



Imperfect Paradise: What our obsession with bald eagle Jackie tells us about ourselves
The death of Jackie signals the end of her story with Shadow – as well as for Big Bear Lake, and for millions of fans who followed the eagles’ saga on livestream for years. LAist reporter Makenna Cramer joins Imperfect Paradise to examine how the eagles turned the tides for a fight against luxury h…

Imperfect Paradise: After two years of progress, homelessness went up in LA. Why?
Homelessness increased in Los Angeles this year following two previous years of declines, according to the recently released 2026 “point-in-time” homeless count. It’s a setback for the region, and for L.A. Mayor Karen Bass who’s touted prior declines as evidence that her approach to addressing the …

Imperfect Paradise: Can a city built by the oil industry stop drilling for good?
The city of Los Angeles is home to over two thousand active oil wells, many concentrated in communities of color where residents have long reported serious health issues. On this episode of Imperfect Paradise, LAist’s Erin Stone takes us inside one neighborhood’s fight to shut down a drill site, an…

Imperfect Paradise: Who gets due process? Inside the fight over immigration bond hearings at Adelanto
Immigration bond denials have jumped sharply under the second Trump administration — nowhere more than at the Adelanto ICE detention center in Southern California. On this week's Imperfect Paradise: LAist's Jared Bennett follows the case of a 70-year-old L.A. street vendor held at Adelanto for six …

Epilogue
We close the series with a meditation on how 28 years after the 1992 Riots, for many in L.A., things feel exactly the same.

Ellie
Eleuteria “Ellie” Hernández moved to Los Angeles from a small town in Mexico when she was 14 and fell in love with the city. In this episode, Walter sits down with Ellie, his mother, to understand her relationship to L.A. and how it shaped his own. California Love sponsors include: UCLA Extensi…

Compton Cowboys
There’s a horse ranch in the heart of Compton that may hold the answers for salvation and redemption for the city’s black cowboys. Read the original NYTimes article, "For the Compton Cowboys, Horseback Riding Is a Legacy, and Protection." Read Walter Thompson-Hernández's book The Compton Cowboy…

Parrots: A Parable
A first-parrot perspective into legends and myths of how L.A. became home to the world’s largest population of green parrots. This LAist Studios podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and our listeners get 10% off their first month of online therapy at BetterHelp.com/LAist California Love is a limite…

Kobe
Walter dives deep on what Kobe meant to him in his life and how the icon’s death spurred a collective mourning throughout the city. This LAist Studios podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and our listeners get 10% off their first month of online therapy at BetterHelp.com/LAist California Love is a …

P Line
A story about a wild party line that many Los Angeles’ teenagers used to create a fantasy world. California Love sponsors include: Stream We Are Freestyle Love Supreme beginning July 17, only on Hulu This LAist Studios podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and our listeners get 10% off their first …