Commentaries from the Edge

The City of Los Angeles, a young city, has been a magnet for over 100 years, attracting people from all over the United States and the world. Dr. Fernando Guerra, a Professor of Political Science and Chicano Latino Studies for almost 40 years at Loyola Marymount University, founded the Center for the Study of Los Angeles on the campus in 1996. As the Center’s Director, he wanted to create a place...

At a time when the world is faced with a new “normal”, the question is how do we prepare for a future that will look very different than the past. According to Dr. Ximenez, it is time for us to embrace the unknown and to relish the freedom to create a life with new possibilities. Clearly, as the pandemic spread around the world since 2020, it brought death and destruction in its wake. In this epis...

The people’s of the world are on the move, migrating across regions and continents. Many, due to wars, oppression and violent circumstances, come as refugees with little salvaged from their past lives. In Los Angeles, California, there is an organization called the INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE that works in tandem with the offices of the State Department of the Federal government. The Institute takes r...

Tracy Newman came to comedy writing by being a founder of a Los Angeles improvisational organization called The Groundlings. It was located on the famous Melrose Avenue, and it was during the heyday in the 1960’s for these kind of entertainment venues. The Groundlings, which still operates today, became a training ground where aspiring actors could learn how to create jokes and how to respond to a...

Evelina Fernandez, actress and Playwright, is a founding member of the Latino Theatre Company, one of the premier theatrical groups telling the stories from the growing Latino community in Los Angeles and around the United States.  The Company took residence in the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC) in California, an important part of this major cultural center.  From the onset in the mid 1980s, LA...

      Understanding the brain, how it functions and its impact on our individual destiny is an endless quest.  Dr. Steven Siegel, Chair of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine and Chief Mental Health and Wellness Officer for Keck Medicine at the University of Southern California (USC), in Los Angeles, has spent years conducting brain research.   It is a research that continues to be a frontier of...

It appears that what holds American society together has some serious cracks.  These fissures are the seemingly unchecked spread of extremism expressed in acts and words of hate and racism.  In this episode, Rev. Najuma of the University of Southern California’s (USC) Center for Religion and Civic Culture (CRCC)addresses the recent recording of four Los Angeles, California, civic leaders released...

In the wake of a leaked recording of a conversation by four Civic officials in Los Angeles, California, full of racist and demeaning words, many community leaders have stepped forward to respond. In this episode listeners will hear from Hyepin Im, the founder and President of FACE, Faith and Community Empowerment. It is an important and inspiring service organization connected to the 5000 Korean C...

Like many places in the world, Los Angeles is in a phase of great transformation.  At the same time that old structures are being torn down and replaced by modern, new buildings, there is an ongoing humanitarian crisis with tens of thousands of people and families who are homeless.   It means that as the City experiences this physical transformation, it is imperative that housing becomes a priorit...

Fernando Guerra is the Founder and Director of The Center for the Study of Los Angeles started in 1996, at the campus of the Loyola Marymount University,(LMU), located in a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In addition to growing the Center in its breath of research, he has continued in the position of Professor of Political Science and Chicano Latino Studies for almost 40 years. He arrived...

Hillel, on campuses across the United States and internationally, takes their place with other religious centers on college campuses, to enrich the lives of young people during their academic experience. In particular, the purpose of Hillel is to serve Jewish students at a pivotal time in their lives to foster learning about Jewish values and to promote their commitment to social justice as a life...

The thread of Fred Kaplan’s long career as a stellar Journalist has culminated in the last twenty years as the WAR STORIES Correspondent for Slate.com. It seems war is a topic for a lifetime career, and now in the year 2022, the war in Ukraine has no end in sight. Kaplan, besides being a Pulitzer Prize winning Defense Correspondent, is the author of six books, displaying his deep knowledge of the...

At this writing in June of 2022, there is breaking news that a bipartisan agreement has been made among Leaders of the United States Senate bringing some hope of meaningful gun legislation.   Dr. Tony Beliz is returning to the COMMENTARIES FROM THE EDGE podcast program for the third time, responding to what seems like an epidemic of gun violence and school shootings moving across the U. S. ,with h...

This is the final episode of a three-part series asking three distinguished Rabbis of Los Angeles, California, to answer the same question - What is a Jew? According to Rabbi Missaghieh, showing three very different opinions on the same subject, each with valid points, is the essence of answering the question of what it means to be a Jew. The question is more important than the answer. The Jew, in...

Into the 21st century we are struggling, challenges all around us, locally and globally. Award winning Journalist Howard Rosenberg helps us confront and understand where we are in the constantly changing world of media. How have the developments in the last years blurred our way of knowing the truth from the lies and driven us into a world of divisiveness and hostility. Rosenberg, as a 25 year vet...

Sexual harassment and assault often in the work place has been headlines in our society in the last years.   Many prominent men have lost their jobs and their standing in the community after being immune from any accountability.  At the same time, issues of blaming the female victim and protecting the male predator are still common in the lives of teen young women.  Listen to the voices of three t...

Over a span of decades, Tracy Newman has used her creativity in folk song writing and singing, and in her pioneering work as a comedy writer for live performances and television audiences.  The origins of much of the comedy we enjoy today in the United States, came from a blossoming of talent that arrived on the scene 50 years ago now.  One of the places that became a hotbed of developing future c...

This topic is part of a series asking three Rabbis of Los Angeles, California, to answer the question, What is a Jew?   In this episode you will hear from Rabbi Chaim, Director Emeritus of the UCLA Yitzhak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life.   He recently celebrated his fortieth year of working with students and faculty making Hillel a place where thousands would come for learning and personal gr...

The Kurds are a people who lay claim to a land always under threat. In this episode, Barry Fisher, a return guest, talks about his link to the Kurds and their long suffering goal to create a Kurdistan, not dissimilar to the current struggle of the Ukrainians with their endless fight to carve out and maintain a separate country. The Kurds continue to be a people whose dream of having a peaceful, ge...

In March of 2021, one year ago, Dr. Tony Beliz, drew upon his expertise to discuss assessing persons on a pathway to violence. In this episode he returns to describe the long list of traumatic changes caused by the pandemic that has affected all of us. Dr. Beliz not only details prevention strategies but what families and friends need to look for in young people who fall into a state of isolation...

Rabbi David Wolpe is a renown spiritual leader and scholar in the Jewish community and beyond. He is based in Los Angeles, California and holds the position of the Max Webb Senior Rabbi of Sinai Temple, a large and historic place of worship and learning. He has taught at various significant universities, appeared in multiple television series and appeared in a myriad of public debates with the lik...

Mental health has become a wider concern as the pandemic way of life has restricted human contact and promoted feelings of depression and despair.  For some time now, research has shown that turning to one’s sense of spirituality can be a powerful tool for increasing and maintaining mental health.  In certain agencies and organizations mental health services have incorporated a client’s spirituali...

Gypsies, known as Romani people, with their long history of moving across countries and continents, fit into the modern day movement of millions struggling to find a better and more peaceful life. Barry Fisher tells us the story of his own musical and professional legal relationship as their lawyer, a population often stereotyped, living in the realm of mystique and mystery. We come to understand...

Grieving, it seems, is something we all need to learn how to approach as it is inescapable in the human experience. It is offset by the joys and beauty of life as we carry it along with us. In these last two years, we are living in a time with grief all around us from the worldwide pandemic that persists. With guidance from Robin Kay, Ph.d, current Adjunct Faculty member at the University of South...

Note to Listeners - There are a few points on this podcast recording with tech difficulties. Thank you for listening for the valuable information about the functioning of the brain. K. G. Dr. Steven Siegel, Chair of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine and Chief Mental Health and Wellness Officer for Keck Medicine, at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, has spent years researchin...