Teri DiMarino

Leila Mottley was 19 and fresh out of high school when she wrote “Nightcrawling,” which captures the heartbreak and yearning of California’s inner cities.

As more restaurants ask for tips and service fees, it can be hard to know where gratuity really counts. KCRW offers your go-to guide.

In John Wray’s new novel “Gone to the Wolves,” the characters travel from Florida swamps to the 1980s Sunset Strip to Norway –– all in the name of metal.

LA’s community land trusts aim to keep housing affordable by letting residents own the buildings they live in. They’re also a radical experiment in living cooperatively.

California and LA are seeing major pushes for “social housing,” which is government-supported, not owned by a for-profit entity, and is affordable to people of different income levels.

A group of doulas with the Los Angeles Abortion Support Collective are organizing to protect abortion access as states respond to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

LA boasts the largest population of Iranian immigrants in the world. Learn how they’ve shaped the area’s landscapes and neighborhoods with a new car tour.

Dave Alvin formed Americana band The Blasters in Downey with his brother Phil, then went solo in the 1980s, but returned to show KCRW around.

Prop HHH, the LA voter-approved $1.2 billion homeless housing bond measure, has been slow and costly. But six years in, thousands of units are finally opening.