Voice of San Diego Podcast

Episode 7

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 the country. So, who are these hidden communities? And how can they be revealed?

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As the new year dawns on us, omicron is letting loose.

The latest, super contagious coronavirus variant was fueled from the holidays and is now hampering daily life — and San Diego is no exception.

Local public services and government agencies are getting hit hard. Universities are pushing classes back online. Hospitals and firehouses are seeing unprecedented absences due to staff catching "the 'vid." This week, we revi...

Before we poke our heads in to 2022, let's look back — about 18 years.

This week, we're dropping a special interview between Scott Lewis and host of the San Diego 101 podcast, Maya Srikrishnan.

Scott was featured on the latest SD101 episode, "A Short History of San Diego Politics," along with Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher and San Diego City Councilman Chris Cate.

Lewis has been covering San Diego politics s...

Episode 6

We're going to go back about 18 years — roughly when the region's newest voters were being born. In this episode of SD101, we'll guide you through the scandals that shaped San Diego, explain how the region's leadership shifted from predominantly Republican to Democrat and share tales of those who have risen to power and shaped the region.

This episode features VOSD's Scott Lewis, Assemblywoman Lorena G...

Shane Crotty, a lead researcher at the La Jolla Institute of Immunology, has helped us out here on the VOSD Podcast throughout the pandemic.

He laid out the science of COVID vaccines when they were new. He explained the Delta variant as it swept the country. And this week, he’s back in an interview with Scott Lewis to talk about Omicron — the latest variant that demonstrates, as Crotty put it, “this virus is more clever than most a...

Buckle up and grab a snack. We're hitting the road.

This week, hosts Scott Lewis, Andrew Keatts and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña are taking you on a drive through the week's local news.

We start at the bathroom shortage the city says it'll fix by putting one within five minutes of anyone downtown. Then, we're on the roads of SANDAG and some major hiccups the transportation agency is having to finalize its plan by year'...

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 state of California. But how has it gotten so bad?

In the latest episode of our San Diego 101 series, we're going to explain how we ...

Last year, Voice of San Diego sued the County of San Diego to get death records for local residents who died directly or indirectly from COVID-19.

A few months ago, we won.

Since then, a team of reporters has blazed through thousands of these records to assemble the data and reveal trends — to show the true impact of COVID, how our region works for different populations and who was most affected by the pandemic. Reporter Will Hunts...

Episode 4

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 county does, who the representatives are for each — and what you need to know to make it work for you. Let's roll some...

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria released a draft of the city’s updated Climate Action Plan — with an ambitious new target of net zero emissions by 2035. 

This week, we look back at the previous Climate Action Plan, which didn’t do all it set out to do. And now, even if the city does everything outlined in its new, super ambitious plan, it still falls short of its own goal.

Plus: Public comments and their place in democracy. And the Gre...

San Diego’s Air Pollution Control District is forcing industries to reduce cancer risk in San Diego.

There was a major change this week in how many canceer-causing toxins local industries were allowed to spew in the air. We sat down with environment reporter MacKenzie Elmer to talk about what goes into these standards, what local industries had to do to alert residents of the risks and what changes are coming. 

And a San Diego-base...

Episode 3

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 legislatures go through a process called redistricting.

In this episode of San Diego 101, we're going to explain how this pr...

San Diego Rep. Scott Peters is in front of an enormous choice. It's one that could sway one of the most consequential legislative dramas in decades that includes tax credits, child care and education, climate change and — importantly — pharmaceuticals.

This week on the show, we wonder: What is the point of Peters? This choice could determine that.

Plus: St. Louis got a billion dollars when it lost its football team. What did Sa...

This year, we dedicated our annual local news summit to: law and justice. Politifest 2021 happened this week and it was full of great, though sometimes difficult, conversations about surveillance, criminal sentencing, the trauma of incarceration and more.

This week, we're giving you the short and sweet summaries of a few panels. And we'll discuss some of the most crucial moments that spotlight how directly law enforcement c...

Episode 2 of VOSD's new series

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 with society. Cops have the ability and authority to take life. So, who keeps them accountable? We'...

Four years ago, former mayor Kevin Faulconer signed a lease for the city to take over a warehouse in Kearny Mesa where crews could repair fire trucks. No fire trucks have been repaired there ever.

And now, the city wants to spend $15 million to rebuild the facility it may never own. This week, we discuss all we know that's gone wrong so far.

Plus: Redistricting drama is heating up. One commissioner resigned abruptly this week a...