J.T. the L.A. Storyteller

You can also watch this conversation on YouTube. Aida Ashouri is an Iranian-American immigrant running for L.A. City Attorney this year. In this IG Live she speaks with me about her last few days on the campaign trail gathering signatures, and just what it’s gonna take to reach as many voters as possible before election Continue reading AIDA ASHOURI IS RUNNING FOR L.A. CITY ATTORNEY →

LET THE CITY KNOW: You can also watch this episode on YouTube. Because of course you don’t think it’s “Mission Accomplished” in Caracas already, do you? On Saturday, January 3rd the U.S.’s unprovoked attack on Venezuela cost at least 40 people their lives and led to the unwarranted, illegal kidnapping of the acting president, Nicolas Continue reading MAKING AMERICAN GUERRIL...

LET THE CITY KNOW: You can also watch this episode on YouTube. From Dana Williamson, who was outgoing Governor Newsom’s former Chief of Staff, to California’s own Attorney General Rob Bonta, to Oakland’s Ex-Mayor Sheng Thao, to Orange County’s Andrew Do, the last couple of weeks since the passage of Prop 50 have seen a Continue reading IS CALIFORNIA SAVABLE? IS IT WORTH SAV...

LET THE CITY KNOW: You can also watch this episode on YouTube. Prop 50 HAS PASSED. Now, could Gavin Newsom tell us about just why California has the second highest rate of unemployment in the nation, behind only Washington D.C? Subscribe here to make sure you don’t miss my written work via Making a Neighborhood. Continue reading VOTING IN CALIFORNIA IS EASY. FINDING A JOB, NOT SO MUCH! &#859...

LET THE CITY KNOW: You can also watch this episode on YouTube. PROP 50: “Requires temporary use of new congressional district maps through 2030. Directs independent Citizens Redistricting Commission to resume enacting congressional district maps in 2031. Establishes policy supporting nonpartisan redistricting commissions nationwide. Fiscal Impact: One-time costs to counties of up to a few Co...

LET THE CITY KNOW: You can also watch this episode on YouTube. At this critical juncture for creators and our online community, it’s time to make some changes to how we do it. Subscribe here to make sure you don’t miss my written work via Making a Neighborhood. To support a Local Vendor Buyout campaign Continue reading STREAMERS WAKE UP: IT’S TIME TO DO BETTER →

LET THE CITY KNOW: You can also watch this episode on YouTube. Deeyah Khan’s “White Right: Meeting the Enemy” is a must-watch this weekend. Subscribe here to make sure you don’t miss my written work via Making a Neighborhood. To support a Local Vendor Buyout campaign for East Hollywood, Virgil Village and Silver Lake, please Continue reading DEI: THE EXISTENTIAL THREAT OF O...

LET THE CITY KNOW: You can also watch this episode on YouTube. It’s been a little while since I sat down for some hot takes, but this week is exceptional! Yesterday in Los Angeles charges were announced by federal prosecutors against Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 29 year old Uber driver who the state alleges is responsible Continue reading SUSPECT CHARGED FOR PACIFIC PALISADES FIRES. NOW WHAT? →

LET THE CITY KNOW: You can also watch this episode via YouTube. In this installment of J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast, guest David Cowen and I discuss his being diagnosed with bipolar disorder as early as when he was 21 years old, Kabbalah and Zionism, Israel’s genocide through forced starvation in Gaza, as well as Continue reading FROM L.A. TO KHAN YUNIS: ALL EYES ON GAZA →

LET THE CITY KNOW: You can also watch this episode via YouTube. On Sunday, August 3rd in East Hollywood, Mark Casas and his partner Angel Maria Zavala spearheaded a special pop-up with Ondo Coffee in support of Who Is Your Neighborhood, also known as Quien Es Tu Vecindario. The pop-up featured home-style chilaquiles as well Continue reading RAISING OVER $1,000 FOR STREET VENDORS IN A SINGLE DAY &#...

LET THE CITY KNOW: You can also watch this episode on YouTube. It’s Friday, August 1st, and for this installment of the podcast my goal is get you up to speed on all things on so-called “IMMIGRATION REFORM” as it pertains to Los Angeles, most of all for the people of Los Angeles. In case Continue reading 3,000 ARRESTS PER DAY BUT NOT ENOUGH TIME TO WARRANT THEM →

LET THE CITY KNOW: You can also watch this episode via YouTube. The answer is probably not, but his father, Fred Trump, sure was! In 1905 Donald Trump’s grandfather Friedrich Trump, originally born in Kallstadt, was threatened with deportation for failing to report for military services in the 1880s. When he nonetheless pleaded to be Continue reading WAIT, DONALD TRUMP IS AN ANCHOR BABY?! →

LET THE CITY KNOW: You can also watch this episode on YouTube. 2,000 National Guard troops are to return to base immediately, while another 2,000 are to remain, so in this installment we consider just what the administration’s deployment of National Guard personnel—after wresting control of them from Newsom—has actually meant for communities across Los Continue reading MISSION ACCOMPLISHED IN L.A?...

LET THE CITY KNOW: You can also watch this episode on YouTube. ***To support a Local Vendor Buyout campaign for East Hollywood, Virgil Village and Silver Lake, please do so via Quien Es Tu Vecindario HERE.*** J.T.

LET THE CITY KNOW: You can also watch this episode on YouTube. I. Family shaken after Huntington Park home raided, KTLA: https://youtu.be/-os0_WGcLKU II. South L.A. fireworks explosion likely caused by miscalculations from bomb technicians, LAPD chief says: https://youtu.be/Xr0yAlbGvKY?si=YKtDIalypLr6YLVA III. LA Black Panther member recalls shootout with LAPD’s newly formed SWAT in 1969 on...

LET THE CITY KNOW: This round-up can also be viewed on YouTube. So much to read, yet, such little time. This reality notwithstanding, here are four articles I think you should check out this weekend and why. 1. Aryan Brotherhood members found guilty of ordering L.A. County murders from prison – Matthew Ormseth, L.A. Times Continue reading TRUMP’S MASS DEPORTATION HITS ITS OWN WALL &#85...

You can also watch this episode on YouTube. In this first installment of J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast for 2025 I’m pleased to introduce the Los Cuentos Listenership to Anneliese Hanson, better known as My Goth Therapist! Official show-notes coming soon. For now, stay vigilant and stay tuned. And Let The City Know! J.T.

2024 has been an incredible year, but today I’ve got one more present for the Los Cuentos listenership before it’s over: The 150th episode of the Social Primate Podcast featuring yours truly, which aired live on Tuesday, December 17th, 2024. In the special program, as noted by Eddie Aguirre, my colleague and podcaster from another Continue reading SURPRISE! EPISODE 150 WITH THE SOCIAL...

With less than two weeks to go before Election Day on November 5th, here are my unapologetic positions for this year’s measures in California: (3:14) – NO ON PROP 2(9:54) – YES ON PROP 3(12:31) – NO ON PROP 4(18:14) – UNDECIDED ON PROP 5(23:35) – YES ON PROP 6(26:52) – YES ON PROP 32(28:02) Continue reading PROPS 2 – 36 IN CALIFORNIA THIS SEASON &#85...

Got a ballot recently? Reporter at L.A. Public Press Elizabeth Chou and I get into a handful of the choices on the ballot this November to get you started on your voting journey! We discuss Prop 36, or the innocuously titled “Drug and Theft Crime Penalties and Treatment-Mandated Felonies Initiative,” Prop 33, or the “Prohibit Continue reading PROP 36, L.A. REDISTRICTING AND ETHIC...

On this installment of J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast we speak with Renee Rose, who is the Deputy-in-Charge of the Elder and Dependent Adult Abuse Unit in Los Angeles County. With over thirty years of experience in the courtroom, including as a prosecutor for the Hardcore Gang Unit, she’s now running for Superior Court Judge, Continue reading RENEE ROSE IS A PROSECUTOR OF OVER 30 YEARS NO...

On October 12th the city of Los Angeles brings back a major block party in “Broadway Night Lights” at the center of downtown L.A. Formerly “Night on Broadway” by Jose Huizar and the Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative (LANI), an association of business owners in downtown L.A., the event is now being funded by Art Development Continue reading BROADWAY NIGHT LIGHTS WITH SUEÑO...

It was my people with the Sueño team who connected me with the Los Angeles Conservancy, which was first founded in 1978 in defense of none other than our dearly beloved L.A. Public Library; more soon, but for now, thanks again to Alex Inshishian for allowing us to speak with him about this incredible backstory Continue reading HOW THE LOS ANGELES CONSERVANCY SAVED THE L.A. PUBLIC LIBRARY →

On this installment of J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast we’re joined by Phoenix Tso, who chats with us about The Tenant Association, a new podcast on the Chinatown Hillside Villa Tenant Association, which formed in 2018 after residents there received a 300% Rent Increase without any prior notice from their landlord; in addition to the Continue reading THE TENANT ASSOCIATION WITH PHOENIX TSO &#859...

The return of J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast features Eric Solis, an L.A. born architect and designer now living and consulting in Mexico City, where the rise of a new, international gentrification has pushed residents like himself to fight back and organize. Solis’s roots in Los Angeles also run deep, however, especially given his time Continue reading DESIGNING FOR THE REALITIES WITH ER...