Welcome to LA

Los Angeles is a city carved out of the desert — a conjured image of paradise. Award-winning journalist David Weinberg returns with stories of people who learn what lies beyond the dream.

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Nikola and Fritz

When David first got the email, it just seemed like one of those offers that’s too good to be true. The idea that he would be holding the reins of a horse drawn carriage tearing across the high plains of Colorado and that his passenger would be the famous movie star Ethan Hawke, the whole idea of being in a movie just seemed unlikely. This was the dream of millions of people who have made their way to L.A. It’s become a cliche, all those starry eyed dreamers flocking to California with a singular vision of becoming a movie star. And here was this offer sitting in his lap. All he had to do was say yes. This is the story of David Weinberg’s acting gig on the movie “Tesla” — and the story of Nikola Tesla himself, an inventor who changed the world but who spent his life watching rivals steal his ideas to reap great fortunes.

 • 48m Listen
Culture
Los Angeles
California

Los Angeles is a city carved out of the desert — a conjured image of paradise. These are the stories of people who learn what lies beyond the dream.

In this second season you’ll hear from a tour guide building a meaningful life out of chaos, activists planning their revolution, a group of stuntmen that helped to diversify Hollywood, a couple priced out of the city and forced to move to the high desert and a man who learns to play drums just hours before he’s set to perform in front of hundreds of thousands.

Plus, we offer an ode to David’s favorite night of the week: Friday. Remember what it used to feel like? In L.A. it was prom night in Boyle Heights, amateur sailboat races on the Pacific and music that lasts into the wee hours of the morning. Fridays were never typical, and David delivers a sprawling collage of voices from across L.A. as they experience theirs.

Finally, don’t worry, there will be celebrities! David recruits famous chef Wolfgang Puck and culinary writer Richard Parks III for a gonzo tour around the city that is impossible to believe (and maybe not even real?). Then the season culminates as David fumbles into an impossible L.A. dream: acting in a motion picture alongside movie star Ethan Hawke.

Join us for the wild ride on season two of Welcome to LA.