[SEG A: ERICK PERSONAL INTRO]

ERICK: Alright, you ready? Ok.

[Clears throat]

There have been a few times in my life where I’ve nearly lost everything and had to live in my car ... or worse. That’s just the way it goes around here. Los Angeles seems to be hardest on you when you’ve missed. It’s a fact that’s intensified the affordable housing crisis and created a generation of unhoused Angelenos.

I was thinking about those moments a lot last spring when Covid shut down my city for the first time and sent us all home.

Home. Damn. Is that where you live or where you want to be?

Is it wherever my family is?

As a small child, that was a tiny trailer in Compton where my bed nearly touched the ceiling. Then it was borrowed time in Long Beach, DTLA, Washington DC, New Orleans, Chicago, Lama Palace, Paramount, HP, Lynwood, BG, Downey. Southeast LA forever.

And sometimes, it was a wooden shed on a hill in Tijuana that was slowly being built into a house. Or my grandparent’s rancho en Sinaloa where you had to use your feet to pump the water while you showered. Or run around techos en Culiacan, bathing in that summer rain.

Was that my home then?

Uff.

When I get really, truly sentimental, I think about this car I used to have. A powder blue, 1999 Mercury Grand Marquis. I lived in that car, most of the time by choice, and even when it wasn’t by choice, I loved and appreciated every inch of Chuck Berry. That’s what I named it. Because I was always riding along in my automobile with no particular place to go.

I realize, I think about those hard living times more often whenever I hit my shot. Because home is wherever my family is and where I want to be but it’s also where I live right now. And that’s here with you.

I’m Erick Galindo and this is Wild.

THEME MUX SWELL: I Got Everything by Mz.007

SHAKA: This is WILD — A show about what it was like to grow up during the pandemic. Season 1: Home Forever.

[SEG B: INTERVIEW]

DAISY: How are you? How's life? How's everything?

ERICK: Everything's cool. You know? Like, it's, it's hard for me to assess.

DAISY: That's valid. Man. I feel the same.

ERICK: This is Daisy. She created this thing called Hood Renovationz. And Hood Renovationz is taking these spaces that are usually marginalized, ignored or erased and she’s making them beautiful, she’s making them livable. I want you to meet her.

ERICK: You grew up in HP, you grew up on Hood Avenue?

DAISY: Yes, sir.

ERICK: How was that? Tell me a little bit about that.

DAISY: Oh, Hood Avenue. My childhood man, what can I tell you? Uh……this idea of home is thrown around so, so much – especially with the pandemic – where it's like, you don't know what people's homes are?You're telling people to stay at home. Like, that's cool. But you come from a place of privilege, where you think your home is comfy and nice to be in. But not everybody's homes like that.

ERICK: OK. Real Quick: Daisy and I both grew up in a part of Los Angeles known as Southeast LA. It’s mostly working class Black and Latino residents. We call it SELA. Daisy’s little slice of SELA is Huntington Park. We call it HP.

Like much of LA, SELA is going through an affordable housing crisis. Nearly half of its residents are renters and many live packed into multi-generational homes. Daisy, for example, spent most of her childhood living in a tiny one room apartment with four other people. Her parents and two sisters.

DAISY: So my parents found this apartment through.. My sister's like pre-k teacher lived there before. And somehow they knew each other. And like, it was word of mouth. Like, “Hey, we're vacating this cuz we got a home. Like, maybe this will work for y'all.” And they're like, “Yeah. Yeah. That's cool. We only need it like half a year while we like figure out a permanent solution to like our housing because we can't raise a family in a one-room apartment.” Like it was tiny. And, you know? Two months turned into three months, turned into six months, turned into six years, turned into 20 years. Like, we never moved.

ERICK: What? Why do you think you guys never moved?

DAISY: You know? We started middle school. And then by the time we wanted to move, my oldest sister had started high school. And I think if there's one thing that my parents have always prioritized: has been education. You may not have money but you will be educated. And that's going to be worth a lot more than us giving you absolutely anything.

So it was quite apparent that we were not going to move. So we kind of began morphing into –– a very temporary solution to our housing problem to kind of like sculpting what the room would look like with five people inside.

The Walk (Instrumental) by Los Santos Caballeros

DAISY: And that's where the bunk beds came. And you know, the rules about the dresser: is like everybody just had your one dresser, you're like two drawers and that was it. Dad got the closet because you know, the patriarchy is still real. And he got the closet and everybody else shared like their cajones.

The top bunk was my safe space because that was like my room right? I went through like an emo phase. I had my Green Day up, My Simple Plan, Good Charlotte up. You know? And then I went through like this other phase where I got really into bandas. So then all my banda posters are hanging up. And that's what it was …

ERICK: Where they hanging on the roof?

DAISY: Yes, yes. Literally, like it was like, it was like a 90 degree of posters. I wish I had a picture because my mom was like ... I was, like, “You said this was my space. So I claimed all of it.”

DAISY: Keep in mind, like I went through like puberty there. I went through like being an awkward teenager to like, you know, high school and high school drama. And you know, kids are assholes. And you know, I had really bad acne and I got picked on a lot. And you know, I went through a lot of phases in that room. And like, you know, growing up in that space ... and so did my sisters. And I think it's funny because I never thought of it like, “Oh, I have no privacy.” And just like I just we just didn't know any better because that's how we grew up.

ERICK: That little space was like your little piece of home for such a long time. Did that help you? Like the way you see the world? Did it define you in any way?

DAISY: Oh, yeah, like I … That's a loaded question — traumas. I think once I left my little corner of the world on Hood Avenue, I realized the value of my parents’ morals and upbringing had on me as a person. I think that they did the best that they could, in extreme circumstances to raise us and they gave absolutely everything they could, um, in order for us to have a good life. And when I think about my little bunk bed, and my little twin bunk bed – like all the memories I have of that – that always grounds me. Because that little corner of the room that I hide in that little bunk bed that I had in that space, is always going to be me, because I don't need much. And I think that stems from having grown up the way I did.

ERICK: Daisy left Southeast LA for college. She went to undergrad at UC Berkeley and then went to law school in Boston. She was in her final year about to start an exciting internship when the pandemic hit.

Like a lot of us, here first thoughts were with her parents.

Her parents are both older, which makes them more vulnerable to catch a bad case of COVID.

DAISY: My mom in particular has a lot of pre-existing conditions. She's not the healthiest, she has diabetes, and all these other, other problems that Latinos just tend to have. And we got really worried, ... In particular, because one of one of my parents is undocumented and healthcare is just not a thing for undocumented folks. Thankfully, in LA, there are a lot more resources than there are for sure in other places.

[PAUSE]

You know? It was just like ... From what we were knowing, it's like they were in that target population of people that could severely be very affected if they were to contract this virus.

[PAUSE]

SIGHT (Instrumental) by The Brow

ERICK: You're in Boston, you got to move out. Twenty-four hours, you got to empty or like flat. How did that go down?

DAISY: Oh, man. Why you gotta bring old shit up, Erick? Why you gotta bring up traumas?

[ERICK LAUGHS]

DAISY: Umm ...Oh, I remember vividly. Okay, it was spring break. I didn't go anywhere. for spring break. I was still in Boston. And like, all of my friends were like, in Miami, Peru, Cancun. People went to Spain. People went to Ibiza. Like people were everywhere. Because it was spring break. Like this is what people with money in spring break do. Like they take trips. And I was like, “Well, I have things to do as school to study.” So I just didn't go anywhere.

And then my friend who was actually a resident director, she's like, you need to leave and I was like what?

She's like, you need to leave. We're evacuating students as soon as they come back. Like we're gonna use these as quarantine rooms because the hospitals are overflowing. So they're gonna use like the dorms of the University. I was like WHAT?!?

How am I supposed to leave? Like, it was a super small studio but mine came unfurnished. So everything that was in that studio was mine. So like, my bed; my dining set, which is like two chairs; a table; my TV; my little thing, where you put the TV; my desk; my chair; like all my clothes. And like your typical LA Girl, you need to have like 100 sneakers because that's just what we do in LA. You know? Like my 10 tons of makeup that I own because, again, like such an LA thing to just have like 10,000 pairs of lashes for no reason. Like, you know, that was me. And I'm like, “What am I supposed to do with all this stuff?” She’s like, “You need to get a storage.” It got scary when I started realizing storages were selling out. Like there were storages near the campus like there was no was vacance. So it was like, “Oh my god, like this is getting insane.” So I ended up finding a storage that was a little bit out of the city. But I was like, whatever, I'll take it because that's all there is. And it was like I feel so bad for my clothes because they just thrown in boxes and they're stored somewhere in Boston. And …

ERICK: Which kicks did you bring with you?

DAISY: My Air Force Platform Black — those are the kicks that rolled with me. There are the loyal ones. The only ones I have right now, rolling with me. Cuz, you know, it's such a LA thing to have sneakers. Like I feel, like nobody understands having sneakers, having fresh sneakers, as LA people do because Boston did not appreciate my kicks. Let me tell you. And the snow was disrespectful, disrespectful.

So anyways, we packed my stuff. We went to fill up the storage and I was gone by Thursday night. I had two suitcases, my backpack and I got on the plane to Nashville. And that was it. And that was the last time I was in Boston. And when will I ever go back? Who knows?

[laughing]

ERICK: I gotta go. I gotta go save the rest of those shoes. Dude.

DAISY: Yo, I had just bought like the Sage Low, like the Light Pink Suede Air Forces. Just got them. Just got them. They're sitting crisp in a box in storage in Boston.

ERICK: I love that. I love that. Like, you know exactly where they're at right now. You could just picture them. Right?

DAISY: Yeah. I see them. I see them. They're there.

Babylon (Instrumental) by Fenton Joseph

[SEGMENT C: TANGENT - SNEAKER SONG]

Shaka: This is the lonely shoe blues. Dedicated to all of the items out there, left behind, due to COVID.

Lonely shoes

Lonely shoes

Man — I miss the way you crease me.

Crease me and I’ll crease you back.

Ohhhh we used to be childish like that.

We matched outfits together.

Do you think about me?

Was it my performance?

Or worse, what it my size?!?!

Please come back.

WTF.

I ain’t playing wit you.

There I go again.

I’m trippin.

I didn’t mean that.

I’m just not used to the cold shoulder.

I’m not meant for the tub.

But I want to feel the love.

Without the journey there not loot.

Without construction there’s no boot.

What is a fetus without a foot?

The agony.

Come back to me…

Signed with love,

Your beloved Pink Suede Air Force Ones

Lonely shoes… Lonely shoes… Lonely shoes…

Babylon (Instrumental) by Fenton Joseph

ERICK: So if we can go back a little bit, like, your parents are both from Mexico, right?

DAISY: Yes.

ERICK: Where do they meet them out here in the US?

DAISY: No, um, no. Oh, you're gonna love this story. Um, my parents actually met through baseball in Mexico.

[Indios de juarez singing]

[baseball playing in the background]

ERICK: Really how?

DAISY: Like my family sees baseball as a religion. Like you will find Dodgers playing, like, even if it's old games in my house, 365 days a year, every day.

[TV Clicking]

DAISY: Like there's always baseball on. And if we're not watching baseball here. We're watching baseball in Mexico.

[Victor Gonzalez...]

[Flip]

[Oh this is amazing...]

[Flip]

[SO IT HAS COME TO THIS, WE GO TO THE NINTH INNING AT DODGER STADIUM]

[Flip]

[Baseball]

[TV OFF]

DAISY: My mom is from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, and at the time, there was a baseball team there, Los Indios de Juarez. And there was this baseball player by the name of Leobardo Figueroa playing there. My mom was a fan of the baseball team because she loves baseball. She met his wife. She met the players. They all became friends. And this particular baseball player was like, "Huh, you should meet my brother."

Don't Pass Me By (Instrumental) by Otis Clay

And surely but slowly, it's like, all they started sending letters to each other. And then he would come visit my uncle in Juarez from Mazatlan and they fell in love.

DAISY: Baseball is the common denominator.

ERICK: They fell in love through letter writing?

DAISY: Yeah. There’s boxes and boxes and boxes of letters from and to each other. Because my mom kept all of them and so did my dad, at one point, I was able to see both. And it's just like, the real Notebook story, but like in letters. And that's how they met: through baseball.

ERICK: Wow! That's super romantic.

ERICK: So when did they decide to come to the US?

DAISY: My grandpa always wanted one of his sons to be like an engineer in las maquilas de azúcar. The sugar factories, the sugar Mills. To test the chemistry of the sugar and tada da da da. My dad is the only one that went to college and so he got a job as a chemical engineer testing the products of the sugar that went to go out to production.My dad lasted there, I think a whole week. Because he realized that it was all corrupt.

And my dad was like, “Nope.”

[PAUSE]

“Yo no servio para esto. Like I might be many things but corrupt I am not.” And so he went back to Mazatlan, he told my grandfather, he couldn't do it. And that he was gonna try his luck in the US.

SHAKA: WILD will be right back after this commercial break

Babylon (Instrumental) by Fenton Joseph

__________ MID ROLL BREAK _____________

Babylon (Instrumental) by Fenton Joseph

SHAKA: Now back to the show

ERICK: Daisy finally made it back to the West Coast. She finished law school remotely from her sister’s guest house in Orange County, which is about 20 miles south of her childhood home, where their parents were still living. And Daisy couldn’t stop thinking about that.

DAISY: This idea had been lingering in my head for a while. My parents stopped sleeping in the same bed a long time ago because the way those bunk beds were set up, there was just no way for them to like access the bathroom if they had to go in the middle of the night. So it was just easier for my dad to sleep in my sister's old bed, which was a twin. And then my mom is just sleeping the full that was like the second bed under the top bunk. So I remember saying like, this is not it

[PAUSE]

How is it that I have a room to myself and I have a bed to myself that I can comfortably live in, and my parents don't have that?

[PAUSE]

And I also remember there was broken floor in that room that my mom kept tripping over and over. One time she got a really bad bruise from it on her toe. And my mom's diabetic. So we all know feet problems can lead to very big problems for diabetic people.

[PAUSE]

The carpet was also bad. Like, the paint was horrible. Like, again, we had, like, we all grew up there and nothing had ever changed. Like, in that room, there was no upkeep.

[PAUSE]

My parents are expected to be home and they can't even be comfortable and chill and kick it in their bedroom because they don't even have one.

[PAUSE]

ERICK: You decide you, you're gonna remodel your parents home, you're gonna build something for them that they've never had, right? Walk me through that.

DAISY: So we started by getting rid of the bunk beds. It was like goodbye childhood. I called up my friend. Obviously I cannot, I'm not a one woman show. I hit up Joe.

[PAUSE]He's a handyman and he's done stuff for my family for years now.”This is what I'm thinking.” And he's like, “Alright, cool. Is it just gonna be us two.” And I was like, “Let me see if Francisco's free.”

[PAUSE]

So Francisco's like, “Yeah, I mean, it's a pandemic, like I got nothing to do. What are y'all doing?” And he's like, “Yeah, I’m down. I’ll come through.” And I was like, “Alright, bet.” so it was just the three of us.

ERICK: What did your parents think? What were your parents thinking when you were like, "Ma, pa, voy a tumbar todo y lo voy hacer mejor."

DAISY: They thought I was bluffing. They really thought that I was like, oh ... Cuz I think out of the three I probably have the most outrageous idea. So they're used to like me just saying things and just being out of like, out of … out of control. And they're like, “yeah, okay, yeah, yeah. Cool.” So then they went to stay with my sister. So we like, totally downplayed it. Because they just literally thought we're just gonna, like, pick up the bunk beds, and like, just put up a queen bed in there, like, leave everything else, right. Like, they never thought that we were just gonna, like, literally gut everything. They had no idea we were doing.

ERICK: How did you guys leave it? What did you transform it into?

DAISY: So okay, let me let me backtrack a little bit. So when you used to walk into the room on the right, you saw to like you saw the bunk bed you saw a twin up on top, a full in the middle and then a pull-out twin. And then on the side of that bunk bed, you had another twin because remember, five people used to sleep in there.

[PAUSE]

DAISY: And then against the wall, you had a big closet thing like an armoire. And then you had a bunch of little dressers. And then on top of those dresses, you had a TV and then you had like random shelves because Daisy wanted more space for her makeup because she was going through a phase. And then on the other side you had more shelves that don't even ... none of these furnitures match because it just has been added on for years. And then the other one you had other shelves because my other sister was going through a phase where she wanted to like, display, I don't even know what it was. So that was then and they had a carpet and then it also had a big stick they used to stick out through the carpet because it just was water damaged that never got fixed from years ago.

[PAUSE]

So now you walk in and it's like boom,

Don't Try To Explain (No Lead Vox) (Instrumental) by La Femmes

DAISY: Natural light everywhere. Super clean, crisp, white toned walls. You'll see to the right you see one queen bed with their two side tables like the nightstands, nice lamps. They don't turn on. You gotta say, “Alexa, prende la luz,” because my mom wanted that. You see a very nice high headboard. On the other side, you see a really low, like dresser, and you see us a TV, a super big TV hanging on the wall. And it all just looks crisp, beautiful. We had to leave at one of those nice area rugs. It was blue and white because Go Dodgers, per usge. And it was it was great. Like it looks beautiful. It looks clean. It looks crisp, we added some plants. It looks peaceful. And it just looks like a space that my parents can finally relax and sleep together in after they haven't been able to do so in 20 years.

END MUX

ERICK: What was their reaction?

DAISY: Oh, man. You know... I was a little scared about the reaction because, you know, Latina moms, they could really go one of one of two ways either like they're you really did it or you just about to get your ass kicked. And I think that's what it was with my nervousness. But the reaction was... Ahhh man…

OPEN UP (INSTRUMENTAL) BY Kuinka

DAISY: When my parents walked in, there was no there was no speech, like there was nothing. And I was like, “Oh shit, like damn. We fucked up, you know?” But you see their smiles. And I think they were just kind of taking it in and my mom was like, “Where's my room? This is not my room” And my dad was like, “Oh my god…” Like, he took it in and he sat on the bed. And I think that’s when he finally felt it. He just started crying.

[Recording of Daisy’s father]

DAISY: It wasn't like, sniffles. It was like, whole-on crying. And you know, he went to hug me. And then I was like … You know, my older sister, being like the sociologists and professors that she is, was like, “Why are you crying? Like, what are you feeling?” And he's like, “I just …

[Recording of Daisy’s father]

DAISY: “We've never been able to have something like this. And I gave you all absolutely everything.” And I think, even see, like, I'm getting emotional now just thinking about that. That moment with my dad. He's like, “I gave you everything. And I was never able to have something like this and like, I just didn't think there was going to be this nice.”

[PAUSE]

DAISY: And it was just so much gratitude and so much love in his reaction that I never expected it. And he also touched upon how like, you know, it might have been a small place, but we grew up. Like when we came here, y'all were still little girls. I'm crying. I hate my life. I'm crying.

ERICK: I’m crying too by the way.

DAISY: Good I got you.

DAISY: Um, you know, he's like, y'all were still little when we came here, and, you know.I think it also marked like a period. You know, wow like, I raised my girls, and now they're bad ass women, and I'm starting to collect the fruits of my labor type thing, is what I got from his reaction. And, you know, obviously we talked later after, and he was just like, “I just, I don't even know what to say,” You know? Cuz obviously they didn't pay for anything, or like they just kind of dipped and came back and it was like magic. Like it was it was there. And he was like, “I just I don't know what to say aside from, “Thank you.” And I was like, “No. This is the bare minimum anybody should be getting because this is just the quality of life that should be given to humans period.

ERICK: And the video that Joe was recording, part of that wound up on the internet,

DAISY: It did. Yeah...

ERICK: Tell me about that.

DAISY: After the bedroom success, we kind of sat down and talked because we… I mean, keep in mind, at some point during this bedroom success, we're like, “Yeah, send money for beer. We ran out of beer.” And then people really did send money. We're like, “Oh, whoa, whoa, like, there's only so much beer that we can drink before we started like fucking shit up in this room.” And we had those funds. So I was like, “Guys, like, I legit think that we can redo the kitchen and like, or redo something like this ... This is a project that we can legitly do long term.”

[PAUSE]

DAISY: So that's when we formally became like the Hood Renovationz team and decided to kind of pursue to see where this was going. You know, beautifying the hood, just one room at a time.

[PAUSE]

ERICK: That's Wow. You're such a visionary, like for real I need more shoes

DAISY: It's the shoes. It's 100% of shoes.

ERICK: Those Air Force Ones are just like,

DAISY: Yeah, I just got the Air Forces with that metallic swish. Fresh. Fresh. Let me tell you. Where am I gonna wear them? To the living room.

[SEGMENT D: DRESSING UP TO GO NO WHERE.]

SHAKA: Let's take a moment to shout out the Fly Ladies and Fly Guys. Individuals with nowhere to be, But DRESS to FLEX anyway! The people that reject garments that represent Shabby, Lazy, Basic (Nah). Instead They declare. That going downstairs is the new Savage. This is how they “get ready..”

Ice Cream Man (Alt.) (Instrumental) by Lucian

MEGAN: When I think about the living room — the name suits it well.

There are many things living in this room.

My blue blazer.

My red silk dress.

Hoop earringsAnd that orange pencil skirt.

Red lipstick

Those white leather shoes.

They won’t live a life of dust — not while I'm in this room.

I have to remind them — they still have mirrors to see and places to go.

Like:

The movies

[clip of turning on a movie]

Birthday parties.

Dance parties.

[clip]

My therapist office.

The kind where you supply your favorite tea and the softest tissues.

My office — not as exciting as the dance party but still in need of heel — especially on Tuesdays.

A date — but not the first, of course, because the first one is always outside — the living room. If you know what I mean?

Even if the world doesn’t feel like the world I’ve known before.

I still arm myself with hoop earrings, and perfume for the room.

Because even with nowhere to go, I still gotta be me.

Babylon (Instrumental) by Fenton Joseph

ERICK: Do you feel like your story inspires others?

DAISY: I think that our stories are often frowned upon, or shame none, because we don't have the luxury of space that a lot of people have.

DAISY: When I started posting all of this, and the influx of messages saying, “Oh my god, I would have never guessed” or like, “Oh my god, I grew up that way too” or like, “Oh my God, we all know the Latino struggle with like the sardine packing and the seven people in the room type thing” and it was just like, people are out there. We're just not talking about it. Because for so long. I think it's made us feel like there was something wrong with us when in fact there isn't. It's more wrong with the system than it is how we're being raised, or this or this idea of this American life that we just don't have yet.

I Got Everything (Instrumental) by Mz.007

ERICK: This is going to sound wild, but Daisy’s story reminds me of this viral twitter video of Dodgers pitcher Victor Gonzalez. A lot of people who saw the Dodgers win the 2020 World Series will probably have the image of Julio Urias throwing that last strikeout to get the save, end the game and bring out the squad to celebrate. But when I close my eyes to relive that joyous moment, I think about Victor Gonalez’s viral video. See, Victor was born in a beautiful but humble and tiny pueblo in Tuxpan, Nayarit and from a young age there was this pressure on him to do great things. When he was 16, Victor left Mexico to join the Dodgers farm system. And he struggled to compete with all these grown ass men. But he kept going, trying to honor the sacrifices his grandparents and parents made for him. Trying to live up to those expectations. Then his father died, and it broke Victor’s heart. He went back to Nayarit and almost quit. But his family – that he was trying to carry to greatness – they actually lifted him back up. Victor Gonzalez was the winning pitcher in the deciding game of the World Series and he got to do something a lot of immigrant kids dream of.

He got on the phone right after the dodgers celebrated on the field and on a video call to his abuelo, his family, the whole pueblo he got to say I did it. I’m great for you.

[Tape]

That video call went viral on twitter and watching it made me think of people who dream big like Daisy, of my own parents and their hopes and dreams for me. Of my own journey.

And now, whenever I think of how dope it felt to see the Dodgers win a World Series in my lifetime, I will forever think of them and of Daisy’s kicks still sitting crisp in a Boston storage container.

I Got Everything (Instrumental) by Mz.007

[SEGMENT E: HIGHLIGHTS]

AngelLopez-Galindo: Highlights. I ate some avondigas that my tia made. I finished all my homework for the week. My grandma didn’t yell at me today.

Dynah Galindo: So today I went to go look at my new house that was just — we were just given the keys, which was pretty exciting.

Sarah Palafox teaser: After this I’m going to be doing hair and makeup and be shooting a video, I can’t share what it is — but it’s a really special song and it’s all about la cultura.

ERICK: That was Sarah La Morena Palafox— an Afro Latina banda singer whose love for her adoptive parents helped prepare her for giving birth in the middle of the pandemic. That’s on the next episode of WILD.

[CREDITS]

This episode of Wild AF was written and produced by Erick Galindo, Megan Tan, and me Shaka Mali.

Sound designed by Lushik Wahba and the fact checking was done by Marina Peña. It was mixed and engineered by Eduardo Perez, with additional help from Valentino Rivera. Megan Tan is our Senior Producer. Our Producers include Victoria Alejandro and Lushik Wahba. Marina Peña is our associate producer. Erick Galindo is our host and editor. Jessica Pilot is our Talent Producer. Our Executive Producers are Antonia Cereijido and Leo G.

Additional production for this episode was provided by Doug Gerry, Hasmik Pohosian and A Martinez. And special guest appearances by Mildred Marie Langford, Dynah Galindo and Angel Lopez Galindo. Shoutout to Marisa Klug-Moratya for shooting our album art and Steve Rosa for the assist.

The theme song is I Got Everything by Mz.007

Our website, LAistStudios.com, is designed by Andy Cheatwood and the digital and marketing teams at LAist Studios.

The marketing team at LAist Studios created our branding.

Special Thanks to the team at LAist Studios, including: Taylor Coffman, Kristen Hayford, Dae Kim, Kristen Muller, and Leo G.

WILD AF is a production of LAist Studios.

This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

[GOODBYE]

ERICK: WOO! I nailed it. I think…

I’m Erick G — I’ll catch you next time