In 2022, former correctional officer Gregory Rodriguez was charged with sexually assaulting thirteen women in the Central California Women’s Facility near Chowchilla. His arrest sparked a renewed wave of abuse complaints within the prison. Then one morning, just before Rodriguez would finally appear in court, over 150 incarcerated women were marched from their cells into a prison chow hall. When tensions escalated after hours without food or water, correctional officers turned chemical weapons on the women, pepper spraying and gassing them. The women say it was payback for speaking up about abuse. In this excerpt from the series “We Are Jane Doe" produced by KQED and Snap Studios, reporters Madi Bolaños and Anna Sussman investigate the complaints about sexual assault and retaliation within CCWF.

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History, Dancers and...Ghosts? North Beach's Condor Club

A former bartender at San Francisco’s Condor Club, the first topless bar in America, says the place is haunted. She describes a bottle of Hennessy that wouldn’t stay put, footsteps on empty stairs and a shadowy figure she’s sure was legendary dancer Carol Doda. “Spooked” podcast producer Zoë Ferrigno visits the North Beach club and digs into the history behind the stories, including a deadly accident that may not have been an accident at all.

One of Bay Area’s Only Desi Drag Collectives Serves Bollywood Glam and Queer Joy

Jason Sharma grew up mesmerized by Bollywood actresses but felt he couldn’t look or act like them. Raj Krishna did drag in secret in Singapore before moving to the U.S. Now they perform as Chai Auntea and Bindi Masala as a part of Masala Mahal, one of the only Desi drag collectives in the country. KQED’s Srishti Prabha follows them from a rehearsal in Oakland to a South Asian pride party in San Francisco, and delves into their response to feeling cast aside by both their own culture and mainstream drag.

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Election Roundup: Gas Prices, Latino Vote, and the 'Most Important Statewide Race?' 

With Election Day around the corner, sky-high gas prices are influencing some of California’s most competitive congressional races, from San Diego County to the Central Valley. KQED politics correspondent Guy Marzorati and Political Breakdown co-host Marisa Lagos break down how Democrats and Republicans are courting Latino voters, where both parties could be falling short, and why the competition for California’s next insurance commissioner could be the “most important statewide race” this November.

LAN Parties Are Back, Clunky Computers and AllIn the Y2K era, gamers lugged their bulky monitors and towers to friends’ houses to play video games all night on a “Local Area Network.” Now LAN parties are making a comeback across California, from a Napa winery to a streetwear shop in Los Angeles. Reporter Jennifer Swann spoke with gamers – of all ages – embracing the anachronistic tech and making in-person connections.

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What Happened to the Quantified Self Movement?

Before Apple Watches and Oura rings, self-tracking was a hobby for tinkerers. In 2008, WIRED journalists Gary Wolf and Kevin Kelly invited about 20 of them to a meetup in Pacifica. It grew into the Quantified Self movement — a worldwide community of people running careful experiments on their own health and habits. In this excerpt from KQED’s Close All Tabs podcast, reporter Gabriela Glueck traces how that DIY subculture went mainstream once tech companies started selling wearables.

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Oakland Pet Lovers Provide Care to Unhoused Residents’ Furry Friends

For people living outside, a trip to the vet is often out of reach. Meg McAdam's Human and Pet Initiative drives through Oakland's homeless encampments, handing out kibble and vaccinating dogs and cats for free – no questions asked. Reporter Alastair Boone rides along for a day and finds that caring for the animals is also how McAdam earns the trust of their owners. This story originally aired on KALW's "Crosscurrents."

A Humboldt County Field Trip Becomes a Race to Save a Baby Whale

When a group of Humboldt County elementary students took a field trip to their local tide pools, they expected to find crabs and sea anemones. They also witnessed a pod of orcas attack a mother whale and her calf just offshore. Teachers and students found themselves at the center of a desperate rescue when the injured calf washed up on the beach in front of them. This story was produced by KQED's Sukey Lewis and first aired on "Snap Judgment."

At Sutro Heights, Strangers Gather to Scream at the Sea

Did you just get laid off? Is your love life a disaster? Did not one, but two, of your violins get stolen? These are all good reasons to release a “guttural scream at the sea” according to Danielle Egan, who invited a crowd of strangers to join her in a collective wail at the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco.

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Ultramarathoning Helped Him Train for Life After Prison

When Cesar Quijano was paroled from Ironwood State Prison in 2022, he'd spent most of his adult life behind bars. Quijano joined a reentry program near San Diego, but he still struggled to disrupt old patterns – and to alter his path for good. Then, a new mentor suggested he take up running. Reporter Lucy Copp follows Quijano’s journey as he goes from fighting to finish a mile, to taking on a grueling 100-mile race through the mountains of San Diego. This is an excerpt from LAist Studios' podcast "Imperfect Paradise,” where the story recently won a national Murrow award.

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This SF Renter Is Trying to Beat the AI-Fueled Housing Boom With an Analog Approach  

Facing a rental market where even a shared apartment can cost thousands per month, San Francisco resident Harlow Srain has spent nine months cold-calling landlords and property managers, to see if they might be willing to charge less for rent. KQED Housing Reporter Adhiti Bandlamudi follows Srain's search as she fights to stay in the community she's built, rather than move to a cheaper apartment farther away.

Inside the Unlikely Dance That Brought Two Cultures Together at San Quentin 

Amu Wynn and Angel Rodriguez are both incarcerated at San Quentin, where Wynn dances with the prison's Native Hawaiian group and Rodriguez leads its Aztec Dance troupe. For the prison's annual Day of Peace, the two broke with prison norms to stage an unprecedented joint performance blending their traditions. This is an excerpt from KALW’s podcast "Uncuffed." 

Meet the Woman Attempting to Swim the Entire California Coast 

In July, Catherine Breed got in the ocean near the Oregon border with a goal: to swim all 900 miles of California's coastline and end near the Mexico border by October. She swims up to 15 miles a day, calling the journey her love letter to the California coast — a tribute to the women in sports who came before her. 

Inside the Nation's Biggest National Park Cleanup, Now in Its Third Decade at Yosemite 

Yosemite has seen record visitor numbers this year after the park dropped its reservation system. And more visitors means more garbage. Right now, thousands of volunteers are descending for its annual "Facelift" cleanup, hauling everything from cigarette butts to smashed bicycles out of the park. Susan Valot reports on the event, which has removed more than a million pounds of trash from Yosemite since its founding. 

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The Speaker: A New Podcast on Nancy Pelosi's Unlikely Path to Power

Ahead of Nancy Pelosi's retirement, KQED's Scott Shafer traces her improbable 1987 rise in a new podcast The Speaker: How Nancy Pelosi Changed the Face of Power. The first episode revisits her primary against Democratic Socialist Harry Britt, who had hoped to become San Francisco's first openly gay congressman amid the AIDS crisis — a race Pelosi narrowly won on her way to becoming one of the most powerful women in American politics.

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Inside the San Francisco Church Where John Coltrane is a Saint

If Coltrane were still alive, he’d be celebrating his 100th birthday this month. In a story from our friends at KQED's Bay Curious podcast, Asal Ehsanipour visits the Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church in San Francisco, where Reverend Franzo King and Mother Marina have spent 60 years turning the jazz legend's music into a spiritual practice. What began as a living room listening clinic in the 1960s grew into a congregation that has weathered evictions and a copyright lawsuit. Still, they persist in the belief that Coltrane's saxophone carries a divine message.

Old Timers and Newbies Look to Cash in by Panning in Gold Country

With gold prices hovering near record highs, a new wave of prospectors is showing up along California's Yuba and American rivers, joining old-timers who've been panning for generations. KQED's Katherine Monahan talks to sixth-generation miners, gold-shop owners and newcomers about whether the modern gold rush is worth the effort or mostly hype.

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We’re reprising a story from 2020 that has a lot in common with a case in Massachusetts that has recently made national headlines: the closely-watched murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, who is accused of murdering her three children. Clancy’s trial has reignited a debate about how the legal system treats cases of women who kill their own children. More than a decade ago in Los Angeles, Carol Coronado killed her three daughters, all under age 3. The two tragedies are very similar: psychiatric experts argued that both Clancy and Coronado were suffering from postpartum psychosis. And lawyers for both women pursued an insanity defense. These are topics KQED health reporter April Dembosky has spent years investigating, and she discovered that over the last three decades, it’s actually gotten harder to win an insanity defense based on postpartum psychosis.

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Who's on Route 66 these days? Les Français

Route 66 is turning 100 this year, and communities around the state are gearing up for this milestone birthday. The 2,400-mile highway system stretches from Chicago to Santa Monica, and has always drawn tourists. But as KCRW’s Jennifer Swann reports, the promise of Route 66 is not exactly what it used to be. 

Meet the Bald Eagles Who Inspired a Movement

A pair of majestic bald eagles named Jackie and Shadow became internet sensations after a devoted admirer set up a camera and began livestreaming their nest. Their rise to stardom sparked a movement to protect their fragile habitat above Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains. But the story took a sad turn earlier this month when one of the eagles died. Host Sasha Khokha checked in with KVCR's Madison Aument about what’s next for the remaining eagle and its fans.

How One Professor is Teaching About Cesar Chavez Now

Last spring, when sexual abuse allegations first surfaced about labor leader Cesar Chavez, communities across the state took immediate action – from taking down statues to renaming buildings and painting over murals. But educators had to rethink how they taught students about the farmworker movement. Oliver Rosales teaches history and ethnic studies at Bakersfield College in Delano, where the United Farmer Workers were based. He spoke with host Sasha Khokha about how his curriculum has changed this fall. 

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