EXCLUSIVELAist Studios, Southern California Public Radio’s podcast division, launches a series of audio series.
The company is behind series like California City, Norco ’80 And California Love, has created six new shows in 2022.
The slate was developed by Antonia Cereijido (executive producer at LAist Studios), and includesSnooze and Imperfect Paradise, K-Pop Dreaming, Lost Chap: The Forgotten Revolutionary. Human/Nature AndThe Big Burn (full details below).
Herb Scannell is the President and Chief Executive Officer of SCPR. “When LAist Studios launched over just two years ago, we committed to creating a space for vibrant and innovative voices that reflect the ethos of Los Angeles to harness the power of audio storytelling. The diversity of our city is what makes LA so special and LAist Studios seeks to capture that in all that we do, beginning with our commitment to being a studio where all areas of production are staffed by creators and storytellers of underrepresented backgrounds. This ambitious slate tells a breadth of LA stories to the world that will resonate here and beyond borders”
LAist Studios has announced the following slate:
Imperfect Paradise (January 27, 2022)
Seasonal show Imperfect Paradise tells stories about the realities behind the dreams. Each season takes on something essential about California that will help frame a national or even international issue — its progressiveness, its reputation as a home for dreamers and schemers, its heartbreaking inequality, its varied and diverse communities, its unique combination of dense cities and wild places, and breaks it down into three, 20-30 minute episodes that will be released on Thursdays.
In this first story, KPCC and LAist senior reporter Jill Replogle follows a former-punk-rocker-turned-activist on a quest to address the homelessness crisis in Orange County, one of the wealthiest places in America, while going up against a community of fearful neighbors. This podcast will be edited and produced by Emily Guerin, host of the investigative narrative podcast California City.
Snooze (Spring 2022)
From Megan Tan, producer of California Love, a show about things people put off, how they conquer them, but most importantly, how they conquer themselves. Megan meets with each guest in an episode to discuss their fears and create an action plan. She also draws on advice from experts and prominent creatives. As she helps those around her, Megan in turn winds up tackling a significant goal that she’s been snoozing on.
K-Pop Dreaming (2022)
K-pop has dominated a large portion of the American music industry. K-pop’s rapid rise is not a sudden phenomenon. It has been growing over many decades. It’s a history that has to do with Korean soft power, the internet and a fanbase with multiculturalism in its DNA. It’s also a history that has to do with Los Angeles – especially LA’s vast Korean diaspora and the influential neighborhood of Koreatown.
LAist Studios will present K-Pop Dreaming. It will cover the history of K-pop, linking the dots between its conception and today. “soft power” export by the Korean government, to its utter omnipresence in today’s culture. K-pop isn’t just impacting the way we listen to music or how we dress, but even how we vote. K-pop fans in the U.S. tend to democratic leaning ideologies and will often flood a hashtag with which they don’t agree with videos of their favorite stars. K-pop fans even impacted a Trump presidential rally by buying up tickets so actual supporters couldn’t attend. And much of the K–pop trend in the U.S. started by way of L.A. This podcast will look at how the Korean American diaspora and enclaves like LA’s Koreatown have helped shape the sensibility of K-pop and, conversely, how K-pop is shaping global culture.
The Forgotten Revolutionary: The Chapter Lost (Spring 2022)
Lost Chapter is a limited-run seasonal series that explores the mysterious stories of American History that have been overlooked by history books. The first season was released. “Lost Chapter: The Forgotten Revolutionary,” KPCC and LAist reporter Adolfo Lopez-Guzman presents an investigative noir exploring the Chicano students rights movement of the 1990s and unravels the mysterious death of one of its leaders – Oscar Gomez.
In the early 1990’s, Gomez was one the most prominent voices of the movement, galvanizing the public through the power of radio as the host of the KDVS’ radio show, La Onda Chicana. Oscar was found dead at Santa Barbara’s Santa Barbara shore on November 17, 1994. The cause of his death was not determined by police. Lopez-Guzman was a bright-eyed writer for San Diego State University’s Chicano newspaper when news broke of the untimely death of the young activist in November 1994. Through new interviews and found audio, the series follows Lopez-Guzman as he investigates Oscar’s death and recovers his own Chicano voice, while introducing listeners to a forgotten generation of activists who went beyond fighting against racist laws to demand a centering of indigenous identities in education, media and the arts. This story is the link between the civil rights movement in the 1960s and the antiracism struggles today.
Human/Nature (Early 2022)
We are facing an anxiety epidemic, and with a quick glance at the news, it’s easy to understand why. Studies show one simple thing that can help ease anxious minds – stepping outside. In this weekly series, host Marcos Trinidad becomes a guide to the world beyond our doorsteps, helping awaken curiosity about the great outdoors. Social media sites have the ability to control us and make us doom-scrolling, or even numb out for hours. Marcos will teach us how to get out of the algorithm, reconnect with our humanity, and regain our attention. Spending time in nature isn’t just good for our minds – in this tech obsessed culture, it’s ultimately a form of resistance.
The Big Burn (Fall 2022)
As the world enters a new age of climate change-driven megafires, science reporter and host Jacob Margolis (The Big One: Your Survival Guide) dives deep into personal stories that illuminate the history of how we got here, why we keep screwing things up, and what we can do to survive – and even thrive – while the world around us burns.
Ultimately, the series aims to not only help people come to terms with where we’re at, but to offer the audience hope and a practical roadmap for success at the individual, societal, and governmental levels to help reform the way that we think about wildfires in the age of climate change.