The California Report Magazine
474 episodes — Page 7 of 10
From Jewish Mambo to 'Nimble' the Elf, Our Favorite Holiday Stories
The California Report is celebrating our 25th year on the air, so this holiday weekend, we’re digging into our archives to bring you some of our favorite stories from the season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A Fresh Look at the Donner Party
As we officially head into winter – and hopefully snowy weather in the Sierra Nevada – we bring you the tale of the Donner Party; the version you may not have heard before. You might be familiar with the ghoulish CliffsNotes version of this story: about a band of people traveling over the Sierra in covered wagons, trapped in the snow and forced to turn to cannibalism to survive. But behind the Donner Party legend, there’s another story: one about prejudice, injustice and murder. KQED reporter Carly Severn tells us what happened when those 81 people were stuck in the mountains back in 1846, and how this disaster came to represent everything California wanted to forget. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Home Baked: How Pot Brownies Brought Some Relief During the AIDS Epidemic
We’re all bracing ourselves for a surge in hospitalizations, for more people lost to COVID-19, for more closures and lockdowns. So we’re reprising one of our documentaries about another time we all faced a public health crisis. A time when the federal government was slow to respond, so the community had to step in to take care of each other. Lisa Morehouse brings us the story of a woman who became an unexpected source of comfort to people suffering from AIDS in the early 1980s. Her baking business, Sticky Fingers Brownies, provided gooey marijuana-filled brownies to people dying from the disease in San Francisco. Pot brownies weren’t going to save anyone’s life over the long term, but Meridy Volz says they brought some relief, and there wasn’t a lot of relief in those days. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
‘A Butterfly With My Wings Cut Off’: A Transgender Asylum Seeker’s Quest to Come to California
When she turned 15, Luna Guzmán, like many girls in Guatemala, celebrated with a quinceañera. But it was a secret party, with a borrowed dress, because her family couldn't fathom her as a transgender girl. So she put her soccer jerseys back on and tried to pass as the boy she knew she wasn’t inside. Even as she dealt with brutal violence, she decided to take a terrible risk and leave everything behind in Guatemala, to try to find a life in California: the one place in the world where she could imagine being safe. Being herself. Host Sasha Khokha has followed Luna Guzmán over the last two years, reporting from a migrant shelter in Tijuana, an ICE detention center in San Diego, and a tiny drag bar in Modesto. Her story says a lot about how U.S. immigration policy fails when it comes to recognizing people who live outside the gender binary, how the epic backlog of asylum cases in the U.S. can add to their trauma, and how transgender migrants at the border are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In a Year of Isolation, Remembering Thanksgiving Togetherness
This weekend, when so many of us have had to make the difficult choice to spend the holiday away from our loved ones, we’re inviting you to a virtual family gathering, with some of our favorite stories from Thanksgiving 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Fighting Isolation During COVID, and Capturing the Heart of a Neighborhood in Song
KQED Science reporter Lesley McClurg brings us two stories of populations struggling with isolation during the pandemic. First, the story of two older women successfully navigating this tumultuous time with limited resources. Then, youth therapists are hearing about depression, anxiety and even suicide ideation a lot more than usual among kids who haven’t attended school in person since March. Hear one Oakland family’s story. Plus, a new project called Sounds of California commissioned 10 original songs from local artists about Boyle Heights, a longtime immigrant neighborhood East of Downtown Los Angeles that’s been gentrifying. Host Sasha Khokha talks with musician Quetzal Flores, who’s been helping to curate the project. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The California Report Turns 25: Our Most Delicious Adventures
The California Report is celebrating 25 years on the air, and this week, we’re digging into our archives to give you a break from political news and share some of our favorite food stories from over the years. It’s a feast for your ears! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Is California as Progressive as the Rest of the Country Thinks We Are?
The rest of the nation perceives California as a giant blue monolith, a liberal and progressive stronghold. But the reality is many of the statewide measures backed by progressives this year, from rent control to affirmative action, didn’t pass. The California Report Magazine recaps the “mixed bag” of statewide election results. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
When Wildfire Breaks Out, Who’s Responsible for Elderly Evacuees?
September 28, 2020. It’s the middle of the night, at the Veterans Memorial Building in Santa Rosa. About 200 senior citizens are outside, sitting on folding chairs or in their wheelchairs. Just waiting. Most of them were in bed just a few hours before, until a massive wildfire came racing toward their retirement community. Many of them had been through this before in the 2017 Tubbs Fire. That fire was a reckoning; with nature, with our state and county leaders, with the companies we pay to take care of our elderly loved ones. And still, three years later, we are leaving hundreds of frail seniors in the literal cold while wildfire threatens their community and the last place in their lives they will call home. The California Report’s health correspondent April Dembosky and science reporter Molly Peterson spent a year investigating long-term care homes around the state to see how they're planning for wildfire, and if it's enough. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How to Talk About Death and Dying During a Pandemic (Rebroadcast)
Dr. Jessica Zitter works at Highland Hospital, a public hospital in Oakland, where she specializes in critical and palliative care medicine. She says having hard conversations about our end-of-life wishes can transform our fears about death into hope about life. We meet several people she's helped guide through the process of talking about death, including a grocery store worker in LA who got sick with COVID, an Oakland man hospitalized with serious lung disease who struggles to face his own mortality, and a son who had to watch his 92-year-old father die of COVID far away from family, alone in a hospital bed. Dr. Zitter is the author of “Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Not Sure How to Vote on Statewide Props? We'll Break a Few Down
Got your ballot? Still making up your mind on those California propositions? We’ve got you covered. This week, The California Report Magazine breaks down some of the statewide ballot measures with a few KQED reporters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The California Report Turns 25 Part 1: CA on the Forefront of Progressive Change
October marks the 25th anniversary of The California Report, and this week, we’re kicking off the first in a series of shows celebrating 25 years on the air. In this first installment, we’ll listen back to stories that showcase some of the ways the state has been a trailblazer. From passing first-in-the-nation climate change initiatives, to legalizing medical marijuana, to galvanizing the immigrants-right movement and marrying same-sex couples at San Francisco City Hall back in 2004, our state is often on the frontlines of progressive change. Host Sasha Khokha is joined by Scott Shafer, senior editor for KQED’s Politics and Government Desk and former host of The California Report. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Here's How California Is Turning Hotels Into Housing for Formerly Homeless People
California is the land of record-breaking home prices and climbing rents. But it’s also a place where on any given night, more than 150,000 people live in tents and cars, RVs and shelters. So many wild extremes. But what can we do about it? That’s the question a new KQED podcast is tackling. It’s called SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America. It explores how the pandemic has complicated housing for so many people, and looks at some possible solutions. This week on The California Report Magazine, we’ll hear the first episode, and learn about the roots of California’s homeless crisis, as well as recent efforts to house people struggling with homelessness in hotels. SOLD OUT is hosted and reported by KQED housing reporters Erin Baldassari and Molly Solomon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Artists Transform Lessons from Their own Lives into Art
‘Music Was Our Language’: Grammy-Award Winning Producer Turns Mic on Sister; Dan 'The Can't Stand Up Comedian' Smith; Artists Capture Wildfire’s Destructive Power – and Beauty Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How To Talk About Death and Dying During a Pandemic
Palliative care expert Dr. Jessica Zitter says that tough conversations about end-of-life options can help inform how we want to live our lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
From Protesting Police to Becoming a Cop Himself
After touring the world with Snoop Dogg and the Black Eyed Peas, Jinho Ferreira served as an Alameda County sheriff’s deputy for eight years. He said he wanted to fight police violence from the inside. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Stories of Hope Through Fire and Smoke
From Prison Fire Crew To Pro Firefighter; Volunteer Firefighting Couple Find a Silver Lining; How Wildfire Smoke Intersects with Race and Place; An Ode to Big Basin's Redwoods Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
California Women Reflect on a Century of Voting
Featuring: Lorena Gonzalez, Lawmaker, San Diego Ellen DuBois, Professor Emirita of History and Gender Studies, UCLA Rita Barschak, 100-year old voting rights activist, Los Angeles Maxine Anderson, Voter Education volunteer, San Francisco Aida Hurtado, Chicano/a Studies Professor, UC Santa Barbara Kristen Olsen, Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors Honey Mahogany, transgender activist, San Francisco Gurleen Kaur Mander, political science major, Fresno Arianna Nassiri, SF Youth Commission Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
California City: Deception, Power, and Money in the Mojave Desert
Deep in the Mojave Desert sits California City: a would-be city of the future; a place where empty desert land is presented as a ticket to the American Dream. For decades running, real estate developers have gotten rich by selling this dream to thousands of people, many of whom are hard-working immigrants looking to build a better future. But the reality is much different. The land investments never paid off and the landowners, many of whom scraped together their life savings to buy a plot of land, were left with next to nothing. We devote the whole show to an excerpt from the first episode of “California City,” new podcast from LAist Studios, hosted and reported by Emily Guerin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A Chicano Takeover of Catalina Island + California Love
The Forgotten Occupation of Catalina Island So much of the activism we’re seeing right now around racial justice has roots in radical movements that erupted in California –– The United Farm Workers, The Black Panther Party, the Asian American Political Alliance, the Native American occupation of Alcatraz. In August 1972, another occupation kind of flew under the radar here in California. A Chicano activist group called the Brown Berets camped out on Catalina Island for three weeks, demanding that undeveloped land be turned into housing. The California Report Magazine’s intern Ariella Markowitz grew up on Catalina, but she only recently learned about this slice of the island’s history, and says it feels more relevant now than ever. ‘California Love’: New Podcast Explores Growing Up Both Black and Brown in LA LAist Studio's new podcast “California Love” features Walter Thompson-Hernández, a former New York Times writer, as he returns to Los Angeles and reflects on the complexity of his hometown. Part memoir, part love letter to the City of Angels, the podcast revisits the childhood pals he used to tag buildings with, lessons he learned from his immigrant mother, and explores how race and identity have always shaped his life and work. Host Sasha Khokha talks with Thompson-Hernández about their shared hometown in an extended interview and preview of the series, featuring excerpts from several episodes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What Nuns, Survivors of Hiroshima, and ER Doctors Can Teach Us About Resilience
Hiroshima Survivor Reflects 75 Years After the Bomb; Nuns On Aging With Grace; COVID Doctors Open Up About Their Mental Health Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In the Shadow of Shuttered Hospitals and the AIDS Crisis
"We Have No Hospital - It's Gone"; HIV Survivors On Living Through Another Pandemic; Contact Tracing Resurfaces Controversy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Revisiting the Soundtrack of Silence
Matt Hay is a sophomore in college when he finds out he is going to lose his hearing. He coasts through the early years of his diagnosis in denial, but as his hearing aids get bigger and bigger, Matt realizes he wants to capture the sounds that are slipping away: his girlfriend's voice, the click of her heels; and especially, the songs of their invincible youth. Matt starts listening to music with a new appreciation — truly studying it — as he curates the soundtrack for the rest of his life. Behind each song, there is a coming-of-age story about freedom, tragedy, and falling in love. As The California Report's Health Correspondent April Dembosky reports, When Matt’s hearing eventually fades to nothing, the silent soundtrack in his head takes on a role he never imagines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Forced To Breathe the Same Air: A Look Inside CA Prisons During a Pandemic
Letters to Incarcerated Loved Ones; Former San Quentin Inmate Fights for Friends Still Inside; How Doctors' Unconscious Bias Hurts Patients Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Sound of Social Revolution: Inside the Black Panther’s R&B Band
A documentary about a band with a mission to spark social revolution through the Trojan Horse of funk and soul. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Buckle Up: A (Virtual) Road Trip to California Hidden Gems
Roller skate in church; Healing Sierra hot springs; Live jazz by the beach; A shrine to pop culture; Places Called What?! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Was He “The Priest Who Performs Miracles” – Or a Predator?
Father Antonio Castañeda has been charged with 22 counts of battery, sexual battery, attempted sexual battery and attempt to prevent a witness/victim from prosecuting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A Tribute to Fathers
Letters to a Father in Prison; Sounds That Remind You of Pop; Remembering a Dad Lost to COVID. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dismantling Racism, One Protest and Book Club at a Time
Young Activists in Fresno and S.F. Push for Racial Justice; Latinx Book Club Challenges Anti-Blackness; Why We Need Diverse Contact Tracers; A COVID Doctor Shares His Story Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
It Started With Oscar Grant: A Police Shooting in Oakland, and the Making of a Movement
As nationwide protests continue in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, we explore how the death of Oscar Grant – shot by a transit officer while lying face-down, unarmed on a train platform - galvanized a new generation of activists, and helped spark a sustained call for change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
‘Family Is Not Replaceable’
LA Koreatown Family Devastated by COVID, Navajo Nation "Ground Zero" for COVID, A Nurse Finds Joy; Motorcyclists Deliver PPE, The Class of 2020: No Prom, No Graduation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
“No One Is Disposable”: Living With Disability During a Pandemic
An Activist With Autism Creates a New Routine; A Conversation With Disability Rights Activist Alice Wong; A Teacher With Visually Impaired Students Gets Creative Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gold Chains: California’s Hidden History
Great-Grandma Survived, and Forgave; California's Last Known Slave; Taking a Stand at the 1973 Oscars Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How Tiny Sierra Towns are Coping With Pandemic
A 164 Year-Old Hotel Closed for the First Time; The Fate of Mark Twain's Old Newspaper; Disabled and Broke in Yosemite; Keeping a Cafe Going Along the Pony Express Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feeding California During a Pandemic
One Man's Mission To Bring Groceries to Rural Trinity County; 90% of Catalina Unemployed; Transforming a Sacramento Restaurant to a Food Kitchen; Filipinos Feed the Frontlines. Plus: What's Bringing You Joy? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Art Lives On, Even During a Pandemic
Social distancing haiku; Poet captures life on the brink; Building a GenZ pop empire from home; Show doesn't stop for 83 year old comic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Life on the Front Lines of a Pandemic
Dispatch from the ER; Kids Can't Hug their Nurse Mom; Comforting the Dying from Afar; A Public Health Officer Gets Sick; In-Home Caregivers Demand Face Masks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Love and Sex in the Time of Corona
An immunocompromised boyfriend; "Is sex still safe during a pandemic?"; Voicemails about life without sex; A WFH Dominatrix Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Home Baked: One Woman’s Subversive Response to the AIDS Crisis
How a San Francisco woman became an unexpected source of comfort at a time when another pandemic rocked the state. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Coping Under Quarantine
Everyone's home at my apartment complex; Connecting through Corona Diaries; Gen Z: Masters of virtual connection; Video games for the soul; What brings you joy? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Unemployed, Uninsured, Uncertain
A bartender, a farmworker, a person on disability and a musician cope with the fallout from COVID-19. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
When COVID-19 Came to California
What CA Did Right (and Wrong); Working Without Sick Leave; Life After Lockdown Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Healing the Divide
Making Dinner Political; The Un-Selfie; Fighting with Grandpa; An Unusual Friendship Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Pupusas for Voters, Love for Activists, and No More Nightly Movies for Catalina Island
A 19-year-old runs for office; Colleges hold voting centers; Activists fall in love; Catalina Island loses its theater. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
California Apologizes But Scars Remain
Scars of Internment at Heart Mountain; Big Band Swing Meets Taiko Drumming; My Mom Has DACA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Valentine’s Day, California Style
A rideshare romance; a 94-year-old DJ; and teaching how to love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mothers, Mental Illness and the Unthinkable
Sometimes, it’s only after something really terrible has happened that you start to see the signs leading up to it. Years later, Rudy Coronado still refers to what happened as “that day.” He still thinks about what he said to his wife, and, what he didn’t say. He says he doesn’t blame her. But he can’t forgive her, either, for what she did. In this episode of The California Report Magazine, KQED's April Dembosky tells the story of what happened that day in Los Angeles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
‘Dreaming the Golden State’ With The California Report Magazine (Part Two)
The California Report Magazine listeners and reporters take the stage to share their stories about the 'California Dream' and whether it's still alive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
‘Dreaming the Golden State’ With the California Report Magazine (Part One)
Excerpts from a live stage version of The California Report Magazine's night of storytelling, 'Dreaming the Golden State,' which explored California dreams found, and lost. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Taking the Frida Kahlo Corporation to Court, and the Vietnamese Immigrant Who Helped Sriracha Go Mainstream
An artist's legal battle brings up complex questions about who owns images of cultural heroes; a superfan’s obsession with 'Heat' leads to a Hollywood ending; and the Vietnamese immigrant who helped make Sriracha so popular. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices