The Bay

Shira Frankel, a New York Times reporter covering technology and national security, explains how Big Tech warmed to military and surveillance contracts. She discusses the shift from 2018 protests to lucrative defense work, why firms now emulate Palantir, and how wars, procurement and executive politics reshaped tech’s stance. The conversation flags money, ethics and the future of AI in warfare.

A call for personal stories about making friends in the Bay Area. Short prompts on how people meet others and what helps or gets in the way of forming connections. Clear instructions for sending voice memos or voicemails and a promise they might follow up.

Blanca Torres, KQED reporter who produced the piece on Dulce Tricolor Venezolano. She tours a Bay Area dance group keeping Venezuelan traditions alive. Short scenes show teaching joropo and tambores, kids creating routines, adapting to COVID with Zoom and park meetups, and how dance builds community and preserves identity across generations.

Jill Tucker, an education reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle who covers local schools and labor, talks about San Francisco’s first teachers strike since 1979. She describes tense picket-line scenes and who’s striking. She explains key demands like wage increases and fully paid family health care, and places the action in the broader wave of California labor activism.

Guy Marzarotti, KQED politics and government correspondent who covers Bay Area local government, walks through San José’s shift to tiny-home and interim shelter strategies. He describes the new modular sites, resident experiences, funding and operating challenges, political tensions, and whether the approach has reduced unsheltered homelessness.

Carlos Cabrera Lomeli, a KQED community engagement reporter covering Latino and immigrant communities, discusses the 'Benito Bowl' phenomenon and local watch parties. He talks about cultural pride around Bad Bunny’s halftime performance. He also explores community fears of ICE presence, rapid response networks, and how locals plan to celebrate while staying safe.

Joseph Cheeha, KQED South Bay digital editor who reports on local impacts, walks through how Super Bowl activities are reshaping Santa Clara and San Jose. He describes visible signage and transit changes. He outlines crowd and traffic hotspots, heightened security, which businesses may benefit, barriers for small food vendors, and concerns about who actually gains from the event.

Azul Dostrom-Eckman, KQED transit reporter who covered the Clipper 2.0 rollout, breaks down the troubled launch. She outlines promised features like instant top-ups and tap-to-pay. She describes system crashes, account lockouts, vending machines eating money, equity problems for cash riders, and pressure from big events and agency funding concerns.

Arati Bandamudi, a KQED housing reporter who covers development and local housing issues, unpacks the California Forever saga. She breaks down the Suisun City vs Rio Vista clash and why small cities eye big annexation deals. Also covers local protests, recalls, and the uncertain future of the project.

Roselyn Romero, a public-safety reporter for The Oaklandside who covers crime, policing, and violence-prevention, breaks down why violent crime and homicides fell in Oakland. She discusses data-driven trends, policy and policing tools being used, tensions between perception and reality of safety, and community responses and prevention efforts.