Inside the Issues with Amrit Singh · Spectrum News 1
Anchor & Host · Los Angeles
The Lede
Amrit Singh is a founding anchor of Spectrum News 1 in Los Angeles, hosting Inside The Issues with Amrit Singh — the network's flagship nightly interview program, where politics meets culture and the people shaping both — and Your Afternoon, live daily at 12PM. The road here was not direct — it ran through white shoe law firms and the years when online music journalism was still inventing itself — but every detour was research.
Selected Interviews
Sen. Alex Padilla
On redistricting, civil liberties, and the weeks since his arrest at a DHS briefing.
U.S. SenateMayor Karen Bass
Housing, homelessness, and leading Los Angeles through its most consequential moment.
Los AngelesMark Mothersbaugh of DEVO
DEVO at 50: on de-evolution, the band's origins, and the strange accuracy of their predictions.
Music & ArtThe Longer Story
Amrit graduated magna cum laude from Boston University — studying political science, philosophy, and music — and then, in a move that made considerable sense at the time, went to law school. He served as an editor of the International Law Journal at the University of Wisconsin and worked as an attorney in corporate securities litigation in New York. It was there, improbably, that he found his voice — in the city's burgeoning indie music scene and the entirely new kind of online journalism forming around it.
Amrit went from attorney to music journalist, becoming Stereogum's first hire and its executive editor. Over eight years he helped build one of the defining voices of the online indie music era — thousands of posts, nearly as many concerts, and an early champion for many of the artists who would go on to shape the culture. He was among the first writers anywhere to spotlight artists like Vampire Weekend — who mailed him a handwritten letter and a homemade blue CD-R before they'd ever received a blog post. He made them a Band To Watch in April 2007.
That world also produced Dosa Hunt — Amrit's short film, born organically from the artists and community around him. Ostensibly a quest for the best dosa in New York City alongside members of Vampire Weekend, Das Racist, Yeasayer, Neon Indian, and Vijay Iyer, it hit as a conversational meditation on authenticity and comfort in a multicultural landscape — tasty and funny, screened at film festivals around the world, and to the praise of the BBC, New York Magazine, Interview, and KCRW. And hosting it was Amrit's biggest step yet toward his life on camera.
TV had been calling as the next stop for Amrit's interviewing and storytelling. When the opportunity came to join a new network called REVOLT TV as a founding host, Amrit entered a five-year crash course in live TV — a daily variety show before a studio audience, red carpets, interviews with thought leaders and artists in all contexts, intimate sit-downs with the likes of Rick Rubin, a live televised town hall with then-presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, political roundtable debate shows, and live coverage from both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions of 2016. And as ever, all of this was preparation for the next step.
At Spectrum News 1, Amrit anchors election nights and breaking news alongside his daily newscast and nightly interview show, which has become a required stop for candidates, officeholders, and civic leaders across California — and for the writers, filmmakers, musicians, and thinkers who are shaping the national conversation. The work has received awards from the LA Press Club, NY Press Club, and Golden Mikes — for everything from newscasts to on-location series and documentaries. He was also the host of the Spectrum News Challenge, a nationwide current events quiz show with student contestants, and Music Diaries, his limited documentary series exploring the ways music, art, and community reflect and shape each other — a subject he has never been able to leave alone.
Away from the studio, he is a husband, a father, a daily meditator, and a voracious consumer of culture in all its forms — convinced that the interview, done right, is one of the most reliable paths to clarity, empathy, and common ground. That, and a good song.
Contact
Conversations with the elected officials, thinkers, and artists shaping the moment.
Sen. Alex Padilla
On redistricting, civil liberties, and the weeks since his arrest at a DHS briefing.
U.S. SenateMayor Karen Bass
Housing, homelessness, and leading Los Angeles through its most consequential moment.
Los AngelesMark Mothersbaugh of DEVO
DEVO at 50: on de-evolution, the band's origins, and the strange accuracy of their predictions.
Music & ArtCM Nithya Raman
On jumping into the mayor's race, her record on homelessness, and what she'd do differently.
Los AngelesLAPD Chief Jim McDonnell
Protests, use of force, and the recordings that changed the public conversation.
Policy & IdeasSupt. Alberto Carvalho
LAUSD's recovery from pandemic learning loss, federal funding freezes, and keeping students engaged.
Policy & IdeasRep. Ro Khanna
On tech, economic patriotism, and what the Democratic Party needs to reckon with.
U.S. HouseTom Steyer
On climate, capitalism, and his evolution from hedge fund billionaire to progressive standard-bearer.
NationalXavier Becerra
The former U.S. Attorney General on healthcare, immigration, and California's national role.
NationalMayor Matt Mahan
San Jose's mayor on homelessness, tech, and governing California's third-largest city.
CaliforniaSteve Hilton
The former Fox News host and California gubernatorial candidate on his run and the state of the right.
NationalAntonio Villaraigosa
The former LA mayor and gubernatorial candidate on California's future and his political moment.
CaliforniaRep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove
On foreign policy, progressive leadership, and representing Los Angeles in Washington.
U.S. HouseAG Rob Bonta
California's Attorney General on fighting federal overreach, gun laws, and the next chapter.
CaliforniaJames Carville
The legendary strategist on what Democrats keep getting wrong and what it will take to win.
Policy & IdeasBakari Sellers
The CNN analyst and author on race, politics, fatherhood, and his latest book.
Policy & IdeasDr. Lucy Jones
The seismologist and public safety advocate on earthquake preparedness and California's risk reality.
CaliforniaLAFD Chief Anthony Marrone
Leading the department through the fires and the reckoning about what comes next for Los Angeles.
Los AngelesDebbie Allen
The legendary choreographer, director, and producer on a career that has never stopped moving.
Arts & CultureToo $hort
The Bay Area rap legend on his legacy, Oakland's evolution, and five decades in the game.
MusicLarry Charles
The Seinfeld and Borat writer on comedy, chaos, and what it means to push every boundary.
Film & TVMarlee Matlin
With Shoshannah Stern — on Deaf representation, Hollywood's progress, and what still needs to change.
Film & TVDavid Borenstein
The Oscar-winning director of Mr. Nobody Against Putin on making the film and the story behind it.
DocumentarySara Khaki
With Mohammadreza Eyni — the filmmakers behind Cutting Through Rocks on cinema and resistance.
DocumentaryAndrew Jarecki
With Charlotte Kaufman — the team behind The Alabama Solution on true crime, justice, and documentary ethics.
Documentary