To understand the Winchester Mystery House – and how it came to be – you have to understand the woman behind it. KQED’s Boo Curious (also known as Bay Curious) takes us inside to do just that. 

This episode of Boo Curious first published Oct. 5, 2023

Episode transcript

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People across the Bay Area have been watching in horror at the war between Israel and Hamas. Today, we bring you voices from three different rallies and gatherings that took place over the weekend.

Links:

• How to talk to children about the violence in Israel and Gaza

Episode transcript

This episode was hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and produced by Alan Montecillo, Maria Esquinca and Ericka Cruz Guevarra

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Ecologists, indigenous groups, and forest management agencies agree that burning more ‘prescribed fire’ – where overgrown areas of forests are burned off — is critical to preventing dangerous megafires in the future. KQED’s Dana Cronin explains how this process works, and whether we’ve done enough so far this year.

Episode transcript

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A full transcript will be available 1–2 workdays after the episode’s publication.

A new investigation from the Bay Area News Group, KQED, and the California Reporting Project finds that the vast majority of people seriously injured or killed by San José police are either mentally ill or intoxicated. KQED’s Rachael Vasquez spoke with one of the reporters, Robert Salonga, about how that trend has only continued, if not slightly worsened, with crisis intervention training.

Links:

• Losing control: When San Jose police confront people in mental health crisis, why do they end up hurting them so often?

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Listen to Part 1 of this story about the killing of Richard Oakes.

The 1972 killing of Richard Oakes, the face of the Red Power movement, still sticks with the people who worked on the case. The detective who was at the scene of the killing remembers feeling suspicious of Michael Morgan, the man who shot Oakes. The prosecutor remembers the holes in Morgan’s story that he shot Oakes in self-defense. 

And yet, Morgan was acquitted of manslaughter charges. Today, they admit that the trial was botched.

In Part 2 of our two-part episode with San Francisco Chronicle reporters Julie Johnson and Jason Fagone, we talk about missteps in the investigation into Oakes’ death, and how the justice system in Sonoma County was stacked against him. 

Read the full story on Richard Oakes’ death in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Episode transcript

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Richard Oakes was the face of the burgeoning ‘Red Power’ movement when he led the famous Native occupation of Alcatraz Island in 1969. 

But like other civil rights leaders at the time, he died too soon. In 1972, Oakes was gunned down in in rural Sonoma County. His killer, Michael Oliver Morgan, stood trial for manslaughter and was found not guilty.

The official story of Richard Oakes' death, and the circumstances surrounding Morgan's trial, are part of the reason why Oakes' legacy has been largely erased from mainstream history. Oakes' family and friends, meanwhile, never got closure. All this time, they have believed that Oakes’ death, and Morgan’s acquittal, were racially motivated. 

Now, thanks to new reporting from the San Francisco Chronicle, we know details about this story that have been kept secret for decades. In Part 1 of a two-part episode with reporters Julie Johnson and Jason Fagone, we discuss the events that led Oakes to rural Sonoma County, and the encounters that foreshadowed his killing. 

This is Part 1 of a two-part episode. Part 2 will publish on Wednesday, Oct. 11.

Read the full story on Richard Oakes’ death in the San Francisco Chronicle.

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From San Jose to Santa Rosa, more than 22,000 Bay Area Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers walked off the job Wednesday for a three-day strike, demanding better wages to help fix what they say is an urgent understaffing crisis. The effort spans 8 states and the District of Columbia, and some are calling it the largest health care strike in US history.

This episode was hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and produced by Maria Esquinca and Alan Montecillo.

Episode transcript

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2006 was the height of the hyphy movement — a time of exuberant, goofy, frenetic energy. But there was so much more going on beneath the surface.

Rightnowish Host Pendarvis Harshaw would know — he was a budding journalist with a front row seat to the culture. Today, he talks with us about his four-part series ‘Hyphy Kids Got Trauma.’

Links:

• Hyphy Kids Got Trauma: A Rightnowish Podcast Series

This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

Episode transcript

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On Thursday night, Sen. Dianne Feinstein passed away at age 90. Before becoming a U.S. Senator in 1992, she was best known for her time as San Francisco mayor. Today, we revisit an episode with KQED’s Scott Shafer about how she got her start in local politics.

Links:

This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca and Alan Montecillo, who also hosted.

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In this edition of The Bay’s monthly news roundup, Ericka, Maria and Alan talk about continued tensions between Martinez and the local refinery, a bill that would decriminalize certain psychedelics, and an effort to bring a WNBA team to the Bay Area.

Links:

This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

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