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.

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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

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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. 

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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] 

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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
  

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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

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