Liesl Bradner

An award-winning journalist with more than 15 years experience, Liesl Bradner has contributed to respected national publications such as the Los Angeles Times, the New Republic, the Guardian, Truthdig, Variety and WWII magazine. In 2018, she published "Snapdragon: The WWII Exploits of Darby's Rangers and Combat photographer Phil Stern."

Men and women raising their glasses at a bar | Los Angeles Examiner Photographs Collection, University of Southern California Libraries

Article

Lost LA

How Alcohol Still Seeped Into Los Angeles During Prohibition

In 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act, the 18th Amendment’s liquor ban. Despite the Prohibition the liquor continued to flow in the Southland, along with the sun and waves and a few secret tunnels.

Diana Trujillo speaks during the Aspira con NASA/Aspire with NASA Hispanic Heritage Month event on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016 at NASA Headquarters in Washington | Flickr/NASA HQ PHOTO/Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Article

Blue Sky Metropolis

Worth the Struggle: Diana Trujillo's Journey from Colombia to NASA

After immigrating from Colombia, Diana Trujillo took the long path to becoming an aerospace engineer at JPL, but for the Colombian aerospace engineer, it was worth it.

Bessie Coleman, shown here on the wheel of a Curtiss JN-4 “Jennie” in her custom-designed flying suit (circa 1924). | Smithsonian Institution

Article

Blue Sky Metropolis

Meet the Daring Women of Color Who Beat Bigotry in Aviation

Despite gender and racial discrimination, Bessie Coleman and those inspired by her blazed the trail for future female aviators.

A handful of the female aviators who competed in the first women’s transcontinental air derby which began in Santa Monica on August 18, 1929. Amelia Earhart is fourth from the right. Louise Thaden, who won the 2700-mile race, is fifth from the right.

Article

Blue Sky Metropolis

Soaring into Herstory: The Women's Air Derby of 1929

In 1929, Santa Monica was overflowing with spectators as the host for the first Intercontinental Woman’s Air Derby, where twenty female aviators signed up to participate in the 2,759-mile course to the finish line in Cleveland, Ohio.

LGBTQ+ Pride

Arts Education

KCET Cinema Series

LGBTQ+ Pride

Arts Education

KCET Cinema Series

Liesl Bradner