The Immigrants Who Composed L.A.

In the Herald Examiner’s Historic Lobby, the Modern and the Classic Blended Sound and Style

There was no better space—the grand entryway into a bygone era of downtown Los Angeles—to convene last night’s event “How Immigrants Composed L.A.”

The special musical presentation in the historic lobby of the ASU California Center at the Herald Examiner building was presented in partnership with Artistic Soirées and ASU Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Celebrating the European musicians who fled fascism and immigrated to Hollywood during its heyday alongside Reena Esmail, a contemporary, L.A.-raised Indian American composer, the evening was all about connections. Fittingly, the presentation itself only …

Black and white photo of Arnold Schoenberg conducting during a rehearsal with the LA Philharmonic Orchestra in 1935.

The Exiled Musicians Who Escaped Fascism for La La Land

‘An Aggrieved, Talented, Witty, and Competitive Bunch’ of Artists Made Music in Hollywood’s Heyday

Generations ago, in the parenthesis of years between Hitler’s 1933 rise to power and the end of World War II, a deluge of European artists and intellectuals came to the …

A ‘Peculiar Mix of Ego and Insecurity’ Drives the Race for L.A. Mayor | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

A ‘Peculiar Mix of Ego and Insecurity’ Drives the Race for L.A. Mayor

To Lead a City of Imported Stars, You’ve Got to Make It in Sacramento or Washington First

Why does Los Angeles trust Sacramento and Washington more than it trusts itself?

Angelenos may complain about state and national government like other Californians, but we also have a practice of …

California Housing Is Becoming More Affordable—Relatively, Anyway | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

California Housing Is Becoming More Affordable—Relatively, Anyway

You Still Get More House for Your Money in Austin or Boise Than L.A. or San Francisco, But the Difference Is Dwindling

California housing prices have soared during the pandemic. The California Association of Realtors reports that the median selling price of a single-family house here increased 11 percent, to $796,000, between …

How to Imagine a Los Angeles Without Traffic | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

How to Imagine a Los Angeles Without Traffic

The City Has the Solutions to Congestion, Pollution, and Accidents—We Just Need to Use Them

For the last century, Los Angeles has been expanding its road space far beyond almost any major metropolitan area in history. We have built freeways and roads and parking lots …

Can a Historic L.A. Bar’s Queer History Still Demand Justice?

Photographs from the Black Cat Tell the Tale of a Movement’s Muddled Origins—And Where It Might Go

The round face of a cartoon cat—big eyes, earnest smile—still hangs off the front façade of the Black Cat in Silver Lake.

Today, it peers out from above the kind of …