Ryan Reft
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About Me:
Ryan Reft is a doctoral candidate in urban history at the University of California San Diego. His work has appeared in the journals Souls and The Sixties, as well as in the anthology Barack Obama and African American Empowerment: The Rise of Black America's New Leadership. He is co-editor of the blog Tropics of Meta.
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My KCET.org Activities
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Posted Noiring L.A.: Double Indemnity, Black Dahlia, and the Fears of Postwar America
in Land of SunshineNoir made L.A. the city intellectuals loved to hate, yet perversely for European intellects, notably those hailing from France and Britain, this only deepened the fascination. -
Posted Not Bowling Alone: How the Holiday Bowl in Crenshaw Became an Integrated Leisure Space
in Land of SunshineThe bowling alley, which was demolished in 2003, served as an integrated leisure space where African, Mexican, and Asian Americans could interact. -
Los Angeles of the 1920s remained a segregated landscape, many neighborhoods boasted a diverse non-white population consisting of Latino, Asian, African American faces.
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Some of L.A.'s most important history lay in the periphery, in towns like El Monte and South El Monte. But how do we excavate and broadcast its important history?
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Malibu is the wildfire capital of North America and, possibly, the world, but residents continue to have a love affair with the beachfront area.
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Posted The Pirates of Los Angeles: Music, Technology, and Counterculture in Southern California
in Land of SunshineDuring the late 1960s and early 1970s, pirates in Los Angeles provided a window into the tensions over access to music that besets the difficult relationship that exists between artist, label, and fan. -
To understand the City of Angels, Joan Didion once wrote, one needed to immerse oneself in the freeway experience or, as she put it, "the only secular communion Los Angeles has."
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Posted Seventy Years Later: The Zoot Suit Riots and the Complexity of Youth Culture
in Land of SunshineThis June marks the 70th anniversary of the Zoot Suit Riots, which some critics call "the worst mob violence in Los Angeles history." -
Posted A Dive into the Deep End: The Importance of the Swimming Pool in Southern California
in Land of SunshineDespite, or perhaps because of, its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, SoCal's enthusiasm for pool-based recreation knows few bounds. -
Posted From Better Luck Tomorrow to K-Town: Asian Americans and Los Angeles in 21st Century Media
in Land of SunshineLos Angeles and its entertainment industry has played and continues to play a central role in the crafting of the Asian American identity. -
Posted Courting Division: How Three Southern California Court Cases Bolstered and Hindered Multiracial Civil Rights Movements
in Land of SunshineSouthern California's landscape provided the setting for three critical court cases that reveal the ability of the law to cleave efforts toward equal rights. -
Posted Retail California: Shopping Centers, Malls, and Creating a New Consumerism
in Land of SunshineThree examples confirm Southern California's critical role in the mall's early formation: the Broadway Crenshaw Center, the Valley Center, and San Diego's Linda Vista Shopping Center. -
Posted Retail California: Ralphs, the Big Lebowski, and Shaping the American Shopping Experience
in Land of SunshineRalphs' innovations in retail and supermarkets in Los Angeles rippled through the industry and became a catalyst for suburban expansion. -
When C.L. Peckham opened Ye Market Place on Los Feliz Road in Glendale in 1924, few realized the influence the drive-in market would have on urban planning and American retail.
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Posted Fast Times with Valley Girls: 30 Years Later, What Do Two SoCal Classics Tell Us About America?
in Land of SunshineTwo films from the 1980s defined character and social archetypes that persist to this day. -
Artists have played a large role in developing community identity and establishing a sense of place in communities with lower incomes and fewer resources.
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Posted What's Old is New: How Orange County's Conservative Past Created its Demographics Today
in Land of SunshineHow does Orange County's conservative Asian American population reflect the region's past? -
Rap group N.W.A. glorified Compton as ground zero of urban Black life -- while at the same time the city's demographics showed a shift towards a Latino majority.
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Many of us played with Legos as a kid...so what's it like to visit Legoland as an adult?
Recent Actions from Ryan Reft
No recommendations yet.
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Posted Noiring L.A.: Double Indemnity, Black Dahlia, and the Fears of Postwar America
in Land of SunshineNoir made L.A. the city intellectuals loved to hate, yet perversely for European intellects, notably those hailing from France and Britain, this only deepened the fascination. -
Posted Not Bowling Alone: How the Holiday Bowl in Crenshaw Became an Integrated Leisure Space
in Land of SunshineThe bowling alley, which was demolished in 2003, served as an integrated leisure space where African, Mexican, and Asian Americans could interact. -
Los Angeles of the 1920s remained a segregated landscape, many neighborhoods boasted a diverse non-white population consisting of Latino, Asian, African American faces.
-
Some of L.A.'s most important history lay in the periphery, in towns like El Monte and South El Monte. But how do we excavate and broadcast its important history?
-
Malibu is the wildfire capital of North America and, possibly, the world, but residents continue to have a love affair with the beachfront area.
-
Posted The Pirates of Los Angeles: Music, Technology, and Counterculture in Southern California
in Land of SunshineDuring the late 1960s and early 1970s, pirates in Los Angeles provided a window into the tensions over access to music that besets the difficult relationship that exists between artist, label, and fan. -
To understand the City of Angels, Joan Didion once wrote, one needed to immerse oneself in the freeway experience or, as she put it, "the only secular communion Los Angeles has."
-
Posted Seventy Years Later: The Zoot Suit Riots and the Complexity of Youth Culture
in Land of SunshineThis June marks the 70th anniversary of the Zoot Suit Riots, which some critics call "the worst mob violence in Los Angeles history." -
Posted A Dive into the Deep End: The Importance of the Swimming Pool in Southern California
in Land of SunshineDespite, or perhaps because of, its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, SoCal's enthusiasm for pool-based recreation knows few bounds. -
Posted From Better Luck Tomorrow to K-Town: Asian Americans and Los Angeles in 21st Century Media
in Land of SunshineLos Angeles and its entertainment industry has played and continues to play a central role in the crafting of the Asian American identity.
