KALW News San Francisco, 91.7: Recent Episodes
KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
KALW is local public radio from the San Francisco Bay Area. Tune into 91.7FM or find some of KALW's fine programming here, from shows like our nightly newsmagazine Crosscurrents. And check out the sounds from special projects like Audiograph, which is out to capture the sonic signature of the Bay Area.
Jazz vocalist Valerie Troutt tells a coming-of-age story in her new album "The Oakland Girl."
Valerie Troutt grew up in The Town, where the community recognized her talent when she was a kid. Members of her church would buy her tickets to concerts and musicals to expose her to all types of music. That support, plus having encouraging parents (her mom took her to the night club Sweet Jimmie’s!), influenced Valerie.
"The 'Oakland Girl' is someone who gives birth. Someone who is a holder of space and really has a vision for life."
Valerie’s jazz and gospel vocals have been heard all around the Bay Area.
She wrote second album, The Oakland Girl wrote 20 years ago while living in New York City. But the themes of growth and love still resonate today. Her album is available on Bandcamp.
This interview was produced by Jenee Darden and Precious J. Green and mixed by Gabe Grabin.
At the beginning of the Coronavirus shutdown, the city of San Francisco rented hotel rooms for over 2,300 homeless people. For many, it was the first time in years they had a bed and bathroom to themselves. Now, the city is gradually closing these shelter-in-place hotels.
The plan is to eventually move everyone into permanent housing. And if it’s successful, it could be one of the city’s largest rehousing efforts to date. But critics say the plan is moving too quickly.
"The people who are in these hotel units are in very, very poor health condition for the most part. It is likely be a death sentence sending them back to the streets." - Jennifer Friedenbach
Jennifer Friedenbach is the executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness.
San Francisco author Marke Bieschke reads from his new book, "Into the Streets." It’s about how 500 years of protest shaped what’s happening in our world today.
Natalie Devora’s memoir "Black Girl, White Skin: A Life in Stories" is about challenges she faced growing up with albinism during the '60s and '70s in East Oakland.
This election, voters in Richmond elected City Council members, West Contra Costa School Board members, and passed Measure U, which changes the way businesses are taxed — it would generate $5 million dollars a year for the city. Overall, the results show big wins for progressives in Richmond.
The country is starting the week with a new president-elect. For many people, it was a weekend of celebration. For others, it was a weekend of protest. And, while we’ve been directing a lot of our attention to the presidential race, we are also following the aftermath of our local elections here in the Bay Area.
Today, we are looking at Bayview-Hunters Point in San Francisco, and what the results mean to people who live there. Policing has been a big issue, and San Francisco voters passed Measure D, increasing oversight of the Sherriff’s Dept, and Measure E to adjust police staffing requirements. Measure A passed, approving nearly $30 million dollars towards to develop India Basin Open Space Park in Bayview.
Overall, in this historically low turnout area, more voters cast their ballots this election. In this interview, Hoodline reporter Meaghan Mitchell breaks down what the local election results mean for San Francisco's Bayview-Hunters Point.
Over the past weeks, we've ramped up our voter outreach in five communities with historically lower voter turnout rates. We created special voter guides for East Palo Alto, West Oakland, Richmond, Fairfield, and San Francisco's Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhoods. These pamphlets are tailored to each area, and explain where and how to vote.
It’s around 11 a.m. on a Saturday morning at the 2200 block of the Wood Street homeless encampment in West Oakland. I’m here because I want to find out whether at least some of the city’s estimated 4,000 homeless people will vote. There’s a lot at stake for them this year.
In San Francisco, there are 588 polling places spread out across the city. And, most elections, the city needs about 3,000 people to volunteer to work them. This year, the Department of Elections got more applicants than ever -- 14,000! They actually had to turn people away.
This year has marked a turning point in how American athletes have engaged in political issues. In this episode of tbh, Maddie Johnson catches up with a Bay Area group that has been organizing basketball-themed Black lives matter protests around the country.
In these final days before the election, we’ve been checking in with locations around the Bay Area with the lowest voter turnout rates. We’ve gone to Richmond, East Palo Alto, West Oakland, and today we go to San Francisco's Bayview-Hunters Point district to hear what’s being done there to engage voters.
Hoodline reporter Meaghan Mitchell has spoken to community groups working to mobilize voters. In this interview, she shares what she's been hearing in the neighborhood a week before election day.
Measure Z is causing debate in Alameda. It would repeal a rule in the city’s charter that limits the density of housing. But some say more dense housing would hurt the island.
Ying Liu doesn’t just tell ghost stories, she shows them. Liu is creator of the documentary series "The Haunted Bay," where she and her team investigate haunted places around the Bay Area from gay bars to old ships.
California is one of just three states that requires people convicted of felonies to finish parole before they can vote. Prop 17 would change that, and grant voting rights to nearly 40,000 Californians on parole.
In the final weeks before the election, we’re checking in with five locations in the Bay Area with the lowest voter turnout rates. Today, we go to East Palo Alto, a city with a 62% Latinx population. This year they are voting for city councilmembers and on Measure V, an affordable housing tax on hotels.
Daniel Marquez is a reporter with El Tecolote covering the election in East Palo Alto. He spoke with city council candidates and community groups to understand what has held back voter participation in this largely Latinx city.
This interview was produced by Victor Tence.
Nearly every election you'll see a bond measure on San Francisco ballots. It’s always the first proposition listed, and it's a way to fund what the Board of Supervisors or the mayor deem essential city services, like earthquake safety, school repairs, or park maintenance.
This year, San Franciscans will vote on Proposition A, the Health and Recovery Bond.
America’s entrenched institutional racism has roots in its schools. In this episode of tbh, Masiyah Edwards reflects on how too often, students in the Bay Area experience severe consequences for their "bad" behavior rather than understanding, mentorship and help.
Oakland Poet Tureeda Mikell has many stories to tell. Her first book "Synchronicity: The Oracle of Sun Medicine" is a collection of poetry that covers spirituality and Black culture, while also challenging organized religion and institutionalized racism.
Oakland is voting on everything from city council members to the school board, from whether to give the police commission more independence, to removing a limit on fines around things like illegal dumping.
When people are killed by law enforcement, family members don’t get the same resources family members killed by civilians get. That’s what Rosie Chavez learned after her nephew Jacob Dominguez was killed by law enforcement in 2017. So without help from the state, she found her own support network.
In these last couple weeks leading up to the elections, we’re talking to people in Bay Area neighborhoods with the lowest voter turnout. Today, we go to the City of Richmond in Contra Costa County.
Isabella Bloom, a reporter with Richmond Confidential and student at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism shares what people in Richmond are thinking about in the upcoming election.
This interview was produced by Victor Tence with support from Richmond Confidential.
Oakland Tech is one of the most diverse schools in the country, and Chosang Tenzin, a Tibetan American and high school senior, had looked forward to going there. But, she was disappointed.
In Deep East Oakland, a big city council race is happening. And, the current city council is set to vote on a policy that could change the visibility of homelessness in Oakland.
The District 7 City Council seat is open because Councilman Larry Reid is retiring after serving for 24 years. And on Tuesday, Oct 20, the Oakland City Council will vote on the Encampment Management Policy. The policy could remove homeless encampments from many parts of Oakland. But homeless advocates are rallying against it.
Wildfires have caused record-breaking stretches of bad air quality in the Bay Area these last few years. In this interview, Dr. Gina Solomon from UCSF and the Public Health Institute speaks about the long term health effects of breathing in all this smoke.
The pandemic has taken a toll on many people’s mental health. Brian Copeland wants to help those dealing with depression. His one-man show "The Waiting Period" he shares his personal story about contemplating suicide.
As Election Day approaches, we're focusing on communities with historically low voter turnout in five Bay Area counties. These 5 areas include West Oakland in Alameda County, Richmond’s Iron Triangle in Contra Costa County, Bayview-Hunter’s Point in San Francisco, East Palo Alto in San Mateo County, and Fairfield in Solano County.
Like other businesses, small movie theaters are also fighting to survive in the age of COVID. Derek Zemrak knows first hand. He owns the Orinda Theatre, which turns 80 next year. Derek talks about the future of the film industry and movie theaters.
Many young people of color are faced with racism everyday, whether it’s blatant and in your face, or subtler microaggressions. One example was in the news three years ago, when a group of non black students at Albany High School created a racist instagram account attacking fellow Black students with racial slurs and depicted them as gorillas and hanging from nooses. The incident shook the school and the city.
There’s been some changes to the downtown Oakland's landscape in the past few months. There are lots of murals — over 1,000 total. They’re painted on the plywood that businesses used to cover their storefronts during anti-police brutality protests back in June. These murals, by an assortment of Bay Area artists, have brought a lot of color to the area. But what is going to happen to them after they come down?
Grammy-nominated violinist Alisa Rose is one-half of the duo Scroggins & Rose. Their contemporary roots music is a blend of classical and bluegrass. In this interview, Alisa talks about how her love for music has taken her from the midwest to the Bay Area.
A group of activists in San Francisco understood the importance of mass visibility four years ago when they went on a hunger strike after a series of fatal police killings. They were called the Frisco Five, and their goal was to force out the city's police chief.
Is cancel culture a valid form of activism? In this episode of tbh, Ava Richards explores a question that's on the minds of millions, as new controversies about the influential and not-so-influential surface on a daily basis.
I visit the bottom floor of the Alisal Health Center in East Salinas in February. It’s home to the Comprehensive Perinatal Services Program, where new parents on Medi-Cal can get prenatal or postpartum care.
The small lobby is filled with posters and pamphlets in Spanish. There’s a giveaway table in the corner with children's clothes and colorful toys. And tucked in the back, is something you don’t normally find at clinics: a small office with an attorney.
“So every Wednesday I come from my legal office over to this health clinic where I have six appointments with farmworkers and families to provide free legal services to address health-harming legal needs that they might have," says Aaron Voit, an attorney with California Rural Legal Assistance, a nonprofit legal services program.
This summer, farmworkers in California have been working with extreme heat, wildfire smoke, and, in Monterey County, high rates of COVID-19 as they harvest and pick the food we eat every day. Then, there’s another health concern, and it’s been around for much longer — pesticide exposure.
For the past 20 years, researchers have measured the effects of early pesticide exposure on hundreds of children of farmworkers. The study is called the CHAMACOS study, and it’s shown links between pesticides, and lasting neurodevelopmental problems, like ADHD. The findings have influenced some changes, like restrictions around spraying near schools or during school hours. But even though the study has been around for two decades, there hasn’t been a huge lawsuit. In this interview, we hear why that is.
The Oakland Roots soccer team are in the semifinals for the National Independent Soccer Association championship. Their home games are about much more than the sport. Fans come to celebrate Oakland. We hear sounds of Oakland Roots games — from the local cumbia bands to Eritrean pop and hip hop.
In Salinas, if you make a run to the grocery store to pick up a bag of kale, you’ll probably pass rows and rows of the leafy green. There’s one store, Food For Less, where the fields are literally right next to the parking lot. Nineteen year old Maritza Flores and her mom shop at one there all the time. And a lot of the time, when she’s there, she notices this smell.
The video game industry is a multi-billion dollar enterprise, and has been growing during the pandemic. It arguably plays a bigger role in our lives than the movie, music and book publishing industries. But much of the public discussion about inclusion and diversity is still relegated to Hollywood.
"tbh" producer Hannah Ni looks at the storylines and characters from some of the most popular video games and finds that they're riddled with stereotypes, and they still suffer from a lack of character diversity. Hannah talks to entrepreneurs who are want to change that.
This episode was edited by Sarah Lai Stirland and engineered by Christopher Egusa and James Rowlands. Music by Sammus (Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo,) audio director at GlowUp Games, the creator of the forthcoming game "Insecure, The Come Up Game."
Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed a bill mandating that all Cal State University freshmen entering the 2020-2021 academic year must take an ethnic studies course. KALW’s Jenee Darden shares how majoring in ethnic studies shaped her life.
COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting Black and Latinx California residents. And it’s not just the coronavirus. Across the board, CDC data shows that Black Americans have lower life expectancies than white people in the U.S. — and research suggests that racism is one reason why.
For most of her life, Neets’aii Gwich’in leader Sarah James has worked to protect her homelands, including the coastal plain of the nearby Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The U.S. government wants to lease some of the area for oil exploration and drilling. For the regions longtime inhabitants, those plans threaten land they call sacred.
Watching the hearings about Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and reading about the assault allegations against the two U.S. presidential candidates, student Zara Ahmed wonders why it all seems so downplayed. Then a light bulb went off: It's what we're taught — or not taught — that explains our cultural conditioning. Zara says that we need to talk to teens more about sex and healthy relationships, not less, if we want to see change.
Oakland Public Library is open for curbside pickup, but its doors remain shut. So what happens to families and kids who depend on libraries for more than books? In this installment of The Essentials, meet a children’s librarian who is working to preserve what makes the library so special.
Measure V would raise the hotel room tax in East Palo Alto. Every year, the proceeds would go toward improving affordable housing.
Let’s get some background. When you stay in a hotel or any short-term rental for a period of 30 days or less, part of what you pay is called a Transient Occupancy Tax.
In San Francisco and Oakland, that tax is 14%. Right now, in East Palo Alto, it’s 12%. If Measure V passes, East Palo Alto’s tax would rise to 14% by 2023. The city estimates that this would raise nearly $400,000 a year.
Measure V supporters include the mayor and the entire city council of East Palo Alto.
Measure V opponents include the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association, which is concerned about the government overreaching and overspending. They say that out-of-town visitors to East Palo Alto shouldn’t be the ones paying for city services like affordable housing.
So here’s what it comes down to: if you’re an East Palo Alto voter and want to increase the transient occupancy tax to fund the city’s affordable housing projects, then vote yes on Measure V. If you want to keep the tax the same, then vote no.
Oakland DJ Nina Sol talks about spinning for virtual parties during the age of COVID and why she infuses her sound with messages of justice, freedom, and love.
Nina Sol grew up in San Diego. Her name pays homage to her Afro-Latina heritage and sunny personality. Her mixes are heard domestically and overseas, especially the pandemic. You can party with Nina through the virtual party Elements, which will be live streaming from the African American Art & Culture Center in San Francisco. Follow Nina on Facebook and Instagram for information on future parties.
The deadline to get counted for Census 2020 is just around the corner — September 30. The good news is California has surpassed its 2010 census response rate. But, a quarter of Californians are considered "hard to count" because of language barriers, mistrust in government, or because they are unhoused or undocumented.
The citizenship question that the Trump administration wanted to include added to immigrant fear and anxiety around the census. And then, there’s a new obstacle — the constraints of COVID-19. One county that is dealing with all these issues is Alameda.
In this interview, Casey Farmer, Executive Director of Alameda County's Complete Count Committee for Census 2020, shares an update.
Joe Kirk is one of thousands released early from California prisons to slow the spread of COVID-19. The world he returned to was something he never prepared for.
Unconfined is a new series of special episodes that feature Uncuffed producers navigating life after incarceration.
Oakland’s Fantastic Negrito has gone from singing in BART stations to performing on stages around the world. The two-time Grammy winner’s latest album is "Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?"
This is his third full length album and first to top the Billboard Blues charts. In this interview, Fantastic Negrito talks about how his sound has evolved, his thoughts on mental health, and why he’s spending his time off stage farming.
Disability activist Alice Wong has been recognized by former Pres. Obama, Time magazine and most recently British Vogue. She’s editor of "Disability Visibility," an anthology featuring writers who give their take on living with disabilities today.
From Santa Rosa to Salinas, farmworkers are harvesting as California burns. Workers are risking heat, smoke, and COVID-19 to pick grapes and harvest strawberries. Activists worry that 2020’s historic combination of disasters is also fueling labor abuses.
Schools across the Bay Area are back in session — both virtually and in-person. But some are still feeling the effects of COVID-19 on the last school year. Research shows that 2008 graduates are still experiencing impacts of the Great Recession. So what can 2020 graduates expect?
San Francisco students have been back to school for nearly a month now, and a lot has changed for students — and for teachers. Amanda Levin is currently a teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District at Leadership High School, and she’s been teaching for nearly three decades. As part of our ongoing series The Essentials, we’re bringing you overlooked stories of essential workers: people who are still being called to work while most of us are sheltered in place.
Chanthon Bun caught the coronavirus at San Quentin Prison during one of the worst outbreaks in the country. On top of the usual challenges people face when they parole, Bun had to deal with COVID recovery, survivor's guilt, and the fear that ICE would put him back in a different kind of prison.
Unconfined is a new special series that features Uncuffed producers navigating life after incarceration.
Book tours have been canceled since shelter-in-place began, so we’re bringing Bay Area author readings to you as part of our "New Arrivals" series. This one is from San Francisco author Angela Terry reading from her book "Charming Falls Apart."
In a nutshell, Proposition 16 is about repealing Proposition 209, which passed back in 1996.
Proposition 209 added a section to the California Constitution that banned the state from discriminating or giving preferential treatment.
California’s Proposition 15 is an amendment to the state constitution that would update how the state assesses property taxes.
In 2004, Californians approved a $3 bllion bond to fund stem cell research. That money has been pretty much used up and the original backers want to replenish it. Prop 14 is a five-point $5 billion bond to pay for future stem cell research, training, and trials.
One of the principles guiding Burning Man is "Radical Inclusion." Basically, all are welcome. But, the temporary city that Burners build in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert has never been racially diverse. Just 1% of attendees self-identify as Black.
In this episode of THE INTERSECTION at Burning Man, we explore why there's been a disconnect between racial and radical inclusion, and what some Burners, like Oakland artist and activist Favianna Rodriguez, are doing to change that.
Every year — in normal years — thousands of people trek to Black Rock Desert in Nevada for Burning Man. But, most don’t know about the history of the land or the people who were its original inhabitants. In this episode of THE INTERSECTION at Burning Man, we learn more about the history of the Pyramid Lake Paiutes and the relationship between the event and the tribe.
Book tours have been canceled since shelter-in-place began, so we’re bringing Bay Area author readings to you as part of our "New Arrivals" series. This one is from San Francisco author Shruti Swamy reading from her new short story collection, "A House Is A Body."
The CZU Lightning Complex fires cover parts of San Mateo County, and Santa Cruz County. The fires there have burnt more than 80 thousand acres. Yesterday, a marine layer came in and was a welcome help to the firefighters today, helping cool the area.
There have been at least 77 thousand evacuations, though some people stayed despite evacuation orders to fight the fires themselves. One place that did evacuate was UC Santa Cruz.
In this interview, Luisa Cardoza, business manager and a host at the university’s radio station KZSC, talks about how students and staff are affected.
If the wooden man effigy represents Burning Man’s cosmic and comic core, the Temple is its heart and soul. A place where people come to honor and grieve, Burning Man’s Temple has become a potent and sacred space in the middle of nowhere. In this episode of THE INTERSECTION at Burning Man, we hear why Burners have such a strong attachment to a temporary structure that’s little more than wood and nails.
Millions of U.S. office workers have now stretched into their sixth month of the world’s largest work-from-home experiment. Before the pandemic started, just 4% of Americans worked from home. Once the pandemic kicked in, that number jumped to 34%.
Bay Area business leaders are announcing that remote work is here to stay. Facebook, Twitter, and Slack have all announced more permanent plans for some or all of their staff to work remotely. But is this really the new normal?
According to Jennifer Chatman, this new reality is here to stay and it may actually be good for us. Chatman is a professor of management at the Berkeley Haas School of Business, and Co-Director of their Culture Initiative. She’s been observing how work has changed in 2020 and, in this interview, she says organizations are going through fundamental changes that are making work a better experience for humans and the planet.
Fires are raging around the Bay Area and the smoke is thick in the air. One of the 'lightning complex fires' — LNU has caused major damage and evacuations in the North Bay.
Book tours have been canceled since shelter-in-place began, so we’re bringing Bay Area author readings to you as part of our "New Arrivals" series. This one is from San Jose author Ava Homa reading from her new poetry collection, "Daughters of Smoke and Fire."
San Francisco poet Thea Matthews ignites the microphone in literary scenes around the Bay Area. Her debut book Unearth [The Flowers] is a personal collection of poems about survival, challenging oppression, and healing.
With Scott’s work, and with the other pregnancy research happening right now, the goal is to provide solutions alongside the data. So that everyone can have healthy pregnancies, regardless of the pandemic and racial disparities it’s laying bare.
In Alameda County, more than one out of every ten COVID-19 cases can be traced back to a single neighborhood’s zip code. Fruitvale is a dense, predominantly Latinx community in East Oakland, and its COVID-19 case rate is higher than Florida’s and Georgia’s, two of the hardest hit states in the country.
Oakland painter Paul Lewin brought his own touch to Afrofuturism. His work is inspired by nature, Afro-Caribbean culture, folklore and science fiction. Paul’s pieces have graced the covers of books by sci-fi greats Octavia Butler and N.K. Jemisin.
Book tours have been canceled since shelter-in-place began, so we’re bringing Bay Area author readings to you as part of our "New Arrivals" series. This one is from El Cerrito author Tess Taylor reading from her new poetry collection, "Rift Zone."
Tess Taylor has two new collections of poetry: Rift Zone and Last West.
Book tours have been canceled since shelter-in-place began, so we’re bringing Bay Area author readings to you as part of our "New Arrivals" series. This one is from San Francisco author A.H. Kim reading from her new novel, "A Good Family."
Amy Kisch is the founder of Art+Action Coalition. She’s working with other artists and the Yerba Buena Center to urgently get the word out about the census. She shares why it’s important for everyone to be counted.
The new deadline to respond and be counted is September 30, a month sooner than the original date. The Census Bureau’s director says they’re pushing it up to make the deadline for the president to receive the data by December 31.
Activists and census experts are concerned the new deadline would cause an undercount of people of color, immigrants and residents in rural areas. Which would mean less federal funding for these marginalized groups.
Learn more about the Come to Your Census campaign and visit the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to see some of the art, videos and discussions.
Visit the 2020 Census website if you haven’t submitted a form.
Earlier this month a group of East Bay hair stylists and salon owners gathered outside Flaunt Hair Designs in Pleasanton. They were there to plot ways to convince public health officials to let them open up, and the group agreed to stage a mass reopening in defiance of stay-at-home orders.
Oakland artist Naima Shalhoub’s new album is "Siphr," which is Arabic for zero. The Lebanese-American vocalist and composer sings in both Arabic and English. She talks about the spiritual and cultural inspirations behind this album.
Life may feel like it’s on pause because of COVID-19. But climate change isn’t paused. How is the pandemic affecting the climate and the people working on solutions?
As climate change intensifies, what toll will it take on our mental health in the future? Dr. Robin Cooper is a psychiatrist and co-founder of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance. She gives us a projection of what’s possible to come.
The coronavirus has pumped the brakes on air travel. But before that, flying was responsible for about 5% of man-made global warming. So if and when the demand for air travel goes back to its pre-COVID trajectory, it could account for a quarter of the world’s carbon budget. That budget is what would keep temperatures from rising more than 1 and a half degrees Celsius by 2050. That’s why there’s been a growing movement for people to fly less.
Originally, we were planning to do this series at the beginning of this year… but then COVID-19 hit. We had to put our climate change reporting on pause to focus on covering the coronavirus. But of course, climate change has not paused. In the final episode of our series, we find out what the pandemic can teach us about climate change. And, we talk to a psychiatrist about how to cope.
Many environmental lawyers around the country have filed lawsuits against corporations and the government for their role in climate change. Many of these cases fail, stall, or are dismissed, but the quest to litigate the climate crisis continues.
Climate change is a juggernaut — a huge, powerful, and overwhelming force. It's overwhelming because it’s a powerful force, and also because the very things that have created it are such deeply-rooted institutions. Fossil fuels are so ubiquitous and the industry that produces them so powerful, that challenging their influence can seem hopeless. In this episode, we hear about young people who are suing over their right to life, liberty ... and a healthy planet. Then, what do we do when one of the things that unites us is also a major contributor to climate change?
Climate change is intensifying California’s wildfires, and in many cases, low-wage immigrant workers like Socorro are cleaning up after them. Now, they’re fighting for new legislation that could protect them through climate disasters and a growing pandemic.
2020 has been a historically tense year. We’ve got a pandemic that won’t end, the biggest mass protests in American history, a divisive presidential election coming, and, by the way, global temperature rise is rapidly approaching the point of no return. It’s a frightening thought. What was true before COVID is even truer now: When we try to think and talk about climate change, it’s normal to become overwhelmed. This week, we're bringing you a series about the emotional and physical impacts of climate change. And we begin with a story about sea-level rise.
Many of the extraordinary consequences of climate change are happening in a way we can't immediately feel in our everyday lives — like desertification, sea-level rise, mass human migration. But for Californians, there is one glaring exception: Wildfires. Over the last several years, they’ve become a constant presence in our lives, and the long-term effects of wildfire smoke is worse for some than others. In this episode, we start with the story of Ta'Kira Dannette Byrd, an 11-year-old girl who lives in Vallejo. Then, we hear why some domestic workers' jobs could get even riskier.
Extreme wildfires fueled by climate change have been spewing more harmful smoke into California’s air in recent years. But not everyone is affected equally. Kids like Ta’Kira Dannette Byrd, who live in unhealthy, high-poverty neighborhoods, suffer more.
Book tours have been canceled since shelter-in-place began, so we’re bringing Bay Area author readings to you as part of our "New Arrivals" series. This one is from Oakland author Elwin Cotman reading from his new short story collection "Dance on Saturday."
Cellist Joshua McClain composes songs that make listeners feel like they’re in another world. His mystical sound is a blend of electronica, classical, and rock. Joshua’s latest album "Coming Home" is inspired by the story archetype of the hero’s journey.
The movement to defund police has forced Bay Area officials to take a hard look at their budgets in recent weeks. But radically transforming policing won’t happen overnight. In Oakland, reducing the police budget by 50% will take at least one task force.
Global events designer Edward Perotti put his glamorous touch on affairs for celebrities and corporations. He talks about how he went from being a shy San Francisco kid to planning luxurious parties in Hollywood, the Great Wall of China, and beyond.
By now, over four months into the shelter-in-place ordinance, you’ve probably swapped testing stories — or been on a Zoom call featuring questions such as: How did you get an appointment? Did it hurt? How long to get the test results?
Answers to these questions and people's experiences are all over the place. To add to the confusion, Governor Gavin Newsom has announced new testing guidelines as cases continue to rise in California, and labs are becoming backlogged. Some testing sites are reporting waits as long as 14 days for results, which is about the amount of time you’re supposed to quarantine. The new rules are intended to smooth this out and ensure the most vulnerable get tested first.
Large Grant Targets Environmental Issues In Deep East Oakland by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
Shelter-in-place caused many artists to postpone or cancel live concert events, but that didn’t stop Freddie from releasing new material or performing online. In this edition of Bay Area Beats, the Oakland-based R&B singer talks about how releasing their debut album Melanin Monroe helped them express what it means to be black and genderfluid.
Book tours have been canceled since shelter-in-place began, so we’re bringing Bay Area author readings to you as part of our "New Arrivals" series. This one is from San Francisco author Kelly McVicker reading from her new book, "Essential Vegetable Fermentation."
Oakland hip hop artist Jwalt has opened for rap legends such as Nas and the WuTang Clan. And he’s barely out of high school. This is just the beginning for the rising star. Jwalt talks about mental health and his debut album 'Yours Truly.'
In California, a lot of people whose jobs have been deemed essential during the shelter-in-place work in food, including commercial fishers. The industry is tough even in the best of times. Now, restaurant closures and social distancing have made fishing for a living more complex — and child care plays a role too. In this installment of The Essentials, we meet a commercial fisher and father.
Recently, reporter Nikolas Harter heard an eerie hum floating through his neighborhood. He hopped on his bike and journeyed out with his recorder to discover why the north side of San Francisco is suddenly being bathed in mysterious ethereal tones.
UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism has new leadership. Geeta Anand is the new interim dean and the first woman to be in that position. Anand started in the midst of a major shakeup over diversity at the school, after the resignation of Ed Wasserman, who was dean for seven years.
Dr. Louise Aronson is a bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist for the book "Elderhood." Through her own stories of being a geriatrician she shares why the healthcare system needs to improve in treating older adults and why we should embrace aging.
Elderhood is a phase of life just like childhood and adulthood.
Today, we head to the far west side of the Bay Area for our last stop on the tour... for now. And we're going back in time. At the end of the 19th century, Golden Gate Park was just a few decades old. To irrigate it, engineers built a pair of towering giants — the Murphy Windmill before us and the Dutch Windmill behind us. They’d harness the power of the ocean winds to pump water through the barren sand and nourish the verdant landscape. Over time the windmills fell into disrepair and slowly disintegrated. But in the early 21st century, some visionary San Franciscans decided to rebuild the great windmills. We’ll hear that story from Niels Swinkels.
Book tours have been canceled since shelter-in-place began, so we’re bringing Bay Area author readings to you as part of our "New Arrivals" series. This one is from Newark-based author Juliette Wade reading from her new science fiction novel, "Mazes of Power."
Jimmy is the owner of So Fresh So Clean Laundry in San Francisco. He’s been operating businesses in the Bay Area since the early 2000s. Along with So Fresh So Clean, he owns a print shop, a cafe, and a salon on Clement Street. Jimmy has been able to keep the laundromat open since the pandemic began because it’s considered an “essential business”. But he’s had to make some changes during the pandemic.
In November of 2018, Chico resident and expecting mother-to-be Kaylan Sigel began writing letters in a journal to her unborn son. Four days after penning the first entry, Kaylan’s life was turned upside down when the Camp Fire of Butte County burned down her home.
In this radio documentary, we join Kaylan on her journey through the aftermath of the fire, as she prepares to welcome a new member to the family.
Hamilton has found new fans now that it’s streaming on Disney+. Before the pandemic, high school students attended a special matinee of the musical. They performed their own work on stage and told stories of some people left out of history books.
It’s an early Wednesday morning. The sidewalks on Market Street in San Francisco are damp. A line of teenagers and teachers wraps around the Orpheum Theater. About 2,000 people are here. The students appear both excited and tired. Some of these kids are from the Bay Area. Others traveled from as far as Fresno and Sacramento.Hamilton tickets can easily run around $100. But today they are $10 max.Many of these kids are from Title 1 schools, which have large populations of low-income students. For some, this is their first Broadway musical. But today is no ordinary show.
Less than a week ago, Chanthon Bun was incarcerated at San Quentin Prison. He had been granted parole and was waiting to get out. But two things stood in his way: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and COVID-19.
Coronavirus cases have exploded inside San Quentin. So far, more than 1,400 people in the prison have tested positive. Six have died. Bun, who is immunocompromised, started to show symptoms just days before his planned parole date.
"I ran around the building, saying goodbye to my friends. But most of them were bedridden ... They were all sick. But I still came around and said goodbye to every one of them." But Bun didn’t expect parole to mean freedom. Bun, who was born in Cambodia, was admitted to the U.S. as a refugee when he was a child. He lost his immigration status when he committed a crime as a teenager more than 20 years ago. Bun expected that the prison would release him into the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He would be taken to a detention center, and await deportation to a country he left as a child.
But when he walked out of the San Quentin gates last Wednesday, ICE was not there to pick him up. Bun caught a bus and connected with his lawyer. He got a test that confirmed what he already knew: he was COVID-positive. Now, he’s recovering at an undisclosed location in the Bay Area.
We’re continuing our journey westward, toward the ocean, and we’re getting close now. Less than a mile to go. We cross over Chain of Lakes Drive. And as we pass, just to our right is the simply named North Lake. We’re walking through this urban forest, and the trees have gotten especially thick to our right. Look closely and you can see … there’s a golf course in there! A lot of people who live in San Francisco don’t even know that. But we’re not here to play golf, today. We’re targeting a different sport. Just past the course’s parking lot, on 47th Avenue, a couple blocks from the beach, we’ve arrived at our destination. Luisa Cardoza is here to tell us all about it.
Book tours have been canceled since shelter-in-place began, so we’re bringing Bay Area author readings to you as part of our "New Arrivals" series. This one is from Sacramento author Shelley Blanton-Stroud reading from her new novel, "Copy Boy."
A few weeks ago, University Press Books in Berkeley announced it would shut for good after nearly 50 years in the business. Now, the remaining East Bay independent bookshops are turning to the community to hold on.
The recent protests against the killing of Black people by police have put racial inequity at the forefront of our national conversation. Santa Clara County witnessed some of the first and largest protests in the Bay Area last month, in San Jose. And the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors has promised to address inequity in their county.
Book tours have been canceled while we're sheltered-in-place, so we’re bringing Bay Area author readings to you as part of our "New Arrivals" series. This one is from San Francisco author Jaimal Yogis reading from his new children’s picture book, "Mop Rides the Waves of Life."
We’re heading out from the ponds of the Golden Gate Casting and Angling Club. It’s just a hop, skip, and a jump to our next stop. As we approach John F. Kennedy Boulevard, again, we come across a site you won’t find on any map — but one that locals return to year after year. There’s a patch of cherry blossom trees. Beautiful, for sure, but they’re not the draw, actually. Beside them, about 30 feet up one of the park’s majestic tall trees, there’s a nest. A great horned owl nest. Year after year, the owls return to the same spot. Right now, though, we’re crossing the street to see some much bigger creatures. Much, much bigger. We’re going to the bison paddock. For well over a century, Golden Gate Park has hosted a herd of these 900-pound hoofed and hairy beasts. They were originally brought in as part of a nationwide conservation effort. So why are they still here? Laura Klivans gets some answers from people who care for the bison in their home on the west side of the park.
People in the criminal justice field, like Hadar Aviram, a law professor at UC Hastings, have been sounding the alarm about possible prison breakouts since April.
Positive cases of COVID-19 at San Quentin State Prison has now surpassed 1,000, including more than a hundred prison workers who tested positive. The outbreak started after a transfer of prisoners from Chino.
In the Palestinian town of Jericho, customers cycled in and out of a cell phone shop to buy new SIM cards. Sameer, the owner, sat behind a desk, clicking through YouTube for music from his teenage years. He sang along to an anthem about young Palestinians taking to the streets to fight for freedom from the Israeli Occupation. Between verses, he sipped water from a bottle with a piece of amethyst at the bottom. That mineral, Sameer said, is a natural stress reliever. It helps keep him calm and connected to the earth.
Sameer grew up Muslim. He still keeps certain rituals, like fasting during Ramadan. But these days, he said, he’s more into nature - connecting with the hills and the trees.
Unlike many Palestinian men in their 40s, Sameer lives alone. He’s a big guy, with a dark beard and moustache, and curly dark brown hair. Around his left wrist, he wears three strands of olive pits. He carved them into beads when he was a teenager, in prison. Since then, he’s had a weak stomach and more sleepless nights than he can count. When he can’t sleep, he plays one song to help him relax.
The song he plays is Shalom Alechem, a hymn Jewish people sing on the Sabbath, calling on the angels of peace. “Every time I hear it, always I feel relaxed,” Sameer said. “I get touched from this song, maybe because I have that history with it.”
Most West Bank Palestinians and Israelis don’t really get to mix it up. A concrete barrier with checkpoints separates them. So, it may seem curious that a Palestinian man knows Shalom Alechem, this Jewish tune, by heart. For years, Sameer’s relationship with the song was also a mystery to him.
Most religions teach people to help those in need. But what happens when that mandate clashes with how the government views the law? In this story from The Spiritual Edge, we hear how federal prosecutors cracked down on volunteers providing aid on the border.
It's been 100 days since shelter-in-place began and people across the Bay Area are taking stock of how their lives have been transformed. Locals are trying to keep the spotlight on old injustices, while also dealing with our strange new corona-reality.
San Francisco lost one of its most influential queer elders this year. Phyllis Lyon was a lesbian activist and trail blazer. She died in April at the age of 95. Phyllis developed dementia in her final years and was able to live independently in her own home. Or so she thought. A community of lesbian, queer, and trans people supported her with kindness... and deceit.
This week the Bay Area entered its fourth month of shelter-in-place. And it's a confusing time: infection rates are climbing in some counties, just as local resturants are welcoming back diners.
Even summer camps, casinos and malls are reopening.
At the same time, cities and counties are opening up to new ideas –– like defunding their police. And in a world that looks totally different than it did just 90-plus days ago, the path forward remains murky.
For the past three months we’ve been checking in with people from all around the Bay Area to see how the pandemic is affecting their day-to-day lives. It’s the Quarantine Diaries.
While we're sheltered in place, we’re bringing Bay Area author readings to you as part of our "New Arrivals" series. This one features Berkeley’s Johanna Silver, the former garden editor of Sunset Magazine whose book Growing Weed in the Garden came out in March.
Over the past few decades, big scientific advances have helped us identify and understand dyslexia. But overall, public schools around the country are still failing students with the learning disorder -- particularly low-income kids of color.
I used to work as a cook. And if Bay Area kitchens do one thing well, it’s to teach you about where your ingredients were grown and raised. I’ve seen goats milked at CowGirl Creamery and the hard work that goes into harvesting heirloom varieties that foodies love. There was even one chef who took me and a crew of young line cooks to a Sonoma ranch that was killing its last cow. It’s been six years but I still think about that man who did the slaughtering. Because up until then, I had no idea that butchers made house calls. But this guy did just that. And he had a pretty great nickname: one-shot Johnny.
Nearly three months into shelter-in-place, society is beginning to reopen. People are heading outside. For some it’s to restaurants or back to work. Many are joining the anti-racism protests that began over two weeks ago. And change is happening - in communities, and in government.
At the same time, experts warn that COVID-19 cases are on the rise again. This week we check in with a group of people as they decide how to move forward in the midst of two unfolding crises. It’s Day By Day: Quarantine Diaries.
Written by Sona Avakian, Christopher Egusa, Sarah Lai-Stirland, and Imran Ali Malik. Original score and sound design by Imran Ali Malik.
KCRW's Radio Race gives audio producers 24 hours to produce an original non-fiction piece audio story based on a theme. This year's theme was "TIME WARP."
While we're sheltered in place, we’re bringing Bay Area author readings to you as part of our "New Arrivals" series. This one features Oakland-based author Monica Sok reading from her new book of poetry, "A Nail the Evening Hangs On."
There’s a lot to be learned about how we’re spending our time these days by looking at the sales revenue of an outdoor store like Sports Basement. General manager Tom Purcell says that no one is coming in to buy team sports equipment anymore. Day hiking equipment sales are doing well, though. Bicycling sales are through the roof. “Bikes are the new toilet paper,” he tells me. And recently, “Camping is really starting to take off.” He expects that to continue as shelter in place restrictions are lifted.
He sees camping as a pretty good activity to do in the time of social distancing. “When people are in their own little unit and they're cooking for themselves and with their family and friends in a campsite, they probably feel pretty safe.”
While we're sheltered in place, we’re bringing Bay Area author readings to you as part of our "New Arrivals" series. Today, we're featuring San Anselmo-based Author Kate Milliken reading from her new novel, "Kept Animals."
Sarchasm is a Berkeley-based band that’s been together for a decade. They’ve used their music to work through challenges, spread political messages, and support each other.
The group includes artists who are trans and Latinx — and it hasn’t always been easy for them to find space in the pop punk scene. In this edition of Bay Area Beats, the band’s four members share the trials, and triumphs, that have influenced their work.
Sarchasm is still releasing new music during the shelter-in-place — most recently, a live album recorded at a show in 2018. You can listen to that, and more of their work, on their website.
In California, farms have not been immune to COVID-19. A Farm Bureau Federation survey recently found that more than half of farms across the state have lost customers or sales due to pandemic. Small family farms are especially vulnerable.
Meet The Funeral Director Helping Families Grieve While Social Distancing by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
Why One Doctor In East Oakland Is Concerned We’re Reopening Too Soon by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
While we're sheltered in place, we’re bringing Bay Area author readings to you as part of our "New Arrivals" series. Today, we're featuring Oakland author Melanie Abrams reading from her new book, "Meadowlark."
The Bay Area protests against ongoing police brutality have caused cities and counties to enact curfews, including Alameda County. The purpose is to mitigate the destruction of property, but some officials wonder whether that’s a wise measure.
Brendon Woods is the chief public defender of Alameda County and the only black man in that position in the state. In this interview, Woods discusses the protests and what his department is seeing right now.
While many organizers have told protesters to socially distance and wear masks, public health experts fear the Bay Area’s demonstrations could still fuel a rise in COVID-19 infections. That could be particularly devastating to the same black and brown communities most impacted by police brutality.
Bay Area residents came out in droves to protest police brutality over the weekend. While most of the protestors were peaceful, vandalism and looting also took place at shopping centers and stores.
The police were out in full force in San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland, wielding batons and weapons, in some cases firing tear gas.
Oaklandside News Editor Darwin BondGraham was on the ground reporting and tweeting. He’s been covering the Oakland Police Department for years. In this interview, he shares how he thinks OPD is dealing with the protests.
You can follow Darwin BondGraham on Twitter @DarwinBondGraha.
For the past 10 weeks, we’ve been checking in regularly with a mix of people to hear how they’re dealing with these extraordinary times. In this episode, we hear from a family questioning their memorial day trip down the coast, a potter who gets a positive test, and a mother afraid to send her kid back to school. It's Day By Day: KALW's Quarantine Diaries.
We’re down in the wilder spaces of the park, now. The lower side, with its hiking and mountain bike trails, its hidden gardens, its untamed forests. We continue westward, exploring this less cultivated area where there's more space and more animals, too. You’ll see coyotes out here sometimes. Plenty of raccoons in the evening. Foxes, if you’re lucky. We turn off the road, back into the forest. It’s quiet except for the occasional whizzing sound, gentle crank, and quiet chatter. We’re at Golden Gate Park’s casting pools. Reporter Ian Lewis shows us how it's done.
Since shelter in place began, health officials around the Bay Area have struggled to deal with packed parks and beaches. And then there are the crowds at Lake Merritt.
Gov. Newsom announced in-store shopping can resume. County health officials in parts of the Bay Area haven’t approved this yet. We visit Oakland’s Fruitvale District to hear non-essential small business owners’ concerns and how they’re surviving.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many Americans into sudden intimacy with difficult feelings: anxiety, fear, and grief. In this story from The Spiritual Edge, we get to know a North Carolina woman whose Buddhist practice has helped her navigate fear and grief.
"What I realized was that people were unprepared for death. Almost everybody was unprepared for death." Caroline Yongue is the founder and director of the Carolina Memorial Sanctuary, a small cemetery offering environmentally-friendly burials in Western North Carolina. The Sanctuary is grounded in a Buddhist ethos and committed to restoring native ecosystems. It’s part of a larger project to change how Americans approach death and grief — creating new ways to live with loss, from the ground up.
For the past nine weeks, we’ve been checking in with people from around the Bay to hear how they are dealing with these extraordinary times. In this episode, we hear from a senior who sings, a teacher on his last day of class, and a bookseller happy to see regulars again. It’s Day By Day: KALW’s Quarantine Diaries.
Most of the cultivated features of Golden Gate Park are found on its eastern side. Now we’re heading for the wilder west — an area more frequented by locals than tourists. Today’s destination: Spreckels Lake. Reporter Hannah Kingley-Ma introduces us to its visitors.
Arts organizer Ashara Ekundayo is hosting a 2-part discussion with Black female artists about being counted in the Census and the greater society. It’s called See Black Women.
The artists will also talk about grief and the shift in our culture and visibility. The event is a part of the Come to Your Census campaign, which is using art to inform underrepresented communities about taking the census.
Between 10 and 30 percent of California’s essential workers are undocumented. But because of immigration status, they don’t qualify for some of the social benefits that other workers are relying on through this pandemic.
This week, California is trying to make up for that with a first-of-its-kind relief fund, though the program has already run into problems.
In this story from The Spiritual Edge, we'll meet Al and Andi Tauber, married singer-songwriters who direct music for a congregation of urban Mennonites in Chicago. Like their Amish and Quaker spiritual cousins, Mennonites favor the simple life, but they see God in city life too. For the Taubers, this means taking their faith and music to the streets.
While we're sheltered in place, we’re bringing Bay Area author readings to you in a series we’re calling "New Arrivals." Today, we're featuring San Francisco author Katie Flynn reading from her new novel, "The Companions."
"The Companions" was released in March, 2020.
We’ve just left the Shakespeare Garden, in a thicket off 9th Avenue. We're going to head back toward the north side of the park, and to get there, we'll take a circuitous route down a hill into the parking garage serving the California Academy of Sciences and the DeYoung Museum. Soon we’re back in the sprawling music concourse. We go down a path to the left of the Japanese Tea Garden until we get to John F. Kennedy Boulevard, where our destination is just across the street. It’s a garden. Sheer Elegance. Wild Blue Yonder. Lady Elsie May. Daybreaker. Although these might sound like romance novel titles, they’re actually names for different species of the flower of romance, the rose. San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park has one whole acre of land dedicated to roses. Reporter Chris Hambrick follows the scent.
The city is opening its first so-called “safe-sleeping-site" nearly eight weeks after Mayor London Breed announced San Francisco’s shelter-in-place ordinance. It’s between the Asian Art Museum and the main library, right in front of city hall.
When rapper Call Me Ace isn’t grinding at his YouTube job, he’s on the mic dropping positive lyrics about life and adulthood. His latest EP is ironically titled 'Working From Home.'
"I feel compelled to help others that might be feeling that same sense of hopelessness, and be able to identify opportunities even though they may feel like there's a brick wall." Last year Ace’s first album, 'Airplane Mode,' debuted at #3 on iTunes’ Top 40 US Hip-Hop Album Chart.
'Working From Home' has reached over 1 million Spotify streams. In this interview Call Me Ace talks about growing up on the East Coast in a Jamaican household, and why he doesn’t take his success for granted.
There’s no end date for when it will be safe to gather in crowds again, so people around the world continue to stretch the possibilities of a Zoom call. Funerals, weddings, and church services have all been happening virtually. For one woman in Berkeley, the shelter-in-place order meant rethinking two very different rituals.
In April, nearly 4,000 Mission District residents volunteered to get tested for COVID-19 and its antibodies. Unidos en Salud released the results of that testing on Monday, which raise difficult questions about racial and class disparities in San Francisco.
Click the play button to listen to this interview.
Correction: A previous version of this story stated that 84 percent of San Francisco's hospitalized COVID-19 cases are Latinx. In fact, 84 percent of those seeking treatment at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center are Latinx. We regret the error. Tags:
The music concourse can be seen as the cultural heart of Golden Gate Park. This wide oval plaza is filled with fountains and framed by museums and the bandshell housing the venerable Golden Gate Park Band. Now it’s time to head out from here to go to a place that’s even more timeless. We climb up stairs as we head south, around the California Academy of Sciences, into a wooded area. Back in the trees, you’ll find flowers from the writings of William Shakespeare. It’s a place dedicated to English literature’s crown prince. Walk through the entrance gate and down a worn brick path to be transported into an English garden filled with manicured flowerbeds, trimmed lawns, and people escaping the noise of the city. Reporter Jeremy Dalmas show us around.
While we're sheltered in place, we’re bringing Bay Area author readings to you in a series we’re calling "New Arrivals." Today, we're featuring San Francisco author Juli Delgado Lopera reading from her bilingual, coming of age novel "Fiebre Tropical."
"Fiebre Tropical" was release in March, 2020.
Oakland is bracing for a $122 million shortfall over 14 months due to the coronavirus. This is the largest financial shortfall in the city’s history. What is the city’s plan to weather this economic storm?
Rev. Claire Bohman provides support to patients, their loved ones, and staff at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. In this installment of our new series "The Essentials," Rev. Claire says COVID-19 has more caregivers asking for spiritual and emotional support.
In normal times, interfaith chaplains are there to help patients with their spiritual and emotional needs. Now, Rev. Claire reminds patients and caregivers that spiritual and emotional tools can help to address the fear and be part of the healing process.
While local and state leaders are preparing for the next phase, we’re all still grappling with the way the pandemic has changed our day-to-day lives. For the past seven weeks, we’ve been checking in daily with folks from around the Bay to hear how they are dealing with these extraordinary times. Today, we’ll hear about new loves, dashed dreams, and the competitive spirit of an 8-year-old Uno champ. It's the Quarantine Diaries.
Plus, at the end of today's episode, we're featuring local music from Shasta, a San Francisco-based band that just released a collection called Roaming Hearts.
While we're sheltered-in-place, we’re bringing Bay Area author readings to you in a series we’re calling "New Arrivals." Today, we're featuring San Francisco author Beth Lisick reading from her new novel, "Edie on the Green Screen."
For many teens, body image is a big issue. It’s not a new one, but every generation faces new challenges. At one time, it was getting messages about body image from TV, movies or magazines. For today’s teenage girls, social media and the internet dominate the message of what it means to be pretty, and what size is ‘cute’.
Rolling out full-on distance learning assignments when only more affluent students could participate, SFUSD decided, would only deepen the achievement gap. Step One? Figuring out how many students needed devices.
May is mental health awareness month. It's an issue for people of all ages, including teenagers. According to the CDC, suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth ages 15 to 24. And the rate is increasing. A Los Gatos teen who experienced challenges of her own started a podcast to give her peers struggling with mental health issues a voice.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Oakland rose over the weekend, just as Bay Area counties relax shelter-in-place rules. But more testing resources are coming to Oakland. And the city is increasing the number of hotel rooms for the homeless community.
It’s been 49 days since the shelter-in-place order went into effect in the region. Since then, as part of our ongoing Quarantine Diaries series, we have been checking in regularly with a mix of people from all around the Bay, including a teacher, a restaurant owner, an artist, a grocery store worker, a nurse, and a ten-year-old.
Together, this group is sketching out our new shared reality and how the pandemic is changing how we live and work.
Bay Area book release parties have been canceled while we're sheltered-in-place, so we’re bringing the readings to you in a series we’re calling "New Arrivals." Today, we're featuring San Francisco author C Pam reading from her new novel, "How Much of These Hills Is Gold."
April is National Poetry Month, and for some poetry helps make sense of the world. M.K. Chavez writes poetry that reflects on what’s going on in society and inside of herself.
Melissa Jones is the Executive Director of the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiatives, a coalition of the region's public health departments. The coalition has been meeting regularly to discuss best practices for policy decisions around COVID19. One of which is whether or not counties should keep their parks open for residents to access during the shelter in place order.
Slow Streets Program Hits A Bump In The Road With Some East Oakland Residents by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
Bay Area book release parties have been canceled while we're sheltered-in-place, so we’re bringing the readings to you in a series we’re calling "New Arrivals." Today, we're featuring San Francisco author Marilyn Chase reading from her new book "Everything She Touched: The Life of Ruth Asawa."
"Everything She Touched: The Life of Ruth Asawa" was released April 7.
The novel coronavirus will not slow down the opioid epidemic that’s gripped the United States for decades. As the Bay Area shelters-in-place, a mobile health team in Contra Costa County continues to bring prescriptions for addiction medication directly to people who are homeless and even more isolated from services.
Shubham Goel is sheltering in place with his parents in Danville, but this isn’t the first time he’s been through a quarantine. He was on a reality TV show where isolation was one of the rules.
It’s been 38 days since the shelter-in-place order went into effect in the region. Since then, as part of our ongoing Quarantine Diaries series, we have been checking in regularly with a mix of people from all around the Bay, including a teacher, a restaurant owner, an artist, a grocery store worker, a nurse, and a ten-year-old.
Together, this group is sketching out our new shared reality and how the pandemic is changing how we live and work.
It’s been 38 days since the shelter-in-place order went into effect in the region. Since then, as part of our ongoing Quarantine Diaries series, we have been checking in regularly with a mix of people from all around the Bay, including a teacher, a restaurant owner, an artist, a grocery store worker, a nurse, and a ten-year-old.
Together, this group is sketching out our new shared reality and how the pandemic is changing how we live and work.
COVID-19 has hit black communities hard — in many places, harder than the general population. Here in California, as of April 17, black residents were dying at twice the rate of white residents. In New York City, black people are dying more than any other racial group.
In this episode, we explore the reasons behind this higher mortality rate, we go back to dig into some history, and dispel some myths about black people and the coronavirus.
Recently, Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled the six criteria that must be met before we can all return to life as we knew it before shelter-in-place. That includes things like closely monitoring communities for the coronavirus, tracking down cases and isolating people who have it, and building capacity in local hospitals to handle sudden surges.
If infection rates start to climb again, health authorities need to determine which data should be used to use to determine when to step up social distancing measures. In this interview, Dr. George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology at UCSF and director of their Prevention and Public Health Group, explains.
The coronavirus is on all of our minds, and for some, it brings back memories of another public health crisis, when the federal government was slow to respond and communities had to take care of each other: the AIDS epidemic.
One woman became an unexpected caregiver. Starting in the 1970s, Meridy Volz ran a bakery called Sticky Fingers Brownies. "The business changed," Meridy says. "It went from something fun and lightweight to something that was a lifeline."
Attorneys Fight For Detained Immigrants During Pandemic by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
Many Bay Area book release parties have been canceled while we're sheltered-in-place, so we’re bringing the readings to you in a series we’re calling "New Arrivals." Today's reading is from "Abolish Silicon Valley" by San Francisco author Wendy Liu .
Melissa Jones has been electrifying stages around the Bay Area with her music and poetry. She is the lead singer of the soul/funk band No Lovely Thing. Melissa talks about how her Oakland roots and being a black woman influence her work.
Bay Area shelters and dog rescues are currently closed to the public. So, what’s happening with all the unhoused dogs? Turns out, shelters are getting creative.
It’s been twenty-four days since the shelter-in-place order went into effect in the region. Since then, as part of our ongoing Quarantine Diaries series, we have been checking in regularly with a mix of people from all around the Bay, including a teacher, a restaurant owner, an artist, a grocery store worker, a nurse, and a ten-year-old. Together, this group is sketching out our new shared reality and how the pandemic is changing how we live and work.
Domestic workers are using lessons learned from California’s wildfires to support their communities through the COVID-19 pandemic. They’re also pushing for legislation that could protect workers in future disasters.
Having cancer is bad enough. But what if you had it in prison? Raymond Brassfield is an ex-marine with leukemia. He’s been told it will kill him.
"I dodged bombs and bullets for a long time, so I accepted you live, you learn, you teach, you die."
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The reality of COVID-19 means that instead of sharing meals, meditations or prayers in person, people of faith are connecting online. Since the beginning of this epidemic, Bay Area spiritual leaders have turned to online tools such as Zoom or YouTube to stay connected, and offer wisdom to their communities.
Tonight is the first night of Passover. Sunday is Easter. Ramadan is a couple of weeks away. Ministers, rabbis, imams, and monks are talking about the coronavirus epidemic and the opportunity, they say, it offers for reflection.
The Bay Area has been applauded for its response to the coronavirus. Early shelter-in-place guidelines were put into place and experts say the curve is beginning to flatten. But there are big hurdles ahead.
Two people at San Francisco’s largest homeless shelter have tested positive for COVID-19. Homeless advocates and a vocal group from the Board of Supervisors have criticized the city’s response to protect some of their most vulnerable residents.
As a child, DeWayne Locklear learned how to grow carrots, fry okra, and saute spinach. Now, he’s taken his skills to prison, where he makes gourmet food from items in the canteen.
"If you wanted to teach your kid how to cook, this would be the easiest way to do it. It'd be cost-effective, it'd be cheap, it'd be easy, and you know, all together it's creative."
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KALW’s radio training program in California prisons is supported by the California Arts Council, with funding from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The producers fact-check content to the best of their ability. All content is approved by a prison information officer.
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Walter Parenteau and his housemates run an all-volunteer soup kitchen in San Francisco’s Mission District. Their goal is to provide hospitality for anyone who walks through the door, but how are they dealing with the changes that the coronavirus brings?
When Governor Gavin Newsom issued his shelter-in-place order in mid-March, he said the elderly need to stay at home alone. Research has shown that loneliness can be as deadly as many other diseases. We checked in to see what seniors are doing to stay connected while staying safe.
It’s been just a little over two weeks since the Bay Area’s shelter-in-place policy took effect. And it has dramatically changed how most of us live and work. Hear from people all around the Bay Area about daily life during the coronavirus epidemic.
New Project Aims To Address A Deadly Problem: Inconsistent COVID-19 Testing Data by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
Treasure Island Resident Fights For Access To Meals For Community Kids by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
While serving a sentence of life-without-parole, Stevie J. Stevenson lost touch with most of his children. Then, he found out that one of his sons had become a star: the artist Tyga, whose albums have hit number one on the rap charts. Stevenson, now at Solano State Prison, spoke to "Uncuffed" producer Spoon Jackson about the relationship that inspired Tyga’s song "Dad’s Letter."
Hear more stories like this by subscribing to Uncuffed in podcast players: WeAreUncuffed.org
Bay Area schools are shut down until at least May. That leaves tens of thousands of students at home, finding ways to learn, to cope, and to find joy. The teenagers who make “tbh" put together a special edition dedicated to life during the coronavirus crisis.
Subscribe to tbh wherever you get your podcasts.
Toni Morrison once said that in chaotic times is when artists must go to work. Theaters, concert halls, and other event venues are shut down. But that isn't stopping Bay Area artists from shining on the virtual stage.
Most of us are working from home, including the staff of KALW. In fact, this show was put together using apps like Slack, Zoom and a variety of recording and file sharing services. It’s been an adjustment, but many of us are realizing how much we can communicate and do without meeting in person.
So, what about the jobs that require more in-person connections? What’s it like for instance, to be a psychiatrist in this time of coronavirus?
The Bay Area shelter-in-place order is now entering double digits. On March 17, leaders from six Bay Area counties announced a policy that’s closed all but essential businesses and confined most people to their homes.
Since then, we've been checking in regularly with a mix of people from all around the Bay, including a restaurant owner, a mom and daughter, a grocery store worker, an artist, an Uber driver and a college student. Together, this group sketches out how the coronavirus epidemic is already changing how we live and work.
Picture a mariachi band. You probably think of older men dressed in fancy clothes, playing their instruments and singing in a restaurant to a group of people at a table. But that isn’t all mariachi players, and that’s not where most mariachi music is performed. Samaria Pineda tells it like it is in a story she made when she was a senior at Immaculate Conception Academy in San Francisco.
Victims of domestic violence are especially vulnerable in this health crisis because abusive partners are now not leaving for work or working from home. Even if support groups and shelters are open, a victim has to be able to make that call, which may not happen if the abuser is home all day.
John Pearson works in the emergency room at Highland Hospital in Oakland. He says healthcare workers there were already experiencing critical shortages before COVID-19 existed.
Last night Governor Gavin Newsom gave a speech on Facebook. He told Californians he would be extending our restrictions here in the Bay Area, to the entire state.
It’s unclear if the governor's new guidelines will be enforced. In his speech he also said he’s working with the California Public Utilities Commission to make sure that people who can't pay their utility bills, won't be cut off. He also spoke to the testing shortage.
"Another area of concern, consistent concern is in the testing space. We have increased by a few hundred the number of tests that we provided, just in the last 24 hours in our public labs. Those are the 19 labs that currently are testing. But that clearly is not enough," he said.
America is in a health crisis, but it’s also been in a housing crisis. For almost a quarter of renters, more than half of their income goes to their landlord. Eviction displaces a million households a year. About four million people spend at least three hours driving to and from work.
These issues are the backdrop of Conor Dougherty’s new book "Golden Gates: Fighting For Housing In America." In the book, he tackles the Bay Area housing crisis through a cast of characters, like politicians, developers, and tech workers. Dougherty is also a New York Times economics reporter. We talked about what happens to the housing crisis in a time of a health pandemic.
Oakland’s Lake Merritt was the nation’s first wildlife refuge, before Yosemite, before Yellowstone.
There haven’t been any confirmed cases of COVID-19 inside California’s state prisons. But as a precaution, the state has suspended access to all visitors.
This conversation with the Uncuffed producers at Solano was recorded on Friday, March 13.
In anticipation of a possible social shutdown, some shoppers at India Cash & Carry in San Jose stocked up on toilet paper and other supplies, while others went about their business as usual.
California has joined much of the rest of the world in a state of suspended animation as people try to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. This afternoon, officials from six Bay Area counties asked residents to shelter in place, except for getting groceries or taking care of other essential functions.
Rap. I used to like listening to it until I started paying attention to the lyrics. I was driven away after hearing nothing but songs with curse words that glorified drugs and violence, like “Rockstar” by Post Malone.
tbh is made by, about, and for teenagers. And for anybody else who wants to hear what’s on our minds.
We started our tour at the Conservatory of Flowers. Now, we’re back outside. As we walk along the path back toward the street, we see flower beds laid out before us, in fact, there’s a huge clock set into one of the gardens, embedded amongst the blooms. Then, we walk down some steps, and before us, there’s a tunnel. If you’re here on a Saturday, you might hear a sound emerging from it. It’s jazz! Laura Klivans introduces us to the people making the music.
California is taking stronger measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. Disneyland shut down. Same with sports. And the San Francisco Unified School District will be closed to students for three weeks beginning Monday. But what's being done for the most vulnerable?
John Templeton’s been leading land tours of SF’s black history for years. Now, he’s launched a Bay tour, to share those hidden stories from the water. He hopes to defy stereotypes and give black youth, in particular, a sense of pride and belonging.
This is part of an ongoing series “Learning While Black: The Fight For Equity In San Francisco Schools.”
Hey Area is where we find answers to questions you ask. This one comes from New York staff writer Jelani Cobb. He asks, “How did there get to be an entirely separate city inside of Oakland?”
https://www.kalw.org/post/why-there-another-city-inside-oakland
Antoine Hunter is an Oakland-based dancer, choreographer, director, and advocate for the Deaf community — that’s Deaf with a capital D, which refers to Deaf culture. When Antoine was growing up, dance became a lifeline to the world around him.
The number of COVID-19 cases, and it varies county by county. As of the time of publishing, there are 14 confirmed cases in San Francisco. Santa Clara County has 45 cases, Alameda County is confirming three cases, but the numbers are constantly changing.
Jurors found John Lee Cowell, the man who killed 18-year-old Nia Wilson guilty of first-degree murder and attempted murder. Now jurors have to decide on his mental state. Even as the case winds down, emotions are still high.
We followed the trial and spoke with members of Nia Wilson’s family.
Treasure Island is an artificial island built on a natural reef between Oakland and San Francisco. Landon Neill discovered old film footage that sent him on a mission to understand the forces that shaped the island’s history.
It can be hard to run a successful restaurant in the Bay Area. And there are additional challenges that come with being a trans chef. But despite those hurdles, one Oakland restaurant owner is determined to make it work.
HANA BABA: Today, we’re starting with, of course, coronavirus. And, I’m joined by KALW News Director Ben Trefny. Hey, Ben.
BEN TREFNY: Hey, Hana.
BABA: So what we know today is that there’s a new fatality in Santa Clara County. It’s the county’s first death. A woman in her 60s was diagnosed back on Feb 28. She was one of three people diagnosed. So, what else is going on?
TREFNY: Well, the item getting the most attention around the country now is the Grand Princess cruise ship, which docked in the Port of Oakland around noon today. The ship has more than 3,500 people aboard — about 2,400 hundred passengers and over a thousand crew members. So, 21 of the people on the ship are confirmed to have the novel coronavirus — or COVID19. Nineteen of those people who are ill are, in fact, crew members. So, it’s going to take a couple of days to disembark the passengers, and they’re being whisked away to various places for quarantine, including Travis Air Force base in Fairfield — near here — and Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego. And, by the way, Hana, USA Today is reporting that all the guests are having their cruise fees refunded, along with airfare and other incidentals.
BABA: Okay, so a lot of people are asking the question, how are they going to be kept away from the general public?
TREFNY: Well, Governor Newsom gave a news conference in Oakland yesterday with Mayor Libby Schaaf and made several assurances that they would be held and treated at a safe distance. So, I've been wondering that same thing as far as the chauffeurs, and, of course, the doctors. I have friends who are doctors who have been thinking a lot at their hospitals about how they are going to make sure that they keep from getting the virus as well. But, I think that they will do the same kind of practices that we're being expected to do here, such as wash our hands and make sure to keep as safe as we can.
Public officials, generally, have been scrambling to share information and make sure that people know what’s going on without panicking or overreacting. Here’s a clip of San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who's been one of the earliest to take direct action.
LONDON BREED: A lot of information gets out there. It’s not entirely true, but it’s important that everything that we know is communicated directly to the public so that we have accurate information, every step of the way.
TREFNY: So, San Francisco’s Department of Public Health, on Friday, sent out numerous text advisories saying they recommend cancelling non-essential large community events for the next two weeks. Seems like a policy of better safe than sorry.
BABA: So your festivals, your large gatherings.
TREFNY: Yeah, the things that would otherwise —
BABA: Parades? The St. Patrick's Day parade was canceled.
Hey Area is where we find answers to questions you ask. Adam Incera recently visited San Francisco from New York and wanted to know: Why does the Bay Area have so many transit systems?
Dealing with death is not easy. But some in the Bay Area are opening the conversation by stepping on stage and telling their stories of loss and mortality to an audience.
The Bay Area, one of the wealthiest regions in the world, also has the largest percentage of unsheltered people in the United States. For those who devote their lives to working with these individuals, the cost can be burnout, “compassion fatigue”. This story is about someone who is determined to keep going.
For the first time in over a decade, Californians cast their ballots on a “Super Tuesday” along with thirteen other states. People voted on who they want to be the next Democratic presidential candidate and on a handful of measures from school bonds and affordable housing to earthquake safety. Here's a recap.
Generation Z has been raised with video games — in fact, almost two thirds of their parents play them. Recently, the World Health Organization declared that obsessive gamers suffer from a new addiction called “video game disorder.” Some psychologists fired back, arguing this diagnosis ignores more serious mental health problems. San Francisco teenager Jiahao Chen wanted to know: are his friends just having fun playing Fortnite, or can zealous gaming really be an addiction?
Up until a few months ago, I loved video games. But I didn’t just love gaming; I was obsessed. I remember racing home everyday after school to play League of Legends. I gamed for hours and hours everyday, up until at least midnight.
In League of Legends, I had a mission. It was up to me to help my virtual team destroy the towers guarding the enemy’s base. My purpose everyday was to climb the rank ladder.
But every morning, I had to go down a few levels, back to the real world.
I was so focused on showing off my skills to my team in League of Legends that I barely spent any time doing homework. I was so tired after gaming all night, every night, I’d fall asleep during class. My grades dropped lower and lower, until I got a C in algebra.
Gaming, Hobbies, And Self-Destruction
Thomas Plante, A psychology professor at Santa Clara University, says very few people game to the point of mental and physical self-destruction like I did. But he says an inability to stop compulsive behavior that causes self-harm can be signs of a disorder or a dysfunction.
“For some people, a certain number of people, they can’t stop engaging in the behavior even when it’s destructive,” Plante says.
Psychologists are divided over whether “gaming disorder” is a real diagnosis. “Certainly anything that is obsessive that interferes with social, occupational, or school functioning . . . most of us mental health professionals would consider a disorder,” Plante says.
Roughly two thirds of American households play video games, and that makes it tricky for parents, teenagers, and psychologists to draw the line between an addiction and a hobby. “These things are all designed to be addictive,” Plante explains. “Companies make money to not only sell their product but keep people engaged in the product.”
My Obsessive Gamer Friends
Six months ago, I forced myself to quit gaming. I started sleeping at night rather than during class. Like magic, my grades went back up again. I rarely play video games anymore. I tried playing League of Legends a few weeks go, and I hated every second of it.
Before Steve Jobs co-founded Apple and before Mark Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook, the physicist Willian Shockley founded Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Mountain View, California. That was after he quit Bell Labs on the East Coast, where his team, which included fellow physicists John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, discovered the transistor effect. They unveiled their discovery in 1947, and it changed the world.
Climate change is fueling devastating wildfires in California, and in some cases, low-wage immigrant workers are cleaning up after them. They sweep ash out of houses and strip debris from burned buildings.
Many of these workers are involved in “second responder” work and clean and rebuild communities after wildfires have burned through them. But advocates say some workers have been unofficial “first responder” to some of the state’s most historic disasters.
In October 2019, a stretch of dry weather and strong winds sparked dozens of wildfires across California, killing three people and destroying hundreds of homes. For the low-wage immigrants who work in those homes, fire season brings its own dangers.
Housekeepers and gardeners lose jobs they rely on, and some workers are recruited for new jobs that could jeopardize their health. This month, domestic workers are fighting for new legislation that could change that.
In 1611, Nur Jahan was 34, widowed, and a single mother when she married the Mughal emperor. She rose to power in India, but years later story faded from people’s memories. Farah Yasmeen Shaikh is telling her legacy in the show "The Forgotten Empress."
See "The Forgotten Empress" this weekend at the Hammer Theater on the campus of San Jose State University, at 7:30 p.m. The show will also run at Z Space in San Francisco on March 5 and 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Jaimel Hemphill’s comic book hobby grew into a passion. He and his friends launched National Press Comics, a publishing company in Oakland with diverse characters and genres. He stopped by to talk comics and wound up sharing a funny wrestling story.
PFAS is a man-made superchemical used to make carpets stain-resistant and pans nonstick, but it’s toxic to human health. It’s also turning up in drinking water supplies nationwide. Wherever people test for it, it seems to show up, and California’s just beginning to test, thanks to a new state law.
Once upon a time in Gold Rush-era San Francisco, a businessman amassed a fortune, then lost it all and went insane. His next move? He declared himself Emperor of the United States. This is his story.
“I got into sneakers when I was 15 years old. Now I’m 32,” Elias says. “Has it become too corporate? Not really. In the end, people are still going to want those shoes.”
You may not have heard of the chemical PFAS, but you probably touched it at some point today. It’s a man-made chemical in tons of products in our homes, like nonstick pans and food packaging. But it’s toxic. And in at least one preschool in Berkeley, it’s in the carpets.
In a new story from The Spiritual Edge, we meet two Catholic nuns who, after decades of work with immigrant detainees, still aren’t slowing down.
Tune into KALW 91.7 FM Monday-Thursday at 5 p.m. or listen on-demand wherever you get your podcasts.
Is City College Still For Everybody? Abrupt Class Cuts Spark SF Debate by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
Last January, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration can begin implementing its expanded “public charge” rule, which could systematically deny green cards to low-income immigrants.
The policy is going into effect on February 24, and it’s made some immigrant families reluctant to use public benefits like food stamps or Medicaid.
Sara Moore gives people the gift of laughter through the art of clowning. And clowning has been self-empowering for them when it comes to gender. Sara’s character is out of this world in "The Supers: A Science-Fiction Magical Realism Human Cartoon Opera."
In this edition of Bay Area Beats, we hear from Oakland musician Carina Ho. Carina studied ballet and played in bands for most of her life but never considered a serious career in the arts. A traumatic accident in 2014 changed that and set her on a brand new path.
In this story from The Spiritual Edge, we meet a Honduran Catholic priest who speaks up on behalf of his country’s most vulnerable people. His activism over the airwaves, in his writings and speeches places him in the crosshairs of a government that has killed its opponents, including this priest’s friends and colleagues.
San Francisco drag queen Heklina is ending “Mother,” the long-running weekly show that she hosts at Oasis.
She purchased and became co-owner of the SOMA nightclub back in 2015 and rebranded the space into one of the foremost performance venues in the city. It features drag performances, cabaret, and live music. Last November, however, she announced her departure from her ownership role at the club, and this weekend will be her last performance in “Mother.”
Hey Area is where we find answers to questions you ask. David Shayer wanted to know, “Why is highway 101 plastered with billboards, while highway 280, a few miles west, has no billboards? I hate billboards, I would cut them all down if I could!”
KALW's Christopher Egusa heads down the highway to find out.
When it comes to running for office, there are certain standards women have to deal with that men don’t. Hannah Ni, a senior at Presentation High School in San Jose, says young, female debaters like her face similar instances of sexism and misogyny.
San Francisco Public Works director Mohammed Nuru resigned today. Nuru is embroiled in a scandal- charged with fraud and corruption.
A 75-page federal complaint alleges that Nuru betrayed San Francisco by engaging in bribery and side deals. One of the first news outlets to cover the Nuru scandal closely from the start is Mission Local, which published an article about the ordeal in late January.
Joe Eskenazi, managing editor of Mission Local explains the extent of the alleged corruption, which includes a permit for a building on Fulton Street, a bribe to allow a chicken shop at SFO, and a tractor.
Click the play button above to listen to the full interview.
Catch up on Joe Eskenazi's reporting for Mission Local here.
In a new series from The Spiritual Edge, we hear from a former Israeli soldier who questions the violence he perpetrated towards Palestinians, and what it means to be Jewish if he’s no longer a Zionist.
From Facebook’s new privacy features, to Uber’s worker policies, the tech companies in our backyard are changing the way people around the world live every day. Rex Crum, senior business editor at the San Jose Mercury News and Bay Area News Group, gives us an update on what’s going on in Silicon Valley, and what should be on our radar.
Burning Man is known for massive, Instagram-friendly art installations that are a stark contrast to the beige, desert backdrop. There are also many smaller projects, labors of love that easily get lost. In this installment, THE INTERSECTION discovers one.
Kaiser Oakland Gives Teen Patients A Prom Night To Remember by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
Hey Area is where we find answers to questions you ask. Ben Harney wanted to know why is it called earthquake weather?
Singer and guitarist Graham Norwood put music on hold after getting married. Then a divorce inspired him to write new songs. Graham’s debut album is "Out of the Sea." In this interview he talks about love, music and being blind.
Graham Norwood’s album "Out of the Sea" is available Jan 31.
On January 1, California became the first state in the country to extend Medicaid benefits to all low-income adults, regardless of their immigration status. Over 100,000 additional Californians are eligible for health coverage under the new law, the latest piece of legislation in the state’s ongoing push for universal health coverage.
It’s a new year and that means new laws are on the books in California. And they are varied, dealing with everything from rent control, to maternity health, from police use of force, to online privacy.
It's a lot and can be confusing. That’s why CalMatters has compiled a break down of each new law, and even a playlist of one-minute explainer videos.
Tom Meschery was the first player in Golden State Warriors franchise history to have his jersey number retired. He grew up in San Francisco and played for the Warriors when the team moved to the City from Philadelphia in 1962. But it was off the court that Meschery had a second career as an accomplished poet and writer.
Hear his story in this bonus episode from KALW’s award-winning podcast series BOUNCE.
Residents at the Westwinds Mobile Home Park in San Jose started this decade off with an unsettling surprise.
Just after New Years, mobile home park management taped letters to over 700 homes, saying leases were going to expire in two years, and that there was a possibility that everyone would get evicted. Within weeks, all levels of government rushed to find solutions that would help not only this community, but other mobile home communities across the state and country.
Experts and enthusiasts discuss another year of data.
This weekend, a hundred and sixty monarch butterfly experts and enthusiasts from all over the country met in Carmel for the first-ever Western Monarch Summit, to discuss the “state of the western monarch.”
The species numbers’ have been on a downward trend since the ‘80s but last winter, monarchs in California made the news because they had a really steep decline in their population, dropping to such low numbers that scientists warned they could go extinct.
Everyone has been holding their breath to hear what the numbers are this year. There is good news and bad news.
Most of the stories that I've produced for Uncuffed have been of a serious nature, often dealing with personal issues of national interest. But this time I wanted to do a lighter, more entertaining story, about gangster arborist Jeffrey Mercado livin' that tree life.
San Francisco Unified’s graduation rate for African American students jumps to nearly 90 percent — well above the state average.
How can homeless people get the Real ID? If you have no address, you can submit a letter from any shelter, employer, non-profit, or faith-based group that vouches for you as a California resident. However, you must still show an official form of social security and identification.
New York Times San Francisco Bureau Chief Thomas Fuller spent three months reporting on the High Street homelessness encampment in Oakland. What he found were people driven to homelessness by climate catastrophes, expensive medical emergencies, and more.
Fuller has reported on dangerous living conditions across the globe and he says the conditions at this Oakland encampment are dire even compared to conditions in a developing country, like Mexico. Residents have no running water and face constant threats of the city tearing down the encampment and moving them to another location.
In 2019, the United Nations reported that an unprecedented number of people have been forced to flee their home countries. Over 70 million people are currently displaced worldwide, and the global refugee population is expected to increase in 2020.
In the Bay Area, dozens of volunteers have responded to this crisis by inviting refugees to live with them. They are part of a global, grassroots response to mass migration. In countries like Colombia, which neighbor conflict zones, volunteers are also opening their doors to those in need, often at great personal cost.
Burning Man is pagan at its core with a hellish, flaming aesthetic. It's understandable that many evangelical leaders condemn the event. But why do many devout Christians attend?And what do they do once they're there? THE INTERSECTION finds out.
"I think Jesus would have been a Burner." - Annie Dunlop, co-leader of Religious AF camp This episode picks up where party meets prayer at Burning Man. We follow Episcopal priest Brian Baker and his flock of Christians from the Religious As F#!k theme camp as they engage Burners in deep conversations about spirituality and try to heal wounds caused by the Church. We also explore the event’s Satan-infused early years.
Want to hear how the story ends? Head to theintersection.fm or subscribe to THE INTERSECTION wherever you get your podcast fix.
THE INTERSECTION looks at changing cities through physical intersections. This time we’re doing something different: The city is temporary and the intersections are conceptual. We’re heading to a remote corner of Nevada for Burning Man.
THE INTERSECTION is a co-production of David Boyer and KALW.
Jonathan Davis is the associate producer. This episode was edited by Ben Trefny. And engineered for your listening pleasure by Gabe Grabin with music from Erik Pearson.
Subscribe to THE INTERSECTION podcast here or wherever you get you audio fix. And if you want to know more about the project, head to our website.
In 2019, the UN’s Refugee Agency reported that an unprecedented number of people had been forced to flee their home countries. Over 70 million people are currently displaced worldwide, and the global refugee population is expected to increase in 2020.
When local governments fail to resettle refugees, individual citizens are opening their doors. In the Bay Area, dozens of volunteers have invited refugees and asylum seekers to live with them.
Judy Salomon and her husband, Hillel, live in a brown stucco house in the Berkeley flats. For the past year, Michael and Charlie have been living with them too.
“I call them pappa and mamma, even if they don't accept it,” Charlie says, laughing. He and Michael are drinking tea at the Salomons’ dining room table. They both asked KALW to use pseudonyms to protect their identities. The Ugandan refugee community is small, and they’re concerned their families back home could identify them.
Living ‘Under Fear And Threat’
Charlie and Michael both identify as gay, and their home country, Uganda, has some of the strictest laws against homosexuality in the world. Government officials have linked gay people to an alleged terrorist group and accused them of recruiting schoolchildren. Homosexual acts can be punishable by life in prison.
“We lived under fear and threat,” says Charlie. “[If] your son, your daughter is lesbian, or your son is gay? Get rid of him. Because the law will penalize you.”
Charlie says he was evicted several times, because his landlords were afraid they would be penalized for sheltering him. “And if you couldn’t be arrested and you were caught, there was a lot of mob justice,” he says. “We lost several of our friends through that kind of death.”
In October 2019, Ugandan ministers announced plans to re-introduce legislation in Parliament known colloquially as the “Kill the Gays” Bill. If passed, homosexual acts would be punishable by death. The law was heavily influenced by a group of American evangelical pastors, who have played a key role in funding anti-gay groups in Uganda. The government denied it was reconsidering the law after international aid organizations indirectly threatened to pull their funding.
Charlie fled Uganda in 2015. He knew it was time to leave after several of his friends were murdered because of their sexual orientation. Michael left Uganda for good when his mother caught him at home with his boyfriend.
“Her reaction was very bad,” he says. “She started slapping me. My boyfriend had run out of the house — I told him, ‘leave the house, I have to talk to my mom.’”
His mother threatened to have him arrested, or take him to a rehabilitation center that offered conversion therapy. “At that moment, I decided to run away from my house,” says Michael. He threw a few things into a backpack and left. He was seventeen years old.
‘You Can’t Go Back’
Michael fled to Nairobi, Kenya, where he met Charlie. They both achieved refugee status, and the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) eventually resettled them both in the United States.
That’s where Jewish Family and Community Services comes in. Over the past eight years, the non-profit’s East Bay branch has connected over 60 Bay Area families with refugees in need of housing.
When you walk into the dimly lit Royal Cuckoo Organ Lounge on Mission Street, you might hear the familiar voice of a man serenading the dive bar’s mostly millennial crowd. It’s soul singer Freddie Hughes, a veteran of the Bay Area music scene for more than six decades and the vocalist on several hit records from the 1960s. In this edition of Bay Area Beats, Freddie shares his story.
You can catch Freddie Hughes perform Wednesday evenings at the Royal Cuckoo Organ Lounge on 3202 Mission St in San Francisco.
At Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, it’s not the future that’s female, it’s the present. Reverend Dr. Jacqueline Thompson is the first female senior pastor in the church’s 100-year history. She talks about her vision for leadership and gender issues in the black church.
'Tis the season when we see houses bedecked in lights and hear hecka holiday songs wherever we go. One place where the sights and sounds of the season are concentrated is what’s known as Christmas Tree Lane.
It’s the 3200 block of Thompson Avenue in Alameda, where the neighbors transform their street into a magical holiday experience.
This annual tradition began in 1938 and has taken place every year since, except for a brief break during the second world war. It now attracts people from all over the world who come for an intense dose of cheer.
For 80 years, Batman has captivated the imagination of kids and adults. The mysterious vigilante who fights deadly villains with cool gadgets has evolved into a multibillion-dollar franchise.
Writer Andrew Farago chronicles it all in the book Batman: The Definitive History of The Dark Knight in Comics, Film, and Beyond.
Andrew is also the curator of San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum. He spoke with KALW’s biggest Batman fan, Jenee Darden.
For many people in the Bay Area, the holidays aren’t complete without a big meal of fresh dungeness crab. The commercial season was supposed to begin on November 15th, just in time for Thanksgiving. But this year, fishermen had to wait a month to set their traps.
Late starts have been more common in recent years. And every day of missed fishing can cost the crab industry thousands of dollars. This year, the delay is because of a big lawsuit, and big whales.
Crab season opened just a few days ago, and KALW’S Angela Johnston was down at the docks as the boats came in.
The H-1B is one of the most commonly-used work visas in the United States, and the Trump Administration is denying them at a record rate. Data reporter Sinduja Rangarajan spent eight months investigating why.
For those of us in prison, the holiday season can be a painful time. Many of us miss our families and our traditions. But it’s also a time when we get together with food and acts of kindness.
This is the last episode of our first season of Uncuffed. For the finale, we’re coming together for the holidays. You’ll hear from the guys at both Solano and San Quentin, and find out how we all get through this time of the year.
Thanks for listening to Season 1. Stay tuned for more! Subscribe to “Uncuffed” in podcast players, get on our email list at WeAreUncuffed.org and follow us on social media @WeAreUncuffed.
Happy holidays.
Federal law guarantees public school students experiencing homeless a host of rights, to bring them educational stability. But a recent state audit found poor compliance and oversight across California.
From Greta Thunberg to Youth vs. Apocalypse, young people around the world are fighting climate change. But in Berkeley, where students have been pushing environmental goals for decades, logistical realities are making sustainable solutions difficult.
Carly Bond is a songwriter and guitar player. Her band, Meernaa, released their first full-length record this summer titled Heart Hunger. She began writing songs for it after she discovered a family secret. Through processing her family’s history, she’s crafted a synth-driven, dreamy landscape.
"I found out that my great-great-grandmother was a poet. And I found her book for sale on the internet. And I bought it. It was this really strange purchase"
Oakland city officials estimate that more than 4,000 people are homeless. Activists are demanding the city do more immediately. A group called Moms 4 Housing are taking a stand by occupying a vacant home in West Oakland.
"This came out of absolute desperation. These are the times we're living in where your only option is to occupy a house or live with your children on the street." - Dominique Walker, Moms 4 Housing
Last month, more than 100 people crowded into a library for a public meeting in Pinole, a tiny city North East of Richmond. They were there to fight a proposal to dredge the shipping canal in the Bay.
It would allow bigger, heavier tankers to enter the Golden Gate and bring their supplies to the Bay’s oil refineries. It’s a move that oil companies say will be more environmentally friendly, but environmentalists think it’s a huge, deep step in the wrong direction.
The Bay actually isn't that deep in certain places. The average depth is only 12-15 feet -- kind of like one big swimming pool! And the shipping channel in the Carquinez Strait where most of those ships pass isn’t that much deeper, so there’s not much room to spare. Especially if you have a full load of oil.
Burning Man is guided by the so-called "10 Principles," one of which is radical inclusion. What does that mean for people with disabilities? Especially at an event that spans seven-square miles of cracked desert, and the most common form of transit is biking.
Each season, THE INTERSECTION podcast looks at a changing neighborhood or city through a physical intersection — you know, a street corner. This season the city is temporary and the intersections are conceptual. Because we are going to Burning Man.
A little history. Over the last 30-plus years the event has grown from a few dozen people on San Francisco’s Baker Beach to upwards of 80 thousand in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert and now spans nearly seven square miles of dry cracked land — the size of Manhattan below 42nd Street.
This episode in our ongoing series looks at where will meets way at Burning Man. And how a community bands together to make their city more accessible.
If you’ve been thinking about going to Burning Man and weren’t sure how to do it, check out Mobility Camp’s website. They’re always looking for new campmates of all abilities — especially ones with big trucks.
THE INTERSECTION is a co-production of David Boyer and KALW. Jonathan Davis is the associate producer. This episode was edited by Lisa Morehouse. And engineered for your listening pleasure by Gabe Grabin with music from Erik Pearson and Blue Dot Sessions.
Don't miss an episode: Head to theintersection.fm or subscribe to THE INTERSECTION wherever you get your podcast fix.
From the project Uncuffed:
The Reed brothers, Jesse and Greg, came to prison as crime partners. Jesse was the shooter and his little brother Greg was just there to rob. They both got life sentences, with the opportunity to parole.
Under California’s old “felony murder rule,” if someone died while you were committing a felony, such as a robbery, you were guilty of murder. This year, a law called SB 1437 went into effect. It restricts the felony murder rule to only apply to those who had an intent to kill. Now, people like Greg can be resentenced, and are walking free.
Hear more stories like this by subscribing to Uncuffed in podcast players: WeAreUncuffed.org
KALW’s radio training program in California prisons is supported by the California Arts Council, with funding from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The producers fact-check content to the best of their ability. All content is approved by a prison information officer.
Sometimes it may feel like our society lacks empathy for other points of view, especially in politics, but also when we talk about race, gender, or even sports — we can discount the feelings and experiences of people who are different.
Though it seems that's just the way society is, there may be a solution. Teaching empathy. Jamil Zaki heads Stanford's Social Neuroscience Labratory and has been studying empathy. His research shows that, contrary to prior thinking, empathy is not a fixed trait. It's a skill we can learn. He writes about it in his new book "The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World."
Every 15 hours, someone is taken to the San Francisco General Hospital after being hit by a car. That’s according to San Francisco Chronicle Reporter Heather Knight.
If you live in West Oakland, you’re more likely to visit the emergency room for a respiratory illness than anywhere else in the Bay Area. The culprit is diesel pollution, and heavy-duty trucks are a big part of the problem. Now, truckers like Bill Aboudi are going to be part of the solution.
The Trump Administration is expanding its Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), a policy that says asylum seekers at the US-Mexican border must remain in Mexico while they wait for their hearings.
As a result of this policy, tens of thousands of asylum seekers in makeshift camps in Mexico. Human rights advocates say these camps are unsanitary and dangerous, and they hope that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will stop this policy in its tracks. The San Francisco-based court is expected to rule on whether or not Remain in Mexico is constitutional, and they could block the policy with an injunction until further notice.
It’s been 40 years since a landmark legal ruling led to a statewide ban on the IQ testing of black students for purposes of placement in special ed. Now, the lead plaintiff in that case, known as “Larry P,” is getting a second chance at an education.
Mimi Lok is the executive director of the human-rights organization Voice of Witness, whose mission is to amplify unheard voices. Mimi carries the passion over her day job over to the world she imagines.
In her short story collection, "Last of her Name," she takes readers on a diasporic journey from the U.K. and Hong Kong to California — all through the lives of Chinese female characters. Although they may be considered outsiders for various reasons, Mimi shows the complexity of these women who range from mysterious to daring.
n 2012, Eric "Maserati-E" Abercrombie picked up the guitar and has been performing ever since. Today, the producers talk about the music that helped them through some of the most difficult moments of their life, and what tools they use to channel and understand their own pain.
This past August, he was released, at age 25. Now, he’s performing regularly.
The interview with Maserati-E was first aired on June 24, 2019 with the headline “Maserati E plays music to cope with his brother’s death.”
Subscribe to Uncuffed in podcast players. Learn more at WeAreUncuffed.org.
KALW’s radio training program in California prisons is supported by the California Arts Council, with funding from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The producers fact-check content to the best of their ability. All content is approved by a prison information officer.
Drug overdoses spiked in San Francisco last year, totaling 259 in 2018. At the same time, drug-related arrests and citations in the Tenderloin and around mid-market decreased. Some residents say open-air drug dealing has gotten worse there. A new task force aims to change that.
This week, families across the country will sit down for a Thanksgiving dinner made up of, well, a lot of the same dishes. But, the exact recipes can be different and varied. San Francisco chef Trace Des Jardins draws inspiration from her multicultural childhood in the Central Valley for a fest that will make your mouth water.
San Quentin Sweat Lodge Brings Together Activism And Community For Incarcerated Native Americans by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
There are about a hundred people in San Quentin state prison who identify as Native American. One of those people is Eldridge Leigh Yazzie. He's Navajo and has been incarcerated for 27 years. Native Americans like Yazzie have the right to practice their spirituality in prison. But sometimes the rules of prison conflict with their spiritual practices.
Last month, California became the first state in the nation to abolish private prisons. Lawmakers include immigration detention centers in their bill — most of those are run by private companies. But Immigration and Customs Enforcement is fighting back.
Chesa Boudin was elected San Francisco District Attorney earlier this month. But before taking that job, he was a public defender, and he learned how damaging it can be when people aren’t assigned lawyers right away. He founded the Pretrial Release Unit to bring public defenders to people faster.
Magician Namigoro Sumidagawa brought Japanese magic shows to America in 1866, making the artform popular. Then western magicians appropriated his act. Actor David Hirata tells this story through monologue and magic in "A Box Without a Bottom: Soko-Nashi Bako."
Lots of new affordable housing is planned in San José but will take five to 10 years to build. So San José is launching a project called Bridge Housing Communities. It will temporarily house people in cabins and help them find a permanent place to live.
California Assembly Bill 2176 became law three years ago, and San José declared a “shelter crisis.” This allowed the city to suspend some building codes and build “emergency sleeping cabins” — essentially, tiny houses — as interim, or “bridge” housing.
A year later, the City Council discussed the criteria for sites for this new type of temporary housing, and that’s when they got some feedback from the public.
“Tiny house communal sites do not belong adjacent to established neighborhoods,” says one San José resident.
The conversation before the City Council continued a few months later. While there were still some objections, there was also more support, such as these words from Sandra Solner.
“I’m a homeowner, I pay taxes, and I’m asking you to vote ‘yes.’ We cannot go on with homeless people living on our streets like we’re a third-world country.”
Sabrina McFarland grew up in Visitacion Valley. She lived in a neighborhood where violence was a part of daily life. When she was just six, she started going to the neighborhood Boys & Girls Club.
"My favorite thing was definitely dance. I still dance to this day. It really gave me a way to tell my story through movement. You know, sometimes it can be hard to speak your truth through words." Over the years, it would become her refuge — her home away from home, where she’d play, study, and learn life skills. She would eventually start mentoring and volunteering there, and then she went on the be named National Youth of the Year, an award that comes with a one hundred thousand dollar college scholarship. Sabrina spoke about her journey and where she is now.
Facebook has been highly criticized for what it allows on its platform. Erroneous political ads and also what civil rights groups are calling violence-inciting hate speech.
For nearly 20 years DJ Lamont has been teaching spinning skills through his business Fingersnaps Media Arts. But he’s also known for getting the party started around the Bay Area.
This past spring, Alma Vasquez Garcia and her son Angel were killed by a car while crossing the street in East Oakland. Family Laundry honored the victims in a ceremony where City of Oakland representatives made a big announcement.
Aarti Shahani is NPR’s tech reporter. You may have heard her stories over the years from Silicon Valley on everything from Facebook privacy policies, to H1-B visas, to the latest iPhone features and apps. But in her new memoir, Here We Are, she doesn’t tell tech stories, she tells the story of her immigrant Indian family, that includes strife, tests of patriotism, and even the criminal justice system.
This episode of THE INTERSECTION AT BURNING MAN begins where art meets motion, and making meets bureaucracy. The event hasn’t officially started but there’s plenty going on: Camps are being set up, art is being erected and a family of first-time art car makers is hustling to finish up and try to pass the inspection. But they can’t actually drive it until it’s approved by the DMV. As in the Department of Mutant Vehicles.
Want to hear how the story ends? Head to theintersection.fm or subscribe to THE INTERSECTION wherever you get your podcast fix.
San Francisco’s next top cop, Chesa Boudin, made his experience as a public defender and the son of incarcerated radicals the center of his campaign. And he told voters he would end racial disparities in the city’s criminal justice system.
Boudin has said he will immediately end money bail in his office, and the practice of adding extra punishments for people found to be in gangs. It’s not yet clear when he will start the job.
Carolina De Robertis traveled to her family’s country Uruguay and learned about the nation’s queer history. The trip inspired her latest book "Cantoras," about five lesbians living during a dictatorship who escape to a rustic beach that becomes their sanctuary.
You can meet Carolina De Robertis on Wed Nov. 13 at the San Francisco Public Library’s main branch.
On Christmas Eve in 1975, Vicki Hennesy worked her first shift inside a San Francisco jail. Decades later, she went on to be elected San Francisco’s first female sheriff.
Before Hennessy was elected in 2015, the department was rocked by scandals. Two inmates had escaped, and deputies were accused of forcing inmates to take part in gladiator-style fights. Hennesy ran to bring stability and trust back to the office. As sheriff, she introduced policies to make conditions safer for transgender inmates. She wiped out costs people had to pay for electronic monitoring and launched a policy to make phone calls free for people behind bars.
In 2000, San Francisco passed what was considered a highly progressive public finance system for city elections. But since that time, analysts say that San Francisco has fallen far behind other major U.S. cities.
Supervisor Gordon Mar represents San Francisco’s District 4 in the Sunset. In September, the Board of Supervisors passed his “Public Financing 2.0” legislation, which will go into effect in January 2020. The new law will dramatically increase the amount of public funding accessible to candidates.
Cleo Cloman grew up in a two-parent household and had dreams of playing pro baseball. After a rocky relationship with his father, he lost his passion for the sport and found a new pursuit: the streets. He was convicted of murder, and spent over two decades behind bars. This is the story of how he rediscovered his love of baseball, and his father.
Cleo Cloman was released on May 19, 2017. He returned to his home in Los Angeles California.
KALW’s radio training program at San Quentin State Prison is supported by the California Arts Council, with funding from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The producers fact-check content to the best of their ability. All content is approved by a prison information officer.
Subscribe to Uncuffed in podcast players. Learn more at WeAreUncuffed.org.
California is getting an energy czar. That’s according to Governor Gavin Newsom, who announced a big re-shaping of the utility company PG&E in response to the state’s ongoing wildfire crisis.
Many experts believe that the recent disasters represent a new era — one in which major wildfires that threaten people and their homes are a regular fixture in our lives. A changing environment may require a new set of responses from our communities and our government.
Chris Field is director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. He talks about how the scientific community is thinking about wildfires.
There’s a saying that “a woman’s work is never done.” Studies show that women put 11 more hours weekly into unpaid labor than men. Artist Sawyer Rose depicts this inequality through large sculptures in her exhibit Counting the Hours.
"We will have happier families and communities if we recognize all the different ways people are working and women are working."
With Hallow’s Eve just around the corner, it's time to bring out the ghosts and ghouls that make the celebration fun. But drag performer, Hollow Eve, takes it a step further and leaves a crowd at the edge of their seat. Hollow pushes the limits of what their body can do.
The entertainment startup Legion M is taking fan power to another level and giving them the opportunity to financially invest in film, TV and digital projects. The founders are based in Emeryville, and making big changes in Hollywood.
THE INTERSECTION looks at changing cities through physical intersections. This time we’re doing something different: The city is temporary and the intersections are conceptual. We’re going to a remote corner of Nevada for Burning Man.
Next Tuesday, San Franciscans will vote for a mayor. Just like they did last year. Ever since Mayor Ed Lee unexpectedly passed away in December of 2017, the city’s top position has mostly been held by London Breed.
As president of the board of supervisors, she became acting mayor after Lee died. Then, a month later, she was deposed by the board, who said the position would give her an unfair advantage in the next election.
Last July, she fought a hotly contested race against Mark Leno and Jane Kim, and she won.
Now, after just over a year in office, she’s running again. Except, the candidates competing against Mayor Breed this time around have little name recognition. They’ve never held elected office in San Francisco. So the mayor isn’t campaigning very hard. We’ve been trying to interview her for a month, but her staff said they couldn’t find time for a conversation before election day. So, instead, we’re going to discuss what Breed has and hasn’t done in her time as mayor of San Francisco.
Content warning: this story contains descriptions of violence and abuse.
From the project Uncuffed:
In my time in prison I have noticed that a lot of the men around me are incarcerated for some form of domestic violence. Floyd Henley is one of those men. Throughout his stay, he has not only attempted to change himself, but has changed the lives of many of the people around him.
Domestic violence is something we rarely used to talk about. What happened behind closed doors, stayed behind closed doors. In Floyd’s class, men talk about the roots of their violent behavior.
Hear more stories like this by subscribing to Uncuffed in podcast players: www.WeAreUncuffed.org
KALW’s radio training program in California prisons is supported by the California Arts Council, with funding from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The producers fact-check content to the best of their ability. All content is approved by a prison information officer.
Smartphones are making the wilderness easier to access, but no longer a place to escape and unplug.
The Big Lift, an original KALW documentary, follows Carver Elementary School’s family liaison over the course of a year as she works to support struggling parents and guardians — so their kids can thrive in the classroom.
Paul Ybarra Robertson joined the Marine Corps as a teenager. Later in life, he spent his time helping guide teenagers, as Dean of Students at San Francisco’s Galileo High School.
Now, he says he can draw upon those and other experiences to lead San Francisco as its next mayor.
Ethnic Maya from Central America are escaping gang-related violence and food insecurity and building new communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Last December in Sudan, people began a revolt against the brutal 30-year rule of dictator Omar al-Bashir.
The world saw the protests live, many go ‘blue for Sudan’ on their social media feeds. Sudanese around the world protested. In the Bay Area, there were protests in San Francisco and weekly rallies at Oakland’s Lake Merritt.
One of the first people to call for change in Sudan back in December is a 30-year-old doctor named Mohamed Naji Al Assam. He co-founded a body called the Sudanese Professionals Association. They started organizing protests, got jailed and beaten, but continued mobilizing masses through social media until the regime finally fell in April.
Dr. Al Assam recently visited the Bay Area to meet with local Sudanese about how they can help build up the country while living thousands of miles away. He joined me in studio.
Ellen Lee Zhou is one of five candidates running to unseat the San Francisco’s current mayor. She’s got a Master’s Degree in social work from San Francisco State, and has worked as a behavioral health clinician.
She’s served as a union steward for San Francisco government employees and served two terms as a Civil Grand Jury member. This is her second run for mayor. While all of the candidates in the mayoral race are running without official party affiliation, Ellen Lee Zhou rails against the “mono-state.” That’s what she calls the Democratic Party, which is prominent in San Francisco politics.
We hear a lot about bad air quality in California. And, it’s hard to know what to do about it. But thanks to a 2017 law, two Bay Area communities known for their air pollution are helping set their own air quality policies. But what does putting air pollution in the hands of the people really look like?
On a Wednesday night in September, the Richmond Civic Center auditorium is packed. Thirty-two people crowd around tables in the center of the room. Doctors sit next NAACP members who sit next to oil industry representatives. This is the Richmond Air Quality Steering Committee, and they’re meeting tonight to make an important decision.
Lawrence Holliday, a 61-year-old basketball coach, joins other community members lining the walls to watch. He’s here because he’s sick of driving past the Chevron oil refinery.
Joel Ventresca is a long-time San Francisco city resident who’s a retired airport analyst. He’s run for public office before and bills himself as the most progressive candidate in this race.
He says he wants to make public transportation free, open up a new United Nations in the Presidio dedicated to climate change, and use renewable public power to make the city carbon-neutral within a decade.
How will he pay for it? Revenue bonds.
Wilma Pang is an opera singer and musician. She’s also unsuccessfully run for public office in San Francisco several times. And now she’s running to be the city’s next mayor.
She says she’s a fierce advocate for Chinatown musicians, and she wants to improve the city’s tourism industry by allowing artists to perform without worrying about fines.
A big data project led by Stanford University's Sean Reardon aims to crack the code on our nation’s stubborn student achievement gaps by mapping race, ethnicity, poverty and academic test scores.
San Francisco’s public housing is in the middle of a huge transition. In 2007, the city rolled a plan to redevelop four of the city’s public housing sites in phases to avoid displacing any residents. Now, residents in Potrero Hill are in the first phase.
Since 1989, Native American tribes have hosted annual canoe journeys to celebrate ancestral maritime culture and connect with the water. That tradition came to the San Francisco Bay this week. Indigenous tribes paddled on canoes to remember both the history of the earth, and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the occupation of Alcatraz Island.
The Onyx is a diverse collective of six black female artists, based in Oakland, who have audiences grooving to a range of sounds from R&B and rock to Latin music. In this interview, singer Dane’elle Emerson and drummer Genesis Valentine talk about empowering black women through music.
Nancy Tung is a longtime prosecutor running to be San Francisco’s next district attorney. She says San Francisco prosecutors need a leader who can make hard choices that aren’t necessarily politically popular.
She once worked as a prosecutor in the city, before transferring to Alameda County’s District Attorney’s office. She wants to improve public safety by cracking down on open-air drug dealing, and car break ins. She does not want to eliminate money bail or close down juvenile hall. Tung came into the studios to talk about how she would do things differently.
Chesa Boudin is running to be San Francisco’s next District Attorney. Both of his parents were arrested when he was just fourteen months old. That began a lifetime of involvement in the justice system — first as a young person visiting his parents in prison, then as a public defender and advocate for reform.
Meet a maverick fire chief in the Sierra Nevada who says California’s forests are actually not having enough fire, or, the right kind of fires.
The Innovate for Africa Conference connects African entrepreneurs and innovators to Silicon Valley to create partnerships that can help the continent grow its already booming tech field. Cities like Lagos, Nigeria and Nairobi, Kenya have rapidly growing tech sectors.
If you take BART often, your ride has probably been interrupted by folks playing instruments, rapping, dancing — or all of the above. This month, BART’s Board of Directors will be considering a ban on aggressive panhandling, which might effectively put an end to busking on board.
The race for San Francisco’s District Attorney is proving to be one of the city’s most surprising races in recent memory. A few days before early voting opened this week, Mayor Breed appointed Suzy Loftus as interim DA.
From the series Uncuffed:
Kenny Gage is a music teacher I’ve known on these prison yards since the ‘90s. White-haired and unassuming, he gives his knowledge and experience of music freely. Kind of hard to believe he’ll die in prison because of a life-without-parole sentence.
Early voters in the San Francisco headed to the polls today. They’ll have the chance to choose the city’s next district attorney.
One of the candidates is Deputy State Attorney General and former president of the San Francisco juvenile probation commission Leif Dautch.
If elected, Dautch plans to launch an Environmental Justice Unit in the prosecutor’s office, and set up an online system for victims of sexual assault to track whether rape kits have been tested. He also wants to address the city’s mental health crisis by turning San Francisco’s juvenile hall into a mental health justice center.
President Trump’s had both strong rhetoric and policies on immigration during his presidency. One way that immigrants’ lives are impacted is through remittances — money sent from the U.S. to other countries.
Who would have thought straws could be so controversial? Alternatives to plastic straws are everywhere. Which ones suck, and which ones fail to suck? And don’t we have much larger environmental problems to solve?
This legislative session, California Governor Gavin Newsom had dozens of bills on his desk to consider signing into law. And the range of issues was wide, from police use of force, to water use, from vaccine exemptions to microchip implants in pets. Some he vetoed, others he signed.
San Francisco Chronicle reporter Dustin Gardiner reports on the State Capitol. He talks about some of the big bills he’s been covering, and whether they were signed by the governor.
San Francisco’s Tall Buildings Safety Strategy puts forth 16 key recommendations that could improve the city’s readiness for a major earthquake. A recent talk at the San Francisco nonprofit SPUR explored what those suggestions are and how to make them happen.
Like many people in prison, Chris Turgeon is complicated. He plays guitar and saxophone. He sings like an angel. And he’s also an alleged cult leader.
Subscribe to the Uncuffed podcast: uncuffedpodcast.org
Coastal towns all have to grapple with sea-level rise. Commercial infrastructures like marine harbors are also causing massive sand depletion. One local in Half Moon Bay has fought for decades to save their local surf spot, Surfers Beach.
In East Oakland, the Raiders and A’s are planning to go in different directions, and the Dubs have bounced to the city. So, what’s next for the Oakland Arena? What happens when the big three teams in the town are reduced to only one?
"We've lost big teams, but Oakland knows how to keep things moving and reinvent itself, even in sports."
This Hey Area question comes from three members of the East Oakland Collective, a group working for positive change in deep East Oakland. They wanted to know: What is the impact of the history of the Black Panthers in East Oakland?
Hey Area is an audience engagement project where you ask the questions and our reporters find the answers. This one was made in collaboration with Oakland Voices, an award-winning community journalism project that trains East Bay residents to tell stories about their neighborhoods.
If you haven’t been to Outside Lands, the music festival held each August in Golden Gate Park, here’s the rundown. The youth, with way better fashion taste than you, are paying 10 dollars for boba tea. Their poor Instagram friends … are hella jealous.
But if you’re over 21, you can go where the big kids are, into the woods, where a sweet, familiar smell awaits.
Brendon Chan’s dancing talents have taken him to many countries. Now, he’s back home in San Francisco performing in the hit musical Hamilton. Brendon spoke to KALW’s Jenee Darden about what it took to reach this point of his career.
Millions of young people across the world walked out of class last Friday and took to the streets in what some are calling the largest climate protest in world history.
In San Francisco, they gathered at Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s office and flooded down Market Street, chanting, banging drums and calling for action.
Content warning: this audio contains descriptions of childhood sexual abuse.
From the series Uncuffed: Only after coming to prison did Javier Wesson and Tyrone Binkley see their childhood experiences for what they were: sexual abuse at the hands of family members.
Whenever sexual abuse and trauma happens to young boys — either at the hands of trusted family members or of strangers – there seems to be an automatic minimization and sometimes even praise of the despicable events.
Tyrone and Javier share with me what happened to them as children and how it has impacted their lives.
Subscribe to the Uncuffed podcast at uncuffedpodcast.org.
KALW’s radio training program in California prisons is supported by the California Arts Council, with funding from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The producers fact-check content to the best of their ability. All content is approved by a prison information officer.
Email KALW's Uncuffed editors.
Write to the Uncuffed producers at Solano State Prison:
Uncuffed Level 3 Education / Media Lab P. O. Box 4000 Vacaville, CA 95696-4000
Governor Gavin Newsom, last week, signed AB5: that’s legislation that transforms the way workers are identified and get paid in California.
AB5 came out of a state supreme court ruling concerning a courier company called Dynamex. And it’s largely seen as a response to the gig economy — people driving for companies like Uber, Lyft or DoorDash who have been identified as independent contractors. That means don’t get health benefits and other rights of employment. But the law reaches into pretty much every aspect of the working world — because there are freelancers in so many industries.
Johana Bhuiyan covers the tech industry with a focus on accountability for the LA Times. She tells us how AB5 will affect pretty much all of us.
The battle over the right to access People’s Park in Berkeley began 50 years ago, but it never really ended. Now, UC Berkeley plans to develop the space into housing for students as well as homeless people.
Can your golden years truly be golden? Josh Kornbluth thinks so, but he says it starts with how you think about aging. The actor explains this in the video “Age without Ageism.” It’s part of his web series Citizen Brain.
Josh’s web series Citizen Brain is part of a project with the UCSF Memory and Aging Center. You can see his video Age Without Ageism followed by a Q&A with him on Friday 9/20 at New People Cinema in San Francisco, during the Legacy Film Festival on Aging.
Charting Nursing Care Facility Problems ... And Solutions by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
Nursing Care Crunch Puts The Onus On Patients To Expose Problems by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
Chinatown’s political powerhouse Rose Pak has been dead for three years, but that hasn’t stopped her from causing controversy. San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency named the new Muni station in Chinatown after her but not everyone is behind the decision.
To understand why the name of a Muni Station could cause so much trouble, you need to understand Rose Pak.
Advocates warn that people who need nursing care may increasingly be sent far away from San Francisco in a developing shortage of affordable nursing home beds linked in part to the cost of doing business and the cost of living in the Bay Area.
This story is the first in a series on accessing nursing home care in California. It was produced as part of the USC Center for Health Journalism’s California Fellowship.
Deondre Hudson always wanted to be like Superman. In prison, he got his wish. He leads a group of men who follow the teachings of Superman and the mythology of the planet Krypton.
Subscribe to the Uncuffed podcast: uncuffedpodcast.org
KALW’s radio training program in California prisons is supported by the California Arts Council, with funding from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The producers fact-check content to the best of their ability. All content is approved by a prison information officer.
Theo Aytchan Williams was walking through Oakland when he heard African drumming. The beat stayed in his and hasn’t left. Now he’s sharing his love for music and dance as founder of Samba Funk.
The State Attorney General recently came to Marin County to announce the first settlement to desegregate a California school in five decades. Meanwhile, 65 years after Brown v. Board of Education, segregation is on the rise nationwide.
Bay Area Tech Companies Face Pushback For Contracting With ICE by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
When Sergio De La Torre first moved to San Francisco, he was struck by the variety of colors that dressed the city’s homes. In his neighborhood, houses were painted with every color of the spectrum. Today, though, one color is taking over the rest: Gray.
Intentional Homeless Community Hopes Solar Panels Will Shield Them From Removal by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
African Americans are disproportionately arrested and prosecuted in San Francisco. District Attorney George Gascón is turning to artificial intelligence to keep bias from influencing prosecutors. But how much of a difference can this new tool actually make?
Sanyika Shakur, formerly known as “Monster” Kody Scott, is getting out of prison. While incarcerated in 1993, he published “Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member,” which made him famous.
A former member of the Eight Tray Crips gang, Shakur has been in and out of confinement since he was 14. Now, he says he is a “Monster” no more.
Uncuffed is produced by men at Solano State Prison. Learn more about them here.
KALW’s radio training program at Solano State Prison is supported by the California Arts Council, with funding from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The producers fact-check content to the best of their ability. All content is approved by a prison information officer.
Francis Lam grew up in New Jersey to Chinese immigrant parents who dreamed of him becoming a dentist or lawyer. When he said he wanted to be a writer, well, they weren’t exactly thrilled. But then they saw that first byline and they were convinced.
Francis went on to become a multiple James Beard Award Winning food writer and host of the popular food and culture show The Splendid Table.
Last month, we aired a story about the future of ranching in Point Reyes National Seashore. The Park Service finally released its draft plan. And the public has until September 23rd to comment.
Contra Costa County jail officials are investigating a recent in custody death at the Martinez Detention Facility earlier this month. That inmate is the third person to die inside the jail so far this year.
Jackie Alarcon grew up in the Mission in the 1970s and '80s. As a teenager, she started working with youth as a tutor. So, it’s no real surprise that today, she helps students teach each other at Galileo High School as a Peer Resource Instructor.
Proposed Development In Alameda Has Residents Conflicted by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
For over thirty years, history teacher Robert Roth worked throughout the San Francisco Unified School District. The native of Queens, New York began his career in teaching after years of activism, which included being part of the radical student group the Weather Underground.
Roth retired from teaching in the classroom at the end of the 2018-19 school year, but he is continuing to mentor and support new teachers as an instructional coach at Mission High School. We spent a day at Mission to catch Mr. Roth in action one last time before he retired.
Tammy L. Hall’s feet could barely touch the floor when she sat on a piano bench at four years old. But when she tapped those keys, her family knew she was born to be a musician.
She even started earning paid gigs in elementary school. Her talent earned her accolades in her hometown of Dallas, Texas. But she left the south for Oakland’s Mills College in the late '70s. Now audiences in the Bay Area and abroad move and grove to her sounds when she’s on stage. Here she talks about the high and low notes of her music career.
Life experience prepared Jean Osbay-Bell her for a second career as a counselor at Phillip and Sala Burton High School. Bell spent twenty-five years as a flight attendant while also working in the San Francisco Unified School District.
She’s worn plenty of hats over the years, including stints as an assistant principal, dean, and paraprofessional — but it’s the things that can’t be taught in a textbook that has made her so beloved by the students at Burton.
Marcia Grefsrud, an environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, is out at a conservation site for some local endangered species, like the California Tiger Salamander. They’re small, brown amphibians with bright yellow spots. But she doesn’t see any here today.
Willie Woods lives for football. It runs in the family. His great uncle even played in the first Super Bowl. Willie's love of football took him all the way to the Greenbay Packers training camp. Now incarcerated, he lives out his dreams through the prison’s flag football team.
Longtime Hunters Point resident Jeanine Kennard is better known by her students as Miss Princess. She’s been working at Bret Harte Elementary School for twenty-five years, starting when her own children were students there.
In the first installment of our new series "It Takes a School," meet Zack Rollins of Buena Vista Horace Mann. For more than thirty years, the longtime security guard has greeted students every morning.
In classrooms nationwide, students are learning to pay attention to the present moment. Focus on their breathing. Notice if they’re bored. And consider what that feels like in the body. One San Francisco volunteer walks kids through mindfulness practice.
DJ Cecil loved spending his childhood days in Sacramento, listening to all sorts of music from jazz and hip-hop to gospel. Once his father became a minister, he wasn’t always allowed to listen to secular music. But after moving to Santa Cruz for college, he developed a passion for DJing.
Now he’s based in Oakland, spinning sounds on dance floors from the Bay Area to overseas. DJ Cecil tells us how he found his personal freedom at the turntable.
San Francisco and Santa Clara counties became the first in the nation last week to sue the Trump Administration over its controversial "public charge" rule.
Under this new policy, immigrants who are legally in the United States could be denied green cards if they use food stamps, Medi-Cal or housing assistance programs. Local politicians argue the policy is racially motivated, punishes low-income immigrants and could undermine immigrants' health.
The Radical History of the Murals at George Washington High School by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
Roderick Hall got a life sentence for killing his brother. He says he only did it to save the life of someone else he loved just as much. Uncuffed is produced by men at Solano State Prison.
KALW’s radio training program at Solano State Prison is supported by the California Arts Council, with funding from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The producer's fact-check content to the best of their ability. All content is approved by a prison information officer.
In this edition of Bay Area Beats, original band member David Bustamante tells the story of Dakila's return to the stage after 40 years.
In the late 1960s and early 70s, a new sound started to emerge from the streets of San Francisco’s Mission District that would come to be known as Latin Rock. Dakila was one of the bands on that scene. They started out playing Santana covers and went on to become one of the first Filipino-American groups to land a major record deal. Their 1972 debut album would be the band’s only release, but in the years since, they’ve developed a cult following.
A statewide story about L.A.’s water use, Bay Area’s trash, and whole lot of gulls.
Mark Bowers does not claim to be a gull expert, but he does know that you’re not supposed to call them ‘seagulls.’
“My mom was a birder and she said, ‘Mark, there is no such thing as a ‘seagull,’’ Bowers says. She took him to Half Moon Bay and pointed out to the different species of gulls. “I didn't retain any of it except for the fact that they're different shapes and sizes and colors.”
Bowers manages the solid waste program for the City of Sunnyvale. He’s a soft-spoken man only a month away from retiring after decades in this business. He’s taking me on a tour of the transfer station… and its gulls. A few dozen sit on the roof edge just outside the building, where trash and recycling are sorted and loaded into trucks.
Readers worldwide are still grieving the loss of Toni Morrison. We reflect on the late author’s legacy and speak to some of her fans at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco.
In light of the closure of the Haight Ashbury Music Center, our news team started wondering about the current state of craftsmanship in the Bay Area, and beyond. That led us to Todd Oppenheimer.
He’s a longtime San Franciscan who runs the Craftsmanship Initiative — it’s mission is to “shine a light on people dedicated to reclaiming craftsmanship’s principles of excellence, beauty, and durability as a pathway to a better world." Oppenheimer publishes articles from around the globe in a quarterly online magazine called “Craftsmanship.”
"I would like to see people return to the notion of buying stuff that's meant to last. And doing the research to see if it's built to last. That used to be the concept that guided American health and progress."
Oppenheimer is founder and executive director of The Craftsmanship Initiative. You can find Todd’s work, and that of his writers around the world, at craftsmanship.net.
The Haight Ashbury Music Center is selling off its gear. The store’s been around for some 40 years — it was opened by the brother of Janis Joplin’s bassist. And it’s been a centerpiece of the Haight Street experience ever since. So what happens when a place known for culture and counterculture loses its music?
The sounds in this story were gathered at a liquidation sale, at the Haight Ashbury Music Center. The store will soon shut down for good. But, you can still buy musical gear from owner Massoud Badakhshan. He has another music shop in Redwood City called “Gelb Music” and the Haight Ashbury Music Center will live on as an online marketplace for instruments.
Vincent Matthews has been superintendent of SFUSD for over two years now. His biggest initiative is called “PITCH” and it’s all about boosting academic outcomes for low-income kids of color. Especially African American students. Because as a group they post the lowest math and reading scores. Matthews knows what it’s like to be young and black in public schools here. He’s from San Francisco.
In this interview, Matthews drives us around his town to talk about his goals, his passions — and his past. He chose four stops: his childhood home in the Haight Ashbury, his nearby elementary school, his high school near Twin Peaks, and the Bayview school where he launched his teaching career.
A San Jose based group called Silicon Valley Debug is on a mission to get family members into the courtroom as advocates. That organizing strategy is now spreading to “participatory defense” hubs around the country.
The idea of robots taking over our jobs has been part of our popular culture for decades. And, it’s generally true. As we advance, machines increasingly do the work that people used to do.
So, at what rate is that happening and are we at risk of losing jobs en masse because of artificial intelligence? San Jose Mercury News reporter Leonardo Castaneda says in the Bay Area, maybe not.
Last week, immigrant advocates filed a complaint against Daly City claiming the police wrongfully handed over a man, Jose Armando Escobar-Lopez, to ICE, after a traffic stop. The group, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, part of the Asian Law Caucus, claims that Daly City breached SB-54, the California Values Act. The bill prohibits police from sharing immigration information with ICE. The city says it was an isolated incident and that they are reviewing their internal processes. Advocates say that’s not enough, and meanwhile Armando is still in ICE custody in Bakersfield awaiting possible deportation.
Angela Chan from the Asian Law Caucus tells us more.
I know how it feels to be whipped with a water hose, extension cord and tree branch. Like me, Joey Pagaduan uncovered his physical abuse. We both found solace in the arts.
San Francisco currently has 9,784 people living without a home.
That’s according to a “point-in-time” count last month. It’s more comprehensive than previous measurements — including not just people living on the streets and in parks, but also homeless people who are incarcerated, hospitalized, and in residential treatment facilities.
The number is rising. It’s 30 percent higher than the last “point-in-time” count made in 2017.
Oakland’s food scene has been blowing up the past few years, with an increase in new, delicious restaurants. Diane Rodriguez asked Hey Area, “Where are the good places to eat in East Oakland?”
Point Reyes National Seashore is one of the few national parks in the country that’s zoned for both agriculture and wilderness. But this uniqueness has also caused a lot of tension, between people who think farms don’t have a place in a National Park, and others who think the elk are out of place.
An East Oakland Community Comes Together To Address Mental Health by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
Exploring Sausal Creek: Ancient Redwoods And Ohlone Roots by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
Dameion Brown thought his theater career was over when he left prison. But three years later, he still performs with Marin Shakespeare Company, the group that first introduced him to acting at Solano State Prison. He also teaches with their programs in youth prisons
I found acting in prison, and Steve Drown had acted most of his life through high school and college. One actor from the desert and the other from the city.
We both rediscovered the magic of theater at Marin Shakespeare’s program at Solano Prison. We discussed our love of William Shakespeare and Samuel Beckett, who some call the modern day Shakespeare.
Oakland Tech Centers Gives Locals A Shot At Jobs In The Industry by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
The Trump Administration has announced a wave of harsh immigration policies this month, and civil rights groups are fighting back with lawsuits. One of these legal battles began Wednesday morning in San Francisco, where a case filed by the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant and other organizations could help determine the fate of thousands of asylum seekers.
KALW's Teresa Cotsirilos reports.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond took office early this year and quickly announced a top goal: closing the achievement gap for students of color. Hear him speak about his vision and why he thinks he can succeed where others have failed.
As a young girl, henna artist Sabreena Haque learned about her culture’s ancient traditions during family visits to Pakistan. She became fascinated with the intricacy of henna designs at a family wedding and saw the art form as a way to share her culture with others.
The Oakland City Council voted to ban the use of facial recognition technology last week. The software is used by police around the country to find wanted suspects and find missing children. But civil liberties advocates say the technology can lead to wrongful arrests and convictions.
When Mart Meiel was a kid, he heard his grandmother’s voice saying he would go to Alcatraz for twice as long as Al Capone. For years, he dismissed the idea. Alcatraz closed down. Then one day, Mart got a clue from an unlikely place.
"I never met my grandmother. Years later, my mom told me that she was psychic and could predict when the Russians and the Germans were shelling each other ... As soon as they got out of the house, the shell blew the house to pieces."
Uncuffed is produced by men at Solano State Prison. Learn more about them here.
KALW’s radio training program at Solano State Prison is supported by the California Arts Council, with funding from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The producers fact-check content to the best of their ability. All content is approved by a prison information officer.
Email KALW's Uncuffed editors: uncuffed@kalw.org
Write to the Uncuffed producers at Solano State Prison:
Uncuffed Level 3 Education / Media Lab P.O. Box 4000 Vacaville, CA 95696-4000
In the past decade, over 1,800 trans and gender-diverse people have been reported murdered in Latin America. Probably hundreds more were never reported.
The lucky ones who make it to the United States often have a difficult start, especially with the Trump Administration's increasing asylum restrictions. Many people stay under the radar. For 10 years Hector Romero was living as an undocumented immigrant. This is the first time he is sharing his story.
In this edition of Bay Area Beats, Enon talks about the rush and raw energy in combining hip-hop and punk.
"My lyrics can be a bit abstract. That's the beauty of it ... As far as the punk goes I think that comes from the attitude. It's rachet and wild. It's a collision of these two energies or art forms."
After winning a music competition in 2015, Oakland hip-hop artist Enon Gaines wanted to create a band that could match his energy. He met with musicians with different musical backgrounds and founded the group Unlikely Heroes. They mix hip-hop bars with punk melodies and riffs.
UC Berkeley Professor Aya de Leon lit up the Bay Area’s slam poetry scene back in the '90s. Now, she’s a novelist. Her award-winning series, "Justice Hustlers" features action-packed, erotic, feminist heist stories, where the sheroes are sex workers.
"Part of what I wanted to do was to start creating the books of the people who are like my people with the values that are like my values, but with the action and the drama."
Her characters rob wealthy misogynists and help women that have been exploited. Her latest book, "Side Chick Nation," is the first published novel that explores the aftermath of Puerto Rico’s Hurricane Maria.
Before lawmakers left on vacation last week, Governor Gavin Newsom introduced and signed into law a new plan for California wildfires. The law creates a fund to pay for damages from wildfires — specifically, ones caused by utilities.
Last year’s devastating Camp Fire was the most expensive natural disaster of 2018, totaling $16.5 billion in damages. And as we now know from a CalFire investigation, the blaze was caused by a damaged PG&E electrical tower.
Companies could dip into the fund to pay victims of future wildfires. If they are found to have acted recklessly, like they failed to maintain a power line, they’ll have to reimburse the fund.
As a child, Francisco Magaña was afraid of his mother. She would beat him, and he’s carried that pain with him for the rest of his life. In this interview, Francisco opens up about his relationship with the woman who raised him.
When we first interviewed Elizabeth Chan, she was standing in front of San Francisco’s immigration building, saying goodbye to her only son. She’s been fighting his deportation order ever since and told us how that fight has changed her.
Marcus Thompson writes about basketball for the national outlet The Athletic. In recent years he wrote biographies of Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. But before all that, Marcus grew up a Warriors’ fan in Oakland’s Sobrante Park.
The fate of a homeless encampment near a Home Depot in East Oakland was decided early Wednesday morning at an Oakland City Council meeting.
Store representatives and employees say the encampment has caused problems with public health and crime. Advocates for the homeless say they need housing. The council decided unanimously to temporarily close a street behind the hardware store, which will block off access to the encampment site.
When drinking water gets contaminated, there’s usually a polluter to blame. Most likely it’s the fault of big industry spewing out toxic fertilizers or synthetic chemicals.
But in nearly 100 communities in California, this isn’t the case. They have water that is contaminated with a naturally occurring chemical: Arsenic.
From the series California Foodways, we go to Rosebud's Cafe, where Tyx Pulskamp and his family push the boundaries of what people are ready for.
Throughout his troubled life, the guitar has been Joseph Kaufman’s constant companion. When he landed in prison, he discovered what he needed to change was with him the entire time.
After Stephon Clark was shot and killed by Sacramento police last year, state lawmakers proposed a bill to change the law around when officers can open fire. Activists rallied behind the bill. But when strictest stipulations of the bill were removed to win over law enforcement groups, some withdrew their support. Assembly Bill 392 has now passed the Senate Floor, and California's Governor is expected to sign it.
The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission or the BCDC was established in the mid-1960s to regulate development, prevent the destruction of wetlands, and ensure public access to San Francisco Bay. It's an organization that usually doesn’t get much attention, but now it’s being widely criticized for neglecting its responsibilities to protect the Bay.
Earlier this summer, the state came out with an audit criticizing the commission. Other organizations say this is old news — they’ve known about these problems for years.
The Warriors Community Foundation has donated over $10 million to nonprofits in Alameda and San Francisco counties since launching in 2012.
But will they take their charitable dollars with them when they leave Oakland for San Francisco?
SF high school students seek improved mental health services by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
Former Santana lead singer Tony Lindsay on being part of Rock history by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
Last month, the Trump Administration argued before the Ninth Circuit that the government is not required to provide toothbrushes, soap or beds to the migrant children it detains. That argument was relentlessly criticized by the three-judge panel presiding over the case, and their comments quickly viral. The heated exchange has contributed to a national outcry over the Trump Administration’s treatment of detained children and highlights the Ninth Circuit’s role in checking Trump’s immigration policies.
Mark Richards and I both served during the Vietnam War. There’s a stark difference between the way returning vets are treated then and now. But some things never change.
Uncuffed is produced by men at Solano State Prison. Learn more about them at www.kalw.org/uncuffed.
KALW’s radio training program at Solano State Prison is supported by the California Arts Council, with funding from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The producers fact-check content to the best of their ability. All content is approved by a prison information officer.
Email KALW's Uncuffed editors at uncuffed@kalw.org.
Write to the Uncuffed producers at Solano State Prison:
Uncuffed
Level 3 Education / Media Lab
P. O. Box 4000
Vacaville, CA
95696-4000
Oakland resident Tigisti Weldeab was a child when she fled the Eritrean-Ethiopian war with her mom. They lived in refugee camps for years. During that time, her mom made a living by selling injera- their traditional flatbread. A decade later, they were resettled in the US.
Tigisti went to school and landed a solid job in the energy industry. They did well- then her mother got diabetes. Tigisti knew something had to change about the way they, and their community, ate in this new land. People were making traditional stews and breads with American ingredients and something was just not working.
Today, Tigisti is a nutritionist, wellness influencer, health coach. She works with Oakland’s Eritrean community to reimagine recipes from her home with new ingredients, and in a way that keeps them healthy. I visited Tigisti in her kitchen, where she told me her story while making a lentil stew called adas.
Following the 2016 presidential election, the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus decided to take their songs and message to the south. They toured areas of the southern United States with the most discriminatory anti-LGBTQ+ laws, and the experience was turned into a new award-winning documentary called Gay Chorus Deep South. KALW’s Truc Nguyen sat down with SFGMC artistic director and conductor Dr. Tim Seelig to hear more about that experience.
With campy outfits, over-the-top makeup, and sky-high wigs, drag sells a fantasy of how to become a larger-than-life character and a big dose of escapism. But fantasy met a big dose of reality a year ago when world famous drag queen RuPaul defended his decision to not allow openly trans drag queens on his show, RuPaul’s Drag Race. AS San Francisco gets ready for its annual pride celebration, local performer Pearl Teese met with KALW’s Porfirio Rangel to talk about RuPaul and the difference between being trans and performing in drag.
The Golden State Warriors’ off-season is underway. In one of their last moves in Oakland, the team introduced its three draft picks at its convention center practice facility. But while the new players posed for the media, the vets have other things going on. In the latest episode of Bounce: the Warriors’ last season in Oakland, KALW’s Ben Trefny has more.
Johana Medina Leon’s family says she left El Salvador out of fear for her physical safety. She died of pneumonia about a month after US immigration officials took her into custody. Her family claims Medina was repeatedly denied medical treatment, and a Bay Area attorney just filed a $20 million wrongful death claim on their behalf.
Sights & Sounds is your weekly guide to the Bay Area arts scene. Henna artist and Ritual by Design owner Sabreena Haque told KALW’s Jeneé Darden about three fantastic arts events happening around the Bay this weekend.
Maimon Pony’s career as a pianist was cut short by drug addiction. In Solano State Prison, he keeps practicing and waits for his release.
Eric "Maserati E" Abercrombie is a 25-year-old guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He's been in prison for eight years. In August, he’s due to get out.
Lawmakers are considering a bill that would give inmates the option to be released during the day. The measure was introduced after Jessica St. Louis was found dead outside a BART station hours after being released from an Alameda County jail late at night last July.
The First Offender Prostitution Program is like traffic school, except the goal is to educate people who have been arrested for soliciting prostitutes.
The Golden State Warriors season ended last week with a dramatic loss to the Toronto Raptors. It’s not the send-off Oakland fans were hoping for as the team bids farewell to Oracle Arena. Now, a season of promise turns into an off-season of uncertainty. There are still signs of the team all over the Town and that’s not going to change any time soon. In fact, the logo for this podcast is the iconic Warriors’ bridge image dripping off a brick wall, and that’s from a mural in Oakland by Illuminaries. In this edition of Bounce, we catch up with Illuminaries co-founder Tim Hon whose crew are painting for the Dubs.
Millions of Californians across the state lack access to clean drinking water. If this sounds familiar or unsurprising, it’s because the problem and possible solutions have been in the headlines for years.
When Governor Newsom took office, he revamped the discussion by proposing a fee on drinking water to fund unsafe systems. That didn’t pass, but earlier this month, the new state budget assigned money to a new safe drinking water fund with revenues from the state's cap-and-trade program.
Sights & Sounds is your weekly guide to the Bay Area arts scene. Poet, novelist and activist Aya de Leon told KALW’s Jeneé Darden about three fantastic arts events happening around the Bay this weekend.
You can meet Aya de Leon during a book signing, reading, & conversation for her latest novel Side Chick Nation on Thursday, June 27th at Pegasus Books in Downtown Berkeley.
The Stud, a gay bar and performance space in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood, turned 50 in 2016. But, it was also in the news that year for another reason: The owner was calling it quits after a new landlord upped the rent by nearly $6000 — from $3800 a month to $9500.
To keep the doors open, The Stud’s loyal patrons banded together to buy the business and formed a worker co-op. That, as it turns out, was the easy part. We catch up with the co-owners a few years later to hear how they did it and how it’s going.
Poet and college professor Daniel B. Summerhill grew up in Oakland and first picked took an interest in creative writing when he was in high school. Since then, Daniel has performed spoken word all over the world and he’s helping the next generation of Bay Area wordsmiths find their voices.
You’ve probably heard of a birth doula – someone whose job it is to coach mothers through childbirth. Our next story is about a different kind of doula – an end of life doula. Their role is to provide emotional support to dying people and their families.
Death Doula Zoe Francesca discusses what it means to live — and die — well during a meeting with her client Mimi Burrows and Mimi’s son, Peter.
Tomorrow night, the Warriors will play their last game in Oakland. When the team leaves the Coliseum, they’ll leave behind a stadium that’s ideal for public transit riders.
You just take BART and cross the footbridge. But the new Chase Center in Mission Bay isn’t near a BART stop. And there won’t be much parking — just 950 spots on site for a sports center that can seat 18,000. So, how will Dubs fans get to the game?
The San Francisco Bay Area Pro-Am League has featured college players, former high school stars, and even some pros for 40 years, giving fans a chance to see high-quality, competitive basketball for free all summer long.
Sights & Sounds is your weekly guide to the Bay Area arts scene. Dr. Tim Seelig is the artistic director and conductor of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. He told KALW’s Truc Nguyen about three fantastic arts events happening around the Bay this weekend.
You can check out the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus in their Pride Month concert QUEENS, taking place June 21st and 22nd at The Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco
In this edition of Bay Area Beats Brittany Tanner, Felicia Gangloff-Bailey, Lauren Adams, and, Karega Bailey of SOL (Source of Light) Development explain using their music as a form of activism and healing.
Hari Srinivasan is autistic and cannot speak. He understands everything. Until he turned 12, no one knew that but him. Then, typing gave him a voice.
For actor and playwright Dan Hoyle, theatre is part of his DNA. His father is veteran stage performer Geoff Hoyle, and Dan has had several acclaimed one-man shows that not only make audiences laugh but think. He’s back at the Marsh for his latest production "Border People."
Santa Clara County’s Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to retain their sanctuary policy on Tuesday. South Bay officials were compelled to review the policy by a brutal murder earlier this year, which raised thorny questions about immigrants’ rights and public safety.
We all know sports is a business. That’s why the Warriors are leaving for San Francisco — to make more money. But sports are also emotional. Sentimental, even. In the lead up to the NBA Finals, Stephen Curry decided to give back in a very sports way. He identified 30 people in the community who made a difference in his and others’ lives and gave them each a pair of specially crafted shoes from his main sponsor, the athletic wear company Under Armour. Curry’s barber Yusef Wright is one of those people. He works out of Benny Adem Grooming Parlor, just a few blocks away from the Warriors downtown practice court. In this episode of Bounce, we went to that barbershop and found a sense of peace, purpose, and hometown pride.
Armistead Maupin’s 'Tales of the City' began as a serial fiction column in the San Francisco Chronicle. So far it has spawned nine novels and three TV miniseries. And this weekend, Netflix is launching a new 'Tales of the City' miniseries.
Sights & Sounds is your weekly guide to the Bay Area arts scene. Poet and performance artist Daniel B. Summerhill told KALW’s Jeneé Darden about three fantastic arts events happening around the Bay this weekend.
Daniel B. Summerhill contributed to the recently published Black Joy: An Anthology of Black Boy Poems
Oscar Grant Jr. is incarcerated at Solano State Prison. Ten years ago, a BART officer killed his son, Oscar Grant III. A new report contradicts that officer’s defense. When we saw the news report, we brought Grant Jr. into the studio to find out how he reacted as a father.
Uncuffed is produced by men at Solano State Prison. This is Oscar Grant Jr’s second interview with Uncuffed.
More than a dozen candidates to be president of the United States were in San Francisco over the weekend for the California Democratic Convention. It was a massive event at the Moscone Center, bringing together the state’s dominant political party. And in the run-up to the 2020 election, this was the biggest gathering of presidential hopefuls so far.
In part one of this two-part series, we heard a the history of how sex education has evolved in California. Now, we’re looking to the future, and, of course, it involves tech. Adults who missed out on quality sexual education are turning to apps to help explore and learn about sex. A few Bay Area women are the brains behind these sexual wellness startups.
Growing up in Maryland, cultural worker and interdisciplinary artist Kimberley Acebo Arteche didn’t see a lot of other Filipinos in the predominately white schools she attended. Traditional values were passed down from her family, but there weren’t a lot of other resources to help Kim learn more about her heritage.
According to a Harvard study, more than 40 percent of parents didn’t have “the sex talk” with their kids. But California — especially San Francisco — is leading the way in making sure kids get the sex education they need. Things weren’t always this way.
The Golden State Warriors have had a week off after sweeping the Western Conference Finals. So they turned their attention to the East, to see whom they’d face for the NBA championship.
In this episode of Bounce, we go behind the scenes as the team rehabs three key players — Andre Iguodala, DeMarcous Cousins, and Kevin Durant — and prepares to face off against the Toronto Raptors.
Sights & Sounds is your weekly guide to the Bay Area arts scene. Actor and playwright Dan Hoyle told KALW’s Jeneé Darden about three fantastic arts events happening around the Bay this weekend.
Dan Hoyle’s latest one-man show Border People is showing at the Marsh in San Francisco thru August.
Many people don’t recognize dementia, and not recognizing it can lead to death. Most caregivers are unprepared to manage dementia in their own family. And, for many ethnic minorities, such as Vietnamese, there is little support.
When you’re driving down the coast on Highway 1 toward Monterey, you may miss the exit for the tiny city of Marina. It’s often overshadowed by its neighbors: Monterey with the aquarium and Cannery Row, Carmel by the Sea. But if you take that exit, you’ll pass a Walmart, some fast food chains, and row of hotels. What makes the city stand out is it’s dozens of beach trails.
Mia Nakano is a photographer and archivist with an interest in LGBTQ stories. But she used to struggle to find resources on queer and trans Asian American history. So she took it upon herself to begin documenting their experiences.
The long legacy of NBA players that have come out of Oakland goes back more than half a century and includes all-time greats such as Bill Russell, Gary Payton, and Jason Kidd. In the late '60s and early '70s, one former ballplayer from Oakland played for the Warriors. His name was Joe Ellis.
Muralist and activist Juana Alicia grew up in Detroit inspired by the work of Mexican artist Diego Rivera. In the 1970s, Juana was making posters for the United Farm Workers’ grape boycotts, when she was recruited by civil rights activist Cesar Chavez.
Sights & Sounds is your weekly guide to the Bay Area arts scene. Educator, cultural worker, and interdisciplinary artist Kimberley Acebo Arteche told KALW’s Truc Nguyen about three fantastic arts events happening around the Bay this weekend.
Kimberley Acebo Arteche’s work is currently being featured in the KulArts group exhibition Post-Colonial Survival Kit thru the end of May at the Luggage Store Gallery in San Francisco.
The story of the United Farm Workers’ dwindling ranks is a lot bigger than the latest election at Gerawan Farming, where it was decertified. The union has been shrinking for decades. They’re not alone. Most unions have been shrinking since the ‘80s. But the details of the UFW’s rise and fall are not well known.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Miriam Pawel spent hundreds of hours interviewing former UFW members and wrote a book called "The Union of their Dreams: Power, Hope and Struggle in Cesar Chavez’s Farm Worker Movement," as well as the very first biography of Cesar Chavez.
Farmworkers employed by one of the biggest fruit growers in the country have officially ousted the United Farm Workers, the union founded by Cesar Chavez. Why would so many workers vote against unionizing, especially in a place where the farmworker movement has such a strong legacy? Was the election fair?
While growing up in the Bronx, writer Gabby Rivera would sit at her grandmother’s dining table listening to stories from her “sheroes” — the women in her family. Gabby infused elements from her own life into America Chavez, Marvel Comics’ first queer Latina superhero with her very own series.
Since jumping into the diversifying comic book industry, Gabby is bringing more stories about Latinx identity and the LGBTQ+ community to other projects.
Latino workers are more likely to die at work than anyone else, and immigrant workers can be particularly at risk.
While California has some of the toughest workplace safety laws in the country, the state still loses hundreds of workers a year to accidents. Advocates and state officials say almost all of those accidents could have been prevented.
The Golden State Warriors are rolling, now. Last night they crushed the Portland Trailblazers in the first game of the Western Conference Finals. But, win or lose, the team is leaving for San Francisco next year. In the latest from Bounce, we're looking at how the Golden State Warriors organization is teaming up with local businesses like Oakland's Bakesale Betty to bring some East Bay flavor to the City.
The San Francisco Chronicle’s restaurant critic Soleil Ho is a self described ‘ethno food warrior’ who writes on what she calls ‘the fish sauce beat.’ She’s Asian American, queer, and writes about the intersections of culture and food.
She’s revolutionizing the world of restaurant and food critiquing right down to which words she thinks are outdated and offensive, like the term ‘ethnic food.’ Soleil’s work also focuses on how gender, class and race affect our eating and food culture, history, and writing.
Sights & Sounds is your weekly guide to the Bay Area arts scene. Photographer and archivist Mia Nakano is the Executive Director & Co-Founder of the Resilience Archives. She told KALW’s Jeneé Darden about three fantastic arts events happening around the Bay this weekend.
You can catch the Resilience Archives' live showcase Performing Visible Resilience featuring original personal narrative stories from LGBTQ Asian Pacific American artists at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco on May 31st as part of the United States of Asian America Festival.
Poet James Cagney was 19 when he found out he was adopted. A few years later, both of his parents passed away, and Cagney was left homeless. He reflects on this heavy time in his collection "Black Steel Magnolias in the Hour of Chaos Theory." Cagney is now 50 and blogs at The Dirty Rat. He’s been revered in the Bay Area literary community for many years, but this is his first published full collection.
On April 13, a Mercedes slammed into a family crossing the street in East Oakland. A 6-year-old and his mother were both killed. Another family member was critically injured. Foothill Boulevard, where it happened, is one of Oakland’s most dangerous streets for pedestrians.
A lot of people want to get out of prison. This is the story of one bird that tried to get in.
A new intensive SFUSD program helps kids aged three-and-a-half to five regulate and understand their emotions. The goal: to avert an “emotional disturbance” designation, a special ed category where black children are over-represented.
Judy Bebelaar and Ron Cabral were teachers at San Francisco’s Opportunity 2 High School in the 70s. It’s the school Jim Jones chose for the teenagers of his People’s Temple.
Ep. 5 - Will East Oakland businesses near the Warriors’ arena survive when they leave? by KALW News San Francisco, 91.7
Sights & Sounds is your weekly guide to the Bay Area arts scene. Muralist, printmaker, educator, and activist Juana Alicia told KALW’s Jeneé Darden about three fantastic arts events happening around the Bay this weekend.
The Opening Reception for the upcoming exhibition The X'tabay, a Contemporary Vision: Graphic Works by Juana Alicia will be happening on Saturday, June 1st at Alley Cat books in San Francisco.
Haben Girma is a 31-year-old lawyer from Oakland. In 2013, she was named a Champion of Change by President Obama. In 2016, she was listed in Forbes Magazine’s 30 under 30, and it’s all because of her work in the disability community.
Girma was born deafblind to an Eritrean mom and Ethiopian dad. Her passion for helping the disabled community led her to become a lawyer, and the first ever deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School. She’s won cases against major companies and today she consults with organizations and companies to make sure they make products that are accessible and provide services that are inclusive. Now, she’s writing a book about her life.
Three years ago, Oakland adopted a policy to help people busted for marijuana crimes get into the legal market. Alphonso T. Blunt is the first equity applicant benefiting from this program with a dispensary open for business.
Since legalization, just four people have been offered equity permits to run dispensaries in Oakland. And Blunt is the only equity applicant with a new dispensary open.
Wilbert Stoneham has been incarcerated since the 70s – a time when prisons were especially dangerous, guards were particularly unpleasant, and Stoneham was one of their targets. He had a terrible relationship with the “watchers” which continued for over 40 years ... until the day he died.
Professor of Journalism Elena Conis wrote a book on the history of vaccines. She says, since we’ve had vaccinations in this country, we’ve had opposition to them.
This weekend Downtown Berkeley will transform into a literary paradise for the Bay Area Book Festival. Cherilyn Parsons started the event in 2015 after being inspired by the LA Times book festival.
San Francisco’s Mission District was once a neighborhood known for being home to working-class immigrants. Now, it’s a hipster haven thanks to the tech boom.
As gentrification continues to push out long-time residents, a local non-profit is trying to do something — disrupt displacement, through investing in real estate.
In his memoir "Paper Sons," award-winning author Dickson Lam takes readers to the North Beach projects of San Francisco, where he grew up in the early 90s.
Dickson’s story follows his transformation from a teenage graffiti tagger to a high school teacher. In his writing process, he confronted the abuse that took place in his home at the hands of his estranged father.
In this episode of Bounce, the Golden State Warriors are rounding into playoff form. They won the first two games against their rivals, the Houston Rockets, which brings up the question of whether it's a viable rivalry at all.
Meanwhile, construction continues at Chase Center in San Francisco, because win or lose, the team is leaving Oakland. Which means they're leaving fans like Lloyd Canamore behind.
There’s been a lot of talk about charter schools lately. Public school districts are in financial crisis. And they’re blaming the competition: publicly-funded charters.
It’s not a new story. Charters — which are privately managed but publicly funded — have been around in California since the legislature opened that door in 1992. Enrollment has doubled over the past decade. Critics — teachers unions in particular — have been fighting to slow that growth and more tightly regulate charters for a long time, without much luck. But now we’re at a tipping point. Because the politics around this whole issue shifted with last year’s election and the recent teachers’ strikes.
Sights & Sounds is your weekly guide to the Bay Area arts scene. Gabby Rivera is the Author of the Marvel Comic Series America. She told KALW’s Jeneé Darden about three fantastic arts events happening around the Bay this weekend.
It’s been almost half a year since the Camp Fire in Northern California burned through thousands of homes, destroying the town of Paradise, and killing 85 people. Since then, PG&E has been scrambling from the fallout. Facing potentially billions of dollars in payouts for liability damages, it filed for bankruptcy. And then just last week, PG&E asked state regulators for permission to raise rates.
Carlos Muñoz had been incarcerated for more than 20 years when he finally found his calling—crochet. He started out in hiding, embarrassed to crochet in front of other men. But over time, he brought his art into the light. Carlos shared the wisdom he’s learned from his crochet hooks.
Fahrenheit 213 is a group art exhibit made by feminist artists and writers, dozens of them from around the Bay. It spotlights works inspired by feminist protest. The exhibit is co-curated by artist-activist Karen Gutfreund. Fahrenheit 213 is showing at the Arc Gallery in San Francisco through May 11.
Every day, the Dumbarton Bridge is choked with tech workers commuting from the East Bay to Silicon Valley. Next to the bridge is a rail line that’s been defunct for almost 40 years. Now, that rail crossing could be rebuilt for commuters. And Facebook might pay to make it happen.
San Francisco approved a plan to build its largest homeless Navigation Center yet, against vehement opposition from some residents.
More than forty years ago, San Francisco’s Theatre of Yugen became one of the first American theater companies to feature classical Japanese theater arts.
In this episode of Bounce, we tell the story of half-a-century of trials and tribulations through the eyes of a longtime fan.
This version of the Golden State Warriors is historically good. But it’s just the latest iteration. In the half-century-plus that the team has been in the Bay Area, there have been lots of other stars, more than a few scrubs, and a fan base that’s been with them practically no matter what.
Sights & Sounds is your weekly guide to the Bay Area arts scene. Cherilyn Parsons is the founder and executive director of the Bay Area Book Festival and she told KALW’s Jeneé Darden about three fantastic arts events happening around the Bay this weekend.
The Bay Area Book Festival will be happening May 4-5 in downtown Berkeley.
Hundreds of California’s wildfires are set on purpose, and the arsonists who start them are rarely caught. This is how CAL Fire caught one of them.
The hype may feel new, but Californians have been excited about wildflowers for a long time.
San Franciscans have an opportunity to experience the city as it was more than 80 years ago. Thanks to a collaboration between San Francisco MOMA and the San Francisco Public Library, an architectural model of the city’s neighborhoods from 1938 is on display at libraries throughout San Francisco.
In this Audiograph, we head to Lucca Ravioli, a San Francisco landmark since 1925. After being in business on the corner of 22nd and Valencia Streets for almost a century, the building went up for sale and the longtime Italian market & delicatessen is closing its doors. At the end of this month, the familiar hand painted signs on the storefront will be coming down.
We're only two games into the playoffs and there's already a lot of drama. In this episode of Bounce, we'll cover a heartbreaking injury, a gutwrenching defeat, and we'll meet some of the people who show up outside every game to make a living.
Oracle Arena is right near Oakland’s Coliseum BART station. It’s really easy for folks from all over the Bay Area to get to games. The bridge that connects the BART station to the arena is a fan funnel. Which makes it the perfect place for unofficial vendors to cash in.
Oakland artist Michael Orange grew up hearing stories of how his grandfather, a college librarian, hosted distinguished artists in his home. Orange is continuing that legacy in his work as founder and curator of arts events including MATATU, an arts festival featuring black creatives from the Bay Area and around the world.
The San Francisco International Film Festival is in full swing, featuring films inspired by the spirit and values of the Bay Area. One documentary showing this week is called “Unsettled: Seeking Refuge in America.” It introduces us to four young LGBTQ refugees who came to San Francisco from the Congo, Angola, and Syria.
Producer Jen Gilomen discusses the film and its subjects as they made San Francisco their new home.
From the series Uncuffed: A lot of people are in prison for crimes related to marijuana. But some believe that cannabis could have kept them away from crime, and out of prison.
San Francisco’s Alonzo King LINES Ballet has been transcending traditional ballet through cross-genre collaborations since 1982. Over the years, the dance company has worked with artists of various backgrounds to develop performances designed to change the way we look at modern ballet.
For their upcoming spring season, LINES joined forces with Emmy Award-winning musician and composer Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ.
The new series Bounce begins by looking back...
Everybody loves a winner when it comes to professional sports, and with recent success, it seems like there are new Golden State Warriors fans popping up every day. But long before the big names of today’s super team came along or there was ever such thing as “Dub Nation,” there was a franchise that didn’t begin in the Bay Area.