There’s a lot to love about Las Vegas. It’s a city of shiny surfaces and deep complexity if you know where to look. This is a company town and a union town and it’s becoming a sports town, with controversy dogging each step. In Las Vegas, you can find yourself, reinvent yourself, or lose yourself if you’re not careful. Every day, you’ll hear from the team highlighting what makes this beautiful, complex city we call home just a little bit better. Get in touch with us at lasvegas@citycast.fm.
Meet the City Cast Las Vegas Team
Podcast host
A Las Vegan you should know:
Jonathan Hensleigh Local business owner, liquor impresario, and screenplay writer and/or director of some of the most popular action films of all time.
The tourist trap in Vegas that’s actually great:
Circus Circus! (Not really, but sort of.) Real pick: The Cosmopolitan.
Best pop culture about Vegas:
About a Mountain by John D’Agata and the movie Showgirls.
(Krystal Ramirez)
Podcast host
A Las Vegas hidden gem:
The Wetlands/Las Vegas Wash! You can see ibis, pelicans, and cormorants in the desert! Since I'm a transplant from out East, sometimesI just need to hear some water and look at some birds. Also there's like 60 beavers living there!
Something we do best in Vegas:
Go from a demanding mountain hike to fine dining to stargazing to a concert to wine on a terrace to burlesque in a dive bar -- all in one day!
A Las Vegan you should know:
Justin Favela is a local artist of national acclaim who creates sculptural works from piñata materials. He also has an endearing love of Tex-Mex, Taco Bell, and other USA-Central American culinary mashups. A very thoughtful and gorgeous mid-career retrospective book was just released about his work.
Executive producer
A Las Vegas hidden gem:
There’s a Rural Preservation Neighborhood tucked between Rancho Dr. and the N. Las Vegas airport—it’s all ranch homes and horses, plus a community garden, and really good barbecue.
Where I’d take you to eat in Vegas:
The Thai temple on the south side of town hosts a food fair once a month—we can’t leave without ordering the chicken and prawn dumplings with thin, tender rice noodle wrappers.
Something we do best in Las Vegas:
We keep the lights on 24/7 (or just about)—you don’t have to try very hard to find a hot meal, any time of day.
Producer
A hidden gem in Vegas:
West Wind Drive In Theater in North Las Vegas…bring something cold to drink in the summer!
Where I’d take you to eat in my city:
Rollin Smoke Barbeque and I’d order The “Outlaw” Burger.
The tourist trap in town that’s actually great:
Newsletter editor
The tourist attraction that's actually great:
The Bellagio fountains never get old, especially if you watch them from the sidewalk along Las Vegas Boulevard. They're free to view (and steps away from another free attraction, the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens).
Something we do best in Vegas:
The city has a knack for placing traffic cones in the most unnecessary places.
A Las Vegan you should know:
Gordon Prouty is the vice president of public relations at the Westgate Resort and Casino. You can't miss him. The silver fox is always dressed to the nines and an ambassador-at-large. My wife and I call him the "mayor" of Westgate, although he's not. (But he really is.)
Jacqueline Cohen
Senior Account Executive
A Vegas hidden gem:
Downtown Cinemas (formerly Art Houz). They have big comfy reclining seats for viewing first-run movies while enjoying food and cocktails.
Where I'd take you to eat in Vegas:
Tied between Tacotarian for birria tacos and Esther's Kitchen for sourdough bread with olive oil. If we went to breakfast, I'd take you to EAT and get their oatmeal.
A Las Vegan you should know:
Kim Foster - she is a combination of food writer and a poverty warrior. She inspires people to be more compassionate and less judgemental.