California historian Kevin Starr chats with Saul Gonzales tonight at 6:30 on Life and Times on KCET, then tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. sits down for a half-hour conversation about his newest, Coast of Dreams: California on The Edge, with Jonathan Kirsch on KCRW's The Politics of Culture. * And: Starr also will be Airtalk with Larry Mantle on KPCC Wednesday in the 11 a.m. hour.

On Thursday night, police chief William Bratton and author James Ellroy will appear together at Book Soup on Sunset Strip to talk up and sign Scene of the Crime: Photographs from the LAPD Archive. They both wrote intros to the compilation. The store expects a crowd for the 7 p.m. event, so tickets are required.