Making Los Angeles

City of Hope CEO Robert Stone leads one of the most important cancer research and treatment organizations in the world. Under his leadership, the institution has expanded dramatically, now serving nearly 150,000 patients annually across four states.

Which makes one fact all the more surprising: out of the country's 57 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers, Robert is the only CEO who is not a medical professional.

In this episode, we talk about his unlikely college basketball career, how what could have been a fairly traditional corporate law career turned into a decades-long mission at City of Hope, and why he nearly fainted on his very first day on the job.

Along the way, we discuss his family's deep Los Angeles roots, the pressure and responsibility of leading an institution that patients literally trust with their lives, and how following his instincts led him down a path he never could have predicted.

Most of all, this is a conversation about leadership, purpose, and what can happen when you choose the less obvious road.

And yes — we also compare notes on being at Dodger Stadium for two of the most unforgettable home runs in baseball history.

Nancy Silverton isn’t just one of Los Angeles’s most celebrated chefs – she helped define how this city eats.

Born and raised in L.A., Nancy’s career spans the city’s most iconic kitchens – from Michael’s to Spago, Campanile to La Brea Bakery, and now the “Mozza Plex”: Pizzeria Mozza, Osteria Mozza, and Chi Spacca.  And let’s not forget the already-iconic Max & Helen’s, the Larchmont diner she opened in partnership with Phil Rosenthal.

In this episode, Nancy shares how a chance encounter in her college dorm set her on her unexpected culinary path, why she left school with just one semester to go, and what it was like to help open Spago as its original pastry chef.

We also talk about the quieter forces behind her success, including the influence of her mother, and how she’s managed to wear her status as a true L.A. legend with her unmistakably effortless style.

This conversation is about instinct, reinvention, and building something lasting in a city that’s constantly changing.

And yes – we also get her heretical take on the iconic, L.A.-born fast-food chain she says is overrated.

Alex Cohen is one of those if-you-know-you-know voices in Los Angeles.

A longtime presence on NPR and now a morning anchor and political host on Spectrum News 1, she’s spent decades helping Angelenos make sense of the world around them.

But her path to journalism – and her life outside of it – is anything but conventional.

In this episode, Alex shares how growing up in the San Fernando Valley (yes, as a self-described “Valley Girl”) shaped her early ambitions, how time spent living in rural Japan helped set her on the path to journalism, and why she made the leap from radio to television after years behind the mic.

We also get into the perhaps more unexpected sides of her story: her time managing a band, her ongoing deep interest in 13th Century Zen Buddhism, and her unlikely second identity as a Roller Derby competitor – complete with not one, but two nicknames.

It’s a conversation about curiosity, reinvention, and what it means to build a life that’s both serious and surprising – on air and off.

And, if I’m being honest, it’s also just one of the funniest conversations I’ve had yet.

How does someone go from the Jordan Downs housing projects in Watts to becoming the co-owner of one of Los Angeles’ most celebrated restaurants?

In this episode of Making Los Angeles, chef and author Keith Corbin reflects on the long, unlikely road that led him from gang culture, prison, and the crack epidemic of 1980s South LA to Alta Adams, the acclaimed West Adams restaurant rooted in Black foodways and community.

Keith shares stories about losing his brother, surviving prison, discovering cooking later in life through Roy Choi and Daniel Patterson’s LocoL, and finding purpose through food after years of instability and survival.

The conversation explores Watts, masculinity, grief, fatherhood, redemption, and the complicated relationship between identity and place in Los Angeles.

What does it take to reinvent yourself over and over again — from Chicano kid in South Central LA, to potter living in the Canadian wilderness, to one half of one of the most iconic comedy duos in American history?

In this episode, Cheech Marin reflects on the winding, unexpected path that shaped his life and career. Recorded inside the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in Riverside, the conversation spans decades of Los Angeles history — from growing up in South Central and the San Fernando Valley, to resisting the Vietnam draft, living off the grid in Alberta, discovering improv theater in Vancouver, and eventually building Cheech & Chong into a cultural phenomenon.

Cheech shares stories about opening for Motown acts, playing topless bars, recording groundbreaking comedy albums, and making Up in Smoke at a time when Hollywood had no idea what to make of them. He also reflects on Born in East L.A., the evolving conversation around immigration in America, and why Chicano art became one of his life’s great passions.

We hear about Muhammad Ali, Bruce Springsteen opening for Cheech & Chong, late nights at the Troubadour, life in Malibu, and the creative instincts that kept pulling him toward music, comedy, filmmaking, and art.

This episode is about curiosity, reinvention, and showing up every day for the thing you love…even when you have no idea where it’s going to lead.

What's different about Season 2? Everything! And absolutely nothing. Because this show is about people, and everybody's story is different. Join us every Wednesday starting May 13th.  

Please enjoy this specially featured episode of LA Times Studio's Rebuilding LA. What’s next for L.A. in the wake of its recent wildfires? In “Rebuilding Los Angeles,” broadcast journalist Kate Cagle examines the systems that failed us, the path forward and the innovative fire recovery efforts making L.A. more resilient. This episode features prominent city developer Rick Caruso and a conversation about his role in the rebuilding efforts as the Palisades try to find their new normal nearly a year after the fires. 

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.