Press Play with Madeleine Brand

KCRW

Latest episode

A Thriller? Or just Bad? We review the Michael Jackson biopic
04/23/2026 | 52 mins.
Plus, the White House shifts the war on drugs and reclassifies medical marijuana, San Diego has so much water it's going to sell it to other states, and Evan Kleiman on how to make perfect fried rice.
Why Lena Dunham inspires so much hate, and love, as a millennial feminist
04/22/2026 | 52 mins.
Plus, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco recently seized 650,000 ballots from last year’s election. A new investigation sheds light on why. And LAUSD bans digital devices for kindergartners and first-graders.
Louise Erdrich’s remarkable encounters with the natural world
04/21/2026 | 51 mins.
Plus, Xavier Becerra is the biggest beneficiary of Eric Swalwell’s stunning political collapse, surging in the latest polls. And a new study divides Shark Tank competitors into good and bad narcissists.
‘Ramones’ turns 50: Punk producer Craig Leon’s stories from the studio
04/20/2026 | 52 mins.
Plus, will Star Wars’ return to the big screen save theaters? A Texas man sues a California doctor for mailing his girlfriend mifepristone, and AI so powerful its maker is keeping it from the public.
LACMA’s decades-in-the-making $724 million wing finally opens
04/16/2026 | 52 mins.
Plus, Yale confirms higher education is in crisis and says the blame lies mainly with…elite universities like Yale, our weekly film reviews, and Evan Kleiman on how tofu can be creamy.