KCRW's To the Point

Southern California saw its fire risk zones expand by 3.5 million acres in CalFire’s new hazard maps. Homeowners in those areas must now meet safety standards.

This week, Jennifer Senior , New York Times opinion writer and author “ All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood,” discusses the impact of having children on life satisfaction and meaning. Citing the psychologist and behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman’ s work on the "experiencing self" versus the "remembering self," Senior says that while parenting can be exhausting in the moment, most often later on in life, the years raising kids are fondly remembered. While there’s no easy answer to big life decisions, like having kids, Senior suggests that most often in life, we regret the actions we did not take rather than the ones we did - and Senior says, if you’re sitting on the fence, that may be reason enough.

Invasive plants are overrunning the Santa Monica Mountains, making fires more destructive and more frequent. Thus, conservationists are trying to grow more native species.

Without warning, and with no time to develop alternative approaches, funding just stopped. People are dying.

Director, writer, and actor Eli Roth is best known for his work in horror — directing so-called “splatter” films including Hostel, Cabin Fever, and Thanksgiving. He also memorably starred in Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 film Inglourious Basterds. However, beneath the love of gore lies a passionate cinephile who is a champion of mostly forgotten films… and their soundtracks(!). His latest project allows him to celebrate both. It’s a double album of music, sourced primarily from 1970s and ‘80s Italian sex comedies, called Eli Roth’s Red Light Disco. Roth tells The Treatment about the joy of finding songs from films that aren’t well known, his love of both high and low brow Italian cinema, and his new venture that will allow fans to become investors in future films.

Mega-producer Will Packer never shies away from talking about his grassroots beginnings in the business. From putting up flyers for the independent film Trois himself, to making films that would go on to gross over $1 billion — Packer always finds creative ways to tell interesting stories on screen and solve problems on set. Some of the blockbuster comedies on his resume include Girls Trip, Ride Along, and Night School … also on that resume is the 2022 Academy Awards (aka the year of “the slap”). In his new book Who Better Than You? The Art of Healthy Arrogance & Dreaming Big, Packer reflects on his humble beginnings and the highs and lows along his journey to success. Packer tells The Treatment about the incredible family history that informed his life today, helping to turn Atlanta into the film production hub that it is today, and why it’s okay to not entirely know where your true passions lie when you’re first starting out.

Rising to fame in the 1980s and ‘90s with iconic films like St. Elmo’s Fire, Ghost, A Few Good Men, and Indecent Proposal — Demi Moore quickly became known for her ability to tackle any mentally and physically demanding role that came her way. Her commitment to physical transformation was evident in the films Striptease and G.I. Jane, but her physicality has never been as intensely on display as it was in her latest role: Elisabeth Sparkle in The Substance. Moore’s unparalleled commitment to the film’s outrageous premise resulted in her first ever Oscar nomination for Best Actress. More: Demi Moore shares why she loves provocative films like The Substance (The Treatment, 2025) For her Treat, Moore introduces us to Ilona Royce, an extraordinary woman she befriended after seeing her featured in the 2014 documentary Advanced Style. Their friendship lasted until Royce’s passing in 2021 at the age of 101. Royce’s infectious joy and ability to find beauty in life’s simplest moments deeply inspired Moore, and reminded her that everyone’s resources are finite… so we should use them wisely. This segment has been edited and condensed for clarity. So what I want to share about is this incredible woman that I met in [when she was in] her nineties. I met her because she was a part of a documentary called Advanced Style: Ilona Royce. This is a woman who lived into her nineties in a four-floor walk-up in New York. She finally moved to P-town — where she also still lived, even until her passing, in a two-flight walk up — and she would go walk the beach every day. I spent quite a bit of time with her, and I remember her saying: ‘You know, I didn't really come into myself until I was 70 [or] 75.’ There was something in her claiming of herself, but the depth of appreciation that she had outside [of herself]; just being in appreciation every day for every little thing. She lived to be 101. I got to spend these last eight [or] nine years around her and I remember her saying: ‘You know, nobody ever really makes you aware that your resources are not unlimited.’ And she said, ‘So, really be mindful of where you put your energy.’ She said, ‘Your spirit is limitless, but our physical body has only finite resources so use them wisely.’ She said, ‘You know, it's really important to do as much for yourself as you can, but to know when to ask for help.’ But you know, just her genuine joy and appreciation every day for all the little things, and all the things that we really think sometimes are a big deal and that idea, like, I didn't really come into myself till I was like 70 or 75, and I thought, ‘You know what? It isn't over yet.’

Spring is usually peak poppy season for Southern California, but limited winter showers dampened the flower species’ chances.

“Severance” on Apple TV+ mirrors the experience of medical procedures done on split-brain patients, which was first developed in the 1960s at Caltech.

Did President Trump defy court orders with deportation flights? Can Democrats recover from historically low polling? Plus, KCRW examines The Kennedy Center culture wars.

Erin McIntosh is a nurse practitioner at Riverside Community Hospital. She recorded a series of audio diaries five years ago at the height of the pandemic.

This week, journalist and author of The Explorers Gene:Why We Seek Big Challenges, New Flavors, and the Blank Spots on the Map,” Alex Hutchinson tackles something athletes and sports enthusiasts think about all the time; how to break through physical barriers. Hutchinson suggests that athletic milestones, and he uses the example of Roger Bannister breaking the 4-minute mile, often have little to do with physical ability and skill, but what holds us back is a lack of belief.

Amid the Trump administration’s ramped-up efforts to deport undocumented immigrants, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to strengthen protections for children whose parents are at risk of being deported.

Data suggests that barriers may exist with adults being aware of this option for care at the end of life.

Actress Carrie Coon’s meaty film and TV roles have tended toward the serious: a grieving wife and mother on HBO’s The Leftovers, a loyal sister defending her brother from murder charges in David Fincher’s Gone Girl, and a woman striving to break into high society in HBO’s The Gilded Age. She also memorably starred in a 2012 revival of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, for which she received a Tony nomination. But Coon tells The Treatment her real life personality is much lighter than all that. And she’s really leaning into the levity in the new season of HBO’s The White Lotus. In the latest installment of Mike White’s fiercely beloved anthology series, she stars as one of three friends on a girls trip to a luxury resort in Thailand. Coon says that filming the show for six months so far away from home afforded her a break from her everyday life… and gave her time to reflect. Plus, she shares her beliefs about what people are actually looking for when they go away on vacation, and marvels over how well White knows his characters.

To help raise money for California’s Wildfire Recovery Fund , Fritz Colema is performing “Unassisted Residency” on March 30 at the El Portal in North Hollywood.

Lesli Linka Glatter’s director credits are all over your favorite TV shows. Think: Twin Peaks, The West Wing, and Homeland. She also took on several episodes of Mad Men, most notably “the lawnmower one” (iykyk), and multiple installments of Gilmore Girls — including the remarkably assured pilot of the quippy family dramedy. And her talent has been apparent from the jump, as evidenced by a short film early in her career that led to at least one invaluable mentorship: “[Tales of Meeting and Parting] got nominated for an Academy Award and Steven Spielberg saw it on an airplane, which I thought was the most exotic thing,” recalls Glatter. “He called me up and I hung up on him because I thought it was a prank call. Fortunately, he called me back. Steven, I think, gets hung up on a lot.” Glatter joins Kim Masters for a conversation about her career in television and her new Netflix limited series, Zero Day. Among the show’s many credentials, it features Robert De Niro in his first television role(!). She also tells us more about her many mentors — a list that includes Spielberg, George Miller, and David Lynch. And she dishes a bit on the surreality of directing for streamers.

Disney is dialing back the rollout of its upcoming, live action Snow White remake starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot. Why is the studio pulling its talent from red carpet press appearances at the film’s US premiere? Kim Masters and Matt Belloni investigate. Poisoned by politics? Following Rachel Zegler’s comments criticizing aspects of the original 1937 animated film , Disney has decided to reel back its talent from press opportunities at the upcoming Snow White premiere on March 15. “In these very charged times where people use these comments as flames for the culture wars, she has become one of those politicized figures,” says Belloni. “Disney, I think, mistakenly canceled this press line, because now all the headlines about this movie are about the fact that they're scared of it, which is not what they wanted.” Fearing to tread? In addition to the stifled Snow White premiere, Disney's knee jerk reaction to the current presidential administration includes rolling back DEI initiative and pulling a transgender storyline from a Pixar series. “They're certainly responding to what they see as changes in the culture and in the new administration,” Belloni explains. “They are just so terrified of becoming part of the culture war, and what that brand issue might be for the company with parts of the country that believe in this movement. They are walking on eggshells here.”

The arrest of a student protester raises questions on free speech. Is the White House picking which speech is illegal, or are they enforcing anti-discrimination laws?

The latest film releases include Black Bag, Opus, Novocaine, and The Electric State. Weighing in are William Bibbiani, film critic for the Wrap and co-host of the Critically Acclaimed Network podcast, and Christy Lemire, writer for RogerEbert.com and co-host of the Breakfast All Day podcast.