More so than with other directors, it’s always tempting to overly psychologize Paul Thomas Anderson’s films, looking for traces of his personal development and hints of autobiography: the father figures of “Magnolia” or “The Master,” the partnership of “Phantom Thread,” parenthood in the new “One Battle After Another.” Yet two things truly set his work apart. There’s the incredibly high level of craft in each of them, giving each a unique feel, sensibility and visual identity, and also the deeply felt humanism: a pure love of people, for all their faults and foibles.
Anderson is an 11-time Academy Award nominee without ever having won, a situation that could rectify itself soon enough, and it speaks to the extremely high bar set by his filmography that one could easily reverse the following list and still end up with a credible, if perhaps more idiosyncratic ranking. Reorder the films however you like — they are all, still, at the very least, extremely good. Simply put, there’s no one doing it like him.
Perhaps nothing marks Anderson as a filmmaker from the ’90s as much as his impeccable use of music, from the drowned-in-sound deluge of “Boogie Nights” to his ongoing collaboration with Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood as a composer. So just to add to the arguability of the following list, we’ve also noted a favorite song or two from each movie, the song titles often becoming surprise summations of the plots themselves.
This list is made in good faith, without any purposeful stuntery (honest). Feel free to let us know how your opinions vary.
Young people who have been out of a job or education for 18 months will be offered a guaranteed paid work placement, Rachel Reeves is set to announce.
Those who do not to take up the offer could face being stripped of their benefits.
In her speech to Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, the chancellor will promise “nothing less than the abolition of long-term youth unemployment”.
Reeves is also expected to make the case for a society founded on “contribution”, where “hard work is matched by fair reward”.
In an interview with the BBC, Reeves defended Labour’s record after 15 months in government and highlighted achievements it had made, though she admitted there was “more to do”.
It comes ahead of November’s Budget, with the chancellor under pressure to balance the public finances, while also boosting economic growth.
Reeves said no companies had signed up to the scheme yet as it has not been formally announced, but added that several business organisations had come out in support.
The initiative builds on a “youth guarantee”, announced last November, which promised every 18 to 21-year-old in England access to an apprenticeship, training, education opportunities or help to find a job.
Under the new plans, every young person who has been on Universal Credit for 18 months without “earning or learning” will be offered a guaranteed paid work placement.
Those who refuse to take up the offer without a reasonable excuse will face sanctions such as losing their benefits.
The aim of the placements would be to help people build up the skills to get a full-time job.
An estimated one-in-eight 16 to 24-year-olds are not currently in education, employment or training – around 948,000 people – according to the latest figures.
The numbers hit an 11-year high of 987,000 at the end of last year.
The new scheme will build on existing employment support and work placements delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions.
It will work with private companies, with the government anticipating businesses would cover at least some of the wages for job placements.
Reeves said the scheme would be “backed by government money with some form of subsidy for those work placements”.
The government has not given a figure for the cost of the scheme but it will be funded from existing budgets set out in the spending review earlier this year.
Full details will be in November’s Budget, when the chancellor sets out the government’s tax and spending plans.
Reeves is facing a difficult Budget, with economists warning tax rises or spending cuts will be needed for the chancellor to meet her self-imposed borrowing rules.
Pressed over whether she would have to put up taxes, Reeves told the BBC “the world has changed” in the last year – pointing to wars in Europe and the Middle East, US tariffs and the global cost of borrowing.
“We’re not immune to any of those things,” she added.
The chancellor was also challenged over whether the government would increase VAT.
Labour promised not to increase taxes on “working people”, specifically National Insurance, income tax or VAT, in its election manifesto last year.
Reeves repeated the prime minister’s insistence on Saturday that the commitments in Labour’s manifesto stand.
She said the government had “protected the pay packets of working people and we did not put up the prices in the shops”, adding: “That’s very important to me.”
In her conference speech, the chancellor is expected to say: “I will never be satisfied while too many people’s potential is wasted, frozen out of employment, education, or training. There’s no defending it.
“It’s bad for business, bad for taxpayers, bad for our economy, and it scars people’s prospects throughout their lives.”
She will add: “Just as the last Labour government, with its new deal for young people, abolished long-term youth unemployment I can commit this government to nothing less than the abolition of long-term youth unemployment.”
The announcement was welcomed by the Federation of Small Businesses as “hugely important”.
The group’s policy chair, Tina McKenzie, said: “Reprioritising spending from employment programmes which aren’t working to this type of scheme is exactly the way to get much-needed bang for taxpayer cash.”
She added: “Key to getting the details right is making sure there is a backstop offer to those who are now over-25, particularly those with health challenges; that young people out of work for health reasons are not excluded through misguided double funding rules; and that small businesses are enabled to play a full role in the delivery of the scheme.”
However, there are questions over whether businesses facing pressures including increases in National Insurance Contributions and the National Minimum Wage would be able to take on large numbers of new workers.
In her speech, Reeves will also set out her belief in a “Britain based on opportunity”, where “ordinary kids can flourish, unhindered by their background”.
“I believe in a Britain founded on contribution – where we do our duty for each other, and where hard work is matched by fair reward,” she is expected to say.
It comes after the influential think tank Labour Together published a report last week arguing the government should put the idea of “contribution” – that if you pay in to the system, you should be able to see what you get out of it – at the heart of its agenda.
The chancellor will also pledge to fund a library in every primary school in England.
Around one-in-seven state primary schools in England – roughly 1,700 – do not have a library, according to figures from the National Literacy Trust, rising to one-in-four for disadvantaged areas.
When I was in high school in the 1990s, I worked the box office at Tucson’s sole art house, the Loft Cinema. My favorite shift was Saturday night when a parade of true characters began lining up for the weekly midnight screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
The shadow cast arrived before the audience, a ragtag group of aspiring and established actors and fans, costumes in hand. They’d decamp in the bathrooms on either side of the lobby without regard for who was in the women’s or men’s, and proceed to cake on makeup and rib each other in delightfully uncouth terms.
The actors would wait by the theater doors to make their appointed entrances beneath the screen after the film began, and soon the theater was a sweaty mess of wild hair, dripping foundation, torn fishnet stockings, smeared lipstick, thrown popcorn, spilled soda and ribald song and dance.
There was no doubt in my 16-year-old mind that this was underground musical theater at its finest. At that time — when one of my best friends was struggling with how to come out as gay, fearing fierce social backlash — the topsy-turvy sexuality of the show, with its outlandish, cross-dressing lead, felt deliciously subversive. This was not “Grease” or “Godspell,” it had more in common with the stage shows in “Cabaret.”
Week after week, the same shadow cast arrived, treating the show as its professional run. If someone was out sick, an eager understudy would step in. This was one small art theater in Tucson. The “Rocky Horror” phenomenon, with its live shadow casts, has been ongoing around the world for decades now. That means thousands of shadow casts in thousands of cities beneath thousands of screens — each engaging in their own form of participatory community theater.
As the film honors its 50th anniversary this year with special engagements and talks across the country (see below for an Academy Museum screening), star Tim Curry is being celebrated for breaking boundaries with his onscreen portrayal of the eccentric, cross-dressing scientist Frank-N-Furter. But it’s important to remember that the show began as a stage musical in London in 1973 — with Curry originating his role upstairs at the Royal Court Theatre. The musical then moved to L.A.’s Roxy Theatre for an electric yearlong run.
“Rocky Horror” is now known as as the longest continuous theatrical release in cinema history. But thanks to the talent and dedication of its legions of shadow casts — it just might be the longest continuous piece of live musical theater too.
I’m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt, inviting you to do the Time Warp. Here’s this week’s round-up of arts and culture news.
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Wei Wang and Max Cauthorn in Liam’s Scarlett’s ballet “Frankenstein.”
(Erik Tomasson)
Frankenstein San Francisco Ballet brings Mary Shelley’s 1818 gothic horror story to life in a three-act production of British choreographer Liam Scarlett’s “Frankenstein.” The ballet originally premiered at the Royal Ballet in 2016 and has gone on to become a modern classic with a score by Lowell Liebermann and stage design by critically acclaimed ballet and opera artist John MacFarlane. – Mark Swed 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Oct. 3; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 4;and 1 p.m. Oct. 5. Segerstrom Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. scfta.org
Brittany Adebumola, left, and Dominique Thorne in a New York production of “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” in 2023.
(Matthew Murphy)
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding Playwright Jocelyn Bioh (“School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play”) captures the camaraderie and competitiveness, solidarity and rivalry of workplace relations in this entertaining comedy about the African immigrant employees of a Harlem hair salon earning their daily bread as they work their fingers — and mouths! — to exhaustion. The play is wildly amusing, but Bioh isn’t just kidding around. By familiarizing us with the workday rhythms of these flamboyant women, she makes us feel all the more acutely the threats that accompany their marginal status in a not-always-welcoming America. Whitney White, who directed the impeccably acted Broadway premiere, helms this much-praised co-production. — Charles McNulty Wednesday through Nov. 9. Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. centertheatregroup.org
Laufey performs Driday and Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Laufey This young pop-jazz singer from Iceland shot a concert movie last year at the Hollywood Bowl; now she’s doubling down with two adopted-hometown shows at Crypto.com Arena just as her album “A Matter of Time” is garnering substantial Grammy buzz. — Mikael Wood 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Crypto.com Arena, 1111 S. Figueroa St., downtown L.A. cryptoarena.com
The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY
“Something Else No. 61,” 2020, by Edith Baumann. Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60 inches.
(Alan Shaffer)
🎨 Acts of Surface A three-artist show featuring works by Edith Baumann, Chip Barrett and Vincent Enrique Hernandez that explore the literal and emotional facets of surface as a repository for memory, transformation and abstraction. Noon-5 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday through Friday or by appointment, through Oct. 23. 7811 Gallery, 7811 Melrose Ave. 7811gallery.com
📷 Corita Kent: The Sorcery of Images A trove of more than 15,000 35mm slides from the archive of the activist nun offers a peek into her artistic practice, her life as a teacher at Immaculate Heart College and the world she lived in between 1955 and 1968. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, through Jan. 24. Marciano Art Foundation, 4357 Wilshire Blvd. marcianoartfoundation.org
🎤 Tate McRae The main pop girls have been expanding their portfolios of late. After showing off a limber pop sound on 2023’s “Think Later” that made full use of her dance gifts, McRae proved her staying power with this year’s “So Close to What,” which topped the Billboard 200 by pulling from a rich seam of Y2K R&B and club jams. Yet she scored her first No. 1 single with the Morgan Wallen collab “What I Want.” Whatever you think of Wallen — and McRae’s young, queer fan base had thoughts — the song showed that McRae’s Alberta roots could drop right into a pop-country setting. (August Brown) 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Nov. 8. Kia Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. thekiaforum.com
🎭 Parallel Process Writer-director David Kohner Zuckerman’s drama stars Alan McRae and Tom Jenkins as brothers facing down a 50-year divide over the Vietnam War. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday, through Nov. 2 (except Oct. 26). Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. parallelprocesstheplay.com
🎞️ The Rocky Horror Picture Show Shiver with anticipation as star Tim Curry, producer Lou Adler and a shadow cast performance alongside a 4k screening of the movie mark 50 years of delectable decadence. 7:30 p.m. Friday. Academy Museum, David Geffen Theater, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org
🎼 🎹 Daniil Trifonov One of the most impressive pianists of his generation, the 34-year-old Daniil Trifonov, who starred in a Rachmaninoff week with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in August, opens the Soka Performing Arts fall series at Soka University in Aliso Viejo with a recital program that features seldom heard solo piano works by three early 20th century Russian composers — Taneyev, Prokofiev and Myaskovsky — along with a Schumann sonata. In the meantime, Deutsche Grammophon recently released a stunning new Trifonov recording of overlooked, intimate solo piano works by Tchaikovsky. (Mark Swed) 8 p.m. Friday. Soka University Concert Hall, 1 University Drive, Aliso Viejo. soka.edu 7 p.m. Wednesday. UC Santa Barbara, Campbell Hall, campuscalendar.ucsb.edu
SATURDAY 🎭 Anthropology Prolific and popular playwright Lauren Gunderson gravitates toward brainy subjects. Here, she delves into a fraught philosophical question: Can AI substitute for the human comfort we need, or are we only hastening the demise of our species by depending on digital simulations of people who actually care about us? John Perrin Flynn directs the North American premiere of a play by a dramatist whose work (“I and You,” “The Book of Will”) is as thought-provoking as it is emotionally resonant. (Charles McNulty) Through Nov. 9, check specific dates. Rogue Machine at the Matrix Theatre, 7657 Melrose Ave. roguemachinetheatre.org
🎞️ Dazed and Confused Vidiots’ third annual celebration of Richard Linklater’s 1993 coming-of-age classic includes screenings, a takeover of the Microcinema with games on freeplay, a unique commemorative T-shirt, giveaways, food and drinks, all-vinyl DJ sets from KCRW’s Dan Wilcox and Wyldeflower and more. Close out the festivities with the period-appropriate 1976 Led Zeppelin concert film “The Song Remains the Same” at 9:30 p.m. 3 and 6:45 p.m. Saturday. Vidiots, Eagle Theatre, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd. vidiotsfoundation.org
🎭 Lagartijas Tiradas al Sol The artistic collective’s “Centroamérica” tells the story of a Nicaraguan woman on the run from Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship, exploring history and the present to discover the region’s diversity, conflict and resilience. 8 p.m. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu
Installation view, “Echoes,” at 839.
(Vanessa Wallace Gonzales/839)
🎨 Vanessa Wallace-Gonzales “Echoes,” a solo exhibition by the multiracial Black and Mexican artist originally from Southern California, now based in New York, features cyanotypes, sculptural vessels and a multimedia installation in a hybrid home/gallery. Noon-6 p.m. Saturday or by appointment, through Oct. 18. 839 Gallery, 839 N. Cherokee Ave. 839gallery.com
🎼 Quintessential Classical The Colburn Orchestra opens its season with conductor Nicholas McGegan, clarinetist Minkyung Chu and masterworks from Bach, Haydn and Mozart. 7 p.m. Colburn School, Zipper Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. colburnschool.edu
TUESDAY
“The Buddhist Deities Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi,” Tibet, circa 15th century; pigments on cotton.
🎨 Realms of the Dharma Gallery Tour LACMA conservator Soko Furuhata and curator Stephen Little discuss preservation and highlights from the exhibition of pan-Asian Buddhist art created across centuries. 7-8:30 p.m. LACMA, Resnick Pavilion, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. lacma.org
Writer Roxane Gay is the guest Tuesday at Oxy Live!
(David Butow / For the Times)
📘 Oxy Live! Occidental College’s speaker series kicks off a new season with a new host, artist Alexandra Grant, and bestselling author and feminist icon Roxane Gay. Future guests include Taylor Mac and Robin Coste Lewis. 7 p.m. Occidental college Thorne Hall, 1600 Campus Road. oxy.edu
WEDNESDAY
Alex Hernandez, left, and Marlon Alexander Vargas rehearse for “Littleboy/Littleman” at the Geffen Playhouse.
(Jeff Lorch)
🎭 Littleboy/Littleman Nicaraguan brothers have different ideas about the American dream in the world premiere of playwright Rudi Goblen’s drama, which mixes poetry, live music and ritual. Alex Hernandez and Marlon Alexander Vargas star for director Nancy Medina. Through Nov. 2. Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Avenue, Westwood. geffenplayhouse.org
THURSDAY 🎼 The Rite of Spring with Dudamel In an online note, the conductor writes, “if the LA Phil has a signature piece, it’s The Rite of Spring. Stravinsky shocked the world when it was first performed more than a century ago, and even today, it still feels bold, modern, and full of energy — just like this orchestra.” The evening also includes John Adams’ “Frenzy” and Stravinsky’s “Firebird.” 8 p.m. Thursday and Oct. 4; 2 p.m. Oct. 5. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Culture news and the SoCal scene
Ken Gonzales-Day, “The Wonder Gaze, St. James Park (Lynching of Thomas Thurmond and John Holmes, San Jose, 1933),” 2006, digital print on vinyl
(USC Fisher Museum of Art)
Times art critic Christopher Knight reviewed “Ken Gonzales-Day: History’s ‘Nevermade’,” a poignant retrospective at USC’s Fisher Museum of Art. The show features a mural-sized photograph titled, “The Wonder Gaze, St. James Park (Lynching of Thomas Thurmond and John Holmes, San Jose, 1933),” which shows the scene beneath a tree used to lynch two men accused (but not convicted) of kidnapping and murder. To create the image, Gonzales-Day photographed the original photo of the brutal scene and digitally removed the ropes and the victims, leaving only a bare tree and the many humans milling about beneath it. “What’s left is a spectral scene, ghosted by the limitations of old black-and-white photographic technology and further heightened by the uneven glow generated by the camera’s flashbulb. The mob has become the subject,” Knight writes.
A trio of vibrant 99-seat theaters are in the spotlight of Times theater critic Charles McNulty’s newest column, which features reviews of Tennessee Williams’ “The Night of the Iguana” at Boston Court; the West Coast premiere of Brian Quijada’s play, “Fly Me to the Sun,” at the Fountain Theatre; and Rogue Machine Theatre’s world premiere production of “Adolescent Salvation” by Tim Venable. McNulty was particularly taken by the fine production of the not-often-revived “Night of the Iguana,” writing, “Williams is the humane, humorously defiant playwright we need when authoritarianism is on the march.”
Earlier this week, I got to spend the morning in the company of artist Jeff Koons as he arrived at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to install the celebratory first planting of a diminutive succulent in his monumental topiary sculpture, “Split-Rocker,” which is set to anchor the east side of LACMA’s new David Geffen Galleries when it opens in April of next year. LACMA CEO and Director Michael Govan was also on hand, and the two men walked into the not-yet-finished building to regard the sculpture from the floor-to-ceiling windows above. “It’s an outdoor sculpture and indoor sculpture,” Govan said.
Museums across the country are feeling the chill from the Trump administration’s push against DEI, as well as its pressure campaign against the Smithsonian Institute for what it calls “divisive, race-centered ideology.” This hasn’t stopped the Getty from continuing to ramp up a growing slate of programs and grants aimed at preserving and strengthening Black arts and cultural heritage in Los Angeles and across the country. I spoke with a variety of curators, researchers and administrators at Getty about the institution’s efforts.
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A statue depicting President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein holding hands is seen near the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 23 in Washington, DC. A plaque below the figures states “In Honor of Friendship Month.”
(Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)
A 12-foot-tall statue showing President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein holding hands while engaged in a gleeful dance was removed from the National Mall earlier this week — a day after it was first erected there. The statue, created by an anonymous group that received a permit to place it on the mall, was titled “Best Friends Forever” and featured a plaque that read, “We celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his ‘closest friend,’ Jeffrey Epstein.” The National Park Service removed the sculpture before it was scheduled to be taken down, saying it was “not compliant with the permit issued.”
LA Opera is staging its annual free simulcast on Saturday — this time for “West Side Story.” Per usual, one simulcast will take place on the Santa Monica Pier (bring a blanket, it will get chilly), but for the first time, a second simulcast will take place at Loma Alta Park in Altadena. The community event comes as fire recovery efforts continue, and excitement is building with a variety of local performers and vendors expected to take part in pre-show events, including “the Jets” from JPL.
George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, which awards fellowships to artists and curators worldwide, is being targeted by President Trump’s Justice Department as part of Trump’s efforts to crack down on what he calls the “radical left.”
— Jessica Gelt
And last but not least
Take a break from doomscrolling to read this delightful story by Deborah Netburn about how a shoemaker in East L.A. ended up with shoe forms for some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
The US president has presented a proposal to end Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.
US President Donald Trump has proposed a 21-point peace plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza.
The plan, shared with Arab and Muslim leaders in New York on Tuesday, reportedly sees Hamas barred from any future role in governing Gaza, potential military involvement from Arab and Muslim countries to guarantee security and a promise from Trump that Israel will not annex the occupied West Bank.
But how can the countries involved deliver on their part in any deal?
And how could President Trump push his plan through, in practice?
Presenter: Bernard Smith
Guests:
Thomas Warrick – Former deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism policy at the US Department of Homeland Security, and currently a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council
Daoud Kuttab – Journalist and columnist, director of the Community Media Network, and a contributing writer to outlets including Al-Monitor and Foreign Policy
Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka – Editor-in-chief of the Gulf Times and a Qatari journalist and commentator specialising in public diplomacy and communications
Jimmy Kimmel Live! staff have been told they can return to work after the chat show was suspended following the host’s comments about the death of Charlie Kirk
A defining image of the horrors of slavery has emerged as the latest flashpoint in the Trump administration’squest to root out what Trump has called “divisive, race-centered ideology” from the nation’s museums and national parks.
Earlier this week, the Washington Postbroke the news that the administration had ordered the removal of signs and exhibits related to slavery at multiple national parks, “including a historic photograph of a formerly enslaved man showing scars on his back.”
The photo in question — “The Scourged Back,” 1863 — is among the most famous images of the Civil War era and has been credited with driving home the brutality of slavery to the masses in what would become a turning point for the abolitionist movement. The image, which appeared in the political magazine Harper’s Weekly the day after the battle of Gettysburg, showed the deeply scarred back of an escaped slave-turned-Union soldier referred to as “Gordon,” but whose real name may have been “Peter.”
The photo was copied and distributed far and wide in pamphlets and on cards, eliciting shock and raising awareness wherever it appeared. Today, the image is housed in the collections of major museums including the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery of Art, as well as at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The New York Timesreported that the copy of the photo the administration has targeted for removal is on display at Georgia’s Fort Pulaski National Monument, which was a Union-captured Confederate stronghold that served as a prisoner-of-war camp. The story notes that a spokeswoman for the Interior Department wrote in an email that “all interpretive signage in national parks is under review”; she also “accused media outlets of spreading ‘false claims’ and ‘misinformation’ about the review, although she did not specify what information was incorrect.”
The review of signage, monuments and display materials at national parks, as well as at the Smithsonian’s 21 museums, stems from a March executive order titled “Restoring truth and sanity to American history.” In the order, Trump wrote that the Secretary of the Interior would work to identify “improper partisan ideology” at properties within its jurisdiction.
In August, Trump made it clear in a post on Truth Social that focusing on the country’s history of slavery was unacceptable. He criticized museums for being the last bastions of “woke” in the country, and zeroed in on the Smithsonian in particular for exhibits that discuss “how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future.”
It’s unclear if the indelible photo of Peter will remain on display in national parks, but one thing seems certain: The controversy surrounding the way we engage as a country with our shared history is likely to rage on for quite some time.
I’m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt, looking back to make sense of the present. Here’s your arts news for the week.
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Lee Byung-hun in the movie “No Other Choice.”
(Neon)
Beyond Fest The event “proves once again why it has become much more than a genre festival and is now the best film festival in L.A.,” says Times film writer Mark Olsen, ”playing movies straight from Sundance, Cannes, Venice and Toronto with guests including Conan O’Brien, Al Pacino, Luca Guadagnino and John Carpenter.” The award-winning “No Other Choice,” Park Chan-wook’s adaptation of the Donald Westlake thriller “The Ax,” opens the festival, 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Aero. Through Oct. 8. Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica; Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd.; Los Feliz Theatre, 1822 N. Vermont Ave. americancinematheque.com
Gustavo Dudamel performs with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall in April.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)
Gracias Gustavo Gustavo Dudamel’s farewell season as the Los Angeles Philharmonic‘s music and artistic director begins as all his 17 seasons in Walt Disney Concert Hall have begun — with a world premiere. Ellen Reid’s “Earth Between Oceans,” a co-commission between the L.A. Phil and New York Philharmonic (which Dudamel will take over in 2026), evoking nature’s command of the four elements (earth, air, fire and water) as they operate in both cities. In our case, that involves contending with fires and our swelling oceans but also the promise of a future of unity through celebration of our multicultural communities. The opening program also includes Richard Strauss’ nature-saturated “Alpine Symphony.” — Mark Swed 8 p.m. Thursday-Sept. 27 and 2 p.m. Sept. 28 Where: Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Francesca Zambello’s staging of “West Side Story.”
(Todd Rosenberg / Lyric Opera)
West Side Story L.A. Opera turns to Broadway for this Leonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim-Jerome Robbins masterwork, which was originally conceived as an opera. James Conlon conducts the orchestra in such classic songs as “America,” “Somewhere” and “I Feel Pretty” as director Francesca Zambello utilizes Robbins’ original choreography in a “maximalist” production. Through Oct. 12. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laopera.org
The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY
The cast of South Coast Repertory’s production of ”Million Dollar Quartet,” includes Chris Marsh Clark as Johnny Cash, JP Coletta as Jerry Lee Lewis, Armando Gutierrez as Carl Perkins and Rustin Cole Sailors as Elvis Presley.
(Scott Smeltzer / SCR)
🎭 🎶 Million Dollar Quartet On a December night in 1956, music legends Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins gather to jam on “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “I Walk the Line,” “Who Do You Love?” and more in this jukebox musical written by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux. Through Oct. 11. South Coast Repertory, Segerstrom Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. scr.org
🎥 Mysterious Skin The Academy Museum presents a 4K screening of Gregg Araki’s haunting 2004 coming-of-age drama. In his review, Times critic Kevin Thomas wrote, “It’s hard to imagine a more serious or persuasive indictment of the horrors inflicted on children by sexual abuse.” Oscar-winning filmmaker Sean Baker will moderate a Q&A with Araki, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt and novelist Scott Heim. 7:30 p.m. Academy Museum, Geffen Theater, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org
SATURDAY 🎥 Born in East L.A. Cheech Marin’s 1987 comedy about a third-generation Chicano who is inadvertently deported following an immigration raid is a chilling reminder that this type of behavior from the government isn’t new, just more flagrant. Filmmaker Jorge R. Gutierrez will moderate a Q&A with Marin. 7 p.m. Academy Museum, David Geffen Theater, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org
Derek Fordjour “Nightsong,” a solo exhibition that combines painting, sculpture, live performance and video to create an immersive, multifaceted experience. 6-10 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through Oct. 11. David Kordansky Gallery, 5130 W. Edgewood Place. davidkordanskygallery.com
🎭 Go Play! Three strangers meet for the first time at a dog park, while their four-legged companions — a flamboyant show poodle, a pampered Yorkie and a scrappy rescue — offer a running commentary in writer-director Barra Grant’s new stage comedy. 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday, through Nov. 2. Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. GoPlayOnStage.com
🎨 Habitat: Making the California Environment Period landscape paintings depict the radical change in the region between the state’s late-19th century genocide of Indigenous people and the urbanism that erupted in the 1920s. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Langson Institute and Museum of California Art, UC Irvine, 18881 Von Karman Ave. imca.uci.edu
🎥 🎶 La La Land in Concert Moonlit screening of Damien Chazelle’s Oscar-winning 2016 romantic musical starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling with a live concert conducted by the film’s composer Justin Hurwitz. Food trucks and local vendors offer gourmet fare, and themed cocktails will be available from a full bar. 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, door opens 4:30 p.m. Los Angeles State Historic Park, 1245 N. Spring St. streetfoodcinema.com
💃 San Pedro Festival of the Arts Eighteen dance companies perform a wide variety of styles including modern, ballet, Indian, jazz and flamenco. 1 p.m. Peck Park near the Community Center, 560 N. Western Ave. triartsp.com
🎨 Manoucher Yektai A survey of early paintings of the Iranian-born artist and poet, “Beginnings” charts the first decades of his career and early experimentation with genre, color, shape and form. 6-8 p.m. Saturday, opening reception; 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday, through Nov. 1. Karma, 7351 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. karmakarma.org
THURSDAY Carol Bove The industrial heritage of Cold War-era Los Angeles is evoked in “Nights of Cabiria,” a new exhibition that incorporates the artist’s sculptures into the architecture of the gallery. 6-8 p.m. Thursday, opening reception; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday, through Nov. 1. Gagosian Beverly Hills, 456 N. Camden Drive gagosian.com
🎨 The Other Art Fair Larger than ever, the quirky event presents affordable works from more than 150 independent artists alongside immersive installations, performances, DJs and and a fully stocked bar. 6-10 p.m. Thursday; 5-10 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. 7 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Barker Hangar, 3021 Airport Ave., Santa Monica. theotherartfair.com/la/
📷 Paul Outerbridge The exhibition “Photographs” celebrates the work of the provocative artist (1896–1958), presenting a rare selection of Carbro prints, silver gelatin photographs and platinum prints. 7-9 p.m. Thursday, opening reception; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through Nov. 8. The Fahey/Klein Gallery, 148 N. La Brea Ave..faheykleingallery.com
📷 Matthew Rolston A multi-venue Los Angeles exhibition of the photographer and artist’s latest series “Vanitas: The Palermo Portraits,” in which he uses “expressionistic lighting” to document dozens of 500-year-old mummified remains in Sicily’s Capuchin Catacombs, accompanying the release of a special limited-edition monograph from Nazraeli Press. 7 p.m. Thursday, opening reception; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through Nov. 8. Fahey/Klein Gallery, 148 N. La Brea Ave. faheykleingallery.com; 6 p.m. Saturday, opening reception; 8 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Nov. 9. ArtCenter College of Design (South Campus), Mullin Transportation Design Center – Oculus Space, 2nd Floor, 950 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. artcenter.edu; 1 p.m. Oct. 26, Opening reception, artist talk and book signing; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday, through Nov. 2. Leica Gallery, 8783 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood. leicagalleryla.com
Culture news and the SoCal scene
Roxana Ortega in “Am I Roxie?” at Geffen Playhouse, directed by Bernardo Cubría.
(Jeff Lorch)
The fall theater season is in full swing and Times critic Charles McNulty has been busy seeing as much as possible. First up this week: his review of the world premiere of Groundlings Theatre alum Roxana Ortega’s world-premiere, one-woman show, “Am I Roxie?,” which has the actor exploring what it was like being the caregiver for her mother as she suffered from the increasing effects of dementia. “The show is more of a personal essay composed for the stage than a deeply imagined performance work. Ortega’s approach is friendly and wryly conversational,” McNulty writes.
McNulty was effusive in his praise for the concert version of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene’s production of “Fiddler on the Roof” in Yiddish, which staged its West Coast premiere at the Soraya. He begins his review with one word, “Magnificent,” and the plaudits keep coming from there. If you were not in the audience for the show’s three performances, reading McNulty’s words will make you very sorry indeed.
“Eureka Day,” a comedy that skewers the vaccine-mandate debate at a liberal private school in Berkeley, is making its L.A. premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse. In many ways, the play is more topical than ever given the current “anti-science” moment of the Trump era, but it was first performed in 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic. “The production, directed by Teddy Bergman, has a field day with the woke-run-amok ethos of Eureka Day, where kids at the school cheer the other team’s goals at soccer games,” McNulty writes.
Gustavo Dudamel officially stepped into his role as the New York Philharmonic’s music and artistic director designate on the 24th anniversary of 9/11, and Times classical music critic Mark Swed was there to take stock. The New York orchestra, Swed writes, “is basically his baby now.” From here on out, Dudamel will increase his presence on the East Coast while winding down his work with the Los Angeles Philharmonic during his final season in L.A. Read Swed’s review of Dudamel’s inaugural performance, here.
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Big news for L.A.’s gallery scene as Venice Beach’s L.A. Louver, established in 1975 by Peter and Elizabeth Goulds, announced that it’s winding down its public exhibition program in order to “shift to a new model that embraces private art dealing, artist support, consulting, and projects.” As part of that move, the gallery said it is donating its archive and library, including correspondence, photography, publications, records, objects, graphics and related ephemera, to the Huntington by 2029. “Until that time, L.A. Louver and Huntington archivists and librarians will collaborate to process and prepare the collection to facilitate its transfer, and optimize access and use,” L.A. Louver said in a news release.
School children’s access to the Getty Museum received a significant boost with the establishment of the Mia Chandler Endowment for School Visits — a $12-million gift from the Camilla Chandler Family Foundation in support of the Getty Museum’s Education Department and its engagement with the city’s students and educators. The money will go toward the Getty’s free bus service for field trips to both the Getty Center and the Getty Villa. The gift is the largest financial contribution received by the organization since J. Paul Getty’s original bequest, the Getty says. Camilla “Mia” Chandler Frost died in 2024 at the age of 98; she was the granddaughter of Harry Chandler and daughter of Norman Chandler, former publishers of the Los Angeles Times.
A new one-hour PBSdocumentary on theGetty’s 2025 PST: Art and Science Collide, which, according to a news release, “highlights collaborations between artists and scientists in Southern California to address some of humanity’s most urgent challenges, from climate change and space exploration to biodiversity and environmental justice,” is scheduled to air Friday, Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. on PBS SoCal and at 10 p.m. on PBS stations nationwide. It will also stream on PBS.org and the free PBS App.
— Jessica Gelt
And last but not least
Spooky season is just beginning, and features columnist Todd Martens checks in with a creepy séance at Heritage Square Museum called “Phasmagorica.”
After selling out stadiums across the UK, Oasis are continuing to Japan, Brazil, Mexico and Australia, where fans including Natalie Slater from Preston, Lancashire, will watch the brothers
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Natalie Slater paid just £96 for an Oasis ticket
Oasis fans who missed the band’s UK comeback have found out how to see them live for just £96.
Natalie Slater is travelling halfway across the world to Australia in November, when she will watch Noel and Liam perform. After selling out stadiums across the UK, Oasis are continuing to Japan, Brazil, Mexico and Oz.
Unlike in the UK – where the band infuriated fans by relying on a pushy dynamic pricing platform that saw hardcores fork out hundreds of pounds for tickets – demand to see the Mancunian act is significantly lower in Australia.
In fact, there are still tickets available on a number of platforms to see Oasis live at Docklands in Melbourne and the Marvel Stadium in Sydney.
Oasis have now finished their UK tour(Image: Gareth Cattermole, Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Natalie, from Preston in Lancashire, explained: “I wasn’t able to get a ticket in the UK. They are so rare and expensive. It was just impossible. The only people I know who went bought their tickets on the secondary market.
“We’re in the North, so many of my friends thought it was a big cultural moment. But most of us couldn’t go and didn’t.”
Natalie took advantage of the fact a work trip to Australia aligns with the gigs. “The planets aligned. I think it’s a good cultural moment. I was a massive Oasis fan as a kid,” she explained.
“It is in a stadium, but I managed to get a seat that looks quite close to the front.”
Analysis by ethical ticket resale platform Twickets found that British fans can fly to Melbourne, watch the band live, and stay for five nights, all for under £900.
The breakdown
Return flights London–Melbourne 31 October – 5 November: £627
Five nights’ Melbourne house, double bedroom, via Airbnb: £106
Total: £867
For many UK fans, the idea of travelling abroad might seem extravagant, but with return flights to Australia currently lower than the rest of the year’s prices, the total package of flights, gig tickets, and accommodation comes in under £900.
That’s still less than the £1,000+ figures quoted for unofficial Oasis resale tickets, where buyers risk paying inflated prices with little protection if things go wrong. By contrast, tickets listed on Twickets are capped at face value or less, plus booking fee.
Richard Davies, founder of Twickets, said: “Fans shouldn’t have to remortgage their homes to see their favourite bands. Our research shows that you can fly halfway around the world, stay in a hotel, and see Oasis live, all for less than what touts are demanding for a single ticket here in the UK.”
“The fame of the museum is spreading far and wide, and people are coming from all over the United States,” says the award-winning comedian and museum founder
In 2022, the iconic L.A. comedian Cheech Marin opened an art museum with the hope of inspiring a Chicano art renaissance.
“I looked around and said, ‘This could be the next big art town’ — because the foundations were already there,” Marin told De Los. “There was this kind of nebulous underground here, but [they’ll] reach officialdom when they have their museum.”
Known colloquially as the Cheech, the museum is widely considered the only space in the nation that exclusively showcases Chicano art. It’s located in Riverside, a majority-Latino city which is also within one of the largest Latino-populated counties in the country.
In its first two years, the space attracted over 200,000 visitors, according to an independent study commissioned by the city, with around 90% of attendees coming from outside the Inland Empire. The study also found that the Cheech brought around $29 million into the city’s local economy in that time frame.
“We were recognized as one of the top 50 shows in the world,” Marin said. “The fame of the museum is spreading far and wide, and people are coming from all over the United States.”
While the Cheech grew in nationwide prominence, its artistic director, María Esther Fernández, explained that the museum’s team also worked to fulfill Marin’s goal by taking advantage of its rapid success.
In the last three years, the center has become a hub and vital resource for many of the region’s Chicano artists. It has done this by creating opportunities to network with high-profile individuals, hosting recurring professional development workshops and regularly contracting emerging creatives for different design projects.
Drew Oberjuerge, the center’s former executive director, added that the museum has invested in the region’s economy by hiring locals to help prepare artwork for installation while also paying musicians and other contractors to work throughout their events.
Cheech Marin photographed in the Riverside Art Museum for the unveiling of the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture (a.k.a. “The Cheech”) in 2022.
(Gustavo Soriano / For The Times)
Most important for these artists, however, is the space that the Cheech has designated to put their art front and center.
“What we’ve been really lucky to leverage is the visibility of the Cheech,” Fernández said. “We’ve been really dedicated, since we opened, to featuring artists that are emerging or some that are even mid-career in the community gallery.”
Some of the creatives, who have collaborated with the Cheech within the community gallery since it first opened, say the center’s efforts have legitimized their career paths and created new opportunities to help pursue their dreams.
The gallery is located next to the museum’s entrance and is only a fraction of the space given to the other exhibits within the 61,420-square-foot museum — and it feels like being in a waiting room in comparison to the rest of the center too. Yet, on only four small walls, the artists featured in the area have put on powerful exhibitions that tell the region’s story while also making art on par with Marin’s collection.
This includes shows like “Desde los Cielos,” which was co-curated by Perry Picasshoe and Emmanuel Camacho Larios, and looked into the concept of alienness — as well as Cosme Córdova’s “Reflections of Our Stories,” which emphasized a cultural connection between Inland Empire artists, despite the use of vastly different mediums.
Perry Picasshoe stands outside the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture as part of a performance piece in Riverside on July 3, 2025.
(Daniel Hernandez)
In total, the Cheech has held at least seven different exhibitions that showcased artists from across the Inland Empire — at times, catching Marin’s connoisseur eyes.
“I bought a couple of pieces from different artists because they are of that quality,” Marin said. “It’s great to be encouraging local talent as well as recognizing a larger picture that they are a part of, or going to become a part of [the Cheech].”
According to the Cheech’s spokesperson, Marin has purchased three works from Inland Empire-based artist Denise Silva after they curated an exhibition named “Indigenous Futurism” within the gallery. Another piece, created by artist Rosy Cortez, who has been featured in several exhibitions, was purchased by an anonymous donor and added to the center’s permanent collection.
“We’ve also begun to implement an artist fee for artists who are participating in the exhibitions,” Fernández said, adding that her team has assisted in the transportation of larger works of art as well. “Participating in exhibitions can be cost-prohibitive for artists, and so it’s something we’re trying to mitigate in our practices.”
Their most recent exhibition within the community gallery, called “Hecho en Park Avenue,” has been one of their most successful showings, with over 1,300 community members attending its opening earlier this year.
The exhibition’s co-curator, Juan Navarro, explained that the show culminated years of work within Riverside’s Eastside neighborhood. He, along with other Chicano artists, has been creating art within the Latino-dominant community since 2021.
Then, when the Cheech asked them to curate a show, Navarro felt it was the perfect chance to tell the stories of the Eastside’s locals. The response to the final product was more than Navarro could have ever imagined.
“The community showed out: from intellectuals from UC Riverside, from local government, to state government showed up, to the gang members,” Navarro said. He also noted the emotional weight of being recognized for his art, while surrounded by the work of Chicano artists who waited decades for their own to be recognized.
“Seeing this big, broad community and seeing that our show met the need for a diverse audience… It was meaningful to a lot of people, that’s what I cared about.”
The show’s other co-curator, Michelle Espino, also expressed gratitude for the chance to tell the Eastside’s story at the Cheech. Besides being one of its featured artists, Espino worked on many of the behind-the-scenes aspects of the “Hecho en Park Avenue” exhibition.
It was also a full-circle moment for her; years prior, Espino had written about Fernández’s work for a Chicano art history class. This year, she met with Fernández to ask for advice and to finalize plans for the exhibit.
“It [validated] that I do want to continue with this,” Espino said. “She is literally the person I look up to.”
On top of Espino’s one-on-one meetings with the artistic director, she has also enrolled in a few professional development workshops hosted by the center, most recently taking a class that taught both the art of portraiture and poetry. The Cheech regularly partners with a nonprofit organization named the Riverside Arts Council to host professional development classes.
“If we had these resources when I was younger, my trajectory could have probably been a little bit different,” Espino said.
Marin, in his lifelong quest to collect works for his private collection, has seen how Chicano artists have grown their communities in their respective cities. It starts with painters sharing their works with each other through smaller shows, he said, which builds excitement and increases participation. He likened it to a biological process, where each generation builds upon the growth of the previous iteration.
That process is starting in the Inland Empire now, he added.
“We are a part of this big American picture,” Marin said. “And there’s nothing more official that you can do besides having your own museum.”
NEW YORK — Scientists have identified the origins of the blue color in one of Jackson Pollock’s paintings with a little help from chemistry, confirming for the first time that the Abstract Expressionist used a vibrant, synthetic pigment known as manganese blue.
“Number 1A, 1948,” showcases Pollock’s classic style: paint has been dripped and splattered across the canvas, creating a vivid, multicolored work. Pollock even gave the piece a personal touch, adding his handprints near the top.
The painting, currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, is almost 9 feet wide. Scientists had previously characterized the reds and yellows splattered across the canvas, but the source of the rich turquoise blue proved elusive.
In a new study, researchers took scrapings of the blue paint and used lasers to scatter light and measure how the paint’s molecules vibrated. That gave them a unique chemical fingerprint for the color, which they pinpointed as manganese blue.
The analysis, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first confirmed evidence of Pollock using this specific blue.
“It’s really interesting to understand where some striking color comes from on a molecular level,” said study co-author Edward Solomon with Stanford University.
The pigment manganese blue was once used by artists, as well as to color the cement for swimming pools. It was phased out by the 1990s because of environmental concerns.
Previous research had suggested that the turquoise from the painting could indeed be this color, but the new study confirms it using samples from the canvas, said Rutgers University’s Gene Hall, who has studied Pollock’s paintings and was not involved with the discovery.
“I’m pretty convinced that it could be manganese blue,” Hall said.
The researchers also went one step further, inspecting the pigment’s chemical structure to understand how it produces such a vibrant shade.
Scientists study the chemical makeup of art supplies to conserve old paintings and catch counterfeits. They can take more specific samples from Pollock’s paintings since he often poured directly onto the canvas instead of mixing paints on a palette beforehand.
To solve this artistic mystery, researchers explored the paint using various scientific tools — similarly to how Pollock would alternate his own methods, dripping paint using a stick or straight from the can.
While the artist’s work may seem chaotic, Pollock rejected that interpretation. He saw his work as methodical, said study co-author Abed Haddad, an assistant conservation scientist at the Museum of Modern Art.
“I actually see a lot of similarities between the way that we worked and the way that Jackson Pollock worked on the painting,” Haddad said.
WASHINGTON — President Clinton’s health care reform plan still promises a comprehensive package of benefits to all Americans, but numerous revisions in the proposal have altered many of the details. Here are answers to some of the most common questions about the latest version of the plan.
Question–What would coverage cost the average American?
Answer–According to the Administration’s revised estimates, based on 1994 prices, the total premiums for average-priced coverage would be $4,360 for a two-parent family with children, $3,893 for a single-parent family, $3,865 for a couple and $1,932 for a single person. But each family or single individual would be required to pay no more than 20% of the premium, and no one would be asked to pay more than 3.9% of his annual income.
The average premium payment would amount to $73 per month for a two-parent family with children, $65 a month for a single-parent family, $64 a month for a couple and $32 a month for a single person. In addition, there would be some deductibles and co-payments at the time of treatment, depending on the type of coverage you select. No deductible would exceed $200 a year for an individual and $400 for a family.
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Q.–What would my employer pay toward my health care coverage?
A.–All employers would be required to pay at least 80% of the average worker’s premium. But employers could choose to pay as much as 100%. The Administration estimates that the annual cost to the employer, based on 1994 prices, would be $2,479 for any family with children, $2,125 for a couple without children and $1,546 for a single person. No business would be required to pay more than 7.9% of payroll for health insurance. Low-wage businesses with 75 or fewer employees would receive substantial government-subsidized discounts, depending on the size of the company and the average wage.
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Q.–What would not be covered by the basic benefits package?
A.–Anything deemed by a doctor to be medically unnecessary–private hospital rooms, adult eyeglasses and contact lenses, hearing aids and cosmetic surgery–would not be covered by the basic package. Initially, it also would not cover preventive dental care for adults or orthodontics. But those benefits would be phased in by the year 2001. Mental health and substance abuse benefits, which are limited at first, also would be expanded by the year 2001. Nothing would prevent Americans from buying these services themselves or purchasing supplemental insurance to cover them.
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Q.–What impact would this proposal have on Medicare recipients?
A.–Current Medicare benefits would be maintained for people over 65. Beginning in 1996, a new home- and community-based care program would permit older Americans with severe disabilities to receive subsidized care at home, rather than going to a nursing home. Medicare recipients also would receive a new prescription drug benefit with a $250 annual individual deductible. Premiums for Part B insurance, which covers physician and outpatient services, would increase about $11 a month to finance 25% of the cost of the new drug benefit.
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Q.–How would the program treat workers who retire before age 65?
A.–Workers who retire between the ages of 55 and 64 would be eligible for discounts based on income. No matter what their income, they would be required to pay no more than 20% of the premium. Employers who wish to help pay any or all of the retired employee’s share of the cost of health insurance coverage would be permitted to do so. During the first three years, employers who save money because of this new benefit for early retirees would be required to return half of their savings to the government.
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Q.–How would the program affect part-time workers, self-employed workers and two-wage earner families?
A.–Part-time workers would pay 20% of the average premium in their area if they enroll in an average-priced plan; their employers would pay a pro-rated share based on hours worked by the employee, and government subsidies would be available to those with low incomes. Self-employed workers, who now get a tax deduction for 25% of the cost of their health care, would be permitted to deduct 100% and would be eligible for discounts if their income is low. Two-wage earner families would pay their share of the premium only once but both of their employers would be required to pay the same amount that they would pay for similar workers.
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Q.–What impact would the program have on current Medicaid beneficiaries?
A.–Like all other Americans under age 65, Medicaid recipients would choose their coverage from the list of plans available through the regional health alliance. They could choose any plan at or under the average premium without making any additional payment. Those whose income is below 150% of the official poverty level would receive subsidies for co-payments and deductibles. Supplemental services such as transportation to the doctor and vision care would continue to be available to those who are eligible.
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Q.–Would the program create a big, new bureaucracy?
A.–The Administration recently has scaled back on the regulatory powers of the proposed new government agencies–the regional health care alliances and the National Health Board. Clinton has stipulated that alliances could not reject qualified health plans from participating in the system unless their premiums exceed the average by more than 20%, nor could they limit the number of fee-for-service plans offered in the area. Once envisioned as an independent operating agency, the National Health Board now is being viewed as little more than an executive branch advisory committee.
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Q.–When would this plan go into effect?
A.–The Administration assumes that the system would be in place in many states by 1996, but it would not be available everywhere until the end of 1997.
NEW YORK — In the days since the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, workers in a variety of industries have been fired for their comments on his death.
It’s hardly the first time workers have lost their jobs over things they say publicly — including in social media posts. In the U.S., laws can vary across states, but overall, there’s very few legal protections for employees who are punished for speech made in or out of private workplaces.
“Most people think they have a right to free speech … but that doesn’t necessarily apply in the workplace,” said Vanessa Matsis-McCready, associate general counsel and vice president of HR Services for Engage PEO. “Most employees in the private sector do not have any protections for that type of speech at work.”
Add to that the prevalence of social media, which has made it increasingly common to track employees’ conduct outside of work or for internet users to publish information about them with the intent of harming or harassing them.
Employers have leeway
Protections for workers vary from one state to the next. In New York, if an employee is participating in a weekend political protest, but not associating themselves with the organization that employs them, their employer cannot fire them for that activity when they return to work. But if that same employee is at a company event on a weekend and talks about their political viewpoints in a way that makes others feel unsafe or the target of discrimination or harassment, then they could face consequences at work, Matsis-McCready said.
Most of the U.S. defaults to “at-will” employment law — which essentially means employers can choose to hire and fire as they see fit, including over employees’ speech.
“The 1st Amendment does not apply in private workplaces to protect employees’ speech,” said Andrew Kragie, an attorney who specializes in employment and labor law at Maynard Nexsen. “It actually does protect employers’ right to make decisions about employees, based on employees’ speech.”
Kragie said there are “pockets of protection” around the U.S. under various state laws, such as statutes that forbid punishing workers for their political views. But the interpretation of how that gets enforced changes, he notes, making the waters murky.
Steven T. Collis, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin and faculty director of the school’s Bech-Loughlin First Amendment Center, also points to some state laws that say employers can’t fire their workers for “legal off-duty conduct.” But there’s often an exception for conduct seen as disruptive to an employer’s business or reputation, which could be grounds to fire someone over public comments or social media posts.
“In this scenario, if somebody feels like one of their employees has done something that suggests they are glorifying or celebrating a murder, an employer might still be able to fire them even with one of those laws on the books,” Collis said.
For public employees, including school teachers, postal workers and elected officials, the process is a bit different. That’s because the 1st Amendment plays a unique role when the government is the employer, Collis explains — and the Supreme Court has ruled that if an employee is acting in a private capacity but speaking on a matter of public concern, they’re protected.
However, that has yet to stop the public sector from restricting speech in the aftermath of Kirk’s death. For instance, leaders at the Pentagon unveiled a “zero tolerance” policy for any posts or comments from troops deemed to be making light of or celebrating the killing of Kirk.
The policy, announced by the Defense Department’s top spokesman, Sean Parnell, on social media Thursday, came hours after numerous conservative military influencers and activists began forwarding posts they considered problematic to Parnell and his boss, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“It is unacceptable for military personnel and Department of War civilians to celebrate or mock the assassination of a fellow American,” Parnell wrote Thursday, referring to the Department of Defense by the name adopted recently by President Trump.
A surge of political debate
The ubiquity of social media is making it easier than ever to share opinions about politics and major news events as they’re unfolding. But posting on social media leaves a record, and in times of escalating political polarization, those declarations can be seen as damaging to the reputation of an individual or their employer.
“People don’t realize when they’re on social media, it is the town square,” said Amy Dufrane, chief executive of the Human Resource Certification Institute. “They’re not having a private conversation with the neighbor over the fence. They’re really broadcasting their views.”
Political debates are certainly not limited to social media and are increasingly making their way into the workplace as well.
“The gamification of the way we communicate in the workplace — Slack and Teams, chat and all these things — they’re very similar to how you might interact on Instagram or other social media, so I do think that makes it feel a little less formal and somebody might be more inclined to take a step and say, ‘Oh, I can’t believe this happened,’” Matsis-McCready said.
Many employers unprepared
In the tense, divided climate in the United States at the moment, many human resource professionals have expressed that they’re unprepared to address politically charged discussions in the workplace, according to the Human Resource Certification Institute. But those conversations are going to happen, so employers need to set policies about what is acceptable or unacceptable workplace conduct, Dufrane said.
“HR has got to really drill down and make sure that they’re super clear on their policies and practices and communicating to their employees on what are their responsibilities as an employee of the organization,” Dufrane said.
Many employers are reviewing their policies on political speech and providing training about what appropriate conduct looks like, both inside and outside the organization, she said. And the brutal nature of Kirk’s killing may have led some of them to react more strongly in the days since his death.
“Because of the violent nature of what some political discussion is now about, I think there is a real concern from employers that they want to keep the workplace safe and that they’re being extra vigilant about anything that could be viewed as a threat, which is their duty,” Matsis-McCreedy said.
Employees can also be seen as ambassadors of a company’s brand, and their political speech can dilute that brand and hurt its reputation, depending on what is being said and how it is being received. That is leading more companies to act on what employees are saying online, she said.
“Some of the individuals that had posted and their posts went viral, all of a sudden the phone lines of their employers were just nonstop calls complaining,” Matsis-McCready said.
Still, experts such as Collis don’t anticipate a significant change in how employers monitor their workers’ speech — noting that online activity has been in the spotlight for at least the last 15 years.
“Employers are already — and have been for a very long time — vetting employees based on what they’re posting on social media,” he said.
Bussewitz and Grantham-Philips write for the Associated Press. AP writer Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed to this report.
In movies like ‘Triumph of the Will’ and ‘Olympia,’ Leni Riefenstahl all but invented the fascist aesthetic. A new documentary indicates that she knew what she was doing.
The crew had just poured a concrete foundation on a vacant lot in Altadena when I pulled up the other day. Two workers were loading equipment onto trucks and a third was hosing the fresh cement that will sit under a new house.
I asked how things were going, and if there were any problems finding enough workers because of ongoing immigration raids.
“Oh, yeah,” said one worker, shaking his head. “Everybody’s worried.”
The other said that when fresh concrete is poured on a job this big, you need a crew of 10 or more, but that’s been hard to come by.
“We’re still working,” he said. “But as you can see, it’s just going very slowly.”
Eight months after thousands of homes were destroyed by wildfires, Altadena is still a ways off from any major rebuilding, and so is Pacific Palisades. But immigration raids have hammered the California economy, including the construction industry. And the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling this week that green-lights racial profiling has raised new fears that “deportations will deplete the construction workforce,” as the UCLA Anderson Forecast warned us in March.
There was already a labor shortage in the construction industry, in which 25% to 40% of workers are immigrants, by various estimates. As deportations slow construction, and tariffs and trade wars make supplies scarcer and more expensive, the housing shortage becomes an even deeper crisis.
And it’s not just deportations that matter, but the threat of them, says Jerry Nickelsburg, senior economist at the Anderson Forecast. If undocumented people are afraid to show up to install drywall, Nickelsburg told me, it “means you finish homes much more slowly, and that means fewer people are employed.”
Now look, I’m no economist, but it seems to me that after President Trump promised the entire country we were headed for a “golden age” of American prosperity, it might not have been in his best interest to stifle the state with the largest economy in the nation.
Especially when many national economic indicators aren’t exactly rosy, when we have not seen the promised decrease in the price of groceries and consumer goods, and when the labor statistics were so embarrassing he fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and replaced her with another one, only to see more grim jobs numbers a month later.
I had just one economics class in college, but I don’t recall a section on the value of deporting construction workers, car washers, elder-care workers, housekeepers, nannies, gardeners and other people whose only crime — unlike the violent offenders we were allegedly going to round up — is a desire to show up for work.
Because I know from experience that some of you are frothing, foaming and itching to reach out and tell me that illegal means illegal.
So go ahead and email me if you must, but here’s my response:
We’ve been living a lie for decades.
People come across the border because we want them to. We all but beg them to. And by we, I mean any number of industries — many of them led by conservatives and by Trump supporters — including agribusiness, and hospitality, and construction, and healthcare.
Because the tough talk is a lie and there’s no longer any shame in hypocrisy. It’s a climate of corruption in which no one has the integrity to admit what’s clear — that the Texas economy is propped up in part by an undocumented workforce.
At least in California, six Republican lawmakers all but begged Trump in June to ease up on the raids, which were affecting business on farms and construction sites and in restaurants and hotels. Please do some honest work on immigration reform instead, they pleaded, so we can fill our labor needs in a more practical and humane way.
Makes sense, but politically, it doesn’t play as well as TV ads recruiting ICE commandos to storm the streets and arrest tamale vendors, even as the barbarians who ransacked the Capitol and beat up cops enjoy their time as presidentially pardoned patriots.
Small businesses, restaurants and mom and pops are being particularly hard hit, says Maria Salinas, chief executive of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. Those who survived the pandemic were then kneecapped again by the raids.
With the Supreme Court ruling, Salinas told me, “I think there’s a lot of fear that this is going to come back harder than before.”
From a broader economic perspective, the mass deportations make no sense, especially when it’s clear that the vast majority of people targeted are not the violent criminals Trump keeps talking about.
Giovanni Peri, director of the UC Davis Global Migration Center, noted that we’re in the midst of a demographic transformation, much like that of Japan, which is dealing with the challenges of an aging population and restrictive immigration policies.
“We’ll lose almost a million working-age Americans every year in the next decade just because of aging,” Peri told me. “We will have a very large elderly population and that will demand a lot of services in … home healthcare [and other industries], but there will be fewer and fewer workers to do these types of jobs.”
Dowell Myers, a USC demographer, has been studying these trends for years.
“The numbers are simple and easy to read,” Myers said. Each year, the worker-to-retiree ratio decreases, and it will continue to do so. This means we’re headed for a critical shortage of working people who pay into Social Security and Medicare even as the number of retirees balloons.
If we truly wanted to stop immigration, Myers said, we should “send all ICE workers to the border. But if you take people who have been here 10 and 20 years and uproot them, there’s an extreme social cost and also an economic cost.”
At the Pasadena Home Depot, where day laborers still gather despite the risk of raids, three men held out hope for work. Two of them told me they have legal status. “But there’s very little work,” said Gavino Dominguez.
The third one, who said he’s undocumented, left to circle the parking lot and offer his services to contractors.
Umberto Andrade, a general contractor, was loading concrete and other supplies into his truck. He told me he lost one fearful employee for a week, and another for two weeks. They came back because they’re desperate and need to pay their bills.
“The housing shortage in California was already terrible before the fires, and now it’s 10 times worse,” said real estate agent Brock Harris, who represents a developer whose Altadena rebuilding project was temporarily slowed after a visit from ICE agents in June.
With building permits beginning to flow, Harris said, “for these guys to slow down or shut down job sites is more than infuriating. You’re going to see fewer people willing to start a project.”
Most people on a job site have legal status, Harris said, “but if shovels never hit the ground, the costs are being borne by everybody, and it’s slowing the rebuilding of L.A.”
Lots of bumps on the road to the golden age of prosperity.
Callum Walsh knows what it means to earn a living with his hands. Before throwing hooks and jabs in the ring, he spent his days lifting cargo on fishing boats in the port of Cobh, under the cold Atlantic wind in his native Ireland.
He was only 16, but he already understood hard work. Today, at 24, he continues to work just as hard, although his stage has changed — now he does it under the bright lights of a boxing ring.
On Saturday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Walsh (14-0, 11 KOs) will have the night he always dreamed of.
He will fight on the co-main event of a card headlined by Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez and Terence Crawford, a huge platform for his young career, and it will be broadcast on Netflix, where he will risk his undefeated record in a 10-round super welterweight bout against another hungry youngster, Fernando Vargas Jr. (17-0, 15 KOs), heir to the surname of a former world champion.
Ireland’s Callum Walsh punches Scotland’s Dean Sutherland during a super welterweight boxing match on March 16 in New York.
(Frank Franklin II / Associated Press)
Far from trying to forget his days on the docks, Walsh is grateful for them.
“Training is tough, yes, but I enjoy it. It’s much better than getting up at dawn to go to the port,” Walsh said with a smile.
The work ethic he displayed as a loader on fishing boats also helped establish Walsh as one of the most promising prospects in world boxing.
The Irish southpaw has fought three times at Madison Square Garden and filled Dublin’s 3Arena last year. His aggressive and fast style sets him apart, with a volume of punches that rarely diminishes and a courage that leads him to exchange blows without backing down.
“I’ll be opening up to a much wider fan base. There will be a lot of people watching the fight,” said Walsh, who wants people to be satisfied with the contest, unlike the last Netflix show in which Jake Paul disappointed millions of viewers by having a very limited opponent, 58-year-old Mike Tyson.
“I want to show them what real boxing is all about. There will be a lot of people watching for the first time, and I want them to become fans,” said Walsh, an admirer of his compatriot, Conor McGregor, a UFC star.
Walsh is training at Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles under the watchful eye of Freddie Roach. There, the Irishman is combining his solid amateur foundation of more than 150 fights with the legendary trainer’s offensive style.
“I couldn’t have chosen a better teacher,” Walsh said.
On the other side of the ring, Walsh will face Vargas, a southpaw with a powerful punch who made his debut in 2020 but already boasts 17 victories — 15 of them by knockout. However, the odds in Las Vegas favor the Irishman.
“I don’t care about Las Vegas. Las Vegas loses all the time,” Vargas Jr. said on “The PorterWay Podcast” when asked about not being favored.
Undefeated junior middleweight boxers Callum Walsh, left, and Fernando Vargas Jr., right, face off while UFC’s Dana White looks on during a news conference at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.
(Steve Marcus / Getty Images)
The fight will not only be a duel between undefeated fighters. It will also be a huge showcase. The powerful boxing promoter and organizer of the Canelo vs. Crawford fight, Turki Al-Sheikh, will be watching Walsh closely, as will UFC president Dana White, who has shared a growing interest in boxing.
“The lights can’t shine any brighter than that night,” warned Tom Loeffler, Walsh’s promoter.
But Walsh says he doesn’t feel any pressure. Not from the stage, nor from protecting his perfect record.
“Everyone can lose at some point. The important thing is to face real fights and give the public what they want,” Walsh said. At 24, he knows he still has a long way to go.
The story of the young man who left the boats for the ring will have a new chapter this Saturday in Las Vegas. It will be up to his fists to impress the world and confirm that he is no longer a prospect, but a reality.
Controversy erupted over Wednesday’s announcement by Flanders Festival Ghent that it had canceled an upcoming concert by the Munich Philharmonic featuring Lahav Shani, an Israeli conductor who serves as the music director of the Israel Philharmonic.
In an online statement, festival organizers acknowledged that the canceled performance, scheduled for Sept. 18, was expected to be “one of the artistic highlights of the festival,” and that Shani “has spoken out in favour of peace and reconciliation several times in the past,” but that the decision had nonetheless been made because “we are unable to provide sufficient clarity about his attitude to the genocidal regime in Tel Aviv.”
“In line with the call from the Minister of Culture, the city council of Ghent and the cultural sector in Ghent, we have chosen to refrain from collaboration with partners who have not distanced themselves unequivocally from that regime,” the statement continued, adding that priority was being given to “the serenity of our festival,” and in order to “safeguard the concert experience for our visitors and musicians. ”
Backlash was intense and immediate, with many critics taking to social media to condemn the decision as antisemitic.
“This is not a protest. It is discrimination,” the European Jewish Congresswrote on X. “Targeting artists because of their nationality is unacceptable and undermines the very foundations of European cultural and democratic values. They only fuel hatred, with concrete consequences on European streets.”
By Thursday morning, an online petition in support of Shani organized by Iranian American harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani had garnered more than 5,500 signatures, including those of well-known classical musicians such as conductor and pianist Joshua Weilerstein, British classical pianist Danny Driver and cellist Kyril Zlotnikov.
“The Ghent Festival has chosen to punish an artist on the basis of his nationality alone,” reads the petition, which calls for an immediate reversal of the cancellation. “What is more insidious is the implication that any artist, Israeli or otherwise, will only be accepted if they express unequivocally the ‘correct’ opinions.”
“This decision will do nothing to save a single Palestinian life, bring a hostage home, or to make any improvement to the unbearable civilian suffering currently taking place in this conflict,” the petition continues. “It will, however, resonate loudly with those who equate an artist’s nationality with an excuse to exclude them from the cultural sphere.”
Martin Kotthaus, the German ambassador to Belgium, posted on X that he deeply regretted the move made by the Ghent Festival, adding, “The decision and the reasons given are incomprehensible. I welcome the fact that Belgian Foreign Minister Prévot and Flemish Prime Minister Diependaele have distanced themselves from the festival’s decision.” (Note: Matthias Diependaele is the current Minister-President of Flanders.)
Shani — a Tel Aviv-born conductor, pianist and double bassist —took over as music director of the Israel Philharmonic beginning with the 2020-21 season after Zubin Mehta stepped down. Earlier this year, his contract was extended until 2032. In 2023, it was announced that Shani would take over as chief conductor of the Munich Orchestra for the 2026-27 season, and he is expected to continue in both roles.
Shani is also serving as the chief conductor of Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra until the end of its 2025-26 season. Rob Streevelaar, general and artistic director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, issued a statement saying that the orchestra is closely following the situation in Ghent.
“Our Chief Conductor Lahav Shani has previously spoken out in the press in favor of peace and humanity,” the statement reads. “He has emphasized that he does not represent a political position, but wishes to contribute to unity and hope through art. He does this by way of various initiatives, including his involvement with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, founded by Palestinian scholar Edward Said and Israeli pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim.”
Flanders Festival Ghent is a three-week-long international music festival that attracts more than 50,000 visitors annually and features more than 180 concerts and 1,500 musicians. There are now calls for other participants to boycott the festival in protest.
I’m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt, writing these words with peace on my mind. Here’s this week’s arts news.
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Steven Skybell as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof.”
(Jeremy Daniel I)
Fiddler on the Roof This concert version of the much-heralded National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene’s production translates the beloved musical into Yiddish. Under the direction of Joel Grey, Steven Skybell reprises his much-acclaimed performance as Tevye. The show will include English supertitles for those who don’t understand Yiddish or already know the show by heart. – Charles McNulty 8 p.m. Saturday; 3 and 7 p.m. Sunday. The Soraya, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge. thesoraya.org
Courtney M. Leonard, “Breach #2,” 2016, mixed media, part of LACMA’s “Grounded” exhibition.
Grounded Featuring 40 works, spanning the 1970s to today, by 35 artists based in the Americas and around the Pacific, the exhibition continues LACMA’s ongoing emphasis on contemporary rather than historical art. The diverse work, primarily sculpture and installation, is billed as investigating “ecology, sovereignty, memory and home.” – Christopher Knight Sunday through June 21. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, BCAM Level 2, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. lacma.org
Neil Young performs at the Hollywood Bowl on Monday.
(Amy Harris / Invision / AP)
Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts The veteran rocker will wrap his latest world tour — ostensibly booked behind June’s “Talkin to the Trees” album — with a sure-to-be-shaggy gig at the Hollywood Bowl. The Chrome Hearts include Spooner Oldham on organ, Micah Nelson on guitar, Corey McCormick on bass and Anthony LoGerfo on drums. — Mikael Wood 7:30 p.m. Monday. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave. hollywoodbowl.com
The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY
A scene from the “Autos, Mota y Rocanrol,” which opens the Hola Mexico Film Festival on Friday.
(HMFF)
🎞️ 🇲🇽 Hola Mexico Film Festival The celebration of cinema from our neighbors to the south features México Ahora, a curated section of the best recent releases; Nocturno, a selection of horror films; Documental, a nonfiction films section; the animated films of Hola Niños; and Nuevas Voces, a focus on emerging directors and their first works. The festival begins with an opening-night screening of director J.M Cravioto’s “Autos, Mota y Rocanrol.” 7 p.m. Friday. The Montalban Theatre, 615 Vine St, Hollywood. Festival continues through Sept. 20 at Regal Cinemas LA Live, Cinépolis Pico Rivera and Milagro Cinemas Norwalk, with closing night at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes. holamexicoff.com
“Bosch Bird No. 3, 2014,” by Roberto Benavidez. Newspaper, paperboard, glue, party streamers, wire. 24 x 9 x 18 inches.
(Paul Salveson; courtesy of the artist and Perrotin)
“Hatching,” by Danielle Orchard, 2025. Oil on canvas, 90 x 56 inches.
(Paul Salveson ; courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. )
🪅 🎨 Roberto Benavidez/Danielle Orchard The Pico Boulevard gallery Perrotin opens its fall season with two new exhibitions. Inspired by 15th century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, El Sereno sculptor Benavidez turns piñata-making into detailed figurative art with “Bosch Beasts.” Orchard finds parallels between motherhood and painting in her rich, evocative series “Firstborn.” 5-7:30 p.m. Friday opening for both shows; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through Oct. 18. Perrotin, 5036 W. Pico Blvd. perrotin.com
🎶 Made in Memphis The performance collective MUSE/IQUE hosts a free, three-day open house paying tribute to “Stax Records, Soul and The Black Artists Who Started a Sound Revolution.” Rachael Worby leads an ensemble that features LaVance Colley, DC6 Singers Collective, Chris Pierce and Sy Smith, founder of the nu-soul movement 7:30 p.m. Friday-Sunday. Caltech, Beckman Auditorium, 332 S. Michigan Ave., Pasadena. muse-ique.com
SATURDAY 🎨 Bisa Butler The New Jersey artist responds to how it feels to be an African American woman living in 2025 with quilted portraits on jet-black cotton or black velvet. 6-8 p.m. Saturday, opening reception; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through Nov. 1. Jeffrey Deitch, 7000 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. deitch.com
🎭 🎶 Huzzah! Two sisters battle to save their father’s Renaissance fair from financial ruin in the world premiere of a musical comedy by Olivier Award winners and Tony Award nominees Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, directed by Annie Tippe. 8 p.m. Saturday through Oct. 19. Old Globe Theatre, 1363 Old Globe Way, San Diego. theoldglobe.org
La Santa Cecilia band members, Pepe Carlos, from left, Marisoul, Alex Bendana and Miguel “Oso” Ramirez.
(Berenice Bautista / Associated Press)
🎸 🎶 La Santa Cecilia The Grammy-winning quartet fronted by Marisol “La Marisoul” Hernandez crosses borders and genres with passionate songs of love, identity and social justice, fusing Latin American traditions and global rhythms. 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, and 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14. The Luckman, 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles. luckmanarts.org
“Day Moon Shore/Through and Before the Immediate Trees” by Annie Lapin, 2025. Acrylic on Linen 68 x 94 in 172.7 x 238.8 cm
(Courtesy of the artist and Nazari an / Curcio.)
🎨 Annie Lapin The L.A.-based artist blends representation and abstraction to reimagine the Southern California landscape in “Fragile Familiar,” a solo exhibition of new paintings. 6-8 p.m. Saturday, opening reception; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through Oct. 25. Nazarian / Curcio, 616 N. La Brea Ave. nazariancurcio.com
🎼 A Musical Genesis The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, led by Music Director Jaime Martín, is joined by cellist Nicolas Altstaedt for a program featuring Haydn‘s “La poule,” Schumann’s “Cello Concerto” and Beethoven‘s “Symphony No. 5.” 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Zipper Hall, 200 South Grand Ave., downtown L.A.; 4 p.m. Sunday, The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. laco.org
Virginia Errázuriz, “Untitled, from the series Cancelados,” circa 1979; mixed media; part of “Transgresoras” exhibition at California Museum of Photography on Riverside.
🎨 Transgresoras: Mail Art and Messages, 1960s–2020s In the U.S., the emergence in the 1950s of the first lively American market for new art led to some artists developing strategies for getting around the limitations of galleries and commerce. In Latin America, meanwhile, artists often faced censorship. Mail art that could circulate through the post office was simultaneously invented in both places to serve those situations, as this intergenerational survey plans to explore. (Christopher Knight) Noon-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, through Sept. 24; noon-5 p.m. Thursday and Friday: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 25-Feb. 15. California Museum of Photography, 3824 Main St., Riverside. ucrarts.ucr.edu
SUNDAY 🎞️ Jaws: The Exhibition This deep dive into Steven Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster, starring Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw, takes guests through the movie scene by scene via original objects, behind-the-scenes revelations and interactive moments. The film itself screens in 4K at 6:30 p.m. Sunday in the museum’s David Geffen Theater. 10 a.m. Sunday-Monday, Tuesday-Saturday, through July 26. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org
Kim Eung Hwa & Korean Dance Company at the Ford
💃 Kim Eung Hwa & Korean Dance Company Bring the whole family to a gorgeous outdoor amphitheater to enjoy a colorful performance by this 45-year-old traditional dance company. The show commemorates the Korean fall festival Hangawi, which celebrates the harvest season. Traditional drums, as well as fan-and-flower-crown dances, will be performed to lively Korean folk music. (Jessica Gelt) 11:30 a.m. Sunday. The Ford, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. E. theford.com
🎸 🇲🇽 Zona Libre: A Musical Celebration of Latino L.A. Skirball Cultural Center, Grand Performances and Zócalo Public Square present a day of musical performances by Renee Goust, Vivir Quintana and La Verdad, plus dance workshops, panel conversations, food and museum exhibitions. 3-9:30 p.m. Sunday. Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd. skirball.org
WEDNESDAY 🎼 🎹 Thomas Kotcheff The pianist is joined by musician Bryan Curt Kostors and video artist Allison Tanenhaus as they perform works from Kotcheff’s new album, “Between Systems,” as well as interpretations of music by Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Cher, Céline Dion and Beyoncé. 8 p.m. 2220 Arts + Archives, 2220 Beverly Blvd. pianospheres.org
🎨 Hélio Oiticica The first major L.A. exhibition in Los Angeles of the artist (1937-1980) includes gouaches, suspended sculptures and a rare oil painting that trace the formative years of Oiticica’s career 6-8 p.m. Wednesday opening; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through Nov. 1. Lisson Gallery, 1037 N. Sycamore Ave. lissongallery.com
THURSDAY
Nine Inch Nails vocalist Trent Reznor performing in 2008.
(Stephen Brashear / Associated Press)
🎸 🎶 Nine Inch Nails The band has a new album of sorts out Sept. 19 in “Tron: Ares,” the latest film score from Trent Reznor and his partner Atticus Ross. The group’s “Peel It Back” tour hits the Forum for two nights; the band looks to be playing in the round for some experimental passages before firing on all cylinders with its new (and old) drummer Josh Freese, who they swapped in from Foo Fighters just days before the tour started. (August Brown) 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Sept. 19. Kia Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. thekiaforum.com
Culture news and the SoCal scene
“Sealstone with a Battle Scene (The Pylos Combat Agate),” Minoan, 1630 – 1440 BCE; banded agate, gold and bronze.
(Jeff Vanderpool)
Times art critic Christopher Knight weighs in with a review of a “captivating” exhibition, “The Kingdom of Pylos: Warrior-Princes of Ancient Greece,” at the Getty Villa — the first at the museum since January’s ferocious Palisades fire. The most fascinating object on view is a 1.3-inch-long, almond-shaped, gold-tipped agate, carved with an exquisitely detailed battle scene that is almost undetectable to the human eye. The piece is on display outside of Europe for the first time, and is part of a trove of treasures found with the entombed Griffin Warrior — also on display.
Times theater critic Charles McNulty also headed for the Getty Villafor its annual outdoor theater show. This year’s performance of “Oedipus the King, Mama!” comes courtesy of Troubadour Theater Company and turns the Villa’s grounds “into a Freudian carnival of psychosexual madness,” writes McNulty. The show pairs Sophocles’ “Oedipus the King” with Elvis, the king of rock ’n’ roll, to hilarious effect.
McNulty also caught A Noise Within’s production of Richard Bean’s farce “One Man, Two Guvnors,” which is based on “The Servant of Two Masters,” Carlo Goldoni’s mid-18th-century comedy. The classic commedia dell’arte antics follow a hungry busker who clandestinely works for two bosses in 1960s Brighton. “Bean’s play is impressively worked out, mathematically and verbally. The wit is crisp and the comic routines are evergreen, all the more so for the sharpness of the playing,” McNulty writes of the show.
Manuel Oliver is photographed at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
I sat down with Manuel and Patricia Oliver at the Kirk Douglas Theatre to talk about Manuel’s upcoming performance of his one-man-show, “Guac,”which explores the life and death of their son, Joaquin, who was killed in the 2018 Parkland school shooting. Our conversation included plenty of discussion about the Olivers’ quest to effect gun reform in the wake of their unimaginable loss. Creative forms of activism — including theater — are at the heart of those efforts.
I also went to opening night of “Hamilton” on the big screen at the El Capitan Theatre on Friday. I wrote an essay about how the live recording of the stage musical might be the most political film of the year. Here’s why.
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Mirage, Palm Springs, United States. Architect: Doug Aitken, 2017
(Raimund Koch / View via Alamy)
On Thursday, Dwell released its list of “The 25 most important homes of the past 25 years,” and three California structures made the list: A-Z West by Andrea Zittel near Joshua Tree; artist Doug Aitken’s Mirage, which was featured in 2017’s inaugural Desert X exhibition; and the house Axel Vervoordt built for Kim Kardashian in Hidden Hills. Zittel’s creations were featured on Dwell’s cover in its December 2002 issue and is a series of futuristic-looking “escape pods” that open up to the great outdoors and contain little more than a bed and a few hooks for belongings. Aitken made his mark when he covered a ranch-style house in mirrors that effectively camouflaged the house in its arid surroundings. “The mirrors made for iconic selfies, and onlookers clogged up the once-quiet streets, in an attempt not just to see the installation but to take a picture of themselves reflected in this viral ‘house,’” the entry on “Mirage” reads. Kardashian’s house is referred to as “The ship that launched a thousand beiges.” “Vervoordt, along with Claudio Silvestrin, Vincent Van Duysen, and Family New York, stripped back the details of a generic mansion to create a very strange blend of suburbia and austere European luxury that — for better or worse — set the standard for boring high-end home design in the Instagram age,” Dwell wrote.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced that it has been gifted Francis Bacon’s 1969 triptych, “Three Studies of Lucian Freud,” from the estate of philanthropist Elaine Wynn, who died in April and served as a co-chair of LACMA’s board of trustees. It is the first work by Bacon in LACMA’s collection, and will be included in the inaugural installation of the museum’s new David Geffen Galleries. Wynn paid $142 million for the piece at auction.
In the wake of philanthropist Wallis Annenberg’s death, the Wallis Annenberg Legacy Foundationhas announced a $10-million gift that will be split evenly between four initiatives of great importance to Annenberg: Santa Monica’s Annenberg Community Beach House; student internships at USC’s Wallis Annenberg Hall; free and low-cost performances for underserved audiences at Beverly Hills’ Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts; and the Wildlife Crossing Fund in Agoura Hills.
— Jessica Gelt
And last but not least
Features columnist Todd Martens says that the most exciting immersive show in L.A. is a funeral. Read all about the show, “The Cortège,” which also features the substantial talents of twins Emily and Elizabeth Hinkler.
Spotify announced Wednesday that Lossless Listening, its newest audio format, is available for premium users in select countries, including the U.S.
Lossless audio files allow for listeners to stream music using the least compressed and highest resolution audio formats can have, the company said.
Previously, when a musician uploaded their work to a streaming platform, the files tended to get compressed and lose some quality due to the encoding process. Spotify says that with Lossless Listening, users will now be able to hear every detail within the audio file.
From the delicate plucking of an electric guitar to the subtle sample of someone speaking, this new feature will allow listeners to get a heightened sense of clarity and quality when playing their favorite tracks, Spotify said. Lossless works by capturing the recording’s original sound waves and putting them together to create an accurate reproduction of its initial quality.
“We’ve taken time to build this feature in a way that prioritizes quality, ease of use, and clarity at every step, so you always know what’s happening under the hood,” Gustav Gyllenhammar, Spotify’s vice president of subscriptions, said in a statement. “With Lossless, our premium users will now have an even better listening experience.”
Founded in 2006, Spotify has become the world’s most popular audio streaming service, garnering over 696 million users. Last year, the company posted a net income of more than $1.3 billion with revenue of $18.4 billion. That was its first annual net profit since the company started. The streamer, based in Sweden, is available in more than 180 markets and has a library of over 100 million tracks, almost 7 million podcast titles and 350,000 audiobooks.
Lossless Listening is currently only available for music.
This new feature comes several years after streaming competitors first introduced a similar feature. Subscribers to Apple Music and Amazon Music have had the capacity to listen to music in this format since 2021 and 2019, respectively.
On Spotify, the lossless files are larger than the standard formats, meaning the feature can not be used when connected to Bluetooth, as there’s not enough bandwidth to transmit. If attempted with Bluetooth, the file will be compressed and played at regular quality.
To use Lossless Listening on Spotify, premium users must enable it in their settings, and an icon will appear when listening.
It’s currently available for use on mobile, tablet and desktop. Spotify Premium costs $11.99 a month, while the standard version is free for use with ads.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — When Jarvis McKenzie locked eyes with the man in the car, he couldn’t understand the hate he saw. When the man picked up a rifle, fired over his head and yelled “you better get running, boy!” as he scrambled behind a brick wall, McKenzie knew it was because he is Black.
McKenzie told his story a month after the shooting because South Carolina is one of two states along with Wyoming that don’t have their own hate crime laws.
About two dozen local governments in South Carolina have passed their own hate crime ordinances as the latest attempt to put pressure on the South Carolina Senate to take a vote on a bill proposing stiffer penalties for crimes driven by hatred of the victims because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender or ethnicity.
A decade of pressure from businesses, the survivors of a racist Charleston church massacre that left nine dead, and a few of their own Republicans hasn’t been enough to sway senators.
Local governments pass hate crime laws but with very light penalties
Richland County, where McKenzie lives, has a hate crime ordinance and the white man seen on security camera footage grabbing the rifle and firing through his open car window before driving into his neighborhood on July 24 is the first to face the charge.
But local laws are restricted to misdemeanors with sentences capped at a month in jail. The state hate crimes proposal backed by business leaders could add years on to convictions for assault and other violent crimes.
McKenzie sat in the same spot at the edge of his neighborhood for a year at 5:30 a.m. waiting for his supervisor to pick him up for work. For him and his family, every trip outside now is met with uneasiness if not fear.
“It’s heartbreaking to know that I get up every morning. I stand there not knowing if he had seen me before,” McKenzie said.
Hate crime law efforts have stalled since 2015 racist Charleston church massacre
The lack of a statewide hate crime law rapidly became a sore spot in South Carolina after the 2015 shooting deaths of nine Black worshippers at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. After a summer of racial strife in 2020, business leaders made it a priority and the South Carolina House passed its version in 2021.
But in 2021 and again in the next session in 2023, the proposal stalled in the South Carolina Senate without a vote. Supporters say Republican Senate leadership knows it will pass as more moderate members of their own party support it but they keep it buried on the calendar with procedural moves.
The opposition is done mostly in silence and the bill gets only mentioned in passing as the Senate takes up other items, like in May 2023 when a debate on guidelines for history curriculum on subjects like slavery and segregation briefly had a longtime Democratic lawmaker ask Republican Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey why hate crimes couldn’t get a vote.
“The problem right now is there is a number of people who think that not only is it feel good legislation, but it is bad legislation. It is bad policy not because people support hate but because it furthers division,” Massey responded on the Senate floor.
Supporters say federal hate crime laws aren’t enough
Opponents of a state hate crimes law point out there is a federal hate crimes law and the Charleston church shooter is on federal death row because of it.
But federal officials can’t prosecute cases involving juveniles, they have limited time and resources compared to the state and those decisions get made in Washington, D.C., instead of locally, said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott who pushed for the hate crime ordinance in his county.
“It’s common sense. We’re making something very simple complicated, and it’s not complicated. If you commit a crime against somebody just because of the hate for them, because of who they are, the religion, etcetera, we know what that is,” Lott said.
Democrats in the Senate were especially frustrated in this year’s session because while senators debated harsher sentences for attacking health care workers or police dogs, hate crimes again got nowhere.
Supporters of a state hate-crime law say South Carolina’s resistance to enact one emboldens white supremacists.
“The subliminal message that says if you’re racist and you want to commit a crime and target somebody for their race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or whatever it is you can do it here,” said McKenzie’s attorney, Tyler Bailey.
Governor says South Carolina laws provide punishment without new hate crime bill
Republican Gov. Henry McMaster understands why local governments are passing their own hate crime laws, but he said South Carolina’s laws against assaults and other violent crimes have harsh enough sentences that judges can give maximum punishments if they think the main motivation of a crime is hate.
“There’s no such thing as a love crime. There is always an element of hatred or disrespect or something like that,” said the former prosecutor who added he fears the danger that happens when investigators try to enter someone’s mind or police their speech.
But some crimes scream to give people more support in our society, Lott said.
“I think it’s very important that we protect everybody. My race, your race, everybody’s race, your religion, there needs to be some protection for that. That’s what our Constitution gives us,” the sheriff said.
And while the man charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature for shooting at McKenzie faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, the man who was just waiting to go to work feels like the state where he lives doesn’t care about the terror he felt just because of his race.
“I feel like somebody is watching me. I feel like I’m being followed,” McKenzie said. “It spooked me.”
Julio Torres is always in search of the next challenge. The writer, comedian, actor and producer is adding the title of playwright to his ever-growing, multi-hyphenate list of occupations. Since his days as an Emmy-nominated writer for “Saturday Night Live,” Torres has written and starred in the Peabody Award-winning HBO Max original series “Los Espookys,” wrote and starred in the HBO Max original series “Fantasmas” and directed, wrote and starred in his first feature film, “Problemista,” co-starring Tilda Swinton.
For his latest venture, Torres made his way to the stage — admittedly not knowing exactly what goes on in the theater, but willing to take a shot with his first comedic play, “Color Theories.” In it, the audience gets a closer look at the eccentricities that frame his imaginative inner world.
As the son of a civil engineer and architect/fashion designer, Torres’ knack for world building comes as no surprise. In a recent feature for Architectural Digest, Torres opened the doors to his wonderland Brooklyn studio apartment, which contained escapist daydream corners and custom futuristic furniture made of glass, chromatic metals and mirrors, all cut and shaped into squiggles and sharp edges. With elements of retro-elegance and the ambiance of a playhouse, Torres’ vision is nostalgically absurdist and highly refined.
The same can be said about most of his work, including his vision for “Color Theories.” In order to bring his ever unpredictable vision to life, Torres teamed up with longtime scenic design collaborator Tommaso Ortino to create a fantastical surrealist stage for his live theatrical debut, which took place Sept. 3 at the Performance Space New York, located in downtown Manhattan.
Julio Torres performs in “Color Theories” at the Performance Space New York.
(Emilio Madrid)
Before Torres begins his performance, the audience is greeted by a giant book doused in bold, mostly primary colors, a grandfather clock with the numbers melted off its face à la Dalí and tall, blank scrolls. On top of the book lies a giant lipstick-stained wine glass, and an actor lying face down in a bubble-shaped, burgundy satin cloak — or, Drew Rollins playing the role of spilled wine. Rollins is accompanied by Nick Myers, who sits on the side of the stage dressed as a music box in silver foil and oversized pearls. They both play the roles of Torres’ stagehands and narrative helpers. Costumes were designed by Muriel Parra, best known for her work in “A Fantastic Woman” (2017), “Neruda” (2016) and “The Settlers” (2023).
Once the lights come down and the play begins, the whimsical characters crack open the giant book, revealing a stark contrast of blank pages. They proceed to open a flap where the comedian emerges, from the cushioned interior of his own creation. He begins by describing the abstract personalities of different letters of the alphabet, referring to them as staff with “wants, needs, hopes and dreams.” From there, he seamlessly transitions into the definition of the first color on the list: navy blue, which represents (American) bureaucracy, policing and control. Throughout the play, this “law and order” blue encroaches on the existence of every color selected by Torres.
Upon noticing that Torres is spending too much time discussing navy blue, his robotic buddy Bebo — also a recurring character in “Fantasmas” — pops out of the giant clock and serves as a colonel of time and color story order. (He also happens to be blue.)
What Torres dubs as “relaxed” green, “commercial-portrayals-of-joy” yellow, “lusty and ragey” red, “teenage” orange, “soft” beige and “mysterious” purple are all accompanied by playful examples of behaviors, objects and societal conditioning that represent each color. The operatic sound effects paired with each color were created by Lia Ouyang Rusli, who was tasked with the important role of not only composing the sounds for each color, but their respective emotions. Torres explained in a separate interview: “Green should also sound like we combined the sounds of yellow and blue, and so that’s fun.”
One of the most poignant moments of the play is during his green monologue, when Torres reminisces about the video store he grew up visiting in San Salvador. He unashamedly admits he never returned a movie on time, so the owner would bargain the late fee with him based on if the movie was requested during the days it was off the shelf or not.
“This was all working perfectly fine until Blockbuster came in and suddenly we were in a navy blue system,” he explains — with a nod to the U.S. influence on El Salvador, namely in the way American capitalism infringes on countries within reach of its empirical tentacles.
Immigration status is a recurring theme in much of Torres’ work. In his directorial debut, “Problemista,” Torres plays the protagonist Alejandro, who scrambles to find a work visa in 30 days after being fired from his job — and makes desperate attempts to earn quick cash in an effort to pay his legal fees. In “Color Theories,” Torres describes several run-ins with airport immigration authorities and the complications of traveling with a Salvadoran passport.
He recounts being turned away from entering Costa Rica because his passport was too wrinkled — and of being taken to an interrogation room for not knowing he needed a travel visa to enter the U.K. While detained, he noticed authorities had branded the interrogation area as a pseudo-mental wellness safe space — messaging that contradicted the reality of his experience.
Torres uses blue and red to exemplify his anti-capitalist stance by endearingly explaining how those with extreme wealth maneuver tax evasion, how governments allow and excuse war crimes, and how pervasive individualism prevents progress. “Color Theories” reaches its apex when Torres begins discussing the space between the shades black and white — neither representing good nor evil, but rather the known and the unknown.
Julio Torres’ new play “Color Theories” at Performance Space New York.
(Emilio Madrid)
It’s a beautiful way to take what have become very divisive points of view and create an atmosphere of shared humanity among the audience. From here, the colors that become the focal point are bright, airy mixes of pastels, which highlight the beauty in all of our differences and ranges of knowledge.
In just over an hour, Torres delivers a concise portrait of how he navigates and experiences the world in terms an elementary schoolchild can understand — which he jokes about by saying the play will be taken to schools across the U.S. His character development transitions from a justified frustration to the conclusion that humans behaving as though they know it all is the ultimate act of hubris.
“Color Theories” does not communicate as a pessimistic rant about the world but rather examines how government and institutions of power shape our society — and how that power complicates and often oppresses the everyday reality of the average person — by using humorous, universally relatable vantage points and lighthearted pop culture moments.
SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean charter plane left for the U.S. on Wednesday to bring back Korean workers detained in an immigration raid in Georgia last week, though officials said the return of the plane with the workers onboard will not happen as quickly as they had hoped.
A total of 475 workers, more than 300 of them South Koreans, were rounded up in the Sept. 4 raid at the battery factory under construction at Hyundai’s sprawling auto plant. U.S. authorities released video showing some being shackled with chains around their hands, ankles and waists, causing shock and a sense of betrayal among many in South Korea, a key U.S. ally.
South Korea’s government later said it reached an agreement with the U.S. for the release of the workers.
Korean workers expected to be brought back home after days of detention
South Korean TV footage showed the charter plane, a Boeing 747-8i from Korean Air, taking off at Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it was talking with U.S. officials about letting the plane return home with the released workers as soon as possible. But it said the plane cannot depart from the U.S. on Wednesday as South Korea earlier wished due to an unspecified reason involving the U.S. side.
The Korean workers are currently being held at an immigration detention center in Folkston in southeast Georgia. South Korean media reported they will be freed and driven 285 miles by bus to Atlanta to take the charter plane.
South Korean officials said they’ve been negotiating with the U.S. to win “voluntary” departures of the workers, rather than deportations that could result in making them ineligible to return to the U.S. for up to 10 years.
The workplace raid by the U.S. Homeland Security agency was its largest yet as it pursues its mass deportation agenda. The Georgia battery plant, a joint venture between Hyundai and LG Energy Solution, is one of more than 20 major industrial sites that South Korean companies are currently building in the United States.
Many South Koreans view the Georgia raid as a source of national disgrace and remain stunned over it. Only 10 days earlier, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and President Trump held their first summit in Washington on Aug. 25. In late July, South Korea also promised hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. investments to reach a tariff deal.
Experts say South Korea won’t likely take any major retaliatory steps against the U.S., but the Georgia raid could become a source of tensions between the allies as the Trump administration intensifies immigration raids.
South Korea calls for improvement in U.S. visa systems
U.S. authorities said some of the detained workers had illegally crossed the U.S. border, while others had entered the country legally but had expired visas or entered on a visa waiver that prohibited them from working. But South Korean experts and officials said Washington has yet to act on Seoul’s yearslong demand to ensure a visa system to accommodate skilled Korean workers needed to build facilities, though it has been pressing South Korea to expand industrial investments in the U.S.
South Korean companies have been relying on short-term visitor visas or Electronic System for Travel Authorization to send workers needed to launch manufacturing sites and handle other setup tasks, a practice that had been largely tolerated for years.
LG Energy Solution, which employed most of the detained workers, instructed its South Korean employees in the U.S. on B-1 or B-2 short-term visit visas not to report to work until further notice, and told those with ESTAs to return home immediately.
During his visit to Washington, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun met representatives of major Korean companies operating in the U.S. including Hyundai, LG and Samsung on Tuesday. Cho told them that South Korean officials are in active discussions with U.S. officials and lawmakers about possible legislation to create a separate visa quota for South Korean professionals operating in the U.S., according to Cho’s ministry.
Trump said this week the workers “were here illegally,” and that the U.S. needs to work with other countries to have their experts train U.S. citizens to do specialized work such as battery and computer manufacturing.
Atlanta immigration attorney Charles Kuck, who represents several of the detained South Korean nationals, told the Associated Press on Monday that no company in the U.S. makes the machines used in the Georgia battery plant. So they had to come from abroad to install or repair equipment on-site — work that would take about three to five years to train someone in the U.S. to do, he said.
The South Korea-U.S. military alliance, forged in blood during the 1950-53 Korean War, has experienced ups and downs over the decades. But surveys have shown a majority of South Koreans support the two countries’ alliance, as the U.S. deployment of 28,500 troops in South Korea and 50,000 others in Japan has served as the backbone of the American military presence in the Asia-Pacific region.
During a Cabinet Council meeting on Tuesday, Lee said he felt “big responsibility” over the raid and expressed hopes that the operations of South Korean businesses won’t be infringed upon unfairly again. He said his government will push to improve systems to prevent recurrences of similar incidents in close consultations with the U.S.
Kim and Tong-Hyung write for the Associated Press.
