The Brief

The Trump administration is looking to build an immigration detention facility at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, and pushing to speed up a review process, according to internal government communications obtained by KQED.

The proposed installation is part of an aggressive effort to expand immigration detention nationally, and specifically to use property owned by the U.S. Department of Defense in service of President Donald Trump’s stated goal of deporting 1 million people in his first year in office.

In the early April emails, federal officials discussed efforts to evaluate several military installations, including Travis Air Force Base, for Homeland Security’s immigration detention and removal operations — and tee them up for approval by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The emails show significant coordination among Department of Defense and Homeland Security officials to expedite the plans. The emails do not describe the scope or design of the proposed detention compound at Travis Air Force Base, nor how many people it would be expected to hold.

A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond directly to questions about Travis Air Force Base, but he did affirm that ICE is actively working to expand detention capacity.

“While we cannot confirm individual pre-decisional conversations, we can confirm that ICE is exploring all options in California to meet its current and future detention requirements, which include new detention facilities and possible support from partner agencies,” a written statement from the agency said.

Officials at Travis Air Force Base declined to comment, and the Department of Defense did not respond to KQED’s request for comment by press time.

Homeland Security officials have been considering at least 10 military bases around the country for immigration detention, NPR has reported. A February Homeland Security memo obtained by NPR described a plan to use Fort Bliss, near El Paso, Texas, as a model for other facilities, with up to 1,000 people initially detained there, eventually expanding to as many as 10,000.

A U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy and a C-17 Globemaster sit on the tarmac at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, on July 17, 2008.

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Saul Loeb

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The revelation that Travis is on the list of military facilities came as a shock to East Bay Rep. John Garamendi, a Democrat and senior member of the House Armed Services Committee whose district includes the Fairfield base.

“Travis Air Force Base is absolutely inappropriate for an immigration detention facility,” Garamendi told KQED. “Travis has a critical national security role of providing worldwide transportation services for personnel and material around the world. An immigration facility would significantly hamper the national security work that Travis is responsible for.”

Earlier this year, Garamendi and other members of Congress raised strenuous opposition when military aircraft from the base — C-17 planes typically meant for troops or cargo — were used for deportation flights to remove immigrants from the country.

“Just in terms of the cost factor, to say nothing of the readiness, every time you take a military aircraft and you use it for purposes that are not directly related to the national security work, that degrades the ability of the military to do what it’s supposed to do,” he said.

Meanwhile, a plan to use the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to detain as many as 30,000 immigrants appears to have been scaled back drastically in the face of obstacles, including public outcry over the $40 million price tag to lock up a couple of hundred men during its first month of operation.

ICE is currently holding nearly 48,000 immigrants in detention facilities nationwide. Last year, ICE’s detention capacity was 41,500 beds. However, last month, Congress added $430,000 to ICE’s current-year detention budget, allowing the agency to increase capacity to 54,500 beds.

The number of detention beds is one factor limiting the Trump administration’s ability to increase deportations. ICE would also need to increase staffing and other resources, beyond last year’s $3.4 billion detention budget, which advocates say was already a historic high. The administration is looking to the Republican-controlled Congress to vastly expand the Homeland Security budget, and the New York Times has reported that ICE has already solicited proposals from contractors worth as much as $45 billion for the next two years.

A KC-10 Extender is parked on the ramp as a C-5M Super Galaxy takes off at Travis Air Force Base, California, March 16, 2017.

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Previous administrations have used military bases to temporarily house arriving refugees and have deployed soldiers to provide logistical support to the U.S. Border Patrol. But the plan to use Travis and other military facilities for ICE detention represents a more substantial move toward militarizing immigration enforcement.

Trump’s “border czar,” Tom Homan, has called the Department of Defense a “force multiplier” for his deportation plans.

However, Jehan Laner, a senior staff attorney at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center in San Francisco, argues that using military bases for ICE detention violates the Posse Comitatus Act, a 19th-century law that limits the use of military personnel to enforce domestic policies within the U.S.

“Our country is kind of turning toward authoritarianism when you have the military starting to do civil law enforcement,” she said. “It becomes a very scary prospect.”

At the beginning of the year, it seemed like a bipartisan deal to extend the Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies was within reach. A three-year extension passed in the House, but talks have sputtered in the Senate.

Many Republicans in Congress assert the reason for those stalled talks goes all the way back to the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010.

"You gotta remember, Democrats created Obamacare," Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, told reporters on Thursday. "It's been an abject failure in terms of lowering costs."

Moreno helped lead bipartisan talks in the Senate to come up with a solution to the sudden absence of enhanced subsidies that caused many people's premiums to double or triple. Most people affected by this live in states that Trump won, and Moreno is among the Republicans who have tried to come up with a deal to cushion the blow of these high premiums.

But even as the parties tried to work together to solve a present-day problem, anger over the original passage of the ACA keeps coming up.

"Congressional Republicans can't seem to quit the Obamacare repeal fight, even though the politics of the Affordable Care Act have changed a lot over the past 15 years," says Jonathan Oberlander, a political scientist focused on health care at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "It is, on balance, now a very popular program. Its main coverage policies, including the enhanced subsidies, have been in place for many years and helped tens of millions of Americans."

That makes letting the enhanced subsidies expire politically hazardous, he says.

"It is a terrible political look for congressional Republicans, and it's a terrible reality for many of their constituents who are going to face these skyrocketing premium payments," Oberlander says.

Republicans are "likely to pay a price" in the upcoming midterm elections, he adds.

That view is supported by a poll published Thursday by the nonpartisan health research organization KFF, which found two-thirds of Americans think that Congress did the "wrong thing" by failing to extend the enhanced subsidies.

The survey, which was fielded in mid-January and included 1,400 people, also found that health care costs were Americans' top affordability concern, more than the cost of groceries or utilities.

"What our poll is showing is that health care costs are something that voters want to see candidates address," says Ashley Kirzinger, KFF's director of survey methodology. "A significant share of them say that health care costs are going to play a major role in their decisions to vote in the midterms and in which candidates they vote for."

Even before open enrollment on Healthcare.gov and the state marketplaces began in November, the intense political debate about the future of the enhanced subsidies has hung over the normal sign up process. Some enrollees didn't know if they would end up with a premium that was $400 a month or $2,000 a month. Although the chances for a bipartisan deal seem slim, there is still some negotiating happening in the Senate.

"All of this uncertainty is leading to a lot of understandable stress among patients who have relied on the marketplace and saw real gains in affordability at a time when we're also seeing downward economic trends," says Miranda Yaver, professor of health policy at the University of Pittsburgh.

If Congress did manage to revive the enhanced subsidies, marketplace directors said in a press call last month that they would be ready to move quickly to implement the change and reopen enrollment, but that some consumers may be lost from the market for good. Hilary Schneider, the director of the Maine marketplace coverME, says her team would try to win people back, but adds: "When you lose consumers, getting them back is twice as hard as retaining them and it's really costly."

So far, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, 23 million people signed up for an ACA plan. That's down more than a million from last year, and health policy experts predict that more people will drop coverage over the coming months if they can't afford the premiums.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 4 million people could ultimately become uninsured due to the expiration of the enhanced subsidies, and that number could ultimately grow to 15 million because of people losing Medicaid coverage due to cuts in the Big Beautiful Bill, which kick in next year.

"That is the largest increase in the uninsured population we have ever had in a short period of time, and it would wipe out about two-thirds of the gains of Obamacare," says Oberlander.

"One of the larger frames here is in 2017, President Trump and congressional Republicans tried to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and they failed, and, of course, it cost them politically in the 2018 midterm elections," Oberlander says "This time around, they did not launch a frontal assault on Obamacare. They did not try to repeal and replace the law. But what they are doing, in effect, is rolling back many of its core provisions."

Yaver agrees that, this time around, Republicans are "finding more subtle ways to undermine [the ACA's] effectiveness" than launching another repeal effort.

Oberlander thinks even if they're more subtle, these moves are still going to prove unpopular with voters.

"I think they've probably bought some thin political insulation by rolling back instead of repealing, but ultimately, I still think it's going to be very unpopular to do these things," he says. "A lot of Americans are not going to welcome the news that Congress is making their health insurance less affordable."

Copyright 2026 NPR

Another Grammy Awards telecast is in the books, and it was a night of historic wins, chaotic performances and viral moments, as well as speeches that frequently addressed this moment in American history. Here's a rundown of some of Sunday's highlights.

1. The season of Bad Bunny is playing out as planned. The Puerto Rican superstar had long appeared primed for a big night at this year's Grammys. After all, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS was a blockbuster, and Bad Bunny himself is headlining next weekend's Super Bowl halftime show. In the end, he ended up sort of headlining this show, too: DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS picked up album of the year and best música urbana album during Sunday's telecast, while "EoO" won best global music performance earlier in the day.

In the process, Bad Bunny made history — this was the first time a Spanish-language album has won album of the year — while also giving speeches that addressed both ICE raids in American cities and the humanity of the people affected. ("We're not savage," he said during his speech for best música urbana album. "We're not animals, we're not aliens, we are humans and we are Americans.")

The parallels between Bad Bunny's wins and Kendrick Lamar's wins last year felt undeniable: Both won major Grammys right before they were scheduled to perform the Super Bowl halftime show, and both seized on moments bigger than themselves. For Lamar, it was the wildfires that had recently devastated the Los Angeles area. For Bad Bunny, whose Super Bowl booking helped place him at the center of the culture wars (and, more specifically, national conversations about immigration policy), this was an even timelier win.

2. Kendrick Lamar's momentum from last year carried over. Lamar won five Grammys last year, including song and record of the year for "Not Like Us." This year, he picked up five more trophies — and leapfrogged Jay-Z to become the winningest rapper in Grammys history. Jay-Z has 25 wins; with Sunday's awards, Lamar now has 27.

Lamar's wins this year included biggies in the rap categories — best rap album for GNX and best rap song for "tv off (feat. Lefty Gunplay)" — and one of the biggest of all: record of the year, for "Luther (feat. SZA)." It's Lamar's second year in a row winning in that category.

The win for "Luther" even came bundled with a surreal moment: Tasked with giving a speech for a lifetime achievement award, Cher was then supposed to hand out the Grammy for record of the year. So she gave a speech, began to wander offstage and had to be summoned back, at which point she announced that the winner was "Luther Vandross" — referring to the singer, who died in 2005.

Fortunately, it quickly became clear that the winner was "Luther," which was inspired by Vandross and samples his song "If This World Were Mine." The gaffe helped compel the winners to pay tribute to Vandross, which is never a bad idea under any circumstances.

3. The category of best new artist spawned an impressive field — and an obvious winner. Give the Grammys credit for pulling together a solid assortment of best new artist nominees in The Marías, Addison Rae, KATSEYE, Leon Thomas, Alex Warren, Lola Young, Olivia Dean and sombr. And give the telecast bonus points for smooshing all eight nominees into a medley that gave each enough room to breathe.

But there could never be much doubt that this was Dean's category to lose: She's got the most commercial momentum of them all — The Art of Loving is still in the top 5 on the charts — and she might as well have been bred in a laboratory to win Grammys. Listen to "Man I Need" and you'll hear a song that would have won Grammys in 1976, 1986, 1996, 2006 …

In fact, Dean will likely be a player in next year's Grammys, as well: The Art of Loving came out shortly after the cutoff for 2026 Grammy eligibility, and it's already yielded other chart hits. In 2027, it wouldn't be a shock to see her compete for album of the year, among other categories.

4. No one hoarded all the trophies this year. Some years, a single artist ends up sweeping the major categories — as Billie Eilish did in 2020, when she won album, record and song of the year, plus best new artist. That's a flashy outcome that's often richly deserved, but it can be deadening to watch after a while.

This year, the prizes were spread to a nice assortment of acts. In fact, the first seven trophies given out during the telecast went to seven different artists: Kendrick Lamar, Olivia Dean, Bad Bunny, Jelly Roll, Lady Gaga, Lola Young and Eilish, who picked up song of the year for the third time in seven years. That helped preserve a sense that the night's two biggest awards — record and album of the year — were still in play until the moment they were handed out.

5. "Messy" was the word of the night. From Cher giving record of the year to "Luther Vandross" — see above — to a chaotic In Memoriam segment headlined by Ms. Lauryn Hill's first Grammys performance since 1999, it was a messy, chaotic night. The performances could be overstuffed-but-heartfelt (In Memoriam), strobe-lit and retrofitted to rock (Lady Gaga's "Abracadabra," ROSÉ and Bruno Mars' "APT."), theatrical and funny (Sabrina Carpenter's "Manchild") or theatrical and arty (Tyler, the Creator's audacious medley), with many points in between.

For the most part, it was the right kind of mess, and if nothing else, you never quite knew what might happen next. When Lola Young picked up a Grammy for best pop solo performance — for "Messy," natch — her speech was a fireball of unregulated emotion. Messy, sure, but it fit on a night ruled by big, fervent feelings.

6. The speeches weren't just heartfelt — they were often political, too. Sometimes, awards shows can feel hermetically sealed off from the world around them; that, in turn, can make their participants feel self-infatuated and out-of-touch, especially when the country is suffering from the effects of national disasters, political strife or both.

Even in milder times, it can be a tough balance to pull off. At the Grammys Sunday, many winners leaned in to address ICE actions and U.S. immigration policy. Olivia Dean described being the granddaughter of an immigrant. Bad Bunny opened his speech by saying, "Before I say thanks to God, I'm gonna say, 'ICE OUT.'" And Billie Eilish gave the fieriest speech of all, as calmly delivered pronouncements ("No one is illegal on stolen land") gave way to a phrase that was dropped from the telecast's audio feed but soon revealed to be the words, "F*** ICE."

Other notes of protest were more muted; Carole King was one of many attendees who wore "ICE OUT" pins, for example. But you couldn't watch these Grammys without knowing that there's a world of conflict beyond the music industry.

7. In the performances (if not the awards themselves), rock staged a comeback. As noted, both Lady Gaga's "Abracadabra" and ROSÉ and Bruno Mars' "APT." were enlivened by grand signifiers of rock and roll: strobe lights, guitars and a generalized sense of mayhem. But they weren't the only ones.

As part of the lengthy In Memoriam segment, Post Malone presided over a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne that also featured Chad Smith, Duff McKagan, Slash and Andrew Watt. And even Justin Bieber stripped "YUKON" down to the singer and an electric guitar, which he used to create a looped riff.

With rock still largely relegated to the margins of the awards themselves — though Turnstile did win best rock album and best metal performance, giving the Baltimore band its first two Grammys — it seemed unusually prominent in the night's many live sets.

8. As always, records were set and milestones were reached. Yes, Kendrick Lamar became the Grammys' most decorated rapper, while Bad Bunny notched the first-ever win for a Spanish-language album. But there were also notable firsts and record-setting wins in some of the less widely discussed categories.

In the category of best children's music album, the father-daughter duo Fyütch & Aura V set a new record, as Aura V became the youngest-ever individually named Grammy winner. (She's 8; the previous record-holder, Blue Ivy Carter, was 9 when she won in 2021.) Their speech was a highlight of the Grammys' Premiere Ceremony on Sunday.

Then there's the latest EGOT winner: Thanks to his role as a producer of the 2024 documentary Music by John Williams, Steven Spielberg has added a Grammy to his previous wins at the Emmys, Oscars and Tonys. It's about time that kid caught a break.

And, speaking of kids catching a break, the 14th Dalai Lama finally snagged the Grammy that had eluded him for more than 90 years. In the process, he's become the first-ever recipient of the coveted GWHRT: Grammy Award, Wallenberg Medal, Holder of the White Lotus, Ramon Magsaysay Award, Templeton Prize. In your face, Spielberg!

KATSEYE, a girl group styled after K-pop (but not technically K-pop), lost in its bid for both best new artist and best pop duo/group performance.

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9. K-pop scored a Grammy breakthrough, but not in a big way. For the first time ever, a K-pop song has won a Grammy Award, as HUNTR/X's inescapable "Golden" picked up a trophy for best song written for visual media. That's a significant milestone for the genre, which had been shut out in spite of five nominations in the past for the boy-band juggernaut BTS.

But Sunday was still a bit of letdown for those hoping for a major K-pop win at the Grammys. HUNTR/X didn't win anything else — it was up for song of the year, among others — while ROSÉ of BLACKPINK went 0-for-3 with her Bruno Mars duet "APT.," which was nominated for record and song of the year. And KATSEYE, a girl group styled after K-pop (but not technically K-pop), lost in its bid for both best new artist and best pop duo/group performance.

Still, those nominations are significant — especially in the major categories — as the Grammys look to be growing more hospitable to K-pop music going forward. Among other things, that's good news for BTS, whose new album is due in March.

10. The Tiny Desk is a Grammy-winner … sort of. Okay, so technically the Tiny Desk has never been up for a Grammy, seeing as how it's a venue and not a performer. But it's already racked up a bit of history with the Grammys.

First, two different winners of NPR's Tiny Desk Contest have won Grammys: Inaugural winner Fantastic Negrito has won three, while former best new artist nominee Tank and the Bangas picked up a prize in spoken word just last year.

This year, the milestones came in the form of the first-ever Tiny Desk performances to be directly nominated for Grammys. The more visible nomination, in the category of best R&B performance, went to Leon Thomas for "Mutt (Live From NPR's Tiny Desk)." But, though he won twice Sunday — for best R&B album and best traditional R&B performance — he lost best R&B performance to Kehlani's "Folded."

The Tiny Desk's less-noticeable nomination came in the category of best Latin rock or alternative album. CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso, a duo from Argentina who won five Latin Grammys last fall, put out an album last year called Papota. Of its nine songs, five were recorded at its viral 2024 Tiny Desk concert, which has racked up more than 48 million views on YouTube.

On Sunday, Papota won best Latin rock or alternative album, making the Tiny Desk a (sort of) Grammy winner. But again, because the Tiny Desk is a venue and not a performing artist, we don't get a cool li'l gramophone statue. Life is monstrously cruel that way.

Copyright 2026 NPR

The late application window for Los Angeles Unified School District opens Monday.

Every fall, LAUSD opens applications for families who are interested in attending a school that is not their neighborhood school (or “resident school,” in the district’s terminology).

The process for the largest pool of non-resident schools is called “Choices.” This includes hundreds of magnet schools, dual-language programs and some charter schools, among other options.

The regular application window closes in November. The spots available during the late application period are those left after families who applied “on time” accept their offers.

The application can be done online or on paper, and the selection process begins in April — and acceptances can run into the following school year.

How do I know what schools I might want to apply to?

Families have told us the process of choosing a school for their child is often confusing and anxiety-driven.

Still: No one type of school is inherently better than another, and the “right” school will look different for every family.

To help, LAist has our School Game Plan — a series that helps families think through and evaluate their options. That includes:

• How do I choose a school?
• Know if a school is 'good'
• Enroll in transitional kindergarten
• Acquire magnet school points
• Understand charter schools
• Learn what happens in transitional kindergarten
• Get involved at a child's school
• Make a school repair request
• Get your child a bus seat
• Hold the school board accountable

Our guides are also available in Spanish. And if you prefer an easy-to-print version, we also have PDFs in English and Spanish.

What you read is based on the experience of real southern California families, educators and other experts, including their experiences in their own words.

Any other questions? Get in touch with us.

Senior editor Ross Brenneman contributed to this story.

We all need some fun things to look forward to, and even though it’s only February, it’s not too early to start planning a Rose Bowl float for next year’s parade. If you have an idea for a float, you can pitch it to a team of Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo students by Feb. 5; they'll help bring one big creative idea to life for the 2027 event.

Licorice Pizza’s music picks include starting your week with former Little Mix star Jade and her That’s Showbiz, Baby revue at the Hollywood Palladium, or Midwife (aka multi-instrumentalist Madeline Johnston) at Highland Park’s Lodge Room, both on Monday. Tuesday, Andrew Bird is at Largo, and Wednesday is a big night for hip-hop icons, featuring pioneering Bronx rapper, producer, and DJ Pete Rock at the Lodge Room. Meanwhile, Wu-Tang Clan founder GZA and his live band play the first of two nights at the Blue Note. Thursday, you could see Latin legend, bombshell and guitar great Charo, in all her sequined glory, as she brings her flamenco fabulousness to the Smothers Theatre at Pepperdine University.

Elsewhere on LAist, you can get the lowdown on L.A.’s World Cup fan festival, visit Porkchop at the Aquarium of the Pacific’s sea turtle restoration project and mark off how many of the best L.A. films you’ve seen with this definitive list.

Events

American Icon: A Ford Mustang Immersive Experience

Through Sunday, February 8 (closed Tuesdays)
Ace Mission Studios
516 S. Mission Road, Arts District
COST: VARIES; MORE INFO 

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Sean Wehrli

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American Icon: A Ford Mustang Immersive Experience is billed as “a multisensory journey through six decades of Mustang legacy,” taking you through American car history from Motor City to Sunset Boulevard with rare Mustangs from films like Gone in 60 Seconds. It’s closing soon, so don’t miss your last chance to bask in some true American muscle car history. There’s an interactive gallery, 360 projections and a 4D sequence featuring the Mustang GTD. Vrrrrooom! For its final weeks, the exhibit is offering a 2-for-1 promotion on adult tickets, but if you drive a Ford, just show your key and you’ll get a free ticket; kids 12 and under go free as well.

Sweeney Todd

Through Sunday, February 22
La Mirada Theatre 
14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada 
COST: FROM $19.80; MORE INFO

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Attend Sondheim’s tale of the demon barber of Fleet Street with a star-studded Broadway vet cast (including Will Swenson from A Beautiful Noise and Rock of Ages) and a big-name director (Jason Alexander of The Producers and Seinfeld fame). The La Mirada Theatre is an underrated gem for theater lovers, especially those in the Anaheim area, but it's worth the trek for anyone who wants to check out their consistently great performances and ability to attract high-level talent. Swenson plays Todd as more sexy and brooding than Johnny Depp’s oddball outcast in the film version, and Lesli Margherita shines as an over-the-top Mrs. Lovett.

Queer Mountain

Thursday, February 5, 7:30 p.m. 
Lyric Hyperion Theater & Cafe
2106 Hyperion Ave., Silverlake
COST: $15 Pre-sale // $20 Day of; MORE INFO

Already through your second viewing of Heated Rivalry? Head to this queer storytelling show for more funny and heartwarming stories at Greetings, from Queer Mountain. The evening already has sister shows in New Orleans and Austin, but this is the inaugural L.A. event.

Taschen Art Book Sale 

Through Sunday, February 8, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily 
Beverly Hills and Hollywood locations 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

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I aspire to a living room that looks like the lobby of a hip hotel, and the next step after a fancy candle is a stack of Taschen art books. For the next week, you can score titles on Virgil Abloh, NASA, Atlantic Records and more for as much as 75% off at Taschen's biannual sale at their Hollywood and Beverly Hills stores.

Chamber Music Palisades

Wednesday, February 4, 7:30 p.m.
Brentwood Presbyterian Church
12000 San Vicente Blvd., Brentwood
COST: $35; MORE INFO

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Chamber Music Palisades (CMP) will perform a world premiere of Due Voci for flute and cello, composed by Lolita Ritmanis, a Grammy, Emmy and SCL Award-winning composer and faculty member at the USC Thornton School of Music. Ritmanis will also speak at the concert about her new work, and KUSC host Alan Chapman will be on hand with his informative in-person program notes.

USC Visions and Voices Presents MAJOR by Ogemdi Ude

Wednesday, February 4, 7 p.m.
Bovard Auditorium at USC
3551 Trousdale Pkwy., University Park
COST: FREE, RSVP REQUIRED; MORE INFO

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Courtesy USC Visions and Voices

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MAJOR, a dance theater performance exploring the history and legacy of majorette dance by Brooklyn-based dance, theatre and interdisciplinary artist and educator Ogemdi Ude, will premiere at USC. Featuring a score that blends Southern rap, blues and R&B, the show also includes a digital archive of interviews with HBCU majorettes over the years, furthering the “love letter” to Black majorette culture. A conversation with Ude and the performers follows.

Dr. Strangelove Screening

Tuesday, February 3, 7 p.m. 
National Theatre at the Wallis 
The Wallis 
9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills 
COST: FROM $27.50; MORE INFO 

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London’s National Theatre production of the stage adaptation of Dr. Strangelove comes to the Wallis with this special screening. Steve Coogan (The Trip) is a national treasure in the UK and stars as the zany Dr. Strangelove — as well as 11 other characters — in the stage version of Peter Sellers’ classic satire. I saw the stage production in London last year, and what Coogan pulls off is a feat, not to mention the way the design of the infamous plane works on stage, smoke effects and all. The National always does a great job of filming these to feel like you’re at the live show, so I’m sure the effects will come through on screen.

Kristen Schaal: The Legend of Crystal Shell 

February 4 and 6, 7:30 p.m.
Dynasty Typewriter 
2511 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire 
COST: $30; MORE INFO

Hot off two premiere performances at the SF Sketchfest, comedian Kristen Schaal (Last Man on Earth) brings her new stage show to Dynasty Typewriter. Her out-there comedy is sure to shine through in this one-hour production that co-stars John Roberts (Bob's Burgers), with music by Schaal and Big Black Delta.

Desert Night in Venice 

Thursday, February 5, 7 p.m.
Saba Surf
12912 Venice Blvd., Venice
COST: FROM $15.71; MORE INFO 

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Courtesy Saba Surf

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Celebrate a new poetry release, meet other artists, listen to live music and maybe even get a custom flash tattoo at the super chill Saba Surf space in Venice. They have a great garden and space to dance, plus there will be drinks (and great NA options, too, if you’re keeping dry January going a little longer).