Snap Judgment

The group from Union Point moves into their new homes on the tiny plot of land near Lake Merritt. They run their own security and decide who comes into their space. But then, on a Monday morning in March, we hear devastating news…

A fire burns through the plot of land on E12th. Is this the end of the experiment, or will the group keep building?

This episode contains strong language & graphic imagery. Please take care while listening. 

Thank you to the entire cast from A Tiny Plot for sharing your story with us.

Hosted and produced by Shaina Shealy. Edited by Anna Sussman, original music by Renzo Gorrio, engineering by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Director of Production: Marisa Dodge. Executive Producers: Glynn Washington and Mark Ristich. Artwork: Teo Ducot.

Special thanks: Jen Chien, Catherine Winter, the City of Oakland, Sweetie at the Travel Inn, Ryan Finnegan, Will Craft, JP Dobrin, Thomas Brouns, Sukey Lewis, Alistair Boone, The Street Spirit, KQED legal, and Ott House Audio.

Episode 5 of 5. You can listen to the entire series now! 

Mama D, President Matt, and the rest of the group are finally seeing their experiment in co-governance take shape. They built their security sheds and saw their tiny homes for the first time. But when Nino Parker stepped onto the sidewalk in a neck brace, on crutches, it was clear that the group was about to face a whole new level of chaos.  

This episode contains strong language & graphic imagery. Please take care while listening. 

Thank you to the entire cast from A Tiny Plot for sharing your story with us.

A Tiny Plot is a new 5-part series from KQED’s Snap Studios, hosted and produced by Shaina Shealy. Edited by Anna Sussman, original music by Renzo Gorrio, engineering by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Director of Production: Marisa Dodge. Executive Producers: Glynn Washington and Mark Ristich. Artwork: Teo Ducot.

Special thanks: Jen Chien, Catherine Winter, the City of Oakland, Sweetie at the Travel Inn, Ryan Finnegan, Will Craft, JP Dobrin, Thomas Brouns, Sukey Lewis, Alistair Boone, The Street Spirit, KQED legal, and Ott House Audio.

Episode 4 of 5. Listen on any podcast platform, right here on Snap Judgment! 

Mama D sees that the future of the experiment is up to her and what she decides: Lead the group to the plot of land offered by the city, hope and pray for a magical new plot, or disband the group and dissolve the experiment. 

Following weeks of indecision, Mama D makes a choice. And while everyone from the group was hard at work to turn their dream into reality, they didn’t seem to notice a major problem with the set-up. A fault line of sorts.  

This episode contains strong language & graphic imagery. Please take care while listening. 

Big thanks to the entire cast from A Tiny Plot for sharing your worlds with us.

A Tiny Plot is a new 5-part series from KQED’s Snap Studios, hosted and produced by Shaina Shealy. Edited by Anna Sussman, original music by Renzo Gorrio, engineering by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Director of Production: Marisa Dodge. Executive Producers: Glynn Washington and Mark Ristich. Artwork: Teo Ducot.

Special thanks: Jen Chien, Catherine Winter, the City of Oakland, Sweetie at the Travel Inn, Ryan Finnegan, Will Craft, JP Dobrin, Thomas Brouns, Sukey Lewis, Alistair Boone, The Street Spirit, KQED legal, and Ott House Audio.

Episode 3 of 5. Episodes drop on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Listen on any podcast platform, right here on Snap Judgment! 

The standoff between Public Works and the group from Union Point Park ends with a handshake -- a deal to build a new kind of housing community funded by the city where homeless residents make their own rules. But right away, the civility of this agreement seems to break down. 

And after months of waiting, the group from Union Point Park finally gets a plot of land on E12th street for their radical experiment. But there’s a big problem with the land. It's something that leaves the future of this experiment in limbo.

This episode contains strong language & graphic imagery. Please take care while listening. 

A Tiny Plot is a new 5-part series from KQED’s Snap Studios. Host and Reporter Shaina Shealy takes listeners inside an encampment in Oakland for an against-all-odds story about scarcity, community, and the complexity of building something new from the margins of a broken system. What happens when people who’ve been shut out of a system that has failed them decide to take the lead? Disaster, and unexpected beauty. 

Big thanks to the entire cast from A Tiny Plot for sharing your worlds with us.

Hosted and produced by Shaina Shealy. Edited by Anna Sussman, original music by Renzo Gorrio, engineering by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Director of Production: Marisa Dodge. Executive Producers: Glynn Washington and Mark Ristich. Artwork: Teo Ducot.

Special thanks: Jen Chien, Catherine Winter, the City of Oakland, Sweetie at the Travel Inn, Ryan Finnegan, Will Craft, JP Dobrin, Thomas Brouns, Sukey Lewis, Alistair Boone, The Street Spirit, KQED legal, and Ott House Audio.

Episode 2 of 5. Episodes drop on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Listen on any podcast platform, right here on Snap Judgment! 

Using broken refrigerators, mattresses and dishwashers, residents of Union Point Park barricade their tent-city. And they fight for an extraordinary idea: their own plot of land from the city, where they could live in community and set their own rules, on their own terms.

A Tiny Plot is a new 5-part series from KQED’s Snap Studios. Host and Reporter Shaina Shealy takes listeners inside an encampment in Oakland for an against-all-odds story about scarcity, community, and the complexity of building something new from the margins of a broken system. What happens when people who’ve been shut out of a system that has failed them decide to take the lead? Disaster, and unexpected beauty. 

This episode contains strong language & graphic imagery. Please take care while listening. 

Huge love & thanks to the entire cast from A Tiny Plot for sharing your worlds with us.

Hosted and produced by Shaina Shealy. Edited by Anna Sussman, original music by Renzo Gorrio, engineering by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Director of Production: Marisa Dodge. Executive Producers: Glynn Washington and Mark Ristich. Artwork: Teo Ducot.

Special thanks: Jen Chien, Catherine Winter, the City of Oakland, Sweetie at the Travel Inn, Ryan Finnegan, Will Craft, JP Dobrin, Thomas Brouns, Sukey Lewis, Alistair Boone, The Street Spirit, KQED legal, and Ott House Audio.

Episode 1 of 5. Episodes drop on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Listen on any podcast platform, right here on Snap Judgment! 

It's barricades vs. bobcats, tents vs. tiny homes and a team of people fighting to stay together. Listen to a radical experiment in freedom that puts an entire city under the microscope…

"A Tiny Plot” is a new series from KQED’s Snap Studios. Producer Shaina Shealy embedded with a group of people in an encampment in Oakland at a park called Union Point. They were ordered to disperse, running out of time, but they were bound together by an extraordinary new idea: their own living space where they can set their own rules. Over five episodes, we learn the story of Mama D, Papa Eddie, President Matt and more. They invite listeners in to witness high-stakes decisions, devastating failures and wild successes.

Episode 1 drops August 21, 2025. Episodes will drop on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Listen right here on Snap Judgment.

300 people spend a week on a plane with Rihanna to attend seven concerts, in seven countries, over seven days. And when morale is low among a group of paratroopers, their Sergeant takes them on an unexpected trip. 

STORIES

Diamonds in the Sky

Fans and journalists embark on a seven-show tour with Rihanna… in seven countries, over seven days, on a Boeing 777, to celebrate her seventh album in seven years. Did we mention this happened seven years ago?

This story contains explicit language. Sensitive listeners please be advised. 

Special thanks to Kristen Gwynne, Lawrence Bull, and Elizabeth Nakano.

Produced by John Fecile, original score by Renzo Gorrio.

Acid Jump

When morale is low among a group of paratroopers, their Sergeant takes them on an unexpected trip. 

Check out Ray’s podcast, “What’s Ray Saying?” and follow him on Twitter @WhatsRaySaying!

Produced by Adizah Eghan, original score by Leon Morimoto.

Season 16 - Episode 35

The hallowed halls of an Airbnb house a spirit that can only be seen through sprinkles, spritzes, and sparkles… of air freshener. Snap’s Queen of Comedy, Jen Kober, returns with a story only she could tell. Plus, Glynn shares a story about a close personal witch.

The episode contains strong language, sensitive listeners please be advised. 

These stories were told at Spooked LIVE! We have a West Coast tour this year in Oakland, Los Angeles, and Seattle! Join us in September and October! Cross over. Get your tix + listen to Spooked on any podcast platform.

Thanks, Jen, for sharing your story with us! For all things Jen -- and to see her live on tour -- check out her website.

Original music performed live by Doug Stuart and Brijean Murphy. Mixed by Miles Lassi. Artwork by Teo Ducot. Special thanks to Ryan Davis, Sarah Rose Leonard, Jon Cohn, Rebecca Stumme, Kristen Payne, and the LA Orpheum Team.

Season 16 - Episode 34 

Eleven attractive, young people set sail across the Atlantic in a raft as part of a radical group experiment. And a boy falls in love with a girl… and her fungus.

STORIES 

Vintage Spirit

Did you ever think that you missed a moment of history?  A moment you were made for? Glynn explores an era that had a spark.

Produced by Pat Mesiti-Miller.

Raft of Passion

Mary needed to get away from her husband. A handsome stranger offered her a way out. All she had to do was participate in the strangest group experiment of all time.

Thank you, Mary Gidley, for sharing your story with Snap. Mary just released a memoir titled Point to Point. 

You can learn more about the Acali experiment in the incredible documentary The Raft. Hear from Mary and other participants as they relive the experiment on a life-size recreation of the raft. The Raft opened in theaters in the U.S. in 2019 and begins streaming on digital platforms in the U.S. on May 19, 2020.

Special thanks to director Marcus Lindeen.

Produced by John Fecile, original score by Leon Morimoto, artwork by: Sanaa Khan.

Linda, Loretta, and Me

What happens when boy meets girl and fungus? This is a story about love and spores, from one of our favorite podcasts, Love Me. Be sure to check out producer Jonathan Zenti’s podcast, Meat.

Produced by Mira Burt-Wintonick, Cristal Duhaime, and Jonathan Zenti.

Snap Classic - Season 16 - Episode 33

She’s stunning grey, sleek as a race car, and stronger than all the boys. Her name is Winning Colors and for Dino and Miami she’s the long shot of a lifetime.

This story contains strong language and includes descriptions of gambling, sensitive listeners please be advised.

If gambling has become a problem for you or for someone you know, you can call 1-800-GAMBLER (426-2537) to seek free, confidential, 24/7 problem gambling assistance.

A huge thank you to Mark “Miami” Paul for sharing his story with Snap!

Wondering what happened to Winning Colors? After her 1988 Kentucky Derby crown the big grey filly retired the following year with eight career wins. In 2000, she was inducted into the U.S. National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. In 2008, at the age of 23 Winning Colors was laid to rest in Lexington, Kentucky.

To find out more about Miami and Winning Colors’ story – check out Miami’s book, “The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told” 

Produced by Bo Walsh, original score by Renzo Gorrio, artwork by Teo Ducot.

Snap Classic – Season 16– Episode 32