The Bay

The Ukraine-Russia war has been called the most technologically advanced war in history. In an episode from KQED’s Close All Tabs podcast, Bay Area journalist Erica Hellerstein visits Ukraine to learn about how the nation’s culture of tech innovation — and its surprising ties to Silicon Valley — are fueling the country’s resistance through an army of engineers, coders, hackers, and tinkerers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco could see taller and more dense buildings in the city’s north and west side after the Board of Supervisors approved Mayor Daniel Lurie’s ‘Family Zoning’ plan last week. Some believe it will lead to more housing and lower rents, while others worry that new construction will change their neighborhoods and lead to displacement. But how soon — and how much — could it really change the city? Links: San Francisco Supervisors Pass Rezoning Plan, Making Way for Taller, Denser Housing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inside Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish — home to historic farmworker organizing in East San Jose — we sit down with Father Jon Pedigo, a Catholic priest in the South Bay, to talk about the role of faith and houses of worship under the Trump Administration, what he’s seen in his primarily Spanish-speaking communities, and why he's leaving the pulpit to become a full-time organizer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nearly 3,000 teachers and staff from the West Contra Costa Unified School district went on strike Thursday morning after negotiations with the district broke down. It’s the latest in a series of labor disputes between educators and districts across California. Today, Jana Kadah, education reporter with Richmondside, talks to us from the field about why West Contra Costa educators walked off the job for the first time in the district’s history. Links: Richmondside: Is your family prepared for WCCUSD teachers strike? Here’s what to know Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

UC Berkeley student and animal rights activist Zoe Rosenberg will be sentenced today after facing a felony conviction for taking four chickens from a Sonoma County poultry facility 2 years ago. The case, which has garnered international attention, comes after years of tension in Sonoma County over animal rights. Links: Berkeley Animal Rights Activist Found Guilty in Sonoma Chicken Theft Case Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a new series called ‘Love You for You,’ KQED’s The California Report Magazine host Sasha Khokha sat in on conversations between trans and nonbinary kids and the people who love them. Today, we talk with Sasha about the series. Links: Check out the entire ‘Love You For You’ series Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1900s, the city of San Francisco eradicated native coyotes. But in more recent decades, they returned and are now a part of daily life. Scientists point out that coyotes are essential to the local ecosystem. For some residents, they’re a source of wonder, while others view them as a nuisance and a danger to pets and children. Links: The Coyotes of San Francisco How We Photographed Coyotes in San Francisco This episode originally aired on June 2, 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many Bay Area families swear by local Dungeness crab at the holiday dinner table. But for the seventh straight year, commercial crabbing season has been delayed — this time until January. So if you really want local crab for the holidays, you’ll need to either pay for a chartered boat or catch one yourself. This episode originally aired on Nov. 25, 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An estimated 6.3 million travelers are expected to pass through San Francisco International Airport between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. If you’re one of them, you can spend some time visiting the SFO Museum, the only airport museum accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Today, we take you on a tour of some of the exhibits and meet the curators behind them. Links: If you’re interested in scheduling a free tour of SFO Museum, whether or not you’re flying, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alice Wong, a disability rights activist, writer, and MacArthur Genius award winner based in San Francisco, died last Friday at UCSF at the age of 51. Wong was best known as the founder of the Disability Visibility Project (DVP), a group that highlights disabled people and disability culture through storytelling projects, social media and other channels. Alice’s friend and fellow activist, Sandy Ho, wrote, “Alice Wong was a hysterical friend, writer, activist and disability justice luminary whose influence was outsized.” Today, we remember Wong by sharing a radio essay she recorded for The California Report Magazine in December 2022. Alice’s GoFundMe Disability Rights Activist and Author Alice Wong Dies at 51 | KQED Bay Area Legends: Activist Alice Wong and The Power of Bringing Visibility to Disability Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump promised to curb inflation and uplift American businesses and the economy when he announced tariffs on hundreds of goods and products earlier this year. Today we talk with The San Francisco Standard’s Jillian D’Onfro, about whether Bay Area businesses say the tariffs have lived up to their promise. Links: SF Standard: ‘Devastating’: What 7 months of tariffs have done to one popular business This episode was hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and produced by Jessica Kariisa and Alan Montecillo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The latest Bay Area recall election took place in the Marin County town of Fairfax this November, where some residents hoped to oust the mayor and vice mayor for voting to rezone land for a six-story apartment building. This time, the recall failed, with roughly 56% of voters opting to keep Mayor Lisel Blash and Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman. KQED’s Izzy Bloom breaks down this story and explains what this fight over housing in Fairfax could mean for the entire region. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AI-generated music and artists are now getting record deals and top spots on Billboard charts, with big implications for labor in the music industry. So how are human artists adapting to this rapidly changing landscape? Links: AI Is Coming for the Music Industry. How Will Artists Adapt? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we bring you an episode from our friends at Bay Curious about a secret biological weapons test — in San Francisco. 75 years ago, the U.S. military sprayed bacteria over the city. The test team thought it was harmless, but several people got sick and one person died. KQED’s Katherine Monahan reports on the history and impacts of this operation on one man's family. Links: The True Story of the Military's Secret 1950 San Francisco Biological Weapons Test | KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Wednesday, executives from a group called the Esmeralda Land Company will present their plans to officials in Cloverdale, a small city of roughly 9,000 residents in northern Sonoma County. The project, titled Esmeralda, is led by Devon Zuegel, a tech worker who hopes to build a hotel, new housing, and a park on a 266-acre piece of land in the southern end of the city. She describes the planned development as a “mini college campus,” reminiscent of the small resort town of Chautauqua, NY. Some residents, including local officials, are excited about the project and impressed with Esmeralda’s outreach to the community. Others worry that the development will prioritize wealthy Silicon Valley tech-types over Cloverdale residents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California voters overwhelmingly approved Prop. 50, which will redraw our Congressional maps in an effort to push back against President Donald Trump. In Santa Clara County, voters also passed a sales tax measure to partially make up for federal funding cuts. Today, we break down how Prop. 50 will change U.S. House districts in the Bay, Santa Clara County’s Measure A, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s retirement announcement after nearly 40 years representing San Francisco. Links: How Proposition 50’s Win Reshapes California’s 2026 Elections | KQED Nancy Pelosi Retiring After 38 Years Representing San Francisco in Congress | KQED Santa Clara County Sales Tax Measure Appears Poised to Pass Amid Federal Cuts | KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The ongoing federal government shutdown has reduced and delayed SNAP benefits this month. As a result, food banks in the Bay Area are bracing for an even greater surge in demand. We join Heather Pierini, the executive director of ⁠Food Is Free Bay Area⁠, on a donation day at the Solano County Fairgrounds. Links: The Bay Area restaurants offering free meals to families using CalFresh Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Oct. 14, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors removed first-term Sheriff Christina Corpus. For more than a year, her office was mired in allegations of retaliation, misconduct, and abuse of power, largely stemming from an alleged relationship with her former chief of staff, Victor Aenlle. KQED reporter Brian Krans joins us to break down this long and bitter chapter in San Mateo county politics. Links: San Mateo County Sheriff Is Ousted in Historic Final Vote by Supervisors | KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this October edition of The Bay’s monthly news roundup, we discuss the impact of the federal government shutdown on hunger in the Bay Area, and how local governments are responding. We also discuss Uber’s plans to enter the driverless vehicle market, and how the California condor is making a comeback after near-extinction. Plus, we pay tribute to KQED transportation editor Dan Brekke, who is retiring after nearly 50 years in Bay Area journalism. Links: Contra Costa County plans to give CalFresh recipients food money if SNAP is paused San Francisco Will Cover SNAP Benefits for November Amid Federal Shutdown With SNAP Benefits Delayed, Restaurants Step Up to Feed Bay Area Families Uber will challenge Waymo’s robotaxi dominance in San Francisco For a century, they were gone. But California condors are making a comeback in these parts of the Bay Area Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There have been mixed reports of the situation at Yosemite National Park since the federal government shutdown began on Oct. 1. Some say the park is rife with unruly visitors, trash, and illegal behavior, while others say it’s perfectly normal. So KQED reporter Sarah Wright went to go see for herself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gov. Gavin Newsom is accusing the Trump Administration of “rigging” California’s special election after the Department of Justice announced its plans to send election monitors to California polling places this November. Gov. Newsom sits down with KQED’s Political Breakdown podcast in this wide-ranging interview at our studios in San Francisco. Links: Watch this interview on YouTube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Update Friday Oct. 24, 2025 12:43 p.m.: After bracing for a surge of federal immigration actions, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee said Friday afternoon that border patrol operations have been cancelled for the entire Bay Area, including Oakland. The Bay Area started bracing for federal troops Wednesday night after the San Francisco Chronicle first reported that nearly 100 federal agents, including from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, would be coming to the U.S. Coast Guard Island in Alameda for a major immigration enforcement operation in the region. Then on Thursday morning, Mayor Daniel Lurie announced that President Donald Trump had called off the “surge” in San Francisco. Links: Federal Agents Injure Activists at Coast Guard Base During Immigration Crackdown Lurie: Trump Is ‘Calling Off’ Plans to Send Federal Troops to San Francisco Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's wine harvest season in California. And between tariffs, decreased demand, and a cooler summer, the industry has had a tough year. KQED's Elize Manoukian visits one vineyard in Healdsburg to see how the season is going. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This November, Californians are being asked to decide whether the state can redraw our congressional districts with Proposition 50. California Democrats say Prop. 50 is their answer to pressure from President Trump on red states like Texas, which redrew its congressional maps to favor Republicans in next year’s midterm elections. Opponents say it tramples on California’s independent redistricting process, which voters approved more than a decade ago. This episode originally aired on Aug. 10, 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Franciscans can expect to see up to 100 new, large temporary art installations around the city over the next three years, thanks to a billionaire-backed foundation’s project known as the Big Art Loop. These pieces are also being set up much faster — and with less public oversight — than permanent public art pieces in San Francisco. Links: Who Has a Say in the Flood of Public Art Coming to San Francisco? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices