HTLA Presents: How Not To Be Lonely: Part 2 - Speed Dating

Part 4: Half a year after Star Garden reopens as a union club, the dancers are still negotiating a contract. LAist producer Emma Alabaster brings you the latest. Plus, some of the dancers have set their sights on a different dream: a worker-owned cooperative strip club. 

Here are some resources that informed our reporting:

• LA Co-op Lab
• U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives
• 2021 Worker Cooperative State of the Sector Report
• Yes, A Stripper Podcast

For more resources 

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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.

Part 3: Building A Music Community To Feel Less Alone

For the next installment of our finding community series, we're talking music! 

Writer's 'Round LA is a Nashville-style, singer-songwriter showcase and hang for artists and non-artists alike. Think a 60s or 70s era Laurel Canyon open mic night. Good vibes all around.  

Today, How To LA producer Megan Botel explores how people are creating strong connections and building community through groups like Writer's 'Round LA. 

Guests: Greg Gilman, singer, songwriter for Greg in Good Company and founder of Writer's 'Round LA; Kat Hamilton, curator for Writer's 'Round LA and singer-songwriter. 

Here are the musicians you heard in the episode, check them out! 

Leah Ashton, listen to her latest album here.

Erica Dawson (who has a show coming up). 

Dylan Kanner, who played the open mic. Check out his dreamy music. 

Greg In Good Company, check out their new single, "Home."

Part 3: The Star Garden Topless Dive Bar reopens as a union strip club, but the fight doesn’t end there. What happens after the victory? LAist Producer Emma Alabaster has the story.

Here are some resources that informed our reporting:

• Working It: Sex Workers on the Work of Sex  (In particular, the essay "White Supremacy in Organizing" by Domino Rey)

• Yes, A Stripper Podcast
• Unequal Desires: Race and Erotic Capital in the Stripping Industry by Siobhan Brooks
• Tits and Sass: Service Journalism by and for Sex Workers
  
  

Click here for more resources 

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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.

Part 2: Speed Dating

Sick of dating apps? Ever try speed dating?

It's part of series from How to LA that examines feelings of loneliness in this town and how people are dealing with it by making new connections. Today we are going with romantic connections. In a city that's perceived as being very hard to date in, speed dating is gaining in popularity, especially among Gen Z.

How To LA host Brian De Los Santos and producer Megan Botel went to two speed dating events – one for straight folks and one for people who identify as LGBTQ  – to check out how this whole thing works and give you some tips!

They also speak to dating and relationship expert Damona Hoffman for some general dating advice.

Guests: Damona Hoffman, certified dating and relationship coach and author of "F The Fairytale"; Andrea Ramirez, founder of The Next Fun Thing (Love In LA); David Greenberg, chief operating officer of The Next Fun Thing (Love In LA)

Part 2: When the Star Garden strippers go public with their union campaign, they get pushback from the club’s management and a group they didn’t anticipate - other strippers. LAist Producer Emma Alabaster reports.

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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.

From LAist Studios, How to LA producer Megan Botel explores how people are dealing with feelings of loneliness – which have recently been declared a nationwide epidemic by the U.S. Surgeon General – and how some Angelenos are dealing with it by creating communities and finding new connections in the city.
Through this series, we explore the depths of these feelings for people in all walks of life. And dig into how folks are easing these feelings by creating connections and all sorts of communities around the city.
To kick it off part one, we speak to loneliness expert Cat Moore to understand and, in many ways, re-define our understanding of how loneliness is experienced. We'll also cover specific ways to begin building community.
Guest: Cat Moore, Director of Belonging at the University of Southern California
If you are struggling with your mental health, please reach out for help and check out these resources.

Part 1: In 2023, North Hollywood’s Star Garden reopened as the only unionized strip club in the U.S. LAist Producer Emma Alabaster tells us the behind-the-scenes story of the workplace conditions that pushed the dancers into action. 

CONTENT WARNING: This episode includes sensitive content about sexual assault.

For sexual assault and harassment support and resources, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673, which is a service of RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network).

For more, visit https://LAist.com/ImperfectParadise

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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.

Imperfect Paradise Host Antonia Cereijido speaks with philosopher and author of Elite Capture: How The Powerful Took over Identity Politics (And Everything Else) Olúfemi O. Táíwò. They examine the question: are identity politics over? It’s a question that was raised and we began to explore with Imperfect Paradise’s Nury & The Secret Tapes series. Antonia examines that question more deeply with Táíwò and presses him on why he believes identity politics have failed to deliver on their promise to create greater social equity and what he thinks is the more effective political alternative. Antonia’s conversation with Táíwò kicks off the first Imperfect Inquiry, a recurring Imperfect Paradise segment in which Antonia interviews thinkers, experts, and stakeholders on themes, issues, and questions that we examine on the show. 

For more, visit https://LAist.com/ImperfectParadise

Support LAist Today: https://LAist.com/donate

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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.

Imperfect Paradise: Yoga's "Queen of Conspiracies": Part 4: RFK Jr. - The Presidential Candidate for Wellness Conspiracists?
A year after Yoga’s “Queen of Conspiracy Theories” first release, Imperfect Paradise host Antonia Cereijido explores a new, unexpected chapter in this story with Conspirituality podcast host Matthew Remski, Politico journalist David Freedlander, and LAist Correspondent Emily Guerin, who reported the series. This episode examines how the conspiracy theories, once relegated to a subset of yoga and wellness communities, are being brought into the political mainstream through the presidential candidacy of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is campaigning on a mix of conspiracies from both the wellness world and the far right.

For more, visit https://LAist.com/ImperfectParadise

Support LAist Today: https://LAist.com/donate

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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.

Part 3: Kundalini Yoga’s #MeToo Moment
In early 2020, just as fears about coronavirus are worsening, women begin accusing the founder of Kundalini Yoga, Yogi Bhajan, of sexual assault. Guru Jagat’s surprising response sets the stage for her radicalization during the pandemic.

CONTENT WARNING: Mentions of Sexual Assault

(Original Air Date: Jan. 18, 2023) 

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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.