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We make podcasts and newsletters that connect people with the cities they love.

City Cast Las Vegas

Not long ago, the Review-Journal published a fun but demanding 

10-question quiz about Nevada’s wildlife

. You should take it. Not to brag, but I scored a perfect 10 out of 10 — on my second try, which is why I’m not bragging. I got just five right the first time. Below are a few of the questions I missed, plus a couple more I concocted on my own. Answers at the end.

 How many pounds can the horns of a bighorn sheep weigh?

 How many pups per litter do coyotes usually have?

 Early miners in Northern Nevada were known to use ichthyosaur vertebrae as

Softball bases / dinner plates / novelty poker chips / percussion instruments

 How many venomous species live in Nevada?

D: 32 (26 arachnids, five rattlesnakes, and the gila monster). 

Heavy is the head that wears the horns — but how heavy? 

Every day is a holiday, if you know where to look (next month’s 

 include International Skeptics Day, Howl at the Moon Day and Night, and Wear Something Gaudy Day). But tomorrow, Sept. 30, holds a special place in my heart: It’s International Podcast Day.

The podcast isn’t very old as media goes. Named for the iPod, the portable audio player launched in 2001, the podcast was 

 when a software developer created a program that allowed audio bloggers to syndicate their episodes on iPods. A journalist in the Guardian coined the term “podcast,” and today there are more than 2 million podcasts out in the wild.

The simplest way to describe podcasts is probably “radio on demand.” But what I love most about podcasts is how they keep me curious about the world. There’s a podcast for everything: I can learn about the work of 

 while driving to the grocery store, the 

And, of course, the podcast I work on keeps me curious about the city I love: 

. We talk about public art we hate, pizza we love, our water woes, and the industries that keep our economy thrumming. So this International Podcast Day, I have a two-part challenge for you: (1) Tune in to a new podcast you’ve never heard before, and (2) share your favorite podcast with a friend who isn’t a listener. (And I’m not saying it has to be City Cast Las Vegas … but I’m not NOT saying that either 😉)

An appreciation of the podcast form — and a challenge.

Why You Should Give Podcasts A Try

Lend an Ear to Podcast Day

The Appreciation Index

Got a full plate of food news this week …

, right? Winner of that ballyhooed Dapper Co. competition for a built-out location in the Huntridge Shopping Center? If that seems like 10,000 news cycles ago, well, the opening’s finally getting closer — and 

 Candidates to work as line cooks and sous chef should apply online ahead of time; selected applicants will be emailed with details about where to take the culinary skills exam on these days.

 Applicants for all other positions can visit a hiring fair at the diner. Prior online application is encouraged, but walk-ins will be accepted from 1-2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and 6-7 p.m. Monday; bring resume, ID, and current health district card.

Food historian Sarah Lohman teams up with Arts District restaurant Main Street Provisions next Thursday for a presentation called “

: Tasting Las Vegas Food History.” It’s part of the Neon Museum’s “Duck Duck Shed” program honoring local culture. Here, 

 by food journalist Johnathan L. Wright. [Review-Journal]

Pour a little out for the latest additions to 2023’s list of 

These readers have suggested a few additions to this newsletter’s roundup of great coffee joints beyond downtown. Adding each to my sip list.

 in Henderson has the best coffee in town. They have it shipped in directly from Hawaii. I actually drive from Summerlin to Henderson to treat myself.”

 on West Charleston has some of the best coffee in town. The beans are roasted on-site and you can chat with the roaster while he brews your coffee to order.”

We've got a full plate of food news this week …

What Does Vegas Food History Taste Like?

Winning Diner Staffs Up, the Taste of Old Vegas, and More

Food & Drink

Sometimes a person just wants to observe the pageantry of modern humanity strolling by — maybe you want to feel less alone, or triangulate your own position in the human parade, or just get judgy about other people’s fashion choices. Here are five places to do it:

🚶🚶🏻‍♀️🚶🏾 Fremont Street: 

The second-floor window seats at this Binion’s bar offer a fishbowl view of the cavalcade of human variety — tourists, buskers, every denomination of person in between — that is the Fremont Street Experience.

👩‍🦽🚶🏽‍♀️🚶🏿‍♀️ Town Square: 

Hey, you don’t just want to people-watch the tourists — from this grog shop’s patio you have a casual overlook onto the mall’s play area, where families pause for a few minutes between shopping and eating.

Lotta foot traffic here. Buy a coffee, find a bench, and take in the endless parade of international visitors bringing varied fashion and converging languages to the echoing walkways.

🚶🏾🚶🏼🚶🏽‍♀️ Arts District: 

Grab a seat in the boat out front and observe the wide taxonomy of downtown hepcats, hungry suburbanites drawn by the hype for 1228 Main or Good Pie, and hardy tourists looking for a break from the Strip.

Weather permitting, the corner patio of this java joint in the Summerlin-adjacent mega-strip mall should present you with the squires of suburbia as they engage in their natural habits — shopping and walking while scrolling.

There's nothing odd about enjoying the human parade.

5 Great People-Watching Spots in Las Vegas

5 Great People-Watching Spots

Las Vegas' Best

Yes. The law is very clear. NRS 171.126 provides that any citizen can arrest a person for a misdemeanor (or larger offense) committed in their presence or any felony whether it is witnessed or not, as long as there's reasonable cause to believe the person did the crime. In making the arrest, the person can't use any more force than is necessary and reasonable under the circumstances — and certainly not deadly force unless it's in self-defense.

 That's the tricky part. There are no clear guidelines as to how to conduct a citizen's arrest, and when it 

 been used, it's usually just detaining the person until the police arrive.

 NRS 171.134 says “the person from whose custody he or she escaped … may immediately pursue and retake the person at any time and in any place within the state.”

 The obvious concern involves the person who's not happy to be citizen-arrested and gets physical. Also, what if the citizen is wrong? The person arrested could sue for things like false imprisonment or assault with a deadly weapon (if you use one to detain the person). The better course is the obvious one: Get as much information as you can and relay it to cops.

You can, but it's probably not your best move.

Can You Make a Citizen's Arrest in Las Vegas?

Las Vegas Life Hacks

Author and UNLV journalism professor Michael Easter is 

. His first book, 2021’s “The Comfort Crisis,” showed how to unlock the power of discomfort to upgrade your life. His new book, published today, is “

Scarcity Brain: Fix Your Craving Mindset & Rewire Your Habits to Thrive with Enough

Everyone knows everything is fine in moderation. But why are we so bad at it? Why don't we ever feel like we have enough? Most behaviors we do in excess now helped our ancient ancestors survive. But we still have our ancient brains that push us into more food, stuff, status-seeking, information binging, etc.

One big revelation from the book is that I discovered what I call the scarcity loop. It's a three-part behavior loop that evolved to help us obsessively repeat behaviors that kept us alive, like finding food. But it's now being applied to technologies that can hurt us. It was actually revived right here in Las Vegas, in the 1980s, in slot machines. But it's now what powers social media, dating apps, online gaming, sports betting, online streaming, and even our food system.

Humans evolved in a world where what we needed to survive was scarce. So we're built to crave. But we now have an abundance of everything we're built to crave. And we still keep accumulating. Anthropologists call this an "evolutionary mismatch."

For example, even a couple hundred years ago, the average American owned a handful of clothes and tools. Now the average home has 10,000-plus items and most homes are in some form of debt. Food used to be scarce — now we throw out about one-third of our food, and 40% of Americans are obese. A person in one day today takes in more information than a person 700 years ago took in during their entire life.

That has changed us, oftentimes not for the better.

In “Scarcity Brain” I identify three key ways to get out of the scarcity loop. It's the only scientific way to stop any bad habit. And this is very important. As a person who's studied physical and mental health my entire life, I've noticed that people want to develop good new habits. But the problem is that it's our bad habits that hold us back most. Fix your worst habits and your life improves instantly.

How do our primitive cravings shape our modern lives?

Las Vegas Author Talks About Impact of Ancient 'Scarcity Brain'

Author Michael Easter on How Your Ancient Drives Shape Your Life

3 Questions With

When Dr. Lynn Comella joined the faculty at UNLV, her office was in a space that had once been a bedroom. “It’s funny to think about that now,” she says. It was on the second floor of 

, a fascinating campus anomaly. Amid the school’s toybox of large architectural showpieces, Houssels House was once, as its name makes clear, a residence — a 1933 Tudor revival located on Sixth Street near Charleston.

The original owner, lawyer Harley A. Harmon — you’ve probably driven on the street that bears his name — sold it in 1936 to J. Kell Houssels Sr., one of Nevada’s first gaming licensees. Lotta history in 

 handshake! Both Houssels and his son, J. Kell Houssels Jr., went on to play big roles at joints like the Showboat and Tropicana, and Jr.'s wife, Nancy, was primarily responsible for Nevada Ballet Theatre. “The Houssels family did a lot to build the community,” says UNLV history department chair Michael Green, “and in my mind they don’t get enough credit for it.”

 in 1983. Once off the flatbed, it became the campus’ oldest building.

Over the years Houssels House contained programs as varied as architecture and consciousness studies. “It was where the women's studies department was housed when I started at UNLV in 2007,” says Comella, now chair of the school’s department of interdisciplinary, gender, and ethnic studies. “Houssels House was a real hub of activity then.” These days it headquarters a campus multicultural center.

The point of all this being, you gotta love a place that pulls so much local history onto a campus populated by structures that were born on-site, a building that literalizes the notion of the school’s connection to the community.

 Which UNLV structure was mentioned in our “

A small building on campus with big local history vibes.

Let's Hear It for the Old Las Vegas House at UNLV!

Let's Hear It for the Old House at UNLV!

One of the joys and cringes of being a Las Vegan is seeing how your city of global interest is portrayed in the national media. Here are five of our favorite recent stories:

The lefty journal The Baffler devoted much of an issue to our city. Contents include a dismissive take on the “nostalgia-tripping cash grab” of the Punk Rock Museum; a look at the Teamsters-mob relationship in building the city; and an expansive appreciation of sign artist Betty Willis.

‘How Usher Became the New King of Vegas’

 in Las Vegas, like someone who saw the glamorous first hour of ‘Casino’ but not the subsequent stressful two hours of ‘Casino.’ For Usher, Vegas is a place of renewal, a place of rebirth.”

 on a news roundup. [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]

‘The First Magician on the Vegas Strip’

The New Yorker wrote about Las Vegas more than once this year, whether 

 of “Learning from Las Vegas” or tracking 

 surviving the summer of 2023. But we like this piece about vintage performer Gloria Dea.

The cosmopolitan weekly newsletter Airmail retells the sordid downfall of Sara King, the so-called “slot whisperer” of Las Vegas, who ran through a lot of other people’s money.

‘Sphere can be bizarre and sublime — or just an ad. That’s what makes it so Vegas’

The L.A. Times offers a thinky take on our big orb, and its mingling of the worlds of art, commerce, and spectacle.

With stories from the New Yorker, GQ, the L.A. Times, and more.

Our Favorite Glimpses of Las Vegas in the Media

Our Favorite Glimpses of Vegas in the Media

No actual dogs are exploded in the staging of “Dog Explosion” — that has already happened, moments before the play opens on the McCall family in rural Missouri: three siblings and a terminally ill mother who’s just died. While the play has its share of laughs, says Las Vegas playwright Sean Clark, who directs this production, it doesn’t have the bleakly irreverent tenor of a black comedy. It 

 have lots of donuts and beer. A couple of questions for Clark:

Did I read that this play dates back to 2013?

“It’s a lot older than that. I kind of had it in a drawer. I was working (as a screenwriter) in Hollywood, and this stage play got me more work than any screenplay I’d written. They read this play and hired me for ‘Northern Exposure.’ As the great Ray Wylie Hubbard said, if you write something you think is good, be prepared to live with it for 40 years.”

How did you come to write this particular story?

“There’s a lot of incidents right out of my own life. My main character was a woman,and her frustrations mirrored my frustrations at the time: student debt, not knowing what your future was, feeling a little trapped. And then I was at a bar one night, and this total stranger tells this story of a guy who decided to kill his dog with some dynamite because it had cancer. All of a sudden I went, ‘That’s the catalyst I need to really make this play pop.’”

Did you have to update this production at all?

“It’s set in 1984, and I thought, ‘It’s going to be a period piece.’ That way you don’t have to explain why there are no cell phones. But as I watched it unfold, oddly enough, on the metaphoric levels, it’s more topical now than ever. Part of the clash is between somebody who is extremely cynical and sarcastic and burned out, and her sister, who is the opposite of those things because she’s found strength and happiness in her religion. And you have a guy in the middle who’s trying to do the right thing but finds the world around him a little judgmental if he happens to blow up a house or something. (Laughs.) A lot of it’s about the divides — that the country is in, between siblings. And those divides seem sharper now than in 1984.”

 at Winchester Dondero Cultural Center ($15).

 While they're not exploding dogs, do Vegas 

 when it comes to other areas of public life? [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]

Though the title, 'Dog Explosion,' is less autobiographical.

Las Vegas Playwright Turns Life Into Theater

'Dog Explosion' Playwright Turns Life Into Theater

Test Your Nevada Wildlife Knowledge

Let us help you find Mother Nature in this concrete jungle.

Urban Almanac

Ubiquitous in the local desert thanks to its drought tolerance, the mesquite has long been a versatile, useful plant in the Southwest. The bark could be used to weave baskets. Its pods can be turned into flour, and the tree was a key source of protein for desert-faring Indigenous peoples. Its flowers can be boiled into tea, while its sap has been put to a variety of medicinal uses, whether applied directly to a wound or turned into a gargle for sore throats.

They’re hardy survivors, mesquite trees, with roots that can reach 100 feet or more into the earth in search of moisture. It’s said that during especially dry periods, the seeds can sit dormant for decades waiting for sufficient water.

Thanks to the mesquite’s versatility and climate adaptability, there are those who think that the tree could serve as the foundation of a 

 that might help alleviate poverty in drying Southwestern areas. In terms of food provided for water used, ecologist Gary Nabhan says, “I don’t know any desert crop that beats mesquite in terms of productivity.”

Mesquite trees are a versatile, durable resource in the desert.

Mesquite Trees Are a Versatile, Durable Resource in the Desert

The Durable, Versatile Mesquite Tree

Now that (fairly) decent strolling weather is (almost) upon us — according to the National Weather Service, 

 — here’s an idea: Try UNLV’s 11-stop, self-guided “arboretum walk.” Not only does it let you, a nonstudent member of the general public, commune with nature, your Fitbit will dig the step count — it’s a 1.2-mile course.

Your tour begins here. Completed in 1988, this 2-acre anthology of desert-friendly plants near the Barrick Museum was 

among the city’s first demonstration gardens

This is the long, grassy sward that runs parallel to Maryland Parkway. It has some of the oldest trees on campus, and its pastoral vibe is said by school literature to be a conscious nod to the Jeffersonian ideal of a college as an “academic village.”

Located a few steps down from the iconic “Flashlight” sculpture, this was donated by Elaine Wynn in honor of her mother. It’s said she chose Showbiz roses to note her and (now ex-husband) Steve Wynn’s prominence in the Vegas entertainment scene.

Outside the Bigelow Physics Building is an apple tree. Why? Think of Isaac Newton, and the reason will hit you. Science humor!

It seems the state forestry folks designate the largest specimen of a tree species as a “champion tree.” 

Download the PDF Map

 in Las Vegas. [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]

Take a Tree-Lined Autumn Stroll at UNLV

The second best thing about (non-flood-causing) rainfall in Southern Nevada is that it gives everyone a moment of drought-hope as they nod and say, “We sure needed that.” 👀 But the best thing? Petrichor.

Petrichor is the term for the scent after a rain — a couple of Aussies 

 from the Greek words petra, which means 

, and ichor, which refers to the fluid in the veins of the gods. (Lotta good cat-naming implications in that one.) It can exude from rocks and soil, as rain activates bacteria lodged there; but mostly it comes from plants, and here in the Mojave, 

. Rain prompts the bushes to release certain protective oils and compounds into the air, and that fragrance — earthy, slightly sweet — has become beloved by desert dwellers. Indeed, Arizonans think it 

One theory holds that humans find petrichor so appealing because for millennia we have depended on rain for survival. But petrichor may do more for you than impart a mild post-deluge euphoria. Research by the University of Arizona into the Sonoran Desert’s petrichor 

 released by desert plants after a rain that “may in many ways contribute to improving sleep patterns, stabilizing emotional hormones, enhancing digestion, heightening mental clarity, and reducing depression or anxiety," says research scientist Gary Nabhan.

So maybe it's true that we sure needed that.

Why the Desert Outside Las Vegas Smells Good After a Rain

Why the Desert Smells So Good After a Rain

Did you know hundreds of bird species live in Clark County? Whether they’re year-round or migratory, living in the city comes with risks. But we can help. Morrigan DeVito, from the

, offers some tips for a bird-friendly backyard:

Putting out a dish of water and cleaning it regularly will entice smaller birds to come drink and bathe. Place the water dish half under a bush or similar shade so small birds feel safe from predators.

Native plants are drought- and heat-tolerant, require minimal watering, and provide food for local wildlife. Some finch and sparrow favorites are desert sunflower, saltbush, and amaranth grain. Warblers love palo verde trees, verdins love creosote, and hummingbirds love firecracker penstemon.

, which harms species that are already suffering population declines. If this is a tough ask, consider keeping cats indoors during the morning, when birds are most active.

Birds don’t recognize that the reflection in a window is not passable, which 

causes billions of window collisions a year

, especially during the spring and fall when birds are migrating. Adding decals to your windows can help; break up the reflection by spacing them a few inches apart.

The neonicotinoids found in pesticides are 

, so eating seeds coated in pesticides is fatal. And since many birds eat insects, ingesting contaminated bugs can hurt them. Not to mention, if there are fewer insects, there will be less for insect-eating birds to dine on.

A few easy ways to create an avian hangout

Turn Your Las Vegas Yard into a Bird Habitat

Turn Your Yard Into a Bird Habitat

Sure, they defecate on themselves, vomit at strangers, and eat the most gawdawful things — but that doesn’t mean turkey vultures are the drunken frat bros of the animal kingdom. No, those behaviors, as gross as they are to us judgey humans, are merely some of the bird’s survival strategies.

Turkey vultures, so named because of their vague resemblance to a Thanksgiving main course, are found near Las Vegas. (Indeed, I 

.) You can spot them in the air by their distinctive wing posture: tips slightly forward to create a shallow V shape, and “the trailing edge of the underwing is white,” says 

Up close, their bald crimson heads are unmistakable. But that unfeathered dome serves a purpose. As notorious eaters of carrion — which they can smell from as far as eight miles — turkey vultures jam their heads into some pretty foul, germ-laden places. The baldness prevents microorganisms from clinging to their heads. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a bird this ugly doesn’t have a lovely song. 

OK, the pooping/peeing on themselves. On their feet, to be precise. It (a) 

 (try it yourself; it works!); and (b) fends off organisms from the rotting flesh they eat. The vomiting usually happens when the vulture is threatened. “If they target the predator’s face, the material can be blinding.” You don’t say.

What makes much of the vulture’s grotesque lifestyle possible are powerful stomach acids that neutralize the nasty shit one encounters in dead flesh: rabies, botulism, distemper, anthrax. Which means this butt-ugly bird is likely doing more than you or I to keep nature clean. A good bird, then — as long as it 

They may have gross habits, but these ugly birds serve a vital function.

The Gross Way Southern Nevada's Turkey Vultures Keep Their Cool

The Gross Way A Turkey Vulture Keeps Its Cool

“I hate Nevada. I know that just beneath the scrubby face of this desert beats a complex ecology no less beautiful in its way than the cool green business that goes on in the tide pools of the Pacific, but I don’t care.” — Craig Vetter, “Striking It Rich”

That's the desert for you — easy to acknowledge, difficult (for many) to care about. But the novelist quoted above is not wrong about the “complex ecology” that goes largely unseen. A big example of that is what’s called the “desert crust.” A more science-ish name is “cryptogamic crust”; a more poetic one is “desert glue.”

It might look like ordinary crispy dirt, scorched dark by exposure — but still just dirt. Not so. It’s a complex web of microorganisms: lichens, mosses, fungi, cyanobacteria. And while it might lack the aquatic allure of a Pacific tide pool, it’s nonetheless vital: The crust stabilizes the desert floor against erosion, helps plants retain water, and, crucially, pulls nitrogen from the atmosphere for the benefit of desert plants.

“The desert would not be able to support plant and animal life without these crucial ecosystem services!” the Southern Nevada Conservancy 

For all that, the desert crust is remarkably fragile, and damage — whether by your errant footfall or construction of a 

 — takes years, even decades to recover from.

What might look like crunchy dirt is actually a web of microorganisms that's vital to the desert's health.

Southern Nevada's Desert 'Crust' — Incredibly Fragile, Utterly Vital

Desert 'Crust' — Incredibly Fragile, Utterly Vital

Fun flora fact: Fully one-quarter of plant species that live in the Mojave Desert live 

, which only grows in four American counties: one each in Arizona and California, and, in Nevada, Nye and Clark counties. That small area of viability makes the penstemon vulnerable to extinction — a condition that various human endeavors are making worse — which is why this year the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the feds to list it as endangered.

 concluded that there were almost 34,000 penstemon in Clark County.

There’s long been talk of building a second, cargo-oriented airport to serve Southern Nevada. Where? The Ivanpah Valley, near Primm. Were that to happen, it 

“could wipe out much of the flower’s Clark County population.”

The white-margined penstemon is already rare and vulnerable — and humans aren't helping.

Urban Almanac

Test Your Nevada Wildlife Knowledge

A. How many pounds can the horns of a bighorn sheep weigh?

B. How many pups per litter do coyotes usually have?

C. Early miners in Northern Nevada were known to use ichthyosaur vertebrae as

D. How many venomous species live in Nevada?

E. The largest mammals in Nevada are

F. How many fish species live in Nevada?

Answers:

Urban Almanac

The Durable, Versatile Mesquite Tree

Take a Tree-Lined Autumn Stroll at UNLV

Why the Desert Smells So Good After a Rain

Turn Your Yard Into a Bird Habitat

The Gross Way A Turkey Vulture Keeps Its Cool

Desert 'Crust' — Incredibly Fragile, Utterly Vital

A Fragile Desert Flower Seeks Endangered Status

Black Widows in a Time of Heat Islands

The latest in Las Vegas

Lend an Ear to Podcast Day

Winning Diner Staffs Up, the Taste of Old Vegas, and More

5 Great People-Watching Spots

Can You Make a Citizen's Arrest in Las Vegas?

Author Michael Easter on How Your Ancient Drives Shape Your Life

Let's Hear It for the Old House at UNLV!

Our Favorite Glimpses of Vegas in the Media

'Dog Explosion' Playwright Turns Life Into Theater