In our 84th episode, we catch up with Samanta Helou Hernandez (@Samanta_Helou) and Ali Rachel Pearl (@alirachelpearl) on Instagram Live to discuss our new Substack together, launched exactly one year after the start of our panel series, Making Our Neighborhood: Redlining, Gentrification and Housing in East Hollywood. Tune in to hear about our goals forContinue reading EPISODE 84 – SAMI AND ALI ON OUR NEW SUBSTACK →

Most things are indeed better late than never, though; the brand-new introduction for J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast! J.T.

In our 83rd episode, we sit down for a chat with Scott Epstein (@scottforla), a former chair of the Mid-City West Neighborhood Council and current candidate for Council District 5, which is home to–among other L.A. landmarks–the L.A. County Museum of Arts, UCLA, the Pico-Robertson area, and more of what makes up the “west-side” ofContinue reading EPISODE 83 – SCOTT EPSTEIN FOR COUNCIL DISTRICT 5 →

In our 82nd episode, we sit down for a conversation with David Kim, who is running for congress to represent the 34th district of Los Angeles in Washington D.C. David and I discuss his inspiration for running, his unique qualifications for the job as a queer left Korean-American millennial, redlined neighborhoods in “CA-34,” and more.Continue reading EPISODE 82 – DAVID KIM FOR CONGRESS DISTRICT 34 FROM CALIFORNIA →

Today regarded as an American icon, in his actual life, Martin Luther King Jr. was mostly villainized for his human rights efforts. On this MLK Jr.’s Day, yours truly reflects on the toll inflicted on Black Los Angeles over the last two years of the pandemic; Black people remain over-represented in L.A. County hospitalizations forContinue reading J.T. OBSERVES MLK JR. DAY →

In our 81st episode, we sit down for the second time with Eunisses Hernandez (@EunissesH) to hear about her new campaign door-knocking through North East Los Angeles. We discuss the inspiration behind Eunisses’ decision to run for political office, including the Great Recession, as well as the conditions that make it next to impossible forContinue reading EPISODE 81 – EUNISSES HERNANDEZ FOR COUNCIL DISTRICT 1 →

Nearly two years since the beginning of the great quarantine, unemployment in the L.A.-Long Beach-Glendale area is at 7.8%, at least as of October 2021, down from 10.3% in June 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the number is surely higher, especially given L.A.’s “informal” economy, or the city’s undocumented communitiesContinue reading IT’S GETTING GRITTIER IN LOS ANGELES →

In our 80th episode, we sit down with Kasey Ventura, the director of Land and Tenant Justice at the Vermont & Beverly Community Land Trust, a non-profit housing organization serving communities in Koreatown, Little Bangladesh, East Hollywood, and more. Kasey and I discuss the definition of a community land trust, as well as how itsContinue reading EPISODE 80 – BEVERLY & VERMONT COMMUNITY LAND TRUST →

The 80th episode for J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast arrives next Monday, November 29th. In the meantime, we bring listeners’ attention to an East Hollywood Neighborhood Council meeting taking place via Zoom on Tuesday, November 23rd starting at 7 PM, on what’s being framed as “illegal” street vending in the LACC area/Vermont avenue stretch. AsContinue reading J.T. SUPPORTS STREET VENDORS IN EAST HOLLYWOOD →

In our 79th episode, we sit down with Kate Pynoos, a former policy adviser for L.A. City Councilmember Mike Bonin. Kate is now running to represent Council District 13, and tells us how she’s gone from working at the staff level to throwing her own hat into the ring for leadership in the central sideContinue reading EPISODE 79 – KATE PYNOOS FOR COUNCIL DISTRICT 13 →