The history of popes and politics

The history of popes and politics

President Donald Trump refused to apologize to Pope Leo XIV on Monday after criticizing the pontiff for his opposition to the war in Iran — and he sought to explain away a now-deleted social media post depicting himself as Jesus by saying he had thought the image was of him as a doctor. Trump was asked about his comments toward the U.S.-born head of the Catholic Church, as well as the post depicting himself as a saint-like healer, in a hastily called question-and-answer session with reporters at the White House. The conflict between the head of state and the head of the Catholic church, while grabbing headlines, is not exactly new for the church, which has been in existence in some form for over 2,000 years. So how does the institution handle these kinds of conflicts that occur on such a short timescale? Joining us for context is Tricia Bruce, PhD, a sociologist of religion and a senior research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies (IACS) at USC.

With files from the Associated Press.

LA City’s Charter Reform Commission presented its proposals — what they say

Earlier this month, the city of Los Angeles’s Charter Reform Commission presented its final report to the city council, including recommendations to address corruption-related scandals that have occurred over the years. Following the damage to public trust that came from three former councilmembers who were on tape saying racist remarks, as well as looking to redistrict the city to undermine political opponents, the reform commission was assembled to mend division. Recommendations include expanding the city council, possibly to 25 representatives, and adopting a rank-choice voting system. Today on AirTalk, we’ll dig into the proposals and their potential adoption with Raymond Meza, chair of the Charter Reform Commission, and Raphe Sonenshein, executive director of the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation.

Movies are back! At least if Gen Z has anything to say about it.

With blockbuster summer season right around the corner, Hollywood execs can take a sigh of relief as theater numbers remain high after releases such as “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and “Project Hail Mary.” Much of that box office success is thanks to Gen Z, who are the largest cohorts of movie-goers. This new movie stalwart places a high importance on the social aspect of going to the movies and contributes to the rise in PG-rated films’ box office. Today on AirTalk we talk about Gen Z’s loyalty to the movie theaters and how studios are responding to this new customer base. Joining us to discuss is Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at ComScore, a global media measurement and analytics company based in Sherman Oaks.

How does a chimp civil war break out? We spoke to a researcher following one case

Recent research published in Science detailed how a civil war managed to break out between a large group of Ugandan chimps, having gone from a multi-year fracturing, to direct hostility that led to more than 20 deaths. Given the fact that both mature chimps, as well as infants, were harmed over the course of this civil war, it does lead one to wonder how this all fell apart. Today on AirTalk, we’ll dig into how this unfolded with a researcher who’s been following the primates since 2012. Joining us is Aaron Sandel, associate professor of Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin, who co-authored the study.

Sometimes comedy and grief just go well together

They say laughter is the best medicine. When mourning loved ones, a good joke can be a welcomed release. Sometimes it's something inherent to the process of grief that is just undeniably hysterical. Today on AirTalk, we want to hear from you about a time when you were grieving and humor helped you through it. Or how a sad moment turned into a hilarious one. Maybe it was a funny memory of the person that passed away, or a silly mishap at the funeral that broke the tension. Give us a call at 866-893-5722 or email us at atcomments@laist.com. Joining us to share her story of comedy and grief is Alex Ellis, co-creator of the comedy show Dead Dad Club Presents: Good Grief, where comedians share funny stories related to the loss of a loved one.

You can see Dead Dad Club Presents: Good Grief on Saturday, April 18 at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Hollywood. You can get tickets here.