This week, we’ve got a couple of storytelling treats for you: two legends and how they’ve left their mark on our state. In the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District, there’s a massive blue mural painted in shades of blue, depicting figures of women among waves and cascading water. In the foreground, a woman stands to the side, a giant tear falling from her eye. “La Llorona’s Sacred Waters” was painted by Bay Area artist Juana Alicia back in 2004. But there are differing versions of her story – both in Mexico and here in California. And what do we do when we're presented with something we can't explain? Do we just chalk it up to the supernatural...or superstition? In this story that first aired in 2018, we explore the mystery of a bizarre 60-foot deep hole that once appeared on Mt. Shasta, and why a guy who works at an old school video store might have some answers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ghostly Protectors, Sacred Mountains: In California, These Legends Run Deep

Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.

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Jens Ibsen is a dynamic young composer putting his spin on classical music, infusing it with prog rock, heavy metal and Japanese video game music. Isben's bold and non-traditional style is getting a lot of attention from major institutions like the San Francisco Symphony. But it hasn't been easy. He has had to confront racism as he found his unique place in classical music. He’s a lot of different things at once, and you can see that reflected not just in his music but also in who he is as a person. Reporter Jessica Kariisa's profile of Jens Ibsen is the first in our series celebrating California composers. Plus we visit Tio’s Tacos in Riverside. Just drive off the 91 freeway onto Mission Inn Avenue and stop when you see a huge orange butterfly hanging off the side of a building. You’ll see the airplane parked on the roof and two giants made from recycled aluminum cans taller than the building behind them. This Mexican restaurant/sculpture garden is an immigrant entrepreneur﻿’s labor of love. For our series Hidden Gems, KQED’s Daniel Eduardo Hernandez takes a trip back to his hometown to meet the owner and creator of the Tio's Tacos wonderland. And we head South to Santa Cruz. The city has played a big role in surfing history – it’s where Hawaiian princes first introduced the sport to California back in 1885, and where surfers began using wetsuits in the 1950s. Since then, the city has been on the cutting edge of a lot of modern surf technology. A new company there is hoping to build on that history and help the sport become more environmentally friendly – by using a 3D printer to create surfboards made from recycled hospital trays. KAZU’s Erin Malsbury went to check out how these surfboards get made.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heavy Metal and Video Games Influence This California Composer; A 30-Year Journey of Authentic Mexican Cuisine and Recycled Art; Santa Cruz Company 3D Prints Surfboards

About a year ago, a conflict began in Manipur, a mountainous state in northeastern India. What set off the fighting was a dispute between a predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and a Christian minority called the Kuki. Aptos resident Niang Hangzo is originally from Manipur, but moved to California in the 1990s. Her family back home became refugees more than a year ago. And ever since, she’s transformed into an activist here in California fighting to draw attention to this crisis. KQED’s Lakshmi Sarah traveled to India to follow Niang’s family story.  And we visit a vinyl listening party at Oakland's couchdate. The event combines all the cozy comforts of home with the fun of going out: stimulating conversation, maybe eye contact with a cute stranger, all while the music vibrates around you. This unique social space, especially for creative people of color, is the brainchild of a mixed-race entrepreneur who wants to create an inclusive community for all. KQED’s Ariana Proehl has his story.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An Ethnic Conflict in India Echoes in California; Creating a Space for Brown and Black Creatives in Oakland

Think about all the things you love about radio and podcasts: the suspense, the characters, the drama and humor — Back Pocket Media takes all of those elements and puts them live on stage.  On today’s episode, Back Pocket Media co-founders McArdle Hankin and Ellison Libiran guest host the California Report Magazine and play three of their favorite stories from their last San Francisco event. The theme of that event was Taste of Then: stories about food and memory.  What I’d Cook for Love Most people who’ve had a job at a workplace, which is to say almost all of us, have at some point developed an office crush. You see the person day in and day out. You know you can’t make a move but you secretly want to. Secretly you wait for some sort of signal or opening. Well, for storyteller JP Frary, that opening…. Is Dungeness crab. The Fruitarian  People have always come together around shared taste in food, but in contemporary culture it’s just as likely to see communities – and even identities – formed around the foods we don't eat. Storyteller Don Reed takes a specialized diet to a new extreme.   When the Forest Goes Quiet This story was told to the audience over the phone… That’s because the storyteller is currently incarcerated in San Quentin. Kelton O’Connor starts his story in the yard of a different prison. It's the middle of the day and he’s walking up to a tall barbed wire fence — a fence that is the only thing separating him from the outside world.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tasty Tales of Conference Room Crab, a Cold Turkey Fruitarian, and Tiger Food

Back in the early 1900s, the burgeoning city of Los Angeles needed water, and the Owens Valley—more than 200 miles northeast—had plenty of it. Today, about a third of LA’s water supply comes from the Owens Valley and other parts of the Eastern Sierra. But the city got that water at the expense of the Nüümü people, who have been working to get it back ever since. This week, reporter Teresa Cotsirilos from the Food and Environment Reporting Network brings us the story of one tribal elder's fight to reclaim these water rights for his community.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Nüümü People Claim LA Stole Their Water, Now They're Fighting for Its Return

California's Central Coast is the ancestral homeland of indigenous California tribes including the Chumash and Salinan peoples. For years, the Northern Chumash have been working to create a new marine sanctuary. If the federal government approves that designation this summer, California would be home to the first national marine sanctuary nominated by, and named after, an indigenous tribe. It’s the culmination of decades of tribal conservation work. And, as reporter Benjamin Purper tells us, it’s also the legacy of a father and daughter. Later, we talk to professional rock climber Beth Rodden who has conquered some of the most treacherous climbs in the world. She was the first woman to complete two routes up Yosemite's famous El Capitan, with no gear helping to pull her up. But despite her success, she’s battled raging self-doubt and multiple injuries. Rodden spoke to KQED's Bianca Taylor about her new memoir, A Light Through the Cracks: A Climber's Story.  Finally, we're revisiting a story from our Hidden Gems series about an old-school Los Angeles diner called Dinah’s, which closed its doors at the end of April. A developer bought the restaurant site and announced ambitious plans for new construction. Dinah’s is reopening as a new kind of restaurant in Culver City, but it’s the end of an era for the diner that’s been serving customers for more than six decades in the same location near the LA airport. Sasha Khokha takes us there.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ghostly Protectors, Sacred Mountains: In California, These Legends Run Deep

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