The Bay

Some bittersweet news from The Bay team: Our editor Erika Aguilar is leaving to head KQED’s new Housing and Affordability Desk. Erika is a founding member of The Bay and helped launch the podcast in March 2018. In this episode, The Bay team talks with Erika about making the show and why it sounds the way it does. And we get a sneak peek at Erika’s plans editing one of the biggest stories in the Bay Area right now. Guest: Erika Aguilar, Senior Editor of KQED's Housing and Affordability Desk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

PG&E said there were failures on one of its high-voltage transmission lines just minutes before the Kincaid Fire erupted in Sonoma County. It's renewed concern that PG&E equipment is implicated. This comes at a time when the utility has been turning off power to reduce the risk of another wildfire. More than 200,000 Bay Area PG&E customers had their power shut off this week in the latest response to dangerous weather conditions that are aiding the fire in Sonoma County. The shutdowns are disruptive at best, deadly at worst. Which begs the question: What is the alternative to fires and blackouts? And what else can PG&E do? Guest: Lauren Sommer, KQED Science reporter Subscribe to The Bay to hear more local Bay Area stories like this one. New episodes are released Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 3 a.m. Find The Bay on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, NPR One or via Alexa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Starting in January, San Francisco will ban private cars from Market Street as part of a major overhaul to make the city’s main thoroughfare safer for pedestrians, cyclists and public transit. The plan has taken a decade to approve. What can we expect Market Street to look like not just in six months, but fifteen years? We asked Dan Brekke, transportation editor for KQED News. Subscribe to The Bay to hear more local Bay Area stories like this one. New episodes are released Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 3 a.m. Find The Bay on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, NPR One or via Alexa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This year’s race for San Francisco district attorney has been a doozy. The four-way race to replace George Gascón is wide-open. The Nov. 5 election took on some extra controversy this month when Gascón abruptly resigned. The next day, Mayor London Breed named Suzy Loftus interim DA -- just weeks before the polls close. What does this mean for the city? And why the DA position is way more important than you might think. Guest: Scott Shafer, Editor of KQED's Politics & Government Desk Subscribe to The Bay to hear more local Bay Area stories like this one. New episodes are released Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 3 a.m. Find The Bay on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, NPR One or via Alexa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, the Bay Area felt a series of earthquakes in less than 24 hours. Thursday marked the 30th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake. That prompted KQED Science reporter Peter Arcuni to come up with a disaster plan. Over the course of four days, Arcuni secured his house, gathered supplies and got his family on board with an earthquake plan. And he documented the whole thing. Guest: Peter Arcuni, reporter for KQED Science Subscribe to The Bay to hear more local, Bay Area stories like this one. New episodes are released Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 3 a.m. Find The Bay on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, NPR One, or via Alexa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Monday, Native people from across the West Coast gathered in San Francisco for a ceremonial canoe journey to Alcatraz Island. Each canoe represented a territory, tribe, community or family. They paddled to celebrate culture and values on Indigenous Peoples' Day, and to commemorate the 1969 Occupation of Alcatraz. Guest: Alice Woelfle, KQED reporter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bay Area artists have a tendency to embed politics and messages for society into their creative work. KQED's newest podcast Rightnowish highlights those artists -- and how what they make is shapes (and has been shaped by) where we are. Author and KQED Arts writer Pendarvis Harshaw brings us into his conversations with artists, creatives and thinkers who teach us about Bay Area life and culture. Guest: Pendarvis Harshaw, KQED Arts writer and Host of Rightnowish Subscribe to Rightnowish on Apple Podcasts, NPR One or Spotify to get the episodes to your feed as soon as they drop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

PG&E shut off the lights to 800,000 customers in Northern California, including 141,000 in the Bay Area. The utility company says the goal is to reduce the risk of wildfires. These latest shutdowns come almost a year after the deadly Camp Fire in Paradise, which was caused by PG&E transmission lines. Some residents in Paradise say living with shutoffs is the new normal at a time when public trust in the utility is low. Guest: Michelle Wiley, reporter for KQED For more information about the power shutoffs read KQED's article: Why Is This Happening? Answers to Your Questions on the PG&E Shutdown Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco is moving forward with a conservatorship program that would force people experiencing chronic homelessness, substance abuse and severe mental illness to get treatment even if they don't want to. A new state law allows San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego counties to create these five-year pilot programs. It's seen as a way to help people on the street who are suffering crisis, while some advocates for homeless people say conservatorships take away a person's civil liberties when there are other ways to help them. Guest: Kate Wolffe, KQED reporter Subscribe to The Bay to hear more local, Bay Area stories like this one. New episodes are released Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 3 a.m. Find The Bay on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, NPR One, or via Alexa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Although Nancy Pelosi didn’t run for elected office until she was 47, politics is in her blood. Born into a prominent Baltimore political family, Pelosi learned at a young age the chess-maneuvering of politics. That skill has served her well throughout her life — from raising five kids in San Francisco, to becoming the first female speaker of the house. And that skill is also what makes her the right person to lead the Democrats in this moment as they work to impeach President Donald Trump. Guest: Marisa Lagos, correspondent for KQED’s California Politics and Government Desk and co-host of the Political Breakdown podcast. Read Marisa's full story here. Subscribe to The Bay to hear more local, Bay Area stories like this one. New episodes are released Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 3 a.m. Find The Bay on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, NPR One, or via Alexa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices