Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Assessing Karen Bass's record on housing, public safety, fires
28/05/2026 | 51 min
Plus, new polling shows the Los Angeles mayor’s race tightening, dozens of immigrants are on a hunger strike at a detention facility near LA, our weekend movie reviews, and Evan Kleiman talks zucchini.
Political outsider Adam Miller promises more cops, fewer homeless in LA
27/05/2026 | 52 min
Plus, KCRW contributor Dr. Michael Wilkes just returned from Africa, where an ebola outbreak is exploding. And comedian Graham Kay’s new special is about his autistic brother, Pete.
Nithya Raman tries to forge a third way for LA between Bass, Pratt
26/05/2026 | 51 min
Plus, the LA Phil names its new music director, President Trump’s $1.8 billion pot of anti-weaponization money has been described as a slush fund, and the best of this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
How Monterey Park banned AI data centers
21/05/2026 | 51 min
Plus, the U.S. indicts Raúl Castro for shooting down planes decades ago, Evan Kleiman goes to Sicily, and our critics review the long-awaited return of Star Wars to the big screen.
Chiara Barzini’s ‘Aqua’ chronicles LA’s water in peril
20/05/2026 | 53 min
Plus, wildfires are burning across the Southland. Are we ready for more intense fires? And 50 years ago this week, the "Judgment of Paris” jumpstarted the California wine industry.