HOME: Stories From L.A.

Latest Episodes:

Episode 20: Everything Must Go Nov 03, 2016

Show notes

Some stories don’t end when you think they do. Some stories just pause. And then they sneak back around and whap you across the back of your unsuspecting head. So here’s one I didn’t expect to revisit, although maybe I should have: Part 2 of Episode 7, “Unmaking A Home.”

Music:

“Driftwood,” by Podington Bear
“Trailing Comma,” by Blue Dot Sessions
“Something In The Distance,” by Scott Holmes
“Empires,” by Scott Holmes
“Bless,” by Podington Bear
“Busy Life,” by King Palmer
“Hard Won,” by Podington Bear
“By Grace,” by Podington Bear

Special thanks to Ellen Barol, Peter Clark and Jennifer Cecil.

5-x-7-1 — **Episode 19: Almost Utopia** Oct 19, 2016
Show notes

What happens to a utopia that never got off the ground? Bits and pieces of one, an experiment in postwar living for the masses, are hiding in plain sight in the hills above Sunset Boulevard. Architect and author Cory Buckner talks about Crestwood Hills, a Modernist vision for a cooperative future that never quite arrived.

MUSIC:

“Melange,” by Podington Bear

“Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive,” by Johnny Mercer

“Bargains Galore,” by Stuart/Crombie/Dennis Barry

“Solan,” by Podington Bear

“Pink Gradient,” by Podington Bear

*Thanks to Cory Buckner, whose excellent book on Crestwood Hills is available here.*

*Video: The Siegel family moves into their brand-new Crestwood Hills home in 1950.*

*Groundbreaking, October 1947 (Courtesy Cory Buckner)*

*Buckner House (formerly MHA site office): Photo by John Dooley*

ground-breaking2 — **Episode 19: Almost Utopia** Oct 19, 2016
Show notes

What happens to a utopia that never got off the ground? Bits and pieces of one, an experiment in postwar living for the masses, are hiding in plain sight in the hills above Sunset Boulevard. Architect and author Cory Buckner talks about Crestwood Hills, a Modernist vision for a cooperative future that never quite arrived.

MUSIC:

“Melange,” by Podington Bear

“Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive,” by Johnny Mercer

“Bargains Galore,” by Stuart/Crombie/Dennis Barry

“Solan,” by Podington Bear

“Pink Gradient,” by Podington Bear

*Thanks to Cory Buckner, whose excellent book on Crestwood Hills is available here.*

*Video: The Siegel family moves into their brand-new Crestwood Hills home in 1950.*

*Groundbreaking, October 1947 (Courtesy Cory Buckner)*

*Buckner House (formerly MHA site office): Photo by John Dooley*

Episode 18: Cooking With Mihrette Aug 31, 2016

Show notes

What happens when you bring a kid from the other side of the world into your home forever? How does it change what home means to her? And to you? This week it’s the story of one mom, the daughter she chose, and the way they keep Ethiopia alive in the home that’s now theirs.

PROGRAM NOTE: This is the last episode of Season 3. See you back here in October for Season 4. Subscribe to the newsletter for updates and between-seasons bonus content.

Can the Web series be far behind? Cook With Mihrette here.

Music by Podington Bear:

Episode 17: Dancers In The House Aug 17, 2016

Show notes

A roving, shifting company of dance and performance artists is nudging its audiences to think about home differently — by bringing one-off, site-specific performances to houses, live-work spaces and tiny apartments all over the Los Angeles area. Meet homeLA.

Music by Podington Bear:

At top: Flora Wiegman, Swimming Laps, at the home of Chloë Flores and Tim Lefevre in Mount Washington. Performed by Flora Wiegman

Here’s a gallery of photographs from past homeLA performances.

All photos by Andrew Mandinach for homeLA.

For more information about the Rose Hills performance on September 24, visit homeLA.

Episode 16: TV Dreamland Aug 03, 2016

Show notes

When TV producer Phil Savenick started collecting vintage TVs and TV memorabilia, he didn’t anticipate that he’d end up with what he now calls a “dreamland of televisions” in the living room of his West Los Angeles home — or that he’d end up helping the family of the man who invented TV heal some old wounds.

See more of Phil’s TV Dreamland here.

You can learn more about Philo T. Farnsworth here. I also recommend Jeff Kisseloff’s excellent oral history of the early days of television, “The Box.”

Music by Podington Bear:

Thanks to Phil Savenick and Janis Hirsch.

chairs — **Episode 15: Belushi, Bette and Beverly Hills** Jul 20, 2016
Show notes

The process by which one place stops being home and another starts — it’s a mysterious thing. It happens, most often, when we’re not paying attention. And sometimes, as it did for comedy writer and transplanted East Coaster Janis Hirsch, it happens in stages. First she started to feel at home in Los Angeles; but it was only later, after a series of addresses and a run-in or two with Bette Davis, that she landed in the exact place that would be, finally, her home.

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Music:

“Domestic Fun (a),” by Ernest Tomlinson

“Prismatone,” by Podington Bear

“Wook,” by Podington Bear

“Star Prizes (a),” by Tony Kinsey

“Lena Sequence,” by Roberto Prgiado

“Jackie,” by Podington Bear

“Fashion on Parade,” by Ronald Hanmer

“Playmate,” by Podington Bear

*Thanks to Janis Hirsch and Larry Shulman.*

**Episode 14: Rose, Mercedes and The Days Of The Dead** Jul 06, 2016
Show notes

Actress/writer/artist Rose Portillo lives in the house she was born into, in the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles. It’s the annual scene of her legendary Day Of the Dead parties, and it was the setting for her family’s story of ascension, assimilation and culture clash — as well as the long, wary dance of accommodation, spanning life and death, that Rose has performed with the formidable spirit of her grandmother, Mercedes Mendoza Portillo.

Music:

“Los Chucos Suaves,” by Lalo Guerrero Y Sus Cinco Lobos

“Pachuco Boogie,” by Cuartato Don Ramon Sr.

“Solido “Joaquín,” by Dacita & her Orchestra

“Ay Jalisco,” by Jorge Negrete

“Chicano Boogie,” by Cuartato De Ramon Martinez

“Chicas Patas Boogie,” by Lalo Guerrero Y Sus Cinco Lobos

“El Bracero Y La Pachuca,” by Dueto Taxco Con Mariachi Caporales Del Norte

“Los Blues,” by Don Tosti Y Su Trio

*Altar photo from Day Of The Dead 2009 (upper left) courtesy of CJ Gronner.*

*Thanks to Rose Portillo, Roger Bowers and Mark B. Perry. To learn more about Young Theaterworks, go here.*

Episode 13: A Pod To Call Your Own Jun 22, 2016

Show notes

Not a hotel, not a dorm, not quite a hostel, open by design and communitarian in spirit — Los Angeles-based PodShare is something else. And, potentially, something bigger: An affordable way to foster community in a city that’s increasingly stratified by class. This week, to start Season 3, it’s the story of one young entrepreneur and her unstoppable enthusiasm for her big idea.

Music:

“Happy Wanderer” by Louis Prima
“Hey Bellboy” by Gloria Wood
“On A Wing” by Podington Bear
“Twinkle Toes” by Podington Bear

Photo by Jay Kantor, courtesy Elvina Beck/PodShare

Updates: New Season June 22, and Opening It Up To The Room Jun 13, 2016

Show notes

Here’s an audio update on the upcoming season. In extra bonus content — and let me stress that this is 100% free of cost to you, the home audience — I beg for your help! (That is, if you’re a social media or business development ninja.)

Music:
“Frosted Glass,” by Podington Bear