Justin’s Newsletter: February 2026
Vol. 6, Issue 2
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What’s Up With Me
I won another WAVE video award! This one was for the January 2025/Eaton Fire episode of my TV show “Pasadena Monthly” (filmed two weeks after the fire), in the Talk Show (Professional Producer) category at the Alliance for Community Media West’s WAVE (Western Access Video Excellence) Awards, which recognizes excellence in local cable programming. I was also a finalist for another WAVE video award, for the Gerry Adams episode of my other TV show “Well Read.” Read more about it in Local News Pasadena and Colorado Boulevard.
I wrote an article for Spybrary.com about the six “Danger Man” novels from the 1960s that featured John Drake (played by Patrick McGoohan in the excellent TV spy series). I highly recommend both the show and books.
Watch the latest episode of “Pasadena Monthly with Justin Chapman.” This episode features a review of the month’s top stories, a history segment, and a discussion with Jasiri Jenkins-Glenn, director of community engagement at Pasadena Media. Read more here.
Around Town
Great Reads
Here are some recommendations for interesting books I’ve read recently:
A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness—Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan is one of my favorite authors, and this is his latest book. His work takes scientific topics and makes them digestible and understandable. He’s one of the only writers I know who’s exploring the deep questions of who we are and how we interact with nature in a way that’s entertaining and leaves you feeling smarter than when you first started reading. This one takes an honest look at what consciousness is, what we know (and don’t know) about it, whether other “beings” like plants and A.I. have consciousness, and how we can use all this information in our everyday lives. I also highly recommend his other recent books, This Is Your Mind on Plants and How to Change Your Mind.
Not a Number: Patrick McGoohan, a Life—Rupert Booth
I’m on a big Patrick McGoohan kick, as evidenced by my Spybrary article above. I absolutely love his 1960s TV shows, “Danger Man” and “The Prisoner.” He had an interesting acting/directing/producing/writing career and a unique position on things that were a little out of step with his times—like not kissing actresses on screen, for example. He was both very Catholic and also highly individualistic, an interesting mix. I find his performances to be electric, unpredictable, and captivating. This is an excellent biography about this one-of-a-kind performer.
Spotlight on My Past Stories
Speaking of author Michael Pollan, here’s my article from a few years about his last book, when he did an event with Vroman’s talking about the looming end of the War on Drugs and what the subsequent drug peace should look like.
And read all of my journalism here.