Synopsis
Host Madeleine Brand looks at news, culture and emerging trends through the lens of Los Angeles.
Episodes
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“He should resign.” Councilmember Nithya Raman on LA28 chair Casey Wasserman
05/02/2026 Duration: 52minPlus, Raman's efforts to reform LA’s so-called “mansion tax,” big layoffs hit The Washington Post, a former Los Angeles Times editor gets candid about the future of news, and the origin of KCRW’s pie contest.
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Artist An-My Lê’s desert photos of starscapes, and the sublime
04/02/2026 Duration: 52minPlus, inhumane conditions at the immigrant detention facility in the Mojave Desert, deported migrants who become targets of the cartels when they return to Mexico, and why the show Survivor endures.
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LAPD won’t enforce ICE mask ban. Is it legal?
03/02/2026 Duration: 52minPlus, the latest Epstein files include LA28 chairman Casey Wasserman, LA County reports two measles cases as an outbreak surges in South Carolina, and how to create music kids and their parents will like.
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Evan Kleiman on the meme’d, maligned, and misunderstood bay leaf
30/01/2026 Duration: 52minPlus, the prospects of President Trump’s Board of Peace running Gaza, our weekend film reviews, and the behind-the-scenes studio machinations of the new Melania Trump "documentary."
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Writer George Saunders on death, morality, and ruining our planet
29/01/2026 Duration: 52minPlus, how California lawmakers are responding to federal immigration enforcement tactics, why fentanyl overdose deaths suddenly declined in 2023, and why a $1,500 per person dinner sold out in minutes.
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‘Sinners’ nabs record 16 Oscar noms. Has horror finally found respect?
27/01/2026 Duration: 52minPlus, how the narrative about ICE is shaped by cell phone videos from both protesters and agents, President Trump turns his eyes to Cuba, and a dispatch from the Sundance Film Festival.
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Will CBP agents who killed Alex Pretti be held accountable?
27/01/2026 Duration: 53minPlus, how LA activists are monitoring ICE activity at a MacArthur Park Home Depot, and rapper IDK on how serving time set him on a path to make music.
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“They’re all kind of mid”: An underwhelming CA governor’s race
23/01/2026 Duration: 53minPlus, a new magazine called Geezer is a tongue-in-cheek alternative to the AARP, our weekend film reviews, and Evan Kleiman previews Dine LA’s Restaurant Week.
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“This is NATO’s funeral,” even as Trump tempers Greenland threat
22/01/2026 Duration: 52minPlus, why a particularly nasty strain of flu is surging, LA drops charges against a crosswalk vigilante trying to make the city safer for pedestrians, and the future of the dictionary in an age of AI.
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Comedian Eddie Izzard takes on the ultimate tragedy: Hamlet
21/01/2026 Duration: 52minPlus, the Supreme Court hears cases on gun rights and executive power, why the U.S. has had a longer adversarial relationship with Iran than with the USSR, and remembering fashion designer Valentino.
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Selena, A Tribe Called Quest inspire Adrian Quesada’s ‘boleros psicodelicos’
19/01/2026 Duration: 52minPlus, LA-based quintet SML blurs the lines between jazz and electronica, and a new book tells the story of the women of Parliament-Funkadelic who shaped the sound of ‘70s funk.
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BTS is back! Previewing the year ahead in KPop
15/01/2026 Duration: 52minPlus, San Francisco’s free childcare could be a way for Democrats to thread the affordability needle, a campaign for social media not in the hands of tech billionaires, and our weekend film reviews.
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Could exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi be Iran’s next leader?
15/01/2026 Duration: 51minPlus, how climate change is prompting some Americans to move north, and Evan Kleiman learns a lot about food through niche newsletters. She shares her favorites.
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Can Democrats capitalize as ‘Abolish ICE’ regains momentum?
14/01/2026 Duration: 52minPlus, the billionaires working to defeat a wealth tax that’s not even on the ballot yet, how AI can help someone grieving, and what exactly is beef tallow?
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Altadena rapper Fat Tony on grief, resiliency, and…pickles?
13/01/2026 Duration: 50minPlus, the future of Iran’s regime after hundreds of protesters are killed, the Supreme Court hears two big trans rights cases, and why President Trump is so obsessed with Greenland.
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Remembering Christine Moore, her ‘famous hugs,’ and community she built at Little Flower
09/01/2026 Duration: 53minPlus, why rebuilding the Palisades and Altadena exactly as they were could be a huge missed opportunity, the controversy surrounding “Zone Zero” regulations, and a review of a horror film about a chimp gone wild.
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Palisades, Eaton victims mark a year since devastating wildfires
08/01/2026 Duration: 52minPlus, how the disaster turned ordinary people into activists, and an LA Times investigation reveals the Los Angeles Fire Department made big mistakes that could have prevented much of the destruction.
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R. Crumb’s Zwirner Gallery show a ‘culmination of his obsessions’
07/01/2026 Duration: 52minPlus, why President Trump is so interested in Venezuela’s oil, and new TV shows you might want to binge, including yet another Ryan Murphy production.
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What’s next for Venezuela after U.S. indicts Nicolás Maduro
06/01/2026 Duration: 54minPlus, the legal questions surrounding Maduro’s ouster, new so-called “Trump Accounts” seed a retirement-style investment for kids, and a new album celebrates women who sing Jewish religious music.
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‘Uptown Girl’ Christie Brinkley dishes on Billy Joel, becoming the 1980s’ biggest model
29/12/2025 Duration: 54minPlus, how one of the most reputable galleries in the world trafficked $80 million in fake art, and Susan Choi’s new novel about family and Korean politics.