In the Russian Orthodox Church, art is much more than just decoration. Small, elaborate paintings known as icons portray Christianity’s most famous persons, and are used as tools for prayer. Today, a number of artists who are neither Russian nor Russian Orthodox are nonetheless pushing the boundaries of this religious art form. Sean Kramer is one of them.
On this edition of Making Contact, we’ll meet people challenging polluters in their own backyard. Not to push hazardous industries into another neighborhood. Instead they’re developing visionary solutions for a better life for all and for the future of the planet. From urban to rural communities, we’ll learn about indigenous-led efforts to protect public health and the environment for future generations.
Online shopping is hard to beat — price, selection, free shipping. That’s great for consumers, but very hard on local brick-and-mortar stores, and even on larger retail chains, who are closing their doors after years of operation. But some small retailers have found a way to not just survive but thrive in this new landscape.
Maria Su is the executive director of the San Francisco Department for Children Youth and Their Families. They work together with the city and community organizations to improve the life of kids and parents. Hear her speak about the new Paid Parental Leave Ordinance in San Francisco, and what it means for families in the city.
Title: Parents plan for paid family leave in San Francisco [ AUDIO / ARTICLE ] Rents and cost of living in the Bay Area are still on the rise, but San Francisco families will soon start seeing some relief: the city has a new family leave law that will come into effect in January of 2017. The law will guarantee parents six weeks off with full pay while they’re home with a new child. That’s a big departure from current …
Close to 8,000 San Francisco homes and businesses were automatically enrolled in CleanPowerSF in May of 2016.
CleanPowerSF is a locally-managed power supplier that gives customers the option to get more renewable energy than they currently get through PG&E.
Harumi Fuji McClure and her husband live in a nice, two-story house in Morgan Hill south of San Jose. It gets pretty hot there in the summers, so they have a large swimming pool and air-conditioning in the whole house. But her electricity bill isn’t high: it’s negative five dollars a month.
The Mission District is famous for its vibrantly colored murals, and some of the oldest murals can be found in Balmy Alley. Mia Gonzalez started the mural project in the early ’70s when the alley was a run down little street that connected 24th Street with nearby Precita Park. She wanted to make the alley safer for the kids who were walking through on their way to the park. What she didn’t expect was that it would launch a new wave of women muralists working in a strong Chicana tradition. Gonzalez sat down in the StoryCorps booth with art archivist Linda Wilson to talk about change, paint and pride.
When it comes to crimes like rape and sexual assault, the focus is shifting from prosecution and punishment to prevention. That means finding the cause of the problem and tackling it early on. Some Bay Area schools are doing just that — by talking to their students about healthy masculinity and what it means to be a man. The goal is to raise a different kind of man, one who stands up against sexual violence.
I Skype my mom in Sweden pretty much every weekend, and this time I wanted to ask her about a story that she told me over ten years ago. It was about a time when she went Germany to go to a conference for work but ended up dancing at a rave.
