Crosscurrents KALW

Sofie Lovern is a Latina convert and comedienne who learned the difficulty of trying to merge two very different cultures in a marriage, even when their religions were the same. Her struggle with marriage is not uncommon with new convert women who are often rushed into marriage. Her marriage fails, but her comedy brings her through it all. She emerges unmarried but still Muslim.

Today, we hear how Bay Area Schools are now funded to give students two free meals a day, and that means schools are feeding a lot more kids. So we decicded to check in with school chefs and students to see how it’s going. Then, we keep it on the topic of school meals and also very close to home with a visit to the Burton High School cafeteria for lunch. And, we hear a reading from Santa Rosa graphic novelist Alexis Fajardo's latest work.

Today, we’re bringing you an episode of a new podcast from Northern California Public Media called Living Downstream. The podcast looks at environmental justice issues around the world, and a couple episodes take place right here in California. Last week, we brought you an episode about air pollution in West Oakland. This time, we’re going to the biggest lake in California, which is now starved of water. We hear how it impacts the health of the people who live around it. We begin with Adriana Torres, who lives in a rural community there, an area called North Shore. We'll also hear from her classmate Rosa Gonzalez.

The story of two men who work to reconcile their identity as Latinx—with their identity as Muslims. One has dedicated his life to helping the Latino Muslim community in his city, the other still isn’t even sure being in a community as a Latinx Muslim is possible.

On the first day of this year, San Francisco Chronicle reporter Jill Tucker called up the Bay Area’s top Covid experts. We’ll hear what they said. Then, we learn about an investigation into California’s failure to protect outdoor workers from wildfire smoke. And, we listen to Dr. Rupa Marya as she reads from her book.

West Oakland residents breathe and suffer from pollution caused by toxic diesel exhaust. In part two of this story reporter, Sarah Holtz takes us into the issue with community organizer Margaret Gordon and the Director of Clean Air Advocacy, Will Barrett.