Literature:
- David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times book critic and editor of Reading Los Angeles
- Michael Silverblatt, host of KCRW’s Bookworm
- David Kipen, founder of Boyle Heights bookstore and library Libros Schmibros
- Carolyn Kellogg, writer on books and publishing for the Los Angeles Times and their literary blog Jacket Copy
- Tom Lutz, founding editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books
- Tyson Cornell, proprietor of Rare Bird Books and Rare Bird Lit and former longtime Director of Marketing & Publicity at Book Soup on the Sunset Strip
- Richard Rayner, author of the novels Los Angeles Without a Map and A Bright and Guilty Place
- Joseph Mailander, writer of fiction and poetry as well as political and cultural analysis, including the collection Days Change at Night: Notes from Los Angeles’ Decade of Decline, 2003-2013
- Geoff Dyer, author of books across the spectrum of fiction and non-fiction on jazz, photography, travel, World War I, and Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker
History:
- Glen Creason, Los Angeles Public Library Map Librarian and author of Los Angeles in Maps
- Nathan Masters, writer on the history of Los Angeles and representative of Los Angeles as Subject for KCET and Los Angeles magazine
- D.J. Waldie, author of Holy Land: A Suburban Memoir and Where We Are Now: Notes from Los Angeles, and for 34 years the City of Lakewood’s as Public Information Officer
- Chris Nichols, Los Angeles magazine associate editor
- Charles Phoenix, “Ambassador of Americana,” curator of vintage midcentury slides, and author of books like Southern Californialand, Americana the Beautiful, and Southern California in the 50s
- Lynn Garrett, proprietor of popular online community Hidden Los Angeles and fifth-generation Angeleno
- Matt Novak, author of Paleofuture, the blog that looks into the future that never was
Planning and transit:
- David C. Sloane, professor at the University of California’s Price School of Public Policy and editor of Planning Los Angeles
- Donald Shoup, UCLA urban planning professor and author of The High Cost of Free Parking
- Brigham Yen, Realtor and author of the urban renaissance blog DTLA Rising
- Tim Halbur, Director of Communications at the Congress for the New Urbanism, and former Managing Editor at Planetizen
- Doug Suisman, architect, urban designer, and author of Los Angeles Boulevard: Eight X-Rays of the Body Public
- Ethan Elkind, attorney and researcher on environmental law and author of Railtown: The Fight for the Los Angeles Metro Rail System and the Future of the City
- Edward Soja, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Urban Planning at UCLA and author of Postmodern Geographies, Thirdspace, and My Los Angeles: From Urban Restructuring to Regional Urbanization
- Damien Newton, founder of Streetsblog Los Angeles
Architecture and design:
- Alissa Walker, urbanism editor at Gizmodo and writer on urban design, architecture, and the cityscape — especially of Los Angeles
- Christopher Hawthorne, Los Angeles Times architecture critic
- Frances Anderton, host of KCRW’s Design and Architecture and Dwell magazine’s Los Angeles editor
- Clive Piercy, founder and principal of design studio air-conditioned and author Pretty Vacant: The Los Angeles Dingbat Observed
- Carren Jao, Manila- and Los Angeles-based writer on architecture, art, and design
- Stephen Gee, senior producer at ITV Studios and author of Iconic Vision: John Parkinson, Architect of Los Angeles
- James Steele, USC School of Architecture professor James and author of Los Angeles Architecture: The Contemporary Condition
Media:
- John Rabe, host of KPCC’s Off-Ramp
- Andy Bowers, executive producer of Slate podcasts and fourth-generation Angeleno
- Jesse Thorn, host of public radio’s Bullseye and proprietor of the Maximum Fun podcast empire
- Tony Pierce, former blog editor at KPCC, LAist, and the Los Angeles Times, as well as the author of Busblog
- Patt Morrison, former host of Life and Times and Bookshow with Patt Morrison on public television and Patt Morrison on KPCC, author of the Los Angeles Times “Patt Morrison Asks” column and Rio L.A.: Tales from the Los Angeles River
- Madeleine Brand, host of host of KCRW’s Press Play
- Jon Christensen, editor of Boom: A Journal of California
- Mark Frauenfelder, founder of the popular zine-turned-blog Boing Boing and founding co-editor of Make magazine
Music:
- Mark “Frosty” McNeill, co-founder and creative captain of the internet radio “future roots music” collective Dublab
- Jeff Weiss, music writer at the L.A. Weekly
- Dan Kuramoto, founding member of the band Hiroshima
Film:
- Karina Longworth, film writer at the L.A. Weekly
- Thom Andersen, professor at the California Institute of the Arts’ School of Film/Video and creator of the documentary Los Angeles Plays Itself
Food:
- Besha Rodell, food writer at the L.A. Weekly
- Matthew Kang, food writer, editor of Eater LA, author of the blog Mattatouille, and proprietor of the Scoops Westside ice cream shop
- Javier Cabral, “food, booze, and punk rock” writer formerly known as The Teenage Glutster, currently known as The Glutster
Neighborhoods and exploration:
- Eric Brightwell, proprietor of both Pendersleigh & Sons Cartography
- Thomas Rigler, Steve Reich, and Caitlin Starowicz, creators of City Walk from KCET and Link TV
- Eric Nakamura, founder of Asian-American aesthetic culture and lifestyle brand Giant Robot
- Geoff Nicholson, author of The Lost Art of Walking, Walking in Ruins, and The City Under the Skin
- Jim Benning, travel writer and co-founder of World Hum
- Noé Montes, photographer and publisher of El Aleph Books
Art:
- William E. Jones, artist, filmmaker, and writer
- Doug Pray, documentarian and director of Levitated Mass
Los Angeles Review of Books interviews:
- Anna Stothard, author of the Venice-set novel The Pink Hotel
- Josh Kun, professor in the USC Annenberg School and co-curator of the Central Library’s “Songs in the Key of Los Angeles”, and City Librarian John Szabo
- Michael Krikorian, former Los Angeles Times crime reporter and author of the thematically related novel Southside
- Jerry Stahl, author of Permanent Midnight, Bad Sex on Speed, and Happy Mutant Baby Pills
- Sandra Tsing Loh, author of Depth Takes a Holiday and The Madwoman in the Volvo and host of The Loh Life on KPCC
- David Grand, author of Mount Terminus, a novel of the birth of Los Angeles
- Dana Goodyear, journalist, poet, and New Yorker staff writer
Marketplace of Ideas interviews:
- David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times book writer and author of The Lost Art of Reading [first interview MP3] [second interview MP3]
- Richard Florida, urban theorist and author of Who’s Your City? [MP3]
- Michael Silverblatt, host of KCRW’s Bookworm [MP3]
- John Rabe, host of KPCC’s Off-Ramp [MP3]
- Luke Fischbeck, founder of Los Angeles experimental music group, art-creation unit, and engine of community Lucky Dragons [MP3]
- Laurie Ochoa and Joe Donnelly, founding editors of the new Los Angeles literary journal Slake [MP3]
- Alan Nakagawa, sound, visual, and installation artist, founding member of Los Angeles’ long-running, multi-disciplinary, multi-ethnic arts collective Collage Ensemble, Los Angeles Metro public art executive, and very serious eater indeed [MP3]
Supplementary material:
- Guardian essay, “A City that Outgrew its Masterplan. Thank God”
- Selected essays from A Los Angeles Primer
- Boom essay on the Korea in California and the California in Korea
- Guardian essay, “The Gentrification of Skid Row“