The Finest

Matcha has become a worldwide sensation. The bright green powdered tea now appears in lattes, smoothies, desserts and viral foods across social media feeds. Demand has surged so quickly that producers in Japan are struggling to keep up. But matcha's story didn't begin in a cafe. For centuries, the tea has been at the center of a carefully choreographed ritual known as the tea ceremony, a practice rooted in mindfulness, hospitality and attention to detail. In this episode, we explore how a drink with roots in centuries-old tea culture became a modern craze. Along the way, we meet a San Diego tea sensei who practices the ceremony and invites others to slow down long enough to experience matcha with care and intention. As matcha's popularity continues to grow, we ask a simple question: What gets lost — and what might be gained — when an old tradition becomes a global trend?

Guests:

Rie Morita, Japanese tea ceremony instructor
Rebecca Corbett, Japanese Studies Librarian and Senior Lecturer in History, University of Southern California
Robert Hellyer, historian and author of "Green with Milk and Sugar"

Sources:
Japanese Tea Ceremony Explained (Adam Sensei, Phd., Maikoya)
The Matcha Problem (Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 2025)
Shortages, Smoothies and Fraud: The Matcha Market Cracks Under Pressure (Pete Wells, The New York Times, 2025)
How much for matcha? Prices for the popular powdered tea soar due to global demand (Dee-Ann Durbin, Associated Press, 2025)
'Skyrocketing' demand for matcha raises fears of shortage in Japan (Justin McCurry, The Guardian, 2025)
Matcha's popularity has skyrocketed, but it was initially met with skepticism in the West (Rebecca Corbett, PBS News, 2025)
PARU Tea: How the viral matcha spot is transforming tea culture with love and purpose (Julia Dixon Evans and Anthony Wallace, KPBS, 2025)

Lou Curtiss dedicated his life to preserving forgotten music — and now his extraordinary personal collection is being shared with the community he nurtured for decades. At Folk Arts Rare Records, thousands of vinyl records, CDs, tapes and rare recordings are being unboxed, cataloged and placed on shelves for music lovers to explore and purchase. In this episode, we meet Brendan Boyle, who began shopping at Folk Arts as a teenager and now owns and runs the store. We dive into Lou's legacy, including his role in founding the San Diego Folk Festival, supporting local artists like Thomas Shaw and preserving recordings that might otherwise have vanished. Along the way, we explore how vinyl survived the '90s and 2000s and why physical media still matters in an age of streaming and digital fatigue. From obscure blues and folk records to legendary mixtapes, Lou's Whimsical Collection lives on, offering a tactile, personal and deeply human connection to the music that shapes culture.

Guests:
Brendan Boyle, Folk Arts Rare Records owner
Andrew Mall, Associate Professor of Music at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass.

Music heard in this episode:
"Rock My Baby Back Home" by Thomas Shaw (1972)
"Broke and Ain't Got a Dime" by Thomas Shaw (1972)
"Martin Luther King" by Thomas Shaw (1972)
Portuguese String Music (1908-1931)
"George Collins" by Kathy & Carol (1965)
"Sprig of Thyme" by Kathy & Carol (1965)
"Atomic Cocktail" by Slim Gaillard (1945)
"Frank Rhoads Round" by Slim Gaillard (1962)
"Pick Poor Robin Clean" by Geeshie Wiley & Elvie Thomas (1931)
"Set Your Chickens Free" by The Hub City Movers (1969)

Mentioned in this episode:
"Sinners"
"High Fidelity"
Part Time Lover
Document Records

Sources:
Thomas Shaw (Lou Curtiss, San Diego Troubadour, 2013)
Material Drives on the World War II Home Front (National Park Service, 2024)
Shellac to vinyl, how World War Two changed the record (Norfolk Record Office, 2020)
How a 1927 Blues recording found its way into a 21st-century vampire film — and sparked a historical detective story (Document Records, 2025)
Folk Arts Rare Records brings Lou Curtiss' music collection to the people (Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS, 2026)

Content note: This episode contains discussion of suicide and domestic abuse. If you or someone you know needs support, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

This episode is a special feed share from One of Their Own, a KPBS true crime podcast created and hosted by KPBS racial justice and social equity reporter Katie Hyson. In 2018, 25-year-old San Diego police officer Ciara Estrada was found dead in her apartment on New Year's Day. Her death was ruled a suicide by the San Diego Police Department — the same department she worked for. But nearly eight years later, her family still questions whether the investigation went far enough. In this first episode, you'll meet Ciara through the people who loved her most. From a viral video that once labeled her a "nice cop" to the deeply personal artifacts she left behind, the series begins by asking a simple but powerful question: Who was Ciara Estrada beyond the case file? The podcast explores police culture, domestic violence allegations within law enforcement and what happens when a department investigates one of its own. After listening, find the rest of One of Their Own wherever you get your podcasts.

San Diego's Topeka Clementine brought the KPBS patio to life with a performance as part of the Sundrenched Sounds live music series — spontaneous, communal and emotionally charged. Blending sharp storytelling with sing-along moments and unexpected humor, the set moved seamlessly between intimate confession and collective call to action. We sat down afterward with Kai Simovich, the musician behind Topeka Clementine, to talk about the project's remarkable output and what it really means to go viral. Named after a street corner in Oceanside tied to grassroots mutual aid, Topeka Clementine channels community care directly into the music.

Kai shares how recent personal loss reshaped their songwriting, including the creation of "Feed the Trees," a meditation on grief, inheritance and how life carries forward. Through relentless creativity, collective energy and performance, Topeka Clementine's music insists on hope, even in heavy times.

Guest:
Kai Simovich, Topeka Clementine

Mentioned in this episode:
Estonia's Singing Revolution (Rick Steves)
Amass | Matt Orlando Brings California Sun to Copenhagen (Florence Fabricant, New York Times, 2017)

The bold, joyful sculptures of Niki de Saint Phalle are woven into San Diego’s landscape, even if many people don’t know her name. In this episode, we explore the life and legacy of the artist behind Queen Califia’s Magical Circle, the Sun God at UC San Diego and the beloved Nikigator in Balboa Park. After decades of boundary-breaking art and personal hardship, Niki came to San Diego late in life and created monumental public works designed to be experienced up close, inviting touch, play and imagination. But this story also belongs to Lech Juretko, a Polish refugee and former wallpaper installer who became Niki’s longtime assistant. He helped build her massive mosaic sculptures piece by piece.

More than 20 years after her death, he is still repairing cracked tiles and replacing missing stones, preserving artwork created for interaction and shared wonder. It’s a story about creative devotion, chosen family and the magic that happens when art leaves museum walls and becomes part of everyday life.

Guests:
Lech Juretko, founder and owner of Art Mosaic, longtime assistant of artist Niki de Saint Phalle
Jill Dawsey, PhD, senior curator at Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, co-author of "Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s"

Sources:
Niki de Saint Phalle: Public Works (Niki Charitable Art Foundation)
Niki de Saint Phalle Garden Opens in Escondido (City of Escondido, 2003)
Keeping up the legacy of Niki de Saint Phalle (Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS, 2023)
Artist Niki de Saint Phalle's radical decade (Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS, 2022)
The Darkness Behind Niki de Saint Phalle's Colorful Beauties (Eunice Lipton, Hyperallergic, 2015)
"What Is Now Known Was Once Only Imagined: An (Auto)biography of Niki de Saint Phalle" (Nicole Rudick, Siglio Press, 2022)
"Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s" (Jill Dawsey and Michelle White, Yale University Press, 2021)
"Niki Who Tamed The Dragons" (Wojciech Delikta, Contemporary Lynx, 2020)
New Realism (Center Pompidou, La Collection, Musee national d'art moderne, Pompidou Centre, Paris, 1987, and La Collection, Acquisitions, 1986-1996, Pompidou Centre, Paris, 1996)
"My Terrific Mother" (Laura Gabriela, Tate Etc., Tate Modern, 2008)
"Niki in the Garden" (Atlanta Botanical Garden, 2026)
"Pop Gun Art: Niki de Saint Phalle and the Operatic Multiple" (Nichole L. Woods, Walker Art Center, Walker Living Collections Catalogue)
"At MoMA PS1: Niki de Saint Phalle" (Lidija Haas, London Review of Books, 2021)
Jean Tinguely, Playful Sculptor of Scrap Contraptions, Dies at 66 (New York Times, 1991)
Niki de Saint Phalle: Le Cimetière de Montparnasse (Devon Whitehead, The Brooklyn Rail, 2018)
Niki de Saint Phalle's lifelong dialogue between art and diseases (Henning Zeidler, Joint Bone Spine, National Library of Medicine, 2012)
Niki de Saint Phalle, Sculptor, Is Dead at 71 (Ken Johnson, New York Times, 2002)
Vandals break in, smash mirrors and more in Escondido sculpture garden (Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union Tribune, 2018)
The Keeper of Niki de Saint Phalle's Menagerie (Mingei International Museum, 2019)
"Nikigator, 2001" (Mingei International Museum, collections)