Hosted by NPR’s Emily Kwong, Inheriting seeks to break apart the AAPI monolith and unpack the legacies Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are constantly inheriting.
The overview: In our first season, the show tells the stories of families across the Asian American and Pacific Islander diaspora, from Cambodia, Guam, Japan, India, Korea, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Vietnam. You’ll hear conversations between parents and children, spouses and siblings and grandparents, processing the past in real-time.
Why now: Inheriting is a new show about Asian American and Pacific Islander families, where the past is personal. Season 1 traces the journey of seven people who each have a question about their history, so they turn to their families for answers. Each episode explores how their most personal, private moments have been a part of history and ripple through generations.
Read on... to see photos and learn more about the subjects of the series.
Inheriting is a show about Asian American and Pacific Islander families, where the past is personal. Season 1 traces the journey of seven individuals who each have a question about their history, so they turn to their families for answers. Each episode explores how their most personal, private moments have been a part of history and ripple through generations.
In our first season, the show tells the stories of families across the Asian American and Pacific Islander diaspora, from Cambodia, Guam, Japan, India, Korea, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Vietnam. You’ll hear conversations between parents and children, spouses and siblings and grandparents, processing the past in real-time. Hosted by NPR’s Emily Kwong, Inheriting seeks to break apart the AAPI monolith and unpack the legacies Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are constantly inheriting.
Here are some of the stories featured in season one of Inheriting.
Carol Kwang Park photographed at her family's former gas station in Compton.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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Carol Park at 12 years old.
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Courtesy Carol Park
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Carol Kwang Park & The L.A. Uprising
Carol Kwang Park’s family owned a gas station in Compton at the time of the 1992 Los Angeles Uprising. Park didn’t understand why tensions came to a head in Los Angeles, following the acquittal of the officers who beat Rodney King. Her mom was actually stuck at the gas station during the Uprising and Park was worried she wouldn't make it home. As an adult, a personal crisis finally prompts Park to start processing this event and ask her mom about her experiences.
Carol Kwang Park started helping out at her family's gas station on Rosecrans Avenue as a child.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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Listen to Episode 1 of "Inheriting"
On learning to work at the family gas station as a kid:
“(My mom) grabbed this plastic crate box, and she looks at me and she says, 'You're double digits. You're 10 years old, you can work now.' ... (So) I get up on this box because I was still too little to reach the buttons of the register, and (my mom) proceeds to teach me how to basically sell gas.”
"Don’t get me wrong. I did complain and I did get mad at mom. I would be like, 'This is unfair. It’s child labor. This is wrong. But let me go get my backpack. I’ll be in the car. See you in two minutes!'"
Carol Park and Son Lye Park sit and talk inside the family’s gas station garage in 2012.
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Photo courtesy Carol Park
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On finally asking about what her mother experienced during the Uprising:
"She had called 911 and no one was coming. She knew it was not good. People throughout that day had also told her you better get going. ... It was the first time she said that she was scared."
“When I'm teaching, I tell the students, go home and talk to your parents, and it will change your lives and how you see them and how they see you.”
Listen to Episode 2 of "Inheriting"
“She just gave me this look, and it was just that moment of a mother and daughter staring at each other and realizing there is love between us. There is a recognition. She's seeing me, and I'm seeing her, in this very moment.”
Carol Kwang Park teaching her Introduction to Race and Ethnicity class at California State University Long Beach.
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On her work today as a professor teaching students in her Introduction to Race and Ethnicity class at CSU Long Beach:
“When I'm teaching, I tell the students, go home and talk to your parents, and it will change your lives and how you see them and how they see you.”
Victoria Uce and her father Bo embrace inside the Khemara Buddhikarama Cambodian Buddhist Temple in Long Beach.
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Rottana and Bo Uce with their two daughters, Victoria and Rose, on their wedding day.
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Victoria Uce & Surviving The Khmer Rouge
Victoria Uce knows what her parents went through under the Khmer Rouge. Her dad was forced into becoming a child soldier in the regime’s youth brigade. Uce now wants to understand how she was raised with so much grace and love in her childhood when her parents’ experiences were far from that.
Family photos show Bo Uce as a child in Cambodia, as a young man at Dartmouth College, and with his wife and two daughters.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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Listen to Episode 3 of "Inheriting"
On learning about her dad's experience during the Cambodian Genocide:
"He used to tell me that he used to steal food for his siblings, but if you're caught you risk death. How is that something you go through as a kid? And how did that make him feel?"
On how she feels asking her dad questions about his past:
"I see this more as me holding his hand and letting him know, people do want to hear your stories and this is your story. This is something that belongs to you and it's always going to be a part of you and that's OK."
The Uce family inside the Khemara Buddhikarama Cambodian Buddhist Temple in Long Beach.
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On how her Cambodian community in Long Beach has found healing, despite many of them experiencing genocide back home:
"For them to come together [and] share recipes, which would've been lost, share language or anecdotes, songs, or memories, I think that's something that's so vital to them and definitely has become quite the anchor in their lives.”
Bảo Trường sits for a portrait in his Koreatown apartment.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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The Trường family in the 1990s.
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Courtesy of Bảo Trường
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Bảo Trương & The Vietnam War
Bảo Trương’s parents both fled Vietnam in 1975 following the war there. His dad, Thuận Trương, was a pilot for the South Vietnamese Air Force, who evacuated nearly 100 people to Thailand just before the fall of Saigon. Thuận Trương detests the current communist government in Vietnam, mourning the country that existed before the war. But Bảo Trương, who never felt like he fit in growing up in Texas, desperately wants to live in today’s Vietnam.
Bảo Trương shops at Thuan Phat Market in the San Gabriel Valley. He frequents Vietnamese markets to source ingredients for his dinner pop-up series, Mr. Jong.
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Bảo Trương picks out a green pomelo at Thuan Phat Market.
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Bảo Trương buys fresh herbs for a recipe he's testing.
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On Bảo Trương’s experience visiting Vietnam as an adult:
"I was like, this is the half of me that was always meant to be here. I felt like I was finally amongst peers, amongst friends. Making my own friends as an adult in Vietnam really made me feel like I was home. ... Nowadays, I think Vietnam calls to me, every day."
Bảo Trương preparing dishes at a Mr. Jong pop-up.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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Attendees of a Mr. Jong pop-up in Echo Park.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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Listen to Episode 4 of "Inheriting"
On organizing the Mr. Jong dinner pop-up series in Los Angeles, at which he and his friends cook classic Vietnamese and Taiwanese dishes with modern twists:
"It feels like I’m at my grandma’s house. It feels warm. I feel hugged, I feel loved. It feels like this is the community I’ve been looking for."
"Nowadays, I think Vietnam calls to me, every day."
Bảo Trương at Thuan Phat Supermarket, a Vietnamese market in the San Gabriel Valley.
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On what food means to him:
"For Asian families … we can be a little repressed with our emotions, and I feel like food is the way that we show love to each other. You’re nourishing people."
Leah Bash photographed at Sunset Cliffs in San Diego.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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Leah Bash holds a locket her husband gave her.
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Leah Bash & Japanese American Incarceration
Leah Bash’s dad was just a baby when he and his entire family were forced into an incarceration camp during World War II, along with nearly 125,000 other Japanese Americans. Bash is now on a mission — a generation later — to figure out how her dad's experience has affected her own mental health struggles.
Leah Bash flips through a book that details her family's story of incarceration during WWII.
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Reflecting on her dad’s experience during camp:
“I feel very strongly that you can't be born into such a traumatic situation, in an unsafe situation, as a baby, without it having some effect on the trajectory of the rest of your life.”
“It’s an untouchable subject. I can't just call up a cousin and be like, ‘Hey, does your mom suffer mentally from camp? It's not the happy subject that people wanna talk about.’”
Leah Bash frequents Sunset Cliffs for her mental health.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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On how she wants to move forward by starting the conversation about the past:
“This is something people did to us. We suffered from this. And there's healing to be done. It's not our fault if we have emotional issues. It's because we've been scarred and we haven't healed, and now we need to start the conversation about healing.”
Saira Sayeed and Shakeel Syed embrace in the front yard of their home.
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Saira Sayeed and her children.
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Saira Sayeed and Shakeel Syed & 9/11
Following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Shakeel Syed fought for the civil liberties of Muslims who were unfairly targeted by the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department. But his activism had a cost. He was away from home on nights and weekends, absent from his wife, Saira Sayeed, and their four kids. Sayeed took on the work at home by herself, and they’ve never really talked about it — until now.
A drawing of the Syed family made by one of the children.
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On witnessing how Muslim men were targeted following 9/11 and how their wives inspired Sayeed:
“There were other people whose husbands … had gone through so much, they were put in prison, they were deported. And here they are bringing up four or five children on their own and they held their families together. I really drew strength from those women. Those women are true heroes.”
“I can't be out there like Shakeel, but I can do this. I can bring up children who are going to be productive, honest citizens of this country. And still be proud of practicing Islam and being Muslims.”
A common dynamic in the household as Sayeed took care of the home and raised the children so Syed could focus on activism.
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On the choice she and Syed made together about their roles within the family:
“Shakeel and I made that decision. That one person would be at home and one person will work, and it just happened to be him. So what if I'm at home with the kids? That was a decision that we made.”
Saira Sayeed in her home kitchen.
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On whether Syed thinks his activism hindered his relationship with his children:
“I had a deep belief and a sense of security and assurance that (Saira) will fill that gap. Could I have spent more time (with the kids)? Undoubtedly, yes. Did I spend as much time as I could have, should have? No I did not. … I wouldn’t be able to do an iota of what I did if it was not for the extraordinary and exceptional support of Saira in my life.”
Leialani Wihongi-Santos at All Souls Cemetery in Long Beach where many of her family members are buried.
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Photos of Leialani Wihongi-Santos when she was a baby that her grandfather keeps in a red suitcase.
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Leialani Wihongi-Santos & Guam
Growing up on Guam, Leialani Wihongi-Santos was taught the U.S. "saved" the island. But her family’s CHamoru history as relayed by her grandpa reveals a deeper, more complex story.
Leialani Wihongi-Santos and her grandfather Joseph Aflleje-Santos hold a photo of his parents on their wedding day in Guam.
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On learning about the false narrative of the U.S. presence in Guam:
“After the Americans came in — they ruined the land, they bought out all our land, they tore everything down. But I didn't hear that story until I was older.”
Family photos that Joseph Aflleje-Santos keeps in a red suitcase.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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On future generations learning about the history of Guam:
“If you are on a land that has experienced a lot of trauma, especially if you are the people of that land, have you learned that land's history?”
Joseph Aflleje-Santos and his granddaughter Leialani Wihongi-Santos at All Souls Cemetery in Long Beach where many of their loved ones rest.
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Joseph Aflleje-Santos photographed with Leialani Wihongi-Santos' father.
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On her mission to uplift Pacific Islander knowledge and experiences in her work today:
“There's so much that our community needs, and that isn't gonna be achieved without us specifically spearheading it. Because as of right now, the library information science field and archival studies in general, is very white.”
Nicole and Patrick Salaver at her graduation from San Francisco State University in 2003. Nicole lobbied for SF State to give Pat an honorary degree at the graduation
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Courtesy of Nicole Salaver
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Nicole Salaver & The Third World Liberation Front
Nicole Salaver’s uncle, Pat Salaver, was one of the leaders at the forefront of the Third World Liberation Front, which brought ethnic studies to colleges nationwide in the late 1960s. But not many people know about Pat’s work. Salaver is trying to change that.
Pat Salaver pictured holding his niece Nicole when she was a baby.
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Courtesy of Nicole Salaver
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On the lack of recognition today of Pat as a Filipino civil rights hero:
“If you ask any Latin American person, who is Cesar Chavez? If you ask any African American person, who is Malcolm X? Who is MLK? Everyone knows who they are. Any American knows who they are. But if you ask a Filipino American or Asian American, who is Patrick Salaver? … They have no clue. And to me, he is just as important as those people. And he sacrificed just as much as those people.”
"To be a good descendant is to ask questions and to connect with our elders..."
Nicole Salaver at the San Francisco State University campus near a mural honoring Filipino history and activism.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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Nicole Salaver's uncle, Pat Salaver, was instrumental in bringing ethnic studies to universities.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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On her own work today, making a film about her uncle’s life:
“It's my life's mission, not only to raise my son, but also have (Pat’s) story out there so that other Asian Americans and just Americans in general see the importance and sacrifice that my uncle laid his life for.”
Nicole Salaver with her uncle Pat.
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Courtesy of Nicole Salaver
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On how asking questions about the past can bring families together and lead to healing:
“To be a good descendant is to ask questions and to connect with our elders and it doesn't even have to be that old of an elder, like it can be an older sister or an older brother.Liberating others through storytelling, through oral history, and Kapwa, which is a Filipino saying of togetherness … interconnection with others and empathy, seeing yourself in other people.”
Gab Chabrán
covers what's happening in food and culture for LAist.
Published May 14, 2026 5:00 AM
Eight decades in, the original Tommy's stand at Beverly and Rampart still glows.
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Courtesy Original Tommy's
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Topline:
Original Tommy's turns 80 this week. To mark the octogenarian occasion, on Friday, a chili cheeseburger will cost you just 80 cents instead of the regular $5.50 at all locations, noon-8 p.m.
Why it matters: In Los Angeles, you can't get more local than a Tommy's Burger. Consuming the smothered burger — its signature beanless chili dripping through the to-go wrapper — is a rite of passage for many. Eight decades in, the original stand is still standing at Beverly and Rampart.
The details: On Friday, noon to 8 p.m. only, you can get 80-cent chili cheeseburgers (limit three per person) at all Southern California and Nevada locations. The anniversary celebration at the original downtown L.A. location includes the Belmont High School Marching Band, a DJ and a resolution from Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez , who represents the area, honoring 80 years of business in California.
The backstory: Tommy Koulax opened the original stand at Beverly and Rampart in 1946. This week, the iconic SoCal chain, which spawned many competitors, celebrates 80 years across all 32 of its locations — and you're invited. Daughter Cynthia Koulax will be greeting the community Friday, alongside CEO Dawna Bernal and CFO Richard Hicks.
Topline:
Original Tommy's turns 80 this week. To mark the octogenarian occasion, on Friday, a chili cheeseburger will cost you just 80 cents instead of the regular $5.50 at all locations, noon-8 p.m.
Why it matters: In Los Angeles, you can't get more local than a Tommy's Burger. Consuming the smothered burger — its signature beanless chili dripping through the to-go wrapper — is a rite of passage for many. Eight decades in, the original stand is still standing at Beverly and Rampart.
The details: Friday, noon to 8 p.m. only, you can get 80-cent chili cheeseburgers (limit three per person) at all Southern California and Nevada locations. The anniversary celebration at the original downtown L.A. location includes the Belmont High School Marching Band, a DJ and a resolution from Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez , who represents the area, honoring 80 years of business in California.
The backstory: Tommy Koulax opened the original stand at Beverly and Rampart in 1946. This week, the iconic SoCal chain, which spawned many competitors, celebrates 80 years across all 32 of its locations — and you're invited. Daughter Cynthia Koulax will be greeting the community Friday, alongside CEO Dawna Bernal and CFO Richard Hicks.
Aaron Schrank
has been on the ground, reporting on homelessness and other issues in L.A. for more than a decade.
Published May 14, 2026 5:00 AM
Two tents on a sidewalk in Hollywood
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Ethan Ward
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LAist
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Topline:
A group of volunteers in Hollywood say they are conducting their own homeless count in the area next week because they don't trust the results of the official regional one. The effort is organized by Hollywood 4WRD.
Hollywood count: About 60 volunteers, mostly staff from Hollywood service provider organizations, are expected to fan out across 30 census tracts Tuesday. Results will be made public a week later May 27, according to organizers.
Why it matters: The neighborhood count comes amid growing questions about the accuracy of the official regional homeless tally. The city of L.A.'s unhoused population decreased by 5.5% between 2023 and 2025, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. But a2025 analysis by the RAND Corporation found LAHSA had undercounted people living outside in certain areas, including Hollywood.
Since 2021, RAND researchers have conducted their own counts in Hollywood, Skid Row and Venice. That research effort, known as LA LEADS, has since lost funding.
Read on ... for details on the Hollywood count.
A group of volunteers in Hollywood say they are conducting their own homeless count in the area next week because they don't trust the results of the official regional one.
The effort is organized by Hollywood 4WRD, a coalition of nonprofit service providers, businesses and residents. About 60 volunteers, mostly staff from Hollywood service provider organizations, are expected to fan out across 30 census tracts Tuesday.
Results will be made public a week later May 27, according to organizers.
The neighborhood count comes amid growing questions about the accuracy of the official regional homeless tally.
The city of L.A.'s unhoused population decreased by 5.5% between 2023 and 2025, according toofficial estimates from the annual count conducted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, or LAHSA. But a2025 analysis by the RAND Corporation found that LAHSA undercounted people living outside in certain areas, including Hollywood.
Hollywood 4WRD executive director Brittney Weissman said the organization’s own experience volunteering for the LAHSA count this year raised even more questions about accuracy.
“Our experience was so confounding, perplexing and inefficient that we've been really deeply questioning the value, utility and accuracy of the count for a couple of years now,” Weissman said.
Organizers said the Hollywood count will use methodology developed by RAND researchers, who ran their own professional counts in Hollywood, Skid Row and Venice from 2021 until earlier this year.
That research effort, known as LA LEADS, has since lost funding.
“If LA LEADS was continuously funded into the future, we would not be doing this effort,” Weissman said. "Because it's no longer funded, we felt we needed to take our own initiative to understand the lay of the land here.”
What's at stake?
More than $300 million in federal and county dollars are allocated annually based on homeless count results. That includes $220 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and nearly $100 million from L.A. County's Measure A sales tax.
LAHSA conducted its most recent official homeless count in January. The agency said it hopes to release the results this summer but has not confirmed a release date.
In her reelection campaign, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass takes credit for reducing homelessness in the city. The official count underpinning her claim is the same one RAND found was missing nearly a third of unsheltered people in key neighborhoods.
Weissman said Hollywood service providers need to know now whether more people are living in vehicles or sleeping outside, so they can adjust how they're doing outreach.
Organizers timed the May 27 release to influence budget negotiations still underway at City Hall, according to Weissman.
She noted that Bass' proposed budget does not include funding for Safe Parking LA, a program that allows unhoused Angelenos to live legally in their vehicles within sanctioned parking lots.
"If we find that vehicular homelessness is on the rise here and we need it badly, this gives us evidence with which to petition decisionmakers for that resource in our community," she said.
What RAND found
RAND's LA LEADS project ran bimonthly counts in Hollywood, Skid Row and Venice from 2021 until this January.
Comparing LAHSA’s official counts to its own, a RAND report found the 2025 homeless count captured 68% of the unsheltered population across those three neighborhoods.
RAND found the population of unsheltered people in Hollywood dropped 49% in 2024, a decline it linked to the city’s Inside Safe program. But the official LAHSA count still captured only 81% of what RAND found in the neighborhood.
The people being missed were mostly vehicle dwellers and “rough sleepers” — people living with no shelter, RAND said.
Skid Row's official tally fared worse, capturing 61% of what RAND found there.
Hollywood 4WRD said its methodology follows RAND’s LA LEADS methodology, which the group said is more precise than LAHSA’s approach.
Each census tract will be covered by at least two independent volunteers, a quality-control measure that helps organizers flag areas that might need to be recounted.
Volunteers will also use pens and paper to record their observations, instead of a mobile app. LAHSA has used an app for its count since 2022 and has acknowledged repeated technical problems with it.
The unofficial homeless count this month is limited to Hollywood, unlike LAHSA's countywide effort. Weissman said she hopes the effort will encourage other neighborhoods to check their own local data.
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Yama Sushi Marketplace locations will host a rotating lineup of Asian-owned brands through the end of the month.
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Gab Chabrán
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LAist
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In this edition:
Stroll the Balboa Island Art Walk, play Ryan Adams’ pinball machines, read kids' books to trees and more of the best things to do this weekend.
Highlights:
Is there a more idyllic corner of SoCal than Balboa Island? Stroll the promenade and enjoy the art and the views at the 31st annual Balboa Island Art Walk. There’s live music and more than 90 artists showing their work with an ocean backdrop.
Head down to Anaheim to check out (and maybe bid on) your next game room addition. Ryan Adams — yep, that’s the one, former Mr. Mandy Moore and indie rocker royalty of the early 2000s — is apparently a big arcade collector, and he’s auctioning off much of his collection. There’s a wide range of arcade games and pinball machines on view to the public, plus opportunities to play, meet collectors and see the warehouse.
The John Rowland Mansion is the oldest extant brick building in Southern California, and has a unique history that the House Museum has recently been instrumental in preserving. Spend some time at the Greek revival building with the whole family for The Giving Trees, a reading of children’s books to trees (with gratitude to Shel Silverstein!) in the garden at the permanent installation Let’s Make a Garden From Old Wounds.
So many of us have stories about secret shows, celeb sightings and special guests showing up at the intimate Hotel Cafe over the past 26 years. The venue’s Instagram has a bevy of famous well-wishers popping into the chat. So it’s truly the end of an era as the iconic night spot hosts its final shows at the Cahuenga location, wrapping things up with a party called Last Dance at the Hotel Cafe featuring Sara Bareilles and many more on Friday.
But if you can’t score a ticket, fear not, because there’s plenty more music on the agenda for this weekend. Licorice Pizza’s Lyndsey Parker recommends Friday shows St. Lucia at the Fonda; Santigold at the Bellwether; Alejandro Sanz at the Greek; and Desert Daze’s Microdazing at the Bellwether, featuring various DJs, including KCRW’s Travis Holcombe and Beastie Boys producer Mario C. Saturday, Demi Lovato is at the Forum, friend-of-LAist Flea plays the Fonda and the big Japanese music festival Zipangu is at Brookside at the Rose Bowl, featuring Atarashii Gakko!, Ado and many more. And on Sunday, Echo & the Bunnymen are at the Greek, and Father John Misty plays the Fox Theater in Pomona.
Elsewhere on LAist, you can get a behind-the-scenes look at historic Santa Monica music store and venue McCabe’s Guitar Shop, find out what gets left behind at Metro’s Lost & Found and get tickets for next week’s LAist x Moth StorySlam at Los Globos.
Events
Los Angeles Old Time Social
Friday and Saturday, May 15 and 16 Velaslavasay Panorama 1122 W. 24th Street, University Park COST: SUGGESTED $20; MORE INFO
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Corey Burns
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Los Angeles Old Time Social
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The 16th annual Los Angeles Old Time Social celebrates the vibrant old-time music scene in Southern California. A kickoff concert on Friday is followed by a full day of activities on Saturday, May 16 at The Velaslavasay Panorama in West Adams. Attend workshops and jams for banjo, fiddle, guitar, singing and dancing. The event is capped off on Saturday night with a big square dance and musical cakes from 7:30 to 10 p.m. No experience or partner is needed. The square dance caller walks everyone through the moves before every song, so it’s easy to follow along in a fun and no-pressure environment.
Chocoholics and ice cream fiends will know pastry chef David Lebovitz’s work well. The Paris-based dessert king is in town promoting his cookbooks, The Great Book of Chocolate and Ready for Dessert with a special event at Friends & Family. His ice cream book is the bible for anyone who's tried their hand at making ice cream at home, and his other desserts also stand up to the test. Yum.
The Giving Trees
Saturday, May 16, 3:30 p.m. John Rowland Mansion 15959 E. Gale Ave., City of Industry COST: FREE; MORE INFO
The John Rowland Mansion is the oldest extant brick building in Southern California, and has a unique history that the House Museum has recently been instrumental in preserving. Spend some time at the Greek revival building with the whole family for The Giving Trees, a reading of children’s books to trees (with gratitude to Shel Silverstein!) in the garden at the permanent installation Let’s Make a Garden From Old Wounds.
Celebrity-Owned Private Collection Arcade and Pinball Auction
Sunday, May 17, 9 a.m. preview Captain’s Auction Warehouse 4421 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim COST: FREE TO PERUSE; MORE INFO
File this one under weird and wonderful. Head down to Anaheim to check out (and maybe bid on) your next game room addition. Ryan Adams — yep, that’s the one, former Mr. Mandy Moore and indie rocker royalty of the early 2000s — is apparently a big arcade collector, and he’s auctioning off much of his collection. There’s a wide range of arcade games and pinball machines on view to the public, plus opportunities to play, meet collectors and see the warehouse.
Red Bull Soapbox Race
Saturday, May 16, 11 a.m. Gloria Molina Grand Park 200 N. Grand Ave., Downtown L.A. COST: FREE; MORE INFO
Daredevils will have a field day at Red Bull’s Soapbox Race, which will transform Grand Park into a cinematic racecourse, where 30 teams, selected from more than 400 applicants, will compete with gravity-powered, homemade crafts for ultimate bragging rights.
Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers: Day of Black Docs
Saturday, May 16, 12 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. American Film Institute 2021 North Western Ave., Los Feliz COST: FROM $23; MORE INFO
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Badwest
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Eventbrite
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Check out documentaries from Black filmmakers that “explore themes of social justice, self-determination, and community, highlighting the revolutionary leaders and movements that can help inform our present moment.” The day includes three feature-length films and one short film, with two that focus on L.A. history. Q&As will be moderated by journalist and AirTalk film critic Tim Cogshell.
Balboa Island Art Walk
Sunday, May 17, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. South Bayfront Promenade Newport Beach COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Courtesy Balboa Island Artwalk
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Is there a more idyllic corner of SoCal than Balboa Island? Stroll the promenade and enjoy the art and the views at the 31st annual Balboa Island Art Walk. There’s live music and more than 90 artists showing their work with an ocean backdrop.
AAPI Market at Yama Sushi Marketplace
Through Saturday, May 30 Various locations (West L.A., San Gabriel and Koreatown) COST: VARIES, MORE INFO
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Courtesy Yama Sushi
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A rotating lineup of makers featuring Asian-owned brands is popping up at Yama Sushi Marketplace throughout May. This weekend, Omiso founder Ai Fujimoto will be sampling her yuzu miso paired with Yama’s black cod; also available for purchase as a frozen item. On May 30, DoShop Cookies will be available with baker Thy Do sampling her fan-favorite cookies, debuting new flavors and hosting a raffle.
Henry Wilkinson and Kristina Ross record a makeshift shelter during LAHSA's homeless count Jan. 20.
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Jordan Rynning
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LAist
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Topline:
Every December, the federal government releases a report that reveals the number of homeless residents in each state and across the country. It’s now May and the report, which compiles data from a homeless census known as the “point-in-time count,” is nowhere to be found.
Point in time count: For the past two decades, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has required local regions to take a census of their homeless populations every other year in a massive undertaking called the point-in-time count. Volunteers go out on foot over a day or two in January and count every person they see living outside. People sleeping in shelters are tallied as well. Counters also conduct surveys of a sample of unhoused people, collecting extra data on people’s race, age, gender, time spent homeless, medical and mental health conditions, and more. Each jurisdiction must submit their count to HUD by the spring. They also release their local data to the public. Meanwhile, HUD verifies the data, tallies the total count for each state and for the country as a whole, submits a public report to Congress and uploads more detailed data on its website.
Why it matters: While there’s no legal deadline, that report usually comes out in December of the year of the count. It’s unclear why the 2025 report still isn’t out. The delay is a problem because the report dictates how funding is allocated in California and beyond. It also shapes policy decisions and provides the country’s main barometer for how the homelessness crisis is being managed. The five-month delay is leaving public officials, policymakers and advocates scratching their heads. California has filled the gap by tallying its own data, showing a 9% drop in the number of people sleeping outside. But unlike the official federal report, California’s analysis leaves out information such as the race, age and mental health status of the people who are counted. And without the full federal report, there’s no way to tell where California stands compared to other states.
Every December, the federal government releases a report that reveals the number of homeless residents in each state and across the country.
It’s now May and the report, which compiles data from a homeless census known as the “point-in-time count,” is nowhere to be found.
That’s a problem because the report dictates how funding is allocated in California and beyond. It also shapes policy decisions and provides the country’s main barometer for how the homelessness crisis is being managed.
The five-month delay is leaving public officials, policymakers and advocates scratching their heads. California has filled the gap by tallying its own data, showing a 9% drop in the number of people sleeping outside. But unlike the official federal report, California’s analysis leaves out information such as the race, age and mental health status of the people who are counted. And without the full federal report, there’s no way to tell where California stands compared to other states.
“It’s a big deal,” said Jesse Rabinowitz, spokesperson for the National Homelessness Law Center. “This is, by what I can tell, the latest any point-in-time count has ever come out, including the years where it was delayed during COVID.”
'Point-in-time' count
For the past two decades, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has required local regions to take a census of their homeless populations every other year in a massive undertaking called the point-in-time count. Volunteers go out on foot over a day or two in January and count every person they see living outside. People sleeping in shelters are tallied as well. Counters also conduct surveys of a sample of unhoused people, collecting extra data on people’s race, age, gender, time spent homeless, medical and mental health conditions and more.
The count isn’t perfect (volunteers can easily miss people, and different counties use different methods), but it’s a key tool policy makers use to measure changes in the population.
Each jurisdiction (which is known in HUD parlance as a “continuum of care” and typically is made up of a county and the cities within it) must submit their count to HUD by the spring. They also release their local data to the public. Meanwhile, HUD verifies the data, tallies the total count for each state and for the country as a whole, submits a public report to Congress and uploads more detailed data on its website.
While there’s no legal deadline, that report usually comes out in December of the year of the count. In 2021 and 2020, when COVID disrupted counts, the reports came out the following February and March, respectively.
It’s unclear why the 2025 report still isn’t out. The report is so much later than usual that some counties, including San Francisco, already released their 2026 count data.
HUD refused to comment.
“It is perplexing that HUD has not released this information,” Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom, said in a statement to CalMatters. “Perhaps the Trump administration is afraid to release clear data that demonstrates California’s strategies for addressing this issue are actually extremely effective.”
What California's data show
California’s data does point to a reduction in homelessness, suggesting the state’s methods are starting to work. Data provided by the Newsom administration, and echoed by an independent analysis, show a 4% overall decrease between 2024 and 2025, and a 9% drop in people sleeping in tents, on the sidewalk, in cars or in other places not meant for habitation.
That data comes from the 30 California continuums of care that counted their street homeless populations last year. The remaining 14 that counted this year instead (they’re only required to count at least every other year) are not included.
“I think it shows that the headwinds in California continue to be very strong and continue to push more people into homelessness,” said Alex Visotzky, senior California policy fellow for the National Alliance to End Homelessness, “but the investments to build up the response to homelessness have made a really big difference and are moving people out of homelessness faster than ever before.”
That runs counter to President Donald Trump’s platform, which holds California up as an example of failed homelessness policy. California follows a principle called “housing first,” which prioritizes getting people into housing immediately and then addressing their other needs (such as mental health and substance use help). The Trump administration wants to end housing first, which it says isn’t working, and instead withhold housing until people enroll in addiction treatment or other programs.
California also uses most of its federal funds to pay for permanent housing, which experts say is the most effective way to end someone’s homelessness. The Trump administration recently tried to divert that money to temporary shelters where people stay for a limited time.
California's homelessness strategy
California is one of 19 states suing the Trump administration over that change. That case is ongoing, but, in a win for the states, a federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s changes.
A drop in homelessness in California would have a significant impact on the country’s overall homeless population. Nearly a quarter of all unhoused Americans lived in California as of 2024 — a total of more than 187,000 people, according to the most recent HUD report.
The New York Times found homelessness also dropped in other places around the country last year, including Chicago, Denver, Washington, D.C., Minnesota, Florida and Maine, which it found points to a nationwide reduction.
If homelessness dropped nationwide in 2025, it would be the first time in eight years. In 2024, the national count hit 771,480 — an 18% increase from the year before.
