Press Play with Madeleine Brand KCRW

LA Philharmonic Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel talks about conducting Beethoven's only opera, plus his choice to start leading the New York Philharmonic in 2026.
The New York Times/Siena College polls show Biden losing to Trump in Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia. Biden has lost support with key Democratic demographics.
The state of California tried to stop a lawsuit relating to a fatal COVID-19 outbreak at San Quentin prison. Today, the Supreme Court allowed it to go forward.
Roger Corman, who died last Thursday, helped launch the careers of directors like Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, and James Cameron.

Andrea Nguyen, Clarissa Wei, and Hetty Lui McKinnon have all been nominated for a James Beard Award. Try their cookbook recipes during this AAPI Month.
The new book “White Rural Rage” explores anger in the heartland and the threat it poses to American democracy.
Critics review the latest film releases: “The Poolman,” “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” “Last Stop in Yuma County,” and “Power.”
Though he hated being called a “producer,” Steve Albini was behind albums by The Pixies and Nirvana. He helped create a D-I-Y, analog sound in rock music that influenced others.

In “Help Wanted,” part-time employees of a big-box retail store in New York are barely making a living. Author Adelle Waldman’s own job experiences inspired the novel.
Ryan Crocker, a former U.S. ambassador to Middle Eastern countries, says Israel should heed the message behind the Biden administration’s withholding of bombs.
Hollywood’s summer box office season is here. So far, it pales in comparison to last year’s $4 billion bonanza brought in by “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.”
Actor Chris Pratt razed an architecturally significant house. Another wealthy homeowner wants to demolish Marilyn Monroe’s former home. What are LA’s historic preservation rules?

Lookout Santa Cruz has earned the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting. The winning coverage was about the flooding and mudslides along the Central Coast last January.
Once viewed as a progressive movement for a Jewish state, Zionism has taken on a settler colonialist connotation for many pro-Palestinian protestors.
One reason for sky-high veterinary bills? Private equity funds and big corporations have been gobbling up small, independent vets.
Maya Rudolph spent eight seasons on “Saturday Night Live” doing impressions. In her latest show, she’s a billionaire determined to donate her fortune.

Joan Baez talks about her poetry, memories of abuse, living with dissociative identity disorder, and abstaining from the Gaza protests on college campuses.
After violence broke out between pro-Palestinian activists and counter-protestors at UCLA, campus officials are launching its new Office of Campus Safety.
Student protesters are demanding universities divest from Israel. But in California, divestment may not be legally achievable because of a little-known civil rights law.
Six months after the Hollywood strikes, film and TV productions are still down. Now IATSE is at the table with the AMPTP. Could a strike be on the horizon?

Critics review the latest film releases: “The Fall Guy,” “I Saw the TV Glow,” “Evil Does Not Exist,” and “Mars Express.”
Police arrested more than 130 people at UCLA after law enforcement dispersed protesters and dismantled a pro-Palestinian encampment. The demonstrations have taken attention away from the actual war in Gaza.
Arizona's Republican-led legislature repealed the state's Civil War-era abortion ban, reverting to a 15-week limit. Meanwhile, Florida enforces a six-week ban.
Shows that have all the trappings of prestige TV — the cinematic look, the big names — are everywhere on streaming services. But one critic says they’re all average.