iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

A stunning reversal of LA’s environmental progress. In 2019, we decided to phase out natural gas at Scattergood by 2024. It was a commitment to protect the climate for our kids. Today the City Council extended natural gas there for the foreseeable future.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

New poll from Emerson Collge. CA GOV: Xavier Becerra is in the lead, with Tom Steyer and Steve Hilton vying for second slot. LA MAYOR: Karen Bass is leading with 30%, followed by Spencer Pratt with 22% and Nithya Raman with 19%: emersoncollegepolling.com/california-2...

emersoncollegepolling.com

California 2026 Poll: Becerra Continues to Surge, Steyer and Hilton Compete for Second Spot - Emerson Polling

Bass leads primary for LA Mayor with 30% support; Pratt and Raman trail A new…Full Release & Results

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Tonight's mayoral candidate forum isn't happening — but the questions still matter. Read what what the Pat Brown Institute and the League of Women Voters planned to ask, at my Substack: mikebonin.substack.com/p/voters-des...

mikebonin.substack.com

Voters Deserve Answers: What We Would Have Asked

Tonight's scheduled mayoral candidate forum isn't happening — but the questions still matter. Here is what the Pat Brown Institute and the League of Women Voters planned to ask, and why.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

BIG HISTORY. The Los Angeles City Council yesterday voted to ban pretextual traffic stops - an ugly vestige of Jim Crow, with Blacks and Latinos being pulled over, searched and frisked at wildly disproportionate rates.

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Alissa Walker @awalkerinla.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Blessings to LAist for staying on this very overdue agreement. Pretty wild that LA28 is selling tickets to an event and doesn't have a final deal in place with the host city!

laist.com

A critical agreement between Olympics organizers and LA is now 6 months late

City Controller Kenneth Mejia called the delay "deeply troubling."

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Tom Steyer joins me on What's Next, Los Angeles. We talk about issues not getting enough attention: child welfare, gentrification, food deserts, job training, helping students working full-time to finish college, surveillance technology and more. whatsnextlosangeles.buzzsprout.com/1414123/epis...

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Dark money is creeping into LA's elections . . . more on the ULA saga . . . and a potential new progressive revenue stream for housing and basic services in the city of Long Beach. On the latest LA Podcast. Listen below or almost anywhere you get your podcasts. www.thinkforward.la/la-podcast-d...

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Sammy Roth @sammyroth.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Enjoyed talking Los Angeles water and power (and climate politics!) with @awalkerinla.bsky.social & @mikebonin.bsky.social on the LA Podcast! Covered Nithya Raman, Karen Bass, air quality, wildfires, AI, 100% clean energy and more: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...

podcasts.apple.com

Departure of Water and Power

Podcast Episode · LA Podcast · March 30 · 1h 1m

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

New bombshell mayoral poll from LMU’s Center for the Study of Los Angeles: Raman 32.5%, Bass 17%, Huang 16.6%, Miller 13.4%, Pratt 11.5%. Nearly 48% of those surveyed said they prefer a democratic socialist for mayor: lmu.app.box.com/s/i6jtszzmyo...

lmu.app.box.com

Box

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

It’s wild to hear people suggest that all CA’s Latino, Black and Asian-American guv candidates should drop out to clear a path for 4 white ppl. Especially since one of the white guys – Mahan – isn’t polling better than the candidates of color. link.latimes.com/view/652823f...

link.latimes.com

Los Angeles Times

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Los Angeles families are living in fear of being seized by unnamed, masked government agents, and LAPD -- instead of protecting them -- is suggesting that if your kids stay home out of fear of ICE, or if they dare skip school to protest ICE, they or you can be arrested.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Culver City has less criminal activity than a meeting of Trump’s cabinet.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Political earthquake. Nithya Raman is running for mayor. Not only does this pose a serious threat to Mayor Bass, but it reframes the June primary in a way that benefits down ballot progressives in other city races.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Dems are pushing for body cameras to curb abuses by ICE. Trump/MAGA are proud of footage of ICE's brutal murders. What good will body cams do? The necessary fix isn't documenting ICE agents being abusive; it's ending the cruel, abusive unconstitutional secret police force.

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Louise Auerhahn :propride: @lauerhahn.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/02/2026

Happening now in Silicon Valley: marchers have surrounded the Palantir building and are holding a prayer vigil for victims of ICE, while video of ICE and Palantir crimes is projected on the building. #AbolishICE #ICEOut #Palantir #PaloAlto

Outside in the evening. An office building with video and the words "Palantir Powers Fascism" projected at top. Below, a crowd of people with signs and candles memorializing people who have died at the hands of ICE.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

LAPD Chief McDonnell's refusal to enforce the "No Secret Police Act" is no aberration. It's reflection of a vision for LAPD that is fundamentally incompatible with the reform-minded direction L.A. has been struggling toward for 50 years. mikebonin.substack.com/p/jim-mcdonn...

open.substack.com

Jim McDonnell, LAPD & the Olympic Imperative

Chief McDonnell vision for LAPD is fundamentally incompatible with the reform-minded direction Los Angeles has been struggling toward for 50 years.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

All eyes on Lindsey Horvath as this week's mayoral political roller-coaster ride continues.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Wow! Such a dramatic week in the LA mayor’s race. The deadline for candidates to declare is Saturday noon. Here’s hoping Rick Caruso and Lindsay Horvath make their decisions by midday Friday, before we record this week’s episode of LA Podcast :)

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

open.substack.com

Jim McDonnell, LAPD & the Olympic Imperative

Chief McDonnell vision for LAPD is fundamentally incompatible with the reform-minded direction Los Angeles has been struggling toward for 50 years.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

If you want to know who is calling for Casey Wasserman to resign from LA28 (and who isn’t), be following @awalkerinla.bsky.social Calling for resignations: Supervisors Hahn and Horvath, Controller Mejia, CMs Soto-Martinez, Hernandez, Raman, Rodriguez, Padilla.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

I have not seen any local coverage of this: Patrick Butler, former Assistant Chief of LAFD, testified before the U.S. Senate last week, offering a damning indictment of LA’s (lack of) preparation for the Palisades Fire. This is Butler’s written testimony: www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/u...

hsgac.senate.gov

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

We need a nationwide general strike.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

"The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." - George Orwell They are killers, and they are liars.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

The only way to save this country from Trump, Miller, and these unrepentant Nazi thugs is a nationwide general strike. Thank you to the people of Minnesota for leading the way - and in sub freezing temperatures! That’s patriotism. That’s courage. That’s love. ✊🏼

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Alissa Walker @awalkerinla.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Need a summary of last week's election results and why they matter to you, an LA voter, in 49 minutes or less? Join me, @mikebonin.bsky.social and @rachelreyes.bsky.social for this week's episode of LA Podcast. @laforward.bsky.social Listen here: www.thinkforward.la/50-ways-to-l...

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Zohran Mamdani won't become mayor of New York City until January 1 -- but Trump and FOX etc will almost immediately start claiming he has already turned the city into a shit hole.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

“Hear me, President Trump: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”

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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Three reform DAs won re-election tonight, two of them running uncontested. All in major population centers. Krasner Bragg Gonzalez This is get one-billionth the coverage of the Boudin recall, bc it doesn't fit the entrenched Tough on Crime Narrative, but it's still noteworthy.

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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Mamdani: So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.

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Carter Rubin @carterrubin.com · 04/11/2025

@mikebonin.bsky.social on LA Pod: “There’s … such a power to the old idea that it’s all about making life easier for the single passenger automobile, that absent constant absolute vigilant pressure for something different, the system will find ways to go the old way.” www.thinkforward.la/la-podcast/

thinkforward.la

LA Podcast

LA Podcast is a news podcast for people who live in Los Angeles. We’re excited to announce that LA Podcast is now part of the LA Forward family of organizations! Expect to hear new episodes more frequ...

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Zohran Mamdani had more than 100,000 people volunteer on his campaign. His agenda of big ideas resonated with voters, in NYC and around the country. Will the Democratic Party finally listen? Or will it continue to try to smash anyone who can effectively counter Trump and grow a progressive movement?

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Andrew Cuomo concedes the NYC mayoral race to Zohran Mamdani in a characteristically bitter, divisive and vitriolic speech that shows why voters rejected him and are turning against the empty, establishment status quo that he stands for.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

On What's Next, Los Angeles, we present a one-on-one interview with LA Mayor Karen Bass. We discussed her style of leadership, progressive politics, a new challenger in the mayor's race, housing policy, homelessness, the upcoming Olympics and more. whatsnextlosangeles.buzzsprout.com

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Alissa Walker @awalkerinla.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Mayor Karen Bass is asking LA's city council to pass an ordinance that would exempt Pacific Palisades transactions from ULA, the city's transfer tax. Of note: "The letter follows a meeting with Rick Caruso, founder of Steadfast LA, who proposed ideas to help address this issue"

Mayor Bass Takes Action to Provide New Relief to Palisades Fire Survivors, Accelerate Community Recovery

Calls on City Council to Provide Fire-Affected Properties with Time-Limited Exemption, Announces Mayoral Executive Directive

LOS ANGELES – Mayor Karen Bass announced actions to provide new relief to Palisades Fire survivors and accelerate community recovery. She called on the City Council to adopt an ordinance that would assist in the establishment of a one-time exemption to Measure ULA for Palisade homeowners and announced that once the ordinance is adopted she would issue an executive directive to direct the Office of Finance to create the rule providing this exemption. The letter follows a meeting with Rick Caruso, founder of Steadfast LA, who proposed ideas to help address this issue. The Mayor’s plan to create a time limited exemption from the Measure ULA property transfer tax will help homeowners who need to or wish to move from the fire impacted area and speed up sales of these properties and spur rebuilding and rehabilitation of the Palisades.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Moving LA’s elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years was a game-changer, giving city elections an electorate that was much more representative of the city.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Arguing against a financial plan to modernize the LA Convention Center, Katy Yaroslavsky delivered one of the most cogent, powerful, intelligent and persuasive speeches I’ve ever heard in Council chambers. It was a tour de force. (A short while later, the council voted 11-2 to approve the plan.)

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Here’s how the LA congressional reps voted on the resolution honoring Charlie Kirk: No -Gomez, Kamlager-Dove, Waters Present- Friedman, Sherman, Sanchez, Brownley, Whitesides, Rivas, ,Cisneros Not Voting-Barragan, Garcia, Torres Yes -Lieu, Chu, Takano Source: clerk.house.gov/Votes/202528...

clerk.house.gov

Roll Call 282 Roll Call 282, Bill Number: H. Res. 719, 119th Congress, 1st Session

VOTE QUESTION: On Agreeing to the Resolution, DESCRIPTION: Honoring the life and legacy of Charles “Charlie” James Kirk, VOTE TYPE: Yea-And-Nay, STATUS: Passed

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

Antifa isn’t a group. It’s an umbrella term - like MAGA. By declaring Antifa a “terrorist organization” they’re creating a legal framework to charge organizers, protesters, elected officials, commentators and anyone they want with domestic terrorism. This is how freedom dies and fascism thrives.

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Adam Bonin @adambonin.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

My mom called me last night about the Kimmel firing, saying "This is how Hitler got started!" I quickly responded, "By firing the late night tv hosts?" Turns out, mom was right.

Goebbels Ends Careers of Five 'Aryan' Actors Who Made Witticisms About the Nazi Regime

Feb. 4, 1939

February 4, 1939, Page 1

BERLIN, Feb. 3.—Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels today ended the professional careers of five "Aryan" actors and cabaret announcers by expelling them from the Reich's Chamber of Culture on the grounds that “in their public appearances they displayed a lack of any positive attitude toward National Socialism and therewith caused grave annoyance in public and especially to party comrades.” The five include perhaps the best known German stage comedians who survived previous Chamber of Culture purges and still dared to indulge in political witticisms—namely, Werner Finck, Peter Sachse and “The Three Rulands,” represented by Helmuth Buth, Wilhelm Meissner and Manfred Dlugi. Their expulsion means that they are henceforth forbidden to appear before the public in Germany.

Besides motivating this action in an official communiqué, Dr. Goebbels also publishes a long article in the Voelkischer Beobachter in which he denounces them as “brazen, impertinent, arrogant and tactless" and generally imitators and successors to Jews. Simultaneously he denounces the "society rabble that followed them with thundering applause—parasitic scum, inhabiting our luxury streets, that seems to have only the task of proving with how little brains people can get along and even acquire money and prominence."

As regards the details of the "crimes" of which the five are accused, Dr. Goebbels mentions that they made political witticisms about the colonial problem, the Four-Year Plan and Chancellor Hitler's monumental building program and one of them even raised the question of whether there was any humor left in Germany today.

What amused the public most, however, and presumably roiled the National Socialist authorities most—although Dr. Goebbels does not mention it—is that they deftly, but unmistakably, caricatured some gestures, poses and physical characteristics of Nat…

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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 19/09/2025

Chris Christie observed recently that Trump has torn down the traditional barrier between the president’s personal ambitions and the DOJ's power to investigate & prosecute criminal wrongdoing. As if to prove Christie’s point, Trump publicly threatened to prosecute Christie just a few hours later.

motherjones.com

The Supreme Court greenlit Trump’s political prosecutions—even the ones that are illegal

Thanks, John Roberts.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

We are not starting our slide into authoritarianism. We are already there. What comes next is the nightmare — the immense cruelty and harm they create with the power that our once coequal branches of government, our legacy media, and our elite institutions have so feebly surrendered to them.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

This is nothing short a shredding of the U.S. Constitution and an endorsement of racial profiling. Essentially, armed, masked agents of the government can stop and detain anyone who is brown-skinned, or a Spanish speaker, or a low wage worker. And this is just the beginning.

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Alissa Walker @awalkerinla.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

The hotel and airline bankrolled challenge to the Olympic wage *did not qualify* for the ballot according to the LA County Registrar. This means the city’s Olympic wage ordinance , $25/hour beginning this year and $30/hour by 2028, goes into effect for tourism workers immediately

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ALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES CITY OF LOS ANGELES
) SS
CERTIFICATION OF INSUFFICIENCY
REFERENDUM PETITION TO REPEAL ORDINANCE NO. 188610
I, PETTY F. SANTOS, Interim City Clerk of the City of Los Angeles, hereby certify to the Los
Angeles City Council: that the signatures submitted with the Referendum Petition referenced above have been examined by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk (County Registrar); that based on the County Registrar's examination, the Referendum Petition does not contain the number of valid signatures of registered voters of the City required under City Charter Section 461(a) and therefore the Referendum Petition is INSUFFICIENT; and that the attached summary from the County Registrar represents a true, correct, and complete summary of the County Registrar's examination of the Referendum Petition.
Ordinance No. 188610 shall take effect upon the date of this Certification pursuant to City
Charter Section 461(c).
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereunto set my hand and affix the seal of the City of Los Angeles
this 8th day of September, 2025.
lettlitk
PETTY F. SANTOS
INTERIM CITY CLERK
for,

Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk
September 5, 2025
Jinny Pak, Division Manager
City of Los Angeles, Office of the City Clerk, Election and BIDS Division
555 Ramirez Street, Space 300
Los Angeles, California 90012
Dear Jinny Pak:
We have completed the signature verification submitted on July 9, 2025, for A Referendum Petition Seeking to Overturn Ordinance 188610 Increasing Wages and Healthcare Benefits for Hotel and Airport Workers and Hotel Worker Training.

140,774

140,774

84,007
56,767

2,339
117,607

17,082
The results of the signature verification are as follows:
Number of signatures filed
Number of signatures verified
Number of signatures found sufficient
Number of signatures found not sufficient
Not sufficient because duplicate
Number of signature withdrawal requests
Number of signatures withdrawn
Please call Tiffany Olsen, Head, Data Entry and Signature Verification at
(562) 462-2376 if you have any questions regarding the signature verification of this petition.
Jerome Jordan to
EAN C. LOGAN
Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk
County of Los Angeles
Digitally Signed using ClerkSign (Document: 0231ca68-45cd-4287-b48a-3c7128bf5cbd

Petition Statistics
9/3/2025 4:03:49PM
LA CITY REF SEEKING TO OVERTURN ORD INCREASING WAGES ORD 188610
Petition ID: 19639
Total Sigs Required
Total Sigs Submitted
Total Sample Size
Total Sigs Verified
140,774
140,774
140,774
OCADD
ADD
AEV
AGE
CAN
FP
MADD
MAX
MS
MS2
MSPET
NADD
NR
OD
RD
SIG
WD
TOTAL
TOTAL VALID:
OUT OF COUNTY ADDRESS
Total
DIFFERENT ADDRESS
Total
INFO ENTERED BY CIRCULATOR
Total
UNDERAGE AT SIGNING
Total
CANCELED
Total
FATAL PENDING
Total
PO BOX/MAILING ADDRESS
Total
MAX NUMBER OF TIMES SIGNED
Total
MISCELLANEOUS
Total
PRINTED SIGNATURE
Total
MISSING SIG ON PETITION
Total
NO ADDRESS
Total
NOT REGISTERED
Total
OUT OF DISTRICT
Total
INVALID REGISTRATION DATE
Total
MISMATCH SIGNATURE
Total
WITHDRAWN SIGNATURES
Total
TOTAL CHALLENGED
249
6,898
5
18
1,933
695
164
2,339
76
211
135
28
18,054
4,342
1,625
2,913
17,082
56,767
84.007
ESSVR. LLC —2025
9/3/2025 4:03-49PM
R802.01
Page 1 of 1

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

How did LA go from being a notorious anti-worker city to a stronghold of labor power? Listen to this re-air of my interview with Kent Wong of UCLA Labor Ctr on What’s Next, Los Angeles. Brought to you in partnership with @laforward.bsky.social . whatsnextlosangeles.buzzsprout.com

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Wallis Annenberg was a titan. But the obituaries failed to mention that she was a lesbian. It was a noteworthy example of queer erasure. I talk with her former partner, journalist @karenocamb.bsky.social on What's Next, Los Angeles -- wherever you get your podcasts. @laforward.bsky.social

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Is there really anybody in LA who seriously thinks this will end well? I can't imagine what benefits LA could receive that would justify what is coming.

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Mike Bonin @mikebonin.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

INFRASTRUCTURE WEAK: On this week's LA Podcast, Alissa, Mike, and Godfrey discuss the next era for LA’s homeless services, a terrifying Trump executive order, LA Charter reform and the CA governor's race. Listen at thinkforward.la, on Apple Podcasts, via Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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