What’s it like to be the voice that generations of Angelenos grew up with — even if they wouldn’t recognize your face?

Larry Mantle has hosted KPCC’s AirTalk for over 40 years, making him one of the most enduring and trusted voices in public radio. Over the decades, he’s interviewed politicians, filmmakers, athletes, scientists, authors — and more than a few unforgettable callers. In this episode, we’ll hear which moments stand out from thousands of conversations, and what’s stayed with him most after four decades behind the mic.

We also talk about the path not taken — including a brief stint as a news director that lasted just three weeks, and even an early brush with the priesthood. But more than anything, we get a sense of Larry himself: warm, thoughtful, curious, and still in love with the art of the interview.

We recorded this one in his natural habitat — the AirTalk studio. He sat where he always sits. I took the guest chair. We put on our headphones… and just like that, we were live.

What do the Army, the Dodgers, the L.A. Times, and the 2028 Olympics have in common? Renata Simril.

Renata Simril is the President & CEO of the LA84 Foundation — one of the most influential philanthropic organizations in Los Angeles. Her journey has taken her from growing up in Carson to standing in the room when L.A. was awarded the 2028 Olympic Games. Along the way, she’s helped rebuild South L.A. after the riots, served as a Deputy Mayor, and held leadership roles at both the Dodgers and the L.A. Times.

In this episode, we hear about her unexpected path — including witnessing the fall of the Berlin Wall, working under the then-fledgling, now-formidable Guggenheim Dodgers ownership, and how LA84 — originally funded by the rarest thing in Olympic history: a surplus — became a cornerstone for equity and youth sports in Los Angeles.

And — we’ll find out which legendary L.A. sports icon gets even Renata Simril a little choked up.

This one’s got heart, history, and a whole lot of L.A.

What’s it like to give L.A. the weather for 40 years… and still slip out for a stand-up set between newscasts?

For four decades, Fritz Coleman was more than just the weatherman on KNBC Channel 4 — he was part of the fabric of Los Angeles life. But behind the “weather words” were some surprising turns: his first TV job came while serving in the Navy during the Vietnam era, he nearly pursued a full-time career in stand-up comedy, and he’ll tell us why he could never get the same job today.

In this episode, we hear how a kid from Pennsylvania became a local legend in Los Angeles, why he got bumped from The Tonight Show (twice), and how he managed to balance the nightly news with late-night comedy sets.

What’s it like to go from community organizer to Congress to the Mayor’s chair — with history rhyming along the way?

Karen Bass’s story is as personal as it is political — and as uniquely Los Angeles as they come.

Before she was Mayor of Los Angeles, she was a physician’s assistant, the founder of the influential nonprofit Community Coalition, the first Black woman to serve as Speaker of the California Assembly, a Congresswoman, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and even a contender for Vice President.

In this episode, Mayor Bass talks about the forces that shaped her: being denied entry to her middle school because they had “met their quota” of Black students, hearing Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination broadcast live on the radio after volunteering for his campaign at age 14, and growing up during a time when her parents warned her that Martin Luther King Jr. might not live to see his dream fulfilled.

This isn’t a policy interview — it’s a conversation about the life that shaped the leader. The fires, ICE raids, and challenges of today are part of the story, but this is less 

Meet the Press

 … and more 

Meet Karen Bass.

Pandora’s Box: The Fall of L.A.’s Sheriff is a six-part true crime investigation from the Los Angeles Times about one of the biggest law enforcement scandals in U.S. history.

Follow Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter Christopher Goffard as he uncovers how Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, once hailed as a reformer, became entangled in a shocking cover-up inside the nation’s largest jail system. From FBI informants and jailhouse brutality to corruption at the highest levels, this series reveals how deputies hid an inmate, intimidated federal agents, and ultimately brought down one of California’s most powerful sheriffs.

What does it take to lead a museum with 110 years of Los Angeles history — and keep it moving forward in a city that never stands still?

Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga is the President of the Natural History Museum of L.A. County, home to more than 35 million artifacts and specimens, the largest such collection in the Western United States. In this episode, she shares how getting a PhD in geology — of all things — led her from the classroom to a college presidency, and eventually to the helm of one of the city’s most iconic cultural institutions.

We talk about the challenges of modernizing a 110-year-old institution, what it takes to stay rooted in science and community, and how she’s working to make the museum more reflective of the city it serves.

And yes — we finally settle whether there are actually dinosaur bones in the La Brea Tar Pits.

Plus: which fellow Making Los Angeles guest is she totally starstruck by? Listen to find out.

How does a guy who wrote his college thesis on Quaker women end up running an NFL team by 28 — and overseeing a global sports empire by 40?

Kevin Demoff is the President of Team & Media Operations for Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, where he helps lead some of the biggest names in sports — including the Los Angeles Rams, the team he helped relocate from St. Louis back to his hometown.

In this episode: why taking the Rams job felt like a terrible decision at the time, what it was like to have Dan Marino show up to your middle school basketball games, and how growing up in L.A. shaped his approach to building something lasting here — even if that wasn’t part of the plan when he took the job.

We recorded this conversation inside Rams Draft HQ — at the Los Angeles Fire Department Air Operations facility in Van Nuys — on the morning of Day 2 of the NFL Draft. In between war room updates and helicopter flyovers, Kevin shares stories from inside the league, reflects on growing up in L.A., and reminds us that even the busiest guy in pro sports can still be incredibly down to earth.

Oh, and we’ll hear about what it’s like to have to call your famous sports agent father to tell him you’re firing the team’s head coach … who happens to be his client.  

What do Chinese literature, medieval string instruments, and earthquake drills have in common? In Los Angeles, the answer is Lucy Jones.

Often called “L.A.’s earthquake queen” — a nickname she’s not exactly fond of — Lucy Jones has been the city’s most trusted voice on seismic safety for decades. In this episode, we talk about how she went from refusing to attend her local public high school to graduating in Taiwan, why she nearly studied earthquakes in Iceland, and what musical instruments can teach us about how the earth moves.

We recorded this conversation inside her seismology center at Caltech — at the very table where, years ago, she used pencils and rulers to calculate earthquake magnitudes by hand. And while she’s best known for explaining “The Big One,” we also get into how she helped create the Great California ShakeOut — a drill that began as a public outreach idea and turned into the largest earthquake preparedness event in history.

From Bosch to The Lincoln Lawyer to his latest novel Nightshade, few authors have done more to shape how the world sees Los Angeles than bestselling crime novelist Michael Connelly. In this episode, we talk to the man behind more than 40 books — nearly all set in L.A. — whose work has been adapted for film and television and translated into more than 40 languages.

He tells us about the chilling moment that first sparked his interest in crime stories at age 16, the unpublished novels he wrote along the way, and why he didn’t quit his day job until his fourth book came out. We also learn what it’s like to have your characters brought to life by Hollywood icons like Clint Eastwood, Matthew McConaughey, and Titus Welliver — and why Connelly still reads the same chapter of a Raymond Chandler novel before starting every new book.

Recorded at Musso & Frank Grill — where, as we later discovered, we were seated in Raymond Chandler’s old booth — this conversation is part master class, part love letter to Los Angeles, and 100% Connelly.

What happens when your parents leave the country… and hand you the keys to one of L.A.’s most iconic restaurants?

Bricia Lopez is the co-owner of Guelaguetza — the Koreatown Oaxacan institution that’s been serving up rich moles, mezcal, and culture for over 30 years. Named a James Beard American Classic and a winner of the L.A. Times Gold Award, Guelaguetza has done more than any other restaurant to bring Oaxacan food into the heart of Los Angeles — and onto menus across the country.

In this episode: how Bricia felt like she was moving to Disneyland when she immigrated to L.A. as a child, what it was like to suddenly run a landmark restaurant in her twenties, and how she and her siblings have honored their family’s legacy while expanding its reach. She also shares stories of late nights, early struggles, what it’s like to have mezcal cocktails named in her honor — and what it takes to carry tradition forward in a city obsessed with the next big thing.

We recorded this one behind the scenes at Guelaguetza — squeezed into her sister’s office, surrounded by the beautiful mess of a real working restaurant. And yes, I left with a mole sampler platter. Because, occasionally, podcasting does have its privileges.

And one more thing — I actually asked Bricia Lopez, a James Beard Award–winning cookbook author, whether she’s a good cook. You'll want to hear her answer.