The California Report Magazine

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Altadena's Lost Treasures Returned; Gathering at the Grange Jun 13, 2025

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Meet the Woman Reuniting Eaton Fire Survivors With Lost Treasures

The fierce Santa Ana winds that whipped the Palisades and Eaton fires into deadly infernos also spared precious things you’d think would have been the first to burn: old family photos, children’s art work, postcards, even pages of old sheet music. Those things sometimes blew across neighborhoods, and people are still finding them as fire cleanup continues. Reporter Steven Cuevas introduces us to an Altadena resident who has made it her mission to return these fragile paper keepsakes to their owners.

Home on the Grange: In Anderson Valley, Hippies, Old-Timers Return to Farming Roots

Grange halls have been around for more than 150 years, and today there are more than100 of these meeting places in California alone. The Grange began as a fraternal organization for farmers. Even though farming and Grange membership are down to a fraction of what they were decades ago, many rural towns still rely on Grange halls as community centers. For her series California Foodways, Lisa Morehouse visits the Anderson Valley Grange, where many residents credit this place for bringing together groups of people that were once divided.

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How the Impact of Proposition 13 Lives On Nearly 50 Years After It Passed Jun 06, 2025

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In the 1960s and early 1970s, California was at the forefront of movements for racial justice, LGBTQ and women’s rights, and protests against the Vietnam War. But at the same time an anti-tax revolution began to take shape, led by an unlikely political figure: Howard Jarvis.

This week, as we mark the 47th anniversary of the passage of Proposition 13, we’re featuring a special episode from our friends at the Lever Time podcast. Reporter Ariella Markowitz spent some time digging into the rise of the anti-tax movement, and how Howard Jarvis went on to influence decades of political thought here in California and across the country.

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How a Ford Plant Changed Milpitas; AstraLogik's Music For Healing May 30, 2025

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A Ford Factory Changed Milpitas, Then It Bacame a Mall

The Great Mall of Milpitas, in Santa Clara County, wasn't always a mall; it used to be a massive Ford auto factory. The San Jose Assembly Plant opened in 1955, after relocating from Ford's outdated Richmond location. The new factory put Milpitas on the map, transforming a sleepy agricultural town into a thriving city. The factory’s opening also sparked historic social change: the construction of one of the first planned racially integrated neighborhoods in the U.S.. Gabriela Glueck brings us this story from KQED’s Bay Curious podcast.

In Song and Self: How Queer Pinay Duo AstraLogik Finds Belonging Through Music

Charito Soriano and Chen Conlu were solo artists before they came together as AstraLogik. The queer Filipina duo creates music about healing and acceptance, something they found as they created a relationship that went beyond performing together. Reporter I-Yun Chan tells us how they found community and belonging through music, and each other.

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Composer Reena Esmail's Multicultural Music; The Professor Confronting Division With a Vision for Belonging May 23, 2025

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Sitars and Symphonies: LA Composer Reena Esmail Fuses Indian Ragas with Western Rhythms

We continue our California composers series with Reena Esmail. Her childhood in Los Angeleshad two soundtracks: the Western classical music her parents loved, and the old, scratchy Bollywood tapes her paternal grandparents would play over and over. Those multicultural influences shaped what would become the driving question of her work: how do you invite people from different cultures onto the same stage to build a relationship and create music together? Composing is how Esmail has made her mark — by putting Western classical musicians in conversation with Indian artists, building bridges between violinists and sitar players, tabla drummers and western singers. She's an artist in residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, has composed with unhoused singers from Skid Row, and her music has been performed by major orchestras and choirs all over the world.

How a UC Berkeley Professor Confronts Division With a Vision for Belonging

Professor john a. powell spent much of his early life feeling like he didn’t belong. At just 11 years old, he became estranged from his deeply religious family. After questioning church doctrine and not getting the answers he was looking for, powell — who spells his name in lowercase — left the church, and his father did not speak to him for five years. But that pivotal moment was the beginning of the path that led him to his life’s work. powell is the director of the Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley, where he’s also a professor of law, African American studies and ethnic studies. He’s the author of two recent books, “Belonging Without Othering,” and “The Power of Bridging.” powell spoke with host Sasha Khokha as part of our series on Californians and resilience.

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The Poetry of Resilience May 16, 2025

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In Rising Voices of El Cerrito's Young Poets, a Message About Resilience

As our series about Californians and resilience continues, we hear from El Cerrito’s poet laureate, Tess Taylor, and students at Harding Elementary School. They wrote about what resilience means to them for a recently published anthology called “Gardening in the Public Flowerfest.”

For One Vietnamese Family in LA, This Broth Is Rich With Memories of Life Before and After War

Last month marked the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Hong Pham was only 6 years old when his family was separated as they fled Vietnam. When they were reunited in a refugee camp in Thailand, they celebrated with a special dish. For our series on resilience, KQED’s Daisy Nguyen visited Pham at his home in South Pasadena where he shared memories of his family’s journey, and the recipe for the dish that gave them hope.

How Poetry Helps Dementia Caregivers Find Shelter from the Storm

Frances Kakugawa is a firm believer that the act of caring for another human being can inspire poetry. She knows this from experience, having cared for her mother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in the 1990s. She says poetry was a way to take control of her mom’s disease and transform the challenging and sometimes lonely experience of caregiving into something positive. For some 20 years, she’s been helping other caregivers in Sacramento to find resilience through poetry. Reporter Holly J. McDede brings us this story.

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An Altadena Church Fights to Rebuild; Stories From Catalina Island May 09, 2025

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An Historic Altadena Church, Lost to the Eaton Fire, Begins the Long Journey to Resurrection

The Eaton Fire reached deep into the sanctuaries of Altadena’s faith community. It lost over a dozen places of worship: Baptist, Episcopalian, Jewish, Methodist, Muslim, and Evangelical Christian. There’s a lot of talk now about how and when people can rebuild their homes in Altadena. But how to rebuild a church, mosque or synagogue? And how do faith leaders keep their congregations together in the meantime? Reporter Steven Cuevas takes us to one of the largest churches in this community.

On Catalina Island, A Resilient Swimmer Finds Freedom in Open Water

Our series on resilience continues with ultra-ironman athlete Suzy Degazon. Watching her compete, it's hard to believe she was once so weak her heart had trouble beating. But Degazon battled an eating disorder for many years. It was so severe, doctors told her family she would likely die from it. But she battled back, and these days, she's a scuba instructor on Catalina Island, a dream job in a dream location. Reporter Lusen Mendel caught up with Degazon as she took a sunrise swim in the ocean.

A Scientist’s Fight to Save Catalina Island’s Plant Biodiversity

Catalina Island is known for its scenic hiking trails, campsites, beaches and for being a popular tourist destination for cruise ships. But it’s also known for its biodiversity — the island is home to more than 60 different native plants and animals. As plant manager for the Catalina Island Conservancy, Kevin Alison’s job is to care for all the island’s plants, though he has an affinity for the rare ones that are battling invasive species. He spends much of his time in a lab deep inside Catalina’s interior, where he clones plant tissue and propagates them. Reporter Steven Rascón spent some time with Allison and followed his quest to save as many native plants as possible.

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Uncuffed: Where Were You in '92? May 02, 2025

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This week marks 33 years since four police officers were acquitted in the brutal beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles. That verdict exploded into days of rioting and unrest across the city. It also ignited a national conversation about police brutality, as well as race and inequality in the criminal justice system.

This week we're featuring an episode from Uncuffed, a podcast made by incarcerated people in California prisons in collaboration with KALW. We hear from Uncuffed’s host Greg Eskridge and others who’ve been incarcerated about how the riots had a lasting impact on their lives.

Greg Eskridge's story mentions abuse and violence, so please take care when listening.

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The Activist History of Japanese American Care Homes; Singing Corridos in Compton; SF Hosts Trans Self-Defense Class Apr 25, 2025

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J-Sei Home Closes After 30 Years, Leaving Bay Area Japanese Seniors in Need

The 1960s and 70s were a pivotal time for community activism – with the civil rights and anti-war movements, the Black Panther Party, and student protests that established ethnic studies programs on college campuses. That activism led to a decades-old critical lifeline for Japanese American elders: culturally sensitive senior care homes. But in recent years, these kinds of homes have been closing down. As KQED’s Cecilia Lei reports, the closures highlight how the Japanese American community is at a crossroads.

LA's El Compa Negro Plays Regional Mexican Music, Straight Outta Compton

Compton is known for being the heart of West Coast rap – from Dr. Dre to Kendrick Lamar. But Compton has changed a lot. According to census data, 70% of the city’s residents identify as Latino or Hispanic. This shift can be seen and heard in an artist from Compton named Rhyan Lavelle Lowery, aka “El Compa Negro.” He's a Black musician who sings regional Mexican music. Reporter Aisha Wallace-Palomares takes us on a trip to meet him.

Transgender Community Builds Bonds at This SF Self-Defense Class

Many transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive people are feeling vulnerable because of anti-trans policies from the Trump administration. There are a lot of efforts to fight for trans rights on the legal front, but there’s also momentum to make sure trans and nonbinary people can defend themselves from threats of physical violence. KQED’s Bianca Taylor takes us to a free self-defense class in San Francisco’s Transgender District, the first legally recognized cultural district of its kind in the world.

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Encore: Great Redwood Trail Proposal Unearths Painful History for Indigenous Tribes Apr 18, 2025

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California has grand plans to turn a stretch of abandoned railroad tracks into 300 miles of walking and biking trails, connecting the rolling hills of Marin County with the redwood forests near Eureka in Northern Humboldt. If completed, the Great Redwood Trail could become the longest rail-trail in the nation. But some Indigenous communities and other groups are not on board. Reporter Sam Anderson explores how this grand idea has resurfaced the painful and complicated history behind the original railroad tracks that were built more than a century ago.

This episode originally aired on October 18, 2024.

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Detecting Invisible Toxins After the Eaton Fire; 'You're Not Alone': A Youth Advocate Offers Hope to Abuse Survivors Apr 11, 2025

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It’s been a few months since wildfires devastated Los Angeles, and some people are just now starting the long process of repairing and rebuilding their homes. But mixed into the soot and ash can be some hidden dangers, including lead, asbestos, arsenic and lithium. These toxic materials were used to build those homes and got blown across LA. Scientists from the California Institute of Technology have been investigating this invisible danger, testing more than 50 homes for these contaminants. And one of those homes belongs to the lead scientist behind the study. Reporter Caroline Champlin has more.

And our series on Californians and resilience continues with twenty-five-year-old Brittianna Robinson. She experienced sexual abuse and trafficking as a child. Robinson credits her faith in God and support from mentors and her church for helping her find a path forward. Today, she uses her lived experience to help other commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC) as an advocate on the Los Angeles County Youth Commission.

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