How To LA

Episodes

Listen • 50:06

Listen • 50:06

This Old House Radio Hour: Designing for Disaster: How Los Angeles Builds Back Smarter + Saving The Outsider’s House + Four DIY Fixes: Chimneys, Circuits, Ceilings, and Steam

This week on This Old House Radio Hour—what does it mean to rebuild not just homes, but entire communities?

Sunset Magazine editor-in-chief Hugh Garvey joins us to discuss the magazine’s special issue devoted to the rebuilding of Altadena and Pacific Palisades in the wake of January’s devastating wildfires. Sunset, a voice in California architecture for over 125 years, has assembled an extraordinary coalition of architects, planners, artists, and historians. Together, they offer not just a plan, but a call to action—for fire-resilient homes, culturally grounded design, and a West that can weather what’s coming.

Then we travel from the hills of Los Angeles to the streets of Tulsa, where Danny Boy O’Connor—from House of Pain—takes us inside his remarkable second act. After bottoming out, he bought a run-down house for $15,000... and it just happened to be the house from The Outsiders. What followed was a full restoration, a pilgrimage, and a new life. We take a tour of the Outsiders Museum and meet the community that made it possible.

Later, Cheap Old Houses is back—Ethan and Elizabeth Finkelstein spotlight a dreamy 1870s Victorian in Fredonia, Kentucky and an off-the-grid cabin on federal forest land in Snoqualmie Pass, Washington, both for under $100,000.

Plus, another round of House Rules, our listener-powered game that tests your home renovation know-how. And in The Simple Fix, we show you how to find a stud in your baseboard—without breaking the wall.

And as always, we’re taking your calls. Got a house problem, project hurdle, or just need a little advice? Call us at (877) 864-7460.

All that and more, coming up on This Old House Radio Hour.

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Listen • 21:49

Listen • 21:49

Cheap Fast Eats #12: Boyle Heights

#239: Today we're continuing our holiday marathon of Cheap Fast Eats! Whether you're hosting the BBQ for your family and friends - OR you're just kicking it solo - if you're anything like us, the summer is all about FOOD. So kick back and enjoy some fireworks, or protect your dog from the big spooky boom booms, and do it while noshing on some of the best food L.A. has to offer.

Original episode description below:

Cheap Fast Eats is back! Did you miss us? It's our monthly segment featuring LAist food editor Gab Chabrán and all his favorite spots to grab a quick and inexpensive meal throughout L.A. This time we're in Boyle Heights - the true East Side, for those who know.

Come along as we eat our way through some rainy day comfort food.

Restaurants featured in this episode: Pioneer Chicken, Brooklyn Ave Pizza, Mariscos Jalisco

For Gab's full list of Cheap Fast Eats in Boyle Heights, check out his article on LAist.com:
https://laist.com/brief/news/food/cheap-fast-eats-chow-down-in-historic-boyle-heights-for-10
Listen • 17:29

Listen • 17:29

Kayaking Down The LA River?!

#141: Ok - no more Cheap Fast Eats... But we've still got a great holiday treat for y'all. Maybe something to do this weekend to beat the heat? Today, we're revisiting the time Brian and Evan went down the LA River in a kayak.

Original episode description below:

Whitewater kayaking might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you picture the L.A. River. Too much concrete, right? Not enough water? Well, think again. Kayaking the L.A. River officially became legal in 2011 when the EPA declared it a "navigable waterway." And turns out... it's pretty fun!

Join How to LA host Brian De Los Santos and producer Evan Jacoby as they paddle down a 2-mile stretch of river that does NOT have a concrete bottom and passes through the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Preserve.

Guests: Gary Golding, guide with LA River Expeditions & survivalist; Dennis Mabasa, COO of Friends of the LA River

There's a lot of local stewards of the river who are working to make sure that parts of it can be enjoyed by all of us Angelenos as well as the birds and resident critters. If you want to keep up to date on all the things going on with the river, make sure to follow FOLAR on social media or check out their website at folar.org

Also, you check out more info on the river on LAist.com/HowToLA.
Listen • 20:29

Listen • 20:29

Cheap Fast Eats #13: West Valley

#284: Happy 4th of July! It's the last day of our holiday Cheap Fast Eats marathon. Whether you're hosting the BBQ for your family and friends - OR you're just kicking it solo - if you're anything like us, the summer is all about FOOD. So kick back and enjoy some fireworks, or protect your dog from the big spooky boom booms, and do it while noshing on some of the best food L.A. has to offer.

Original episode description below:

Gab. Brian. Food. You know the drill — Cheap Fast Eats is back! This time, LAist food editor Gab Chabrán is taking HTLA host Brian De Los Santos to some of the best spots west of Sepulveda Blvd in the 818.

A century ago Wheat and Lemon were the undisputed kings of LA's San Fernando Valley, a spill of land that existed almost exclusively to be farmed. But in the 1950's, as a post-war Los Angeles was flirting ever so closely with car-culture, the first strip malls of suburbia were born.

Today we know these strip malls as the humble homes of the best food the Valley has to offer. Join us to hear about Gab's favorites - and check out his full guide on LAist.com.

Restaurants visited: Cupid's Hot Dogs, Ay Papa Que Rico, New York Chicken & Gyro

Music in this episode composed by: E Ro 3, Troye Sivan, Herb Ellis, Dexter Thomas, Slumberville, The ModArchive, Makoto Matsushita, Austin Cross
Listen • 19:22

Listen • 19:22

Cheap Fast Eats #11: Mid City

#193: What better way to celebrate the summer's favorite holiday than a marathon of Cheap Fast Eats! Whether you're hosting the BBQ for your family and friends - OR you're just kicking it solo - if you're anything like us, the summer is all about FOOD. So kick back and enjoy some fireworks, or protect your dog from the big spooky boom booms, and do it while noshing on some of the best food L.A. has to offer.

Original description below:

It's Cheap Fast Eats time again, and that means LAist food editor Gab Chabrán is hitting the streets with HTLA host Brian De Los Santos. Mid City is close to EVERYTHING...Museum Row, Park La Brea, Fairfax, West Hollywood. It's a good place to know some gems to get some cheap grubs.

Locations: Qi Steam Kitchen, Del Mar Ostioneria, Burger She Wrote
Listen • 10:02

Listen • 10:02

Where to get outside (locally), REDUX

#134: The great thing about Los Angeles is that you can do the urban thing – go to museums, clubs, concerts and eat at good restaurants – and you can get out in nature whenever you want... or need.

There are ton a beautiful parks, sunset spots and hiking trails right in the middle of the city. Or if you are feeling more adventurous, you can venture out to farther flung places across the county.

Last fall we asked our listeners for their favorite places to get outdoors and we turned it into an episode. This summer, we did it again. Here are some of their suggestions. Enjoy – and get outside!
Listen • 23:49

Listen • 23:49

Day-trip destinations: Where to escape LA

#295: Don't get us wrong, we LOVE Los Angeles... but sometimes we just gotta get out. You know the feeling? Well, if you're looking for some inspiration for some summer day-trips, about 3 hours or less away from the city, we got you covered.

From Santa Cruz Island to Idyllwild, we have some of suggestions for high adventure and a few ideas if you just want to chill and enjoy a new scene. Check out the recs from the team... and from some of you!
Listen • 17:44

Listen • 17:44

HTLA Presents: L.A. On The Margins - Halfway Home

Today we have another story from LA On The Margins, the collection of stories produced by students at USC where every episode we profile an Angeleno struggling in some way to make it in this city.

This time, a transition home that aims to help those who’ve struggled with their mental health and/or a history of addiction.

For years, LA county has funded programs to address cycles of incarceration and homelessness that often affect those suffering from mental illness and substance abuse. People would go from one institution —say a jail — right into another, usually with few results.

Reporter Kira Brenner takes us somewhere different: a place that mixed counselors, therapists, and enrichment opportunities – like art classes – into something that would feel more like a home.

Take a listen.
Listen • 23:13
Listen • 23:13

REDUX: Why the LA Coliseum is more than a stadium
Editor's Note:

We mistakenly said in the version of this podcast that the Paris Olympics started at the end of June. It kicks off at the end of July and THAT will start the countdown until the games come to Los Angeles in 2028. During the 2028 games, the L.A. Memorial Coliseum will again host the track and field and Para Athletics events, making it the only stadium in history to host these competitions for three different Olympic Games. To celebrate this milestone, we want to revisit the Coliseum’s history and replay this episode from 2023…during the stadium's centennial year!

#147: The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is one of several L.A. landmarks hitting the century mark this year, and we thought it’d be fun to take a look back on them as we celebrate our one-year anniversary of How To LA this September.

We explored The Biltmore Hotel downtown (if you haven’t listened to that episode already) and we’ll be featuring the story behind the Hollywood sign pretty soon.

When it comes to the L.A. Coliseum (the "memorial" in the full name refers to the fact that the stadium is a memorial to the Americans who served in WWI) there’s no denying that it has a rich history. For example, it played a role in the desegregation of the NFL, and it will soon be the first location to ever host three Olympic Games. But the stadium's history goes way beyond sports.

Guests:
- Frank Guridy, Professor of History and African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University, and author of the forthcoming book, "The Stadium: An American History of Politics, Protest, and Play"
- William Deverell, Historian at USC and Director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West
- Marina Fote, Assistant to the General Manager, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The performances from Wattstax in this episode are Carla Thomas singing "Pick Up the Pieces" and The Bar-Kays performing "Son of Shaft/Feel It"