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How Manga and Anime Influence Food Culture Oct 25, 2023

Show notes

Broc Cellars, an under the radar Berkeley winery, had a solid Japanese following. But when its Zinfandel “Vine Starr” was featured in the beloved manga “Drops of God,” its sales took off. You’ll often find loving descriptions of comfort food favorites like curries, ramens, and rice balls featured in mangas and animes. And cookbooks have been written about dishes featured in their plotlines. In the next All You Can Eat, a collaboration with the KQED Food Team, we’ll talk about the influence of manga and anime on food and vice versa. What are your favorite food anime and manga?

Guests:

Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & Culture

Deb Aoki, journalist specializing in comics; co-host, "Mangasplaining" - She previously had a comic strip, "Bento Box" in the Honolulu Star Advertiser

Cesar Hernandez, associate restaurant critic, San Francisco Chronicle

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Sarah Lohman on Saving America’s Endangered Foods Oct 24, 2023

Show notes

The Empress date. The Burbank tomato. The Sebastopol Gravenstein apple. Halali’i sugar cane. These are among hundreds of foods grown in the United States on the “Ark of Taste,” a list of endangered foods curated by Slow Foods International. For her new book “Endangered Eating,” culinary historian Sarah Lohman journeyed across the country to study some of the rare foods on the Ark, interviewing the farmers, activists, and scientists pioneering their resurgence. We talk to Lohman about the American heirloom crops and culinary traditions that are disappearing and what we can all do to help preserve them.

Guests:

Sarah Lohman, culinary historian; author, "Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foods"

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Solving Traffic Congestion and Transit Ridership in Post-Pandemic Times Oct 24, 2023

Show notes

The stay at home orders of 2020 and the shift to remote work drastically changed how people commute. Now, more than three years after the onset of the pandemic, ridership on most public transit still hasn’t recovered, and in some cases is consistently hovering below half of pre-pandemic levels. But car traffic has rebounded, and then some. Bay Bridge data shows that some mornings, congestion heading into San Francisco is even worse than in 2019. This comes at a time when experts agree we should be transitioning away from solo car trips. We’ll discuss how local transit agencies are adapting to these new transportation trends, and hear about efforts to get more people out of their cars and onto buses and trains.

Guests:

Dan Brekke, editor and reporter, KQED News

Joe McConnell, former traffic reporter, KQED - Joe recently retired after more than 36 years with the station

Rebecca Long, director of fegislation and public affairs, Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Daniel Rodriguez, director, Institute of Transportation Studies UC Berkeley

Janice Li, president, BART's Board of Directors

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When Your Car Becomes Your Home Oct 23, 2023

Show notes

An under-studied segment of our country’s homeless population are those who are experiencing “vehicular homelessness.” These are people who sometimes choose, but are often forced, to call their cars their home. The reasons are manifold, including unmanageable rents, bad credit, too much debt, and often just bad luck. For her new article, “I Live In My Car,” New York Times reporter Rukmini Callimachi went to the outskirts of Seattle to spend a few days with a family living out of their sedan in a church parking lot. We’ll talk to Callimachi about the dozens of people she met, both car dwellers and those trying to help them. And then we’ll speak to a researcher from UCLA to find out how they’re studying the topic in Los Angeles.

Guests:

Rukmini Callimachi, correspondent, The New York Times

Madeline Brozen, deputy director, UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies

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How Infrastructure Expresses Society’s Values Oct 23, 2023

Show notes

When infrastructure works, it’s a marvel. A soaring bridge. A sewer system that spirits away waste. Underground pipes that bring water, electricity and the internet to wherever we want it.. As engineering professor Debbie Chachra argues in her new book, infrastructure is an expression of our society’s values and our ability to work together. But we often take infrastructure for granted and we aren’t doing enough to care for it and build more of it. She’ll join us to help us pay attention to the things that undergird our world.

Guests:

Debbie Chachra, author, "How Infrastructure Works: Inside the Systems that Shape Our World"; professor of engineering, Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts

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FORUM IN FOCUS: Rachel Maddow + Emily Galvin-Almanza Oct 21, 2023

Show notes

Catch up on the our most compelling interviews of the week in 30 minutes or less! This episode MSNBC Host, author, podcaster, and more, Rachel Maddow joins Mina to talk about her new book "Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism" and Alexis interviews Emily Galvin-Almanza, co-founder of Partners for Justice, about a new approach to criminal justice.

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Certified Fresh and California-Grown, Rotten Tomatoes Turns 25 Oct 20, 2023

Show notes

Rotten Tomatoes, the site that rates movies according to how a tomato decomposes – from Certified Fresh to rotten – turns 25 this year. And its origin story isn’t only one of the dot-com boom: It began with Jackie Chan movies, a martial arts club and three UC Berkeley undergrads. The trio went on to found a website that changed the way we choose the movies we watch. We’ll talk with them about the Rotten Tomatoes’ beginnings and we’ll hear from you: How do you use Rotten Tomatoes? Does the tomatometer make or break whether you see a film?

Guests:

Senh Duong, creator and founding COO, Rotten Tomatoes

Patrick Lee, founding CEO, Rotten Tomatoes

Stephen Wang, founding CTO, Rotten Tomatoes

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Call Me, Maybe: How Communication Etiquette Is Changing Oct 20, 2023

Show notes

When someone calls your cell phone are you filled with dread, or even anger? Is it better to call or leave a text? And how long should a voicemail be, if you leave one at all? As our relationships with our mobiles and each other evolve, so do the goalposts of communication norms. The meanings of emojis seem to change with the seasons, and generational conflict can ensue when a parent ends a text to their teen with a period. We’ll talk with experts about why you should text before you call and how to avoid sounding passive aggressive over DMs. And we’ll hear from you – what are your communication pet peeves?

Guests:

Heather Kelly, technology reporter, The Washington Post

Carlos Cabrera-Lomeli, community engagement reporter, KQED

Lee Humphreys, professor and chair, department of communication, Cornell University

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New York Times International Correspondent Shares How One Mother Took on One of the Most Violent Gangs in Mexico Oct 19, 2023

Show notes

In his new book, “Fear is Just a Word,” Azam Ahmed chronicles the years-long journey of Miriam Rodriguez, who took it upon herself to find justice for her daughter after she was kidnapped in 2014 by one of the most violent gangs in Mexico. Rodriguez would eventually lead law enforcement to arrest nearly a dozen cartel members, doing much of the investigation and research herself, despite great risk to her and her family. Ahmed, a global investigative correspondent for the New York Times, shares that story with us, and explains how the cartels came to hold so much power in Mexico.

Guests:

Azam Ahmed, international investigative correspondent, The New York Times

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Why More Public Defenders Are Adopting a “Holistic” Model Oct 19, 2023

Show notes

An estimated 80 percent of criminal defendants in state courts in the US are represented by public defenders, who typically have huge caseloads. And their clients often need more than just legal help, many are dealing with poverty, homelessness, mental illness and other challenges. Operating in Alameda County and other places around the country, the non-profit Partners for Justice supports the work of public defenders by helping to connect clients to wrap-around social services. Embedded in public defenders’ offices, PFJ’s specially-trained advocates also work with clients to tell their own life stories and put their alleged crimes in context. The approach is known as “holistic defense” and advocates say it lowers incarceration rates and helps defendants rebuild their lives. We’ll talk with PFJ’s founder and a client advocate about their work.

Guests:

Jamir Graham, advocate, Partners for Justice

Emily Galvin-Almanza, founder and co-executive director, Partners for Justice

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