Next Sunday, public radio station KCRW (Santa Monica College, 89.9) and Bookworm host Michael Silverblatt will present an evening of intimate conversation with Sapphire, the best-selling author ofPush (the book that inspired the film Precious), and her latest novel, The Kid. more ›

KCRW has plenty of excellent original programming, but among the best is "The Treatment", a weekly film-heavy pop culture show that airs on Wednesdays at 2:30pm. We suggest that you crawl through the archives and grab podcasts to play during long drives or other such travel. Mitchell has been a film critic for many newspapers, most notably and recently, the New York Times. He has taught at Harvard, is the host of Turner Classic Movie's "Elvis Mitchell: Under the Influence", and has produced two excellent documentaries about the experiences of being black in this country: The Black List: Volume One and The Black List: Volume Two. more ›

Thousands of innocent Angelenos are expected to perish today when a highly advanced robot civilization descends on Westwood. However, the carnage is not expected to ensue until 8:15 p.m. so you'll have most of the day to get your affairs in order. That's right, the LA Film Festival is celebrating the glory of independent film with a mult-theater premiere of the multi-million dollar budgeted Transformers. Indie favorite Michael Bay directs. more ›

Photo used with the permission of: Kikuko Usuyama more ›