Lou Penrose on KFI

Hour 1 - Lou offers an alternative litmus test for the economy - your local strip club. An independent congressional candidate proposed that strip clubs are the best indicator of how the economy is doing. McDonald's is being sued over the McRib after customers feel betrayed they aren't using real rib meat. Customers are discovering an order of McDonald's fries is more expensive than the burgers. L...

Hour 2 - The 2027 nominees for the Songwriter's Hall of Fame are in! Among the nominees are P!nk, Lady Gaga, Boy George, and Shakira. Lou goes through the nominees and praises their brilliant use of poetry in music. An Italian chef was fired for refusing to make pineapple pizza. What gives? Apparently his temper didn't help his case. Listeners share their thoughts on pizza and sandwiches and Lou s...

It’s the first Sunday after the time change and darkness is rolling in earlier — can you feel it? Halloween’s over for another year, and Lou thinks candy corn gets way too much analysis in the candy news. There’s even debate over how people eat it. Apparently, 83% of parents help themselves to a treat from their kids’ Halloween haul.   Around 120 tubs of Che...

Was the Cheesecake Factory fight the October surprise? Former President Barack Obama took a dig at President Donald Trump on the campaign trail, comparing the White House to a Cheesecake Factory run by Saddam Hussein. A lot of Cheesecake Factory fans took that personally and jumped to the chain’s defense.   Some people retire by selling everything and buying a cabin on a cruise shi...

Subway is in trouble — again. An ex-employee leaked how the sandwich chain’s tuna is really made. An independent lab tested 20 SoCal Subways, specifically its tuna, and 19 out of 20 contained no tuna or tuna DNA.    How long does food last when it’s left out at a dinner party? According to food experts, two hours is already too long. Open-air buffets might be the filthi...

The California wine industry is in big trouble because nobody is drinking wine. Wine sales are at a 20-year low. It’s been blamed on a generational rift, with fewer young people drinking vino, and on so many people now on a GLP-1 journey. Lou doesn’t understand how wine enthusiasts know what’s what. How do they know what region is good and what year is good? All he knows is that...

There’s an incoming artificial intelligence revolution coming to the jobs market. Women face a higher risk of job disruption due to AI because they’re more likely to work in clerical, administrative, retail, and customer service roles that will likely be impacted first. But is that really a bad thing? Lou doesn’t think so.    It’s been an unseasonably hot summer i...

Hour 1 - When do you tell the person you’re dating how much money you make? First date? A few months in? Once it’s exclusive? When you move in? Lou’s rule is simple: Nobody needs to know your salary unless they’re your husband or wife. Then the social-media debate hits the roommate-couple version. Some say if a couple lives together and one person makes more, rent shouldn&r...

Lou recounts having to evacuate his South Orange County studio last week while filling in live for Michael Monks as a wildfire closed in. Harrowing. Then the 100-year-old woman in Southern California named Frieda who eats the same meal every night: A hot dog and a Diet Coke.   Researchers say the most stressful stretch of parenting is middle school, ages 12 to 14 — bodies changing,...

Heartbreaker for the Chargers in Game 1 — they started ahead of the Broncos and didn’t finish that way. Then the Dodgers, and the sticker shock at Dodger Stadium. Whatever happened to a hot dog and a beer? Now there’s a two-foot Dodger Dog for forty bucks and a $35 taco platter that comes with two tacos. You call that a platter? Lou’s a no on relish. Too messy for the stand...

Soup Plantation is coming back, and the all-you-can-eat soup-and-salad cult is losing its mind. Six years after the chain shut all 97 locations, including 44 in California, during COVID. Lou’s perfect salad, which he can make at home: iceberg, cucumber, white onion, garbanzo beans, beets that didn’t come from a can, sliced black olives, oil and vinegar. Listeners are already praying fo...

Hour 1 - McDonald's has been using AI technology to help set prices on their menu items, and new protein Doritos are hitting grocery store shelves. Lou tells you all about it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 2 - As the penny is on its way out, the nickel begins to take its place. There's just one problem - the nickel costs over 13 cents to make. Soon, you will be able to get through airport security without a boarding pass to send off your loved ones, but brace for record-breaking holiday travel prices this season. And Wendy's is banking on nostalgia-based yellow packaging to bring in new cu...

Lou Penrose is on after the Chargers game with a grim San Diego story: A man walked into an adult bookstore threatening to burn it down, police sent in K-9 Ryder, the suspect set the dog on fire and then died at the scene. Ryder survived; PETA wants the dog retired and K-9 units phased out.   Lighter fare: Friday was National One-Hit Wonder Day. Lou’s picks are CW McCall’s &l...

ALDI is slashing prices on about a third of what it sells through November 3 to fight the affordability crunch — even chicken, which is music to thigh-loving Uncle Lou. Boar’s Head vanishing from Ralphs and Food 4 Less isn’t a mystery plague: Kroger pulled it over rising costs. Relax, people, it’s salami. Lou riffs on phony-baloney food fights (dark meat vs. white, egg whit...

Remember the USS Lincoln, stuck at sea more than 250 days on that extended Middle East run? Trump sent the sailors and Marines to Pattaya, Thailand, for a break before San Diego — and in a town famous for the sex trade, Lou lets you connect the dots; the whole district’s built on that cash.   Closer to home: If you want Costco’s viral $55 Frankenstein cake for Halloween...

Hour 1 - We get some extra Lou Penrose this week as he fills in for Monks and Merrill. A new poll finds widespread frustration among Californians as voters head toward the November election. Are voters looking for a change? Plus, two ballot measures are drawing support from younger voters, and the Penrose Theory explores why some young people are increasingly attracted to Democratic socialism. And...

Hour 2 -  We get extra Lou Penrose this week as he fills in for Monks and Merrill. California and Los Angeles report August job growth—but what’s driving the gains, and are government and healthcare jobs enough? Plus, Starbucks announces more than 600 store closures nationwide; Napa Valley wineries cut prices by 20% or more, and a Raiders quarterback teams up with In-N-Out for a p...

Hour 1 - A Los Angeles high school teacher has started a financial literacy course and the students are loving it. Will classes like this be adopted statewide? And a viral trend has couples trying out "sleep divorce." Stevie Nicks tells the story of her first run-in with Janis Joplin, and Lou takes talkbacks discussing who had it worst during the recent SoCal heatwave. See omnystudio.com/listener...

Hour 2 - The Oreo Karen has struck LA public schools, requesting parents stop packing Oreos in their kids' lunch boxes. This led to an AI-generated song based on the controversy. And a new ABC7 report shows traffic deaths surge 15% on days that popular new albums are released. Lou gets into the songs he can't resist rocking out to on the road. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After one of the hottest weeks on record in Southern California, the heat finally feels like it’s breaking — but not before it made everyone a little nuts in that unseasonably humid high-90s-to-triple-digit stretch Californians just can’t handle. Uncle Luigi runs through who had it worst out there: Caltrans crews paving roads, Marines training at Camp Pendleton, AC installers, an...

The brutal heat still hanging over Southern California: The back of a UPS truck can hit 140 degrees, AC techs are slamming jobs, one caller admits he garden-naked’d his way through the heatwave, and Valley parents say classrooms are too hot for their sticky, gross kids. Down in OC, a high-school football team treasurer allegedly stole $400,000 — used it to pay off a delinquent mortgage...

Hour 1 - Nearly 5,000 sailors and Marines on board the USS Abraham Lincoln had a 5-day party in Thailand. Cocktails to-go could be extended in CA. And Guns N' Roses rocked the Rose Bowl this weekend. Eileen Gonzales was there and gives Penrose her glowing review of the concert. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 2 - Funeral costs are skyrocketing and people are debating whether $100,000 is enough to live on in LA. Chili's is back on top among casual dining restaurants. They're responding with a questionable remodeling effort. And Panda Express is being accused of inauthenticity. Lou jumps to their defense. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 3 - A local mom is demanding no more Oreos in her daughter's classroom. It's sparking controversy and inspiring catchy AI-created music. The owner of South Point Casino in Las Vegas is losing millions of dollars voluntarily to provide affordable buffets to his customers. Lou wraps up the hour with your listener talkbacks. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.