The Finest

Downsizing is rarely just about getting rid of stuff. It's about grief, family, identity and deciding what parts of a lifetime move into the next chapter. In this episode, we visit Next Step Treasures, where Rose Rugama guides older adults through those deeply personal decisions every day. From finding new homes for treasured possessions to helping people avoid scams and preserve their independence, her work goes far beyond running a business. Along the way, we hear from clients whose lives have been changed by her work. We also talk to anthropologist Yohko Tsuji, who explains why Americans often struggle to embrace aging. Together, their stories reveal how the objects we leave behind preserve our memories. They also show why growing older deserves more dignity than our culture often allows.

Guests:

• Rose Rugama, owner of Next Step for Downsize Living and Next Step Treasures
• Cambria Martinez, writer and thrift shopper
• Mia Rugama Kemp, Rose's daughter, who works at Next Step Treasures
• Lenny Brzezinski, Next Step client
• Yohko Tsuji, cultural anthropologist and Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at Cornell University
• Brianna De Los Santos, worker at Next Step Treasures

Sources:

• I'm Wearing Your Grandmother's Kitten Heels (Cambria Martinez, Substack, 2025)
• Older Population and Aging (United States Census Bureau)
• Study identifies countries and states with greatest age biases (Caroline Brooks, MSU Today, 2020)
• Scammers stole more than $3.4 billion from older Americans last year, an FBI report says (Alanna Durkin Richer, AP News, 2024)
• Home Equity Theft Scams—An Old Problem Takes on New Forms (Geoff Walsh and Sarah Bolling Mancini, National Consumer Law Center, 2026)
• CFPB Accuses Nation's Largest Reverse Mortgage Lender of Deceptive Marketing (Susan J. Wells, Investopedia, 2021)
• The Best Years of Your Life Are Probably Still Ahead (Angela Haupt, TIME, 2025)
• Everyday Ageism and Health (Preeti Malani, M.D., M.S., M.S.J., Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation University of Michigan, 2020)

Twenty years after coining "nature-deficit disorder," author Richard Louv is still asking a simple question: What happens when we lose our connection to nature? On a hike through Volcan Mountain Preserve near Julian, Richard shares why he believes "deep noticing" is one of the most important practices we can reclaim in an increasingly screen-centered world. From mountain lion scat and buzzing bees to the latest research on attention, imagination and our senses, he explains how slowing down outdoors changes the way we experience the world. This episode also revisits how Richard's ideas have shaped a generation of parents and kids, and what those early efforts to get children outside look like years later.

Guests:

• Richard Louv, author of "Lost Child in the Woods" and "Noticing"
• Oliver Evans, student and Julia's son

Sources:

• Exercising is good for the brain but exercising outside is potentially better (Katherine Boere, Kelsey Lloyd, Gordon Binsted & Olave E. Krigolson, Scientific Reports, 2023)
• Humans could have as many as 33 senses (Barry Smith, The Conversation, 2025)

What can a warehouse store tell us about community? At UC San Diego, the Costco Club has become one of the campus’ most recognizable student organizations, bringing people together through shopping trips, a rotisserie chicken tradition and a shared appreciation of Costco. As graduating club president Jacob Hoang prepares for his final Costco run in the role, we examine the company’s surprising history, its roots in San Diego and the loyalty it inspires among customers. From retail innovation to college friendships, this episode looks at how a wholesale warehouse became the center of an unlikely community and what that says about the people who gather around it. We join the students on a Costco run, moving from samples to snacks — and even an unexpected sauna along the way.

Guests:

• Jacob Hoang, outgoing UCSD Costco Club president
• Molly Fischer, staff writer at The New Yorker

Sources:

• Can the Golden Age of Costco Last? (Molly Fischer, The New Yorker, 2025)
• How Costco Hacked the American Shopping Psyche (Ben Ryder Howe, The New York Times, 2024)
• Top 100 Retailers 2025 List (National Retail Federation)
• Costco's New CEO Started Out As A Forklift Driver Making $3 An Hour (Danielle Harling, Delish, 2024)
• Did Costco Founder Say 'I Will Kill You' to CEO Who Wanted To Raise Hot Dog Prices? (Alex Kasprak, Snopes, 2021)
• Say no to the changing corporate culture at Costco (Costco Teamsters Union)
• Costco to raise hourly pay for most US store workers to over $30 (Reuters, 2025)
• Welcome to Costco, I Love You: Idiocracy 10 Years Later (Clint Worthington, Consequence, 2016)
• Costco 2025 Annual Report
• Costco CEO shares the job that ‘really developed my leadership skills’—even though he only did it for a year (Tom Huddleston Jr., CNBC, 2025)
• McDonald’s CEO History (Tyler Muse, History Oasis, 2025)
• Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there (Preston Fore, Fortune, 2026)
• Jim Sinegal (University of Portland)
• Costco Wholesale Corporation Annual Report On Form 10-K For The Fiscal Year Ended September 1, 2024

At a live taping of KPBS' Sun Drenched Sounds music series, three San Diego artists share music and the stories behind it. Divina talks about building her own sound through live looping and production, and how a song she heard as a child helped shape her artistic path. James Spaite reflects on growing up in the church, wrestling with faith and channeling philosophy and psychology into his songwriting. Shua discusses gospel music, human connection and the dangers of waiting until you're "fixed" before fully participating in life. Recorded at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park, the performances and conversations reveal how artists from different musical backgrounds find common ground in questions of identity, belief, responsibility and what it means to keep growing.

Guests:

• Divina
• James Spaite
• Shua

Why is everyone suddenly playing mahjong? From neighborhood meetups to viral social media posts, interest in the game is growing fast. This episode explores mahjong's history, its roots in the Chinese diaspora and the ways families and communities have carried traditions across generations. Through a night of learning Filipino-style mahjong in San Diego, we look at how the game has become a way for people to make friends, connect with culture and spend time together away from their screens.

Guests:

• James Gutierrez, No Ambition Tile Club co-founder
• Nicole Wong, creator and founder of The Mahjong Project, author of "Mahjong: House Rules from Across the Asian Diaspora"

Sources:

• History is repeating itself (Nicole Wong, The Mahjong Project, 2026)
• What the Surprising History of Mah-jongg Can Teach Us About America (Cady Lang, TIME, 2021)
• Mahjong, American Modernity, and Cultural Transnationalism (Annelise Marie Heinz, Stanford Digital Repository, 2015)
• Some Gen Z American can't stop 'Chinamaxxing' (Ashish Valentine, NPR, 2026)

Pokémon started as something simple: trading cards on the playground, Game Boys passed around between friends and the dream of catching 'em all. Thirty years later, it's the highest-grossing media franchise in the world — and Pokémon cards have become big business.

In this episode, collectors, card shop owners, Pokémon Go players and lifelong fans reflect on what Pokémon means to them and how the culture around it has changed. From crowded Pokémon Go meetups at parks to local card shops struggling with scalpers and rising prices, this episode looks at how scarcity and speculation transformed Pokémon cards into valuable commodities. Along the way is a bigger question: Can a franchise built on adventure, friendship and connection hold onto those values in a billion-dollar marketplace?

Guests:

• Steven Chung, lifelong Pokémon fan
• Courtney Mifsud Intreglia, writer
• Oliver Soufi, Pokémon Master
• Jake Federicks, manager at Supreme Card Shop
• Jason Huggins, co-owner of  Tito Rick's Garage

Sources:

• LIFE Pokémon: 30 Years (Courtney Mifsud Intreglia, LIFE, 2026)
• How Pokémon Conquered America (Courtney Mifsud Intreglia, TIME, 2024)
• How Pokémon became the biggest media franchise on Earth (Lucy Tobin, The Times, 2026)
• 'Kids can't buy them anywhere': how Pokémon cards became a stock market for millennials (Daniella Lucas, The Guardian, 2025)

Long before San Diego became defined by freeways, parking shortages and long commutes, electric streetcars connected the region's urban core to beaches, business districts and growing neighborhoods more than 100 years ago.

In this episode, KPBS metro reporter Andrew Bowen talks with The Finest about how the streetcar system helped shape neighborhoods that remain some of the city's most walkable and desirable today. The conversation traces the rise and fall of the rail network, how San Diego became shaped around cars and the lasting impact those decisions still have on the way people move through the city.

We also look at why conversations around public transit are shifting again and meet the people trying to bring the streetcar system back to life.

Guests:

• Andrew Bowen, KPBS metro reporter and Freeway Exit host
• Ethan Elkind, Climate Program director at the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment at UC Berkeley
• Michael Donovan, co-founder of Vibrant Uptown
• Monica De La Cruz, car-free San Diegan

Sources:

• The enduring legacy of San Diego's streetcars (Andrew Bowen, KPBS, 2026)
• Amid San Diego's high transportation costs, some manage to find relief (Andrew Bowen, KPBS, 2026)
• ASU study finds Americans' attitudes toward car-free living are changing (Delores Tropriano, ASU News, 2026)

San Diego skateboarder Brandon Turner moved up quickly in the sport, moving from local skate spots to major sponsorships and world tours. From skateboarding prodigy to rock bottom, now he's redefining addiction recovery and constantly evolving his understanding of control, identity and success.

Long Description/Show Notes:

In the '90s, Brandon Turner was a skateboarding prodigy, landing major sponsorships and touring the world with big-name skate teams. What looked like momentum from the outside often meant constant motion, pressure and independence arriving long before most people reach adulthood. And he ended up in prison.

In this episode, he revisits that period and the skateboarding culture around him during his rise, from the energy of the scene to the decisions he made as things moved quickly. Today, not only does he operate his own addiction recovery center — he's skating better than he ever has before. He reflects on the highs and the dark moments that followed and how those years shaped his sense of identity and his approach to responsibility and control.

" Skateboarding is just like life. It's not if you will fall, it's when you'll fall. But the more important thing of it is what you're going to do when you pick yourself back up," Brandon said.

He also shares what it means to learn through experience, how to foster that evolution in other people — and how his perspective continues to shift. It's a conversation about growth, accountability and moving forward when life doesn't follow a straight path.

Guests:

• Brandon Turner, professional skateboarder and founder of Westside Recovery

Sources:

• Brandon Turner: The Prodigy Returns (Michael Burnett, Thrasher Magazine, 2020)
• Fulfill the Dream, Shorty's skate film (1998), Brandon Turner segment
• Guilty, Shorty's skate film (2001), Brandon Turner segment
• 90s Skate Prodigy Brandon Turner on Addiction and Recovery (Miss Rosen, Huck Magazine, 2023)
• The Second Coming of Brandon Turner (Jenkem Magazine, 2021)

The Iran many Americans see is often defined by conflict. But for those who grew up there and those who carry its traditions abroad, the story is far more layered. Artist Maryam Bayat turns Persian rugs into immersive sculptures, drawing on memories of her childhood in Iran, from bustling cities to quiet forests. Writer Zohreh (Zoe) Ghahremani and illustrator Susie Ghahremani share how children's books can pass on culture and celebration. Anthropologist and artist Roxanne Varzi recalls navigating identity and misunderstanding while growing up between two countries, and how art helped reshape her perspective. From galleries to classrooms, these artists are expanding how Iran is understood. Their work centers everyday life, creative expression and cultural continuity beyond the headlines.

Guests:

• Maryam Bayat, interdisciplinary artist
• Roxanne Varzi, professor of Anthropology and Film and Media Studies at the University of California Irvine
• Zohreh Ghahremani, author
• Susie Ghahremani, illustrator

Sources:

• Iran hostage crisis (Britannica, 2026)
• President Delivers State of the Union Address (The White House President George W. Bush Archives, 2002)
• 7 facts about Iranians in the U.S. (Dalia Fahmy and Jeffrey S. Passel, Pew Research Center,.2026 )
• Maryam Bayat: Unrolling Paradise (California Center for the Arts, Escondido, 2026)
• Persian rugs become a magical forest in artist Maryam Bayat's celebration of Iran (Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS, 2026)
• Secret of the famous Pazyryk carpet: Fermented wool is the answer (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg via ScienceDaily, 2021)
• The Textiles from Pazyryk A Study in the Transfer and Transformation of Artistic Motifs (Karen S. Rubinson, Expedition Magazine via Penn Museum, 1990)
• Uses of rugs and carpets (Murray L. Eiland, Britannica)
• Persia in rug and carpet (Murray L. Eiland, Britannica)
• Iranians Condemn Strike on a Top University (Erika Solomon and Sanam Mahoozi, The New York Times, 2026)
• Iran’s Schools and Hospitals in Ruins, Times Analysis Shows (Leanne Abraham, Aurelien Breeden, Bora Erden, Anushka Patil, Christiaan Triebert, Daniel Wood and Karen Yourish, 2026)
• Anthropology students present their research in poetry, plays and op‑eds in this course (The Conversation, 2024)
• Children's book by local mother-daughter duo honors Nowruz, the ancient Persian celebration of spring (Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS, 2026)
• Nowruz (Charles Preston, Britannica, 2026)
• 'Everybody was wearing black.' How the Iranian diaspora is observing Nowruz amid war (Sarah Ventre, NPR, 2026)
• Iranian Americans mark Persian New Year with a mix of sadness and joy (Amy Taxin and Philip Marcelo, AP News, 2026)

In this rebroadcast from Season 1, we explore how the streaming era has changed music — not just for the people who make it, but also for us as listeners.

For indie musicians like Julianna Zachariou, Spotify has made music more accessible than ever — but at a cost. With payouts that amount to less than a penny per stream, she's had to turn to crowdfunding and direct fan support to fund her projects. She opens up about the personal toll these struggles take and how she's found ways to stay true to her craft while facing these challenges.

"On my bad days, I wake up and think, 'I've already done the best I can do. This is the most people I'll ever reach, and I'm just sinking into anonymity,'" Julianna said, reflecting on an older song that has reached more than 5 million streams.

"But on my better days, I'm grateful for it. I recognize that it was a different time. Spotify's kind of a monster now. There's no room for 'if it's good enough, it'll find its way.' It's just not a thing right now. It's a trap to let metrics determine that you're doing something better or worse than you were in the past," she said.

Watch: Julianna Zachariou performs "Dreamer, Dreamer" live at KPBS' studio

In this episode, we break down Spotify's business model, the economics of streaming and what it really takes to sustain a career without major-label backing. Julianna's story is a powerful reminder of the need for change in the industry and how we can all play a role in supporting the artists who enrich our lives.

Guests:

• Julianna Zachariou, musician
• Liz Pelly, journalist and author of "Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist"

Julianna Zachariou Track List:

• "church st."
• "Subway Song"
• "Hero of Your Heart"
• "Dreamer, Dreamer"

Watch: Julianna Zachariou performs "Becky" live at KPBS' studio

Julianna Zachariou's musical influences:

• The Commodores
• Earth Wind and Fire
• Toto
• Alison Krauss
• Bonnie Raitt
• The Beatles
• The Rolling Stones
• Led Zeppelin
• The Who
• Taylor Swift
• Kelly Clarkson, "American Idol"

Photos: See portraits of Julianna Zachariou and a few snaps of her and Josh Flowers making music together

Mentioned in this episode:

• Josh Flowers, songwriter and musical collaborator
• The D Train | NYC subway line that runs from the Bronx to Brooklyn
• United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) | A grassroots union fighting for fairness in music, from streaming transparency to artist pay equity
• H.R.7763 - Living Wage for Musicians Act of 2024 | 2024 bill introduced by Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Jamaal Bowman, backed by UMAW, pushing for a penny-per-stream payout to make streaming fairer for working artists
• Soda Bar | North Park dive for intimate sets, rising indie acts and vibrant local energy
• Previous GoFundMes: Help Fund Julianna's Next Record and Help Julianna Make Music

Sources:

• "Simulating the emergence of superstar firms: The role of luck vs talent" (A.E. Biondo, A. Pluchino, R. Zanola, ScienceDirect, 2024)
• "Alan B. Krueger | Rockonomics: 7 Key Economic Lessons" (John Murray Books, 2019)
• "How Music Streaming Platforms Calculate Payouts Per Stream 2025" (Royalty Exchange, 2025)
• "The Spotify conspiracy theories about 'Espresso,' explained" (Rebecca Jennings, Vox, 2024)
• "Loud and Clear": 2024 Spotify Annual Music Economics Report (Spotify, 2025)
• "Tlaib Introduces Living Wage for Musicians Act" (Office of Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, March 2024)
• "Data Shows 90 Percent of Streams Go to the Top 1 Percent of Artists" (Emily Blake, Rolling Stone, Sept. 2020)
• "A Brief History of American Payola" (Kim Kelly, Vice, 2016)
• "Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist" (Liz Pelly, Atria/One Signal Publishers, 2024)
• "The Ghosts in the Machine" (Liz Pelly, Harper's Magazine/book excerpt, 2025)