We start this episode of Hear in the City at Los Angeles' historic Echo Park Lake, the site of a $65 million water quality project that has temporarily displaced dozens of birds and turned the ponds of lotus flower into a giant construction site. From there, we follow the ducks and geese to their new home in Mac Arthur Park where we catch catfish in the middle of the city and finally find a free lunch at Langer's Deli in honor of their 65th anniversary.

On this episode of Hear in the City we visit with two extraordinary people who dedicate their lives to caring for pets who would otherwise fall through the cracks of the urban economic crisis. One, a veterinarian and self-proclaimed "bleeding heart", is owed $40,000 by the City of Los Angeles Department of Animal Services. The other, a computer scientist who feed feral cats by night, is an unusual creature on the streets of L.A.: a walker, a veritable flaneur.

On today’s Hear in the City, in honor of Mothers’ Day, we offer you two stories of motherhood during difficult times...

The first is an audio postcard from a group of teen moms who are finishing their high school degrees at a small school in Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley. The second story is an inquiry into a mother’s journey across landscapes of occupation as she tries to keep her children safe across changing borders at a time of war.

It's our May Day show. Studs Terkel, Lenin's Head by the Gao Brothers, Pete Seeger, The East is Red, and the connections between the immigrant rights movement and the 99%. From Los Angeles as the marches get underway. (photo credit, LA Times).

Martha White interviewed her friend Jessica Chapin at Santa Monica's Step Up on Second, a psychosocial rehabilitation and support program for people affected by severe and persistent mental illness. Jessica is a resident in the organization's permanent supportive housing and Martha is a member in the supportive services programs. Martha and Jessica sat down to interview each other about what the program has helped them accomplish in life. Their interview was produced by Will Coley and Sara Harris in Los Angeles.

This week's Hear in the City offers you a sonic journey into translations between languages, media, and landscapes as we map an eclectic sampling of Mexican artists whose work is currently featured around Los Angeles.

Anne Marie Ruff who recently published her first novel, Through These Veins, explores the question “if we had a cure for AIDS, would it ever make it to market?:” She spent a lot of time at the Los Angeles Central Library while writing and offers us this audio post-card to the Central Library. All profits from the sale of her book benefit Doctors Without Borders and the Ethiopian Institute for the Conservation of Biodiversity. Her commentary was originally published in the Downtown News. Anne Marie will be at Stories bookstore reading from her novel on Thursday, April 5th. Visit our website, Hearinthecity.org for details.

On this week's episode: Walmart makes inroads to Los Angeles via Chinatown and the Los Angeles Central Library is a home away from home, with author Anne Marie Ruff.

Before this week's show, Hear in the City host Sara Harris will be presenting her work at the Center for Non-profit Management and talking about the ins-and-outs of independent radio/audio production. One of Sara's all-time-favorite stories she's worked on is this collaboration with Street Poet Jorge Nuñez. After growing up his whole life in Los Angeles, Jorge was deported to Tijuana, Mexico and tells this story about his experience. This piece was produced for Youth Radio and originally aired on All Things Considered.

This is an excerpt from an audiopostcard Hear in the City host Sara Harris produced with Haitian students at Toussaint L'ouverture High School in Del Rey Beach, Florida after President Jean Bertrand Aristide was pushed out of power. An English teacher at the High School invited Sara to her poetry class. Her students wanted to challenge the pervasive impression that their country and their culture is one of misery, suffering, and disaster. So, together, they recorded their poetry and their choir practice. This piece was produced for Youth Radio aired on NPR's All Things Considered.