Last year, frustrations over COVID-related school closures slammed into the nation’s culture war and tipped an election. It all started in Virginia’s Loudoun County, whose schools became a lightning rod as they grappled with mask mandates, a bathroom policy for transgender students and efforts to fix systemic racial discrimination.

Today, we discuss how conservative parents in Virginia began a powerful nationwide movement and how Democrats are trying to win this important voting bloc back. We also explore how parents in Loudoun County really feel. Read the full transcript here.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guest: L.A. Times White House reporter Courtney Subramanian

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Focus on the economy, not ‘critical race theory’ or sex ed: Inside Democrats’ plan to win back parents

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You might know Liz Cheney for her recent leadership of the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection. Her prominent role in the televised hearings has boosted her status nationally, but back at home, in conservative Wyoming, Cheney has effectively been disowned. Her vote to impeach President Trump and the decision to take part in the investigation has forced her into a sort of exile from her home state.

Bill Hader became popular on "Saturday Night Live" with silly characters like Stefon, but his titular character on the HBO show "Barry" is more twisted and brilliant. It’s a great dark comedy about a hitman who wants to become an actor and how his worlds collide. 

In this conversation with “The Envelope” host Mark Olsen, Bill brings both the fun and the darkness: He’s pleasant and light, and he laughs while talking about some of the most disturbing things on his show. Read the full transcript here.

This summer, some of the biggest names in music decided that we all need to dance. Drake, Beyoncé, Charlie XCX, Bad Bunny — they all departed from their usual styles to create albums inspired by a genre called house music.

Today, we talk about how house music became the sound of liberation and why it’s back and more mainstream than ever.

Read the full transcript here.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times pop music reporter August Brown

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Beyoncé returns with liberating house jam ‘Break My Soul’

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Today, we offer episode 2 of “A Line in the Land,” from our friends at Texas Public Radio and the Houston Chronicle. It’s a podcast that explores the human story behind the Haitian immigration journey. On this episode, hosts Elizabeth Trovall and Joey Palacios try to answer the question of why many Haitians went to Chile after Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake. And what happened to those refugees when the Chilean government became more hostile to immigration. 

Last week, Nancy Pelosi became the first House Speaker  in a quarter century to visit Taiwan. China viewed Pelosi’s trip as a direct challenge. As tensions over the self-governed island ratchet up, Taiwan is preparing for war. But are its people ready?

Jennifer Coolidge has a career full of memorable roles, from the “American Pie” franchise to the “Legally Blonde” series and the mock documentaries of Christopher Guest. But it wasn’t until her role in HBO’s hit “The White Lotus” that she finally earned critical respect. Today, Coolidge talks about her life and career — and what’s next. Read the full transcript here.

Hosts: Mark Olsen and Yvonne Villarreal

Guests: Jennifer Coolidge

More reading:

Column: Jennifer Coolidge has been a big deal for years; with an Emmy nod, she’s starting to believe it

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Vin Scully was the broadcaster for the Dodgers baseball franchise for 67 years, from its time in Brooklyn through its move to Los Angeles. In the process, he not only became a sports legend; he became a summer soundtrack for generations of fans in Southern California and beyond.

Today, we remember the life and legacy of Vin Scully. Read the full transcript here.

Host: Former fellow for The Times, Angel Carreras

Guests: L.A. Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Jaime Jarrín, sportscaster Bob Costas

More reading:

Complete coverage: Remembering the life of Dodgers announcer Vin Scully (1927-2022)

Column: Vin Scully’s voice, a serenade of rebirth, will live on forever in Los Angeles

Column: Vaya con Dios, Vin Scully — a beacon of possibility for generations in L.A.

On the U.S.-Mexico border, where San Diego ends and Tijuana begins right next to the Pacific Ocean, there’s a place called Friendship Park. It opened over 50 years ago and was meant to be a symbol of the binational community that stretches across the border. Friendship Park eventually became an unlikely place for poignant cross-border reunions.

But since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Friendship Park has been shut down. And there’s a good chance it might not reopen. We get into its history and future today. Read the full transcript here.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: San Diego Union-Tribune border reporter Kate Morrissey

More reading:

Once a symbol of binational unity, Friendship Park could close to cross-border reunions forever

Wall going up in Friendship Park at U.S.-Mexico border

U.S. side of a binational garden at Mexico border bulldozed

We bring you episode 1 of “Line in the Land,” a new podcast from Texas Public Radio and the Houston Chronicle that explores the human story behind the Haitians traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border in search of a better life. Read the full transcript here.

Hosts: Joey Palacios with Texas Public Radio, and Elizabeth Trovall with the Houston Chronicle.

More reading:

Inside the brutal 10,000-mile journey Haitian migrants make in search of a home

Podcast: Our nation’s Haitian double standard

Opinion: Helping one child at a time in Haiti 10 years after the devastation