Island City Beat Podcast

The new medical respite center for homeless elderly on McKay Avenue, is finally open. Bonnie Wolf is the consultant who led the project on behalf of the Alameda Point Collaborative which championed it and fought every bureaucratic and social obstacle to realize it. She salutes Alameda for stepping up to defend it against a spiteful minority that opposed it for years. She also explains how healing...

Island City Beat looks back with Malia Vella on her service on Alameda City Council.  She reviews some of the important issues facing the city.  And, she tells us why she is running for Mayor of Alameda.

 Island City Beat's new art critic, O K Boomer, visits the Frank Bette Center for the Arts to review its 20th Annual Alameda on Camera show.  We get some insight into the vision and execution of these camera-based exhibits from some of the 48 participants themselves and learn how much this local competition encourages the city's artistic expression.

A civil rights attorney and the son of Chinese immigrants, Oliver Ma is running for the post of Lieutenant Governor. He spoke to us here in Alameda about his platform promoting the basic needs of Californians for housing, health care and relief from the predations of the fascist Trump regime -- as well as his aim of tackling policies responsible for the wealth disparities that have made life in Ca...

Last fall, the venerable Alameda Food Bank, founded by concerned citizens in 1977,  moved into a new facility on West Ranger Avenue at Alameda Point and opened a free grocery store called the Island Community Market. Director Teale Harden tells us about how it differs from other food bank operations while serving 12 percent of Alamedans and how it's preparing to do so much more.  Podcast host: Lau...

Alameda will be electing a new mayor this fall as Marilyn Ashcraft finishes her second term in office. City council member Tracy Jensen, who is finishing her first term, has decided to run for the job. She spoke to Island City Beat recently about the issues that concern us: housing, food security, police surveillance, the threat of federal invasion, climate change and more.  In the coming weeks, w...

The City of Alameda and Christ Episcopal Church jointly fund the 'AWS' at Parish Hall - Grand at Santa Clara streets which provides our unhoused neighbors with a warm, dry, caring place to sleep, with dinner and breakfast. A limited shower and clothing program is also available. Today we speak with two of the many people who make this lovely effort happen. https://sites.google.com/view/alamedawarm...

In Part 2 of our interview with the authors of "Motown: The Making of Working Class Revolutionaries," we explore with Jerome Scott and Walda Katz-Fishman the question of what revolution means, are we in a revolutionary process and how do we engage in actions that force our current political structure to shift its focus and make technology serve - not profit from - a more just and equitable society...

For black history month, we interviewed two veteran activists of the 1970s Detroit black liberation struggle. In the book,  "Motown and The Making of Working Class Revolutionaries", Jerome Scott and Walda Katz-Fishman describe how black industrial workers understood that gains won from corporations and racist unions would be thwarted by automation and changes in the global economy. They began to s...

In Part 2 of our interview with Alameda activist Cynthia Bonta, she tells the story of the manongs, the elderly Filipinos who were forcibly evicted from the International Hotel in San Francisco in 1977 and how it inspired her dedication to telling the Filipino-American story. For Alamedans, it will be significant because the story of how many Filipinos arrived here through their enlistment in the...

The mother of state Attorney General Rob Bonta is well known in Alameda as a spokeswoman for Filipino culture and an activist on behalf of immigrant and renters rights and the Sister City Committee. In the first of a two-part interview, Cynthia Bonta describes her part in the 1965 Delano grape strike, the fight against the regime of Ferdinand Marcos and even enlightens us about the brutal U.S. def...

Using water while conserving it sustains each one of us as individuals, as a community and our Bay Area region as a whole. At a recent tree planting we spoke with a local Maker Farm member who helps us become aware of our vital Mokelumne River water resources here in Alameda.  Podcast Host: Jeff Gould

Two Alameda mothers are helping families cut back on their children's, and their own, reliance on electronic media. Sarah Qualters and Alex Yakubov of Alameda Unplugged talk about the ways they and two dozen other parents have started addressing the social, emotional and mental crisis they say young people themselves have begun to talk about.

It all starts with taking a picture. Applications are open for the annual Alameda on Camera competition where 48 participants shoot photos one weekend in assigned sections of our island city and produce works of visual art.  For the last 20 years, the Frank Bette Center for the Arts on Lincoln Avenue, has sponsored this inspiring winter event and subsequent spring exhibition.  Tag Gorman, committe...

Next Saturday, after Christmas is over and all are resting and reflecting, Alameda's artistic thinkers and doers have invited one and all to let go, get playful and join them for the Fool's Delight parade and festival down Webster Street. Michael Towne and Eve De Ley of the West End Arts District offer us a glimpse into their hilarious plans that day for mucho late afternoon buffoonery.  Podcast H...

The Alameda Gallery and Collective has opened on Webster Street featuring art, vintage items and plants. The group's goal is to build community and create conversation about art. It's been the dream of a circle of friends that includes Sandy Russell, owner of the Fireside Lounge and West End business advocate. Hear her talk about how Webster Street retail has blossomed post-pandemic.  Podcast Host...

During the Covid epidemic, Alameda mother and artist Deirdre Freeman acted on her belief about the power of spreading love and kindness in the world when she made some 600 pieces of art, mostly depicting hearts, and attached them to phone polls around town. A year ago, she went further and launched the Kindness Coalition here in Alameda. She and Burt Presberg describe the joy and wonder their work...

It's difficult to find your soulmate through online dating and other traditional strategies, according to Jennifer Zundel, a relationship coach. She believes you must first explore your assumptions about your ability to love and be loved, break old patterns of behavior and become your authentic self.  Listen to her describe her approach, which is grounded in inner transformation, daily spiritual p...

More and more people are affected by the alarming attacks on the social safety net, but, for seniors, the climbing costs of housing, food and health care are especially difficult to manage. Caitlin Chan, the executive director of Legal Assistance for Seniors, describes what her nearly 50-year-old organization does to support Alameda County's elderly population, with free advice on many issues. 

 Alamedans marched from Chochenyo Park to City Hall during last Saturday's (Oct. 18) national No Kings protest where a few thousand voiced their opposition to the regime President Donald Trump has installed in Washington, D.C.  Island City Beat marched with them and listened to their anger, their hope and their desire that our citizens will come together to resist the corruption and sustain democr...

On this episode of the Island City Beat podcast, we meet Jeramie Andehueson.  Jeramie is the founder of Alameda Pride which he brought to life in 2019.  His organization was created to provide a safe, inclusive space for Alameda's LGBTQ+ community.  We will get a glimpse of the many ways that Alameda Pride is making a difference in lives of many people here on our Island.

Alameda's Keegan Tatum is an outstanding local presence in social media.  He astutely applies his psychology training to analyze political identities.  He's a brilliant raconteur on the big political scene and a great interview.  Tune in for a fluent and flowing conversation with the engaging and articulate Keegan Tatum!

The Alameda city council passed a rent control program in 2019 following five years of pressure and struggle by Alameda's renters who faced rapid rent increases that began in 2014 and forced many long-time residents out of the city. City Rent Program director Bill Chapin goes over the basics of this program, which is now located in the City Attorney's office. Rent program staff receive some 750 ca...

The divide between "red" and "blue" political points of view in the United States is causing many to despair about our nation's future. But a national organization, Braver Angels, is trying to join the two sides by helping people come together to listen and talk in safe and structured settings.  Paul Norris and Leslie Lopato say the group offers workshops, skills and many opportunities to sit down...

America does an awful job educating our youth about money and making sound decisions about it. Our guests Alexandria Downing and Angely Miranda aim to change that narrative.  They're from an organization called, "MyPath", whose mission is to teach youth about banking, savings and building credit as the first steps toward financial prosperity. Programs to aid families and youth are available in the...