The Bay

Many Latinx writers, including here in the Bay Area, have expressed frustration with American Dirt, a new book by Jeanine Cummins that has been called the next great American novel. Oprah even selected it for her book club. But it's also been criticized for an inaccurate, stereotypical depiction of migrants who are trying to cross the US-Mexico border. "If it had been published and kind of billed...

Eddie Thomas lost his housing when he was 55 years old after working at Intel for five years. He's part of a growing trend of people becoming homeless later on in life. Eddie was lucky enough to have help with finding work and housing. But even still, it took six years — and being homeless as you get older has its own share of unique challenges. Guest: Sara Hossaini, KQED reporter Learn more about...

Many local leaders in the Bay Area have made it a point to say that their communities are welcoming places for new immigrants, including those who are undocumented, are seeking asylum or are refugees. Oakland Unified School District prides itself on helping "newcomer" students. And this year, they could see an unprecedented number of new arrivals. But the district can't always get new students enr...

You can find Frida Kahlo's image all over the Bay Area. The Mexican painter lived in San Francisco for a little bit in the '30s and '40s with her husband, Diego Rivera. She became even more famous in the years after she died, and now you can find her name and likeness on everything from shoes, to tequila, to even Barbie dolls. The Frida Kahlo Corporation, which is behind many of these products, wa...

Even if you can afford to buy a home in the Bay Area, you might get outbid by an anonymous shell company paying cash. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oakland feels a lot different today than it did when Jerry Brown was elected mayor in 1998. That’s because he had a lot to do with how the city changed. The unapologetic and sometimes controversial Brown is featured in KQED's newest podcast, The Political Mind of Jerry Brown. Today, we're zeroing in on his time as mayor of Oakland, which set the stage for what we're seeing today. Guest: Guy Marzor...

Prison can be a brutal place for anyone. But for trans people who are incarcerated, it's even more dangerous. A new bill in California's state legislature is aimed at making conditions safer. If passed, it would allow transgender inmates to choose whether to be incarcerated in men's or women's facilities. KQED reporters visited the California Medical Facility, a men’s prison in Vacaville, to hear...

When Dr. Wilmer Garcia Ricardo came to the U.S. from Cuba he couldn't find work as a physician, and he had to figure out the licensing process almost entirely on his own. He's not the only one. An estimated 450,000 immigrants living in California have a degree but are underemployed. Many have to take on low-wage jobs. So why is it so hard to prevent ‘brain waste’ of highly skilled immigrants, espe...

There are 180,000 people who claim Iranian ancestry living across California, according to the most recent census data. Many left Iran around the time of the revolution in 1979. SF Weekly's Ida Mojadad's parents came to the U.S. around this time as students. The U.S. and Iranian governments have remained adversaries since the revolution. This political relationship has shaped the way Mojadad think...

On Monday, two black mothers who occupied a vacant West Oakland property had their day in court. Southern California-based Wedgewood Properties, which owns the home, argued this is a clear case of theft. But the moms are making another, more philosophical argument: that housing is a human right. But what does that mean, and will it help them stay in the house? Guest: Molly Solomon, KQED's housing...

When our new editor Alan Montecillo moved to the Bay Area earlier this month he noticed that people loved talking about BART. It's one of the few spaces where people from all over the Bay Area are forced to be around each other. (If fact, we did a whole episode on why BART has been the epicenter of so many contentious political and social conversations in the Bay). BART riders have developed their...

This week, PG&E took a big step towards emerging from bankruptcy after a judge approved billions of dollars in settlements with fire survivors and insurers. But the company also has to convince the state that it has a good plan to prevent more wildfires and provide safe, reliable power going forward. Gov. Gavin Newsom says he isn’t convinced, and PG&E needs his approval to get access to a wildfire...

The paper will print its final issue this Sunday, ending a 161-year run covering the county seat of Contra Costa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the late fifties, the U.S. government promised Native Americans good jobs and stable housing if they left reservations for urban centers, including Oakland. Those promises were never realized. But something else happened, too. Instead of assimilating into cities like the federal government wanted, native people built solidarity, preserved traditions, and continued to create culture — both withi...

Maria Isabel Bueso and her family have waited months to learn whether they could stay in the country. Bueso has lived in the Bay Area for 16 years under a special immigration status in order to get treatment for a rare genetic disease. In August, she received a letter from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services demanding that she leave the country. But Bueso became a leading advocate on behalf...

The Giants’ first World Series win in 56 years, the Occupy Oakland protests, and the Ghost Ship warehouse fire are just a few moments from the last decade that shaped and changed the Bay Area. With the help of reporters from KQED’s Arts team, we take a look back at some of the most defining moments in Bay Area arts and culture, and talk about how those moments shaped and changed us. Guests: KQED A...

Jaime Geaga moved to San Francisco in 1981. He was ready to start a new chapter of his life when he tested positive for HIV. Among Asian Americans, Filipino men were some of the most affected by HIV/AIDS. Filipinos also made up the largest group of Asians in the Bay Area. So Jaime became an activist to educate his community, all while fighting for his life. This episode is from Long Distance, a do...

A Petaluma man named David Ward died last week shortly after a sheriff’s deputy put him in a neck hold, according to the Sonoma County sheriff's office. Neck restraints came into national consciousness after the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York. We don’t know whether Ward’s death was caused by the police restraint, but KQED has learned that the officer involved has lied about using...

When you order from Amazon in the Bay Area, your order is probably coming from a fulfillment center in Tracy. The serious injury rate for employees at that facility has nearly quadrupled since the company introduced worker robots there five years ago. That's according to Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting. We'll talk with the reporter of that investigation who says the speed at whi...

San Francisco's Arts Commission wants a public monument honoring poet Maya Angelou. It's part of an effort to fix the fact that just 2 percent of public sculptures in the city honor women. But the commission and the local arts community can't agree on how Maya Angelou should be represented. The debate has highlighted a rift between people who want to see women represented in the same way men are -...

After the mass shooting in Fresno earlier this month, police responded by creating an Asian Gang Task Force. Yet so far, police have provided no evidence linking the shooting to gang activity. Now some in the Hmong community, which lost four of its own in the shooting, say the move has stereotyped a grieving community that has long worked to shed that identity. Guest: Alex Hall, KQED Central Valle...

The fight over housing rights took a turn recently when two homeless moms occupied a vacant three-bedroom home in West Oakland with their children. Their group, Moms 4 Housing, wants the city to make it possible for people like them to lawfully occupy some of the thousands of empty homes owned by out-of-town corporations. But until then, they’ll squat. It’s a test case to see what the city will do...

Steven Foster was detained and cited by BART police for eating a sandwich on a train platform. This isn't the first time BART has been the backdrop of significant social and political conversations in the Bay Area. From Oscar Grant to controversial fare gates, the transit agency is just a microcosm of a larger place: America. Guest: Pendarvis Harshaw, Host of KQED’s Rightnowish Podcast and columni...

Since the days of Columbine, America's reference point for mass shootings has shifted over and over again. These shootings have happened at schools, movie theaters and night clubs. But there are also the mass shootings that happen on the margins: In people's homes, backyards and cul-de-sacs. The epidemic of gun violence in America is pushing newsrooms like KQED's to interrogate how to cover these...

Jason Mai didn’t know why his father was taken to jail when he was 12 years old. As a kid growing up in the Bay Area, he was told by his Chinese family to avoid má fan, which meant burdening or inconveniencing others by sharing the family secret. Only as an adult did Jason start to process his childhood trauma by learning about the intersections between incarceration and Asian American culture. To...