This is the third episode of By The People, The Bay podcast’s new series highlighting the way democracy shows up in the places around us, and how we can all plug in.

A vote in Oakland today goes farther than it did prior to 1980. That’s when voters passed Measure H, which moved the city from at-large to district-based elections . The change was huge for Black and brown voters, who now had the opportunity to elect candidates from their neighborhoods instead of being represented by white men backed by money and power. The reason why Measure H passed can be traced back through decades of organizing by Black activists seeking political representation.

Guest: Darwin BondGraham, editor of The Oaklandside

Read the transcript here. You can read Darwin’s full article here

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California is planning its rollout of a coronavirus vaccine. Healthcare workers have already been prioritized, but figuring out who comes next and how that decision will be made is now in the hands of an advisory committee made up of health and community leaders. One factor they’ll use to decide who gets the vaccine next? A look at the nation’s history of social injustice, and which groups have been overlooked, and wronged, in the past.

Guest: April Dembosky, Health Correspondent for KQED

Read the transcript here.

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It's always been difficult to charge a police officer after they've killed someone while on the job. But in the Bay, it's happened a few times within the last three months. For example, in September, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley charged San Leandro police officer Jason Fletcher for killing Steven Taylor in April 2020, and last week San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin charged Christopher Samayoa for shooting and killing Keita O'Neil in 2017. So what led these two Bay Area DAs to file charges when it's been so rare in the past?

Guest: Alex Emslie, KQED Criminal Justice Editor

Read the transcript here. 

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This is the second episode of By The People, The Bay podcast's new series highlighting the way democracy shows up in the places around us, and how we can all plug in.

Many activists work their whole lives from outside the systems they want changed. That’s what Shakira Simley did, until recently. Simley is now Director of San Francisco’s Office of Racial Equity and says she brought a lot of the lessons she learned as an activist with her into City Hall. Simley talks with us about why it’s important to see public institutions as ours to behold — and change.

Guest: Shakirah Simley, Director of San Francisco’s Office of Racial Equity

Read the transcript here.

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When Evelyn Legarte migrated from the Philippines to the Bay Area in 1980, she was part of a growing number of Filipinos that now make up about 20% of nurses in California. As the holidays approach, we want to acknowledge the many Filipino nurses on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic who are caring for people like they’ve done in past public health crises. This episode originally ran on May 22, 2020.

Guest: Evelyn Legarte, retired Bay Area nurse 

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Read the transcript here. 

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One way to change your hometown? Run for office. That’s what Alex Lee, James Coleman, and Lucy Shen decided to do in the 2020 elections. All three are among a number of young, queer candidates of color who ran in local races this year.

They’re from different parts of the Bay Area – with unique relationships to their hometowns – but they all found themselves looking for change and diving into politics.

This is the first episode of By The People, The Bay’s new series highlighting the way democracy shows up in the places around us, and how we can all plug in.

Guest: Adhiti Bandlamudi, KQED Silicon Valley reporter

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Read the transcript here.

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When the pandemic hit, thousands of unsheltered people were moved into hotels under a plan known as Project Roomkey. Gov. Gavin Newsom said the goal was to eventually move people into permanent housing. But early data from eight Bay Area counties analyzed by KQED shows that most people discharged from hotels have not found a more secure home.

Now, some of those hotels are closing, and as coronavirus cases surge again the question still remains: where will the unhoused go?

Guest: Erin Baldassari, KQED housing reporter and co-host of Sold Out, a podcast about the challenges and solutions to our housing crisis.

Read the transcript here. And sign up for our newsletter here!

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On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said that California has seen the fastest two-week increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases since the pandemic started. Now, most counties, including six in the Bay Area, are under the state’s most restrictive pandemic mandates.

Guest: Katie Orr, KQED politics and government reporter

Read the transcript: https://bit.ly/2UzUKpp

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We've heard a lot about how older people are vulnerable during this pandemic. And it's true that they're more vulnerable to the virus and that loneliness and depression among seniors has been rising.

But there's another part of the story we don't hear much about: how and why some seniors are finding ways to be more resilient right now.

Guest: Lesley McClurg, KQED Science Reporter

Read the transcript here: https://bit.ly/32IXaXt

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California Proposition 22 was a big win for tech companies. Its passage allows a handful of corporations — like Uber and Lyft — to create a new "gig" contractor category for their workers that doesn’t have to include employee protections and benefits, like unemployment insurance and workers compensation. Now, those same companies that won in California want to expand beyond the state.

Read the transcript: https://bit.ly/3eSSCCw

Guest: Sam Harnett, Silicon Valley reporter for KQED

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