When Leo Fender and Les Paul met, they didn’t have much in common — one was an introverted tinkerer, the other a rising star. But their electric guitars defined the sound of rock ‘n’ roll. Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix brought Fender and Paul’s rivalry alive onstage in a “battle of the brands” that spanned decades.
Just one day after the 1994 election, federal and state lawsuits are filed claiming 187 is unconstitutional. And though 187 finally dies for good in 1999, Latinos in California never forget it. Prop 187 inspired more Latinos than ever before to register to vote and to run for office in California. Now, 25 years after 187 passed, the Golden State's bluer than indigo. Host Gustavo Arellano ends our series with a last lingering question: Given President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, will we experience another 187 on a national scale? Produced in collaboration with Futuro Studios.
In June 1994, 187 gets enough signatures to qualify for the California ballot. Proponents get support for the ballot measure through a new tagline: Save Our State. Latinos see 187 as an existential threat, so they organize school walk-outs and a march in Downtown Los Angeles. But undecided voters see the Mexican flags waved at the march as an invasion come to life. In November 1994, 187 passes and Governor Pete Wilson is reelected. Produced in collaboration with Futuro Studios.
Host Gustavo Arellano learns how Prop 187 was born 25 years ago, and talks to the pair of Orange County political consultants who helped write it. We learn what California looked like in 1993 and how the then governor of California, Pete Wilson, attached himself to Prop 187. Issues around immigration are beginning to set the tone for a huge political debate in California. Produced in collaboration with Futuro Studios.
A secret report on strip clubs is revealed, but it’s no smoking gun. As Midtown changes, residents of a weekly hotel make their fury known to a council that says they’re just pawns in a bigger game.
For bonus and behind-the-scenes content for Episode 2, visit thecitypodcast.com. Or follow us:
In a changing Reno, city boosters concoct a plan to force strip clubs out of downtown. But Reno’s strip club kingpin won’t go quietly. As the city tightens its grip, it’s dancers who feel the squeeze.
For bonus and behind-the-scenes content for Episode 1, visit thecitypodcast.com. Or follow us:
Spectacles have been around for centuries, and have a huge impact on many people's quality of life. So why is it estimated that more than two billion people aren't aware that they need them? Tim Harford considers the difference that seeing clearly makes to the world.
For a sustainable future, we need to turn away from fossil fuels and turn towards electricity. But to electrify everything — our cars, our buildings, our entire neighborhoods — we'll need to make some big changes first.
In this episode, hosts Eric Jaffe and Vanessa Quirk explore the future of electrification with Gretchen Bakke, author of The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future, and Sidewalk Labs' director of sustainability Charlotte Matthews. For a link-rich transcript of this episode, click here.
City of the Future is produced by Benjamen Walker and Andrew Callaway. Mix is by Zach Mcnees. Art is by Tim Kau. Our music is composed by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. If you want to hear more of Adaam’s work, you can check out his band, Lost Amsterdam.
Meet our new host, Charlie Herman, and hear what’s in store next week, when we return with a brand new episode of Brought To You By… Coming up this season: a decades-long guitar battle, the first time the Boy Scouts of America went coed, and an electric scooter uprising in San Diego.