Growing up, Katrina Ramos White helped her immigrant parents run a toy stand at the Berryessa Flea Market in San Jose. A few years ago, with hopes of buying her own home in SIlicon Valley, she took over the family business on top of her tech job. But big change is on the horizon for La Pulga, which sits on privately-owned land and is now slated for redevelopment. For Katrina and her family, saying goodbye to La Pulga could mean saying goodbye to the Bay Area altogether. 

Guests: Adhiti Bandlamudi, KQED Silicon Valley reporter and Carlos Cabrera-Lomeli, KQED en Español reporter

Episode Transcript

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Now a derelict building, the 16th street train station in West Oakland was once a thriving center of transportation during the golden age of rail travel in the 1900s when trains were the only way to get around. The station expanded the working-class Black community in Oakland, who migrated to live and work close to the station. It also played a crucial role in the creation and development of Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters — the first Black union in the country. This Bay Curious episode takes a deep dive into the rich history of the station. 

This episode of Bay Curious first aired on Apr. 14, 2022.

Episode Transcript

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Tell me memories mean something

and I will carve your face on a tree.

Never cut it down.

Guarded with what slaps and surprises

sage and old E-40 cassettes from an OG’s trunk.

Can we love in a city lost?

Can we touch in a city gone? 

– An excerpt from “Love Me Before The City Disappears” 

April is National Poetry Month! And before it ends, we want to celebrate contemporary poetry inspired by life in the Bay Area. Producer Maria Esquinca interviews writer and director Nijla Mu’min about her poetry, which explores the Bay as a backdrop of love, growing up here, and feeling unwelcome in a place that’s changed. 

Guest: Nijla Mu’min (poet and filmmaker)

This episode was written by Maria Esquinca, produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Christopher Beale, and edited by Kyana Moghadam

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For many families waiting decades for the right to live and work permanently in the U.S. through the crazy, byzantine rules of America’s immigration system, a special nightmare occurs when a child turns 21—they age out of their parent’s work visas and are at risk for deportation. 

In California, there are over 40,000 ‘Documented Dreamers' aging out and labeled foreign nationals, with few options for permanent residency. And in Silicon Valley, where tech companies run on immigrant labor, this crisis is hitting especially hard.

Guest: Rachael Myrow, Senior Editor, Silicon Valley desk for KQED

This episode was produced by Christopher Beale and Maria Esquinca, edited by Kyana Moghadam and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra

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A federal judge in Florida ruled on Monday that the federal mask mandate was unlawful. Hours later, the Transportation Security Administration lifted mask rules inside airports, airplanes and on public transportation.

Transportation agencies around the Bay soon followed suit, raising concerns among disability rights and medically vulnerable communities.

In light of the recent changes to public mask mandates, we revisit an episode we aired in January. Two years into the pandemic, as restrictions loosened disabled, immunocompromised, and medically vulnerable people feared that their health would be further jeopardized.

Guest:  Lesley McClurg, KQED health reporter

This episode first aired January 26, 2022

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On Tuesday afternoon, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance that would limit how police store and use DNA profiles obtained from evidence and kept in their labs. The changes happened after the district attorney’s office found the San Francisco Police Department had used DNA from a survivor’s rape kit to link her to an unrelated crime years later. It’s hard to know just how many people’s DNA was used in this way, raising concerns about what power law enforcement yields with advancements in DNA technology.

Guest: Alex Emslie, reporter for KQED

This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca and Christopher Beale, hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and edited by Kyana Moghadam

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When a student makes an allegation of sexual assault, their options for redress are often unsatisfying. Few cases end up in the legal system, and rarely do schools get sued for how they respond to those allegations.

In one rare, recent case, one student’s allegations did end up in a courtroom — and in front of a jury. The student sued the East Side Union High School District alleging administrators didn’t do enough to protect her from further abuse after an alleged explicit video of her circulated around school. And as it turns out, more students are filing cases against school districts’ handling of such allegations.

Guest: Holly McDede, reporter and producer for KQED

Recommended listening: 

• SF Students Are Still Pushing for a Reckoning With Sexual Abuse

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

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Redistricting is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to redraw a city’s political map. It’s an important yet arcane process that should ultimately lead to fair, equitable representation in local government — and it’s really hard to do. 

In San Francisco, the process hasn’t just been hard; it's been chaotic, confusing, heated — and as Mission Local columnist Joe Eskenazi writes, "indefensible." Ultimately, the commission did not meet its legal deadline of April 15 to complete its maps, leaving the future of the city's district lines up in the air.

Guest: Joe Eskenazi, Mission Local editor and columnist

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

Episode transcript

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The rise of Uber in San Francisco a decade ago marked the beginning of the end for much of the taxi industry. Taxi companies went bankrupt and drivers struggled to pay off their medallions, pushing many of them into debt. 

But now, Uber sees an opportunity in the same industry it nearly destroyed. Uber has struck a deal with taxi hailing apps in San Francisco and New York that will allow riders to hail taxis through Uber’s app. Some taxi drivers see an opportunity to boost their pay; others are skeptical that the company can be trusted. So what’s really in it for Uber?

Guest: Levi Sumagaysay, senior reporter for Marketwatch

Episode transcript

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In 2020 call outs for mutual aid donations flooded social media, and people responded with an abundance of money, food and time. Two years later, interest and support has waned while the needs have not gone away. As government aid like the child tax credit and stimulus checks expire, organizers across the Bay look at filling in the gaps.

Guest: Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí, community engagement reporter for KQED

Episode transcript

Recommended listening:

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