William Shatner and Neil deGrasse Tyson on stage together at a Seattle show on their "The Universe Is Absurd" tour, which comes to the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills May 19 and 20.
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Courtesy Daniel Fox
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Future of Space
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In this edition:
British bands invade the Roxy, a Griffith Park night hike, Shatner and deGrasse Tyson explore the great beyond, Lena Dunham brings Famesick to L.A. and more of the best things to do this week.
Highlights:
All you need to bring is your creativity to this weeknight art hang at Scribble in Highland Park. Get to work on something you’ve been thinking about or start a new project at this Scribble free-for-all. Feel free to bring your sketchpad, but some art supplies will be provided.
The popular Pub Choir series is back for a night at the Belasco, where you’ll spend 90 minutes learning the harmonies to popular songs and singing along with hundreds of your new besties. Led by Astrid Jorgensen, by the end of the night the choir is sure to be ready for prime time.
Spend an evening in the final frontier with William Shatner and Neil deGrasse Tyson as they answer your burning questions about the world beyond our world.
Whether Girls creator Lena Dunham is your cup of tea or not, there’s no denying she’s always unapologetically herself. It’s as true as ever in her new memoir, Famesick. She’s in conversation with actress Rita Wilson at Live Talks L.A.
Add one more exciting museum opening to the pre-Olympics lineup in L.A. with the expansion of the California Science Center set to house a Korean Air 747 (as well as the Space Shuttle Endeavour). Our own Makenna Cramer got a sneak peek at the Korean Air Aviation Gallery this week. Before 2028, visitors will be able to take a simulated flight from LAX to Seoul — but don’t worry, it’s only five minutes long. Science is amazing!
The week’s music picks from Licorice Pizza are off the charts, starting with Tuesday, when Florence + The Machine play their first of two nights at the Forum, and Russian rock legend Aquarium hits the Whisky a Go Go. Also Tuesday, French psych-rock singer Melody Prochet is at the Belasco, indie-pop star Hemlocke Springs is at the El Rey and Book NOT Brooke with Jack Xander is at the Airliner (free with RSVP!).
Wednesday, the Afghan Whigs celebrate their 40th anniversary at the Bellwether, Estelle is at the Blue Note, and Japanese pop singer Anri plays the first of her two nights at the Wiltern. Moving on to Thursday, new British faves Dry Cleaning play the Belasco, and American roots band Josiah and the Bonnevilles are at the El Rey (moved from the Fonda). Wrapping up Thursday, jazz saxophonist Grace Kelly plays the Sun Rose, while Latin superstars Romeo Santos and Prince Royce are at Crypto.com Arena. And, for something a bit harder, Gatecreeper with Eternal, Dying Remains and Denial of Life play the Echoplex.
Buzzy British bands take the stage for a British Music Embassy showcase featuring the Molotovs, Red Rum Club, Coach Party and MT Jones. Can’t make the Roxy show? You can catch the Molotovs for free at Amoeba in Hollywood on Tuesday, May 19 at 5 p.m., where they will do a live performance and host an album signing.
Art Hang
Thursday, May 21, 6 p.m. Scribble 5541 York Blvd., Highland Park COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Elena Mozhvila
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Unsplash
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All you need to bring is your creativity to this weeknight art hang. Don’t let kids have all the fun with their imaginations; get to work on something you’ve been thinking about, or start a new project at this Scribble free-for-all. Feel free to bring your sketchpad, but some art supplies will be provided.
Sierra Club: Griffith Park Night Conditioning Hike
Tuesday, May 19, 7 p.m. Merry-Go-Round Lot #2 Griffith Park COST: FREE; MORE INFO
Grab a flashlight and go on a night hike in Griffith Park.
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Mario Tama
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Getty Images
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Build strength and meet fellow hiking enthusiasts at the Tuesday night Griffith Park Night Conditioning Hike, hosted by the Sierra Club. Hikes last from one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half hours and are meant for hikers of all experience levels — bring a flashlight!
Pub Choir: Eyes Up!
Wednesday, May 20, 7 p.m. The Belasco 1050 S. Hill Street, Downtown L.A. COST: $54; MORE INFO
The popular Australian-born Pub Choir series is back for a night at the Belasco, where you’ll spend 90 minutes learning the harmonies to popular songs and singing along with hundreds of your new besties. Led by Astrid Jorgensen, by the end of the night the choir is sure to be ready for prime time.
The Universe is Absurd!
Tuesday and Wednesday, May 19 and 20 Saban Theater 8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills COST: FROM $119; MORE INFO
William Shatner and Neil deGrasse Tyson on stage together at a Seattle show on their "The Universe Is Absurd" tour, which comes to the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills May 19 and 20.
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Courtesy Daniel Fox
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Future of Space
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Spend an evening in the final frontier with William Shatner and Neil deGrasse Tyson as they answer your burning questions about the world beyond our world. They're doing two nights of their show, The Universe is Absurd! — you can do a double and check out both, as they promise a completely different experience each time. To be fair, seems like answering questions about the universe could take more than one session!
Sanctuary City
Through Sunday, June 7 Chance Theater 5522 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim COST: FROM $30; MORE INFO
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Doug Catiller
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Chance Theater
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It may take place just after 9/11, but the uncertainty is as real now as it was then in Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok’s look at immigration and deportation. On at the Chance Theater in Anaheim, Sanctuary City tells the story of two undocumented teenagers in Newark, New Jersey navigating both politics and coming of age.
Lena Dunham with Rita Wilson
Wednesday, May 20, 8 p.m. Robert Frost Auditorium 4401 Elenda Street, Culver City COST: WAITLIST AND ONLINE ONLY; MORE INFO
\Lena Dunham attends the 2026 Met Gala celebrating "Costume Art" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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Dimitrios Kambouris
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Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
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Whether Girls creator Lena Dunham is your cup of tea or not, there’s no denying she’s always unapologetically herself. It’s something I’ve always admired about her work, and it’s as true as ever in her new memoir, Famesick. She’s in conversation with actress Rita Wilson at Live Talks L.A.; the event is sold out, but there’s a waitlist, and you can stream the conversation online as well.
Courtney Eileen Fulcher
is the apprentice news clerk for AirTalk and FilmWeek, hosted by Larry Mantle.
Published June 29, 2026 5:32 PM
A 1938 photo of KNX's studios.
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Herman J Schultheis
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Los Angeles Public Library
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Topline:
With KNX's shift last month back to AM radio only, we asked Southern Californians to share their memories of listening to the radio.
Why now: Back in April, broadcast company Audacy announced it was moving KNX News — one of the last-remaining all-news FM stations — off 97.1 FM, but keeping the long-running news format on 1070 AM where it's been for more than 100 years. The move officially happened in May to make way for a new sports talk station.
A radio time capsule: AirTalk, LAist's flagship daily news show which airs on 89.3 FM, asked listeners to share their favorite memories of listening to the radio.
Continue reading... for vintage photos from The Los Angeles Public Library's digital archive collections highlighting Southern California's rich radio history.
Southern California was built on radio.
"I can still hear the jingle KFWB News 98,” wrote Taline in Los Feliz, during a recent conversation on LAist's daily news show, AirTalk, which airs on 89.3 FM. “I grew up hearing that in my dad's minivan on the way to and from school. It has a special place in my heart.”
Back in April, broadcast company Audacy announced KNX News — one of the last-remaining all-news FM stations — was leaving the FM dial where it had simulcast on 97.1 FM since 2021. The station, which is also one of the oldest in L.A., is not budging from 1070 AM where it has been on the air for more than 100 years. The move away from FM officially happened in May to make way for a new sports talk station, which Audacy officials called an area of growth for advertisers in today’s media landscape.
The move is one in a long line of changes for radio and a reminder that before podcasts, playlists and algorithms, many Southern Californians built their days around radio broadcasts.
Radio, a daily ritual
The construction of KNX
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Herman J. Schultheis
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Los Angeles Public Library
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Michael Jackson, a well-known KNX, personality
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Los Angeles Public Library
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Larry Mantle, now in his 41st year hosting AirTalk, remembers being a kid and dreaming of what it might be like to be behind the mic at one of these radio stations.
“ I grew up with KNX," he said. “My dream job as a kid was to be an anchor on KNX or KFWB, the two local all-news radio stations, 'cause there was nothing like hosting AirTalk that even existed at that point.”
Mantle opened up the phone lines on a recent show to hear from his fellow SoCal radio lovers about the shows they miss and the memories they have. Here's what they had to say:
A love for radio, then and now
A pilot of KMPC's traffic alert helicopter pictured with his daughter and grandson.
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Los Angeles Public Library
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A 1963 picture of Valley State College (now Los Angeles Valley College) preparing to launch KVCM
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Larry Leach
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Los Angeles Public Library
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“When you'd walk down Hollywood Boulevard where the station was, you could hear it playing as you went down the street,” said Olivia in Glendale about KLAC 570 with Al Jarvis.
Larry in Yorba Linda shouted out KBCA Jazz for its 24-hour jazz, saying “When I first moved out here in '68 from Phoenix, which had like an hour a week, it was a real wonder.”
Mark in Glassell Park emailed that he loves KCRW’s Henry Rollins, writing, “I used to bristle at his unique DJ persona, but over time, I came to love him and his crazy eclectic playlists. I find his knowledge in history and punk rock fascinating. He's a gem and a legend."
"I'd like to give a shout-out to all the DJs working at KXLU, the college station at Loyola Marymount University, said Jeremy in Culver City in an email. “That station's been on the air for nearly 60 years. I believe it's one of the best examples of what's possible with radio."
"KFWB and KRLA back in the day when they were rock music stations — Dr. Demento, one of my favorite on-air personalities, also had eclectic music taste," said Carrie in Desert Edge.
“ Dr. Demento was must listening when I was a kid in junior high school at Le Conte Junior High in Hollywood,” Mantle added. “Every Sunday night on KMET, we would make sure we were listening to Dr. Demento and his funny records.”
The question remains…
An 11-year-old winning a car in a KMPC contest in 1963.
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Los Angeles Public Library
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Listener support is vital to any radio station, and it’s clear KNX has many lifelong fans. AirTalk listeners highlighted their support for household KNX names over the decades like Bill Keene, Melinda Lee, Mike Roy and Jackie Olden.
As KNX makes changes, many are watching closely and thinking about the future of radio.
Listeners like Tommy in La Quinta are left wondering if the radio dial will be the same…
“I’m a hardcore listener, but I don't know about casual listeners [and] if they'll tune to AM,” he said.
Libby Rainey
has been tracking how L.A. is preparing for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Published June 29, 2026 5:02 PM
LA28 chair Casey Wasserman speaks with L.A. Mayor Karen Bass at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on August 10, 2024.
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Luke Hales
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Getty Images
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Topline:
After months of hand-wringing, Los Angeles and LA28 have come to a tentative agreement on how Olympics organizers will reimburse the city for its expenses for the 2028 Summer Games.
What's in the deal? The private Olympic organizing committee will pay upfront for the estimated cost of services that are not eligible for federal reimbursement, like trash pick-up and traffic control. Under another proposal, the city would also be able to tap an LA28 contingency fund if it isn't fully repaid by the federal government for policing costs at Olympic venues.
What happens now: The agreement is nearly nine months overdue and still needs approval by Mayor Karen Bass and the city council. The City Council's ad-hoc committee on the 2028 Games will meet Tuesday afternoon to vote on the agreement.
Concerns remain: The contract between the two parties doesn't fully resolve one of the biggest areas of financial risk for the city: the enormous cost of security for an event as extensive and high-profile as the summer Olympics and Paralympics.
Read on...for more on concerns over security costs for 2028.
After months of hand-wringing, Los Angeles and LA28 have come to a tentative agreement on how Olympics organizers will reimburse the city for its expenses for the 2028 Summer Games.
According to the deal, the private Olympic organizing committee will pay upfront for the estimated cost of services that are not eligible for federal reimbursement, like trash pick-up and traffic control. Under another proposal, the city would also be able to tap an LA28 contingency fund if it isn't fully repaid by the federal government for policing costs at Olympic venues.
The agreement is nearly nine months overdue and still needs approval by Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council.
The 2028 Olympics are intended to be privately financed, and an existing city agreement with LA28 states that the Olympics organizers, not L.A., will pay for extra costs for public services in support of the Games. But L.A. is the financial back-stop for the Olympics, meaning if LA28 goes in the red, taxpayers will pick up the bill.
Beyond that, the city services agreement presents another area where L.A. could incur additional unexpected expenses for hosting the Games. L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez warned LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover earlier this year that a bad deal could "bankrupt" the city.
Jacie Prieto Lopez, an LA28 spokesperson, and Paul Krekorian, who leads the city's office of major events, said in statements that the freshly inked agreement would help deliver a fiscally responsible Games.
"Mayor Bass’ priority is that the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games be fiscally responsible, protect taxpayers, and benefit Angelenos for decades to come. This agreement helps deliver that commitment," Krekorian said.
But the contract between the two parties doesn't fully resolve one of the biggest areas of financial risk for the city: the enormous cost of security for an event as extensive and high-profile as the summer Olympics and Paralympics.
The federal government has so far allocated $1 billion for security costs for the Olympics. Exactly where those federal funds will go has not yet been determined, and there's no guarantee they will cover all of L.A.'s policing costs.
To address this, city officials have also proposed an amendment to a 2021 agreement between the city and LA28. That amendment would establish that if L.A. is not reimbursed by the federal government for all its eligible expenses, it could dip into LA28's contingency fund of $270 million before the private organizing committee could use those funds for any legacy projects.
But that bucket of money will first be used for any costs that Olympics organizers still owe if they run out of revenue — meaning if the Olympics don't turn a profit, the city's access to that money will depend on how much is left for the taking.
Civil rights attorney Connie Rice, who has been tracking the city's negotiations with LA28, told LAist the agreement was a "PR document" not a deal. She pointed out that if the federal government does not pay up for security spending as expected, L.A. could be in trouble.
" It leaves the taxpayers with a GoFundMe strategy," she said.
The city services agreement lays the groundwork for more negotiations between LA28 and the city. Each venue will require its own agreement, to be negotiated by July 1, 2027. Venues in the city of L.A. include Dodger Stadium, the L.A. Convention Center, L.A. Memorial Coliseum and the Venice Beach Boardwalk.
The City Council's ad-hoc committee on the 2028 Games will meet Tuesday afternoon to vote on the agreement.
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Lucas Brady Woods
covers the weather and disasters, among other climate and science topics.
Published June 29, 2026 4:54 PM
Cleanup is underway now at the Boyle Heights food storage warehouse that spewed smoke around L.A. earlier this month.
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Alejandra Molina
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Boyle Heights Beat
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Topline:
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed a pair of executive orders Monday to ramp up efforts to clean the mess left by the fire that burned for a week at a Boyle Heights warehouse.
Why now: Since the warehouse fire was put out, the 85 million pounds of frozen food stored inside is now rotting, spreading foul smells throughout surrounding neighborhoods and raising concerns about an influx of pests. Residents have also been left with worries about air and water contamination after the fire and possible long-term public health effects.
Spoiled food removal: Bass and city officials said Monday the warehouse owner, Lineage, began moving food debris on Sunday to landfills in Ventura and Riverside counties. The company predicts it will take 5,000 truckloads to remove it all.
Reducing odors: Lineage plans to apply a chemical deodorizer, likely chlorine dioxide, to the food, debris and trucks leaving the warehouse. It’s also installing devices within the warehouse that will spray mist over the food inside until it is moved.
Pest control: Lineage is responsible for pest management inside the warehouse, while the city of Los Angeles is responsible for it outside the warehouse. Both have hired private contractors to manage pest control.
Air and water testing: The South Coast Air Quality Management District is overseeing efforts to measure harmful material in the air and posting data to its online air quality map. Lineage also hired private contractor Onterris to monitor air quality in the community surrounding the warehouse, with South Coast AQMD’s oversight. The Los Angeles Department of Sanitation has been monitoring water flowing from the site since firefighting operations began. It’s using a variety of methods, including containment tanks and catch basins, to divert the runoff into the sewer and prevent it from flowing into the L.A. River.
What’s next: Bass’ two executive orders are intended to accelerate cleanup efforts, protect residents and hold accountable the companies responsible for the facility and its safety. One order directs the Fire Department to report on its investigation into the cause of the fire within 90 days. The orders also include a number of provisions to help Boyle Heights residents and businesses, including free public transit, financial assistance and expanded public health resources.
Why it matters: Officials and advocates have called for transparency around the cleanup, especially because they say the neighborhood has been historically under-resourced and disproportionately subjected to environmental burdens. One of the orders signed Monday directs city officials to compile a report within 45 days on industrial areas across Los Angeles that sit close to homes and schools. The report also must include possible zoning and land use changes that would reduce negative health effects from existing and future industrial facilities.
Aaron Schrank
has been on the ground, reporting on homelessness and other issues in L.A. for more than a decade.
Published June 29, 2026 4:36 PM
Tents in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles on June 11, 2026.
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Apu Gomes / AFP
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Getty Images
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Topline:
L.A.’s lead homelessness agency, LAHSA, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Monday, asking a judge for relief from a federal funding suspension it calls unjustified.
How we got here: On June 11, HUD suspended the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority from federal grant activity pending an investigation into alleged mismanagement. The federal agency said the suspension means LAHSA cannot fulfill its role as collaborative applicant for the entire region’s application for federal homelessness dollars for the upcoming fiscal year. In its lawsuit, LAHSA says the suspension is the Trump administration’s back door attempt to eliminate the Continuum of Care program in L.A., which gives local officials discretion over homelessness projects submitted for federal funding.
LAHSA’s challenge: LAHSA says HUD has failed to identify any public agreement or transaction that LAHSA has violated or cite proper evidence of mismanagement. LAHSA also claims several inaccuracies and misrepresentations in HUD’s original suspension letter, including relying on reviews that LAHSA says were irrelevant to federal funding. “HUD supports its position with an amalgamation of uncorroborated hearsay information apparently cherry-picked from the internet,” the complaint states.
Legal argument: LAHSA's attorneys contend that HUD unlawfully suspended funding, arguing that the action violates the Administrative Procedure Act, the Constitution's separation of powers principle, and the Tenth Amendment. LAHSA is asking for a stay of the HUD suspension pending judicial review and a permanent injunction barring head from suspending LAHSA or blocking the work of the Los Angeles Continuum of Care.
Why it matters: The deadline for the L.A. region to submit its application to HUD for regional homelessness grants is Aug. 26. LAHSA says the suspension jeopardizes $241 million in federal funding that supports more than 11,000 people across L.A. County. LAHSA says the HUD suspension could prevent the agency from other activities, including releasing the findings of its 2026 homeless count conducted in January.
