The Brief

Cancer is the leading cause of death for Asian Americans, with some types of the disease hitting certain ethnicities harder than others.

But the how’s and why’s are not well understood because Asian Americans are severely underrepresented in medical research. That means they may be missing out on life-saving intervention programs.

Now the first national long-term study about cancer among Asian Americans has been launched to investigate health disparities among ethnic groups and uncover risk factors.

“For example, Vietnamese have historically had higher rates of cervical cancer,” said Sora Tanjasiri, a public health professor at UC Irvine. “Koreans have higher rates of liver cancer and stomach cancer. You have to look at the nuances.”

Tanjasiri, who oversees community engagement at UC Irvine’s cancer center, is part of a national effort that was recently awarded nearly $12.5 million from the National Cancer Institute.

How it will work

The plan is to start the process of recruiting 20,000 enrollees this year, with the aim of expanding the number to 50,000.

Scarlett Lin Gomez, one of three principal investigators at UC San Francisco, says a key goal is to equip Asian American communities with the cancer data to advocate for change.

“For us, this is really a data equity issue,” Gomez said. “Data is very powerful. A lot of policy and funding decisions are made off of what data are available.”

I want to join the study. Do I qualify? 

Candidates for the study are adults ages 40 to 75 without a cancer diagnosis.

“Over time, we'll be able to look at how many develop cancer,” said Iona Chen, one of the principal investigators at UC-San Francisco. “And it allows us to look at multiple cancers: lung cancer, breast cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer.”

I live in SoCal. How do I get involved?

Cedars-Sinai is recruiting enrollees in L.A. County, while UC Irvine’s cancer center is focused on Orange County.

In SoCal and interested in volunteering?

You can currently contact each center via email:

• Cedars-Sinai is enrolling people in L.A. County: CSCCommunityOutreach@cshs.org
• UC Irvine is enrolling Orange County participants: tanjasir@hs.uci.edu

Zul Surani, who oversees Cedars’ community outreach, says over the coming months staff, many of them bilingual, will share information about the study with organizations trusted among the region’s large Asian American communities.

“We want leaders and anyone to reach out and say, ‘My church is interested, my temple, my Gurudwara is interested,’” Surani said.

What's the time commitment?

Researchers say it could vary, depending on the person. Keep in mind that it has the potential to span years.

Participants will give biological samples such as saliva, so tests can be run on genetic markers, and be interviewed about their lifestyle.

Enrollees would not have to visit a study site to participate. Biosamples would be collected by mail and interviews can be conducted remotely.

Why hasn’t there been a study like this before? 

The investigators say it’s not for lack of trying. But they say funders have not prioritized this research. And there is a perception that there is a low cancer incidence among Asian Americans because when data across the ethnic groups is collapsed, disparities in cancer prevalence often get masked.

“That's why we really take this responsibility very seriously,” Gomez said of the study. “We now have this role of starting this really historic endeavor.”

Tanjasiri said in her 30-plus-year-long career she hasn’t had the opportunity to access cancer data that will provide the level of detail expected from the new study.

“So we want this problem to end now,” Tanjasiri said. “We want to leave a legacy to future researchers so that they do not have to do what we've had to do up until now.”

It seems that jazz is everywhere in Los Angeles. Blue Note opened a club last year, venues like Sam First, Catalina’s, Vibrato and the Baked Potato draw large crowds, and hotels and bars are adding jazz to their schedules.

But every week, a semi-secret event at the tony Los Angeles Athletic Club lets anyone experience a near-private concert from legends such as Rickey Woodard, who played saxophone for Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and others; and Nolan Shaheed, trumpeter for Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye and more.

That’s before you get to the evening’s singer, who might be 96-year-old pianist Betty Bryant, former Raelette Val Monroe or singer and Grammy-winning songwriter John Proulx.

Until recently, the Sunday night Jazz Salon was free. Now it charges a nominal $10 per person, which is still an outrageous bargain, so be sure to add something to the tip jar on the piano, and maybe try one of the cocktails or the steak frites.

Inside the club 

Walking into the club earlier, you see black-and-white photos of all types of healthy pursuits on the walls, as well as trophies and mementos of the club’s nearly century-and-a-half history. Plush sofas, high ceilings and book-filled shelves are the order of the day, and alongside members in gym gear or lugging laptops, you go up in one of the elevators to the third floor, where the Jazz Salon takes place.

Dave Ross, bassist and founder of the Jazz Salon.

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James Bartlett

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LAist

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The bassist who built it 

Earlier in the day, Dave Ross, 76, was setting up the amps, drum kit, mixer and mic stands. He also administers the website, acts as MC and plays double bass as part of the ensemble. He began the venture over a decade ago, when he persuaded the LAAC, of which he had long been a member, to host concerts in their redecorated restaurant and bar.

Ross draws from a repertory group of about 15 artists, and the concert takes place opposite the bar in a wood-paneled room of just a few dozen leather chairs and tables. This small scale makes the night intimate and unique.

“No gig is ever the same,” says Ross. “We don’t rehearse, and every time we play a song, we're never trying to play it the same way we played it before.”

That makes the night fun, too. Since you’re right near the musicians, you can hear their laughter and banter, as well as their impressive solos. Ross, stage left, stays out of the limelight — which is how he prefers it — and often says he's just happy to be there playing.

“You're there to keep the beat, the pulse of the music,” he says. “And then, secondarily, the notes that you play help the other musicians understand what the chord, what the harmony is. I'm just doing it for the pleasure of playing the music.”

The Jazz Salon is a $10 Sunday night concert at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.

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James Bartlett

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LAist

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Why $10 barely covers it 

Once a month, Ross and some of his stable join a touring artist — recently five-time Grammy-nominee Karrin Allyson — in the club’s 250-seat ballroom for a more formal ticketed event, but there have been just two complete sellouts of them this year: tributes to Bill Evans and Dave Brubeck/Paul Desmond.

Donations and the tip jar on Sunday evenings sometimes haven’t been enough to break even, either, which led to Ross reluctantly introducing the $10 charge. No matter what, he is determined the Jazz Salon will keep going.

“When I was younger, there was a receptionist I knew who was a nun. She said: “‘You know what your problem is? You’re too optimistic!’”

Daniel Shemtob has been going around Los Angeles asking strangers this question: "What's your mom's best dish?"

He then turns their answers — from Filipino oxtail adobo to the Ashkenazi Jewish favorite of gefilte fish — into a taco for his new five-episode web series, "Better Than Your Mom."

One episode breaks from the format entirely: a head-to-head chopped salad taco challenge between Shemtob and Vanessa Silverton, daughter of famed L.A. chef Nancy Silverton, judged blind by Nancy herself.

Daniel Shemtob, founder of The Lime Truck and creator and host of Better Than Your Mom.

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Courtesy Daniel Shemtob

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A two-time winner of "The Great Food Truck Race" on the Food Network, Shemtob is no stranger to reality TV — he also founded The Lime Truck, serving Cali-Mex cuisine in Orange County.

What starts as a quick, chaotic street-corner challenge opens into something bigger — a Long Beach woman honoring her late mother-in-law's gefilte fish recipe, and a chef processing his own mother's death and the loss of his home in the 2025 Palisades Fire.

A dish for his mother

Despite loving fine dining, Shemtob said nothing beats the experience of having someone invite him to their mother's home for dinner.

"It's by far my favorite thing," he said.

Gundry watched as Shemtob reworked her mother-in-law's recipe in real time — a process that normally takes her more than two hours, done in 20 minutes.

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Screenshot via Better Than Your Mom

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That urge to connect with other people also came from wanting to celebrate his late mother's legacy and the impact she had on him in the kitchen.

"Eating was like a big part of how we shared and celebrated," Shemtob said. "It was a culture that was built around food."

A stranger says, 'yes'

While most walk past him or decline to talk, Shemtob said he's been surprised by how many strangers say yes almost immediately — like Anne Gundry, a retired biology teacher in Long Beach.

She answered with a dish from her mother-in-law from her first marriage — gefilte fish served cold.

Shemtob's take on Dena Levenstein's gefilte fish, reimagined as a taco with an apple-horseradish slaw.

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Courtesy Daniel Shemtob

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Gundry recalled her first meeting with Dena Levenstein, who would become her mother-in-law. The relationship started out cold — but cooking together changed their dynamic.

"That's where I honestly think we had the deepest bond with her," Gundry said.

Gundry described yearly visits to Levenstein's house as a cooking "apprenticeship," where Gundry was taught to cook by feel — adding ingredients by the handful, testing a dish's consistency by touch.

"She used to say, 'How does it feel?'" Gundry recalled. "And I'd say, 'I don't know, I don't know how it's supposed to feel.'"

Over the years, she learned. Now, Gundry teaches her own children that recipe the same way — without referring to what's written down.

Watching Shemtob cook on "Better Than Your Mom," Gundry was skeptical. Her own process takes over two hours; his took 20 minutes — until she tasted the apple-horseradish slaw he added.

"Brilliant," she said. "I've been trying to duplicate it at home."

You can find Shemtob's videos on his YouTube channel.

Next week Phoebe Bridgers fans in Southern California will get an otherworldly way to enjoy her new album ahead of its official release Friday.

And a Costa Mesa institution will enjoy the chance to introduce indie music lovers to what it does beyond astronomy lectures and field trips.

The Orange Coast College Planetarium is one of dozens of planetariums around the world – and the only in Southern California – hosting listening sessions next week for Lost Weekend, one of the year’s most anticipated indie releases and Bridgers’ first solo studio album in six years.

The Pasadena native is not expected at any of the planetarium shows. But that doesn’t matter to her fan base.

Phoebe Bridger fans can listen to her album in the planetarium's 125-seat dome theater.

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Courtesy Orange Coast College Planetarium

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Twelve shows in the 125-seat theater sold out within four hours of going on sale Thursday, according to the planetarium. So staff added 16 more, bringing the total to 28 screenings over four days, Aug. 10 through 13. (At last check, tickets for showings earlier in the day were still available.)

“We have never had an event that was this anticipated,” Rhiannon Graffio, lead speaker and educator at the planetarium.

There’s two ways to experience the record from start to finish, which is a little over 50 minutes long.

One is a full-dome show featuring images taken by renowned astrophotographer Babak Tafreshi.

“It's gorgeous,” Graffio said. “There's some that are of the night sky, where you can see the paths of the stars as the Earth rotates, or auroras or lightning.”

The other option is a laser show created by Laser Fantasy, with scenes and storylines moving in time with the music.

Graffio said the planetarium had been approached by Bridgers’ label Dead Oceans to host the shows, which are being presented in partnership with Spotify.

Rhiannon Graffio, a lead speaker at the Orange Coast College Planetarium, has been working with Phoebe Bridgers' label on next week's listening sessions.

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Courtesy Rhiannon Graffio

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The events are strictly phone-free. To prevent album leaks, attendees will have to put their phones in pouches provided by Yondr, a company that works concerts and other events. Smartwatches, and Meta glasses also aren’t allowed.

The Lost Weekend events are the most high-profile but certainly not the planetarium’s first experiment with mixing music and visuals.

The theater regularly hosts laser shows set to music, cycling through different artists like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé each month while keeping some crowd favorites like Pink Floyd in rotation. Graffio said in the last year KPop Demon Hunters laser shows have been especially popular.

Accommodating the Lost Weekend shows has meant bringing extra staff to handle the weekday crowds at the community planetarium.

But Graffio said there's a big upside to introducing music fans to a place they may never have thought to visit.

“It’s a wonderful experience,” she said. “And most of the shows that we do are also educational in some sense. As cool as the visuals are, they are about the universe and what we know about it.”

And for those who can't make it to the planetarium shows, there's a more traditional route to marking Bridgers' new album. A dozen record stores around Southern California are hosting listening sessions at midnight Friday.

This is a developing story and will be updated. For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:

• Los Angeles County incident response
• Latest evacuation map
• CalFire incident page
  

The 5 Freeway has reopened after a brush fire in Gorman near the L.A.-Kern county line shut down both northbound and southbound lanes at around 5 p.m.

Evacuation orders and warnings in both L.A. and Kern counties are in effect for the Ridge Fire, which started at 3:02 p.m. near Gorman School Road in Gorman, according to Cal Fire.

The fire quickly grew to 1,000 acres in less than two hours.

It was 0% contained as of 9 p.m. Friday.

A Wildfire Smoke Advisory has been issued by South Coast AQMD through 2 p.m. on Saturday for areas around Gorman.

The basics

• Acreage: 1,057 acres
• Containment: 0
• Structures destroyed/damaged: Unknown
• Deaths: None reported.
• Injuries: None reported.

Evacuation map and orders

Evacuation orders have been issued by the Los Angeles County Fire Department for the following areas:

• GOR-HUNGRYVALLEY-A
  

Evacuation warnings

Authorities say those who require additional time to evacuate and those with pets and livestock should leave immediately.

• GOR-E001-A
• GOR-HUNGRYVALLEY-B

• KRN-545 (Kern County)

Listen to our Big Burn podcast

Fire resources and tips

Check out LAist's wildfire recovery guide

If you have to evacuate:

• Why fire officials don't want you to stay and defend your home
• How to get packed up
• How to leave your house
• What evacuation terms mean and how to sign up for alerts

Navigating fire conditions:

• How to drive in high winds and fire danger
• How to prep for power outages
• How to navigate poor air quality

How to help yourself and others:

• Resources for fire victims, evacuees and first responders
• If you want to help fire victims, resist the urge to volunteer
• How to help find lost pets

How to start the recovery process:

• What to do — and not do — when you get home after a wildfire
• How to make an insurance claim
• How to safely clean up wildfire ash

What to do for your kids:

• How to talk to children about wildfires and losing a home
• What parents should know about wildfire air quality

Prepare for the next disaster:

• Fire season is here. Make sure you're signed up for these alerts
• Every day is now fire season. Let's get you ready for the next wildfire
• Yes, wildfires are getting worse. The history that got us to this moment