L.A. Meekly: A Los Angeles History Podcast

Grab the nearest planchette and ask your local ouija board if it's time to listen to our newest field trip episode and the answer will be most definitely probably! Tune in as we talk to two of the owners of the Bearded Lady's Mystic Museum and stay tuned afterwards to hear about Mystic Dylan's experience with a haunted lamb!

50 episodes! Could ya ever believe it? Could ya ever have even wanted it? To celebrate, we've compiled all 50 of our episode intros into one long episode that you just keep wanting to start, but it never will. We want to thank all of you for listening these past 50 episodes and for reading this far into the episode description.

It's February and we're here to celebrate Black History Month like it's none of your business; unless your business is one of the businesses we're talking about. That's right, this month we are covering a few of the most famous LA businesses started by African-Americans. We'll be covering KJLH (6:24), Fatburger (20:42), Roscoe's (32:01), the Lincoln Picture Company (42:14) and Famous Amos (58:56)....

NAZI PUNKS FUDGE OFF! Listen to our first episode of the new year as we discuss the various homegrown local Nazi groups operating in the city pre-WW2 (7:58) and the efforts of Leon Lewis and his network of spies to bring them down (44:36) as they learn the hard way that two wrongs don't make a Reich.

It's December and you know what that means: Murder! Demons! Plagues! Dreidels! This time live! Light your menorah under the mistletoe and tune in to this year's haunted episode live from the Comedy Central Stage yet again as we discuss this year's helping of ghosts, ghouls and...g-ack Parsons. We cover Myra Hess the White Vampire of Malibu (12:59), haunted Hollywood Boulevard (16:20), the plague o...

Thanksgiving comes early in this, a very special episode of LA Meekly. Join us as we give a rundown on the places and things in this city that we are most thankful for and mean the most to us. Sincerity reigns supreme while sarcasm silently stages a coup.

Hop on the LA Meekly school bus and take a trip with us into the cabinet of curiosities that is MorYork. Part art gallery, part immersive experience, part motherload of human molars. We talk with the man behind it all, Clare Graham, to get some insight into what it all means and where the nearest bagel shop is.

Feeling empty? Afraid? Alone? Then turn over all your personal possessions and click download! Join us as we take a journey of self discovery through a few of LA's cults from the Blackburns to Synanon. "The Man" and police involvement need not apply. We cover Aimee Semple McPherson (10:07), the Source Family (47:26), the Blackburns (1:19:38) and Synanon (1:33:23).

Pull up a demolished chair and join us for our field trip interview with author Anne Louise Bannon at the site of the old Ambassador Hotel as we discuss her novels, the Cocoanut Grove and just how drunk the old stars of the silver screen got at this place.

Break out your annual passes and welcome to the wonderful world of LA's old amusement parks! In this blockbuster episode we tackle the stories of places like Pacific Ocean Park, Busch Gardens and the never realized Disney plans in both Burbank and Long Beach. Come for the amusements, stay for the end credits. We cover Busch Gardens (6:36), Chutes Park (24:05), Marineland (42:52), Agricultural Park...

File this episode under "filed" because the archive has already done its job. Tag along with us as we head to the Los Angeles City Archives where we visit the City Archivist for Los Angeles Michael Holland as he tells us about all the decades of information available there to any citizen of the city, the tremendously large rooms all that information's held in and the horrific fire suppression syst...

Put on your airiest clothes and brave the valley heat for a LIVE discussion from the Andres Pico Adobe of some of the weirdest, strangest and downright did-we-already-say-weirdest things in the San Fernando Valley from the former Graceland imitation Melodyland to the ridiculous Monkey Island. We cover Melodyland (10:01), Monkey Island (21:10), the Old Trapper Lodge (32:22), the hidden Cold War mis...

Buy a ticket for this very special episode where Greg and Daniel go through a slew of some of their favorite "LA" movies and their real life filming locations on their quest to understand what makes an "LA" movie "LA"..."movie." We cover Up In Smoke (9:18), the Big Lebowski (16:15), Heat (21:08), Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs (24:15), Boogie Nights (32:21), Back to the Future (36:32), Chinatown...

Your monthly meekly has arrived! Flip through the pages of this month's episode where we discuss the stories of some of the biggest and most influential magazines from LA history from Land of Sunshine to Slash to the weekly one whose vaguely familiar name we can't remember. Ad free and just as little gloss as ever! We'll cover Land of Sunshine (8:54), Variety (30:21), the Hollywood Reporter (46:20...

Head east, young audience. This month we're covering the story of Boyle Heights and its transition from a predominantly Jewish community (5:44) to a predominantly Latino community (38:33). Join us to hear about the area's multicultural/politically active/alligator loving journey from blintzes to burritos.

Pack a peanut butter and Lemmy sandwich and join us at the legendary Rainbow Bar and Grill for a talk with Staci Layne Wilson, author of the book "So L.A.: A Hollywood Memoir," about this place's rock and roll history and when best to go to see Ron Jeremy.

They once were lost but now they still are. Step back in time with us as we tell the tales of six of LA's once prominent but now gone forever landmarks from the beautiful Richfield Tower and Pan Pacific Auditorium to the ominous Deadman's Island. Listen now before they become somehow even more gone! We'll cover Arcade Station (8:16), Dead Man's Island (29:31), Pan Pacific Auditorium (37:13), the O...

This episode recorded in front of a live studio audience. Jealous?! Join us for our very first live episode as we discuss a few local commercials and the mad cowboy mattress manic geniuses behind them from Crazy Gideon to Cal Worthington. Since we showed video clips in the show be sure to follow along with the cheat sheet of links on our tumblr page so you too can see the glory that is these video...

It's gonna feel like the first time all over again in this month's episode where, in honor of Black History Month, we discuss some trail blazing African-Americans from Los Angeles. From the city's first African-American mayor to the first African-American surfer, this just may be the first time you actually enjoy one of our episodes. We'll cover Peter Biggs (7:07), Samuel Marlowe (12:41), Nick Gab...

Here it is at long last! Our very first field trip episode! Just play along and say you've been waiting as anxiously for it as we assume you were! Join us on our excursion to the Petersen Automotive Museum with the one and only Ada Ruiz and hear what the most exciting and controversial cars they have are and where to eat once you're sick of seeing them. We apologize for the audio quality but we ho...

Embezzlement. Bloated pensions. Voter fraud. Hog guts. What do all these have in common other than being beautiful names for your children? They're all part of the dirty corruption stories we're about to cover from two cities in southeast LA: Bell (7:02) and Vernon (50:38). Settle in and be glad you have a conscience. If you don't have a conscience, we're sure you can steal one from one of our goo...

Take a festively eerie drive through the many canyons of Los Angeles with us as we talk about the strangest/spookiest stories that have taken place in them from Superman's ghost to a barrage of alien encounters. As the experts we are, we recommend you listen to this at night. Preferably walking alone through one of these canyons. We are not responsible for any lost items, respect or life if you ch...

Peel away the skin, take that gross white stuff off, section it up and extract the seeds and what you've got left is our long awaited (and dreaded) episode on oranges! Bite into the story of LA's mythological cash crop all the way from the first orange tree to come to the city (9:10) all the way through the rise of a little local business known as Sunkist (41:47). Some sugar added.

Eye of nerd. Pod of cast. Leave a review or this show won't last! And with that incantation comes our Halloween special on some of the witchiest women in LA history...and a house. Crack open a cauldron as we pod-cast a spell on your ears of the stories of Louise Huebner (6:53), Vampira (23:50), Elvira (53:29) and the Beverly Hills Witch House (1:10:37). Be there or be there. It's not a choice.

You must be 21 or older (in dog years) to listen to this episode on the long, cursed, prohibited, corrupt and tasty history of alcohol in this city from the very first grape vine to the very last boot legged. Fake IDs welcome. We'll cover the city's love affair with wine (6:43) including the San Antonio winery (24:35), the torrid romance with beer (28:25) including Eastside brewery (31:53) and the...