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Podcasts Take Two
Freelancers and Unemployment, Coronavirus Disney More Furloughs, LAUSD Remote Teaching Check In
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Apr 13, 2020
Listen • 51:30
Freelancers and Unemployment, Coronavirus Disney More Furloughs, LAUSD Remote Teaching Check In

Gig workers and freelancers are running into hangups in filing for unemployment, Disney furloughs 30,000 workers and LAUSD schools will remain closed through summer.
People stand in line to get tested for the coronavirus at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, N.Y. Thursday.
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Freelancers and Unemployment

As with just about everything in the state, coronavirus is having a major effect on employment in California. In the past month, more than 2 million Californians have filed for unemployment. But many have run into hangups while filing for benefits - especially, gig workers and freelancers. KPCC’s David Wagner wrote about the challenges facing people filing for unemployment in California for our website LAist. 

Guest: 

  • David Wagner, KPCC's Business and Economy Reporter 

Coronavirus Disney More Furloughs

The pandemic has shuttered much of Disney's operations, and the company just announced it had to furlough 30,000 of its workers in Anaheim alone. We discuss the health of the Disney, and what the house of Mickey Mouse may look like once the sickness has passed.

Guest:

  • John Horn, Host of KPCC's The Frame  

Hospital Check-in

Now let's check in with those on the frontline. Los Angeles County hospitals are continuing to prepare for the peak in coronavirus cases in California. Officials say that physical distancing measures are in fact working, but we still have a ways to go.The stay-at-home order has been extended to May 15.

Guest: 

  • Elly Yu, KPCC's investigative reporter 

Coronavirus Ask an Expert

Not only are we addressing listener questions, but also some of our very own staff questions. We provide some answers.

Guest:

  •  Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, UCLA's Fielding School of Public Health, and a former staffer with the Centers For Disease Control

Food Supply: Strawberries

California is one of the biggest strawberry producers in the world. And sometime over the next few weeks, we’re going to hit the peak of our strawberry season. Meaning tens of millions of pounds of ripe red berries being plucked from plants. But as much as thirty percent of those might end up in the trash. 

Guest:

  • Jacob Margolis, KPCC’s Science Reporter

The OC Update

Now to Orange County.When it comes to the battle against the coronavirus, things are starting to look a little bit brighter for area hospitals, but there are of course still a few gray areas. 

Guest:

  • Nick Gerda, Reporter with the nonprofit news site The Voice of OC

LAUSD Remote Teaching Check In

In a video briefing today, LAUSD rolled out its latest measures in response to the pandemic. The district announced that no student will receive a failing grade on their spring report card and all LA campuses will be closed through the rest of the school year and summer. The district and the teacher’s union - United Teachers Los Angeles - has also announced ground rules for distance learning. They include having teachers provide instruction for four hours a day and students can't receive a lower grade than they had in March. A couple of weeks ago, we spoke to Jennifer Trochez MacLean, a 2nd grade teacher at Gates Elementary in Lincoln Heights, and at the time she was getting Zoom up and running, so we decided to call her at the end of her spring break last week. 

Guest:

  • Jennifer Trochez MacLean, 2nd grade teacher at Gates Elementary in Lincoln Heights