Lifestyle
Stop and smell the native plants at the L.A. Times Plants booth at Festival of Books
Are you interested in creating a native habitat or have questions about your plants? Come meet experts from the Theodore Payne Foundation and the California Native Plant Society, along with Times staffers, at the L.A. Times Plants booth during The Times’ Festival of Books at USC on April 18 and 19.
In a new location this year — booth 554 in the Red Zone — the L.A. Times Plants booth will be a tribute to L.A. Times plants writer Jeanette Marantos, a passionate supporter of native plants, who died in February.
There will be giveaways of hundreds of 4-inch plants from Theodore Payne and The Times throughout the weekend. Also, anyone who signs up for our free monthly L.A. Times Plants newsletter will receive Jeanette’s Mix, a special packet of sunflower seeds and California poppy seeds that Marantos hoped to offer this year.
Jeanette Marantos at the L.A. Times Plants booth at Festival of Books on April 21, 2024.
(Maryanne Pittman)
We’ll also have colorful plant-inspired stickers and copies of the Weekend print section with Times garden coverage to give away.
Booth visitors will be able to smell and look at plants from the Theodore Payne Foundation and learn how native plants can not only save water but also support local wildlife such as bees, birds and monarch butterflies. Theodore Payne will also have merchandise available for purchase and other seed packets to hand out.
As part of the booth, representatives from the California Native Plant Society will show visitors how to use Calscape, an online database of native plants that allows you to customize your landscape needs based on your ZIP Code.
Stop by the L.A. Times Plants booth (booth 554 in the Red Zone) between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on April 18 or from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 19. The Festival of Books is held on the USC campus. For more information, check the festival’s FAQ page.
Lifestyle
Late night has enough political humor already, says host stepping into Colbert’s slot : NPR’s Newsmakers
Byron Allen, the media mogul and former stand-up comedian, is gearing up for his latest venture: bringing his show Comics Unleashed to the CBS time slot long held by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
“I feel great. I feel amazing. You know, I tell everybody, I have been pursuing this for 51 years,” Allen said in a conversation with NPR’s Ailsa Chang in Culver City, California. He praised Colbert, calling him “an American treasure,” but said Comics Unleashed will steer clear of the political comedy Colbert was known for, breaking away from the typical late night format.
“Not everybody’s gonna love me,” he said. “But there is that one or two percent that would be like ‘hell yeah, I’m rolling with you’ and I learned that at an early age, and by the way, that simple lesson made me a billionaire.”
Allen’s 11:35 p.m. EST debut on Friday, May 22 comes after CBS’ contentious cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, despite its top ratings — a move that is widely viewed as political, given Colbert’s frequent criticism of President Trump and his administration. CBS has said the cancellation was “purely a financial decision,” and Allen insists no one at CBS, or its parent company Paramount, has set any limitations or boundaries for his show.
Allen sat down for an interview with NPR’s Newsmakers video podcast ahead of his debut episode.
He discussed his plans for Comics Unleashed in its new prime late night slot, why he thinks there’s still more than enough political comedy after the cancellation of Colbert, and why it’s important for Black Americans to own and produce media.
Can’t see the video above? Watch it on YouTube.
Lifestyle
The BoF Podcast | Leena Nair and Matthieu Blazy on Creativity and the Power of the Human Hand
new video loaded: Stephen Colbert Closes Out “Late Show”
transcript
transcript
Stephen Colbert Closes Out “Late Show”
Stephen Colbert signed off for the last time from “The Late Show” on Thursday. His final guest was Paul McCartney and together they performed the Beatles’ “Hello, Goodbye.”
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“Tonight is our final broadcast from the Ed Sullivan Theater.”
By Julie Yoon
May 22, 2026
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