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What Happens to Cal and Stanford as the Pac-12 Collapses? Aug 09, 2023

Show notes

Last year, UCLA and USC announced their coming departure from the historic college sports conference of the West Coast: the Pac-12. Last week, the Pac-12 further disintegrated, with Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah all announcing that they are moving to other conferences. TV money drove this consolidation, and it has left Cal and Stanford fans, alumni and athletes wondering about their schools’ future. We talk about the history of the conference and what comes next for California’s college sports.

Guests:

Joel Anderson, staff writer, Slate - where he also hosts the Slow Burn and Hang Up and Listen podcasts. Former reporter on sports, culture, and politics for ESPN and BuzzFeed News.

Marisa Ingemi, sports writer, San Francisco Chronicle

Ray Ratto, staff writer, The Defector - Former sportswriter and columnist, San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner

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All You Can Eat: Cafes We Love, Cafes We’ve Lost Aug 09, 2023

Show notes

Berkeley landmark coffee shop and diner Au Coquelet closed recently, joining other iconic East Bay cafe closures, including Berkeley’s iconic Caffe Mediterraneum. In a somber comic remembering coffee shops we’ve lost, graphic novelist Briana Loewinsohn reminisces that, “[w]hat I covet most are the big, spacious cafes where you could sit for hours and work or do nothing — or a little of both.” In this edition of our ongoing series, “All You Can Eat,” we talk about what makes a great cafe, their role as crucial, low-barrier community meeting spaces and hear about your most beloved Bay Area coffee.

Guests:

Henri Boulanger, barista trainer, Red Rock Coffee

Creighton Davis, co-founder, Kinfolx

Briana Loewinsohn, graphic novelist; high school art teacher; author of "Please, Don't Forget Me: Cafes We Have Lost" - a comic about now-shuttered cafes in the East Bay

Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & Culture

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Why Aren’t There More Public Pools in California? Aug 08, 2023

Show notes

Public pools serve as community gathering spaces, havens from the heat and safe and affordable places for people to learn to swim. But public pools in the United States have become increasingly rare over the past century. That’s limited the ability of people of color and those without access to country clubs or backyard pools to learn safely. And it may also be one reason why only 56% of U.S. residents can demonstrate basic swimming skills, according to an American Red Cross poll. We look at the history of public pools in the U.S. and here in California, what’s behind their decline and the racial disparities in drowning rates that persist.

Guests:

Laurie Davies, California assembly memeber, represents parts of Orange and San Diego Counties

Jennifer Lopez, founder, Echo Aquatics - an organization that offers adult and child swim lessons and water sport coaching

Heather McGhee, author, "The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together" - former president, Demos, a public policy think tank; board chair, Color of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization

Patt Morrison, columnist, The Los Angeles Times

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‘When Crack Was King’ Dives into the People, and the Myths, of the Crack Epidemic Aug 08, 2023

Show notes

The crack epidemic of the 1980s and 90s had a devastating and lasting effect on black communities and the criminal justice system. But Donovan X Ramsey writes that those who survived the era will hardly ever talk about it and when they do it’s, “like a trauma long accepted in hushed voices, with thousand yard stares.” In his book, When Crack Was King, Ramsey is on a quest to understand the crack era through portraits of a user, a kid of an addict, a dealer, and a politician pushing for treating the epidemic as a public health problem. We talk to Ramsey about his book, the myths that permeate our flawed understanding of the crack era and the resilience of communities that lived through it.

Guests:

Donovan X. Ramsey, author, "When Crack Was King" - Ramsey is a former senior reporter with the LA Times. He is currently a senior editor with the Marshall Project.

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Jennifer Senior Contemplates ‘The Ones We Sent Away’ Aug 07, 2023

Show notes

“It is remarkable,” writes the Atlantic’s Jennifer Senior, “how many Americans have relations who were, at some point during the past century, sequestered from public view… warehoused, disappeared, roughly shorn from the family tree.” Senior’s aunt Adele was institutionalized as a toddler in the 1950s, and it wasn’t until 40 years later that Senior’s mother — Adele’s sister — saw her again. We talk to Jennifer Senior about her new essay “The Ones We Sent Away.”

Guests:

Jennifer Senior, staff writer, The Atlantic - author of the September cover story "The Ones We Sent Away"

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Climate Fix: Another Algae Bloom Is Taking Over San Francisco Bay Aug 07, 2023

Show notes

A perfect recipe of summer weather, climate-warmed waters and excess nutrient pollution has brought the red tide back to the San Francisco Bay shoreline. The same algae bloom that caused a massive fish die-off in Oakland’s Lake Merritt last summer has appeared again, stretching from Emeryville to Richardson Bay. Is this our new normal? We’ll talk with experts about the algae that’s taking over the Bay and what’s being done about it.

Guests:

Ezra David Romero, climate reporter, KQED

Jonathan Rosenfield Ph.D., science director, San Francisco Baykeeper

Eileen White, executive director, Water Board San Francisco Bay Region

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Barbara Lee on Her Run for U.S. Senate Aug 04, 2023

Show notes

Democrat Barbara Lee has represented Oakland and the East Bay in Congress since 1998, and she’s now running to replace U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is not seeking another term. Well known as the sole member of Congress to vote against giving the president unlimited war powers after 9/11, Lee is co-chair of the House Policy and Steering Committee and serves on the Budget Committee and the Appropriations Committee. As a member of the California state legislature, Lee drafted California’s first Violence Against Women Act and the California Schools Hate Crimes Reduction Act. We’ll talk to Lee about why she wants to represent California in the Senate and hear about her positions on the environment, the war in Ukraine, the economy and more.

Guests:

Barbara Lee, U.S. congressmember representing California's 13th district

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The Bay Area We See Through Windows of Public Transit Aug 04, 2023

Show notes

What do you notice out the window from your seat on BART, or Muni, or the Golden Gate Ferry? When you ride public transit, you’re free to look around, and looking around can tell you a lot about where you live. We talk about the breathtaking vistas and hidden histories revealed to us through the windows of public transit, and how what we see – or don’t see – shapes our connection to the Bay Area.

Guests:

Vincent Woo, filmmaker, Woo is the creator and director of "Tunnel Vision: An Unauthorized BART Ride"

Liam O'Donoghue, host and producer, East Bay Yesterday

Mey Lee , co-curator, "Muni Raised Me" exhibit featured at SOMA Arts earlier this year. Working on another "Muni Raised Me" exhibition for later this year.

Sarah Katz-Hyman, editor, Muni Diaries

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California’s Food Pop-Up Scene Gets a Boost from New State Law Aug 03, 2023

Show notes

The pop-up whose Instagram you DM the moment orders reopen. The chef who makes the best dish you’ve ever tasted on a compostable plate. The baker whose vegan desserts have the perfect level of sweetness. California’s pop-up scene flourished in the pandemic, and a new state law eases restrictions for chefs who operate out of their home kitchens. We’ll talk to pop-up entrepreneurs across the state about their culinary creations — and about the challenges of running a pop-up itself, from finding venues to marketing and permitting. And we’ll hear about your favorite pop-up bakers, chefs and coffee-makers — and what you recommend ordering from them.

Guests:

Adhiti Bandlamudi, Silicon Valley reporter, KQED; runs the new popup Badam Babe

Anand Upender, creator, Bay Area pop-up York Street Coffee and the pop-up dinner series "Just Some Folks"

Rashida Holmes, chef-owner, Bridgetown Roti, a Caribbean American food pop-up based in LA

Vandor Hill, owner, Whack Donuts, a vegan donut pop-up in the Bay Area

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Savanah Leaf’s Film ‘Earth Mama’ Navigates Race, Class and Motherhood in Oakland Aug 03, 2023

Show notes

Savanah Leaf’s debut feature-length film “Earth Mama” follows Gia, a pregnant 24-year-old single mother of two who is struggling to get her kids back from the foster care system and weighing whether to keep her baby. Set and filmed in Oakland, the film explores Black motherhood, community, and the challenges of escaping cycles of trauma and poverty. Leaf based the film on her short documentary, “The Heart Still Hums,” which also focuses on the stories of young mothers trying to keep their children. We talk with Leaf about capturing the Bay Area’s essence in the film and the personal experiences that inspired it.

Guests:

Savanah Leaf, director, "Earth Mama." Leaf is also the director of the documentary short, "The Heart Still Hums." She was nominated for a Grammy for her music video "This Land" for Gary Clark, Jr.

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