California may have mailed all voters a ballot, but a lot of people still chose to cast their ballots in person. And thousands of people worked long hours to make sure voters could do just that. Today, we're bringing you the stories of three poll volunteers from different corners of the Bay Area. Guests: Amy Mar, Thuc Nguyen, and Ronak Chakraborty, poll volunteers in Hayward, San Jose, and San Ramon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 04, 2020•28 min
The killing of George Floyd led to protests in South San Francisco, and the creation of a youth-led activist group called Change SSF. These last few months have also exposed a generational divide about how quickly the city should make changes — and how sweeping they should be. And that divide is also showing itself in South San Francisco's race for city council, where a 22-year-old political newcomer is running against the city's longtime mayor. Guest: Adhiti Bandlamudi, Silicon Valley reporter ...
Nov 02, 2020•28 min
Martinez isn't known for its activism. But after George Floyd was killed, and after a white couple defaced a Black Lives Matter mural in Martinez, many residents decided it was time for that to change. Now, they've started a conversation about race in Martinez that hasn't really happened in public before. That conversation has been difficult, especially with local leaders — but activists say this is just the beginning of a long struggle to build the Martinez they want. Guest: Devin Katayama, The...
Oct 30, 2020•32 min
Miles Hall was shot and killed by Walnut Creek police a year before many residents joined national protests supporting Black lives this past summer. The Hall family and friends have been showing up at City Council meetings demanding justice for a year, but it wasn't until George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police that more people began pressuring local politicians. Now half of the eight City Council candidates in Walnut Creek are running because of what happened to Hall, and some activists s...
Oct 28, 2020•32 min
Bela Gonzalez and Louie Licea are 15. Both of their parents are essential workers and need to leave the house every day. It's all pretty stressful. And it's also brought more responsibility: while their parents are gone, Bela and Louie take care of their little sister, Mia. Guests: Sasha Khokha, host of The California Report Magazine, Bela Gonzales and Louie Licea This episode originally ran in April 2020. Click here for info about power shutoffs. You can also check to see if your address will b...
Oct 26, 2020•24 min
On Tuesday, a California court ruled that officials at San Quentin State Prison have to either transfer or release half of the facility's population. That's because the outbreak at San Quentin got so bad that roughly 2,200 people got sick with COVID-19. 28 people have died. Today, we're revisiting how the outbreak first started at the beginning of the summer — and what incarcerated people and their loved ones were warning and worrying about at the time. Guest: Kate Wolffe, KQED reporter This epi...
Oct 23, 2020•17 min
Housing is not a human right in the United States. But more people are saying it should be. That growing movement has roots here in the Bay Area, where it's been nearly a year since the mothers behind Moms 4 Housing first occupied a house on Magnolia Street in West Oakland. Earlier this month, the moms announced that the home would soon be used for transitional housing. In the latest episode of the KQED podcast Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America, hosts Molly Solomon and Erin Baldassari dive...
Oct 21, 2020•25 min
Generations of Armenians and descendants of those who escaped the Armenian Genocide have found refuge in San Francisco. That’s the epicenter of a robust church community center and where Armenian Americans can celebrate their culture, history and heritage. It’s also where a recent spate of suspected hate crimes are raising fears about the current border conflict — and painful memories of violence. Guest: Nastia Voynovskaya, KQED Arts and Culture editor and reporter Learn more about your ad choic...
Oct 19, 2020•18 min
Community fridges have been popping up all over the Bay since the pandemic began as a form of mutual aid, which has deep roots here. There's a long history of this kind of community care, especially around food insecurity. Private companies have also used similar language to describe some of their own efforts. But KQED food writer and columnist Ruth Gebreyesus writes that the values of mutual aid are distinct — and worth protecting. Guest: Ruth Gebreyesus, food reporter and columnist for KQED Ar...
Oct 16, 2020•20 min
Proposition 25 is the culmination of a long fight over the bail system in California. A win for the "Yes" vote would uphold a law that abolishes cash bail and replaces it with a system that uses "risk assessment" algorithms to help judges decide whether to keep people locked up before trial. A win for the "No" vote would stop these changes and keep cash bail in place. The bail industry is in the "No" camp, but so are some progressive groups who think this new system would also be unjust and want...
Oct 14, 2020•19 min
Distance learning is hard enough. And once you get past acquiring the technology needed to make it happen, there’s an additional step for many immigrant families and Indigenous-language speakers: figuring out how to log on and communicate with your teachers. In Oakland Unified School District, where about half of students speak a language other than English at home, supporting all students has been a struggle. Guests: Madeleine Bair, founding director of El Tímpano and Ashley McBride, Education ...
Oct 12, 2020•19 min
Bay Curious is exploring the 12 statewide ballot propositions with its Prop Fest series. Today, we're sharing their guides to Props 16 and 17, which make big decisions on affirmative action and voting while on parole respectively. For more on Bay Curious’ Prop Fest, click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 09, 2020•24 min
Latino and immigrant workers keep the economy of "wine country" going. And while many in the Bay Area sheltered in place at the start of the pandemic, farmworkers in Napa and Sonoma counties continued working. Now, the Glass Fire is threatening their livelihoods. Many workers have evacuated, and likely won't get much support from the government to help stabilize their lives. Guest: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED immigration reporter These organizations offer cash assistance to undocumented immigra...
Oct 07, 2020•19 min
Berkeley recently renamed a street after a South Asian activist Kala Bagai. But her story isn’t the typical one you hear about people who get streets or monuments named after them. Nearly 100 years ago, Bagai and her family were driven out of town by racist neighbors who didn’t want them to move in. She and her family eventually left the Bay Area, and a lot of her later activism was the kind of work that didn’t make the headlines. But that’s exactly why some people feel like she’s the perfect pe...
Oct 05, 2020•20 min
North Bay journalist Sarah Stierch has become a resource for locals looking for critical fire information, down to their specific block. That’s because when the North Bay was burning in 2017, she knew the streets and roads and homes intimately enough to gain the trust of her neighbors seeking information. But aside from the latest fire reports, she’s also been a compassionate voice for many people during these traumatic times. Guest: Sarah Stierch, writer and freelance journalist in Sonoma Consi...
Oct 02, 2020•17 min
There are still Californians who need to be counted for the 2020 Census. Here in the Bay Area, there’s the extra challenge of making sure we count people who don't have housing and families whose homes have been affected by wildfires. And this matters a lot, because who gets counted will help determine Congressional representation, federal funding, and how we define Bay Area identity for the next 10 years. Guest: Tyche Hendricks, KQED editor and reporter covering immigration and the 2020 Census ...
Sep 30, 2020•16 min
California wasn’t ready for the spike in unemployment since the pandemic. And one big reason is because the agency that handles unemployment benefits has had a lot of problems: dated technology, lack of staffing, and a system that focuses more on stopping fraud than getting people the money they need now. Today, that means 1.6 million Californians are waiting for help while the pandemic rages on. Guest: Mary Franklin Harvin, reporter and producer for KQED’s The California Report. Recommended Rea...
Sep 28, 2020•18 min
This week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state plans to eliminate the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035 in order to keep cutting California's greenhouse gas emissions. Many environmentalists say we need to move even faster — and take bolder steps to ban fracking in our state. So what does this all mean for our climate future? And is this ban a big deal? Guest: Kevin Stark, KQED science reporter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 25, 2020•19 min
Before the coronavirus, orange skies from wildfires, and huge protests against police violence, housing was the issue in California. But still, even with multiple crises happening at once, so much of what's going on comes back to where we live. In the new podcast 'SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America,' KQED's Molly Solomon and Erin Baldassari explore some of the solutions to our housing shortage that would make a meaningful difference — because we can't afford to wait. Guests: Molly Solomon a...
Sep 23, 2020•25 min
Since the 90s, law enforcement groups like police unions, correctional officer unions, and sheriffs' associations have had a huge influence on policing and criminal justice legislation, both in Washington and in Sacramento. This led to laws like the 'three strikes' rule and the 1994 Crime Bill that passed through Congress and was signed by President Clinton. But law enforcement officials aren't speaking with one voice anymore. Some district attorneys want to focus on changing the system and focu...
Sep 21, 2020•20 min
After the Tubbs Fire in 2017, Lil Milagro Henriquez felt she had to do more than just tell her students to mask up for the smoky air. She wanted to empower her students to face the challenges of climate change head on. That’s what moved her to found the Mycelium Youth Network, which provides programs that empower Black and brown youth to tap into indigenous ways of living with the land. Guests: Lil Milagro Henriquez, founder and executive director of Mycelium Youth Network, and Phoenix Armenta, ...
Sep 18, 2020•24 min
Sixteen year-old Crista Ramos was in her high school Zoom class when her family got some stressful news: A federal court ruled in favor of ending the humanitarian protection known as Temporary Protected Status, or TPS. The program allows hundreds of thousands of immigrants who fled their home countries, including Crista’s mom, to work and live in the United States. For more than two years, Crista has been a lead plaintiff in a federal lawsuit against President Trump’s plan to end temporary prote...
Sep 16, 2020•19 min
Suburbs are some of the most diverse spaces in America. It's one reason why — more and more — they’ve become the backdrop of tensions between police and communities of color. That friction is at the center of a protest over policing in Antioch, where activists went on a hunger strike for five days and are camped out in front of the local police department. Guest: Sandhya Dirks, race and equity reporter for KQED Click here to check out Season 1 of American Suburb. Learn more about your ad choices...
Sep 14, 2020•31 min
When KQED photojournalist Beth LaBerge woke up to orange skies in San Francisco Wednesday morning, she rushed out the door to document the extraordinary moment. In a year with the coronavirus pandemic, racial justice protests and wildfires, Beth has been on the frontlines documenting it all. And in some ways, it helps her process all that’s been happening. Guest: Beth LaBerge, photojournalist for KQED Click here for a few more of Beth's photos that she's taken for KQED. Resources: Bay Area Air Q...
Sep 11, 2020•15 min
The pandemic has set off a chain of events that will make this year’s election in California different from years past. For one, the state can’t bet on its most reliable poll workers — older Californians — to volunteer. On top of that, many traditional polling places have been closed because of the risk of an outbreak. So now the state is mailing all registered voters a ballot. And while that will make voting safer for many people, some will still need to cast their ballots in person. And counti...
Sep 09, 2020•20 min
Uncle Bobby Johnson, also known as the People’s Uncle, has been standing up to police brutality ever since his nephew Oscar Grant was shot by a BART police officer in 2009. He's also spent a lot of time supporting families who've lost loved ones to police violence. And today he sees a movement that is much bigger than when he first became an activist more than a decade ago. Guest: Cephus Johnson, aka Uncle Bobby X, founder of the Oscar Grant Foundation and Love Not Blood Campaign. Learn more abo...
Sep 04, 2020•26 min
For the last eight years, Uber and Lyft have successfully beaten state and local attempts to change its core labor model: treating drivers as independent contractors instead of employees with benefits. Then the pandemic hit. And now, California’s public officials — including state attorney general Xavier Becerra — might actually have the political will to force gig companies to change how they treat their employees. Guest: Sam Harnett, tech and work reporter for KQED Learn more about your ad cho...
Sep 02, 2020•19 min
Soon after the pandemic started and Californians began to lose their jobs, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued what he called an 'eviction moratorium' to protect those who couldn’t make rent because of COVID-19. But there are a lot of vulnerable people who were never protected by that order. And since March 4, at least 2,000 California households have been kicked out of their homes. Guest: Matt Levin, housing and data reporter for CalMatters Recommended Reading: Exclusive: More than 1,600 Californians have...
Aug 31, 2020•21 min
Fire season doesn't have to be this bad. There are lots of things we can do to prevent more and more extreme wildfires. It'll take a big shift in the way we do things. California has spent decades reacting to and suppressing natural fires, which is one reason why the wildfires we're currently dealing with are so extreme. But it's still possible to rethink our relationship with fire and change our situation for the better. Guest: Danielle Venton, KQED science reporter Recommended Reading: To Mana...
Aug 28, 2020•17 min
California is low on firefighters at a really bad time. It’s partially because the state released thousands of incarcerated firefighters to prevent the spread of Covid-19. But it’s also because this system of relying on incarcerated people to help fight fires — which we’ve had since after World War II — isn’t sustainable. Guest: Kevin Stark, KQED science reporter Recommended reading: Rare Honors This Weekend for Inmate Firefighters Killed on the Job Let's Talk About Wildfires and Prisons Learn m...
Aug 26, 2020•20 min
