Podcast for driving across California

December 7, 2019 9:40 PM

We're driving from the SF Bay Area to visit LA next week. To get us ready while on route, what are some podcast episodes or audio books to listen to on the way, that are specifically about or heavily feature Los Angeles?

Any genre. Stories true or imagined about LA or California. The drive is about 5 hours each way. Thanks!

posted by latkes to Media & Arts (12 answers total)

Best answer: 'You Must Remember This' is a fantastic podcast about the "hidden or forgotten history of Hollywood".

You probably already know this, but take the 1 or the 101 instead of the 5, if you have time. Takes longer, but SO much more interesting.
posted by Pecinpah at 10:24 PM on December 7, 2019

Best answer: If you do take the 5, pair it with the podcast Invisible-5, about environmental justice struggles past and present along the route.
posted by tapir-whorf at 10:47 PM on December 7, 2019 [3 favorites]

Of course you should also listen to City of Quartz on Audible or through your local library.
posted by tapir-whorf at 10:51 PM on December 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

Seconding City of Quartz.

In Dubious Battle, Cannery Row, and Oil are also interesting audiobook options in the "dated fiction about the middle part of your drive" category.

The Dollop podcast episodes on Griffith J. Griffith, the NORCO shootout, and the 4-part LAPD series might be of interest.
posted by eotvos at 11:46 PM on December 7, 2019

Best answer: Welcome to LA.

If Audible is an option, The Mirage Factory - Illusion, Imagination, and the Invention of Los Angeles.
posted by dobbs at 1:41 AM on December 8, 2019

Best answer: This is California: The Battle of 187 from the LA times is about the vote and campaign of a very anti-immigrant proposition in 1994. I thought it was fascinating to hear how much has changed here in the past 25 years.
posted by carolr at 5:38 AM on December 8, 2019 [2 favorites]

The host of Read It and Weep is currently moving to LA so they're doing a series of episodes on media set in LA.
posted by entropyiswinning at 8:07 AM on December 8, 2019

I thought the audiobook for Hector Tobar's The Barbarian Nurseries was fantastic.
posted by Rash at 9:22 AM on December 8, 2019

If Newport Beach is close enough to LA for you, then Dirty John?
posted by Beardman at 10:51 AM on December 8, 2019

If you like weird conspiracy theories, esoteric cults, and real and imaginary desert monsters, you might enjoy Desert Oracle Radio from the Mojave Desert.

"A pocket-sized field guide to the fascinating American deserts: strange tales, singing sand dunes, sagebrush trails, artists and aliens, authors and oddballs, ghost towns and modern legends, musicians and mystics, scorpions and saguaros! The DESERT ORACLE is your companion at a roadside diner, around a campfire, or in your tent or cabin as the wind and the coyotes howl outside at night."

posted by moonmilk at 12:25 PM on December 8, 2019 [3 favorites]

Cadillac Desert
posted by mccxxiii at 2:29 PM on December 8, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: We listened to episodes from You Must Remember This, Welcome To LA, and the Invisible 5 audio docs... (I had already listed to This is California)... Will add the the books to my to-read list. Thanks all! Great tips helped make a great trip!
posted by latkes at 10:18 PM on December 23, 2019