LA Podcast

Alissa, Godfrey, and Kate examine why the Palisades arson case ended in a mistrial, and how the feds biffed the prosecution. What you won’t see on the November ballot after LA City Council charter reforms go down in flames. Then, LA finally has a city service agreement with LA28, but human rights advocates are sounding alarms.  A mistrial has been declared against Jonathan Rinderknecht, the man ac...

Alissa, Godfrey, and Loraine examine the public health impacts of the Lineage warehouse fire that burned in Boyle Heights for a week. LA’s council votes to end oil extraction (for the second time). LAUSD superintendent Alberto Carvalho resigns amid a federal investigation into an AI chatbot deal as the board dramatically reduces screen time for students. And yet another ULA backroom deal turns int...

Scott, Alissa, and Mike look back at the first week of the World Cup as LA hosts its first of many major events. SoFi’s stadium workers won an unprecedented labor contract and a huge fire in Boyle Heights continues to burn. Then: what charter reforms are going to the ballot, and what decisions — like council expansion — are being punted back for more “study.” Alissa wrote about the opening weekend...

Mike, Godfrey, and guest co-host Jasmyne Cannick discuss the promise and perils of the LA mayoral runoff between Karen Bass and Nithya Raman. Plus, the fake controversy over California’s ballot counting process, and LA’s City Council is poised to ditch years of effort to reform the city’s charter. How bad will the mayoral runoff be? The LA Times reports on a likely “knife fight ” between now and N...

Alissa, Mike, and guest co-host Marco Santana recap the election results from a wild primary season. Who are the winners and losers? How did progressive incumbents and challengers fare? And the mayoral race numbers seem to show that Angelenos will never have to think about Spencer Pratt again. After we recorded, Nithya Raman surged ahead of Spencer Pratt and appears set to hold her #2 spot to make...

Mike, David, and Liz weigh the progressive divide in the last days of the mayor’s race, the latest polls which show a Karen Bass-Nithya Raman-Spencer Pratt dead heat, and the AI-assisted rise of Pratt. Plus, some reforms are on the way for Measure ULA and voters are being asked to tax themselves with Measure ER to stop catastrophic cuts to the County's healthcare system. In the final days of the m...

Alissa, Godfrey, and guest co-host Loraine Lundquist track local wildfires, an oil spill, and a leaking tank of methyl methacrylate in Garden Grove. LA Mayor Karen Bass fires her heat officer and other climate champions flee the administration. Then: LA’s Capital Infrastructure Program has finally been launched! How it would transform the city budget process, which just concluded. LA Podcast is se...

Scott, Alissa, and Mike recount yet another attempt by LA’s City Council to undermine the Olympic Wage and why a corresponding ballot measure to repeal the city’s business tax is like playing Russian Roulette. Then, new LA mayoral race polls show Nithya Raman and Spencer Pratt in a tight race for second place, and what Mike would have asked in the final, now-cancelled debate. And: was the former m...

Metro’s D line extension is finally open! Alissa, Mike, Godfrey, and David discuss the many ways a longer Wilshire subway can be a game-changer for LA. Then: more dark and dirty money is flooding into local races as ballots hit mailboxes. Plus, a recap of recent mayoral debates — and why you won’t see Mayor Karen Bass on the debate stage anymore. “ Why it took 65 years for LA to build its most imp...

Alissa, Rachel, and Sophie talk about yet another new ICE detention center that’s opened in a former private prison in the Central Valley. How a new citywide adaptive reuse ordinance could convert vacant buildings into housing. Then, UCLA’s Los Angeles County Quality of Life Index dips to an all-time low. How bad are the vibes? CalMatters : “ ICE quietly opens another detention center in a former...

Alissa joins Mike and Godfrey to decipher LA’s new budget, Karen Bass’s second (or third?) State of the City, and which departments are getting more money this year. Then, how a plan to help Airbnb snuck into the budget, and fundraising updates for candidates as ballots for the June 2 election arrive later this week. Here are all LA’s budget documents and the press conference where Mayor Karen Bas...

Alissa, Mike, and Rachel on the 2 a.m. union deal that prevented an LAUSD strike. A major hack of sensitive LAPD information causes City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto to lose her police endorsement. Mad about pricey LA28 tickets? So are LA’s councilmembers. Then: how a whisper network of accusers ousted Eric Swalwell from the governor’s race — and Congress. LAist : “ A late-night labor deal averts...

Mike, Rachel, and Laura reveal the troubling story of the Neighbors First dark money network that’s mucking up LA City Council elections, including previously unreported details. Then: the latest in the ongoing Measure ULA saga, and a potential new progressive revenue stream for housing and basic services in the city of Long Beach Details about the dark money network in Los Angeles were first shar...

Scott, Mike, and Godfrey go long on Metro’s greenlighting of a major regional transit expansion – the northern extension of the K Line – and the politics that almost derailed the action. Plus, what recent polls say about LA Mayor Karen Bass’s reelection chances, and political attacks that backfired in the race for City Controller and Council District 9. Metro’s approval of the K Line northern exte...

Alissa, Mike, and Sammy discuss the resignation of Janisse Quiñones as head of LADWP and what this will mean for LA’s clean energy goals. Then, takeaways from the first LA mayoral debate and how climate is factoring into the governor’s race. And a new baseball season means more complaints about how the Dodgers can be doing more for the community. LADWP CEO Janisse Quiñones stepped down earlier thi...

Alissa, Rachel, and Sophie discuss the bombshell sexual abuse accusations against the late labor leader Cesar Chavez, including by Chavez’s fellow labor leader Dolores Huerta and two women who were abused as children. A reckoning is underway to erase Chavez’s likeness from public space and rename the March 31 holiday honoring Chavez to Farmworkers Day. Then: LAUSD teachers and staff are set to str...

Alissa, Rachel, and Mike discuss LA city’s six-year journey to end the racist and ineffective practice of pretextual stops by police. For the first time in a decade, the number of homeless people who died in LA County went down, not up; from a high of seven deaths per day to six deaths per day. Then: the Noma pop-up in Silver Lake is protested after allegations of abuse by Danish chef René Redzepi...

Mike, Godfrey and Oscar dive into two big charter reform debates: oversight of the LAPD and the role of LA’s city controller, which current Controller Kenneth Mejia is turning into a public battle. The Trump administration is planning to evict thousands of immigrant families, but community groups are fighting back. Plus, the proposed “Billionaire’s Tax” that’s dividing California Democrats. COME P...

Alissa, Mike, and Godfrey report back from the California Democratic Party state convention where endorsement battles plague the governor’s race. Will Republicans end up nabbing the top two spots on the November ballot? LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is placed on leave after an FBI raid of his home and office. And Metro wants you to ride the D — with crop tops to match — on May 8. Join all...

Scott, Alissa, and Rachel dry off after yet another flash flooding event and absorb a new report that says LA County could eliminate half of its pavement. Casey Wasserman is leaving his own company but will apparently stay on as LA28 chair (?!?) as more elected officials call for him to step down. And LA’s City Council searches for more ways to not build more housing near transit by delaying imple...

Alissa, Mike, Rachel, and Olga unpack Nithya Raman’s surprise mayoral run. How the LA city councilmember’s last-minute decision to challenge incumbent Karen Bass has rattled establishment Democrats and angered activists on the left — and why comparisons to progressive officials in other cities don’t really hold up. Then: Trump’s attorney general Pam Bondi is suddenly worried about crime in Culver...

Alissa, Mike, and Memo discuss the “No Secret Police Act,” which requires ICE agents to remove face coverings — and why LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell’s refusal to enforce it is such a red flag. Don Lemon’s federal detention highlights the double standards for LA journalists who are arrested during protests. LA Mayor Karen Bass delivers her (first) state of the city. Plus: why elected officials are call...

Alissa, Godfrey, and Sophie recount another week of accelerating immigration raids and how Angelenos are organizing against them. Why the “national shutdown” isn’t a general strike (yet). If ICE is going to the Winter Olympics, what does that mean for LA in 2028? And what about the World Cup this summer? And RIP to Shirley Raines who brought dignity, agency, and eyelash extensions to Skid Row resi...

Mike, David, and Carla do a deep-dive on state and local efforts to build and fund — and also stop and kill — housing, while changes are proposed to LA city’s ULA transfer tax, also known as the “mansion tax.” More charter reform proposals advance. Are 23 councilmembers enough? Should 16-year-olds get the right to vote in local elections? Then: California’s mountain lions might finally get endange...

Alissa, Rachel, and Godfrey remember Keith Porter Jr., who was killed by an off-duty ICE agent on New Year’s Eve in Northridge. A new UCLA report shows how Metro’s unarmed ambassadors are helping Metro’s riders. A subway concept advances for the Sepulveda Corridor and Fred Rosen’s monorail might finally be dead. And LA City’s charter reform commission has begun the purge. “ Letter from a Birmingha...