The race to save historic Altadena fireplace tiles — because they're all that’s left

A day with the 'Save the Tiles' volunteers as they work against time to preserve over 200 fireplaces in Altadena.

This story helped bring international attention to the volunteer effort, prompting follow-up print and video coverage from The New York Times, The Guardian, CBS and others.

These volunteers are trying to fill the gaps in LA’s response to the homelessness crisis

From fresh water to clean needles, volunteers hit the streets each day to provide services to the unhoused.

For this 3-part series, I embedded with multiple harm reduction groups in encampments and motels throughout Los Angeles. The story includes interviews with unhoused residents, city councilmembers, the mayor and various academics.

What the displacement of storied restaurant Suehiro means for Little Tokyo

The move of Suehiro Cafe to Downtown LA is yet another example of local businesses leaving the neighborhood, nibbling away at its cultural identity.

This article reflects How To LA's effort to connect with community members to highlight hyper-local stories for a broader audience.

Thousands of trees will go unplanted in Los Angeles after Musk pulls funding

Tens of millions of dollars in grants were withdrawn across the country, targeting programs that plant trees in low-income communities.

This piece was written on a daily deadline, but was able to expand its scope by drawing from my archive of interviews with local non-profits throughout Los Angeles.

All grill, no bill — Fair Oaks Burger is serving free meals in Altadena

The restaurant is one of a few surviving structures on its block of Fair Oaks Avenue and is serving displaced residents and first responders in the parking lot.

This profile and the accompanying non-narrated radio feature were made on a daily deadline for Weekend Edition, using food to tell a wider story about Altadena's fire cleanup effort. 

Foraging in a pandemic means digging up a new business model

Jess Starwood used to forage wild fruits and herbs for some of L.A.'s top restaurants. When they fully reopen, she's not sure she'll sell to them again.

I wrote this piece using reporting from a documentary film about mushroom foraging – stalled due to the pandemic – accidentally kickstarting my career in public radio.

I Paid $30 to Create a Deepfake Porn of Myself

"I wanted to know how easy it was to make a deepfake porn video. It was disturbingly simple."

I wrote this piece in 2019, three years before Chat GPT's release and long before AI was a dinner-time buzzword. Rereading several years later, the dampened shock-value reveals how dramatically these technologies have changed our relationship with truth.

How to ditch your car: A guide to being car-free in Los Angeles

How To LA producer Evan Jacoby’s tips on going car-free.

This... was jut plain fun.