Coachella Valley Chronicles

Julie Makinen has blazed trails from China to the war-torn Middle East. Her assignments with some of the biggest print media giants in America including the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times ultimately landed her in the top editorial role covering a region that she had owned a vacation home: the Coachella Valley. In this new episode of the Coachella Valley Chronicles with Randy Florence, your host goes in-depth with her on the challenges of running a print media outlet in the 21st century, how she and her team at Gannett's Desert Sun have worked remotely in a year of pandemic challenges and survival, and what drives her in covering this oasis that is no sleepy hollow. She also discusses the local effort to keep the perspective of the all-important institution that is the Op-Ed Page.

Larry Bohannan has been writing at the Desert Sun for 35 years. This week, the discussion with Randy Florence will focus on Larry's career covering major sports and news events, some of the most memorable PGA and LPGA tournaments and their participants, and how his career began.

New York Times bestselling author Tod Goldberg continues talking with Randy Florence and further delves into his newest book, The Low Desert. They also share a mutual worst moment as fans of the Oakland Athletic's baseball club.

Crime, the Salton Sea, clowns with guns……New York Times Bestselling writer, Tod Goldberg, joins the Coachella Valley Chronicles with Randy Florence this week. We explore Tod and his over-achieving family, how he came to understand the seedy underside of the desert, and how he turned those into some of the most intensely satisfying stories you’ll read!

Click Here to See and Order Books by Tod Goldberg

Tod's Website

Literary Disco Podcast

Ever wonder about Modernism Week? The stories behind the homes and the people who built and designed those homes? This week on the Chronicles, Lisa Vossler Smith talks to Randy about many topics including her current role as the Executive Director of Modernism Week. And as always, the Chronicles dives a little deeper to find out what turned Lisa into the valley influencer that she is. We also hear a little bit more about her special mentor; her mother, Judy Vossler and how she met her husband, world renowned artist Philip K Smith, III.

Our first episode with Bruce Fessier only touched on his impact on the Coachella Valley. In the next installment we’ll get deeper into Bruce’s writing style, the story behind his first awarded story and more discussion around the Desert Sun and the future for Newspapers in general. And we start to hear more about his inspiration, his wife Jane and their partnership together through the years. Join Bruce and Randy Florence for another celebrity-infested conversation on the Coachella Valley Chronicles.

He spent four decades covering the people, the events and the culture of the Coachella Valley for The Desert Sun. Two years after entering retirement, journalist extraordinaire Bruce Fessier sits for the first of what will undoubtedly be multiple conversations with Randy Florence on the Coachella Valley Chronicles. From his youthful passions to write to a brand new project he is about to take on, he touches on a little bit of everything on this edition of the Chronicles.

Waymond Furman joins Randy Florence on this episode of the Coachella Valley Chronicles on this last week of Black History Month. Mr. Fermon is a lifelong Indio resident and one of the few African Americans who has been involved in the governing of the Coachella Valley's largest city. He is also a law enforcement professional and involved in many other community activities. Hear his story on this week's profile of movers and shakers in the Desert Cities.

The first time Richard Oliphant, Sr. was on the Coachella Valley Chronicles, we barely got him to the Coachella Valley. On this episode, we continue with Dick telling us about the building of the initial infrastructure of the Valley. Dick will share stories about developing the first volunteer ambulance service, they first volunteer fire department and the time he had to perform a tracheotomy on an accident victim (who lived!).

Few people have had the impact on this valley that Dick Oliphant, and his wife Jan, have had.

Michael Jackson, Robert Wagner, Candice Bergen, Johnny Carson. These are the stars of the stories told by this weeks guest, Judy Vossler. Among the many important positions Judy held in the valley was that of General Manager of the La Quinta Resort and Hotel for many years. Judy will share stories of these celebrities and many more. 

Judy has been recognized in many ways in this Valley. She is truly one of the movers and shakers that helped make La Quinta and the Coachella Valley what it is today.