FROM L.A. TO KHAN YUNIS: ALL EYES ON GAZA

LET THE CITY KNOW:

You can also watch this episode via YouTube.

In this installment of J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast, guest David Cowen and I discuss his being diagnosed with bipolar disorder as early as when he was 21 years old, Kabbalah and Zionism, Israel’s genocide through forced starvation in Gaza, as well as rising homelessness in Los Angeles and California.

We also shout out a special fundraising campaign for Khaled, only five months old as his family flees south from Gaza to the border with Sudan due to Israel’s latest campaign against the Palestinian people, known as “Operation Gideon’s Chariots II.” To learn more about Ibrahim and Nagham’s campaign for Khaled, please do so here.

From David: “Dave Cowen turns the religious into humor, finds the ​s​piritual in the digital, and makes serious comics fun. His popular series of comedy Haggadahs for the Jewish holiday of Passover have been featured in The New York Times and include parodies of Trump, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Mel Brooks, Kanye West, and The Office. His debut graphic novel, 11 years in the making, AN IMPERFECT UNION, is available on his Substack SerioComics, which also includes Q&As with the best makers of ​g​raphic literature today such as Pulitzer Prize winner Tessa Hulls, Eisner winner Shannon Wheeler, ​Melissa Chan and Badiucao, Sina Grace, Yasmeen Abedifard​, etc.​ Follow his stories and more on Instagram at (@_davecowen_).

Thank you also to Nicolas Jara (@nicthejara) for video, Jacob on Sound (@fuller.sound), and Esteban (@marsbuiltstudio) for sharing his space for this discussion.

J.T.

KOREATOWN SPEAKS UP

This is a special rebroadcast episode for the first ever panel-discussion by K-Town Is Oaxacan Korean.

On Thursday, November 2, 2023, K-Town Is Oaxacan Korean, also known as K-Town Is OK, brought together long-time and former residents of Koreatown into conversation. The panel, free and open to the public, was held just over a year after the public release of a private discussion between L.A. City Council Members Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo and Kevin De Leon, and Federation of Labor leader Ron Herrera, in which they dismissed Korean-American residents of the area and ridiculed Oaxacan or Mexican-American members of the community as “short, dark people” and “feos (ugly).” The panel discussion was held online and featured a line-up of guest speakers, culminating a year-long effort by my colleague Helen H. Kim and I documenting Oaxacan-American, Korean-American and other voices in Koreatown through our website and podcast, K-Town Is OK.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Quien Es Tu Vecindario to support this panel and help create more such dialogue for our communities.

J.T.

EPISODE 116 – MICHELLE RIVERA IS GOING TO PARIS THIS FALL; LEARN HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT HER

Urban Planners, geek out! Michelle Rivera, of UCLA’s Masters in Urban and Regional Planning program, connects with us to talk about her journey towards this esteemed graduate program. Shout outs and discussion items include Michelle and I’s coming out of UC Davis (go Aggies!), the importance of nonprofit work for learning the how-tos of community organizing, Michelle’s time with Chancee Martorell of the Thai Community Development Center in East Hollywood, her work with L.A. City Hall’s recent decision to codify the Al Fresco program, and of course, her fundraising efforts to get to Paris, France this fall, where she’ll continue her studies for three months at Sciences Po University. Please find her fundraiser for this HERE, and follow her journey via Instagram at @mujer.de.epazote.

Also, remember to submit your voicemail to the new J.T. Weather Report!

Here are the four easy steps to take when calling into the hotline:

I. Choose an interesting nickname for yourself to keep your anonymity.

II. Tell me which side of The City (or County) you’re calling from.

III. Tell me how you’re liking the weather, or if you’ve seen anything interesting through it like a downed power line, fallen tree, a pack of opossums, etc.

IV. Keep it under a minute! This helps us tune in to more reports rather than less.

***And if you’d like to keep your number anonymous as well, did you know that pressing *67 before you dial a number keeps your number blocked? That’s right!

Submit your voicemail to the J.T. Weather Report at (213) 458-5042.

For more of these updates and then some, follow J.T. the L.A. Storyteller on Apple or Spotify, then rate and review us!

And if you’d like to tune into the show from elsewhere, please see our RSS feed here: https://jimbotimes.com/category/podcast/feed/

J.T.

EPISODE 115 – NICOLE BANISTER AND I DISCUSS BARCELONA, TRAVELING THE WORLD, AND SO MUCH MORE

Nicole Banister, also known as the host of Nikki Banz Live, recently accepted the Peace Corps’ Franklin H. Williams Emerging Leaders Award for work that exemplifies the advancement of world peace and friendship. Nicole was also featured on Episode 62 of J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast as the Founder and Commissioner of My Basketball Team. Our energizing discussion touches on my upcoming journey to Barcelona’s Barrios, Nicole’s visit to 21 different countries on the African continent alone, discovering ourselves–including our voices–through seeing what the world outside of the United States has to offer, and more. A true chat for communities from Cape Town to Los Angeles to keep handy for motivation.

Also, remember to submit your voicemail to the new J.T. Weather Report!

Here are the four easy steps to take when calling into the hotline:

I. Choose an interesting nickname for yourself to keep your anonymity.

II. Tell me which side of The City (or County) you’re calling from.

III. Tell me how you’re liking the weather, or if you’ve seen anything interesting through it like a downed power line, fallen tree, a pack of opossums, etc.

IV. Keep it under a minute! This helps us tune in to more reports rather than less.

***And if you’d like to keep your number anonymous as well, did you know that pressing *67 before you dial a number keeps your number blocked? That’s right!

Submit your voicemail to the J.T. Weather Report at (213) 458-5042.

For more of these updates and then some, follow J.T. the L.A. Storyteller on Apple or Spotify, then rate and review us!

And if you’d like to tune into the show from elsewhere, please see our RSS feed here: https://jimbotimes.com/category/podcast/feed/

J.T.

WHEN DID LOS ANGELES GET ITS NAME?

Please note that our interview with Eva Recinos is now scheduled for January 24th at 7 PM via IG Live. Also note that at L.A. City Council this Tuesday, Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter, called for justice in the name of Keenan Anderson; she was joined in these calls by community members speaking out for Anderson, Takar Smith, and Oscar Leon Sanchez, all three of whom were shot and killed by the Los Angeles Police Department within the first week of 2023.

As for this update’s main segment, the first of a new kind for the podcast, we discuss the naming of Los Angeles, the city’s age, what the Mojave and Sonoran deserts have to do with it, and why this info is still relevant for communities today. Sources for the “tid-bit” include the L.A. City Gov’s website, as well as LAtitudes: An Angeleno’s Atlas, and Rosten Woo.

For more of these updates and then some, please follow the show on Apple or Spotify, then rate and review us!

And if you’d like to tune into the show from elsewhere, please see the RSS feed here: https://jimbotimes.com/category/podcast/feed/

J.T.