The Finest

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)

What is a prop?

For Deb Hatch, it's almost everything. After more than 40 years working in theater, including decades at La Jolla Playhouse, the longstanding prop supervisor has helped shape more than 100 productions, from early-stage premieres to Broadway hits like "Jersey Boys" and "The Outsiders."

In this episode, we go behind the scenes to see how props do far more than fill space. They establish time and place, define character and keep performances running smoothly — often in ways audiences never notice. From sourcing everyday items to building custom pieces from scratch, Deb walks us through the hidden decisions that make a production feel real, and the problem-solving required when things go wrong on stage. Along the way, we explore a world most audiences never see, where even the smallest details can leave a lasting impression.

As Deb prepares to retire, she reflects on a career built on detail, collaboration and the thrill of figuring things out. Because in live theater, every object matters.

Guest:

Deb Hatch, prop supervisor at La Jolla Playhouse

Ahmad Joudeh risked his life to dance, performing in a refugee camp while ISIS fighters targeted him. The act of defiance, captured on video, made him known worldwide. But fame came with a cost. He became a symbol he never wanted to be. In this episode, Ahmad tells the full story in his own words, from growing up stateless in Syria and navigating the complexities of identity to starting the camp's first dance studio, training with the Dutch National Ballet and taking control of his life amid media pressure. Now living in San Diego, Ahmad continues to perform, teach and create, building a career that reflects his heritage, artistic vision and personal freedom. He reflects on survival, resilience and what it means to dedicate your life to art, and to dance as a way of truly living.

Guest:

• Ahmad Joudeh, dancer

Watch Ahmad Joudeh's performances:

• Ahmad Joudeh dances at the Yarmouk camp (2016)
• "Dance or Die" (2018) documentary directed by Roozbeh Kaboly
• Ahmad Joudeh performs at the Eurovision Song Contest (2021)
• Ahmad Joudeh performs at the Fire Island Dance Festival (2023)
• "The Dancer" (2025) documentary directed by Lacey Uhlemeyer
• Ahmad Joudeh and Celyna Tran perform parts of the Nutcracker Arabian Dance (2025)
• Ahmad Joudeh performs an experimental dance improvisation of Sufi dance to Boléro de Ravel (2026)

Sources:

• 'The deepest circle of hell:' Terrified Yarmouk residents describe ISIS raid (Atika Shubert, Bharati Naik and Nick Thompson, CNN, 2015)
• Syrian Dancer Flying, Looking for Freedom (Landing in Amsterdam) (Nina Siegal, The New York Times, 2017)
• Yarmouk (unofficial camp*) (United Nations Relief and Works Agency - UNRWA)
• Sbeineh Camp (United Nations Relief and Works Agency - UNRWA)
• Generations of Palestinian Refugees Face Protracted Displacement and Dispossession (Nathan Citino, Ana Martín Gil and Kelsey P. Norman, Migration Policy Institute, 2023)
• Syria (Stateless Hub, 2024)
• What is the Arab Spring, and how did it start? (Al Jazeera, 2020)
• Syrian Civil War (Britannica, 2026)
• Syria's war: Ten years – and counting (Alia Chughtai, Al Jazeera, 2021)
• Dutch National Ballet
• World Economic Forum - Ahmad Joudeh
• Gov. Gavin Newsom
• Ballet Beyond Borders: Dance and diplomacy go online (Cory Walsh, The Missoulian, 2021)
• UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency - Ahmad Joudeh
• Pride Amsterdam - Ahmad Joudeh
• What Dance Can Do - Ahmad Joudeh
• After decades of brutal rule, Bashar al-Assad’s regime has been toppled. Here’s what you need to know (Rob Picheta and Helen Regan, CNN, 2024)
• About Saydnaya (Amnesty International)
• Golden State Ballet

What's growing in your backyard?

In San Diego, one of America's most biodiverse regions, the answer is more complicated than you might think. It's home to roughly 3,000 plant species, with many still undocumented.

This episode follows hikers, students and nature lovers using the free app iNaturalist to photograph plants and animals, contribute to a global biodiversity database and help scientists protect fragile ecosystems. Some discoveries are extraordinary, like seeing your name on a scientific paper after spotting a plant never recorded in the county before.

We visit the San Diego Natural History Museum, head into a rare salt marsh along Mission Bay and join a community identification party to see how this grassroots effort is reshaping science in real time.

Researchers and volunteers say this kind of "citizen science" is no longer a side project — it's essential. Because when it comes to protecting ecosystems, the first step is simple: knowing what's there.

Guests:

•  Jon Rebman, Ph.D., curator of botany at SDNHM
• Becky Escalante, citizen scientist spifferella on iNaturalist, dental assistant
• Stephanie Crawford, citizen scientist aneclecticenthusiast on iNaturalist
• Kellie Uyeda, executive director of UC San Diego's Natural Reserve System
• Clarissa Rodriguez, reserves director of UC San Diego's Natural Reserve System

Matcha has become a worldwide sensation. The bright green powdered tea now appears in lattes, smoothies, desserts and viral foods across social media feeds. Demand has surged so quickly that producers in Japan are struggling to keep up. But matcha's story didn't begin in a cafe. For centuries, the tea has been at the center of a carefully choreographed ritual known as the tea ceremony, a practice rooted in mindfulness, hospitality and attention to detail. In this episode, we explore how a drink with roots in centuries-old tea culture became a modern craze. Along the way, we meet a San Diego tea sensei who practices the ceremony and invites others to slow down long enough to experience matcha with care and intention. As matcha's popularity continues to grow, we ask a simple question: What gets lost — and what might be gained — when an old tradition becomes a global trend?

Guests:

• Rie Morita, Japanese tea ceremony instructor
• Rebecca Corbett, Japanese Studies Librarian and Senior Lecturer in History, University of Southern California
• Robert Hellyer, historian and author of "Green with Milk and Sugar"

Sources:

• Japanese Tea Ceremony Explained (Adam Sensei, Phd., Maikoya)
• The Matcha Problem (Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 2025)
• Shortages, Smoothies and Fraud: The Matcha Market Cracks Under Pressure (Pete Wells, The New York Times, 2025)
• How much for matcha? Prices for the popular powdered tea soar due to global demand (Dee-Ann Durbin, Associated Press, 2025)
• 'Skyrocketing' demand for matcha raises fears of shortage in Japan (Justin McCurry, The Guardian, 2025)
• Matcha's popularity has skyrocketed, but it was initially met with skepticism in the West (Rebecca Corbett, PBS News, 2025)
• PARU Tea: How the viral matcha spot is transforming tea culture with love and purpose (Julia Dixon Evans and Anthony Wallace, KPBS, 2025)

Lou Curtiss dedicated his life to preserving forgotten music — and now his extraordinary personal collection is being shared with the community he nurtured for decades. At Folk Arts Rare Records, thousands of vinyl records, CDs, tapes and rare recordings are being unboxed, cataloged and placed on shelves for music lovers to explore and purchase. In this episode, we meet Brendan Boyle, who began shopping at Folk Arts as a teenager and now owns and runs the store. We dive into Lou's legacy, including his role in founding the San Diego Folk Festival, supporting local artists like Thomas Shaw and preserving recordings that might otherwise have vanished. Along the way, we explore how vinyl survived the '90s and 2000s and why physical media still matters in an age of streaming and digital fatigue. From obscure blues and folk records to legendary mixtapes, Lou's Whimsical Collection lives on, offering a tactile, personal and deeply human connection to the music that shapes culture.

Guests:

• Brendan Boyle, Folk Arts Rare Records owner
• Andrew Mall, Associate Professor of Music at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass.

Music heard in this episode:

• "Rock My Baby Back Home" by Thomas Shaw (1972)
• "Broke and Ain't Got a Dime" by Thomas Shaw (1972)
• "Martin Luther King" by Thomas Shaw (1972)
• Portuguese String Music (1908-1931)
• "George Collins" by Kathy & Carol (1965)
• "Sprig of Thyme" by Kathy & Carol (1965)
• "Atomic Cocktail" by Slim Gaillard (1945)
• "Frank Rhoads Round" by Slim Gaillard (1962)
• "Pick Poor Robin Clean" by Geeshie Wiley & Elvie Thomas (1931)
• "Set Your Chickens Free" by The Hub City Movers (1969)

Mentioned in this episode:

• "Sinners"
• "High Fidelity"
• Part Time Lover
• Document Records

Sources:

• Thomas Shaw (Lou Curtiss, San Diego Troubadour, 2013)
• Material Drives on the World War II Home Front (National Park Service, 2024)
• Shellac to vinyl, how World War Two changed the record (Norfolk Record Office, 2020)
• How a 1927 Blues recording found its way into a 21st-century vampire film — and sparked a historical detective story (Document Records, 2025)
• Folk Arts Rare Records brings Lou Curtiss' music collection to the people (Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS, 2026)

Content note: This episode contains discussion of suicide and domestic abuse. If you or someone you know needs support, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

This episode is a special feed share from One of Their Own, a KPBS true crime podcast created and hosted by KPBS racial justice and social equity reporter Katie Hyson. In 2018, 25-year-old San Diego police officer Ciara Estrada was found dead in her apartment on New Year's Day. Her death was ruled a suicide by the San Diego Police Department — the same department she worked for. But nearly eight years later, her family still questions whether the investigation went far enough. In this first episode, you'll meet Ciara through the people who loved her most. From a viral video that once labeled her a "nice cop" to the deeply personal artifacts she left behind, the series begins by asking a simple but powerful question: Who was Ciara Estrada beyond the case file? The podcast explores police culture, domestic violence allegations within law enforcement and what happens when a department investigates one of its own. After listening, find the rest of One of Their Own wherever you get your podcasts.

San Diego's Topeka Clementine brought the KPBS patio to life with a performance as part of the Sundrenched Sounds live music series — spontaneous, communal and emotionally charged. Blending sharp storytelling with sing-along moments and unexpected humor, the set moved seamlessly between intimate confession and collective call to action. We sat down afterward with Kai Simovich, the musician behind Topeka Clementine, to talk about the project's remarkable output and what it really means to go viral. Named after a street corner in Oceanside tied to grassroots mutual aid, Topeka Clementine channels community care directly into the music.

Kai shares how recent personal loss reshaped their songwriting, including the creation of "Feed the Trees," a meditation on grief, inheritance and how life carries forward. Through relentless creativity, collective energy and performance, Topeka Clementine's music insists on hope, even in heavy times.

Guest:

• Kai Simovich, Topeka Clementine

Mentioned in this episode:

• Estonia's Singing Revolution (Rick Steves)
• Amass | Matt Orlando Brings California Sun to Copenhagen (Florence Fabricant, New York Times, 2017)

The bold, joyful sculptures of Niki de Saint Phalle are woven into San Diego’s landscape, even if many people don’t know her name. In this episode, we explore the life and legacy of the artist behind Queen Califia’s Magical Circle, the Sun God at UC San Diego and the beloved Nikigator in Balboa Park. After decades of boundary-breaking art and personal hardship, Niki came to San Diego late in life and created monumental public works designed to be experienced up close, inviting touch, play and imagination. But this story also belongs to Lech Juretko, a Polish refugee and former wallpaper installer who became Niki’s longtime assistant. He helped build her massive mosaic sculptures piece by piece.

More than 20 years after her death, he is still repairing cracked tiles and replacing missing stones, preserving artwork created for interaction and shared wonder. It’s a story about creative devotion, chosen family and the magic that happens when art leaves museum walls and becomes part of everyday life.

Guests:

• Lech Juretko, founder and owner of Art Mosaic, longtime assistant of artist Niki de Saint Phalle
• Jill Dawsey, PhD, senior curator at Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, co-author of "Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s"

Sources:

• Niki de Saint Phalle: Public Works (Niki Charitable Art Foundation)
• Niki de Saint Phalle Garden Opens in Escondido (City of Escondido, 2003)
• Keeping up the legacy of Niki de Saint Phalle (Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS, 2023)
• Artist Niki de Saint Phalle's radical decade (Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS, 2022)
• The Darkness Behind Niki de Saint Phalle's Colorful Beauties (Eunice Lipton, Hyperallergic, 2015)
• "What Is Now Known Was Once Only Imagined: An (Auto)biography of Niki de Saint Phalle" (Nicole Rudick, Siglio Press, 2022)
• "Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s" (Jill Dawsey and Michelle White, Yale University Press, 2021)
• "Niki Who Tamed The Dragons" (Wojciech Delikta, Contemporary Lynx, 2020)
• New Realism (Center Pompidou, La Collection, Musee national d'art moderne, Pompidou Centre, Paris, 1987, and La Collection, Acquisitions, 1986-1996, Pompidou Centre, Paris, 1996)
• "My Terrific Mother" (Laura Gabriela, Tate Etc., Tate Modern, 2008)
• "Niki in the Garden" (Atlanta Botanical Garden, 2026)
• "Pop Gun Art: Niki de Saint Phalle and the Operatic Multiple" (Nichole L. Woods, Walker Art Center, Walker Living Collections Catalogue)
• "At MoMA PS1: Niki de Saint Phalle" (Lidija Haas, London Review of Books, 2021)
• Jean Tinguely, Playful Sculptor of Scrap Contraptions, Dies at 66 (New York Times, 1991)
• Niki de Saint Phalle: Le Cimetière de Montparnasse (Devon Whitehead, The Brooklyn Rail, 2018)
• Niki de Saint Phalle's lifelong dialogue between art and diseases (Henning Zeidler, Joint Bone Spine, National Library of Medicine, 2012)
• Niki de Saint Phalle, Sculptor, Is Dead at 71 (Ken Johnson, New York Times, 2002)
• Vandals break in, smash mirrors and more in Escondido sculpture garden (Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union Tribune, 2018)
• The Keeper of Niki de Saint Phalle's Menagerie (Mingei International Museum, 2019)

"Nikigator, 2001" (Mingei International Museum, collections)

Jessica Sanchez grew up in the South Bay, the daughter of Filipino and Mexican American parents. Her mother says she started singing as soon as she could talk. By age 10, Jessica was performing all over San Diego's South Bay, including her local Seafood City grocery store, before taking the national stage on the very first season of "America's Got Talent." By 16, she became the runner-up on "American Idol." She quickly became a hometown icon — someone people here were cheering for. Jessica was molded into a musical prodigy.

But as quickly as she rose, the pressure and expectations began to weigh on her.

She questioned her place in the music industry and withdrew from the spotlight. What brought her home to San Diego? And what gave her the strength to return to the national stage, nearly two decades later?

Guests:

• Jessica Sanchez, singer
• Anamaria Labao Cabato, executive director of PASACAT Philippine Performing Arts Company
• Shoppers at Seafood City Supermarket in Bay Plaza

Sources:

• Chula Vista's Jessica Sanchez Advances to 'American Idol' Finale (City News Service via KPBS, May 2012)
• 'American Idol' Finale: Phillip Phillips Wins Title Over Jessica Sanchez (City News Service via KPBS, May 2012)
• Jessica Sanchez's first appearance on 'America's Got Talent' (2006)
• Jessica Sanchez performs Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' on 'American Idol' (2012)
• Jessica Sanchez performs 'I Have Nothing' on 'American Idol' (2012)
• 'Tonight' by Jessica Sanchez ft. Ne-Yo (2013)
• Jessica Sanchez's early YouTube cover of Bruno Mars' 'Just the Way You Are' (2014)
• Jessica Sanchez's Golden Buzzer performance of Benson Boone's 'Beautiful Things' on 'America's Got Talent' (2025)
• Jessica Sanchez's Quarterfinal performance of Alex Warren's 'Ordinary' on 'America's Got Talent' (2025)
• Jessica Sanchez's Finals performance of Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga's 'Die With a Smile' on 'America's Got Talent' (2025)