LAist Studios

“LA Made” is a series exploring stories of bold Californian innovators and how they forever changed the lives of millions all over the world. Each season will unpack the untold and surprising stories behind some of the most exciting innovations that continue to influence our lives today. Season 2, “LA Made: The Barbie Tapes,” tells the backstory of the world’s most popular doll, Barbie. Barbie is a cultural icon but what do you really know about her? Hear Barbie's origin story from the people who created her. Co-hosted by Antonia Cereijido and M.G. Lord, author of Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll, hear the wild stories from never-before-heard tapes of interviews with Barbie inventor Ruth Handler, her wardrobe designer and the sculptors and fabricators, and the innovative marketers who made her what she is today. This 3-part series premieres July 6, 2023. Season 1, “LA Made: Blood, Sweat & Rockets,” tells the hidden story of the fearless, groundbreaking and ambitious crew who shaped our quest to outer space and ushered in the early days of space exploration at Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at CalTech. Known as the “Suicide Squad,” the team’s road to triumph was fraught with controversies involving the occult, a suspected spy ring, unplanned explosions, and a suspicious death. Join writer and life-long aerospace fanatic M.G. Lord as she uncovers their story and reveals the shocking origins of rocket science in this 12 episode season. Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live. This podcast was made possible with support from the Committee for Greater LA in partnership with the Weingart Foundation.

NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING is a new show about how difficult – but not impossible – it is to make something actually good in Hollywood. Join LAist and The Black List each week as we put your favorite actors, directors, and writers through the wringer to see if they’ve got what it takes to make a successful movie or TV show – with, of course, an escalating series of helpful studio executive notes. In the process, we’ll poke fun at the industry we know and love, and see if famed screenwriter William Goldman was right when he said, “Nobody knows anything.” NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING is hosted by Franklin Leonard, founder and CEO of The Black List, a platform that helps Hollywood discover great scripts. The show is a production of The Black List and LAist Studios, in partnership with The Ankler. New episodes drop weekly on Tuesdays and can also be heard on LAist 89.3 on weekends.

How to L.A. aims to drop a little knowledge about ALL the things that affect the people of Los Angeles, whether that’s something that makes our city great (tacos!) or something that we need to work on, like the alarming number of traffic collisions. We serve the curious Angeleno who wants to better connect with our city, discover the new, navigate the confusing and even drive some change along the way.  Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live. This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Growing up, I was taught to say that I was “ok” when I really wasn’t. Mental health just wasn’t something that anyone in my family or community talked about or even had access to. Yet pretty much everyone was affected by it.  Today, young people of color are disproportionately affected by mental health issues and are not getting the resources they need, and I want to change that.   And this is why this podcast exists. Yeah No, I’m Not Ok, my new podcast made in collaboration with LAist Studios, is here to open up the conversation about mental health. Every week we will explore issues that youth face all over the world (addiction, depression, anxiety, suicide, radical self love, and much much more) through conversations with friends, colleagues, activists, artists and health care professionals, all people who have gone through something life-changing and are now healing from it.  We want to start a mental health revolution. A movement that can start by talking about how we feel. One where we’re not ashamed of our own human experience.  What will feel like simple conversations among friends will really become a complex narrative of what is happening right now, especially to young people of color. With a real and emotional sound and few easy answers, Yeah No, I’m Not Ok will hopefully become a critical show in a critical time, a place for you to bring your complicated feelings and spend time with people who are rooting for you. – Diane Guerrero This LAist Studios podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and our listeners get 10% off their first month of online therapy at BetterHelp.com/LAist Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live. This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Over 11 years and 570 episodes, John Rabe and Team Off-Ramp scoured SoCal for the people, places, and ideas whose stories needed to be told, and the show became a love-letter to Los Angeles. Now, John is sharing selections from the Off-Ramp vault to help you explore this imperfect paradise. Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live. This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people. (Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.)

In May of 1980, the sleepy streets of Norco, California were turned into an all-out war zone in what is one of the most violent bank robberies in American history. From LAist Studios in collaboration with Futuro Studios comes the new podcast—Norco ’80 based on the book by Peter Houlahan. Listen as host and producer Antonia Cereijido tells the unbelievable true story about God, guns, survivalism and the bank robbery that changed policing in America forever. Using eyewitness testimony and never before heard police tapes, Norco ’80 takes listeners on a wild ride, and serves as a cautionary tale in the context of America being immersed in the middle of an economic crisis, revamped end of the world paranoia and a complex conversation about policing.