Santa Barbara Unified School District presented plans for a $1.3 million “Summer of Learning” program at a district board of education meeting in February.

The program is designed to assist elementary school students in meeting STAR testing requirements and to get secondary school students college and career ready. A group of 540 elementary school students will be identified by teachers and administration to work on English Language Arts, English Language Development, and Math requirements.

The Indy host Alexandra Goldberg spoke with elementary superintendent Stanley Monroe and secondary superintendent Lynne Sheffield about their goals for this ‘student-centered’ initiative.

Hosted by Alexandra Goldberg.

The Indy: A Podcast was co-created by Molly McAnany and the Santa Barbara Independent.

All music for this episode written by Molly McAnany.

Follow ‘The Indy’ on social media @theindypod to support and contact [email protected] for advertisements.

On this week’s episode of The Indy, host Alexandra Goldberg explored the ancient origins of the Oaxacan sport pelota mixteca and its strong community in Santa Barbara.

Pelota mixteca originated thousands of years ago in Southern Mexico. Once played deep in the mountains of Oaxaca during Spanish rule, with the independence of Mexico came a revival of the sport— now a prominent pastime for the region. When groups migrated to the United States in the 1980s, they brought their intricately crafted and adorned pelota mixteca gloves with them and formed teams all over California and Texas.

In Santa Barbara, the team gathers every Thursday for a traditional game of pelota mixteca with their friends and family at Santa Barbara High School. But, the patch of dirt they play on is too small and uneven. The players wish two things: to get a better playing court and to pass the game to the next generation.

Alexandra Goldberg spoke with Independent news reporter Ryan Cruz about the origins and traditions of the game, then with pelota mixteca player Fernando Cruz about the importance of keeping the tradition alive. City council member Oscar Gutierrez joined us on the show to talk about his initiative to get the players a better place to practice, and how community support is integral.

Hosted by Alexandra Goldberg.

The Indy: A Podcast was co-created by Molly McAnany and the Santa Barbara Independent.

All music for this episode written by Molly McAnany.

Follow ‘The Indy’ on social media @theindypod to support and contact [email protected] for advertisements.

To contact city council member Oscar Gutierrez about a potential pelota mixteca court, you can reach him at [email protected].

Throughout the 11 days of cinematic escape, The Indy host Alexandra Goldberg caught some of the red carpet buzz at the 38th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF).

SBIFF attracted some of Hollywood’s biggest icons and an attractive list of 200 films to celebrate cinema’s biggest accomplishments this year.

Alexandra Goldberg interviewed 2023 Maltin Modern Master Award recipient Jamie Lee Curtis on the carpet, along with more crew members from the hit sci-fi film Everything Everywhere All At Once. The iconic Santa Barbara awards ceremony was also beaming with stars from the film Tár and The Whale, and this episode of The Indy has a SBIFF Red Carpet recap of those three highly accoladed films.

Hosted by Alexandra Goldberg.

The Indy: A Podcast was co-created by Molly McAnany and the Santa Barbara Independent.

All music for this episode written by Molly McAnany.

Follow ‘The Indy’ on social media @theindypod to support and contact [email protected] for advertisements.

For more information about SBIFF visit:

https://sbiff.org/

And for a comprehensive list of SBIFF stories, visit the SB Independent:

https://www.independent.com/?s=&category_name=sbiff

On this episode of The Indy, join us for a ride-a-long Dream Delivery with Dream Foundation.

Dream Foundation is a Santa Barbara-based nonprofit with the goal to provide inspiration, comfort, and closure to terminally-ill adults in the form of an end-of-life dream. Founded in 1994, the organization has delivered more than 34,000 dreams nationwide to adults with a life expectancy of 12 months or less. Dream Foundation also provides programs for veterans and children of terminally-ill parents.

Alexandra Goldberg sat down with Lamar Pugh, a Dream recipient who was granted a trip to Florida with his best friend Daniel Ontiveros. Also joining us on the show today is Dream Foundation CEO Kisa Heyer, Vice President of Programs Barbara Schoch, and Dream Coordinator Rebecca Steiger to chat about the unique palliative care this organization provides across the nation.

Hosted by Alexandra Goldberg.

All music for this episode written by Molly McAnany.

Follow ‘The Indy’ on social media @theindypod to support and contact [email protected] for advertisements.

For more information about Dream Foundation visit:

https://www.dreamfoundation.org/

This week, the Santa Barbara Independent covered some of Santa Barbara’s top self-care businesses for a special edition cover story. This episode of The Indy features Jordan Treece from Farmacy, the first cannabis dispensary to open in Santa Barbara since the legalization of recreational cannabis use. The Indy host Alexandra Goldberg and Santa Barbara Independent Web Content Manager Don Brubaker sat down with Treece to learn more about the medicinal options at the shop which work to treat a variety of physical ailments or remedy mental health.

Hosted by Alexandra Goldberg.

All music for this episode written by Molly McAnany.

Follow ‘The Indy’ on social media @theindypod to support.

For more information: https://farmacyshop.com/#

To read this story in print: https://www.independent.com/2023/01/25/farmacy-dispensary-has-the-prescription-for-personal-wellness/

Law for Paws, the legal resource service founded by Robin Unander in 2009, works to support pet-owning tenants in legal disputes with their landlords. Unander realized that many animals were in shelters due to home evictions, so Law for Paws grew out of the need for animal advocacy. The Santa Barbara-based nonprofit educates tenants about the law behind having a reasonable accommodation for an emotional support animal in a lease.

Hosted by Alexandra Goldberg.

All music for this episode written by Molly McAnany.

Follow ‘The Indy’ on social media @theindypod to support.

For more information: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086132483617

This holiday season, ShelterBox believes “everyone has something to give.” The Indy sat down with ShelterBox President Kerri Murray and Communications Director Jeremy Jacobs to discuss their winter initiative to provide basic necessities to families displaced in conflict or crisis zones. ShelterBox had a major impact in 2022 sending shelter and equipment to families in Ukraine, Pakistan, Eastern Africa– in addition to families impacted in several other ongoing disaster zones— which has since depleted their inventory. The Santa Barbara-based nonprofit is encouraging families around the world to give back and purchase life-saving equipment that will directly help disaster relief abroad.

Hosted by Alexandra Goldberg.

All music for this episode written by Molly McAnany.

Follow ‘The Indy’ on social media @theindypod to support.

For more information: https://www.shelterboxusa.org/winter/

It's opening week for UCSB Arts & Lectures' 2022-23 season! On this week's episode, we sit down with Celesta Billeci, Miller McCune Executive Director for UCSB Arts & Lectures, Caitlin O’Hara, Director of Public Lectures and Special Initiatives, as well as Charles Donelan, Senior Writer and Publicist, to talk about the new season line-up and what’s to come this fall. This year's theme emphasizes challenging the status quo and inspiring the next generation to be change-makers.

All music for this episode written by Molly McAnany.

Follow ‘The Indy’ on social media @theindypod to support.

For more information:

• UCSB Arts & Lectures - What's On

On this episode of The Indy, we speak with artist Mary Heebner to chat about the early days of the recently closed Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara and Contemporary Arts Forum. As of August 28th, the premier contemporary art venue shared that it couldn’t bear the financial strain anymore and closed its doors permanently. Heebner was one of the early members of CAF and supported its endeavors in creating a collaborative space for artists across the country. Although Heebner is sorry to see it go, she shares that the art scene is still thriving in Santa Barbara and celebrates her most recent exhibit launch at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Gallery which is open until November 5.

All music for this episode written by Molly McAnany.

Follow ‘The Indy’ on social media @theindypod to support.

For more information:

• Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara Announces August Closure

• Mary Heebner’s Latest Work at Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Gallery: ‘Prayer Flags & A Tale of Longing’