In the heart of downtown Los Angeles sits Hollywood’s undisputed architectural superstar — the Bradbury Building. The imposing structure’s character is definitive. Its origin story, however, is much murkier… 

How did a young draftsman design one of the most remarkable buildings in the world? Why did he never again do anything of note? Or did he? Was all his creativity spent on this one masterpiece? Was this a case of stolen intellectual property? Or could this have even been a brush with the supernatural?

Clever Confidential is Clever’s offshoot series, where we dig into the darker side of design - the shadowy, sometimes sordid tales hiding under a glossy topcoat of respectable legacy.

Many thanks to this episode’s guest experts Kim Cooper and Richard Schave of Esotouric!

Images and more about the Bradbury Building at cleverpodcast.com

Please help us out by completing a short LISTENER SURVEY

Head to cleverpodcast.com for over 200+ more episodes of Clever, and more episodes of Clever Confidential.

Subscribe to our substack newsletter for updates, bonus content, and new episode alerts.

Please say Hi on social! X, Instagram, Linkedin and Facebook - @CleverPodcast, @amydevers

If you enjoy Clever Confidential we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you!

Credits: 

Hosts: Amy Devers & Andrew Wagner

Writing and research: Amy Devers & Andrew Wagner

Guests: Kim Cooper & Richard Schave of Esotouric

Production: Devers Endeavors

Editing and Sound Design: Camille Stennis 

Theme Music: “Astronomy” by Thin White Rope courtesy of Frontier Records

Logo design: Laura Jaramillo remixed by Graham Hauser

Special thanks to our sponsors!

• Wix Studio is a platform built for all web creators to design, develop, and manage exceptional web projects at scale.
• Clever listeners get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Use code “clever” at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/clever

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.