Episode Details

It’s the end-of-the-year episode! And what a horrible year it has been! Alissa, Rachel, and Mike recap the biggest stories, the stories that didn’t get nearly enough attention, and what to look forward to next year. (Yes, there are some things to look forward to!) Plus: predictions for 2026 and what will be a very big election year for LA.

Check out last year’s end-of-the-year show to see what we got right (and wrong)

LA Mayor Karen Bass started 2025 seemingly invincible and after missteps, reversals, and delays now seems politically vulnerable

Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky had an incredible year challenging the status quo of LA’s fiscal woes. Here’s her final speech of 2025, captured by Unrig LA: “Public safety is about more than police... it's about having enough money to paint our own damn crosswalks and not having rogue volunteers doing it for us”

Local journalism flourished in the face of adversity: LA Taco, The LA Local, Boyle Heights Beat, The LA Reporter, Mar Vista Voice, Golden State, Streetsblog LA, and Alissa’s mega-event newsletter Torched — with more new publications still to come

Six local publications banded together to cover ICE: LA Public Press, Caló News, Capital & Main, Capital B, LA Taco, and Q Voice

Revisiting Emily Baumgaertner Nunn’s New York Times investigationabout the Blade, the 50-block sex-trafficking corridor on LA’s Figueroa Street

City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto is facing a new alleged ethical breach after a declaration in CA superior court accuses her of contacting an expert witness in a case against the city and asking him for a campaign contribution. The lawsuit spurred a major LA Times investigation about reckless LAPD driving. The case was settled for $18 million, “thought to be the most city taxpayers have ever paid to resolve a police collision case”

Feldstein Soto also put another major campaign donor, Mark Adams, in charge of the Skid Row Housing Trust as it was dissolving, only to remove him later

Last year, a city attorney who works for Feldstein Soto 

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