Parents Changing Schools

When parents get involved at school, that generally means their kids will do better. But getting involved isn’t easy — at least not for all parents. School districts can be baffling bureaucracies, filled with tons of committees and confusing acronyms that all impact the quality of a kid’s educatio…

Three Myths About Homelessness

Homelessness, and what causes it, is complex. Our own assumptions about people who experience homelessness can often keep us from fully understanding the big, complicated issue that it is. In this episode, we’re going to hear from experts and people who have experienced homelessness to explain wha…

What We Know — And Don’t — About Who Lives in San Diego

The 2020 Census data shows that San Diego is more diverse than ever, with especially large growth in its Asian and Latino populations. But there are also big, thriving communities that we have very little information about. They're effectively hidden by the Census, a standard bearer of data for th…

A Short History of San Diego Politics

To get involved in local government or follow the news, you need to understand why local politics are the way they are. So in this episode, we're going to hit you with some (short) history. We're going to go back about 18 years — roughly when the region's newest voters were being born. We'll guide…

The Housing Crisis

You’ve probably noticed that San Diego is a really expensive place to live. The city has a large homeless population, the cost of rent eats away our paychecks, and for most people, buying a home is out of reach. For years, we’ve been hearing about the housing crisis in San Diego and throughout the…

City Versus County Government

Local government can get complicated. But there's one major distinction you need to understand in order to follow it all: the difference between the city government and the county government. In this episode, we spoke with a few government experts to help us understand what the city does, what the…

How Redistricting Shapes Your Community

Throughout San Diego – and across the country – there are lots of meetings happening, in which communities are talking about how they can maximize the power of their vote by creating new maps. This is because every 10 years all sorts of political entities from cities to school districts to state l…

Who Polices the Police?

Warning: This episode mentions suicide and contains graphic descriptions of killings by police officers. In light of several highly-publicized killings by police officers in recent years, more and more people have started demanding change to how law enforcement do their job and how they interact w…

Your Role in Local Government

We’re going to hit you with two stories about two men who suddenly had to figure out local government — after it completely changed their lives. One became a political activist after spending months in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. The other became one of the youngest city councilmembers ever…

Welcome to San Diego 101

Keeping up with the issues and institutions that shape our region can be confusing. That’s where we come in. We’re going to teach you how the whole region works — and the people and systems that govern San Diego. With each episode, you’ll learn a little bit more so you can get involved in the decis…