What to expect: It may look extra dreary today thanks to a late season storm moving into Southern California from the northwest.
Read on ... to learn about conditions at the beaches.
It's official — June gloom is here.
It may look extra dreary today thanks to a late season storm moving into Southern California from the northwest. The National Weather Service says there's a small chance of thunderstorms, mainly west of the mountains and in the desert in the afternoon into the evening. Most areas will likely see patchy drizzle in the morning.
Expect another cool day with temperatures around 65 to 70 degrees at L.A. County beaches. The valley communities could range between 71 and 81 degrees.
Orange County will see highs in the 70s, and the beaches will be on the chilly side with temperatures in the mid-60s. Inland Empire temperatures could reach the mid-80s.
The Coachella Valley can expect highs in the upper 90s.
Strong surf
Strong rip currents and high surf will hit our beaches — that includes L.A., Orange, Ventura county beaches and the Malibu coast. High surf could reach up to 6 feet tall for southwest facing beaches. These conditions will last until the afternoon.
Topline:
The crew of NASA's Artemis II mission are safely back on Earth after a nine-day mission took them on a trip around the moon and back, sending humans deeper into space than ever before.
The backstory: To come home safely, the crew — NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — and its capsule had to endure near-record-breaking entry speeds and temperatures up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
What's next: Even before the Artemis II crew splashed down, work had begun at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to prepare for the next mission. NASA is preparing to move the launch platform for Artemis II back into the Vehicle Assembly Building next week to begin putting together the rocket for Artemis III.
The crew of NASA's Artemis II mission are safely back on Earth after a nine-day mission took them on a trip around the moon and back, sending humans deeper into space than ever before.
To come home safely, the crew — NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — and its capsule had to endure near-record-breaking entry speeds and temperatures up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Orion spacecraft spent 13 and a half minutes falling through the atmosphere, hitting a top speed of more than 30 times the speed of sound.
Orion performed as designed. The capsule's heat shield protected the crew, and a series of parachutes helped the capsule gently splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.
With that landing, the mission came to a close, clocking more than 700,237 statute miles, said Artemis II entry flight director Rick Henfling.
Four members of the U.S. Navy Dive team pulled the crew from the capsule. Helicopters plucked them from a raft outside their spacecraft — called the porch — and within 24 hours of splashdown, they'll arrive at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
"We did it. We sent four amazing people to the moon and safely returned them to Earth for the first time in more than 50 years," said NASA's Lori Glaze, who leads the Artemis programs. "To the generation that now knows what we're capable of: Welcome to our moonshot."
The crew's flight path took them around the far side of the moon at around 4,000 miles above the surface.
The crew made a number of geological observations and took thousands of photos to help scientists better understand what the moon is made of – and where it might have come from.
But perhaps the most profound vantage point came from looking back at home.
"Trust me, you are special, in all of this emptiness," said Glover, "This is a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call The Universe. You have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together."
The Artemis II mission was a critical test flight for the Orion spacecraft, which will carry future Artemis astronauts, including those that will venture to the lunar surface.
The crew tested key systems of the spacecraft — its life support system, maneuverability, its heat shield, the toilet. What NASA learns from this flight will set future lunar missions up for success.
"Part of our ethos as a crew, and our values from the very beginning were that this is a relay race," said Koch "In fact, we have batons that we bought to symbolize physically, that we plan to hand them to the next crew, and every single thing that we do is with them in mind."
That next crew will come soon. NASA administrator Jared Isaacman accelerated the Artemis program, charging the agency with launching an Artemis mission each year.
Even before the Artemis II crew splashed down, work had begun at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to prepare for the next mission.
NASA engineering operations manager John Giles oversees the Crawler-Transporter, the massive vehicle that moves the mobile launch pad, and the SLS rocket that launches Orion, from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch site. His team is preparing to move the launch platform for Artemis II back into the Vehicle Assembly Building next week to begin putting together the rocket for Artemis III.
"We really haven't had too much time to relax and reflect on Artemis II, other than thinking what a perfect accomplishment it was," said Giles. "Moving right into Artemis III. No rest for the weary. It's moving on."
A key part of the Artemis III SLS rocket — the core stage fuel tank — is heading to Kennedy Space Center later this month. Parts of the solid rocket motors are already there.
Artemis III aims to launch next year. It'll stay in Earth orbit while testing spacecraft that are designed to land humans on the moon. The following mission, Artemis IV, could bring humans to the lunar surface, for the first time since 1972.
Copyright 2026 NPR
Topline:
Welcome to Coachella 2026.
Why it matters: Coachella is the spring break of the music world: a pair of long weekends in the California desert, featuring over 100 acts across eight stages spanning too many genres to count, from vintage groups mounting reunions to the biggest pop stars on the planet to rising talents with viral hits.
Why now: Nearly the entire event is streamed live via YouTube, starting Friday afternoon. But even if you're watching from home, the prospect of mapping your route through the weekend in order to catch the greatest possible collection of live experiences can be overwhelming.
Read on for our picks...
Coachella is the spring break of the music world: a pair of long weekends in the California desert, featuring over 100 acts across eight stages spanning too many genres to count, from vintage groups mounting reunions to the biggest pop stars on the planet to rising talents with viral hits. Nearly the entire event is streamed live via YouTube, starting Friday afternoon, which makes the prospect of catching more acts easier — you don't have to sprint across the grounds of Indio's Empire Polo Club to make it from one set to the next. But even if you're watching from home, the prospect of mapping your route through the weekend in order to catch the greatest possible collection of live experiences can be overwhelming.
To help, three members of NPR Music's team have sifted through the lineup to identify a day-by-day guide. Below, you'll find must-see acts and recommendations to ensure you catch the artists you should prioritize when set times conflict. (Note: All set times listed below are Pacific.)
Plan by Dora Levite
Must see:
"Young millionaire, man, I feel like Weezy," says fakemink on his recent EP The Boy who cried Terrified ., a ramp-up to his upcoming album. The 20-year-old London prince of SoundCloud rap has racked up enough well-deserved hype through a steady stream of excellent hyperpop singles and star-studded cosigns (SZA, Drake, Frank Ocean, Ecco2K) to sustain a massive North American tour bookended by Coachella on one side and Lollapalooza on the other.
Naturally, fakemink's hype has sparked a slew of online discourse, which has seemingly had the effect of splitting his fan base in two: day-one devotees who insist the rest of the world is late, and new appreciators who feel their precious attention is what brought him to the global sphere. Regardless of where you fall, this is the must-see set of the day — a chance to hear some of his very best music and to figure out, if you even care, where you stand in his fandom.
Day plan:
The best way to prepare yourself for a day at a music festival is to establish your stage loyalties early. Start with Doom Dave's DJ set at 1 p.m. at the Sonora stage, then release all your pent-up festival anxiety with a cathartic scream when Las Vegas screamo band Febuary takes over.
At 2:10 p.m., I'd watch the Cahuilla Bird Singers and Dancers at the Gobi tent, a Coachella staple for the past few years. At 2:50 p.m., the pop star of the hour, Slayyyter, comes on for her first show with a live band since her excellent new album WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA. Head back to the Sonora stage at 3:40 p.m. to catch the majority of Wednesday's set — the North Carolina band released one of the greatest rock albums of 2025 and is a guaranteed stellar live show.
After that, things get complicated. Start with Lykke Li on the Outdoor Theatre stage at 5:20 p.m.; last time she played Coachella in 2015, she was a festival highlight, and now with new music on the horizon, she's likely to feed the nostalgia the festival loves and bring some more sparkling pop. Head over to Mojave no later than 5:50 to hopefully see Central Cee close out his set with "Sprinter" (cross your fingers for a Dave cameo). Before Dijon starts at the Outdoor Theatre at 6:40 p.m., you'll have time to see the first bit of CMAT, a fresh face in country-tinged theatrical pop, on the Gobi stage.
Next, of course, is fakemink — the buzziest name of the day. 7:20 p.m. on the Gobi stage.
From there it all falls into place: Turnstile (8:05 p.m., Outdoor Theatre, bound to be a great energy boost), Sabrina Carpenter (9:05 p.m., Main stage, every person should see "Manchild" live once in their life), Ethel Cain (10:35 p.m., Mojave tent, the Coachella haunting experience), and finish the night with Blood Orange (11:55 p.m., Mojave — maybe recent collaborator Brendan Yates of Turnstile will skip over from the Outdoor Theatre to join the fun).
Plan by Sheldon Pearce
Must see:
There is something thrilling about watching Alex G strap on an accordion mid-song for "June Guitar," from last year's Headlights, during a gig, and that alone might be worth the price of a Coachella ticket. (OK, probably not, but definitely worth seeing on a livestream for free.) The only thing preventing the DIY king turned major-label convert from being the can't-miss performance of Saturday is a last-minute addition: 2025 Rock Hall inductee Jack White, who joins the first weekend as a surprise set at the Mojave tent. He likely won't play "Seven Nation Army" — so what. You don't even really have to like his last few albums to appreciate him live. It's the one forum where his finicky guitar ways always pay off big — he will grab three to four axes, rotate through them across the set, and shred like he's playing to scrape together bus fare out of Indio.
Day plan:
To get the best Saturday experience, start your stream at 2:40 p.m. with the first 20 minutes of Blondshell's set at the Outdoor Theatre before flipping over to catch Jack White in the Mojave tent.
Stretch your legs, grab a bite, walk the dog, then tap in for Ecca Vandal, a South African-born, Melbourne-raised punk-rock rapper who plays the Sonora stage at 4:20 p.m. Hit Alex G (5:10 p.m., Outdoor stage) and the gripping (and polarizing) band Geese (6:15 p.m., Gobi) back to back.
You can opt in or out of best new artist Grammy shortlister Sombr's 7:05 p.m. set at the Outdoor theatre — maybe you want to see what all the hype is about or maybe you need to step away from the screen for a spell — before embracing the exuberant Afropop pioneer Davido (7:50 p.m., Gobi).
In the first major conflict of the day, catch PinkPantheress at 8:55 p.m. in the Mojave tent instead of The Strokes over on the main stage; sure, she's nostalgic for the era the band got famous in, but her time is now, post-Fancy That? and her Alysa Liu cosign. If you're really yearning for post-punk revivalists from NYC's aughts indie scene, have no fear: Interpol is on at Mojave right after. Then stay up late for whatever Swag hijinks Saturday headliner Justin Bieber has planned for the main stage.
Plan by Anamaria Sayre
Must see:
My friends: Little Simz. This something-for-everyone artist who retains her own unmistakable flair has graced the desert stage before, appearing in tiny print on the 2019 poster and making a guest appearance with Gorillaz in 2023. On Sunday, the U.K. rapper is back with space to release the full Simz flow on a much larger stage.
Simz has always had a gift for taking a live opportunity to hit you over the head with her rapid-fire flow. She unleashes venom with impressive control and is always certain to mix equal parts slam and R&B. In this late afternoon solo slot, she could have an opportunity to fill out her set with a tight live band or maybe sneak in some strings, all the better to represent a sound that gets bigger and brighter with each new record.
Day plan:
The desert is a marathon, not a sprint. You've made it to Sunday (whether on the ground or virtual) so you're well-versed in pacing. We have to start out slow and maybe a little sad, so first stop is Samia (playing the Mojave tent at 3:15 p.m.), leading directly into Little Simz on the same stage.
From there, keep the energy up by hopping over to Clipse (5:15 p.m., Outdoor Theatre) for what's sure to be a performance as gripping as their off-kilter beats. Do a quick flip halfway through to make it over to the Sonora stage by 5:50 p.m. for the last half of Los Retros. It's sure to be sonic whiplash, given that these young romantic crooners bring living room vibes, but it's worth the sprint, and anyway, by this point in the weekend you're a pro at juggling disparate sounds. When that's over, if you wanna lean into the mood shifts and go for one more heart-rate spike via hardcore cleanse, you can just make the last 15 minutes of Suicidal Tendencies back at the Mojave tent.
Take a little breather, get some sustenance, and hop back to it for some straight-from-Norway dance floor flair with Röyksopp. If you're watching the live stream, you may have to skip the Norwegian gathering (Yuma stage isn't currently included on the YouTube schedule) and trade it for a bumping party closer to home — Georgia-bred rapper Young Thug on the main stage.
Now we're sprinting to the finish: You'll split time at a pair of worthwhile overlapping sets by starting with avant-garde English singer FKA twigs (innovation is twigs' most tried and true mode of being, so there's certain to be something we've never seen before), and (if you can tear yourself away before the end) moving on to catch the end of Chicago's own French Police. Close out the night on the main stage, starting at 9:55 p.m. with the first Latina to ever headline Coachella, la bichota herself, Karol G.
Copyright 2026 NPR
Topline:
The Marlboro Man billboard used to tower over L.A. at the entrance of the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. It was an ad for the cigarette maker, but over the years had become a landmark for the city.
Why it matters: The sign came down in 1999 after Big Tobacco and a number of state attorneys general reached a settlement that mandated a ban on outdoor tobacco advertising.
Read on … for a history of the Marlboro Man sign in L.A. and why the Sunset Strip was its perfect home.
It was the end of an era for a sign of the times.
On a rainy March day in 1999, a 70-foot billboard perched at the doorstep of the Sunset Strip was taken down and trucked away. That spot on Sunset Boulevard and Marmont Lane had long been the home of the rough-hewn, lasso-toting Marlboro Man — so much a fixture it became part of the glitz and glam of L.A.
"It was such an iconic ad — such a tall billboard with this very handsome image up there," said John Heilman, current and then-mayor of West Hollywood. "Right there by the Chateau Marmont and near a lot of music venues that we have up on Sunset."
That's how I came to know about these larger-than-life Marlboro billboards, going to the Roxy and the Whiskey to see shows, and to the Sunset Tower Records for music in the 1990s. I didn't know it at the time, the image apparently changed every couple of years, but the vibe was so consistent it felt like one, long seamless spell.
"When you came in on Sunset, that is what you saw," said Neil Ford, head of sales for central U.S. and the West Coast at Big Happy, a digital and mobile ad agency based in Chicago. "It really captured what out-of-home [advertisement] was at that moment, what it meant."
Ford said the campaign was groundbreaking — advertising at its most effective.
"You think about that image of the Marlboro Man. It was a different size, it had presence and it captured your attention," Ford said.
It was a gamechanger for Philip Morris. Sales for Marlboro hit $5 million in 1955, a more than 3,000% increase a year after its debut.
In other words, it attracted more smokers.
"It was obvious that the image of the rugged Marlboro Man encouraged generations of men to smoke," said Paul Koretz, a former West Hollywood council member who was at the sign on that March day to celebrate its fall.
Hypermasculinity aside, Marlboro was originally marketed to women as a luxury brand peddling a mild flavor when it was introduced in the 1920s.
The pivot came three decades later, when the company was looking for a way to sell men on filtered cigarettes, long considered effeminate and less flavorful.
Enter Chicago ad man Leo Burnett, who engineered what many consider one of the greatest brand reinventions of all time by creating a new series of mascots — not just butch cowboys, but tough-as-nail sailors, hunters, businessmen, sportsmen, writers.
At the end, the cowboy won out, becoming the brand's reigning Marlboro Man.
" They brought this masculine symbol — image, visual — and really re-created what Marlboro as a brand meant," Ford said. "And it just was one image, there was very little copy. It had the logo on it. It was its own creation at the time."
The campaign propelled Marlboro to the top of the domestic industry by the 1970s, even as the toll on public health from the use of tobacco products racked up.
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that some 480,000 people in the U.S. die every year from cigarette smoking, including exposure to second-hand smoke. At least four actors who portrayed Marlboro Man died from smoking-related diseases.
In 1971, the U.S. banned cigarette advertising on television and radio. Brands then shifted to other mediums, in particular billboards.
The 1.7-mile stretch of Sunset Strip in West Hollywood has never been a stranger to grabby billboards. In fact, it was where the medium became art.
"It's always been known for very creative advertising," Heilman, West Hollywood’s mayor, said.
Its golden era was arguably the 1970s, when giant, hand-painted rock ‘n’ roll signs lined the Strip, a veritable checklist of who’s who in the music world.
The phenomenon started in 1967, with Elektra Records taking out a billboard to promote the debut album of a little-known local band called The Doors.
Two years later, The Beatles’ "Abbey Road" appeared, followed by Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen.
The era came to a close in the 1980s with the advent of MTV, which changed the playbook of music marketing, says photographer Robert Landau in his book, Rock 'n' Roll Billboards of the Sunset Strip.
"Other types of billboards focusing on the entertainment industry were very popular," Heilman said. "A lot of the new movie releases, new album releases, new product releases."
And the Marlboro Man stood amid this hit parade in one of the most commanding spots on The Strip since at least the late 1970s.
"As I recall, at one point they actually had steam coming out of it to simulate smoke," said Heilman, who has lived in West Hollywood for more than four decades.
The billboard predates the incorporation of West Hollywood as a city in 1984. Helping to lead the cityhood efforts was Koretz, who went on to become a City Council member for West Hollywood before serving on the state Assembly and the Los Angeles City Council.
"I actually lived near the Sunset Strip, so I thought about it every time I drove by," he said of the Marlboro Man ad. "It was one of the most effective symbols of tobacco marketing."
Both his parents, Koretz said, were heavy lifelong smokers who died from the addiction. As a lawmaker, Koretz led a number of anti-smoking efforts, including a smoking ban in restaurants in West Hollywood — as well as a near total ban on tobacco advertising in the city.
That ban was passed in the final months of 1998, just before a settlement agreement between the nation's biggest tobacco companies, including Philip Morris, and dozens of state attorneys general. The $206 billion deal settled lawsuits filed by the states to recoup health care costs for smoking-related illnesses. It also banned youth marketing, as well as outdoor advertising.
As a result, Los Angeles's most famous Marlboro Man stepped down on March 10, 1999 — about a month before the official removal deadline.
That day, Koretz held a news conference to send the sign off. He said not everyone was happy to see the landmark go. But the ban, among a slew of other anti-smoking policies, have made an impact.
Last year, the American Cancer Society reported cigarette smoking among U.S. adults dropped from 42% in 1965 to 11% in 2023.
" It was always controversial. There are always people that didn't like it," Koretz said of the billboard ban. "This is largely a success story."
Shortly after, a new billboard went up in the place of the Marlboro Man on Sunset.
It was still a cowboy, looking eerily similar to its fallen predecessor, but with a limp cigarette hanging from his mouth.
Instead of Marlboro, it read, "Impotent."
Topline:
In Pasadena, Canoga Park, San Fernando there are food banks - with a difference. They offer a range of fresh produce, for free, and are designed to look like farmer’s markets. The founder of Together We Thrive says she wants to give people dignity as they access the food they need.
Why it matters: Lindsey Chambers, founder of Together we Thrive, said most food banks give away bags of pre-selected dry food. She wanted instead to give people the dignity of looking at and selecting the food themselves. The organization say they serve about 300 people weekly at the San Fernando location, more in Pasadena.
Why now: As the cost of living has squeezed many people, hundreds of food banks have sprouted across Southern California. This one has built a loyal following in part through their approach.
The backstory: These food banks’ concept is straightforward: the organization buys fruits and vegetables from California small farms. They bring them by electric trucks to the weekly giveaways staffed by paid staff and volunteers.
What's next: The group’s founder says it plans to open another food bank in North Carolina this year.
Go deeper: Food assistance when benefits delayed.
The wood crates are lined up on folding tables in a church parking lot in San Fernando. Each crate is filled with russet potatoes, knobby purple and orange carrots, plump garlic, red apples and more. It's produce from the Santa Ynes Valley in Santa Barbara County that could easily be found in farmers' markets in upscale neighborhoods.
But here, it’s free.
“ I wanted to find a way to distribute food to people that was done with dignity,” said Lindsay Chambers, president of non-profit Together We Thrive
The crates, the quality of the produce, much of it organic, and other details intentionally blur the line between farmers' market and food bank. Before starting these, Chambers volunteered at eight food banks across the nation to a get a sense of how they work. When she saw how much people love farmers’ markets, she decided she'd make her new food bank look like one.
“Instead of just receiving a free handout, they're coming in person and they get to select. It looks like a regular farmers' market,” Chambers said.
She opened her first Together We Thrive food bank in Canoga Park in January 2025. The L.A. fires led her to start another in Pasadena. Then this one in San Fernando.
The concept is straightforward: the organization buys fruits and vegetables from California small farms. They bring them by electric trucks to the weekly giveaways staffed by paid staff and volunteers.
Chambers said they serve about 300 people weekly at this San Fernando location, more in Pasadena. As the cost of living has squeezed many people, hundreds of food banks have sprouted across Southern California. This one has built a loyal following in part through their approach.
The San Fernando food bank sets up at Latin American Church of the Nazarene. People bring their own reusable bags or get a paper bag. The free food is welcomed by many.
“I have a 94 year-old father, and with finances the way they are, this is very, very helpful. Then I come for my other coworker for her elderly parents as well,” said Katherine Balarezo, a high school special education assistant who lives in nearby North Hollywood.
While other food banks offer pre-selected boxes or bags filled with dry food, or may require registration of some kind, that's not what happens here. People can just walk up and choose their own produce.
”It's not canned stuff. This is fresh vegetables so you can do a lot and the shelf life is longer,” Balarezo saying it's good for people like her who like to cook their own, healthy meals.
On this day, at this location, people who came represented various races, ethnicities, and ages. Some said their pocketbooks are tight, others said they were doing OK.
“I'm currently a college student, so I'm trying to save as much cash as I can so I can pay for my books and my tuition every semester,” said Allam Reyes, who lives about five minutes away.
He’s going to juice the carrots and may cook the potatoes in the air fryer. He said this bag of produce would cost him about $20-$25 at the supermarket. His roommates may like what he makes.
“If I can share it, then I'll share it, but if not, I'm going to make it for myself,” Reyes said.
Chambers, the founder of this food bank says this multiplying effect, that the food given away here to one person goes on to serve more, is one of the things that drives the organization to keep on giving. Together We Thrive plans to open a similar food bank in Charlotte, North Carolina.
