LA Podcast - Humid Beings

Alissa, Mike, and Olga discover that extreme humidity pairs nicely with our already-crumbling infrastructure. Luckily, social media is the key to fixing potholes! Controller Kenneth Mejia tries to demystify LA28’s finances. And will DSA-LA make an LA mayoral endorsement — and does it matter?

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, on the web at Think Forward, or almost anywhere you get your podcasts.

SHOW NOTES

Southern California is used to being the best at many things, but unfortunately this week we took the prize for highest humidity in the country 

Did you want to run your air conditioning in this extreme heat? Sorry! Power’s out

In cooler news: an LAUSD school in Westlake more than quadrupled their green space on campus, creating a shady oasis for their students, and there are plans for more district campuses to do the same

Streetsblog LA’s Joe Anthony and Joe Linton covered advocates commemorating 10 years of LA’s landmark sidewalk  settlement and why it hasn’t succeeded

LA is (still) a film town, so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that you have to make a viral video to get any infrastructure fixed 

Alissa’s pothole campaign was successful! But others have not been as lucky

Are you tired of potholes in your neighborhood? Join LA Forward Monday night as we discuss what a Capital Infrastructure Program (CIP) could and should include to fix our streets

As 2028 draws closer, City Controller Kenneth Mejia is requesting their financial documents so taxpayers aren’t left paying for the Olympics and our city instead has money for projects like fixing sidewalks

Representative Laura Friedman (CA-30) held a panel to advocate for Metro funding with other less knowledgeable elected officials because the federal government has yet to pledge money for Olympics transportation (But hey, it’s one Olympics. What could it cost, $10?)

Whatever happened to those $28 Olympics tickets anyway?

City Council President Marquee Harris-Dawson introduced a motion to guarantee local businesses be included in Olympic contracts and therefore revenue

Geese magazine has the arguments for why DSA should or should not endorse “pothole populist” Nithya Raman for mayor. Voting ends Tuesday 

Mayor Karen Bass walked back her remarks about street vendors made during the SOHA debate while Raman updated her street vendor platform

Los Angeles Public Press reported on LAPD using infamous ordinance 41.18 to warn, cite, and displace vendors in MacArthur Park for at least the past year

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Thank you to Charlotte Landes for producing this episode and to our production assistant Bianca Cockrell

The reporting and analysis you hear in the show is put together by our rotating cast of producers and co-hosts every week. All opinions expressed on the show are solely those of co-hosts and may not represent the views of LA Forward

Alissa Walker writes the newsletter Torched, tracking LA’s megaevent progress. Find her at @awalkerinla on Instagram and @awalkerinla.bsky.social on Bluesky

Mike Bonin is the Executive Director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at CalState LA, and can be found at @mikebonin on Instagram and @mikebonin.bsky.social on Bluesky

Olga Lexell is a TV writer and local political organizer