Making Los Angeles

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.

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.

What happens when a Pacoima kid turned MIT-trained engineer brings a wonk’s brain — and a line cook’s work ethic — into the halls of power?

Alex Padilla is California’s senior U.S. Senator, a national voice on immigration and voting rights — and, as you may have seen recently, someone unafraid to challenge authority, even if it means getting handcuffed at a press conference. (This conversation was recorded before that moment, but you’ll hear crystal clear why these issues matter so deeply to him.)

In this episode: we’ll hear what it was like to serve as acting mayor of Los Angeles at just 28 years old in the wake of 9/11, how he helped change the way Californians do everything from vote to dine out at a restaurant, and how his family’s story shapes the quiet determination that continues to fuel his drive his public service.

Also: we’ll learn about the iconic L.A. restaurant where his father worked the line … for more than 35 years.

Even more than its sunny skies, rich history and Hollywood glamor, L.A. is defined by its people. In “Making Los Angeles,” from LA Times Studios, native Angeleno Glenn Gritzner sits down with the dreamers and big-thinkers shaping the city to explore how they got where they are. The result is a singularly intimate deep dive into the incredible lives of everyone from entrepreneurs, politicians and brand-builders to artists, activists and influencers. Behind every L.A. icon is a human story. Hear a new one every week on “Making Los Angeles.”