Shows

California Love: K-Pop Dreaming"

California Love is a blend of memoir, pop culture analysis and oral history. The newest season, K-Pop Dreaming, is about the rise and history of K-pop in the United States, as told from the point-of-view of the Korean diaspora in Los Angeles. Host Vivian Yoon takes listeners on a journey from K-pop’s origins in Korean trot music and American presence in post-war South Korea to the 1992 LA Uprising and the booming global popularity of K-pop in the present day, all juxtaposed against Yoon’s own coming-of-age as a second generation immigrant in Los Angeles, struggling to fit in and come to terms with her own identity.

Imperfect Paradise: Yoga's "Queen of Conspiracy Theories"

Season 4, Yoga's "Queen of Conspiracy Theories," is a new season which tells the story of how a former yoga and wellness star fell down the far-right rabbit hole during the pandemic.

Imperfect Paradise: The Sheriff

Season 3 unravels the controversy surrounding LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.

LA Made: Blood, Sweat & Rockets

Season 1, “LA Made: Blood, Sweat & Rockets,” tells the hidden story of the fearless, groundbreaking and ambitious crew who shaped our quest to outer space and ushered in the early days of space exploration at Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at CalTech. Known as the “Suicide Squad,” the team’s road to triumph was fraught with controversies involving the occult, a suspected spy ring, unplanned explosions, and a suspicious death. Join writer and life-long aerospace fanatic M.G. Lord as she uncovers their story and reveals the shocking origins of rocket science in this 12 episode season.

How to LA

How to LA aims to drop a little knowledge about ALL the things that affect the people of Los Angeles, whether that’s something that makes our city great (tacos!) or something that we need to work on, like the alarming number of traffic collisions. We serve the curious Angeleno who wants to better connect with our city, discover the new, navigate the confusing and even drive some change along the way.

The Big Burn

As the world enters a new age of wildfires, science reporter Jacob Margolis dives deep into personal stories that illuminate the history of how we got here, why we keep screwing things up, and what we can do to survive and maybe even thrive while the world around us burns.

Retake with John Horn

Each week, John challenges conventional show business wisdom, talking to insiders with a distinct point of view, tracking the industry’s attempts - or lack thereof - to become more inclusive, and keeping tabs on the forces that maintain the status quo. Each episode helps you navigate the countless hours of entertainment now available, he’ll also highlight innovative work that he thinks deserves your attention, anchored by in-depth interviews with filmmakers, TV writers and other creators.

Imperfect Paradise: The Forgotten Revolutionary

In the early 1990’s, hateful anti-immigrant political rhetoric roused California’s Chicano student rights movement, and college student and radio host Oscar Gomez was one of its most prominent voices. Some thought he was going to be the next Cesar Chavez. But on November 17, 1994, Oscar was mysteriously found dead on the Santa Barbara shore.

Imperfect Paradise: The Forgotten Revolutionary follows host and reporter Adolfo Guzman-Lopez as he investigates Oscar’s death and revisits his own past and ties to the Chicano movement.

Snooze

Snooze is a show about things people put off, how they conquer them, but most importantly, how they conquer themselves. In each episode, host Megan Tan, the Snooze Squad and guest celebrities will strategize an action plan for people like you and me to face our fears. Guests will transform their own perception of their potential and walk away a few inches closer to who they want to become. This new podcast from LAist Studios will inspire you to ask yourself what you have been pressing snooze on, and inspire you to become the protagonist of your own life.

Human Nature

We are facing a crisis. With the continuing pandemic, stress over climate change and natural disasters, and socio-economic uncertainty it’s not hard to understand why millions of Americans say they don’t feel OK. But there is a growing amount of proof in a simple treatment available to everyone: just stepping outside. On Human/Nature, host Marcos Trinidad, a nature expert with roots in North East L.A., will inspire you to go out and explore and connect with nature in your city. This podcast will empower you to reclaim your attention. Spending time in nature isn’t just good for our minds — in this tech obsessed culture — it’s the ultimate form of resistance.

Off-Ramp

Over 11 years and 570 episodes, John Rabe and Team Off-Ramp scoured SoCal for the people, places, and ideas whose stories needed to be told, and the show became a love-letter to Los Angeles. Now, John is sharing selections from the Off-Ramp vault to help you explore this imperfect paradise.

The Academy Museum Podcast

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and LAist Studios present a new multi-season audio series that examines the myriad of stories of our cinematic history. Jacqueline Stewart, Chief Artistic and Programming Officer of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and a MacArthur Fellow, hosts the series.

Imperfect Paradise

Imperfect Paradise is a longform narrative podcast showcasing California stories with universal significance. Each of our stories takes on something essential about California -- its progressiveness, its reputation as a home for dreamers and schemers, its heartbreaking inequality, its varied and diverse communities, its unique combination of dense cities and wild places -- and breaks it down into three, 20-30 minute episodes that will be released occasionally. The stories will be reported by the KPCC/LAist newsroom and contributors (journalists, storytellers) from around the state.

Wild

Introducing WILD, a podcast about growing up… kind of. About those moments big and small that transform us forever. About how sometimes we come out on the other side of chaos or adversity with scars but we come out stronger. About who we’ve been, and who we’ve become. WILD is about origin stories, OUR origin story. Hosted by award-winning New York Times writer Erick Galindo, in collaboration with Adweek’s producer of the year, Megan Tan and LAist Studios. Season 1 is a time capsule of 10 people and how they found light in a year of darkness.

Yeah No, I'm Not OK

Growing up, I was taught to say that I was “ok” when I really wasn’t. Mental health just wasn’t something that anyone in my family or community talked about or even had access to. Yet pretty much everyone was affected by it.

Today, young people of color are disproportionately affected by mental health issues and are not getting the resources they need, and I want to change that.

And this is why this podcast exists.

Yeah No, I’m Not Ok, my new podcast made in collaboration with LAist Studios, is here to open up the conversation about mental health. Every week we will explore issues that youth face all over the world (addiction, depression, anxiety, suicide, radical self love, and much much more) through conversations with friends, colleagues, activists, artists and health care professionals, all people who have gone through something life-changing and are now healing from it.

We want to start a mental health revolution. A movement that can start by talking about how we feel. One where we’re not ashamed of our own human experience.

What will feel like simple conversations among friends will really become a complex narrative of what is happening right now, especially to young people of color. With a real and emotional sound and few easy answers, Yeah No, I’m Not Ok will hopefully become a critical show in a critical time, a place for you to bring your complicated feelings and spend time with people who are rooting for you.

– Diane Guerrero

Norco'80

In May of 1980, the sleepy streets of Norco, California were turned into an all-out war zone in what was one of the most violent bank robberies in American history. From LAist Studios in collaboration with Futuro Studios comes the new podcast—Norco ’80 based on the book by Peter Houlahan. Listen as host and producer Antonia Cereijido tells the unbelievable true story about God, guns, survivalism and the bank robbery that changed policing in America forever. Using eyewitness testimony and never before heard police tapes, Norco 80 takes listeners on a wild ride, and serves as a cautionary tale in the context of America being immersed in the middle of an economic crisis, revamped end of the world paranoia and a complex conversation about policing.

Servant of Pod with Nick Quah

“Servant of Pod with Nick Quah,” hosted by Nick Quah, is a weekly deep dive into the evolving world of podcasts. The show will help listeners explore a medium that's exploded into the mainstream — even catching the eye and wallets of Hollywood — in recent years. In each episode, Nick discusses industry news and gets into the weeds with established and up-and-coming producers, the executives and operators shaping the new podcast economy, and everyone in between, from composers to editors. Along the way, Nick and his guests will also give listeners recommendations on the shows they should be checking out.

Hollywood the Sequel

Over the past several months, Hollywood has been brought to its metaphorical knees. As the coronavirus spread globally, TV and film production was halted, easy funding dried up, and international alliances—including those with China—were impacted. Meanwhile, nationwide protests against police brutality have placed a microscope on the multiple inequalities that exist across the entertainment industry. Through conversations with influential industry figures host John Horn will look at opportunities to change the entertainment industry for the better following this moment of severe disruption. “Hollywood, The Sequel” will create a virtual wish list of reform for the Hollywood creative community to consider, debate, and ultimately act upon.

California Love

Tupac and Dr. Dre’s “California Love” is more than just a song. To many, it is a sense of affection and loyalty to California and is the inspiration behind this show. Join host and New York Times writer Walter Thompson-Hernández as he takes us through his personal journey back to his hometown of Los Angeles. Part autobiography, part reportage, this show is a richly sound-designed audio tour that takes us into the homes of communities that are touchstones to Walter’s life.

California City

Deep in the Mojave Desert, there is a little town with a big name and a bizarre history: California City. For decades, real estate developers have sold a dream here: if you buy land now, you’ll be rich one day. Thousands of people bought this dream. Many were young couples and hard-working immigrants looking to build a better future. But much of the land they bought is nearly worthless. In this new podcast from LAist Studios, host Emily Guerin tells a story of money, power and deception.

The Big One: Your Survival Guide

There's a 50 percent chance that sometime in the next 30 years, Southern California will be crippled by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. It'll take less than two minutes for more than 10 million people to lose water, power, internet. Host Jacob Margolis and Producer Misha Euceph go on a journey to understand what the disaster means for Los Angeles, the U.S. and the world.

Repeat

On the morning of April 4, 2011 a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy shot a suspect running from the scene of a burglary. The deputy told investigators the burglar pointed a gun at him. The burglar, who later pleaded guilty, claims the officer planted a gun to justify the shooting. Investigative reporter Annie Gilbertson combs through the evidence in an effort to piece together what happened. She discovers this was one of four people shot at by the deputy in seven months, prompting her to look deeper at how officers are held accountable.