We are half way to Halloween — time to get spooked, L.A.! We dug into the audio archives and found a few scary tales that were once told to a colleague long ago... (ok, like 2018).

These stories span the decades and take us from Kagel Canyon to Koreatown to the L.A. Zoo. Oh, and you'll learn a little bit about the making of the Bradbury Building in Downtown LA. Enjoy! 

#166: Back in the late 1800s, California leaders got together to rewrite the state's constitution. It was proposed that all government documents should only be written in English and that official business only be spoken in English. That proposal was soon adopted, effectively banning Spanish for official use, despite promises made after the end of Mexican-American war to create space for the language. It's a decision that continued to affect California classrooms decades later. But one higher ed system in the state is taking steps to reverse it.

Host Brian De Los Santos talks to LAist's Adolfo Guzman-Lopez who recently wrote about this is in a two-part series.

Guest: Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, Higher Education Correspondent for LAist

You can find his story on LAist -- part 1 is here: https://laist.com/news/education/california-constitutional-convention-english-only-spanish-laccd

And here's part 2: https://laist.com/news/education/laccd-community-colleges-immigrant-experience-in-language-classes-spanish

This is How To LA – the podcast that helps you navigate this city. I’m Brian De Los Santos. 

To close out this week, we bring you the third episode from Imperfect Paradise: Nury & The Secret Tapes – an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the biggest political scandal in recent Los Angeles history.

In this episode, Imperfect Paradise host Antonia Cereijido presses former L.A. City Council President Nury Martinez to account for the racist, demeaning comments she made on the secret recording that rocked Los Angeles and led to her resignation.

Antonia also challenges Nury on the deep-seated issues of race and politics that Nury’s own words raised.

Here’s Imperfect Paradise host Antonia Cereijido – Nury and The Secret Tapes. Part 3.

CONTENT WARNING: Sensitive subject matter. 

#165: Pumpkin spiced lattes. Yoga pants. Uggs. Cozy blankets. Hot spiked cider...

Today, How To LA is getting real basic, real fast by celebrating a true basic girl's favorite season: fall AKA the spooky season. 

Follow along as host Brian De Los Santos and producer Megan Botel channel their inner fall basic girls and map out a festive, thematic, spooky SZN LA day that we should ALL try out. 

Our Best Basic Girl Fall Suggestions: 
1. Starbuck's pumpkin spiced latte

2. Superba pumpkin milk latte

3. Mr. Bone's Pumpkin Patch 

4. Carved at Descanso Gardens 

Spooky SZN bars:

1. Beetle House LA (Hollywood)

2. Potions & Poisons (Koreatown)

3. The Cauldron (Buena Park)

4. Lily Rose (DTLA)

#164: Today, we're joined again by friend of the pod Antonia Cereijido, host of the LAist Studios podcast Imperfect Paradise, to talk about Part 3 of their latest series: “Nury & the Secret Tapes.”

It’s an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the L.A. City Council tape scandal that rocked Los Angeles, and became national news, a year ago.

On the secretly recorded tapes, then-L.A. City Council President Nury Martinez, council members Gil Cedillo, Kevin De León and labor leader Ron Herrera talk candidly, making racist and demeaning comments about colleagues, Black political power, Indigenous people, and even a councilman's child.

In the latest episode, Antonia presses Nury about the racist and hurtful things she said on the tapes.

Voices heard in this episode: Nury Martinez, former L.A. City Council President; L.A. City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson; Tanya K. Hernández, comparative race law expert at Fordham University School of Law; Manuel Pastor, professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at USC.

#34: We're revisiting one of our favorite neighborhoods – deemed the best place to trick or treat in LA – in honor of Spooky Season. This episode first aired on November 15, 2022. 

In our latest trip through one of LA's neighborhoods, we hook up with HTLA listener and reader Andrea Martinez Gonzalez to take a tour of Angelino Heights, one of the oldest areas in the city. It's got some of the coolest and most diverse architecture around from Victorians to Craftsmans but, like so many places in LA, this once middle class enclave has become extremely unaffordable. Come check it out with us. And if you'd like to tell us what neighborhood to visit next, let us know here. 

Guest: Andrea Martinez Gonzalez, HTLA listener and Angeleno Heights resident

#163: You know the saying...the rent is too damn high! No place is that truer than in L.A. In recent years there's been different measures happening in cities across the county to try and manage extreme rent hikes. It's a battle that goes back decades in the city of L.A., beginning with the onset of U.S. involvement in World War II. LAist's LA Explained Reporter Caitlin Hernández gets into the history with HTLA host Brian De Los Santos, and talks about where things stand today in L.A.

Guest: Caitlin Hernández, LA Explained reporter for LAist. 

This is How To LA – the podcast that helps you navigate this city. I’m Brian De Los Santos. We’re back with the 2nd episode from Imperfect Paradise: Nury & The Secret Tapes – an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the biggest political scandal in recent Los Angeles history.

To better understand the scandal and the painful issues of race and politics it raised,
in this episode, Imperfect Paradise’s host Antonia Cereijido explores:
How former council President Nury Martinez’s background influenced her political views and ambitions?
The tensions between what Nury represented before…and after the scandal.
Antonia also examines the divisions within the L.A. City Council in the months leading up to the secret-recorded meeting
Here’s Imperfect Paradise host Antonia Cereijido –Nury & The Secret Tapes: Part 2.


Go to Hellofresh.com/50imperfect and use code 50imperfect for 50% off plus 15% off the next 2 months!

Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.

This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

#162: Bowling, bento & burgers, oh my! That's right, it's time for another Cheap Fast Eats, and you know what that means... LAist food editor Gab Chabran is taking Brian on a culinary tour of delicious (and wallet-friendly) meals and snacks. This time they're in Gardena, and they're hitting up everything from Hawaiian diner-slash-bowling alleys to walk-through burger windows. 

Restaurants visited: Gardena Bowl, Tokyo Central (Gindaco USA and Tenkatori USA) and Pitburger

#161: I know it doesn’t really feel like it yet, but the colder months are coming. And sorry to say but that means more people getting sick – with colds, the flu, and COVID – in LA. That comes with spending more time indoors, and doing the whole holiday travel thing.

Already there’s been a bump in reported COVID cases, especially as people return to the office in person. 

To get a sense of what to expect this fall, and find out all we need to know about the new COVID vaccine, we spoke to LAist senior health reporter Jackie Fortíer.