WARNING: This episode contains scenes in a slaughterhouse and a description of a cow being broken down.

Think a cow is only good for mooing and eating? Think again. Cow parts are hot commodities in the biomedical research industry. Hides go toward cell research, and bones are made into screws for knee surgery and ground into dental fillings. Prather Ranch has sold everything from pituitary glands to eyeballs to uteri to pericardium.

Lisa Morehouse hosts the “California Foodways” podcast, all about food and agriculture in the Golden State. Read Lisa’s story on Prather Ranch here.

This story was produced in collaboration with the Food & Environment Reporting Network, a nonprofit, investigative news organization.

Q’ed Up is hosted and produced by Ryan Levi. This episode was edited by Queena Kim. Follow Ryan on Twitter at @ryan_levi. Send us a note at [email protected]. Find more Q’ed Up at kqed.org/qedup.

We talk a lot about the Bay Area’s housing and homelessness crises. But it might be even worse on the Central Coast, which has some of the highest poverty rates in the state. At one school district in Salinas, more than 3,300 students — 40 percent of the student population — are considered homeless.

Read more of Vanessa Rancaño’s reporting from Salinas:

Q’ed Up is hosted and produced by Ryan Levi. This episode was edited by Queena Kim. Follow Ryan on Twitter at @ryan_levi. Send us a note at [email protected]. Find more Q’ed Up at kqed.org/qedup.

Jerry Brown has been a force in California politics for nearly half a century, including two eight-year stints as governor. But on Monday, Jan. 7, Brown is leaving Sacramento for good, and coming into the governor’s mansion will be Gavin Newsom. The former San Francisco mayor and lieutenant governor promises to be a very different kind of a mayor.

Read Scott Shafer’s full story on Newsom here.

Q’ed Up is hosted and produced by Ryan Levi. Additional editing and production help on this episode from Queena Kim, Jim Bennett and Jeremy Siegel. Follow Ryan on Twitter at @ryan_levi. Send us a note at [email protected]. Find more Q’ed Up at kqed.org/qedup.

One of KQED reporter Hope McKenney’s greatest fears is eating bugs. Or should I say, it was eating bugs. She’s a seasoned pro now after a weekend in the wilderness learning survival skills from ex-military personnel, including what bugs are filled with nutritious protein and which will straight-up kill you.

Read Hope’s full dispatch from survival training here.

Q’ed Up is hosted and produced by Ryan Levi. The Q’ed Up team includes Queena Kim, Bianca Hernandez, Sonja Hutson, Jeremy Siegel, Tiffany Camhi, Rob Speight, Katie McMurran, Michelle Wiley, Julie Caine, Ethan Lindsey and Holly Kernan. Plus all of the amazing KQED journalists whose stories make this show what it is.

With the announcement of plans for a shiny, new waterfront ballpark, the future of the Oakland A’s in Oakland is as bright as ever. That’s good news because Oakland and baseball have such a long and proud history together. KQED’s Jeremy Siegel talks with KQED columnist Pendarvis Harshaw about what baseball has meant and continues to mean to the Town.

Read Pendarvis Harshaw’s column on the A’s 50th anniversary in Oakland and baseball’s connection to Oakland’s black community.

Stay caught up with the best of KQED’s reporting each week by subscribing to the Q’ed Up podcast.

The “gig economy” is changing the world of work. Some people drive more than 90 minutes to work app-based jobs. Others are seeing their livelihoods threatened by those same app-based jobs. Today, two people, two stories, one gig economy.

Read more of Sam Harnett’s reporting about Jodie Collins and Bill Peacock. And click here to hear Sam on “The Bay” podcast talking about how food delivery apps are changing how restaurants do business.

Stay caught up with the best of KQED’s reporting each week by subscribing to the Q’ed Up podcast.

On Nov. 27, 1978, San Francisco City Hall became a deadly crime scene. Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk — California’s first openly gay elected official — were gunned down by former Supervisor Dan White. We look back on that tragic day and how it changed the city. Plus, what does Milk mean to young queer people today? Listen to those stories by clicking on the play button above.