Episode One: Barney’s Beanery: Janis Joplin, 1970s Laurel Canyon and Quentin Tarantino
Release Date: 12/04/2025
Mini Episode: Cole’s French Dip, The Noir Hangout of Mickey Cohen, Charles Bukowski, and more (feat. Kim Cooper of Esotouric)
The Bombshell Effect
Los Angeles may be losing one of its last true landmarks. Cole’s French Dip, open since 1908 and a favorite hot spot to mobsters, detectives, burlesque dancers, boozy politicians, and Charles Bukowski himself, is closing forever on December 31st. In this urgent special episode, Kate de los Santos takes listeners down to the streets of DTLA and into the noir-esque world of Cole’s, a bar that had survived for over a century. Along the way, Kate unpacks the legendary rivalry between Cole’s and Philippe’s, the mythology surrounding the birth of the French Dip sandwich, the rise and...
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Episode One: Barney’s Beanery: Janis Joplin, 1970s Laurel Canyon and Quentin Tarantino
The Bombshell Effect
Legendary gossip columnist Hedda Hopper once described West Hollywood’s Barney’s Beanery as the place “where the stars go!”– and she wasn’t exaggerating. Throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood, this shadowy little den off Santa Monica Boulevard was frequented by stars like Clara Bow and Rita Hayworth. Dean Martin hosted parties there in the 1950s and in the 1960s, Jim Morrison was banned. Barney’s is the kind of institution that’s weathered Dennis Hopper brushing shoulders with Marlon Brando, Hunter S. Thompson breaking his ankle diving off the bar, and Kris...
info_outlineLegendary gossip columnist Hedda Hopper once described West Hollywood’s Barney’s Beanery as the place “where the stars go!”– and she wasn’t exaggerating. Throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood, this shadowy little den off Santa Monica Boulevard was frequented by stars like Clara Bow and Rita Hayworth. Dean Martin hosted parties there in the 1950s and in the 1960s, Jim Morrison was banned.
Barney’s is the kind of institution that’s weathered Dennis Hopper brushing shoulders with Marlon Brando, Hunter S. Thompson breaking his ankle diving off the bar, and Kris Kristofferson holding court with Janis Joplin. Nowadays, the magic is there for a new generation of artists. More than a greasy dive with pool tables, Barney’s has cemented itself a true Hollywood landmark. And some say the famous ghosts haven’t left the building.
This podcast is brought to you by your Host Kate de los Santos, you can follow her on Instagram here, and our Producer July Diaz, who you can follow on Instagram here.
Special thanks to historian and scholar Lillian Faderman (https://www.lillianfaderman.net/) for providing more context on early Hollywood.