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Podcasts
Imperfect Paradise
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Imperfect Paradise
The Show About Hidden Worlds and Messy Realities

About The Show

Imperfect Paradise is an award-winning weekly narrative podcast showcasing California stories with universal significance, hosted by Antonia Cereijido. Each deeply reported story is driven by characters who illuminate aspects of American identity and underscore California's 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. New episodes premiere Wednesdays, with broadcasts on LAist 89.3 the following Sundays.

Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.

Funding provided by:

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Episodes
  • Imperfect Paradise Main Tile
    Listen • 20:51
    Listen • 20:51
    An LA Commission created to tackle city government scandals is being stymied
    A charter reform commission was created in 2024 in response to a bunch of Los Angeles city government scandals, including the leak of a racist tape featuring City Council President Nury Martinez. One of the commission’s aims was to modify the LA charter, which is basically the city’s constitution. But reports indicate that this commission is actually struggling to do its job – and there are calls for transparency around its very structure. LAist Watchdog Correspondent Jordan Rynning joins us to talk about the commission’s issues and how this work will affect the lives of everyday Angelenos. 

  • Imperfect Paradise Main Tile
    Listen • 23:27
    Listen • 23:27
    Reports about failures in response to the January LA fires and a 2018 fire have striking similarities
    A new report details the Eaton and Palisades fires, including failures in the emergency response. But this report bears striking similarities with another -- which chronicled the response to the 2018 Woolsey Fire in Southern California. LAist science reporter Jacob Margolis discusses the reports and what they mean for L.A. County moving forward.

  • A drawing of a man's mouth and jaw at the top, with the rest of the drawing taken up with a brown sheriff's uniform, with a dark tie, gold star with a blue circle on it over the man's chest, and a green patch with a star in the middle just below the man's shoulder. Superimposed on the uniform are the words Imperfect Paradise: The Sheriff.
    Listen • 2:39
    Episode 6
    Listen • 2:39
    Update: Alex Villanueva Loses
    Alex Villanueva has conceded the election. The next sheriff of LA County will be Robert Luna. More analysis to come soon.

  • A drawing of a man's mouth and jaw at the top, with the rest of the drawing taken up with a brown sheriff's uniform, with a dark tie, gold star with a blue circle on it over the man's chest, and a green patch with a star in the middle just below the man's shoulder. Superimposed on the uniform are the words Imperfect Paradise: The Sheriff.
    Listen • 32:42
    Transcript
    Episode 5
    Listen • 32:42
    Sheriff Villanueva - Part 5
    By the end of 2021, Alex Villanueva has done a 180. Once supported by the local Democratic party, he’s become a darling of Fox News. Instead of working closely with immigration activists, he’s proposing a military-style approach to clear all the unhoused off the streets. He’s won the intense loyalty of the overwhelming majority of his deputies, but lots of people who voted for him in 2018 have changed their minds. Villanueva now faces an uphill fight to win another four years in office. 

    Transcript
  • A drawing of a man's mouth and jaw at the top, with the rest of the drawing taken up with a brown sheriff's uniform, with a dark tie, gold star with a blue circle on it over the man's chest, and a green patch with a star in the middle just below the man's shoulder. Superimposed on the uniform are the words Imperfect Paradise: The Sheriff.
    Listen • 31:00
    Transcript
    Episode 4
    Listen • 31:00
    Sheriff Villanueva - Part 4
    In 2019, LA County Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed Marco Vazquez, Jr. outside his home while he was having a mental health crisis. Later, members of Vazquez’ family say they were followed and harassed by Sheriff’s deputies. They’re not the only ones.

    Transcript
  • A drawing of a man's mouth and jaw at the top, with the rest of the drawing taken up with a brown sheriff's uniform, with a dark tie, gold star with a blue circle on it over the man's chest, and a green patch with a star in the middle just below the man's shoulder. Superimposed on the uniform are the words Imperfect Paradise: The Sheriff.
    Listen • 42:35
    Transcript
    Episode 3
    Listen • 42:35
    Sheriff Villanueva - Part 3
    There have been deputy gangs in the LA County Sheriff’s department for almost as long as anyone can remember. These groups can be violent, misogynistic, discriminatory and powerful – they can control much of what happens at some sheriff’s stations. Sheriff Villanueva simultaneously denies gangs exist and claims he has banned them.

    Transcript
  • A drawing of a man's mouth and jaw at the top, with the rest of the drawing taken up with a brown sheriff's uniform, with a dark tie, gold star with a blue circle on it over the man's chest, and a green patch with a star in the middle just below the man's shoulder. Superimposed on the uniform are the words Imperfect Paradise: The Sheriff.
    Listen • 32:01
    Transcript
    Episode 2
    Listen • 32:01
    Sheriff Villanueva - Part 2
    When retired Lt. Alex Villanueva announces his candidacy for sheriff in 2017, no one takes him seriously. But with the support of the local Democratic party, immigrant rights activists, and lots of political savvy, he pulls off a shocking defeat of the sitting sheriff – something that hasn’t happened in over 100 years. Almost as soon as he takes office, Villanueva re-hires a former deputy (and friend) who was fired for domestic violence and lying, and things begin to go off the rails.
    Transcript
  • A drawing of a man's mouth and jaw at the top, with the rest of the drawing taken up with a brown sheriff's uniform, with a dark tie, gold star with a blue circle on it over the man's chest, and a green patch with a star in the middle just below the man's shoulder. Superimposed on the uniform are the words Imperfect Paradise: The Sheriff.
    Listen • 33:26
    Transcript
    Episode 1
    Listen • 33:26
    Sheriff Villanueva - Part 1
    We begin with a scene of a very strange press conference: Sheriff Alex Villanueva is threatening to open a criminal investigation into an LA Times reporter, and our host, Frank Stoltze, is questioning him about it. Through Frank’s reflections on his time covering policing in LA County, we learn that Villanueva is the product of a department that has been riddled with scandals for decades: racial profiling, jail violence and deputy gangs. We learn how Villanueva sees himself as the man to fix it.
    Transcript
  • A drawing of a man's mouth and jaw at the top, with the rest of the drawing taken up with a brown sheriff's uniform, with a dark tie, gold star with a blue circle on it over the man's chest, and a green patch with a star in the middle just below the man's shoulder. Superimposed on the uniform are the words Imperfect Paradise: The Sheriff.
    Listen • 3:26
    Listen • 3:26
    Introducing Season 3: Imperfect Paradise - The Sheriff
    Alex Villanueva, an underdog maverick, runs for LA County Sheriff as a progressive reformer in 2018 and wins, surprising everyone. After taking office, he turns into a vindictive leader who mocks reform, protects his friends and attacks his enemies. And now he’s up for re-election. Follow veteran KPCC correspondent Frank Stoltze as he pieces together this story in a 5-episode season of Imperfect Paradise launching October 5, 2022.

  • Listen • 42:17
    Transcript
    Episode 8
    Listen • 42:17
    The Forgotten Revolutionary - Part 8
    Adolfo finds new information about the night Oscar died, and has to have a difficult conversation about what really happened to Oscar.

    Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.

    This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

    Transcript
  • Listen • 37:40
    Transcript
    Episode 7
    Listen • 37:40
    The Forgotten Revolutionary - Part 7
    Adolfo learns about the dangers of Santa Barbara’s bluffs and gets a second opinion on Oscar’s death report. 

    Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.

    This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

    Transcript
  • Listen • 31:53
    Transcript
    Episode 6
    Listen • 31:53
    The Forgotten Revolutionary - Part 6
    Adolfo reckons with his own relationship to his past and the Chicano student movement. And he finds someone who may have clues about what happened the night Oscar died. 
    Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.

    This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

    Transcript
Show More Episodes
Credits
Antonia Cereijido
Host
Natalie Chudnovsky
Senior Producer
STAFF-HEADSHOTS-2023
James Chow
Producer, LAist Studios
E. Scott Kelly
Audio Production Engineer
Catherine Mailhouse
Catherine Mailhouse
Director of Content Development, LAist Studios