Recently in Season 2 Category

Video for this episode will be available at approx. noon on Friday.

Fighting For Time - For more than three years now, Bob Iritano has been fighting a particularly deadly form of cancer. Sadly, like too many other sick Americans, he's also had to fight his health insurance company to get the care he needs. LA Times columnist David Lazarus looks at this case which illustrates just how much power a health insurance company can have over our lives, and deaths. Comment

Celluloid Ceiling - This year the Academy Award for best director could go to a woman - by many accounts The Hurt Locker's Kathryn Bigelow is the front-runner. Still, as correspondent Judy Muller reports, Hollywood is still a man's world when it comes to helming a picture. Only one out of ten mainstream movies are directed by women. Comment

Commentary - KPCC's Patt Morrison shares a personal experience dealing with the nation's ailing health care delivery system. Comment

Underemployed: Settling For Less - At more than 12%, unemployment in California is at historic highs. But, if you add in the people who are underemployed, that figure skyrockets to well over 20%. Underemployed? Many of these are people who've taken jobs that pay much, much less than what they were making before the economy went into a tailspin. LA TImes columnist David Lazarus looks at this new, downward mobility, and the effect it's having on life in Southern California. Comment

Locations For Rent - If you can get work, maybe your house can, too. That is, if you still have a house. Val Zavala looks at the business of renting out your home as a film shoot location. Comment

Commentary With Gustavo Arellano - He's always funny, and always provocative. Gustavo "Ask A Mexican" Arellano shares a personal tale of unemployment. Comment

L.A.'s Moment of Truth - Like many individuals, and like governments across the nation, the city of Los Angeles is facing a budget deficit. Estimated to be over $200 million, its growing by the day, as the City Council deliberates on taking action. Correspondent Judy Muller says the city has faced shortfalls before. But this one is different. Is it really LA's moment of truth? View and Comment

Packin' a Punch - LA Times columnist Steve Lopez is known for discovering interesting, unsung heroes. He introduces us to Wendy Rodriguez. By day she works with developmentally challenged infants. At night, she works out in the ring. Meet a five-time world champion boxer who's also fighting for some of the most defenseless among us. View and Comment

Commentary with Brian Unger - And award season. It's the time for designer gowns, crisp tuxedos and...ribbons. Our humorist Brian Unger breaks down the colors and the causes. View and Comment

Is one of the great symbols of the American West - the wild horse - suffering from its amazing ability to survive? Correspondent John Larson reports there's an over-population of wild horses on government land, and no easy answers for what to do about it.

And the amazing Mr. Ayers. He was the subject of a series of columns by our contributor, LA Times writer Steve Lopez. Lopez went on to write a book, which became a movie, The Soloist. Now meet the man behind the cello, and listen to him perform as he works in a studio with some of LA's finest classical musicians.

Plus, KPPC's Patt Morrison notes the growing rancor between Democrats and Republicans. They both claim to represent the people, but Morrison asks, what do the people really want?

More and more film producers are shooting their movies outside of Southern California. What's behind this so-called runaway production, and what can be done about it?

After years of inaction, the LA City Council finally approves a tough ordinance regulating the city's medical marijuana clinics. What took so long? And will the ordinance stand up to legal challenges?

And KPCC's Patt Morrison notes that no matter how blasé we are about seeing a movie star, or a mass of film trucks parked in our neighborhood, deep inside we love the idea that our home town is the center of the film universe.

The disaster in Haiti has shocked us all. And here in Southern California, many are taking a look, once again, at how prepared we are for the next big quake in our area.

In this episode, we sift through earthquake myths, culling out the facts from the fiction. Then, we explore a dirty little secret in Los Angeles - hundreds or even thousands of buildings that are unsafe and could collapse in a quake. Finally, our commentator Marcos Villatoro shares his thoughts on Haiti, and what we've all been seeing on our TV screens.

Is the agency charged with protecting the safety of California workers failing to do its job?

A six-month long investigation by SoCal Connected shows that many of the inspectors who enforce California's worker safety laws say the system is strained if not broken.

Our investigation discovered that fines levied against employers who violate safety rules are routinely reduced or even dismissed, often over the objections of Cal-OSHA workers who cited the companies for safety hazards.

Watch this exclusive investigation and find out why workers in California may have more to fear than just losing their jobs.

More on Cal-Osha and Worker Safety

Dole Food's Leaked Memo And Official Response
Read the leaked Dole Foods memo about worker safety, along with a response to SoCal Connected from the company.

Cal/OSHA Documents
Read a letter Cal/OSHA employees sent complaining about the actions of the board that can reduce or eliminate fines for violating worker safety rules.

A History of Worker Safety
Scroll through a brief time line of the history of worker safety, from ancient Sumeria to modern times.

Job Safety: Top 10 Violators
Which employers have been most often cited for workplace safety violations? We've got a top ten list, and it's sure to surprise you.

Cal/OSHA: Are Employers Getting Off The Hook?
Employers are often able to get fines for workplace safety violations reduced - or thrown out all together. An inside look at the process...inside.

Average Workplace Safety Fine: $1200
We've compiled a table that shows all the Cal/OSHA safety violations, and fines imposed, for the past fiscal year. Plus a link to more data.

Southern California is the land of sunshine and movie stars. It's also become the egg donor capital of the world. Prospective parents from around the globe look to young women in California, many of whom are only too willing to provide donor eggs - and earn thousands of dollars in the process. Correspondent Judy Muller investigates in "Beauty, Brains & Eggs.

Plus, are California car washes little more than sweat shops? At some establishments workers are paid little or nothing, and can't even count on keeping all their tips. That story from correspondent Angie Crouch.

And, commentator Marcos Villatoro didn't go high tech when he and he wife wanted a child. They adopted a child from Guatemala. Now she's almost grown, and trying to figure out who she is in a world that says you've got to be either this or that.

Ten bedrooms, fourteen baths, and no buyers. Californian's used to crave MacMansions. But now, many owners are having second thoughts, and those trying to sell are having a hard time finding buyers.

Plus, the secrets behind Cirque du Soleil. Find out what goes on before the show goes on.

And our resident humorist Brian Unger says being super-rich just isn't what it used to be.

Can—or should—government limit the number of fast-food restaurants? Plus, LA's fabulous food trucks. And our FEMA investigation pays off for some Ventura County residents.

More and more middle-class families are finding themselves on the streets. Correspondent Lisa Ling reports on this new group, she calls the Hidden Homeless.

Even more people find themselves on the brink - facing foreclosure on their homes. That's bad enough, but now, as the LA Time's David Lazarus reports, scammers are coming out of the woodwork to offer help. False help as it turns out.

Correspondent Angie Crouch reports on the work of the region's arson investigators and the tough business of piecing together evidence at a crime scene that has been ravaged by fire.

We follow up on last week's story about FEMA declaring parts of Los Angeles as flood zones. It turns out LA is not alone. This week we look at Ventura, where FEMA and the county have been going round and round over what is, and isn't in a flood zone.

And our commentator Marcos Villatoro relates his personal tale of involvement with the Swine Flu.

FEMA decides some LA neighborhoods are in danger of flooding. LA Crime writer Michael Connelly's Los Angeles. And a letter to the new police chief.

For over a year now there has been a moratorium on issuing new permits for fast-food restaurants in an area of South Central LA. Some see it as just one step government can take in combating an epidemic of obesity. Others say even if government could make us eat better, banning fast-food restaurants is not the solution. Plus, they're a long, and vibrant part of LA eating - food trucks. And humorist Brian Unger says life is scary enough - who needs Halloween?

Almost 40% of the nation's uninsured are between the ages of 18-35. They're taking personal risks, and putting the entire health care system in danger. Plus, coping with a serious illness, by laughing about it. And Patt Morrison confesses how she had to bargain for health care - all the way to the operating room.

There is a consensus building that our penchant for talking and texting while driving has become a major safety hazard.

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