#215: How To LA is getting sciency! We're checking out 30,000 year old baby bison bones, extinct giant sloths and the jaws of American Lions. L.A. might be more known its entertainment industry and beach weather. But the city is ALSO home to the only active urban fossil dig site in the world: La Brea Tar Pits. These bubbling pools of asphalt coming out of the ground are the richest source of Ice Age fossils on earth. Today, HTLA digs into the history of the Tar Pits and how it's continuing to se...
Jan 09, 2024•24 min•Ep. 215
#214: Today we are gonna get into the idea of affordable housing – what it really means and where it came from. If you’ve looked for a house or apartment in L.A. in recent years, you’re probably questioning if there is any affordable housing in the region. By some estimates, L.A. County has a shortage of half a million affordable homes. There was a time when the government was a lot more involved in ensuring that housing was affordable for people. What happened? Guest: L.A. Explained reporter Ca...
Jan 08, 2024•11 min•Ep. 214
This is How To LA , the podcast that helps you navigate this city. I’m Brian De Los Santos. I want to share with you another podcast from LAist Studios that I think you’ll really want to listen to: Imperfect Paradise: The Castle. For the next few weeks, we’ll be dropping episodes every Friday. Imperfect Paradise: The Castle takes us inside LA’s exclusive Magic Castle through the lens of a queer hobbyist magician, who pushed for more inclusion. Read and listen below. In Part 1 of Imperfect Paradi...
Jan 05, 2024•36 min
#213: Did you know that here in Los Angeles we’ve got the largest urban oil field in the U.S.? The Inglewood Oil Field spans 1,000 acres and is largely overseen by Los Angeles County (and a portion by Culver City). The oil field dates all the way back to 1924 when oil and natural gas resources were discovered there. But soon, the drilling could come to an end, following a milestone settlement that's part of a movement to phase out oil fields all over L.A. Guest: LAist's climate emergency reporte...
Jan 04, 2024•10 min•Ep. 213
#212: The past few years have been kind of a roller coaster when it comes to city politics in Los Angeles. Today, we’re talking about what could be in store for L.A. politics in 2024, and what you need to look out for this election year. Guest: LAist Civics and Democracy correspondent Frank Stoltze
Jan 03, 2024•16 min•Ep. 212
#211: This year of the Dragon is bringing about a thousand new additions to California's legal system. Some of these bills are little things like amendments to existing laws, but some are the real deal. 2023's Hot Labor Summer left its mark and brought in several new workers protections. There's also new laws for everyone from parents to cannabis smokers to campers. So if you're a healthcare worker and a prospective parent who loves smoking weed in Sequoia - we got you covered. We're diving into...
Jan 02, 2024•19 min•Ep. 211
#210: The How to LA team is ringing in the New Year with a few good tidings and recommendations for starting 2024 off right! Enjoy.
Dec 29, 2023•20 min•Ep. 210
#209: Hey, How to LA listeners! We’re trying something new and hanging out with friends and colleagues from L.A. who are checking out interesting, fun, new happenings in the city. Guests: Imperfect Paradise host Antonia Cereijido and Marty Preciado, an arts and culture executive who serves as commissioner for LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis and works to advance community strategies for The Ford, LA Phil, LA Opera and other organizations. Here’s what each person pitched for YOUR social calendar:...
Dec 28, 2023•20 min•Ep. 209
#132: Continue our year-end roundup with us! Today, our episode about the 50th anniversary of hip hop. Original episode description below: Hip Hop officially turns 50 this weekend - Aug. 11th to be exact. As we all know by now, its roots are in New York. The west coast sound developed later but, when it finally hit, LA made Hip Hop its own. It's the late 1970s, disco is dead and funk is hitting the clubs in LA. Alonzo "Lonzo" Williams is at the center of it all — DJing, producing and bringing ac...
Dec 27, 2023•22 min•Ep. 132
#66: Continue our end-of-year wrap with some of our favorite episodes from 2023! Yesterday we played one of our longest productions - so today, fittingly, we feature one of our shortest. Last February, the team met up with some flower vendors to learn more about the sidewalk hustle that accompanies cupid's favorite holiday. Original episode description below. On certain holidays – like Valentine's Day and Mother's Day – flower vendors are out in force on the streets of LA, selling all sorts of g...
Dec 26, 2023•8 min•Ep. 66
#87, 89, & 93: Finish your year right by listening to our round up of our favorite HTLA stories this year. Up first is the DACA series, featuring host Brian De Los Santos's story of visiting his birth country of Mexico for the first time since he was 2 years old. Original episode descriptions below. #87: Brian is surprised by a letter from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It’s his Advance Parole document. He can travel to Mexico – his country of birth – for the first time in 30 yea...
Dec 25, 2023•53 min•Ep. 87
#208: This is the fourth and final episode in our multi-part series on volunteers who provide services for unhoused people throughout Los Angeles. In this debrief episode, HTLA host Brian De Los Santos and producer Evan Jacoby recap some of the big questions we've asked throughout the series, and bring a new question to many of our guests from the previous episodes: "What should the relationship be between mutual aid volunteers and government agencies?" If you want to learn more about mutual aid...
Dec 22, 2023•23 min•Ep. 208
#207: Last month, the 10 freeway was in critical condition after an arson fire burned more than 90 support columns of an overpass near Alameda Street. The repair job was surprisingly fast – taking less than two weeks. And now, for most of us, things seem back to normal. But the ripple effects for some businesses along that corridor are still being felt. Guests: Chase White, owner of Recycled Movie Sets Alfredo Carlos , professor of labor studies at Cal State Dominguez Hills...
Dec 21, 2023•28 min•Ep. 207
#206 Each part of L.A. has its own history — join How To LA's host Brian De Los Santos at The Broad's newest exhibition all about the city. Desire, Knowledge, and Hope (with Smog) is an exhibition that opened at contemporary art museum The Broad last month. More than 60 artworks from 21 Los Angeles based artists about the city are on display. In this episode, Brian speaks with Jennifer Vanegas Rocha and artist Patrick Martinez to really get a sense of how they see L.A. in the works on view. Take...
Dec 20, 2023•13 min•Ep. 206
#205: This is Part 3 of our multi-part series on volunteers who provide services for unhoused people throughout Los Angeles. Despite efforts from local government agencies to offer services to people, many people experiencing homelessness rely on volunteers to cover basic needs like water or overdose prevention. Last week we asked, why isn't the government isn't putting its full weight behind things like fresh water access? The answer was Housing. Interim housing - to be specific. Things like mo...
Dec 19, 2023•29 min•Ep. 205
#204: You've probably seen jornaleros – or day laborers – as you drive to work. They might be looking for gigs outside of home improvement stores or moving services, or even a random donut shop. There are estimates of 35,000 day laborers working in Los Angeles. The work they get hired to do often includes things like moving furniture, cleaning debris or helping with small construction projects. But sometimes the work can be dangerous and even illegal. Most have no idea what the work really is un...
Dec 18, 2023•17 min•Ep. 204
#203: In 1993, the Orange County punk band Guttermouth asked Louis Posen, then a film student at Cal State Northridge, to help them put out an album. That marked the start of the independent music label Hopeless Records and its 30-year history of representing punk, ska, metal bands — and later, alternative musicians more broadly. Some of the most well-known bands they've represented include Avenged Sevenfold, All Time Low, Taking Back Sunday, Yellowcard, Thrice and New Found Glory. Now, in celeb...
Dec 15, 2023•20 min•Ep. 203
#202: What started more than a 100 years ago as a true marketplace for produce, spices, pastries, deli meats and other specialty groceries… is now 40 stalls of LA’s best local restaurants. Grand Central Market is a true sampling of LA’s diverse culinary scene that has gone through many iterations and evolutions since it opened. Today, HTLA chats with Gab Chabrán about the rich history and evolution of this LA icon. And of course, Gab tells us where — and how — to eat there. Guests: Gab Chabran, ...
Dec 14, 2023•17 min•Ep. 202
#201: Last December, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass signed Executive Directive One (ED1), an order for city staff to approve applications for 100% affordable housing developments within 60 days, and to issue building permits within five days. Six months later, the rules to ED1 were quietly updated: projects would no longer be able to move forward in single-family neighborhoods. Join us as host Brian De Los Santos chats with LAist housing reporter David Wagner to understand what that means for the future ...
Dec 13, 2023•17 min•Ep. 201
#200: This is Part 2 of a multipart series, exploring the kinds of services mutual aid groups are providing for our unhoused neighbors. Many people experiencing homelessness rely on volunteers for basic needs like water or overdose prevention. The situation leaves many people we spoke to wondering: "Why is this work being done by volunteers?" Today, HTLA host Brian De Los Santos and producer Evan Jacoby bring this question to our city leaders. Guests: LA Mayor Karen Bass; Councilmember Kevin de ...
Dec 12, 2023•34 min•Ep. 200
#199: Today, we’re enlisting some local booksellers to help us understand L.A. better. Staffers from Skylight Books in Los Feliz, The Iliad Bookshop in North Hollywood, Book Soup in West Hollywood and Chevalier’s Books in Larchmont Village shared their favorite books about Los Angeles: "Amnesiascope" by Steve Erickson "The Dog Park" by Dennis Etchison "City of Quartz" by Mike Davis "Everything Now: Lessons from the City-State of Los Angeles" by Rosecrans Baldwin "The Library Book" by Susan Orlea...
Dec 11, 2023•16 min•Ep. 199
#198: Each neighborhood of LA has its own history — meet a painter who brings her story to life in paint and glitter. In the latest episode of How To LA , podcast host Brian De Los Santos and producer Victoria Alejandro visit the Flower District studio of Cambodian-American painter Tidawhitney Lek. Lek's work is currently on display at the Hammer Museum, as part of their Made In LA show, and at the Long Beach Museum of Art. She let us in on her process of creating intimate, personal work that ca...
Dec 08, 2023•19 min•Ep. 198
#197: Staying in L.A. for the holidays? Today, the How To LA team chats all about their favorite ways to enjoy the holidays in our fair city...while so many people are out of town! A little holiday-themed staycation if you will. Guests: Megan Botel, producer for How To LA; Monica Bushman, producer for How To LA; Victoria Alejandro, producer for How To LA; Tony Morales, intern at LAist Studios; Aaricka Washington, associate editor for How To LA; Megan Larson, executive producer for How To LA...
Dec 07, 2023•12 min•Ep. 197
#196: Trash on sidewalks, longer wait times for city services, and lots and lots of overtime for some L.A. workers. What connects it all? Job openings — a lot of them — for government jobs with the city and also the county. LAist civics and democracy correspondent Frank Stoltze joins us to explain what's going on....
Dec 06, 2023•12 min•Ep. 196
#195: Unsheltered life in L.A. can be dangerous and even deadly — and there has been a massive increase in the death rate for unhoused people in the county over the last few years. There is work being done by the mayor's office to get people off the street and into temporary housing. But the promise of services — whether in the form of housing, treatment for substance addiction, or mental health counseling — cannot help if people aren't alive in 6 months, a year — or 5 — to receive them. While t...
Dec 05, 2023•31 min•Ep. 195
#194: Members of the Screen Actors Guild have now seen everything that is in tentative contract that union leadership negotiated with studios and streamers — and not everyone is happy with it. The big sticking point? Artificial intelligence. Some union members don’t think the A.I. protections worked out in the contract go far enough , and are encouraging a “no” vote on the deal. For many in the industry, the chance that things could stall again is alarming. The writers and actors strike — combin...
Dec 04, 2023•11 min•Ep. 194
#193: It's Cheap Fast Eats time again, and that means LAist food editor Gab Chabrán is hitting the streets with HTLA host Brian De Los Santos. Mid City is close to EVERYTHING...Museum Row, Park La Brea, Fairfax, West Hollywood. It's a good place to know some gems to get some cheap grubs. Locations: Qi Steam Kitchen, Del Mar Ostioneria, Burger She Wrote Guest: LAist food editor, Gab Chabrán
Dec 01, 2023•19 min•Ep. 193
#192: Each neighborhood of LA has its own electricity — meet a painter who brings city blocks to life in oil paints. In the latest episode of How To LA , podcast host Brian De Los Santos hears from producer Victoria Alejandro about Pasadena-based painter Justin N. Kim. Kim showed us his studio as he was preparing to show his work at The Other Art Fair earlier this year, and let us in on his process of creating paintings of LA that also work as maps of the city. Take a look at some of the works d...
Nov 30, 2023•15 min•Ep. 192
#191: Today we're talking about heat and how it affects school kids – those in elementary, middle and high school to be specific — with LAist Associate Editor Aaricka Washington. Read Aaricka's reporting: "It’s Been More Than A Year Since LAUSD Pledged To Green Schools. But There’s Still No Finalized Plan In Place"
Nov 29, 2023•13 min•Ep. 191
#190: It’s been almost a year since L.A. Mayor Karen Bass was sworn into office — and made a pledge to house 17,000 people experiencing homelessness. It was a big and bold promise. So we wondered: How's that going? How To LA host Brian de Los Santos speaks with Brianna Lee, LAist engagement producer and reporter, and Nick Gerda, who covers unhoused communities in L.A. for LAist about their effort to track the mayor's promise. Guests: Brianna Lee, engagement producer and reporter for LAist; Nick ...
Nov 28, 2023•10 min•Ep. 190
