Menthol-flavored cigarettes have been controversial for decades, and the Food and Drug Administration is weighing a national ban on them. But tobacco companies are not a fan of losing out on millions of dollars with that possible move. So they’ve enlisted leaders in a community that has long been the biggest consumer of menthols: Black people.

Read the show transcript here.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times medical investigations reporter Emily Baumgaertner, and Ben Stockton of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

More reading:

How Big Tobacco used George Floyd and Eric Garner to stoke fear among Black smokers

Addicted to menthol: Big Tobacco’s targeting of Black communities could soon end

Op-Ed: Big Tobacco helped destroy Black Americans’ health. Banning menthols could help improve it