For more than a month now, L.A. Times Middle East Bureau Chief Nabih Bulos has been on the ground in Ukraine, covering the escalating Russian invasion. Bulos has seen fierce fighting by Ukrainians, nonstop bombardment by Russians, hope and fear and chaos. He’s crisscrossed Ukraine to hear residents tell their stories.

Today, he talks to us about what he has seen.

More reading:

Raining rockets, scattered corpses, an existential battle: A 500-mile journey across a week of war

‘We’re keeping watch’: What foreign correspondents Nabih Bulos, Marcus Yam are seeing in Ukraine

Dead soldiers. An icy river. Ukraine town on the front lines prepares to battle Russians

The European Union is doing everything possible to welcome Ukrainian refugees. And people around the world have donated money and supplies to help. But this open-arms response has people in similar situations wondering: Why so much goodwill toward Ukrainians, and not us?

Today, we talk about the media’s role in deciding who is the “right” type of refugee — and how that helps or hinders displaced people around the world.

More reading:

In Ukraine reporting, Western press reveals grim bias toward ‘people like us’

20 years after 9/11, an American Muslim recalls the costs of war you didn’t see on TV

Trevor Noah slams media for racist remarks on Ukraine: War ‘was Europe’s entire thing’

Ariana DeBose has made history as the first Afro-Latino and openly queer woman to be nominated for an acting Academy Award. In this crossover episode with “The Envelope,” DeBose talks about the expectations she must carry, her experience with “West Side Story” and more.

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Ariana DeBose wants you to feel Anita’s presence before you even hear her

‘West Side Story’s’ Ariana DeBose makes the case against ‘ethnically ambiguous’

Here’s how Oscar nominee Ariana DeBose could make history

Aaron Bray is a San Diego native who’s lived the last couple of years in Kharkiv, Ukraine, after a stint with the Peace Corps. And now, alongside over a million Ukrainians and foreigners, he’s had to flee the country in the wake of Russia’s invasion.

Today, we hear Aaron’s first-person story about what it was like to leave his adopted home behind … and why he says he’s going back.

More reading:

Read the L.A. Times’ full coverage of the war in Ukraine

Costa Mesa couple barely escape Ukraine with days-old newborn

Commentary: ‘I’m scared, bro’: Inside Ukraine, through the harrowed eyes of two U.S. athletes

‘A lot of innocent people will die’: Ukrainians in California decry Russia’s attack

‘When there are troubles, we go to God’: Ukrainian Americans gather in grief at L.A. church
 

A small, tight-knit community grew inside an abandoned building in L.A.’s Koreatown. The people who found shelter there felt lucky. In a city where unhoused people have to set up encampments wherever they can — in parks, on sidewalks, beneath freeway overpasses — this old building offered a real sense of home.

But the people who lived there knew their community couldn’t last.

More reading:

In an abandoned Koreatown building, homeless Angelenos create a community

‘Gimme Shelter’: The gap in California’s homelessness plan

‘Remember that can easily be you’: Angelenos closest to the homelessness crisis urge compassion

On Feb. 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping just hours ahead of the opening ceremony for the Beijing Winter Olympics. The meeting made headlines, and has people asking: Could China be the overlooked player in the Russia-Ukraine crisis?

Today, we dive into the complicated history between the two countries — and whether Russia’s moves on Ukraine might serve as a template with China and Taiwan.

More reading:

Beijing may be tempted to side with Putin in the Ukraine conflict. But at what cost?

Putin heads to China to bolster ties amid Ukraine tensions

Op-Ed: Whether it sides with Russia or not, China will pay a price

Gun violence has killed more than 100,000 people in Mexico over the last decade. Yet most of the guns involved are illegal, smuggled into the country from the U.S. Now, the Mexican government has had enough.

Today, we talk about a federal lawsuit filed by Mexico against American gun manufacturers that seeks to reduce the bloodshed.

More reading:

Column: Don’t shield U.S. gun makers from liability for Mexico’s gun violence

There is only one gun store in all of Mexico. So why is gun violence soaring?

Op-Ed: For Mexico, taking a stand against gun trafficking is a moral imperative

As more and more workplaces have instituted COVID-19 vaccine mandates, a cottage industry has sprung up to help skeptics evade them. Today, we look into what constitutes a deeply held religious belief, how those beliefs can play out in the workplace, and what employers can do about shady religious exemption requests.

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Online pastors, form letters: The cottage industry helping workers avoid vaccine mandates

New workplace mandate for COVID-19 vaccine pushed by California lawmakers

Column: L.A.'s unvaccinated public workers go Ayn Rand, throw fit over city’s vaccine mandate

In this crossover episode with “The Envelope” podcast, Maggie Gyllenhaal speaks about “The Lost Daughter,” her directorial debut.

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Review: ‘The Lost Daughter’ is quintessential Maggie Gyllenhaal, even though she’s never on screen

Olivia Colman and Maggie Gyllenhaal dig into that ‘Lost Daughter’ ending

Maggie Gyllenhaal is a natural-born director. Netflix gives her the spotlight

Americans eat billions of dollars of Mexican avocados every year. Demand is such that drug cartels and other criminal elements have muscled in on the business, centered around the Mexican state of Michoacán. This reality got worldwide attention Super Bowl weekend, when the American government announced it was temporarily suspending any avocado imports from Mexico.

Today, we talk about this development — and why Americans are so obsessed with avocados in the first place.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times Mexico correspondent Leila Miller, and L.A. Times acting deputy food editor Daniel Hernandez.

More reading:

Avocado imports from Mexico are blocked. What does that mean for you?

How we got to peak avocado: Super Bowls to Mexico’s drug cartels

Inside the bloody cartel war for Mexico’s multibillion-dollar avocado industry