USC students report about life on the margins of Los Angeles

On the first day of USC’s Spring term, 11 students sat down at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, eager to work on the art of audio storytelling. The class was called “This California Life: Storytelling for Radio and Podcasting” and the assignment for the semester was to come up with segments for a podcast series titled "L.A. on the Margins."

Audio storytelling

Each story would examine how factors like lack of housing, rising costs of food, access to mental healthcare and more, make living in Los Angeles so challenging, if not almost impossible, for some. Professors and story editors Sandy Tolan and Megan Donis urged students to pursue not just stories of hardship, but stories of resilience, triumph and innovation in the face of marginalization; stories that put a human lens on these complex issues.

We were a mix of students from different backgrounds, all presenting different approaches to the theme — from the number of “hidden” unhoused people living in their cars to the ways the racist practices of redlining were playing out in South Central. Some students came with personal ties to their story ideas; others with just a burning curiosity.

It was quite an introduction — and would set the stage for what became a semester of rigorous reporting, passionate ethics discussions, collaboration and a whole lot of edits and re-edits, to develop our storytelling and sound design skills to produce audio documentaries polished enough to air. As we saw it, the stories were for the L.A. community, from the L.A. community.

Three months later, we came together a final time to hear what became of those early ideas. As our editors hit “play” on each audio file, we could hear and see the stories come to life. We met ambitious transplants, new to L.A., and people who’ve lived here for decades, watching the city shift and change. We laughed along with some of the stories, and felt genuinely moved by others. Many stories took their final form on day-one of the pitches. A few faced sharp turns on the way to our ears.

All are the product of dedication — to the stories covered and the people who opened up to share them. They zoom in on the lives lived on the margins in L.A., and though many more stories remain untold, we hope the series can amplify a few of the voices from our community that we don’t often get to hear.

Hollywood disenchanted

Hollywood. It’s often one of the first things people think about when it comes to L.A. But for many living just below its iconic hills, the industry can present a reality less glamorous than the typical Hollywood plot.

Reporter Liv Keheller set out to hear how the Hollywood dream meets a common reality. In a city full of talented newcomers, and an increasingly high cost of living , the pursuit of one’s creative goals can quickly push someone towards the margins — or to a gym parking lot, as Liv discovers upon meeting Keinon Peirre, a young actor and creator from Chicago. His view of L.A. used to be an idealistic mix of scenes from TV shows and movies, and he was eager to leave his life behind for a part of Hollywood’s magic. “If I can just get there,” he thought, “I’ll be able to make it.”

He arrived in his 2004 Buick, with a small sum of cash, and phase one of the plan complete. Since then, that car has been Keinon’s home, a local Panera Bread his office, and the Burbank Planet Fitness his bathroom and shower. Liv spent months meeting with Keinon as he moved from one location to the next. She brings listeners along to hear updates about small wins and devastating losses. Together they show what life is like when a dream — plus, hard work and best intentions— doesn’t earn you enough to pay for an apartment.

The many faces of hunger

It isn’t only housing that some L.A. residents find in short supply. Access to quality, affordable food is also out of reach for many throughout the city. It’s estimated that 30% of households are food insecure across L.A. County, or are lacking reliable access to fresh things to eat.

Nova Blanco Rio, a reporter originally from the Inland Empire, signed up to volunteer with Seeds of Hope , an organization working — on several levels — to alleviate hunger across L.A. Over the course of several months, he joined 5 a.m. runs around the city to deliver fresh produce to neighborhoods in need — and brought his microphone along for the task. What those recordings reveal is something Nova came to see first hand: hunger in Los Angeles has many faces.

As we ride along with Nova and Seeds of Hope distribution coordinator, Andrew Mendez, we’re taken to Boyle Heights, where we meet a transgender college student who, like many students across the city, faces both housing and food insecurity. In South L.A., we’re introduced to a first-generation Mexican immigrant who feels the burden of living in what she describes as a “food desert.” At another stop, we hear from a Ukrainian refugee living in West Hollywood, navigating his new life in a neighborhood lacking fresh food. For listeners, a larger picture emerges of how widespread food insecurity is in L.A.

Free the land

Another organization has formed with a different set of hopes in one particular stretch of South L.A. It’s known as the Figueroa Corridor , and it’s home to a string of old motels the community claims are complicit in sex trafficking crimes. In response, a group of local activists with the Community Coalition , organized an effort to fight back against the alleged exploitation and close down the businesses.

Their campaign is called Free the Land . Its goal: to reclaim their neighborhood by holding owners accountable, and converting the motels into other kinds of spaces that would benefit the wider community: rooms for the unhoused, rec centers or parks. When reporter Erick Treviño read about this effort, he grabbed his recording equipment and headed to the Corridor.

Halfway home

For other Angelenos trying to move beyond challenging pasts, it’s a journey toward healing. For years, L.A. County has funded treatment programs to address cycles of incarceration and homelessness that often affect those suffering from mental health issues and substance abuse. The idea is to keep people out of jail or other institutions. But often the re-entry facilities that offered these programs just felt, to the participants, like they were just moving from one institution to another.

One provider, a nonprofit called SSG Alliance , saw an opportunity to try something different. They’d put addiction counselors, therapists and enrichment opportunities — like art classes — together under the same roof as residents. The idea was to make this place of transition feel more like a home than an institutional setting.

It ended up looking like a home too — an old craftsman in Boyle Heights, as reporter Kira Brenner describes while leading her listeners to the front door. Brenner is studying narrative medicine at USC, not journalism, yet she dove straight into the world of audio production to craft an intimate look at two women transitioning out of prison inside the SSG house.

Their stories are told through audio alone, but you can easily visualize their journey as the reporter vividly describes their surroundings and the art each woman has produced as part of their healing. For the residents of SSG house, self-expression is not only life changing, but life saving.

Dying without Dignity

In one of the most hard-hitting reports produced for our series, Sophie Sullivan, the sole undergraduate of the group, tells the stories of two grieving mothers. Both had sons incarcerated at Men’s Central Jail in L.A. Both sons died while in the custody of the jail.

L.A. County supervisors voted to close the jail in 2021, citing inhumane conditions . But three years later, it still stands .

As Sophie finds in her reporting, there’s been a history of in-custody deaths at Men’s Central Jail and across the L.A. County jail system . The reasons cited for these deaths have oftentimes been vague and, the mothers tell Sophie, do not make sense. Some of these mothers have sought second autopsies for their sons as they try to understand why they died.

Sophie's story introduces real, raw stories of grief and uncertainty. These mothers still haven’t found the answers they want about their sons’ alleged causes of death, but they have found strength in organizing around their pursuit of information. Together they call for transparency at Men’s Central. They want answers, and they want justice. They want their stories to be told.

Dying Without Dignity is co-published and supported by the journalism nonprofit the Economic Hardship Reporting Project .

Jahmark, the soul shaker

As we’ve seen through every story told in our series, L.A. is a diverse tapestry of cultures and stories. The city draws people from around the globe and, often, two people from very different backgrounds connect.

Yundie Li, a Chinese reporter, came to L.A. to attend USC. One day, as she chatted with the Uber driver who responded to her request, she heard a story she wanted to tell. When they reached her destination, Yundie asked him if she could meet with him again. She was going to bring her mic.

The driver, who goes by the single name Jahmark, is an immigrant from Jamaica, who drifted across the U.S. and Japan before landing in L.A. to focus on his music career. When he isn’t behind the wheel, he is writing and performing original reggae , sharing a part of his culture with his new community.

Jahmark is inspired by the legend of his time, Bob Marley, and influenced by the struggles he’s endured as a middle-aged, Black immigrant in an youthful industry prone to prejudice . Even with some successful performances and a few features on movie soundtrack s, he says he still needs to drive people around town to make ends meet and support his art.

By the end of Yundie’s audio adventure, his positive spirit seeps through the speakers with humor and warmth. And with clips of his music sprinkled throughout, it’s hard not to dance along for the ride, especially at an oceanside concert, to hear Jahmark perform live. Even with a pull toward its margins, Jahmark seems to find the kind of magic that brought him to L.A.

You can listen to the whole LA on the Margins series as well as other stories of community on the How to LA podcast feed — anywhere you listen.