The Brief

It may conjure images of Family Matters' bespectacled, suspenders-clad Steve Urkel. Or the theoretical physicist Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory. Or Scooby-Doo's Velma.
Or you may self-identify as a nerd due to your keen interest in a certain hobby or subject, like movies or grammar or whimsical parade floats.
Nerd has been part of our lexicon for at least three-quarters of a century, its geeky meaning embodied by some of the most recognizable characters in film and TV history. Still, how exactly it got into our vocabulary remains a bit murky.
"I've been making videos as the Etymology Nerd for a while, and so it's my job to know what the etymology of 'nerd' is," said Adam Aleksic, a linguist, content creator, and author of the book Algospeak. "But the problem is that it's a little bit obscure. It's a very complicated story."
For NPR's Word of the Week, let's nerd out on some word history.

It may have started with a nonsense word

The leading theory about the origin of nerd is that it likely first appeared in print in the 1950 children's book If I Ran the Zoo, written by Dr. Seuss, the pen name of Theodor Seuss Geisel. (Read more about the controversy surrounding that book here.)
In the book, Seuss' young narrator says:

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, nerd became a midcentury slang term used by U.S. students. It potentially developed from the 1940s word "nert," an alteration of the word "nut" that meant a "stupid or crazy person," the dictionary says.

This screenshot shows the page in the Dr. Seuss book "If I Ran the Zoo" that is possibly the earliest published mention of the word "nerd."

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Internet Archive

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If Seuss did have a hand in creating nerd, Aleksic said it would be what linguists call a nonce formation, meaning a word that's made for one purpose then gets reused.
"So if Dr. Seuss did coin the word 'nerd,' he's probably going off other words like nert — which was around — or nuts," Aleksic said. "And then he goes with it. And then other people are like, 'Yeah, that sounds like a nerd. Let's go with it.'"
One year after its use by Seuss, nerd popped up in a 1951 Newsweek article describing modern slang.

"In Detroit," the author wrote, "someone who once would be called a drip or a square is now, regrettably, a nerd, or in a less severe case, a scurve."

Merriam-Webster recounts some other popular theories for the word's genesis, including the possibility that it evolved from the backward spelling of "drunk," implying that nerds would "rather study than party." Or that it was lifted from the name of a ventriloquist's dummy, Mortimer Snerd, created by radio performer Edgar Bergen. The dictionary says there's no evidence for either theory.

Nerds were outsiders. Then they became cool?

It didn't take long for nerds to take their place in pop culture.

Jerry Lewis portrayed a hapless scientist in 1963's The Nutty Professor. By the 1970s, Happy Days cool guy Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli was lobbing nerd around as an insult, saying in one episode that there are two types of people: "cool and nerds."

The following decade solidified the stereotype. In 1984, the cult classic Revenge of the Nerds was released, pitting a group of outcast college students against their jock tormentors.
But around the end of the 20th century, nerd culture assumed a more respected spot in American culture. The computing revolution made Bill Gates and Steve Jobs — and later internet startup CEOs — household names. Rock bands like Weezer sported thick-rimmed glasses. And you've seen the Star Wars movies, right?
Mathew Klickstein, a pop culture historian, author, and filmmaker, said the '90s independent film movement and indie rock trends started making "the weirdos, the misfits, the outsiders, the nerds, the geeks cool." He noted that it even spawned "nerdy geek chic" fashion styles and more.

"There's questions now about, has the tail wagged the dog at this point," Klickstein said. "Are there people who are claiming they're nerdy, claiming they're geeky, who really just are vaunting or emulating the style without really understanding the substance?"

The nerd goes mainstream

In recent decades, artforms that once may have been considered the realm of nerds — comic books, science fiction, video games — have exploded in popularity across the U.S.

As Parks and Recreation's Ben Wyatt once said in a moment slightly lacking in self-awareness: "You know, nerd culture is mainstream now, so when you use the word 'nerd' derogatorily, it means you're the one that's out of the zeitgeist."
The popularization of nerd culture also has dovetailed with an expanded definition of the word itself.

Now, you don't have to wear a pocket protector and be into computers to qualify as a nerd. Nerds are simply people who are really into a certain thing.

Merriam-Webster defines a nerd as "an unstylish or socially awkward person." But the first definition on its website characterizes a nerd as "a person devoted to intellectual, academic, or technical pursuits or interests" or "a person preoccupied with or devoted to a particular activity or field of interest."
According to Omar Holmon, an author, content creator, and co-founder of the website Black Nerd Problems, "It could be a fan for a spectrum of things and that spectrum being literally anything. It's whatever you are passionate about."

Holmon said nerds strive to spread their enthusiasm to others. "How can I get you to care about this thing that you don't know about, that I know about? And hopefully, you'll be as passionate about it as I am."

Copyright 2025 NPR

A year after the Eaton Fire, some small business owners in Altadena are striving to rebuild, in some cases while also grappling with being displaced from homes that burned down or were severely damaged.

For others, such as Steve’s Pets Store owner Carrie Meyers, it’s just too much.

“People want me back,” Meyers said. “But I don’t know if we can survive up there. No one lives there … mentally I’m not there.”

Meyers said she had just received a delivery before the fire last January, so about 65 animals perished, including cats, rats, birds and a 40-year-old parrot. The store is now permanently closed, and its website shows a message from former employee Michael Mersola, who said he would miss it because “people would just (hang out) here, I swear it was Starbucks for animal lovers lol.”

Meanwhile, Carrie’s husband Ed is dealing with trying to rebuild their home, which burned down. He has dealt with a long insurance process with State Farm that has, four claims adjusters later, finally improved.

One adjuster “was the king of no” and “existed like a great cloud in our lives for four to five months,” Ed Meyers said. “Then one day, like winning the lottery, we got a new adjuster.”

Other survivors of the fire that killed 19 people have complained about insurance companies assigning them multiple adjusters, slowing things down. Now, Ed said things are looking better than they were six months ago and they are on their way to rebuilding, though they were underinsured, something many fire survivors have in common.

The small business owners and others CalMatters spoke with for this story stressed the importance of thoughtful and timely help from insurance companies, community organizations and all levels of government for businesses and residents as key to the recovery of the unincorporated town of about 43,000 residents — even for the businesses that survived the fire.

“Our struggling businesses can’t afford patience,” said Nic Arnzen, chief of the Altadena Town Council, who called the community’s path to recovery a chicken-and-egg situation. “Without the population returning to Altadena, they’re in a tough corner.”

Los Angeles County has received about 2,700 applications for permits to rebuild in Altadena, according to the county’s dashboard. Of those, the county has issued about 1,200 permits and 560 homes are being rebuilt right now.

‘The heart of Altadena’

Jimmy Orlandini, owner of Altadena Hardware, thinks it might take five years to reopen his business at its original location after almost the whole building burned down.

“Five years is an eternity to not have a business running,” he said. As others rebuild, they will need a hardware store, so he is looking for a temporary place to run his business as he waits for the property owner to rebuild. He had 21 employees at the time of the fire; he thinks most of them have found other jobs, while some are relying on unemployment benefits.

His family has been in the hardware business for decades, and he has two other locations elsewhere. But he has deep ties to the community, having lived in Altadena for 40 years, since he was 2.

Jimmy Orlandini stands inside what’s left of the Woodbury Building on Jan. 12, 2026.

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Orlandini displays a photo on his phone of what Altadena Hardware looked like before it burned in the Eaton Fire last year. It’s one of the few photos he has of the store. All other photos of his business were kept in the store and burned during the fire.

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The Woodbury Building in Altadena on Jan. 12, 2026. The building burned during the Eaton Fire last year. Since then, it has undergone some repairs, but has yet to be largely rebuilt.

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The Woodbury Building in Altadena on Jan. 12, 2026. The building burned during the Eaton Fire last year. Since then, it has undergone some repairs, but has yet to be largely rebuilt. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters

“It’s really difficult,” he said. “Altadena was our best store in terms of revenue, and our relationship with the customer base.” (Another business owner CalMatters spoke with, the owner of a pizza restaurant, called the hardware store “the heart of Altadena.”)

Orlandini and his family returned to their house in October. It did not burn down even as “everything around us burned,” he said. But Mercury Insurance eventually deemed it a total loss because of smoke damage and lead contamination of all its contents.

“We have no couch,” he said. “We’re sitting on camping chairs in the living room. The kids still haven’t gotten their toys back.” But he said they finally received a big portion of the payout for the contents of their house a couple of weeks ago, so “now we can start buying stuff.”

Uneven help 

A common refrain among Altadena’s small business owners: Some of the help available to homeowners is not extended to them.

Matt Schodorf co-owns Café de Leche with his wife, Anya. Their home, about 15 to 20 minutes away in Highland Park in Los Angeles, is fine except for some ash in the attic. He understands that Altadena homeowners whose homes were destroyed and want to rebuild need assistance — those are his customers.

But their Altadena coffee shop, the only one whose building they owned out of their four locations and which he said was their busiest store, burned down. Now they’re dealing with the rebuilding process and in some ways are feeling left out.

“FEMA in particular excluded us from debris removal originally,” Schodorf said. So Schodorf and his wife complained and were featured “on all the media” including CNN. FEMA included Café de Leche in federally funded clearing of debris after the media appearances, Schodorf said. He also credited L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s office for advocating for them.

Schodorf also said, as did others, that the Los Angeles Department of Economic Opportunity has been a huge help in providing information about grants and other support.

Still, “it feels frustrating because it feels we are very small potatoes, especially from the perspective of the government,” he said. “It doesn’t seem like it would be too much to ask: waive permit fees, clean our lots out. Don’t make us go on national news pleading for help.”

Melted glass on a window pane in the Woodbury Building on Jan. 12, 2026. The building burned during the Eaton Fire in Altadena last year.

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Daniel Harlow, whose office was destroyed, agreed that businesses need more help. His custom computer programming and software development business is up and running again, but it was in a separate structure at his home and was a total loss.

“A lot of rules for homeowners insurance don’t apply to businesses,” he said. “To not have more assistance for small and medium businesses is a problem.”

For example, the state law that allows homeowners to get some upfront payouts without having to provide a full inventory of the contents of their home does not apply to businesses.

Harlow is now dealing with both rebuilding his office and repairing his house, which suffered some damage. He’s living in a rental home.

“I’m trying to find architects and contractors while running my business,” he said. “It’s basically (another) full-time job.”

A shift, and more changes ahead

Zak Fishman’s Prime Pizza in Altadena is the only pizza restaurant of the four in Altadena that survived the fire. It was a bit of good news for his family. Their house burned down, and they’re now rebuilding.

Fishman, who owns several other locations in the Los Angeles area and elsewhere, said his Altadena location was closed for about a month but is now doing pretty well, considering the circumstances.

“We do see a shift,” he said. “You see different types of people coming. A lot of workers in the area had nowhere else to eat (lunch).”

Fishman opened the Altadena location in September 2023 and was seeing a lot of growth, he said. He said sales at the location probably would have been up 20% over the prior year if the fire hadn’t happened. Now he says they’re up about 8% to 10%.

“I’m certainly not complaining, it’s amazing,” he said.

With about half of Altadena’s businesses destroyed in the fire, it’s going to be a long way back.

Judy Matthews, president of the Altadena Chamber of Commerce, said her group is working with other chambers and the county to help promote shopping local, and to identify more opportunities for grants and help for small and medium-size businesses.

“There’s increasing collaboration between local government and business,” she said. “That’s critical. No one man can stand alone and say I did it.”

A “We Are Altadena Strong” sign outside the Woodbury Building on Jan. 12, 2026.

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When more of the community is able to rebuild, it could end up looking drastically different. Whether homeowners return could depend on their insurance provider and whether they can fill the gap from being underinsured, some said. Whether small businesses rebuild could depend on what type of service or goods they offer, and their location.

“Most worrisome are retail and specialty shops, and those that depend on a steady flow of customers,” Matthews said, noting that Altadena’s limited foot traffic and visibility because of its location has been and will continue to be a factor.

Arnzen, the town council chair, said there is “a lot of competition for funds and assistance. There’s potential for people to feel left out. That is exacerbated by feelings of trauma and in some cases, historical neglect, especially from marginalized communities.”

Nearly half of Black households in Altadena, or 48%, were destroyed or had major damage, according to the NAACP.

“We need to ensure a balanced recovery that supports diverse types of businesses,” Matthews said.

Orlandini, owner of the hardware store, said he expects his business and customers to change.

“It’s definitely going to be a different town,” he said. “My store was catered to older homes, and a lot of those are gone now.”

He added: “That’s the thing that bothers me most about the fire — how much of the history is gone and will never come back.”

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

The State Department said Wednesday it will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Russia and Somalia, whose nationals the Trump administration has deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States.

The State Department, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said it had instructed consular officers to halt immigrant visa applications from the countries affected in accordance with a broader order issued in November that tightened rules around potential immigrants who might become "public charges" in the U.S.

The step builds on earlier immigration and travel bans by the administration on nearly 40 countries and is part of President Donald Trump's ongoing efforts to tighten U.S. entry standards for foreigners.

"The Trump administration is bringing an end to the abuse of America's immigration system by those who would extract wealth from the American people," the department said in a statement. "Immigrant visa processing from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassess immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits."

The suspension, which will begin Jan. 21, will not apply to applicants seeking non-immigrant visas, or temporary tourist or business visas, who make up the vast majority of visa seekers. Demand for non-immigrant visas is expected to rise dramatically in the coming months and years due to the upcoming 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics both of which the U.S. will host or co-host.

Cable calls for screening of non-immigrant visa applicants

A separate notice sent to all U.S. embassies and consulates said that non-immigrant visa applicants should be screened for the possibility that they might seek public benefits in the United States.

"With the uncovering of massive public benefits fraud across the United States, the Trump administration is laser-focused on eliminating and preventing fraud in public benefits programs," said the cable that referred specifically to most non-immigrant visa applications and was sent on Monday.

The cable, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, urged consular officers to ensure that foreigners wanting to travel to the U.S. "have been fully vetted and screened" for whether they may rely on public services before they are issued a visa.

The cable noted several times that it is up to the applicant to prove that they would not apply for public benefits while in the U.S. and said consular officers who suspect the applicant might apply should require them to fill out a form proving their financial bona fides.

President Trump's administration has already severely restricted immigrant and non-immigrant visa processing for citizens of dozens of countries, many of them in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Consular officials must consider a range of personal details

The November guidance on which Wednesday's decision is based directed U.S. Embassy and consulate officials to comprehensively and thoroughly vet visa applicants to demonstrate that they will not need to rely on public benefits from the government any time after their admission in the U.S.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio makes a statement to reporters while meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan at the State Department in Washington on Tuesday.

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While federal law already required those seeking permanent residency or legal status to prove they wouldn't be a public charge, Trump in his first term widened the range of benefit programs that could disqualify applicants, and the guidelines in the cable appear to go further in scope.

Immigrants seeking entry into the U.S. already undergo a medical exam by a physician who's been approved by a U.S. Embassy. They are screened for communicable diseases, like tuberculosis, and asked to disclose any history of drug or alcohol use, mental health conditions or violence. They're also required to have a number of vaccinations.

The new directive expanded those with more specific requirements. It said consular officials must consider a range of specific details about people seeking visas, including their age, health, family status, finances, education, skills and any past use of public assistance regardless of the country. It also said they should assess applicants' English proficiency and can do so by conducting interviews in English.

Experts said at the time it could further limit who gets to enter the country at a time when the Republican administration is already tightening those rules.

The countries affected by the suspension announced on Wednesday are: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

Copyright 2026 NPR

After a tense day of confusion and backroom negotiations, the Trump administration moved Wednesday night to restore roughly $2 billion in federal grant money for mental health and addiction programs nationwide.

The money had been cut off late Tuesday without warning, sending shockwaves through a segment of the country's patchwork system of public health that relies on grant funding.

"After a day of panic across the country, non-profits and people with mental health conditions are deeply alarmed, but also hopeful that this money is being restored," said Hannah Wesolowski with the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

An administration official confirmed to NPR that the cuts, first announced by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), were being reversed. They asked not to be identified because they didn't have permission to speak publicly about the decision.

They said all of the roughly 2,000 organizations affected by the whiplash series of events were being notified that full funding would be restored.

NPR was unable to confirm who triggered the initial decision to terminate the grants by sending letters that abruptly signaled programs no longer "aligned" with the Trump administration's public health agenda.

After sending the letters, officials at the Department of Health and Human Services and SAMHSA went silent, offering no clarification to health care providers or the public about what would happen next or where patients should go for care.

The sudden defunding and lack of communication triggered a backlash from local officials and care providers, who said the American public would see a rapid dismantling of essential safety net programs.

"We provide treatment, life saving treatment," said Dan Lustig who runs the Haymarket Center, the largest non-profit addiction treatment program in Chicago, which treats people at high risk while using illicit drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamines.

"If people don't get access to treatment they just die. That's a fact," Lustig said. "You can spin this any way people want to, but people are going to die."

The American Medical Association weighed in, issuing a statement saying it was "deeply concerned" by the cuts and calling for grants to be restored.

"At a time when patients already face too many barriers to care, sudden funding disruptions risk leaving them without the support and treatment they urgently need," the statement said.

That message reached members of Congress. Republican and Democratic lawmakers scrambled to urge White House and Health and Human Services officials to reverse course.

"We heard from offices on both sides of the political aisle who were working on this issue throughout the day," said Wesolowski. The bipartisan pressure, she added, "really speaks to the power of the collaboration on this issue."

While most of the talks happened behind closed doors, some Democratic lawmakers publicly blasted the Trump administration and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for what they described as roughshod treatment of front-line care providers.

"After national outrage, Secretary Kennedy has bowed to public pressure and reinstated $2 billion in SAMHSA grants that save lives," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut.

"Our policy must be thoughtful – not haphazard and chaotic. This episode has only created uncertainty and confusion for families and health care providers," she added.

While confusion over funding was apparently short-lived, public health organizations and other sources told NPR that the termination letters demoralized staff in a system already weakened by deep cuts to Medicaid, enacted by the Republican-controlled Congress last year.

For 24 hours, it was unclear which programs would survive and who would still have jobs when the dust settled.

Dr. Yngvild Olsen, an addiction treatment physician who served as the director for the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment inside SAMHSA until July 2025, said the turmoil also raised questions about who in the Trump administration is making key public health decisions.

"My understanding is that much of the staff at SAMHSA was caught unaware," Olsen said. "These were decisions made without the input of experts in these programs and experts in this [addiction and mental health] field."

For months, Trump administration officials have been signaling they think many of the country's current public health programs are ineffective and need to be replaced.

But public health experts told NPR there has been little or no communication with frontline groups that provide much of the actual in the U.S. Meanwhile, no clear plan from the administration has emerged. Instead, local government agencies and non-profits caring for patients have faced a series of threats, disruptions and funding chaos.

"This sparks a lot of uncertainty about who's making public health decisions in this country," said NAMI's Wesolowski.
Copyright 2026 NPR

The big news in L.A. food-land this week is the $1500 price tag for Copenhagen restaurant Noma’s upcoming residency here in L.A. In this economy? I think I’d rather fly to Copenhagen. Nonetheless, if you’re lucky (and flush!) enough to snag a reservation, please report back.

While that did not make any of our staffers' resolution lists, Senior Marketing Manager Patricia Tumang has some food goals of her own, including getting a coffee at Quat L.A., trying some dipping ramen for lunch at Tsuke Artisan Noodle in Pasadena and getting a basturma sandwich at III Mass Bakery & Deli in Glendale (new). Much more reasonable (and probably just as tasty!).

On the music calendar this weekend, our friends at Licorice Pizza recommend new-school SoCal punks Together Pangea at the Teragram on Friday, old-school SoCal punks Black Flag at the Roxy, or Beastie Boys associate Mix Master Mike at the Venice West. Saturday, there’s the big iHeartRadio ALTer EGO show at the Forum with Green Day, Cage The Elephant, Good Charlotte, Sublime, Twenty One Pilots, Gigi Perez, Myles Smith and Almost Monday. Nikka Costa is at the Venice West, or head to Riverside to see legendary teen idol Shaun Cassidy at the Fox Performing Arts Center. Plus, a treat on both Saturday and Sunday: Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra will be playing the Troubadour, with a 4 p.m. matinee on Saturday for those of us who like to be in bed early!

Elsewhere on LAist, you can follow Northeast L.A.’s “treat trail,” learn about the challenges facing Long Beach’s Planet Books and catch up with last weekend’s Golden Globe winners.

Events

Morleigh Steinberg: Someplace, Somewhere

Through Sunday, February 8
Arcane Space
324 Sunset Ave., Venice 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

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The small gallery Arcane Space in Venice punches above its weight, with top-tier shows and a winding venue that lets out to a very cool, neighborhoody patio in the back. Choreographer and artist Morleigh Steinberg owns and operates the gallery, which has hosted inspiring new artists and group shows lately, but this time she’s showing her own work. Steinberg’s mesmerizing nature photos are printed on silver mylar substrate and show her adopted Ireland (she’s married to U2 guitarist The Edge) in a new — and possibly even more emerald — light that you can imagine.

I’m Not a Comedian, I’m Lenny Bruce

Sunday, January 18, 2 p.m. 
La Mirada Theatre
14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada
COST: FROM $19.80; MORE INFO

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Freedom of speech is in the news daily, and no one championed the right to say what you want in a more direct way than comedian Lenny Bruce. Directed by Tony Award-winning actor Joe Mantegna, this one-man show (written by and starring Ronnie Marmo) combines Bruce’s classic comedy bits with biographical insight.

DTLB Live 

Saturday, January 17, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. 
Promenade N. between Broadway and 3rd Street, Long Beach
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

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Courtesy Downtown Long Beach Alliance

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Usher in the new year with the Big Butter Jazz Band as the Downtown Long Beach Alliance kicks off the first DTLB Live!, a new recurring monthly event series bringing live music, crafts and family-friendly activities to the Promenade every third Saturday of each month. There will also be live swing dancers, a maker’s market with local vendors, food, drink and much more.

NFL Playoffs & Mimosas

Saturday, January 17, 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. 
Chulita 
533 Rose Ave., Venice
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Watch the playoffs, drink a mimosa, soak up some sun on the patio — what could be better? There will also be tunes from DJ El Cizzle, and bottomless mimosas are $35.

Park Pages

Sunday, January 18, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 
L.A. Historic Park 
1245 N. Spring Street, Downtown L.A. 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

This whole week has been summer in January, so keep the sunny vibes going and bring your book, a blanket and a donation for Project Angel Food to the L.A. Historic Park for the first Park Pages, a new monthly group read and hang. The Fleuria indie book truck will be there, along with plenty of fellow sun-loving bookworms.

About Last Night

Saturday, January 17, 8 p.m. 
Three Clubs 
1123 Vine Street, Hollywood 
COST: $23.10; MORE INFO 

If you thought your dates were bad, just wait until you hear the unhinged horror stories of some of your fellow single Angelenos at About Last Night. The regular storytelling showcase features locals getting up on stage and sharing their funniest, most outrageous dating stories.

Chopstick-Making Workshop

Saturday, January 17, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. 
Allied Woodshop
4160 Whiteside Street, East L.A.
COST: $160, MORE INFO 

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Courtesy Ali Chen Studio

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More than one of our LAist staffers had “go to a woodworking workshop” on their 2026 L.A. resolutions list. What better time to start than just ahead of the Lunar New Year with this chopstick-making workshop at Allied Woodshop in East L.A., led by Ali Chen?

Greatest Story Ever Told with Guillermo del Toro 

Academy Museum 
6067 Wilshire Blvd., Miracle Mile
COST: $5; MORE INFO

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MGM

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This is for my fellow film nerds and our raison d’etre for living in L.A. The Academy Museum (for only $5!) hosts this screening of a 4K restoration of 1965’s The Greatest Story Ever Told, plus a lecture from Guillermo del Toro talking about George Stevens’ career on the film’s 60th anniversary.

MLK Celebration: Dream @ Blu’

Sunday, January 18, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. 
Blu' Arts & Wellness Gallery
580 Pine Ave., Long Beach
COST: FREE, DONATIONS WELCOME; MORE INFO

An afternoon of poetry, music and art honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. awaits you at the Blu’ Arts gallery in Long Beach. The day features acoustic jazz and spoken word poetry curated and hosted by Tommy Domino, an author, poet and teacher. Plus, enjoy the gallery’s work by current artists-in-residence, Shelton Gillis, Mohammed Mubarak and Wan Jean the Artist.

MLK Day Concert

Saturday, January 17, 7:30 p.m. 
Skirball Cultural Center 
2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., West L.A.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

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Courtesy Skirball Center

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The sounds of the Inner City Youth Orchestra of L.A. will fill the Skirball Center to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at this free concert. The group is the largest Black-majority orchestra in the nation, with more than 100 musicians and choir singers total.

Jam Session 
Friday, January 16, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. 
SteepLA 
970 N. Broadway, Ste. 112, Chinatown 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

One of my favorite discoveries of 2025 was the charming SteepLA, a teahouse in a Chinatown plaza that also houses restaurants and art galleries. They are launching jazz jam sessions, starting with one on Friday in their courtyard. Tea cocktails and their after-dark menu will be available.