As we gear up for Season Two, we’re taking a behind-the-scenes look at how Making Los Angeles came to life — with a twist. Season Two guest Alex Cohen — NPR legend and Spectrum News 1 anchor — steps into the host chair, and Glenn plays guest for a day as they talk through the show’s origins, how guests are chosen, and the stories behind the stories. They also dig into what makes someone truly part of the fabric of this city, and preview what’s ahead, including the show’s first video episode. And yes — Alex surprises Glenn with the question he wasn’t expecting: who’s his dream guest?

We’re bringing back a few of my favorite conversations from last season — Season One Spotlights, as we’re calling them — so whether you’ve been with us from the start or you’re just discovering the show, these episodes capture the people, stories, and ideas that shape how we see Los Angeles.

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 He tells us about the chilling moment that first sparked his interest in crime stories at age 16, the unpublished novels he wrote along the way, and why he didn’t quit his day job until his fourth book came out.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’re bringing back a few of my favorite conversations from last season — Season One Spotlights, as we’re calling them — so whether you’ve been with us from the start or you’re just discovering the show, these episodes capture the people, stories, and ideas that shape how we see Los Angeles.

In a city where everything changes, what if the most important people are the ones who don’t? Father Greg Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries — the world’s largest gang intervention and rehabilitation program — and he’s spent more than 30 years in the same East L.A. neighborhood, still showing up with hugs, humor, a little wisdom, and the occasional twenty for the homies outside his office. He’s a Jesuit priest, bestselling author, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient… and a walking masterclass in radical compassion. In this episode: we’ll hear why he asked to serve in L.A.’s poorest parish, how living in Bolivia reshaped his worldview, and what it really means to listen. And yes — we’ll hear how even Jesuit priests aren’t above the occasional mic drop. In this episode: we’ll hear why he asked to serve in L.A.’s poorest parish, how living in Bolivia reshaped his worldview, and what it really means to listen. And yes — we’ll hear how even Jesuit priests aren’t above the occasional mic drop.

We’re bringing back a few of my favorite conversations from last season — Season One Spotlights, as we’re calling them — so whether you’ve been with us from the start or you’re just discovering the show, these episodes capture the people, stories, and ideas that shape how we see Los Angeles.

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.

Please enjoy this preview of the first episode of Patt Morrison's latest miniseries, Smoglandia.  Smoglandia is a narrative audio series tracing the rise, impact and eventual retreat of L.A.’s most insidious form of pollution: smog. Through interviews with scientists, policymakers, filmmakers and artists who lived through the worst days, Smoglandia explores how Los Angeles became a testing ground for environmental regulation, and how science and innovation transformed public health. At a moment when our hard-triumphs over smog face new setbacks, Smoglandia explores a landmark victory for the City of Angels, and, through clearer air, looks forward to the lessons we still have to learn — and the battles we have yet to fight.

We’re bringing back a few of my favorite conversations from last season — Season One Spotlights, as we’re calling them — so whether you’ve been with us from the start or you’re just discovering the show, these episodes capture the people, stories, and ideas that shape how we see Los Angeles.

While Mayor Karen Bass hardly needs an introduction, what sticks with me most from this conversation is how deeply connected she is to the city’s history — white flight, the RFK assassination, the crack epidemic — and yet how firmly her identity remains rooted in the people. Even after decades inside government, she still approaches power like someone trying to change it from the outside.

What’s it like to carry one of the most powerful names in Los Angeles history — and still make your own mark?

Harry Chandler is the great-great-grandson of Harrison Gray Otis, who took over the Los Angeles Times in 1882 and began a century-long dynasty that helped shape the city’s growth, politics, and mythos. But Harry? He took a different path.

In this episode, we talk about what it’s like to grow up a Chandler, how he ended up helping the Yahoo founders write their first business plan, and why he walked away from the tech world to become a full-time artist. We also talk about his work to revitalize the LA River — and what it means to reimagine a city your family once helped design.

And yes — he used to take his grandmother to concerts. But when your grandmother is Dorothy Chandler… and the concerts are at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion — well, that hits a little different.

How does the son of a bracero and a labor organizer become one of the most influential figures in California politics?

Fabian Núñez is the former Speaker of the California State Assembly and was a driving force in the rise of Latino political power in California — helping turn what was once the exception into today’s expectation of Latino representation at the highest levels of government.

In this episode, Fabian reflects on his early days as one of 13 children, why he moved from San Diego to Los Angeles, and his unlikely ascent to Speaker after just one term in the Assembly. We talk about the cohort he came up with — Antonio Villaraigosa, Kevin de León, Gil Cedillo — and how their work reshaped California’s political map.

We recorded this conversation at the L.A. County Federation of Labor, where Fabian got his start under the late Miguel Contreras, forging the labor-Latino alliance that continues to shape the state today.

Oh, and you’ll hear a pretty solid Arnold Schwarzenegger impression.

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.