it down. We’ll also hear from folks who identify as Latinx, and from L.A. Times columnist Jean Guerrero. She used “Latinx” in a tweet recently and has been weathering a backlash ever since.More reading:Sign up for our Latinx Files newsletterWhy we chose the name Latinx Files for our new newsletterLatinx Files: The story behind the name, and why Latinx voters are exhausted

Sep 15, 2021 • 20min
California recall election winners and losers
The polls have closed, and even though the votes are still being counted, but the California gubernatorial recall election results seem decisive: Voters said no to recalling Gov. Gavin Newsom.If the results hold — and it sure looks like they will — Gov. Gavin Newsom will remain in office. Voters rejected the idea that his progressive policies on COVID-19, on climate change, on everything, were ruining the California dream and that someone else on the ballot could do a better job. So ... what’s next for the Golden State? L.A. Times politics reporter Seema Mehta and Sacramento bureau chief John Meyers fill us in. More reading:Newsom soundly defeats California recall attempt5 takeaways from Newsom’s big win in California’s recall electionColumn: The recall was a colossal waste. But don’t expect California’s GOP to learn from it

Sep 14, 2021 • 20min
How to keep the lights on as the climate changes
Over the past couple of years, a slew of weather disasters afflicting the United States have shown how fragile our energy system truly is, from electrical grids to solar panels, wind farms to coal. Add aging infrastructure and a clapback by Mother Nature, and zap: No power. For days.Today, we convene our monthly Masters of Disasters panel — earthquake and COVID-19 reporter Ron Lin, wildfire reporter Alex Wigglesworth and energy reporter Sammy Roth — to talk about the future of energy in a rapidly warming world.More reading:Sign up for our Boiling Point newsletterWill blackouts be Gavin Newsom’s downfall? A former governor weighs inRidgecrest earthquake packed the power of 45 nuclear bombs, but its impact was muted

Sep 13, 2021 • 20min
The NFL's goal-line stand against COVID-19
Packed stadiums. Hard-fought games. Boisterous, mostly maskless fans. The National Football League kicked off its season this past weekend almost as if the coronavirus had never existed. But it didn’t get to this point by ignoring the pandemic — far from it. With careful planning and close attention to who in the league was getting sick, the NFL helped advance science and show us all how to live in a world with COVID-19.Today, as the 2021 football season begins, L.A. Times reporter Sam Farmer delves into the NFL’s coronavirus experiment: its successes, its failures and lessons for the rest of us.More reading:The NFL had a secret COVID-19 plan. Here’s why the league didn’t need itFive things we learned from behind-the-scenes look at the NFL’s COVID-19 season in 2020Column: The NFL discovers how to trounce vaccine hesitancy

Sep 10, 2021 • 23min
What 9/11 has done to American Muslims
Twenty years ago, the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and on United Airlines Flight 93 killed nearly 3,000 people. It’s a day that launched wars and shifted politics in the United States forever.It’s also the day that pushed the U.S. Muslim community under a microscope — and has kept them there ever since.Today, we focus on how 9/11 and its aftermath continue to loom over their lives.More reading:20 years after 9/11, an American Muslim recalls the costs of war you didn’t see on TVMuslim youth in America: A generation shadowed by the aftermath of 9/11Former Rep. Keith Ellison recalls how political opponents attacked his Muslim faith after 9/11

Sep 9, 2021 • 19min
Rep. Adam Schiff on 9/11, 1/6 and what's next
U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, chair of the powerful House Intelligence Committee, became a household name as lead impeachment manager against former President Trump. Now the Southern California-based congressman is investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. It’s been an unlikely career path for Schiff. When he began his first term in the House of Representatives in January 2001, his big issue was U.S. recognition of the Armenian genocide. Then came Sept. 11. Today is Part 1 of our series on the legacy of 9/11 in California. We’ll begin with national political correspondent Melanie Mason interviewing Schiff on how that one day in 2001 changed the trajectory of his career and American politics forever.More reading: Adam Schiff’s command of impeachment hearings draws Trump’s anger and colleagues’ praiseColumn: Adam Schiff has finally been vindicated. But it brings him no pleasureOp-Ed: Adam Schiff: Why my colleagues and I are introducing the first major democracy reforms since Watergate

Sep 8, 2021 • 22min
Why Gavin Newsom faces a recall election
In 2018, Gavin Newsom was elected California’s governor with nearly 62 percent of the vote. It was the largest margin of victory in a California gubernatorial election in nearly 70 years and cemented Newsom’s reputation as the state’s marquee Democrat. But now Newsom faces a recall election, and all of liberal America is asking: What happened? Today, in the second part of our series on California’s recall election, we examine the rise and potential fall of Newsom. The former lieutenant governor and San Francisco mayor seems like the perfect official to lead deep-blue California, but now there’s a chance he might be on the wrong side of a historical political upset.More reading: Read all of the L.A. Times California gubernatorial recall election coverage hereQ&A: What you need to know about the attempt to recall Gov. Gavin NewsomColumn: In California governor recall, Latinos have a chance to cause political ‘desmadre’


