The bee bursts onto the scene (from L to R: Will Hand, Juliana Lustenader, Josh Pollock (Banjo), Anthony Nemirovsky). Photo by Pak Han.

The Berkeley theater company Shotgun Players started performing 20 years ago in the basement of a Berkeley pizzeria. Now it’s got its own building, but the company has stuck with its founding principles: taking on little-known or brand new plays, and working hard to create theater for the community.

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the company is presenting an entire season of world premieres: five brand news plays.

This aired on Crosscurrents on 12/6/11.

When Congress created the National Park Service nearly 100 years ago, the goal was to protect places with historic or natural value for future generations. But climate change is throwing a wrench into those plans. Sequoia National Park could be heading toward a future without its signature gigantic trees.

This aired on The California Report on 12/2/11. Read more about giant sequoias on the accompanying blog post on Climate Watch.

(L to R) Melissa Quine, Galen Murphy-Hoffman, David Mendelsohn, and Cassidy Brown in TJT's production of In the Maze of Our Own Lives; photo by Ken Friedman.

The Jewish Theatre in San Francisco is closing at the end of its current season. In its 34 years, the company has produced original plays and reproductions ranging from works inspired by Yiddish poetry and Biblical traditions, to plays about the experiences of German Jews between the world wars, and the conflict in the Middle East.

KALW’s Molly Samuel went to see the play that opens The Jewish Theatre’s final act. It’s a Depression-era story that resonates with the economic reality the theater and many other arts organizations are facing today.

This aired on Crosscurrents on 11/10/11.

Mono Lake

In the thick of the latest budget crisis, the state Department of Parks and Recreation has been told to cut $22 million over two fiscal years, and it’s planning to do that by closing 70 parks. Now legislators are debating which parks will feel the blow.

This aired on The California Report on 11/2/11.

Harry Houdini, full-length portrait, standing, facing front, in chains, c. 1899. Library of Congress. McManus-Young Collection.

A new exhibition at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco explores the life and legacy of the great escape artist.

Reported with Seth Samuel, aired on Crosscurrents on 10/31/11.

This aired on Crosscurrents on 10/26/11.

You don’t have to be a hip-hop die hard to understand the genre’s appeal. We find out how one young woman heard the siren call of hip-hop, and kept at it in law school.

This aired on The California Report on 10/21/11.

This aired on The California Report on 9/16/11. There are more pictures and a  post about the GLORIA Survey on the Climate Watch blog.

This aired on KQED News on 8/17/11.

In the late 1800s, when the Bay Area was booming, a small settlement bloomed on an island at the southern tip of the Bay. At its height in the 1920s, Drawbridge, CA had about ninety buildings, a few hotels, stores of illegal alcohol, some good poker games, and excellent hunting and fishing. But as the rest of the region continued to grow, Drawbridge faded away. Now it’s a ghost town, off-limits to visitors, and sinking into the salt marsh. I went to take a look at what’s left of the town for the Oakland Standard.