The California Report Magazine

Helping the Homeless, By Living With them, A Reporter and A Politician Share Loss, Giant Tree Stump Takes the Opera Stage, Bumpass Hell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Unusual Romance Leads to Unlikely Family, Food and Family from 826 Valencia, Bringing Seniors Some Love, the OId-School Way, Gospel Quartet of Brothers Find Praise Outside the Church Walls Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Human Library, 'California Typewriter,' an Ode to Analogue, Placido Domingo’s 50-Year Run in L.A., Winery Faces Life After Fire, A Visit to Volcano, Calif. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Aptos, California to ZZYZX (Population 1), it's a weekly California road trip for your ears, and your imagination. Cattle ranching moms. Homeless college students. Young mariachis. They’re all Californians, and we’ve got their stories. Subscribe now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meet Flipper’s Ted Falconi, Vietnam Vet and Punk Rock Legend Flipper may not be the best-known band from Oakland, but after more than 40 years, it’s definitely one of punk’s most influential. It has inspired scores of musicians like Kurt Cobain and Moby. A large part of its signature sound comes from guitarist Ted Falconi, a Vietnam vet who brought the noises of war home with him. KQED’s Kevin Jon...

Sound Guru Bernie Krause’s Beloved ‘Wild Sanctuary’ Destroyed by Fire Last month's fires in Northern California destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. But we also lost some key cultural landmarks. One of those places was an inspiration to artists, scientists and sound recordists around the world. Yet mostly unknown to its neighbors in Sonoma County's Valley of the Moon. It was home and studi...

The Water Belongs to Everyone, and This Blind Kayaker Will Prove It We start our show with a man on a mythological mission. His name is Ahmet Ustunel. He lives in San Francisco, and he has a dream. He wants to return to his homeland of Turkey and take a big journey on a tiny kayak across the Bosphorus Strait, one of the busiest shipping channels in the world. Think enormous freighters. And his lit...

Voices From the Fires The wildfires that roared through Wine Country will rank among the deadliest and most destructive in California history. But many Californians are already jumping in, doing what they can now to support the recovery. We hear from both survivors and volunteers, who are looking ahead to a new future, post-fire. An Oakland Hills Fire Survivor's Advice to a North Bay Fire Victim J...

Voices from Fire-Ravaged Northern California In Northern California, the week began with a sudden onslaught of flames whipped up by the wind. Multiple wildfires erupted across wine country. Homes, businesses and entire towns have been burned to the ground. Now, even as firefighters continue to work, many residents are returning to see what is left. For Santa Rosa’s KZST Radio Station, the News is...

A Week After a Massacre, Life Goes on in Vegas More than half the victims of this week’s mass shooting in Las Vegas were from California. Many Southern Californians, especially, have a deep connection to Las Vegas, but in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip, there's not a lot of obvious acknowledgment of what happened, with casinos and hotel marquees still ablaze with intensity. What's changed? And w...

On this special edition of The California Report Magazine, we go back in time to look at the Vietnam War and how it shaped the lives of some Californians. This week we’re in San Diego, home to the Marine Corps base at Camp Pendleton. The Teen and Marine Who United to Resist the Vietnam War and Racism in the Military Not all the battles were fought in Vietnam -- enlisted men were also fighting a wa...

Bridging the Political Divide, One Dinner at a Time Many of us are taught not to talk politics at the dinner table -- especially if your guests fall on different sides of the political spectrum. But as Bianca Taylor tells us, a new movement called ‘Make America Dinner Again’ breaks this rule, in a big way. It's the latest installment in our series "Start the Conversation.” 2 Years After Destructiv...

For Isolated Trinity County Residents, One Man Is Their Food Lifeline Trinity County is one of those places that doesn’t get in the news too often, unless it’s wildfire season like it is now. It’s a remote, rural part of northern California that can be breathtakingly beautiful. And it’s also one of the state’s most food insecure places, where many people don’t know where their next meal will come...

Oakland Residents Say Tent Encampments Threatening Neighborhoods In many California cities, homelessness has reached a boiling point. There's not enough housing or space. And tent encampments are cropping up in neighborhoods where they’re not always welcome. That's happening big time in Oakland, where complaints about homelessness have increased more than 700 percent over the last six years. KQED’...

At the California Museum’s New ‘Unity Center,’ Conversations Trump Confrontations This week the California Museum in Sacramento is celebrating a new exhibit called the Unity Center, and it’s opening the same weekend far-right rallies in Northern California are expected to draw white nationalists. That’s an eerie coincidence, because the idea for the center began nearly 20 years ago when Sacramento...