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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An often-overlooked moment in Bay Area activism took place in the 1980s and 90s, when a broad coalition of activists targeted San Francisco’s coffee industry to protest the civil war in El Salvador. KQED’s Sebastian Miño-Bucheli joins us to talk about how it happened.

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This episode contains explicit language.

San Franciscans can expect to see more driverless cars on the road after California regulators approved a permit to allow Waymo and Cruise to charge fares.

Once again, the city is the testing ground for new technology. And people on both sides have strong feelings about it. Ida Mojadad from the San Francisco Standard breaks it all down for us.

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I’laysia Vital is about to leave Oakland to start college in Texas, where she’s excited to attend a historically Black college. But Texas is also one of more than a dozen states that has banned abortion. 

KQED’s April Dembosky takes us inside a health clinic at Oakland Technical High School, where staff have been helping college-bound students prepare for the barriers to reproductive health that await them in other states.

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

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This episode contains explicit language.

Hip-hop turns 50 years old today, and it’s no secret that the Bay Area gets overlooked.

Today, Eric Arnold and Nastia Voynovskaya join us to talk about KQED’s yearlong series exploring the history of Bay Area hip-hop — and how our region has shaped hip-hop through the years.

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Next Tuesday, nearly 4,500 San Jose city workers are planning to walk off the job for 3 days. Garbage, fire, and police won’t be affected, but many critical services like the airport, libraries, and housing construction will be. If the strike goes forward, it would be San Jose's largest since 1981.

KQED’s Guy Marzorati explains how we got here, and what could happen next.

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

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On the morning after Thanksgiving last year, Martinez residents woke up and found a strange, white powder coating their neighborhoods. It came from the nearby refinery. 

Will McCarthy from the Mercury News tells us what happened next, and how this incident spurred angry neighbors into action for the first time.

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For the first time since 2009, there is no salmon fishing season in California. This decision has hit fishers, coastal towns, and Native communities hard. 

But it wasn’t inevitable. KQED climate and science reporter Danielle Venton explains how the state’s choices around water management played a major role.

Episode transcript

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

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A committee called Save Alameda For Everyone (SAFE) has filed documents for a recall campaign against progressive Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. KQED’s Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez explains why this is happening — and whether DA Price could face the same fate as Chesa Boudin did in San Francisco. 

Episode transcript

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

A previous version of this episode incorrectly stated the number of Alameda County voter signatures required for the recall to qualify for the ballot.

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