Listen to Los Angeles... Through These Podcasts

Stuck in (LA) traffic? These podcasts might help.

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Podcast artwork for Imperfect Paradise, L.A. Meekly: A Los Angeles History Podcast, Smogland Radio, On Our Watch, Party Crews: The Untold Story

Curator:

👉🏽Emma Lehman (she/her)

Why this theme?

👉🏽I run Los Audio, a biweekly newsletter of in-person radio, podcast, and other audio events in Los Angeles. The city has such a rich and diverse community of audio-makers, and a wealth of stories to be told in podcast format.

I've started a running list on the newsletter of podcasts and episodes about Los Angeles, from deeper dives into well-known LA stories to unique and niche LA lore (that's my favorite!) There are so many excellent podcasts and episodes about so many interesting facets of this great and enormous city and its people!

Podcast Picks

Imperfect Paradise podcast cover art

Imperfect Paradise

Every season of Imperfect Paradise is about something different, but they’re all incredibly well-reported and cover a California or LA topic you’ve probably not heard about before. Season 2, “The Forgotten Revolutionary,” is EarBuds curator Emma’s favorite, and it covers the story of 1990s Chicano student movement leader Oscar Gomez. Host Adolfo Guzman-Lopez expertly blends his own lived experience with his reporting on Gomez for a season that is intriguing, informative, and deeply personal.

L.A. Meekly podcast cover art

L.A. Meekly: A Los Angeles History Podcast

This show is so, so great – the hosts are a joy to listen to, and the podcast covers niche LA lore, from the city’s unique supermarkets to our radio stations to the history of Los Angeles gangs. In Emma’s opinion, this is THE Los Angeles podcast you need. This pick talks about, among other Route 66 gems, the story behind the enormous anthropomorphic chicken statue Emma passes on her commute every day.

Smogland Radio podcast cover art

Smogland Radio

There are only fourteen truly “public bathrooms” in this city of almost 4 million people: this episode talks about why that is, how it impacts us, and what it means for the criminalization of homelessness.

On Our Watch podcast cover art

On Our Watch

On Our Watch is an excellent investigative podcast with a focus on California police departments and cases in cities around the state. The series covers case files obtained as part of the California Reporting Project, examining how our system fails to hold cops accountable. This episode covers Los Angeles and Bay Area police officers who use traffic stops to hit on and intimidate women, and how the system covered their tracks.

Party Crews podcast cover art

Party Crews: The Untold Story

Party Crews is a limited series about the party crew scene in the 2000s, a space where many young Latine Angelenos came of age in LA amid negative stereotypes of the scene and its participants in the media. The host was part of the party crew scene herself, and balances her own experiences with reporting on the murder of Emmery Muñoz in 2006, and why it remains unsolved. It’s a personal and investigative series with a Y2K feel, and a great listen – this episode takes us inside the making of a flier party, the communities behind the party crew scene, and what these events meant to those that were and are a part of the community.

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Community

🎤 This week in Podcast The Newsletter: Lauren Passell writes: “Thank you for your Interest is an upcoming podcast where everyday people can share their most heartbreaking, hilarious, or hellish job rejection stories. They’re looking for guests. Submit your story here.”

🎧Not traveling anywhere this summer? How about venturing to the futuristic, utopian land of Pura? The Last City weaves together elements of the climate crisis, its subsequent mental health consequences, and complicated feelings about our shared future, as it explores the brewing mystery beneath Pura’s perfect exterior.

🎙️AIR Media (Association of Independents in Radio) proudly announces its New Voices Class of 2024. The New Voices program will run virtually from August to December, bringing together a cohort of 16 emerging, underrepresented audio makers to engage in critical dialogue about their creative journeys and support them as they chart their own paths.

Podcast news from Podnews

Spotlight

Blame it on the Fame podcast cover art

Blame it on the Fame: Milli Vanilli details the rise to fame and swift downfall of Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan, the infamous R&B duo known as Milli Vanilli who were taken under the wing of German producer Frank Farian, and quickly discovered — the hard way — the difference between star power and real power. Comedian and actress Amanda Seales (Insecure, The Real) hosts the series.

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