About this season
Much of Los Angeles's past is lost to history, but through the region's archives, we can uncover the inspiring dreams and bitter realities that built the modern-day metropolis.
Episodes (6)
1. Fast Food and Car Culture
Aired 23 December 2023 • 27 min
From McDonald’s to Taco Bell, many of the world’s most iconic fast-food chains were born in SoCal. Car culture and the restaurant industry collided in the LA region, forever shaping the way Americans dine and drive.
2. Historic Filipinotown
Aired 9 January 2024 • 27 min
Filipino Americans work to make their heritage more visible in Los Angeles. The host explores the yo-yo's surprising origin story, tours Historic Filipinotown in a Jeepney, and tastes classic Filipino street foods.
3. Hiking Trailblazers
Aired 16 January 2024 • 27 min
Meet the hikers who led Angelenos onto their local trails, including early wellness guru Paul Bragg. The host explores the origins of Los Angeles hiking, from the Indigenous people who first walked the land to activists like WalkGood LA’s Etienne Maurice, who blaze new paths over familiar terrain.
4. Eternal City: Los Angeles Cemeteries
Aired 23 January 2024 • 27 min
Visit Forest Lawn, Evergreen and Hollywood Forever to see how L.A. reinvented the cemetery. The host visits the gravesites of the rich and famous and learns how racial segregation once divided the dead.
5. Tuberculosis: The Forgotten Plague
Aired 30 January 2024 • 27 min
Archives reveal the "forgotten plague” that shaped Southern California: tuberculosis. California’s fresh air and sunshine drew "consumptives" to local sanatoriums, but the life of a TB patient held stark realities.
6. Tiki Bars and Their Hollywood Origins
Aired 6 February 2024 • 27 min
The host explores some of the oldest tiki bars in Southern California, discovering the Hollywood origins of Don the Beachcomber and learning how postwar American pop culture appropriated the rich traditions of the South Pacific.