The Labyrinth Project

Hopelessly devoted: a cat detective story

Fri, 02 May 2025 12:00:00 -0700

Feral cats are everywhere in Los Angeles — in a bush on a hill along the freeway, darting through shelves of an autoglass repair shop, and crouched under storage units. In this episode, Hana Almony and Cassidy Castro follow the threads of the TNR world and discover the quiet network that holds it all together. It's a community built on early mornings, late nights, and an extraordinary kind of care. And once you're in, it's hard to walk away.

The Labyrinth Project is a research project at UCLA, housed in the Institute for Society and Genetics, and partially funded by the National Science Foundation. https://labyrinth.garden/ for more details

The LA River, a fish story

Thu, 03 Apr 2025 12:00:00 -0700

Can you fish the LA river? UCLA undergrads Sami Ryan, Nico Le and Jae Hun Hwang find out in this episode about LA's storied river. They learn about native and invasive fish and plants, the plight of the steelhead salmon, the good and bad parts of the river, and they ask: what is the ideal LA River like? It's a question much easier to ask than to answer. But they do catch some fish.

The Los Angeles Animal Airlift

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 14:00:00 -0800

Listen to the untold story of the Los Angeles Animal Airlift. It is a story about helicopters and overpasses, a story about compassion and fear, a story about deciding to live with animals, or letting them decide whether to live with us.

Also, Satan

Mon, 21 Mar 2022 06:00:00 -0700

In this episode, Christopher Kelty explores the rather surprising background to the No Kill Movement in LA.
Part of the UCLA Labyrinth Research Project, more at https://labyrinth.garden/

How to See Coyotes

Mon, 14 Mar 2022 23:00:00 -0700

Everybody in Los Angeles has a coyote story, but nobody can quite agree on what seeing a coyote in the city means. What do coyotes mean by the things they do? In this episode Chase Niesner explores how what we see in coyotes is a matter of what they see in us.

The Responsibility of Feral Cats

Mon, 07 Mar 2022 03:00:00 -0800

The maze has brought you to a cat's cradle story of responsibility and moral failure. Listen as Niaz Sassounian takes us on a whirlwind tour of the feral cat controversy in Los Angeles. Part of the UCLA Labyrinth Research Project, more at https://labyrinth.garden/

Coyotes in the Cloud

Mon, 28 Feb 2022 05:00:00 -0800

You just saw a coyote on the street in front of your apartment. What should you think? In this episode, Coyotes in the Cloud, Spencer Robins asks whether you actually saw that coyote or whether maybe you’ve followed a ghost into another political storm in Los Angeles. Part of the UCLA Labyrinth Research Project, more at https://labyrinth.garden/

Unsustainable

Mon, 21 Feb 2022 03:00:00 -0800

Are you doing your part to save the planet today? Surely you’ve thought about it. All around you there are signs urging you to recycle, to save water, to use less energy. In this episode, Emma Horton asks why we feel so bad for not doing our part, and whether it’s healthy to keep trying. Part of the UCLA Labyrinth Research Project, more at https://labyrinth.garden/

The Lion and the Rat

Thu, 27 Jan 2022 02:00:00 -0800

In this episode, produced by Christopher Kelty, we ask, “what can you live with” in Los Angeles? It’s a simple question without any good answers. It’s a deeply cultural question, about why we love some animals and hate others, and how that never works out well. Part of the UCLA Labyrinth Research Project, more at https://labyrinth.garden/