Big Changes for Central Valley Farmers, Disability Rights Activist Alice Wong on the Cost of Care

When correctional officer Valentino Rodriguez first stepped behind prison walls, he wasn’t just starting a job, he was joining a brotherhood. What he didn’t know was that he was now bound by an unwritten code that would ultimately test his loyalty to his oath and his fellow officers. Valentino’s sudden death on October 21, 2020 would raise questions from the FBI, his family and his mentor in the elite investigative unit where they both worked. For more than two years, our colleagues with KQED’s investigative podcast On Our Watch have been looking into what happened to Valentino Rodriguez, because his story is part of something much bigger. He was a correctional officer at New Folsom prison, near Sacramento, where the reporting team has found use of force that’s off the charts, and a pattern of suspicious beatings. This week we bring you an excerpt from the first episode of the series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 Maalis 202429min

In many California cities, freeways and sprawl are just a fact of life. They’re baked into the design of much of the state. But how did we get here? Just how did freeways come to be such a big part of California life? This week, we’re featuring a story from our friends at the KPBS podcast Freeway Exit. Host and producer Andrew Bowen looks at how our relationship with the freeway has changed over time, and how it will have to change in the future.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

24 Helmi 202429min

How The Bay Area’s Biggest City Wants to Overcome Its Sprawl The cars and trucks we drive account for nearly half of California’s total carbon emissions. And bringing those emissions down is going to require more than just swapping out gas guzzling cars for electric ones. It’s going to mean redesigning our cities around people, not cars. KQED’s Adhiti Bandlamudi takes us to San Jose where local leaders are trying to rethink how residents live and how they get around. This story comes to us from KQED’s podcast Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America.  LA’s Bé Ù Puts a New Spin on Vietnamese Takeout, and Workers’ Rights Many chefs will tell you their cooking reflects the food they grew up eating. Food shared on holidays or at family parties. For our series Flavor Profile, The California Report’s Keith Mizuguchi introduces us to a chef cooking up Vietnamese comfort food inspired by her family’s recipes. She’s also a former union organizer trying to build a business where workers are paid a fair wage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

17 Helmi 202429min

This week, we feature stories from our Hidden Gems series about out-of-the-way secret spots in California - places you might want to visit on a road trip! How This Oakland Business Gives Mannequins New Life (Almost) You might not notice them, but mannequins can be found everywhere from the tiniest boutiques to Target. But what happens to these non-biodegradable figures when stores go out of business or styles change? In California, many of them end up at Mannequin Madness, an Oakland warehouse run by a woman whose mission is to keep mannequins out of the landfill. This Stretch of the Mojave Desert Plays the ‘Lone Ranger’ Theme There’s a road in the western Mojave Desert that’s supposed to sound like the "William Tell Overture" by Rossini. Honda built the road back in 2008 as part of a TV commercial for the Civic. But it's seen better days. Reporter Clare Wiley headed out to Lancaster to make some music with her tires. Fort Bragg’s Larry Spring Museum Preserves Creativity in California The tiny Larry Spring Museum is dedicated to a Mendocino County TV repairman who lived in Fort Bragg most of his life. He was an amateur physicist, a keen observer of nature and the items he left behind reveal his deep curiosity about the world. KQED’s Katrina Schwartz takes us to this whimsical museum to learn more about the man behind it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 Helmi 202429min

Roughly a quarter of California’s carbon emissions come from our buildings and the energy that powers them. And we need to cut those emissions down to next to nothing to avoid the scary effects of climate change. Making a home green is pretty easy if you start from scratch. But it gets a whole lot harder when it comes to converting the millions of homes in California that already exist. The ones where most of us live. Climate reporter Laura Klivans takes us to East Oakland, where one city block is taking a revolutionary approach to reducing their emissions: by electrifying together, all at once. This story comes to us from KQED’s podcast Sold Out: Rethinking Housing In America. And it's been just over a year since the mass shooting at two mushroom farms in Half Moon Bay killed seven farmworkers, all of whom were immigrants from China and Mexico. One nonprofit has been providing survivors and the farmworker community with mental health support including a music therapy class. KQED’s Blanca Torres brings us this story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 Helmi 202430min

On the northern end of Stockton, you'll find Angel Cruz Park. Most weekends it's lined with food vendors, many of them Hmong and Cambodian immigrants. For more than 30 years, this has been a destination for made-to-order dishes, where locals argue over who has the best beef sticks or papaya salad. For her series California Foodways, Lisa Morehouse spent a day at the park, learning about the people behind the food. Next we got to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The area is known for farming, boating and fishing. And it’s got some new migrants: Artists from cities. Reporter Jon Kalish wondered how these urban newcomers are fitting into life in the rural Delta and what an influx of creatives has meant for the community. He talked to transplants who were challenged when they became part of the community.   And finally, more than half of people in the US choose to be cremated when they die, in part because of the high cost and the environmental toll of conventional burials. In the next few years, Californians will have another option when it comes to a loved one's remains: human composting, which turns the bodies of people who've died into fertilizer for forests and home gardens. KQED’s health correspondent April Dembosky brings us the story of one man from San Francisco who didn’t want to wait for the law in California to change.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 Tammi 202430min

California’s oldest prison, San Quentin, has a new name. It's now the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. It was already known for its college classes and arts programs. But Governor Newsom is hoping a major overhaul of the prison and new programs for everything from therapy to education and job training will be a model for prisons across the state. This week, Uncuffed, a podcast produced by incarcerated journalists at San Quentin, shares a moment when the wall between correctional officers and incarcerated men broke down just a little bit over something new...a game of Pickleball. And KQED's Lesley McClurg brings us the story of Dr. Alfredo Quiñones Hinojosa or "Dr. Q" as he's better known. The 56-year-old attended UC Berkeley and Harvard and is a leading neurosurgeon at the Mayo Clinic. But he started out as Freddy, a fifteen-year-old migrant worker from Mexico who picked tomatoes in the San Joaquin Valley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

20 Tammi 202430min

Whether it’s severe heat, cold, fires, or floods, people experiencing homelessness are on the bleeding edge of the climate emergency. Reporting for the KQED podcast, Sold Out: Rethinking Housing In America, Vanessa Rancaño follows the story of one woman who is trying to keep herself and her adult son alive on the streets of Fresno, California. She talks to advocates pushing lawmakers to find solutions, and creating their own in the meantime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

13 Tammi 202430min