Coronavirus in California

The pandemic has frozen professional and collegiate sports across the world, with Major League Baseball planning to return this summer. But with new thoughts on high-fives, tags at home plate and spitting out all those sunflower seeds, the baseball diamond isn’t going to look the same. Our guest is Eric Valenzuela, the head coach for Long Beach State’s baseball team, the Dirtbags.

More reading: How MLB proposes to protect players from the coronavirus.

[Advertisement] This L.A. Times podcast is presented to you by Blue Shield of California. The fight is tough, but so are you. Thank you, front line.

Throughout history, pandemics have wrought hell not just on families and economies but on specific social groups. And at times like these, politicians and members of the general public sometimes cast minorities as scapegoats. For the coronavirus in the United States, unfortunately, this racist hammer is falling hard on Asian Americans. Our guests are Jen Yamato and Frank Shyong, the hosts of our Asian Enough podcast at the Los Angeles Times.

More Listening: Asian Enough.

[Advertisement] This L.A. Times podcast is presented to you by Blue Shield of California. The fight is tough, but so are you. Thank you, front line.

At this point, tens of thousands of people in the U.S. have lost their lives to COVID-19. To try to memorialize the victims in Southern California as the individual lives that they were, the Los Angeles Times has created a project called “The Pandemic's Toll: Lives Lost in Southern California.” These are remembrances not of celebrities or politicians, but of your neighbors, your family members, your friends. Our guest is Times metro reporter Alejandra Reyes-Velarde, one of the writers for the project.

More reading: The Pandemic’s Toll: Lives Lost in Southern California.

[Advertisement] This L.A. Times podcast is presented to you by Blue Shield of California. The fight is tough, but so are you. Thank you, front line.

The island of Catalina is the keeper of many myths and histories in Southern California. This time of year, it should be bustling with visitors. But due to the coronavirus, it's not. And the museum, like its peers across the Southland, has been closed down altogether. Our guest is Julie Lee Perlin, the executive director of the Catalina Island Museum.

More reading: On Catalina Island, concern yet calm as coronavirus threatens tourism economy.

[Advertisement] This L.A. Times podcast is presented to you by Blue Shield of California. The fight is tough, but so are you. Thank you, front line.

What will history say about this crazy period of the coronavirus? That depends on how our lives, our thoughts and our experiences are being documented right now. Archives, like the ones at the Huntington Library and the Center for Oral and Public History at Cal State Fullerton, tell us a lot about what transpired in the past. Not just what our leaders did, or what made the papers, but also about the day-to-day lives of regular folks. Our guest is Liz Ramirez, a librarian and archivist for Los Angeles Communities and Cultures at the UCLA Library Special Collections.

More reading: How a vital record of Mexican indigenous life was created under quarantine.

[Advertisement] This L.A. Times podcast is presented to you by Blue Shield of California. The fight is tough, but so are you. Thank you, front line.

In a city like Los Angeles, where renters make up about 62 percent of the population, you don’t hear much sympathy for landlords. But not all landlords are alike. Some own dozens or even hundreds of properties. Others are mom-and-pop landlords, who may own one or two properties, and keep afloat with the rent provided by their tenants. Our guest is Darryl Marshak, who owns a small complex in Mid City.

More reading: Homeowners who can’t make mortgage payments get a new deferral option.

[Advertisement] This L.A. Times podcast is presented to you by Blue Shield of California. The fight is tough, but so are you. Thank you, front line.

Orange County has received a lot of national attention regarding the coronavirus, and none of it positive. Cities have sued California Gov. Gavin Newsom for shutting down beaches. Protesters by the thousands have gathered, against local rules, with no attempt to socially distance. Businesses have opened, daring authorities to swoop in and stop them. Meanwhile, COVID 19 cases continue to climb. Our guest is Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett.

More reading: Newsom eases California reopening rules, allowing more counties to restart their economies.

[Advertisement] This L.A. Times podcast is presented to you by Blue Shield of California. The fight is tough, but so are you. Thank you, front line.

Hollywood, the center of the universe when it comes to producing entertainment, is unrecognizable right now. Live shoots have been placed on hold indefinitely. Studios are running out of shows in the can to air. Moviegoing is essentially impossible across California, unless your city has a drive-in. With the typical gatekeepers in hibernation, creatives are learning how to make things on their own. Our guest is writer, actor, producer and podcaster Al Madrigal.

More reading: What will a post-pandemic Hollywood look like?

[Advertisement] This L.A. Times podcast is presented to you by Blue Shield of California. The fight is tough, but so are you. Thank you, front line.

California's rural areas often feel isolated from what happens in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento. Up in the northern reaches of the state, in places like Crescent City and Alturas, the population is majority white, overwhelmingly Republican, and it’s hardly been touched by the coronavirus. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s response to the coronavirus has furthered their feelings of alienation. Our guest is Hailey Branson-Potts, who covers rural California for the L.A. Times.

More reading: In rural California, children face isolation, hunger amid coronavirus school closures.

[Advertisement] This L.A. Times podcast is presented to you by Blue Shield of California. The fight is tough, but so are you. Thank you, front line.

There are wild allegations about how the coronavirus started, shadowy claims about its spread, and apocalyptic pronouncements about an end goal with COVID-19. The Internet Age in particular has allowed many conspiracy theories to spread, and fast. Kind of like an epidemic. Our guest is Kathryn Olmsted, a history professor at UC Davis who studies conspiracy theories.

More reading: Facebook and YouTube scramble to remove 'Plandemic' video.

[Advertisement] This L.A. Times podcast is presented to you by Blue Shield of California. The fight is tough, but so are you. Thank you, front line.