0:10

Our state of mind is around

0:13

supporting stable trading relationships around

0:15

the globe. And that's why

0:17

today I've directed my administration

0:19

to look at new opportunities

0:21

to expand trade and to

0:23

remind our trading partners around

0:26

the globe that California remains

0:28

a stable partner. California

0:30

Governor Gavin Newsom last week tried

0:32

to reassure trading partners that he

0:35

is not on board with President

0:37

Trump's sweeping tariffs. Beyond that, there's

0:39

really not much the governor can

0:41

do right now. President Trump's tariffs

0:43

on America's trading partners and the

0:45

tariffs they may retaliate with will

0:47

affect California. The state's nearly $4

0:50

trillion economy is heavily dependent on

0:52

international trade. So how big an

0:54

impact could the tariffs have for

0:56

us here in the L.A. area

0:58

and the state as a whole.

1:00

We're going to talk about that

1:03

now with Kevin Cloud and Economist

1:05

and Executive Director of the Milken

1:07

Institute's Finance Department. Welcome.

1:10

My pleasure. Well, there seem to be

1:12

two schools of thought on these tariffs.

1:14

Either they're here to stay, at

1:16

least for a while, or they

1:18

are a negotiating tactic to reduce

1:20

the trade deficit the United States

1:22

has with other countries. What would

1:25

be the consequences for California in

1:27

each of those cases? Well, they're

1:29

going to be significant anyway you

1:32

look at it because... California

1:34

is utterly tied into the global

1:36

supply chains. We not only are

1:38

the largest manufacturing state in the

1:41

country, but we're also the chief

1:43

entry point for more goods than

1:45

anywhere else in the United States.

1:47

We have the busiest port complex.

1:49

We have incredibly busy airports for

1:51

different things. And our manufacturers that

1:53

are here are completely tied in

1:56

to getting compiles. from China, getting

1:58

components from Mexico and elsewhere. So

2:00

anyway you look at it, a

2:02

short-term disruption is incredibly hard, but

2:04

a long-term tariff play, whether or

2:06

not it's the numbers that the

2:08

president has actually announced in his

2:10

pushing for, is still going to

2:13

put pressure on the California economy

2:15

because it's going to make it

2:17

more expensive to make things here

2:19

in California. Mm-hmm. All right, so

2:21

you mentioned that there would be

2:23

a drop at the ports and

2:25

at the airports. I saw one

2:28

number that was estimating a 10%

2:30

drop in cargo volume at the

2:32

ports of Los Angeles and Long

2:34

Beach. What does that mean? What

2:36

does that translate into financially? So

2:38

it translates financially into both overall

2:40

revenues for the cities of LA

2:43

and Long Beach. It declines revenues

2:45

in terms of trucking in terms

2:47

of companies. to trade financing, but

2:49

also means jobs, because when there's

2:51

not as many goods, you don't

2:53

need as many people in logistics

2:55

and, you know, tens of thousands

2:58

of jobs. In fact, you could

3:00

indirectly argue hundreds of thousands of

3:02

jobs throughout California are tied to

3:04

trade and logistics. So a 10%

3:06

drop could mean a loss of

3:08

a few thousand jobs, whether it's

3:10

in the warehouses or it's in

3:12

trucking or just simply in packaging,

3:15

shipping, shipping, anything else. Okay, so

3:17

that's logistics and getting products from

3:19

one point to another. What about

3:21

the products themselves in terms of

3:23

businesses here in Southern California? What

3:25

areas would be most effective? Affected.

3:27

Well, the first thing that you

3:30

see are the businesses that get

3:32

hit by retaliatory tariffs. So let's

3:34

say we have a lot of

3:36

specialized manufacturing, food products, beauty products,

3:38

electronic components, and so on. And

3:40

all of those are tied into

3:42

assembly plants or markets for sales

3:45

all over the Pacific Rim. Europe,

3:47

let alone Latin America. So let's

3:49

say you package, you grow and

3:51

package almonds. You know, California's largest

3:53

almond supplier in the world. Well,

3:55

suddenly what we saw several years

3:57

ago during the last round of

4:00

US-China tariffs and trade disputes was

4:02

the Chinese suddenly stopped buying as

4:04

many almonds and there are one

4:06

of our largest markets outside. We

4:08

saw that. China reduced the number

4:10

of iPhones, you know, which are

4:12

even if they're not made in

4:14

California, the certainly designed California, and

4:17

Apple is a California company, we

4:19

saw that the Chinese and others

4:21

actually reduced their consumption of American

4:23

movies. So it can be a

4:25

number of different impacts like that,

4:27

but it can also be a

4:29

case where, let's say, we're making...

4:32

Aerospace parts, you know, the space

4:34

industry is incredibly important to Southern

4:36

California's economy, but a number of

4:38

the key rare earth metals we

4:40

need, a number of the key

4:42

components that we need still tie

4:44

back to China, and China is

4:47

responsible for 90% of rare earth

4:49

metals. that are consumed in the

4:51

world. They don't necessarily mind them,

4:53

but they absolutely refine them and

4:55

put them for sale. And our

4:57

technology industries and our aerospace industries

4:59

are absolutely tied into independent on

5:02

those. So if those get choked

5:04

or the cost goes up or

5:06

anything like that, expect the margins

5:08

to get hit and pretty much

5:10

any company that's tied into that.

5:12

Right, so also electric car batteries,

5:14

they also need rare earth minerals

5:16

and iPhones and all sorts of

5:19

electronics. Absolutely, and we're already seeing

5:21

the fact that the Chinese with

5:23

BYD have been putting out a

5:25

number of less expensive cars, electric

5:27

cars they've been sitting around the

5:29

world that's been hitting Tesla and

5:31

a number of other American automakers.

5:34

also the fact that they've announced

5:36

a new breakthrough in fast charging

5:38

and so on and that's even

5:40

before these tariffs and so if

5:42

the cost of making batteries goes

5:44

up if the cost of making

5:46

breaks for these cars which are

5:49

largely Mexico, getting those goes up,

5:51

expect that to affect all sorts

5:53

of different kinds of car pricing

5:55

and to affect a number of

5:57

the specialized industries, again, not just

5:59

the consumers who are tied into

6:01

this. So China has announced a

6:04

34% retaliatory tariff on all goods

6:06

from the United States. I guess

6:08

that would include almonds and movies,

6:10

as you mentioned, iPhones perhaps. Well,

6:12

well, remember that's goods, not services.

6:14

Just be careful on this is

6:16

that... The US actually runs a

6:18

massive surplus in most areas on

6:21

services, but because the president made

6:23

this announcement on goods, the tariffs

6:25

have largely just been on goods.

6:27

The real concern that we have

6:29

is Would any of these countries

6:31

decide to target our comparative advantage

6:33

in services, whether they're technology services

6:36

or financial services or eat products

6:38

such as movies, which are not

6:40

classified in traditional goods? So if

6:42

that happens, California especially winds up

6:44

being rather vulnerable. And so we're

6:46

waiting to see if that happens,

6:48

but right now it's just unmanufactured

6:51

goods in the lake. Right. So

6:53

I can imagine it's pretty difficult

6:55

to... quickly grow almonds somewhere else.

6:57

You have to plant these trees

6:59

and they need to mature and

7:01

then you need to harvest the

7:03

almonds. But it might be easier

7:06

to offshore something like movie making.

7:08

Well, absolutely. And you can, well,

7:10

we already are offshoring a tremendous

7:12

amount of movie making. That's a

7:14

completely other discussion about how Hollywood's

7:16

been dealing with rising costs since

7:18

streaming growth has stalled in the

7:20

pandemic. But yes, you could do

7:23

that. The question then comes, if

7:25

you make your movie overseas. you

7:27

have the issue would then be

7:29

potentially tariffed coming back into the

7:31

US if enough of that's done.

7:33

So Hollywood's got a much more

7:35

complicated calculus essentially to deal with

7:38

on this and we just don't

7:40

know yet. But if we were

7:42

still much more focused on DVDs

7:44

and various physical media sales, that

7:46

absolutely would be more affected. And

7:48

there is a question in terms

7:50

of entertainment or otherwise, whether or

7:53

not, even without tariffs, that various

7:55

countries decide they just don't want

7:57

to buy as much of our

7:59

stuff. Could it be good though

8:01

for some exporters with the dollar

8:03

dropping? Could that actually benefit? some

8:05

areas? Well, the issue is how

8:08

much does the dollar drop? So...

8:10

One of the key problems that

8:12

the United States has faced, and

8:14

if you go back historically to

8:16

the 1980s, when the dollar was

8:18

running way more than it is

8:20

right now, there is a huge

8:23

complaint from the US government that

8:25

the dollar was so expensive and

8:27

they had the plaza accords to

8:29

bring it down. The problem is

8:31

that was done in an environment

8:33

where tariffs were not as big

8:35

a deal. They certainly existed, this

8:37

is pre-world trade organization and all

8:40

that, and before a number of

8:42

free trade deals. But now what

8:44

we're seeing is that even if

8:46

the dollar drops. And let's say

8:48

it drops 20 percent, that's not

8:50

enough to offset all of these

8:52

costs not only on components, but

8:55

also on raw materials such as

8:57

steel and aluminum. Right. And so

8:59

there is a tariff already on

9:01

steel and aluminum from, I believe,

9:03

Canada and Mexico. Yeah, it's actually

9:05

a general tariff on steel and

9:07

aluminum, not just Canada and Mexico,

9:10

it's 35 percent. And it's telling

9:12

just how significantly these tariffs are

9:14

that U. actually announced they were

9:16

going to be laying people off

9:18

and reducing production of steel because

9:20

of their concerns on demand from

9:22

the US auto industry. And that's

9:25

even with the tariffs in place

9:27

potentially protecting the market. Oh, interesting.

9:29

So this whole idea that this

9:31

is going to create jobs in

9:33

the United States and bring back

9:35

manufacturing to the United States, which

9:37

is one of the stated reasons

9:39

for these terrorists on the part

9:42

of the White House, you don't

9:44

buy it. Oh, I buy it.

9:46

I absolutely do. The issue is

9:48

the timeline. And the issue is

9:50

how long? And it's important to

9:52

make the distinction between the general

9:54

10% tariff and some of the

9:57

issues that are being done there

9:59

and a number of the individually

10:01

assigned tariffs to all these different

10:03

countries, where that's supposed to be.

10:05

at least as the president said,

10:07

were implied, about negotiations. There is

10:09

no question that President Trump wants

10:12

more manufacturing the U.S. He was

10:14

very ardent about that when the

10:16

first round of tariffs went out

10:18

in his first term. There's no

10:20

question that that is something he

10:22

wants to see happen. The issue

10:24

is that getting manufacturing to happen

10:27

in the United States takes a

10:29

while. It means that you not

10:31

only have to build these plants

10:33

up, not only have to develop

10:35

these elements, but also you need

10:37

domestic supply chains. And a number

10:39

of the suppliers that we had

10:41

back in the 70s and 80s,

10:44

they don't exist anymore. They moved

10:46

overseas. And adjusting that is going

10:48

to take a lot of time

10:50

also. All right. So in the

10:52

meantime, what are you forecasting in

10:54

terms of a dip in the

10:56

California economy overall? Well, I'm not

10:59

going to say necessarily in terms

11:01

of a percent or in terms

11:03

of like GDP contraction because there's

11:05

so many different factors that are

11:07

going to be at play. I

11:09

will say this that in the

11:11

short term that we saw a

11:14

massive surge in various imports that

11:16

happened to try and supply the

11:18

engines, supply the distributors and everybody.

11:20

We've seen this since. President Trump

11:22

first got elected. We saw that

11:24

build-up since he took office. And

11:26

we're now seeing a sudden mad

11:29

rush from places like India that

11:31

had not been previously tariffed to

11:33

try and get goods in ahead

11:35

of the deadline. But once that

11:37

goes, we're going to see prices

11:39

go up. We will see layoffs.

11:41

I can't say yet how many

11:43

it's going to be just simply

11:46

because of the fact that it

11:48

depends on how long it lasts

11:50

and it depends on how long

11:52

we wait to get through the

11:54

various supplies that we've brought in

11:56

in this sudden rush leading up

11:58

to the implementation. Kevin,

12:01

always great to talk with

12:03

you. Thank you. My pleasure,

12:05

and let's hope that this

12:07

goes more smoothly than it

12:09

has been the last few

12:11

days. Let's hope. Kevin Clouden,

12:13

economist and executive director of

12:16

the Milken Institute's Finance Department.

12:23

Coming up, we'll talk with an

12:25

Altadena pub owner whose business survived,

12:27

but everything around it burned. How

12:29

she's trying to hang on three

12:31

months after the fires. And later

12:34

on, we'll recap the finale of

12:36

the White Lotus with spoilers. You

12:38

have been warned. That's coming up

12:40

next on Press Play. This

12:52

episode is brought to you by Progressive

12:54

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This is press play on 89.9

13:15

KCRW. I'm Madeline Brand. It has

13:17

been three months since the fires

13:19

destroyed Pacific Palisades and Altadena. 30

13:21

people died in those fires, homes

13:23

were dissolved into ash. The fires

13:25

were also devastating for the local

13:28

economy, so devastating that LA County's

13:30

gross domestic product is expected to

13:32

drop this year by more than

13:34

four and a half billion dollars

13:36

just because of the fires. Nearly

13:38

1900 businesses were located in the

13:41

burn zones, many destroyed, but some

13:43

survived, such as the Altadena Ale

13:45

and Wine House on Fair Oaks

13:47

Avenue. It's located right on the

13:49

edge of the burn zone, and

13:51

it recently reopened. Gail Casburn joins

13:54

me now. She's the owner. Welcome.

13:56

Morning. How are you doing? How

13:58

are you doing three months out?

14:00

Well, we're hanging in there. It's

14:02

been kind of slow. Customer base,

14:04

a lot of it has disappeared

14:07

because everything around us and north

14:09

of us is gone completely. And

14:11

so this was a local pub,

14:13

like it would be a neighborhood

14:15

pub. People would walk. It's definitely

14:17

the local pub. We always talk

14:20

about our community. For example, this

14:22

last Saturday I was in there

14:24

and I think probably there was

14:26

probably 15 people and 10 of

14:28

us have lost our homes, including

14:30

myself. And we're all in there

14:33

healing, talking about how we're navigating

14:35

the insurance companies, how we're gonna

14:37

try to rebuild and navigate that

14:39

whole process because we're all in

14:41

the same boat. So you too

14:43

lost your home. So you're not

14:46

only are you trying to put

14:48

your business back together, but you

14:50

don't have your home anymore. We

14:52

don't have anything yet. It's tough.

14:54

I am not going to lie.

14:56

My son, his home also burned.

14:59

The stress is pretty high. I'm

15:01

not going to lie. It's an

15:03

enormous task right now, to say

15:05

the least. You're fighting on both

15:07

fronts. How are you doing in

15:09

terms of getting money from insurance

15:12

companies, from FEMA, what have you?

15:14

Because we are insured. On the

15:16

home level, they gave us $750

15:18

or something. My insurance agent, he's

15:20

helping me try to get more

15:22

money out of the loss of

15:25

income for the last two and

15:27

a half months that were closed.

15:29

And then I'm still trying to

15:31

collect some money, you know, for

15:33

the roof damage and equipment, some

15:35

of the equipment was damaged. We

15:38

had a lot of smoke and

15:40

ash. and some wind damage. Because

15:42

everything around it burned, it's just

15:44

shocking how it survived. This was

15:46

a crazy wildfire, we all know

15:48

that. And it poisoned the water

15:51

too, so. of people were told

15:53

not to drink, everyone in the

15:55

area was told not to drink

15:57

the water. How did that affect

15:59

your business? Well, we couldn't do

16:01

anything for two and a half

16:04

months because there was benzene in

16:06

the water and it was toxic.

16:08

You couldn't even turn it on

16:10

because the fumes, especially if it

16:12

was warm water, evaporate and it

16:14

could really get you ill. So

16:17

we had to wait until we

16:19

got a clean bill of health

16:21

that the water was safe. Then

16:23

we could hire people to come

16:25

in and clean. the entire place

16:27

inside now. So now, how is

16:30

it? How would you assess the

16:32

pub? It's very quiet. Like, generally

16:34

speaking, because we do late night

16:36

food, we used to get a

16:38

lot of business between 930 and

16:40

midnight. And now 11 p.m. we're

16:43

closed, which is strange because we

16:45

were open until 2 a.m. Our

16:47

late night is gone because it's

16:49

very dark up there. There's no

16:51

houses and there's no businesses. A

16:53

lot of our customers. don't live

16:56

close anymore. So they have to

16:58

commute in. That has really slowed

17:00

down the business. They have rallied

17:02

behind us, but the real issue

17:04

is distance, isn't it? It's not

17:06

like, let's go a couple of

17:09

blocks. So what are you thinking

17:11

in terms of medium to long

17:13

term for the business? I'm in

17:15

it for the long run because

17:17

I've lived here since 1989. We've

17:19

raised our two boys here. I'm

17:22

going to... try to continue to

17:24

do some more social media posts

17:26

and the people that are left

17:28

in the west side of Altadena,

17:30

the people that are that support

17:32

is from the northern end of

17:35

Pasadena that used to come in.

17:37

I'm going to try to get

17:39

them to come back. But some

17:41

of my regular customers are telling

17:43

me they're not moving in for

17:45

at least another year because of

17:48

the toxins in the soil. So

17:50

if their house survived, then they

17:52

have kids, they're like, we're not

17:54

coming back. How do you feel

17:56

about the official response or the

17:58

governmental response, either local? or federal.

18:01

Well, I do think Catherine Berger,

18:03

who's our LA County Board of

18:05

Supervisors, is doing her best federal

18:07

government. I can't tell you because

18:09

I'm still working with the SBA,

18:11

trying to see if they can

18:14

help. The LA County Economic Relief

18:16

Grant, none of us have got

18:18

money from that yet, so I

18:20

don't know. I know Janet Feretzberg

18:22

up the street. There were another

18:24

business. Her and Christie owned the

18:27

Farroksberger and we talked often, we

18:29

were like, how can we haven't

18:31

got any grant money? I mean,

18:33

have you got any no? Have

18:35

you got any no? So what

18:37

money are you using? Are you

18:40

using savings or what? I am

18:42

taking some savings. I'm taking some

18:44

of the insurance money from I

18:46

got from my house and I'm

18:48

putting it into the business because

18:50

I have to keep it going.

18:54

My homeowners rebuild kind of some

18:56

of the money they gave

18:58

me for my loss of contents.

19:01

I'm using that to temporarily

19:03

Fund the house because I just

19:05

can't like not let that

19:07

fail. And then your house are

19:09

you putting that on hold

19:11

while you focus on this? Well,

19:14

yeah, I'm trying to I'm I'm

19:16

trying to figure out how

19:18

to best navigate that whole process.

19:21

It's really tough. I haven't

19:23

put out a hole, but I'm

19:25

carefully seeking information. My pub

19:27

patrons were all like sharing stories

19:30

and advice and I'm trying

19:32

to make sure I don't make

19:34

a mistake, accept things that I

19:36

don't need to accept on top

19:39

of fighting the insurance company for

19:41

my business. It's a full-time

19:43

job dealing with the loss of

19:46

your home. Do you ever

19:48

think I can't take this anymore?

19:50

I'm just going to take

19:52

the loss and move somewhere else

19:54

and start over? You know,

19:56

last night we're having that conversation.

20:00

kind of late late late

20:02

night. We're all stressed

20:04

out. You know, one of my

20:06

sons, he's ill. So we're like,

20:08

God, what are we going

20:10

to do? Do we really need

20:13

to do this? But also,

20:15

it is our community.

20:17

And, you know, this is,

20:19

I've been here for since

20:21

89. It's like 36 years.

20:24

We've been here. It's a

20:26

long time. This is our home.

20:29

And the pub is, you know,

20:31

what's great about it is this

20:33

healing. People come in with

20:35

like some sense of normalcy,

20:37

even though everything behind it

20:40

and around and burn, at

20:42

least we can come together

20:44

in a familiar spot and

20:46

share our stories and, you

20:49

know, help each other emotionally,

20:51

psychologically get through

20:53

the paint because we're all, we're

20:55

all suffering. But

20:58

we're all trying to encourage each

21:00

other to rebuild because this is

21:03

our community. Where are we going

21:05

to move to? Well, I so

21:07

admire your resilience and your

21:09

strength and everything you're fighting for.

21:12

And I wish you the very,

21:14

very best. And I hope you

21:16

make it through. Thank you. And

21:18

we'll get through this one way

21:20

or another. We'll make it work. All

21:23

right, well, thanks so much for taking

21:25

the time to talk to us today

21:27

and sharing your story. Yeah, so thank

21:29

you for reaching out to our community.

21:32

We appreciate you guys. That's Gail

21:34

Casburn. She owns the Altadena Ale

21:36

and Wine House on Fair Oaks

21:38

Avenue. It survived the eaten fire

21:41

and recently reopened. Go there and

21:43

patronize it. Go buy a beer

21:45

at the Altadena Ale and Wine

21:47

House. Thank you so much, Gail. Thank

21:49

you. Coming

21:54

up the rich history of independent record

21:56

stores here in LA I'll speak with a

21:58

researcher who created a map And the

22:00

map for me was important

22:02

to create because I wanted

22:04

people to remember that these

22:06

were hubs of community and

22:09

culture. And this map is

22:11

a living document. Travel down

22:13

memory lane next on press

22:15

play. This

22:30

is press play on 89.9 KCRW,

22:32

I'm Metal and Brand. This Saturday,

22:34

April 12th, is Record Store Day.

22:37

And that's a day to celebrate

22:39

the culture of independent record stores.

22:41

Los Angeles is home to dozens

22:43

of them. And here at KCRW,

22:45

we all have our favorites. My

22:48

favorite record shop in Los Angeles

22:50

is High Fidelity on Adams Boulevard

22:53

and I love Canterbury Records on

22:55

Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. And one

22:57

of my favorite record stores is

23:00

the original Miba Hollywood. My favorite

23:02

newish record shop in LA is

23:04

Arroyo Records on York Boulevard in

23:07

Highland Park. And my favorite record

23:09

store would have to be spinning

23:12

plate records in Covina, California. Record

23:14

stores aren't just places to buy

23:16

vinyl. They are really beloved neighborhood

23:19

institutions that reflect the character and

23:21

the taste of their different communities.

23:23

Today, we're going to honor independent

23:26

record stores by learning about some

23:28

of the great shops that no

23:30

longer exist in Los Angeles. Our

23:33

guest is Diane Kano. They put

23:35

together a map of independent record

23:37

stores that closed between 1956 and

23:40

2020, and it's called Lost Records

23:42

Stores Los Angeles. Diane, welcome to

23:45

Press Play. Thank you so much

23:47

for having me. Well, so why

23:49

did you want to put together

23:52

this project? So I love Los

23:54

Angeles. It's been my home since

23:56

I moved from New York City

23:59

when I was a toddler in

24:01

the 80s. I've also been very

24:03

interested in the history of LA

24:06

and recently... I started to recall

24:08

some of the lost record stores

24:11

from my youth that have faded

24:13

into obscurity and that not a

24:15

lot of people talk about anymore.

24:18

And so I started to do

24:20

some cursory online research and I

24:22

quickly realized that there is no

24:25

online database, book or map, that

24:27

documents LA's independent record stores from

24:29

the past 70 years or even

24:32

from the past 30 years. So

24:34

the archivists in me decided that

24:37

I would take this on and

24:39

start a community map project to

24:41

commemorate these shops and what they

24:44

mean to their communities. I'm wondering

24:46

how you were able to put

24:48

this together, this map of all

24:51

of these record stores, and I'm

24:53

going to open it up because

24:55

and just take a look at

24:58

it, just like a real map

25:00

from the olden days. And yeah,

25:02

you have to hold it with

25:05

two hands. And you have 84

25:07

records here all over the LA

25:10

area. So these record stores existed

25:12

before the internet, many of them.

25:14

How did you find out about

25:17

them? Because they don't exist anymore.

25:19

The biggest sort of treasure trove

25:21

for me were telephone directories at

25:24

the LA Public Library, which was

25:26

so fun. And I've spent the

25:28

last year really doing all of

25:31

this research, as well as sort

25:33

of historic online archives. So. you

25:36

can still find pages that people

25:38

are still paying for these websites

25:40

that are not being updated currently,

25:43

but they still exist. And when

25:45

people would ask, you know, what

25:47

are the best record stores in

25:50

LA, some music fans would create

25:52

these blogs or web pages and

25:54

have a list of all the

25:57

current record stores. So that was

25:59

another way that I was able

26:02

to find some of those stores

26:04

from the 90s in 2000s, the

26:06

ones that I didn't remember or

26:09

don't. didn't have access to phone

26:11

numbers. I also went through old

26:13

LA Weekly ads because a lot

26:16

of these music stores would run

26:18

ads in LA Weekly. So those

26:20

were the primary sources that I

26:23

would find a lot of this

26:25

information. Wow, so you really... did

26:27

a deep dive, lots of archival

26:30

work you did on this. So

26:32

let's go to three neighborhoods and

26:35

begin with record stores in South

26:37

LA. That was a big jazz

26:39

scene, the center of the West

26:42

Coast jazz scene in the 1950s.

26:44

And take us to Dolphins of

26:46

Hollywood Record on the corner of

26:49

Central Avenue and Vernon Avenue. Tell

26:51

us about this place. When did

26:53

it open? And what was it

26:56

like there? So Dolphins records opened

26:58

in 1948. And it was open

27:01

until 1989. And it was just

27:03

around the corner from the Dunbar

27:05

Hotel. And the Dunbar Hotel, which

27:08

still stands on Central Avenue, it's

27:10

now Affordable Housing for Seniors. It

27:12

was the epicenter of West Coast

27:15

Jazz on Central Ave. And starting

27:17

in the 20s through the 50s,

27:19

Central Avenue was the heart of

27:22

the black community in Los Angeles.

27:24

And it was an incredible time

27:26

for jazz, specifically West Coast Jazz.

27:29

The Dunbar Hotel had, you know,

27:31

cafes and restaurants inside, and there

27:34

were at least a dozen clubs

27:36

within walking distance of the Dunbar

27:38

Hotel, and you had jazz greats

27:41

like Duke Ellington, Billy Holliday, and

27:43

Louis Armstrong, who stayed there. So

27:45

Dolphins of Hollywood really represented. this

27:48

iconic moment and community in Los

27:50

Angeles. And John Dolphin was the

27:52

owner. It apparently was a 24-hour

27:55

store and they claimed to have

27:57

the first listening station in a

28:00

store in the country. This notion

28:02

of you can listen to a...

28:04

with headphones on before you decide

28:07

to purchase it, which we do

28:09

see currently still in record stories.

28:11

And then he also developed a

28:14

record label. At first it was

28:16

called Dolphins of Hollywood, and then

28:18

it became recorded in Hollywood. And

28:21

you found a couple of Charles

28:23

Mingus recordings that Dolphins released. Yeah,

28:26

so under the name Baron Mingus

28:28

and his rhythm, Charles Mingus recorded

28:30

278. back in the late 40s,

28:33

1949, 1948. And one of the

28:35

songs I found, really great bebop

28:37

track called Mingus Finkers. Okay,

29:19

moving northwest on the map and

29:22

skipping forward a few decades, let's

29:24

go to West Lake MacArthur Park

29:26

in the 1980s. And there were

29:28

a couple of record stores around

29:31

that neighborhood. Take us to record

29:33

store, Dixos, Exitos, number two. I

29:35

don't know if there was a

29:38

number one, but anyway, that one's

29:40

called number two. I couldn't find

29:42

number one. I was so sad.

29:45

I knew there had to be

29:47

a number one somewhere, but I

29:49

haven't been able to find it.

29:52

But if someone knows, they can

29:54

go to our website and submit

29:56

that store for us. Yeah. What

29:59

was happening at this place? Well,

30:01

so this area is personal to

30:03

me because I grew up in

30:05

West Lake MacArthur Park in the

30:08

1980s. want to preface this section

30:10

because there's very little written about

30:12

the music scene in Westlake except

30:15

for the record stores that I

30:17

found in those phone directories I

30:19

mentioned and some club listings. And

30:22

so most of my research is

30:24

based primarily on sources like the

30:26

phone directories. There weren't a lot

30:29

of printed record ads for some

30:31

of these stores because you needed

30:33

to have resources to be able

30:36

to afford those ads. So that

30:38

just meant that smaller record stores

30:40

were absent from these publications. Westlake,

30:42

this Westlake area is. different and

30:45

unique because it really catered to

30:47

the Central American recently immigrant populations

30:49

in West Lake in the 1980s.

30:52

Primarily you had immigrants from El

30:54

Salvador and Guatemala and record store

30:56

decos exitos numerodos on Alvarado was

30:59

inside the West Lake Mall and

31:01

it was one of the historic

31:03

theaters that had been converted into

31:06

swap meets which really started to

31:08

pop up in the 80s and

31:10

90s in West Lake. So. The

31:13

music that you would hear, I

31:15

remember hearing music in Spanish that

31:17

people would play on boomboxes in

31:19

MacArthur Park as a young person

31:22

in the 80s, and you would

31:24

hear all various genres of music

31:26

in Spanish from Mexico to Central

31:29

America to South America, and so

31:31

records, Sordizos, Exidos, number two, there's

31:33

not... anything written about this store,

31:36

but just knowing the neighborhood and

31:38

knowing the history and knowing the

31:40

groups that were really popular. in

31:43

that neighborhood, you had music like

31:45

cumbia, bulletos, ballads, some Latin pop

31:47

music, some of the artists that

31:49

I remember being very popular were

31:52

artists like Huberto Carlos, Javier Sodes,

31:54

Ljodan, Jose Jose, Viki Carr, who

31:56

Leo Iglesias was really popular, Raphael.

31:59

My dad loved the Gypsy Kings.

32:01

I remember them. And so you

32:03

had a cross section of so

32:06

much Spanish, music in Spanish, during

32:08

this era. So you brought a

32:10

song from a group I'd never

32:13

heard of called Los Bookies. Oh

32:15

yes, Los Bookies. They are iconic.

32:36

Lozbukies were primarily known for their

32:39

groupera genre of music, which is

32:41

a blend of Folk and pop

32:43

and They also did music that

32:45

was inspired by Kumbia Marenga, and

32:47

they were also known for their

32:49

romantic songs So a lot of

32:51

romance a lot of love songs

32:54

and Kay love which is still

32:56

on the radio 107.5. I used

32:58

to play Lozbukies all the time

33:00

and I've talked to other friends

33:02

who are Latinee and who grew

33:04

up in LA and anytime I

33:06

bring up the Lisbukies, they smile,

33:09

their eyes widen, and they also

33:11

have personal memories of that band

33:13

being played in their homes, being

33:15

played at parties. So that's why

33:17

I decided to pick the Lisbukies.

33:32

Those bookies with their song,

33:34

Dime dondé Iquando. All right,

33:36

finally we're going to end

33:39

up on Melrose because don't

33:41

we always end up on

33:43

Melrose? And we're going to

33:45

go to vinyl fetish in

33:47

the 80s. And what is

33:50

happening at vinyl fetish in

33:52

the 80s? So vinyl fetish

33:54

was... really the center of

33:56

the music scene on Melrose.

33:58

They opened up in the

34:00

late 70s on La Brea

34:03

and then in the early

34:05

80s they moved to a

34:07

store on Melrose and they

34:09

were known for their European

34:11

imports. They're rare 12-inch singles,

34:14

and they also had a

34:16

bunch of in-stores with established

34:18

and up-and-coming artists. Their focus

34:20

really was in punk, new

34:22

wave, post-punk, goth, new romantic,

34:25

new romantic, experimental music, and

34:27

Melrose in the early 80s.

34:29

I don't know if a

34:31

lot of people know this,

34:33

but it was very queer-friendly,

34:35

and it was full of

34:38

artists and musicians and musicians

34:40

and designers. Yeah, right. So

34:42

it's changed quite a bit

34:44

since then, but I remember

34:46

going to Binal Fettish in

34:49

the 90s when it was

34:51

still on Melrose before it

34:53

moved to Vermont. And bands

34:55

like DePesh Mode and Susan

34:57

the Bandsies and the Misfits

35:00

would have in-store signings when

35:02

they had new releases. Another

35:04

huge band that they hosted

35:06

over the years and is

35:08

an iconic LA punk band

35:10

is the Band X. Los

35:29

Angeles, their iconic song, and

35:31

that is the title track

35:33

from Los Angeles. That really

35:35

takes me back to my

35:37

youth, for sure. Does it?

35:40

Oh yeah. Oh yeah, a

35:42

huge X fan. Okay,

35:56

so this has all been a

35:58

tale of the past in these

36:00

stores have closed but it is

36:03

record store day this Saturday April

36:05

12th and there are new record

36:08

stores vinyl is not dead after

36:10

all so what are some of

36:12

your favorite stores or maybe just

36:15

one favorite indie record store well

36:17

it's hard to pick it is

36:20

hard to pick I love estu

36:22

audio records they're in Highland Park

36:24

and they specialize in music from

36:27

all over the world and Eduardo

36:29

Rosario runs that store and he

36:32

has such an amazing collection of

36:34

music and his taste is superb

36:36

and he gives the most amazing

36:39

recommendations for records if you're looking

36:41

for something different and Sometimes rare.

36:44

I also have high fidelity records

36:46

in West Adams The folks there

36:48

are awesome they both also used

36:51

to work at errands records which

36:53

is on the map because they

36:55

sadly closed in 2005 In sheep's

36:58

clothing hi-fi has had various locations

37:00

for record stores. You can find

37:03

them online. They're in the process

37:05

of finding a new location, but

37:07

in sheep's clothing, hi-fi is also

37:10

a really great record store. And

37:12

I have a whole other list,

37:15

but I won't take up more

37:17

of your time. But some of

37:19

those are the record stores that

37:22

really hold a special place in

37:24

my heart and have been really

37:27

great to the music community here

37:29

and have really contributed very important,

37:31

play important roles in the thriving

37:34

new record, vinyl record world that

37:36

we see now with collectors and

37:39

vinyl sales exploding. Yeah, so that

37:41

will end on that happy ending

37:43

because it is actually... not a

37:46

tale of, of, you know, everything

37:48

that's lost. It's a tale of

37:51

things evolving and changing, right? And

37:53

people are still buying records and

37:55

loving them. It is. And, you

37:58

know, I will say that it's

38:00

been really heartening, living through sort

38:03

of the height of record stores

38:05

and then seeing record stores. start

38:07

to close and seemingly begin to

38:10

feel like they're not as relevant

38:12

to culture, but seeing the last

38:15

five to ten years, seeing that

38:17

resurgence has been really wonderful. And

38:19

the map for me was important

38:22

to create because I wanted people

38:24

to remember that these were hubs

38:27

of community and culture. And so

38:29

so many people have been flooding

38:31

my email inbox with stories of

38:34

record stories they remember going to,

38:36

what they would pick up, and

38:39

this map is a living document.

38:41

So I really want people to

38:43

share their stories, and we're going

38:46

to put them on the website

38:48

and on the map and future

38:51

versions. And for me, This idea

38:53

of an archive really spoke to

38:55

me from not only being a

38:58

music lover But also being someone

39:00

who is so tied to this

39:03

city and And seeing everyone get

39:05

together. It's been just a great

39:07

rewarding and learning experience for everybody.

39:10

Yeah, it's really cool. You can

39:12

find a printed copy of this

39:15

map. It's called Lost Records stores

39:17

Los Angeles at some indie record

39:19

stores though some of the ones

39:22

Diane mentioned like high fidelity in

39:24

West Adams or Estuario in Highland

39:27

Park or you can go online

39:29

and look at it at lost

39:31

record stores.com. Diane Kano, thank you

39:34

so much for being here and

39:36

sharing your love of music with

39:39

us. Thank you so much for

39:41

having me. Have you ever heard

39:43

of wine? That and other meme-worthy

39:46

lines from the White Lotus, which

39:48

became a cultural hit, will have

39:51

a spoiler heavy recap of the

39:53

finale next on press play. Smart

39:55

choice. Make another smart choice with

39:58

auto quote Explorer to compare rates

40:00

from multiple car insurance companies all

40:03

at once. Try it at Progressive.com.

40:05

Progressive Casual Casualty Insurance Company and

40:07

affiliates. Not available in all states

40:10

or situations. Prices vary based on

40:12

how you buy. This is Press

40:15

Play on 89. Well this white

40:17

lotus season season season three began

40:19

with a flash forward of a

40:22

dead corpse floating on the water

40:24

the finale aired last night and

40:27

after eight episodes we now know

40:29

who left the resort in Thailand

40:31

alive and who did not who

40:34

ended up floating in the water

40:36

the series about super-rich tourists convening

40:39

at a lavish resort has become

40:41

one of HBO's most viewed shows

40:43

season three its most popular and

40:46

about 20 million viewers have watched

40:48

it. It sparked plenty of memes

40:51

and viral moments of course and

40:53

we're going to recap the season

40:55

now with Myra Garcia, television editor

40:58

for the Los Angeles Times and

41:00

warning, spoiler alert, we are going

41:03

to talk about last night's episode

41:05

so if you haven't watched it

41:07

yet you have been warned, maybe

41:10

turn the radio off or knock

41:12

yourself out using Victoria Ratliff's medication

41:15

of choice. I don't even have

41:17

my lorazep ham. I'm going to

41:19

have to drink myself to sleep.

41:22

Myra, did you even know what

41:24

lorazepam was before this? I think

41:27

like many people, I had to

41:29

Google it. Same, but now it's

41:31

become a meme and everyone knows

41:34

what it is. So, all right,

41:36

first of all, let's talk about

41:38

that character, Victoria Ratliff, played by

41:41

Parker Posey there. She was definitely

41:43

one of the breakout stars online.

41:46

Tell us about her and why

41:48

she became such a meme. Yeah,

41:51

I think a lot of it

41:54

had to do one with her

41:56

accent and I think she also

41:58

just a little bit of a

42:01

stereotype of that rich southern woman

42:03

who likes things a certain way

42:05

and who wants her family a

42:08

certain way so I think Parker

42:10

Posey had a lot of fun

42:12

with that one. Yeah she really

42:15

did and I think the way

42:17

that she talked about how much

42:19

she loved her wealth at the

42:22

end when she was comforting her

42:24

daughter, saying that it was their

42:26

responsibility to enjoy their wealth for

42:29

all the billions of people who

42:31

don't have it was pretty spot-on

42:34

for her character. Well, yeah, and

42:36

that look on her face when

42:38

her daughter realized that, you know,

42:41

she actually doesn't want to stay

42:43

in a Buddhist center with bland

42:45

food and stained mattresses. It's just

42:48

this look on her face was

42:50

of, yes, I am validated and

42:52

everything we've been doing has been

42:55

right and you have come over

42:57

to my side, maybe the dark

42:59

side. In the larger sense. to

43:02

me it revealed what Mike White

43:04

has been getting out with this

43:07

entire series which was this utter

43:09

scuring of the of the wealthy

43:11

and their pretensions and you know

43:14

here you have this girl who

43:16

thinks she wants to go to

43:18

a Buddhist seminary for a year

43:21

and renounce her family's wealth in

43:23

a way and live a different

43:25

life and then it only took

43:28

her one night to realize that

43:30

no she actually wants to be

43:32

in the bosom of her family

43:35

and it also was really to

43:37

see how one of the other

43:39

characters, Belinda, who was in season

43:42

one, basically decided to take some

43:44

blood money. Talk a little bit

43:47

about that. So her and her

43:49

son come together in an agreement

43:51

with him and she doesn't quite

43:54

believe it at first, but once

43:56

she sees her bank account online

43:58

and sees that. You know, it's

44:01

up $5 million. She's sort of

44:03

in disbelief. But at the same

44:05

time, it seems that she feels

44:08

that this was the right move

44:10

to make for her. And in

44:12

some ways, it sort of flips

44:14

the script on Belinda, which I

44:17

think maybe has frustrated some viewers.

44:19

It's certainly frustrated my writers who

44:21

saw Belinda as this sort of

44:24

beacon of truth than who was

44:26

willing to stand up for the

44:28

right thing. But it's like when

44:31

there's a big amounts of

44:33

money involved, maybe people change.

44:35

their mind. So in total,

44:37

again, spoiler alert, in

44:39

total, five characters end

44:41

up dead. Two guests,

44:43

two security guards, and

44:45

the resort's owner. Were you

44:48

surprised at this basically Shakespearean

44:51

bloodbath? Well,

44:53

no, because we had

44:55

some hints throughout the

44:57

season or it felt

44:59

like they were hints,

45:01

you know, Amy Luz,

45:03

Wood's character, who placed

45:05

Chelsea, she had this

45:07

ominous thing that she

45:10

said to Walton Goggin's

45:12

character, who plays Rick,

45:14

she tells him. bad things

45:16

come in threes and we

45:18

see her go through several

45:20

bad events including being bitten

45:22

by a cobra and so

45:24

it felt like foreshadowing and

45:27

in some respect we're just

45:29

kind of waiting for that

45:31

third shoe to drop in

45:33

sure enough she gets caught

45:35

in the crossfire and and

45:37

then we also see Rick

45:39

who is trying to carry

45:41

her away as she's essentially

45:44

bleeding to death and he himself

45:46

gets shot by Guytok the security

45:48

guard that is also in the

45:50

mix of the story. I just

45:52

want to play a clip of

45:55

tape that sets up that shooting

45:57

and this is Rick as you

45:59

said played by Walton Goggins. He

46:01

spends his, the whole season,

46:03

looking for vengeance on Jim,

46:06

who is Ritala's husband. And

46:08

he thinks that a long

46:10

time ago Jim had his

46:13

father killed and basically ruined

46:15

his Rick's life and he

46:17

eventually confronts Jim in the

46:20

episode before last night's. Gloria

46:22

Hatchet. Name ring a bell.

46:24

It seems like you should

46:26

remember. She had a husband.

46:29

You had him killed over some

46:32

land deal or some shit. Okay,

46:34

as you said, they both they

46:36

both end up dead, but as

46:39

Shritala is cradling her husband, she

46:41

screams at Rick that Jim who's

46:43

dying in her arms is actually

46:46

Rick's father. Just sounds like almost

46:48

like a daytime soap opera. What

46:50

did you think that would happen?

46:53

And what did you think of

46:55

that revelation? You know, we've been

46:57

talking about it here a bit

47:00

and it felt a little bit

47:02

Darth Vader-ish, like I am your

47:04

father in the way. And I

47:06

guess it was one way to

47:09

tie up the storyline. And you

47:11

know, I think some of us

47:13

had a sense that could be

47:16

a possibility, like everybody comes up

47:18

with their own theories about, you

47:20

know, who is who and what

47:23

is why. in the grand scheme

47:25

of things, I guess that story

47:27

point makes sense, but at the

47:30

same time, I think we were

47:32

a little disappointed in some respects

47:34

about how that played out. Right,

47:37

there is, of course, the Ratla

47:39

family and the patriarch there teetering

47:41

on the edge of suicide the

47:44

entire season because he finds out

47:46

that he's going to be basically

47:48

imprisoned when he gets back for

47:51

financial crimes and his entire business

47:53

and life will be in ruins.

47:55

And then the children of course...

47:58

were a handful. And then, as

48:00

we mentioned earlier, the wife is

48:02

the subject of many fawning memes.

48:05

But at the end, I don't

48:07

know how you felt about how

48:09

it ended, but the family is

48:12

saved from a Jim Jones type

48:14

of fate with the spiked pinya

48:16

colata that they end up not

48:19

drinking. The father makes for them

48:21

to drink, but then he comes

48:23

to realization that they shouldn't drink

48:26

it. the youngest son then drinks

48:28

it later. And so to talk

48:30

about that and whether or not

48:32

you think that family should have

48:35

escaped any kind of punishment that

48:37

the other characters had to endure.

48:39

Well, it seems like the punishment

48:42

is coming and something we won't

48:44

see because they're not going to

48:46

be wealthy anymore and God knows

48:49

what else happens to that family.

48:51

But I don't know, I think

48:53

the scene with the blender was

48:56

just a little too. You know,

48:58

it's like, who doesn't rinse out

49:00

a blender before when you decide

49:03

to make a smoothie? And I'm

49:05

like, really, like, I don't know.

49:07

Maybe these people are so wealthy

49:10

that they're not used to. cleaning

49:12

up after themselves, but it's like,

49:14

come on, like, is this really

49:17

it? And then I also think

49:19

the coconut milk is off is

49:21

going to become a meme as

49:24

well as it hasn't already. That

49:26

was a particularly funny moment. Yeah.

49:28

Well, this was the most popular

49:31

of the White Lotus seasons so

49:33

far. Why do you think that

49:35

is? Well, I think people... when

49:38

the show came out maybe didn't

49:40

watch it immediately but you know

49:42

have caught up since and there's

49:45

been a lot of just anticipation

49:47

for the show and when it

49:49

came out and it has such

49:52

a great cast too I think

49:54

people were really excited to see

49:56

what this group of people could

49:59

do and the publicity frankly has

50:01

just like gone through the compared

50:03

to you know even the second

50:05

season so and then ultimately like

50:08

just seeing what the mystery turns

50:10

out to be in the end

50:12

like that captivates people and keeps

50:15

them interested. Okay so there will

50:17

be a season for there will

50:19

be a season for not many

50:22

details have been out yet Mike

50:24

White has tried to tease some

50:26

things but you know more to

50:29

come. Well, thank

50:31

you so much for

50:33

coming on the show

50:35

today and recapping last

50:37

night's episode in the

50:39

series. Appreciate it. Thank

50:41

you so much. That's

50:43

Myra Garcia, TV editor

50:45

for The Los Angeles

50:47

Times. And

50:56

that'll do it for us

50:58

today on press play. Thanks

51:00

for listening. I'm Madeline Brand,

51:02

I'll see tomorrow. In 2020,

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