Celebrating 65 years of KPBS with broadcasting alumni

S1: Welcome to San Diego. It's time for KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. Well , happy birthday , KPBS. 65 years ago today , students at San Diego State launched a small radio station , how it became San Diego's first public media broadcaster.

S2: We tried to do stories that were not being covered by commercial media. We felt that that was a mandate.

S1: This week , on a special edition of roundtable , we hear from some of the voices that helped build KPBS into what it is today. Current and former KPBS personalities reflect on their time in San Diego and what they learned from it. That's ahead on KPBS roundtable. No one person embodies KPBS quite like Ken Kramer. His show , Ken Kramer's About San Diego , has been telling stories of the people and places in our region for decades. The stories he shares on San Diego history are often surprising , sometimes quirky , all bound together by a deep love of our region and its people. But Ken's work with KPBS goes back even further , almost to its earliest days 65 years ago. And Ken joins me now to talk more about it. Ken , your history with KPBS goes back to the late 60s , even before it had the call letters it does today. So tell us a little bit about those early days.

S2: Yes , I came here in 1968 , way back in the last century , and I became a student assistant shortly after becoming a student at San Diego State. And you have to imagine the station at that time. I come into this building now and it's staggering. I mean , there's so much it's so large. When I went to work , when I went to work and at Caleb's , which were the call letters. There was a transmitter that was right behind where we had our studio and audio board looked , more than anything else , like a refrigerator. We turned the station on at 445 in the afternoon and broadcast the CBS Evening News , which was put together by some students. Then it was time for the German Press Review , and shortly thereafter it was opus 89.5 classical music show. And at some point there were some other taped shows and we signed off. Then at 11:00 pm , because , you know , no sensible person would be awake after that. The station was 780W , may have radiated as far as like NorthPark Allied Gardens. We did not have a large audience , but we were very earnest.

S1: Well , I think one thing that's interesting is for someone like me , I've grown up with public media. I have this vision of what public media looks like , what it sounds like. But in those early days , there was really no blueprint for you guys. So. So how did you explore telling stories and exploring this new landscape that became public media ? What we know today.

S2: There was a bit of a template as National Public Radio got started. One of the things that they conveyed to the member stations , and we would attend workshops and one thing and another , and they would play these broadcasters who had these deep voices and , you know , sort of the Edward R Murrow approach to things. And then they'd stop the tape and they'd say , we don't want to sound like that. We want to sound like people talking to one another. We want this friendly , familiar , accessible , user friendly kind of presentation. That's what we want. And so we adopted that as a style. Beyond that , we tried to do stories that were not being covered by commercial media. We felt that that was a mandate. We felt that whatever we did needed to be worth the public's money to present it. So , okay , the Super Bowl is happening. Sure. You know , we're going to mention the Super Bowl , but are we going to go all in on it ? Probably not. You know , there are other stories that are kind of from the margins are from different communities , different populations. We wanted to tell those stories and that was part of our mission.

S1:

S2: It was actually a student project , and a fellow by the name of Jim Hancock. And I put together a series of half hour shows and called it about San Diego. And I've always attributed to Tom McManus , our program director , That title , that name , which has stuck and I always thought was pretty descriptive and gave me a lot of opportunities to have an ending to every story that I tell you kind of wraps up.

S1:

S2: Well , for me , it's and and that's something you might not have known about San Diego.

S1: And so it eventually went to television.

S2: I knew a fellow by the name of Ralph Story somewhat from Los Angeles , and there may be some who know that Ralph story was a storyteller on what was called the big news , on what I think is now called KCBs and LA channel two. K.C.B. anyway , used to be called NXT and they would have their line up. They had the silver haired anchor and they had the weatherman and they had the sports guy. And then they had this guy named Ralph Storey , who would just spin a little story about Los Angeles. And I observed people around me in the living room watching the news , and they would lean in and they'd listen to this guy. And the next day what people were talking about , because there were many fewer TV stations way back then. They were talking about his story. That made an impression on me. And I always thought if I ever got the opportunity , that was kind of the template for what I wanted to do. If I ever got the opportunity at in San Diego , it's a little different. He concentrated more on the person who has the biggest ball of string. I tend to do stories that are tied to our history , and if I do them right , people are slapping their forehead and saying , I didn't know that. I did not know that about San Diego. Right.

S1: Right. And so , you know , I want to give folks a taste. Just since we're talking about your show , I'm sure , you know , choosing a favorite episode is really hard. But I know one favorite that does come up is the Kensington Caves , which you've visited a couple of times , right ? A former homeowner started digging under his house , and you visited that a couple times with then the homeowner , Art Gonzales. And here's a clip from that.

S3: Now , this is , uh , one of the 8 or 9 chambers that are down here. Actually , there's nine rooms. Nine rooms , nine rooms.

S4: It's a funny obsession , this digging thing. Glen Havens was just fascinated with digging. So it was a hobby. He wasn't nuts.

S3: No , it wasn't nuts. Well , I don't think he was that.

S1: Well , that just kind of gives folks a taste of what you just said of that. I didn't know that about San Diego. These kind of hidden worlds here. That's one example of an episode. Or does any other example stand out to you of of an episode that that you feel embodies ? What about San Diego is.

S2: Gosh , there were just so many and some of them are so strange. There's there's one that we did back in 1996 , right after the Republican convention. And I noticed , because I was under pretty strict and time demanding orders , put together a story we needed for tonight. And I noticed there was this one blue balloon , you know , how they let the big net opens and thousands and thousands of these balloons. There was one that was still stuck up there in the netting. And I thought , you know that. I don't know why that sort of touches me. That sort of moves me. That poor balloon didn't get to be a part of the party. So I wrote a poem. And as it happened , we went back down there to the auditorium , and crews were going up there and cutting away the netting , and the balloon bounced on the floor in a couple times more. And I wrote a poem to this blue balloon and to this day. And it's been that many years ago. To this day , people come up to me and they say , my kids love that story. We recorded that story. The Blue Balloon is something that we recall even to this day , and I guess that found a nice place in my heart because of how that resonated with people.

S1: Well , and that kind of goes to to another question I had for you , which is one thing when I think about you and your work is just the audience connection. People really feel connected to you through , you know , these stories you're telling , like you mentioned this , you know , poem about a simple balloon.

S2: I'm not entirely sure , but I think it has to do with a lot of different things television programs now , and particularly entertainment shows as much as not our attempting to generate in you a feeling of discomfort. I can't quite describe that , but it's there's a there's an old saying that is attributed to Andy Warhol , and he was talking about Johnny Carson , and he said , the thing about Johnny Carson is that , you know , for the next 90 minutes or however long it's going to be , that you can relax , that anything that comes along , Johnny's going to handle it. It's going to be okay. There's not going to be anything embarrassing. And that goes a long way. I think that for 30 minutes it's going to be okay. You can sit with your family. There's that. There's also the idea that if you're watching about San Diego , there is a theme that kind of validates our decision to live here. It suggests that even though we may have come from Cincinnati , we may have come from Pittsburgh , wherever it is. This can be your home. It's more than just a zoo. It's more than just military installations and places and things like that that you've heard about. Nice weather. It has deep roots. It has people who have preceded us and have accomplished things and have given real structure to this city and real character to this county. And I think that kind of makes us feel good about the place. You know , I really I do like this place. Yeah. You know , it has some issues with traffic and lack of public transportation and all these things. But fundamentally , I like this place and this show over 30 minutes keeps that feeling going and enhances that feeling. I believe there may be something to it there. It's also just there's a familiarity to it and kind of a reassurance it's going to be there. You kind of know what the parameters are. We're not. Um , Ken Kramer's about San Diego Goes to Maui , you know , and taking advantage of all of the opportunities which I'm sure would be there. No , no , it's our city. We celebrate it. I wish that it were all things to all people. It can't be. We try to be inclusive. We try to be as broad as we can in the net that we cast. We do the best we can. It seems to work well. And the reaction I get from people suggest to me that the show touches them at some level , and I honor that. I treasure that , and to some degree , I feel obligated , you know , to maybe do a few more and to try to do better and to listen to what they're saying and to modify the direction from time to time where the show is going and what we're covering.

S1: Ken Kramer is the longtime host and producer of Ken Kramer's About San Diego. He's out with a new episode next Thursday at 8 p.m. on KPBS. Ken , thanks for sharing some of your memories with us.

S2: Thank you.

S1: When roundtable returns , we hear from more KPBS voices as our 65th anniversary show continues. You're listening to KPBS roundtable. You're listening to KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. If you are a long time KPBS listener , there's quite a few voices you may recognize , even some that you may not have heard for a few years.

S5: You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Alison Saint John.

S1: That's reporter Alison Saint John. She retired from KPBS in 2019 after a 30 year career here. She began at KPBS in the late 80s as a community producer , and was actually here before KPBS even had a newsroom or a computer. Well , this hour , we're inviting some past and present KPBS voices to share some of their memories with us as KPBS celebrates its 65th year. Alison Saint John joins me now. Alison , welcome.

S6: Oh , yeah. It's so good to talk to you.

S1: So , Alison , can you paint a picture for us ? What did KPBS look like when you first started ? In the late 80s ? Yes.

S6: Well , it was in some fairly small little back corridor at Sdsu with a lot of people working in trailers outside , underneath eucalyptus trees. And we basically were a very , very different operation. We were working from reel to reel tapes , uh , nothing digital. And when I began , we didn't even have computers , let alone cell phones.

S1: So you were here before KPBS even had a newsroom. Um , tell us more about , you know , your first roles here. Were you just volunteering for the station ? You began work as a community producer.

S6: I believe it was something about the opera Lucia di Lammermoor , which was an opera that the San Diego Opera was performing , and I had a relative who performed it in nice many , many years ago when the opera house burned down. So I did a little , uh , audio story about how I learned about this and the tragedy back then and how this is such a famous opera , and how opera had changed because it used to be the entertainment of the people. And now , of course , it's a bit more exclusive. So that was my first piece as a community producer. Yeah , we we used to. I remember we used to be have trouble meeting the deadline. So I have vivid memories of slapping up the reel to reel tape seconds before airtime to get it on the air in time.

S1: You mentioned the reel to reel tape. So obviously we're in , you know , a very digital world now dominated by computers. I have a computer in front of me right now. Talk to us about , you know , what was it like to produce , you know , say , a radio story in this , you know , very different technological world. Right.

S6: Right. Well , I mean , we all know about cut and pasting , right ? When you write a story and you can cut and paste when you edit , that is literally what we did at the very beginning. I was typing on a computer , and when I got an edit , I would cut out some lines and paste them in. Some were different. So I remember getting my first little Mac computer. That was like a game changer. That really helped to speed things up. Um , the audio system was , as I say , you were recording on a little cassette tape recorder and you would find the bits of sound from your interview that you liked and rerecord it onto a reel to reel tape. Then you would cut and splice the reel to reel tape with razor little razors and , uh , mix it with your own voice. Two different reel to reels turning , you know , and finally you'd end up with one reel to reel tape with all the sound mixed with the ambience. And when you were happy , you get it on the air , hopefully before the deadline.

S1: So much different process now. Got a little easier as you kind of moved towards the digital world. So let's talk. You also became one of the first full time reporters for KPBS. Um , covered several beats in your time here. What drew you originally to reporting and wanting to tell local stories here in San Diego.

S6: Well , when I first came to San Diego back in the mid 80s. It was like a lifesaver for me to discover KPBS. And so I volunteered to become a community producer and just fell in love with all the people working around. So it was not something I had ever planned. I did do some training at Palomar College in radio , but not significant , and I had never dreamed that I would actually work for KPBS. So when in fact , a few months after I'd been working as a community producer that was decided to start a newsroom. Um , I applied and to my amazement , I was one of the ones that did get a position. So. So yes , everything. The timing was just amazingly perfect when I arrived. That's when the newsroom started. And , uh , we were off and running.

S1: And you've covered , you know , several different beats from education covering North County for for many years for KPBS.

S6: And so I was right next to Camp Pendleton , and I chose to initiate some connections with the military back then during the Iraq War. There were so many very moving stories of people who were coming back from the war and having such trouble readjusting to civilian life. So I did a number of stories about PTSD and TBI , and really established a connection with the people in Camp Pendleton that I very much appreciated. They gave me a lot of a lot of space to cover that issue.

S1: You were mentioned telling stories about the military community.

S6: There was there were there were many occasions in Camp Pendleton and with people who were recovering. But the one that stands out the most is the one where I was summoned on a weekend to go out to 29 palms , to the Marine Corps training base out there and find some reactions to a terrible tragedy that had occurred to ten of their young men. It was the largest number of deaths that had occurred during the Iraq War for the the 29 Palms Marine Base. So I went out there without really having any idea of who to talk to or where to go , and stumbled upon a story that that I remember turning out to be quite moving because it was very close to Christmas , and I found a church near the gate of 29 palms that was having a Christmas service that evening , and there were some people there who were quite close to some of the the Marines who had died in Fallujah. And it was just such a moving time , you know , with the carols and the , the Christmas spirit and then not coming home.

S1: And we actually have a clip from that story. This is on the aftermath of the Fallujah bombing you mentioned in 2005. Take a listen.

S5: The sun has already disappeared over the mountains as families , mostly young mothers or older folk , gather at the Palms Baptist Church less than a mile from the main gate of the base. The theme for the evening of songs from the church choir is home for Christmas. Pastor David Squire says 70% of his congregation are marine families , and news of the ten men killed hits them very personally.

S7: To the nation. The war just kind of goes on. To us , their names , faces , moms , dads , husbands. And as soon as you hear about a man dying in Iraq , we're always on edge thinking that that could be our loved one.

S1: And , Allison , before I let you go , obviously , we're having this conversation , you know , as KPBS celebrates 65 years of being in our community , but also in the wake of federal funding cuts for public media.

S6: So , yes , I mean , I can imagine the discussions that are going on in the in the boardrooms of how to find the things that are most important and preserve them , How to pare down , how to get more efficient. How to maybe use the new technology. The fact that we get most of our news now from the web rather than the radio. We use the same tools. Of course we need the audio , we need the video. But the platform may become more and more online. Uh , and I and I'm very , very concerned about the , the funding cuts for news because we can still get news from many , many different sources , of course , but many of them are just aggregating news that's been collected and gathered by local reporters. Boots on the ground is what you need to find out what's going on in your community. You have to have reporters who are out there talking to people , asking questions , and aggregator is not going to do that. They're just going to find what's already been reported on and then put it online. So you need some original reporting. And KPBS reporting is so much , uh , I would say that the one with the clearest vision of community involvement , community welfare , a public good , that I really hope that the KPBS newsroom has a way of staying strong and , uh , you know , providing , providing stories that , that , that really help our community pull together.

S1: I've been speaking with former KPBS North County reporter Alison Saint John. Alison , thanks so much for sharing some of your memories with us today.

S6: Thank you Andrew. My pleasure.

S1: You know , many KPBS reporters have actually gone national with their reporting after their time here. A perfect example is Scott Horsley. He is NPR's chief economics correspondent. And he worked right here at KPBS through much of the 1990s and reported for NPR out of our office until 2008. Since then , he's continued to feature and highlight San Diego voices in his national reporting. And Scott joins me now. Scott , welcome to roundtable.

S8: Great to be with you all. And happy birthday to to KPBS. Congratulations on being eligible for Medicare. Yes.

S1: Yes. Today is the actual 65th birthday for KPBS. So your career at KPBS started in the early 90s.

S8: They don't change that much. Do we have enough water ? Uh , do we need a bigger airport ? Um , how how can we make sure the economy keeps growing in a sustainable way ? Um , what do we do to protect the environment around San Diego and and preserve the wildlife and all that ? So I don't I don't think they've changed radically. I did come to San Diego at a time when they were just coming out of the the peace dividend , uh , defense industry recession. So it was sort of an interesting time. The economy was really diversifying. And , uh , you know , Qualcomm was just starting to take off. And , um , the the Chargers were , were still in town and had a had a winning season. And so it was it was a very exciting time to be in San Diego.

S1: And , you know , as you went there , you began covering , uh , business here in San Diego and covering , you know , the economy of San Diego as you painted a different picture in the early 90s and how it changed.

S8: It obviously it historically had had a heavy reliance on the defense sector. And , you know , after the fall , the Berlin Wall , the government investment in that sector declined. And so there were a lot of people got laid off , and a lot of the defense buildings became empty. And , uh , the city had already begun. The region had already begun to recover from that when I arrived in the early 90s. but it was still sort of feeling those scars. And people were still sort of trying to figure out , okay , what's next for San Diego ? Um , but the biotech industry was growing. The , the , you know , the the cell phone industry was growing. The video game industry was growing. Um , and Karl Strauss was growing. So it was , you know , it was it was becoming the very dynamic place that it is now.

S1:

S8: I mean , any any story that involves the economy can probably be told in San Diego. You know , it doesn't have a huge manufacturing base , but there are some factories there. I did stories when I was there about about , uh , factories in El Cajon and , um , so we could tell , tell those kinds of stories. Obviously , as I say , that the high tech and biotech industries are exciting. Citing. There's also historically , San Diego is the kind of place where consumer products companies would test market things because it was a reasonably representative sample of of consumers across the country. You know , you had the border , which added a whole lot of dynamism. You had the surf culture , which it was exciting , but it always seemed a little bit apart from sort of the , you know , the LA based Southern California , South South and Southern California , I guess is the the way to think about it. And , um , so it was a very good preparation specifically. You know , I covered the meltdown of the California energy grid electricity grid in 2000. And now here we are , 25 years later , we're seeing nationally electricity prices soaring , partly because of the the AI boom and the demand for all these data centers. So I often I often report on stories today and I think , oh yeah , I remember getting a taste of this story 25 , 30 years ago in San Diego.

S1: A little bit like Groundhog Day , in a sense. Some of these stories. Yeah.

S8: Yeah. So some stories never change.

S1:

S8: I try to pay close attention to all the data , so that I know that the stories I'm telling are grounded in reality and are not just cherry picked from , from , you know , examples that don't , aren't representative of what's happening in the big picture. But then you try to find people who can tell that individual story and , and , and bring it to life. Right now , obviously , one of the stories that we're covering a lot is the the impact of the president's tariffs , the trade policy that the Trump administration has put in place. And so you try to find people who are affected , you know , in some cases positively , in some cases negatively , and have them just describe what , what the what the tariff roller coaster is meant for their business , for their for their shopping habits and how they're being affected. And that's no different than what what I would do when I was working at KPBS.

S1: And , you know , as as a leading reporter on the economy , what stands out to you about San Diego's economy today ? I think you reflected on some of the ways it's changed , you know , when you were in town covering issues here.

S8: Of course , that's everywhere , has expensive housing now , but San Diego is definitely ahead of the curve on that. Um , California as a whole has always had quite expensive gasoline , which is one reason that folks there have been pretty proactive in getting out in front of , you know , electric cars or at least fuel efficient cars. I still drive the the car , the that I bought when I was living in San Diego. It's a it's a hybrid car that gets very good mileage. And , you know , I bought that one. Gas was pretty expensive in California , and it's even more expensive now. Obviously , you're ahead of the curve in dealing with scarce water resources. That's something that lots of parts of the country are going to have to get used to as as the climate changes. And we have , um , in lots of areas , drier , drier weather in some areas , wetter weather. Um , and I know you've had some some big storms too , so it's not always dry. It's just , you know , global global weirding , I guess , as Tom Friedman says. But so San Diego's very much out in front on lots of those things. And I think generally speaking , the the people there have been pretty proactive. I think San Diego is the kind of place that tries to address challenges and position itself to be ready for challenges. It doesn't just sort of sit back and wait for life to happen and hit them over the head.

S1: In your time with NPR. You not only have covered the economy , you've also covered national politics , multiple presidential campaigns. You covered the Obama White House as well as part of Trump's first term in office. You know , I think today is a moment when there's a lot of people questioning our institutions. Um , in some cases maybe losing faith in some of them.

S8: But as a citizen , I am certainly dismayed at how polarized we are and how divided we are as a country. That's that is certainly disappointing. Um , I think San Diego was was much more united when I , when I was there , and I hope it still is today. Then then , then other parts of the country. But , you know , we've we've seen this sort of big sort going on. And that's certainly happened in San Diego too , when I , when I first moved to San Diego , you know , it was still a very Republican community. It had pockets of Democratic dominance. But the , you know , so the politics of the city of San Diego have changed a lot. And the politics of San Diego County have changed a good bit , too. California as a whole is bluer now than it was during most of my time there. Um , but that that sorting that we've gone through is , um , is a real challenge.

S1: You were just talking about. Yeah.

S8: Yeah. Well , I think , you know , my colleagues at KPBS , and I always believed that we were first and foremost , uh , a trustworthy source of information for the people of San Diego. Whatever their political stripe , we wanted people to be able to tune in to KPBS and feel like they were getting the unvarnished reporting on , on , on what was going on in their backyard and whether , wherever they were on the political spectrum , we wanted to be a trustworthy source of information. And I don't think that's that's changed at all. We also , you know , wanted to be free. We wanted to be freely available to everybody. Obviously , we depend on contributions from listeners to to sustain the product. But we we didn't want to be behind a paywall. We wanted it to be available to , to listeners of every income and every every strata along the , the income ladder. So , um , I think that again hasn't. Hasn't changed at all. A lot of folks have decided that the way to survive in the very competitive media landscape these days is to sort of narrow caste to a , to a particular slice of the , the audience. And we've always sought to be broadcasters and to be , uh , uh , able to speak to everybody.

S1: Scott Horsley is NPR's chief economics correspondent and a former reporter with KPBS. Scott , thanks so much for your time today and sharing , you know , some of your memories of San Diego and your thoughts on where things are today.

S8: Well , it's my pleasure. And again , happy birthday to KPBS. Keep up the great work. And hello to all my old neighbors.

S1: Coming up , a conversation with KPBS science and technology reporter Thomas Fudge , who has a long history of telling stories in San Diego. Stay tuned. Roundtables back after the break. Welcome back to KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. Well , you may know him today as KPBS science and technology reporter , but Thomas Fudge has covered a lot of ground since he started with KPBS back in the late 90s. In addition to his long , distinguished reporting career , he also spent a lot of time in this very studio as host of the former KPBS radio show These Days. And Tom joins me now in this familiar location for you. Right. Yeah.

S9: Yeah. I've been here a hundred times. Well , no , I've been here thousands of times. So I hosted I hosted these days for about between 9 and 10 years. And , uh , wow. For me , it was a crash course in San Diego. I'll tell you. We talked about everything. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. I mean , you kind of covered the arts , politics , all sorts of stuff. Two hours a day.

S9: When I was working with , uh , you know , a handful of producers. And at 9:00 , we'd be on the air. We were live , we would be taking call ins. And so it was a very unpredictable show , um , with call in radio , which was actually pretty popular back in back in the day , uh , NPR had a show called talk of the nation that was very similar to , uh , these days , what we were doing. But , uh , anyway , it was a it was a whole lot of fun. And , uh. Yeah , like I said , it was a crash course in San Diego politics and everything else.

S1:

S9: But I was talking with him , and he paid me a wonderful compliment. He said to me during the show , you're a good listener. And I think that was that was very flattering to me , because I think it's very important when you're in journalism to be a good listener. And I think that's what I learned doing this talk show , because there's nothing worse than a talk show host who isn't listening to his guest , you know , he'll you'll repeat questions. You'll ask questions that don't make any sense given what they said before. And so being a good listener was so important. And that's really what I learned being the host of these days.

S1: Did you have a favorite segment or a favorite interview that you really enjoyed doing ? Because , I mean , you guys , you did. I , you know , it's like live music. You would have kind of all types of different , you know , guests and topics. Right.

S9: Well , there are a number of interviews that I kind of look back on very fondly. The example I'll give you is an interview that I did , which was really not as much an interview as a live performance in the studio , which is right across the hall in KPBS from where we are right now. We hosted The Blind Boys of Alabama , a gospel singing group , and I was a great fan of that group before we hosted them , and an even bigger fan afterwards. That was so much fun to have them in the studio. Find out a little bit about them and just hear their music. It was awesome.

S1: You mentioned , you know , just the unpredictability of live radio and with that , taking calls.

S9: Um , you know , you you want to be welcoming of people. And at the same time , if you've got a caller who's going on too long , then you need to very politely interrupt them. Uh , one call I remember was actually not done when we were doing these days. Literally , it was when I was hosting some coverage that we did of the wildfires that swept across San Diego County in 2003. And we opened the phones asking people , do you see the fire ? What ? Do you have any questions ? And we got a call from a man who was very emotional and he was talking about , I think it was his niece who got caught in the fire , was burned very badly. And his voice , his voice was full of emotion. He was talking about her , what kind of a kid she was. And it was very , very moving. And that came out of nowhere. You know , I mean , you never know when you're going to get calls like that.

S1: And you've covered , you know , multiple major stories here in San Diego. And that wasn't the only wildfire , right ? We also had wildfires in 2007.

S9: In oh seven. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. Um , you know what what other major stories or topics from your years , whether from these days or from your reporting career , kind of really stand out to you ? Yeah.

S9: You know , I started in , like you said , in 1998. And when I first came to KPBS , I was a part time reporter and a part time newscast host. I hosted the newscast on All Things Considered , but I covered um , economic development and , uh , similar , similar topics. And one big story that I did that , of course , I remember was when we were building Petco Park , um , when the proposal to build Petco Park for the Padres came about , it was very controversial. A lot of people wondered how , why are we spending so much money for this team that's owned and run by billionaires ? And , you know , it was going to take a big chunk of downtown San Diego. A lot of businesses were going to be condemned to make way for.

S1: It , and public money was used for that as.

S9: Well , and public money , money for it. And but San Diegans voted on it. It went to the ballot and they voted yes for the funding for Petco Park. And that was that was very interesting and very interesting when I think back on it today , because Petco Park has really been a sea change for downtown San Diego. Most people would say it's it's been for the positive and it's a wonderful place to watch baseball. I'm a baseball fan , so , um , that's kind of part of my part of my orientation. But covering that vote in all the kind of many , many steps that that it took to actually get to that accomplishment was very interesting to me.

S1: Earlier we heard from one of your former colleagues , NPR's Scott Horsley. And one thing that he reflected on was how a lot of the stories that he felt he covered back then , in some cases , haven't changed all that much from the stories and the topics and the concerns of today.

S9: Yeah. Let me also say about Scott , I thought I got a kick out of him saying that , saying that KPBS now qualifies for Medicare being 65 years old. And that's meaningful to me because I now qualify for Medicare. I am 65 years old , so I'm the same age as , uh , as the station , just in case anyone was curious. But yeah , it's true. I think the examples he gave were , um , water and the economy. But , you know , back in those days , we we weren't sure where all of our water was going to come from. We're still not sure where all of our water is going to come from. It was interesting. He mentioned the airport , because that is something that we really have kind of stopped talking about. There was a lot of talk about the possibility of moving the San Diego airport to Miramar , where the marine base was , but the federal government said , nope , you're not going to get this , you're not going to get this land. And so we ended up staying at Lindbergh Field. And that's that's where we continue to be. Now. We'll , uh , you know , airport expansion be an issue in the future ? Maybe. But yeah. No , there are a lot of stories that that never go away. And and the longer you are , I gotta say , Andrew , the longer , longer you are in this business , the more you realize that. Because , you know , stories that I was doing when when I first became a reporter at Minnesota Public Radio , um , you know , 30 , 35 years ago , we're still doing now. Um , I , you know , and it's you could argue that it's discouraging. We have all these problems we can never , never seem to solve. But , uh , I don't know. That's just kind of the way it is.

S1: You mentioned being from Minnesota. I think , you know , many of us here. You're not originally from San Diego , but I'm just curious.

S9: It's a it's a beautiful place. I think the people are very warm and friendly , and as an outsider living here , I almost I sometimes kind of feel like I'm a member of the majority because so many people have come from outside San Diego and have come here. And of course , it's controversial because you need housing for all these people and we don't have enough housing. But yeah , San Diego is a terrific place. I think UC San Diego has given this this area very strong intellectual bent. It's no longer a sleepy Navy town , kind of the one that Scott Horsley first saw when he got here. Things have really changed. And , you know , I think things have changed mostly for the better.

S1: Thomas Fudge is KPBS science and technology reporter. You can actually find his latest story on e-bikes , which is great , at our website , KPBS , and we'll have to talk to you more about that another time. But Thomas , thanks so much for joining us and kind of reflecting on your career. Sure.

S9: Sure. Thanks , Andrew. I had fun.

S1: That'll do it for Round Table this week. Thanks so much for listening. And for more on 65 years of KPBS. Join us for a news special Friday at 830. You can watch that live or stream it on KPBS. You can listen to our show anytime as a podcast. KPBS roundtable airs on KPBS FM at noon on Fridays again , Sundays at 6 a.m.. If you have any thoughts on today's show or ideas for a future one , you can always email us at roundtable at KPBS or leave us a message at (619) 452-0228. Roundtables. Technical producer this week was Brandon Truffaut. The show was produced by Ashley Rusch. Brooke Ruth is roundtable senior producer. I'm Andrew Bracken. Thanks again for listening and have a great weekend.