Listen Live
Donate
 on air
    Schedule

    KCRW

    Read & Explore

    • News
    • Entertainment
    • Food
    • Culture
    • Events

    Listen

    • Live Radio
    • Music
    • Podcasts
    • Full Schedule

    Information

    • About
    • Careers
    • Help / FAQ
    • Newsletters
    • Contact

    Support

    • Become a Member
    • Become a VIP
    • Ways to Give
    • Shop
    • Member Perks

    Become a Member

    Donate to KCRW to support this cultural hub for music discovery, in-depth journalism, community storytelling, and free events. You'll become a KCRW Member and get a year of exclusive benefits.

    DonateGive Monthly

    Copyright 2026 KCRW. All rights reserved.

    Report a Bug|Privacy Policy|Terms of Service|
    Cookie Policy    |FCC Public Files|

    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    How blue jeans started in LA

    For every era in American history, there’s a pair of jeans to go with it: bell bottoms, cowboy wranglers, skinny hipster jeans, daisy dukes. They were invented in California. Today is the 165th anniversary of the first blue jean patent.

    • rss
    • apple-podcasts
    • spotify
    • Share
    By Madeleine Brand • May 20, 2019 • 1 min read

    For every era in American history, there’s a pair of jeans to go with it: bell bottoms, cowboy wranglers, skinny hipster jeans, daisy dukes. They were invented in California. Today is the 165th anniversary of the first blue jean patent.

    The full episode

    5 of 5
    Ramin Djawadi on creating the music for ‘Game of Thrones’
    1. 0:00Can a billionaire solve the student debt crisis one loan at a time?
    2. 7:44Legal questions surrounding abortion rights
    3. 16:11Is it smart for Democratic presidential candidates to do Fox News town halls?
    4. 26:06‘Game of Thrones’ composer Ramin Djawadi on storytelling through music
    5. 43:24How blue jeans started in LAYou’re reading this
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Madeleine Brand

      Host, 'Press Play'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Sarah Sweeney

      Vice President of Talk Programming, KCRW

    • KCRW placeholder

      Michell Eloy

      Former Producer/Line Editor, Press Play

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Amy Ta

      Digital News & Culture Editor

    • KCRW placeholder

      Rachel Tashjian

      GQ

      NewsLos Angeles

    The full episode

    5 of 5
    Ramin Djawadi on creating the music for ‘Game of Thrones’
    1. 0:00Can a billionaire solve the student debt crisis one loan at a time?
    2. 7:44Legal questions surrounding abortion rights
    3. 16:11Is it smart for Democratic presidential candidates to do Fox News town halls?
    4. 26:06‘Game of Thrones’ composer Ramin Djawadi on storytelling through music
    5. 43:24How blue jeans started in LAYou’re reading this
    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand