On KSQD’s Talk of the Bay, host Cheryl Williams in conversation with filmmaker Aaron Johnson about his short film Dark and Tender. The film explores the prejudices and stereotypes that Black men face and the ways those experiences can shape identity, relationships, and community.

Community members are invited to attend a screening of Dark and Tender on Wednesday, July 15, hosted by Santa Cruz Black in collaboration with the Chronically Under Touched (CUT) Project. Founder Aaron Johnson will introduce the film and lead a question-and-answer session that is open to the public.

After the screening, Johnson will facilitate a workshop designed for Black male-identified and Black masculine-bodied participants. According to the organizers, the workshop will provide a space to explore themes of touch, masculinity, history, healing, and community through guided discussion and reflection.

Event Details

Date: Wednesday, July 15

Schedule

For registration information or additional details, contact [email protected].

Enjoy Andrew Schoneberg’s lively conversation with Alison Van Diggelen.

She’s a journalist and interviewer for the BBC, PRX, and other public broadcasters. And she’s the author of a recent book entitled “The Love Project”. It’s based on her conversations with people from the Monterey area, sharing their stories of love, loss, resilience, and joy.

Host Omar Dieguez welcomes members of the Tri-County Doula collective in Watsonville.

These women promote and provide culturally rooted, multilingual care for families through pregnancy, birth, and beyond.

Parades and parties had a strong showing across the nation this July 4. Some endured sweltering heat and humidity, but in Aptos, K-Squid enjoyed the fog, and the crowds, and hooped it up with the rest of the community for American’s 250 anniversary while Squid on the Street Suki Wessling swam through the happy attendees and captured our “time capsule” recording.

_________________________________________________

Our thanks to the fabulous folks who made it shine: Gary Shapiro and his lady love, Robynn Smith, for supplying, and driving, their wonderfully vintage Ford F-150; Robynn and her friend Diane who created a giant squid for the side of the truck out of a red plastic table cloth on the spot; Gary Shapiro for hot and dance-worthy playlist+speaker; Ronnie Lipschutz for purchasing an inflated Squid costume, blowing it up, and wearing it; Chuck Mueller and Sharlee Jacobsen for bringing a huge box of treats from Gayles; Mary Ann Wieland, Suki Wessling, Francis Garcia, + Ron Barrington for being the KSQD Red Letter Team, and all our regulars for carrying the banner, handing out stickers and keeping it real. What a hoot!

Ronnie Lipschutz a.k.a Mr. Squid

Chuck and Shalee bring treats!                    Francis Garcia and Denise Gallant

Christine Barrington works the crowd.              Uncle Gary enjoy a cookie

Artists Robynn + longtime buddy, Diane               Lady Jazz burns it up with the Aptos FD!

(Thanks for the Giant Squid!)

Omar Dieguez and Adela welcome Bobby Marchessault, Watsonville educator and Vice President of the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers Committee on Political Education.

The discussed important work being done in the PVUSD and some of the biggest issues facing schools today: transparency and accountability, as well as recent cuts to mental health services, counselors, and special education programs.

An important conversation about the future of public education in the Pajaro Valley.

Saru Jayaraman (JD, Yale, MPP Harvard) is an academic at UC Berkeley and the President of One Fair Wage, which organizes to raise wages and end subminimum wages nationwide. She was named one of CNN’s “Top10 Visionary Women”, a White House Champion of Change in 2014, a James Beard Foundation Leadership Award winner (2015), the San Francisco Chronicle ‘Visionary of the Year’, and most recently an Irvine Foundation Leadership Award Winner. Saru authored Behind the Kitchen Door (2013, Cornell University Press), Forked: A New Standard for American Dining (2016, Oxford University Press), One Fair Wage: Ending Subminimum Pay in America (2021, New Press), and new to be released in September, What Has Democracy Done for You Lately? (2026, New Press). Prior to joining us here today at KSQD, she has appeared on dozens of broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms, including MSNBC, HBO, PBS, CBS, and CNN, as well as scores of speaking engagements, including as a multi-year keynote speaker at the annual Bioneers Conference, including her landmark speech in March of 2026. Saru is a co-founder of the recently inaugurated Living Wage for All campaign.

Omar Dieguez speaks with Mark Weller for an update on the campaign to eliminate the use of toxic pesticides near schools and communities on the central coast.

Nine months after Omar’s hunger strike to raise awareness about this community health issue, what progress has been made, and what remains to be done?

If you’re interested in children’s education, quiz games, storytelling, or poetry, I’ll bet you’ll find this program facinating. My guest is Howard Schrager. He’s the owner of Lemon Tree Press, which publishes educational books for elementary school aged children which he writes. Howard was a Waldorf teacher for 29 years.

Omar Dieguez and Adela Naranjo sit down with Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) Executive Director Consuelo Alba and filmmaker Brenda Avila-Hanna to discuss the profound impact of storytelling, community healing, and art as resistance. The conversation highlights how the festival grew from a passionate, grassroots volunteer effort in 2012 into a vital year-round nonprofit ecosystem that centers underrepresented Latino, indigenous, and LGBTQ+ voices. From discussing the deep emotional truths of local documentaries like Libertad to celebrating major cultural milestones like screening the Sundance award-winning American Pachuco alongside a live performance by Pajaro Valley High School students, the episode beautifully illustrates how WFF fosters equity by providing an affordable, accessible red-carpet experience where the entire community can see themselves reflected on the big screen.

KSQD’s Talk of the Bay: From the Streets, every Monday at 5pm!

Omar Dieguez hosts a powerful and heartfelt conversation exploring the human connections between Gaza and the Central Coast.

Guests are Rolla Alaydi, educator and author, who has lost 215 members of her extended family in Gaza, and Unhae Langis, organizer with the Central Coast Coalition for a Free Palestine.