The Takeaway

Ever wondered what makes L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti laugh? June Cleaver speaking jive, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as a pilot, and a bowl of Jell-O on a turbulent plane. When asked to host Zócalo and KCRW’s “My Favorite Movie” series at the Million Dollar Theatre, Garcetti chose the 1980 classic comedy Airplane!
In introducing the movie, Garcetti said that Airplane! appeals to his “goofy sensibility,” the ability “to …

Just a few days after an Academy Awards ceremony that host Neil Patrick Harris joked honored “Hollywood’s best and whitest,” entertainment insiders at a “Thinking L.A.” event co-presented by Zócalo Public Square, UCLA, and UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies addressed the lack of diversity in the industry head-on. In front of a full house at the ArcLight Hollywood, they discussed why …

After decades of building prisons and increasing the number of people behind bars, the pendulum of California’s criminal justice system has swung away from incarceration. Among the policies and laws that are changing the way offenders are sentenced is Proposition 47, which was passed in November 2014, and redefines six nonviolent felonies as misdemeanors. About 1 million Californians are being affected by this legislation—getting felonies …