The 5 Best Imperfect Paradise Podcast Episodes
1) People vs. Karen: Part 1
Part 1: Sadie and Eddie Martinez, a Latino couple, were falsely accused of attempted kidnapping by a white mom-fluencer in Petaluma, California. LAist Correspondent Emily Guerin tells us about Sadie’s...Show More
2) The Forgotten Revolutionary - Part 1
Oscar Gomez was a star of the 1990s Chicano student movement and then, unexpectedly, he died. A rattling event in host Adolfo Guzman-Lopez’s life spurs him to investigate Oscar’s death.&nb...Show More
3) Nury & The Secret Tapes: Part 1
We take you behind the scenes of the L.A. City Council tape scandal, a year later. The secret recordings of the conversation among four of the city’s most powerful Latino leaders making racist, deroga...Show More
4) People vs. Karen: Part 2
Part 2: When a Latino couple, Sadie and Eddie Martinez, is falsely accused by a white woman of attempted kidnapping, their lives are upended as the accusation goes viral. LAist Correspondent Emily Gue...Show More
5) Introducing Season 3: Imperfect Paradise - The Sheriff
Alex Villanueva, an underdog maverick, runs for LA County Sheriff as a progressive reformer in 2018 and wins, surprising everyone. After taking office, he turns into a vindictive leader who mocks refo...Show More
6) The legal and political battle over sensitive voter data
A federal judge just dismissed the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against California over full access to the state’s voter registration database. The decision comes months after the depar...Show More
7) Where is LA a year after the fires? Checking in with survivors, rebuilding and nature
It’s been one year since two of the most destructive fires in California’s history – the Eaton Fire in Altadena and the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades – killed 31 peop...Show More
8) Meet the filmmakers who love AI (Redux)
This episode originally aired on March 19, 2025. It’s hard to find people in Hollywood who are willing to speak publicly about their enthusiasm for AI, for fear of being seen as “siding wi...Show More
9) How AI became a Hollywood villain – especially for animators (Redux)
This episode originally aired on March 12, 2025. Hollywood taught us to be afraid of a super powerful artificial intelligence that will one day conquer humanity. So not surprisingly, many screenwriter...Show More
10) Shuttle Endeavour’s final mission for a new home and space exploration
Los Angeles is an integral part of space shuttle Endeavour’s journey. The California Science Center is building a new, larger home for the shuttle, which will make it the only place in the world...Show More