In this episode of “This Week,” Daily Bruin correspondents cover Adam Schiff’s Senate victory and Nathan Hochman’s win as LA District Attorney, UCLA soccer teams entering Big Ten tournaments, men’s and women’s basketball season openers and the 30th anniversary celebration of alumni-founded Asian American magazine “Giant Robot,” along with the upcoming horror film “Heretic.” Moreover, they discuss the election results and what it means for UCLA students.

Jackson Wooton: Hello. It is Friday, November 8, and you are listening to This Week by Daily Bruin Podcasts. This is the Daily Bruin’s weekly news podcast. Thanks for joining us for another episode. Today, we’ll be discussing the election week as well as everything else going on around campus this week. My name is Jackson, and I’m a Daily Bruin podcast contributor and the host for today. Why don’t we start off by saying what album we’re really listening to right now?

Gabrielle Gillette: My name is Gabrielle Gillette. I’m the Metro editor and the news correspondent for today. I’ve been listening to a lot of “brat and it’s still completely different, but it’s also still brat” by Charli xcx, the remix album.

Una O’Farrell: My name is Una O’Farrell. I’m an assistant sports editor, and I’m the sports correspondent for today, and right now I’m listening to “Melodrama” by Lorde.

Reid Sperisen: Hi. My name is Reid Sperisen, and I’m the music | fine arts editor and the arts correspondent today. I’ve been listening a lot to “Blackout” by Britney Spears because “Gimme More” is an anthem for midterm season.

Tavian Williams: My name is Tavian Williams. I’m an assistant opinion editor and the national and international correspondent today. I haven’t really been listening to any albums, but today, specifically, I’ve just been listening to “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar, and it’s giving me hope.

JW: Thank you all for those introductions. Right now, I’m currently listening to “Sincere” by Khalid.

JW: Now, let’s get into the top stories of the week. So, what is going on with news right now?

GG: This week, news has been covering the election. We had a special election issue come out on Monday where we detailed every race on the Westwood ballot. On Tuesday, we also had live coverage of the election, not only local races, but state and national as well. We, of course, were watching the presidential race, which we’ll talk about more in a bit, but we also saw key results from the Senate race, with Democrat Adam Schiff winning the open Senate seat in California. Though, in the end, it was the Republicans who were projected to assume control of the Senate. And on the more local side, the incumbent Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón was unseated by Nathan Hochman in a bid consistent with the polls who put him in the lead by around 30 percentage points, though it comes in a stark contrast to the climate under which Gascón was elected in 2020.

JW: Okay, so there seems to be a change here. What is Gascón’s history in the state?

GG: Yeah, so Gascón came into office in 2020 under the promise of criminal justice reform and restorative justice, following the movement sparked by the police killing of George Floyd. But he faced heavy criticism throughout his tenure, seeing two recalls during his time in office, as well as 20 lawsuits from his own staff for allegations of retaliation. So in return, Hochman said he’ll transform the office by removing political biases from decisions, as well as pledging to erase several of what he calls Gascón’s “pro-criminal policies.”

JW: Alright, thanks for that update. And why don’t we get started on the sports updates for the week. What is going on with the end of the season for some of the sports?

UO: Fall sports are starting to wrap up their seasons, men’s/women’s soccer, both entering the beginning of their Big 10 tournaments. Women’s soccer opened with one win over Penn State, a team they faced earlier this season. They’re going to be facing Washington later, a team they beat earlier in the season, so it’ll be interesting to see how far they make it through the tournament. And then men’s soccer is going to be playing in the first round of their tournament this week, also against a team they’ve already played. They tied with Maryland earlier this season, so the matchup on Thursday should be interesting to watch.

JW: Alright, that’s great to hear about the wrapping up of these seasons. Are there any new sports starting up?

UO: Yeah. Men’s and women’s basketball both started their seasons earlier this week. UCLA women’s basketball, they’re ranked number five right now, took its first ranked win in Paris, their first game of the season against number 17, Louisville. Men’s basketball had two games last week, an exhibition match win and then a win of Rider, both big, knockout games, which is interesting, just because men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin has elaborated a lot on how he’s a really deep roster, and that was something that was very apparent in Monday’s game and something that likely carried into the rest of the season.

JW: All right, thank you for that sports story of the day. We will move on to the Arts and Entertainment.

RS: The alumni-founded magazine Giant Robot is celebrating its 30th anniversary this fall. The magazine is an alternative Asian and Asian American cultural magazine founded by Eric Nakamura and Martin Wong to mainly discuss topics such as undiscovered artists, niche anime and Asian food. As part of a celebration of the zine’s 30th anniversary, the UCLA Film & Television Archive and the Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities are presenting a film series, co-curated by Nakamura until November 17.

JW: Alright, it’s great to hear about the film and TV culture at UCLA. What is going on in the larger context of Hollywood right now?

RS: The new film, “Heretic,” will be released in theaters Friday. It is a horror and thriller film starring Hugh Grant as the devilish antagonist Mr. Reed. Over the course of the film, two female Mormon missionaries will be trapped in Mr. Reed’s home and have to try to find their way out. The film has received a 94% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes so far.

JW: So, what is happening with the news nationally/internationally right now?

TW: Of course! Former President Donald Trump won the election against vice president Kamala Harris and will become the United States’ 47th president.

JW: Okay, what are the important details we should know about this?

TW: Early Wednesday morning, Trump clinched Wisconsin, securing the 270 electoral votes needed to return to the White House as the 47th president. He will be the second president after Grover Cleveland, who served from 1885 to 1889 and again in 1893 to 1897 to serve two non-consecutive terms. In what the AP calls an “extraordinary comeback,” Trump’s victory follows his refusal to concede four years ago, a capital insurrection, felony convictions and surviving two assassination attempts.

JW: So, what might a second Trump presidency look like for students on campus?

TW: For students on campus, this is a hot button topic. Yes, the two things I think are up in the air are immigration and reproductive rights. On Wednesday morning, when Trump gave his pre-victory speech, he talked about mass deportations for “illegal” immigrants, talking about how you have to come here legally. How this might affect UCLA students is we may have students who may not have legal status here and now with him in presidency, that’s all up in the air. And when it comes to reproductive rights, during the presidential debate in September, he said he wasn’t going to mess with that, but that’s still up in the air too.

JW: Okay, thank you for that update, and thank you all for joining us today. Come back next Friday for another episode of This Week.