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Latest Episodes:

Reclaiming Your Family’s Heritage Language, Even if Your Elders Never Taught You Feb 09, 2023

Show notes

In the United States, descendants of immigrants often lose their heritage languages. But now many of them, especially those with roots in Latin America, are working to reclaim Spanish, according to a recent report in the Los Angeles Times. The process can be fraught since many weren’t exposed to the language as children and struggle to learn it as adults. Some have been shamed for not being fluent in their heritage language while the American education system and society has historically pushed English fluency over multilingualism. We’ll discuss why more people are diving into their heritage languages and hear about your experiences with trying to learn your mother, or grandmother’s tongue.

Guests:

Karen Garcia, reporter on the Utility Journalism team, Los Angeles Times; author of the recent article, "How second- and third-generation Latinos are reclaiming the Spanish language"

Veronica Benavides, founder and CEO, The Language Preservation Project - a movement to reverse the trend of language loss across the generations

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Catastrophic Earthquakes Ravage Turkey and Syria Feb 08, 2023

Show notes

More than 7,000 people are dead and countless more injured after earthquakes devastated communities in southern Turkey and northern Syria on Monday. Rescue workers are still trying to free people from the rubble as cold weather sweeps the region, which lacks electricity and adequate food, water and medical supplies. The earthquakes compound a years-long humanitarian crisis underway in Syria, wracked by a war waged on its people by Russia-backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. We’ll talk about the latest developments.

Related articles:

How to Help Syria and Turkey Earthquake Relief Efforts

Guests:

Charles Lister, senior fellow, Middle East Institute - where he directs the Syria and Countering Terrorism programs

Peri Holden, volunteer, Payda - an education charity serving families in southeast Turkey

Nalan Güngör Özışık, president, Turkish American Association of California

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The Glory of Spring's Blossoms in…Early February? Feb 08, 2023

Show notes

The Bay Area’s trees are starting to bloom and it’s beautiful. Magnificent magnolia, plum and even, in some areas, cherry blossoms. With global warming, some plants have been leafing and blooming earlier. We’ll talk to experts on seasonal change and the local flora about the whys, hows and whens of blooms and what it all means for pollination, insects and birds. And we’ll want to hear from you. What are you seeing on your walks and in your backyards?

Guests:

Ryan Guillou, director of collections and conservation, Gardens of Golden Gate Park, includes the botanical gardens, conservatory of flowers and Japanese tea garden

Libby Ellwood, ecologist and director of education, outreach, diversity, & inclusion and global collaborations, iDigBio

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Samara Bay Wants to Change What Power Sounds Like Feb 07, 2023

Show notes

Have you ever been told that if you lower your voice or avoid vocal fry or stop saying “like” so much you’ll sound more authoritative? It’s that kind of advice, no matter how well-intentioned, that speech coach Samara Bay wants us to stop heeding. Generations of Americans have associated power with the slow, booming speech of male politicians and news anchors, writes Bay in her new book “Permission to Speak.” But in fact, if we stopped trying to approximate the traditional voice standards of powerful men we’d sound “richer, more relaxed, more expansive, expressive, unlimited by social norms and alive with possibility.” We’ll talk to Bay about why we should change our assumptions about what power and authority sound like.

Guests:

Samara Bay, speech coach and author, "Permission to Speak:" How to Change What Power Sounds Like, Starting with You"

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California Farmworkers Were Already Struggling Before the Half Moon Bay Shooting Feb 07, 2023

Show notes

The recent mass shootings in Half Moon Bay put a spotlight on the decades long plight of farmworkers in California who often earn low wages and live in substandard housing. The shootings are only the latest in a particularly hard year for farmworkers. Severe storms damaged crops and livelihoods up and down the state as climate change continues to worsen conditions such as wildfires, extreme heat and flooding that threaten California’s agricultural industry. Meanwhile, many laws aimed at protecting farmworkers are not enforced. We’ll talk about the various challenges farmworkers face and efforts to help them when disasters hit.

Guests:

Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research, Economic Policy Institute; former senior advisor on immigration and labor to the California Attorney General

Vanessa Rancaño, housing reporter, KQED News

Marisa Kendall, covers housing, the Bay Area News Group

Michael Méndez, assistant professor, School of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine; author, “Climate Change from the Streets: How Conflict and Collaboration Strengthen the Environmental Justice Movement”

Farida Jhabvala Romero, reporter, KQED

Javier Zamora, owner, JSM Organics farm in Royal Oaks, CA

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Examining California’s Role in the Colorado River Water Conflict Feb 06, 2023

Show notes

The Colorado River, which supplies water to much of the western United States, continues to diminish under historic drought conditions. And California is under pressure to reduce the amount of water it takes. The agricultural industry in California’s Imperial Valley alone gets more water than Arizona and Nevada combined – but that’s because under law, those farmers have some of the Colorado River’s oldest water rights. Citing those rights, California rejected a proposal last week from the six other Colorado River-dependent states on how to divide the water and instead put forward its own plan. We’ll take a closer look at the impasse and the impact of the shrinking Colorado River on the Imperial Valley and beyond.

Guests:

Sammy Roth, energy reporter, Los Angeles Times

Janet Wilson, senior environment reporter, The Desert Sun - and Stanford Western Media Fellow

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San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan Only Has Two Years to Make a Mark Feb 06, 2023

Show notes

Recently elected San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is now at the helm of the largest city in the Bay Area and the 10th largest city in the United States. San Jose faces a lack of affordable housing, struggling local businesses and resident concerns over public safety. Mahan said he plans to use a results-oriented and data-driven approach focused on getting back to basics. But time is not on the mayor’s side: a recent change to San Jose’s election calendar means the mayoral seat will be up for grabs again in 2024. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan joins us to answer our questions and yours.

Guests:

Matt Mahan, mayor, San Jose

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The Subversive Power of LGBTQ Comic Books Feb 03, 2023

Show notes

In 1954, the Comics Code Authority was formed to censor newsstand comic books by banning depictions of violence, negative portrayals of law enforcement and any mention of homosexuality. The ban created the flourishing world of so-called ‘underground comix,’ which approached banned items as a checklist and inspired a generation of LGBTQ cartoonists to draw themselves and their community on the page. A new PBS documentary, “No Straight Lines,” maps the history of LGBTQ comics frame by frame, from Rupert Kinnard’s “Brown Bomber,” to Alison Bechdel’s “Dykes to Watch Out For,” to their influence on the next generation of queer comic artists today. We’ll talk about that history and hear from next generation artists Lawrence Lindell and Maia Kobabe, whose graphic memoir “Gender Queer” is now one of the most-banned books in the U.S.

Guests:

Maia Kobabe, cartoonist; author, “Gender Queer”

Lawrence Lindell, cartoonist; author, “Blackward” and “From Truth with Truth”

Vivian Kleiman, director, “No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics”

Rupert Kinnard, activist; cartoonist; author, “B.B. and the Diva,” and “Cathartic Comics”

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KQED’s “That’s My Word” Spotlights Overlooked Bay Area Hip-Hop History Feb 03, 2023

Show notes

The Bay Area’s outsized contribution to hip-hop has often been overlooked. But this week KQED launched a yearlong project called That’s My Word, an exploration into the history and influence of Bay Area hip-hop. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the genre that started in New York and moved west. The Bay has played a crucial role as a haven for artists including Mac Dre, Keak Da Sneak, Kamaiyah, Digital Underground, MC Hammer, Too Short and E-40 among many others. We’ll listen to some notable tracks and talk with the project creators about how the Bay Area’s music, vibe and culture gave rise to a distinct blend of hip-hop.

Guests:

Nastia Voynovskaya, associate editor, KQED Arts

Pendarvis Harshaw, columnist, KQED Arts; host, KQED's "Rightnowish" podcast

Gabe Meline, senior editor, KQED Arts & Culture

Eric Arnold, veteran hip-hop journalist; contributor editor for KQED’s That’s My Word series

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Your Covid Questions, As Fourth Pandemic Year Approaches Feb 02, 2023

Show notes

California is set to end its Covid-19 state of emergency on February 28. But the virus is still very much a part of our lives, driving ongoing concerns about emerging variants, long covid and the vulnerabilities of the immunocompromised. That’s what KQED’s Digital News team discovered when it asked its online audiences to share what they most wanted to know about Covid in 2023. We’ll answer those questions and take yours.

Guests:

Carly Severn, senior engagement editor, KQED News

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong M.D., infectious disease specialist, UCSF Medical Center

Dr. Erica Pan, California State Epidemiologist and deputy director for the Center for Infectious Diseases, California Department of Public Health

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