IT’S AMAZING WHAT can happen when you live right off the Sunset Strip. About 15 years ago on a warm balmy December night, I was in my living room of my apartment, watching a movie on my...
On Aug. 29, 1970, the National Chicano Moratorium in East Los Angeles protested the disproportionately high number of Latino casualties in Vietnam — and ended with the police killing of Ruben...
Marilyn once said, “Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” She was all of these things and more—perfect in her...
‘Terms of Endearment’ followed ‘The Last Picture Show’ with great fanfare, but it was his Pulitzer Prize-winning ‘Lonesome Dove’ that cemented his legacy as one of America’s best...
Resurrecting Lucy's El Adobe Café, a beloved Hollywood landmark facing a hopeful revival, restaurateur heiress Patricia Casado fought to restore her father Frank's legacy. After years of decline,...
The LA Monthly interview with actress Catherine Hicks, who portrayed Marilyn Monroe in the 1980 TV feature Marilyn: The Untold Story as well as in the Arthur Miller play After The Fall and...
BY GEOFF BOUCHER, MAY 11, 2008 Republished with permission of the Los Angeles Times. RANDY NEWMAN HAS MADE a career out of melodic skepticism and deadpan rhythm, but he sounded genuinely...
The slogan used to be "To Live and Die in LA" but they should change it to "To Live and Die While Riding the Metro in L.A" because I fear that each ride I take on the train or the bus will be the...
The passing of Fernando Valenzuela marks the end of Fernandomania that began as a cultural phenomenon in 1980s Los Angeles as a young Mexican left-hander became the toast of the city and ultimately...
Councilwoman Raman previously endorsed Bass but now says the city needs “big changes" amid growing concern that the incumbent mayor has been a disaster for Los Angeles. Los Angeles City...
By TONY CASTRO Friends often marvel that I’ve built a life with words. They shake their heads and say, “It’s a miracle you’re a writer.” Honestly, they’re not wrong. Growing up in 1950s...
BY JIM NEWTON One bad bet in California politics in recent decades has been to assume that Antonio Villaraigosa, who’s now in the hunt for the governorship, was finished. Underestimating him is a...
NOW OUT IN PAPERBACK! Alejandra Campoverdi explores many things familiar to first-generation kids: the invisible inheritances passed onto us from our family, being a “parentified child,”...
Rick Caruso may not be the last best hope for saving Los Angeles, as some of his faithful followers insist, but he does offer a hope and a vision — and you can trust that you won't read about him...
Separated by 50 years but united by Hollywood, wildfires, and the endless hum of 'the deal,' two writers share a bath in Los Angeles. On Monday I took a bath with Joan Didion. She was gracious, took...
By TONY CASTRO \ ON DECEMBER 4, 2024, in the cold hush of a Manhattan morning, Brian Thompson—the CEO of UnitedHealthcare—was shot and killed. He was walking out of a meeting when Luigi Nicholas...
Police presence and intervention is a deterrent to crime on the city's public transit system — something that is hard to even talk about in these days of stifling expectations of the politically...
By HUCK THOMAS Hunter S. Thompson was a juvenile delinquent and stayed that way, suspended in the amber of drink and drugs, the rest of his days. He could be a squall of anti-social behavior, yes,...
When I was a young boy growing up in the suburbs of southeast Houston, every Christmas Eve I would sneak out onto our screened front porch and stare into the night sky as I tried to spot Santa’s...
Ali MacGraw's house burned to the ground in a Malibu fire that had charred the beachside hills all the way to the Pacific Coast Highway. Writer Bob Vickrey lost his home in the fires that torched...
I came to town to promote my books about a legendary baseball player, including one titled ‘The Best There Ever Was.’ I saw a ball game while here. And I wound up leaving feeling like I had...
The Brits think they sound better than Americans, and the French believe none of their farts stink. But does the Academy of Motion Pictures and their Oscars have to go along with such nonsense? By...
By TONY CASTRO Somewhere, Franklin Delano Roosevelt just rolled over in his Hyde Park grave and muttered, “The only thing we have to fear… is this guy still being president in 2029.” Yes,...
By TONY CASTRO I WAS BORN IN THE age of Pope Pius XII, when the Church seemed both towering and distant — its voice cloaked in Latin, its rituals solemn and mysterious. That pope, cloaked in...
By TONY CASTRO IN A WORLD OF POLARIZATION, populism, and moral exhaustion, it feels almost miraculous that a moment of clarity — or perhaps divinely timed disruption — would come not from...
By TONY CASTRO ROME—The bells of St. Peter’s toll with solemn finality, and the cobblestone streets of the Eternal City feel heavier beneath my feet. I find myself back in Vatican Square, where...
We were good, we were goldKinda dream that can't be soldWe were right 'til we weren't By TONY CASTRO Look, I don’t usually remember my dreams. They slip away like a politician’s campaign...
Disappointed that the 62-year-old Demi Moore lost the Oscar for Best Actress to a woman more than half her age? You’re not alone. In a Twitter post that has already been viewed...
The stranger than strange saga of the famous, or infamous, diminutive Gypsy Rose Blanchard, victim of her mother's cruel deception and manipulation or just possibly a manipulator herself of her...
Q. What made you decide to write this novel? Tony: I had forgotten about the very first column I ever wrote for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner in 1978. I think the reason I forgot about it is that...
By TONY CASTRO America’s healthcare system is going to be the death of all of us yet. Not immediately, mind you, but slowly, methodically, like a Bond villain with a five-act plan. It’s not a...
By PEYTON SWEENEY As wildfires continue to bring devastation to people in California, we see just how crucial it is to be prepared and for first responders to have every tool they need to be able to...
The city of dreams and make-believe faces a real life nightmarish devastation as the worst fire in its iconic history ravages the homes and communities of the famous and the obscure alike from...
Once derided as a "popcorn actress," Demi Moore may have landed herself a spot in the Oscars' best actress category with her rousing speech after winning a Golden Globe for The Substance, a role she...
By TONY CASTRO When Jimmy Carter ascended to the presidency in 1977, he embodied a different kind of leadership—a blend of humility, moral conviction, and unvarnished authenticity. In a nation...
By TONY CASTRO Jimmy Carter, who passed away Sunday at the age of 100, was the president America needed after Watergate. In the aftermath of Richard Nixon’s resignation, Carter emerged as a leader...
"I want to inspire people to transform their relationships and, in turn, their lives. I aim to show that love isn’t just about finding the right partner—it’s about cultivating a deep...
By TONY CASTRO The last Christmas gifts my grandfather gave me came early—sometime in the middle of summer when I was just four years old. They were simple: a stuffed lion and a bear. Yet for him,...
Fashion analyst and influencer Livia Gueissaz, delves deeply into TV series Yellowstone's cultural resonance and stylistic influence. BY LIVIA GUEISSAZ The television series Yellowstone has...
This isn’t just a win for the Mets — it’s a psychological blow to the Yankees. For a franchise that has long prided itself on being the preeminent power in baseball, losing Juan Soto to the...
Influencer Livia Gueissaz is turning heads with her latest personal experiment: spending a staggering $1,000 a day for 30 days to explore the connection between wealth and happiness. She reveals...
By TONY CASTRO Fathers and Sons. And headaches and heartbreaks in between. Joe and Hunter Biden are like Turgenev's timeless depiction of generational conflict during social upheaval in another...
Thanksgiving isn’t just about turkey and pie—it’s about gratitude for the beautifully imperfect lives we lead, and for the people who walk beside us through it all. And this Thanksgiving, I am...
By TONY CASTRO In American politics, the pendulum never stops swinging. It glides through eras of change, overcorrects, and arcs back again, propelled by public mood, cultural shifts, and the...
Democrats don’t lose presidential elections because they’re “too progressive.” They lose because they let the cultural left hijack the conversation, turning what should be a winning...
BY LIVIA GUEISSAZ As the seasons shift, so does Taylor Swift’s wardrobe. This winter, the global superstar embraces accessories as her standout style element. Fashion analyst and...
FROM INTUITION TO FOREVER: HOW PENÉLOPE CRUZ AND JAVIER BARDEM BUILT A LOVE THAT THRIVES ON AND OFF THE SCREEN Hello, My Beautiful Friends, There’s something undeniably magical about the way...
Once hailed as the "Hispanic Obama," Florida Senator Marco Rubio has been appointed by President-elect Trump to serve as Secretary of State, the most prestigious Cabinet position a Latino has ever...
In Texas, we’re taught to stand our ground and brace for whatever comes next. Like Travis at the Alamo, I find myself hoping for a miracle—but I’m also half-expecting to be overwhelmed. By...
What if in Trump's Inaugural Address, the world were to witness one of the most profound transformations in recent political history? Trump proving that even the most polarizing figures can surprise...
