Gavin Newsom is in his final year as governor of California, but lately, he’s been touring the country to energize voters ahead of the midterm elections.

“I think it’s really important for the Democratic Party not to give up on red states and rural parts of the country,” he told NPR at an event organized by local Democrats in the town of Manning, South Carolina. Newsom is also widely considered a potential presidential candidate for 2028 — a possibility he has not ruled out — and he sees himself as a leader of Democratic opposition to President Donald Trump, often mocking his brash style on social media.

“I’m putting a mirror up to President Trump and I’m fighting fire with fire and I am punching a bully back in the mouth,” he told NPR.

At the same time, Newsom has embraced conversations with major right-wing figures such as Steve Bannon and Ben Shapiro on his podcast, drawing criticism from members of his own party. The governor sat down with All Things Considered for an interview ahead of the release of his memoir, Young Man in a Hurry. He discusses how his struggles with dyslexia shaped his childhood and career, his strategy for dealing with President Trump, and how he thinks the Democratic party should meet this political moment.

Can’t see the video above? Watch it on YouTube.

Disney California Adventure this month turns 25. Though Disneyland Park’s littler and much younger sibling, the park has grown into a respectable offering, one that ranks among my favorite Disney parks in North America. No small feat, considering its checkered, less-than-ambitious launch.

California Adventure is today emblematic of some of the best that Disney has to offer. And yet it remains a work in progress. The subject of constant tinkering, another reimagining is on the horizon.

With more Marvel, more “Avatar” and more Pixar due to be injected into the park, California Adventure stands at a crossroads. But also one with risks: Will it soon feel like a collection of brand deposits? This, of course, has appeared to be the vision of the company’s theme parks in the recent past. This doesn’t always have to be a negative. Consider it more a word of caution.

Few Disney properties, for instance, seem more ripe for exploration in a California-focused theme park than “Coco.” Under construction where Paradise Gardens and Pixar Pier meet, a “Coco”-inspired boat ride will give the park at long last a permanent home to recognize our state’s Latin culture and heritage. While fans may long for the days of original attractions such as Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion, those based on intellectual property — IP in industry speak — aren’t evil, especially when used to heighten the overall themes of the park. California Adventure’s own Cars Land is a key example.

When it starts to feel like retail, however, parks can become exhausting. Looking at you, Avengers Campus, a half-finished land with a bombastic orchestral score and familiar, urban design that wouldn’t be out of place in downtown L.A. In its current state, the land works best as a backdrop for live entertainment as it lacks the welcoming feel of Disney’s top creations.

California Adventure, at its most idealized, stood for more than an assortment of film properties. Its pitch was to show the Golden State as a romanticized destination, one that in the post-Gold Rush era has often given America permission to dream. It would capture our people, our nature, our food and our glamour through a lighthearted, optimistic lens. When completed, the park had a mini Golden Gate Bridge and giant letters that spelled out the name of our state (which were removed about a decade later).

California Adventure in 2001 was meant to depict a romanticized vision of California.

(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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By the time California Adventure opened in February 2001, it had already been the subject of much revision. The Walt Disney Co. wanted it to be a West Coast answer to Walt Disney World’s Epcot. Its plans at the time were well-documented, with the Walt Disney Co. initially giving Westcot, as it was to be called, a spherical answer to the Florida park’s Spaceship Earth. In time, and in attempts to quell neighborhood concerns, the globe’s design would shift to become a large, futuristic needle.

None of it was to be. Financial headaches, caused in part by the early-year struggles of Disneyland Paris, inspired Disney to change course. Disney California Adventure would open with few attractions that rose to the Disneyland level, and yet The Times was kind in its opening coverage, praising the park’s change of pace from its neighbor and admiring how its architecture blurred fiction and reality.

The hang-gliding simulation Soarin’ Over California was an instant hit, and Eureka! A California Parade was Disney theatricality at its weirdest, with floats that depicted Old Town San Diego, Watts and more. But California Adventure’s prevalence of dressed-up county fair-like rides failed to command crowds. Disney’s own documentary “The Imagineering Story” took a tough-love approach, comparing some of its initial designs to those of a local mall.

The grand opening of California Adventure in February 2001.

(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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And yet today it’s home to one of the Walt Disney Co.’s most fully-realized areas in Cars Land, which opened in 2012. Flanked by sun-scarred, reddish rocks that look lifted from Arizona, Cars Land is a marvel, and on par with the best of Walt Disney Imagineering’s designs (see New Orleans Square, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Pandora — the World of Avatar). Nodding to our Route 66 history, the land is a neon-lit, ‘50s rock leaning hub of activity, complete with the showstopping Radiator Springs Racers.

Cars Land led a major makeover of the park that also included the nostalgic Buena Vista Street, a nod to the Los Feliz era of the 1920s. And by the mid-2010s, many of California Adventure’s most insufferable traits, such as its ghastly puns (San Andreas Shakes was bad, but the Philip A. Couch Casting Agency was cringe-inducing) as well as the short-lived disaster of a ride that was Superstar Limo, had begun to disappear.

Cars Land, added to California Adventure in 2012, is one of Walt Disney Imagineering’s grandest achievements.

(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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With the nighttime show World of Color, and a bevy of in-park entertainment, California Adventure pre-pandemic began to feel like something akin to a full-day park. It wasn’t perfect, of course — no park is.

The Little Mermaid — Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, though lightly charming, suffers from being a hodgepodge of familiar scenes from the film rather than a narrative tableau that can stand on its own. Too many empty buildings clutter its Hollywood Land area, the makeover of Paradise Pier into Pixar Pier did little but add garish film-referencing art to the land and the crowd-pleasing transformation of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror into Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout! was completed at the expense of the park’s prime Southern California theming.

Paradise Pier at California Adventure in 2002. The land has since been remade into Pixar Pier.

(Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

But there is much about California Adventure to adore. It shines during holidays, whether that’s Lunar New Year at the top of the year or the back-to-back combo of Halloween and Christmas seasons near its end. Here is when California Adventure’s entertainment comes to the fore, bringing the park alive with cultural tales that at last reflect the diversity of the modern theme park audience.

How grand it would be, however, if California Adventure were blessed with this level of entertainment year-round. The Hyperion Theater, a 2,000-seat venue at the end of Hollywood Land, and once home to shows inspired by “Frozen,” “Aladdin” and “Captain America,” today sits empty. If the Walt Disney Co. can’t justify funding the theater, jettison it with the park’s upcoming makeover, as it stands as a reminder of how fickle the corporation can be when it comes to live performance (also gone, the great newsboy-inspired street show).

Staff at California Adventure put the final bit of polish on the letters that spell out “California” ahead of the park’s 2001 opening. The letters once stood at the entrance of the park.

(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Looking ahead, I expect Disney to deliver a powerful “Avatar” ride, and early concept art has shown a thrilling boat attraction that appears to use a similar ride system to Shanghai’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure, which is hailed by many as one of the company’s strongest modern additions. Worthy of debate, however, is how the pure fantasy landscape of “Avatar” fits in a park that still nominally tries to reflect California and our diversity.

And does it matter?

The company would likely argue that if the ride wows guests and extends the “Avatar” brand into another generation, that it does not. But Disneyland next door isn’t timeless because it has “Peter Pan” and “Star Wars.” It has endured for 70 years because its attractions, by and large, reflect cultural myths. And it’s a park we want to spend days in, thanks to its gorgeous landscaping, calming Rivers of America, and human tales of avarice, unity and romance spread throughout its attractions.

For theme parks, after all, can jump the shark, so to speak. Spend some time, for instance, sitting in California Adventure’s San Fransokyo Square. It’s a needless, post-pandemic makeover. What was once a simple food court has been transformed into a loud nook stuffed with a “Big Hero 6” meet-and-greet and gift shop. You’ll be transported, but to a place more akin to a marketing event.

So happy 25, California Adventure. We love you, and you’re a park worth celebrating, but like most post-collegiate kids, there’s still some room to learn.

The British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs), which were presented on Sunday evening at London’s Royal Festival Hall, have become embroiled in controversy after one of the guests shouted a racial slur, swear words and insults during the televised awards ceremony. The slur was kept in the BBC broadcast, which began airing two hours after the event, as is usual for these honors.

The source of the shouts was John Davidson, the real-life inspiration behind the film I Swear, which chronicles his life with Tourette syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder. I Swear was nominated for six prizes and won two BAFTA awards on Sunday, including a lead actor award for Robert Aramayo, who plays Davidson.

While Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were onstage presenting the award for visual effects, Davidson yelled out the n-word. The actors did not respond in the moment.

On Monday, BAFTA released a lengthy written apology, saying: “Our guests heard very offensive language that carries incomparable trauma and pain for so many. We want to acknowledge the harm this has caused, address what happened and apologize to all.”

The statement identified Davidson as the source of the outbursts. BAFTA said: “One of our guests, John Davidson MBE, has Tourette syndrome and has devoted his life to educating and campaigning for better understanding of this condition. Tourette syndrome causes involuntary verbal tics, that the individual has no control over. Such tics are in no way a reflection of an individual’s beliefs and are not intentional.

The statement continued: “Early in the ceremony a loud tic in the form of a profoundly offensive term was heard by many people in the room. Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage at the time, and we apologize unreservedly to them, and to all those impacted. We would like to thank Michael and Delroy for their incredible dignity and professionalism.

“During the ceremony, John chose to leave the auditorium and watch the rest of the ceremony from a screen, and we would like to thank him for his dignity and consideration of others, on what should have been a night of celebration for him.”

According to the Tourette Association of America, between 10 and 15% of people living with the disorder have vocal tics that may include disturbing, insulting or inappropriate language, including swear words and slurs.

Davidson also shouted out other insults and profanity during the evening, according to Variety.

Referring to Davidson’s outbursts, host Alan Cumming responded from the podium, “You may have heard some strong and offensive language tonight.” He attributed the shouts to Davidson’s condition, adding: “We apologize if you were offended.”

Aramayo also won BAFTA’s EE Rising Star Award, and addressed some of Davidson’s outbursts in accepting that honor. Aramayo said, “John Davidson is the most remarkable man I’ve ever met. Tonight especially, I just want to say that the people living with Tourette syndrome…they need our support and understanding.”

The BAFTAs are broadcast on a tape delay. But the BBC did not edit the audible slur from its broadcast on the television channel BBC1 and on E! in the U.S. Nor did the BBC edit the archival version available in the U.K. on its BBC iPlayer platform until Monday.

On Monday, the BBC responded to NPR in a written statement: “Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the BAFTA Film Awards. This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and as explained during the ceremony, it was not intentional. We apologize that this was not edited out prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer.”