Welcome to LA

KCRW

4.4 (435)
SOCIETY & CULTURE

Los Angeles is a city carved out of the desert — a conjured image of paradise. Award-winning journalist David Weinberg returns with stories of people who learn what lies beyond the dream.

07/08/2020

Nikola and Fritz

When David first got the email, it just seemed like one of those offers that’s too good to be true. The idea that he would be holding the reins of a horse drawn carriage tearing across the high plains of Colorado and that his passenger would be the famous movie star Ethan Hawke, the whole idea of being in a movie just seemed unlikely. This was the dream of millions of people who have made their way to L.A. It’s become a cliche, all those starry eyed dreamers flocking to California with a singular vision of becoming a movie star. And here was this offer sitting in his lap. All he had to do was say yes. This is the story of David Weinberg’s acting gig on the movie “Tesla” — and the story of Nikola Tesla himself, an inventor who changed the world but who spent his life watching rivals steal his ideas to reap great fortunes.

50 min
07/01/2020

Welcome To Richard’s Famous LA Food Podcast

A crossover spectacular! Richard Parks III, the host of Richard’s Famous Food Podcast, helps David find where food meets fame in Los Angeles. And is that Wolfgang Puck in the backseat?

34 min
06/24/2020

Friday Night: The Kingdom of Time

Remember what Friday nights used to feel like? It was freedom, that moment when you get off work, and your time no longer belongs to someone else — the night is yours. Here is an ode, a time capsule, to everyone's favorite night of the week.

58 min
06/17/2020

What’s Ours

In this episode of Welcome to LA: A look at redlining in Southern California. A story about how Black families are being priced-out of LA and moving to Palmdale and other cities of the High Desert. Also some rock and roll.

36 min
06/10/2020 · BONUS

A Quick Message

‘Welcome to LA’ is not putting out a new episode this week. In the meantime, host David Weinberg recommends some podcasts that are worth a listen during this current moment.

3 min
06/03/2020

Deep Time: The Strange Life of an LA Googie

Inside an old restaurant you can hear the sound of kids hunkered down at the counter, plotting a revolution. It’s a long shot for sure, but maybe they will pull it off. Maybe they will save us all.

30 min
05/27/2020

Buffalo Soldiers

How did a group of stuntmen in the 1960s diversify Hollywood? On this episode of Welcome to LA, we delve into the origin story of the Black Stuntmen’s Association.

25 min
05/20/2020

The Best of All Possible Worlds: A Prologue

Have you ever had a friend who you thought should live their life differently than they do? A story about building a meaningful life out of chaos.

1h 8m

See All (19)

4.4

out of 5

435 Ratings

Relistening for the third time

08/12/2022

he110kittee

I love this show. Every story is so different yet captures humanity and the strangeness, otherworldly nature of life in LA. I don’t think he’s making any more seasons of the show which is extremely disappointing.
Great storytelling

09/09/2021

slugjake

Modern-day California Americana. I wish every episode of This American Life were this good.
I love this podcast

09/30/2020

blq75

I seriously am getting so sad that I’m almost to the end and there won’t be anymore. I have enjoyed the stories so much and it is so great the way they are told. Amazing storyteller and it makes me think about stuff other than the sh*t weighing so heavily on my mind these days.
Too many errors

10/04/2020

eclectic7

Out of the rotation because of constant errors. For instance, Richard Neutra, not Philip Johnson, designed the church where Robert Schuler preached both to the congregants and a drive-in crowd. This was the predecessor to Johnson’s Crystal Cathedral, which did not have drive-in services. Just sorta sloppy.

Los Angeles is a city carved out of the desert — a conjured image of paradise. Award-winning journalist David Weinberg returns with stories of people who learn what lies beyond the dream.