The death of Jackie signals the end of her story with Shadow – as well as for Big Bear Lake, and for millions of fans who followed the eagles’ saga on livestream for years. LAist reporter Makenna Cramer joins Imperfect Paradise to examine how the eagles turned the tides for a fight against luxury housing development in the San Bernardino Mountains, as well as what celebrity animal culture can tell us about our relationship to nature and to ourselves.

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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.

Homelessness increased in Los Angeles this year following two previous years of declines, according to the recently released 2026 “point-in-time” homeless count. It’s a setback for the region, and for L.A. Mayor Karen Bass who’s touted prior declines as evidence that her approach to addressing the homelessness crisis is working. But is it really? On this episode of Imperfect Paradise, LAist reporter Aaron Schrank examines how the count is conducted, why it matters so much, and who’s responsible for its results.

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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.

The city of Los Angeles is home to over two thousand active oil wells, many concentrated in communities of color where residents have long reported serious health issues. On this episode of Imperfect Paradise, LAist’s Erin Stone takes us inside one neighborhood’s fight to shut down a drill site, and explores what a broader effort to phase out drilling could mean for a region whose economy and infrastructure were built on an oil field.

Read Erin’s reporting on LAist.com

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.

Immigration bond denials have jumped sharply under the second Trump administration — nowhere more than at the Adelanto ICE detention center in Southern California. On this week's Imperfect Paradise: LAist's Jared Bennett follows the case of a 70-year-old L.A. street vendor held at Adelanto for six months, what it took for his family to get him released, and what immigration advocates say is behind the shift in bond denials.

Read Jared’s reporting on LAist.com. 

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.

We close the series with a meditation on how 28 years after the 1992 Riots, for many in L.A., things feel exactly the same.

Eleuteria “Ellie” Hernández moved to Los Angeles from a small town in Mexico when she was 14 and fell in love with the city. In this episode, Walter sits down with Ellie, his mother, to understand her relationship to L.A. and how it shaped his own.  

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This LAist Studios podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and our listeners get 10% off their first month of online therapy at BetterHelp.com/LAist

There’s a horse ranch in the heart of Compton that may hold the answers for salvation and redemption for the city’s black cowboys. 

Read the original NYTimes article, "For the Compton Cowboys, Horseback Riding Is a Legacy, and Protection." 

Read Walter Thompson-Hernández's book The Compton CowboysThe New Generation of Cowboys in America's Urban Heartland

This LAist Studios podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and our listeners get 10% off their first month of online therapy at BetterHelp.com/LAist

California Love is a limited series with 8 episodes. Show support by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts.

A first-parrot perspective into legends and myths of how L.A. became home to the world’s largest population of green parrots.

This LAist Studios podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and our listeners get 10% off their first month of online therapy at BetterHelp.com/LAist

California Love is a limited series with 8 episodes. Show support by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts.

Walter dives deep on what Kobe meant to him in his life and how the icon’s death spurred a collective mourning throughout the city.

This LAist Studios podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and our listeners get 10% off their first month of online therapy at BetterHelp.com/LAist

California Love is a limited series with 8 episodes. Show support by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts.

A story about a wild party line that many Los Angeles’ teenagers used to create a fantasy world.

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Stream We Are Freestyle Love Supreme beginning July 17, only on Hulu

This LAist Studios podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and our listeners get 10% off their first month of online therapy at BetterHelp.com/LAist

Walter was just eleven years old when he was admitted to L.A.'s infamous Scared Straight program for graffiti related crimes. In this episode, Walter, through a chance encounter, checks-in with his friend who went through the program with him, their anti-tagging arch-nemesis, and how they have turned out after all these years.

California Love sponsors include:

Stream We Are Freestyle Love Supreme beginning July 17, only on Hulu

This LAist Studios podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and our listeners get 10% off their first month of online therapy at BetterHelp.com/LAist