California Love

About California Love

California Love is a blend of memoir, pop culture analysis and oral history. The newest season, K-Pop Dreaming, is about the rise and history of K-pop in the United States, as told from the point-of-view of the Korean diaspora in Los Angeles. Host Vivian Yoon takes listeners on a journey from K-pop’s origins in Korean trot music and American presence in post-war South Korea to the 1992 LA Uprising and the booming global popularity of K-pop in the present day, all juxtaposed against Yoon’s own coming-of-age as a second generation immigrant in Los Angeles, struggling to fit in and come to terms with her own identity. In the first season Walter Thompson-Hernández was inspired by Tupac and Dr. Dre's "California Love"- a love letter and anthem for a generation. Walter invites listeners to join him in his family home, on horseback through the streets of Compton, and up into the sky to examine belonging.

Publisher

LAist Studios

Category

music

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

9 Jul 2020

Latest episode

3 Oct 2025

Latest episodes

114 of 192 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   3 Oct 2025TRANSCRIPT

   Imperfect Paradise: 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. Grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise (http://shopify.com/paradise) Visit www.preppi.com/LAist (https://www.preppi.com/LAist) to receive a FREE Preppi Emergency Kit (with any purchase over $100) and be prepared for the next wildfire, earthquake or emergency! 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.

2. 

   26 Sept 2025TRANSCRIPT

   Imperfect Paradise: How union organizing is being upended by private universities in Southern California

   Big companies like Amazon and SpaceX are claiming that the National Labor Relations Board – an independent federal entity in charge of overseeing unionizing efforts – is unconstitutional. In addition to those companies, colleges like the University of Southern California and Loyola Marymount University are also joining the movement to push back against labor groups. If this movement succeeds, it could make unionizing harder on a broader level. LAist higher education reporter Julia Barajas joins us to talk about why these universities are seemingly working against faculty attempting to organize and what it could mean for unions at universities – and beyond – in the long term. Grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise (http://shopify.com/paradise) Visit www.preppi.com/LAist (https://www.preppi.com/LAist) to receive a FREE Preppi Emergency Kit (with any purchase over $100) and be prepared for the next wildfire, earthquake or emergency! 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.

3. 

   19 Sept 2025TRANSCRIPT

   Imperfect Paradise: Why California's protest law is flawed and the consequences to protesters

   After the George Floyd protests of 2020, California took steps to rein in violent policing of protests by passing laws restricting how law enforcement uses less-lethal weapons, like tasers and rubber bullets. But high profile protests in 2024 and 2025 – including this summer’s protests against the ICE raids in Los Angeles – have revealed major flaws in those laws. LAist Senior Editor Jared Bennett joins us to talk about an investigation around these flaws and what they mean for people exercising their right to free speech. Grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise (http://shopify.com/paradise) Visit www.preppi.com/LAist (https://www.preppi.com/LAist) to receive a FREE Preppi Emergency Kit (with any purchase over $100) and be prepared for the next wildfire, earthquake or emergency! 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.

Inside a recent episode

Imperfect Paradise: Reports about failures in response to the January LA fires and a 2018 fire have striking similarities

Published 3 Oct 2025 · Transcript excerpt

[…] Welcome back. You're listening to Imperfect Paradise. I'm Antonia Sidi -Heedo talking with LA science reporter Jacob Margolis. All right, so Jacob, we were just talking about the report on the January fires that laid out failings of LA County's emergency response. You found striking similarities between this after action report and the report released after the 2018 Woolsey fire. What were the biggest parallels you found? The primary issue in both fires was poor communication between agencies and the public, which isn't uncommon, according to Jeffrey Schlagel -Milch, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at the Columbia Climate School. […]

Who has been a guest on California Love

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Mexican American creative
• Mexico City native
• Paul Feig
• Edi Patterson
• Lauren LeFranc

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.2 / 5

1,305 ratings

Spotify

4.8 / 5

134 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 64 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

89

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

98

Contact California Love

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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Questions about California Love