California City

Publisher:
LAist Studios

California City

4.6/5

Critic Rating

Deep in the Mojave Desert, there is a little town with a big name and a bizarre history: California City. For decades, real estate developers have sold a dream here: if you buy land now, you’ll be rich one day. Thousands of people bought this dream. Many were young couples and hard-working immigrants looking to build a better future. But much of the land they bought is nearly worthless.  In this new podcast from LAist Studios, host Emily Guerin tells a story of money, power and deception.


Critic Reviews

Score: 4.8

Emma Dibdin • New York Times Feb 16, 2021

"What starts as a story about a kooky urban development project becomes a haunting saga about fraud, exploitation and the toxic myth of the American dream."

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Score: 4.5

Lauren Passell • Bello Collective Dec 2, 2020

"This was one of those shows I could not press play on fast enough each time it dropped into my feed."

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Score: 4.5

PR Staff • PodcastReview.org Jul 22, 2020

"On California City, host Emily Guerin blends investigative journalism on these ongoing predatory practices with a fascinating history of how this scammer’s paradise came to be."

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Score: 4.6

Bradley Chambers • 9to5mac Jul 11, 2020

"...I binged the majority of the series on a single trip, and it’s one of the most interesting shows I’ve listened to all year. The team went in-depth to explain the backstory of what happened in the past, but then bring the listeners up to speed to how people today are being impacted. …"

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