“Los Angeles is a city that should not exist.” So reads the first line of Paul Haddad’s latest book Inventing Paradise: The Power Brokers Who Created the Dream of Los Angeles. L.A., he writes, has no natural features that would lend themselves to sustaining millions of residents. And yet, Los Angeles does exist. And not only that, it’s the second-largest city in the country and known the world over for its beautiful weather, diverse population and being the home of American film, among many other things. So, why does a city that shouldn’t exist…exist? As Haddad writes, it was willed into existence despite the odds being stacked against it. And while there are many people one could point to as seminal to the story of Los Angeles’ existence, Haddad focuses on six individuals who had particularly significant influence on the city’s growth. They include investor and newspaper publisher Harry Chandler, businessman Phinneas Banning, one of the founders of the former town, now neighborhood, of Wilmington and the “Father of the Port of Los Angeles” and railroad magnate Henry Huntington, just to name a few.

Today on AirTalk, Paul Haddad joins Larry to talk about his new book.