The premiere episode, "Wild L.A.," unwraps the complicated relationship between the city and its natural environment. The program explores the origin of the Santa Ana winds, that infamous weather phenomenon that trigger allergies, fray nerves and alarm fire-prone communities. The series also examines the demise of the grizzly bear in Southern California, an animal once revered by indigenous peoples but later targeted by Europeans as a threat to safety and security.
Long before Sandy Koufax threw Dodger Stadium's first pitch, and even before the first residents moved into Chavez Ravine, there were the Elysian Hills. Raised up by tectonic forces, and carved into deep ravines by the ancient precursor of the Los Angeles River, these hills have meant many things to many people. They were a refuge from floods for the region's native Tongva Indians, and then a source of quarried stone soon after the city fell under American sovereignty. In this episode, "Lost LA" explores the various ways Southern California's inhabitants have used the hills around Dodger Stadium. The program looks at an old lithographic view of L.A. as drawn from an Elysian hilltop, the vanished neighborhood of Chavez Ravine, and a massive construction project that reshaped the land into a modern baseball palace.
It is often said that Los Angeles has buried much of its history. It has suppressed inconvenient reports, recast the plight of Mission Indians as a Spanish Romance, written entire cultures and communities out of its official historical narratives. But some of lost L.A. literally lies buried beneath our feet, hidden long ago when the city, finding the shape and character of its land wanting, opted to mold it to its needs. In this episode, "Lost LA" examines how the modern metropolis has reshaped its own topography. The program explores downtown L.A.'s lost hills and tunnels, as well as the vanished canals of Venice Beach.
"Lost L.A.: Descanso Gardens" explores the history of one of southern California's most-beloved public gardens. From its pre-colonial origins as an oak woodland to its contemporary role as a living museum, the film examines how the Descanso Gardens reflects the social, political and cultural evolution of Los Angeles.
American history has long been told as a triumphant march westward from the Atlantic coast, but in southern California, our history stretches back further in time. This episode explores the interconnected lives of three people who lived through California's transition from native land to Spanish colony and from to Mexican province to American state. Featuring the stories of native teacher Toypurina, who led the revolt against the San Gabriel Mission, Spanish soldier Jose Marco Pico, who served at the mission, and his son Pio Pico, who became the last Mexican Governor of California.
Long before Hollywood imagined the Wild West, Los Angeles was a real frontier town of gunslingers, lynch mobs, and smoke-belching locomotives. This episode examines L.A.'s efforts to reckon with its violent past by examining hanging trees, remnants of vigilant justice; the massacre of eighteen Chinese immigrants that took place in 1871 near what is now Olvera Street; and railroad promotional campaigns that painted a picture of Los Angeles as a verdant paradise.
Wood, iron, steel, concrete -- these are the materials that gave form to Los Angeles and shaped its identity in the national imagination. This episode also questions the cultural legacy and environmental costs of the city's relentless growth.
Los Angeles is often identified with Hollywood, but there's more to the entertainment industry than its facade of movie stars and blockbuster films. This episode explores the career of Lois Weber, a filmmaker who rose to greatness in a nascent film industry that welcomed women into creative leadership positions; as well as a Central Casting Bureau that capitalized on the city's segregated ethnic enclaves when filling background roles.
What if the stories L.A. told about itself relegated you to the margins? This episode explores two underground guidebooks -- The Negro Travelers' Green Book and The Address Book -- that reveal the hidden geographies many Angelenos had to navigate, exposing Los Angeles as a place of coded segregation and resistance.
Americans have long looked at the California shore and seen the end of the continent. Instead, this episode interprets that sandy edge as the beginning of a Pacific world -- one that has long influenced Los Angeles through geology and climate, but also through the transoceanic flows of people, goods, technilogy and cultural ideas.
Californians have long fought over what Yosemite means, and how to manage it. Since its birth as a park and preserve in 1864, Yosemite has become a postcard for the natural beauty of California. Each year, millions visit from around the globe to see the cliffs, waterfalls and meadows that inspire wonder and reverence of the American West. This episode explores how Yosemite has changed over time: from a land maintained by indigenous peoples; to its emergence as a tourist attraction; to the site of conflict over humanity’s relationship with nature.
California’s deserts have sparked the imaginations of millions of people around the world. From the famously alien landscape of Joshua Tree to the wide expanses of seemingly empty land, the desert has been seen as a place of reinvention, a blank slate to create your dream. This episode explores how those dreams have led to the man-made natural disaster that created the Salton Sea; to the effort to preserve Joshua Tree National Park; and how commercial interests and real estate developers created desert utopias like Palm Springs.
One of California's great international exports has been its beach culture. This episode explores how surfers, bodybuilders, and acrobats taught California how to have fun and stay young at the beach -- and how the 1968 documentary "The Endless Summer" shared the southern California idea of the beach with the rest of the world.
Some California dreams succeeded, creating megalopolis regions in the state’s north and south. Other dreams failed, leaving nothing but ruins. This episode explores three California ghost towns: Bodie, a Mono County gold mining settlement that was preserved in time; Llano Del Rio, a socialist utopian community in the Mojave Desert; and Zzyzx, a former health spa on the way to Las Vegas.
From its origins as a themed seaside resort to its international fame as a countercultural hub, Venice Beach boasts a rich, multilayered history. This episode explores Abbot Kinney’s original Venice of America development; the community of Beat poets who called Venice home; and how the commercial renaissance along Abbot Kinney Boulevard has impacted the historically African-American neighborhood of Oakwood.
Los Angeles has long been the place where you can imagine something — any time period, any locale, ordinary or exotic, real or fantasy — and build it. It’s a tradition that dates to the 1910s and 1920s, when early filmmakers built elaborately themed outdoor sets that often remained standing for months or years, inviting visitors. It found its fullest expression in nearby Anaheim, where Walt Disney’s Imagineers created the intricately themed, immersive experience that is Disneyland.
At more than 4,500 acres, Griffith Park is one of the largest municipal parks in the United States. Its founder, the controversial and complicated Griffith J. Griffith, donated the land to the city as a public recreation ground for all the people—an ideal that has been challenged over the years.
Despite the trauma of their incarceration during World War II, Japanese Americans built new lives while detained at concentration camps like Manzanar.
There is always lore ingrained in a city’s history, particularly one like Los Angeles. It is no secret that throughout the Prohibition Era individuals living in the city continued to enjoy their vices as much, if not more, than they ever had before. But it is how they subverted the law that still remains unclear. In this episode, we explore the myths of subterranean Los Angeles, crawl through claimed prohibition-era bootlegger tunnels and visit some of the city’s oldest speakeasies along the way. We also speak with Louie Ryan, owner of Town House and Del Monte Speakeasy; Chris Kasten, owner of King Eddie; and Cedd Moses, owner of many L.A. saloons.
Although best known for designing the homes of celebrities like Lucille Ball and Frank Sinatra, the pioneering African-American architect Paul Revere Williams also contributed to some of the city’s most recognizable civic structures — all while confronting racial barriers. In this episode, we visit LAX’s iconic Theme Building with Rebecca Choi who studies politics, culture and representation of urban space and architectural form; a Williams-designed church with photographer Janna Ireland, who is training her lenses on many of the architect’s surviving projects; and the Pueblo del Rio public housing project.
As recently as a century ago, scientists doubted whether the universe extended beyond our own Milky Way — until astronomer Edwin Hubble, working with the world’s most powerful telescope in the mountains high above Los Angeles, discovered just how vast the universe truly is. Visit the underground vault of the Carnegie Observatories, where paradigm-shifting discoveries are annotated by hand on glass photographic slides; and the historic Mount Wilson observatory. Learn more at Carnegie Observatories.
The Watts riots (also known as the Watts Rebellion or Uprising) left South Los Angeles in social and economic distress. In its wake, Operation Bootstrap, a non-profit community-based organization was formed, with hopes of facilitating change through community empowerment. This episode explores the lasting impact of one Operation Bootstrap initiative, the Shindana Toy Company, which left a lasting mark on the American doll industry by manufacturing ethnically correct black dolls. We visit doll collector Billie Green, meet with former Operation Bootstrap organizers David Crittendon and Marva Maxey, and hear about the enduring legacy of Operation Bootstrap from the women of the Conner family, who once made clothing for Shindana dolls, It’s a story of community strength and economic revival — and one that, outside South L.A.’s black community, is barely known.
Why did Los Angeles dismantle one of the greatest rail transit systems in the nation? Host Nathan Masters rides a restored streetcar with Southern California Railway Museum co-founder Harvey Laner.
Explore a forgotten age when winemaking was Southern California’s principal industry. Host Nathan Masters picks grapes from the oldest vines in Los Angeles with Michael Holland at Villa Adobe.
Dig deep into Southern California’s past to reveal lessons for our climate-changed future. Host Nathan Masters sifts through a natural archive of climate change with Emily Lindsey (Assistant Curator and Excavation Site Director at the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum)and Sean Campbell (Preparator, Rancho La Brea).
Host Nathan Masters meets with Claudia Gordon to tour Villa Aurora, a Pacific Palisades house that hosted spirited literary salons.
Host Nathan Masters visits Kristen Hayashi, Ph.D., the collections manager at the Japanese American National Museum.
From McDonald’s to Taco Bell, many of the world’s most iconic fast-food chains were born in SoCal. Car culture and the restaurant industry collided in the LA region, forever shaping the way Americans dine and drive.
Filipino Americans work to make their heritage more visible in Los Angeles. The host explores the yo-yo's surprising origin story, tours Historic Filipinotown in a Jeepney, and tastes classic Filipino street foods.
Meet the hikers who led Angelenos onto their local trails, including early wellness guru Paul Bragg. The host explores the origins of Los Angeles hiking, from the Indigenous people who first walked the land to activists like WalkGood LA’s Etienne Maurice, who blaze new paths over familiar terrain.
Visit Forest Lawn, Evergreen and Hollywood Forever to see how L.A. reinvented the cemetery. The host visits the gravesites of the rich and famous and learns how racial segregation once divided the dead.
Archives reveal the "forgotten plague” that shaped Southern California: tuberculosis. California’s fresh air and sunshine drew "consumptives" to local sanatoriums, but the life of a TB patient held stark realities.
The host explores some of the oldest tiki bars in Southern California, discovering the Hollywood origins of Don the Beachcomber and learning how postwar American pop culture appropriated the rich traditions of the South Pacific.
