La Moda Femenina

Re:Work Radio is back with another episode on LA’s Garment District. This time we explore the Garment District’s rich history through three generations of strong Mexican women. Vanessa, Re:Work Radio staff, comes from a family of women whose lives are intricately tied with the LA Garment district. Starting with her great-grandmother who was a garment worker in the 1920s, the family eventually owned and operated a bridal shop in Mexico for over 50 years — always returning to the Garment District for materials. This is a story about love, labor, and transnational solidarity.

Block by Block

What makes someone get involved in their community? How do community members become engaged? Not just during election season, but everyday, how do communities come together to solve problems? This episode takes a deep dive into the stories of two South Los Angeles residents, Sirenia and Patricia, who have been building community power one block at a time. As community and civic engagement organizers at SCOPE, they have engaged communities throughout Los Angeles in politics and encouraged increased electoral participation. The episode was produced in partnership with SCOPE-LA, an organization that builds grassroots power to create social and economic justice for low-income, female, immigrant, black, and brown communities in Los Angeles.

Dispatch

It’s one of the most dangerous jobs in America: taxi driving. In this special joint episode from ReWork and Making Contact, we’ll hear a radio adaptation of TeAda Productions’ play “Global Taxi Driver,” and we’ll take a ride to meet the cab drivers at one of the country’s busiest airports.

Los Callejones

Who are the people who make the clothes we wear every day? Tune in to take a journey through “los callejones,” Los Angeles’s garment district. Learn more about who works within this labyrinth of clothing shops and factories. This episode of Re:Work was made possible with support from Cal Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit www.calhum.org.

Moving the World

Most of the stuff we use, from our clothes to our iPhones, were at some point made in another country and shipped to our shores. But who carries these goods from the shores to the stores? Longshoremen have a saying that they move the world, one container at a time. In this episode of Re:Work, Jessica Garcia interviews her cousin Alina Pineda, a woman in this traditionally male job.

Listen Up!

What comes to your mind when you think of a musician? For many musicians, their work is no different from any other profession. They dedicate hours and hours of their lives to practicing out of love for their craft. But is the love of music enough to justify the immense commitment of being a musician? On this episode of Re:Work, Neil Samples shares his story of being a professional violinist which leads him into the world of Hollywood and television.