California faces a big problem in labor law enforcement: when businesses are found to have committed wage theft, many still don’t pay workers what they’re owed. KQED’s Farida Jhabvala Romero tells us how Santa Clara County is implementing a local solution to this statewide issue. 

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

Episode transcript

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

COVID-19 cases are on the rise (again). But this isn’t the surge of years’ past..it’s more like a “swell”. 

We also have more immunity, there are effective treatments, and a new booster is on the way. KQED Health Correspondent Lesley McClurg explains what you need to know about this increase in COVID cases.

Links: 

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

Episode transcript

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This episode contains explicit language.

Banko Brown was a Black trans man who was shot and killed by a Walgreens security guard in late April. Today, KQED’s Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez interviews three members of Banko Brown’s community from the Young Women’s Freedom Center — Xavier Davenport, Kazani Kalani Finao, and Juju Pikes-Prince — about Brown’s life, and what they believe is necessary for trans people to be truly safe in San Francisco. 

Links: 

• What Banko Brown's Queer, Trans Community Says They Need for Safety, Joy in SF

This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca and Alan Montecillo.

Episode transcript

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On this Labor Day weekend, we're sharing an episode from KQED's Bay Curious podcast about what's happening to our state's iconic redwood trees, and how we can support them.

This episode originally published on June 22, 2023.

Episode transcript

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Some of the richest, most outspoken investors in the tech world are behind a company that has bought nearly 60,000 acres of mostly farmland in Solano County. They say they want to build a new city from scratch. 

But who are they? And why do they want to do this? Erin Griffith with The New York Times explains.

Links: 

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

Episode transcript

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Under what circumstances should San Francisco be able to clear homeless encampments? Last week, protesters and counter-protesters went head-to-head outside the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals over an injunction that limits the city’s ability to do that. KQED’s Sydney Johnson unpacks this legal battle, and explains why it has sparked such strong feelings.

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

Episode transcript

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In 2021, students at Carlmont High School in Belmont were shocked when 17-year-old senior Colin Walker died of a fentanyl overdose. In this episode of TBH, a podcast from KALW made by, for, and about teenagers, one of his classmates tells the story of how students honored Colin’s life after his death, and educated each other about the dangers of fentanyl.

Subscribe to TBH at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or Radio Public.

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We bring you 3 stories a week, but there’s so much more that’s happening in the Bay Area than we can get to. Today, Ericka, Maria and Alan each bring a story they’ve been following in a new monthly news roundup segment.

Links:

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Hollywood is no stranger to changes brought on by technology. But KQED’s Rachael Myrow says that for writers and actors currently on strike, this moment is existential — thanks in no small part to Silicon Valley.

Many KQED staffers are also members of SAG-AFTRA, but journalists have a different contract from Hollywood actors.

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

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Oakland is looking for a new police chief after Mayor Sheng Thao fired LeRonne Armstrong back in mid-February. Whoever takes the job next will inherit a department that has been under federal oversight for 20 years. 

Today, we revisit a conversation with Ali Winston about the events that led to Armstrong’s downfall, and why OPD’s challenges run far deeper than who the chief is.

This episode originally published on Feb. 8, 2023.

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