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LAUSD insolvency, Pawn Shop sports bar, FilmWeek and more

A glass front high rise has a row of palm trees out front.
L.A. Unified School District headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.
(
Megan Garvey
/
LAist
)

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Listen 1:39:16
Today on AirTalk: LAUSD insolvency, living with parents as an adult, Pawn Shop sports bar, FilmWeek and horror movie box offices.
Today on AirTalk: LAUSD insolvency, living with parents as an adult, Pawn Shop sports bar, FilmWeek and horror movie box offices.

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County gives LAUSD 45 days to get budget in check or risk takeover

The topic:

Los Angeles Unified School District could be on the brink of insolvency as county officials project a $213 million cash shortfall in 2027. The school board has 45 days to figure out its budget or face a county takeover.

Listen 17:22
Listen to the conversation:
Guests: Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times education reporter

The issues: L.A. County largely cites union contracts that the district cannot afford to pay as the main problem. However, the district also failed to implement $231 million worth of previously planned cuts and enrollment has been falling for some time.

The L.A. County Office of Education provided this statement: "LACOE is working closely with LAUSD to support their efforts to improve their fiscal outlook. This letter and the appointment of a fiscal expert is part of the process county offices of education take when a district is unable to meet its financial obligations over a three-year period. We are hopeful that the district will take the appropriate actions to implement budget solutions that will stabilize their long-term financial stability."

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We also reached out to the LAUSD superintendent’s office, but they were unavailable to join today’s conversation.

More adult kids live with their parents. How does that change family dynamics?

Inside an empty, pristine apartment are boxes on the floor with a female presenting person holding a box, and a male presenting person holding a plant.
How long did you live with your parents?
(
Dima Berlin
/
iStockphoto
)

The topic:

A record number of young Americans are living with their parents. Roughly 17% of adults ages 25 to 34 now live with a parent or grandparent, per John Burns Research and Consulting tabulations of Census Bureau data.

Listen 21:15
Listen to the conversation:
Guests: James Rodriguez, real estate correspondent for Business Insider, and Tracy Ross, licensed clinical social worker, couple and family therapist and relationship expert

The stigma: Living at your folks’ home as an adult has typically come with some form of stigma attached to the practice, regardless of the circumstances. But with macroeconomic factors that seem to cut across generations in recent years, young people leaning on the economy to justify parental cohabitation have a believable reason.

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More about our guests:

  • James Rodriguez, real estate correspondent for Business Insider who covers housing trends and the national real estate market; his recent piece is Gen Z's new roommates: mom and dad
  • Tracy Ross, licensed clinical social worker, couple and family therapist and relationship expert based in New York

World Cup Pub Crawl: Pawn Shop refurbishes Melrose business into a sports bar

The topic:

SoFi Stadium’s last 2026 FIFA World Cup match is a quarterfinal matchup between Spain and Belgium, meaning it’ll be pretty hard for Angelenos to catch these games in person. But there are a variety of sports bars across SoCal doing live watch parties. For today’s edition of Food Friday’s World Cup Pub Crawl, we’ll talk to the minds behind Pawn Shop, a sports bar in Hollywood.

Listen 11:04
Listen to the conversation:
Guests: Tony Messina, executive chef and partner of Pawn Shop, a New England-inspired sports bar in Hollywood, and Diego Torres-Palma, partner and CEO of Pawn Shop

Restaurant details:

  • The building was originally home to Brothers Collateral Pawn Shop, which closed in 2019 after 40 years.
  • One of its partners, Diego Torres-Palma, also helped develop Benny Boy Brewing through his real estate-investment firm, Ventana Ventures.
  • Investors include Dodgers executive Andrew Friedman and Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban.

Location and hours:
Address: 5901 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90038
Hours: Monday–Wednesday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Thursday–Friday 11 a.m. to midnight; Saturday 10 a.m. to midnight; Sunday 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.

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What we tried: Pickle-brined fried chicken, Italian sandwich, and Pan con Tomate.

FilmWeek: ‘Evil Dead Burn,’ ‘Moana,’ ‘Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass,’ and more!

A female-presenting person wearing a terracotta strapless top and a necklace stands holding the rope of a sail. The sail and a cloudy sky are visible in the background.
Moana (Catherine Laga'aia) in the live-action Moana remake
(
Courtesy Disney
)

The topic:

Larry Mantle and LAist film critics review this weekend’s latest movie releases in theaters and on streaming platforms.

Listen 29:20
Listen to the conversation:
The critics: Amy Nicholson, Lael Loewenstein and William Bibbiani

The films:     

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Evil Dead Burn, Wide Release

Moana, Wide Release

Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, Wide Release

Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World, At Select Laemmle Theaters

Night Nurse, In Select Theaters

The Isolate Thief, In Select Theaters

Mockbuster, Laemmle Glendale & Available on Digital & VOD

The American Southwest, Available on Digital & VOD

Barrio Triste, Landmark Nuart Theater [West LA] & American Cinematheque’s Los Feliz 3

The critics:

  • Amy Nicholson, film critic for LAist and the Los Angeles Times. She’s also host of the podcast ‘Unspooled
  • Lael Loewenstein, film critic for LAist
  • William Bibbiani, film critic for The Wrap and host of The Critically Acclaimed Network podcast

Feature: Horror movies are bringing audiences back to theaters. But how long can it last?

A male-presenting person (right) wearing a gray t-shirt and blue jeans and a female-presenting person (left) wearing a bra sit on a bed in a dark room. The male-presenting person looks uncomfortable and the female-presenting person is resting her head on his shoulder.
Bear (Michael Johnston) and Nikki (Inde Navarrette) in Obsession
(
Courtesy Focus Features
)

The topic:

Horror movies are having a moment. Two of this year's greatest box office successes are two horror films, each from unknown directors with non-IP scripts and relatively small budgets.

Listen 20:10
Listen to the conversation:
Guests: LAist film critics Amy Nicholson, Christy Lemire and Tim Cogshell

A horror darling: Obsession is the unexpected runaway hit of the summer, having grossed over $400 million worldwide on less than $1 million budget. Now almost two months out from its initial release, it is still playing in theaters nationwide.

Another hit: Backed by the studio A24, Backrooms had a budget of $10 million and has grossed almost $350 million worldwide. Some of its success can be attributed to it being based on a popular 4chan post that sparked a webseries and several internet games.

Guests:

More AirTalk episodes

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