Kristen Lepore thought she had picnic game until she went to the Hollywood Bowl ... Kevin Ferguson explores the world of actors who pretend to be patients to train doctors ... Brains On! explains why your house cat puts up with you.

Sharon McNary takes us pothole watching; Collin Friesen locks us in a room; Salma Hayek backs The Prophet.

Piper Laurie on Paul Newman and Ronald Reagan; Pepe Aguilar's musical legacy; What is God?

Too much rich food and drink for the holidays? We help you recover with more work from outsider photog Vivian Maier, good news about Rubel Castle, and some Coals for your empty stocking.

We work out our Feliz Navidad earworm issues, hear an all-star cast read "Night Before Christmas," listen to the Hollywood Park bugler, and talk about kids who see numbers as colors.

Merry Lepper broke the rules and, in Culver City, became the first US woman to run a marathon. Shifting ground broke the Baldwin Hills dam; we talk with a woman who has never told her story before.

David Dean Bottrell's Crafty Christmas, counting pools in LA, a man who hates Christmas songs, and Jonathan Gold on the impact of King Taco.

"Walking Out of History," John Rabe's documentary about Ernest Shackleton's remarkable Endurance expedition.

Aja Brown's vision for Compton, CalTrans' houses, Matthew Bourne's "Sleeping Beauty," Dylan Brody's Thanksgiving, and Marv Gross' Thanksgivingkuh. Yes, we're possessive.

New documentary "Dear Mr. Watterson" ... Roz Wyman remembers plotting a JFK fundraiser that had Sinatra singing on the diving board ... Mark Twain is getting much better at writing his memoirs