After the Story: Ode to a Vietnam Vet
As journalists, we develop relationships with people we report on that are often deeply intimate, but fleeting. We talk with people about some of their most vulnerable moments, write a story, and then usually never see them again. For KQED’s health reporter April Dembosky, that’s not how it went with Vietnam veteran Ron Fleming.
The Human Cost of Uber and Lyft: Life in the Dying Taxi Industry
So many of us define ourselves by what we do, our jobs. But what happens if what you do is becoming obsolete? That's certainly the case for taxi drivers. Uber and Lyft are decimating an industry that was once a solid profession. There are real questions about what the future holds for lifelong taxi drivers. KQED's Sam Harnett went to a taxi lot in San Francisco to talk with some of them.
At Oakland’s Queer Skateboarding Meet-Ups, Everybody Can Shred
Skateboarding is definitely a very California sport. But it also has a reputation for being a pretty macho sport, dominated by straight white guys. For women, people of color, and queer people, a skate park can be a very unwelcoming place. Bianca Taylor tells us about a new space where they can celebrate all those identities, shredding with pride.
This Financier Put The ‘Modest’ in Modesto
We've been asking listeners for ideas for our series about California towns with unusual or surprising names, and we've been getting a lot of great suggestions. David Strubbe from Merced wrote us, asking about a place just north of him, Modesto. So we called up someone who works for the city to find out just how Modesto got its name.
‘The California Field Atlas’ Maps a Wild Golden State
Host Sasha Khokha takes a hike up Mt. Diablo, in Contra Costa County, to talk with Obi Kaufmann, author of the bestseller, The California Field Atlas. It’s a book of watercolor renderings of a wild California, with maps of everything from its fir trees to where you can find wild pigs. (Spoiler: the answer is…in 56 of California’s 58 counties!)