Arts

Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Host Madeleine Brand looks at news, culture and emerging trends through the lens of Los Angeles.

Latest Episodes:

Jimmy Kimmel: Latest victim of Trump’s war on speech he doesn’t like Sep 18, 2025

Show notes

ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show indefinitely after threats from the Federal Communications Commission. The move has broader implications for press freedom in the Trump era.

New Yorker fact checkers go to extraordinary lengths to nail down the truth. It’s a rarity in today’s media landscape.

Critics review the latest film releases: “Him,” “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” “Where to Land,” and “Happyend.”

Depending on how you treat it, eggplant can be meltingly tender, smoky, chewy, or crisp. But whatever you do, never undercook it.

Huntington Beach’s complicated history of white supremacy Sep 18, 2025

Show notes

White supremacists recently disrupted memorials for Charlie Kirk in Huntington Beach. Their presence reignited concerns about hate groups in the community.

Over the past decade, people have increasingly used medications that affect the brain and induce drowsiness, which are problematic in increasing the risk of falls.

Amid severe hunger in Gaza, “Boustany,” a new cookbook by the Palestinian-British chef Sami Tamimi, highlights the diversity and vibrancy of Palestinian cuisine.

Some books to look forward to this fall are about long COVID-induced insanity, true crime, and a mother speaking to her son from the afterlife.

James Conlon on his last season with LA Opera Sep 16, 2025

Show notes

Slain right-wing activist Charlie Kirk combined organizational acumen and internet savvy to build a political machine. Now his death is being used to justify a crackdown on the left.

Actor, filmmaker, and activist Robert Redford died today at 89. He made dozens of legendary movies and founded the Sundance Film Festival.

LA Opera Music Director James Conlon talks about the Recovered Voices program, the importance of educating young people about classical arts, and why “West Side Story” is significant to him.

The Dodgers fight through injuries and a tough loss ahead of the MLB playoffs. The Valkyries hope to make WNBA playoff history. And UCLA football scrambles after another coaching shakeup.

Audiences are ‘still so obsessed’ with Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks Sep 16, 2025

Show notes

The 2025 state legislative session has ended. Hundreds of approved bills include measures to unmask cops, boost oil drilling, and increase pay for incarcerated firefighters.

A bill banning law enforcement officers from covering their faces is sitting on Gavin Newsom’s desk. Does California have the power to regulate federal agents?

“The Pitt” earned several Emmys, but the celebration comes with a twist. Michael Crichton’s estate says the show borrows heavily from “ER,” the hit medical drama he created based on his life.

The long out-of-print pre-Fleetwood Mac album by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks — the only album they ever released as a duo — is being re-released for the first time in decades this Friday.

Prop 50 could tip the balance of power in Congress Sep 11, 2025

Show notes

A former Obama staffer was meeting a Project 2025 author when she got news of Charlie Kirk’s death. KCRW discusses political violence and a plea for calm.

Voters are bombarded by mailers and ads for and against Prop 50, which would allow California's legislature to redraw its Congressional maps mid-decade. Millions are pouring in from unions, billionaires, and national players.

Critics review the latest film releases: “The Long Walk,” The History of Sound,” “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale,” and “Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues.”

Writer Vanessa Anderson’s project “The Grocery Goblin” explores food and consumer culture via the grocery store. Her latest Substack post wondered what was in Evan Kleiman’s fridge.

Economic check-in: National and Hollywood Sep 11, 2025

Show notes

An economist explains that people are staying put in their current jobs amid economic uncertainty, it’s tougher to find a new role, and mass deportation policies are affecting the overall economy.

Twenty-two TV series were just awarded the first round of expanded Hollywood tax credits. Is it enough to breathe life back into the industry?

Families invent their own secret languages — nicknames, jokes, and mispronunciations — that bond them together, linger for years. Linguists call this “familect.”

KCRW host Sam Sanders dishes on all things pop culture — the moments, movies, music, and TV shows people couldn't stop raving about over the summer.

Safety or income? Immigrants make hard choice amid ICE raids Sep 10, 2025

Show notes

Many immigrants have feared going to work amid ICE raids. Weekly earnings for immigrant renters fell 62% this summer, according to The Rent Brigade’s recent survey.

As the trial for an alleged assassin of President Trump begins this week, KCRW looks back on September 1975, when two different women had plans to kill President Gerald Ford.

A small-town paper gets the mockumentary treatment in a new spinoff from “The Office,” mixing newsroom chaos, nostalgia, and laughs about the future of print journalism.

A displeased astrologer weighs in after the New York Times reports that your zodiac sign is out of date. KCRW explains the long controversy between astronomers and astrologers.

2025: No song of the summer? Sep 09, 2025

Show notes

In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that temporarily blocked federal immigration agents from indiscriminately arresting people on sidewalks, at Home Depots, swap meets, etc.

Santa Monica is on the verge of a fiscal emergency as massive sex abuse settlements and shrinking revenues stretch city services, reflecting a wider crisis across LA County.

The book “Changeover” explores the budding rivalry between tennis phenoms Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, and what it means for the future of the sport.

No candidate exists for 2025’s “song of the summer.” Media consumption is fragmented, streaming allows people to listen to the same songs for longer, and more artists are competing for attention.

Eames House survived the Palisades Fire. KCRW gets a tour Sep 05, 2025

Show notes

The Trump administration halted major offshore wind projects in the Northeast, citing cost and national security concerns. Environmental advocates say wind power is key to meeting clean energy goals.

The Eames House survived the Palisades Fire, underwent smoke remediation and other repairs, and reopened in late July.

Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita” is the story of a middle-aged professor with an insatiable obsession with little girls, who sexually assaults his 12-year-old stepdaughter. It’s also one of literature’s most celebrated novels — acclaimed for its prose and wordplay.

Critics review the latest film releases: “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” “Preparation for the Next Life,” “Twinless,” and “The Threesome.”

3 West Coast states form health alliance to counter info from Trump Sep 04, 2025

Show notes

Today, the governors of CA, OR, and WA launched a health pact to coordinate their states’ vaccine recommendations and “ensure residents remain protected by science, not politics.”

A deadly U.S. airstrike on a boat in the Caribbean signals a more aggressive turn in the war on drugs.

In 2020, Quibi offered phone-based 10-minute (or less) videos. Now, the Hollywood-based company MicroCo is launching a new version of that idea.

Today’s protein-obsessed culture is rediscovering cottage cheese. On social media, people are blending it into ice cream, dips, pancakes, and even pasta sauces.

Downtown LA’s iconic Mayan Theater’s current operators have run the venue since 1989. KCRW looks at the history that’s showcased everything from Gershwin, to porn, to Mexican wrestling.

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