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News

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TV & Film

TV & Film

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Film Reviews

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Music History

Series
TV & Film

TV & Film

Updated weekly

1 day ago

The Iran War Weighs On Troop Morale & Voters’ Patience

Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code KCRW at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/kcrw The political lives of some Republicans literally depend on their carefully crafted messaging around an unpopular war and unpopular president. Many know they can’t abandon Trump, and getting on his bad side doesn’t generally end well for Republicans, either. We talk about dire conditions reported on the USS Abraham Lincoln where its extended Middle East deployment has pushed some sailors to the brink. It’s put a spotlight on the morale of our troops, as well as what our military strength looks like to other countries. Plus we take listener questions, including from one who thinks a progressive swing left is a losing strategy for Democrats who’ll need the South to win the next presidency. Producer: Leo Duran Host: David Greene Guests: Mike Dubke, veteran GOP communications strategist and advisor. He was the White House Comms Director under Donald Trump in 2017 - @MikeDubke Mo Elleithee, executive director at Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service - @MoElleithee
14 Aug

Let’s Make Sense Of Democrats’ Conflicting Primary Results

Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code KCRW at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/kcrw Part of any midterm election year is trying to guess the larger trends to see how our politics are evolving in one direction or another. “Progressives are gaining momentum!” Except not in Wisconsin this past week. “President Trump can steer any primary vote his way!” Or not, given that his ally Mike Lindell didn’t advance in the Minnesota Governor’s race. We talk about the nuance and surprises from the latest primaries, and how the emerging message might be that voters just want new faces and new energy. Plus, President Trump faces the inescapable reality that he’s lost support for the war in Iran among voters and his own party. The Washington Post also breaks the story that Trump secretly flew out of Turkey last month because of a threat, leaving Air Force One – and reporters and key Trump officials on board – to be used as a decoy. And the WNBA has been getting its moment of glory, while also getting dragged into the culture wars. Producer: Leo Duran Host: David Greene Guests: Mo Elleithee, executive director at Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service - @MoElleithee Jonah Goldberg, co-founder and editor-in-chief at The Dispatch - @JonahDispatch
13 Aug

Weekend Film Reviews: 'The Wrong Girls,' 'The End of Oak Street'

There are a few indispensable ingredients in any stoner flick worth its weight in weed. After drug-addled antics, the most important ingredient could be the friends we made along the way. Cheech and Chong. The Dude and Walter. Harold and Kumar. Stoner comedies seem to always follow a pair of buddies – and those buddies are usually men. That’s not true of The Wrong Girls, which stars Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat as BFFs who get high enough to communicate with their cats. The duo “are perfect,” says Witney Seibold, senior writer for SlashFilm. “I am convinced that there is nothing Kristen Stewart cannot do. If she is starring as the Cheech in a Cheech and Chong comedy, and pulling it off with aplomb, then she’s kind of stretched to every corner of her talents.” Writer and director Dylan Meyer is also Kristen Stewart’s wife. “The film really has this feel of [being made by] people who know what Kristen Stewart can do, who know that Kristen Stewart at home is a gigantic goofball,” says Amy Nicholson, film critic for the Los Angeles Times. Only the cats, voiced by Kumail Nanjiani and Seth Rogen, harshed her buzz. “These cats are talking way too much,” Nicholson says. Seibold and Nicholson also review The End of Oak Street, Union County, and Nimrods.
Season 4 Bonus

Kendrick Lamar and the big samples (from “Switched on Pop”)

Lost Notes returns with a brand new episode next Wednesday. To tide you over, we’re featuring a deep dive into Kendrick Lamar’s 2022 album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers from our friends at Switched on Pop.
2 days ago

Istanbul, One Bite at a Time

This week on Good Food: Sultans, street food, and pickles — Özlem Warren brings the diverse flavors of Istanbul to the home kitchen. Sloane Crosley explains misophonia, a neurophysiological disorder characterized by a severe aversion to sound with its own set of triggers. Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.
1 day ago

Weekend Film Reviews: ‘Insidious: Out of The Further,’ ‘It Ends’

It’s rarely a good sign if you’ve devoted hours to a horror franchise and you still aren’t sure what it’s about. But film critic Alonso Duralde gave it a try with Insidious: Out of The Further. “I’ve seen five of the six Insidious movies, and I feel like I still couldn’t pass a pop quiz about what ‘The Further’ is and how it works,” says Duralde, the co-host of the podcast Linoleum Knife. “It is a kind of twisted purgatory for people who aren’t able to move on to whatever the next plane of existence is, and it is constantly causing trouble for the protagonists of the Insidious movies.” But Duralde’s Linoleum Knife co-host Dave White says that actually works in this latest installment’s favor. “People might wonder, ‘How do I drop into a Part 6 of something?’ The film succeeds best, I think, in the earlier acts where the confusion is part of the terror,” White says. “We don’t know why this is happening to these people, we don’t know what’s coming next, and that provides scenes of genuine fright.” Duralde and White also review It Ends, Franz, and American Doctor.
12 Aug

LA's Hidden Temple Cuisine

This week on Good Food: Journalist Frank Shyong dines at sacred spaces that happen to have world-class eats. Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.
10 Jul

Graham Platner Drops Out In Maine Senate Race

Democrats badly want to win control of the Senate this fall, but they just suffered a bad blow: Graham Platner, their candidate in Maine, dropped out of the race after facing rape allegations. Whose job was it to vet Platner? And what do Democrats do with this race now? Then, from cryptocurrency profits to calling the head of FIFA, what is President Trump’s relationship with corruption? He seems to embrace the image of being able to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. Is there a disciplined message Democrats can craft to combat the power of his persona? And David gives a tribute to Don Gonyea, who is stepping away from NPR after a legendary political reporting career. Producer: Leo Duran Host: David Greene Guests: Mo Elleithee, executive director at Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service - @MoElleithee Sarah Isgur, senior editor at The Dispatch - @whignewtons
14 Aug

How Hannah Einbinder hacked it out in Hollywood

Kim Masters talks to Hannah Einbinder, who is up for another supporting actress Emmy for Hacks. But her role in the new film Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma takes her far from the lavish Las Vegas home of Deborah Vance, to a weird and gory place. Einbinder tells Masters about coming-of-age as the child of two show business professionals, making the segue from stand-up comedy into acting, and her belief that fame obligates her to speak up on behalf of the oppressed. Plus, Masters and Matt Belloni discuss Paramount hinting they will move out of California if their proposed merger with Warner Brothers is delayed beyond October. Paramount is playing hardball with the state Attorneys General, whom they will square off against in court in March 2027 if no settlement is reached.
11 Aug

Is Culture Stuck? (From Decoder Ring)

Today we’re sharing an episode from our friends at Decoder Ring, a podcast that explores cultural mysteries. In this episode, host Willa Paskin digs into one of Sam’s biggest critiques about culture right now. There is more of it than ever before, it’s more accessible than ever, but so little of it feels original. New movies are based on old stories, new songs are recycling old hooks, and fashion trends are cycling so fast that everything’s in. Has our culture grown stagnant? Author and culture critic W. David Marx thinks so. His book, Blank Space, argues that there is a “blank space” in the 21st century where cultural innovation should be. David explains to Willa how culture change worked in the 20th century, what changed after the turn of the millennium, and what we might do about it. Listen to Decoder Ring on your favorite podcast app! Sign up for Sam’s Newsletter to get behind the scenes stuff from every interview each week. The Sam Sanders Show is a production of KCRW and Sam Sanders Productions.

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