The Drama, directed by Kristoffer Borgli, is a razor-sharp black comedy that puts forward

If this couple is so perfect together, what could possibly be the drama? We are introduced to Emma through the rose-colored glasses of Charlie. As he is writing his wedding speech, we learn how the pair met, how they fell for each other, and how the wedding planning is going. The meet cute at the beginning is actually quite awkward, as Charlie attempts to talk to Emma about a book he’s never read while standing to the side of the ear she can’t hear from. Charlie stumbles through this interaction that is just one miscommunication after another, but Emma still finds him charming, and the two continue to get to know each other.

A couple of out of place mishaps occur leading up to the wedding, these events giving the

How to Mobilize to Defend Democracy

Be Bold America! Friday, May 15, 2026 at 5:00pm (PT)

With the 2026 midterm elections looming and democracy on the line, progressive attorney, activist, and author, Gary Lucks, presents in his new book We Are The Power fiercely practical, street-level directions for Americans who want to engage beyond posting, protesting, or donating, to actually helping flip the House and Senate this November.

Drawing on postmortem data from Activate America, Lucks shows that grassroots volunteers shifted outcomes by 2-4% in battleground districts in 2024 and that Democrats need to flip just three seats in the House and four in the Senate to restore a legislative firewall against the current administration’s agenda. Unlike many tomes on the current political situation, We Are the Power tells readers exactly how to close that gap.

Interview Guest

Gary Lucks, JD, CPEA, is a progressive author, activist, and environmental attorney who has spent four decades at the intersection of law, policy, and sustainability. He is the founder of Progressive Action East Bay and Resistance Action East Bay Indivisible, two of California’s most active grassroots political networks. Lucks is also the author of You Are Not Alone: Your Roadmap to Effective Political Action. More at garylucks.com.

CoHost

Mike Clancy is a former Technical and Scientific Director of the Navy’s Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center in Monterey,  a recipient of the Navy’s highest civilian award, a frequent lecturer on climate change, and the former Chair of the Monterey Chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.  He serves on the Question Review Team for the Annual Leon Panetta Lecture Series and is a supporting actor in the award-winning independent feature film, “A Long Road to Tao”.

Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, the first openly gay person to be elected. In 1978, Milk organized LGBTQ+ people from throughout California to oppose The Briggs Initiative (Proposition 6) and visited Santa Cruz in Jan. 1978 to encourage the local organizers. May 22 is Harvey Milk’s Birthday and we wanted to reflect about Harvey’s impact on Santa Cruz.  Our guests on the show tonight are Curt Keyer and Patrick Meyer two out gay men who have lived in Santa Cruz since the 1970s and were active in the fight against The Briggs Initiative and were both involved in bringing LGBTQ+ people together.  Curt began bringing people together at his house with summer and winter parties beginning in the 1980s while Patrick helped form the ongoing Men’s Group that began meeting at the London Nelson Center in 1978. Hear their recollections and stories from organizing to attending the March on Washington where Curt was arrested for protesting in front of the Supreme Court.  

⁠Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances⁠—commonly known as ⁠PFASs⁠ and “forever chemicals”—have become ubiquitous in the environment and are being found almost everywhere in soil, water, plants and bodies.    The Trump Administration has⁠ lowered drinking water standards for PFASs presence⁠ but that does not mean the stuff has gotten safer. You might know PFASs in the form of ⁠Teflon⁠ which, for many years, are applied to non-stick cookware so those eggs slide off the pan.  But ⁠if you overheat that pan, the Teflon might also slide off.⁠  PFASs slide off of many other things, as well. The environmental and health impacts of PFASs are almost totally unknown, although ⁠they are beginning to look pretty bad.⁠

Join host Ronnie Lipschutz for a conversation with⁠ Dr. Faith Kibuye⁠, a Water Resources Extension Specialist in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management and the Institute of Energy and the Environment at the Pennsylvania State University. Kibuye specializes in environmental engineering, focusing on water quality, aquatic chemistry, cyanobacterial blooms, and⁠ contaminants like pharmaceuticals and PFASs⁠, and their fate, transport and transformation.

Chris Upham  interviews Sofia Orlando and Sam, who are apart of  the X Academy Robotics club.

UCSC Arboretum horticulturalist Hann Osborne discusses his efforts to identify plant species in dozens of habitats throughout California. These geographic areas vary by soil, altitude, temperature ranges, rainfall, proximity to the ocean, and the degree to which development has affected them. Osborne and his crew record the plant species found in each area to create an enormous database of native and invasive species. They take particular interest in rare native plants and in creating a benchmark for further study on climate change and diminishing habitats. He also provides an update on the Arboretum, its plants, and its operations. Dr. Martin Quigley and Joe Truskot, hosts of KSQD's weekly garden show "In The Garden," ask the questions and provide commentary. Hann Osborne provides hope for a new generation of plant lovers!

Chirs Upham interviews Becky Steinbruner about the Measure J and Battery Energy Storage Systems.

Chris Upham  interviews  Tim Sylvester and his students who are apart of  the X Academy Robotics club.

“Saving the American Dream”

 “Be Bold America!” Airs May 1, 2026 at 5:00pm (PT) 

“John K. Roth has spent over five decades challenging students to wrestle with the import and meaning of the American Dream and inspiring them to fulfill its promise. In Saving the American Dream, he uses that lifetime of philosophical and historical exploration as the lens through which to view the actions of Trump 2.0. This book is for policy makers, patriots, and anyone feeling overwhelmed by the past year.” —Steve Bullock, Montana Governor (2013-21) and former student of Prof. Roth

The American Dream at its best is an ethical ideal and a moral compass. If respected and sustained, it can guide the United States through Trump 2.0. Anchored in the US Constitution, “Saving the American Dream” features meditations for dark times. Meditations are intentional acts of focused attention. They seek insight—a clear and deep understanding—about critical issues.

What, for example, is most important for the United States today? Are we Americans doing the best we can? How may inquiry about the American Dream advance the reflection and action needed now to support and defend the Constitution of the United States?

Saving the American Dream is a journey that goes where such questions lead. Its fundamental premise is that individuals moved to communal action by warned awareness and committed resistance are indispensable to meet challenges that grow by the day. Guidance from reliable American writers—philosophers, historians, novelists, poets, essayists, religious thinkers—maps the way.

Interview Guest:

John Roth, is the Edward J. Sexton professor emeritus of philosophy at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California. Dr. Roth was named the 1988 U. S. National Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Dr. Roth’s expertise in Holocaust and genocide studies, as well as in philosophy, ethics, American studies, and religious studies, has been advanced by postdoctoral appointments as a Graves Fellow in the Humanities, a Fulbright Lecturer in American Studies at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and a Fellow of the National Humanities Institute, Yale University.

Chris Upham interviews Dave Benet about the Scientific Diver Certification Program at UCSC.