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Deep in the Mojave Desert, there is a little town with a big name and a bizarre history: California City. For decades, real estate developers have sold a dream here: if you buy land now, you’ll be rich one day. Thousands of people bought this dream. Many were young couples and hard-working immigrants looking to build a better future. But much of the land they bought is nearly worthless. In this new podcast, host Emily Guerin tells a story of money, power and deception. Listen and subscribe to this limited series at laist.com/californiacity  California City sponsors include: Sun Basket is offering $35 off your order when you go right now to SUNBASKET.com/calcity and enter promo code calcity at checkout. Simplisafe: Try SimpliSafe today at SimpliSafe.com/CALCITY. You get free shipping and a 60-day risk free trial. There’s nothing to lose.

In this bonus episode, KQED’s Truth Be Told host Tonya Mosley talks with Walter Thompson-Hernández about the making of California Love, growing up in Los Angeles, and the importance of trusting yourself. Plus, in the spirit of Truth Be Told, Walter answers a round of audience questions. The audio is prerecorded from an Instagram Live event from August 20, 2020.

We close the series with a meditation on how 28 years after the 1992 Riots, for many in L.A., things feel exactly the same.

Eleuteria “Ellie” Hernández moved to Los Angeles from a small town in Mexico when she was 14 and fell in love with the city. In this episode, Walter sits down with Ellie, his mother, to understand her relationship to L.A. and how it shaped his own.   California Love sponsors include: UCLA Extension Fall Quarter starts September 28. Enroll now at https://www.uclaextension.edu/

There’s a horse ranch in the heart of Compton that may hold the answers for salvation and redemption for the city’s black cowboys.  Read the original NYTimes article, "For the Compton Cowboys, Horseback Riding Is a Legacy, and Protection."  Read Walter Thompson-Hernández's book The Compton CowboysThe New Generation of Cowboys in America's Urban Heartland California Love is a limited series with 8 episodes. Show support by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts.

A first-parrot perspective into legends and myths of how L.A. became home to the world’s largest population of green parrots. California Love is a limited series with 8 episodes. Show support by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts.

Walter dives deep on what Kobe meant to him in his life and how the icon’s death spurred a collective mourning throughout the city. California Love is a limited series with 8 episodes. Show support by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts.

A story about a wild party line that many Los Angeles’ teenagers used to create a fantasy world. California Love sponsors include: Stream We Are Freestyle Love Supreme beginning July 17, only on Hulu

Walter was just eleven years old when he was admitted to L.A.'s infamous Scared Straight program for graffiti related crimes. In this episode, Walter, through a chance encounter, checks-in with his friend who went through the program with him, their anti-tagging arch-nemesis, and how they have turned out after all these years. California Love sponsors include: Stream We Are Freestyle Love Supreme beginning July 17, only on Hulu

Host Walter Thompson-Hernández returns home to L.A. and reflects on how much the city has changed since he was a child. California Love sponsors include: Stream We Are Freestyle Love Supreme beginning July 17, only on Hulu