COVID-19 Relief Talks Hit A Setback

With 2020 finally heading to a close, soon, there's light at the end of this  pandemic tunnel and vaccine distribution under way. But for people hoping to get more financial relief from Congress, the outlook is still a little foggy.

Guests: 

• Zach Courser, co-director of the Policy Lab at Claremont McKenna College
• John Myers, Sacramento bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times as Sacramento bureau chief

ICU Nurse to Angelenos: 'We're Begging You At This Point' To Help Us

While the arrival of the vaccine has brought many of us a sense of hope that things will get better, we’re still seeing the number of COVID-19 cases continue to rise across California and hospitals are seeing their intensive care units fill to capacity. Availability of ICU beds is now at 0% in Southern California and health officials say the worst of it may still be to come. We check in with an ICU nurse in Torrance on how things are going at her hospital. 

Guest:

• Lindsey Burrell, ICU Nurse at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance 

How LA Is Feeling Right Now

We asked our listeners to call in and share how they're feeling after nine months of life during a pandemic. Here's what they had to say.

How CA's Public Safety Net Has Been Tested This Year

This year has tested the limits of our public safety net — especially California's unemployment system. Millions of people in the state applied for benefits in order to pay for rent and food. But many were shut out by an often confusing and impenetrable bureaucracy.

Guest:

• David Wagner, KPCC's  Business and Economy Reporter 

The Black Kids: A Love Letter To Los Angeles

Think back to 1992 in LA: The four LAPD officers involved in the arrest and beating of Rodney King have just been acquitted. South LA is in complete disarray and the uprising is just getting underway. Much like today, the racial tensions between Black Americans and police are clear as day and being felt by many. It doesn't seem like a lot has changed. But if you lived through the 90s in LA, I need not say more, it's a surreal time you'll return to if you pick up Christina Hammonds Reed's young adult novel The Black Kids. Reed calls the book a love letter to Los Angeles. 

Guest:

• Christina Hammonds Reed, author of The Black Kids 

What To Do This Weekend

KPCC's Leo Duran shares some of the best events to be a part of this weekend in Southern California.