Stay ConnectedImperfect Paradise is LAist’s weekly on-demand news magazine show that pulls back the curtain and dives deeper into the biggest and most consequential SoCal stories of the week from our newsroom. New episodes drop every Friday.
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.
You’re at Union Station when the big one hits. The next two minutes are terrifying. By the time you make your way outside, the Los Angeles you know is gone. In Episode One, you experience what the first hours after a massive earthquake could be like.
Get Ready For The Big One. What You Need To Know
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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.
Part 3:
Adolfo gets his first lead on a person possibly involved in Oscar’s death.
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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.
Part 4:
Adolfo finds a briefcase with information that could lead to clues about Oscar’s death.
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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.
Part 2:
Adolfo learns that there was a dark side to Oscar’s experience in the Chicano student movement.
Grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise
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.
Imperfect Paradise: The Forgotten Revolutionary, the 2022 podcast from LAist Studios, has been optioned by Participant and is simultaneously being developed as a scripted and documentary limited series.
Part 1:
Oscar Gomez was a star of the 1990s Chicano student movement and then, unexpectedly, he died. A rattling event in host Adolfo Guzman-Lopez’s life spurs him to investigate Oscar’s death.
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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.
Imperfect Paradise host Antonia Cereijido is joined by LAist Senior Health Reporter Jackie Fortier and Higher Education Correspondent Adolfo Guzman-Lopez to break down their investigation into why many students and faculty across California's public universities don't know that medication abortion is mandated on their campuses. This is the latest LAist Investigates episode on Imperfect Paradise that highlights reporting from our newsroom.
CONTENT WARNING: This episode includes first-hand description of an outpatient abortion procedure.
For additional information and resources, you can visit https://abortion.ca.gov/
Grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise
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.
Part 4: Half a year after Star Garden reopens as a union club, the dancers are still negotiating a contract. LAist producer Emma Alabaster brings you the latest. Plus, some of the dancers have set their sights on a different dream: a worker-owned cooperative strip club.
Here are some resources that informed our reporting:
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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.
Part 3: The Star Garden Topless Dive Bar reopens as a union strip club, but the fight doesn’t end there. What happens after the victory? LAist Producer Emma Alabaster has the story.
Here are some resources that informed our reporting:
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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.
Part 2: When the Star Garden strippers go public with their union campaign, they get pushback from the club’s management and a group they didn’t anticipate - other strippers. LAist Producer Emma Alabaster reports.
Grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise
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.
Part 1: In 2023, North Hollywood’s Star Garden reopened as the only unionized strip club in the U.S. LAist Producer Emma Alabaster tells us the behind-the-scenes story of the workplace conditions that pushed the dancers into action.
CONTENT WARNING: This episode includes sensitive content about sexual assault.
For sexual assault and harassment support and resources, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673, which is a service of RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network).
For more, visit https://LAist.com/ImperfectParadise
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Grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise
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.
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