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Listen • 46:11Listen • 46:11The Forgotten Revolutionary Redux: Part 2Part 2:
Adolfo learns that there was a dark side to Oscar’s experience in the Chicano student movement.
About Imperfect Paradise
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(she/her)
Imperfect Paradise is an award-winning weekly narrative podcast showcasing California stories with universal significance, hosted by Antonia Cereijido.
Each deeply reported story is driven by characters who illuminate aspects of American identity and underscore California's reputation as a home for dreamers and schemers, its heartbreaking inequality, its varied and diverse communities, its unique combination of dense cities and wild places.
New episodes premiere Wednesdays, with broadcasts on LAist 89.3 the following Sundays.
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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.
This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
Forgotten Revolutionary
In Imperfect Paradise: Forgotten Revolutionary, LAist reporter Adolfo Guzman-Lopez investigates the unexpected death of Oscar Gomez, a rising star of the 1990s Chicano student movement. Read and listen below.
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The 2022 podcast from LAist Studios has been optioned by Participant Media. Listen to Part 1 now.Listen • 32:56 -
Student activist Oscar Gomez died under mysterious circumstances in 1994. As I looked into his death, I found parallels to my own life.Listen • 30:29
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The Forgotten Revolutionary Redux: Part 2Adolfo learns that there was a dark side to Oscar’s experience in the Chicano student movement.Listen • 46:11
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Adolfo gets his first lead on a person possibly involved in Oscar’s death.Listen • 36:25
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Adolfo finds a briefcase with information that could lead to clues about Oscar’s death.Listen • 36:38
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Was Oscar going to leave the Chicano student movement? Adolfo discovers new information about Oscar’s last months.Listen • 45:36
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Adolfo reckons with his own relationship to his past and the Chicano student movement. And he finds someone who may have clues about what happened the night Oscar died.Listen • 31:53
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Adolfo learns about the dangers of Santa Barbara’s bluffs and gets a second opinion on Oscar’s death report.Listen • 37:40
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Telling the story of Oscar Gomez was a turning point in the career of KPCC/LAist reporter Adolfo Guzman-Lopez.Listen • 42:17
Strippers Union
Imperfect Paradise: Strippers Union takes listeners inside the real story of the first US strip club to unionize in decades, and the messy road Star Garden’s dancers took to get there.
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Dancers at Star Garden demanded better working conditions — including protection from aggressive guests. Up next: An actual contract.Listen • 42:27
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The organizing efforts by the mostly white group of dancers at the North Hollywood raised questions from others in the community about who would really benefit.Listen • 43:00
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Some dancers previously had their sights on unionizing a different L.A. strip club: Jumbo’s Clown Room. But then the pandemic hit.Listen • 46:19
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Episode 4 of Imperfect Paradise: Strippers Union includes updates on the first six months since Star Garden reopened as the only unionized strip club in the country.Listen • 34:06
The Castle
Imperfect Paradise: The Castle takes us inside LA’s exclusive Magic Castle through the lens of a queer hobbyist magician, who pushed for more inclusion. Read and listen below.
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For one devoted hobbyist magician, the members-only Los Angeles institution was too alluring to resist. But the love faded. 'Imperfect Paradise: The Castle,' Part 1.Listen • 28:31
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In Part 2 of "Imperfect Paradise: The Castle," Carly Usdin describes the draw — and the drawbacks — of the Magic Castle's old-timey atmosphere.Listen • 34:44
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When the summer of 2020 brought a reckoning over diversity and inclusion, hobbyist magician Carly Usdin renewed their commitment to making the club better — just as two members tried to get Carly kicked out. 'Imperfect Paradise: The Castle,' Part 3.Listen • 38:22
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In Part 4 of "Imperfect Paradise: The Castle," a historian talks about the on- and off-stage gender dynamics in Western performance magic.Listen • 28:15
People vs. Karen
Imperfect Paradise: People vs. Karen tells the story of a Latino couple falsely accused of attempted kidnapping by a white mom-fluencer and their quest to hold her accountable. Read and listen below.
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In December 2020, Sadie and Eddie Martinez were falsely accused of attempted kidnapping by a white woman who had been shopping at a Michaels craft store at the same time as them. This is the story of Sadie's fight to clear their names and bring her accuser to justice.Listen • 34:39
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In 2020, Sadie and Eddie Martinez were falsely accused of attempted kidnapping by a white woman while shopping at a Michaels craft store in Petaluma. Imperfect Paradise: People vs. Karen, is the story of how Sadie held her accuser accountable.Listen • 28:33
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In the third episode of Imperfect Paradise: People vs. Karen, the criminal case against Katie Sorensen goes to trial. Reporter Emily Guerin was there.Listen • 52:50
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And how do some women go from using their social media following to make money…to spreading lies?
Listen • 35:14
Nury & The Secret Tapes
Imperfect Paradise: Nury & The Secret Tapes tells the story of the biggest political scandal in recent Los Angeles history. Read and listen below.
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Antonia Cereijido reflects on her motivation for hosting Nury & The Secret Tapes, the four-part series for the new season of the LAist Studios podcast Imperfect ParadiseListen • 40:45
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Episode 2 of LAist Studios podcast Imperfect Paradise: Nury & the Secret Tapes explores the disgraced former L.A. city council president's background and political career, and delves into the tensions roiling the council in the months leading up to the secretly-recorded meeting that forced Martinez to resign.Listen • 45:41
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In her first interview since resigning last fall, Martinez responds to the racist, offensive comments she made during a secretly-recorded conversationListen • 52:50
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In episode 4 of the LAist Studios podcast Imperfect Paradise: Nury & The Secret Tapes, we ask council members about the fallout from the scandal a year later.Listen • 35:14
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Antonia Cereijido reflexiona sobre su motivación para presentar “Nury & The Secret Tapes”, la serie de cuatro partes para la nueva temporada del podcast “Paraíso Imperfecto” de LAist Studios.
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Featured
LAist Investigates are stand-alone episodes of Imperfect Paradise that spotlight in-depth reporting from LAist's newsroom with additional context and impact updates. Read and listen below.
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In a new podcast episode, Imperfect Paradise breaks down an LAist investigation that found a lack of awareness regarding abortion access at California’s public universities.Listen • 34:01
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We get into the origin story of identity politics, as well as the pitfalls and implications of “centering the most marginalized” when it comes to political action.Listen • 29:21
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All over California, people with serious mental illness are living in nursing homes that experts say weren’t meant to care for them — an investigation by LAist, APM Research Lab and The California Newsroom reveals. Some call it "warehousing" and say the practice might violate federal laws. The consequences have been deadly.Listen • 25:28
