MEGAN BOTEL
writer • reporter • producer
I’m a journalist and radio producer in Los Angeles. Currently, I’m a producer and reporter at LAist, LA’s NPR affiliate station. I have a particular obsession with human connection, and the ways in which humans have become massively disconnected from each other in our modern world. In 2024, I hosted, reported and produced an eight-part series on the loneliness crisis: How To Not Be Lonely in LA, for How To LA. I also contribute as a freelance writer and audio producer to The Washington Post, LA Times, Huffington Post, PBS and other national outlets. My work focuses on health, mental well-being, religion and the environment.
Work
LAist - all print found here.
“These women say they were abused by Southern Baptist leaders. Nowthey’re forcing a reckoning.” The Lily, 2021
“Hannah-Kate Williams, alleging sex abuse, sues SBC leaders.” Religion News Service, 2021
“These Native American women are reclaiming and ‘stolen’ part of their identity: their language.” The Lily, 2021
“Living with Fire: What California Can Learn from Native Burns.” HuffPost, 2021
“Learning online without a home: How families devastated by Oregon’s fires are trying to keep up with school.” The Lily, 2021
“How Black women worked to secure Joe Biden’s election as president.” USA TODAY, 2020
“‘Women doing whatever we want: the little-known fight to secure women’s financial rights.” Ms. Magazine, 2020
“‘An imperative enfranchisement effort:’ Amid 2020 challenges, Oregon’s vote-by-mail founders reflect a nationwide shift.” The GroundTruth Project, 2020
“A year unlike any other for the Black American electorate.” The GroundTruth Project, 2020
“The hidden keepers of American elections.” The GroundTruth Project, 2020
“Behind the growing movement to add more women to history lessons.” The Lily, 2020
“‘Crucial voices’: the US women leading the fight against voter suppression.” The Guardian, 2020
“The 19th Amendment was ratified 100 years ago. This group is mobilizing the vote today.” The Lily, 2020
“‘An awakening:’ the George Floyd protests spur surge in Black voter registration.’” The Guardian, 2020
“‘Where are the women?:’ The centennial of the 19th Amendment and rewriting women’s history.” USA TODAY, 2020
“Black voter mobilization efforts begin to bear fruit.” The Los Angeles Times, 2020
“Alabama’s get-out-the-vote activists fight back against voting restrictions.” The GroundTruth Project, 2020
“AIDS activists feel a sense of déjà vu as they watch the coronavirus policy battle unfold.” Los Angeles Times, 2020
“L.A. woman is drawing attention to another black death at police hands: Breonna Taylor.” Los Angeles Times, 2020
“‘Can I have sex during the Coronavirus pandemic?’ The age of casual hookups may be over.” L.A. TACO, 2020
“Absence of Faith: An ancient church struggles with modern hurdles as a mother mourns the loss of a son and her Armenian religion.” Pasadena Weekly, 2020
“One church’s tale of two pandemics, 100 years apart.” Religion News Service, The GroundTruth Project, 2020
“Baptist, vegan, ex-football player may overturn Alabama’s ban on public school yoga.” Religion News Service, 2020
“LaRayia Gaston is here to feed L.A.” Ampersand, 2019
AUDIO
HOW TO LA - triweekly L.A. culture show
LAist Studios, launched 2022
OUT TURN TO TALK - 10 Episode Podcast Series
Principle Pictures, 2022
Ampersand, 2020
PRX Remix, 2020