Nathan Masters (born 1981) is an author and the host of ''

Lost L.A. ''Lost LA'' is a Public broadcasting, public television historical Television documentary, documentary series that explores Southern California's hidden past through documents, Photograph, photos, and other rare artifact (archaeology), artifacts ...

'', a public television series about Los Angeles history. He manages public programs at the

University of Southern California Libraries The libraries of the University of Southern California are among the oldest private academic research libraries in California. For more than a century USC has been building collections in support of the university's teaching and research interes ...

. In 2013, he launched a

Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' () is a design, technology, science, and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the sub-blogs ''io9'' and ''Earther'', which focus on pop ...

subdomain titled ''Southland'' about Los Angeles history and geography. Masters grew up in

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

. He has hosted the public television series

since its conception in 2016 and has also served as a producer. The series, originally based on a series of articles he wrote for

KCET KCET (channel 28) is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOC ...

, has won multiple awards, including four Los Angeles Area Emmys and a Golden Mike. In 2019, the digital magazine Truly*Adventurous published his article "Pillars of Fire" about Los Angeles policewoman

Alice Stebbins Wells Alice Stebbins Wells (June 13, 1873 – August 17, 1957) was one of the first American-born female police officers in the United States, hired in 1910 in Los Angeles. Career Early career Alice was a graduate of Oberlin College and Hartford T ...

and cult leader Alma Bridwell White.

Amazon Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

subsequently acquired the story, with

Rachel Brosnahan Rachel Brosnahan (born July 12, 1990) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Midge Maisel, an aspiring stand-up comedian in the Amazon Prime Video period comedy series '' The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'' (2017–2023), for which sh ...

attached. Masters published later another story with Truly*Adventurous about Soviet spy and FBI counterspy

Boris Morros Boris Morros (; January 1, 1891 – January 8, 1963) was an American Communist Party member, Soviet agent, and FBI double agent. He also worked at Paramount Pictures, where he produced films as well as supervising their music department. Life a ...

. On 21 March 2023 he published his first book, titled ''Crooked: The Roaring '20s Tale of a Corrupt Attorney General, a Crusading Senator, and the Birth of the American Political Scandal'', about the

Teapot Dome scandal The Teapot Dome scandal was a political corruption scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Warren G. Harding. It centered on Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall, who had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Do ...

and Sen.

Burton K. Wheeler Burton Kendall Wheeler (February 27, 1882January 6, 1975) was an attorney and an American politician of the Democratic Party in Montana, which he represented as a United States senator from 1923 until 1947. Born in Massachusetts, Wheeler bega ...

's investigation of Attorney Gen.

Harry Daugherty Harry Micajah Daugherty (; January 26, 1860 – October 12, 1941) was an American politician. A key Republican political insider from Ohio, he is best remembered for his service as Attorney General of the United States under presidents Warren G. ...

. The book won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Fact Crime from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the E ...

. Kirkus described it as "an impressive book debut with a brisk, lively history of a political scandal, 'one of those Roaring Twenties spectacles...that held the entire nation spellbound.'" The Wall Street Journal wrote that it had "all the makings of a great film plot, complete with theatrical witnesses, twists, turns and a conclusive, if slightly maddening ending." Masters started working on the book in 2019, and his research encompassed more than 3,000 pages of congressional transcripts, Justice Department records at the National Archives, and

Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act (United States) of 1966 * F ...

requests from the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masters, Nathan 1981 births Living people American writers