Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Press Play with Madeleine Brand

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

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Most Recent Episode

Press Play with Madeleine Brand
‘LIVE from…’ London? Saturday Night Live expands to the UK

Plus, labor unions in LA’s public schools unite to win big salary increases, layoffs and sluggish sales in the video game industry, and how a chimpanzee civil war makes humans look good by comparison.

00:50:08
Apr 14, 2026 4:30 PM
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More Episodes

Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Swalwell’s stunning exit adds more chaos to CA governor race

Plus, who will succeed Eric Swalwell after he resigns from Congress, how a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would work, and a love letter to the music of the Texas-Mexico border.

00:48:50
Apr 13, 2026 5:49 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Remembering “Swedish Death Cleaning” guru Margareta Magnusson

Plus, the Iran War’s economic impact will last for a while, a rave review for a new Steven Soderbergh film called The Christophers, and Evan Kleiman’s elegy for peas.

00:50:35
Apr 9, 2026 2:38 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
LA Phil's new conductor Anna Handler 'energized, motivated' by Los Angeles

Plus, the European man MAGA loves, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, fights a tough reelection battle, how we name colors, and one frustrated Angeleno’s experience trying to buy the elusive $28 Olympics ticket.

00:49:26
Apr 8, 2026 2:54 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Photographer Cathy Opie remembers friend, mentor Larry Sultan

Plus, assessing the success and shortcomings of LA's Inside Safe program, President Trump’s former personal attorney now leads the Justice Department, and rapper Ye attempts a comeback after years of antisemitism.

00:48:52
Apr 7, 2026 3:37 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
UCLA demolishes South Carolina to claim first national title

Plus, the Supreme Court sides with Steve Bannon, how AI is changing the books you’re reading, and all the new music venues in Los Angeles. Some have taken over old spots.

00:49:23
Apr 6, 2026 3:32 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Artemis II heads to the dark side of the moon

Plus, war in Iran may be a boon for California pistachio farmers, our weekend film reviews, and what to bake for Passover and Easter with Good Food’s Evan Kleiman.

 

00:49:59
Apr 2, 2026 5:42 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
For LA City Council President, police reforms are personal

Plus, President Trump’s shifting goals in Iran, how American children became such picky eaters, and safety tips for rattlesnake encounters on hiking trails.

00:49:24
Apr 1, 2026 4:31 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
‘No Kings’ protests and CPAC symbolize a nation divided

Plus, the Supreme Court hears a case that could redefine birthright citizenship, high gas prices push drivers to e-bikes, and rapper IDK served time and found freedom in music.

00:49:14
Mar 30, 2026 4:12 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
The déjà vu of the 1970s oil shock after a Middle East war

Plus, the IOC bans trans athletes, our weekend movie reviews, including arthouse body horror and a Vince Vaughn crime caper, and Evan Kleiman on how to cook an underappreciated vegetable: the leek.

00:50:34
Mar 26, 2026 4:35 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Writer Annabelle Gurwitch on the ‘unexpected joys’ of cancer

Plus, a jury finds Meta and YouTube liable in a groundbreaking personal injury lawsuit. Why is flying so awful? Blame 1970s deregulation. And a requiem for Echo Park’s beloved restaurant Taix.

 

00:49:38
Mar 25, 2026 3:59 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Writer McKay Coppins on his 'year as a degenerate gambler'

Plus, think LA city politics are boring? Think again. The week before the deadline to file as a candidate in the mayoral election was filled with drama. And Saudi Arabia may be pushing President Trump to continue the war with Iran.

00:51:39
Mar 24, 2026 4:14 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
James Blake’s ‘Trying Times’ and how he sees the world

Plus, two Republicans lead the California governor’s race, the Supreme Court appears skeptical of mail-in ballots arriving after Election Day, and LA’s Darwinian left turns at a yellow light.

00:50:10
Mar 23, 2026 4:16 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Fallout for the farmworker movement Cesar Chavez led

Plus, California moves to rename Cesar Chavez Day, how to detox from your phone, reviews of the new Ryan Gosling movie and other big releases, and the hot weather has Evan Kleiman thinking soft serve.

00:50:45
Mar 19, 2026 4:32 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Cesar Chavez biographer on rape, sexual assault allegations

Plus, LA County DA Nathan Hochman says ICE is interfering with his prosecutions, the prolific career of composer Philip Glass, and Reuters purportedly identifies mysterious street artist Banksy.

00:49:43
Mar 18, 2026 2:52 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Iran’s $200/barrel oil threat could mean $8 gas in California

Plus, President Trump restarts an oil pipeline in California to lower prices, why he talks about Hannibal Lecter like he’s a real person, and the Sklar Brothers preview the NCAA basketball tournaments.

00:48:50
Mar 17, 2026 5:45 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Is Israel preparing to occupy Lebanon again?

Plus, President Trump loses a court battle against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, a free music showcase called The Rehearsal at a downtown market, and remembering the philosopher who coined the term “the public sphere.”

00:48:41
Mar 16, 2026 4:43 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
What makes good casting as the Oscars add a new category

Plus, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s first public statement raises questions about the health of Iran’s supreme leader. And our weekend film reviews include a Colleen Hoover drama all about yearning.

00:50:07
Mar 12, 2026 3:28 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Iran War could prompt a fresh look at alternative energy

Plus, a preliminary report says the U.S. fired the missile that hit an Iranian school, new shows starring Tracy Morgan, Rachel Weisz, and Steve Carrell, and Evan Kleiman on how to make the simple potato sing.

 

00:49:24
Mar 11, 2026 3:10 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Why air power alone is destined to fail in the Iran War

Plus, California Republicans are scrambling to hold power after Congressional maps were redrawn to favor Democrats, and how a school in rural Louisiana managed to send so many kids to elite colleges.

00:49:19
Mar 10, 2026 4:28 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Buck Meek looks in 'The Mirror' to face fear, find self-acceptance

Plus, Live Nation settles with the Justice Department, The New York Times details years of abuse by celebrated chef René Redzepi, and how some Academy members skirted new rules for Oscar voting.

00:50:34
Mar 9, 2026 4:16 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
LA has a trash problem. The meth crisis is a big part of it

Plus, the CIA has been secretly arming the Kurds, possibly encouraging them to mount a revolution in Iran, our weekend film reviews, and Evan Kleiman expresses her love for an ugly vegetable.

00:50:20
Mar 5, 2026 4:26 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Wagner Moura on ‘The Secret Agent’s’ real-life inspiration

Plus, should low-polling Democratic candidates drop out of the California governor’s race? The state party chair says yes. And people are betting on real-world events, like the war in Iran.

00:49:46
Mar 4, 2026 5:44 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
The big winner in the war with Iran? Benjamin Netanyahu

Plus, the Supreme Court temporarily blocks a California law that protected trans kids from being outed by their teachers, the leader of an activist group sailing to Cuba with supplies, and the phenomenon of “stay-at-home sons.”

00:51:49
Mar 3, 2026 5:54 PM
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Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Assessing the “known unknowns” of Trump’s war with Iran

Plus, who will lead Iran after the assassination of the supreme leader, if the airstrikes are legal, and a hip-hop legend on Salt-N-Pepa’s fight to own their master recordings.

00:55:34
Mar 2, 2026 4:46 PM
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