Podcasts about East Bay

Bay Wheels bikeshare in the East Bay lends ebikes for $20/month to qualified residents and $120 for everyone else, reports Bike East Bay co-Executive Director Justin Hu-Nguyen (1:05). Former San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio on being recalled by drive-happy voters over his support for converting a portion of the Great Highway into the new Sunset Dunes Park (7:08). Biking, BARTing, and e-scooting at 14 in the Bay Area: Quin Binzak (24:50). The Federal Government has taken away approved funding for bike and safe streets infrastructure, or, as it says, anything "hostile to cars." Caron Whitaker, E.D. of League of American Bicyclists, on its work with lawmakers. Also, League Certified Instructor training (29:56). Avoid stoking fear in our messaging, writes Dave Snyder in his bike advocacy newsletter (39:39). Charlie's News (42:15) It's getting darker, dynamo lights are awesome, and other light stuff from Battle Road Bikes mechanic Jim Cadenhead (45:03)

Lisa Davidson is an ironworker with Local 377 San Francisco. Her team currently does ironwork on the Golden Gate Bridge. But we'll get to that. In this episode, S8 E3, meet and get to know Lisa. I first did that back in May at our Keep It Local art show at Babylon Burning (thanks, Mike and Judy!). Someone at the party that night approached me to let me know that there was a person there who works on the best bridge in the world (fact) and that I should meet them. I love when people really get me. Right away, I was drawn in by Lisa's warmth, charm, and sense of humor. And so we sat down outside in Fort Mason in early August and Lisa shared her life story. She was raised feeling like she had complete freedom. It was something Lisa didn't realize at the time, but looking back, it became clear to her. She was raised in Framingham, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, in a liberal household. Her grandparents lived in Boston itself, and she loved visiting them when she was a kid. Her grandfather ran a tchotchke store in town called House of Hurwitz, and Lisa says that the place had a big influence on her outlook. It was located on the edge of what they call, to this day, the “Combat Zone” (think: red-light district). Her “wheelin' and dealin'” grandpa sold mylar balloons to the Boston Gardens for events held there. He told young Lisa that she could blow up balloons and that that could be her future. Lisa has a brother four years younger than she is. Her dad was an electrician. One of his clients was a lithograph press in Boston. He'd sometimes get paged for a job and have to leave his family, although Lisa now wonders whether he just wanted to get away from time to time. When she was a senior in high school, her parents divorced, despite being a very loving couple up to that point. She says her mom was “crazy in an I Love Lucy way. She was raised in the Fifties the way many young women at that time were, in a way that did its best to stifle any creativity. Suffice to say that her mom had fun decorating the house Lisa grew up in. Despite her and her family's Jewishness, Lisa revolted and wanted to go to Catholic school or just become a preppy L.L. Bean-type kid. She of course regrets rejecting the norms of her family nowadays. It was what it was. The family was more culturally Jewish than religious, though, something Lisa says was a huge influence on who she's become as an adult. She graduated high school and went to college at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It wasn't Ivy League, but it was (and is) something of a preppy school. Where Lisa grew up, there was an expectation that kids would go to college, and so she went. It wasn't super far from home, but it wasn't close either. Her parents did suggest that Lisa maybe go to art school. But in her family, it was the kid dismissing that idea. “That's a not real school,” young Lisa told them. She liked sports. At Amherst, she joined the crew team. She liked the competition and how good of shape it got you in. She liked it, but it was a lot of pressure. She graduated, took a year off working odd jobs, then dove into art school. So next up was Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). She was surprised she got in, and even navigated a bit of impostor syndrome. Surprised by the school's acceptance of her and feeling somewhat intimidated by other artist students, Lisa ended up doing printmaking. Rather than aiming for a master's degree, she sought a second bachelor's. Her studies had her spending a lot of time in the school's foundry, where she discovered welding. She loved it. During her time back in Amherst, she'd heard of a guy who was going to Alaska. (Lisa and I go off-topic into our shared distaste for camping at this point in the conversation.) Back to the Alaska story, her mom was fully supportive and even took her shopping at an Army Navy store. She went there and worked in canneries through the summer between her junior and senior years at Amherst. While she was up north, doing jobs all over the state, she met folks from California. From the stories they told her, it became a place she wanted to go. But first, RISD. In Rhode Island, she met a guy from Danville in the East Bay. When his family learned of her interest in our state, they invited Lisa to spend a summer with them, which she did. And she and her friend came to The City as often as they could. After those few months, she knew that California—and specifically, The Bay—was for her. She needed to go back and finish that second round of college in Rhode Island, and she did. After that, Lisa “beelined it” back to Oakland. She found work in a prop shop making sculptures out of foam with a chainsaw. Check back this Thursday for Part 2 with Lisa Davidson. We recorded this podcast at Equator Coffee in Fort Mason in August 2025. Photography by Jeff Hunt

DJ Jesse Luscious takes a deep dive into classic East Bay Punk- Fang, Neurosis, Pinhead Gunpowder, Blatz, Special Forces, Spitboy, & 23 More Minutes- & celebrates 39 years since his 1st punk show with Philly bands McRad, Flag of Democracy, & Electric Love Muffin! He spins new tracks from Death Pill, The Fods, The Puncturists, Thee Headcoatees, Zombie Killers, moja, Charlie Nieland, & Judas Priest feat. Ozzy Osbourne, plus classics from The Undertones, The Replacements, The Phase Problem, The Fatal Flaw, Plizzken, Discharge, Rose Tattoo, & Gang Of Four, and the Luscious Listener's Choice!  Death Pill- Ugly Me Death Pill- Monsters (In My Brain) Mc Rad- Brain Electric Love Muffin- The Muffin March F.O.D.- Meat Factory (Live) Fods- I Get Blamed (Clean) Undertones- There Goes Norman Puncturists- 55 Phase Problem- Middle Aged Lobotomy Fatal Flaw- Victoria Plizzken- What's It Like To Be Old? Headcoatees- The Money Will Roll Right In (edit) Fang- Diary Of A Mad Werewolf Pinhead Gunpowder- Losers Of The Year Downfall- North Berkeley Special Forces- Brew Crew Blatz- Learning How To Smile 23 More Minutes- My Machine Gun Spitboy- Interdependency Zombie Killer-  Nuked Discharge- The Nightmare Continues Discharge- The Final Bloodbath Rose Tattoo- Nice Boys (Rerecording) Judas Priest- War Pigs feat. Ozzy Osbourne (Charity Version) Moja- Food Gang Of Four- I Found That Essence Rare Charlie Nieland- Shame Replacements- I'll Buy Neurosis- Tomorrow's Reality

"Futility" It's true--the last time I saw Sandy Smallens was in the spring of 1989 when his band Too Much Joy came to the campus radio station to play on my weekly show. The band were incredibly cool and I've never forgotten that they took the time to traipse into the East Bay hills to get to my school and how nice they were. They even played an unrehearsed acoustic version of Clowns at my request, which was awesome. I'd play it for you now, but guess what? After the band left, I took out the tape and found that I hadn't hit record. It's bothered me for years. At any rate, Too Much Joy and Wonderlick which is Tim and Jay from TMJ, have a lot of news coming out their camp, so they do come up a bit in this chat, but really, the focus here is on Sandy's other band Surface Wound. Informed by the undulating jagged basslines of bands like Gang Of Four and Wire, Surface Wound's new album Futility is a riveting blast of post-punk magic. The Scarsdale-raised, Yale-educated Smallens played football in high school and as a result his bass playing has a real athleticism to it and not only that, but his voice has never sounded better. Filled with prowling basslines and muscular hooks, Futility is filled with fight songs for desperate times. Sandy Smallens is a busy guy--he's in a bunch of bands, he hosts the Four Strings And The Truth podcast and as the guy who launched Spotify's original content department, he now runs the podcast company Audiation. Not only that, but he's a massive supporter of the arts . And, he's one of the nicest guys around. www.surfacewound.bandcamp.com Sandy Smallens' podcast: Four Chords And The Truth Podcast: https://pod.link/1733284004 www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenbooks.com BLUESKY + IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

The WPBA is a pro developmental league in the East Bay with big ambitions and real impact. It's recognized by FIBA — rare for a U.S. women's league outside the WNBA — and it's becoming a place where players continue their careers, get seen by scouts, and find community.

Today we are joined by Aaron Miller, Lecturer in Kinesiology at California State University, East Bay and the author of Basketball in Japan: Shooting for the Stars (Routledge, 2025.) In our conversation, we discussed the beginnings of basketball in Japan, the ongoing legacy of Samurai culture in Japanese sport, and what Japanese basketball's success might look like in the future. In Basketball in Japan, Miller uses anthropological and ethnographic research approaches to ask why basketball in Japan is so popular with young people but less so with adults. Through a long series of conversation and observations, he leads readers to better understand the ways that sports shed light on shifts in Japanese identity. He also raises questions about to what extent Japanese coaches and players think about basketball in a specifically Japanese way. Building on a decade of research into Japanese sport and a year of field work inside of several Japanese sporting organizations, Miller's compelling and readable account of Japanese basketball's growing cultural status does not move chronologically. Instead, he uses his conversations with his interlocutors to address thematic questions that help him to explore the interplay between basketball and ideas of Japanese identity, gender, and race. His first chapter, “Be-longing” looks at the anonymized MU basketball club, a university sporting organization in Tokyo, as a total institution that thrived thanks to the commitment and discipline of an intergenerational group of administrators, coaches, players, and supporters. Their engagement was not without consequence – some of the players even likened basketball to a lover that took up all their time. In his second chapter, “Thinking Basketball”, Miller examines the tension between coaches who trained players based on the best practices of sports science, and the “commander ball” coach that drew on older notions of Japanese masculinity linked to notions of Bushido. Miller's work teases out the conflicts: in practice, many players felt more comfortable with the more authoritarian styles of the coaches similar to those they had in youth basketball. Miller also found that no coach was a practitioner of purely “thinking” or “commander” ball – there was a fine gradient between the two styles. Many of the chapters address Japanese identity and the links between a Japanese way of playing sports and masculinity. In his chapter, “DNA”, Miller explores the inclusion of non-ethnically Japanese players into the Japanese game. He notes that the introduction of players from other countries has helped Japanese teams (from the high school to professional level) to improve competitively but it has also provoked considerable conversation about what it means to be Japanese and about whether people from overseas can meaningfully represent a school, a university, or the nation. In both “Boys, Be Ambitious” and “Waiting for a Male Hardwood Hero”, Miller points to the ways that sports in Japan have been coded as male. He notes that sexism in Japanese basketball means administrators have missed the opportunity to promote the successes of Japanese women in the WNBA and the Olympic Games. Miller's deeply researched insider account into Japanese basketball from the late 19th century until today opens new avenues for considering physical culture beyond baseball and martial arts. Basketball in Japan will be of broad interest to scholars interested in Japanese culture and society, basketball buffs, and to readers with a general interest in sport. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Today we are joined by Aaron Miller, Lecturer in Kinesiology at California State University, East Bay and the author of Basketball in Japan: Shooting for the Stars (Routledge, 2025.) In our conversation, we discussed the beginnings of basketball in Japan, the ongoing legacy of Samurai culture in Japanese sport, and what Japanese basketball's success might look like in the future. In Basketball in Japan, Miller uses anthropological and ethnographic research approaches to ask why basketball in Japan is so popular with young people but less so with adults. Through a long series of conversation and observations, he leads readers to better understand the ways that sports shed light on shifts in Japanese identity. He also raises questions about to what extent Japanese coaches and players think about basketball in a specifically Japanese way. Building on a decade of research into Japanese sport and a year of field work inside of several Japanese sporting organizations, Miller's compelling and readable account of Japanese basketball's growing cultural status does not move chronologically. Instead, he uses his conversations with his interlocutors to address thematic questions that help him to explore the interplay between basketball and ideas of Japanese identity, gender, and race. His first chapter, “Be-longing” looks at the anonymized MU basketball club, a university sporting organization in Tokyo, as a total institution that thrived thanks to the commitment and discipline of an intergenerational group of administrators, coaches, players, and supporters. Their engagement was not without consequence – some of the players even likened basketball to a lover that took up all their time. In his second chapter, “Thinking Basketball”, Miller examines the tension between coaches who trained players based on the best practices of sports science, and the “commander ball” coach that drew on older notions of Japanese masculinity linked to notions of Bushido. Miller's work teases out the conflicts: in practice, many players felt more comfortable with the more authoritarian styles of the coaches similar to those they had in youth basketball. Miller also found that no coach was a practitioner of purely “thinking” or “commander” ball – there was a fine gradient between the two styles. Many of the chapters address Japanese identity and the links between a Japanese way of playing sports and masculinity. In his chapter, “DNA”, Miller explores the inclusion of non-ethnically Japanese players into the Japanese game. He notes that the introduction of players from other countries has helped Japanese teams (from the high school to professional level) to improve competitively but it has also provoked considerable conversation about what it means to be Japanese and about whether people from overseas can meaningfully represent a school, a university, or the nation. In both “Boys, Be Ambitious” and “Waiting for a Male Hardwood Hero”, Miller points to the ways that sports in Japan have been coded as male. He notes that sexism in Japanese basketball means administrators have missed the opportunity to promote the successes of Japanese women in the WNBA and the Olympic Games. Miller's deeply researched insider account into Japanese basketball from the late 19th century until today opens new avenues for considering physical culture beyond baseball and martial arts. Basketball in Japan will be of broad interest to scholars interested in Japanese culture and society, basketball buffs, and to readers with a general interest in sport. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/gender-studies

Today we are joined by Aaron Miller, Lecturer in Kinesiology at California State University, East Bay and the author of Basketball in Japan: Shooting for the Stars (Routledge, 2025.) In our conversation, we discussed the beginnings of basketball in Japan, the ongoing legacy of Samurai culture in Japanese sport, and what Japanese basketball's success might look like in the future. In Basketball in Japan, Miller uses anthropological and ethnographic research approaches to ask why basketball in Japan is so popular with young people but less so with adults. Through a long series of conversation and observations, he leads readers to better understand the ways that sports shed light on shifts in Japanese identity. He also raises questions about to what extent Japanese coaches and players think about basketball in a specifically Japanese way. Building on a decade of research into Japanese sport and a year of field work inside of several Japanese sporting organizations, Miller's compelling and readable account of Japanese basketball's growing cultural status does not move chronologically. Instead, he uses his conversations with his interlocutors to address thematic questions that help him to explore the interplay between basketball and ideas of Japanese identity, gender, and race. His first chapter, “Be-longing” looks at the anonymized MU basketball club, a university sporting organization in Tokyo, as a total institution that thrived thanks to the commitment and discipline of an intergenerational group of administrators, coaches, players, and supporters. Their engagement was not without consequence – some of the players even likened basketball to a lover that took up all their time. In his second chapter, “Thinking Basketball”, Miller examines the tension between coaches who trained players based on the best practices of sports science, and the “commander ball” coach that drew on older notions of Japanese masculinity linked to notions of Bushido. Miller's work teases out the conflicts: in practice, many players felt more comfortable with the more authoritarian styles of the coaches similar to those they had in youth basketball. Miller also found that no coach was a practitioner of purely “thinking” or “commander” ball – there was a fine gradient between the two styles. Many of the chapters address Japanese identity and the links between a Japanese way of playing sports and masculinity. In his chapter, “DNA”, Miller explores the inclusion of non-ethnically Japanese players into the Japanese game. He notes that the introduction of players from other countries has helped Japanese teams (from the high school to professional level) to improve competitively but it has also provoked considerable conversation about what it means to be Japanese and about whether people from overseas can meaningfully represent a school, a university, or the nation. In both “Boys, Be Ambitious” and “Waiting for a Male Hardwood Hero”, Miller points to the ways that sports in Japan have been coded as male. He notes that sexism in Japanese basketball means administrators have missed the opportunity to promote the successes of Japanese women in the WNBA and the Olympic Games. Miller's deeply researched insider account into Japanese basketball from the late 19th century until today opens new avenues for considering physical culture beyond baseball and martial arts. Basketball in Japan will be of broad interest to scholars interested in Japanese culture and society, basketball buffs, and to readers with a general interest in sport. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sports

Today we are joined by Aaron Miller, Lecturer in Kinesiology at California State University, East Bay and the author of Basketball in Japan: Shooting for the Stars (Routledge, 2025.) In our conversation, we discussed the beginnings of basketball in Japan, the ongoing legacy of Samurai culture in Japanese sport, and what Japanese basketball's success might look like in the future. In Basketball in Japan, Miller uses anthropological and ethnographic research approaches to ask why basketball in Japan is so popular with young people but less so with adults. Through a long series of conversation and observations, he leads readers to better understand the ways that sports shed light on shifts in Japanese identity. He also raises questions about to what extent Japanese coaches and players think about basketball in a specifically Japanese way. Building on a decade of research into Japanese sport and a year of field work inside of several Japanese sporting organizations, Miller's compelling and readable account of Japanese basketball's growing cultural status does not move chronologically. Instead, he uses his conversations with his interlocutors to address thematic questions that help him to explore the interplay between basketball and ideas of Japanese identity, gender, and race. His first chapter, “Be-longing” looks at the anonymized MU basketball club, a university sporting organization in Tokyo, as a total institution that thrived thanks to the commitment and discipline of an intergenerational group of administrators, coaches, players, and supporters. Their engagement was not without consequence – some of the players even likened basketball to a lover that took up all their time. In his second chapter, “Thinking Basketball”, Miller examines the tension between coaches who trained players based on the best practices of sports science, and the “commander ball” coach that drew on older notions of Japanese masculinity linked to notions of Bushido. Miller's work teases out the conflicts: in practice, many players felt more comfortable with the more authoritarian styles of the coaches similar to those they had in youth basketball. Miller also found that no coach was a practitioner of purely “thinking” or “commander” ball – there was a fine gradient between the two styles. Many of the chapters address Japanese identity and the links between a Japanese way of playing sports and masculinity. In his chapter, “DNA”, Miller explores the inclusion of non-ethnically Japanese players into the Japanese game. He notes that the introduction of players from other countries has helped Japanese teams (from the high school to professional level) to improve competitively but it has also provoked considerable conversation about what it means to be Japanese and about whether people from overseas can meaningfully represent a school, a university, or the nation. In both “Boys, Be Ambitious” and “Waiting for a Male Hardwood Hero”, Miller points to the ways that sports in Japan have been coded as male. He notes that sexism in Japanese basketball means administrators have missed the opportunity to promote the successes of Japanese women in the WNBA and the Olympic Games. Miller's deeply researched insider account into Japanese basketball from the late 19th century until today opens new avenues for considering physical culture beyond baseball and martial arts. Basketball in Japan will be of broad interest to scholars interested in Japanese culture and society, basketball buffs, and to readers with a general interest in sport. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/japanese-studies

It's a far-out game, AND the only Satanic Panic anti-D&D scare movie starring the East Bay's own Tom Hanks. I mean, it has to be, right?

The shocking assassination of Charlie Kirk has shaken the nation—and this week, we're unpacking what it means closer to home. Guest co-hosts Trishala Vinnakota and Justin Berton join us to trace East Bay history of politically motivated killings and the rising hostility faced by local officials. Then, we dive into Oakland's new push to toughen its encampment policy and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors' audacious plan to raise campaign donor limits to levels unmatched anywhere in our local politics.

                                  Listen in as Erin and Andrea discuss: Why authenticity is Andrea's most powerful business strategy. The unique path from theater to real estate — and how it made her unstoppable. The mindset that helped Andrea thrive through market downturns. How “vacation energy” and passion projects attract ideal clients. Why giving back creates surprising opportunities in business. About As a Realtor®, Andrea serves the Oakland, Berkeley and surrounding East Bay communities as well as San Francisco and Brisbane. Since 1998 her top priority has been providing individualized attention and flexibility to each and every one of her clients. She believes that no two people are alike so each individual needs and deserves to be treated with special care. She serves her clients tirelessly, and they count on her for results. Andrea has been a top producer since 1998. After 26 years of being a Realtor®, she can truly say it is really a great profession, and she is proud to participate in one of the most important parts of people's financial lives. Being a Realtor® has taught Andrea so much about life and people. She is always surprised by the kindness, generosity and great intelligence she meets along the way. Andrea loves what she does. How to Connect With Andrea LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreagordonrealestate Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndreaGordonRealEstate/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreagordonrealestate/

After decades spent representing the East Bay in Congress, Barbara Lee was inaugurated as Oakland's new mayor three months ago. She's now at the helm of a city with a lot of local pride and boasting rights, but also with brutal financial challenges, a politics battered by scandal and recall, and a citizenry eager for progress on crime, homelessness and other urban woes. Barbara Lee joins us to talk about what she's been learning in her first months in office and how it's shaping her plans for the city. And we hear from you: What do you want to ask your new mayor, and what do you want her to know about your Oakland? Guests: Barbara Lee, mayor of Oakland Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textOn this episode, we're confronting a crisis that has become a defining tragedy of our time: the fentanyl epidemic. While this deadly synthetic opioid is claiming lives across the entire country, its impact has been especially devastating right here in our own backyard, the Bay Area. From the streets of San Francisco to the suburbs of the East Bay, this powerful and often secretly-laced drug is tearing families apart and overwhelming communities. It's a crisis that has evolved rapidly, driven by cheap, illicitly manufactured fentanyl that is up to 100 times more potent than morphine. In this episode, we'll explore this further and how the Bay Area became an epicenter for this public health emergency and what's being done to fight back.

We get an update on the weather and lines at Burning Man, not everyone who signs on with Marvel makes it big, and Will Smith using AI to hype up his hype video. We get a man on the scene report of an East Bay water main break from Matty and is it wrong to send a text telling someone to not get married on their wedding day?

On today's show we hear from a trio of young, Oakland musicians who recently performed at the Kennedy Center. Then, an exhibit that celebrates Filipino activism in San Francisco's SOMA district. We end with an East Bay comic book store hosting a big event in Alameda this weekend.

In this enlightening episode, we welcome Loretta Bruning, founder of the Intermammal Institute and author of 'Habits of a Happy Brain.' Loretta delves deep into the intricate relationship between brain impulses and soul growth. Learn about the role of happy chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins in shaping our behaviors, and discover how experiences in childhood and adolescence wire our brains. This discussion also explores how we can consciously rewire our brains for better habits, the importance of balancing immediate and long-term gratification, and the profound journey of integrating the physical brain with spiritual growth. Tune in to understand how we can harness our mammalian brain and elevate our lives through intentional soul evolution.00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction01:05 Loretta's Background and Academic Psychology02:35 Animal Behavior and Brain Wiring03:23 Motivation and Soul's Role05:25 Neuroplasticity and Rewiring the Brain08:20 Managing Impulses and Threat Chemicals22:22 Childhood Wiring and Self-Compassion29:32 Social Comparison and Animal Training37:58 Oxytocin and Psychological Safety41:42 Conclusion and Final ThoughtsLoretta Graziano Breuning, PhD, is author of Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels. She's Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. Dr. Breuning's many books, videos and podcasts explain the brain chemistry we've inherited from earlier mammals. It shows that our "happy chemicals" evolved for specific jobs, not to flow all the time for no reason. Our brain is not designed to produce constant happiness, yet Dr. Breuning's work explains the natural way to enhance our power over these chemicals. Her ten books are translated into sixteen languages. Before teaching, Loretta worked for the United Nations in Africa. Today, she gives zoo tours on animals behavior, after serving as a Docent at the Oakland Zoo. The Inner Mammal Institute offers videos, podcasts, books, blogs, multimedia, a training program, and a free five-day happy-chemical jumpstart.

Anxieties are rising in the East Bay as communities brace for the possibility of federal immigration crackdowns under President Trump. With guest co-host Trishala Vinnakota, we unpack California's upcoming effort to redraw its congressional maps, Alameda County's scramble to expand immigrant services, Trump's threat to deploy the National Guard in Oakland, and mounting concerns that the former federal women's prison in Dublin could be converted into an ICE detention center.

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists.   In this two-part series of Oakland Asian Cultural Center's “Let's Talk” podcast Eastside Arts Alliance is featured. Elena Serrano and Susanne Takehara, two of the founders of Eastside Arts Alliance, and staff member Aubrey Pandori will discuss the history that led to the formation of Eastside and their deep work around multi-racial solidarity.   Transcript: Let's Talk podcast episode 9  [00:00:00] Emma: My name is Emma Grover, and I am the program and communications coordinator at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, known also as OACC. Today we are sharing the ninth episode of our Let's Talk Audio Series. Let's Talk is part of OACC'S Open Ears for Change Initiative, which was established in 2020. With this series, our goals are to address anti-Blackness in the APIA communities, discuss the effects of colorism and racism in a safe space, and highlight Black and Asian solidarity and community efforts specifically in the Oakland Chinatown area. Today's episode is a round table discussion with Elena Serrano, Susanne Takahara, and Aubrey Pandori of Eastside Arts Alliance.  [00:00:53] Aubrey: Hello everybody. This is Aubrey from Eastside Arts Alliance, and I am back here for the second part of our Let's Talk with Suzanne and Elena. We're gonna be talking about what else Eastside is doing right now in the community. The importance of art in activism, and the importance of Black and Asian solidarity in Oakland and beyond.  So I am the community archivist here at Eastside Arts Alliances. I run CARP, which stands for Community Archival Resource Project. It is a project brought on by one of our co-founders, Greg Morozumi. And it is primarily a large chunk of his own collection from over the years, but it is a Third World archive with many artifacts, journals, pens, newspapers from social movements in the Bay Area and beyond, international social movements from the 1960s forward. We do a few different programs through CARP. I sometimes have archival exhibitions. We do public engagement through panels, community archiving days. We collaborate with other community archives like the Bay Area Lesbian Archives and Freedom Archives here in Oakland and the Bay Area. And we are also working on opening up our Greg Morozumi Reading Room in May. So that is an opportunity for people to come in and relax, read books, host reading groups, or discussions with their community. We're also gonna be opening a lending system so people are able to check out books to take home and read. There'll be library cards coming soon for that and other fun things to come.  [00:02:44] So Suzanne, what are you working on at Eastside right now? [00:02:48] Susanne: Well, for the past like eight or nine years I've been working with Jose Ome Navarrete and Debbie Kajiyama of NAKA Dance Theater to produce Live Arts and Resistance (LAIR), which is a Dance Theater Performance series. We've included many artists who, some of them started out here at Eastside and then grew to international fame, such as Dohee Lee, and then Amara Tabor-Smith has graced our stages for several years with House Full of Black Women. This year we're working with Joti Singh on Ghadar Geet: Blood and Ink, a piece she choreographed, and shot in film and it's a multimedia kind of experience. We've worked with Cat Brooks and many emerging other artists who are emerging or from all over, mostly Oakland, but beyond. It's a place where people can just experiment and not worry about a lot of the regulations that bigger theaters have. Using the outside, the inside, the walls, the ceiling sometimes. It's been an exciting experience to work with so many different artists in our space.  [00:04:03] Elena: And I have been trying to just get the word out to as many different folks who can help sustain the organization as possible about the importance of the work we do here. So my main job with Eastside has been raising money. But what we're doing now is looking at cultural centers like Eastside, like Oakland Asian Cultural Center, like the Malonga Casquelord Center, like Black Cultural Zone, like the Fruitvale Plaza and CURJ's work. These really integral cultural hubs. In neighborhoods and how important those spaces are.  [00:04:42] So looking at, you know, what we bring to the table with the archives, which serve the artistic community, the organizing community. There's a big emphasis, and we had mentioned some of this in the first episode around knowing the history and context of how we got here so we can kind of maneuver our way out. And that's where books and movies and posters and artists who have been doing this work for so long before us come into play in the archives and then having it all manifest on the stage through programs like LAIR, where theater artists and dancers and musicians, and it's totally multimedia, and there's so much information like how to keep those types of places going is really critical.  [00:05:28] And especially now when public dollars have mostly been cut, like the City of Oakland hardly gave money to the arts anyway, and they tried to eliminate the entire thing. Then they're coming back with tiny bits of money. But we're trying to take the approach like, please, let's look at where our tax dollars go. What's important in a neighborhood? What has to stay and how can we all work together to make that happen?  [00:05:52] Susanne: And I want to say that our Cultural Center theater is a space that is rented out very affordably to not just artists, but also many organizations that are doing Movement work, such as Palestinian Youth Movement, Bala, Mujeres Unidas Y Activas, QT at Cafe Duo Refugees, United Haiti Action Committee, Freedom Archives, Oakland Sin Fronteras, Center for CPE, and many artists connected groups.  [00:06:22] Aubrey: Yeah, I mean, we do so much more than what's in the theater and Archive too, we do a lot of different youth programs such as Girl Project, Neighborhood Arts, where we do public murals. One of our collective members, Angie and Leslie, worked on Paint the Town this past year. We also have our gallery in between the Cultural Center and Bandung Books, our bookstore, which houses our archive. We are celebrating our 25th anniversary exhibition.  [00:06:54] Susanne: And one of the other exhibits we just wrapped up was Style Messengers, an exhibit of graffiti work from Dime, Spy and Surge, Bay Area artists and Surge is from New York City, kind of illustrating the history of graffiti and social commentary.  [00:07:30] Elena: We are in this studio here recording and this is the studio of our youth music program Beats Flows, and I love we're sitting here with this portrait of Amiri Baraka, who had a lot to say to us all the time. So it's so appropriate that when the young people are in the studio, they have this elder, magician, poet activist looking at him, and then when you look out the window, you see Sister Souljah, Public Enemy, and then a poster we did during, when Black Lives Matter came out, we produced these posters that said Black Power Matters, and we sent them all over the country to different sister cultural centers and I see them pop up somewhere sometimes and people's zooms when they're home all over the country. It's really amazing and it just really shows when you have a bunch of artists and poets and radical imagination, people sitting around, you know, what kind of things come out of it. [00:08:31] Aubrey: I had one of those Black Power Matters posters in my kitchen window when I lived in Chinatown before I worked here, or visited here actually. I don't even know how I acquired it, but it just ended up in my house somehow.  [00:08:45] Elena: That's perfect. I remember when we did, I mean we still do, Malcolm X Jazz Festival and it was a young Chicana student who put the Jazz Festival poster up and she was like, her parents were like, why is Malcolm X? What has that got to do with anything? And she was able to just tell the whole story about Malcolm believing that people, communities of color coming together  is a good thing. It's a powerful thing. And it was amazing how the festival and the youth and the posters can start those kind of conversations.  [00:09:15] Aubrey: Malcolm X has his famous quote that says “Culture is an indispensable weapon in the freedom struggle.” And Elena, we think a lot about Malcolm X and his message here at Eastside about culture, but also about the importance of art. Can we speak more about the importance of art in our activism?  [00:09:35] Elena: Well, that was some of the things we were touching on around radical imagination and the power of the arts. But where I am going again, is around this power of the art spaces, like the power of spaces like this, and to be sure that it's not just a community center, it's a cultural center, which means we invested in sound good, sound good lighting, sprung floors. You know, just like the dignity and respect that the artists and our audiences have, and that those things are expensive but critical. So I feel like that's, it's like to advocate for this type of space where, again, all those groups that we listed off that have come in here and there's countless more. They needed a space to reach constituencies, you know, and how important that is. It's like back in the civil rights organizing the Black church was that kind of space, very important space where those kind of things came together. People still go to church and there's still churches, but there's a space for cultural centers and to have that type of space where artists and activists can come together and be more powerful together.  [00:10:50] Aubrey: I think art is a really powerful way of reaching people. [00:10:54] Elena: You know, we're looking at this just because I, being in the development end, we put together a proposal for the Environmental Protection Agency before Donald (Trump) took it over. We were writing about how important popular education is, so working with an environmental justice organization who has tons of data about how impacted communities like East Oakland and West Oakland are suffering from all of this, lots of science. But what can we, as an arts group, how can we produce a popular education around those things? And you know, how can we say some of those same messages in murals and zines, in short films, in theater productions, you know, but kind of embracing that concept of popular education. So we're, you know, trying to counter some of the disinformation that's being put out there too with some real facts, but in a way that, you know, folks can grasp onto and, and get.  [00:11:53] Aubrey: We recently had a LAIR production called Sky Watchers, and it was a beautiful musical opera from people living in the Tenderloin, and it was very personal. You were able to hear about people's experiences with poverty, homelessness, and addiction in a way that was very powerful. How they were able to express what they were going through and what they've lost, what they've won, everything that has happened in their lives in a very moving way. So I think art, it's, it's also a way for people to tell their stories and we need to be hearing those stories. We don't need to be hearing, I think what a lot of Hollywood is kind of throwing out, which is very white, Eurocentric beauty standards and a lot of other things that doesn't reflect our neighborhood and doesn't reflect our community. So yeah, art is a good way for us to not only tell our stories, but to get the word out there, what we want to see changed.  So our last point that we wanna talk about today is the importance of Black and Asian solidarity in Oakland. How has that been a history in Eastside, Suzanne?  [00:13:09] Susanne: I feel like Eastside is all about Third World solidarity from the very beginning. And Yuri Kochiyama is one of our mentors through Greg Morozumi and she was all about that. So I feel like everything we do brings together Black, Asian and brown folks. [00:13:27] Aubrey: Black and Asian solidarity is especially important here at Eastside Arts Alliance. It is a part of our history. We have our bookstore called Bandung Books for a very specific reason, to give some history there. So the Bandung Conference happened in 1955 in Indonesia, and it was the first large-scale meeting of Asian and African countries. Most of which were newly independent from colonialism. They aimed to promote Afro-Asian cooperation and rejection of colonialism and imperialism in all nations. And it really set the stage for revolutionary solidarity between colonized and oppressed people, letting way for many Third Worlds movements internationally and within the United States.  [00:14:14] Eastside had an exhibition called Bandung to the Bay: Black and Asian Solidarity at Oakland Asian Cultural Center the past two years in 2022 and 2023 for their Lunar New Year and Black History Month celebrations. It highlighted the significance of that conference and also brought to light what was happening in the United States from the 1960s to present time that were creating and building solidarity between Black and Asian communities. The exhibition highlighted a number of pins, posters, and newspapers from the Black Liberation Movement and Asian American movement, as well as the broader Third World movement. The Black Panthers were important points of inspiration in Oakland, in the Bay Area in getting Asian and Pacific Islanders in the diaspora, and in their homelands organized.  [00:15:07] We had the adoption of the Black Panthers 10-point program to help shape revolutionary demands and principles for people's own communities like the Red Guard in San Francisco's Chinatown, IWK in New York's Chinatown and even the Polynesian Panthers in New Zealand. There were so many different organizations that came out of the Black Panther party right here in Oakland. And we honor that by having so many different 10-point programs up in our theater too. We have the Brown Berets, Red Guard Party, Black Panthers, of course, the American Indian Movement as well. So we're always thinking about that kind of organizing and movement building that has been tied here for many decades now.  [00:15:53] Elena: I heard that the term Third World came from the Bandung conference. [00:15:58] Aubrey: Yes, I believe that's true.  [00:16:01] Elena: I wanted to say particularly right now, the need for specifically Black Asian solidarity is just, there's so much misinformation around China coming up now, especially as China takes on a role of a superpower in the world. And it's really up to us to provide some background, some other information, some truth telling, so folks don't become susceptible to that kind of misinformation. And whatever happens when it comes from up high and we hate China, it reflects in Chinatown. And that's the kind of stereotyping that because we have been committed to Third World solidarity and truth telling for so long, that that's where we can step in and really, you know, make a difference, we hope. I think the main point is that we need to really listen to each other, know what folks are going through, know that we have more in common than we have separating us, especially in impacted Black, brown, Asian communities in Oakland. We have a lot to do.  [00:17:07] Aubrey: To keep in contact with Eastside Arts Alliance, you can find us at our website: eastside arts alliance.org, and our Instagrams at Eastside Cultural and at Bandung Books to stay connected with our bookstore and CArP, our archive, please come down to Eastside Arts Alliance and check out our many events coming up in the new year. We are always looking for donations and volunteers and just to meet new friends and family.  [00:17:36] Susanne: And with that, we're gonna go out with Jon Jang's “The Pledge of Black Asian Alliance,” produced in 2018.  [00:18:29] Emma: This was a round table discussion at the Eastside Arts Alliance Cultural Center with staff and guests: Elena, Suzanne and Aubrey.  Let's Talk Audio series is one of OACC'S Open Ears for Change projects and as part of the Stop the Hate Initiative with funds provided by the California Department of Social Services in consultation with the commission of Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs to administer $110 million allocated over three years to community organizations. These organizations provide direct services to victims of hate and their families and offer prevention and intervention services to tackle hate in our communities. This episode is a production of the Oakland Asian Cultural Center with engineering, editing, and sound design by Thick Skin Media.  [00:19:18] A special thanks to Jon Jang for permission to use his original music. And thank you for listening.  [00:19:32] Music: Life is not what you alone make it. Life is the input of everyone who touched your life and every experience that entered it. We are all part of one another. Don't become too narrow, live fully, meet all kinds of people. You'll learn something from everyone. Follow what you feel in your heart. OACC Podcast [00:00:00] Emma: My name is Emma Grover, and I am the program and communications coordinator at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, known also as OACC. Today we are sharing the eighth episode of our Let's Talk audio series. Let's talk as part of OACC's Open Ears for Change Initiative, which was established in 2020. With this series, our goals are to address anti-blackness in the APIA communities, discuss the effects of colorism and racism in a safe space, and highlight black and Asian solidarity and community efforts specifically in the Oakland Chinatown area.   [00:00:43] Today's guests are Elena Serrano and Suzanne Takahara, co-founders of Eastside Arts Alliance. Welcome Elena and Suzanne, thank you so much for joining today's episode. And so just to kick things off, wanna hear about how was Eastside Arts Alliance started?   [00:01:01] Susanne: Well, it was really Greg Morozumi who had a longstanding vision of creating a cultural center in East Oakland, raised in Oakland, an organizer in the Bay Area, LA, and then in New York City where he met Yuri Kochiyama, who became a lifelong mentor.   [00:01:17] Greg was planning with one of Yuri's daughters, Ichi Kochiyama to move her family to Oakland and help him open a cultural center here. I met Greg in the early nineties and got to know him during the January, 1993 “No Justice, No Peace” show at Pro Arts in Oakland. The first Bay Graffiti exhibition in the gallery. Greg organized what became a massive anti-police brutality graffiti installation created by the TDDK crew. Graffiti images and messages covered the walls and ceiling complete with police barricades. It was a response to the Rodney King protests. The power of street art busted indoors and blew apart the gallery with political messaging. After that, Greg recruited Mike Dream, Spy, and other TDK writers to help teach the free art classes for youth that Taller Sin Fronteras was running at the time.   [00:02:11] There were four artist groups that came together to start Eastside. Taller Sin Fronteras was an ad hoc group of printmakers and visual artists activists based in the East Bay. Their roots came out of the free community printmaking, actually poster making workshops that artists like Malaquias Montoya and David Bradford organized in Oakland in the early 70s and 80s.   [00:02:34] The Black Dot Collective of poets, writers, musicians, and visual artists started a popup version of the Black Dot Cafe. Marcel Diallo and Leticia Utafalo were instrumental and leaders of this project. 10 12 were young digital artists and activists led by Favianna Rodriguez and Jesus Barraza in Oakland. TDK is an Oakland based graffiti crew that includes Dream, Spie, Krash, Mute, Done Amend, Pak and many others evolving over time and still holding it down.   [00:03:07] Elena: That is a good history there. And I just wanted to say that me coming in and meeting Greg and knowing all those groups and coming into this particular neighborhood, the San Antonio district of Oakland, the third world aspect of who we all were and what communities we were all representing and being in this geographic location where those communities were all residing. So this neighborhood, San Antonio and East Oakland is very third world, Black, Asian, Latinx, indigenous, and it's one of those neighborhoods, like many neighborhoods of color that has been disinvested in for years. But rich, super rich in culture.   [00:03:50] So the idea of a cultural center was…let's draw on where our strengths are and all of those groups, TDKT, Taller Sin Fronters, Black artists, 10 – 12, these were all artists who were also very engaged in what was going on in the neighborhoods. So artists, organizers, activists, and how to use the arts as a way to lift up those stories tell them in different ways. Find some inspiration, ways to get out, ways to build solidarity between the groups, looking at our common struggles, our common victories, and building that strength in numbers.   [00:04:27] Emma: Thank you so much for sharing. Elena and Suzanne, what a rich and beautiful history for Eastside Arts Alliance.   [00:04:34] Were there any specific political and or artistic movements happening at that time that were integral to Eastside's start?   [00:04:41] Elena: You know, one of the movements that we took inspiration from, and this was not happening when Eastside got started, but for real was the Black Panther Party. So much so that the Panthers 10-point program was something that Greg xeroxed and made posters and put 'em up on the wall, showing how the 10-point program for the Panthers influenced that of the Young Lords and the Brown Berets and I Wor Kuen (IWK).   [00:05:07] So once again, it was that Third world solidarity. Looking at these different groups that were working towards similar things, it still hangs these four posters still hang in our cultural, in our theater space to show that we were all working on those same things. So even though we came in at the tail end of those movements, when we started Eastside, it was very much our inspiration and what we strove to still address; all of those points are still relevant right now.   [00:05:36] Susanne: So that was a time of Fight The Power, Kaos One and Public Enemy setting. The tone for public art murals, graphics, posters. So that was kind of the context for which art was being made and protests happened.   [00:05:54] Elena: There was a lot that needed to be done and still needs to be done. You know what? What the other thing we were coming on the tail end of and still having massive repercussions was crack. And crack came into East Oakland really hard, devastated generations, communities, everything, you know, so the arts were a way for some folks to still feel power and feel strong and feel like they have agency in the world, especially hip hop and, spray can, and being out there and having a voice and having a say, it was really important, especially in neighborhoods where things had just been so messed up for so long.   [00:06:31] Emma: I would love to know also what were the community needs Eastside was created to address, you know, in this environment where there's so many community needs, what was Eastside really honing in on at this time?   [00:06:41] Elena: It's interesting telling our story because we end up having to tell so many other stories before us, so things like the, Black Arts movement and the Chicano Arts Movement. Examples of artists like Amiri Baraka, Malaguias Montoya, Sonya Sanchez. Artists who had committed themselves to the struggles of their people and linking those two works. So we always wanted to have that. So the young people that we would have come into the studio and wanna be rappers, you know, it's like, what is your responsibility?   [00:07:15] You have a microphone, you amplify. What are some of the things you're saying? So it was on us. To provide that education and that backstory and where they came from and the footsteps we felt like they were in and that they needed to keep moving it forward. So a big part of the cultural center in the space are the archives and all of that information and history and context.   [00:07:37] Susanne: And we started the Malcolm X Jazz Arts Festival for that same reason coming out of the Bandung Conference. And then the Tri Continental, all of this is solidarity between people's movements.   [00:07:51] Emma: You've already talked about this a little bit, the role of the arts in Eastside's foundation and the work that you're doing, and I'd love to hear also maybe how the role of the arts continues to be important in the work that you're doing today as a cultural center.   [00:08:04] And so my next question to pose to you both is what is the role of the arts at Eastside?   [00:08:10] Elena: So a couple different things. One, I feel like, and I said a little bit of this before, but the arts can transmit messages so much more powerfully than other mediums. So if you see something acted out in a theater production or a song or a painting, you get that information transmitted in a different way.   [00:08:30] Then also this idea of the artists being able to tap into imagination and produce images and visions and dreams of the future. This kind of imagination I just recently read or heard because folks aren't reading anymore or hardly reading that they're losing their imagination. What happens when you cannot even imagine a way out of things?   [00:08:54] And then lastly, I just wanted to quote something that Favianna Rodriguez, one of our founders always says “cultural shift precedes political shift.” So if you're trying to shift things politically on any kind of policy, you know how much money goes to support the police or any of these issues. It's the cultural shift that needs to happen first. And that's where the cultural workers, the artists come in.   [00:09:22] Susanne: And another role of Eastside in supporting the arts to do just that is honoring the artists, providing a space where they can have affordable rehearsal space or space to create, or a place to come safely and just discuss things that's what we hope and have created for the Eastside Cultural Center and now the bookstore and the gallery. A place for them to see themselves and it's all um, LGBTA, BIPOC artists that we serve and honor in our cultural center. To that end, we, in the last, I don't know, 8, 9 years, we've worked with Jose Navarrete and Debbie Kajiyama of Naka Dance Theater to produce live arts and resistance, which gives a stage to emerging and experienced performance artists, mostly dancers, but also poets, writers, theater and actors and musicians.   [00:10:17] Emma: The last question I have for you both today is what is happening in the world that continues to call us to action as artists?   [00:10:27] Elena: Everything, everything is happening, you know, and I know things have always been happening, but it seems really particularly crazy right now on global issues to domestic issues. For a long time, Eastside was um, really focusing in on police stuff and immigration stuff because it was a way to bring Black and brown communities together because they were the same kind of police state force, different ways.   [00:10:54] Now we have it so many different ways, you know, and strategies need to be developed. Radical imagination needs to be deployed. Everyone needs to be on hand. A big part of our success and our strength is organizations that are not artistic organizations but are organizing around particular issues globally, locally come into our space and the artists get that information. The community gets that information. It's shared information, and it gives us all a way, hopefully, to navigate our way out of it.   [00:11:29] Susanne: The Cultural Center provides a venue for political education for our communities and our artists on Palestine, Haiti, Sudan, immigrant rights, prison abolition, police abolition, sex trafficking, and houselessness among other things.   [00:11:46] Elena: I wanted to say too, a big part of what's going on is this idea of public disinvestment. So housing, no such thing as public housing, hardly anymore. Healthcare, education, we're trying to say access to cultural centers. We're calling that the cultural infrastructure of neighborhoods. All of that must be continued to be supported and we can't have everything be privatized and run by corporations. So that idea of these are essential things in a neighborhood, schools, libraries, cultural spaces, and you know, and to make sure cultural spaces gets on those lists.   [00:12:26] Emma: I hear you. And you know, I think every category you brought up, actually just now I can think of one headline or one piece of news recently that is really showing how critically these are being challenged, these basic rights and needs of the community. And so thank you again for the work that you're doing and keeping people informed as well. I think sometimes with all the news, both globally and, and in our more local communities in the Bay Area or in Oakland. It can be so hard to know what actions to take, what tools are available. But again, that's the importance of having space for this type of education, for this type of activism. And so I am so grateful that Eastside exists and is continuing to serve our community in this way.   What is Eastside Arts Alliance up to today? Are there any ways we can support your collective, your organization, what's coming up?   [00:13:18] Elena: Well, this is our 25th anniversary. So the thing that got us really started by demonstrating to the community what a cultural center was, was the Malcolm X Jazz Arts Festival, and that this year will be our 25th anniversary festival happening on May 17th.   [00:13:34] It's always free. It's in San Antonio Park. It's an amazing day of organizing and art and music, multi-generational. It's beautiful. It's a beautiful day. Folks can find out. We have stuff going on every week. Every week at the cultural center on our website through our socials. Our website is Eastside Arts alliance.org, and all the socials are there and there's a lot of information from our archives that you can look up there. There's just just great information on our website, and we also send out a newsletter.   [00:14:07] Emma: Thank you both so much for sharing, and I love you bringing this idea, but I hear a lot of arts and activism organizations using this term radical imagination and how it's so needed for bringing forth the future that we want for ourselves and our future generations.   [00:14:24] And so I just think that's so beautiful that Eastside creates that space, cultivates a space where that radical imagination can take place through the arts, but also through community connections. Thank you so much Elena and Suzanne for joining us today.   [00:14:40] Susanne: Thank you for having us.   [00:15:32] Emma: Let's Talk Audio series is one of OACC'S Open Ears for Change projects and is part of the Stop the Hate Initiative with funds provided by the California Department of Social Services. In consultation with the commission of Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs to administer $110 million allocated over three years to community organizations. These organizations provide direct services to victims of hate and their families, and offer prevention and intervention services to tackle hate in our communities.   This episode is a production of the Oakland Asian Cultural Center with engineering, editing, and sound design by Thick Skin Media. A special thanks to Jon Jang for permission to use his original music, and thank you for listening.   [00:16:34] Music: Life is not what you alone make it. Life is the input of everyone who touched your life and every experience that entered it. We are all part of one another. Don't become too narrow. Live fully, meet all kinds of people. You'll learn something from everyone. Follow what you feel in your heart. The post APEX Express – August 14, 2025 appeared first on KPFA.

Over the past 40 years, Afghans have steadily immigrated to the East Bay town of Fremont, hoping to start new lives close to others who share their language and culture. We trace four waves of immigration and check in with Afghans who've chosen to settle in Fremont. Additional Resources: How Did Fremont Become Known As 'Little Kabul'? Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Asal Ehsanipour. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Gabriela Glueck and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Olivia Allen-Price, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsay and everyone on Team KQED.

Guest co-host Trishala Vinnakota, the campaign consultant for both of Loren Taylor's runs for Oakland mayor provides some behind-the-scenes insights and stories from last spring's special mayoral election in Oakland, including a few “Oh, sh-t!” moments when it appeared that Taylor could actually upset Barbara Lee. Plus, takes on Lee's first two months in office, everyman Oakland Councilmember Ken Houston, and former Emeryville Mayor John Bauters' turn as reality TV star.

On today's episode of the Illumination by Modern Campus podcast, podcast host Shauna Cox was joined by Cathy Sandeen to discuss the evolving academic portfolio and shifting campus culture toward online and remote learning.

In this special Transforming Trauma series, we are exploring the “origin stories” of influential therapists. These episodes offer a rare opportunity to peek behind the curtain and understand what inspired these therapists to pursue healing work - and how they have brought their life experiences into their professional work, impacting and inspiring many people along the way. By learning from seasoned master therapists who openly share their professional journeys, as well as the painful personal life lessons along the way, we gain valuable insights to support our own growth, both professionally and personally. On this episode of Transforming Trauma, host Emily Ruth welcomes back Marcia Black, a licensed psychologist, faculty member at the Complex Trauma Training Center (CTTC), and a trainer and master therapist in the NeuroAffective Relational Model® (NARM®). Marcia shares defining moments from her remarkable 40+ year career and reminiscences about the generous mentors who have shaped her professional life. The pair also explore the role that curiosity plays in forming meaningful relationships with clients, colleagues, and the broader professional community. About Marcia Black: Marcia Black, PhD is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and CTTC Faculty member. Marcia has a passion for mentoring students and Training Assistants in NARM® Trainings and the SPACE Inner Development Program for Therapists. She enjoys nurturing the growth of the CTTC professional community who are committed to ongoing learning. Marcia is also a NARM Master Therapist and has been in private practice for over 40 years in San Francisco and the East Bay, specializing in treating complex and developmental trauma. Coming from a background in Attachment, Relational and Intersubjective approaches, as well as experience as a Somatic Experiencing practitioner and SE Assistant, Marcia's mentorship is based in a relational approach that invites an exploration into the therapist's inner experience and growth, alongside that of the client's. Marcia is excited about supporting ongoing training, consultation, and mentorship in her role at CTTC. Learn More: Complex Trauma Training Center To read the full show notes and discover more resources, visit https://complextraumatrainingcenter.com/transformingtrauma SPACE: SPACE is an Inner Development Program of Support and Self-Discovery for Therapists on the Personal, Interpersonal, and Transpersonal Levels offered by the Complex Trauma Training Center. This experiential learning program offers an immersive group experience designed to cultivate space for self-care, community support, and deepening vitality in our professional role as therapists. Learn more about how to join. *** The Complex Trauma Training Center: https://complextraumatrainingcenter.com View upcoming trainings: https://complextraumatrainingcenter.com/schedule/ The Complex Trauma Training Center (CTTC) is a professional organization providing clinical training, education, consultation, and mentorship for psychotherapists and mental health professionals working with individuals and communities impacted by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Complex Trauma (C-PTSD). CTTC provides NARM® Therapist and NARM® Master Therapist Training programs, as well as ongoing monthly groups in support of those learning NARM. CTTC offers a depth-oriented professional community for those seeking a supportive network of therapists focused on three levels of shared human experience: personal, interpersonal & transpersonal.  The Transforming Trauma podcast embodies the spirit of CTTC – best described by its three keywords: depth, connection, and heart - and offers guidance to those interested in effective, transformational trauma-informed care. We want to connect with you! Facebook @complextraumatrainingcenter Instagram @complextraumatrainingcenter LinkedIn YouTube    

DJ Jesse Luscious celebrates the life & music of Bill Chamberlain, guitarist of The Pist, The Dissidents, Caustic Christ, Brutally Familiar, & many others, after his sudden passing on Thursday 17 July. He also digs into East Bay Punk past & present with Dollar Store, Filth, The Gr'ups, The Hammerbombs, Jack Acid, & Loud Graves, spins new tunes from The Stolen Moans, Biohazard, Putan Club, Babymetal, & Madame Reaper And The Gentleman's Club, plays classics from Fear, The Toy Dolls, Adrenalin O.D., Nox Novacula, Serial Killers, Private Function, Turbonegro, Crime, Corrosion Of Conformity, Knives, The Missile Studs, Misfits, & Robyn, and the Luscious Listener's Choice!  Dollar Store- Creator Jack Acid- Idiot Filth- Freedom Gr'ups- Oink Loud Graves- Crooked Crown Hammerbombs- Shower Beers Adrenalin O.D.- Flipside Unclassified Toy Dolls- Blue Suede Shoes Stolen Moans- Damned Sweet Private Function- Are You Gonna Go My Way? Crime- Baby You're So Repulsive Misfits- Night Of The Living Dead Dissidents- Numbers Station Dissidents- ACAC Brutally Familiar- Ashamed To Be White Caustic Christ- Destructive And Desperate Pist- Small Town (edit) Pist- Textbook Salvation (edit) Caustic Christ- Ha Ha Ha Missile Studs- Boredumb Fear- Beef Bologna Fear- Camarillo Knives- Sadness Serial Killers- Blood 'N Guts Rock 'N' Roll Turbonegro- Midnight NAMBLA Biohazard- Forsaken (Clean Edit) Corrosion Of Conformity- Technocracy (Rerecorded) Babymetal- Kon! Kon! Feat. Bloodywood Putan Club- Meydusa Madame Reaper And The Gentleman's Club- Alright Tonight Robyn- Konichiwa Bitches (edit) Nox Novacula- Face The Stench

East Bay Municipal Utility District Boardmember Jim Oddie, who represents parts of San Leandro, join Lee Thomas for GrilleeQ Cali chicken thighs, all-beef hot links, grilled zucchini, blueberry cornbread muffin, and a glass of crystal clear EBMUD water. Oddie, also a former Alameda councilmember, talks about the big change from city business to overseeing the region's water supply. You don't need to buy bottled water! East Bay MUD has the best-tasting water, Oddie said. Also, the district's preparations for a natural disaster, droughts, and San Leandro's "water bandit." This episode of The Marinade is sponsored by Louis Heystek of Compass Real Estate. For more information, visit: eastbayrealtor.com.

DJ Jesse Luscious compares "Radio" songs by Rancid & Eastbay - イーストベイ, spins new Acapulco Lips, Sex Germs, Fishbone, Problem Patterns, Teenage Bottlerocket, Weathered Man And The Noise, Glowing Brain, The Planet Smashers, Madame Reaper And The Gentleman's Club, & The Dirty Nil, plays classics from Mudhoney, The Runaways, Neurosis, Flipper, The Minks, Adrenalin O.D., Lene Lovich, The Circle Jerks, Judge, Throw Rag, Los Fastidios, Leftovers, City Mouse, Jawbreaker, The Underground Railroad to Candyland, Negative Trend, Rubber City Rebels, Christ On Parade, Rose Tattoo, & Monty Python, and the Luscious Listener's Choice! Sex Germs- Breeder Sex Germs- In The News Throwrag- Rule Maker Problem Patterns- I'm Fine And I'm Doing Great Los Fastidios- Johnny And The Queer Boot Boys Leftovers- Telephone Operator City Mouse- Four Leaf Clover Adrenalin O.D.- Your Kung-Fu Is Old… And Now You Must Die!!! Adrenalin O.D.- AOD Vs Godzilla Teenage Bottlerocket- Post Mortem Depression Eastbay- Radio Rancid- Radio (Edit) Christ On Parade- Pressured To Succeed Neurosis- Day Of The Lords Mudhoney- Hate The Police Rose Tattoo- Scarred For Life Runaways- American Nights Monty Python- Constitutional Peasant Circle Jerks- American Heavy Metal Weekend Glowing Brain- Long Hair Punks Judge- The Storm Dirty Nil- Fail In Time Jawbreaker- Chesterfield King Acapulco Lips- The Flim-Flam Minks- David Watts Fishbone- All About Me Planet Smashers- Meet Me On The Dancefloor Madame Reaper And The Gentleman's Club- Feast (Edit) Lene Lovich- Lucky Number Weathered Man And the Noise- History Underground Railroad To Candyland- Body Of The Bird Rubber City Rebels- Born Dead Negative Trend- Black And Red Flipper- Sex Bomb  

The Republican budget bill passed last week, which some are calling the largest wealth distribution to the wealthy in history. We speak with Congresswoman Lateefah Simon who is currently serving her first term in Congress as the Representative of the 12th district of California representing the East Bay. Congresswoman Simon is a vocal supporter against the Republican so-called Big Beautiful Bill that she says will cause upwards of 40,000 people in her district to lose access to healthcare. We also hear from the Nation's John Nichols. — Subscribe to this podcast: https://plinkhq.com/i/1637968343?to=page Get in touch: lawanddisorder@kpfa.org Follow us on socials @LawAndDis: https://twitter.com/LawAndDis; https://www.instagram.com/lawanddis/   The post The Big, Ugly Bill. US Rep. Lateefah Simon Gives Hope; and the Nation's John Nichols appeared first on KPFA.

Hercules native August Lee Stevens dropped her debut album “Better Places” last year earning her a following and praise for her indie soul sound. The 25-year-old singer and songwriter started classical piano when she was in elementary school and continued her study at the Oakland School of the Arts. In her senior year, she picked up singing – a decision that changed her life. She is now part of a wave of emerging musicians from the East Bay. Stevens joins us for a special live performance, and to talk about her musical roots and journey. Guests: August Lee Stevens, Bay Area-based musician and singer-songwriter; her debut album “Better Places” came out in 2024 Frankie Maston, vocalist Ash Stallard, vocalist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Time to head back to the field with a trio of player interviews — and a themed trio, as all three of my guys for this episode are East Bay kids. In this episode we cover all sorts of player development hardships from injury to game just plain ol' being hard. Villers, the former Cal closer, had hardly joined pro ball when he went down for multiple years with injury. Gavello struggled with his performance over some difficult seasons in Eugene. And Hecht gave up on his dreams of playing pro ball forever — he thought — before a twist of fate gave him one last opportunity.There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rogermunter.substack.com/subscribe

Check us out on Patreon for ZERO ADS and livestreams every week! Deep in the heart of Savannah's storied riverfront sits 7 East Bay Street—a building whose walls echo with secrets of America's darkest past. In this episode of The Most Haunted City on Earth, Madison, Chris, and JT take you inside the chilling history of what was once the infamous remake of Tondee's Tavern, now Bubba Garcia's. Beneath its charming brick façade lies a sinister legacy of enslavement, human suffering, and the bustling slave trade that built Savannah's empire. From its ties to the notorious Joseph Bryan and the horrifying “Weeping Time” auction to its shadowy tunnels and basements that once held men, women, and children in bondage, this location holds the residual sorrow of countless souls whose lives were stolen and sold for profit.Join us as we peel back the layers of this haunted site—where enslaved spirits, Civil War soldiers, and lingering figures like the elusive Catherine remind visitors that the past is far from buried. Discover chilling eyewitness accounts, ghostly whispers in dark basements, and unexplained phenomena that still plague staff and patrons today. If you think you're ready to confront Savannah's hidden horrors, watch now—and remember, after the public stream ends, only our Parajunkies get to follow us deeper into the shadows. Stay spooky, y'all.

On this episode of The Super Retro Podcast, we're throwing it all the way back. We're counting down the Top 10 Retro Mortal Kombat Fatalities, flipping through the legendary Eastbay Catalog, and vibing out to the epic soundtrack of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. We also dive into the bizarre brilliance of the Duracell Puttermans ad campaign, pay homage to car stereo cassette adapters (aka the original aux cords), and talk some good ol' 1980s baseball nostalgia. Plus: remember those green pleather couches everybody's grandma had? Yeah, we go there too.We've got some Discord Drops, cracked open the mailbag, and proudly unveiled our brand new Super Retro studio sign courtesy of Infinite Signs. Today's episode was brought to you by Salty Water. Hydrate Your Inner Warrior! Support our sponsors:IG: https://www.instagram.com/drinksaltywater/Buy: https://tinyurl.com/4c4kz9ceWebsite: https://drinksaltywater.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/r6faBu9PMaster list on our NES collection: https://superretropod.com/nes-game-list-super-retro/Join our channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMP4yO-dFGayGUkT_MVYrhQ/joinEmail: SuperRetroPod@gmail.comAll things Super Retro: https://linktr.ee/superretroInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/superretropodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@superretropod

Daniel Savio started his professional theater career playing keyboards for the Mime Troupe in 2006, and since 2020 he has been the Troupe's resident composer/lyricist. This year Daniel led the band, was co-arranger, and composed additional music for SFBATCO's original musical Sign My Name To Freedom: The Unheard Songs of Betty Reid Soskin. He was recently musical director for the Marin Mountain Play production of Kinky Boots. Daniel has been MD of numerous community and children's productions at theaters in the North and East Bay. He has a BA in music from the University of California at Santa Cruz. SF Mime Troupe Web Site DISRUPTION - A Musical Farce Written by Michael Gene Sullivan & Marie Cartier Music and Lyrics by Daniel Savio Directed by Michael Gene Sullivan Music Direction by Daniel Savio DISRUPTION - A Musical Farce features a four-person cast that includes veteran SF Mime Troupe collective members: Michael Gene Sullivan* (Hector Washington); Alicia M.P. Nelson* (Zubari Macintosh); and features Lizzie Calogero* (Elizabeth); Jed Parsario* (Augie Dimalanta). SFMT BAND: Guinevere Q (Bass); Daniel Savio (Keyboards); and Jason Young (Drums, Percussion). In a city where nothing is more important than “innovation,” son of immigrants Augie Dimalanta (Jed Parsario) works hard. His friend Elizabeth (Lizzie Calogero) may think patching over problems is counterrevolutionary, but after his shift at the “Fried Thangs Diner” Augie's life's all about helping his neighbors navigate an increasingly underfunded and inhuman system. His efforts to make up for the cuts are making a real difference, but at what point does he need to stop plugging the holes in the system and try to change it instead? And while Augie is filling holes, tech genius Zubari Macintosh (Alicia Nelson) is busy digging more! As the head of MOPS (The Mayor's Office of Public Safety) she's all about optimization and “efficiency,” making a city attractive to investors and the right kind of people - and who wouldn't want that? Never mind that she has no experience beyond developing a social media app - how hard can government be? Maybe the only real barrier to giving the people what they really want all this time has been the inefficiency of democracy itself. And with proudly working-class, red-hatted police officers like Hector Washington (Michael Gene Sullivan) to clear the streets, San Francisco will soon be a beautiful and prosperous suburb of Silicon Valley - and hopefully in time for the president's upcoming visit. But if the city is poised to be a calm, efficient paradise why is everything suddenly on… FIRE!

Parliament Brewing Co. co-founder Adam Bosch joins Harry Duke, in for Steve Jaxon, and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. Adam's last time on Brew Ha Ha was this episode on December 28, 2023. Herlinda's father Eloy and brother Anthony Heras are also in the studio today. Eloy devoted his career to the US Navy. He liked Olympia Beer and Herlinda got her first taste of beer from him. Adam Bosch talks about Parliament Brewing Co.'s plans to expand and their calendar of events. They had a cheesesteak invitational for National Cheesesteak Day last March. Their anniversary party September 20-21 this year, celebrating their sixth anniversary. They are located at 5865 West Labath Ave. Adam likes to think of it as just west of Costco and south of the casino in Rohnert Park. They are dog friendly as long as the dogs are. The beer they are currently tasting is Prism Hazy IPA, 6.6% ABV, which won Best Hazy at Battle of the Brews last April. It also won Best in Show. Their focus has been mainly local but they will now be looking for more distribution into the East Bay and Sacramento. Herlinda's brother Anthony is a rattlesnake handler on the side. He knew someone who had a snake and when they needed a new handler, he got the job. Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Jenn Johns  is an Oakland-raised, Los Angeles-based powerhouse, vocalist, songwriter, producer, activist, and entrepreneur who creates sounds, experiences, and products that are sure to stir your soul, inspire your mind and move your body. Jenn will be performing this Saturday at the upcoming East Bay Freedom Revival Weekend to Celebrate Self-Love, Justice & Collective Freedom, a four-day gathering in honor of  Juneteenth, Summer Solstice & Pride in Oakland. Jenn's latest album is called Azania.   Check out her work at https://jennjohns.com/ — Subscribe to this podcast: https://plinkhq.com/i/1637968343?to=page Get in touch: lawanddisorder@kpfa.org Follow us on socials @LawAndDis: https://twitter.com/LawAndDis; https://www.instagram.com/lawanddis/ The post East Bay Freedom Revival w/ Jenn Johns appeared first on KPFA.

Brooke Hartley May lives in Oakland, California, on the East Bay, claiming to get more sunshine than her neighbors in San Francisco. She was a history major in college, which makes her path to technology a bit different. She still enjoys writing and reading in long form to this day. Outside of tech, she is married with a 4 year old son - and a pug. She enjoys life as a parent, startup founder, but was sad that the Oakland A's left Oakland, amongst other teams.A few years ago, Brooke and her now co-founder observed that people were viewing AI as this end-all-be-all solution. But what quickly happened was that the data needed to make AI effective was not in quite the same state.This is the creation story of Infactory.SponsorsPaddle.comSema SoftwarePropelAuthPostmanMeilisearchLinkshttps://infactory.ai/https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhartley/Our Sponsors:* Check out Kinsta: https://kinsta.com* Check out Vanta: https://vanta.com/CODESTORYSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/code-story/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

  Kayak snapper, topwater trout, and panhandle pelagics—insider tips from the region's sharpest anglers. This week we're talking to: Blake Nelson of Last Cast Charters, who's been chasing trout and redfish across East Bay and Santa Rosa Sound. He shares where he's finding cleaner water, why topwaters have been so effective lately, and what makes this year's trout bite stand out. He also discusses patterns around pinfish and how moon phases are impacting the inshore bite. Captain Adam Peeples of One Shot Charters gives a high-level offshore report, including what to expect with red snapper season open. He discusses current trends with bait movement, thermocline effects, and why anglers need to be willing to move around. Adam also highlights the changing pelagic scene—blackfin tuna, mahi, and even some blue marlin—and what gear he uses to chase big fish deep. Captain Blake Hunter of Hang Em High Sportfishing offers a surfside and nearshore perspective out of Panama City. He shares his take on early morning pompano opportunities, Spanish mackerel movement, and what he's seeing with tarpon activity starting to kick up. He also talks king mackerel setups and what tourists should keep in mind when heading to the sand. Tune in for timely reports and expert tips from anglers who fish the Gulf day in and day out. The Northwest Florida Fishing Report is your best resource for the Destin Fishing Report, Panama City Fishing Report, Pensacola Fishing Report, Navarre Fishing Report, and everywhere in between. It's all brought to you whether it's good, bad, or ugly. Please Subscribe, Rate, and Review wherever you listen to podcasts. Don't forget to text the word “NWFFR” to 779-345-2918 to get that AFTCO camo lens cleaner cloth and to join our email list for weekly updates!   Important Links:   Sponsors Fishbites Dixie Supply and Baker Metal Killerdock Test Calibration Coastal Connection EXP Realty Great Days Outdoors Hilton's Realtime Navigator Bucks Island Marine Salts Gone

I practiced what I preached and I went a-Maying, exploring the gifts of spring in Northern California. I found fuel for the mind, the body and soul. I learned that the East Bay is a lost world which is always on the move, tectonically and morphologically speaking. The Berkeley Rose Garden offers an exploratory visit that delights the senses with more than 250 varieties of roses, and I could follow the footsteps of the Green Man and Woman in its design and botanical treasures. I then found the human equivalents of this surrender to life and its powerful currents, at the Jack London State Historic Park, where the legacy and narratives of Jack and Charmian London's lives prompt the questions: What is it to be brave and daring today? How do you live your own story? What makes you feel like a flower in rapturous bloom? Enjoy!

The Trump Administration's immigration crackdown has left few safe spaces for immigrants. But in the East Bay, local soccer leagues have provided a rare sense of psychological safety for immigrant newcomers. Links: As Safe Spaces Shrink, Immigrant Youth Find Solace in 'The Beautiful Game' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  Kayak snapper, topwater trout, and panhandle pelagics—insider tips from the region's sharpest anglers. This week we're talking to: Blake Nelson of Last Cast Charters, who's been chasing trout and redfish across East Bay and Santa Rosa Sound. He shares where he's finding cleaner water, why topwaters have been so effective lately, and what makes this year's trout bite stand out. He also discusses patterns around pinfish and how moon phases are impacting the inshore bite. Captain Adam Peeples of One Shot Charters gives a high-level offshore report, including what to expect with red snapper season open. He discusses current trends with bait movement, thermocline effects, and why anglers need to be willing to move around. Adam also highlights the changing pelagic scene—blackfin tuna, mahi, and even some blue marlin—and what gear he uses to chase big fish deep. Captain Blake Hunter of Hang Em High Sportfishing offers a surfside and nearshore perspective out of Panama City. He shares his take on early morning pompano opportunities, Spanish mackerel movement, and what he's seeing with tarpon activity starting to kick up. He also talks king mackerel setups and what tourists should keep in mind when heading to the sand. Tune in for timely reports and expert tips from anglers who fish the Gulf day in and day out. The Northwest Florida Fishing Report is your best resource for the Destin Fishing Report, Panama City Fishing Report, Pensacola Fishing Report, Navarre Fishing Report, and everywhere in between. It's all brought to you whether it's good, bad, or ugly. Please Subscribe, Rate, and Review wherever you listen to podcasts. Don't forget to text the word “NWFFR” to 779-345-2918 to get that AFTCO camo lens cleaner cloth and to join our email list for weekly updates!   Important Links:   Sponsors Fishbites Dixie Supply and Baker Metal Killerdock Test Calibration Coastal Connection EXP Realty Great Days Outdoors Hilton's Realtime Navigator Bucks Island Marine Salts Gone

Kyle Casey Chu, aka Panda Dulce is a fourth-generation Chinese-American. Her twin brother has autism, and the two went to Jefferson Elementary in the Sunset because the school had a good inclusive special education program. Kyle says that from an early age, she fought for her twin, all the way up to teaching classmates ASL to be able to communicate with her brother. After one year at Lick-Wilmerding High School, Kyle transferred to School of the Arts (now Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts) to major in music. She went to Sarah Lawrence College in New York after that, where she majored in ethnic studies and arts, followed by time at Columbia University for social work. Then Kyle Casey Chu came back to her hometown. She says she missed the calmness here, the Queer scene, and her family. We shift the conversation to the story of how San Francisco Drag Story Hour got started. Michelle Tea founded Drag Story Hour after having a kid of her own and discovering how hard it was to find spaces for queer parents or parents of queer kids. Tea thought, ‘Why not bring the magic of drag to youth spaces?' When she set out, Tea sought drag queens who had worked with youth before, something that proved not too easy. But Kyle and her drag persona, Panda Dulce, did in fact have youth work experience. Kyle had worked as a K–5 Spanish immersion teacher, a special ed. teacher, a music teacher, and a camp counselor. That plus her social work degree definitely qualified her for Drag Story Hour. She along with a handful of other queens joined the pilot program. Fast-forward to June 2022, when members of the so-called “Proud Boys” (ugh) stormed a Drag Story Hour in San Lorenzo in the East Bay that Panda Dulce had been asked to read at. After barging in uninvited and definitely unwanted, they shouted transphobic slurs and calling Panda a pedophile, a “tranny,” and an “it.” She was forced for her own safety to lock herself in a back room of the library until authorities arrived. When they did, they simply asked these horrible people to leave. No citations. Not even a slap on the wrist or taking of names. The goings on in San Lorenzo that day were awful enough. But starting soon after, the missteps by media were relentless for Kyle. Journalists seemed more interested in a preordained narrative than Kyle's actual experience and associated trauma. It was like the story was being fed to her, rather than coming from her own words. But Kyle and her writing partner, Roisin Isner, were talking one day. They decided that they wanted to reclaim authorship of Kyle's story, to add dimensionality and humanity to her experience. Isner had been through a traumatic event of her own years earlier and could easily relate to her friend. We talk at length about Kyle's reliving her trauma to film the short film that came out of writing sessions with her friend. She says that she never really stopped living it, in fact, and that shooting the movie served as a sort of catharsis for her. Then we talk about her new book, The Queen Bees of Tybee County, which is out now wherever you buy books (except for that one place—never buy anything there yuck). When we recorded that day in April, the book had just been optioned and could become a movie in the near future. She's also got another short coming soon, Betty, which just premiered in New York. Follow Kyle/Panda Dulce on Instagram and her Kyle Casey Chu website. We recorded this bonus episode during SFFILM fest in The Presidio in April 2025. Photography by Jeff Hunt

In this episode of Mind Power Meets Mystic, Cinthia Varkevisser and Michelle Walters sit down with East Bay real estate powerhouse Laura Wucher.They dive deep into how real estate is far more than market trends and numbers — it's a first chakra experience, packed with emotion, energy, and transformation.From handling client fears and tough pricing conversations to using house clearings and intuition to sell homes, Laura shares how she blends practical strategy with energetic alignment. Expect stories, laughs, and unexpected spiritual twists behind real estate deals.Topics Covered:How real estate connects to the root chakra: money, security, survivalEmotions behind buying, selling, and moving homesUsing house clearings and energy resets to move stagnant listingsHow Laura personalizes every client journeySpecial Mention:Cinthia and Michelle share details about Mind Power Meets Mystic: The Project — a one-hour dual-session combining intuitive coaching and custom hypnosis for powerful breakthroughs.Connect with Laura Wucher:Website: LauraWucher.comInstagram: @laurawucherrealestateYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtgEer4lcrDNkKQfHPKHCvw

Ciiku N'Dungu Case is the founder of Cheza Nami, an East Bay based organization that spreads awareness of African cultures in schools through music and dance. Now she is out with a new children's book called "Wanjiku, Child of Mine." It's about a little girl who grows up in Kenya…

ABOUT ANUSH ELANGOVANAnush Elangovan leads the Artificial Intelligence Group (AIG) as Corporate Vice President of AI software and solutions.Anush has 23 years of industry experience in AI, computer science, compilers, network security, operating systems, math, and its materialization on complex hardware systems. This co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Nod.ai oversaw product strategy and the overall business until AMD acquired Nod.ai (see related article here) today.Anush will lead the acceleration of deploying AI solutions optimized for AMD products while aligning with AMD's AI growth strategy centered on an open software ecosystem. In the near term, he and his team will introduce the code generation (CodeGen) capabilities from the Nod.ai flagship software, Shark, to unlock customer engagements via the ROCm™ and Vitis™ AI platforms. Over time, Anush will lead the contributions of the Nod.ai team to the AMD Unified AI Stack.Before starting Nod.ai, Anush was instrumental in the graphics stack on the first ARM Chromebook. He led the movement of the Chrome operating system from Debian to Gentoo Linux to enable Google to gain full control of the shipping software. Previously, he was Principal Engineer for Agnilux, which Google acquired. The Agnilux team became crucial to the Chrome OS team, building a fusion of Android and Chrome OS.Previously, Anush was a technical lead at Cisco Systems in its Datacenter Group, creating the first distributed virtual switching platform. He has also been an early member of FireEye, where he led in-memory taint-check analysis for networking and security in virtualized environments. He started his career in an earlier stint at Cisco, contributing to metro Ethernet initiatives.Anush holds a Master of Science in computer science from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Engineering in computer science from the Mepco Schlenk Engineering College at Madurai Kamaraj University in India. He has earned 10 patents. In his spare time, he enjoys skiing, mountaineering, and trail running. Anush lives with his family, including three children and two dogs, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area.This episode is brought to you by Side – delivering award-winning QA, localization, player support, and tech services for the world's leading games and technology brands.For over 30 years, Side has helped create unforgettable user experiences—from indies to AAA blockbusters like Silent Hill 2 and Baldur's Gate 3.Learn more about Side's global solutions at side.inc. SHOW NOTES:AMD's AI hardware + software strategy, explained (2:24)From startup founder to leading AI software at AMD (3:50)How AMD is unifying hardware through a shared AI stack (6:01)What the VP of AI Software @ AMD owns across software & customer enablement (7:17)AMD's daily standup and real-time prioritization rituals (10:32)Strategies for building a unified AI ecosystem from first principles (13:06)How to approach building for complex technical workflows (15:38)Navigating hardware ecosystem requirements & aligning AI software (17:48)Challenging legacy software assumptions & why AI requires a new mindset for software development (19:38)AMD's integration of community contributors into product cycles (21:21)AMD's approach to cultivating an open-source ecosystem & community experience (22:48)Open-source & AMD's ecosystem strategy: Building trust by building in public (26:57)How AMD collects and acts on user feedback fast within a community ecosystem (29:24)AI's impact on everyday human experiences (32:15)Rapid fire questions (34:50) This episode wouldn't have been possible without the help of our incredible production team:Patrick Gallagher - Producer & Co-HostJerry Li - Co-HostNoah Olberding - Associate Producer, Audio & Video Editor https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-olberding/Dan Overheim - Audio Engineer, Dan's also an avid 3D printer - https://www.bnd3d.com/Ellie Coggins Angus - Copywriter, Check out her other work at https://elliecoggins.com/about/

The Albany bulb is a beloved fixture of the East Bay shoreline. People visit for kite flying, dog walking and the culture of renegade art making. Today, we go out to the bulb with some former inhabitants to hear their story of a community that made the bulb a home. 

Dylan O'Brien, owner of Oakland's Prizefighter, is a born and raised East Bay kid who always appreciated the farm to table approach of the Bay, and made that a part of his bars (he also owned SF's Bloodhound). Back in the day, he sang in vocal groups and still plays guitar, but shockingly has never done karaoke despite his singing skills! He started off working in wine, but a friend showed him that he would be much happier working with spirits (especially that "weird tequila") and he now not only oversees his bar, but also a diverse bottle shop next door. And this playlist proves he knows how to warm a crowd up for the night: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4t21rwXkkGi9VbiMZIjBIr?si=zdT9FM10S32JKH8lNhFxiQ

(Karuna Buddhist Vihara)

Story of the Week (DR):CEOs to the rescue?Trio Of Top CEOs Warn Trump Tariffs Will Empty Store ShelvesDuring a private meeting in the Oval Office on Monday, the CEOs of Walmart, Target and Home Depot reportedly told the president that supply chains could freeze and prompt stores' shelves to go barren if he doesn't rein in his sharp tariff plans, and meddles with the Federal Reserve.Target CEO Brian Cornell (25%): Mr. The Gay Pride Display Is Too Expensive Because THere are Too Many Colors (719:1)Home Depot CEO Ted Decker (25%): Mr. Charlie Munger Would Hate Him because He Got a BA in English (443:1)Walmart CEO Doug McMillon 6%: (They should have sent a Walton family member) Mr. Racism Was Solved So It's Time to Move on from DEI (976:1)Elon Musk says he's stepping back from DOGEElon Musk was supposed to work in government as a special employee for 130 days. He just pledged to spend ‘a day or two' per week for the remainder of Trump's 4-year termAfter spending three months trying to radically reshape the federal government and its workforce, Elon Musk on Tuesday said he would soon be stepping back from the White House DOGE office."Starting next month, I will be allocating far more of my time to Tesla," Musk said during Tesla's earnings call, adding that "the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency" was done.Tesla profit drops 71% as carmaker warns ‘political sentiment' could impact future demandBusiness Roundtable urges SEC to amend proxy-voting process MMThe Securities and Exchange Commission should reform the proxy-voting process by making it more difficult for certain shareholder proposals to make it onto company proxy ballots, according to an April 23 report from the Business Roundtable.“The current state of the proxy process is unsustainable,” the advocacy group comprising more than 200 CEOs said in its report. “Companies are being forced to divert significant resources and attention toward responding to a flood of ideology-driven shareholder proposals — resources that would be better spent driving long-term value creation. These escalating costs ultimately fall on shareholders, yet there is little evidence that such proposals yield meaningful economic benefits.”Median US CEO pay hits record $16.8 million on soaring stock awardsMedian pay among top U.S. CEOs rose 7.5% to a record $16.8 million for 2024, a new study found, as big stock grants boosted leaders' reported earnings well beyond the pay received by U.S. workers. Study looked at 320 companies in the S&P 500 with pay data filed so far this yearESG Pope has died: Pope Francis Pushed ESG. How the Church's Investments Did.The Vatican's investments are generating a profit, perhaps from a renewed focus—led by the late pontiff—on social values aligned with the Catholic Church. Francis died on Monday at age 88 after a long health crisis.Goodliest of the Week (MM/DR):DR: Subaru Is Bringing Back Physical Knobs and Buttons in Its Cars MM DRDR: Twinkies' New Owner Courts a Novel Group of Snackers: StonersMM: Tesla whistleblower wins legal battle against Elon MuskAssholiest of the Week (MM):OpenAI DRWhen asked to generate assholes of the week, ChatGPT suggested as the FIRST ASSHOLE: OpenAI's “Safety Is Optional” StrategyLaunched GPT-4.1 with zero safety report—claiming it's not “frontier.”Updated its Preparedness Framework to say it might lower safety standards if rivals do.Former staff filed an amicus brief supporting Elon Musk's lawsuit, saying for-profit incentives undermine safety.Also stopped safety testing of fine-tuned models unless released openly.This is tech's version of “if the other kids jumped off a bridge...”In 2025… OpenAI updated its safety framework—but no longer sees mass manipulation and disinformation as a critical riskNot to be outdone by other college dropout middle school losers, OpenAI considering its own social network to compete with Elon Musk's XIt's not OpenAI, it's Sam Altman, college dropoutRemember when they had a board?Blaming ChinaElon Musk worries Chinese companies will fill out the world's top 10 robot makers—but claims Tesla is, and will stay, No. 1Google says DOJ's proposal for breakup would harm U.S. in 'global race with China'Trade war woes: Boeing stock sinks after China reportedly blocks plane deliveriesWispy stache middle school manflakes who are going to MAKE you like them, whether you want to or notDamion will rate whether these headlines make him finally like the techbro manflakes:Elon Musk Reportedly Sends DMs on Twitter Offering Women the Chance to Have His BabiesTesla really wants the Cybertruck to be a working man's truckElon 'rattled' as he's brutally trolled in gaming livestream from private jetHuge Number of People Who Used to Like Elon Musk Now Detest Him, Polling ShowsSomeone Is Hacking Crosswalk Buttons to Speak in the Voice of Elon Musk Lamenting the Terrible Sadness in His LifeMeta co-sponsors White House Easter Egg Roll amid blockbuster antitrust trialTrump lashes out at British hedge fund for betting against Truth SocialTrump Media wants the SEC to investigate a hedge fund that has a $105 million short on the companyJokes on you, LuigiUnitedHealth stock craters as CEO calls disappointing results 'unusual and unacceptable' (he blamed the Biden administration)UnitedHealth CEO's pay jumps 12% to $26.3M as company revenue hits record $400BUnitedHealth spent $1.7 million on executive securityRewriting historyI literally hate this: How Did Elon Musk Make His Money?“Many people would have simply taken this larger-than-life fortune and retired, but not Musk. Instead, he invested $100 million to start SpaceX, $70 million to found Tesla and $10 million in SolarCity.”HE DID NOT FOUND ITTesla was founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc TarpenningThey built the first roadster and got fundedMusk INVESTED in Tesla in the Series A and became chair of the boardMusk didn't actually run the company - until he appointed himself CEO in 2007, four years after he initially invested and after he raised a lot of money for themMusk kicked out the actual founderEberhard actually SUED Musk because Musk refused, like a big fucking diaper baby, to acknowledge that Eberhard founded the companyEberhard actually built the first mobile charging devices for Teslas, tooThat's how he works - Musk raises money from friends and lies about what he actually does - he's a big fat fraud, just like with video gamesHeadliniest of the WeekDR: Priscilla Chan's tuition-free school that championed DEI is closing after 10 yearsIn a statement on its website, the Primary School didn't indicate why it was closing its East Bay and East Palo Alto locations at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year and said only that it was a "very difficult decision" that came "after much deliberation."DR: Ralph Lauren's CEO says sometimes employees need to be ‘hit by a 2×4 across the forehead' to get important feedback to sink in: Patrice Louvet DR MMMM: Facebook Pushes Its Llama 4 AI Model to the Right, Wants to Present “Both Sides”Isn't this just saying “we wish the people we stole from to make the model were more conservative, so we'll just make it more that way”? Like, Zuck just doesn't like actual people?MM: Zuckerberg Encourages Theatergoers to Use Their Phones While Movie Is PlayingWho Won the Week?DR: Stoners: 4/20, Twinkies, and physical nobs in SubarusMM: Hall monitors - Roblox CEO says he wants to protect your kids — but you're going to need to pitch in, too.PredictionsDR: Business Roundtable urges SEC to adopt annual meeting rule requiring investors to memorize a unique 40-digit PIN that gains them entry into the meeting roomMM: Meta's oversight board rebukes company over policy overhaul - Meta said it will respond to oversight board's distress about community notes and policy shifts in 60 days. The prediction: Meta's response will be to shut down the oversight board. OVERSIGHT IS SO 2019.

The Deadcast's tour of Enjoying the Ride trucks all the way to the East Bay, exploring beloved venues including the Greek Theater & Kaiser Auditorium, with tales of the Hog Farm's Skeleton Crew & vintage field recordings from Oakland Coliseum Arena's parking lot. Guests: David Lemieux, Ron Rakow, Kevin Schmevin, Mark Pinkus, Blair Jackson, Steve Silberman, Rebecca Adams, David Gans, Johnny Dwork, Tyler Roy-Hart, Steven Bernstein, Robert Nyberg, Chad KroegerSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A Bay Area artist in Richmond has been stealthily building and placing fairy houses around his neighborhood. His creations bring ‘endless fun and fascination' to the East Bay town. And, across the Bay Bridge, a waterfall in Golden Gate Park is sometimes an "alarming shade of green." What's going on with the water there? Additional Reading Point Richmond's Fairy Houses: Miniature Worlds of Whimsy Ever Wondered Why Some Water in Golden Gate Park is Bright Green? Join us for trivia on April 1st! Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest Read the transcript for this episode. Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Pauline Bartolone and Chris Hambrick. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Alana Walker, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED family.