Explore every episode of the podcast Making Los Angeles

What happens when a Pacoima kid turned MIT-trained engineer brings a wonk’s brain — and a line cook’s work ethic — into the halls of power?

Alex Padilla is California’s senior U.S. Senator, a national voice on immigration and voting rights — and, as you may have seen recently, someone unafraid to challenge authority, even if it means getting handcuffed at a press conference. (This conversation was recorded before that moment, but you’ll hear crystal clear why these issues matter so deeply to him.)

In this episode: we’ll hear what it was like to serve as acting mayor of Los Angeles at just 28 years old in the wake of 9/11, how he helped change the way Californians do everything from vote to dine out at a restaurant, and how his family’s story shapes the quiet determination that continues to fuel his drive his public service.

Also: we’ll learn about the iconic L.A. restaurant where his father worked the line … for more than 35 years.

Even more than its sunny skies, rich history and Hollywood glamor, L.A. is defined by its people. In “Making Los Angeles,” from LA Times Studios, native Angeleno Glenn Gritzner sits down with the dreamers and big-thinkers shaping the city to explore how they got where they are. The result is a singularly intimate deep dive into the incredible lives of everyone from entrepreneurs, politicians and brand-builders to artists, activists and influencers. Behind every L.A. icon is a human story. Hear a new one every week on “Making Los Angeles.”

In a city where everything changes, what if the most important people are the ones who don’t?

Father Greg Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries — the world’s largest gang intervention and rehabilitation program — and he’s spent more than 30 years in the same East L.A. neighborhood, still showing up with hugs, humor, a little wisdom, and the occasional twenty for the homies outside his office.  He’s a Jesuit priest, bestselling author, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient… and a walking masterclass in radical compassion.

In this episode: we’ll hear why he asked to serve in L.A.’s poorest parish, how living in Bolivia reshaped his worldview, and what it really means to listen. And yes — we’ll hear how even Jesuit priests aren’t above the occasional mic drop.

From Bosch to The Lincoln Lawyer to his latest novel Nightshade, few authors have done more to shape how the world sees Los Angeles than bestselling crime novelist Michael Connelly. In this episode, we talk to the man behind more than 40 books — nearly all set in L.A. — whose work has been adapted for film and television and translated into more than 40 languages.

He tells us about the chilling moment that first sparked his interest in crime stories at age 16, the unpublished novels he wrote along the way, and why he didn’t quit his day job until his fourth book came out. We also learn what it’s like to have your characters brought to life by Hollywood icons like Clint Eastwood, Matthew McConaughey, and Titus Welliver — and why Connelly still reads the same chapter of a Raymond Chandler novel before starting every new book.

Recorded at Musso & Frank Grill — where, as we later discovered, we were seated in Raymond Chandler’s old booth — this conversation is part master class, part love letter to Los Angeles, and 100% Connelly.

What happens when your parents leave the country… and hand you the keys to one of L.A.’s most iconic restaurants?

Bricia Lopez is the co-owner of Guelaguetza — the Koreatown Oaxacan institution that’s been serving up rich moles, mezcal, and culture for over 30 years. Named a James Beard American Classic and a winner of the L.A. Times Gold Award, Guelaguetza has done more than any other restaurant to bring Oaxacan food into the heart of Los Angeles — and onto menus across the country.

In this episode: how Bricia felt like she was moving to Disneyland when she immigrated to L.A. as a child, what it was like to suddenly run a landmark restaurant in her twenties, and how she and her siblings have honored their family’s legacy while expanding its reach. She also shares stories of late nights, early struggles, what it’s like to have mezcal cocktails named in her honor — and what it takes to carry tradition forward in a city obsessed with the next big thing.

We recorded this one behind the scenes at Guelaguetza — squeezed into her sister’s office, surrounded by the beautiful mess of a real working restaurant. And yes, I left with a mole sampler platter. Because, occasionally, podcasting does have its privileges.

And one more thing — I actually asked Bricia Lopez, a James Beard Award–winning cookbook author, whether she’s a good cook. You'll want to hear her answer.