The Finest
San Diego earns its title as America’s Finest City through the people, art and movements redefining the region’s cultural identity. The Finest is a podcast that highlights the emerging voices and dynamic forces reshaping community and expression. Through personal stories and critical perspectives, each episode brings forward the artists, advocates and ideas driving change and pushing boundaries in the region’s cultural landscape. New episodes premiere Thursdays.
Episodes
The Kumeyaay have long told stories through rock art, vivid images carved into stone that preserved culture, memory and meaning. Today, that tradition continues in a new comic book created by Kumeyaay educators and historians to challenge the erasure of Indigenous history in California classrooms. Co-written by SDSU professor Ethan Banegas, a member of the Barona Ban...
At the KPBS San Diego Book Festival, we brought together three organizers from very different book clubs to talk about the communities they've built around reading. Enid Sherman has been meeting with the same group of women for 25 years. Mimi Phung started the North County Vietnamese Book Club t...
What started as a few skits between friends has grown into one of San Diego's most talked-about independent creative projects. The creators of "End of the 8" take us behind the scenes of turning their love of Ocean Beach into a sitcom, casting friends instead of actors, filming in local business...
Every new technology changes the way art is made. Generative AI is pushing those questions into the spotlight faster than many artists expected. As with other big leaps in industry and technology throughout history, it's not always as simple as being for or against it.
From animation studios and independent creators to Comic-Con panels and university labs, we follow the people navigating one of the creative world's biggest turning p...
How can we speak up in a way that feels authentic? How can we build something instead of just reacting? Whether it's marching in the streets, advocating for our collective rights or making art, protest and resistance have always been a part of the American story. Recorded live during "KPBS Podcasts Live: The Art of Protest," sign painter and content creator Ko...
Downsizing is rarely just about getting rid of stuff. It's about grief, family, identity and deciding what parts of a lifetime move into the next chapter. In this episode, we visit Next Step Treasures, where Rose Rugama guides older adults through those deeply personal decisions every day. From finding new homes for treasured possessions to helping p...
Twenty years after coining "nature-deficit disorder," author Richard Louv is still asking a simple question: What happens when we lose our connection to nature? On a hike through Volcan Mountain Preserve near Julian, Richard shares why he believes "deep noticing" is one of the most important practices we can reclaim in an increasingly screen-centered world. From moun...
What can a warehouse store tell us about community? At UC San Diego, the Costco Club has become one of the campus’ most recognizable student organizations, bringing people together through shopping trips, a rotisserie chicken tradition Read more
At a live taping of KPBS' Sun Drenched Sounds music series, three San Diego artists share music and the stories behind it. Divina talks about building her own sound through live looping and production, and how a song she heard as a child helped shape her artistic path. James Spaite reflects on growing up in the church, wrestling with faith and channeling philosophy a...
Why is everyone suddenly playing mahjong? From neighborhood meetups to viral social media posts, interest in the game is growing fast. This episode explores mahjong's history, its roots in the Chinese diaspora and the ways families and communities have carried traditions across generations. Through a night of learning Filipino-style mahjong in San Diego, we look at h...
Pokémon started as something simple: trading cards on the playground, Game Boys passed around between friends and the dream of catching 'em all. Thirty years later, it's the highest-grossing media franchise in the world — and Pokémon cards have become big business.
In this episode, collecto...
Long before San Diego became defined by freeways, parking shortages and long commutes, electric streetcars connected the region's urban core to beaches, business districts and growing neighborhoods more than 100 years ago.
In this episode, KPBS metro reporter Andrew Bowen talks with The Finest ab...
San Diego skateboarder Brandon Turner moved up quickly in the sport, moving from local skate spots to major sponsorships and world tours. From skateboarding prodigy to rock bottom, now he's redefining addiction recovery and constantly evolving his understanding of control, identity and success.
The Iran many Americans see is often defined by conflict. But for those who grew up there and those who carry its traditions abroad, the story is far more layered. Artist Maryam Bayat turns Persian rugs into immersive sculptures, drawing on memories of her childhood in Iran, from bustling cities to quiet forests. Writer Zohreh (Zoe) Ghahremani and illustrator Susie G...
In this rebroadcast from Season 1, we explore how the streaming era has changed music — not just for the people who make it, but also for us as listeners.
For indie musicians like Julianna Zachariou, Spotify has made music more accessible than ever — but at a cost. With pa...
What is a prop?
For Deb Hatch, it's almost everything. After more than 40 years working in theater, including decades at La Jolla Playhouse
Ahmad Joudeh risked his life to dance, performing in a refugee camp while ISIS fighters targeted him. The act of defiance, captured on video, made him known worldwide. But fame came with a cost. He became a symbol he never wanted to be. In this episode, Ahmad tells the full story in his own words, from growing up stateless in Syria and navigating the complexities of identity to starting the camp's...
What's growing in your backyard?
In San Diego, one of America's most biodiverse regions, the answer is more complicated than you might think. It's home to roughly 3,000 plant species, with many still undocumented.
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