S1: It's time for KPBS Midday Edition for today's arts and culture show. We're talking about the start of the Padres season , local food and more. I'm Andrew Bracken in for Jade Hindman with conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. Padres fans are ready to hear their two favorite words today. Play ball. We get a live report from Petco on Padres Opening Day. Then San Diego chef Eric Bost is receiving major accolades. We hear more about his passion and approach to cooking , plus midday movies and a preview of the weekend arts events. That's ahead on Midday Edition. In just about an hour from now. The San Diego Padres 2026 season begins. They start the first of a three game series against the Detroit Tigers down at Petco , and now the Gaslamp Quarter is being overrun by brown and gold. As fans take in all that opening day has to offer. From the food and drinks to the hopes of a World Series championship for San Diego and KPBS. Jacob Air is down at Petco and joins me live now. Jacob , welcome to Midday Edition.
S2: Hey , thank you , Andrew , for having me.
S1: Thanks for joining us. So you've been down at Petco since this morning. Paint the picture for us.
S2: And honestly , since about 8 or 9 a.m. , there's been fans that have been slowly increasing and they've been all around the ballpark. You know , they've been , uh , getting drinks at nearby restaurants and bars. They've been wearing their different , uh , memorabilia , and they've been vocal. They were even waiting outside the gates just trying to get in. They didn't even open the gates until 11 a.m. for fans. So a lot of excitement and it's filling up pretty rapidly now as we're rapidly approaching game time.
S1: Yeah , I think we can hear some of those fans behind you actually now. So we know Opening Day is just , you know , I don't know. It's like a day of optimism. Right. And you've been talking with fans throughout the morning.
S2: Uh , they were all kind of saying that they're hopeful. They're aware that , uh , you know , not too far up the freeway. The Dodgers are two time reigning champs.
S1:
S2: People are hopeful that there's some new signings on the team. Um , and we actually had a chance to speak with one of them earlier , David Romero , who kind of gave us his rundown about being here for Opening Day.
S3: It means a lot like I requested work off like three days ago , a week ago. And I'm just , like , excited beer. This is my fourth year in a row and I just can't wait to get inside. Wow.
S1: Wow. I mean , you just hear the excitement for the season there and opening day at Petco. I don't know , it's something of almost like a local holiday for downtown. But you know , aside from the play on the field and the team , what else are you following this opening day ? Yeah.
S2: Like you had mentioned , you know , a lot of fans out here are excited. They kind of mentioned it was like a playoff atmosphere. But the other stuff outside and inside the ballpark that are outside of the game itself , of course , there's some new additions. Our own Alex Quinn covered this yesterday. You know , there's new screens inside the ballpark. There's some new food offerings. There's even a new cocktail lounge just outside the park. But there's also this addition of the metered parking increases this year. This actually was passed by city council last fall. And now those the meters have gone from 250 to $10 an hour during large events in downtown. So we talked with fans about how they're getting to the game , what they think about this increased charge and a lot of people were actually aware of it , they said. Instead of maybe driving down here trying to pay for that , plus deal with the traffic. A lot of them are opting for transit.
S1: And I imagine the trolleys probably getting a lot of that overflow. Right. Um , Jacob , the Padres. So they're taking on the Detroit Tigers. Um , it's , you know , getting close to to first pitch here. Tell us more about this matchup and what fans can expect. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. For for today's game it's going to be Nick Pivetta on the mound for the Padres. And then on the side for Detroit. It's going to be a squabble. He is one of the best pitchers in all the Major League Baseball. It's going to be a three game series uh , today , tomorrow. Uh , and then we have a final game this weekend. And then afterwards they're going to be taking on the Giants. Uh , before they go on a road trip.
S1: So I mean , another , you know , another person you got a chance to chat with a little bit earlier was Padres star Manny Machado. What did he have to say about , you know , I imagine he's more in just business mode , but. But what did he have to say on the start of the season. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. He's excited. I mean , he's happy to be. He said he's happy to be back here and San Diego and take on another opening day. Um , he seems very focused. He said he's focused on health , in particular for both himself and the team , and he said he's excited about everything that that's offered during Opening day , whether that's the extra kind of pageantry of it all , uh , to , you know , the loud crowd we had mentioned. It kind of feels like a playoff atmosphere in some ways for fans. So he's excited for everything. Health is definitely his top priority , is what he had , uh , relayed to us.
S1: So , you know , you've kind of talked about the fan excitement. You know , just that energy you're feeling down there. And , you know , I'm wondering what fans have had to say about , you know , just what they're hoping to see on the field this season.
S2: A lot of them are hoping that , you know , the team can finally get that World Series we've been looking for. They've really been pushing both financially. And then in terms of the standings for , you know , playoff runs over the last five or so years. The team's hoping a lot of the fans of the team are hoping that this is their year. They're aware that the the Dodgers are a powerhouse just up north. But one fan told me , you know , they're trying to slay the dragon for good this year and finally bring that ring back home. So fans are hopeful , uh , they're aware of the realities of the other teams are in division , but they're hopeful that the team can make a deep playoff run.
S1: Well , that's great to hear the optimism. We hope it , you know , plays off on the field today. I've been speaking with KPBS reporter Jacob Air. He's been joining us live from down at Petco Park. Jacob , thanks so much. Enjoy the game.
S2: Thank you , folks for having me. Appreciate it.
S1: Now we go from the world of fryer , franks and popcorn. And now turning to some fine dining here in San Diego. Each year , the James Beard Foundation recognizes culinary excellence. And one of this year's semifinalists in California is Chef Eric Bost. He oversees two Michelin starred restaurants in San Diego Lillo in June and July. Pronouncing that right , you got it okay. It's tough. French is not my first language. He joins me now to talk about this nomination and his own culinary journey. Chef Eric , welcome. Great.
S4: Thanks so much. Happy to be here.
S1: So glad to have you here. So tell me , you know , tell us about you know , about your initial reaction to hearing about becoming named a semifinalist for this award ? Sure.
S4: I mean , it obviously feels amazing to be nominated. Um , there's so many chefs on this list who I personally look up to , to that our teams look up to. It feels really , um , you know , comforting to know that that this is really the the sort of , I don't know , the affirmation that our team does an amazing job , so of course it feels really good. There's so many people involved. You mentioned two of our restaurants. We have two more. We have wildland and we have campfire as well. And all of them. I , you know , we're 250 employees strong at this point. And I think I feel really fortunate to be the person who gets to kind of carry that. But the nomination is really about like the hard work of everyone. Yeah.
S1: And then , you know , another sort of award or , you know , recognition. You got your restaurant Lilo , you know , pretty quickly received a michelin star. Is that right ? Yeah. What what did that honor mean for that and happened so quickly ? Right. Is that. It's pretty unusual. Yeah. It's unusual.
S4: It was ten weeks in. We know. Or , you know , the guy called out some of the dishes from the first week on the menu. So we know they were there very early , which is which is great. Obviously , restaurants take a long time to build to put the team together , to work through the menu , to to just have all the components. We spend an enormous amount of time training so that when we did open , we felt really confident that we were executing at a high level , that we were contributing something special and that we were , you know , the the experience we were trying to do was as close to what we had envisioned as possible. So , um , I think it was really important to also , you know , generate awareness , like for a young restaurant , um , those early days are super important. We had a lot of baked in goodwill from the other restaurants , which helped. But it's also just like creates awareness , it creates demand. And again , it does affirm that we're on the right track. We really have the mentality across all the teams that every day is an opportunity to make improvements. And so there's really no resting on laurels. It's like , how do we lean into our strengths ? And then we're pretty critical on like where the opportunities we can get better.
S1: So I mean , both of these restaurants we've been talking about Lilo and Julie , the both in Carlsbad , and I want to talk a little bit about Carlsbad specifically and just the San Diego culinary scene , but talk to me.
S4: Really. So my business partner John , he opened Cafaro hit ten years this year. So Campari was one of the first restaurants really , I think , to create a unique bar program , unique cuisine , and really to like put a footprint in Carlsbad or what we know is kind of Carlsbad today after it became July. And then when I came down from LA and we started partnering on restaurants and figuring out what we wanted to create , really the idea was , what are we excited about ? What doesn't currently exist and what do we think people will will really enjoy ? So how do we contribute ? How do we kind of continue our own voice and do something that felt like from the same group , from the same DNA , but was also like things that we were just jazzed about.
S1: And talk to me about that DNA. I mean , what is that ? Just like from a food perspective , what am I likely to experience ? Sure.
S4: Um , I mean , you're going to experience great product. Like part of this is , is really leaning into San Diego. San Diego is an amazing place to be a chef. There's it's the highest concentration of small family farms in the US. We're like good friends with dozens of farms in this area , and it's really about like taking beautiful product , using that to the best of , like what the restaurant's identity is. And we're really trying to make each restaurant the best version of itself. So it's not like each one's not redundant , but you can definitely expect great product , really thoughtful cooking technique driven , but but ultimately delicious. Like , it's not just meant to be , um , you know , single , layered. It's really about like an entire thought process that goes into it. It's consistent. All of the restaurants are super energetic. Like great playlist , um , really good bar programs , really great wine programs. So it's not just the food. And so the things that we're trying to build or that we continue to , to lean into our design , our food , our beverage and our , like , genuine hospitality. So part of the thing , I mean , back to what you were saying about , um , James Beard was really to me felt great for the food. The food is only one aspect though. I mean , James Beard is very much into social. Um , you know , having a social voice , contributing something to the environment. You mentioned earlier in the last , the last sort of section about community and optimism. We we're like focus a lot of time on culture. And so we have these five things that are really the fundamentals and it's grace , growth , grit , community and optimism. And so those help drive a culture where our team feels supported , where they feel inspired , where they feel like their time is well spent. And if we can hone in on like , how do we create great systems , how do we create this ecosystem within Carlsbad , it will help us from like to be unique , to contribute something to our community , whether that's our team or our guest or the farms we're supporting or the fishermen we're supporting. Um , and make sure that , like , the whole thing just becomes a catalyst for continued evolution.
S1: So you're originally from North Carolina , but you've pretty much worked all over the world. We were talking before about some of the places , um. Tell us about those and what you took from each of those stops and how it kind of plays into your life now. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. I mean , growing up in North Carolina , my grandparents were in the restaurant business , so I was a young teenager. Yeah , I was in it. I was wrapping baked potatoes in the kitchen. I was bussing tables back with , you know , a pressed white shirt with a cummerbund and a bow tie. And so in the early days , I then went to business school and then went to culinary school after. And , and at that point was really about like , how do I take this idea of food , this love of food , and how do I make it refine the craft ? How do I continue to be inspired and work for the best people I could ? So obviously at the time I was like , I got to go to France. So , um , I had met my wife. I was working for a French chef in the Caribbean. Um , I met my wife and kind of disappeared or , you know , stopped working where I was and joined her in Europe. So three years in Europe , at Newcastle Plaza , I worked for the hotel to carry on some two and three Michelin star restaurants where I really wanted to understand large brigade structure product , just like the savoir faire of French cooking. And I really it got me on this path of just like continually trying to work around the strongest people. And to your point , take something new from each place that I was like , how do I keep layering on different skills ? So , um , after France , I came back to the US. I lived in San Diego , so this was 20 years ago. My wife and I , we crossed the country and so we spent six weeks in San Diego was like the place we're like , okay , we're definitely going to live here. Um , and so we lived here for about three years. I'd missed some big structure at that point. Again , great product , cool things happening , but I miss like France. And so I went to what was opening in Las Vegas , joined his team. So at that time he had three Michelin stars for 20 years , joined that team , spent four years there and was like sous chef into chef de cuisine , into the executive chef. And then Monsieur started talking about opening in Singapore. And I was like , that's where I want to go. So I went and I was the opening chef in Singapore. And then after about a year and a half , I was the chef and the general manager. And so I just kept taking on more and more responsibility with him. I was back and forth to Paris quite often in the main three star kitchen I was in. You know , we were trying to basically recreate his Parisian experience in Vegas and then in Singapore. And so these eight years were really instrumental in me developing teams understanding technique , honing in on like , structure. It's like a team sport. Like being a good coach essentially , versus being just a good cook. And so when I left Mr. Savoie , I spent two more years back in France , this time in champagne. I was like , oh , well , I'm an American. There's not too many Americans in France. I should just go and try and , like , create a relay chateau property. I wanted a small 40 seat restaurant. I wanted like eight rooms. And eventually , I mean , we put a long time into it and ultimately just couldn't make it happen. We had partners , we had a domain. We had like all these things that that were working. Um , but what I took out of that was like the vision was clear of what I wanted to do. I had a menu format. I had like an idea of cuisine that I wanted rooted in , um , quality , but also rooted in , like , vibrancy , aliveness like herbaceous ness , high acidity , um , ever changing , like super seasonal. Um , and so that created a conversation with a restaurant tour in LA. So from champagne back to the west coast into LA , join Republique and the team with sprout. And eventually that led into Auburn , which was my first restaurant to open.
S1: So you've just kind of been really all over the world. Obviously , France has placed such an important culinary reference point for you , it sounds like. Do you have like a favorite dish ? I mean , that's just , you know , from now or 50 years from now , I mean , you're like your go to.
S4: I love food. It can be very simple or it can be super elaborate as long as it's delicious and tastes good. Probably like the most simple thing is my grandmother's , um , chicken casserole. Is my grandmother on my dad's side. She was a ceramist. She was a potter , but she also had sourdough bread. And so every summer we would go visit her and she was always just cooking. It was very simple. It's chicken casserole. But when I look at it now and I look back , she was building chicken volute like she would. She would poach the chicken in broth with tons of aromatics. She then pick the chicken. She'd take that broth and she'd make a roux and she'd bind the roux. And then she would combine everything back in with a pick chicken. And at that point it was like probably Velveeta cheese and , you know , crackers on top , um , which I don't do now , but I do. We still build a blue tape. My son , he.
S1: Does capture that.
S4: I still capture it. And my son , he was born in Singapore and he doesn't like the crust for some reason on chicken casserole. So it's chicken pot rice at this point. It's basically that chicken volute vegetables , lots of aromatics and then rice.
S1: I've been speaking with chef Eric Bost. He runs multiple restaurants in Carlsbad. Was it so ? Let's go through the list. Lilo Jolie , campfire and wildland. Yeah. So , you know , congratulations again on this. This becoming a semifinalist for the James board James Beard Awards. And the finalists will be announced next Tuesday , March 31st. So exactly. Good luck to you there. And thanks so much for being here. We really appreciate. It.
S4: It. I appreciate you. Thanks.
S1: Still to come , our midday movie's critics highlight the work of some women filmmakers. Film directors. You should know you're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. Stay tuned. Welcome back. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Andrew Bracken in for Jade Hindman. March is women's history month and our midday movies. Critics are highlighting women directors , both the trailblazers and the emerging new voices in this month's edition of Midday Movies. Jade Heineman spoke with them earlier this week. And here's that conversation.
S5: A new study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that only nine women directed the top 100 grossing films of last year. So in total , women represent less than 10% of the biggest film makers in Hollywood today. And that's a drop from last year. There's still been some recognition , though , this year , Chloe Zhao joined an elite filmmaker group as only the second woman nominated twice for the Best Director Oscar. She directed Hamnet , which got a lot of buzz. So while women are making progress in the film industry , there is still a long , long way to go. Once again , I want to welcome our film critics KPBS , Cinema Junkie , Beth Accomando and movie Wallace's podcaster Yazdi. Welcome to you both.
S6: Thank you so much. Thank you.
S5: Let's begin by highlighting women who were pioneers. We're talking directors who really blazed a trail and opened doors for those who followed. Beth , you wanted to remind us of who some of those trailblazers were. Yes.
S6: Yes. As the oldest member here , I'm going to go back in history and give you some names , so Alice G. Blanchett is a French woman credited as the first woman director , and Dorothy Arnaz is the first woman who joined the Directors Guild back in 1936 , and her career spanned from the silent era on into the 1940s. But the person I want to highlight is Ida Lupino. Most people probably know her as an actress. She was famous for her tough noir dames in films like Roadhouse and They Drive By Night , but she had this opportunity in 1949. She had scripted a film called Not Wanted , and it was about abortion , which was a daring subject at that time. And the director had a heart attack on the third day of the shoot , and since she knew the script so well , they decided they would let her uncredited , direct the film. So she stepped in. And she is someone who , while she was making all her films as an actress , was very observant of the directors she was working with , so she did a good job. The film made a lot of money , and she ended up forming a film production company with her then husband , Collier Young , and she directed this great film noir called The Hitchhiker , and as the title implies , it's a story about two men who are driving to a camping trip who end up picking up a hitchhiker with some unpleasant results.
S7: Face front. And keep driving. Sure , I'm Emmett Myers. Do what I tell you , and don't make no fast moves. Or a lot of dead heroes back there get nervous.
S6: So this is a gritty , tough as they get noir thriller. There are three male leads in this film. No women of note. And I just love how masterfully she handled this film. Building tension. She became a very prolific director. She tackled issues of rape and disability in her independently produced features , and she had a really long career directing television. She did over 100 episodes , all genres westerns , sci fi , detective , but most notable , she was the only woman to direct an episode of the original Twilight Zone series. And that episode was The Masks , so I just think she is a fantastic trailblazer for us to remember and to seek out her work both as an actress and as a director.
S5: Yeah , she really opened some doors. In Yazdi , you have another trailblazer to highlight.
S8: Agnes Varda was the only female filmmaker who was part of the French New Wave. She directed her first film in 1955 , when she was just 27 years old , and she continued on for another six decades , all the way to 2019 , when she made a documentary about herself and her films called Varda on Agnes before she passed at the ripe old age of 90. She was known primarily for bringing documentary realism , even to her fictional stories. No other than Scorsese has called her one of the gods of cinema. You may know her from very seminal French films such as Cléo , From 5 to 7 , Gleaners and I , and she made some really wonderful documentaries , including daguerreotypes and my personal favorite , Faces , places. And to give an idea of the person that she was years. A clip from an interview with Varda.
S9: And every single film , every single story is a puzzle. You bring the pieces. Does it make an image at the end ? That makes sense. Does it end with a face or a landscape or a black wall ? You know , and what I love the most and what I feel the most. Now we note that some pieces of the puzzle are missing , and they will be missing all the time. And there is no one documentary that has all the pieces of the puzzle. It's just some pieces. And you have to invent to understand , to imagine the rest. There is no truth , you know that.
S5: She did a lot of great work. Well , let's turn to some of your personal favorites. Yazdi. I know you love them all.
S8: I wanted to mention Mira Nair. I wanted to mention Jane Campion. I wanted to mention Kathryn Bigelow , but the one I settled on is Gina Prince-Bythewood. She has made lovely movies including Love and Basketball , The Secret Lives of Bees , Beyond the Lights , as well as The Woman King , most recently with Twyla Davis. She has been quietly making studio back films since the early 2000 , when she first directed Love and Basketball. And is there a better American romantic film made than Love and Basketball ? Here's a clip from the movie.
S10: You asked me what was missing.
S7:
S10:
S11: You woke me up to tell me that.
S10: It's not fun for me anymore. Because you are missing. What I'm trying to say is I've loved you since I was 11.
S11: We haven't talked since college. You wait two weeks before my wedding to tell me something like that.
S10: I don't know , I probably should have said it two weeks ago.
S5:
S6: I will do a little quick mention of Lynn Ramsay. She did Ratcatcher , Morvern Collar , and really impressively , we need to talk about Kevin. What's interesting , her and my other favorite director I'm going to mention , which is Kathryn Bigelow. They're both very visual storytellers , but visual in very different ways. Lynne Ramsay is much more kind of this quiet poetry , and Kathryn Bigelow is very much into this action , adrenaline driven kind of filmmaking. I loved Kathryn Bigelow from her first film. She did , Loveless , and then impressively Near Dark , which combines vampires and action , which I absolutely adore. She also did Zero Dark 30 Point Break , which is another great action film. Most recently , she did House of dynamite. I love the fact that she was a filmmaker That didn't play up being a woman director. She just went out and did these films , took the projects that she loved and that she wanted to do. And , you know , when she was starting out in the late 80s and early 90s , making films like that always meant that she ended up being asked questions like , well , that's a very masculine film. How was it directing it ? And , you know , she had to to field those questions up until winning for The Hurt Locker. But here's an early interview after she had done Near Dark , where she is asked one of those questions about doing an action film.
S12: I don't know , it's sort of hard for me to stand outside it and to see what changes perhaps that film might be able to make. I certainly hope it opens up the arena for women to enter action. Previously , you know , the association of women with sort of more emotional material and men with the apparatus hardware Technique maybe is breaking down , and within a few years time it'll no longer be an issue. You know who directed what ? And it'll be , you know , people will be hired based on their strengths and their focus and their inclination. I hope that's the case soon.
S6: Not quite there yet , but definitely making progress. She was briefly married to James Cameron , and I love the fact that she beat him out for Best Director. He was up for avatar and she was up and won for The Hurt Locker , so she's someone I've always admired , and I really appreciate the fact that she is a woman director who has refused to be put in a box of what Hollywood and male directors think a woman director should be doing , and she's made no fuss about it at all. She just broke that glass ceiling.
S5: I love that. Well , are there any new female directors you're following ? Yes.
S6: So I really love Nia DaCosta. She works in my favorite genre , horror. She is a black woman who did a fabulous Candyman remake , and then she also did the latest installment of the 28 Years Later franchise , The Bone Temple , which is by far the best of that series since the original. But I do also want to give a shout out to Callie Fargas , who did revenge and the deliciously gross body horror film The Substance. So one of the things I like about her is just her attitude towards making films and this kind of bold desire to be provocative. So here she discusses a scene in which Dennis Quaid was eating shrimp with a lot of gusto and disgusting sounds , and this was in the substance. And here's her response to the request. She had to cut that scene out. And this is why I love her work.
S13: Old guy's telling me , oh , no , but the shrimps. It's too much. Please tone down the shrimps. And I was like the power of the shrimps. Like , you know , like to make them feel so unwell. And I learned on my first feature that when there is a scene that makes everyone uncomfortable and that everyone asks you to cut or to do differently , it's most of the time because there is something very powerful in that scene that you have to stick to.
S5: I agree , I would agree with that.
S8: Both are female filmmakers who are fearless and unafraid to take on pretty charged and provocative material. Both filmmakers also have a way of dealing with female desire , with so much honesty and frankness , which has frankly been missing from Indian cinema. Teilhard made this lovely film called girls Will Be Girls , and that film is set in a boarding school in India , where a girl begins to assert her burgeoning sexual desire under the watchful gaze of her single parent mom. And here is a scene from the film where she brings in a co student who she really likes to meet her mom for the first time.
S14: Hi , Andie. I'm free.
S15: Hi , I'm Mira's mom , Anila.
S14: I saw these flowers and thought they were really pretty. Oh. Thanks.
S15: Thanks. Molly , put this in a vase. Come sit. Drink some water also. Okay.
S14: I didn't know you have such an amazing garden.
S15: Oh , it's my mom's. This house is my mom's only.
S14: Meera was saying that you split your time between here and Haritha.
S15: I always come for her exams. But this year is very important. So I'll be here until her board exams. My daughter is my priority. Whether she realizes it or not.
S5: All right , so let's go out with a recommendation. For what ? To look for coming to a cinema. Beth , you've got one that opens today. Yes.
S6: Yes. I'm really excited that this is opening today. The film screened at Cannes last year. This is Julia de Cornell's Alpha , but it's only opening here in the US right now. So you can see it in a cinema , which I highly recommend. So both her and Farge have this love of body horror , and they have this fearlessness and this eagerness to provoke. And I love that quality in these films. They are not making films that want to be quiet or passive or ingratiating. So here she discusses her first film , Titan , and how she wanted to hold the audience's interest in her main character , Alexia. She knew that this character was not likable , not sympathetic , and was downright violent at times. And so this is her discussion of how she wanted to deal with both the violence and her character in the opening.
S16: At this level , I think the first thing that I started understanding in her is her anger , her rage , and hence her violence. Because Alexia is a very like direct response to the idea that a woman is a designated victim. And I thought , it's funny because a guy who is gonna assault someone or even a heckle or whatever , uh , is never it's never gonna occur to that person that that woman could retaliate in a way that could hurt him , actually. And this infuriates me to a point that I actually wanted to bring all that anger in someone who would be , like , able to retaliate just because she is a psychopath. And it means that she doesn't feel fear.
S6: So I love her attitude about women characters. I'm not interested in these role model kinds of women. I want complex , sometimes unlikable , unsympathetic women , but I want them to have depth and dimensionality , and her characters have that. And I also love the way she depicts violence in her films. I think it's very visceral and impactful , which is how it should be. So her new film , Alpha , is about sort of the unexpected consequences of a 13 year old girl getting a tattoo , and it's sort of an allegory about Aids , but also about generational trauma. And yes , body horror does come into play. Hmm.
S5: Hmm. Very interesting.
S8: One is the latest from director Olivia Wilde. It's called The Invite , but the one I'm even more interested to watch is the film Josephine , which is directed by Beth De Araujo. And this film was the winner of the audience and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance this year. It's going to be released later this year , and it has been clearing up prizes at all the film festivals and the movie stars Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan as parents of an eight year old little girl who is dealing with the trauma of having witnessed a brutal crime. And by all means , I've heard this movie is wonderfully directed and also a joy visually to look at some. Really looking forward to that. Wow.
S5: Wow. Well , there were so many trailblazers and up and coming talent talked about. I've been speaking with KPBS Arts reporter Beth Accomando and movie Wallace podcaster Yazdi. For more on their picks , check out KPBS. Beth Yazdi , as always , thank you.
S6: Thank you so much.
S17: Thank you.
S1: Up next , we bring you a music focused weekend arts preview. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. Stay tuned. Welcome back to KPBS midday Edition. I'm Andrew Bracken in for Jade Heineman for our weekend arts preview. We're taking a closer look at some diverse music options in town this weekend , from the drag performer flaming Grant to a piano superstar , even a kid friendly symphony. Joining me with all the details is KPBS arts reporter and host of the finest podcast , Julia Dixon Evans. Hey , Julia.
S18: Hey , Andrea. Thanks for having me.
S1: Great to see you. So let's. I don't know , let's ease into things here with some piano.
S18: It's at Jacobs Music Center downtown. But it is presented by La Jolla music society. And Lang Lang is basically a piano superstar , like he's played for more world leaders than I can count. He has such a dynamic stage energy , but also just like really skilled , really expressive. In this concert , he'll perform like pretty broad range of composers. There's Mozart , Beethoven lists , but also lesser known composers this Enrique Granados , Isaac Albéniz , this is Suite Espanola by Albanese , recorded by Lang Lang. And the concerts tonight at 730 and there are still some tickets available. Great.
S1: Great. So next up is this thing. Songwriter. Sanctuary.
S18: It's this really intimate performance showcase. It's now in its third year. They bring together a few performers to the sanctuary space at Normal Heights United Church , and it's hosted by Jeff Berkley , who's this long time local folk star. And this month show is pretty special because all of it's all former members of Baby Bush , aka the Kate Bush Tribute Project. They played their final show in 2024. So we have Marie Haddad , Nancy Ross , Heather nation. Um , Nancy was one of the founding members of Baby Bush , and then Marie and Heather both joined the crew at various points in this history , and they'll all be performing original solo music. We're listening to Heather nation's song woman , which was recorded in 2024. It's a really strong track.
S19: I like the one Yeah.
S18: I and songwriter sanctuary. It's Friday night in normal heights , and they have a suggested donation of $10 to see it.
S1: Also , Friday night we have the drag queen who once topped the Christian music charts on iTunes. Tell us about flaming Grant. Yeah.
S18: Yeah. So flaming Grant has local ties. She had a residency at a local church , and they once started a church here as well. Um , flaming Grant's non drag identities. Matthew Lovegood and I learned about flaming Grant from Katie Hyson. One of our reporters here did a story a couple of years ago. Um , Matthew was raised in a conservative fundamentalist church , and after leaving the church and coming out , kind of forged their own path in religion. Of course , flaming Grant is inspired by 80s and 90s Christian pop icon Amy Grant.
S20: Tried to keep a little boy clean. She found him with her high heels on a two foot train of green chiffon. That messy lip was overdrawn. It was shocking and obscene. Mama knows that. She's right.
S18: This is. What did you drag me into by Bible Belt ? Baby , that was the album that topped the Christian music charts in 2023 , and flaming Grant will be in San Diego for one show Friday night at Soda Bar tonight with Stuckey Lee.
S1: We also have a Festival of the Arts in Oceanside with a whole bunch of local music.
S18: It's in Oceanside and they're hosting this all ages , all day festival. They have a vendor fair on the patio with artists and creatives. And then at the center of this festival are performances by five local women singer songwriters or bands. It's Sasha and the saz. Go , Scarlet girls got Nerve , Em Cable Band , and Alice Allen. This is Alice Allen's track bones. It's from her recent EP Dear Moon. It just came out last summer. She writes kind of like dreamy folk pop , and the EP has this great mix of intimate solo guitar and boy songs , as well as some that pack a little bit more of a punch.
S21: You'll sweat it out , but. It's hard to find. Oh , this is when the devil is so much weird. Trust yourself.
S18: And the showcase runs from 12 to 8 p.m. , so stopping anytime it's free. Totally free. Yeah. And poorhouse. This is a really great option for live local music. They make space for a lot of bands and shows , and I'll do one more show plug , because Alice Allen is also playing a free show at Folk Arts Rare Records in City Heights on Saturday at 3 p.m. , along with three other bands. So if you haven't been to folk arts yet , or if you want to check out Alice Allen , but you're not in North County , we got you covered.
S1: Finally , there's one for the kids. Tell us about the Symphony Meet the Strings concerts. Yeah.
S18: Yeah. So San Diego Symphony , they have this series of family concerts that kind of ease young audiences into classical music. And there's usually a mix of storytelling , like with narration , along with pieces of music that are pretty playful. Or they like spotlight , an instrument in a way that's really accessible. There's often animals involved , like this installment. It's called Meet the Strings , Ferdinand the Bull. So these are all songs that show off the string instruments and centered around the story of Ferdinand the Bull. And they'll perform the famous Bizet piece , but also contemporary composers and Henry Mancini's delightful Baby Elephant Walk. And there's often like songs that are super recognizable or like stuff you've heard before. And I don't know. I love that. There's two concerts on Saturday , 10 a.m. and 1130. So you pick the one that works best for your nap time , and tickets are 24. But just to know that everybody needs a ticket , even lap children and babies.
S1: Got it ? Well , those are some great options. You can find all the details of these events and a lot more on our website at pbs.org. I've been speaking with KPBS arts reporter and host of the finest podcast , Julia Dixon Evans. Julia , thanks so much.
S18: Thank you. Andrea. This was fun.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm Andrew Bracken. KPBS Midday Edition airs on KPBS FM weekdays at noon , again at 8 p.m.. You can find past episodes at KPBS or wherever you listen. Thanks again for listening. Have a great day.
