California Voices

To learn about Maria Pacheco's personal path to local government leadership as the two-term Mayor of the city of Kerman, in California's Central Valley, is to bear witness to a life experience that has been at once traumatic, sobering...and extraordinary, sustained by resiliency and unbreakable spirit. "I have turned my pain into purpose..."

Brandi Cummings, morning news anchor for KCRA-TV in Sacramento, wanted to grow up to be either an engineer, a doctor, or a ballerina! But now, after more than 20 years in the broadcast industry, Brandi is a caring mentor to young Black journalists, a leader with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), and a passionate advocate for diverse voices in newsrooms and "all spaces." 

Greg Lucas was appointed California State Librarian in 2014, and like institution he leads, he's a valuable archive of information & perspective about California's history. A former journalist, a Grateful Dead fan and an avid reader, Greg is also, professionally and personally, a passionate advocate for California's 1100+ community libraries. "Everybody has a cool library story; is there a single...

Hannah Broyles-Grundy is a Northern California funeral director and apprentice embalmer. Having dealt with much loss and grief in her young life, Hannah brings to her work not only a licensed skill at handling 'dead bodies' but an instinctive sensitivity to helping and caring for mourning families.  And she wants to change the perception the public may have that morticians don't care; "You can't s...

Nesar Ahmad served as a battlefield interpreter for the US military in Afghanistan, Yalda Rahmatee graduated with a college degree in business administration; they secretly fell in love as Afghan teenagers, married, then immigrated to the US in 2014. Now, as American citizens and sucessful professionals in their respective fields, Nesar and Yalda share their story of leaving their 'home country' a...

Sara Hansen's sister was murdered by a serial killer in 1981. Sara has kept her grief, her trauma, her anger, inside of her for nearly 50 years. Now, Sara has decided to share her story. 

From LA this time, we meet Leslie Adame, a young, LatinX author and SoCal native, who has written and published her first novel, a middle-grade, fantasy tale called "Chloe Vega & the Agents of Magic." It's an entertaining yet serious story about young immigrants and their families, which Leslie hopes will bring further representation to a community of immigrants in this country that doesn't always...

Penelope Oliver's parents began exposing her, at a very young age, to 'what our collective humanity looks like,' opening her innocent eyes to the challenges facing human beings across the world. Now, as a college student, Penelope is already a seasoned & engaged advocate, the founder of a non-profit, community arts project, partnering with influential leaders to speak out on behalf of children in...

Science Fiction Novelist Kim Stanley Robinson, who lives in Davis, CA, has been writing Science Fiction for decades but his acclaimed 2020 book "The Ministry for the Future" brought him additional recognition worldwide for its prescient, sobering and yet hopeful description of the harrowing impacts of climate change across the globe, even in California, prompting TIME Magazine to call Robinson 'a...

March is Women's History Month! In recognition and celebration, here's a spcial conversation with Darcy Totten, who has been leading the CA Commission on the Status of Women & Girls since 2024. The Commission marked its 60th anniversary last fall, and begins the new year continuing its work prioritizing access to leadership, equality, freedom and safety, for half of the world's population. Darcy s...

Robert Hanna finally made the connection in middle school that he was a descendant of naturalist John Muir. Robert has spent his life since then learning about John Muir's work and developing a deep appreciation for what Muir stood for and what he was able to accomplish as a protector and advocate for our country's national parks and wild & scenic spaces. Robert is carrying on his famous ancestor'...

Joe Del Bosque is the familiar 'farmer in the white cowboy hat,' and the namsake of Del Bosque Farms, in Firebaugh, on the western side of the San Joaquin Valley. Joe has been immersed in the world of farming all of his life, and he shares his story about his family's farming legacy, the ever-changing dynamics of planting and harvest in California's Central Valley...and about a 2014 visit to his f...

Mike Wolcott has been a journalist for nearly 50 years; he grew up on the family farm in Tehama County, and wrote his first news story as a professional journalist when he was 16. What followed was a career as a sports reporter/columnist for distinguished newspapers all over Northern California, spending the last 7 years as the editor of one of the few remaining newspapers in the north part of the...

On our DEBUT podcast episode, Rabbi Mona Alfi, Senior Rabbi at Congregation B'nai Israel in Sacramento, talks about her personal faith and spiritual journey, the challenge of keeping faith during difficult times, and our human desire to find a deeper 'moral vocabulary.'