Scot Bertram

Previously, Political Beats took a musical trip through New York City, a place of towering ambition, crowded streets, and endless inspiration for songwriters. This month, we’re heading three thousand miles west for our June 2026 Exclusive Content.

Los Angeles occupies a different place in the American imagination. New York is often portrayed as a city you conquer. Los Angeles is a city you chase. It’s a landscape of dreams and disappointments, sunshine and smog, movie stars and struggling musicians. It’s where people arrive hoping to make it big, and where many discover that paradise can be a little more complicated than it first appears.

The selections in this episode capture that complicated relationship. Some celebrate Southern California with apparent unabashed enthusiasm, like Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” (though Newman always is a bit more complicated than that, isn’t he?). Others take us down Sunset Boulevard and into the shadows behind the palm trees, from Warren Zevon’s weary “Desperadoes Under the Eaves” to Tom Waits’ gritty “Heartattack and Vine.” Along the way we’ll encounter Hollywood dreamers, late-night drives, rock-and-roll excess, and the peculiar mix of glamour and loneliness that seems uniquely Angeleno.

Like the city itself, these songs don’t agree on what Los Angeles really is. Is it opportunity or illusion? A paradise or a cautionary tale? A place to reinvent yourself or a place to lose yourself? Join us as we cruise the freeways, wander the boulevards, and explore the many musical visions of Los Angeles.

Click here for access to this episode and much more.