Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Plus, Wall Street investors are hoping to profit from LA County sex abuse settlements, KCRW’s Evan Kleiman eulogizes restaurants shuttered this year, and our weekly film reviews.

Plus, CBS top editor Bari Weiss draws ire after pulling a segment critical of the Trump administration, Argentinian musician Juana Molina is back with a new album, and the playoff-bound Rams and Chargers could lead to an all-LA Super Bowl.

Plus, the “slow-motion, slightly-off-the-front-page collapse” of the FBI under Kash Patel, our weekend film reviews, and Evan Kleiman has the best spice blends for last-minute stocking stuffers.

Plus, President Trump’s chief of staff spoke candidly to Vanity Fair about her boss and others in the White House, and how to choose a holiday movie everyone will like.

Plus, an attack on Americans in Syria and the Bondi Beach antisemitic shooting renews focus on ISIS, and the origin story of the drunken, debaucherous SantaCon.

Plus, nine former Justice Department attorneys resign over pressure to investigate antisemitism on UC campuses, and the band HAIM dishes on their new album, relationships, and Paul Thomas Anderson.

Plus, our weekend film reviews (including the latest Knives Out entry) and Evan Kleiman brings brisket and salmon recipes ahead of Hanukkah.

Plus, why he’s going mask-off as a reviewer, assessing the first year of President Trump’s immigration agenda, and a look at the Best Books of 2025.

Plus, Australia bans social media for users under 16, Target continues to face backlash over its rollback of DEI efforts, and Paramount’s Landman drops us right in the middle of a West Texas oil boom.

Plus, Paramount’s hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, the Supreme Court considers expanding presidential power, and LA-based quintet SML blurs the lines between jazz and electronica.

Plus, why self-driving cars could be a “public health breakthrough,” a new documentary follows a woman in rural Iran who won a seat on her village council, and our weekly film reviews.

Plus, children are working on California farms and an investigation finds the state is turning a blind eye to safety violations, a mom writes a private letter to her son every year and gives them to him when he turns 18, and Evan Kleiman on the loved (and loathed) holiday fruitcake.

Plus, longtime Ukraine watcher Alexander Vindman doesn’t expect the war with Russia to end anytime soon, an LA Times investigation adds context to the Trump administration’s claims about attacks on ICE agents, and whether or not a domesticated raccoon would make a good house pet.

Plus, the Trump administration pauses granting asylum and visas to Afghan nationals, the Supreme Court hears oral arguments over online piracy, and the Cal State system invests in “AI-empowered higher education.”

Plus, LA County fire officials are advising residents of Topanga Canyon on a different strategy when a fast-moving fire approaches, a chaotic year of tariffs hasn’t stopped holiday shopping deals, and our weekly film reviews.

Plus, the Trump Administration has labeled an alleged Venezuelan cartel as a terrorist organization, and claims President Nicolás Maduro is its leader, the Trump Administration has begun targeting some DACA recipients who previously weren’t at risk for deportation, and a Hollywood Hills house made famous by a 1960 photograph is up for sale for the first time.

Plus, a federal judge tosses cases against former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, autism experts say the CDC is now peddling misinformation by linking vaccines and autism, and how USAID cuts are affecting children in Africa.

Plus, Hollywood’s worst summer in decades, our weekly film reviews, and Evan Kleiman on where to get the best walnuts, and what to make with them.

Plus, a court throws out the redrawn Congressional map in Texas and Democrats are taking a victory lap, and cartoonist R. Crumb delves deep into conspiracy theories in his first comic book in decades.

Plus, the prospects for peace in Gaza after the UN Security Council approves the American peace plan, and the Netflix series Boots follows a gay teenager who wants to become a Marine.

Plus, Mr. bin Salman goes to Washington, a federal judge says a prosecutor may have botched the indictment of former FBI director James Comey, and how to find new music in your fifties.

Plus, the impact of the LA City Council tightening rent increases, our weekly film reviews, and Evan Kleiman has suggestions for spots offering takeout or dine-in Thanksgiving.

Plus, what Gov. Gavin Newsom hopes to get out of the COP30 climate conference, Inspector General Max Huntsman on LA County jail conditions, and what to see (or skip) on TV this fall.

Plus, an oral history of D-Day and the veterans who stormed the beaches of Normandy in 1944, and a new documentary sheds light on Hitler’s favorite filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl.

Plus, the latest legal fight over SNAP benefits and cases the Supreme Court will (and won’t) take up, travel chaos continues at airports, and how criticism is changing as legacy media cuts back.