KQED's Perspectives: Recent Episodes
KQED
What does it mean to be Jewish? Hannah Herbst tells us about the complexities of her Jewish identity.
A single moment can have tremendous impacts. Gil Ladetzky tells us why this has shaped his way of life.
What’s in a name? For Kate Montana, the answer is entwined with complex questions about history and identity.
It can be tough to be authentic as a teen navigating social hierarchies, but Arya Konanur says it's worth the effort.
The narrative around surviving cancer can sometimes alienate the people it hopes to inspire. Rob Tufel tells us his Perspective.
When confronted with an uncomfortable truth, Anna Yang learned the importance of language in connecting to her culture and family.
This Perspective originally aired in September 2022.
In honor of Transgender History Month, YR Media’s X Vazquez reflects on an often overlooked action of queer resistance, right here in San Francisco.
Sometimes, putting a name to a mysterious affliction can bring relief. Pooja Srivatsa tells us her story.
When his passion led him to try something new, Steven Buks learned anything is possible if you put your mind to it.
This piece was produced by KQED's Youth Takeover, and originally aired in November 2022.
Golden Gate Fields will permanently close after its final racing date this fall. Richard Friedlander has this Perspective.
Have you ever needed a confidence boost? Kaitlin Huang tells us how she overcame her insecurities.
This Perspective originally aired in April 2022.
With Tony Bennett's passing last month, Laurent Fourgo pays tribute to the jazz icon and his influence.
Though the jetsetter life full of travel has its appeal, Pete Gavin tells us why he doesn’t fear missing out.
After an unexpected encounter with a fellow traveler, Sheli Cryderman was reminded of the power of community.
COVID variant EG.5 is on the rise. Dr. Molly Phelps knows from experience that long COVID is a risk that our health system is underprepared for.
This Perspective originally aired in November 2022.
High expectations can push you to be your best self, but they can also harm relationships and your self-worth. Swetha Vimalkumar has this Perspective.
Reminders of the love that connects living beings can come in many forms. Deidre Silverman has this story.
A case of mistaken vegetable identity reminded Jamie Chiahui Gao of her own experience as an immigrant.
Inspirational messages can feel cloying and cliché, but Marilyn Englander tells us about a time she took a chance and listened to one of those messages.
The pandemic changed the way a lot of us approach social situations, including Sydney Wanguhu. YR Media brings her Perspective.
This Perspective originally aired in April 2023.
In an era of constant media consumption, Evan Nichols suggests finding a balance between screen time and engagement with the real world.
It’s only Wednesday, but you might already be looking forward to some relief from the work week. Saadhana Deshpande tells us about their stress reliever of choice.
With all the influence algorithms have on our lives, Lorin Tams has this case against allowing anything--or anyone--to put us in boxes.
Fear is intrinsic to the human experience, but a childhood memory had Elisabeth Scharbaum thinking about the possibilities of reexamining our fear responses.
Ray Pestrong finds evidence of the huge forces that shape our planet in the small changes of a sandy beach.
This Perspective originally aired in July 2019.
Despite working two jobs, YR Media’s Noumaan Faiz says he just can’t keep up with inflation these days.
When confronted with her daughter’s smartphone request, Kat Covell devised a surprising analog solution to meet her needs.
Losing your laundry key may seem mundane, but it provided Caleb Monteiro a valuable lesson in responsibility.
When listener Jasmine Jaksic needed a break from the artificial world of AI, she found solace in a nearby marsh.
For Maui-born Hiwa Greig, spam is a staple of their food and culture. But once they moved to Oakland, they realized folks hold a lot of preconceptions towards spam and those who eat it.
This Perspective originally aired in May 2022.
The A’s likely departure from Oakland is disheartening to thousands of baseball fans in the East Bay, but Gabe Ross has reason to hope.
A new neighbor inspired Johanna Ohm to reflect on the power of individual action in building community & livable spaces.
Do crime alerts make us safer, or just scared? Steven Birenbaum tells us his Perspective.
It can feel isolating to be the only vegan at the table. Johanna McCloy has this Perspective.
Animal shelters in the Bay Area are overcrowded. Leslie Smith brings us this tale of one beloved shelter dog.
This Perspective originally aired in March 2023.
A conversation with an AI chatbot led Steve McMoyler to question the virtues of the technology.
A journey to Warsaw uncovered surprising family connections for Geri Spieler and her son.
When Abe Marshall experienced hearing loss, he feared judgment from his peers, but found acceptance and pride instead.
This Perspective originally aired in February 2023.
Joy and community can be found in surprising places. For Lauren Nazario, it’s on two wheels, on the slow streets of San Francisco.
What were you doing when the mob assaulted the Capitol? Angela Omulepu was baking a pie.
This Perspective originally aired in January 2021.
Tech is known for its sexist biases. Athena Jiang-Qin tells us her experience as a young girl in tech.
A hike to see one of California’s wonders inspired Damian Stout-Lehman to reflect on the nature of our state.
The Declaration of Independence is 247 years old today. Victor Schachter suggests it might benefit from a revision to reflect modern realities.
This Perspective originally aired in July 2021.
Sometimes a horrible incident can bring unexpected positive change. Joanne Greene tells us her story.
When a popular Chinese restaurant in Oakland closed last year, Mark Morodomi is left with warm memories of family and a dish rarely served anymore.
This Perspective originally aired in January 2023.
An increasing number of teens are turning to social media to get their news. But for YR Media’s Nina Thompson, navigating all that information requires some fact-checking.
If the country that persecuted your family offered you citizenship, what would you do? Stewart Florsheim has this Perspective.
As he prepares for a new chapter in his life, Diego Moreno Espinoza reflects on how his past experiences have led him to where he is today.
Being able to admit when you’re wrong can bring about an openness to new ideas. John Palmer tells us about his changing attitude on driverless cars.
As an artist and immigrant, Tanieng Huang shares the story of how her art practice helped her grow and break through the barriers of language.
This piece was produced as part of KQED Youth Takeover, and originally aired in April 2023.
It's Pride month, and as usual the parades will be marked by corporate floats and contingents sporting rainbow flags. Mike Blasenstein wonders if that level of support from business is enough.
Witnessing a protest in Tel Aviv inspired Jim McTarnaghan to interrogate the role of the ‘dem’ in democracy.
When high school student Alex Argov returned to in-person classes, he discovered a new motto that helped him readjust to the new social environment.
Ebony Haight is tired of pretty words and disavowals of racism not backed up by action. It is, she says, your turn to do something about it.
High schooler Saahil Mishra has a vision for a reformed social media... one that makes us more human.
Elham Gheytanchi’s father taught her that religion is a private matter. But in recent years she’s started questioning that idea. The following Perspective contains a mention of sexual assault.
After discovering he has the same health condition as his father, Jesse Alejandro Cottrell grapples with aging and other ways he's similar — or dissimilar — to his dad.
On her 22-mile runs, Munira Shamim encounters runners with varying athletic abilities and backgrounds. It's why she sees the trail as a great unifier and community.
Irena Smith is keenly aware of the expectations weighing on teenagers and parents alike. And she's come to realize what metric of success really matters to her.
Marilyn Englander says this is the time of the year to plant — and plan — for a future of flowers and better days.
The World Cup of men’s soccer is in full swing, and Pablo Quintanilla says the game’s promise of bringing together people from all walks of life takes a little work.
It’s the Christmas shopping season and while many opt for the convenience of shopping online, Christine Schoefer prefers a practice called ‘kugeling’.
It’s the Christmas shopping season and while many opt for the convenience of shopping online, Christine Schoefer prefers a practice called ‘kugeling’.
A Thanksgiving meal for the homeless is a holiday tradition, and Dan Goldes is there to do his part.
Democracy itself has been under attack, but Jackson Vamos’ faith in the American way is bolstered by his grandfather’s unshakeable devotion to the fundamental democratic right – the right to vote.
When his passion led him to try something new, Steven Buks learned anything is possible if you put your mind to it.
Stories are basic to what we tell one another since we could put words together. But in this communications age, Les Bloch says it takes extra effort to know just what the story says.
Rabbi Niles Goldstein discusses what Jewish communities and their allies can do about the recent surge in antisemitism.
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau says the huge amounts of food waste generated by people can have dire consequences for animals.
The explosion of the initiative process has nearly turned voters into alternative legislators and despite her efforts to cast informed votes Connie Chung worries about what she doesn’t know.
Jim McClellan used to be troubled by the gap between what he’s learned and what he doesn’t know, but now he knows better.
Susan Dix Lyons traces the dreams of her mother to her own dream of a life in California.
Y-R Media's Tiya Birru weighs whether to take an important test amid the risk of a rumored school shooting that very day.
College students are turning away from liberal arts degrees. Marc Vogl says we are all the poorer for it
Richard Friedlander says it time for an addition to the Bill of Rights — a Bill of Responsibilities.
Determined to be an informed voter, Sara Alexander sat down with her ballot and dug in.
Yvonne Baginski experiences the horrors of war through the deeply scarred lives of her parents.
San Francisco was the setting for many a classic movie, and Jayce Basques says it was never upstaged.
Debbie Duncan says technologic and regulatory changes promise a new day for hearing aids.
Molly Phelps' husband has long COVID and the health system can't provide him the care he needs.
This Halloween, Jeanne Sole will go easy on the ghouls and gore and embrace a more Hispanic approach to the celebration.
Encounters with homeless people unconscious on the streets are common in San Francisco, and Richard Swerdlow ponders whether to intervene or walk on by.
From math scores to friendships, remote learning has tested young students. But a typical carpool morning reassures Laura Smith Borrman that the kids are all right.
A German program to remember victims of the Holocaust has Stewart Florsheim conflicted.
While human lives are upended, life is normal for the plants and creatures of Peggy Hansen's farm.
Arifeen Rahman says closures and cutbacks at local hospitals are harming patients who need help the most.
Keith Humhreys experiences the depth of the bonds between a hospice volunteer and patients near death.
Pablo Quintanilla says words matter, especially when they threaten to undermine the relationships between marginalized communities.
You are not crazy. The anxiety and fear you feel are worthy of the state of affairs. Jim McClellan finds some sense of calm and respite in an ancient Japanese tradition.
Y-R Media's Audrey La Jeunesse doubts activist social media posts do much more than burnish a 'woke' reputation.
Richard Levitt says big goals are a good thing to have, but its baby steps that get you there.
A decade ago, the Giants won a World Series and Joan Dentler's son began his recovery from addiction.
An early-morning walk with her dog awakens Beth Touchette to the intense beauty of the pre-dawn world.
For adopted children, the chance to meet birth parents is filled with endless questions and a chance to open a new chapter in their life. Mateo Berger has this Perspective.
Joan Steinau Lester worries that the Supreme Court is coming after her same-sex marriage.
Evan Ho says an historic drought means Californians have to save a lot of water, a little bit at a time.
Johanna Rauhala is a proud resident of Richmond, a city with a less-than-deserved reputation.
Gillian Reynolds is exceptionally unexceptional at everything she tries. But she’s learned how exceptional that can be.
Anna Yang visits Beijing where her lack of language skills make it hard to connect to her family and culture.
While clearing a loft of junk to toss, Richard Friedlander encounters a box of forgotten memory.
Jeremy Friedlander and a good friend disagree about most things, but not their friendship.
The war against Ukraine is personal for Natalie Krauss Bivas, and buried in soil soaked with the blood of innocents.
Yvonne Baginski knows just what Joni Mitchell meant when she famously sang, "They paved paradise, put up a parking lot."
Angelina Montgomery's grandmother has lived here for 60 years but she never knew there were redwoods in Oakland.
Y-R Media's Nina Thompson struggles to connect to politics dominated by much older officeholders.
Alex Giardino returns to the neonatal intensive care unit after 18 years and learns that hope is a circle.
In the lost and found of life, Holly Hubbard Preston learned that what you find isn’t necessarily what you were looking for.
Pablo Quintanilla asks what do we owe those most affected by climate change and least responsible for it.
Christine Schoefer watches as her 19-month old grandchild learns that its hard to move forward when hanging on to too much.
High school senior Shreya Anand finds she's not the only student bearing the weight of being part of a STEM scarcity.
Nannies are sometimes loved, often ill-treated by the families that employ them. Janel Moses has heard their stories.
Ever wonder what’s beneath the Golden Gate Bridge and what it might have looked like thousands of years ago? Michael Ellis says it may have been very spectacular.
Marilyn Englander suffers from those little snippets of music that get in your brain and won't leave.
Jessica O'Dwyer's journey as a writer started with personal journals, a practice she still keeps.
This piece originally aired May 3rd, 2022
Rat poison kills rodents, but chances are that’s not all it kills. EK Bayer has this Perspective on its innocent victims.
Dr. Virginia Sturm says that casual relationships can deliver benefits beyond those derived from strong ones.
Clara Chiu says that when the Supreme Court ended federal abortion rights it created a harsh new reality her younger generation has never known.
When Lily Beechinor’s family desperately needed help, they discovered that they weren’t alone.
YR Media's Ivelisse Diaz learns that fashion is all about breaking trends, not following them.
Chinese-American relations could use a positive boost and Evan Ho thinks America’s fastest growing sport may be the ticket.
Thanks to generous new benefits, Tom Epstein says there has never been a better time to enroll in a community college.
Joan Steinau Lester says her faith in the electorate has been restored by Kansans' rejection of a ban on abortion rights.
She may be a diehard Giants' fan, but Debbie Duncan pays tribute to long-time Dodger announcer Vin Scully.
When Donovan Tong took up the bassoon he had no idea the possibilities that would open up to him
Pablo Quintanilla says the ghosts of racial deed restrictions haunt Bay Area home ownership to this day.
Kelsey Wu says a state bill to protect young people like her from damaging social media content is a positive step.
Like many families, Sandyha Acharya's household has had lots of bubble time. Sometimes, though, that bubble bursts.
Karina Moreno shares the pervasive despair and pain so many feel right now, but she takes comfort in a family saying that has gotten them through dark days before.
When Jada Sanders fell out of favor with her softball coach, she used the tough moment as motivation to improve.
In the face of the death of a homeless man, and the impact on Black women of the loss of federal abortion rights, Gbama Mbayo feels hopeless and searching for answers
Nurse Symone Magsombol Yu is devastated by the overturning of Roe, but is determined to respect and care for her patients.
Growing up in Afghanistan, Kawser Amine was able to dream of things previously unheard of in her country. When the Taliban took over, all that ended.
Keith Humphreys says adults pay a price of humiliation if they are a beginner at learning new things.
Big numbers can make the eyes glaze over, but Richard Swerdlow says the statistics of world hunger are horrifying.
Marilyn Englander discovers that a favorite San Francisco locale hasn’t changed much over the years and continues to provide a haven of calm.
Susan Dix Lyons' children are growing up and moving on, so any excuse to spend time with them is a good one.
Michael Ellis says that in certain species females who can no longer have babies become more important, not less, to their social units.
Although not a member of the Jewish faith, Evan Ho was deeply moved by his first experience of a Bar Mitzvah.
Joan Cardellino wonders if we can put back together the many pieces of our democracy jigsaw puzzle.
Sometimes, it's just you versus you. When that happens, Brian Smith has a way to dispense with the negativity.
Paul Staley says the Declaration of Independence asserts the right to pursue happiness, not attain it.
Risa Nye believes all women seeking an abortion deserve as safe and supportive experience as she had, many years ago.
A large water tower in the South Bay is not only the object of a fantastical tale handed down through generations of Steven McMoyler’s family; it’s a monument to the winds of change.
Every morning, Holly Hubbard Preston's newspapers are delivered by someone she's never met. She decided to change that.
Rana Barar says her decision to have an abortion was not hard, not tragic and more common that you’d think.
The onslaught of mass shootings in schools has forced teachers to learn and teach skills they never imagined. Catherine Marshall-Smith has this Perspective.
Y-R Media’s Audrey La Jeunesse started sewing her own clothes and altering secondhand clothing years ago — learning more about overconsumption and developing her own style.
Our unofficial national motto is e pluribus unum, but Jim Mcclellan finds neither pluribus nor unum in our political discourse.
Vanessa Dueck struggles to keep up with shifting notions of good parenting brought on by a shifting pandemic.
When things aren't going as planned and the hassles mount, Bryan Gillette looks for a little perspective.
While human lives are upended, life is normal for the plants and creatures of Peggy Hansen's farm.
Paul Staley says the marketplace of ideas isn't the emporium of free thought it's cracked up to be.
June is Pride month, and Richard Swerdlow celebrates unquestioned progress amid a wave of anti-LGBTQ laws and sentiment.
Marilyn Englander finds that travel to a wet environment is a perfect get-away for drought-stricken Californians.
Another schoolhouse shooting, and Nirmy Kang says a familiar and predictable debate follows.
Al Gilbert says the secret to a successful job interview is to realize it's not an interview.
It's Memorial Day and Winston Tharp has this tribute to a veteran whose promise was lost.
Christine Schoefer discovers that the secrets held in books are not always the work of authors.
For Maui-born Hiwa Greig spam has been a staple of their food and culture. But once they moved to Oakland, they realized folks hold a lot of preconceptions towards spam and those who eat it. This perspective was produced by YR Media.
A poem in a volume pulled from a bookstore shelf, helps Simone Green navigate her journey of discovery.
Taste and smell may be our senses most taken for granted, unless, that is, you’ve had COVID. Conor Hagen has this Perspective.
Vicki Larson wonders why old notions that women are little more than child bearers persist.
Margaret Stawowy, like most, wanted to keep her mother in familiar surroundings when she began to decline. It was easier said than done.
Feeling stressed out? A nice warm bath might help. But if that’s not practical, Carol Arnold can suggest a different kind of bath to soothe the anxious mind.
Craig Isom says the recent black hole images developed by the Event Horizon Telescope are evidence of the profound genius of Albert Einstein.
First-year medical student Brian Smith has seen the difference between guilt and shame in his patients and their families.
The world is full of doers, all busy and buzzing about just doing things, while the rest—people like Lane Parker—take a more measured approach, calmly weighing just when to do most anything.
Open space is essential to our well-being, whether it’s a high country wilderness or a patch of urban green. Jasmine Jaksic learns that a park is more than an amenity.
Paul C. Kelley Campos is the first in his family to be born in the U.S. and to decide to move here permanently.
Michael Ellis looks at a graceful, migrating bird long identified with a historic Orange County mission.
Kym Johnson says child care providers are essential workers, but lack the pay, support and respect they deserve.
Richard Swerdlow is among those whose mother is no longer here to receive a call on Mother's Day.
Jessica O'Dwyer's journey as a writer started with personal journals, a practice she still keeps.
Youth Takeover week concludes with Emerald Yu literally finding her voice and changing her life.
YR Media's Tiya Birru uses the principles of intersectional feminism to deal with issues of racism and sexism.
For Youth Takeover week, Kailyn Holty says a world of possibility open up when she abandoned the need to be perfect.
Its Youth Takeover week at KQED and Kaitlyn Huang is practicing the art of girl boss energy to improve her self-confidence.
A few weeks ago, I was walking with my friend when he pointed down to his shoes.
“Oh!” I exclaimed. “Nice new shoes!” He was devastated, because he had actually been wearing them for weeks and I hadn’t noticed. It was weird that I hadn’t noticed. Then it hit me that I don’t look at people’s shoes anymore. I was dumbfounded.
Back in middle school, I felt like there was an object constantly weighing my head down, making sneakers the lucky recipients of my gaze. It was my Gilded Age of Insecurity, when I looked my best, but felt the worst. I suffered the typical bouts of tween insecurities: You know, the ‘how does one survive among these geniuses’ or, ‘my face… ‘what a horror’. Being insecure felt exhausting.
So, when I stepped onto high school as a freshman, I was determined not to repeat my middle school years. I envisioned a glorious mental revolution to regain my confidence, but I didn’t know how to start. Yet I did know that I should at least look confident.
So, with nothing to lose, I faked my confidence. Despite struggling with my insecurities, I still decided to channel what our generation calls girl boss energy. I had a simple agenda: Keep my head up, walk with purpose, raise my hand, and speak with actual periods at the end of sentences. It was quite the ordeal. But those consistent actions eventually became habits, making me look more confident by the day.
Soon, I became convinced that I was confident, and this feeling accumulated to the point when, a few days ago, without much thinking, I winked at myself in the mirror and said, “Kaitlyn, you rock.” I was in disbelief.
From my experiences, it’s hard to find inner confidence, but it’s easier to look like you found it. Keep that head up. Speak assertively. Dress the way that makes you feel good. Those are behaviors that naturally tell you that you can –– and will –– have confidence in yourself one day.
With a Perspective, I’m Kaitlyn Huang.
Kaitlyn Huang attends Los Altos High School. Her piece was produced with free curriculum from KQED’s Perspectives Youth Media Challenge.
Dr. Baldeep Singh says that many patients are waving off non-COVID tests and screens during the pandemic.
Evan Ho's dinner at an upscale restaurant disappoints but the bigger picture is much more satisfying.
A special bread has special meaning to Andrew Lewis and his World War II-surviving family members.
Richard Friedlander says history is written through the lens of social and political power, as well as personal experience.
History is built on facts, but facts are interpreted through the lens of social and political power, as well as personal experience. Richard Friedlander has this Perspective.
When sexism ruined what should have been a glorious moment, Anika Ganesh realized she needed to speak out.
Sometimes, small acts of kindness are overwhelmed by a world in need. Christine Schoefer has this Perspective.
Ellen Greenblatt watched transfixed as a humble dung beetle did his thing, and in the process gave her a lot to think about.
Many years ago, Pam Tellew was part of early efforts to promote diversity in a Berkeley graduate program.
Marilyn Englander takes a look at words and phrases that haven't stood the test of time.
Richard Swerdlow finds a metaphor for Russia's war on Ukraine in a traditional Russian nesting doll.
Les Bloch says that these days it's extra work to unravel just what the stories we hear are trying to tell us.
Like other young people, Jessica Lin struggled with depression until she learned to ask for help.
Sarena Straughter has been immersed in the full range of cultural and educational identity, but the college senior is now focused on her uniqueness.
Johanna Rauhala is a proud resident of Richmond, a city with a less-than-deserved reputation.
For people like Shannon Rosa and her autistic son, the new phase of relaxed mask requirements is an ominous phase of the pandemic.
Debbie Duncan and Cyndi Chin-Lee debate the merits and drawbacks of Daylight Savings vs. Standard Time.
Holly Hubbard Preston says a budget squeeze is depriving the St. Helena Library of its children's librarian.
Education Dean Heather Lattimer explores how to teach tough subjects in public school classrooms.
You are not crazy. The anxiety and fear you feel are worthy of the state of affairs. Jim McClellan finds some sense of calm and respite in an ancient Japanese tradition.
Jippy Pang says that among the many obstacles some women face in the workplace that men do not is the quality of their voice.
Whether it's a ridiculous coconut or a very real war, Michael Ellis says how we deal with what we fear is what matters.
Steven Saum finds the weightiest things he and his son carried on their hike wasn't in their backpacks.
The war against Ukraine is personal for Natalie Krauss Bivas, and buried in soil soaked with the blood of innocents.
Food banks are overwhelmed and people are hungry, yet we waste food shamelessly. A child of post-war Germany, Christine Schoefer vows to change her ways.
Ann Manheimer hopes the reception for masses of Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn country marks a change in the treatment of refugees.
As Ukrainians fight to preserve their recent democracy, Joan Cardellino says Americans need to defend a democracy many take for granted.
When YR Media's Ivelisse Diaz was younger her paycheck felt like freedom. Now, not so much.
Richard Swerdlow looks at old photos of himself and has his 'you don't know what you've got till its gone' moment.
Gloria Saltzman tries to console an old friend from Ukraine who feels angry and helpless in the face of the Russian onslaught.
When Sandhya Acharya's pandemic bubble burst, it was her young son's note that healed her.
Paul Staley says we’re walking in a world of the seen and the unseen, of paradox and contradiction.
When Paul Wolber thinks of vaccine hesitancy, he hears the voice of his mother, long ago, giving some instructions many would do well to heed today.
In the lost and found of life, Holly Hubbard Preston learned that what you find isn’t necessarily what you were looking for.
Owners of rooftop solar systems, like Andrew Lewis, are outraged by a PUC proposal to impose sharp new costs on them.
High school student Sidrah Siddiqui wears a hijab and the reactions are awkward and uncomfortable.
YR Media's Nina Thompson feels she must choose between protecting her health and a good education.
After all the tests, pills, and procedures, the best medicine is still something that can’t be prescribed. Jane Thomas-Tran has this Perspective.
I’m a medical student, just a few months from being a doctor, and 100% of my clinical training has occurred in the COVID era. To me, hospital rooms filled with get-well-soon cards and eager visitors are a relic of the past. A beloved grandfather comes to mind. On the day of admission, he couldn’t open his eyes, just moaned a little. For three days, he didn’t speak. On the fourth day, he awoke to an empty room and asked, “Where am I?” On the sixth day, his soft voice told us: “I’ve lived a long life. A good life.” On the seventh day, his wife and daughter brought his dentures and hearing aid. They couldn’t come inside the building because of pandemic rules. I met them outside. “That’s his room, his window, right up there!” I pointed. “Wait here." Back in the hospital room, yelling so he could hear, “Your wife and daughter are outside your window!” He seemed confused, so I urged him to get out of bed so he could wave to them from his window. We heaved him to his feet. He stood unsteadily, walked for the first time, stepped to the window, and saw them below. His lips cracked into a smile. His wife jumped up and down. After that, he got out of bed regularly and was soon discharged home. Just a glimpse of his family was more potent medicine – a reason to heal and to live – than we could provide in the preceding week of lab tests and petitions for off-formulary meds. While I support infection control strategies, I also wonder: how much has this missing medicine of the smiling faces of family affected our other patients’ outcomes? With a Perspective, I’m Jane Thomas-Tran. Jane Thomas-Tran is a fourth-year medical student at Stanford, currently applying to pediatrics residencies.
It's been a rough year for San Francisco's eclectic entertainment community, but Connie Champagne hopes better time aren't just somewhere over the rainbow.
At-home COVID test kits are in short supply, posing some tough choices for families like Vanessa Dueck's.
A most unusual relationship is at the heart of young Jackie Tavernetti’s introduction to homelessness.
As teachers, administrators, students, and parents wrestle with COVID restrictions, Richard Swerdlow sees a bright ray of hope. Schools from coast to coast are struggling to stay open as the pandemic rages. With so many teachers out sick, schools are deploying everyone, even superintendents, to cover classes. I was sent to teach first grade. Teachers may be essential workers, but classrooms feel like Russian roulette, all day in one room, sharing your air with dozens of others. Most essential workers in harm’s way have protection – health care workers are masked, gowned, and gloved; police wear protective vests; firefighters kitted out in fire-resistant gear. Teachers, in some districts, are not even issued masks. But my district does have safety protocols, providing teachers and students with PPE and testing. The teacher was out sick with COVID, but she left a lesson plan – after reading and math, it was “show and tell” time. One girl displayed a terra cotta pot and explained how she grew the tiny sprout. A boy showed a photo of his colorful pet parrot. Another girl showed a locket her grandmother gave her the day she was born. Each student, an object, a story. And listening, for a moment I forgot about masks and hand sanitizer. These kids may be facing a world overflowing with problems – wars, wildfires, diseases – but during “show and tell,” amid laughter and “oohs” and “ahs”, school felt hopeful. These six-year-olds, like every generation, will face their own set of challenges. But if they are as resourceful and enthusiastic as they are during “show and tell,” they will figure out solutions. COVID is taking its toll, but school is still full of interesting things to show and wonderful stories to tell. These kids showed me that, and I can’t wait to see what they will show and tell all of us when it’s their turn to run the world. With a Perspective, I’m Richard Swerdlow. [ad fullwidth]
As the pandemic drags on, Dr. Baldeep Singh is seeing many patients who are not only having trouble physically but also mentally and emotionally. When Dennis came to see me, I could see something was wrong. He started telling me about fatigue, headaches, and trouble sleeping. After some probing, he shared that his marriage was tense, work was a struggle, and the stress of COVID on him and his family had become overwhelming. I decided to screen him for a mood disorder. During the pandemic, about four in 10 adults have reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, up from one in 10 prior to COVID. Many adults report difficulty sleeping or eating, increased alcohol consumption or substance use, and worsening chronic conditions, often due to worry and stress over life’s changes due to the coronavirus. As the pandemic wears on, continuing and necessary public health measures can foster isolation and loneliness, while at the same time, so many people have lost jobs or left unsafe ones, both circumstances that would affect mental health even in better times. Essential workers bear the brunt of the risk, exposing themselves to the virus every day. Among frontline workers, in some places, healthcare personnel compare current conditions to a war zone. They feel frustration getting protective resources such as testing and PPE, and it can be hard not to resent the unvaccinated who have increased the personal risk to themselves, as well as to the many health care workers they encounter. After screening Dennis, I talked to him about his social support system and various coping strategies, including spending time in nature, meditation, exercise, and taking a break from social media and the news. Together, we decided we would start therapy and medication to help him through the crisis. I thanked him for his courage to seek help. All of us may need to reach out for support more than usual these days. As we start 2022, let’s all help each other and ask for support when we need it, because when the virus starts to abate, we will still feel COVID’s mental health effects for months and years to come. With a Perspective, I’m Dr. Baldeep Singh. Dr. Baldeep Singh is a South Bay physician. [ad fullwidth]
A persistent question makes grieving the loss of her sister to COVID much harder for Anna Beuselinck.
At age 7, Mateo Berger traveled to Guatemala to meet his birth mother and explore endless questions.
A night long ago in a Balkan village highlights for Richard Friedlander the changed standards for how we treat the elderly.
Putting the perception of others over our own values can often lead us down a slippery slope. At a young age, Teiji Futamase learned a valuable lesson in trusting your instincts and the importance of family. What would you do if your loved one needed your support — but you let peer pressure get the best of you? I remember a sunny warm day in second grade when I learned a lesson I’d never forget. Life was simple back then, just hanging out with friends and almost never having homework. As a kid, waiting for recess was my biggest worry. The ring that reminds every student that recess has just begun and it was time to play had rung. I smiled and ran as fast as I could out the door while holding my lunch bag and couldn’t wait until I was seated eating my snack. I played with my friends as usual, but when it ended I spotted something unusual. My friends and I were walking back to class when I spotted my little brother in kindergarten crying on a bench. I became astonished and immediately wanted to help him but something was holding me back from helping him. That thing was embarrassment. I knew comforting him was the right thing to do, but I was so worried about what my friends would think of me if I were to go over there. I didn’t want to embarrass myself so instead, I made the decision to just ignore him and stay with my friends. This decision would be the most regretful decision of my life and one I wished I didn’t make. At that time I felt so worried about my friends’ thoughts and if they would make fun of me for helping my little brother. I worried about it so much that it consumed the part of me that did want to ask what happened and how I can help. I felt so ashamed of myself for just ignoring and leaving my younger brother alone when I knew that he needed or would have liked my company at that time. Now, years from then, I realize that many people also struggle with the pressure of how others think of them and let it control their actions like it did to me. Do not let others’ opinions stop you from doing the right thing or complicate your actions. In reality, most people aren’t focused on them and the opinions of those who are shouldn’t matter to you anyway. On that day in second grade, I learned this lesson and realized I shouldn’t value anyone’s judgment over my loved ones. With a Perspective, I’m Teiji Futamase. Teiji Futamase is an eighth-grader at Leonard Herman Intermediate School in San Jose. His piece was produced with free curriculum from KQED’s Perspectives Youth Media Challenge. [ad fullwidth]
Michael Ellis celebrates pomegranates, a healthy fruit with a special place in ancient mythology.
When my parents generously offered to give me their 20-year- old Acura sedan, my first thought was: Me, a car-free, transit-riding, e-bike loving San Francisco resident, take possession of a fossil-fuel-burning, climate-change machine? But in an impulsive act of quarantine indulgence, I accepted their offer. I named the white car Casper, after the friendly ghost. And while I still prefer to travel by Muni, I must admit owning a car has its perks. I take Casper to visit my grandparents in Vacaville every month. My four-wheeled phantom was there to rush my sick dog to the emergency vet one night at 3 A.M. The car even served as a satellite office when my neighbors ran a jackhammer all day while I was trying to work from home. But the downsides soon became clear. Casper costs thousands of dollars to own and operate – so much more than my monthly transit pass. Meanwhile, sitting in traffic is stressful. I’d much rather be gliding down the street on my e-bike, groceries in tow, instead of cooped up in a metal box, inching my way home. And then, of course, there’s the guilt I feel knowing that driving is our city’s number one source of greenhouse gas emissions. I’ve realized that owning a car hardly symbolizes freedom. In fact, it’s the opposite. This made me wonder. What would it take to make car-free, or even car-light, lifestyles the norm? It would take frequent, reliable transit service that’s accessible for all. It would require making sure residents have protected bike lanes and safe streets to walk, bike, and scoot in. It would mean guaranteeing that a shared car is available when people do need to drive. And maybe it even means nudging people out of cars by making driving just a little less convenient. For now, Casper spends most of her time parked on the streets of the Sunset District. But when her time comes, I hope to shed this car for good, knowing that options will be there to match Casper’s convenience – without the fossil fuels. With a Perspective, this is Paige Miller Paige Miller is a clean transportation advocate. She lives in San Francisco. [ad fullwidth]
It is the beginning of a new year which means that friends, even my very best friends, who should know by now how much I distaste making resolutions, are sending me emails with titles like this: “Resolutions For a Life Worth Living: Attainable Aspirations Inspired by Great Humans of the Past (including Seneca, Baldwin, Whitman, Le Guin and more…).” Or this more benign email from my sister: “The Big Three for 2022”. Her list of resolutions at least was short. Only three items of proposed self-improvement, followed by the simple invitation: “Feel free to share your goals for the New Year if you are so inclined.” I have no such inclination. And then there was this one from a dear friend: “Resolution Time: A Poem My Neighbor Wrote.” This poem, by the way, included a line that I find quite disturbing: “No matter what happened Yesterday or last year Or in your childhood, Today is a new beginning…” Now that I am 74, despite decades of therapy, meditation, and being a therapist – and I do aspire to make courageous choices in the present moment – I am nonetheless more and more convinced that what happened in my childhood will continue to influence most days of my life, like it or not. First, when I opened these emails I scowled. Then I ignored them. But eventually, I could not resist writing back, perhaps wishing to participate in the well-intentioned, if hugely annoying, exchange? Or, more likely, just wishing for revenge. So, I am making my two lists for 2022. Number 1: I resolve to do what I know I will do anyways. I will binge-watch the third season of Ted Lasso. I will eat baklava for breakfast every day. Number 2: I am making resolutions, but I am making them backwards for the year that has just ended. I’m compiling a list of everything I accomplished last year. It is, much to my surprise, quite an awesome list. I am having a lot of fun and I am starting to feel pretty darn good. With a Perspective, this is Sara Alexander. Sara Alexander is a marriage and family therapist. She lives in San Francisco and Graton.
Paul Staley says the marketplace of ideas isn't the emporium of free thought it's cracked up to be.
Christine Schoefer sees intricate beauty in the common vegetables on her kitchen counter.
Chinese Americans like Charles Feng must confront the the persistent questioning of their American-ness.
Engaging other journalists of color has helped YR Media's Shaylyn Martos find her career path, and much more.
Gillian Reynolds has learned that being exceptionally unexceptional at everything she tries can be pretty exceptional.
Harsh times have Larry Lee yearning for a strong dose of the humility and kindness of Mr. Rogers.
The world is full of busy, buzzing doers. But Lane Parker calmly weights when might be the right time to do most anything.
When he was down and out, a friend helped him feed his kids, even though she didn’t have to. It was a kindness Lloyd Jones has never stopped repaying.
Ellen Greenblatt considers the profound personal loss of the people behind the statistics.
Marcy Fraser was an AIDS nurse throughout that plague. Now she reaches out to all nurses on the frontlines of a new scourge.
On Christmas morning, millions of gifts will be unwrapped. But Heidi Swillinger has had her small but favorite gift for many years.
Sandhya Acharya says that when life gives you rain, its best to play in a lake, if you just know how.
Thomas Plante says a recent surgeon general report is raising the alarm about the state of youth mental health.
With cheerful moments in short supply, Evan Ho finds respite in a middle school concert.
Growing up, Jaime Flores didn't have the places to play with his peers that others take for granted.
High school senior Ellie Lauter discovers the key to reconnect with her declining grandmother—music.
Middle school boys eagerly take to Marilyn Englander's lessons in the art of needle and thread.
Rachel Averbuck's small shoe shop is battling the huge online retailers and need you this holiday season.
Agnes Torres Al-Shibibi celebrates California's Spanish heritage as spoken in the names of the places we inhabit.
Y-R Media's Ivelisse Diaz hopes this Christmas will bring the warmth and joy that was missing last year.
80 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor that marked the beginning of World War II for the U.S., Michael Von der Porten remembers three Sonoma County men who died that day.
Selina Kaing's family tradition of blending old ways with new American habits resides in a box of birthday candles.
The email that told Dorothy O'Donnell she was too old for the hiking group surprised her. Then it made her angry.
Thanksgiving celebrates family, but for Sara Alexander the definition of both family and Thanksgiving has changed with age.
Richard Swerdlow says "are you vaxed?" is the simple Thanksgiving question that's awkward to ask.
A tremendous amount of food ends up as waste and Sara Orem is on a campaign to reduce her contribution.
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau says a vegetarian Thanksgiving can still be traditional and delicious.
Tom Moriarty says everything offered by Facebook's promised Metaverse is already available in the real world.
Hanna Clements-Hart is in the middle of the generational sandwich, and enjoying some unexpected gifts.
Deidre Silverman's close encounter with a common house finch leaves her closer to the big picture.
Barbara Simmons says everyday sand takes on magical qualities in the hands of a child, which is why it is now in the Toy Hall of Fame.
Stewart Florsheim says that as attitudes about death with dignity change, so does the law.
Andrew Lewis says they didn't ask for be front-line workers in a global pandemic but they do it anyway, despite routine disrespect.
A recent local instance of anti-Asian stereotyping leaves Larry Lee fuming at never-ending racism.
Jeanne Sole goes light on the Halloween ghouls and gore in favor of more Hispanic traditions.
Debbie Duncan says that now that we can actually get out and meet strangers again, we should talk to them.
Political change doesn't come easily, but Meg Waite Clayton says it helps to have some nasty friends.
The Giants season ended recently, but Bora Reed and a legion of fans cherish memories of a season like no other.
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau looks at just some of the body parts whose names have their origin in the animal kingdom.
When Ann Miller's son is welcomed home from war she discovers more reasons to celebrate than she had expected.
Change can be frustratingly slow. But Jim McClellan says that sometimes it can happen with astonishing speed.
The Northern California wine industry faces many challenges from fire, drought, climate change and more, but Karen Trippe Mannix says its future is rooted in people and place. The winery where I work is suffused with the smell of fermenting grapes. Tall redwood doors are thrown open, cool morning air clearing out carbon dioxide that’s gathered overnight as yeasts ferment each ripe grape. Cream-colored bins brim with tight clusters of grapes waiting to journey from vine to bottle. The crush pad is abuzz with beeping forklifts, tangles of white hoses, sweaty faces, and purple-stained hands. No one is still, except the bees gorging on pools of sticky juice. A bacchanalia in miniature. It’s been a dry, hard year for them, too. Irrigation ponds are dried to a few inches of algae and green sludge. The mountains that hem in our valley still bear burn scars, and skeletal trees stand in dark relief. This multi-year drought weighs heavily on us, and the windy, warm days that usher in Fall set us all on edge—one spark, and we would surely alight in flames again. And yet, we adapt and persist. The vines still set forth tender shoots and ripened their clusters through this dusty, dry summer. Vineyard managers employ creative methods to better retain water in Napa Valley’s many soil types, and this record-breaking drought will serve as a case study for the dry years to come. There is excitement about the 2021 vintage, a window into the concentration and purity hard-wrought from the dry ground. So many are eager to visit Napa Valley, delighted to taste and buy the wines we are so well known for. And the beauty of our valley remains unmatched, despite the challenges and changing conditions. On my drive home last night, low lavender clouds nestled against the hillsides, and the golden grasses shined in the evening glow. Clusters of grapes hung heavy on vines, waiting to be picked. The future is uncertain, but we are moving forward with the cyclical beauty of this place, seeing the potential for a bright future alight not just with flames but possibility. With a Perspective, I’m Karen Trippe Mannix. Karin Trippe Mannix lives and works in the Napa Valley with her husband and young daughter. [ad fullwidth]
Richard Swerdlow looks at notoriously low teacher salaries and growing teacher shortages.
Young people are leading the charge to quit their jobs and Y-R Media's Nina Roehl is one of them.
The early morning garbage truck was loud and annoying. But Ray Pestrong found something beautiful in its wake.
Brian Walker says Facebook needs to change to fend off its critics on the left and right.
Mark Clevenger's daughter is off to college and everything has changed, except what matters.
Mike Von der Porten suggests a process for determining whether old place names should stay or go.
As newspapers struggle with declining revenues and shrinking pages, Richard Levitt clings fast to a tradition that defies the digital age.
When her initial response to everyday annoyances is anger, Marilyn Englander practices a better way.
Thanks to a rare condition, young Parvathy Nair faced an endless chain of bad hair days.
Food banks are overwhelmed and people are hungry, yet we waste food shamelessly. A child of post-war Germany, Christine Schoefer vows to change her ways.
It was a habit that survived for a very long time, but even ingrained habits can change. Pete Gavin has this Perspective. In 1966 my parents purchased eight acres just outside Mendocino. Their dream was to eventually leave Berkeley and retire on the land. In 1985 they achieved it. There’s a creek just north of Mendocino called Jack-Peter’s Creek. A bridge on 101 crosses the creek. My father, Jack, who served in the Navy, used to salute when we hit that bridge; if I was in the car, I too saluted, acknowledging our namesake connection. Last year my Mom died, a victim of Alzheimer’s. She was not bitter nor regretful — but rather, accepting; she had lived a long full life, and at some point, simply became tired. Now my father lives alone on the land, in the house we built with redwood milled from our forest, with cold water flowing from our spring, with markers in the garden for the many pets who once roamed the land. It’s the place Dad knows best, and he would feel lost anywhere else. Today, when I cross Jack-Peter’s Creek, I still salute in deference to a tradition lasting over fifty years. A few weeks ago I was in the car with my 92 year-old father, heading to Fort Bragg. When we drove over the creek, I saluted as usual, but my dad did not. I wasn’t particularly bothered nor surprised, but quietly I wondered when he had stopped our little tradition. Rituals are valiant human attempts to keep things constant, but as Heraclitus said, “The only constant in life is change.” With a Perspective, I’m Pete Gavin. Pete Gavin is a retired middle school English teacher.
Richard Swerdlow says re-opened school feel pretty much like back-to-normal—with one big exception. It’s September and students are heading back to school. Unlike last year, when the pandemic forced schools to shutter and students to pivot to learning online, this fall schools are open for in-person instruction. Although COVID continues to disrupt life, with 100,000 Americans diagnosed and 1,000 deaths every day, school feels surprisingly normal. There a few indications of contagious illness—hand sanitizer, posters reminding kids to social distance—but schools feel pretty much the same as the “before times.” There is one obvious difference, though. Students are wearing face masks. For such a small piece of fabric, masks in schools have been a huge controversy—whether students should be required to wear masks has provoked shouting matches and protests at school board meetings from coast-to-coast. With some states mandating masks in schools and other states banning masks, the debate has moved from classrooms to courtrooms, both proponents and opponents filing lawsuits in 14 states. As a teacher, I wear a mask all day, too, following the CDC recommendation of indoor masking by students and staff. And I’m trying to understand parent’s concerns about kids wearing masks: “not comfortable, doesn’t like it.” This is about more than comfort—with COVID surges among school-age kids, it’s a public health emergency. Masks reduce the amount of respiratory droplets spread by students, protecting your child and other students from getting sick. Masks are temporary and non-invasive. Nobody loves wearing one. But if masking is what it takes to keep our kids safe and our schools open, than I’m willing to be uncomfortable. Seat belts are uncomfortable too, but they save lives. And I’ve noticed something interesting. My students don’t mind. The kids are calmly putting on masks and getting on with their school work. Unlike the adults raging on TV news, my students are taking it in stride with a mature and uncomplaining attitude about wearing masks. They get it. The kids are all right. It’s the grown-ups who are having mask meltdowns. With a Perspective, I’m Richard Swerdlow. Richard Swerdlow teaches in the San Francisco Unified School District. [ad fullwidth]
Margaret Stawowy wanted to keep her declining mother in familiar surroundings. It was easier said than done.
Conor Hagen discovers just how wonderful taste and smell are when COVID takes them away.
Ryan was mocked by his schoolmates, but Jack befriended him. And then, one day, Ryan was gone.
When Linsay Bodenheimer's 100-year-old family cabin was destroyed by the Caldor fire, much more than a building was lost.
Griffin Ting is back to school, glad the isolation of last year's virtual classrooms is over.
Parents provide tremendous gifts to their children throughout life. But when dementia has taken hold the greatest gift can be a simple one – recognition. Susan Dix Lyons has this Perspective.
Isabella Montano Ponce struggled with depression but it was the inability to talk about it that slowed her recovery.
Peggy Hansen looks at what happens when old truths about ourselves aren't true anymore.
Grant Young says recent government imagery of strange moving objects has rekindled the interest in UFOs.
Joan Cardellino finds herself alone in her home for the first time and on the cusp of a new life.
Teacher Alisa Peres says she gets through the stress of teaching in a pandemic with a lot of help from her colleagues.
YR Media's Ivelisse Diaz feels pressure to sacrifice her own interests to help fix a broken school culture.
As the pandemic's surge in animal adoptions slackens, volunteer Leslie Smith advocates for those left behind.
Jonah Raskin joins a large crowd advocating continued closure of the Great Highway to motor vehicles.
Sara Alexander's elderly friend is not one to censor her answers to questions -- even on a mental health test
Michael Ellis says a member of what's known as the Little Five is a clever but vicious insect.
At an old-fashioned Vermont town meeting, Andrew Lewis experiences the kind of politics where winning and losing isn’t the only thing that matters.
When Sandhya Acharya's pandemic bubble burst, it was her young son's note that healed her.
When Paul Wolber thinks of vaccine hesitancy, he hears the voice of his mother, long ago, giving some instructions many would do well to heed today. I like to tell people younger than me that I’m old enough that I survived all those diseases no one catches anymore. That’s an exaggeration. I did get measles, mumps, chicken pox, scarlet fever and so many ear infections that I was deaf for a year. However, I never caught the scourge of my cohort: polio. But it was a close thing. For the first few years of my life, my mother kept close watch over me each summer, staying away from public swimming pools and other perceived sources of infection. I still remember being trundled off to Clara Barton Elementary School in northwest Detroit to receive the Salk vaccine. As we waited in line, my mother whispered none-too-softly in my ear, “You will take your shot without any crying or carrying on, and you will be grateful!” The vaccine worked, despite its crudeness and occasional safety issues. In my life, I have known several people with leg braces or withered limbs that trace back to a polio infection, but all have been my age or older. My life experience inevitably informs my opinion of COVID vaccine hesitancy. I was a member of the biotechnology community for all my working life and followed the development of the mRNA vaccines closely. I trust the work and the community and was vaccinated as soon as possible. I’m willing to admit that not everyone shares my experience and might have trust issues with the biomedical community. But I really wish that someone each vaccine doubter trusts as much as I trusted my mother would pull them aside and whisper in their ear, “You will take your shot without any crying or carrying on, and you will be grateful!” With a Perspective, I’m Paul Wolber. Paul Wolber is a scientist and technical manager in Silicon Valley’s biotech industry.
Les Bloch says a better future can only be built if it can be imagined. Imagine. Just imagine. It’s something that envelopes and rewards us, something that has gotten us humans to the moon, something that stretches our brains like hamstrings in yoga class. It started with language 40,000 years ago. Before the written word, Homo sapiens carved statues from mammoth tusks and told stories of the hunt. Imagined details and embellishments were added to paint a more vivid picture in the mind’s eye. Our ancestors’ first frontier was this vision in their larger, more capable brains. Albert Einstein famously stated that “Imagination is more important than knowledge”. It makes sense that one of the most celebrated minds in history believed that those who could activate their imagination should be valued. Every human construct has relied on imagination—our forefathers imagined a government different than any other in the world. Imagined ideas become reality, from governments to religion, from the bow and arrow to the iPhone. Every innovation, every inspiration has its roots in imagining. Art, music, literature, sports, and all the sciences. By activating our brains to imagine what could be, we work towards seeing our visions become reality. All human history first took place inside our heads, a dreamt yet unrealized solution to a problem– or unintended and terrifying guess gone wrong. We take imagination for granted. North Korean citizens suffer from a single dictated story designed to crush any thoughts of reality. For governments like Saudi Arabia and China, unchecked imagination is a threat. The Thought Police are real. In a quiet moment, imagination projected the Theory of Relativity behind Einstein’s wise eyes. Appreciate your brainstorm. See the future. Imagine what can happen if you let your mind explore things yet to be. With a Perspective, I’m Les Bloch. Les Bloch is a project manager in the East Bay.
Fostering an animal awaiting adoption is a great service but Colleen Patrick-Goudreau learned its not without its challenges. Several years ago, I was volunteering at an underfunded county animal shelter socializing cats, cleaning their cages, and providing some enrichment to their little lives. Adoption days were few and far between, and one day I impulsively decided to bring a cat home to give her some reprieve from the cage. That’s when I became a foster failure — not because I adopted her, but because my good intentions turned into a nightmare for my own two cats — and me — for all the stress it caused. Characteristically sensitive, both of my cats immediately fell ill and developed crystals in their bladder — preventing them from urinating. Fortunately, after much discomfort and many medical interventions, they recovered — and the little shelter cat was subsequently adopted. While I could have learned a better way to foster without causing stress to my entire household, I overcorrected, and for 20 years — though I remained a supporter of and volunteer for animal rescue groups — I swore off fostering. Until I decided to try again a few years ago. This time, I prepared. I gave my foster kitties their own safe place, while making sure my own cats felt secure and unthreatened. I’ve now successfully fostered 10 cats and have seen them through to their adoptive homes. And my cats have hardly noticed a thing. While I have a system in place to make it work practically, I’d be lying if I said the process wasn’t difficult emotionally — an aspect of fostering I think many people see as a barrier. After all, how do you remain emotionally unattached enough to let them go when the time comes? It was a question I posed to the head of the rescue group I work with, and her answer was perfect: “I don’t want our fosterers to be emotionally detached. It’s our emotional attachment that makes us better able to care for them until they find their forever home.” And she’s right. I give them everything I have, and while the initial goodbye is hard, it’s not long before I’m curled up with my own cats looking at photos of my former fosters thriving in their adoptive homes. With a Perspective, this is Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. Colleen Patrick-Goudreau is an author and animal advocate in Oakland.
Larry Murphy cherishes fishing trips in the back country as reminders of the common origin of all things.
Sometimes, no one finds fault with choosing the easier road to success. But for Jim McClellan’s summer camp director that wasn’t going to happen. They say fortune favors the brave. I think there’s some truth to that, as I was reminded in a recent discussion about childhood memories. I spent a few summers at a great camp for boys in the Adirondack Mountains in New York. Willie, the camp’s director, was a larger‐than‐life figure. Like his love for the camp, Willie’s energy was boundless, and he made me feel like I was the most important kid in the world whenever he spoke to me. Everybody loved Willie. One summer in the mid 1970’s, the camp had beautiful new outdoor basketball courts put in. They had been roped off so Willie could open them in a special ceremony. On the ribbon‐ cutting day, all of us gathered several rows deep around the courts. There were a few hundred of us there, and the air was abuzz with excitement. Willie appeared and, as he was dribbling the ball around, thanked all those whose hard work had brought these courts to life. But all any of us could think about was when he’d take the first official shot; he made a few fake layup runs, keeping all of us laughing and delirious with anticipation. But then he moved toward the corner, stopped, spun around, and took a jump shot from about 15 feet. As the ball rose through the morning summer air, time slowed, and in that single beat of silence, with every pair of eyes willing it toward the hoop, the ball described the arc of our collective dreams. When so much was riding on a single act—when the world was watching—that was when our true selves were revealed. He seemed to be saying, live your lives boldly; courage transcends success and failure. In many countries, the number 8 is considered the luckiest, and when I learned years later that Willie had died on August 8, 2008, I thought back to that shot, and knew that Lady Fortune had always been by Willie’s side. The decision to take a hard shot when an easy one would have sufficed made a difference in the lives of every boy watching. And I’m sure that the roar that went up after the ball went in is still echoing across Lake Champlain. With a Perspective, I’m Jim McClellan. Jim McClellan is co-founder of a logistics software company focused on the wine industry. He lives in Marin.
Many people put on extra pounds during the pandemic and Dr. Baldeep Singh wishes there was more he could do for his vulnerable patients. When Javier came to see me, he had gained 10 pounds. It was a surprise but since staying at home during COVID, he had stopped exercising and had started eating more. The result was the “Quarantine 15”, the weight gained due to pandemic stressors, such as losing jobs, living in tighter quarters, and facing an unknown virus. More than 40% of Americans say they’ve gained weight during the past year. Prior to COVID, in the US, in 2018, over 40% of American adults met criteria for obesity, while more than 9% had severe obesity. As with many health indicators, obesity affects Black and Brown populations disproportionately compounding the impact of COVID where more “essential workers” support families and cope with understaffing at work due to illness and childcare issues. I do not wish to “fat shame” anyone. Social, economic, and cultural factors increase obesity, and living in neighborhoods with few to no healthy food options, while big business promotes convenient and highly processed foods, also contributes to obesity. But along with the opioid crisis and COVID, obesity causes unnecessary, preventable illness and death, including type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. You can also add worse outcomes from COVID to this list. We now need public health initiatives comparable to those waged against cigarette smoking. As a health care provider, I do my best to address personal behavior, but sadly for Javier, I have fewer options than I would like. I remained empathic, referred him to a nutritionist and provided some guidelines on exercise, but his situation reflects a larger public health issue, compounded by COVID. We need to generate the political will to make broad scale community changes to take on this growing crisis. Our nation’s health depends on it. With a Perspective, I’m Dr. Baldeep Singh. Baldeep Singh is a doctor of internal medicine in the South Bay.
Simi Monheit's recent trip to the Sierra brings fond memories and dread for the future.
Mediator Richard Friedlander says the words he hears the least are the words most likely to encourage conflict resolution.
While human lives are upended, life is normal for the plants and creatures of Peggy Hansen's farm.
Michael Ellis has this Perspective on a Bay Area tree with an ancient history. Millions of years ago a tropical forest flourished throughout California. Rainfall exceeded 80 inches per year and both temperature and humidity were high. Large broad-leaved evergreen trees dominated a landscape interspersed with conifers. Slowly the climate became drier and cooler and … Continue reading Michael Ellis: Ancient Trees →
It’s 3:30 in the morning, and I’m sitting in my favorite chair: a crinkled and worn, brown leather recliner. One of our cats has discovered I’m up, and he’s come to say hello. Miles, our 11 year-old springer spaniel, is curled up on his bed beside me, snoring. Otherwise, it’s quiet, except for the distant humming of an appliance, the wind outside and the creaking of the house. When I find myself unable to sleep through the night, I grab a blanket and stretch out in my chair in the living room, the light beside me casting a warm, yellow glow allowing me to read, pet the cat, or listen to the night sounds of the house. About 10 years ago I had my first real bout of insomnia. It was dreadful. For two weeks I couldn’t sleep a wink. Things had changed at work, and I just couldn’t let it go. As each day passed into night, I felt more pressure to arrest this new pattern and finally tumble into sleep. Deep, beautiful sleep. But the more I tried, the harder it became. I was caught in a vicious cycle of my mind. I became desperate and found myself in the ER one night, begging the doctor for relief. He gave it to me in the form of a shot. Finally, my prayers were answered. But I had entered a new phase of my life. No longer would I take sleep for granted. I created new routines and formed a novel appreciation for the tenuous patterns of the mind. My relationship with sleep has now evolved to a place where when I wake up in the middle of the night – and by no means does this occur every night – I don’t fight it. I just go with it. It’s strange, but now I almost treasure those nights I find myself in my chair, a cat in my lap, my dog at my feet, a good book in my hands. It’s actually the best time. With a Perspective, I’m Pete Gavin. Pete Gavin is a retired middle school English teacher
When Maxine Rose Schur needs to clear her mind she heads straight for the foggiest part of San Francisco – the Sunset District.
Jim McClelland turns to an ancient Japanese art for hope that a broken country can be repaired, and better for it.
Paul Staley says the Declaration of Independence asserts the right to pursue happiness, not attain it.
Victor Schachter suggests the Declaration of Independence could use an update to reflect modern realities.
It’s the time of year when highly informed lovers of forest fungi forage for their favorites, and Peggy Hansen is one of them.
Pedro Hernandez-Ramos reminds us that the global pandemic is still raging around the world.
Rev. Barbara Foltin's church hands out Pride flags to LGBTQ+ people, their families and neighbors.
Like many, Nicolle Plescia and her family had a lot of free time during the pandemic lockdown. Did they waste it?
The life of Steven Saum's father is only slightly captured in a handful of small mementos.
Susan Dix Lyons shares a special day in the city with her daughter, and a lifetime of memories.
Dr. Thomas Plante says a toxic mix of frustration and stress is making too many people behave very badly.
Sheltering at home, Michael Ellis focuses his love for natural wonders on his own back yard.
When her initial response to everyday annoyances is anger, Marilyn Englander practices a better way.
When Carol Arnold needs to get away from it all she goes up and over the Sierras to the dramatic eastern side.
Joan Steinau Lester celebrates two Supreme Court decisions, both delivered in June, that are milestones for biracial and same sex unions.
Mark Clevenger's daughter is off to college and everything has changed, except what matters.
When any group is under attack it needs allies. Milton Chen says those allies have changed the lives of Asian Americans.
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau looks at just some of the body parts whose names have their origin in the animal kingdom.
America, it is said, has a love affair with the automobile. That would not include Steve McMoyler.
It's Memorial Day and Winston Tharp has this tribute to a veteran whose promise was lost.
Andrew Lewis says an effective vaccine wipes from collective memory the very problem it was created to solve.
The pandemic distorts our sense of time, but Vanessa Dueck sees it marching on in small but meaningful ways.
Food banks are overwhelmed and people are hungry, yet we waste food shamelessly. A child of post-war Germany, Christine Schoefer vows to change her ways.
Larry Lee says that in trying times Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are finding their voices in opposition to hate and discrimination.
The pandemic varies greatly depending on the country you live in, but Sandhya Acharya says the world is united by COVID.
The tragic death of cycling icon Joe Shami reminds Tom Epstein that cyclists are vulnerable to distracted drivers.
Gender fluid children pose certain challenges for Sarah Hoffman and other adults who support them.
High schooler Jose Castro says adults don't appreciate the stress of high tech classrooms.
Richard Swerdlow says the return to school is testing – and exhilarating – teachers and students alike.
It's been a rough year for San Francisco's eclectic entertainment community, but Connie Champagne hopes better time aren't just somewhere over the rainbow.
Ali Shah says the failure of a proposed soccer super league is a rare defeat for American-style elitism.
YR Media's Luke Thomas experienced the year of the pandemic through the lens of a camera.
Teenager Kimberly Higareda feels pressured to take on responsibilities she may not be ready for.
Teenager Karen Chau says the pandemic has taught her to treasure opportunities from the mundane to the exceptional.
Laura Weil says the pandemic has made us look at everything differently, including how we die.
Sandhya Acharya looks at the year of the pandemic and considers what she will miss and what she won't.
Paul Staley celebrates the day before his birthday as a reminder that he’ll spend far more time not in this world than in it.
The email that told Dorothy O'Donnell she was too old for the hiking group surprised her. Then it made her angry.
Charlotte Sivanich says too few students are taught financial literacy and many never learn.
As schools cautiously begin to reopen, Vanessa Dueck and her young children are ready for a taste of normal.
Angel Island graces San Francisco Bay, but its buildings house one of the darkest times in American immigration history, when Chinese, even Chinese American citizens, were subjected to harsh discrimination. Larry Jin Lee has this Perspective. I have not been on Angel Island since I was a teenager and a visit was long overdue. But I was not fully aware back then of the historical significance of Angel Island to my family. My great grandfather and grandfather were detained there several times even though they were U.S. citizens. Angel Island, unlike Ellis Island, was not built to welcome tired and poor huddled masses but to reject as many Chinese immigrants as possible. Many had long forced stays. There were hysterical fears of Chinese at the time, and, yes, the term invasion was often invoked, fomenting anger and scapegoating them for depressing wages. Thus, the first federal immigration law was also the first directed at a single racial group — the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Chinese American citizens could be deported. All skilled and unskilled laborers were systematically excluded. Upon docking, I tried to imagine what it would have been like for my grandfather, 12 at the time. He’d have to face an arduous interrogation of very detailed questions such as, the exact location of a village neighbor’s house, or where the clock was in his home. A wrong answer could get him deported. He succeeded and he got to San Francisco to live with his father, whom he barely knew, because the laws made long separations of men from their families the norm. As I walked past the carved poems on the barrack walls in the museum, I could almost hear the pained voices of the words “brutal injustice,” “despotic acts.” I peered out of a window at a residential barracks, half of one glass pane was clear where I could see San Francisco and the other half, the view was fogged up and blurred, a perfect metaphor of the immigrant’s destiny, one who is allowed onto this country’s shore and the other whose hopes and dreams are lost in the fog of the bay, so close only to be turned away. It is chilling and sad to see the clear parallels with what we are witnessing today at the U.S.-Mexican border. I remember the pained anguish in my grandfather’s eyes when he told me about his time there, over 70 years later, as if it were yesterday. I think the ghosts of Angel Island are crying once again. With a Perspective, I’m Larry Jin Lee. Larry Jin Lee is a psychotherapist and father of two. He lives in San Francisco.
More than three million Americans are getting vaccinated each day, and Debbie Duncan says each shot is a story.
Hiring managers say they’re looking for something called ‘presence’. Tracy Cote says it’s code for ‘just like me’.
Racism thrives on ignorance of the history that isn’t taught is history erased. Sarah Javier has this Perspective. Patriotism was plentiful in my childhood as a Filipino-American U.S. Navy brat. But despite how American I was, I often felt like a foreigner in my conservative Southern hometown. I thought things would change once I moved to the Bay, where I was finally surrounded by people who looked like me. I realized I was still an outsider. The United States has erased Asians from its past. History books gloss over the estimated 200,000 Filipinos killed during the Philippine-American War. The horror of Japanese internment camps was hastily covered in my high school American History class. I learned about the Chinese Exclusion Act from young adult fiction books. And although AAPI representation is improving in Hollywood, progress is slow. On a personal level, anti-Asian racism has led me to grieve the lack of knowledge I could have had growing up. I was never taught about the role that Filipino-American labor leader Larry Itliong played alongside Cesar Chavez in shaping modern day labor unions. I knew nothing about racism perpetrated by White men against Filipinos in 1930s Stockton, or how legislation made it impossible for Filipinos to have interracial marriages. I would guess that many other Filipino-Americans like me are also in the dark. The events of 2020 and 2021 have exposed the dark reality of being Asian in America. We enter conversations with non-Asian colleagues to come out feeling othered. We feel at a loss for words when non-Asians ask, “What are you?” then quickly defend themselves when met with blank stares. We must wade through the vast expanse of the Internet to find information about our ancestors’ experiences in this country stated in their own voices. We are subjected to dismissive excuses (e.g., “bad days”) for violence against us. I say all of this to affirm that the Asian experience is the American experience. The historical trauma we are experiencing is very real and, at this moment in history, will not be erased. With a perspective, I’m Sarah Javier. Sarah Javier is a postdoc and health equity researcher at Stanford Medicine.
In the COVID vaccination program, Lynn Bruno sees elements of a health care system we can only dream about.
Richard Swerdlow says that pandemic inactivity has led to a spike in overweight children.
Michael Ellis looks at the family of Bay Area jays and why they keep whacking into our windows.
She’s been on life support before, but now her survival is in serious jeopardy. Molly Curley O’Brien has this Perspective. We lost a Bay Area legend last week. Benicia born and Oakland raised, a critical thinker, a leader, a feminist, a social justice warrior, and committed to the pursuit of knowledge. Mills College, as we know it, died of COVID-19 related complications. She was 169 years old. Or did we? What is happening with Mills College is not unprecedented. Women’s colleges have suffered from declining enrollment in recent years, with several forced to close or start admitting men in order to survive. There are just 34 women’s colleges left in this country, down from 230 about 60 years ago. As an alumna of Mills, this is a shame. I sat next to classmates who were encouraged to bring their children to lecture with them when childcare fell through. I learned in a classroom racially and economically diverse. And I learned from the Oakland community, because the pedagogy of Mills and Oakland are interconnected deeply. If Mills College closes, what happens to the current students, the incoming freshman who have already put down tuition payments, the deep network of alumni, the professors and the staff? What about the 135 acres of land? Maybe nothing! This isn’t the first time the Mills community has gone up against challenge. Mills has survived the Civil War, World War I, the Depression, and World War II. In the 90s, student protesters occupied the campus for 13 days, rescinding school leadership’s attempt to start admitting men. The tenacity of the Mills community is boundless, organizing to Save Mills is happening, but is it enough? COVID-19 is unlike anything else in our country’s history. And like COVID, Mills College’s fate remains uncertain. What is for certain is – although I am sad – I am grateful for my time there, humbled to have learned what I learned there, and am honored to be a Mills alumna now and forever. With a Perspective, I’m Molly Curley O’Brien. Molly Curley O’Brien has an MBA and master’s from Mills and is Director of Government Affairs for a wildfire recovery and resiliency organization.
Asian Americans speak many languages, but in the midst of unprecedented attacks, they speak with one voice. Billy Zeng has this Perspective. 請聽聽我們 Please Listen to us We are frightened, upset and frustrated 請跟我們說話 Please talk to us In Hoisanwah, Thai, Mandarin, In Vietnamese, Khmer, Cantonese In Korean, Japanese, Hakka, In Tagalog, Cebuano, Teochew And in many languages we speak Which may or may not include English 請看看我們 Please look at us We are many in a loose category. We are your doctors, lawyers, nurses, engineers, We are your janitors, caretakers, grocery workers We are your therapist, acupuncturist, masseuse 請認識我們 Please know us We are not your model minorities. We are not your immigrant poster child We are not your tools used to diminish the suffering of others. 請幫幫我們 Please help us We are also your tired, your poor, and your huddled masses. 請聽聽我們 Please listen to us We are your friends We are your heung li. We are your neighbors We are your fellow Americans. 我們是你們的美國同胞 With a Perspective, I’m Billy Zeng Billy Zeng is a fourth-year medical student at UCSF.
As vaccinations climb and pandemic restrictions ease, many are contemplating how to make up for lost time and missed opportunities. Marilyn Englander has this Perspective. It’s been a year of fear, trimming expectations and hoping to control fate. Chastising my kids to be careful, scolding when someone forgets the mask, scowling at rule-breakers – it’s been exhausting. And pretty much fruitless: people will do what they will do. Now, two dear 80-something friends in Philadelphia, exhilarated by their vaccinations, announce they’re embarking on a 6000-mile road trip in a big rental RV. They’ll help their adult daughter and boyfriend move east from California. Never mind they haven’t driven anywhere in five years, let alone in a 32-footer. Overlook recent health crises and other frailties. Ignore the prospect of a crowded return trip with four adults, plus the couple’s four dogs and five rats —in one RV. They’re off— East Coast to West and back in three weeks. White line fever! Of course, I protested. Then I cajoled, reasoned, begged them to reconsider. What if…and what if…? Then I shut up. I thought of my late father. A go-getter and adventurer, he dove in the Red Sea, learned to ski at 45, trained to be a volunteer EMT in his 50s, paddled the Grand Canyon in his 70s. As infirmities multiplied in old age, he mourned losing his active life. Finally, at 85, he declared he was going on another scuba trip. In the warm Caribbean, he’d glide and dive, blissfully moving again. The family put down their collective feet, throttling his freedom, and he sank into depression. I regret our decision still. What were we saving him for? So, reflecting on the new horizons we all cherish, I’m thinking: embrace living. Too soon it’s all over. If my friends’ idea of freedom is to risk emergencies and misadventures far from home, let them spread their wings. I wish them Godspeed sailing across the continent, free as swimmers in azure southern waters. With a Perspective, this is Marilyn Englander. Marilyn Englander is a North Bay educator.
Andrew Lewis seeks to protect the fragile, miraculous life of a wounded Monarch butterfly.
Jim McClelland turns to an ancient Japanese art for hope that a broken country can be repaired, and better for it.
Vaccines are ramping up and with them, of course, the conspiracy theories. Tom Moriarty finds one of them especially ironic. My favorite conspiracy theory about the coronavirus vaccine is that each shot contains a tiny microchip designed to track our every move. I admire this particular piece of nonsense because it overlooks the fact that most of us have already been tagged and can be tracked down by Bill Gates or the government pretty much at will. Big business and other nefarious actors can also use the device to read our minds and accurately predict which products we’ll buy and who we’ll most likely vote for. And to make matters worse, these masters of the dark arts of persuasion can even nudge us toward certain brands or candidates or ideas, and not only predict what we are going to do, but almost make us do it. All with just the push of a button. The microchip delivered via the vaccine is allegedly so small that it’s all but impossible to detect. The device I’m talking about is much bigger, and if you feel around for it, I’m pretty sure you can find it. If you’re listening to the radio while you’re still in bed, slowly stretch your arm out and reach over onto your bedside table, toward the glowing light. If you’re listening to this in the car while driving, carefully run your right hand through the center cup holders in your car. If you’re out walking and listening via podcast, quickly plunge your hands into your pockets, front and back. And if you’re reading this online, look up for a moment, let your eyes adjust, and then quickly look back down at your hand. It’s a flat, rectangular object, bigger than a deck of cards, but smaller than a paperback book. It’s made of metal, plastic, and glass. And it glows in the dark. There’s no way to get rid of it because, even though it’s wireless, it’s completely wired into our daily lives. And who knows what our friends might be saying about us on Facebook or TikTok if we don’t have it with us at all times? So go get the shot and stop worrying about being tracked. Bill Gates, the government, and all your favorite brands – and even your mom – have been following you for years. With a Perspective, I’m Tom Moriarty. Tom Moriarty teaches writing and rhetoric at San Jose State University.
Teacher Alisa Peres says she gets through the stress of teaching in a pandemic with a lot of help from her colleagues.
Wearing a mask shouldn't be a big deal, but to some it apparently is, and that has Shantha Smith mystified.
Sara Alexander discovers the perfect way to make better Hamantaschen — together with friends.
Funerals are occasions to express thoughts never expressed to the dearly departed. Mike Hall says, "Why wait?"
Larry Lee says the same racist pigeonholing that casts Asian Americans as the model minority makes them vulnerable to attack.
A long-neglected tent provides Lev Kushner and his boys with a strategy for coping with the prolonged bout of stay-at-home.
As the anniversary of the first stay-at-home order looms, Richard Levitt counts what he misses and doesn't miss.
Isabella Montano Ponce struggled with depression but it was the inability to talk about it that slowed her recovery.
Academic learning may be taking a hit, but Bryan Gillette thinks his children are learning important skills in the pandemic.
Susie Meserve has always been a worrier, but the pandemic has thrown anxiety into high gear.
Ellen Greenblatt considers the profound personal loss of the people behind the statistics.
As Connie Champagne contemplates leaving San Francisco, a mysterious, forgotten tomato bush steels her resolve.
Jolie Kanat, like other caregivers, has learned that in service to others she becomes real.
Paul Staley says we’re walking in a world of the seen and the unseen, of paradox and contradiction.
When law school student Dan Noel faces tough moments, he hears the voices of teachers who have been his guides.
The psychological stress of the pandemic is producing a rash of insomniacs, even the formerly sound-sleeping Richard Levitt.
Many Chinatown businesses have not survived the pandemic and with them many of Larry Jin Lee's family memories.
Dr. Antonio Gomez was the first in San Francisco to get a COVID vaccine shot, but he's focused now on getting the vaccine to undeserved communities.
YR Media's Adan Barrera rejects cultural stereotypes and goes the extra mile to treat his girlfriend right.
A wave of corporate departures has Joe Epstein worried about the future of Bay Area business.
For Denise Lewis, the COVID vaccine she administers is a shot of hope to both her clients and herself.
His family's liberal credentials are impeccable, but Kelly Gleason is proud to fly his American flag.
Richard Friedlander says it time for an addition to the Bill of Rights — a Bill of Responsibilities.
Sandhya Acharya contemplates being a good loser – on the playground and in politics. Some time back, I was witness to a kids’ plank showdown. Timers were set, poses struck, seconds counted. But when it came time to declare the winner, a chorus of voices, including my son’s, broke out into complaints. “My jacket slowed me down!” “He moved!” “I wasn’t ready!” I watched from the sidelines, cringing. A question troubled me. Are we raising good losers? On Jan 6, 2021, we saw the damage a bad loser could do. Trump lost the 2020 election. He didn’t like losing. He made many accusations, but they were all disproven with facts. Then he incited his supporters, who turned into an angry mob that desecrated the Capitol, a historic symbol of American democracy. Five people died. Ironically, at the same time, we also saw the culmination of what a good loser could do in the 2020 Georgia elections. In 2018, Stacey Abrams lost the gubernatorial election in Georgia. She didn’t like losing. She raised many issues and supported them with facts and figures. Then she energized people to participate in democracy, to vote. In the 2020 elections, millions more voted. Georgia flipped blue. As Americans, we may be divided on many issues, but, surely, we can be united in how we deal with them – with truth, decency, and due democratic process. And as parents, we may push our kids to compete, to win, but surely, we can also teach them to be humble, to listen and celebrate life – not just wins. Let’s raise neither good losers nor good winners, but good humans. Then again, maybe this reminder is more for us adults. Even as I prepared my thoughts, the group of kids that day had reached compromises, strengthened rules, and moved on to the next game. There were no complaints or accusations, just the sound of sweet, innocent laughter. With a Perspective, I’m Sandhya Acharya. Sandhya Acharya is an author of children’s books.
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau talks about what the word inauguration it has to do with our feathered friends.
Elizabeth Scarboro knows it takes hope to power through a pandemic's many side effects.
Richard Swerdlow says school children and members of Congress now have something in common neither welcomes.
Language, family and history weigh on Dan Lieberman as he mulls the prospects for a new year.
When her initial response to everyday annoyances is anger, Marilyn Englander practices a better way.
Steven Saum finds the weightiest things he and his son carried on their hike wasn't in their backpacks.
Selina Kaing's family tradition of blending old ways with new American habits resides in a box of birthday candles.
It’s New Year's Eve and 2020 is finally coming to an end. For YR Media’s Nina Roehl this challenging year has helped her learn more about her mental health and find ways to cope.
For Nirmy Kang, Christmas Eve celebrations map an immigrant's personal and political history.
Growing up in a religiously diverse family taught Paul Staley lessons not necessarily in the sacred texts.
The hills are alive, and Richard Levitt has a long-ago scoutmaster to thank for being able to experience it.
When he was down and out, a friend helped him feed his kids, even though she didn’t have to. It was a kindness Lloyd Jones has never stopped repaying.
77 years ago, in Nazi-occupied Holland, a Dutch Christmas tradition became a brush with disaster for then 6-year-old Anita Frank, whose memories haunt her to this day.
On Christmas morning, millions of gifts will be unwrapped. But Heidi Swillinger has had her small but favorite gift for many years.
Our personal and national lives have gone off the rails, and Pete Gavin says normal never looked so good.
Mac Clayton says the march to racial equality in America is characterized by upswings and downswings.
Richard Swerdlow says the high-speed freeway to effective COVID vaccines was built in humble classrooms where science basics are taught.
When the season's first rainy day arrived, Marilyn Englander devoted it to a walk in the woods.
Even psychotherapist Larry Jin Lee is having trouble coping with anxiety and depression during the pandemic.
With time on his hands, Richard Friedlander takes a walk and discovers a world he’d largely ignored – his own neighborhood.
Marcy Fraser was an AIDS nurse throughout that plague. Now she reaches out to all nurses on the frontlines of a new scourge.
Things are just things, but they’re also artifacts that tell the story a life. Dan Goldes has this Perspective. My 90‐year‐old mother died recently, and my two brothers and I spent a few days cleaning out her house in Santa Rosa. As we sorted through the drawers, cabinets, and boxes, we spent time laughing, crying a little, and ribbing her in absentia for all the things she saved: receipts from long‐ago purchases, paintings my younger brother and I made in grade school, books she’d read decades before. Why, I thought, does someone save all this stuff? Then I realized that what we were looking at were artifacts. My mother was born into the Depression and was divorced with a young son by the early 1950s. She made her way to a new life in California, married again, had two more sons, divorced a second time, and spent the next 40 years discovering her path. That path wasn’t always easy for a 50‐something woman who had spent 20 years raising kids. As I looked at the boxes of stuff we were giving to friends, donating to charity, or, sometimes, throwing away, I realized that each item was a part of who my mom was. Those receipts? Evidence that after her second divorce she had earned her own money, built credit in her own name, and could buy what she needed and wanted. Those grade‐school paintings? Early signs that all three of her sons would be involved in the arts. The books? Grand adventures she could think back on as her physical world became smaller. Each of these things was a touchstone: to small triumphs as she made her way as an independent woman, and to larger accomplishments as she defined her life for herself. Each item said, “I was here.” They were reminders that a life is built not only in grand achievements but day by day, piece by piece. And so while my first thought was to wonder why my mother saved “all that stuff,” I’m now thankful for it, and, as I sorted through it, to her for helping me begin the process of moving forward without her in body, but very much in spirit. With a Perspective, I’m Dan Goldes. Dan Goldes is a non-profit consultant and documentary filmmaker in San Francisco.
Have you spent a crazy amount of time on things that barely crossed your mind before, just because you have to do something with all that time? Linda Gebroe has.
For most of us, extended self-isolation is a new challenge. For Liz Travis Allen, it's old hat.
https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/perspectives/2020/12/PerspLoudmouthsEllenGreenblatt.mp3
A visitor from China provides Andrew Lewis a window into how the pandemic is being handled elsewhere. The difference is stark.
For Gabrielle Selz, working a jigsaw puzzle is about much more than idle entertainment.
Jason Saleh asks why the homes lost, deaths and displacement of wildlife aren't counted among the costs of wildfires.