Podcasts about Berkeleyside

Day laborers, or jornaleros, can often be found standing at specific street corners, where they are hired on the spot for inexpensive manual labor. Most are Latino migrants and can be found all over the Bay Area. Berkeleyside's Ximena Natera joins us to talk about how jornaleros in Berkeley are dealing with increased fears of deportation, and where these workers are finding support in difficult times. Links: For Berkeley day laborers with bills and fears, staying home is not an option Para los jornaleros de Berkeley, quedarse en casa no es opción, a pesar del miedo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nestled in the Berkeley Hills, Indian and Mortar rocks are popular hangout spots known in part for epic views of the Bay. For climbers like Berkeleyside reporter Ally Markovich, they're known for their outsized role in the development of bouldering. But for the native Ohlone, the boulders are a symbol of a destroyed cultural landscape, and an urgent call to protect native history. This episode first ran on Dec. 23, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cat Brooks of Law & Disorder and Brian Edwards-Tiekert of UpFront, co-host a special two hours of Election Day coverage, with guests and analysis on national, swing states, local races, and what to watch. 0:10 – National races to watch with John Nichols, National Affairs Correspondent for the Nation. 0:33 – Abortion on the ballot with Jessica Mason Pieklo, Senior Vice President and Executive Editor of Rewire News Group. She also co-hosts the podcast Boom! Lawyered. 0:47 – Races to watch related to the criminal legal system with Piper French, a staff writer with Bolts Mag, which covers the “nuts and bolts of power and political change, from the local up.” She covers local politics, state violence and the criminal legal system.  1:08 – Races to watch: Pennsylvania with Sam Levine, a reporter for the Guardian, currently in Scranton, Pennsylvania. 1:15 – Oakland elections and the money behind them, with Ali Winston, an independent reporter covering criminal justice, privacy, and surveillance.  1:30 – San Francisco elections with Tim Redmond, founder of 48hills.org 1:45 – Berkeley races to watch with Pamela Turtine is editor-in-chief at Berkeleyside.      The post Election Day 2024 Special appeared first on KPFA.

Richmond, Calif. is home to more than 115,000 residents and major corporations and refineries, including Chevron. But like many cities, Richmond had been left without a dedicated daily newspaper or consistent, independent news coverage. Now a new local publication, Richmondside, promises to bring residents more news about government, schools, public safety and local businesses. It's part of Cityside, a journalism nonprofit that also runs Berkeleyside and Oaklandside. The founders spent about a year hearing from residents about the types of news they were missing. We'll talk with them about their coverage plans and hear from you: What are the Richmond stories you want to read about? Guests: Tasneem Raja, editor-in-chief, The Oaklandside; former interactive editor, Mother Jones Kari Hulac, editor-in-chief, Richmondside; editor, The Hayward Daily Review; features editor, The Oakland Tribune Joel Umanzor, city hall reporter, Richmondside

It would be easy to overlook the significance of Indian Rock and Mortar Rock, two relatively modest outcroppings located in the Berkeley Hills. Unlike the towering cliffs of Yosemite, which dominate the landscape, these boulders are partially obscured by the homes and trees that surround them. But for nearly a century, some of America's most influential climbers have used these rocks as a training ground to test new techniques and technologies. The guidebook “Golden State Bouldering” calls these rocks “the heart and soul of Bay Area climbing.” In a recent Berkeleyside article titled “How Berkeley's famous boulders took rock climbing to new heights,” reporter Ally Markovich explored the history of these influential outcroppings and the loyal community of climbers who have spent decades scrambling around on them. Her article uses these Berkeley boulders as a lens for tracing the emergence of modern climbing, the rise of “dirtbag” culture, the relationship between outdoor climbing and the current proliferation of indoor gyms, and sport's growing diversity. To hear our conversation about all these topics and more, listen to the new episode. https://eastbayyesterday.com/episodes/climbing-was-all-i-had/ East Bay Yesterday can't survive without your donations. Please make a pledge to keep this show alive: www.patreon.com/eastbayyesterday. Subscribe to my newsletter at: https://substack.com/@eastbayyesterday Special thanks to the sponsors of this episode: UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals Oakland and the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. To learn more about UCSF Benioff Oakland's new program BLOOM: the Black Baby Equity Clinic, visit: https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2023/07/425846/new-black-baby-equity-clinic-helps-infants-and-moms-flourish To learn more about BAMPFA's current exhibit “What Has Been and What Could Be,” visit: https://bampfa.org/program/what-has-been-and-what-could-be-bampfa-collection

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   It's no secret that local journalism has struggled since the Great Recessions, with hundreds of newspapers shuttering and thousands of reporters losing their jobs. Over the past few years, entrepreneurs have launched dozens of local news startups to help fill in the gap, but there's still an ongoing debate as to whether local news should be a for-profit or nonprofit industry.   Berkeleyside is one of the few organizations that has tried both models. For the first several years of its existence, it was a for-profit entity, but then in 2019 its founders switched it over to a nonprofit model, and it's since expanded into three separate verticals that cover the bay area, with a fourth launch planned for 2024.   In an interview, co-founder Lance Knobel walked me through how Berkeleyside came to be, why it switched to a nonprofit model, and how it generates revenue through a combination of grants, memberships, sponsorships, and large donations.  

0:08 — Tom Dalzell has lived in Berkeley since 1984. He has worked as a lawyer for the labor movement for his entire adult life. Dalzell also writes the Quirky Berkeley blog and contributes to Berkeleyside. He is the author of “The Battle for People's Park, Berkeley 1969.” 0:33 — Dr. Rupa Marya is a Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. She is also co-founder of the Do No Harm Coalition, a collective of health workers committed to addressing disease through structural change. Dr. Manal Elkarra is a family medicine and lifestyle medicine doctor practicing in San Francisco, the city where she was born and raised. Her family is from Gaza, Palestine. Prior to the siege, She volunteered with the Gaza Community Mental Health Program, Save the Children in Gaza, and the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Khan Younis. She is also a member of the Do No Harm Coalition. The post People's Park History Since 1969; Plus, San Francisco Board of Supervisors Pass Gaza Ceasefire Resolution appeared first on KPFA.

Nestled in the Berkeley Hills, Indian and Mortar rocks are popular hangout spots known in part for epic views of the Bay. For climbers like Berkeleyside reporter Ally Markovich, they're known for their outsized role in the development of bouldering.  But for the native Ohlone, the boulders are a symbol of a destroyed cultural landscape, and an urgent call to protect native history. Links: Transcript Part I: The stories Indian and Mortar rocks can tell us Part II: How Berkeley's famous boulders took rock climbing to new heights This episode was hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra, Maria Esquinca, and Adhiti Bandlamudi

When landlords in Berkeley celebrated the end of an eviction moratorium recently, the backlash was swift: Tenant advocates protested, and a physical fight broke out. Tensions between renters and property owners have been escalating, but for the most part they don't boil over — they show up in court, where a swell in eviction cases is overwhelming staff. Berkeleyside and Oaklandside reporters Supriya Yelimeli and Natalie Orenstein tell host Laura Wenus what this violent incident says about the state of Bay Area housing. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Got a tip, comment, question? Email us: fifth@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emillie Raguso founded and runs the Berkeley Scanner.The Berkeley Scanner is an independent daily news outlet devoted to crime and public safety reporting in Berkeley, California.Berkeley police activity on your block? Smoke in the air? Helicopter overhead? We'll find out what's happening. Earthquakes? Power outages? We'll give you all the latest updates on breaking news and other critical coverage.We'll also follow serious cases through the criminal justice system and report on ongoing efforts to reshape Berkeley's approach to policing and fire safety in the years ahead.Veteran reporter and editor Emilie Raguso launched The Berkeley Scanner in September 2022 to provide more robust daily crime and public safety coverage to Berkeley and the Bay Area.Raguso has been a reporter for nearly 20 years. She's spent the past 10 of those years becoming the most authoritative source on Berkeley policing and crime reporting news coverage.After working for a decade at Berkeleyside, Raguso realized her passion to write about Berkeley police activity and public safety issues needed a bigger platform.She founded The Berkeley Scanner to offer comprehensive coverage of crime and safety in the city and to allow her to help readers learn more about what's really going on in the neighborhood.The Scanner retains full editorial independence over all of our stories.The Berkeley Scanner is 100% reader-supported. That means we need your help to survive (yes, yours!). Pitch in now to ensure our reporting can continue.Media coverage about The Berkeley ScannerEmilie Raguso on the past, present and future of local news (The E'ville Eye)Women's History Month: Emilie Raguso (NATAS SF) Louis Goodman www.louisgoodman.comhttps://www.lovethylawyer.com/510.582.9090Music: Joel Katz, Seaside Recording, MauiTech: Bryan Matheson, Skyline Studios, OaklandAudiograms: Paul Roberts louis@lovethylawyer.com

The Here/There homeless encampment was familiar to anybody who drove between Oakland and Berkeley. The camp had its roots in the Bay Area's Occupy movements in the early 2010s, and was founded in 2017 to highlight the problem of homelessness. It once had its own structure, rules, and a good relationship with the neighborhood. But over the last few years, the camp changed. Its founders passed away and people moved on. And last week, the city officially closed it down. Guest: Supriya Yelimeli, Berkeleyside housing and homelessness reporter Links: ‘South Berkeley Here There encampment closed after 6 years,' by Supriya Yelimeli, Feb. 2, 2023. The Bay Survey Berkeley, 94700”: a deep historical dive into South Berkeley's Here There community encampment This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca. Jehlen Herdman is our intern. Ericka Cruz Guevarra is the host.  Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts.

We bid farewell (we‘ll let you decide if it's fond or not) to 2022, by talking about the past year with activists from throughout North America. Cyndi Soto In Los Angeles, Cynde Soto successfully advocated with others to get an accessible bus stop at Dodger Stadium.   Kaden Hirsch In Brooklyn, Kaden Hirsch became better at expressing their needs to roommates regarding safety during the pandemic. In Toronto, Canada, we catch up with Aerik Woodams who talks about their interest in building care networks and the challenges that come from that work.  They work with Peoples Hub Community Care Clinic for Disabled and Chronically Ill Movement Folks; The Body Politic Covid-19 Support Group and have had experience with the Canadian Human Rights Commission's monitoring of the rights of people with disabilities. Aerik Woodams               And, in Santa Barbara, veteran disability rights advocate Bonnie Elliot talks about her concerns about the future of the U.S and, more specifically, the acceptance of people with disabilities.   Bonnie Elliott, Access Advisory Committee of the City of Santa Barbara             Finally, we pay tribute to disability advocate and Bay Area's own Hale Zukas who passed away this November.  This segment has information from an obituary that appeared in Berkeleyside, written by Joan Leon and Pam Mendelsohn.  Additional material comes from Susan Chernilo who worked as Hale's attendant in the 1970s; Deborah Kaplan, Deputy Director of the San Francisco Mayor's Office on Disability; Pam Mendelsohn, former World Institute on Disability employee; and Charles Siegel, transportation committees co-worker.  It is voiced by Mark Romoser.   For Susan Chernilo's essay in remembrance of Hale Zukis, click HERE Photo from the Center for Independent Living, Berkeley, CA           This episode of Pushing Limits produced by Jacob Lesner-Buxton and hosted by Adrienne Lauby, and with editing assistance from Mark Romoser, Sheela Gunn-Cushman and Adrienne Lauby.     The post End of the Year – Pushing Limits – December 30, 2022 appeared first on KPFA.

#036 - Today we speak with Liam O'Donoghue, the host and producer of the East Bay Yesterday Podcast.  Liam explores the stories of culture, politics and nature from Oakland, Berkeley and other towns throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties.  It was named the “The Best Podcast about the East Bay” in 2017 by the East Bay Express.  Liam says he started the podcast to share the great untold stories he heard from residents.“every time I talked to people who lived around Oakland or lived around the East Bay for a long time, I realized they had really good stories - stories that I hadn't known about before. They told me, and I felt like stories that most people probably weren't aware of and I felt like someone needed to collect those stories and share them and celebrate them”.Liam is a trained journalist and his work has appeared in outlets such as KQED, Oaklandside, Berkeleyside, Mother Jones, Salon, East Bay Express, 99% Invisible, The Kitchen Sisters, and the syndicated NPR program Snap Judgement.  He intentionally decided to go with audio vs print medium to share these stories because the show is really about the guests and he wanted their voices to be the main thing driving the narrative.The podcast got picked up by KPFA and Liam now writes a monthly column for SF Gate.  Liam has given many presentations on local history at libraries, schools and bookstores and throughout the Bay Area, but he is most proud of the inclusion of his content by schools.“one of the things I'm most proud of is that it's actually being used in a lot of curriculums now by local teachers everywhere from the middle school level, up through the grad school level.  People who are looking for ways to get their students excited about local history are using the podcast and the radio show to get the kids excited about that. So that's been really rewarding to see that happen”.Be sure to listen to until the end to hear how the podcast has led to sold out boat tours on the bay.

Veteran journalists on the real deal working in print and internet media.  Host Andrew Gilbert in a lively discussion with  Mike West  and Marcus J Moore Mr. Moore has been a contributing writer with The Nation and a contributing editor with Bandcamp Daily. His coverage of soul, jazz, rap, and rock can be found at The New York Times, Pitchfork, TIME, Entertainment Weekly, GQ, The Washington Post, NPR, Rolling Stone, and The Atlantic, among other outlets. He also operates The Liner Notes newsletter, where he writes about his favorite music of all genres and eras. Mike West is a regular contributor and review editor to JazzTimes , The Washington Post, Washington City Paper, and Down Beat.  His byline has also appeared in Jazziz, Bandcamp Daily, NPR Music, and Slate, among others.Andrew Gilbert writes about jazz, roots & international music for the San Jose Mercury News, SF Chronicle, San Francisco Classical Voice, http://Berkeleyside.com, and others.https://www.marcusjmoore.mediahttps://www.michael-j-west.comhttps://www.kqed.org/author/agilbert

In 1969, a group of students, activists and community members in Berkeley transformed a muddy abandoned parking lot into a park. They called it People's Park and ever since, the space has served as a hub for political organizing, culture and community. But throughout its 53 year history, there have been ongoing disputes over the land between the park community and the park's owner, UC Berkeley. Now, the university has big plans to build housing on the site, which has led to recent clashes between protesters and police. We'll hear from the UC and opponents of the plan, and we ask our listeners: what should the future of the park look like?  Guests: Dan Mogulof, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Public Affairs, University of California, Berkeley Harvey Smith, member of People's Park Historic District Advocacy Group; author of "Berkeley and the New Deal" Supriya Yelimeli, housing and homelessness reporter, Berkeleyside

In 1969, a group of protesters took over a plot of land owned by UC Berkeley and turned it into a green, public space now known as People's Park. Since then, it's become a place synonymous with Berkeley's history of protest, resistance, and mutual aid. Over the last 2 years, it also became home to dozens of unhoused people, prompting reports of crime and complaints from some residents. Now, UC Berkeley is planning to replace the park with student housing. Supporters say it's necessary to address a student housing crisis. Opponents say that development would destroy an important community space and displace unhoused people.  Guest: Supriya Yelimeli, Berkeleyside housing and homelessness reporter This episode was produced and edited by Alan Montecillo and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra, who also produced.

Episode SummaryAnother critical and commercial success of the Disney Renaissance, The Lion King (1994) was a beast at the box office and on home video. It was also the first animated Disney animated film set in Africa. Despite (relatively) diverse casting and the incorporation of authentic African music, there's still plenty of racism to discuss, with some homophobia and questionable political commentary thrown in! Episode BibliographyBBC NEWS | Entertainment | Disney settles Lion song dispute. (2006, February 16). BBC News. Retrieved May 14, 2022, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4721564.stmBradley, B. (2015, January 27). Was 'The Lion King' Copied From A Japanese Cartoon? Here's The Real Story. HuffPost. Retrieved May 15, 2022, from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lion-king-kimba_n_6272316Carter Jackson, K. (2019, July 17). The true story behind ‘The Lion King.' The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/07/17/true-story-behind-lion-king/Červinka, P. (2015, April 24). The Making of The Lion King. YouTube. Retrieved May 21, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFL5xbxc0AYDaly, S. (1994, July 8). Mane Attraction. Entertainment Weekly, (230). https://web.archive.org/web/20140904092026/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,302837,00.htmlDeneroff, H., & Ladd, F. (2009). Footnote to History: Kimba versus Simba - The Uproar. In Astro Boy and Anime Come to the Americas: An Insider's View of the Birth of a Pop Culture Phenomenon (pp. 62-64). McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers.Denham, H. (2019, July 26). Lion King: There's a 25-year-old intellectual property dispute surrounding the Disney film. The Washington Post. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/07/26/lion-king-has-been-clouded-by-intellectual-property-controversy-years-heres-story-behind-it/Ebert, R. (1994, June 24). The Lion King movie review & film summary (1994). Roger Ebert. Retrieved May 15, 2022, from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-lion-king-1994Elahi, B. (2001). Pride Lands: The Lion King, Proposition 187, and White Resentment. Arizona Quarterly: A Journal of American Literature, Culture, and Theory, 57(3), 121-152. doi: 0.1353/arq.2001.0001Fallon, K. (2014, June 24). 'The Lion King' Turns 20: Every Crazy, Weird Fact About the Disney Classic. The Daily Beast. Retrieved May 28, 2022, from https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-lion-king-turns-20-every-crazy-weird-fact-about-the-disney-classicGavin, R.  (1996). "The Lion King" and "Hamlet": A homecoming for the exiled child. The Universe of Literature, 85(3), 55-57. Giddings, S. (1999). The circle of life: Nature and representation in Disney's The Lion King. Third Text, 49, 83-92. doi: 10.1080/09528829908576825Giles Coren, G. (1994, July 20). Disney's Heart of Darkness. The Times, 12.Gooding-Williams, R.  (1995). Disney in Africa and the inner city: On race and space in The Lion King. Social Identities, 1(2).Hahn, D. (Director). (2011). The Lion King A Memoir Don Hahn [Film]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoaPT4ijS-UHinson, H. (1994, June 24). WashingtonPost.com: 'The Lion King'. The Washington Post. Retrieved May 14, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/review96/lionkinghin.htmJapanese animator protests 'Lion King'. (1994, August 18). UPI.com. Retrieved May 15, 2022, from https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/08/18/Japanese-animator-protests-Lion-King/4250777182400/Klass, P. (1994, June 19). A ‘Bambi' for the 90's, via Shakespeare. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/19/movies/film-view-a-bambi-for-the-90-s-via-shakespeare.htmlKelts, R. (2007). Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. St. Martin's Publishing Group.King, S. (2011, September 15). A 'Lion's' Tale. Los Angeles Times. https://web.archive.org/web/20111024102445/http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/15/entertainment/la-et-lion-king-20110915Knolle, S. (2014, June 14). 'The Lion King': 20 Things You Didn't Know About the Disney Classic. Moviefone. Retrieved May 14, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20140617142313/http://news.moviefone.com/2014/06/14/lion-king-facts/Kring, J. (2019, July 19). How the Original 'Lion King' Came to Life. The Ringer. Retrieved May 15, 2022, from https://www.theringer.com/movies/2019/7/19/20699678/the-lion-king-original-animation-1994The Lion King. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved May 14, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_KingThe Lion King. (2000, December 8). Rolling Stone. https://web.archive.org/web/20080429201931/http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/5947315/review/5947316/the_lion_kingThe Lion King (1994). (n.d.). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 14, 2022, from https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0110357/The Lion King (1994). (n.d.). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 15, 2022, from https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0110357/?ref_=bo_se_r_1Maslin, J. (1994, June 15). Review/Film; The Hero Within The Child Within. The New York Times. Retrieved May 25, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/15/movies/review-film-the-hero-within-the-child-within.htmlMasters, K. (2014, April 9). The Epic Disney Blow-Up of 1994: Eisner, Katzenberg and Ovitz 20 Years Later. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 17, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/epic-disney-blow-up-1994-694476/Mikkelson, D. (1996, December 31). Is the Word 'Sex' Hidden in 'The Lion King'? Snopes.com. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-lion-king/Minkoff, R., & Allers, R. (Directors). (1994). The Lion King [Film]. Walt Disney Pictures.Morton, J. (1996). Simba's revolution: Revisiting history and class in The Lion King. Social Identities, 2(2).Movieclips. (2016, August 16). In the Heat of the Night (4/10) Movie CLIP - They Call Me Mr. Tibbs (1967) HD. YouTube. Retrieved May 25, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6n8VyqaCQ4Orenstein, N. (2014, September 15). Berkeley's colony of spotted hyenas closes after 30 years. Berkeleyside. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://www.berkeleyside.org/2014/09/15/berkeleys-captive-colony-of-spotted-hyenas-closes-after-30-years?doing_wp_cron=1652051660.0969309806823730468750Rachele. (n.d.). "The Lion King," - an adult film? ENG 1131 Shakespeare Through Media. Retrieved May 25, 2022, from http://plaza.ufl.edu/r.harvey/finalpaper.htmlRicker, A.  (1996). The Lion King animated storybook: A case study of aesthetic and economic power. Critical Arts, 10(1).Rob Minkoff. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved May 17, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_MinkoffRoth, M. (1996, March). The Lion King A short history of Disney-fascism. Jump Cut, (40), 15-20. http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC40folder/LionKing.htmlRoth, M. (2005). Man is in the Forest: Humans and Nature in Bambi and The Lion King. Invisible Culture: An Electronic Journal for Visual Culture, (9). Retrieved May 22, 2022, from https://www.rochester.edu/in_visible_culture/Issue_9/roth.htmlSiskel, G., & Ebert, R. (2019, February 22). Speed, The Lion King, The Endless Summer II, City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold, 1994 – Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews. Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://siskelebert.org/?p=5412Stenberg, D. (1996). The circle of life and the chain of being: Shakespearean motifs in “The Lion King.” Shakespeare Bulletin, 14(2), 36-37.Strzelczyk, F.  (2008). Fascism and family entertainment. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 25(3), 196-211. doi: 10.1080/10509200601091433Takeuchi, H. (n.d.). Kimba the White Lion. Wikipedia. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimba_the_White_LionTLKCoL. (2017, March 24). Pride of The Lion King | Behind the Scenes Documentary (Making of). YouTube. Retrieved May 21, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bLD2gZhmoUVisram, T. (2019, July 19). Disney replaced the first Lion King's racist hyenas. Fast Company. Retrieved May 22, 2022, from https://www.fastcompany.com/90379067/critics-said-the-first-lion-kings-hyenas-were-problematic-disney-revamped-themWard, A. R.  (1996). The Lion King's mythic narrative. Journal of Popular Film & Television, 23(4).Willman, C. (1994, May 15). SUMMER SNEAKS '94 : You Can't Hide His Lion Eyes : It's no coincidence that Disney's latest jungle villain bears a wicked resemblance to Jeremy Irons; just ask the animator. Los Angeles Times. https://web.archive.org/web/20141109000340/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-05-15/entertainment/ca-57883_1_jeremy-ironsWong, V.  (1999). Deconstructing Walt Disney's “The Lion King.” Kinema: A Journal for Film and Audiovisual Media, 1-7. doi: 10.15353/kinema.vi.895Thanks to Katie Seelen for her research assistance. 

Join our conversation with Alix Wall, an award-winning journalist who's passionate about food, Jews, and love stories. Alix is a contributing editor at J. The Jewish News of Northern California, where she writes a regular column about Jews in the food industry. She also contributes love stories to the Vows section of The New York Times. In addition, Alix is the founder of Illuminoshi, a networking group that she calls "The Not-So-Secret Society of Bay Area Jewish Food Professionals." One of Alix's newest projects is a documentary-in-progress, The Lonely Child, that she's writing and producing about a Yiddish lullaby called “Dos Elnte Kind." The lullaby was written inside the Vilna Ghetto during the Holocaust, and Alix's mother is the girl in the song — a hidden child. Alix is making this film to keep the song alive and tell the stories of her mother and grandmother. The film explores themes of inherited memory and trauma, music and art as resistance, and the song's surprising relevance amid today's global refugee crisis. Food for Thought is our series of conversations with experts among our Business Circle community who share insights and expertise from their field. Their experience will help you navigate a world that has become harder to predict than ever. Here are the links that Alix referenced in her talk: Berkeleyside stories: https://www.berkeleyside.org/author/alix-wall?gclid=Cj0KCQjw-JyUBhCuARIsANUqQ_KEt6HL5v6cK92li2jRMw6oXrXfxeM19RIABbx07hudVPSXuj3w8yEaAgnTEALw_wcB Story that got a man out of prison: https://jweekly.com/2018/03/22/sentenced-life-murder-helped-1500-fellow-inmates-earn-degrees Jewish food businesses in the area: https://jweekly.com/2019/07/18/pair-of-square-pie-guys-bring-detroit-style-pizza-to-s-f As Kneaded Bakery: https://jweekly.com/2018/10/31/she-saw-a-knead-and-filled-it-with-bread Pomella: https://www.berkeleyside.org/2020/03/26/ba-bite-follow-up-pomella-opens-during-the-absolute-worst-time-for-restaurants

Gabrielle Selz is the author of Unstill Life: A Daughter's Memoir of Art and Love in the Age of Abstraction, published by W.W. Norton in 2014. Unstill Life received the best memoir of the year award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) and was chosen as one of the best books of the year by both the San Francisco Chronicle and Berkeleyside. Selz holds a special interest in the intersection of memory, history, cultural criticism, and art. As a child, she bounced between the bohemian art worlds of New York and Berkeley, California. Her father, Peter Selz, was the Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, before he founded the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Her mother, Thalia Selz, was a writer and the founding editor of Story Quarterly. Gabrielle is currently writing Light on Fire: The Art and Life of Sam Francis to be published by U.C Press. · gabrielleselz.com · www.creativeprocess.info

Gabrielle Selz is the author of Unstill Life: A Daughter's Memoir of Art and Love in the Age of Abstraction, published by W.W. Norton in 2014. Unstill Life received the best memoir of the year award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) and was chosen as one of the best books of the year by both the San Francisco Chronicle and Berkeleyside. She is currently writing Light on Fire: The Art and Life of Sam Francis to be published by U.C Press.Selz holds a special interest in the intersection of memory, history, cultural criticism, and art. As a child, she bounced between the bohemian art worlds of New York and Berkeley, California. Her father, Peter Selz, was the Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, before he founded the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Her mother, Thalia Selz, was a writer and the founding editor of Story Quarterly. In 1969, Thalia selected the original tenants for Westbeth, the largest artists housing project in the country, and the family then moved to live alongside artists like Diane Arbus and Merce Cunningham. Introduced to Sam Francis as a child, her interest in his life, career and what motivated his extraordinary contributions, expanded while she was researching and writing Unstill Life.Selz has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Times, More Magazine, The Rumpus and the L.A. Times. Her fiction has appeared in Fiction Magazine and her art criticism in Art Papers, Hyperallergic and Newsday and the Huffington Post. She is a past recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Nonfiction and is a Moth Story Slam Winner. · gabrielleselz.com · www.creativeprocess.info

Rigel Robinson is a member of the Berkeley City Council, representing District 7 (encompassing UC Berkeley).As the region is growing, as the state is growing, we should be educating more Californians. I believe that educating more young people is a good thing—full stop. [...] I think this whole situation boils down to a prioritization of two things: The comfort of our longtime residents versus the basic needs of our new residents.Notes and references from this episode: @RigelRobinson - Rigel Robinson on Twitter California Environmental Quality Act - WikipediaSave Berkeley's Neighborhoods v. Regents of the University of California - Lawsuit “UC Berkeley must cut new enrollment by 3K students after high court ruling,” by Frances Dinkelspiel, Berkeleyside“NIMBYism Reaches Its Apotheosis,” by Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic“UC Berkeley declines group's offer to admit 1K more students,” by Associated Press“Governor Newsom: Veto SB118,” by Phil Bokovoy, The Berkeley Daily Planet“Newsom signs bill saving UC Berkeley from enrollment cuts this fall,” by Michael Burke, EdSource“UC Berkeley will more than double what it pays the city under new settlement agreement,” by Frances Dinkelspiel, Berkeleyside =====Produced, hosted and edited by Stu VanAirsdaleTheme music: Sounds SupremeTwitter: @WhatCaliforniaSubstack newsletter: whatiscalifornia.substack.comSupport What is California? on Patreon: patreon.com/whatiscalifornia  Email: hello@whatiscalifornia.comPlease subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. And if you liked What is California?, please rate and review What is California? on Apple Podcasts! It helps new listeners find the show.

A group of homeowners sued over UC Berkeley's plans to increase enrollment, claiming that the university has not adequately studied the environmental impacts of a higher student population. This legal battle has been going on for years, but in the last few weeks it's gotten national attention. That's because the courts recently ruled against the university, which is now required to cap enrollment levels. It's set off arguments in Berkeley and across the state about growth, housing, and more. And it may even lead to legislative changes as well. Guest: Frances Dinkelspiel, reporter and co-founder of Berkeleyside and The Oaklandside This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

Frances Dinkelspiel is working hard to counter the decline of local reporting. The co-founder of Berkeleyside, Oaklandside, and their parent organization Cityside believes it is more important for us to know what's going on in our neighborhoods than what's happening 6,000 miles away. The longtime Bay Area author and journalist shares her journey and what's at stake for our communities.

On Wednesday night, Berkeleyside journalist Ally Markovich sat in front of her living room TV with her housemates and watched as Russian forces invaded Ukraine, where she was born. Ally is one of the more than 100,000 Ukrainian Americans living in California — roughly 20,000 of whom live in the Bay Area. She, like other members of the diaspora here, are watching and worrying for the safety of people in Ukraine. Guest: Ally Markovich, Berkeleyside reporter This episode was produced and edited by Alan Montecillo, Maria Esquinca and Ericka Cruz Guevarra. The original interview was made by Nina Thorsen and hosted by Tara Siler. Alex Emslie, Rachael Myrow, and Maria Peña also contributed reporting.

Out of The Loop podcast with Jane Neal. This week's episode features journalist and storyteller Tasneem Raja.Tasneem is the Editor-in-Chief of The Oaklandside, a local newsroom serving Oakland, California. She is also the co-founder of the Cityside Journalism Initiative, a nonprofit parent organization powering both The Oaklandside and Berkeleyside.Support the show

Liam O'Donoghue is the host and producer of the East Bay Yesterday podcast and co-creator of the Long Lost Oakland map. His journalism has appeared in outlets such as KQED Arts, Berkeleyside, Open Space, KALW-FM, Mother Jones, Salon, East Bay Express, and the syndicated NPR program Snap Judgement. In 2018, he was honored by the East Bay Express as “the best journalist-turned-historian” and presented with a “Partners in Preservation Award” from Oakland Heritage Alliance. O'Donoghue has given many presentations on local history at libraries, schools and bookstores and throughout the Bay Area, as well as at institutions such as The California Historical Society, The Hearst Museum, Oakland Rotary Club, and Nerd Nite East Bay. O'Donoghue's quotes on Oakland-related issues have appeared in media outlets including New York Times and Washington Post.

The '91 "Tunnel Fire" was one of the most destructive fires in U.S. history. To mark the 30th anniversary, The Oaklandside and Berkeleyside co-produced a 30-minute podcast looking back at the blaze that forever changed how the East Bay looks at wildfires.

The pandemic has hurt many industries throughout the United States. For local news media, the COVID-19 public health emergency was nearly catastrophic. Already threatened with economic demise because of the rise of digital advertising and how consumers use free social media tools to consume news, the pandemic put further financial stresses on local news outlets by impacting advertising from shuttered restaurants, bars and small businesses. All of this came at a time, of course, when local news—with information on the immediate impact of the public health emergency, among other topics—was more important than ever.  However, despite the strong challenges for local news outlets, the future may not be so bleak for the industry. Why? A growing number of nonprofit news media ventures are seeking to fill the void for quality local news efforts. Across the country, citizens are increasingly getting local news from new digital ventures focused on a specific region or city. Perhaps most important, philanthropists and major foundations are investing in these new efforts, increasing the chance for sustainability and impact and creating a new future for local news, even at this challenging time. This program will introduce viewers to two nonprofit efforts—MLK50 (covering the intersection of poverty, power and policy in Memphis), and Cityside (with the Bay Area outlets Berkeleyside and The Oaklandside)—as well as to the co-founder of a new venture philanthropy nonprofit, the American Journalism Project, created to make local sites more financially sustainable.  Please join us for an important conversation on the future of local news and why the future may be in a new generation of nonprofit news outlets. Wendi C. Thomas and John Thornton will participate virtually; Lance Knobel and David Cohn will be on-stage. SPEAKERS: Lance Knobel, CEO, CItyside Wendi C. Thomas, Editor and Publisher, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism (Participating Virtually) John Thornton, Founder Texas Tribune; Co-Founder American Journalism Project (Participating Virtually) David Cohn, Senior Director, Advance Local; Cofounder of Subtext—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been hosting our live programming via YouTube live stream. We are slowly reopen our building to programs with live guests and live audiences. This hybrid-program was recorded with participants in both our auditorium and via video conference on July 15th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. NOTE: This podcast may contain explicit language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pandemic has hurt many industries throughout the United States. For local news media, the COVID-19 public health emergency was nearly catastrophic. Already threatened with economic demise because of the rise of digital advertising and how consumers use free social media tools to consume news, the pandemic put further financial stresses on local news outlets by impacting advertising from shuttered restaurants, bars and small businesses. All of this came at a time, of course, when local news—with information on the immediate impact of the public health emergency, among other topics—was more important than ever.  However, despite the strong challenges for local news outlets, the future may not be so bleak for the industry. Why? A growing number of nonprofit news media ventures are seeking to fill the void for quality local news efforts. Across the country, citizens are increasingly getting local news from new digital ventures focused on a specific region or city. Perhaps most important, philanthropists and major foundations are investing in these new efforts, increasing the chance for sustainability and impact and creating a new future for local news, even at this challenging time. This program will introduce viewers to two nonprofit efforts—MLK50 (covering the intersection of poverty, power and policy in Memphis), and Cityside (with the Bay Area outlets Berkeleyside and The Oaklandside)—as well as to the co-founder of a new venture philanthropy nonprofit, the American Journalism Project, created to make local sites more financially sustainable.  Please join us for an important conversation on the future of local news and why the future may be in a new generation of nonprofit news outlets. Wendi C. Thomas and John Thornton will participate virtually; Lance Knobel and David Cohn will be on-stage. SPEAKERS: Lance Knobel, CEO, CItyside Wendi C. Thomas, Editor and Publisher, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism (Participating Virtually) John Thornton, Founder Texas Tribune; Co-Founder American Journalism Project (Participating Virtually) David Cohn, Senior Director, Advance Local; Cofounder of Subtext—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been hosting our live programming via YouTube live stream. We are slowly reopen our building to programs with live guests and live audiences. This hybrid-program was recorded with participants in both our auditorium and via video conference on July 15th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. NOTE: This podcast may contain explicit language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jacob Simas is the managing editor of The Oaklandside, an online news startup that launched in June 2020 and is overseen by Cityside, a nonprofit media organization whose portfolio also includes the online publication Berkeleyside. To support The Oaklandside, click here. Jacob's career started in community non-profits, where as a counselor and later a program director of Horizons Unlimited, he helped organize violence prevention and arts programs for Latino youth in San Francisco. He later went on to work at New American Media, where he led a community news network called YouthWire, which helped amplify student and youth reporting in California's news deserts. He then went on to work at Univision, where he established Rise Up: Be Heard, a journalism training program for youth and community organizers in underserved areas of California, with an emphasis on rural regions. Jacob received his bachelor's degree in sociology from UC Berkeley and later graduated from the university's journalism school. Jacob gave shoutouts to three awesome Bay Area news outlets: 1 - El Tímpano: a “local reporting lab” that serves Spanish-speaking residents in Oakland. Support them here and follow them on Twitter here. 2 - Richmond Pulse: a community-based, youth-led online and print newspaper that covers the East Bay town of Richmond. Support them here and follow them on Twitter here. 3 - El Tecolote: a bilingual newspaper in San Francisco based out of the city's Mission District. Support them here and follow them on Twitter here.

While organizing files on my computer, I came across several segments, for whatever reason, I had failed to share. Here's one where I read an article coming from a independent news rag called, Berkeleyside where they write about Berkeley's reimaging of their policing. And then I dig deeper and poke around the cities website and see what it's really about. A bizarre, yet eye opening look at what our city governments are up to at our expense. Thanks for stopping by and I'll talk with you guys real soon. Stay safe and ditch the mask

An appeals court decision has ruled in favor of a development project in Berkeley that will give the state more control over local housing decisions. Some people are calling it a win for developers and the state’s effort to create more housing in California, but not everyone is celebrating. The decision was based on Senate Bill 35, which addresses the housing crisis with construction mandates for cities and counties. In this case, it ends a six-year battle to keep the Berkeley project from going forward.SB 35 went into effect in January of 2018 as one of a number of bills meant to address a critical need for more housing. If a municipality doesn’t provide its fair share of housing to meet regional needs, developers can apply for approval under SB 35 and get their projects fast-tracked, by the state. Projects must meet several requirements to quality, including. 1 - The construction of multi-unit housing with two or more residential units.2 - A location that is within city limits on an infill area.3 - The property must be zoned for residential or mixed use.4 - New homes must cover at least two-thirds of the property.5 - And the developer must provide a minimum percentage of below-market units that can range from 10 to 50%, or more.The Berkeley project was first introduced in 2015 as a mixed-use development with 135 homes and 33,000 square feet of retail space and parking at 1900 Fourth Street. That’s locally known as the old Spenger restaurant parking lot, near the bay. It’s also adjacent to, and overlapping an old Indian burial ground called the West Berkeley Shellmound. The National Trust for HIstoric Preservation listed the site as one of the 11 most endangered historic places, just last year.Members of the Ohlone tribes and supporters have been fighting against the project for years. According to a Berkeleyside article, tribal leaders say they are acknowledging the legacy of their ancestors, and are protecting the desecration of a sacred site. But the historic designation doesn’t specify the boundaries of the shellmound and doesn’t specifically name the parking lots as part of the site.After SB 35 was passed, the developer updated his plan with more homes and a high percentage of affordable units. The new plan included 260 residential units with 50% of them for low-income residents. But the city rejected the developer’s request for three reasons. It said:1 - That SB 35 cannot be applied because it interferes with Berkeley’s right as a charter city to manage its own affairs.2 - That SB 35 doesn’t apply to projects that require the demolition of a designated historic structure.3 - And the project conflicts with city fees for very low-income housing units and requirements for how traffic impacts the neighborhood.At that point, the developer pulled out, and the property was returned to the previous owners, who sued. The case went to court in 2019 and an Alameda county judge ruled in favor of the city and project opponents. But the case then made its way to the Appeals Court and the court has now overturned the earlier decision.In its decision, the Appeals court emphasized the “crisis of insufficient housing in the state” and the mandate put forth by SB 35. That mandate makes it impossible for cities like Berkeley to reject a proposal that meets the state’s criteria for the creation of affordable housing. The court also rejected the idea that the development would entail the demolition of an historic structure or site because there are no buildings to demolish. And it ruled that the city was not using objective land use standards when it determined that the project would not comply with its affordable housing mitigation fee and traffic impact requirements.At this point, the court has ordered Berkeley to pay court costs, and attorneys will be seeking compensation from the city as well. The case sets an important legal precedent in California by handing power to the State when it comes to issues like the affordable housing crisis, and the approval of development projects that will help fill that housing gap.According to Wikipedia, ten Bay Area developers are seeking approval for the construction of 4,000 housing units under the SB 35 rules. The online encyclopedia also says that 28 California cities and counties have met their housing quotas while almost 300 jurisdictions have not. Projects in those jurisdictions could qualify for approval under SB 35 if they devote 50% of the units to low-income residents, among other requirements, as stated by Wikipedia.You can read more about this by following links on the podcast player page for this episode at NewsForInvestors.comConnect with us today to find out how you can invest in single-family rentals or small multi-unit rental properties, and where you'll find inventory in desirable sunbelt states like Florida, Georgia, and Texas. You can make an appointment to speak with one of our investment counselors for free as a RealWealth member. It doesn't cost a thing to join, and it's easy to sign up right here.Links:https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/california-court-of-appeal-upholds-7824522/https://www.natlawreview.com/article/developers-prevail-dispute-regarding-key-housing-legislationhttps://www.berkeleyside.org/2020/09/25/west-berkeley-ca-shellmound-most-endangered-historic-places-national-trust-historic-preservationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Senate_Bill_35_(2017)

Geoffrey King is the president and CEO of Open Vallejo, a startup, nonprofit online news site that publishes longform investigations about police and government misconduct in the city of Vallejo, California. An investigative report by Geoffrey for Open Vallejo published in July 2020 about the city's police officers bending their badges to commemorate fatal shootings went viral, causing a major scandal and a subsequent third-party investigation of the police department. Geoffrey is a native of Vallejo and went to UC Berkeley for undergrad. He then went on to Stanford Law School. As a litigator, he's represented journalists, activists and artists. He's been a member of multiple press freedom and reporting organizations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists, where he co-chaired the group's Freedom of Information Committee. In addition to his duties at Open Vallejo, Geoffrey also teaches privacy law at UC Berkeley. Click here to support Open Vallejo's work. And click here to watch Geoffrey's recent interview with CNN's W. Kamau Bell. Geoffrey's shoutouts were to The Monterey County Herald, the Half Moon Bay Review, and the Shasta Scout. He also gave shoutouts to individual reporters, including John Glidden, Scott Morris and Otis R. Taylor Jr. (Geoffrey also mentioned Oaklandside and Berkeleyside, which have both been mentioned on this podcast before.) (You may notice this episode is a little longer than the others, which are usually around ~45 minutes. I did my best to edit this episode. But I thought the conversation was too good to cut out extensive portions of it. Enjoy!)

Lydia Chavez is the founder and executive editor of Mission Local, a hyperlocal and bilingual news site that covers the Mission District in San Francisco. Lydia was born and raised in Albuquerque and her first reporting job after graduating from Columbia's Journalism School was with The Albuquerque Tribune (now closed). She then went on to work at TIME Magazine, the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times. In 1990, Lydia started working at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, which was where Mission Local originally was founded as a project in 2008. In 2014, Mission Local became independent. The outlet publishes articles about city corruption, police misconduct, and, more recently, how the coronavirus is affecting the Mission District majority Latino population. To donate to Mission Local, click here. To read some of their most recent (and very excellent) investigative work, check out their most recent stories, “Special Report: Structural engineers' warnings over city's mandatory retrofits have gone unheeded for years,” and “Special Report: ‘It could become a San Bruno' — the explosive problem buried beneath San Francisco homes,” both published by Joe Eskenazi. Lydia's shoutout was to some great Bay Area outlets that haven't been mentioned yet on the podcast, Cityside, a local journalism nonprofit that oversees two great hyperlocal outlets, Oaklandside and Berkeleyside. Lydia also gave a shoutout to Open Vallejo, a nonprofit newsroom that covers police misconduct.

Tim Redmond is a political and investigative reporter in San Francisco who has been in the muckraking business for close to 40 years. He's currently editor of 48Hills, an online, progressive, non-profit news outlet based out of San Francisco that offers breaking news, investigative reporting and arts and culture pieces. In addition to his duties at 48Hills, Tim teaches undergraduate journalism at the University of San Francisco as well as a class for the School of Arts in Urban and Public Affairs program. In this episode, we speak about how Tim got into journalism, the basics of the local news crisis, who is to blame for the crisis, why it is important that local news outlets exist in the first place and why Tim does this kind of work. The idea was for this episode to serve as an introduction so that listeners of this podcast could start wrapping their heads around the issue at hand. Click here to support Tim and his work at 48Hills. Here are Tim's shoutouts: El Tecolote - a bilingual newspaper covering San Francisco's Mission District Mission Local - an online news outlet covering the Mission (and the rest of the city) Berkeleyside - an online news outlet covering Berkeley Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez - a reporter and producer at KQED To learn more about the American Dispatch Podcast, go to amdipodcast.substack.com.

This week there are some event and show announcements?! Many of them are documentaries, which Maysoun is ambivalent about. We also listen to a poem!All the music in this episode is byImprisoned by algorithmsSan Jose Museum of ArtBAMPFA Quilt Press ReleaseCanessa Gallery Thing!The LAB !Crutch DocumentaryMaya Angelou - Life Doesn't Frighten MeBerkeleysidePhonebank for prop 15!The blue moon is coming!

0:08 – Court orders 50% transferred or released from San Quentin Brad O'Connell is Assistant Director of the First District Appellate Project. 0:15 – What's happening inside James King is a state campaigner with the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, and was formerly incarcerated in San Quentin. 0:34 – Local explainer: Berkeley Mayor's race Francis Dinkelspiel is co-founder and executive editor of Berkeleyside, where she's covering Berkeley elections. 0:46 – Vallejo mayoral candidate Hakeem Brown has a history of domestic violence Geoffrey King (goes by Geoff) is an attorney and journalist, and founder of Open Vallejo, a new non-profit newsroom. He just published an investigation into Vallejo City Council-member and Mayoral candidate Hakeem Brown, revealing his history of domestic violence and abuse. 1:08 – In California, a State Senator represents more people than the average member of Congress. And there's an open seat in the Bay: Senate District 15, covering big chunk of San Jose and the surrounding area. Voters will face a choice between two Democrats, which can make it hard to suss out the differences, so we walk them both through their positions on some of the biggest policy fights at the ballot and in the legislature. 1:09 – Ann Ravel is formerly an Obama Appointee on the Federal Election Commission. 1:34 – David Cortese is currently a member of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. The post Appeals court: ‘Worst epidemiological disaster' San Quentin must release or transfer 50% of prisoners to combat COVID; Plus: Berkeley and Vallejo Mayor's races; and CA Senate District 15 candidates Ann Ravel vs Dave Cortese appeared first on KPFA.

Berkeley recently renamed a street after a South Asian activist Kala Bagai. But her story isn’t the typical one you hear about people who get streets or monuments named after them. Nearly 100 years ago, Bagai and her family were driven out of town by racist neighbors who didn’t want them to move in. She and her family eventually left the Bay Area, and a lot of her later activism was the kind of work that didn’t make the headlines. But that’s exactly why some people feel like she’s the perfect person to represent the past and the present. Guest: Barnali Ghosh, curator and community historian with the South Asian Radical History Walking Tour Click here to read a Mar. 12, 2020 op-ed in Berkeleyside by Kala Bagai’s granddaughter, Rani Bagai, about her grandmother’s story.

0:08 – How long will it take to develop a Covid-19 vaccine, and what can the public expect from the human vaccine trials underway right now? Art Reingold is the Division Head of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. 0:34 – There has been an explosion of Covid-19 cases in U.S. meatpacking plants among workers. Tyson, JBS and Smithfield workers have died from the virus. Investigative reporter Leah Douglas (@leahjdouglas) of the nonprofit investigative news outlet Food and Environment Reporting Network has been tracking the spread of Covid-19 in the food system, and says it is likely being massively undercounted, in part because of the reticence of meat companies to disclose the extent of the sickness. Read Douglas's reporting here. 1:08 – A recent study of misinformation in Nature mapped the online spread of pro- and anti-vaccination views. It suggested anti-vaccination social media posters are more successful at posting their content where “undecided” viewers will see it, even though anti-vaccination advocates are a smaller portion of users. We talk with Neil Johnson, professor of physics at George Washington University and lead author of the study.  1:18 – What's the crossover between anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown views at recent protests at state houses across the U.S.? We speak with Devin Burghart (@dburghart), executive director of the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights, based in Seattle, which examines racist, anti-Semitic, and far right social movements.  1:34 – An appeals court has paved the way for a massive, polluting coal export terminal at the Port of Oakland. We get the latest update from journalist Darwin BondGraham, news editor of Berkeleyside's forthcoming Oakland newsroom.   Photo by Don Barrett The post Covid-19 cases in meatpacking plants are likely undercounted; Anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown views cross-pollinate online; Appeals court paves way for polluting coal terminal at Port of Oakland appeared first on KPFA.

0:08 – The week ahead in Washington – Mitch is taking a day off, he'll be back next week – the next relief package, will states get bailed out, the Democratic primary and more John Nichols (@NicholsUprising) National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation. His newest book The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party comes out this Wednesday May 6,2020 from Verso Books.  0:34 – Why some people get sicker than others Dr James Hamblin (@jameshamblin) is a Staff Writer at The Atlantic, and a lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health. He wrote “Why Some People Get Sicker Than Others” 1:08 – Oakland nurse fired for protesting lack of PPE at Highland Saber Alaoui is a nurse, who was fired from Highland Hospital for posting a photo of himself wearing a garbage bag as PPE, and is fighting to get his job back.  1:15 – The Problems with Alameda County Health System Darwin BondGraham (@DarwinBondGraha) is the news editor of Berkeleyside's forthcoming Oakland newsroom. 1:34 – What might lifting shelter safely in place look like? Stephen Engelberg (@SteveEngelberg) is editor-in-chief of ProPublica. He co-reported a recent article ‘Coronavirus Advice From Abroad: 7 Lessons America's Governors Should Not Ignore as They Reopen Their Economies' 1:56 – Poetry flash: “Certainties” by Paul Cormon-Roberts Paul Corman-Roberts is an author, poet, and an original co-founder of Oakland's Beast Crawl Poetry Festival and he also co-produces the Fire Thieves reading series with San Francisco Poet Laureate Kim Shuck.  (Photo: Symptoms of the coronavirus disease / Wikipedia) The post COVID-19: Why some people get sicker than others, with Dr James Hamblin; Plus: Oakland Nurse fighting for his job back after protesting lack of PPE at Highland Hospital appeared first on KPFA.

0:08 – Trump cuts WHO funding, and G20 announces debt suspension for 76 developing nations Nadia Daar (@nadiadaar) is the head of the Washington DC office of Oxfam International. 0:34 – Q&A: Healthcare and insurance available in California Peter Lee is the Executive Director of California's health benefit exchange, “Covered California” (@CoveredCAnews) Anthony Wright (@aewright) is Executive Director of Health Access California, a health consumer advocacy coalition.  1:08 – How are people living in Oakland Tuff Shed's doing with shelter in place? For a couple years, Oakland's been using Tuff Sheds — which it calls “community cabins” to temporarily shelter people it evicts from homeless encampments. Those sites have drawn some criticism from residents and housing advocates. The sheds are double-occupancy, and don't have plumbing. So we wanted to check in on how people living there are doing during COVID-19. Our features reporter Lucy Kang (@ThisIsLucyKang) spoke to one resident at the Lake Merritt site.  1:18 – Is there a COVID cluster among Berkeley's unhoused? Darwin BondGraham (@DarwinBondGraha) is the news editor of Berkeleyside's forthcoming Oakland newsroom. His latest piece is ‘East Bay hopes to avoid repeat of San Francisco's homeless shelter COVID-19 outbreak.' 1:25 – KPFA News: The conditions facing California's unhoused during this pandemic has prompted a campaign being coordinated by groups in Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Los Angeles. KPFA's Chris Lee (@chrislee_xyz) reports.  1:34 – Alameda County Community Food Bank is struggling to meet community need amid shelter in place Suzan Bateson is the Executive Director of the Alameda County Community Food Bank (@ACCFB). 1:45 – Community advocates are demanding Alameda County close Santa Rita jail, where 12 people have tested positive for COVID-19, and 12 have reportedly recovered. George Galvis (@george_galvis) is the Executive Director of CURYJ, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (@CURYJ).  Event: Car Rally to Santa Rita Jail meets TODAY 4/16  at 11:15 AM at the Lake Merritt BART Parking Lot for a caravan to the Alameda County Administration Building and then Santa Rita Jail. (Photo: COVID-19 outbreak map as of April 16, 2020 / Wikipedia) The post Trump cuts funding to the World Health Organization, shocking the global pandemic response; Plus: What you need to know about California's healthcare insurance ‘Covered CA' appeared first on KPFA.

Gabrielle Selz is the author of Unstill Life: A Daughter's Memoir of Art and Love in the Age of Abstraction, published by W.W. Norton in 2014. Unstill Life received the best memoir of the year award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) and was chosen as one of the best books of the year by both the San Francisco Chronicle and Berkeleyside. She is currently writing Light on Fire: The Art and Life of Sam Francis to be published by U.C Press. Selz holds a special interest in the intersection of memory, history, cultural criticism, and art. As a child, she bounced between the bohemian art worlds of New York and Berkeley, California. Her father, Peter Selz, was the Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, before he founded the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Her mother, Thalia Selz, was a writer and the founding editor of Story Quarterly. In 1969, Thalia selected the original tenants for Westbeth, the largest artists housing project in the country, and the family then moved to live alongside artists like Diane Arbus and Merce Cunningham. Introduced to Sam Francis as a child, her interest in his life, career and what motivated his extraordinary contributions, expanded while she was researching and writing Unstill Life. Selz has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Times, More Magazine, The Rumpus and the L.A. Times. Her fiction has appeared in Fiction Magazine and her art criticism in Art Papers, Hyperallergic and Newsday and the Huffington Post. She is a past recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Nonfiction and is a Moth Story Slam Winner. gabrielleselz.com · www.creativeprocess.info

Gabrielle Selz is the author of Unstill Life: A Daughter's Memoir of Art and Love in the Age of Abstraction, published by W.W. Norton in 2014. Unstill Life received the best memoir of the year award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) and was chosen as one of the best books of the year by both the San Francisco Chronicle and Berkeleyside. Selz holds a special interest in the intersection of memory, history, cultural criticism, and art. As a child, she bounced between the bohemian art worlds of New York and Berkeley, California. Her father, Peter Selz, was the Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, before he founded the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Her mother, Thalia Selz, was a writer and the founding editor of Story Quarterly. Gabrielle is currently writing Light on Fire: The Art and Life of Sam Francis to be published by U.C Press. gabrielleselz.com · www.creativeprocess.info

New biomedical technologies — from prenatal testing to gene editing techniques — raise questions about how far we should go in retooling the human genome. Two leading thinkers, George Estreich (“Fables and Futures: Biotechnology, Disability, and the Stories We Tell Ourselves,”) and Jamie Metzl (“Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity”) explore these new frontiers — and their limits. Sponsored by Berkeleyside.

North Berkeley’s “Gourmet Ghetto” is considered the birthplace of California cuisine. It’s where the original Peet’s Coffee is located, and the neighborhood is home to Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse. For years, the culinary nickname remained a part of the neighborhood’s identity, until a new coffee shop owner said he wanted it to change, pointing to its offensive, racial context. Now, the neighborhood business association has decided to remove the name from its branding, but residents still seem split on whether the name is problematic enough to change. Sarah Han, editor of Berkeleyside's Nosh.

"Outta pocket." "Bootsy." "On mamas." The East Bay has always been a laboratory for creative slang. Berkeley High School in particular is known for having its own language of sorts — documented in the late 90s and early 2000s in the Berkeley High Slang Dictionary. As students head back to school, we take a look at whether this unique way of speaking is still thriving in the age of gentrification and social media — and what new words are in use today.

A trio of Northern California women (two of whom are UC Berkeley alumni) founded Salt Point Seaweed in Spring 2017 to harvest seaweed from the Pacific Ocean. They forage, farm, and do research along the California coast to offer the highest quality and most nutritious seaweed, responsibly sourced from the pristine waters of Northern California. Catherine O’Hare talks to host Lisa Kiefer about their business model, the different types of seaweed, and their commitment to ethical, sustainable solutions for humans and our environment.TranscriptLisa Kiefer: [00:00:08] This is Method to the Madness, a bi weekly public affairs show on K A L X Berkeley celebrating Bay Area innovators. I'm your host, Lisa Kiefer. And today, I'm speaking with Catherine O'Hare. She's part of a trio of female entrepreneurs who have started a company called Salt Point Seaweed. Welcome to the program, Catherine. Thank you.Lisa Kiefer: [00:00:38] I have so many questions for you about this seaweed company, first of all. Are you the only women owned seaweed company in the world?Catherine O'Hare: [00:00:45] That's a good question. I don't think so. There's a seaweed harvester up in Sonoma County who's a woman. I don't know if her business is all women owned, but there's not many.Lisa Kiefer: [00:00:55] Are you an alumni of UC Berkeley?Catherine O'Hare: [00:00:57] No. Tessa and Avery, the other two women, are alumni. They did their grad program here at UC Berkeley. Tessa and I both went to Oberlin College in Ohio for undergraduate.Lisa Kiefer: [00:01:08] How did you get started in the seaweed business? What inspired you to do this?Catherine O'Hare: [00:01:13] All three of us have a background in agriculture, so we've always been interested in food. I was a biology major and then worked on farms. So I'd always been interested in local food and healthy food. But it wasn't until moving to the bay now like five or six years ago that I got connected with the seaweed harvester and started learning about all the local seaweeds that we have here on the Northern California coast. I grew up by the ocean in Southern California. So I loved the ocean. I loved the beach. I was always looking for ways to be by the water. They were the first to get involved. Of the trio of founders. Yeah. So we all have a background in agriculture. We also all have some ties to East Africa where we've either worked before or lived before. And there we all saw seaweed farming in Zanzibar.Lisa Kiefer: [00:01:58] Were you in the Peace Corps?Catherine O'Hare: [00:01:59] No. I studied abroad there when I was in college, just doing a coastal ecology program. Tessa and Avery both did their graduate program at UC Berkeley and they did a master's in development practice. So it's kind of sustainable international development. So that brought them to East Africa.Lisa Kiefer: [00:02:17] Did you all meet up over there or did you find out later that you had.Catherine O'Hare: [00:02:22] We found out later. Tessa and I knew each other from Oberlin. We both ended up in the bay. We each had independent experiences in East Africa. And Avery and Tessa met here at UC Berkeley. And during their during Avery's program here, she did work in East Africa. So we all just kind of had these in our weaving paths. So I was just living and working in the bay, working for a small food company and kind of learning more about seaweed harvesting and doing it as a hobby. And in the meantime, I was good friends with Tessa. So we were talking all the time about all these things related to food, just tossing around ideas about local agriculture systems, herbs, seaweed, farming, like we just were tossing around all these ideas every time we met up. And seaweed was always one of those things, I think because I had seen seaweed farming in Zanzibar and she was interested in these alternative livelihood systems for women all over the world. And so it was during that time where Tessa and Avery were finishing their graduate program here.Catherine O'Hare: [00:03:23] I was working and exploring where the seaweed on our local coast that we just started delving deeper and deeper into the world of seaweed and talking to everyone we can, emailing people, trying to meet up with people just to learn more about the seaweed industry, about seaweed farming. And it just has kind of.Lisa Kiefer: [00:03:42] How to harvest and all that? Catherine O'Hare: [00:03:43] Yeah.Lisa Kiefer: [00:03:44] So what were your steps?Catherine O'Hare: [00:03:46] Well, so we're doing our pilot project with Hog Island Oyster Company there in Oyster Farm in Tamales Bay, because the legislation and regulatory agencies are you know, it's a long process to get your own aquaculture permit. So we're doing a research project. This Hog Island Oyster Farm is hosting our pilot, but Hog Island leases from the state, the state waters. So they have aquaculture permit from California Fish and Wildlife. And that's kind of one of the many, you know, permits that they have to be doing aquaculture.Lisa Kiefer: [00:04:19] Are you going to be a pilot for a long time or how long does that last before you actually have to get your own permits independently?Catherine O'Hare: [00:04:27] We're still figuring it out. We first talked to Hog Island over two years ago where we just showed up and kind of bounce this idea off them of, you know, we're interested in doing a little pilot to farm seaweed to see how these native species of seaweed grow. Have you ever thought about that? Would you be interested? And so those conversations happened kind of over the course of a year. Meanwhile, we were trying to apply for grants to fund this, I think because Tessa and Avery had this grad school academic background that was kind of the framework that that we knew of how to try to do a project like this.Lisa Kiefer: [00:05:04] So you got your funding via grant?Lisa Kiefer: [00:05:06] We applied for one grant through NOAA that was big. It like gave us the structure to really dive in and figure out all the details. We did not get that one, but because it had set us up to really have a project. Then Hog Island was still on board to do this. So we were like, OK, we'll find we'll find other funding. So then we got a smaller grant from California Sea Grant, which is like an affiliate of Noah. And that gave us ten thousand dollars That development grant is just to prepare mostly academics to go after a bigger grant. So it's kind of this like small bundle of money. So we were awarded that and then that really funded the pilot.Lisa Kiefer: [00:05:48] Have you continued to just use grants or or did you go out into the private equity?Catherine O'Hare: [00:05:53] No. We. We all put in a little bit of our own money to start. We got another business, small business grant from Oberlin College where Tessa and I went. That was great. That was a huge help. We just finished a Kickstarter a few weeks ago. And other than that, we've just been getting some revenue from our product line of our wild harvested seaweed. So we're kind of...Lisa Kiefer: [00:06:16] So you're keeping your mission in tact, keeping outsiders out.Catherine O'Hare: [00:06:19] Yeah. So far, we're also growing very slowly because of that, which is okay with us. We're not we're definitely not the traditional Bay Area business, I think. But yeah. So far, there's no other investment in the company.Lisa Kiefer: [00:06:32] Okay. This oyster company. What is the relationship between oysters and seaweed?Catherine O'Hare: [00:06:38] It's a really beautiful symbiotic relationship. Oysters are also filter feeders, so they're filtering the water and making it less cloudy and less murky. So more light can reach the seaweed. And seaweed is a really beneficial. You know, seaweed is just the term for marine macro algae. So any algae that's growing in a marine environment that's like seaweed is kind of this big, vague term.Lisa Kiefer: [00:07:02] So it's kelp and there's all kinds.Catherine O'Hare: [00:07:04] Yeah. There's all kinds, kelp or brown seaweeds. There's also green algae and red algae. So what seaweeds do just like land plants, their primary producers, they're absorbing carbon and nitrogen to grow. And so unlike a land plant, that carbon and nitrogen is coming from the water. So in seaweeds, growing in an environment, it's, you know, kind of taking out some of those excess nutrients. Too much carbon in the water is what's leading to ocean acidification. And that's one of the factors that can inhibit shellfish growth. So if the water's too acidic, it's hard for their shells to form when they're young.Lisa Kiefer: [00:07:39] And seaweed helped with that.Catherine O'Hare: [00:07:40] Right. So seaweed is making the water. You know, so far the studies done show that it's just in a local area.Catherine O'Hare: [00:07:46] So right where you're growing the seaweed, there's hope that you can be moderating the P.H. of that water. So making it a little bit less acidic, making the water chemistry a little more balanced for lack of a better word. And also by absorbing nitrogen that helps, you know, too much nitrogen in a marine environment is what causes those harmful algal blooms, though. So the thought is by growing the type of seaweed that you want and then harvesting and getting it out of the environment, you're helping to kind of capture some of that nitrogen before it leads to. It's like using it for the seaweed you want instead of the algae that.Lisa Kiefer: [00:08:21] It's kind of like seaweed farming.Catherine O'Hare: [00:08:23] Yeah. What we're doing is technically under the umbrella of aquaculture, but there's a lot of different ways that aquaculture can look. Seaweed and shellfish farming are pretty low input like you need to put physical equipment in the water column. But then there's no feed, there's no additives, there's no additional fertilizer or anything. It's just, you know, they're using sunlight in the case of seaweed, sunlight and the water aquaculture on the other end of the spectrum can be fish farming can be these bigger, more intensive systems. Some of those fish farms, you need to get fish to feed the fish. You have to I mean, I'm sure some add a lot of additives. So, yeah. This word aquaculture really has a big range.Lisa Kiefer: [00:09:06] OK. Are you testing the water daily? What have you discovered in the short time that you've been in this business about the quality of the Pacific Ocean?Catherine O'Hare: [00:09:15] That's a great question.Catherine O'Hare: [00:09:17] We have had to kind of scale back our pilot based on money and time and resources. But the wonderful thing is that Hog Island has been doing partnerships with but Bodega Marine Lab through UC Davis that they get water quality measurements every day. They have these monitors in the water that are constantly giving them feedback. So through that, we've been able to see how the salinity is changing, the PH, the temperature. They're measuring all these things every day.Lisa Kiefer: [00:09:44] And what are you discovering?Catherine O'Hare: [00:09:45] Our pilot ran from April of last year till November. So a pretty small window. And really what we saw were just seasonal variations. So like seasonal temperature changes and PH changes not related to our pilot. I think there is concern just in general about ocean acidification. But our pilot was a little too small scale.Lisa Kiefer: [00:10:05] But you will continue to see any changes. So that's really valuable.Catherine O'Hare: [00:10:10] Yeah. So right now, that pilot wrapped up in the fall. And just because everything is so unknown, we're kind of taking a pause to see what's next. We're still working with Hog Island, but we're kind of in conversation about what phase two will look like. So, yeah, I think if it were easier to get an aquaculture permit in California, that would be the direction we would want ahead. It's a long and expensicve process in California and, you know, rightfully so we have this beautiful protected coastline.Lisa Kiefer: [00:10:48] If you're just tuning in, you're listening to Method to the Madness, a bi weekly public affairs show on K A L X Berkeley celebrating Bay Area innovators today, speaking with Catherine O'Hare of Salt Point Seaweed.Lisa Kiefer: [00:11:09] If you could just walk me through the process of I guess you'd call it farming the seaweed. What would a typical day be like for you three?Catherine O'Hare: [00:11:18] It's about to be harvest time for our wild harvested products. For the seaweed farming pilot, we harvested mostly in September and October because the species that we grew, we grew throughout the summer and then harvested in the fall. A lot of the kelp farms on the East Coast grow throughout the winter and then harvest in the spring. But the type of seaweed that we did for this pilot is a type of red algae. So not the big long kelps, but a type of red algae called grass grassaleria. It's also called ogo. It's like a kind of a red spindly seaweed. We chose it because it's native to Tamales Bay. It's edible. It's pretty easy to propagate because we were doing this very low tech. And so how we did it was we created little bundles of seaweed.Lisa Kiefer: [00:12:09] So do you go out there and cut it? Or how do you do it?Catherine O'Hare: [00:12:11] So we had a permit to wild harvest the initial, you know, seed stock. And then so we harvested we created cut little bundles. And this seaweed is a type that will propagate vegetative. So just by cutting it, it can grow more. So we created little bundles and then out there already, Hog Island had big, long lines that were floating on the surface of the water and anchored to the bottom. You know, there are buoys and each of those buoys were anchored to the bottom. Each of those bundles that we created, we kind of un-twisted the long line to create a little gap in the long line and then shoved the bundle through. And as we let go, the tension of the line would hold the bundle in place. So that's the basic, our basic propagation method. So it was originally wild and then that's how we farmed it onto a line. So then we had a long line out there in Tomales Bay and the bundles of seaweed were kind of growing down from the line. So we were measuring growth rate. So each month we would come back and harvest it and see how much grew. You know, we have this little fishing boat and we just use scissors. We can get really close to the line and just use scissors.Lisa Kiefer: [00:13:19] And so you don't actually get in the water.Catherine O'Hare: [00:13:22] Not for this farming pilot. We stayed on a boat. So we're kind of have this split personality where we're all so wild harvesting seaweed and that we do get in the water, that we go at low tide to these rocky coves up on the northern coast and still just using scissors in our hands. But we're on foot and kind of exploring the intertidal when it's really, really low tide.Lisa Kiefer: [00:13:47] And what kind of seaweed is that called?Catherine O'Hare: [00:13:49] The re were harvesting three species. Two are kelps. One is a lemonaria. We call that California kombu. And then alaria is California wakame. And then we're also harvesting Nori, which are actually many species that look almost identical. So it's hard to kind of say for sure the exact species, but they're on the genus Pyropia. So those are the three wild harvested seaweeds. We don't harvest any of the giant kelps. Yeah, although species can be sustainably harvested. So you're just kind of pruning the species, so you're cutting it to a certain level and then they'll regrow and regenerate.Lisa Kiefer: [00:14:29] And so you bring it back to the shore and then what happens?Catherine O'Hare: [00:14:32] Usually when we're harvesting is far from any road because, you know, we're choosing the most pristine area. So then we hike it up because it's so misty and cold and wet on the coast. We have a drying location that's inland about 45 minutes or an hour so that it's, we can get the hot sunny afternoon and then we dry it in the sun and seaweed roll on a good day, dry by the end of the day. And so that's why the sun is really important.Lisa Kiefer: [00:14:59] So you can have it in a truck ready to go to market in 24 hours?Catherine O'Hare: [00:15:03] Selling dry, the low tides are low for many days in a row. So we like, do you know, day after day. But yeah, after harvesting one early morning. By the next day, we could have product ready to go when you're done with that process.Lisa Kiefer: [00:15:20] When you are done with that project, you have a warehouse here?Catherine O'Hare: [00:15:20] We have a small storage location in Oakland.Lisa Kiefer: [00:15:24] OK, yeah. And is that the place from which it's distributed to end users?Catherine O'Hare: [00:15:29] Yes. Basically, we have so many locations because we're trying to scrape together affordable places, but we have a commercial kitchen that we sublease where we do all the food production so that it's up to California health code.Lisa Kiefer: [00:15:44] And where is that located?Catherine O'Hare: [00:15:45] That's in South Berkeley. It's at the Berkeley Kitchens. It's an amazing group of food businesses. We sublet from Cult crackers who make those really amazing gluten free crackers. So we're using their kitchen on nights and weekends. That's where we make our food products. So from there, we, you know, have another storage location where we can do all the shipping and distribution.Lisa Kiefer: [00:16:07] So do you have to do packaging as well?Catherine O'Hare: [00:16:09] Mm hmm.Lisa Kiefer: [00:16:09] There's a lot of pieces to this.Catherine O'Hare: [00:16:10] There's a lot of pieces to it.Lisa Kiefer: [00:16:12] How would I find your product as an end user here in the East Bay?Catherine O'Hare: [00:16:16] We just got into Berkeley Bowl, which was a exciting development a few weeks ago, we're at two farmers markets, the Fort Mason market in the city in San Francisco and every other week we're at the Kensington Market both on Sundays and then when a few stores.. it's growing. But Berkeley Bowl in the city, you we're in Rainbow Grocery. We're at Far West Fun guy's booth in the Ferry Building. We're at Oak Town Spice Shop in Oakland, preserved in Oakland. The whole list is on our Web site. So you can also buy products on our website, which is SaltPointSeaweed.com.Lisa Kiefer: [00:16:52] You also have recipes on there for using seaweed.Catherine O'Hare: [00:16:55] Yeah, we have recipes.Lisa Kiefer: [00:16:56] You also post your research notes or anything.Catherine O'Hare: [00:16:59] So we're creating this public report from the pilot. We're trying to get it done as soon as possible. And then, yes, that's gonna be on our website. We're kind of gonna distribute that widely because we want the results of this pilot with Hog Island to be distributed and open for people to see. We want it to kind of help tell the story of what seaweed farming could do and how it could, in theory, be a positive benefit to the environment.Lisa Kiefer: [00:17:23] Tell me about using seaweed. I don't think most people know about the nutrients in seaweed.Catherine O'Hare: [00:17:30] Each species has slightly different nutritional profile, but in general, seaweeds are just very nutrient dense. So there's a lot of minerals. Almost all seaweeds have iodine and that's a hard especially for vegans. It's a rare mineral to find in high concentrations. Seaweed has vitamin B, calcium, iron. It's just kind of like the super dense food. Seaweeds also have these mineral salts. So instead of sodium chloride, which is table salt, they have these other mineral salts like potassium, which kind of just give it a unique flavor. And I just read this article about the scientists who discovered you umami in Japan back in the nineteen, early nineteen hundreds. That flavor umami is attributed to the glutamate. I hope I'm getting this right, that seaweed is high in. So seaweeds also aside from the nutrition, give food this really savory umami flavor. Partially because of those minerals.Lisa Kiefer: [00:18:28] So it must be really good in soups.Catherine O'Hare: [00:18:30] It's great in soups. Yeah. So the types that we sell the kombu is this great bass for broth, for stews, for soups. It's high in that umami. It's high and iodine. So it's adding,I throw it at anything I cook just because it's giving it minerals, nutrients. And this kind of savory flavor combo also helps break down the carbohydrates and beans and legumes that sometimes give us digestive problems. So it helps make beans easier to cook and digest. Kombu's an easy one to to throw in a lot of dishes without thinking about it too much. We also sell California wakame, which is a thinner kelp. It's more mild. It's like Kombu is hard to eat. Just raw because it's thick. Wakame is thinner, so it's easier to just cut up and then throw the pieces in like a stir fry.Lisa Kiefer: [00:19:19] Or a salad?Catherine O'Hare: [00:19:20] So yeah, it's great to rehydrate and then make a seaweed salad with. We have some of those recipes on our website. A lot of people come up and take samples at the farmer's market and they're like, oh, that's not, you know, that's not the superintense seaweed flavor I was expecting. I always say that I think the varieties that we harvest here in California are a little bit more mild or maybe it's that they're fresh.Lisa Kiefer: [00:19:40] I was going to ask you that. What would be the taste difference between the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific and, you know, any other bodies or what have you noticed? Have you done a tasting?Catherine O'Hare: [00:19:48] You know, I this is a maybe a sad confession. I haven't done too much tasting of East Coast Atlantic seaweeds, just haven't spent much time on the East Coast. Chefs tell us that they can taste a difference between Japanese and Korean grown seaweed and the type that we're growing here. The Nori that we harvest here, they tell us that there's a more mineral, kind of like wild rich taste compared to the Nori that's coming from Japan and Korea. Out of the three of us, Avery has the most culinary background. She was a chef and has background in culinary. I'm learning how to put more culinary words to seaweed. But sometimes, you know, that's a, that's a muscle I'm trying to build.Lisa Kiefer: [00:20:31] That's when you just say, I like it.Catherine O'Hare: [00:20:33] Yeah. I love it. I love eating it. Can I describe the differences? I'm working on it.Lisa Kiefer: [00:20:38] Speaking of Japan and that area, do people worry about the fallout from the Fukushima radioactivity in the waters? Is that a concern?Catherine O'Hare: [00:20:48] Yeah, we get a lot of questions about that. That's one of the reasons why we're excited and interested in providing California seaweed, because it's harder to trace the seaweed that's coming from Japan and Korea.Lisa Kiefer: [00:21:00] Don't most seaweeds come from Asia?Catherine O'Hare: [00:21:02] Yeah. Most edible seaweeds are coming from Korea, China and Japan. There's seaweed grown all over the world, but in the US, over 95 percent of the seaweed eaten is coming from overseas and other, other places. UC Berkeley actually was part of this consortium of UCs that after the two thousand eleven Fukushima disaster started testing the kelp beds from the coast of, like off San Diego to Canada. So for years they were testing the kelp beds and looking for radioactive isotopes and they didn't find any being picked up by the kelp beds.Lisa Kiefer: [00:21:40] Great.Catherine O'Hare: [00:21:41] Yeah. So that's good news. And we have you know, we so far can't do our own testing, but we turn to that third party. I'm so grateful that now that they have done that and if anyone's interested, it's called Kelp Watch and you can go to the website and they have all the information there.Lisa Kiefer: [00:21:55] And a lot of people are allergic to oysters. If your seaweed is in a bed of oysters, do they have to worry about that at all?Catherine O'Hare: [00:22:03] Good question. We rinse every all the seaweed in saltwater. So if someone's allergic to shellfish, like on our products right now, we have a disclaimer that because it's a wild product, there might be some small sea crustacean that, you know, we can't ever 100 percent confirm that there's no traces of shellfish, but it's not like they're touching or intermingling. We rinse all of the seaweed in fresh seawater.Lisa Kiefer: [00:22:29] And I wanted to ask you about the challenges that you three have faced in entering this field, whether it's being an all woman business or finding money. You've talked a little bit about that. What are some of the major challenges?Catherine O'Hare: [00:22:44] Gosh, I think there's a couple different categories. One is that we did start this very slowly and organically and didn't take funding. So we all were working other jobs for the last two years. You know, it's kind of a feedback loop, right? We were working other jobs so grew slower, but it grew slower because we're working other jobs. But just finding access to funding that we would feel good about and that we would still have control of our company. That's been one. I think the Bay right now is a really supportive place to be a woman known business. So we've felt a lot of enthusiasm and encouragement from that. But sure, there are always people who don't take you seriously or don't give you the time of day because you don't look like the typical business person. A big challenge with the seaweed farming pilot that we're doing is that the regulatory process to get our own aquaculture permit is just so long and expensive. That was one of the reasons to do the pilot is to take the results of the pilot. How much carbon and nitrogen the seaweeds absorbing and show it to these regulatory agencies. So have a document that you can go to Fish and Wildlife and California Coastal Commission. But that's been a big challenge because if that were easier, I think we'd be in a different place. And we're definitely supportive of the regulatory agencies. They have a big job and a hard job and are doing the good work of protecting our coast and our resources. You know, I think there's a number that there's been no new aquaculture leases granted offshore in 25 years or 30 years. So there's just no precedent. So that's a big challenge that we're trying to we're trying to address by sharing the results of this pilot.Lisa Kiefer: [00:24:27] And are you making any money on your product?Catherine O'Hare: [00:24:29] We are. Right now, we're about breaking even.Lisa Kiefer: [00:24:32] That's pretty good in a short time.Catherine O'Hare: [00:24:34] Yeah, I mean, we have low expenses. We're being very scrappy. And, you know, just being at farmers markets mean we have regular sales and regular income and we sell online. We sell our products online. And then we also sell bulk to food restaurants and food businesses. There's a few restaurants that are ongoing supporters and then some businesses like a kimchi company and a bone broth company. So there's been regular sales. So we've been able to keep ourselves going on the wild harvested products and and really, you know, show that there's demand for seaweed and help build the education and awareness around seaweed.Lisa Kiefer: [00:25:12] Do you have any competitors in this marketplace?Catherine O'Hare: [00:25:14] There are other wild harvested seaweed companys.Lisa Kiefer: [00:25:16] Local?Catherine O'Hare: [00:25:17] Most based in Mendocino County, and they're amazing. Some of them have been doing it since the 80s or the 70s. There's a few other groups, you know, they feel like collaborators who are also trying to do seaweed farming. So there's a duo down in San Diego trying to farm seaweed in the port of San Diego. There's a company called Farmer C in Santa Barbara who's head by Dan Marquez, and we know him really well. So there's other people who are trying to farm seaweed in California, but so far all are at the research stage or the preliminary stage because it's hard to get those permits.Lisa Kiefer: [00:25:53] So you all share information, I would assume so far.Catherine O'Hare: [00:25:56] Yeah, it's been very collaborative. We're all trying to you know, we kind of see it like a rising tide, lifts all boats, like it would benefit us all to have easier access and sharing resources. And then there's a lot of Kelp farms starting on the East Coast. Most farms on the East Coast are farming sugar kelp, especially the state of Maine, has made it really streamlined and much easier to get aquaculture permits and start kelp farms. So it's really exciting to see all the progress happening over there. There's kelp farming that's being started in Alaska, so it's starting... California, I think it's gonna be a little bit slower to take off in California because of the regulatory agencies.Lisa Kiefer: [00:26:33] You're doing a lot of your harvesting in public water. There's boats and you know, the whole idea that there could be motorboats and oil in the water. Yeah, you know, it's complicated.Catherine O'Hare: [00:26:44] It's definitely complicated. And seaweed. You know, a lot of aquaculture happens in mixed areas like that.Lisa Kiefer: [00:26:51] So I don't mind a little bit more regulation as a consumer, if it means a higher quality product.Catherine O'Hare: [00:26:57] Yeah. And seaweeds can absorb you know, they absorb what's in the water. So that's why it's really important that our waters are clean and pristine and as protected as we can have them.Lisa Kiefer: [00:27:07] What have been some of your best accomplishments?Catherine O'Hare: [00:27:10] Someone gave us the advice like keep a list in your journal or on your phone of other little firsts like, oh, first time someone emailed about having an internship. So I think we've done a mediocre job at that. But there's been a lot of little accomplishments that feel great. The Kickstarter last month was a big one. We rais..we set our goal at $25000. And I think we ended up raising $42000. And it was really emotional to see so much support come in. So that felt like a very tangible success.Lisa Kiefer: [00:27:40] Have you gotten any awards or recognition?Catherine O'Hare: [00:27:42] We have bee n featured in Vogue and on the the website Goop. But it's funny, like the little like Berkeleyside just did a feature on us and that I think resulted in more sales and attention. So you never know which ones are going to end. The Kickstarter did also help with that. It's kind of like this concrete little time pressured event that really helped spread the word. So I think like there are publications that we reached out to for the Kickstarter, but it just resulted in more awareness. But yeah, winning some of these small business grants felt like big accomplishments and we had to, like the one at Oberlin was a competition. So we had to pitch and get judged and people emailing to ask if you're hiring. It's like, I have to be one day, that we can you know, there's like lots of things that feel like accomplishments.Lisa Kiefer: [00:28:30] What are some of the things coming up? Maybe if you project out a couple of years? Catherine O'Hare: [00:28:33] So we're definitely still talking with Hog Island about phase two of the pilot. So we're still trying to do research on seaweed farming. We're looking for more grants to fund that, because really what we want to do next is partner with the academic institution and kind of go for a bigger scale project. You know, we're kind of split personality because we're still running the business and creating these food products. Just our time and resources are limited. So we're looking for partners for that. But we hope to be finding ways to sustainably scale, sustainably source our seaweed. We feel like as if we continue to grow our presence and our market demand, that will only help us be in a better position to, you know, to take on some of these issues around seaweed farming.Lisa Kiefer: [00:29:22] What is your website and can people reach you if they have questions?Catherine O'Hare: [00:29:25] Yes. So our website is SaltPointSeaweed.com. You can also follow us on Instagram. That's where we give the most updates. We're @SaltpointSeaweed. Yeah, you can reach us on our website. There's an email form. We have products on there. We have recipes. We send out email newsletters. You can sign up for that on our website, too, or we'd send out little fun articles and pictures of our harvest and stuff like that. Seaweed is this amazing resource that grows without land or freshwater. It can be farmed and harvested sustainably. It can be grown abundantly. And I think as the world changes, we're going to need food sources that are sustainable, that are locally grown and that are nutritious. So for us, seaweed is this wonderful resource for that reason.Lisa Kiefer: [00:30:14] Well, thank you, Katherine, for being on Method to the Madness.Catherine O'Hare: [00:30:17] Thank you so much for having me.Lisa Kiefer: [00:30:22] You've been listening to Method to the Madness, a bi weekly public affairs show on K A L X Berkeley celebrating Bay Area innovators. You can find all of our podcasts on iTunes University. We'll be back again in two weeks. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Every October for the last 5 years, some of the brightest and most inquisitive minds around gather in Berkeley for Uncharted: The Berkeley Festival of Ideas. This 2-day event, which takes place on October 5th and 6th this year, is all about introducing you to new thoughts and ideas meant to expand your way of thinking and look at the world in a new or different way. To preview this years festival, we have the people behind its creation on the podcast today: Helena Brantley, who came on last fall to recap last years festival, and Lance Knobel, founder of Berkeleyside. We also talk about the benefits of opening your mind to ideas you never once thought to consider. Follow on Twitter: @UnchartedIdeas Website: www.berkeleyideas.com 1:27 Getting started 5:36 Founding of Berkeleyside 8:13 Marketing and developing Uncharted 16:04 Uncharted this year 23:57 Conservative speakers 25:51 Finding speakers 30:54 Expanding the festival 32:16 Expanding ideas 36:39 Youth involvement 39:31 Changing opinions 45:49 Getting youth more involved 51:08 Taking Uncharted on the road 53:42 Wrap up/ information Thanks for watching! Listen to The Marc Guzman Experience on iTunes, iHeartRadio or Watch on Facebook or YouTube. WEBSITE: http://www.MarcGuzman.com FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/MarcGuzmanHomes INSTAGRAM: http://www.instagram.com/MarcGuzmanHomes SNAPCHAT: http://www.snapchat.com/add/MarcGuzmanHomes TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/MarcGuzmanHomes Company Website: http://www.BGAM.us

Most of us are familiar with public defenders from TV shows, but do we really understand the crucial role they play in the justice system? In fact, they represent 80% of people charged in the system and provide legal representation to defendants who cannot afford private attorneys. However, they are often so overwhelmed by crushing caseloads that they’re unable to provide their clients with the bare minimum representation required by the Constitution. Jon Rapping founded Gideon’s Promise in 2007 to change the public defense landscape across America. His goal is to groom a generation of public defenders to rise up and fight systemic inequity, and provide higher quality legal representation to marginalized communities. He spoke with Zachary Norris, Executive Director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, at the Uncharted Berkeley Festival of Ideas in Berkeley. Uncharted is a production of Berkeleyside.

Jessica Zitter describes herself as an “accidental evangelist.” As a doctor, she set out to save lives, not to focus on death. But her work has led her to  a commitment to change the current paradigm of end-of-life medical decision-making. In October 2017, Zitter, an ICU and palliative care physician at Highland Hospital, sat down with Amy Tobin, CEO of the JCC East Bay, at the Uncharted Berkeley Festival of Ideas in Berkeley. Uncharted is a production of Berkeleyside, Berkeley's award-winning independent news site. The two talked about why we have to address the “End-of-Life Conveyor Belt” where the dying are intubated, catheterized, and die attached to machines, often without even knowing they are dying. Zitter also offered tips on how to have difficult, but necessary, conversations about death with our children.

America is sometimes described as a class-free society — a view not shared by UC Hastings law professor Joan Williams. Williams, author of White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America, argues that misconceptions about class — in particular how the “professional elite” class misunderstands and condescends to the middle, working class — explains much that is wrong with the country. In October 2017, Williams sat down with media innovator Peter Leyden at Berkeleyside's fifth annual Uncharted Berkeley Festival of Ideas in Berkeley to deliver some hard truths about class bias and friction, and how it relates to our current political landscape.

Rick Wilson is a Republican political strategist and media consultant with 30 years of experience. He has helped to elect Governors, U.S. Senators, statewide Cabinet officers and state legislators. He is also a vehement critic of the 45th President of the United States and is working on a film project titled ‘Everything Trump Touches Dies.’ In October 2017, at the fifth annual Uncharted Berkeley Festival of Ideas, produced by independent news site Berkeleyside, Wilson talked with media innovator Peter Leyden about his views on the present-day Republican party, how he has received death threats for his views on Trump, and what he thinks the future may hold.

It is known for being the epicenter of progressive and liberal politics but lesser known is the culture making it one of America's most colorful and diverse cities: Berkeley, CA. Tom Dalzell is a blogger and contributor to Berkeleyside.com, and recently launched his book Quirky Berkeley based on his own website QuirkyBerkeley.com. We discuss the culture, history and the people of Berkeley and his amazing discoveries such as the Fish House, the Giant Ceramic Family, Berkeley Castles and Murals. This episode will have you wanting to follow his DIY walking paths throughout Berkeley and for $15, you can purchase his book as the perfect tour guide. Guest: http://bit.ly/2ewfRrD. Book: http://amzn.to/2ewjQnS. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quirkyberkeley Just some of the quirkiness you find in Berkeley... Fish House: http://bit.ly/2evUxm0Ceramic Family: http://bit.ly/2ewcf8OGiant Orange: http://bit.ly/2ewgjWRCastles: http://bit.ly/2ew3GeqMurals: http://bit.ly/2ewcv83

The shortcomings of traditional political journalism have been visible for some time. But the unprecedented presidency of Donald Trump has graphically exposed journalism’s weaknesses.  In 2016, before the November election, Jay Rosen, Professor of Journalism at New York University, sat down with journalist Kathy Kiely at the Uncharted Festival of Ideas in Berkeley to talk about the right frame for interpreting press coverage of the presidential campaign. Their conclusions hold just as true for journalists after the election, when the stakes have proven so much higher. Every year in Berkeley, Uncharted draws together some of the world’s leading thinkers for conversations that provoke, entertain, and attempt to shift the needle towards a better future. Uncharted is produced by Berkeley’s independent news site, Berkeleyside.    

When Aaron James sat down to write a popular philosophy book about assholes, he didn’t anticipate the candidacy — then the presidency — of Donald Trump. But then James found he had the perfect framework to explain the seemingly inexplicable. In October 2016, before the November election, James, a professor of philosophy at the University of California Irvine, sat down with writer Dan Schifrin at the Uncharted Festival of Ideas in Berkeley to talk about his book, Assholes: A Theory of Donald Trump, and attempt to explains the now President's behavior.

Scott Budnick is best known as the executive producer of the Hangover movies, the highest grossing, R-rated comedies in history. But unknown to many, Budnick’s mission is to reform the criminal justice system. In October 2016 Budnick sat down with Lance Knobel, founder and curator of the Uncharted Festival of Ideas in Berkeley, to talk about why he founded the Anti Recidivism Coalition in 2013, an organization of very high-achieving, formerly incarcerated young adults who work to support one another while stopping the flow of men and women into the criminal justice system. Every year in Berkeley, Uncharted draws together some of the world’s leading thinkers for conversations that provoke, entertain, and attempt to shift the needle towards a better future. Uncharted is produced by Berkeley’s independent news site, Berkeleyside.  

  With the conservative turn of the Supreme Court, overturning Citizens United looks unlikely. But Daniel Newman believes there are reforms that can be implemented even in the current political climate. In 2016, before the November election, Newman, co-founder and president of Maplight, sat down with journalist Kathy Kiely at the Uncharted Festival of Ideas in Berkeley, to talk about reforming the place of money in our political system. Every year in Berkeley, Uncharted draws together some of the world’s leading thinkers for conversations that provoke, entertain, and attempt to shift the needle towards a better future. Uncharted is produced by Berkeley’s independent news site, Berkeleyside.  

What do you think about when you hear about African-American Republicans? Are they heroes fighting against the expectation that all Blacks must vote democratic? Or are they sell-outs, letting down their race? In 2016, before the November election, Corey Fields, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Stanford University, published a book titled Black Elephants in the Room: The Unexpected Politics of African American Republicans. In October 2016 Fields sat down with media innovator Peter Leyden at  Uncharted Festival of Ideas in Berkeley to talk about what it’s really like to be a Black person in the Republican Party. Every year in Berkeley, Uncharted draws together some of the world’s leading thinkers for conversations that provoke, entertain, and attempt to shift the needle towards a better future. Uncharted is produced by Berkeley’s independent news site, Berkeleyside.  

Co-founder and co-editor Lance Knobel discusses challenges and mission of Berkeleyside, a pioneer in the field of online local journalism and a blueprint for hyperlocal news.TRANSCRIPTSpeaker 1:You're listening to method to the madness, a weekly public affairs show on k a l expertly celebrating bay area innovators on your host, Lisa Kieffer. And today I'm interviewing Lance Nobel Co founder and Co editor of Berkeley's award-winning independent online news site, Berkeley side. What is the secret to Berkeleyside side's success? What Speaker 2:accounts for Berkeley side's particular sort of ambition and success? First, [00:00:30] everybody involved in Berkeley side, particularly the three founders, myself, Francis Tinkle Spiel, and Tracy Taylor, all of us came to Berkeley side with a lots of experience, you know, many decades of work in journalism. So we bring that knowledge and experience to it and I think that shows in how we cover things, how we write about things, our seriousness, our intent, all of those things manifest. I think we're also incredibly fortunate [00:01:00] in the nature of Berkeley. Um, that can't be denied. Um, this is a city, first of all, where there's tons of news. We're never short of interesting, fascinating, complex things to write about readers. Yes, that's the second part. Readers who really care, um, and are very, very engaged, which is, I don't think that common. I think there's no denying that Berkeley ins have [00:01:30] a particularly intense involvement in what's happening in their city. Speaker 2:How do you get your stories? We get our stories in a number of ways. Um, one obviously is, you know, the conventional journalistic way of getting stories. I'm pounding the pavement, speaking to people, going to city council meetings, seeing that there's a hearing on a building, all of those very, very conventional things. What is new for Berkeleyside and I think for many others is that [00:02:00] our community is also an incredibly important source of news for us. That may range from getting a phone call or a tweet or a Facebook comment. Hey Berkeleyside I heard sirens, what's going on? And that would trigger a call from us to the police or that these news stories that come to you? Yeah, we, we get, we don't just mindlessly retweet things. We, we, we try and be quite rigorous about things. But if, [00:02:30] uh, somebody particularly, you know, often, you know, at this point, we're seven years old, so we know a lot of our readers, particularly the people that are engaged and get in touch with us, said, you there are people we, we've got a lot of faith and trust in and they've established a track record that's different than just getting something out of the blue. Speaker 2:But, you know, we get a lot of tips, which as I say, maybe very simple, um, I smell smoke. You know, is there something happening? What's the helicopter doing over, you know, my street, [00:03:00] uh, you know, I hear police sirens. You know, we had a fascinating story, uh, just a few weeks ago where somebody phoned us and said, I came across a really strange thing and it was a pile of discarded ballot papers that county ballot that sent out. Somebody had found a bundle of, I forget what it was, 43, just in a recycling bin and said, what on earth is going on? And so he had himself phoned [00:03:30] the, uh, registrar of voters who said, that shouldn't be happening. And then the police got involved and they said, this is evidence of current. And he called us and said, you might want to look into this and Emily Ragu. Speaker 2:So our amazing, you know, senior reporter, you know, she kind of got on the trail and you know, she on Facebook and Twitter said, hey, are people having issues with the mail? And it turned out that this was not an isolated incident that [00:04:00] the mail carriers and Berkeley have been so kind of overwhelmed by the volume of mail, particularly in the election season, but also the fewer resources in the post office or there are fewer mail carriers for greater volume being required to do double shifts. So all of these things, people were getting their mail delivered at midnight. Uh, people were finding their mail had just been dumped. There were all sorts of problems and that all came from just one phone call. So, [00:04:30] you know, that's, I wouldn't say it's typical, but it's not uncommon for something different from nature. Newspapers like New York Times. I mean, don't they get tips as well? Speaker 2:And of course, most famously in this last election season, neither one of the New York Times reporters, when she looked in her mailbox or the New York Times, they're where the Trump tax returns. Unfortunately, only one set of tax returns from way back when. But you know, that that was fantastic investigative journalism that [00:05:00] just fell into her lap. So yeah, that does happen. But I think it is the case that, you know, local news has a particularly intimate relationship with its readers. Um, and so we benefit from that. It's also the case that, you know, we're in a world where everyone has the ability to be an observer reporter in their way, whether it's through things they say on Facebook or Twitter and, you know, we're harvesting all [00:05:30] that. And I think, you know, when I worked in journalism, you know, in the pre-digital age, all of us were aware of kind of getting letters written in green ink, um, which is the sign of a kind of crazy, cranky person. Sometimes they're interesting things. More often than not, it's a sign of a crazy cranky person that has no, no, no. A basis, in fact. So that kind of thing has always happened, but there's so many new avenues and I think the, uh, intelligent [00:06:00] news organization finds ways to tap in, harvest, all those new ways of getting information. Speaker 3:You make a distinction between content providers and real journalism and the dangers that we face when real journalistic investigations, et Cetera, don't happen. You've been known to solve what is known as wicked problems. Is this one of the challenges and the problems that you're trying to solve at Berkeley side? I mean, in general? Speaker 2:Awesome. Well, we're, we're incredibly committed to [00:06:30] a profound belief in the importance of journalism for our democracy in a city like Berkeley. No one else is really going to be the watchdog of what's happening. You know, we're pretty rare in being, you know, journalists that show up every city council meeting. Uh, we show up every meeting of this happening, adjustment forward. Uh, we show up to the school board, all of these things you need, you need the sunlight, uh, that, you [00:07:00] know, good journalism can provide. I think that's incredibly important. The thing I'd shy away from is creating this kind of hard and fast distinction between journalists and others. We're fortunate in this country that we don't have any licensing scheme for journalists. Many, many, many years ago I ran a small publishing company in Italy and to be journalists Sta in Italy, you know, you needed to have, you know, that license to show you [00:07:30] were a professional journalist. Speaker 2:No one level you could say, well that's good. Everybody has to have certain professional standards they meet and you know, why shouldn't they be licensed the way doctors and lawyers, given that you believe journalism is important, shouldn't you have something that says this person is fit to serve as a journalist? I would reject that. Absolutely. I suspect if anyone, and maybe uh, president Trump will try this, if anyone tried to do it, I'm pretty sure it would be shown to be unconstitutional as [00:08:00] a suppression of the free press and free speech. People commit acts of journalism all the time and they don't have to necessarily be journalists. I don't believe that there is a sacred class to whom these acts of journalism are a kind of holy order with a secret language and a, you know, a decoder ring. Speaker 3:It's been a bit of a wild west lately. There've been some fake news sites, especially during this election cycle Speaker 2:is a huge problem. And [00:08:30] you know, our friends at Facebook, you know, down there in Menlo Park, one would hope if there is a sense of responsibility there, they need to look at their algorithmic approach to showing people things that allegedly they'll be interested in where wholly fake news. I mean there are organizations that have set up to provide fake news because they know it can appear in people's Facebook feeds and you can monetize that, you know, [00:09:00] if you get traffic to your site. This is horrific. Uh, you know, Brian Stelter who talks about the media on CNN has done some fantastic work and has spoken out in really incisive ways about how to guard against fake news. And you know, we all need to be aware of that. Any of us who are in our forties, 50s, 60s, we didn't grow up in a digital age. Speaker 2:Um, we grew up in an age where newspapers were on paper or you listened to the radio or watch television, but we [00:09:30] learned the cues where you could discern between what is authoritative and what is fake. Or at least you thought you did and you knew you, you gained a good sense of your something that was the national enquirer by the supermarket checkout. You would guarded that as having a different relationship to the truth. Then, uh, the New York Times or the La Times or the San Francisco Chronicle, you kind of understood that at a very [00:10:00] instinctive level in the digital world, a lot of those cues have been removed. You're the, the generation that's growing up that's wholly digital. I'm confident my two sons will never buy a paper newspaper, but they, I think you have from a very early age, you develop the instincts to understand what's real and what's fake in a digital realm. Speaker 1:Their children may have a critical analysis that many, many people do not get educated. Speaker 2:But I think all of us need to learn [00:10:30] and find ways to make that discernment and to learn to that filtering process to learn what can I trust, what can I believe in and how can I develop the skills to dig in and find something? Is that real? Before I mindlessly repost it and send it and share it with my friend? Speaker 1:If you're just tuning in, you're listening to method to the madness, a weekly public affairs show on k a l x Berkeley Celebrating Bay area innovators. [00:11:00] Today I'm interviewing Lance Noble, Co founder and Co editor of Berkeley side. You lived in England for like 20 years, 27 years, and then you came back to the states. How did the idea Berkeley side enter your framework? Speaker 2:Very simple and very innocent. Tracey Francis and I, Tracy, who's my wife, Frances was a friend. Our children went to school together, so we were all journalists, all knew each other and we were aware [00:11:30] and lamenting the fact that the city we live in, there was no way to find out what was going on. When you landed in Berkeley. Yeah, we moved to Berkeley. When we moved from London, Tracy and I, you know, in Speaker 1:what was going on at the time. What were people reading? Speaker 2:If you wanted local news, there was nothing. I mean there was a, the Berkeley dally planet eat, which at that time was still coming out on paper twice a week. But the Berkeley daily planet was, you know, very clearly about advocacy journalism. It covered some things. It ignored other [00:12:00] things. If you wanted to know what's happening at Berkeley High, you would never read about it in the Berkeley daily planet. If you wanted to know, you know about crime, you know, they did the occasional police blotter item, but that wasn't, uh, the core of their being. They were trying to press a point of view and to give a perspective as they saw it on a, you know, the politics of the city and particularly the politics of development and things like that. There was no where, other than the occasional [00:12:30] story in the chronicle maybe, but there was no one that was regularly covering what's happening in our city. Speaker 2:And we thought, hey, we know how to do this. And we started it thinking this is something that will be interesting to do from time to time. And you were thinking digitally at the time. Oh yes, from the word go. It was going to be native to the Internet. I mean, seven years later I think we'd been proved right in that no dream whatsoever of putting ink on paper and [00:13:00] you know, having the delivery trucks rollout or any of that sort of stuff we believed in. And we're very committed to this being a digital, uh, new source. But at a very early stage people said, this is great, you know, where have you been all my life? What were you telling? What kind of stories? Just stuff that struck our fancy. Um, both, both things. Both little things. You know, I saw this, I was curious about it. Speaker 2:I tried to find out, but also, you know, started going to city council and writing about that. And He, Berkeley and [00:13:30] Berkeley, eons have a very distinct view of themselves. I can recall people pushing back at us and saying, well, you haven't been here for 20 years so you don't understand anything and you're never going to understand anything because he, and uh, we rejected that. We didn't think that person or people that said that were correct. And I think, you know, we've had the last laugh on that one. Let's talk more about that. How you ramped up, what got you on the map? All of our, our growth has been organic. [00:14:00] You know, people saying to friends, Hey, you know, did you see this story on Berkeley's side? What on earth is Berkeleyside? Oh, you don't get Berkley side. You know, you should have a look at it and it ran. Speaker 2:It remains free and you do. So it has been entirely growth by word of mouth, but there is beyond doubt. There are some stories that, you know, capture greater attention. You know, an early story in Berkeleyside was the gourmet ghetto mountain lion, you know, which [00:14:30] we covered, you know, from early in the day. It happened in the middle of the night. Uh, you know, a mountain lion wandered down from the hills into the gourmet ghetto was seen, reported to the police, the police, you know, deployed, uh, eventually found the mountain lion much to the sadness of many. But I think the only choice the police had was they had to kill this mountain lion. All of us, you know, from comics and TV shows, you think, oh, why didn't they use a tranquilizer [00:15:00] dart? It turns out that if you shoot a mountain lion with a tranquilizer dart, it can probably run for a mile and a mile and a half. Speaker 2:And you do not want a mountain lion running through the streets when, you know, we have, you know, homeless people, we have children that might've been out, you know, for some reason, um, a whole bunch of reasons where you do not want a mountain lion running through the street anyway, the police had to kill this mountain lion. Uh, we wrote about this, uh, it's the kind of story [00:15:30] that does go viral. And so that gave us a burst. Fast forward to when there were the large black lives matter protests and demonstrations in Berkeley. You know, we covered that literally around the clock, you know, reporter following what was happening, writing about it live, you know, tweeting, Facebooking, updating the story on our site. You know, posting videos round the clock without cece and our readership really spiked [00:16:00] during that, Speaker 3:picked up by other news outlets. Speaker 2:It certainly was picked up in many places. We covered it better than anyone else. You know, the protests were big enough that lots of media were covering that story, but we covered it. You're so visibly better than anyone else. Lots of people learned about Berkeleyside then. And that gave us a huge base. The balcony collapse, uh, you know, was a story covered all around the world. But several days after the balcony collapse when most of the world's media had left because the story had [00:16:30] moved on, you know, I think in the next two or three months after that collapse, we published 60 stories about the balcony collapse. So we are committed to what's happening in this city and we follow stories with an intensity and a concentration that other people are just not going to do. And you know, the thing we always talk about as both our joy and our burden is that, you know, when people smell, spoke or hear a siren, [00:17:00] the immediate thought they have or hear a helicopter they think is, I need to look at Berkeley cyclists. They're going to tell me what's going on. We love that. But it also means, you know, we have to be on our toes all the time to reward that faith that people [inaudible] Speaker 3:we'll have that. We'll be reporting on it. Yeah. Know, I feel like with this recent election that there's almost a bigger faith in local news coverage because so much of the national media gave a pass to the president of luck. There were a lot of issues around media. Yeah. I think cable news [00:17:30] blew it. Yeah. Speaker 2:More than, uh, newspapers blew it. I mean, the Washington Post in particular I think did a fantastic job of covering your David Farren told on the fraud of the Trump foundation. Um, you know, if he doesn't win the Pulitzer and every other prize going, something is very wrong. So there's some that did a very good job. Yeah, New York Times was very up and down. It had, you know, Maggie Haberman and a few others. There were some great reporting, but there were also, you know, totally freaking [00:18:00] out about the nothing burger of the emails on Hillary's side and also for a long time normalizing very abnormal behavior. In the case of Trump, I mean, they eventually caught on and called lies, lies. But there was, it took a long time. Speaker 3:And what was, what were the cues that were missed there? If the data was wrong, the polls were wrong. Speaker 2:This is not my area of expertise. I read about it endlessly, but you know, I'm reading other extras that the Poles actually weren't wrong. Nate silver has pointed out that the polls [00:18:30] are going to turn out to be more accurate for 2016 than they were for 2012. What wasn't accurate were the state by state polls. The national polls got the vote pretty close. Hillary is going to end up being probably 2% with 2% more of the vote. Then Donald Trump at the level that counts, uh, the 50 contest in our states with electoral college. Some of the polls fell down very badly. You know, Michigan, Wisconsin. Speaker 3:[00:19:00] You've talked about some of the challenges facing Berkeley side. I just read a University of Missouri study that said many of the challenges are reduction in revenue from display advertising and just being sustainable. You've managed to stay sustainable. Can you talk about what your revenue model is and some of the things that you're doing in order to remain sustainable? Speaker 2:We make revenue three different ways and I think it's an important that we have different, we have a diversified source of revenues. Uh, we're not relying on any one source. [00:19:30] I think that's incredibly important for us. Advertising remains the most important source. The second important source of revenue for us is our members. Berkeleyside doesn't make people pay for the news. And as far as we're concerned, we'll never make people pay for the news, but we allow people to pay for the news. What we have found remarkable, and this is another area where I think Berkeley in this are proving to be a very special breed of people. When we ask people, do you want to pay for the news? A lot [00:20:00] of people say, sure, I'll pay something. And we have about 1200 people who pay an average of about $70 a year Speaker 3:membership. Do you say pay what you can? You Speaker 2:know, if you go to the support page on Berkeleyside, uh, what you see prominently is give 25, 10 or $5 a month. But you can also see below that give whatever you want. And so it's choose your own menu. Is this growing every year? Have you been met? Every year has grown, no question about [00:20:30] it. And we think there's a lot of room for growth in the revenue there. But as I say at the moment, we have about 1200 members a giving an average of $70 a year. So those members, our readers and certainly our members, overwhelmingly Berkeley fans. And then third area of revenue. And it's another one where we think there is a lot of room for growth is events. You know, we've recently had the fourth edition of the uncharted ideas festival. It's grown every year. How many [00:21:00] people came out? We had about 400 people. Speaker 2:You know, one of the reasons why there are a number of reasons why we think there is a lot of potential with uncharted and potentially other events. Um, one is, although there's a lot of room we believe for growth with our core Berkeleyside, the advertising, the membership, we're clearly geographically constrained with that. There are only so many people, so many advertisers that want to reach those people. So many people that could be members with uncharted, we don't have [00:21:30] that geographic constraint. We have a scattering of people and at the moment it's only a scattering. But you know, there's a couple that comes every year from San Diego. You know, they make it kind of part of their plans. A, some people come from uh, Napa County and you know, they, you know, one woman said to me, this is so fantastic, you know, nothing like this happens where I live, you know, I'm going to get all my friends to come so we're not geographically constrained. Speaker 2:We're also not constrained in terms of the companies we can go to [00:22:00] who can sponsor on charter in their mini Davos, which I used to run Dava. So I actually don't think it's a mini Davos in any way. Cause Davos is about, uh, the super rich and the super powerful, the dirty secret of Davos and many things like Davos is powerful. People are often uninteresting or certainly uninteresting at the level of ideas. It is vanishingly rare for a CEO to be interesting, at least [00:22:30] interesting on a public stage. Most of them are trained to give you oatmeal all the time because what's wrong for them is saying something that's going to be interesting or quotable or different. That's a bad thing for them. We don't want those people that uncharted, we want people who are going to provoke you and make you think and make you challenged what you've always thought and perhaps you disagree and perhaps you disagree, but certainly introduce you to things you never thought [00:23:00] about before. Speaker 2:That's a very, very different challenge. And the liberation for me of doing what we do with uncharted is I can pick people who have no impressive title whatsoever that people have not heard about, but they are fascinating thinkers and we can put them on stage. And I, you know, I, I kind of hope and believe you will be hearing from these people, but you don't need those credentials in advance to get on the stage. That uncharted. And that's, that's very liberating for us. And I think it's fascinating [00:23:30] for the people who come. So, so it's advertising membership events and we think that tripod of revenues is he to our health. I have noticed on your site, and I also read about it in the chronicle, that you are introducing something that your readers Speaker 1:to invest. This is an interesting democratization of a local newspaper. Speaker 2:Well we think, we think it's, it's good and we're increasingly certain that we're the first news organization, maybe the first media organization to [00:24:00] do this. A direct public offering is a very little known, the long existing way to offer an investment direct to the public without going through a stock exchange, without going through an investment bank, without, you know, the kind of Kickstarter and things like that or you know, I think a great way for people to raise money in various ways. But this is actually a real investment. The States Department of business oversight reviewed what we were doing. [00:24:30] They had to license us and were going directly to our readers and to other interested people. You have to be a California resident. That's the only qualification to encourage them to invest directly in Berkeley side. And it's something the Green Bay packers did a, you know, the only community owned team in the NFL and it just felt this is the right thing for us. This Berkeley side, we're all about the community we serve. So this is the right way for us to raise them. Speaker 1:Does feel good [00:25:00] to invest in your community? Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. It's, it's main street, not Wall Street. People must be really watching this. Um, we had a very good story. I'm Nieman lab. The Neiman center is at Harvard University. They a study and a research, uh, the media, you know, funded by the Neiman Foundation, a Nieman lab wrote about it. So I think a lot of people in the know in media and journalism would have seen that at the San Francisco Chronicle. Just wrote about it daily. Cal wrote about it and I think we'll get more [00:25:30] coverage for it because if there's one thing journalists are very interested in, it's what's happening to other journalists. Right? So I think it's the kind of story that, um, we think, you know, we'll get picked up and other people were right about it. We're licensed to raise $800,000. That's our goal. Um, that's what we're really committed to. We're about a quarter of the way there and it's very, very early. Speaker 1:I'm sure it's closely watched because it could become a great model for other [inaudible]. Speaker 2:That's exactly right. I, I don't think there's any one model for what's going to make local [00:26:00] news thrive, but I think our diversified revenue stream and our using this direct public offering as a way to raise the capital so we can fund our ambitions and you know, we want to do so much more. That's why we're raising capital. Speaker 1:What is the future of Berkeleyside? Speaker 2:We are committed to covering Berkeley as well as it can be covered. That's the core of our existence. Will we create at some point Oakland side that's such an enormous task and Berkeley as a city of 120,000 [00:26:30] people, we've largely bootstrapped our way to covering that. Covering a city, the complexity of Oakland, four times the size of Berkeley, more than four times the complexity of Berkeley. You'd need really significant investment to do that. Well maybe one day, I don't think in on a five year horizon. That's the right thing for us. Um, we are strategists. Where are you? Where are you going to be? I'm very skeptical of the value strategy. I [00:27:00] I think know strategy is helpful in that it can present different scenarios and things like that. I think people that plan out what they're going to do that never happens. Uh, you know, plans, confront reality and things change. Speaker 2:I'm a firm, firm believer, you know, there's this notion of design thinking. You talk about innovation, you've probably encountered it but you know, design thinking as opposed to engineering thinking and engineering thinking would be, yes, we have a strategy and I've got 20 steps that are going [00:27:30] to take me to this goal that I've decided is where we want to get. Um, a design approach is more, I know it's going to be a chaotic process. I know that there are going to be twists and turns that one can't predict, but I have a north star that I'm, I'm aiming at and that we will find our way to and our north store is, is being the best possible local, independent online news provider. Um, our core focus is Berkeley [00:28:00] because we solve Berkeley. We may say, Hey, we've got, got it right in Berkeley. Let's look at who knows what other other areas. Speaker 2:Um, but we need to get Berkeley, right? And we think there's, you know, we think we've done a great job over seven years, but we've got a long way to go to, to really solve that and say, this is done. You know, it's sustainable. It's, it's working. There's no question about its future. Now we can start looking at other things. [00:28:30] I knew it'd be a real distraction for us to say, Hey, let's add two other cities or something like that. That's a way to, to collapse. At the very early stage of this conversation, you asked about lots of online news operations of folded a, the one thing that is certain in a lot of people have gotten wrong is journalism doesn't scale. We've done a lot of good things with Berkeley side, but that doesn't mean it's an algorithm that you can just roll out in another city and you'll get it right patches. Speaker 2:A [00:29:00] fantastic example. They made the mistake of thinking you create a 800 patches patch, part of AOL, a now owned by a mysterious, uh, you know, uh, private equity group that they're just Zombie sites that don't do anything. But you know, they said, oh, just like newspaper chains. We're going to create a digital chain and we're going to create 900 of them over the next two or three years. That's nonsensical. That doesn't happen. And you know, we know because we [00:29:30] know the difficulty of doing it right in Berkeley, how hard it is to get it right for your city. And that's what, they're not fungible and journalists aren't fungible. You need to the right person and the right people who know and are committed to that city. If you go to berkeleyside.com and look at the contact page and our phone numbers, their email addresses are there. You can write to us tips@berkeleyside.com and if you're interested in the investment, it's invest.berkeleyside.com [00:30:00] you know, we are open. We want to talk to people. We want to hear from people. We're very engaged with our Speaker 1:right off the canvas and the we work building lean and mean take sack. We very lean very much. Thank you for being on the program. Thanks a lot, Lee. You've been listening to method to the madness, a weekly public affairs show on k a l x Berkeley Celebrating Bay area innovators. You can find all of our podcasts on iTunes university. Tune in next week, Friday at noon. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Described by Rolling Stone as “the real drug czar,” Ethan Nadelmann, the founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, is widely regarded as the outstanding proponent of drug policy reform globally. He spoke with bestselling author and Berkeleyside co-founder Frances Dinkelspiel about viable alternatives to the war on drugs.

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Berkeley’s 2016 HarvEst Distinguished Women Lecturer, Frances Dinkelspiel, for a discussion of her work as an author and journalist. Dinkelspiel reflects on the skills and temperament required in journalism and highlights the particular challenges posed by online journalism. She describes the history of Berkeleyside, the online news site she founded to cover the city of Berkeley. The conversation includes a discussion of her book on her great grandfather Isaias Hellman, an important banker in the founding of the California economy. Tangled Vines, her book on the California wine industry is also discussed. Series: "Conversations with History" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 30560]

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Berkeley’s 2016 HarvEst Distinguished Women Lecturer, Frances Dinkelspiel, for a discussion of her work as an author and journalist. Dinkelspiel reflects on the skills and temperament required in journalism and highlights the particular challenges posed by online journalism. She describes the history of Berkeleyside, the online news site she founded to cover the city of Berkeley. The conversation includes a discussion of her book on her great grandfather Isaias Hellman, an important banker in the founding of the California economy. Tangled Vines, her book on the California wine industry is also discussed. Series: "Conversations with History" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 30560]

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Berkeley’s 2016 HarvEst Distinguished Women Lecturer, Frances Dinkelspiel, for a discussion of her work as an author and journalist. Dinkelspiel reflects on the skills and temperament required in journalism and highlights the particular challenges posed by online journalism. She describes the history of Berkeleyside, the online news site she founded to cover the city of Berkeley. The conversation includes a discussion of her book on her great grandfather Isaias Hellman, an important banker in the founding of the California economy. Tangled Vines, her book on the California wine industry is also discussed. Series: "Conversations with History" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 30560]

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Berkeley’s 2016 HarvEst Distinguished Women Lecturer, Frances Dinkelspiel, for a discussion of her work as an author and journalist. Dinkelspiel reflects on the skills and temperament required in journalism and highlights the particular challenges posed by online journalism. She describes the history of Berkeleyside, the online news site she founded to cover the city of Berkeley. The conversation includes a discussion of her book on her great grandfather Isaias Hellman, an important banker in the founding of the California economy. Tangled Vines, her book on the California wine industry is also discussed. Series: "Conversations with History" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 30560]

In December 2012, Berkeleyside brought together three bestselling Berkeley-based writers, all named Michael — Michael Chabon, Michael Lewis and Michael Pollan — for a conversation about their writing and the city they call home. Their conversation was a riot!