Claim OwnershipWhat's Next, Los Angeles? with Mike Bonin
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© 2025 What's Next, Los Angeles? with Mike Bonin
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Los Angeles is at a turning point. We are living in a defining moment. What happens next is up to us. Over the past few years, problems and challenges have shaken this city -- and tremendous opportunities for change have presented themselves. How do we rise to this moment and emerge a better place to live? What will it take to create a more just and a more equitable community? Working together, how are we going to create a stronger, forward-thinking Los Angeles? Mike Bonin, writer, teacher, progressive activist and former City Councilmember, looks at the issues and problems facing Los Angeles, examines ideas, and talks with the people who will lead us to a brighter future.
Produced in partnership with LA Forward.
109 Episodes
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He is a housing justice advocate who has been a community organizer since he was a kid – and now he is running for Los Angeles City Council. I talk with Estuardo Mazariegos, candidate for Council District 9 in the City of Los Angeles, on this episode of WNLA. Today is the second installment of our series of interviews with candidates running to succeed Curren Price on the LA City Council. The 9th Council District in Los Angeles stretches from the southern edge of Downtown Los Angeles, through...
The 9th City Council District in Los Angeles stretches from the southern edge of Downtown Los Angeles, through South Central, all the way toward Watts. The communities of Central-Alameda, Vernon-Central, South Park, Green Meadows, and Vermont Square all call District 9 home. The district is among the most diverse and youngest in the city, with over three-quarters of residents identifying as Latino, a significant Black community, and many families with roots across Latin America and beyond. Ne...
In a special episode of What's Next, Los Angeles, we present a 45 minute one-on-one interview with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, recorded last week. In May, Mike became the executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for public affairs at Cal State Los Angeles. The Institute is dedicated to strengthening, promoting, and defending democracy. A key focus is studying, understanding, and cultivating public leadership. Last week, Mike launched a new series of fireside discussions, where he...
A respected local University shocked its faculty and its students recently by abruptly ending labor negotiations and invoking a religious exemption to shut down a campus union. In this episode, we hear from professors fighting for fair pay, job security, and respect in a high-stakes labor battle at Loyola Marymount University. Brian Wisch and Linh Hwa, both non-tenure track (NTT) faculty at LMU and members of the union, explain the vital importance of NTT teachers at colleges and universities...
Has California – once a leader in fighting climate change – begun to retrench, moving backward after years of progress? That’s what we discuss on this episode of What's Next, Los Angeles, with special guest Mike Young, executive director of California Environmental Voters. The 2025 California legislative session brought headline-grabbing action on environmental and climate issues—but it’s a record that’s as contested as it is celebrated. Governor Newsom and lawmakers have been touting a packa...
What is the fuss about ULA, the measure Los Angeles city voters approved in 2022? The debate over its impact may be more hotly contested today than it was when it was on the ballot. Measure ULA, dubbed “the mansion tax" by supporters, imposes a transfer tax on property sales above approximately $5 million. Funds go toward affordable housing production and homelessness prevention programs in the city. It's supporters say it is boosting production of affordable housing and keeping tenants house...
Los Angeles may be home to a powerful labor movement today, but it was not always that way. Los Angeles was once known as one of the most anti-union cities in the country. On this Labor Day weekend, we re-air Mike's 2024 interview with Kent Wong of the UCLA Labor Center. Kent walks us through the ups and downs of the history of organized labor in Los Angeles -- and reveals how victories and losses here shaped the labor movement nationally. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: UCLA Labor Center Memory Wor...
Wallis Annenberg was a titan in the world of philanthropy. An heir to the Anneneberg family fortune, she served as chairman and president of the Annenberg Foundation since 2009, giving away more than $3 billion in charitable grants to a variety of causes, including the arts, wildlife, seniors, and inner-city youth. But the obituaries celebrating her life and lauding her achievements failed to mention that she was well-known in LA’s LGBTQ+ community as a lesbian, and she had given significant ...
Is Los Angeles broken? And what will it take to fix it? We discuss that with Rick Cole on this episode of WNLA. Cole knows local government. He was elected to the Pasadena City Council in 1983, and served for 12 years, including two as Mayor. He served as City Manager of Azusa, Ventura and Santa Monica. He has served several times for the City of Los Angeles, as senior deputy to Councilmember Richard Alatorre, as deputy mayor for Budget & Innovation under Mayor Eric Garcetti, and as as de...
In this new age of repression, are you a dissident? What does that mean? What does it require? And how dangerous is it? In this episode, we talk with Ami Fields-Meyer, co-author of “So You Want to Be A Dissident?” in the New Yorker. Ami also recently hosted a conversation titled “Concentration Camps and the Machinery of Repression: Lessons for Saving Democracy” with Julia Pitzer and Erica Chenoweth. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/live/ESiZOQBZUYA?si=W5n9iC0HXAgCkSO9 What's N...
June is LGBTQ Pride Month. It is time when those of us in the queer community celebrate who we are. It is a time of joy and empowerment. And a time for reflection – of thinking about how far we’ve come, and how far we’ve gone back again, It is also a time to celebrate our heroes. That is why, in this episode, I speak with Lu Lipmen, a non-binary 13 year-old who is fighting back against the wave of anti-trans hate. They discuss how they face the hate and vitriol -- and how they respond w...
Vulnerable Californians are in the crosshairs. That’s one of the big takeaways from Governor Newsom’s latest budget proposal -- the May Revise.Last week on this podcast, we focused on the proposal’s impact on transportation, housing and climate. Today we’re looking at its impact on vulnerable and low income Californians, and the news is pretty ugly. Among those likely to suffer if the Legislature doesn’t make changes are low income families, senior citizens, people with disabilities, people w...
Governor Gavin Newsom has unveiled his latest budget proposal. What does it mean for mass transit, for housing, and for the fight to save the climate? We will get into with Eli Lipmen, executive director of MOVE LA. Transit Advocates Warn of Fiscal Crisis After Newsom Passes on Emergency Funding: https://www.kqed.org/news/12040042/transit-advocates-warn-fiscal-crisis-after-newsom-passes-on-emergency-funding#:~:text=Newsom%20include%20%242%20billion%20in,of%20Fund%20California%20Public%20Trans...
In the face of an onslaught of attacks on civil rights and civil liberties and social justice programs, are you feeling demoralized, or helpless, or isolated? If so, you are not alone. In this episode, we talk with Rudy Espinoza, executive director of Inclusive Action for the City, about his personal and political search for the courage to stand up, and about the strength he finds in solidarity. LINKS Inclusive Action for the City Rudy's essay in Nonprofit Quarterly Info on the May Day ...
Last weekend, a crowd 36,000 strong flocked to downtown Los Angeles, filling Gloria Molina Grand Park, surrounding Los Angeles City Hall, and stretching a half mile down Spring Street. From all around Southern California they came to hear and to cheer Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and to amplify the message that America needs a government that fights for its people, and not its billionaires. This stop on the Fighting Oligarchy tour was the largest Sanders or AOC rally, ev...
Los Angeles County is creating its own Department of Homeless Services – and pulling hundreds of people and hundreds of millions of dollars out of LAHSA – the joint city-county homelessness services agency. Is it a big and long overdue step to maximize taxpayer investments in solving homelessness? Or is it a rushed and divisive move that threatens recent progress in bringing our unhoused neighbors indoors? We’ll discuss that with Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and with Los Ange...
Did you know that as a resident of Los Angeles, you have an attorney? The City Attorney is elected to represent and fight for the people of Los Angeles and to serve as the City’s lawyer. Deputy Attorney General Marissa Roy recently announced her campaign for Los Angeles City Attorney, campaigning to protect workers from wage theft, renters from illegal evictions, and consumers from fraud. Marissa is running against our current City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto. In stark contrast, Hydee...
Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez has been at the forefront of some of the biggest political battles of the past two years. From winning an Olympic wage for tourism workers, fighting for the rights of street vendors, and championing renter protections, he has been a warrior for the working class. I talk with him on this episode of WNLA. What's Next, Los Angeles? is produced and hosted by Mike Bonin, in partnership with LA Forward.
On the eve of her retirement after six decades of public service, Jackie Goldberg reflects on the history she made as an organizer and an elected official, and offers insights an advice to a new generation of activists. Goldberg is ending a career that stints on the Los Angeles school board, the Los Angeles City Council and the California State Assembly. She has been a trailblazing LGBT official and a key progressive leader. In a wide ranging interview with Mike, Jackie shares a histor...
In this powerful episode, we dive deep into the critical issue of racially biased traffic enforcement in Los Angeles, often referred to as "Driving While Black." Our discussion focuses on the systemic challenges faced by drivers of color, who are disproportionately targeted and affected by traffic stops in the city. Joining us are two esteemed experts in the field: Chauncee Smith of Catalyst California, and Leslie Cooper Johnson of the Community Coalition. Together, we explore: - The historic...
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Super important topic for anyone who experiences traffic and commuting in Los Angeles