LA Time Studios' New Podcast ‘Making Los Angeles' Features Interviews with Prominent Angelenos
The debut episode features a conversation with Sen. Alex Padilla, California's senior U.S. Senator. Padilla discusses his upbringing in the San Fernando Valley as a child of Mexican immigrants, his experience studying engineering at MIT and how he ultimately got into politics. Future episodes will feature conversations with Father Gregory Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries; author Michael Connelly; earthquake expert Lucy Jones; award-winning chef Bricia Lopez and many more.
'Making Los Angeles' joins a growing slate of podcasts from LA Times Studios, including 'Rebuilding Los Angeles,' 'L.A. Crimes,' 'Boiling Point' and 'Crimes of The Times.' Additional podcast series are in development with launch dates to be announced.
The first episode of 'Making Los Angeles' is available now; new episodes will be available every Wednesday on all podcast platforms.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Journals
an hour ago
- Business Journals
Five things you need to know today, and these community developers are doing work
Good morning Cincinnati, and happy first weekend of the Cincinnati Open! Here are five things you need to know to start your day. 1) Downtown garage to be demolished The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority has plans to demolished a garage it owns near the Duke Energy Convention Center in order to prepare it for a potential redevelopment GET TO KNOW YOUR CITY Find Local Events Near You Connect with a community of local professionals. Explore All Events 2) Kroger's former CEO made to explain departure A Hamilton County judge has ordered Kroger's former CEO, Rodney McMullen, to explain the circumstances surrounding his sudden departure, which the company at the time said was linked to certain conduct. 3) Sushi restaurant moves to Clifton space A new restaurant has opened in the Clifton Gaslight District in a building formerly occupied by a longtime Mexican eatery. Restaurateur Hideki Harada may be 'running on fumes right now,' as he told the Business Courier, but the new space is filled with promise, and the sushi rolls offer a local flare. Do you like Five Things? Make sure to subscribe to our Morning Edition emails so you have it in your inbox each day. 4) New corporate event space coming downtown A Norwood entrepreneur who has partnered with the likes of Procter & Gamble, Kroger, GE Aerospace and FC Cincinnati is opening a new corporate events and meeting space in downtown Cincinnati. CEO Joey Haselmayer describes why big companies rely on off-site digs for some of their most important functions. 5) Cincinnati's newest music festival anticipates huge crowd The Voices of America Country Music Fest in West Chester Township, which is in its third year, is expected to dazzle this weekend with headliners including Carrie Underwood, Darius Rucker, Hardy, Bailey Zimmerman, Darius Rucker, Shaboozey, Carly Pearce and more. On the calendar Want a chance to connect with the Business Courier's news team? You're in luck. On Thursday, Aug. 14, the Courier is hosting a Meet the Newsroom event at the Scripps Center. Our reporters will be available in both our newsroom and our sponsor, UB Greensfelder's office, where you'll gain insights into what makes a compelling story and learn the most effective ways to share your news with our team. We'll also host a special session on crafting strong nominations for our Business Courier awards, led by a past Forty Under 40 honoree and program judge who will share insider tips and best practices. Call for nominations Nominations are now open for the Business Courier's CLIMB (Cincinnati Lifts Inclusion and Minority Business) Awards. The Business Courier annually honors organizations in the private, public and nonprofit sectors that showcase successful efforts in making their organization more equitable and inclusive. Nominations for individuals are here, and for organizations are here. This day in history 1981: Roger Federer, the maestro who turned tennis into a religious experience, is born. What I'm reading Lord of the Rings What I'm listening to "I Remember" by Purple Disco Machine What I'm watching "Wednesday" Season 2 on Netflix The importance of community development corporations You might roll your eyes or yawn at mention in a Business Courier story of this or that lowly nonprofit community development corporation, or CDC. The acronyms are tough enough to muddle through without there being two CHCURCs in the city – the Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corp. and the College Hill Community Urban Redevelopment Corp. And really, who cares what these entities do? Seems like they're just out there filling flower boxes and advocating for speed bumps. But in fact they do a lot more than that, and in many ways, they've never been more crucial to commercial real estate development in the city. It's tough to be a developer right now, and that's true of almost every city in the country. Costs remain high – for labor, materials, land and debt – and outspoken community pushback is more than just a nuisance, it's a deterrent, making a real difference in what and where developers choose to build. In such a time of enormous risk – and risk aversion – CDCs can step in to fill important roles in the pre-development process. They can perform land assembly. They can seek out site-readiness and building stabilization grants. They can bring in municipal partners and leverage the help of local land banks and port authorities. They can perform consensus building through community input sessions. And they can bid out the sites to prospective developers, who may be more inclined to pursue certain projects the CDC's ground-laying work has taken that much risk out of the project. Here are four recent examples (of many) of CDCs helping to move projects forward, bringing new life to Cincinnati's historic neighborhoods: The Pleasant Ridge Development Corp. has filed permits to demolish multiple properties in the neighborhood's business district, including one that's been an eyesore for years, hoping to create a standout mixed-use project at 'one of Cincinnati's best intersections.' The College Hill Community Urban Redevelopment Corp. is hoping to entice a developer to build a mixed-income project on land near its rapidly densifying central business district, where development momentum is taking off again post-Covid-19 pandemic. Northsiders Engaged in Sustainable Transformation has acquired a historic former theater and expects to proceed with building repairs and stabilization before turning it around into either a commercial space or community asset. Lastly, Mount Airy CURE is about to demolish six blighted buildings with a notion of bringing in a developer at one of the most prominent sites in the neighborhood, where there hasn't been any new development in decades.
New York Post
7 hours ago
- New York Post
Beloved NYC diner to be moved from Brooklyn neighborhood to Steiner Studios for movie set: report
From homefries to Hollywood. The beloved Wythe Diner in Williamsburg was sold and will be relocated to Steiner Studios, where it will spend the rest of its days starring in motion pictures and film. For years, the railcar diner on Wythe Avenue in the trendy nabe played a supporting role in movies like 'The Good Shepherd' and 'Men in Black 3' and will now be forever immortalized in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, The New York Times reported. Advertisement 'We see it as a standing set, as opposed to a set that's built for a production and torn down,' Doug Steiner, chairman of Steiner Studios, told the paper. The diner, currently on Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, will be relocated to Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Google Earth Steiner's personal connection to the eatery made him want to preserve its history rather than build a diner set from scratch. Advertisement 'That diner was one of the few places we would go to have lunch in the early days,' he said, adding, 'That was before major gentrification.' The Wythe Diner first opened in 1968 and operated under that name until the late 1980s. The old-school eatery was purchased by Sandy Stillman's Blue Sky Diner Inc. in 1997 and was reopened under the name Relish until 2010. A year later, it became the Mexican joint Cafe De La Esquina, the old-school diner's final full-service restaurant iteration before it too shuttered in 2018. In the years since, the 2,800-square-foot prefab has housed a short-lived Blank Street coffee shop and hosted pop-ups, including a Chanel fragrance event during fall fashion week in 2023, while being mostly vacant. Advertisement Over the next weeks, the '50s style diner will be moved piece by piece to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where shows like 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,' 'Inventing Anna,' and 'Only Murders in the Building' have been filmed. The Wythe Avenue diner holds sentimental value for Doug Steiner, head of the entertainment studio, which is located in Brooklyn Navy Yard. Beata Zawrzel via Reuters Connec The property the diner sits on was sold by Stillman for $12.5 million to a real estate development company, which plans to build an apartment building on the lot. Stillman praised the 'above and beyond spiritual beauty, talent and desire to help save this shiny diner.' Advertisement The Wythe is not the only diner New York City has lost in recent years. Hector's Cafe, the iconic Meatpacking District diner featured in the movie 'Taxi Driver', shuttered its doors last month after 76 years of service. One year earlier, Astoria said goodbye to the Neptune Diner after 40 years of service. Meanwhile, Williamburg's other iconic — and nearly century-old — diner, Kellogg's, has been given new life thanks to a buyer who revitalized the 24/7 spot after it went up for bankruptcy sale.
Los Angeles Times
17 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Willy Chavarría's Oaxaca-inspired huaraches stoke controversy
When Chicano fashion designer Willy Chavarría first devised his latest shoe drop — a chunky sneaker topped with the sleek, black leather weave of artisanal Mexican huaraches — he meant to honor his roots. Instead, it seems he stepped on some toes. The designer unveiled his Oaxaca Slip On with Adidas at the Art Museum in Puerto Rico last weekend. Since then, many have taken to social media to call out the brand for cultural appropriation — citing everything from the use of the name 'Oaxaca,' to the fact that the shoes aren't even made in Mexico, but evidently manufactured in China. The backlash raised questions about who profits from Mexican and Indigenous culture and who gets left out. Though the design draws from traditional huaraches made in the Indigenous communities of Oaxaca, critics say there was no credit or benefit for the people keeping that craft alive; it feels like another case of a global brand taking without giving back. The social media commentary has been both comical and critical, with one Instagram user commenting, 'Nah I'll still rock my original huaraches with tire sole from Sahuayo, Michoacán,' and another writing, 'No way they gentrified huaraches now.' (The original post from Chavarría's official Instagram page has since been taken down.) Some also took umbrage with the decision to debut the shoe in Puerto Rico, far from the regions in Mexico where the footwear originates. For many, it underscored the lack of connection and engagement with the people most tied to huarache-making traditions. Huaraches have long been a staple in Mexican communities, often handmade by artisans using traditional materials like leather and recycled rubber soles. The style has evolved over time, but its roots remain deeply local and community-based. The backlash isn't just about cultural appropriation, but misrepresentation. Content creator Vivian Fabiola pointed out that while the shoe is labeled 'Oaxaca,' its huarache design appears to be more closely tied to the state of Michoacán. Traditionally, artisans handcraft only a few pairs a day, rather than producing them in mass quantities. Felicia Montes is a Chicana Indigenous artist, activist and assistant professor of Chicanx/Latinx Arts and Social Practice at Cal State Long Beach. She also runs an online mercado featuring handmade goods rooted in Indigenous tradition. 'Huaraches were an ancient thing, but people are still creating them today,' said Montes. 'I think Willy's biggest issue around it is not honoring or working with the communities it comes from, even if he has Mexican ancestry.' For her, true homage requires collaboration, credit, and compensation — not just aesthetic borrowing. Marciel Perez, who owns Mr. Hammer Shoes, has been selling huaraches and vaquero fashion at Plaza Mexico for over 30 years. For him, the thought of selling hybrid sneaker-huaraches feels inauthentic. 'I remember when I first started selling huaraches at the swap meets, there was something nice about the smell of the leather. There still is,' he said. 'But selling this type of shoe online seems far from its origins.' Now, the Oaxaca government is reportedly preparing legal action against Adidas and Willy Chavarría over the Oaxaca Slip On, which features elements of traditional Yalalteco huaraches. Lawmakers say the design may lack proper authorization from Yalálag artisans and accuse the brand of cultural appropriation. Officials have also raised concerns about the unauthorized use of the name 'Oaxaca.' While the controversy touches on complex questions of identity, fashion and representation, Montes believes it's important to examine what being 'seen' in elite spaces really means for marginalized communities. 'I get it, especially in the fashion world, that's the place people want to make it. And sure, we're being seen. But seen how? And seen by whom?' she asked. 'Our communities are under attack right now, so there's a disconnect. Just because we're being represented on a runway, does that mean anything will actually change?' Chavarría and his team have not yet responded to a request for a comment on this story.
