North Gate Radio

October 7th, 2010

Subcultures

In today’s show we’ll take a trip through the Bay Area’s subcultures—from the disenfranchised, to the absurd. We’ll start with a portrait of a Guatemalan couple who have been living as refugees for nearly three decades. We’ll talk to pinball enthusiasts, beach cleaners, and a group who just loves to laugh. All that and more on this inaugural edition of North Gate Radio.


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Segments From This Show:

Volunteers Pitch In for Annual Coastal Cleanup

Every year in late September, people all around the globe join forces for the annual International Coastal Cleanup. In Berkeley, the event typically draws over a thousand volunteers. But this year’s twenty-sixth annual cleanup is more than a day’s worth of community service, it’s also a massive research project geared to create lasting change. Mary Flynn reports.
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Guatemala’s long-lasting war

In Guatemala, hundreds of thousands of Indigenous people were murdered during a thirty-six-year civil war that ended in 1996. Thousands fled to Mexico and, eventually, the U.S. Many have ended up at the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant in Berkeley, where they hope to gain political asylum for a war that ended in more than a dozen years ago, but which, in many ways, still exists today. (more…)

Pinball Museum

There was a time when you could write a rock song about pinball and make it a classic. There were even two decades – the 50′s and 60′s – when pinball could rake in more money than the entire film industry. But, in case you haven’t noticed, it hasn’t been like that for a long time. (more…)

Laser Backpack: One-on-One with Avideh Zakhor

One of the coolest backpacks anyone’s ever had may be right here on the UC Berkeley campus. No, it’s not an anti-gravity device for the forty pounds you lug to school every day. But the so called “laser backpack” can turn you into a cutting edge spy. Alexa Vaughn sat down with the lead researcher of Cal’s most recent contribution to military intelligence. (more…)

Bay Area Yogis Love To Laugh

Recent studies show that the amount and frequency of your chuckles are proportionally linked to stress levels and general well-being. Some say it even protects from cancer. Like the science but aren’t one of those who can chuckle on cue? Richard Parks has the club for you. (more…)