Los Angeles Times News Quiz this week: The life of Pope Francis, precious metal hits a high
Each Friday, I serve up 10 handcrafted, California-leaning, multiple-choice questions based on stories that appeared in The Times (in print or online) over the previous seven days.
On tap for this week are stories about the soaring price of a certain precious metal, the reason Dodgers' standout Shohei Ohtani stayed home while his teammates traveled to take on the Texas Rangers, the life of the late Pope Francis, the Ryan Coogler movie that topped the Easter weekend box office, the U.S. senator who went to El Salvador to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia and more.
If you've kept up on the news of the week, you should have no problem answering these questions correctly.
Are you ready to have some fun? I am. Let's get started.
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American Culture Quiz: Test yourself on vintage vehicles and carnival crowds
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This book teaches you how to break into Hollywood
This week, we are chatting with Ada Tseng and Jon Healey about their new book, 'Breaking Into New Hollywood.' We also take a look at what our critics read, and visit a bookstore that has become a social beehive in Culver City. The entertainment industry is experiencing a massive transformation, as traditional jobs are vanishing and artificial intelligence increasingly upends the way media is created. Thankfully, former L.A. Times editors Ada Tseng and Jon Healey are here to help. The duo, with extensive experience covering show business, have written a new book for anyone who's ever dreamed of working in Hollywood. Tseng and Healey interviewed hundreds of insiders who work in front of and behind the camera to provide a thorough look at how to break in, and what it's like when you do find that dream job. I sat down with authors to discuss 'Breaking Into New Hollywood.' (Please note: The Times may earn a commission through links to whose fees support independent bookstores.) This is the most comprehensive how-to guide for Hollywood careers I've ever read. Where did the impetus for the book come from? Ada: The book started as a Hollywood careers series at the Los Angeles Times, when Jon and I were editors on a team that specialized in writing guides and explainers. As we were thinking about how to be useful to L.A. Times readers, I pitched a project to help people who were interested in getting a job in Hollywood. A lot of people come to L.A. starry-eyed with big dreams, but the film and TV industry can be pretty brutal. As journalists, we're Hollywood outsiders, but we had access to hundreds of professionals who were generous enough to share what they wished they knew when they were starting out. We see it like this: On behalf of the people who don't have connections in the industry, we cold-emailed people, asked for informational interviews, picked their brains, listened to stories of what they did to build a career — and did our best to consolidate their most practical pieces of advice into an actionable guide. Jon: A lot of folks I interviewed had similar origin stories in this respect: They knew that they wanted to work in the industry in some capacity, but they didn't know what exactly they could do. So it made sense to do a book for that sort of person — a guide that would show an array of possible career paths to people who didn't know what role they wanted to fill. I feel like 'How to Break into the Business' books in the past have tended to focus on positive outcomes rather than the struggle. Did you want to temper expectations, or at least make sure people think things through very thoroughly before jumping in? Ada: We just wanted to be honest. The glamorous fantasy of Hollywood is so intoxicating. But if you're going to work in the industry, you need to navigate the day-to-day reality of it. I don't think we were trying to encourage or discourage anyone. I'd hope that some people would read the chapters and think, 'This seems doable, and now I can make a plan,' while others would read it and think, 'If I'm honest with myself, I'm someone who needs more stability in my life.' Because it's not just a career choice. It's a lifestyle choice. Jon: Right, this was about expectation-setting and reality-checking. The very first interviews I did in this project were of Foley artists. An expert I interviewed said there were 40 to 50 established Foley practitioners in the U.S., and 100 to 200 folks trying to get into the field. That's a very tough nut to crack. Then there are the Hollywood unions, which present a catch-22 to anyone trying to join their ranks — they have to do a certain number of hours in jobs covered by union contracts, but union members get first crack at all those gigs. Your book also covers jobs above and below the line. I think many people don't even realize how many different career opportunities exist. Ada: There are two things we heard over and over again. People would say, 'It's incredibly important to understand what all the different departments do.' And they'd also say, 'So many people — even our own colleagues in the industry — don't understand what we do.' So we wanted to encourage newcomers to learn about all different types of jobs in Hollywood and how they work together. Jon: Talking about the emotional components is about setting expectations too. The vast majority of people who work in Hollywood, from A-list actors to entry-level grips, are freelancers. That's a tough life of highs and lows, and you have to prepare for that mentally as well as financially. People have to hustle for years to establish themselves, and that takes an enormous capacity for rejection. On top of that is the physical toll the work can extract, especially on the folks involved in setting up and tearing down sets. Part of the point of the book is to tell people with Hollywood dreams that they'll need to gird themselves emotionally and physically for the work. Mark Athatakis finds much to like in 'Ready for My Close-Up,' David M. Lubin's book about the classic 1950 film 'Sunset Boulevard.' 'Though the book has its shortcomings,' he writes, '[Lubin] rightly sees the movie as a kind of passkey into the history of the first half-century of Hollywood itself.' Robet Allen Papinchak weighs in on Phoebe Greenwood's Middle East satire 'Vulture,' finding it 'a darkly comic, searing satire grounded in historic politics.' Emma Sloley's novel 'The Island of Last Things' envisions a future where animal life, and then entire ecosystems, are wiped out, but Ilana Masad writes that Sloley also highlights 'the small moments of beauty, joy and care that emerge even during … horrible times.' And Paula L. Woods has a chat with master thriller novelist Karin Slaughter about her new book, 'We Are All Guilty Here,' and TV series. Four years after it opened its doors to the public, Village Well Books & Coffee has become a community locus in its Culver City neighborhood. Owner Jennifer Caspar has created a vibrant space with a full-service cafe, allowing her customers to linger for as long as they please while perusing Caspar's ample and well-curated selection of new books. I chatted with Caspar about her store and what's selling right now. Why did you open the store? I wanted a place where people can facilitate connections with others, because I think that's what people need. Everyone is so overwhelmed by their phones and technology, and we tend to take the easy path, which is to not get out and see people. What's selling right now? 'Atmosphere,' Taylor Jenkins Reid; 'Martyr,' Kaveh Akbar; 'The Emperor of Gladness,' Ocean Vuong; 'All Fours,' Miranda July. There's been a real increase in books about activism and the Middle East situation. We're launching an activism book club here, starting with 'Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next)' by Dean Spade. It will be interesting to see who comes out for that. Why books now? Why not the Substack, social media, etc.? Books are an antidote to the constant distractions in our lives. People need to connect offline, and books give us a chance to settle down and focus. Studies show that what we learn from books stays with us longer. You can read a Kindle, and I do, but there is something about sitting down with words on paper. For me, it's great physical therapy for my emotional state. 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Newsweek
a day ago
- Newsweek
Will Taylor Swift Play Super Bowl 2026? Her Fans Have a Theory
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. This week, Taylor Swift announced her highly anticipated 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, during an appearance on New Heights, the podcast co-hosted by her boyfriend, Travis Kelce. Now, Swift's excited fans have a theory that she left an Easter egg in the episode. Swifties believe the singer has left a trail of clues suggesting that she is performing as the halftime entertainer at the upcoming Super Bowl. Newsweek has contacted a representative for Swift for comment via email outside regular working hours. Why It Matters The Life of a Showgirl marks Swift's first album release since her record-breaking Eras Tour—the highest-grossing tour in history—wrapped in December. Earlier this year, Swift bought back the rights to the master recordings of her first six albums: Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989 and Reputation. "You belong with me," she wrote on social media on May 30 alongside a photo of herself surrounded by her albums—a reference to her 2008 song by the same name from her sophomore album. The Life of a Showgirl is Swift's 12th record and the fifth one she has released in the past five years, following Folklore (2020), Evermore (2020), Midnights (2022) and The Tortured Poets Department (2024). Taylor Swift cheers from a suite as the Kansas City Chiefs play the Chicago Bears at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri on September 24, 2023. Taylor Swift cheers from a suite as the Kansas City Chiefs play the Chicago Bears at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri on September 24, To Know Swift's fans have been buzzing with excitement and theories following the pop superstar's announcement earlier this week, but one theory in particular is gaining ground with her fan base. During the two-hour-long podcast, which has been viewed more than 16 million times on YouTube, Swift discussed her hobbies outside making music, which include baking sourdough bread. She said, "I'm really talking about bread 60 percent of the time now." While this may seem like an innocuous comment, in the Taylor Swift fandom nothing is ever treated as such. In an Instagram reel from Grind City Media, Jessica Benson, a reporter who covers pop culture and sport, said, "I think Taylor Swift is going to be the Super Bowl halftime show performer." "I don't think Taylor Swift is actually baking sourdough bread. I think it was an Easter egg," Benson said. The Super Bowl LX is scheduled to take place at Levi's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, and Benson noted that the 49ers' mascot is Sourdough Sam. The Grind City Media reel has been viewed more than 7 million times. The account @swiftiesforeternity also promoted the theory, writing in the text overlay of an Instagram post: "Taylor's 47th show was at Levi's Stadium. That's where super bowl 60 is... which is the 49ers stadium... and their mascot? 'SOURDOUGH SAM,' Taylor said she talks about sourdough 60 percent of the time, and kept saying 47 in the podcast." Swift is known for leaving a trail of clues for her fans that hint to upcoming albums, song lyrics or other key events for the singer. "I want Easter eggs to be a certain thing where if you are part of the fandom and you want to experience music in a normal way, then you don't even see these," she said during the New Heights episode, adding, "But if you want to look at that then it's there." For those searching for potential Super Bowl-themed Easter eggs, the podcast itself may be one. Some Taylor Swift fans were a little dismayed by the superstar choosing to announce her new album on a sports podcast, but if she is hinting at a Super Bowl performance, it could all be part of a bigger picture. It wouldn't be the first time that an appearance of Swift's has been an Easter egg. During the podcast, she referenced what she described as one of her favorite Easter eggs: the commencement speech she gave when she received an honorary doctorate from New York University in 2022. "I put so many lyrical Easter eggs in that speech that when the Midnights album came out after that, the fans were like, 'The whole speech was an Easter egg,'" Swift said on the podcast. Fans on social media have also noted that a silver football and a silver microphone were sitting behind Swift during her podcast appearance and that the singer made multiple references to the number 47 during the episode. Fans believe this is an Easter egg because her 47th show of the Eras Tour was at Levi's Stadium. It is important to note that Swift's fans regularly theorize about the singer's next move, and their theories often fall short, a phenomenon known in the fandom as "clowning." The theories about Swift being a halftime performer are all speculative and fan-driven. There has been no confirmation from the signer or the NFL that she will perform at the Super Bowl. What People Are Saying Taylor Swift said on the New Heights podcast: "As we all know, you guys have a lot of male sports fans that listen to your podcast, and um, I think we all know that if there's one thing that male sports fans want to see in their spaces and on their screens, it's more of me." X user @chartstswift wrote in a post viewed more than 1.4 million times: "Taylor Swift could be hinting at the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show: On 'New Heights,' Taylor said she has watched every Super Bowl halftime show, thinks about sourdough '60 percent of the time,' and mentioned the number 47 several times. Coincidentally, or not, Sourdough is the San Francisco 49ers' mascot. The 49ers will host the 60th Super Bowl at Levi's Stadium—which also happened to be the 47th stop on the Eras Tour. And, of course, 2026 will be Travis Kelce's 13th NFL season." What Happens Next Super Bowl LX is scheduled for February 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, California. The halftime performer is often announced in the early portion of the regular NFL season, around September.
