Lost LA has returned for an eighth season.
A co-production of the USC Libraries and PBS SoCal, the public television series explores Southern California’s past through the region’s libraries and archival collections. The new season premiered January 6, 2026, with episodes about auto racing, science fiction, true crime, and colorful plants. Episodes continue to air on the PBS SoCal and PBS SoCal Plus broadcast channels and can be streamed on the free PBS app, on YouTube, or at pbssocal.org/lostla.
Images from the USC Libraries’ digital collections appear throughout the show, but this season shines a spotlight on two archival resources in particular—the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries and the Edward S. Sullivan papers in the USC Libraries' Special Collections. In “Sci-Fi Origins,” which aired January 13, former ONE Archives director Joseph Hawkins and curator Alexis Bard Johnson share materials from the Lisa Ben and Jim Kepner papers that reveal how science fiction fan communities provided a rare safe space for LGBTQ+ fans and creators to imagine alternative social realities. In “True Crime,” which makes its broadcast debut January 20, USC historian William Deverell examines the career of True Detective magazine journalist Edward S. Sullivan through the Los Angeles–based author’s papers.
The USC Libraries’ side of the production team included co-producer Anne-Marie Maxwell, associate producer Micaela Rodgers, and host/executive producer Nathan Masters.
Since its premiere in January 2016, Lost LA has earned multiple honors, including seven Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards, four Golden Mikes from the Radio and Television News Association of Southern California, a PRExcellence Best in Show Award from the California Library Association, and a Belva Davis American Scene Award from SAG-AFTRA.
For more information about the new season, including detailed episode information and air dates, see the PBS SoCal press release.