Before Los Angeles had Hollywood, it had oil – a lot of it. And the toxic legacy of that oil boom still lingers below the city streets. Hundreds of deserted, unplugged oil wells are scattered underneath neighborhoods like Echo Park, potentially leaking toxic gases. Dena Takruri goes to L.A. to investigate this hidden plight.
Direct From
Why California Isn’t As Green As You Think
As California moves to phase out fossil fuels, its top oil-producing county is fighting to keep petroleum pumping. Dena Takruri heads to Kern County, where in one in seven workers has a job tied to oil. She attends a major oil festival called Oildorado to find out just how much the industry props up the community. Can this oil-reliant county ever break up with fossil fuels?
The Racist Border You Don’t Hear About
U.S. border agents have long been criticized for abuses along the Mexican border, but there’s trouble up north too. Officers stationed on the U.S.-Canada border are under fire for racially profiling and harassing people of color. Dena Takruri speaks to the latest people to blow the whistle – officers within Customs and Border Protection
‘I Felt Like A F*cking Nazi’: An Ex-Border Patrol Agent Speaks Out
Jenn Budd is a former senior U.S. Border Patrol agent turned migrant rights activist. She spoke to Dena Takruri about what she calls a racist, sexist and corrupt culture inside the agency.
Canada’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
Thousands of Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been murdered across Canada. After 15-year-old Tina Fontaine’s body was found at the bottom of a river, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau opened a national inquiry into the epidemic. But many families fear they’ll never see justice. AJ+’s Dena Takruri visits Winnipeg, Manitoba, where more Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been murdered than anywhere else in the country. After years of failure on the part of police and the government, activists here are taking matters into their own hands.
Ahed Tamimi Freed From Israeli Prison (Part 2) | Direct From With Dena Takruri – AJ+
Ahed Tamimi became a worldwide symbol of Palestinian resistance after she slapped an Israeli soldier in front of her home in the occupied West Bank. Now in Part 2, Ahed is released from Israeli prison in a chaotic and emotional day. Dena Takruri sits down with the teen activist to discuss her experience in prison, her hopes for the future, and her thoughts on Palestinian resistance.
The Palestinian Kids Fighting Israel’s Occupation (Part 1) | Direct From With Dena Takruri
In the season premiere of Direct From, Dena Takruri heads to the occupied West Bank to meet the teenage girl who has become an icon of Palestinian resistance. The tiny Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh, the birthplace of Ahed Tamimi, has been waging a sustained, nonviolent resistance movement against Israeli military rule for at least a decade. In the days before Ahed’s release from prison, Dena meets the family members and activists fighting for their freedom under occupation, and talks to the young generation of Palestinians about their dreams for the future.
Cape Town Is Running Out Of Water
AJ+’s Dena Takruri shows you how, after three years of drought, population growth and inadequate planning, Cape Town might be the first major city in the world to run out of water.
Inside Skid Row: America’s Homelessness Capital
Skid Row is a sprawling tent city in the heart of downtown Los Angeles where you’ll find thousands of people sleeping on the streets, diseases, no toilets, no food or water. AJ+’s Dena Takruri goes to ground zero of L.A.’s homelessness crisis to show the dire and shocking conditions residents live under.
ICE Raids Doomsday: Here’s How One Immigrant Prepares
Undocumented people in northern California are bracing for massive ICE raids. AJ+’s Dena Takruri speaks with an undocumented Honduran mother who’s preparing her family for the worst.
Dena Takruri 