CLIPS
Here is a collection of some of my favorite stories and episodes that I reported and produced over the years.
More clips available upon request
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING WITH IMPACT
FACING THE MUSIC The Uncertain Future of the Orange County School of the Arts (KPCC + LAIST, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RADIO)
This investigation was one of LAist’s most read stories of 2020. It had immense impact, and was recognized by the Online News Association as part of KPCC’s winning entry for the 2020 Gather Award in Community-Centered Journalism.
A nearly 20-year relationship gone sour. Finger-pointing over who's at fault. Hurt feelings and high emotions all around. Lawyers, of course. And children — lots of them — caught in the middle of the potential split. Their fight could bring down the curtain on one of Southern California's most popular — yet highly controversial — charter schools.
STORIES REPORTED FROM THE FIELD THAT MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE THERE TOO
LA celebrates the life of Nipsey Hussle: Scenes from the memorial day (KPCC + LAIST, SOUTHERN CALIfORNIA PUBLIC RADIO)
Reported and produced with KPCC’s Emily Elena Dugdale and Priska Neely. This story was recognized by the National Arts & Entertainment Journalist Awards in 2019 as a finalist in “Obituary/In Appreciation.”
Tens of thousands of fans and friends celebrated the life of slain rapper and entrepreneur Nipsey Hussle Thursday at a memorial service at Staples Center and on the streets of Los Angeles. We bring you some of the sounds and emotions of the day.
LA's notorious Locke High School is improving. Is it still 'failing'? (KPCC)
Reported and produced with KPCC’s Kyle Stokes. This story was recognized by the Los Angeles Press Club in Best Use of Sound in 2019.
The story of Locke High School raises a number of questions.
How should we measure the success of plans to transform underperforming schools, especially when it's still rare to find schools that have completely reversed years of failure? How do we foster progress in these schools as students of color and of poverty continue to lag behind their more-privileged peers?
THE BLIND TEACHING THE BLIND (MPR NEWS)
Reported and produced through the Next Generation Radio project
Leanne DeIuliis's teacher gives her an assignment: find her way to 80 S. 9th St. in downtown Minneapolis. She can't use street signs or look at a map, because DeIuliis is blind. But that doesn't mean she's destined to get lost. She's being trained by other blind people how to live independently — and with confidence.
STORIES AND EPISODES THAT INTRODUCE YOU TO THE REAL PEOPLE LIVING THE HEADLINES
MEET THE STUDENTS CHALLENGING BOOK BANS (CNN’S THE ASSIGNMENT WITH AUDIE CORNISH)
We are revisiting the public school culture wars – this time, from the perspective of students. What have we learned from the kids who are fighting against book bans? How has the war over books sparked a backlash to the so-called parents’ rights movement?
We call up two busy teen activists – Da’Taeveyon Daniels in Texas and Eliza Lane in Florida – to find out. And CNN correspondent Elle Reeve, who covers how extremism percolates into everyday life, puts the board room debates over what kids should and shouldn’t read into a national context.
WHY MORE BLACK MOMS ARE CHOOSING HOME BIRTHS (CNN’S THE ASSIGNMENT WITH AUDIE CORNISH)
Black women are three times more likely than white women to die of pregnancy-related causes.
CNN anchor Abby Phillip wanted to know why maternal mortality rates for Black women remaining stubbornly high – and who are the people trying to change that.
She joins Audie to talk about her newest report, where she goes to Los Angeles to meet mothers who are opting out of traditional hospital births, and the communities, midwives, doulas, and nurses working to make them feel heard and supported.
GEN Z IS CHALLENGING HOW WE THINK ABOUT WORK (CNN’S THE ASSIGNMENT WITH AUDIE CORNISH)
We’ve all seen the headlines: Gen Z is “lazy.” “Entitled.” They’re constantly asking for raises, and they complain too much. But are these things really a “problem”? This week, Audie chats with two Gen Z’ers with some #thoughts on how we think about work: DeAndre Brown, TikTok creator and founder of Gen XL Consulting, and Maia Ervin, Chief Impact Officer at the Gen Z consulting company JUV. Then, Audie brings their thoughts to the researcher who literally wrote the book on generations, Jean Twenge.
In Their Own Words: Students Share Lessons Learned From Organizing And Protesting (KPCC)
"This isn't new to us," 18-year-old Asia Bryant told me earlier this week. Students have been out there on the front lines, but their voices have not often been heard in the media coverage of this week's demonstrations.
Pacific Palisades neighbors fight homelessness with their pocketbooks (KPCC)
Glanda Sherman has a big assignment: get the estimated 190 homeless off the streets off a 23-square mile stretch of Los Angeles' most coveted real estate.
Last year, a group of neighbors, frustrated with the area's growing homeless population and the city's lack of action, set up a GoFundMe page, raised $125,000, and brought in Sherman and a fellow outreach worker to try to take on the homeless problem themselves.
“The community as a whole, some of them compassionately want to help the homeless, and possibly some of them just don’t want to see the homeless here on the streets,” Sherman said.
For Families Of Heroin Addicts, Comfort Comes In Sharing Their Stories (NPR)
Reported and produced with NPR’s Rebecca Hersher
In a community center just south of Los Angeles, upwards of 50 people pack into a room to offer each other words of comfort. Most of them are moms, and they've been through a lot.
At Solace, a support group for family members of those suffering from addiction, many of the attendees have watched a child under 30 die of a fatal drug overdose — heroin, or opioids like Oxycontin or Vicodin that are considered gateway drugs to heroin.
And they're not alone.
STORIES AND EPISODES THAT MAKE YOU SMILE
REAL HOUSEWIVES, REAL HISTORY! (GIMLET + ZSP MEDIA’S NOT PAST IT!)
Not Past It Trivia is back! This time, we’re joined by Rachel Lindsay and Callie Curry from The Ringer’s ‘Morally Corrupt’ podcast in this special, Real Housewives-inspired game. 17 years ago, Bravo announced a new type of television show, following the lives of five wealthy women. That show – the Real Housewives of Orange County – launched a reality tv empire. So pour yourself a glass of rosé as we tackle questions about Bravolebrities, TV through the ages, and real housewives from history.
CHAMELEONS: KING OF CAMOUFLAGE … OR NOT? (GIMLET + SPOTIFY’S EVERY LITTLE THING)
Caller Christy needs to know if she’s lying to her kid. She’s been reading a children’s book about chameleons to her daughter, and she’s wondering if it’s accurate. Chameleon expert Russell Ligon gives us the real story on chameleons and color change. Plus, biologist and head of Skype a Scientist Sarah McAnulty tips us off about nature’s top doyens of disguise.
KEEP PALM AND CARRY ON? (KPCC + LAIST STUDIOS)
This week, we look at the supermodel of plants in L.A: the iconic palm. They may be everywhere, but they’re not native to the city. How they got here, took over and complicate the great native v. non-native plant debate.
CLOCKS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF TELLING TIME (APM STUDIOS + BRAINS ON!’s FOREVER AGO)
Long before clocks, humans found creative ways to track time. From falling sand to slow burning incense, we tried it all. But it took a daydreaming astronomer and a whole lot of inventors to create the precise devices we rely on today.
Joy Dolo and her co-host Kira set off on a tour of timekeeping with reporter Carla Javier. Smithsonian curator Carlene Stephens joins them for a timely train ride, and shares the story of how railroads led to the creation of one standard time for all.