Oy Vey L.A.

“I have lived here my entire life. I have never seen this city so dirty, so rudderless. Homeless everywhere, crime going up, and there just seems to be a lack of urgency, a lack of any kind of all-hands-on-deck approach to these crises.” - former mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, October 2021

We all want a better, more livable Los Angeles. But what does that mean, exactly? And how do we get there? Join Josh Gertler and Chris Joseph – two native Angelenos – on our new podcast “Oy Vey L.A.” as we interview informed citizens, politicians (and wanna’ be politicians), as well as thought leaders and in-touch members of the local media. We’ll take you on a journey discussing such subjects as local politics, livability issues, housing (affordable and otherwise), and local corruption, a journey that will hopefully illuminate, stimulate and provoke thoughts and solutions.

About Josh: Josh is the president and CEO of Consensus, a Los Angeles-based public relations firm founded in 1986. The firm ranks among the largest independently-owned public relations firms in Southern California and the top 100 in the nation. Josh has spent his entire career developing and delivering communications strategies for corporations, governments, brands, projects, places and ideas. Consensus has been pioneering consensus-building approaches and applying them to major issues and challenges since the firm’s founding. He is a member of the board of directors of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, the largest business organization in America’s second largest city, a board member of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA), and he is active in the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

About Chris: Over the last 35 years, Chris has started and managed three environmental consulting businesses, launched two fan-funded music record companies and founded a non-profit charitable foundation. He's also dabbled in philanthropy, book writing, songwriting, and magazine writing. His company, CAJA Environmental Services, is a leading CEQA consulting firm in southern California. Chris is also an odds-defying, stage-three pancreatic cancer survivor and thriver since 2016, as described in his best-selling 2020 book "Life is a Ride: My Unconventional Journey of Cancer Recovery." He is also a co-curator and contributing author to "The Epiphanies Project: Twenty Personal Revelations." Chris' other podcasts include Talking Threadheads, The Epiphanies Project, and Life is a Ride: Overcoming Huge Obstacles in Unconventional Ways.