The LA River is both well known and a mystery. In 2023-24 three undergraduates started with a question about what lives in the LA River, and proceeded to discover the complex politics around one of the strangest rivers in the world. A concrete flood channel (most famous for appearing in movies like Grease or Terminator 2), is actually home to a diverse range of native and invasive plants and fish. The team joined weeding efforts with Friends of the LA River, and made contact with LA Anglers and learned to fly fish the LA River, in the process questioning how terms like “native” and “invasive” don’t fit the realities of how people are using the river today. Together they created a podcast episode, part of the Labyrinth podcast series.