The California Report Magazine
Every week, KQED’s The California Report Magazine tells intimate stories about California: creative, bold, innovative. And vast. Home to almost 40 million people. But it's hard to meet your neighbors, much less get to know the whole state. So join host Sasha Khokha on a road trip for your ears, and your imagination. Intimate stories, every week on The California Report Magazine. I worked for several years as a producer and reporter for the show, and also two live events.
Here’s a selection of my favorite work:
Dating While Immunocompromised
I wrote and produced a personal piece about being in love while being apart. As the coronavirus was spreading around California, my immunocompromised partner and I had to navigate a new ~long distance~ relationship while sheltering in place separately. This story also appeared on KQED’s Bay Curious podcast.
A high school reunion for Iranian Americans, 40 years after the revolution
Most high school reunions are about reliving teenage glory days. This was that and so much more, because just as these alumni were graduating, Iran was gripped by revolutionary riots. Many haven't been back in 40 years. But in 2019, a group of friends gathered at an LA country club 7500 miles from Tehran to celebrate a school that reflected pre-revolutionary Iran - diverse, egalitarian, and free. I also reported a version of this story for PRI’s The World and KQED’s California Report.
Meet the Flower Guy Who's Watched the Castro Change Over 38 Years
Meet Guy Clark, who's been selling flowers in The Castro for 38 years. We talked about how the community “came through the catastrophe of AIDS," surviving eviction, & the customers who adore him. I produced this non-narrated piece for The California Report Magazine’s Pride Special, which I also produced.
Part of the Conversation: How One Deaf 16-Year-Old Navigates High School
Olive Howden was one of just a handful of deaf students at Santa Clara High School. Olive uses cochlear implants to help her hear. I followed her through a full day of school as she describes her struggle to be part of the conversation.
Artist Cauleen Smith on Black Feminist Utopia in California
Cauleen Smith’s work is both Afrofuturistic and deeply historical, deriving inspiration from previous generations of Black women whose activism and art offer a gateway to spiritual enlightenment and liberation. One of Smith's films, the 2018 short Sojourner, explores communal settings across California, including Alice Coltrane’s ashram in the Santa Monica hills. Smith joined California Report Magazine host Sasha Khokha to discuss her inspiration for Sojourner. More.
Fleetwood Macramé Breathes Life Into '70s Nostalgia Rock for Millennials
I reported on my favorite tribute band - Fleetwood Macramé, - on why their shows are so beloved... especially by a cohort of natal chart-reading, karma-believing millennials. Why has Fleetwood Mac's music boomeranged back into the public consciousness? Or, better yet, what is behind Fleetwood Mac's persistent mega-popularity?
'Connection, History and Resilience': Capturing the Heart of LA's Boyle Heights in Song
How do sounds capture a neighborhood? That’s the driving questions behind a new project in the East Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights. The Alliance for California Traditional Arts has commissioned 10 original songs from local artists, focused on themes of anti-displacement and belonging, along with stories about the immigrant experience. The California Report Magazine host Sasha Khokha sat down with Flores.
How the Founder of California’s First Black Church Fought its Last Known Slavery Case
Daniel Blue established the first Black church on the west coast. But his legacy also includes a lesser known mark on state history — he freed California’s last known enslaved person. I reported on Daniel Blue’s story for KQED’s California Report Magazine in collaboration with the ACLU of Northern California.
'I’m So Lucky': 75 Years After Hiroshima, One California Woman's Survival Story
Sumiko Yoshida was just 9 years old when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Seventy-five years ago this week, Yoshida somehow emerged unharmed from the rubble of her school, which was just one mile from the bomb’s epicenter. At 84, Yoshida recently sat down with her grandson, John Wenstrand, at her home in Atherton to share her story. More.
Adnan Khan spent the last 4 years of his incarceration at San Quentin State Prison. Since the prison’s coronavirus outbreak, he’s been a vocal advocate for his friends still inside. Khan joined The California Report Magazine to discuss the COVID-19 outbreak at San Quentin.
