Rightnowish
Rightnowish is an award-winning podcast produced by KQED Public Radio that digs into life in the Bay Area and the people who shape it. Every week, host Pendarvis Harshaw talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home. As fill-in producer, I coordinated and participated in interviews, cut down interview tape, scored, and sound designed each episode. I also participated in editorial meetings that shaped the show’s marketing plans and broader vision for the show.
Here’s a selection of my favorite episodes:
The Abolitionist Fighting Sex Trafficking with Words and Altars
Regina Y. Evans assembles altars on International Blvd. in Oakland, a hub for adult sex workers and the trafficking of young minors. Regina says the goal of the work is to be present for the girls - “Beloveds” as she calls them. The altars are decorated with art, flowers, letters, fabrics, and since the start of the pandemic, she’s added hand sanitizer, condoms and PPE. For Regina, spirituality, social commentary and artistry weave together in her mission to abolish sex trafficking of minors.
This piece was awarded 1st place for the SPJ-NorCal Excellence in Journalism - Community Journalism (radio/audio) in 2020.
Yanni Will Eat You Up and Make You Love Yourself
On the backside of YR media’s Oakland headquarters, there’s a colorful mural featuring someone with their fist raised to the sky wearing a shirt that says “they/them.” It’s Yanni Brump, a non-binary model, party thrower and public speaker. This episode is about how they went from shy, to living their life unapologetically. Now you can see them posing for Vogue, walking in New York Fashion Week, speaking at protests, and using TikTok videos as a tool to teach self love.
The Queen of Vinyl and the Ears of Rightnowish
Ashleyanne Krigbaum spins vinyl at weddings and dive bars, sound designs museum audio tours, and was the founding producer of KQED’s arts and culture podcast, Rightnowish. After calling Berkeley home, she’s decided to move to LA. Before Ashleyanne left the KQED team, we put her in the hot seat and asked her the hard questions. Like, what does it take to produce a weekly arts & culture show? What’s her philosophy on creative collaboration? And what’s the story behind her technicolor hair?
Cat Brooks on Refunding the Community
In January of this year, Cat Brooks and the Anti Police-Terror Project launched a service, Mental Health First, or M.H. First, where trained professionals respond to mental health crises as an alternative to people calling the police. Brooks says it’s just one part of the effort to refund the community and divest from overspending on police. Brooks discusses M.H. First, the racism she encountered as a young person and she traces her origins in organizing back to the killing of Oscar Grant.
The Townfolk Project, Documenting Oakland’s Community
In 2018 photographer Scott La Rockwell started taking photos of longtime Oakland residents, calling it: the Townfolk Project. This past summer, Scott’s project got an unexpected canvas: the windows of a building on 13th and Broadway. Now about a dozen of Scott’s photos of artists, activists and folks who’ve been putting on for the greater good of Oakland are mounted on one of the most prominent corners of the city.
The East Bay Poet Bringing Cheesecake to Your Door
A few years ago, Victor Harris Jr. was selling maple peach bourbon cheesecakes at an Oakland event. He says an older African American woman sampled a slice and he watched as her eyes rolled back before re-focusing on him. She asked Victor to come closer, so he leaned in and she smacked him softly in the face. Then she complimented his work before ordering a cake to go. Victor is a DJ, former race car driver, poet, and owner of Reuschelle’s Cheesecakes. We interviewed him about the origin of his cheesecake and his poetry.
