Justin’s Newsletter: April 2024
Vol. 4, Issue 4
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What’s Up With Me
My Pasadena Media-produced TV show, “Pasadena Monthly with Justin Chapman,” won a 1st place award in the Talk Show (Professional Producer) category at the Alliance for Community Media West’s WAVE (Western Access Video Excellence) Awards! Watch the winning episode here.
Watch this month’s episode of “Pasadena Monthly with Justin Chapman,” featuring Dr. Bethany Ehlmann, president of the Planetary Society (where Bill Nye the Science Guy serves as CEO) and a professor of planetary science at Caltech! Fascinating talk. Watch the full episode here.
I interviewed James Bond scholar Mark Edlitz on my other TV show "Well Read" about his excellent new book, James Bond After Fleming: The Continuation Novels. Check it out here.
I'm mentioned in this New Yorker story about misinformation/disinformation, and some of my research on Mad Mike Hughes is cited.
Thank you to the Pasadena Media Foundation for your continued support.
Around Town
Great Reads
Here are some recommendations for interesting books I’ve read recently:
Bad City: Peril and Power in the City of Angels—Paul Pringle
Written by the LA Times reporter who broke the story, this book explores the sordid story of the USC medical school dean who supplied a young woman with drugs and got caught in a Pasadena hotel room when she overdosed in 2016. Because the then-editors of the Times sought to improperly stop the story from being published, the reporter and a team of colleagues exposed the inappropriate relationship between the Times leadership and USC. Incredibly, the USC presidential administration of Max Nikias and the editors at the Times were working together to stop Times journalists from reporting that a medical school dean—a 60-something doctor—was preying on young men and women and supplying them with drugs when they were trying to get sober. This was the first domino in a series of ugly stories about corruption at USC. I remember them well, because I was going to school there and working at USC at the time—good times!
The Moneypenny Diaries: Guardian Angel, Secret Servant, and Final Fling—Kate Westbrook (Samantha Weinberg)
This 3-part series is among the lesser known volumes of the James Bond continuation novels, and they most certainly do not get enough love. While the name and cover would suggest some kind of romantic novel or chick-lit, these books show Miss Moneypenny as a badass of her own who goes on secret spy missions alongside Bond and keeps up with the best of them. The books are a really fun read and masterfully interweave real 1960s history as well as Ian Fleming’s original Bond books into their own unique stories, all presented as if these diaries were true and written by real people. Highly recommended. How EON does not make movies based on these books, I’m sure I don’t know. They should just start with Colonel Sun, the first Bond continuation novel, and continue from there.
Spotlight on My Past Stories
With the Wrexham AFC soccer team—owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney—achieving back-to-back promotions in the English league system, and with season three of the FX/Hulu TV show “Welcome to Wrexham” premiering this Thursday, check out my story about the team’s visit to Los Angeles last year. The team is gearing up for another tour of friendly games in the States and Canada this year.
And read all of my journalism here.