Civic

Civic

By San Francisco Public Press & KSFP, Mel BakerNewsGovernmentPolitics
Download on the App Store

Civic episodes

  • Somebody's Watching You Part 1: America's Long History of Spying on Its Own
    Who's watching us, what does it mean for our privacy and civil liberties, and how did we get here?
    In Somebody's Watching You, a three-part investigative series from Civic and the San Francisco Public Press, we explore America's long-running struggle over government surveillance.
    How did a country founded on protections against government intrusion develop such extensive powers to watch its own people? And what happens to constitutional rights when national security becomes the justification?
    In Part One, we go back to the nation's founding and the fight to protect individual freedoms from government tyranny. We follow the centuries-old tug-of-war between expanding surveillance powers and demands for civil liberties, through the Red Scare, McCarthy-era investigations, FBI surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr. and the targeting of anti-war activists.
    And we set the stage for the government crackdowns and public resistance that followed September 11, 2001, and the battles over surveillance that continue today.
    29 min
  • Civic Special: Who’s Spending Big on San Francisco’s Election?
    The League of Women Voters organized this panel discussion on money in San Francisco’s November election, held at the Internet Archive on Oct. 8. Lila LaHood, executive director of the San Francisco Public Press, moderated. panelists were Joe Rivano Barros, executive editor of Mission Local; Darius Kemp of California Common Cause; and Patrick Ford of the San Francisco Ethics Commission.
    1 hr 14 min
  • Civic Special: Inside Your San Francisco Election Ballot
    he November 2026 election is pivotal at the national, state and local levels. San Francisco voters will weigh local races and propositions on Muni funding, housing, the Great Highway, taxes and how City Hall and the mayor operate, along with statewide candidates and propositions.
    San Francisco Public Press Executive Director Lila LaHood, KALW Executive Producer Ben Trefny and CalMatters Politics Editor Juliet Williams, outlined the issues and the candidates at a public forum at the San Francisco Main Public Library on Sept. 16.
    1 hr 5 min
  • End of a Healthcare Revolution: How San Francisco is Unraveling its Groundbreaking Program for Youth in Crisis
    For nearly 60 years, San Francisco built a pioneering system to care for young people in crisis. What began during the Summer of Love with the nation's first runaway youth shelter and the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic evolved into a network of specialized clinics that combined medical care, mental health treatment, sexual health services and connections to housing and social support under one roof.
    Now, that model is being dismantled as San Francisco shifts young patients to larger primary care clinics and expands telehealth services. Supporters say the city risks losing more than two clinics, it may be abandoning a philosophy of care built around meeting vulnerable young people where they are.
    In this episode of Civic, we trace the history of San Francisco's groundbreaking approach to integrated youth healthcare and examine the city's plan to close two specialized youth clinics in the Tenderloin and Haight neighborhoods. Through archival recordings, former patients, frontline clinicians, nonprofit leaders, union representatives and city officials, we explore how a nationally influential model of integrated care collided with budget pressures driven by deep federal and state Medi-Cal funding cuts.
    29 min
  • Inside San Francisco’s Women’s Jail
    After at least 19 women in San Francisco’s county jail alleged they were subjected to a mass strip search while deputies recorded on body-worn cameras, advocates, attorneys and city officials demanded answers. This investigative documentary examines what women say happened inside the jail’s B-pod — and the broader conditions women describe inside the facility, including prolonged lockdowns, overcrowding, lack of sunlight and untreated trauma. Through public hearings, legal records, interviews with formerly incarcerated women and advocates, and statements made by sheriff’s officials during oversight hearings, the story traces how a jail intended for temporary detention became a place where many women spend months or years awaiting trial.
    30 min
  • Civic Special - Crossing State Lines for Abortion Access

    About the panelists

    Diana Greene Foster is a demographer and professor at the University of California, San Francisco. She studies the causes and consequences of unwanted pregnancy and is part of Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health — commonly known as ANSIRH — which is a research program at UCSF.

    Foster was named a 2023 MacArthur Fellow and is the author of the 2020 book “The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women and the Consequences of Having — or Being Denied — an Abortion.” She has recently published a study updating her earlier research.

    Mariana Horne is the Outreach and Education Coordinator at ACCESS Reproductive Justice, California’s statewide abortion fund. Her work has been recognized by large institutions for its impact in reproductive health education.

    As part of the movement-building team, Horne works at the intersection of community education and direct service support, removing barriers to abortion care and advancing reproductive justice teachings across California and nationwide.

    59 min

About Civic

From the publisher's feed

Civic is the flagship audio program from the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit news institution, covering important local issues and the unique experiences of living and working in San…

More shows like Civic

Bay Curious by KQED

Bay Curious

1,068 Listeners