Imperfect Paradise
Imperfect Paradise
Playlist by Imperfect ParadiseImperfect Paradise is LAist's weekly on-demand news magazine show that pulls back the curtain and dives deeper into the biggest and most consequential SoCal stories of the week from our newsroom. New …Follow the podcast:
199 clip(s) in playlist
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…
23:14
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 …
32:00
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…
30:25
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 …
24:24
More dads are taking parental leave than moms. Here's why.
For the first time ever, more fathers than mothers applied for Paid Family Leave to bond with their newborn child in California. LAist’s Elly Yu dives into the reasons behind this growing trend and talks with three men about their role as fathers. Read Elly’s reporting on paid family leave on LAis…
20:39
Has World Cup fever translated into a boost for LA businesses?
Hosting the World Cup was supposed to be an economic boost for Los Angeles, but what effect has it really had on local businesses? LAist reporter Destiny Torres examines this question through one historic tourist destination in Los Angeles: Olvera Street. Read Destiny’s reporting on Olvera Street …
20:58
Can this museum rebrand AI art?
Los Angeles has a new museum: Dataland –- the world’s first museum completely devoted to AI-generated art. In a time of high anxiety around the impact of AI on jobs, the environment and human creativity, can Dataland change the conversation around human-AI collaboration? LAist All Things Considered…
22:09
On the ground for LA's historic ICE protests (Redux)
This episode originally aired on June 13, 2025. ICE raids began last Friday across Southern California. People have been detained and there have been confrontations between protesters and law enforcement. What exactly went down and where does Los Angeles go from here? We hear from family members o…
37:09
War, politics, and sports collide as Iran competes in LA for the World Cup
The Iran national soccer team competed in its first match at the 2026 World Cup in Los Angeles – after months of uncertainty over whether they’d play amid the US war on Iran. It's the first time in the tournament’s history that a host nation has gone to war with a participating nation. In our final…
23:49
From immigrant roots to celebrities, how LA became a soccer city
Los Angeles is hosting eight matches for this year’s FIFA World Cup. Today, LA is home to three professional soccer teams and one of the biggest soccer youth organizations in the nation, but did you know its history with soccer goes back over a century? With the world cup at our doorstep, LAist cor…
22:38