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Podcasts Take Two
Dealing with Mental Health During Protests, Coronavirus: Project Roomkey, The Infiltrators
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Jun 9, 2020
Listen • 52:06
Dealing with Mental Health During Protests, Coronavirus: Project Roomkey, The Infiltrators

How communities are maintaining their mental health during the protests, how CA is trying to shield homeless people from COVID-19 and a look into "The Infiltrators."
A protester poses next to a painting for George Floyd's family in Hollywood after curfew during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis Police custody, in Los Angeles, California, June 2, 2020. - Anti-racism protests have put several US cities under curfew to suppress rioting, following the death of George Floyd in police custody. (Photo by Kyle Grillot / AFP) (Photo by KYLE GRILLOT/AFP via Getty Images)
A protester poses next to a painting for George Floyd's family in Hollywood after curfew during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis Police custody, in Los Angeles, California, June 2, 2020. - Anti-racism protests have put several US cities under curfew to suppress rioting, following the death of George Floyd in police custody. (Photo by Kyle Grillot / AFP) (Photo by KYLE GRILLOT/AFP via Getty Images)
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KYLE GRILLOT/AFP via Getty Images
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Dealing with Mental Health During Protests

With so much racial strife happening right now… how do we as a community maintain our mental health during such a difficult time? And how do non-black allies support their black neighbors without adding to the emotional burden?

Guest:

  • Shemena Johnson, LMFT

L.A. Times Homicide Report

Today the Los Angeles Times released a database of times when people were killed at the hands of law enforcement in LA. There's something that could feel impersonal about statistics. But given the video of the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota and so many other videos of police aggression, these statistics become heavy with the lives they represent.

Guest: 

  • Nicole Santa Cruz, LA Times staff writer 

Coronavirus: Project Roomkey

Project Roomkey is California's attempt to shield thousands of homeless people from COVID-19 by sheltering them in hotel rooms. While it hasn't achieved all of its goals, it's shown that, with political will and money, things can be done differently. Matt Tinoco, KPCC's homelessness Reporter had the story.

LAUSD School Police Department

For decades, the Los Angeles Unified School District has commanded its own, independent police force — one of the largest school police departments in the nation. But the district’s powerful teachers union - United Teachers Los Angeles -  recently voted 35-2 to decrease funding to the department. 

Guest: 

  • Kyle Stokes, KPCC's Education Reporter

The Infiltrators

The new movie "The Infiltrators" uses both documentary-style filmmaking and scripted scenes with actors-- and at times, it even blends the two. I have to say, it's one of the most innovative films I've seen in a while. The documentary part of the film follows a group of "dreamers"-- young adults brought to the U-S as kids who are still in this country because of DACA. They are advocates for law-abiding immigrants who get arrested and put in detention centers and threatened with deportation. In the film two Dreamers get deliberately arrested themselves so that they can infiltrate the center and work with detainees from the inside. Since the filmmakers couldn't follow those who got detained, they turned to actors to show that side of the story in the movie. "The Infiltrators" made its premiere at Sundance earlier this year. Then, because of the coronavirus it got released on streaming.

Guests:

  • Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera, Co-directors of "The Infiltrators"