Producer, 'Press Play'
PROFILE
Christian Bordal
Kcrw Staff/Producer
FROM Christian Bordal
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Marrying an American doesn't save you from deportation Marriage to an American citizen is no longer a surefire path to a green card. ICE agents are now arresting people who show up for their marriage interviews with immigration officials.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Sexual harassment at Coachella The experience for women at Coachella is filled with stories of groping and unwanted touching. Could the festival be doing more to prevent seuxal harrassment?
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Pop icon Grace Jones -- on and off the stage A new documentary looks at the life of Grace Jones, who had a strict pentecostal upbringing in Jamaica, but rejected it to become a pop star. The film includes footage from her concerts and intimate scenes with her family.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Mayor Garcetti on homelessness and his political future Eric Garcetti talks about his call to end homelessness and what that looks like. He wants to put emergency shelters in every council district, and disputes criticism that 1500 beds is a drop in the bucket. Also: why won’t he call LA a sanctuary city, and what about running for president in 2020?
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
How Beverly Hills unleashed the political power of celebrities Despite its small size, the city of Beverly Hills packs a lot of political power. That’s not a surprise, given the big names who live there. But the Beverly Hills we know today may never have existed if it weren’t for a group of stars who fought to keep the city independent.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Why are people scared of Friday the 13th? Millions of Americans are afraid of Friday the 13th -- from mild anxiety and a nagging sense of doom to full-blown panic attacks. That’s according to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina. We look at how Friday the 13th became a thing.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
When it comes to privacy, are Comcast and Verizon worse than Facebook? There’s been a lot of concern about Facebook, with Mark Zuckerberg testifying before Congress after the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Up to 87 million users had their data collected without their permission. But other companies are collecting reams of data on users too, such as Google, Comcast, Verizon.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Backroom deals between animal shelters and dog breeders Dog rescue groups have long denounced commercial breeders for mistreating animals. But one reporter found that some of the same rescue groups who criticize breeders are buying dogs from them at auctions, sometimes for thousands of dollars, and selling them as rescue dogs.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Would you house a homeless person in your backyard? LA officials are giving homeowners an incentive to build a small unit on their property for a homeless person. We talk about how that’s worked in Seattle with a woman who’s done it.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Molly Ringwald has her #MeToo moment with the 80s films that made her a star Molly Ringwald has written an essay in this week’s New Yorker, in which she looks back at her teenage self through her adult eyes. The result is a lot of ambivalence about the John Hughes movies she starred in, including “Sixteen Candles” and “The Breakfast Club.”
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Gaming the college admissions game High school seniors are finding out which colleges have accepted -- or rejected -- them. Some say the whole admissions process is set up for the privileged. We get suggestions for change.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Chris O'Dowd on his new film about grief and loss You might remember Chris O’Dowd as the the friendly Irish cop in “Bridesmaids.” But in the new film “Love After Love,” his character is dealing with the death of his father. In his grief, he lashes out at the people he loves most.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Chaos and danger on LA's Baxter Street Baxter St. in Echo Park is steep and scary. Daredevil skateboarders take it on, and some unsuspecting drivers are sent there by Waze. Residents are fed up with the traffic and accidents. They met with the city to try to come up with solutions.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Inside the business of home abortions We learn about a secret network of women providing cheap home abortions. What they’re doing is illegal in most states.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
What's behind the teacher protests in red states? Teachers are striking for a second day in Oklahoma, where years of budget cuts have forced one in five schools to operate on a four-day week. In Kentucky, thousands flooded the capital over changes to their pension plans yesterday. In Arizona, teachers are demanding a 20 percent pay hike.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
HBO's Jimmy O. Yang on making immigrants sexy and funny Jimmy O. Yang is best known as Jian Yang on HBO’s “Silicon Valley.” He talks about his journey from Hong Kong to LA, learning American culture by watching BET, getting in trouble with the border patrol, and why it’s so important to play immigrant characters.
Recommended
Bookworm
George Saunders: Lincoln in the Bardo (Part I) Lincoln in the Bardo dramatizes a grieving President Lincoln as he visits the grave of his beloved son Willie, who died at age eleven. In the novel, the buried dead believe they're not dead -- "they're sick and refer to their coffins as "sick boxes."
Bookworm
Morgan Parker: There Are More Beautiful Things than Beyoncé Morgan Parker says that the poems in her book There Are Things More Beautiful than Beyoncé take a stand against the clichés of the dominant culture.
The Treatment
Kenya Barris: Black-ish Black-ish creator Kenya Barris joins Elvis Mitchell to discuss utilizing his show as a conversation starter.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Previewing James Comey's blockbuster testimony Former FBI director James Comey testifies Thursday in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, but his opening statement has been released. In it, he says he felt pressured by Donald Trump to declare loyalty to him and publicly clear him of any wrongdoing in the Russia investigation.