#108: It's no surprise that homeless is a top concern among Angelenos. The best-available info at this point says there are more than 69,000 people experiencing homeless in L.A. County – a 4% rise from the last time the survey was conducted in 2020.

In a recent LAist survey of 4,339 people, two-thirds of respondents said it's the main thing L.A. Mayor Karen Bass needs to prioritize. One-third of folks says it causes them stress.

Mayor Bass seems to know this. In December she declared a state of emergency and pledged to put 17,000 unhoused people into a mix of interim and permanent housing. She also launched her signature program Inside Safe, which aims to give people living outdoors immediately housing in motels or hotels.

Elected officials and local advocates have been trying to address the issues that lead to homelessness for years, but we’re still here…and many are wondering…how did we get here? How did LA end up with the largest unhoused population in the country? Who’s in charge of what? And how do people ACTUALLY get help? In this episode we'll try to answer these questions. 

Guest: Nick Gerda, unhoused communities reporter for LAist

Wondering how you can help? Here are some tips from Nick's reporting on LAist: 

Request homeless outreach services for a particular unhoused person: Contact LAHSA’s Homeless Outreach Portal. But it could take a few days for an outreach team to show up “due to high demand,” according to LAHSA.

Volunteer and donate to organizations serving unhoused people. Here’s LAHSA’s list of volunteer opportunities by region in L.A. County. And the city’s volunteer referral program: VolunteerLA. You can also volunteer for next year’s point-in-time count at TheyCountWillYou.org.

Support new affordable housing development in neighborhoods: The shortage of affordable housing is widely considered the main driver of the homelessness crisis. Developing more housing — especially affordable and permanent supportive homes — through faster city approvals and support from neighbors — is considered key to addressing the issue. If you want to help these efforts you can speak at public meetings.

Lease to voucher holders: Property owners can lease their vacant properties to people who have federal and local housing vouchers. L.A. County’s program to support landlords is called LeaseUp (more info available here).

For more, check out Nick’s guide:

Your Guide To Understanding Homelessness In LA 

#107 In March the city of LA wrapped up its year-long guaranteed income program, Big: Leap. It's an acronym for Basic Income Guaranteed: L.A. Economic Assistance Pilot and it provided $1000 a month to 3,200 low-income families for a year, no strings attached.

It modeled itself after other guaranteed income pilot programs — sometimes called Universal Basic Income, or UBI — in cities like Stockton, Oakland and San Francisco. The idea of UBI is to provide extra income without any kind of work requirement or other conditions to, ideally, improve people’s lives.

Our producers followed five of its participants over the course of the year. In this episode we hear from two of them. Plus, Brian talks to an leading expert in guaranteed income programs about how Big: Leap worked and how, in general, such programs can benefit people. 

Guests: 

Juan Sernas and Amalia Mendez, Big: Leap participants; Ashley Davis, Big: Leap participant; L.A. City Councilmember Curren Price; and Natalie Foster, the president of the Economic Security Project, an organization that advocates for public programs that reduce income inequality. 

#39: We're ringing in Memorial Day Weekend by getting outside. This episode first aired on November 25, 2022. 

On this podcast, we love to discover new places and things …and that includes checking out outdoor spaces in LA. We know how some of you love to hike and bike and just hang out in nature so we asked YOU to recommend your favorite spots to break away and enjoy the outdoors. We got some good suggestions, too. LISTEN! 

#106: We're back on our neighborhood grind! This time, HTLA host Brian De Los Santos is hanging out with a Downey pro – AND fellow LAist Studios host – Erick Galindo. Erick is the host of Wild, now in its second season with a fictional rom com based on his life growing up in Downey.

Together he and Brian dive into the history of this gateway city... from its beginnings as an aerospace center to its more recent identity, according to some, as the "Mexican Beverly Hills" and explore what the city represents in greater South East LA.

Guest: Erick Galindo, host, Wild 

#105: You've probably seen those "We Buy Ugly Houses" signs all around LA...and the country. They're part of an elaborate advertising strategy for a pretty ugly business: Patriot Holdings. It's a franchise of the real estate investment company, HomeVestors of America.



A recent investigation by the non profit newsroom ProPublica found that a number of company’s franchisees ….including ones right here in LA…have taken advantage of people, oftentimes the elderly, to make a deal. Today, we chat with one of the reporters on the story should you – or your abuelita – ever have to deal with a house flipper.



Guest: Anjeanette Damon, reporter for ProPublica



For more, check out and her team's story here.

#104: Gloria Molina was a trailblazing political figure and advocate for social justice. She made history as the first Latina to be elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and she represented so much for the Latino community, and for Los Angeles as a whole. She spent her career fighting for environmental injustice in East LA, for women who underwent unauthorized sterilization at the county hospital, or to ensure the construction of the Gold Line for East LA.

But she was also an artist, a quilter… and the stitching group she founded in East LA has achieved international recognition.

She passed away earlier this week. Today, we remember Gloria at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes, which she helped found.

#103: Rafael Agustín wears a whole lotta hats in Hollywood.

He's the CEO of the Latino Film Institute and oversees the Youth Cinema Project. He writes for TV and wrote a memoir, Illegally Yours, about growing up in L.A. and learning as a teenager that he was undocumented. 

Rafael got into theater at community college and then UCLA, where he wrote a play with his friends that toured the U.S. Then he hit the big time: he landed a job on a sitcom, Jane the Virgin. 

We talked to him about the writer's strike a few weeks ago (ep. 97) but he's got such an interesting story about how he got started in the biz, we had to bring him back. 

How I Got Started is a regular segment on this podcast where we feature different Angelenos who are shaking things up and doing cool things in the city. Check out the other installments.

Guest: TV writer Rafael Augustín

#102: The federal COVID-19 emergency officially ended last week, but California still has another 6 months of protections. So... What does that mean, and what happens next? And are we really ready for this emergency declaration to sunset? 

To find out more, we're talking to LAist's senior health reporter, Jackie Fortier. She's got several guides on what all this means for you: 



The Federal COVID Health Emergency Is Over. What Happens Now?

The Historic Federal COVID Health Emergency Is Over, But The Pandemic’s Effects Are Here To Stay

Where Things Stand With COVID-19 In LA And California