#160: As we've told you, L.A. is the the epicenter of fast fashion in the US, but there's a lot of people here working to make the industry more sustainable. We'll talk about what sustainable fashion is, who is doing it and what is means for the garment district downtown.

Today, How To LA host Brian De Los Santos and producer Megan Botel head downtown to chat with Mary Price, founder of the sustainable fashion brand Ocean + Main, at her design studio. After working for larger fashion companies for decades, Mary started a small brand that makes its clothing hyper-locally, all within a few blocks in downtown’s Fashion District.

Guests: Mary Price, founder and creative director of Ocean + Main; Tracie Tung, assistant professor of fashion design and merchandising at Cal State Northridge

#159: The Writers Guild of America strike came to an end last week. This week, members will vote to ratify the contract. That appears to be on course as — at first review — the deal seems to be a good one, with provisions on streaming residuals and limits on the use of AI. For a better understanding on where things go from here, How to LA brings back two writers we spoke to when the picketing began back in May. 

Guests: WGA captain and writer Caroline Renard; TV writer Rafael Agustin.

Here are some specific details of the contract: https://laist.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/historic-writers-strike-ends

 

This is How To LA, the podcast that helps you navigate this city. I’m Brian De Los Santos. I want to share with you another podcast from LAist Studios that I think you’ll really want to listen to: Imperfect Paradise: Nury & The Secret Tapes.

For the next few weeks, we’ll be dropping episodes every Friday.

Nury & The Secret Tapes is an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the biggest political scandal in recent Los Angeles history – one year later. 

The secret recording of then-LA City Council President Nury Martinez and three other Latino leaders making racist and derogatory remarks…exposed deep underlying issues of race and politics.

In the first episode, you’ll hear directly from the people most affected by the tapes.

CONTENT WARNING: There’s some strong language in this episode, including racist and derogatory remarks.

Here’s Imperfect Paradise host Antonia Cereijido – Nury and The Secret Tapes. Part 1

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.

#158: Destination Crenshaw. It's the multimillion L.A. City project spearheaded by the non-profit of the same name. It aims to revitalize the historic Black community with new parks, more trees and millions of dollars infused into the area's arts and culture. But like with change in any neighborhood, there's the inevitable question of what else it will bring. Will it become overcrowded? Will it become to expensive to rent an apartment? Will its be residents ultimately be displaced?

To understand all that, we're zooming in on one of the first steps in the revitalization project: The Crenshaw Wall. Spray paint muralist Eric "King Cre8" Walker and his Rocking the Nation crew will soon put up a new mural along the 780-ft structure.

Today, How to LA's Aaricka Washington is taking Brian De Los Santos to see the current mural before they start the new one... painted in 2001 by the same group.

Guest: Eric "King Cre8" Walker, graffiti artist

For more, read Aaricka's story in LAist: https://laist.com/news/how-la-plans-to-revitalize-the-crenshaw-district-and-restore-its-famous-wall

 

#157: It’s been almost one year since a secret recording of four powerful Latino leaders in Los Angeles leaked to the public, setting off one of the biggest political scandals in L.A. history.

Then-City Council President Nury Martinez, Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin De León, and labor leader Ron Herrera were caught on tape making racist, demeaning comments about Indigenous people, Black Angelenos (including a city councilmember's child), and Black political power.

And it was all in the context of a strategy session about advancing Latino power in the city.

The tapes became national news, with many people — including President Joe Biden —calling for all the leaders to resign. Herrera and Martinez did. And now, for the first time since her resignation, we hear from Nury Martinez in an exclusive interview with LAist Studios.

Our colleagues on the 'Imperfect Paradise' podcast team, including host Antonia Cereijido, challenged Martinez to account for the racist, hurtful things she said in that conversation.

The team spoke with former and current councilmembers about their reaction to the tapes — including Mike Bonin who, along with his young Black son, was singled out in the conversation — and to scholars and indigenous rights activists about what the tapes revealed about long-simmering tensions within the city.

In today's episode 'How To LA,' Antonia talks with Brian about the making of the podcast.

#156: The Los Angeles Public Library is 150!

LAPL has 72 branches throughout LA, and is one of the largest library systems in the country. 

In honor or this special anniversary, How To LA producer Megan Botel is exploring Central Library in downtown LA. It's an architectural GEM of 538 thousand square feet and 89 miles of shelving. Learn about the history of Los Angeles Public Library, going back to its beginnings in 1872, as well as some of the most brilliant features of the Central Library building. 

Guest: James Sherman, librarian of literature and fiction at Los Angeles Public Library. 

Click here more information on use of equipment in the Octavia Lab. 

#155: Student loan payments resume next month. Host Brian De Los Santos talks to NPR's Cory Turner about what people need to know right now. Then, LAist reporter Julia Barajas tells us how we got to this point, where we have so much student loan debt in the US, and the role California plays in that.

You can find Cory's 12 key things borrowers need to know here: https://www.npr.org/2023/08/31/1196875027/student-loan-repayment-forgiveness

And here's Julia's deep dive explainer into loan history: https://laist.com/news/education/how-student-debt-grew-history-california

And if you need to figure out your loans, go ahead and head to: https://studentaid.gov/

 

 

#128: Want to finish your week strong with some delicious conchas? Well, we've got you covered. Today we're revisiting one of our favorite food segments: the search for LA's best concha. And keep your eye out for a special holiday concha episode in the coming weeks!

Everyone loves a fresh concha – that warm, doughy center with the crunchy cookie shell on the top could send any Angeleno's heart a'flutter. Today, Brian's taking LAist food editor Gab Chabran on a concha crawl. We're exploring the history of this famous Mexican treat, and checking out Brian & Gab's favorite spots across LA.

For more sweet-breaded goodness, check out Gab's article over on LAist.com

Panaderias visited: Panaderia Coatzingo in South LA, Vallarta, y Gusto Bread in Long Beach.

Got a favorite we didn't mention? Send us a DM! instagram.com/LAistofficial

Music in this episode composed by: Aaron Copland, Austin Cross, Haruomi Hosono, Radio Jarocho, Quetzal, Masayoshi Takanaka, The ModArchive, Dexter Thomas, Woo, Yeahman

#154: We're returning to the LA River today, this time on foot, not by kayak.

Host Brian De Los Santos and HTLA producer Victoria Alejandro headed on over to Frogtown to hang out by the river and hear from two members of the Fifty-One Miles team. That's a project led by landscape architecture graduate students at USC who set out to walk all fifty one miles of the river over 6 days in early August. We'll hear how that was both a fun way to discover all the surprises the river holds, and how hanging out by the river can provide crucial research points for its future. 

 

Guests: Hannah Michael Flynn, urban planning and landscape architecture graduate student; Nina Weithorn, ecologist, cartographer, and landscape architecture graduate student

 

Be sure to check out Fifty-One Miles online at https://fiftyonemiles.com/

And if you missed our kayaking adventure, you can listen to that here: https://omny.fm/shows/howtola/navigating-the-la-river-its-activist-history-in-a

#153: The City Hall leaked tape incident last year, combined with several corruption scandals involving councilmembers in the past few years, have led to this moment: There’s now more momentum than ever behind some major reforms. 

There are three main proposals that would significantly impact how the city is governed. They have to deal with redistricting, revamping the ethics commission and expanding the city council. BTW, did you know that the number of city council seats (15) hasn't changed in over 100 years, even though in the population of L.A. has grown sevenfold in that time?

Voters have to approve those changes, but there are some steps that have to happen before Angelenos will see them on their ballots.

Frank Stolze, LAist Civics and Democracy Correspondent, who recently co-wrote a guide to all this, joined us to explain.