AirTalk Staff
Published Jun 12, 2026 9:00 AM
Julian Quinones #16 of Mexico celebrates with teammates after scoring the team's first goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group A match between Mexico and South Africa at Mexico City Stadium on June 11, 2026 in Mexico City.
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Carl Recine
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- What does the World Cup mean to you?
- Tell us about that dream concert you went to, or wish you did
- Lei’d Cookies: a sweet spot in Culver City
- FilmWeek: ‘Disclosure Day,’ ‘Jinsei,’ ‘The Furious,’ and more!
- Feature: Documentary Magazine’s list of the 25 Greatest Docs from the 21st Century
Today on AirTalk: What does the World Cup mean to you? Dream concerts, Food Friday, FilmWeek, and best documentaries.
What does the World Cup mean to you?
The topic:
Tonight in Southern California, the world's largest sporting event returns to the U.S. for the first time in more than three decades as the U.S. men's national soccer team kicks off its first group-stage match against Paraguay.
Listen to the conversation:
Guests: Kevin Baxter, staff writer for the LA Times, covering soccer, and Manny Valladares, AirTalk producer
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The context: The heavyweight talent and strong soccer tradition of European and South American teams have long proven elusive for the U.S. to match, despite decades of investment in the sport.
Where things stand: The furthest the U.S. team has finished in a modern World Cup was a run to the quarterfinals in 2002; since then, the U.S. has managed just three total wins across all the World Cups.
What's different this time: The chance to host the tournament at home has coincided with the development of perhaps the most talented generation of players that American soccer has ever produced.
With files from LAist — read all of LAist' World Cup coverage here.
Tell us about that dream concert you went to, or wish you did
What is your dream concert?
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The topic:
Every now and then there’s a concert that’s not just great, but downright perfect. Today on AirTalk, we want to hear from listeners who had the pleasure of experiencing one of these iconic concerts (or, had the displeasure of missing it).
Listen to the conversation:
Guest: Dave Brooks, music journalist writing about music for Puck Media and the host of the Decibel and Docket podcast.
The question: Why was that concert in particular so memorable? We want to hear your answer! Was it the raw musical talent of the act? The stage presence? The lighting? The dancing? What made it not just a concert for you, but the concert for you?
Join the conversation: Give us a call at (866) 893-5722 or you can email us at atcomments@laist.com, and when you do that be sure to include your first name and what neighborhood you live in.
Lei’d Cookies: a sweet spot in Culver City
The topic:
A cookie business with more than a dozen flavors ranging from Mexican hot chocolate to mango sticky rice? How very L.A. Lei’d Cookies has started as a pop-up but nowadays you can find their shop in Culver City.
Listen to the conversation:
Guest: Leilani Terris, baker and owner of Lei’d Cookies in Culver City, they also have a pop-up at Smorgasburg LA
Origins: Lei’d Cookies started as a pandemic project but ended up branching out as a pop-up that eventually gained more popularity after joining Smorgasburg L.A.’s vendor roster. They eventually opened their brick-and-mortar location in 2023.
About the owners: Co-owner Leilani Terris has a background as a physical therapist, with baking being more of a passion project. Her business partner and co-owner, James, has a more conventional background in the food industry, having worked in restaurant management for over a decade.
How to visit:
Address: 8588 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA
Hours: Tuesday-Friday from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday 5-9 p.m.
FilmWeek: ‘Disclosure Day,’ ‘Jinsei,’ ‘The Furious,’ and more!
Emily Blunt in Disclosure Day
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Universal Pictures
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Amblin
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The topic:
FilmWeek: ‘Disclosure Day,’ ‘Jinsei,’ ‘The Furious,’ and more!
Guests: LAist film critics Charles Solomon, Christy Lemire, and Maureen Lee Lenker
The films:
- Disclosure Day, Wide Release
- Jinsei, In Select Theaters
- The Furious, In Select Theaters
- The Little Sister, Laemmle Glendale & Laemmle Monica Film Center [Santa Monica]
- I am Frankelda, Laemmle Glendale & Streaming on Netflix
- Stop! That! Train!, Wide Release
- Boy George & Culture Club, Available on Digital & VOD
- Underland, Laemmle Glendale
- This Tempting Madness, Available on Digital & VOD
Feature: Documentary Magazine’s list of the 25 Greatest Docs from the 21st Century
What are your favorite documentaries?
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The topic:
Documentary Magazine, published by the International Documentary Association (IDA), released a list of what it determined to be the 25 greatest documentaries of the 21st Century.
Listen to the conversation:
Guest: Manuel Betancourt, film critic for LAist and assistant editor of Documentary Magazine. He also contributes regularly to Variety and The AV Club.
How the list was made: Documentary polled 300 documentary filmmakers and producers, critics, programmers, and academics, asking them to name three documentaries they deemed the “greatest.” Each documentary had to be released after January 1, 2000.
Notable picks: Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing (2012) has garnered the most votes. Other films that made the list include No Other Land (2024), the most recent release on the list, and The Gleaners and I (2000), the oldest release.
Check out Documentary’s full list here.
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