NEW RADIO SHOW       FIRST TUESDAY EACH MONTH    7:00 IN THE EVENING     CONTEMPORARY CALIFORNIA     

Radio
Pacific




  In collaboration with KALW, Radio Pacific is a new radio show about contemporary California. The hour-long program features journalists, writers, and documentarians who are grappling with life in the country’s most populous and diverse state.

EPISODES

Episode 1 May 2025

Rapid Response Hotline


President Trump returned to power on the promise to “carry out the largest deportation operation in American history.” The campaign has already deported thousands, sent waves of terror throughout immigrant communities, and even pushed the country to the brink of a constitutional crisis.

In our first episode, California legal scholar Kevin R. Johnson puts the first months of Trump’s administration in perspective and helps us understand California’s unique and disturbing role in the country’s immigration history.

Then we look into one form of resistance to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “Rapid Response Hotlines.” These community-run, 24/7 lines keep tabs on ICE activity in their neighborhoods, and dispatch legal assistance to those who need it.

To understand how they work, we sit down with filmmaker Paloma Martinez, whose beautiful short documentary “Enforcement Hours” follows the San Francisco Rapid Response Hotline during President Trump’s first term. 

We’re joined by Finn Palamaro, a staff member at the non-profit Mission Action and the lead organizer of the hotline today.

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Featured Work
Enforcement Hours
by Paloma Martinez
Guests
Kevin R. Johnson
Paloma Martinez
Finn Palamaro

Editor
Ben Trefny

Composer
Kirk Pearson

Sound Designer
Dogbotic Studios

Photo
Paloma Martinez,
Enforcement Hours


Episode 2 June 2025
Los Angeles and Fire


Los Angeles has always been an ecological impossibility. Perched on the edge of the continent, the city is vulnerable to every conceivable catastrophe: earthquakes, tsunamis, mudslides, and of course, fire. Fifty years ago, Joan Didion wrote that “The city burning is Los Angeles’s deepest image of itself.”

This year, in the dead of winter, that horror was realized yet again. On January 7, five different fires broke out across the city, overwhelming first responders. Fueled by the blistering Santa Ana winds, the blazes tore through the heart of the city, becoming some of the deadliest and most destructive in state history.

For our second episode, we examine fire in California from two angles. First, Don Hankins, a fire ecologist and Plains Miwok cultural practitioner, tells us about the increasing role of Indigenous fire stewardship in California fire management. Second, Rebecca Nolan, a radio producer and California native, shares an audio portrait about growing up with the Santa Ana winds.


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Featured Works
Dispatch
by Eli Cohen

The Santa Ana Winds
by Rebecca Nolan

Guests
Don Hankins
Rebecca Nolan

Editor
Ben Trefny

Composer
Kirk Pearson

Sound Designer
Dogbotic Studios

Photo
Etienne Laurent/AP Photo

Episode 3 July 2025
A Home by Any Other Name


Homelessness may be California’s most intractable problem. Over the past decades, encampments have begun to feel like a permanent part of the California landscape. To many housed Californians, they are eyesores, but these communities provide their residents very tangible benefits: watchful neighbors, mutual aid networks, and a sense of belonging.

This month on Radio Pacific, we have three different stories, from three different communities, from three different cities around the Bay Area – all facing the same issue: people in power deciding they can no longer be there. First, a tent encampment on the side of I-80 in Berkeley. Second, an RV community in San Francisco. And third, a group living on derelict boats off the coast of Saulsalito.




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Featured Works
According To Need
by Katie Mingle

San Francisco’s Failed RV Crackdown
by Yesica Prado &
Erika Carlos

Lost At Sea
by Joe Klock

Guests
Yesica Prado
Erika Carlos
Joe Kloc

Editor
Ben Trefny

Composer
Kirk Pearson

Sound Designer
Dogbotic Studios

Photo
Pablo Unzueta/El Tecolote

Episode 4 August 2025
MDMA & The Bay


San Francisco has long been associated with psychedelics, but when it comes to mind-altering substances, no other drug may be as closely tied to the Bay Area as MDMA, often known as "ecstasy" or "molly."

​MDMA was basically unheard of until 1977, when Bay Area chemist Sasha Shulgin gave therapist Leo Zeff a homemade batch. Zeff found the drug nothing short revelatory and spent the remainder of his life evangelizing its therapeutic potential. But the drug quickly caught the attention of ravers across the world, and soon thereafter, the DEA. In 1985, it was classified Schedule One: high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use.

​40 years later — in the midst of the so-called "psychedelic renaissance" — more scientific research is being done on MDMA than ever before. Last year, Lykos Therapeutics applied to the FDA for approval of MDMA assisted therapy. Though the trial results were considered outstanding by many, the FDA ultimately rejected the new drug application.

​But the quest for legal MDMA therapy is far from over. Tonight, we discuss the full history and scientific evidence with researchers, therapists, and journalists who have all played a seminal role in better understanding this misunderstood drug.


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Featured Works
Therapy
by Eli Cohen

Guests
Gül Dölen
Jennifer Mitchell
Rachel Nuwer
Debby Harlow

Editor
Ben Trefny

Composer
Kirk Pearson

Sound Designer
Dogbotic Studios

Photo
Sasha Shulgin/Shulgin Foundation

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