Nathan Masters (original) (raw)

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US historian and writer

Nathan Masters (born 1981) is an author and the host of Lost L.A., a public television series about Los Angeles history.[1][2][3] He manages public programs at the University of Southern California Libraries. In 2013, he launched a Gizmodo subdomain titled Southland about Los Angeles history and geography.[4] Masters grew up in Orange County, California.[5]

He has hosted the public television series Lost L.A. since its conception in 2016 and has also served as a producer. The series, originally based on a series of articles he wrote for KCET, has won multiple awards, including four Los Angeles Area Emmys and a Golden Mike.[6][7][8]

In 2019, the digital magazine Truly*Adventurous published his article "Pillars of Fire" about Los Angeles policewoman Alice Stebbins Wells and cult leader Alma Bridwell White. Amazon Studios subsequently acquired the story, with Rachel Brosnahan attached.[9] Masters published later another story with Truly*Adventurous about Soviet spy and FBI counterspy Boris Morros.[10]

On 21 March 2023 he published his first book, titled Crooked: The Roaring '20s Tale of a Corrupt Attorney General, a Crusading Senator, and the Birth of the American Political Scandal, about the Teapot Dome scandal and Sen. Burton K. Wheeler's investigation of Attorney Gen. Harry Daugherty.[11] The book won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Fact Crime from the Mystery Writers of America.[12] Kirkus described it as "an impressive book debut with a brisk, lively history of a political scandal, 'one of those Roaring Twenties spectacles...that held the entire nation spellbound.'"[13] The Wall Street Journal wrote that it had "all the makings of a great film plot, complete with theatrical witnesses, twists, turns and a conclusive, if slightly maddening ending."[14] Masters started working on the book in 2019, and his research encompassed more than 3,000 pages of congressional transcripts, Justice Department records at the National Archives, and Freedom of Information Act requests from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.[15]

  1. ^ "Lost LA With Nathan Masters". KCRW. January 27, 2016.
  2. ^ Blakemore, Erin (April 28, 2016). "LA Archives Have Their Own TV Show". Library Journal.
  3. ^ Wick, Julia (September 17, 2017). "Lost LA Returns For A Second Season". LAist. Archived from the original on September 15, 2017.
  4. ^ Khattab, Deena (December 3, 2013). "Nathan Masters launches blog to restore LA's history". Daily Trojan. University of Southern California. Archived from the original on 27 September 2017.
  5. ^ Brettany Shannon (19 October 2017). "LA Hashtags Itself" (Podcast). USC Bedrosian Center.
  6. ^ Jason Ball (October 9, 2018). "The News Director's Office: Nathan Masters, Lost LA" (Podcast). KTLA.
  7. ^ "KCET and PBS SoCal Win Seven Golden Mike Awards Presented by the Radio & Television News Association of Southern CA". PBS SoCal. 23 January 2019. Archived from the original on 7 December 2024.
  8. ^ "KCET Wins Most Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards; KABC, KNBC, KMEX, KVEA Take Top Newscasts". Variety. 19 July 2020. Archived from the original on 30 September 2024.
  9. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (February 19, 2020). "Truly*Adventurous Sets Sail With Digital IP Journalism Formula That Is Generating Flurry Of Film & TV Deals". Deadline Hollywood.
  10. ^ "Counterspy: The Russian Plot to Take Over Hollywood | by Nathan Masters | Truly*Adventurous | Medium". Medium. 3 April 2020. Archived from the original on 23 April 2024.
  11. ^ Masters, Nathan (2022-07-04). Crooked. Hachette Books. ISBN 978-0-306-82613-9.
  12. ^ "Mystery Writers of America Celebrates 2024 Edgar Award Winners". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024.
  13. ^ CROOKED | Kirkus Reviews.
  14. ^ Chervinsky, Lindsay M. "'Crooked' Review: How Teapot Dome Boiled Over". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  15. ^ Kellogg, Carolyn (2023-05-26). "How Trump's misdeeds inspired a new history of the first mass-media congressional hearing". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-02-26.