Growing up with his five siblings in Maui, director Destin Daniel Cretton says his mom didn’t let the kids watch much TV. “We had to find our own ways of playing make-believe, or making up plays, or making dance routines, fight choreography,” he recalls.

Then, on a family vacation to California, his grandmother loaned him her VHS camera. “I became the person who was documenting the trip,” he says. “And my grandma kind of encouraged me to do that.” He got a thrilling glimpse of Hollywood and Universal Studios and Disneyland. “All of that inspiration came back with me to Maui,” he says. “And that’s when we started making movies nonstop.”

Movies connected him to the outside world, Cretton explains. “As a kid, I would watch many movies with my dad, with our family, and that is how I traveled. That is how I was exposed to other cultures. That’s how I understand how kids grew up in high school on the mainland. And one of my biggest takeaways was not how different we are, but how similar we are, emotionally.”

Cretton’s first job out of college was at a group home for at-risk teenagers. He turned that experience into the 2013 film Short Term 12, starring Brie Larson, Rami Malek and LaKeith Stanfield. He went on to direct the 2017 film adaptation of Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, as well as Just Mercy, about attorney Bryan Stevenson’s work defending men on Death Row. His Marvel debut was the 2021 film Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings, and he created the Marvel series Wonder Man. Now, he’s the director of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. 

Interview Highlights

On connecting to Peter Parker’s experience of feeling alone in Spider-Man: Brand New Day

I was reflecting a lot on my 20s when I left university and when I didn’t really have a real direction in life, when a lot of my friends are going off to other things. And it felt like a lot of people were moving on without me. It was easy at that time to feel completely alone, to feel like I didn’t have a direction to go. … Being surrounded by people who all seem like they have it together and seem like they are having the time of their lives. And I remember certain times feeling very alone in the middle of it.

Rolling heat waves. Unusually high humidity. A supersized El Niño on the horizon, which stands to spike temperatures to unprecedented degrees.

Summer in Los Angeles may not have broken any heat records — yet — but the relentless hot weather may be more than you’re able to endure, at least comfortably. Especially without AC at home. Personally, I’ve launched a full-scale assault on the sweltering weather, including consulting heat researchers for strategies on staying cool at home.

Which have worked to varying degrees so far.

So what next? I’d been hearing a lot about Ayurvedic herbalism, which has been used in India for thousands of years to help people cope with the heat, among other conditions, naturally and holistically. Herbal remedies — in both Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine — are not a medical treatment for heat stroke and other heat illnesses, but they may bring relief in warm weather, some experts say, particularly when prepared by a clinical herbalist.

“You have to, of course, make sure you have enough fluid first — water is key,” says Dr. Ka-Kit Hui, director of UCLA’s Center for East-West Medicine. “But many of the cooling herbs, like chrysanthemum and honeysuckle, which are anti-inflammatory, and peppermint, for sure, are used for heat symptoms. Some of the chemicals in the herbs are helpful in maintaining the metabolism so that it’s not superfast and generating more heat in the system.”

Herbs aren’t a cure-all, Hui cautions. They won’t lower your actual body temperature significantly on their own, or every time. Much depends on what’s raising your body temperature in the first place — if you have a fever due to an infection, for example, see a doctor rather than ingesting peppermint.

“But they’re antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory and are cooling,” he says of some herbs. “And they reduce the feeling of heat. They work in a mild manner with the body’s physiological system bringing the system back into balance.”

I was still undecided on the benefits of herbs to keep cool. But — willing to try nearly anything on a recent stifling afternoon — I made a trip to Anima Mundi Apothecary, in Venice. The “high vibrational” herb shop offers “plant medicines for body, mind & wellness.” It’s the brainchild of clinical herbalist Adriana Ayales, who grew up in Costa Rica with a background in rainforest herbalism. She also trained with shamanic communities throughout Central and South America. Her Anima Mundi Herbals is based in Brooklyn, N.Y., where the company manufactures herbal tinctures, elixirs, teas, herbal supplements and other botanicals. It also has shops in Soho in Manhattan as well as Uvita in Costa Rica. The Venice location opened in 2023.

Inside Anima Mundi Apothecary, which houses more than 100 organic or wild herbs.

(Anima Mundi Apothecary)

The apothecary is part herb shop, with a wall of more than 100 organic or wild crafted herbs, in jars, from small farms in Southeast Asia and Costa Rica as well as Oregon, Washington, Vermont and upstate New York; it’s part co-working space, with an adjacent “tonic bar” serving chilled elixirs, mocktails, “longevity shots,” teas and medicinal lattes; and it’s part event space, with a lushly landscaped courtyard adorned with a firepit, rose quartz crystals and blooming white sage, lavender, lemon verbena and passion flower, among other plantings. The apothecary hosts meditations, sound baths, tarot card readings and massages there to help bring the mind and body into balance.

The herbs at the shop support Ayurvedic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, rainforest herbalism and American eclectic herbalism, Ayales says. “All of the traditions, including European, we involve in the blending of formulas,” she says. “Every ecosystem has their own set of plants that can greatly help healing in so many ways. It’s medicine for the people, grassroots herbalism that you see throughout the world.”

I had just one thing in mind when I arrived, however: cooling herbs. The AC in my car was on the fritz and I arrived red faced and sweaty. My iPhone overheated on the way over and stopped working immediately upon arrival. A shop attendant shuttled me into a shady spot by the tonic bar, where the mixologist began mixing me cooling drinks. In the meantime, Aria Krylova, who’s worked at Anima Mundi for several years, put out the store’s top cooling agents for me to try.

The Rose Water spritz is popular when temperatures soar in L.A.

(Deborah Vankin / Los Angeles Times)

First on the list: rose water “beauty myst,” which Krylova says is frequently requested during heat waves. “We call it a beauty mist, but it’s used Ayurvedically to cool down the body,” she says. “It’s just rose flower and distilled water. Rose is very anti-inflammatory. I like to put it in the fridge. And you come back home from a hot day, before you’ve turned on the AC, and it feels like heaven.”

She was not incorrect. I spritzed it over my upper body, moistening my cheeks, neck and chest. I do the same with a water bottle at home and it’s just as cooling — instantly — but the rose water’s delicious scent left me feeling especially pampered.

Krylova then led me to the wall of herbs, offering two cooling blends that can be made into tea at home.

Anima Mundi’s “main cool down blend,” as she described it, contains lemongrass, hibiscus, peppermint and orange peel. “It’s called the Hibiscus Cooler,” Krylova says, adding that the recipe is simple. Add one tablespoon of herbs to about 8 to 12 ounces of hot water. Wait for five to 15 minutes, depending on how strong you want the tea, while the herbs steep. Strain the liquid and cool it in the refrigerator. “It tastes like a floral garden,” Krylova says.

The second tea is a custom blend that Krylova concocted for her partner, who “runs hot.” It has lemon verbena, lemongrass, rose, hibiscus flower, tulsi and peppermint. (Preparation is the same as the above.)

“Lemon verbena is one of the best anti-inflammatory herbs — a lot of times when people are overheated, they tend to feel inflamed,” Krylova says. “And lemongrass is also extremely cooling for the body. Tulsi is considered to be the queen of herbs in Ayurvedic tradition. It’s extremely mineralizing for the body, replenishing. And peppermint is a top herb for cooling down your body quick.”

Finally, Anima Mundi served me two cooling drinks in the garden. Just the sight of the glasses, dewy with condensation on the outside and filled to the rim with clinking ice, nearly chilled my body.

The Hibiscus Sol-Mate, tart and flavorful, is popular in heat waves and during flu season.

(Deborah Vankin / Los Angeles Times)

The Hibiscus Sol-Mate ($7) was a blend of (slightly caffeinated) yerba mate, hibiscus, rose, peppermint and lemongrass, with a fresh lemon slice and a hint of agave. The Tranquility Tea ($7) was composed of chamomile, lemon balm, oatstraw, marshmallow root, jasmine flowers and butterfly pea flowers with tiny flowers floating on top. Both tasted like refreshing iced teas, but the Hibiscus Sol-Mate, a fruit punch red, was more astringent and tart — though flavorful — and the Tranquility Tea, a deep blueberry color, was sweeter and lightly floral tasting.

The Tranquility Tea, sweet and floral-tasting, lives up to its name; the floating flowers are calming.

(Deborah Vankin / Los Angeles Times)

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Did any of these herbal concoctions actually cool my body temperature? Unclear. But they were thoroughly enjoyable to consume. And the experience was both calming and refreshing. I bought large bags of loose peppermint and spearmint to use for tea at home.

Bonus: my car smelled sublime — minty and fresh — the entire way home. It was curiously relaxing. The aromatherapy, alone, may have been worth the trip.

What does it mean to be ‘working class’? 

It’s a term that we hear often (especially around election time), but more specifically, who are we actually talking about? According to labor economist Kathryn Anne Edwards, host of the Optimist Economy podcast (@optimist_economy), the working class is a group of people who have the least amount of pay, benefits, and protections in the labor market. In this week’s episode of It’s Been a Minute, host Brittany Luse chats with Kathryn about what economists, politicians, and everyday people get wrong about the working class.

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This episode was produced by Alexis Williams. The video was edited by Maya Dangerfield and Annabel Edwards. It was edited by Nick Michael. Our Executive Producer is Barton Girdwood. Our VP of Programming is Yolanda Sangweni.