The Brief

Bryan Fuller probably is best known for creating television shows like Pushing Daisies and Hannibal — shows with devoted fans, many of whom still hope for series comebacks.

But when Fuller first came to Los Angeles to go to film school at USC in the 1990s, things didn’t go as planned.

After running out of financial aid, he had to drop out. But by staying in L.A. and taking odd jobs, like delivering head shots to casting directors at night, Fuller told LAist he still got an education in the industry.

Getting a foothold in L.A.

“There were a couple of times when I was delivering head shots that I would just see that they're in the middle of auditions, and I put my name down and I would go in and audition,” Fuller says. “Just because I was there and sort of fearless at that time and didn’t know what I should or should not do.”

That same fearlessness helped lead to his first writing job, for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. His unusual job-seeking tactic: “ I would pull up to the gate and say I was a delivery person and slide story ideas under the doors of Star Trek producers until they hired me.”

Fuller went on to work on Star Trek: Voyager, and in the early 2000s, he created his first original series, Dead Like Me, for Showtime.

As he got a foothold in the industry and went on to create other shows, as an openly gay writer and producer, Fuller took pride in infusing his stories with queer themes, something he would become known for (and touch on directly in an Achievement Award acceptance speech at Outfest in 2017).

Gateway horror, queer horror and the origins of ‘Dust Bunny’

In 2022, he executive produced a docuseries called Queer for Fear: The History of Queer Horror, and his latest project, the film Dust Bunny, which he wrote and marks his feature directorial debut, feels like a natural progression.

Part fairy tale, part thriller (or “gateway horror” as Fuller also describes it) the film is about a little girl who hires a hit man to kill the monster under her bed.

And while it might not seem like a queer story on its face, Fuller says it could be interpreted as one.

“Whenever I see a child championing themselves,” Fuller says, “that feels like a queer story. Because so many times, we as queer children have to become our own heroes and have to become our own champions.”

Sophie Sloane and Mads Mikkelsen in a scene from "Dust Bunny," written and directed by Bryan Fuller.

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But the story is also universal, which was by design.

Fuller explains: “There's a line in Dust Bunny where Aurora, played by Sophie Sloan [...] says, ‘My parents weren’t very nice to me,’ and that was designed to be a little unclear so the audience could see themselves in Aurora, whatever that means to them.”

Having a film or TV show that makes you feel seen, Fuller says, “I think is valuable not only for queer people, but for any child who feels that they may not belong or feels that they may not have a support system.”

The role of queer storytellers

Asked whether the Trump administration’s targeting of the LGBTQ community, particularly trans people, has changed his perspective on his role as a queer storyteller, Fuller was reflective.

“I think queer people have always encountered some kind of resistance that gives us friction," Fuller says. "And with that friction, there are sparks and growth, and that scar tissue is necessary to build an armor, particularly when we're looking at these stories through a fictional lens. They allow us to build upper resistance to real-life threats.”

Fuller says it also connects to his love of horror.

“It's one of the reasons I love horror movies and I love the thematic of 'the final girl,'" Fuller says. “Because I look at those movies as — if [Friday the 13th actresses] Amy Steele and Adrienne King can survive Crystal Lake, then I can survive my adversaries.”

To watch Bryan Fuller’s full interview with LAist host Julia Paskin, about "Dust Bunny," what he thinks it would take to keep more film and TV production here in Los Angeles and his ideas for a new ‘Star Trek’ movie, click here.

Today marks the final deadline for California counties to certify the results of the special election on Proposition 50, the ballot measure to redraw California’s congressional maps through 2030.

Statewide, turnout was 50%, with “yes” votes winning with 64.4%.

The Associated Press called the vote within minutes of polls closing Nov. 4, but the official vote count takes several weeks. The California Secretary of State now has until Dec. 12 to certify the full results.

Here’s what we know about turnout and the vote margin across Southern California.

Did the vote margin change?

Not really.

In many races, the vote margin narrows or widens as the count goes on, but Prop. 50 stayed remarkably consistent. The margin we saw on election night is pretty much what still stands. As of this morning, 64.4% of ballots counted voted “yes,” while 35.6% were “no.”

What was turnout like?

Voters notoriously do not show up for off-year elections in the same numbers as, say, a presidential election.

But given how consequential Prop. 50 was, there was a lot of curiosity about how many voters would actually participate. About 11.6 million people showed up for the special election — a turnout of 50% statewide.

It’s not as high as California’s last special election in 2021 on whether to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom — turnout then was 58.4%. But it’s a solid showing for California, especially for an off-year special election. In fact, it’s on par with California’s 2022 midterm elections, which saw 50.8% turnout.

Here’s the voter turnout breakdown among Southern California’s six counties — this is pending final certification from the state:

• Imperial County: 35.8%
• L.A. County: 44.9%
• Orange County: 52.3%
• Riverside County: 45.9%
• San Bernardino County: 44.2%
• Ventura County: 55.3%

Where did ‘yes’ and ‘no’ votes come from across SoCal?

“Yes” won the majority of the vote in all six Southern California counties — Imperial, L.A., Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura. The margin was the widest in L.A. County, where “yes” had 74.3% of the vote. The smallest was in Orange County, with “yes” votes at 55.5%.

If you’re curious to dig further into the details, here’s a breakdown of the vote by city in Orange County and a preliminary map of what the vote looked like across L.A. County neighborhoods.

Two of the nation's latest food recalls concern cheese — and lots of it.

The recalls are distinct, citing different food safety concerns: One involves hundreds of thousands of containers of shredded mozzarella and multi-cheese blends, while the other affects several brands of grated Pecorino Romano.

But both target products that have sell-by dates in 2026 and are sold in major retailers in more than a dozen states.

Here's what to know:

The shredded cheese recall

Great Lakes Cheese, an Ohio-based company that calls itself "the nation's leading natural cheese packager," initiated a recall of half a dozen kinds of shredded cheese products — from mozzarella to pizza-style — in early October because they may contain fragments of metal.

This week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) upgraded its risk classification to Class II, the second-highest, meaning consumption of the product could cause "temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences."

The affected cheeses are sold under dozens of brand names at nationwide retailers including Target, Walmart, Publix and Aldi.

The FDA says they were distributed to 31 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, as well as Puerto Rico.

The recalled bags, with varying sell-by dates in February and March 2026, include:

• Low-moisture part-skim shredded mozzarella from the following brands: Always Save, Borden, Brookshire's, Cache Valley Creamery, Chestnut Hill, Coburn Farms, Econo, Food Club, Food Lion, Gold Rush Creamery, Good & Gather, Great Lakes Cheese, Happy Farms by Aldi, H-E-B, Hill Country Fare, Know & Love, Laura Lynn, Lucerne Dairy Farms, Nu Farm, Publix, Schnuck's, Simply Go, Sprouts Farmers Market, Stater Bros. Markets and Sunnyside Farms.
• Italian style shredded cheese blend under the brand names: Brookshire's, Cache Valley Creamery, Coburn Farms, Great Value, Know & Love, Laura Lynn, Publix, Simply Go and Happy Farms by Aldi.
• Shredded pizza-style cheese blend from Food Club, Econo, Gold Rush Creamery, Great Value, Laura Lynn and Simply Go.
• Mozzarella and provolone shredded cheese blend from Freedom's Choice, Good & Gather, Great Lakes Cheese and Great Value, as well as a mozzarella and parmesan blend from Good & Gather. 
  

The full list of products is on the FDA's website. The FDA has not published a press release or responded to NPR's request for comment about the recall. NPR reached out to Great Lakes Cheese but did not hear back by publication time.

The Pecorino Romano recall

One of several brands of grated Pecorino Romano being recalled over listeria concerns.

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Food and Drug Administration

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The Ambriola Company, a New Jersey-based cheese distributor, announced last week that it was recalling some of its products after routine testing confirmed the presence of listeria, which can cause potentially life-threatening infections.

It said while no illnesses had been reported, it was recalling products processed at that same facility "out of an abundance of caution." Those products were distributed to retail stores — and other distributors — between Nov. 3 and Nov. 20, the FDA says.

"We take food safety very seriously and immediately alerted stores and distributors to remove the affected products from shelves," Ambriola CEO Phil Marfuggi said in a statement. "We are working closely with the FDA and continuing to test our products and facilities to fully understand the situation."

The recalled products are sold — both in plastic containers and pound-sized plastic bags — under the brand names Ambriola, Locatelli, Pinna, Boar's Head and Member's Mark.

They have expiration dates ranging from February to May 2026. It's not clear exactly where the cheeses ended up, though Walmart says some are sold at Walmart locations in 14 states and Sam's Club locations in 27 states.

Wegman's has also issued a recall of Locatelli-brand Pecorino Romano — over the same listeria concerns — that it says was sold in stores in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C. between Nov. 14 and Nov. 24.

The FDA urges customers to toss or return the cheese for a refund, and contact their doctor if they develop symptoms of a listeria infection, which usually start within two weeks of eating contaminated food and can include fever, headache, stiff neck and muscle aches.

In the meantime, Ambriola says it has suspended production and distribution of affected products as it conducts a "thorough review of all sanitation and food safety procedures."
Copyright 2025 NPR

How far would you travel for a good steak?

For actor and director Eric Wareheim, best known as half of the pioneering duo Tim & Eric, the answer turned into a three-year journey across the United States, a sprawling tour of iconic dining rooms, veteran servers and the rituals that define America’s most enduring steakhouses.

The result is his new book, Steakhouse: The People, the Places, the Recipes.

Wareheim joined LAist 89.3’s AirTalk recently, talking to host Larry Mantle about how the project grew from a simple “best of” list into a full cultural record.

“Every city has five more, not on anyone’s list,” he said, describing the scale of the country’s steakhouse universe.

Understanding the appeal

For Wareheim, a great steakhouse is built on atmosphere as much as what’s on the plate. Newer restaurants may source fancier meat, he said, but the old-school places offer a different kind of comfort — a sense of continuity that’s increasingly rare.

A suited-up Wareheim sampling prime cuts as he documents America’s great steakhouses.

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What became clear in reporting the book, he said, is that steakhouses serve as more than dining rooms. They’re gathering places for birthdays, anniversaries and decades-long family traditions. They’re neighborhood anchors. And they’re deeply specific to their cities, each one carrying its own rituals, quirks and regulars.

An archival look at the people who built the classic American steakhouse, one dining room meeting at a time.

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The local perspective

It didn’t take long for AirTalk listeners to jump in with their own L.A. favorites.

• George Petrelli’s Steakhouse in Culver City: “They bring the meat in and butcher everything right there in the shop — cutting, dressing, even grinding the beef on the premises,” said Douglas in Long Beach.
  
• 555 East in Long Beach, which recently marked its 40th anniversary: “It was a grand celebration for the regulars — incredible prime rib, as much as you wanted, plus all sorts of other good things. Their steaks were terrific, and for dessert, they served a molten, individually baked pudding in its own little casserole dish," raved Harriet in Seal Beach.
  
• Dear John’s in Culver City: “So dark you can’t see for the first five minutes,” joked Michael in Sherman Oaks.
   
• Magic Lamp in Rancho Cucamonga: Its classic neon signage was singled out by Eric via email.
  
• Dan Tana’s in West Hollywood: "The best New York strip in town," said Jennifer in Silver Lake.

• Valley Inn Restaurant and Martini Bar in Sherman Oaks: Rose emailed that it was once the favorite steakhouse of legendary UCLA coach John Wooden. 
  
• Betsy in Altadena: Praised by local resident Peggy as her new go-to, calling its real-wood, fire-seared steaks “a bright spot amongst the ashes” — a nod to the community recovering from the Eaton Fire.
  
• Wareheim himself shouted out Taylor’s in Koreatown, the first steakhouse he and his comedy partner Tim Heidecker visited years ago. This formative experience planted the seed for the book.

From neon signs to prime rib rituals, Wareheim’s book captures the soul of the American steakhouse.

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In addition, Steakhouse also makes mention of plenty of other L.A.–based restaurants that make beef their specialty, including:

Clearman’s Steak ’n Stein (Pico Rivera — classic mid-century steakhouse known for prime rib).
Soot Bull Jip (Koreatown — Korean barbecue)
Langer’s Delicatessen (MacArthur Park — famed pastrami)
Thien An Bo 7 Mon (Rosemead — Vietnamese seven-courses-of-beef restaurant)
Niku X (Downtown L.A. — high-end dry-aged/robot-assisted steakhouse)
Musso & Frank Grill (Hollywood — iconic old-school chophouse)
Majordomo (Chinatown — modern Korean-American takes on large-format beef)

Veteran servers

Wareheim argued that the heart of any steakhouse isn’t the cut of meat — it’s the staff. Many of the places he visited have servers who’ve been there 30 or 40 years, passing down the rhythms of the room like a craft.

“You want to go to a serious server, a lifer who knows exactly what the best thing is,” he said. “You can let go and just let these veterans guide you. And that’s a good feeling.”