Conservative radio talk show hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou of KFI's "The John and Ken Show" have sparked yet another round of controversy due to their severe, right-wing opinions of homosexuals. Their January 16 on-air Golden Globe Awards chitchat of gay men in the fashion industry has insulted numerous LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) media outlets. more ›

Conservative author and political commenter Tony Blankley, heard locally on KCRW's "Left, Right, and Center," representing the right, has died. Blankley was 63, and had stomach cancer. more ›

Nominees for the Writers Guild Awards were announced today by the Writers Guild of America (WGA), honoring the men and women who pen the stories, characters and reports the world later becomes smitten by on the silver screen, television sets and via the radio waves. more ›

Acoustic shows, by their very nature, are generally quiet affairs. Every chord can hang; every strained note can fall softly to the floor. But when you're Ryan Adams and you open with "Oh My Sweet Carolina" in front of a hundred or so KCRW kids at a studio in Santa Monica, you might as well be belting out vibrato notes in space. more ›

When news of veteran radio personality Jim Ladd losing his gig at KLOS broke, foremost from Ladd himself was that he didn't get to say goodbye. He will grace the airwaves Saturday from 4-7 p.m. on KFI, having been offered by the station manager to do the "goodbye" show he was not able to do at KLOS. more ›

It's rare you get the chance to see a live performance of a popular band in a very intimate setting, so when Death Cab for Cutie came through L.A. to do such a show for KCRW, the invite was impossible to turn down. more ›

Four advertisers have said they will no longer support KFI radio's "John & Ken Show" following an awareness campaign mounted by several Latino and immigrants' rights groups. Verizon and AT&T Wireless are yanking their ads, reports the Burbank Leader, and grocers Vons and Ralphs, who have run ads on the show in the past, say they will not do so again. more ›

Admit it, you have a soft spot for "Love Songs on the KOST," and KOST 103.5's adult contemporary ("soft rock") vibe. If you've given a listen to the station in the past three decades, you may have heard the voice of DJ Bryan Simmons, who was hired in 1982. Simmons, however, was given the boot after his shift last Friday. more ›

If you listen to KCRW during your evening commute, you know who Kajon Cermak is. Offering traffic updates with an upbeat and warm disposition often in contrast to the ugly bumper-to-bumper gridlock details she has to share with Angelenos, the reporter has been graced with a song in her honor, and that song is your video lunch today. more ›

Michael Silverblatt is the iconic host of the Santa-Monica based radio program Bookworm; a nationally-syndicated show about literature and poetry that has featured some of the greatest writers of our time. LA's favorite literary pundit shared with us his love of literature, thoughts about the local LA literary community, and why he can hardly wait to meet author and poet Sapphire. more ›

Perhaps in an effort to bring music back to Music Television, Nic Harcourt, the tastemaking ten-year DJ and former Music Director of the famed and fabulous KCRW radio station, has packed his bags for the land of cable, and according to a news release. more ›

A new local-centric radio program, Close To Home (C2H) debuted last night at 11:00 on 98.7 FM. The show will air every Monday from 11:00 p.m.-Midnight. more ›

South of Delancey, a new history inflected docu-drama play by Karen Sommers, is currently at Fremont Centre Theatre. Based on an actual 1940s rabbinical arbitration radio program, the play enacts real family crises from archival radio audio and imagined fictional back stories. South of Delancey features relatable characters, vintage audio, competent performers, and a period set that gives the audience a glimpse into the lives of three GI generation families living in New York's post-war Lower East Side. more ›

If you've spent much of your career in Los Angeles as a "shock jock" known for advising men on how to bag women, is that reason enough to turn down a generous donation towards a growing reward fund to help bag some criminals? Tom Leykis is beginning to wonder if that is what's going on with the $50,000 he offered the City of Los Angeles to put towards the pool of money offered for information leading to the arrest of the suspects who beat Giants fan Bryan Stow at Dodger Stadium. more ›

Radio personality Scotty O'Neil, a longtime announcer on the Las Vegas celebrity talk show "The Dennis Bono Show," died Thursday after collapsing onstage during a commercial break of a show taping, reports the Las Vegas Sun. O'Neil dropped from the interview couch onstage at the South Point Casino in front of the live audience. He was 69. more ›

Award-winning CBS Radio broadcaster Jack Popejoy died yesterday at his home in Sherman Oaks, reports CBS2. Popejoy was 63. Born in Austin, Texas, in 1947, Popejoy came to Southern California in the 1970s. "In 1972 he was hired as a weekend DJ, then weekday announcer for KIIS, eventually becoming the program director. In 1976 he started as a newscaster at KPOL AM & FM. A year later, as the program director, he changed KPOL-FM’s call letters to KZLA." more ›

Ted Williams, the recently un-homeless Ohio man turned internet sensation with a golden-toned radio voice was "briefly detained" by Los Angeles police during an argument with a woman identified as his daughter at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood Monday night. According to officers, the argument occurred around 9:00 p.m. and led to a disturbance report. more ›

Before the Halloween candy bins are even broken down, retailers start to set up the Christmas trees and trimmings in their fluorescent-lit aisles. Yesterday, one more sign of the impending holiday blitz, and our society's possible insanity: KOST-FM has gone to their all-holiday music programming already. Franklin Avenue caught the flip: "The switch happened on Thursday mid-morning, with Barry Manilow's "White Christmas," which is apparently a station tradition. (Why? I dunno.)" Ready or not, it's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas. Any early picks for what song in KOST's holiday rotation you'll grow tired of the fastest? Or which holiday song never fails to give you the warm fuzzies? more ›

In his new book, executive producer of "The Howard Stern Show," Gary Dell'Abate explains what he was doing instead of watching someone deliver an unforgettable crank call taken on the air by ABC News' Peter Jennings that ended with "and Baba Booey to y'all." more ›

KCRW's massively big Halloween party is back. The radio station today announced the lineup and details about the October 30th 21-and-over event, which covers five themed rooms inside downtown's Park Plaza. more ›

Rival candidates Barbara Boxer (D) and Carly Fiorina (R) are scheduled to go head to head this afternoon in their second debate, according to the Pasadena Star-News. more ›

It's now an annual tradition at KCRW. Evan Kleiman of Good Food last summer baked a pie a day. This year, she's having guests share their pie recipes and today is none other than LAist's very own Co-Editor Lindsay William-Ross! Although she knows Los Angeles like no other, she's representing her Canadian roots in her holiday recipe of "ground meat, seasoned with herbs and spices." All that combined, along with some kitchen savvy, will bring you an amazing Tourtiere, or French-Canadian Meat Pie. Check it out here. more ›

Despite what you may have read on Wikipedia, Ryen Russillo is not a native of Compton or Inglewood. Russillo can, however, be heard in Compton, Inglewood and throughout the area weekdays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on AM 830 KLAA co-hosting "The Scott Van Pelt Show." more ›

CBS may have to heed cautions issued by the FCC and unload one of their LA radio stations in order to "comply with federal restrictions on the number of stations that can be owned in a single market," reports LA Observed. This puts their floundering KFWB 980 AM station at-risk of being sold, since it has not done well since its switch to "a largely conservative talk format" (aka "The new home of Dr. Laura") last year. Although CBS has fought this rule for a long time, it seems they cannot avoid it any longer. Speculation is that KFWB's new owners "would be foreign-language broadcasters." more ›

There's that magical moment when you're hearing a story being told when you're hooked. You might not say it aloud, but there's that pressing sense of wonder: "And then what happened?" The action unfolds, and then there's that pause. The "ahhhh" moment. You're digesting the lesson, the connection, the revelation. You're satisfied. Exhale. more ›

Oh, this should be good. On his "Which Way, L.A.?" program tonight, KCRW host Warren Olney will talk to LA Times business columnist David Lazarus, who today slammed Metro and other public transit agencies with his pieced titled, "L.A. mass transit agencies make only a token effort to get people onboard." more ›

So how did classically-based KUSC 91.5 FM become the nation's most listened to public radio station, beating out KCRW (they came in at #4) and other major outlets? It helped when classical powerhouse K-Mozart switched to country music, but some believe a recent change in methodology used by Arbitron, which publishes rankings, is not accurate, reports the Downtown News. Basically, Arbitron switched from journal entries to people meters, which has some calling shenanigans. KUSC is not so sure. “We have a broad coverage area and we have a strong signal, but none of that matters too much unless you have really good programming to put on the signal,” said the station's President. more ›

Those who over the years that have diligently kept their podcast subscription current with KCRW since they launched the free downloadable Today's Top Tune have built quite the arsenal of good music. It started with Alexi Murdoch in April 2006 and has brought us Lilly Allen, Justice, Fleet Foxes and a lot more that we've enjoyed. Today, in celebration of their 1,000 free tune giveaway, Spoon's “Something to Look Forward To" is available for download. Cold War Kids’ singer Nathan Willett's solo version of “Cryptomnesia” will be featured on Wednesday and Thursday will see a song by Jose James. more ›

As many expected, Santa Monica College named and their Board of Trustees approved Jennifer Ferro as General Manager of 89.9 KCRW, the campus' public radio station and NPR affiliate. Ferro, the station's current Assistant GM, replaces Ruth Seymour, who announced her retirement last November. Seymour's last day on the job is February 26th, marking the end of her over 32 years at the station and an undeniable force in KCRW's rise to prominence in the local and national stage. more ›

It might be KCRW that gets all the buzz, but it's KUSC that gets the top ratings. The most recent Arbitron ratings show that the classical station earns the top public radio station in the country spot because of the "average number of listeners and individuals who tune in during the week," finds LA Observed. It's the first time the station ranked number one in both categories. more ›