Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Elon Musk says he's scaling back his work in Washington D.C. and returning to Tesla. He and DOGE had promised to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget. After reporting Tesla’s tanked first quarter profits, Elon Musk blames protests and vows to spend more time with the company. Will it be enough to turn things around? Goods coming into the U.S. face a baseline 10% tariff, and those from China face 14.5%. Chefs and owners of Firstborn and Bé Ù share how that’s affected profits and menu items. Critics review the latest film releases: “The Accountant 2,” “Havoc,” “On Swift Horses,” and “Until Dawn.” Knafeh (shredded filo) is the star ingredient in Dubai chocolate bars, which are also stuffed with pistachio cream. Consumers are willing to pay a premium for this treat.

Journalist Katherine Stewart charts the rise of the Christian right and its influence in the Trump administration in her new book “Money, Lies, and God.” “The Empire Strikes Back,” now 45 years old, changed Hollywood with its bold twists, deeper characters, and the introduction of Yoda. It's the franchise that shaped sequels. Women are less likely to have kids than ever, says a new CDC report. The fertility rate in the U.S. has dropped for years — now the White House wants to reverse that trend.

LA Mayor Karen Bass has released her next budget. To help close a massive deficit, the city may have to lay off around 5% of the city workforce. LA’s Japanese American National Museum is refusing to follow the Trump administration’s orders to end DEI efforts. Now it's at risk of losing $2 million of federal funding. The documentary “One to One” follows John Lennon and Yoko Ono through a tumultuous period in their lives and American politics, reassessing Ono’s artistry and her influence on Lennon. YouTube turns 20 this year. The popular video site democratized content on the web, but also inflamed culture wars, radicalized users, and further polarized an already divided society.

Pope Francis, who died overnight, is remembered for having a more progressive approach to immigration, climate change, and the LGBTQ commmunity than his predecessors. Early Saturday morning, the Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration from deporting another group of Venezuelan migrants it claims are gang members. Marie Davidson’s album “City of Clowns” is inspired by the book “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism,” which focuses on a new form of capitalism based on data mining. Apple is rolling out AI technology that will train itself on your messages, pictures, and more — while keeping the source material private. Is it secure?

Google and Meta are under fire in court. Officials claim they crushed rivals to stay on top. The outcome could upend how Big Tech works. The University of South Florida surveyed more than 1,500 kids, and found that 11 to 13-year-olds who had their own smartphones fared better psychologically than their peers who didn’t have phones. Critics review the latest film releases: “Sinners, “The Wedding Banquet,” “The Shrouds,” and “The President's Wife.” “Metal mouths” are back. Old-school metal braces are becoming the teeth-straightener of choice among kids and adults.

The Oakland mayoral race is a close call between progressive Barbara Lee and moderate challenger Loren Taylor. In SF, Mayor Daniel Lurie rounds out his first 100 days. A cinematic heist in Downtown Los Angeles: Thieves recently tunneled from a historic theater through “castle-like” walls into a store packed with bling. Hungarian Susan Polgar earned chess’ highest honor at age 15. She and her family faced antisemitism and harassment from the ruling Communist Party, and sexism from opponents and officials in chess. Her new memoir is “Rebel Queen.” What’s the relationship between art and democracy? After his firing from the Kennedy Center, poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph has some thoughts.

Harvard will not comply with sweeping demands from the Trump administration targeting pro-Palestinian organizing. Can other universities afford to join them? Mohsen Mahdawi’s detention exposes the rising risks faced by pro-Palestinian students during the Trump administration’s crackdown on campuses. Netflix’s “Adolescence” explores the issue of growing up online and what social media pressures can do to lonely, angry young men. It also looks at generational male violence. The Titanic hit an iceberg and sank more than 100 years ago, but the disaster has captured the imagination of Generation Alpha.

The Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. The White House is asserting its power to say “no.” Immigration agents visited two South LA schools recently, looking for five students they said were undocumented. School officials turned them away in a test of LAUSD’s policy of noncooperation with ICE. An autocracy journalist discusses the rise of authoritarianism in Hungary and sees parallels in some recent actions by the Trump administration. In the 1970s and 80s, Jeff Bridges recorded songs with his childhood buddies in his West LA neighborhood. Now those songs are in the new album “Slow Magic, 1977-1978.”

Several top IRS officials resigned as the Trump administration revealed its plans to use tax data to target undocumented immigrants. Despite vowing to fight a trade war to “the end,” Chinese officials are dealing with economic dilemmas at home. Critics review the latest film releases: “The Amateur,” “Drop,” “Warfare,” and “One to One: John & Yoko.” “The Great Gatsby” was published 100 years ago today. Its enduring message about the empty and corrupting power of wealth may be even more relevant now.

President Trump’s pause on tariffs against most nations sent the stock market soaring. Meanwhile, tariffs against China, and from China, are going up. DuPont Clinic was supposed to open in Beverly Hills to provide late-term abortions. However, after abortion rights activists got involved with city officials, the lease for the clinic’s office got rescinded. PAPER Magazine Co-founder Kim Hastreiter talks about her new book, “STUFF: A New York Life of Cultural Chaos.” It’s a memoir and a 50-year cultural history of NYC. The Broad is breaking ground today on an expansion that will add 55,000 square feet — offering more galleries, programming space, and open-air patios.

President Trump is not backing down from imposing tariffs on all countries doing business with the U.S., including 100% or more on China. China has threatened tariffs against U.S. exports too, which could begin Thursday. Dire predictions about the future of artificial intelligence are in a recent report by a Berkeley-based group called the AI Futures Project. “Deli Boys” creator Abdullah Saeed and actor Saagar Shaikh discuss the personal stories that shaped Hulu's dark comedy about family, crime, and identity. Palm Springs’ economy has heavily relied on Canadian tourists, and now officials are worried about losing that revenue due to increasing political tensions between the U.S. and Canada.

California’s nearly $4 trillion economy is heavily dependent on international trade. A tariff war could impact that significantly. The Altadena Ale and Wine House survived the Eaton Fire. Owner Gail Casburn also lost her house — and won’t give up her beloved pub. Dyanne Cano put together an archival map of 84 independent record stores that closed in LA between 1956 and 2020. They highlight Dolphin’s of Hollywood Records, Record Store Discos Exitos No. 2, and Vinyl Fetish. “White Lotus,” about ultra-rich people’s antics, wrapped its third season. How does the series continue to grab our imagination?

The manager of Rafu Bussan in Little Tokyo says she’s been stockpiling goods imported from Japan in preparation for Trump’s tariffs, but she may have to eat costs or raise prices soon. Stocks are in a tailspin following President Trump’s tariffs. Now’s the time to prepare for a possible recession, says personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary. With cuts to Ivy League and other schools, President Trump tries to reshape higher education. Schools are falling in line, but some professors are fighting back. Critics review the latest film releases: “Freaky Tales,” “A Minecraft Movie,” “The Luckiest Man in America,” and “The Friend.” Layering matzo sheets with veggies borrows heavily from the idea of lasagna. After baking, you get layers of unbelievable lightness, and this dish works as both a satisfying side or entrée.

Democrats won a key Wisconsin Supreme Court race. The result is being seen as a rebuke of Elon Musk, who campaigned in the state and spent millions on the GOP candidate. New auto tariffs are supposed to be for “foreign” cars and parts, but no US-made vehicle will escape the impact. Detroit’s obsession with big cars won’t help. UCLA’s cityLAB has launched a design competition where contestants can submit proposals for low-cost, easy-to-build starter homes on vacant city-owned lots. Bernie Krause’s thousands of hours of recordings reveal how climate change is affecting the natural world. His life and work are the subject of the documentary “The Last of the Nightingales.” Actor Val Kilmer died Tuesday at age 65. His career included both “Top Gun” films, “Batman Forever,” “Heat,” and an iconic performance as Jim Morrison in “The Doors.”

What is President Trump trying to accomplish with reciprocal tariffs, and do economists think he can reach his goals with these tactics? The Trump administration admitted in court on Monday that it mistakenly deported a Maryland father to a notorious Salvadoran prison. Scientists say a massive algal bloom is releasing toxins that are making some marine animals more aggressive, and causing others to wash ashore either dead or seriously ill. Zack Mack’s father went down a conspiracy theory rabbit hole that tore apart his family. Mack spent the past year making a podcast about it called “Alternate Realities.” The agony and ecstasy of March Madness were on full display this weekend for LA college basketball fans.

On this Cesar Chavez Day, Press Play reairs some of our favorite segments: “Porcelain War” is a documentary that vividly portrays the lives of civilians-turned-soldiers on and off Ukraine’s battlefield against Russia. Johnny Carson was seemingly a friend to millions as the host of "The Tonight Show" for three decades. That wasn’t the case in his personal life, according to “Carson the Magnificent,” published in November 2024. In the mid-1970s and ‘80s in SoCal, bands like Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers, and Toto blended jazz, R&B, and pop to create a new soft style: yacht rock.

The federal government is planning to investigate the CA Dept. of Education over a state law that says schools cannot require officials to notify parents if students identify as transgender or are exploring their gender identity on campus. The federal government will not test soil in the fire zones, so USC researchers are doing it for them. For earth scientist Josh West, the work is close to home. Critics review the latest film releases: “Death of a Unicorn,” “Grand Tour,” “An Unfinished Film,” and “The Ballad of Wallis Island.” The appearance of rhubarb stalks in markets is a welcome burst of color and tart flavor. You can use the vegetable in breakfast, dessert, and cocktail recipes.

The Trump administration has halted a program financing lawyers for immigrant children. That leaves 26,000 kids nationwide at risk of immediate deportation, unless alternate funding can be found. President Trump continued his assault on the country’s biggest law firms by signing an executive order targeting Chicago-based Jenner & Block. It revokes security clearances from the firm’s lawyers who require them to do their jobs, and limits attorneys’ access to federal buildings. Harriet Tubman has come back to life and wants to make a hip-hop album. That’s the premise of Bob the Drag Queen’s debut novel. Duonychus tsogtbaatari is a newly discovered plant-eater that roamed Earth tens of millions of years ago. It had a long neck, two legs, and two massive claws.

The Trump administration’s release of war plans on a group chat that included the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief raises questions about the competence of the president’s top national security staff and their use of the messaging app Signal. How should Democrats respond to Trump? His second term has sparked an internal reckoning. The season two finale of “Severance” left fans buzzing. KCRW breaks down its twists, hidden meanings, and what’s next for TV’s most mind-bending show. Three must-see art exhibitions up now are “Charles Gaines: Numbers and Trees, The Tanzania Baobabs,” “Tau Lewis: Spirit Level,” and “Hugo Crosthwaite: Ex-voto.”

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in a challenge to Louisiana’s voting maps. A group of “non-African American” voters argue the state illegally relied on race to create the new districts. James Murdoch reveals the real-life “Succession” drama roiling his family in an exclusive interview with The Atlantic. At stake: Who controls Fox News? Frontman Jim James talks about handing over creative control of My Morning Jacket’s 10th studio album. He also shares his personal success with EMDR therapy.