The Brief

Stage and screen actor Alfred Molina is no stranger to performing characters with dimension, subtly, and humor in such roles as Inspector Gamache in the Three Pines, Diego Rivera in Frida, Tevye in Fiddler On The Roof, and even as the villainous Doctor Octavius in the Spider-Man movies.

Molina now takes on the part of big-shot attorney Henry Drummond in Inherit the Wind, now staged at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Originally created as a commentary on McCarthyism in the 1950’s, playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee used a fictional version of the real 1925 Scopes Monkey trial as a proxy for their message.

In the landmark case, a high school science teacher was prosecuted for teaching evolution. Molina’s character comes to the defense of the high school teacher in a trial that shakes a small, religious town to its core.

Molina spoke with LAist Weekend Edition host Julia Paskin about taking on the role. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Julia Paskin: Your character states he is not there for the money, so why does Drummond take on the case?

Alfred Molina: He's there to defend the Constitution, I think, in some way.

[The play] was striking at something that was very, very deep in the American democracy, which is the much vaunted separation of church and state. And here we had laws being passed which were kind of faith-based that were controlling the education of people in the United States.

And [Drummond] is a warrior wanting to make sure that you know that the laws and people's freedom of thought — in particular, freedom of speech — are protected and cherished.

JP: Here we are in 2023 with some states still debating what can be taught in schools. Perhaps the subject matter has shifted, but the debate in Inherit The Wind feels current. What does it mean to you to perform the story today? 

AM: These idea and topics — they're still part of the national discourse.

It's what theater does best in a way. It's able to illuminate these ideas in a dramatic way that is hopefully going to keep an audience hooked on the arguments. And we've had a lot of excited conversations after the play with members of the audience who are responding very energetically to the questions that the play brings up.

JP: Your character is going up against Matthew Harris Brady (played by John Douglas Thompson), and despite having very deep disagreements, there is still a respect and reverence between them. That was refreshing to me in today's political climate. How do they maintain a humanity while thinking the other is entirely wrong? 

AM: That relationship, which has gone through lots of mutations over a period of years, is mentioned quite early on in the play. So you understand that there's a real history here. In fact, Brady says at one point, this friendship was based on a mutuality of admiration. They were clearly on different sides of the fence, but there was still this civility between them and an ability to discuss without rancor, without becoming sort of just angry with each other.

And I think that gives the relationship a depth which pays off later in the play.

John Douglas Thompson, Alfred Molina, and Cast in Inherit the Wind

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Jeff Lorch

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Pasadena Playhouse

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JP: Your character even comes to Brady’s defense — or in defense of how we just speak about people. What’s happening for Drummond in that moment and how do you see a connection to discourse today? 

AM: From a personal point of view, as the actor playing the part, it made me realize that you can disagree with people but that doesn't mean you have to hate them.

I remember many years ago, having a really serious discussion with a relative. And then we both said, you know what, we're never going to convince the other. So let's just leave this aside and enjoy the rest of the relationship which is the vast majority of it.

And I think that's something we've lost, particularly in this age of social media. And just the decent thing of, you might have disagreed with someone, [but] when they're no longer in a position to argue their case, that doesn't mean you dismiss their whole life.

Drummond actually says at one point, “I refuse to erase a man's lifetime.” And then he goes on to say “we all have the same right, which is the right to be wrong.”

JP: You last performed at the Pasadena Playhouse in The Father in early 2020. What keeps bringing you back to the Pasadena Playhouse? 

AM: Apart from the fact that it's a 10-minute commute, you mean?

But no, It's a lovely theater. It's got so much history.

And we're now under the leadership of Danny Feldman, our producing artistic director. We're in a kind of golden age at the theater, in [that] he's really channeled a lot of his energy and creative energy into making it truly a theater that belongs to the community.

I joined the board about a year or so ago, and we've now created an education committee.

The Pasadena Playhouse had a very healthy, very vibrant accredited school attached to it. Some of the alumni include people like Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman. The school closed down in the late 1960s’s, due to kind of financial restrictions. The theater was going through a bad time.

But we're hopefully in the next few years trying to resuscitate that side of the theater. And Danny's already started moves towards that, you know, we've had productions involving local school kids.

So for me, it's lovely to be part of an institution that is truly part of this community.

Inherit the Wind is directed by Michael Michetti and is being staged at the Pasadena Playhouse through Sunday, November 26th.

Protip: You can enter a lottery to watch the show from special seating onstage.

This on-and-off rain is looking like good news ... for wildflower lovers.

We talked to Katie Tilford, our go-to wildflowers expert at the Theodore Payne Foundation here in L.A., which is dedicated to native plants and wildflowers in Southern California.

And she is holding out hope the rains this week and next will be just what we need to see California poppies and more bloom big in the upcoming weeks.

"A little more rain would be nice," she said, "Then I think we’ll have a really good bloom this year. Either way, I think there’s going to be some flowers for sure … but a little more rain would really just kick things up a notch.”

And as for the question we always ask this time of year … will it be a superbloom kind of year?

Only Mother Nature knows for sure. We plant nerds also know that that the term superbloom gets thrown around with regularity during wildflower season, even though it refers to very specific conditions created by a potent cocktail of early rains, cool temps, hot temps, and late rains. So, we repeat: Stay tuned.

But Tilford says she’s already seeing signs there will be plenty of wildflowers to enjoy in the coming weeks, so you might want to make a plan to get out there.

One surefire spot: the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, when the poppies hit full bloom. There is a live cam to help you time your trip for the best blooms.

Another great resource is also the wildflower hotline hosted by Theodore Payne. Starting in March, it will be updated each Friday with the latest wildflower news and tips on where to see it all. Call: 818 768-1802, Ext. 7. 

An annual meeting of the nation's governors that has long served as a rare bipartisan gathering is unraveling after President Donald Trump excluded Democratic governors from White House events.

The National Governors Association said it will no longer hold a formal meeting with Trump when governors are scheduled to convene in Washington later this month, after the White House planned to invite only Republican governors. On Tuesday, 18 Democratic governors also announced they would boycott a traditional dinner at the White House.

"If the reports are true that not all governors are invited to these events, which have historically been productive and bipartisan opportunities for collaboration, we will not be attending the White House dinner this year," the Democrats wrote. "Democratic governors remain united and will never stop fighting to protect and make life better for people in our states."

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican who chairs the NGA, told fellow governors in a letter on Monday that the White House intended to limit invitations to the association's annual business meeting, scheduled for Feb. 20, to Republican governors only.

"Because NGA's mission is to represent all 55 governors, the Association is no longer serving as the facilitator for that event, and it is no longer included in our official program," Stitt wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press.

The governors' group, which is scheduled to meet from Feb. 19-21, is one of the few remaining venues where political leaders from both major parties gather to discuss the top issues facing their communities. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that Trump has "discretion to invite anyone he wants to the White House."

"It's the people's house," she said. "It's also the president's home, so he can invite whomever he wants to dinners and events here at the White House."

Representatives for Sitt and the NGA didn't comment on the letter. Brandon Tatum, the NGA's CEO, said in a statement last week that the White House meeting is an "important tradition" and said the organization was "disappointed in the administration's decision to make it a partisan occasion this year."

In his letter to other governors, Stitt encouraged the group to unite around common goals.

"We cannot allow one divisive action to achieve its goal of dividing us," he wrote. "The solution is not to respond in kind, but to rise above and to remain focused on our shared duty to the people we serve. America's governors have always been models of pragmatic leadership, and that example is most important when Washington grows distracted by politics."

Signs of partisan tensions emerged at the White House meeting last year, when Trump and Maine's Gov. Janet Mills traded barbs.

Trump singled out the Democratic governor over his push to bar transgender athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports, threatening to withhold federal funding from the state if she did not comply. Mills responded, "We'll see you in court."

Trump then predicted that Mills' political career would be over for opposing the order. She is now running for U.S. Senate.

The back-and-forth had a lasting impact on last year's conference and some Democratic governors did not renew their dues last year to the bipartisan group.
Copyright 2026 NPR

A booming industry that charges veterans for help in obtaining the benefits they earned through military service must shut down or dramatically change its business model in California by the end of the year under a new law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Tuesday.

The law prohibits unaccredited private companies from billing former military service members for help with their Department of Veterans Affairs claims.

Technically, it was already illegal under federal law to charge veterans for that work, but Congress 20 years ago removed criminal penalties for violations, and scores of private companies emerged, offering to speed up and maximize benefit claims.

“We owe our veteran community a debt of gratitude — for their years of service and sacrifice," Newsom said in a written statement. "By signing this bill into law, we are ensuring veterans and service members get to keep more money in their pockets, and not line the coffers of predatory actors. We are closing this federal fraud loophole for good.”

Critics call the private companies “claim sharks” because their fees are often five times the monthly benefit increase veterans obtain after using their services. CalMatters in September, for instance, interviewed a Vietnam-era veteran who was billed $5,500 after receiving benefits that would pay him $1,100 a month.

Depending on a disability rating, a claim consulting fee under that model could easily hit $10,000 or more.

“We owe it to our veterans to stand with them and to protect them from being taken advantage of while navigating the benefits they've earned,” said Sen. Bob Archuleta, a Democrat representing Norwalk. Archuleta, a former Army officer, carried the legislation. “This is not about politics; it's about doing what's right. Making millions of dollars on the back of our veterans is wrong. They've earned their benefits. They deserve their benefits.”

California’s new law is part of a tug-of-war over how to regulate claims consulting companies. Congress for several years has been at a stalemate on whether to ban them outright, allow them to operate as they are or regulate them in some other way.

California is among 11 states that have moved to put the companies out of business, while another group of mostly Republican-led states has legalized them, according to reporting by the veteran news organization The War Horse.

That split in some ways reflects the different ways veterans themselves view the companies. The bill had overwhelming support from organizations that help veterans file benefits claims at no cost, such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, as well as from Democratic Party leaders, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco.

But the VA’s claims process can take months and sow uncertainty among applicants. Several of the claims consulting companies say they have helped tens of thousands of veterans across the country, and that they have hundreds of employees.

Those trends led some lawmakers to vote against the measure, including Democrats with military backgrounds.

“We're going to say to you, ‘Veteran, you know what, I don't know if you are too stupid or too vulnerable or your judgment is so poor you can't choose yourself,'” said Sen. Tom Umberg, a Democrat and former Army colonel, during a debate over the measure last month.

The new law was such a close call for lawmakers that nine of 40 senators did not vote on it when it passed that chamber last month, which counts the same as a “no” vote but avoids offending a constituency that the lawmaker wants to keep.

It was also one of the 10 most-debated measures to go before the Legislature last year, according to the CalMatters Digital Democracy database. Lawmakers spent 4 hours and 39 minutes on the bill at public hearings in 2025 and heard testimony from 99 speakers.

Two claims consulting companies spent significant sums hiring lobbyists as they fought the bill, according to state records. They were Veterans Guardian, a North Carolina-based company that spent $150,000 on California lobbyists over the past two years; and Veterans Benefit Guide, a Nevada-based company that spent $371,821 lobbying on Archuleta’s bill and a similar measure that failed in 2024.

Those companies view laws like California’s as an existential threat. Both have founders with military backgrounds. Veterans Benefit Guide sued to block New Jersey’s law prohibiting fees for veterans claim consulting, and a federal appeals court sided with the company last year.

"This was the hardest bill I’ve had to work on since I’ve been in the Legislature," said Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo, a Santa Clarita Democrat who supported the law. "We know why that is, because there was so much money on the other side."

Charlotte Autolino, who organizes job fairs for former military service members as the chairperson of the Veterans Employment Committee of San Diego, criticized Newsom’s decision to sign the law. She spoke to CalMatters on behalf of Veterans Benefit Guide.

“The veterans lose,” she said. They lose the option. You’re taking an option away from them and you’re putting all of the veterans into one box, and that to me is wrong.”

But David West, a Marine veteran who is Nevada County’s veterans service officer, commended Newsom. West was one of the main advocates for the new law.

“The veterans of California are going to know that when (Newsom) says he’s taking care of everybody, he’s including us; that he values those 18- and 19-year-olds who are raising their hands, writing a blank check in the form of their lives; to then ensure that they aren’t writing checks to access their benefits,” West said.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.