The Bay

Studies show that arts and music education benefit students, reducing things like depression and truancy. However, when budgets are slashed, they’re the first programs to go. The problem is exacerbated in low-income schools, which already face under-staffed and low budgeted music and arts programs, argues former Los Angeles Unified School School District Superintendent, Austin Beutner, who launched Prop. 28.  Prop. 28 would increase the amount of funding allocated for music and arts education in public schools. Currently, 40 percent of the state’s general fund goes to public schools. If approved, Prop. 28 would require at least one percent of that go towards music and arts education, an estimated $1 billion annually. Guest: Julia McEvoy, KQED senior editorEpisode Transcript Links:The Sacramento Bee editorial board's interview with former L.A. Unified Superintendent Austin BeutnerThis episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s a pair of dueling ballot measures in California that would affect whether we have legalized sports betting in the state, and what form it should take. It’s a super expensive campaign. Prop 27 is already the most expensive ballot measure in state history. And that’s because big money is on the line.On this episode of Prop Fest, Bay Curious host Olivia Allen-Price talks to KQED’s Guy Marzorati about Propositions 26 and 27.Episode Transcript Voting season is coming up. Check out KQED’s Voter Guide to help make your decision. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the next 2 weeks, we’re teaming up with our friends at Bay Curious to bring you Prop Fest, where we’ll break down the 7 statewide ballot propositions in the November election.First up: Proposition 1. It was added to the ballot by the state legislature after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Prop 1 would amend the state constitution to include reproductive freedom, which includes the right to an abortion and to accept or refuse contraception, as a fundamental right.Guest: April Dembosky, KQED health correspondentEpisode TranscriptYour support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Not One More Girl campaign launched in 2020 after a survey of Bay Area youth found that women and girls feared for their safety when using public transportation. Spearheaded by youth, the campaign outlined ways to make BART safer. More than a year since we first aired this episode, the BART board amended its code of conduct to explicitly prohibit sexual harassment. Guests: Haleema Bharoocha, senior advocacy manager at Alliance for Girls and Santana Tapia, with the #NotOneMoreGirl campaign and co-founder of Fluid Coffee and EventThis episode first aired on Aug. 6, 2021.Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At its peak, an estimated 500 people lived in tents, vehicles, and camper vans at an encampment near San Jose’s airport. The city has tried to clear it for years, under pressure from the Federal Aviation Administration. Now, it's almost done.San Jose also promised to find housing and fix the vehicles of the people who were moved out of the encampment. But just a fraction have been moved into housing, and only 14 vehicles have been fixed. In the meantime, most people have had to salvage what belongings they could, and find a safe place somewhere else.Guest: Jana Kadah, reporter covering city hall for the San Jose SpotlightRead the transcriptThis episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Communities of color in California are the most affected by violent crime. But historically, they haven't had a seat at the table when it comes to defining what survivors of violent crime want and need.Now that's starting to change. Advocacy groups, led by Black women, say that the state needs to reform and rethink the way victim support in California works.Guest: Marisa Lagos, politics and government correspondent for KQED and co-host of the Political Breakdown PodcastRead the transcriptThis episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maria Esquinca is the newest producer for The Bay, taking over after Ericka Cruz Guevarra left the position to become the host of the show. In this episode we get to know Maria a little bit more. We talk about her hometown of El Paso, Texas (a border town nestled next to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico) burritos, poetry, and finding home in the Bay Area.KQED reporter Carlos Cabrera-Lomeli also takes us on a brief tour of the Mission, a neighborhood in the Bay Area that reminds Maria of home.Guests: Maria Esquinca, producer of The Bay, and Carlos Cabrera-Lomeli, community engagement reporter for KQEDRead the transcriptLinks:  Pocha Poem  The Hispanic Invasion of Texas  The US Mexico Border Replaces Itself  Other poems by Maria  This episode was produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra, Maria Esquinca and Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bay Area experienced record-setting heat last week, with temperatures reaching up to 115 degrees in some parts, threatening to overload the state’s power grid. It won’t be the last. Climate change makes it even more likely that these heat waves will be more frequent and severe. So today, we talk about takeaways from the historic heat wave, and how we just barely avoided rolling blackouts this time around.Guest: Dan Brekke, KQED editor and reporter Read the transcriptYour support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts.This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In California, less than 1% of farmland is Black-owned, according to the 2017 Census of Agriculture. One such farm is in Sebastopol in Sonoma County. EARTHseed farm is Sonoma County’s first Afro-Indigenous permaculture farm. It’s a place for Black and brown people to reconnect with indigenous land stewardship and to build community, at a time when the effects of climate change are challenging us to change our relationship to the earth.Guest: Ariana Proehl, KQED culture reporterLinks: An Example of 'Land Back' in Northern California 'Welcome Black to the Land': Inside Sonoma County's First Afro-Indigenous Permaculture Farm This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.Read the transcriptYour support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Naatak is one of the largest Indian American theater companies in the country. Started in 1995 out of a dorm room at UC Berkeley, Naatak is staging its 100th production this month. In that time, an estimated 1,000 people have participated in Naatak’s productions — all volunteers, many of whom have day jobs in the tech industry. It’s become an important part of the Indian American community in Silicon Valley, by and for people who do this in their free time.Guest: Rachael Myrow, KQED Silicon Valley senior editorRead the Transcript Links: Naatak performs Ramayan at Cubberley Theatre in Palo Alto from September 4-25, 2022. South Bay's Naatak Debuts Its 100th Theater Production: The Epic 'Ramayan,' by Rachael Myrow Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts.This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices