Part 2: JB Hamby is the dealmaker from California, and at 28 years old, he’s the youngest and least experienced among the representatives from the seven states involved with the Colorado River water negotiations. LAist correspondent Emily Guerin explores the beginnings of Hamby’s understanding of water growing up in the Imperial Valley, a desert farming area in California. Grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise S...
Jun 09, 2024•33 min
#98: Today we're celebrating pride by revisiting our deep into the history of Queer LA. Our LA Explained reporter, Caitlin Hernández, took us back in time to explain how West Hollywood became recognized as a mecca for LA's gay community. It was part of their research for the LAist series, Queer LA, where Caitlin's highlighting the joy, culture, and history of queerness in this city. You can find more of their reporting at laist.com/QueerLA Music in this episode composed by: Rae Bourbon, Austin C...
Jun 07, 2024•15 min•Ep. 98
#287: Join us behind the scenes at Studio B, HTLA's home base here at LAist Studios. Today we're talking about what it takes to make our show possible... Because here's the thing: we love making this show, but we can only do it with your support. To give you a little inspiration, Brian's putting HTLA's producers in the hotseat and asking them to share their favorite moments working on the show. How To LA — and ALL the other news content and podcasts from LAist — is Pubic Media. That means we onl...
Jun 06, 2024•21 min•Ep. 287
#286: It's pride month, and today we're looking at how that's showing up in the classroom. In this episode, host Brian De Los Santos speaks with LAist reporters Caitlin Hernandez and Mariana Dale about what this school year was like for LGBTQ+ teachers in SoCal. In districts big and small, from struggle to joy, Hernandez and Dale heard it all, and they're here to share what they found with us. You can find their digital story on LAist's website here: https://laist.com/news/education/lausd-lgbtq-...
Jun 05, 2024•22 min•Ep. 286
#285: Today, we’re bringing you my conversation with NPR’s Emily Kwong, the host of a new LAist Studios podcast called “Inheriting.” It’s about Asian American and Pacific Islander families, and explores how a single event in history can ripple through generations.
Jun 03, 2024•26 min•Ep. 285
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 Gen Z Water Dealmaker. For the next few weeks, we’ll be dropping episodes every Sunday. The Colorado River is in the midst of one of the worst water crises in recorded history. Climate change and overuse are taking a significant toll. Seven states, including California, must co...
Jun 02, 2024•42 min
#284: Gab. Brian. Food. You know the drill — Cheap Fast Eats is back! This time, LAist food editor Gab Chabrán is taking HTLA host Brian De Los Santos to some of the best spots west of Sepulveda Blvd in the 818. A century ago Wheat and Lemon were the undisputed kings of LA's San Fernando Valley, a spill of land that existed almost exclusively to be farmed. But in the 1950's, as a post-war Los Angeles was flirting ever so closely with car-culture, the first strip malls of suburbia were born. Toda...
May 31, 2024•20 min•Ep. 284
#283: WeHo Pride is THIS Weekend! The three-day event celebrating everything LGBTQ will feature drag artists, gay pop icons, and lots and lots of glitter. To get a head start on the festivities, HTLA host Brian De Los Santos sits down with OUTLOUD festival founder Jeff Consoletti, and pop artist VINCINT, to talk about Pride at West Hollywood, and about what it means to be a queer icon.
May 29, 2024•25 min•Ep. 283
#128: Happy Memorial Day! The team is off - but we still have a treat for you. (Get it? Because conchas are so sweet?) Ok. Jokes aside, we're replaying this episode because it was recently nominated for a James Beard award, and the team is really excited about that. But here's the thing... We can't make episodes like this without your help. If you value our flavor of journalism, please donate to keep us going strong. LAist.com/joinHTLA This episode originally published on July 7, 2023. Original ...
May 27, 2024•23 min•Ep. 128
#282: Today we’re putting a spotlight on journalists at Southern California colleges who’ve been covering protests on their campuses. Protesters have been calling for an end to Israeli attacks on Gaza and for their schools to divest from companies tied to Israel and weapons manufacturing. We heard from students at USC, UC Riverside, CSU Long Beach, and UC Irvine about what this time has been like for them, juggling their roles as journalists and college students. Check out the story on LAist: Wh...
May 24, 2024•28 min•Ep. 282
#281: Revival House says goodbye for now with a look at one of the biggest programming groups in town, the American Cinematheque. Celebrating their 40th anniversary this year, screening 1500 movies a year in three iconic theaters across Los Angeles, the American Cinematheque has a movie for everybody, every night of the week. In this episode, How To LA producer Victoria Alejandro jumps into the history of these movie theaters and this programming group to shine a light on a little L.A. moviegoin...
May 22, 2024•20 min•Ep. 281
#280: We’re back with our series on How NOT To Be Lonely in LA. Today we explore the connection between religion…or lack thereof…and loneliness. For decades, Americans relied on their church, temple or mosque, or other religious institutions, for a sense of built in community. But with more and more people disaffiliating from organized religion in recent decades — particularly since the 90s — we, as a society, haven't really found a replacement for those spaces, and the community and sanctity th...
May 20, 2024•26 min•Ep. 280
#279: Hey, How to LA listeners! We’re back with another social calendar to talk about the interesting, fun, new happenings in the city. Guests: Imperfect Paradise host Antonia Cereijido and Janice Llamoca , an audio producer and host. You might have heard her work on Latino USA, Vice AND she was the host of the amazing LAist Studios podcast Party Crews: The Untold Story. Here’s what each person pitched for YOUR social calendar: The Hollywood Bowl: check out Maestro of the Movies with John Willia...
May 17, 2024•27 min•Ep. 279
#278: Today we have an update to a story we brought you back in November of last year (#191: 'It's Really Hot Out Here.' What LAUSD Is Doing To Cool Down Schools). LAist Associate Editor Aaricka Washington brings us up to speed on efforts to increase the amount of green space on school campuses in Los Angeles.
May 15, 2024•17 min•Ep. 278
#277: Jacqueline Valenzuela is a 26-year-old interdisciplinary artist and lowrider car club co-founder who often features women in the lowrider community in her art. We met up with her at the Kolor Studio, the studio/auto body shop where she works with her fiancé in the City of Industry.
May 13, 2024•19 min•Ep. 277
Japanese American Incarceration. The Third World Liberation Front. The 1992 Los Angeles Uprising. What you think you know isn’t always the full story. Inheriting is a show about Asian American and Pacific Islander families that explores how the past is personal. Hosted by NPR’s Emily Kwong, we go deep with families on how their most personal, private moments are part of history. How can I support? Inheriting is entirely funded by supporters like you. If you want to hear future seasons of Inherit...
May 12, 2024•4 min
#276: Merrick Morton is one of the first people to document Chicano gang culture in L.A. He also photographed women in prison, Latinas at kickbacks, and people on death row. Almost all of his photos capture something that you might not expect: a tenderness, a realness. We meet up with Merrick at the Eastern Projects gallery in Chinatown, where an exhibit of his work titled "Un-Rehearsed" is on display, to talk about his art and how he started photographing these communities. If you want to see s...
May 10, 2024•25 min•Ep. 276
#275: Go back to the movies with us! It's heating up in the city, so Revival House continues with a classic of spring and summertime in L.A. — a film at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Run by Cinespia, you can picnic and catch a revival film on the iconic grassy knoll. What keeps people coming back year after year? What's the history of it all? Listen along to find out. Learn more about the cemetery tour here: https://www.cemeterytour.com/ Find more about Cinespia here: https://cinespia.org/ Gue...
May 08, 2024•20 min•Ep. 275
#223: Announcing The Tournament Of Cheeseburgers! Vote for your favorite burger in LA at this link: https://laist.typeform.com/to/Eq4UczlJ?typeform-source=www.google.com#campaign=xxxxx The top three burgers will be crowned at a special Smorgasburg event at The Row in DTLA on July 7. Here are the details: https://laist.com/events/tournament-of-cheeseburgers-at-smorgasburg-la To get us in the burger mood, we're revisiting our episode about the first cheeseburger... which was, probably, right here ...
May 06, 2024•16 min•Ep. 223
#274: L.A. is often called the street vending capital of the country, and for good reason. Our street food has so much diversity, whether it's served out of a truck or a puesto. And it's not just food — people sell sunglasses, clothes, groceries... It can a great hustle for people who want to be their own boss, but it's also a LOT of work. To get a sense of what's involved, we're hanging out with some street vendors in mid city. Plus, we're talking with LAist correspondent Leslie Berestein Rojas...
May 03, 2024•21 min•Ep. 274
#273: Leslie Liao is an L.A.-based stand-up comedian, actress and writer who went from working at Netflix (in the HR department) to now being on Netflix. For a long time she was juggling both her corporate job and stand up, but she went full time with comedy this year. She was featured in the streamer’s series called "Verified Stand-Up," she’s been on "The Tonight Show," and she’ll be performing in the Netflix is a Joke Fest starting this Thursday (May 2) in L.A. A lot of Leslie’s comedy focuses...
May 01, 2024•21 min•Ep. 273
#272: We're back with another episode in our How Not To Be Lonely in L.A. series. Brian is out but, today, How To LA producer Megan Botel takes over the mic and explores these questions: What does it mean to connect to yourself, and why is it important for warding off feelings of loneliness? How do you do it? And in a group setting? One way is to do the things you loved as a kid and connect with that "inner child." For Megan, that was ballet, so we are checking out Studio A, a funky little dance...
Apr 30, 2024•17 min•Ep. 272
#271: We love LA over here, but perhaps no one is a bigger fan of our city than Evan Lovett, the guy behind the LA history and discovery show: "L.A. in a Minute!" Today, How to LA host Brian De Los Santos sits down with Evan to talk about how he stumbled into his career as a content creator, what truly makes L.A. special AND some of his favorite spots around town that really reflect the city's flavor. Guest: Evan Lovett, host of "L.A. in a Minute" PLEASE NOTE: Evan Lovett has previously worked a...
Apr 26, 2024•25 min•Ep. 271
#270: Today, we’re coming to you once again from the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, where we had the chance to speak with some local authors about their work. In this episode: Michael Arceneaux, the New York Times-bestselling author of “I Can’t Date Jesus,” “I Don’t Want To Die Poor,” and his latest book, “I Finally Bought Some Jordans"; and Amy Price , former general manager of the Cecil Hotel in downtown L.A., and author of "Behind the Door: The Dark Truths and Untold Stories of the Ceci...
Apr 24, 2024•31 min•Ep. 270
#269: Today, we’re coming to you from the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, where we had the chance to speak with some dope local authors about their work, about Los Angeles, and how it all connects for them. In this episode, my conversation with Héctor Tobar, the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and novelist.
Apr 22, 2024•16 min•Ep. 269
#268: HTLA is checking out some more movie history with a spotlight on the world tour, The Art of the Benshi, coming to L.A. on April 19-21. In this episode, HTLA producer Victoria Alejandro comes on to chat Japanese silent cinema and L.A. history with host Brian De Los Santos. Benshi were the narrators of Japan's silent film era. These artists introduced films and also provided live narration, portraying characters, and articulating the on-screen action, filling theaters and enthralling audienc...
Apr 19, 2024•9 min•Ep. 268
#267: This is our second episode exploring downtown L.A. — part of our series on L.A. neighborhoods. Last time (episode #266), we covered some of the history of the area, and the ups and downs it's experienced over the years. Today, we’re looking at its present and possible future, largely through Oliver Alpuche's story. Oliver has lived in downtown L.A. for 16 years and he's a sort of ambassador to the neighborhood. He's also the founder of DTLA Proud and founder of the new, soon-to-be-open gay...
Apr 17, 2024•26 min•Ep. 267
#266: It’s been a minute since we explored a L.A. neighborhood on How To LA. We’ve been to Little Tokyo, West Adams and Sylmar before. Now, we’re in downtown. But we’re not going to try to boil down the entire area in one episode. Today, we’re going to get into the history of the ups and downs the area has seen over the years, and learn a lot from a walking tour of downtown put on by the Los Angeles Conservancy (led by docent Robin Holding). Stay tuned for episode two, where we’ll focus on one A...
Apr 15, 2024•10 min•Ep. 266
#265: It's time for another Food Fridays! And that means Gab Chabrán is hitting the streets with HTLA host Brian De Los Santos to grub on our favorite food: PIZZA. LA is going through what many artisans are calling a pizza renaissance right now. Hundreds of gourmet pizzerias have popped up around L.A. in recent years, taking advantage of the abundance of fresh produce in the region and marrying uniquely SoCal flavors and influences. HTLA sets out to capture that unique L.A. flavor! Still hungry?...
Apr 12, 2024•25 min•Ep. 265
#264: Go back to the movies with us! We're still profiling LA's repertory theaters in Revival House cause there are SO MANY to check out! In this episode, we explore a cool space with some deep, messy history. Fashion label Brain Dead has taken over a site that some would consider....a little cursed. Originally opened in the 1940s as The Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax, the venue was home to premieres and parties. Until a theft and murder shut the theater down. In the 2000s, it was taken over by...
Apr 10, 2024•17 min•Ep. 264
