Smogland Radio

Jamel and Daisy

Most Sunday nights, Jamel will make a nice meal for himself and Daisy, and they’ll sit down to watch the football together.
 
Daisy is his best friend – a 14-year-old beagle.
 
Right now, Jamel and Daisy are living in a semi-converted garage. Jamel's looking for a better and more stable place to live – but he’s been turned away from housing because he refuses to be separated from Daisy. 
 
Over the last few months, Jamel has been keeping an audio diary for LA Public Press, to give us a sense of what day-to-day life is like for him and Daisy. Reporter Clare Wiley collaborated with Jamel to bring us this snapshot of his life with Daisy.
 
Plus, a first preview of what we've been working on: one investigation told over four episodes. Our first mini-season, out this summer!

Sleazy Huizy, who’s a bigger sellout than you?

The notorious former city council member Jose Huizar has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for taking millions in bribes from developers, selling out Boyle Heights, downtown LA, and the rest of his district. We went on a field trip to the sentencing, and this week on the show — we’re taking you there. With recordings and analysis from LAPP’s own Nancy Meza, Phoenix Tso, Elizabeth Chou, Mariah Castañeda and Carla Green.
 
Plus, an exciting update about the future of Smogland Radio.
 
For more on everything that happened with Huizar and the corruption scandal, check out The Sellout (https://open.spotify.com/episode/00LZg3ekj35JznS2Ny7lXj?si=cbe3927de8824031), an investigative podcast that was hosted by audience director Mariah Castañeda, produced by audio director Carla Green, and featured extensive interviews with Smogland Radio’s own host and executive producer, Nancy Meza. 
 
You can find the wild appendix that Huizar and his lawyers filed with the court, including pages of text messages from Huizar’s former aide George Esparza, here (https://ia601308.us.archive.org/3/items/jose-huizar-appendix-a-gov.uscourts.cacd.-790267.1228.19/Jose%20Huizar%20APPENDIX%20A%20gov.uscourts.cacd.790267.1228.19.pdf). Thanks to Kim Cooper and Richard Schave of Esotouric Tours, who uploaded the file.

Renter’s Hotline: Don’t underestimate seniors

This week, we’ve got the second edition of Renter’s Hotline, our tenant advice segment. This time, Dominique called in about an issue that her dad is having at his apartment building in Paramount, where the landlord keeps raising the rent on Dominique’s father and other tenants with housing vouchers. She got advice from lawyer Gina Hong and organizer Chris Estrada from the Los Angeles Center for Community Law and Action. Plus, a dispatch from team Shampoolio at a MacArthur Park mutual aid event last week.
 
Disclaimer: Information in this episode isn’t a substitute for legal advice — please seek out a lawyer if you’re facing a legal issue. You can find some tenant legal clinics at lapublicpress.org/renters.

A little journey across Los Angeles… together.

This week, six scenes from all over Los Angeles (okay, including one in Joshua Tree). Footage of a neighborhood council meeting, obtained through a public records request. An unusual guard animal in El Sereno. A renowned musician at the Día de los Muertos celebration on Olvera Street. Two different stargazing trips — one successful, one not so successful. And an anxious dog at a punk show. We’re REALLY going on a little journey across LA together.

Every day you’re holding your breath: A Jewish and a Palestinian organizer on the fight for Palestinians

This week, we’re spending the show with two Los Angeles-area organizers on the fight for Palestinians in the wake of Israel’s relentless bombing campaign that has now killed more than 11,000 Gazans.
Noa Kattler-Kupetz grew up in the conservative Jewish movement in Los Angeles, but now organizes with If Not Now and is calling for a ceasefire and an end to Israel’s apartheid system.
And Rida Hamida is a Palestinian-American Muslim organizer who has long been doing intersectional work to unite communities in the struggle for liberation. She’s the founder of an organization called Latino Muslim Unity and started a community initiative called Taco Trucks at Every Mosque.

There’s no place like home: The story of the Jasmine Avenue encampment

This week, we’re spending the entire show with the residents of one encampment on the edge of Culver City. When they learned they were facing a sweep designed to displace them, the residents of the encampment decided to fight to stay there. They’d formed a community on Jasmine Avenue. And they felt safe on that block, right next to a large Catholic church and school. But then they found out who was leading the campaign to displace them.

What happened in Bell Gardens

This week, we got a tip about something going down at the Bell Gardens city council, so managing editor Adrian Baumann and LA county reporter Ashley Orona went to investigate. Plus, a dispatch from the Aetna Street community in the San Fernando Valley, where unhoused residents say it feels like the city has put a target on their back.
 
NOTE: This episode was updated with a small development in the story of the Bell Gardens recall and a correction to the location of the Bicycle Casino (it's east – not west – of the freeway).

LA Pee Pee (or, why it’s so hard to find a place to pee in Los Angeles)

This week, we’re digging into why we have just fourteen truly public bathrooms in Los Angeles. Reporter Maylin Tu talks about the history of those fourteen bathrooms, why we don’t seem to be getting many more (even with the Olympics looming), and how it all relates to the criminalization of poverty and homelessness. Plus, we have a eulogy — for now! — of another historic Little Tokyo business: Anzen Hardware.

A battle on the streets of Huntington Park

This week, we’re going to the Southeast LA city of Huntington Park, where street vendors and vendor advocates have found themselves in an unsettling battle with the city. Plus, our correspondent Ruth tells us why her relationship with Staples is… complicated.
You can find the videos Ruth references in her story here (https://x.com/FilmThePoliceLA/status/1650613941071155200?s=20) and here (https://x.com/FilmThePoliceLA/status/1650228253251231744?s=20)

Food pantries, block parties, and goodbye to Suehiro in Little Tokyo

This week, we’ve got a report on mutual aid groups who are trying their best to keep people from going hungry — since government assistance isn’t nearly enough. And, we’re going for a walk through Little Tokyo and Skid Row with Theo Henderson, host of the podcast We the Unhoused (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/we-the-unhoused/id1490017575). Plus, community updates on Star Garden, Suehiro, and more. For more information on Suehiro, visit https://lapublicpress.org/2023/06/suehiro-cafe-thrived-for-over-50-years-but-will-it-survive-gentrification-los-angeles-la-little-tokyo-metro/. To leave us a voicemail, call (323) 200-9539.