Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Petersen.
Hi Robert, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am the host and producer of the Hidden History of Los Angeles podcast. I started the podcast back in 2013 as a passion project to share my love of L.A. history. All four of my grandparents came to L.A. in the 1920s and 30s, and both of my parents grew up here, so I have been hearing stories about the area’s past my entire life – like my grandmother taking the streetcar to the Bullock’s Wilshire Tea Room or my dad seeing the Hollywood Stars play at Gillmore Field. In college, I really got into L.A. history and wrote my thesis comparing the development of different L.A. area neighborhoods. Around 2013, I started listening to podcasts and decided, on a whim, to make one about L.A. history. I really didn’t know anything about creating a podcast. But I enjoyed the process, and people seemed to like it, so I kept going, and here we are 83 episodes later.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The biggest challenge I face with this podcast is not finding content; it’s finding time. I have a list of episode ideas pages long, but there are only so many hours in a day. In addition to the podcast, I work as a Deputy Attorney General for the California Department of Justice and have two small children, so my days are jam-packed. That is why, at times, there are gaps in between the release of podcast episodes.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Some of my favorite episodes of the podcast are (1) Colonel Griffith (episode 16), about the namesake for Griffith Park, who shot his wife in the face after accusing her of conspiring with the Pope to poison him; (2) Dootsie Williams (episode 66), about a trailblazing black music executive who has somehow been forgotten; (3) Mount Wilson Observatory (episode 36), about the observatory that forever changed our understanding of the universe; (4) Toypurina (episode 11), about a Native American revolt against the Spanish at Mission San Gabriel; and (5) Mayor Foster (episode 15), about an L.A. mayor who resigned his office to lynch a man, before being re-elected.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
The thing that surprises me most about doing this podcast is how many stories there are from L.A.’s past that have yet to be told. The more you dig into L.A.’s past, the more you find. I could do this podcast for a hundred years and never run out of stories.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hiddenhistoryla.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hiddenhistoryla/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hiddenhistoryofla/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lahiddenhistory/
Image Credits
John Rabe, Justin Sarno
