S1: Hello finest listeners. We have a different kind of episode today featuring a bunch of fun stuff. There's dive bars and naked neighbor orphan bear cubs , and a great local podcast that we think you'll love if you love the finest. And joining us is one of my favorite San Diego journalists.
S2: I'm Jacob McWhinney , I am a reporter at Voice of San Diego , and I'm also a host co-host of the podcast , which we are sharing now.
S1: You're going to hear that podcast in just a minute , but first , something completely different dive bars. You may have seen that KPBS recently launched a brand new website , The Finest. It's your guide to all the things that make San Diego America's finest events , museums , food and art , plus KPBS arts reporting that tells the stories of our community. We're also creating lists of the best attractions in town , with help from experts like Jacob , who's passionate about dive bars.
S3: A dive bar.
S2: At its best is not just a place that you can get a cheap drink. It's a place where you can be a regular , you know , you can be known , you know , for , uh , as cheers said , where you can walk in and everybody will know your name , right? I mean , that's like the ideal of a place. And those are the places that I think really build community. I am a huge fan of a grimy dive bar. I want to be in there and have it either be have a sticky floor or I want there to be carpet , which is one of the most horrible things you can have in a dive bar , but I love it.
S1: Okay , so I mean , this is like criteria we're talking about here. So sticky floor or carpet. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. And it has to you have to be able to tell that people used to smoke cigarettes in there. That's very important , you know.
S1: Tell us about your favorite grimy dive bars in San Diego. Yes.
S2: Yes. Um , SRO is one of my favorite bars in San Diego. Um , it is , uh , historically , um , a gay bar , and it retains that sort of , uh , really exciting. You never know what's going to happen thing. And I love that they have incredibly strong drinks , so beware of that. Um , also in Banker's Hill , uh , just up the way is Cherry Bomb. I love.
S1: I've never.
S2: Been there. You've never been a cherry bomb. Okay , go to cherry bomb. Order one shot , and that's all you will need. They fill their shot glasses up all the way. It is , um , you know , a loud , uh , kind of chaotic. Um , bar often playing metal or something like that. And it's just it's delightful. It is exactly what you want. And sort of a little hole in the wall spot. I have always really loved Chi Chi Lounge downtown. Mhm. Um. On Broadway. It is , um , one of those places that you just don't necessarily see a lot anymore. You know , a regulars bar. Um , it's a it's a great spot. I love going there. I once. Um , no , I'm not going to say that story. Um , but I once saw something very interesting on a Halloween night there. Um , another one of my favorite bars. It's fairly close to my place , so I go all the time is. Cheers. It's , um , like an old school gay bar over in University Heights. Uh , it has the most garish carpet throughout the bar , and it's a custom carpet that has their logo , which is like , it's it's beautiful and it's a beautiful space. Um , the bartenders are so kind. They have a little smoking patio on the side that is also carpeted , which is just an incredible , incredible decision that.
S1: The choices are made.
S2: I salute them every time I go out there for sure , choices were made and they were the correct choices. Um , and it's just such a homey , homey place that , you know , I'm very big on on unpretentious ness , and it feels that way through and through. It really is delightful.
S1: You can see Jacob's full list , complete with a map of his picks on the finest. When Jacob isn't exploring the city's remaining dive bars , you can find him on the Voice of San Diego podcast. Tell us about Voice of San Diego in general , and also the Voice of San Diego podcast. What kind of stuff do you cover?
S2: Yeah , so Voice of San Diego is a local nonprofit investigative news outlet , and the goal of the podcast is to communicate in a very conversational and irreverent way. The stories that we're producing , we try to give people a better understanding into a world of politics and social stuff that may be murky , or they may not have the best understanding of of of how it works. So I think that you're going to have fun listening to it in the same way that you do with the finest.
S1: Um , can you tell us a little bit about this Critter Corner episode? The episode we're about to hear. What are we about to experience?
S2: Um , a bunch of weird stuff. Uh , you know , we we , as I said , really try to not take ourselves seriously in the podcast. And so , so in this episode , we talk about , um , this HBO show neighbors , which contains perhaps one of my favorite or not favorite , but one of the most fascinating , like , local dudes that San Diego has to offer. Just an incredible , uh , you know , specimen and strangeness. He's this guy , Dan Makowski. I've been following him on social media for maybe five years at this point. Um , I was drawn in by his long shot and very strange mayoral and city council campaigns , and I stayed for his really off putting , um , you know , bikini photos. I don't know how it happened , but they could not have chosen a better guy. He has a conflict because , as I said , he likes to hang out naked and his his neighbors aren't a big fan of. I think he's like a 70 year old man , you know , working out in his garage naked. Um , and it launches this odyssey where the show producers try to find a place for him to exist in all of his glory. Um , and it is a fascinating watch. And I could not be more thankful to HBO for plucking this guy out of , you know , the fever swamp of his own life and putting him on television. Um , and , you know , I have to throw the asterisk in here that I do not endorse everything that dance Markowski thinks or says or does , but I endorse the fact that he exists.
S1: All right , I love that. I also feel like it's worth mentioning that it's been maybe like 5 or 6 months since you taped this episode. You had no warning , really , that we were going to talk about it. You have no notes in front of you. This just takes up space in your brain.
S3: I am I am passionate about about about this. Yes.
S1: Stick around. The Voice of San Diego podcast is up next.
S4: Welcome to the Voice of San Diego podcast in partnership with NewsRadio 600 , Kojo. I'm Andrea Sanchez , the managing editor at Voice of San Diego , and I'm joined today by Belarus and Jacob McKinney. Hey. What's up guys? How's it going? How are you?
S2: I'm surviving. You know , it's it's another long week , but. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. Getting through , getting through. I love that. Um , Scott Lewis is not here today , and that's fine by us , but he'll be back next week.
S5: More than okay. There was way too much to source drone on the last episode. I was listening this morning. Balancing.
S4: Balancing.
S5: We're balancing. Just overflowing at the seams.
S2: It was quite a boys party. I think we're really excited today.
S4: You guys did a good job. Uh , coming up on the show. Our favorite catastrophes reporter Mackenzie Ulmer is joining us to discuss her latest story on why humans are to blame for two orphaned bear cubs. Sad story. We're hitting you guys with some sad stuff. That's all coming up. Bella , you caused me great harm yesterday. Right?
S5: Right? I gave Andrea and Jacob some mandatory viewing for this episode.
S4: And I feel like you warned me that there would be nudity.
S6: But not in the way that there was nudity. Right.
S5: Right. It's it's kind of jarring. So we're talking about the finale episode of the new HBO Max series neighbors.
S4: Which , by the way , did you guys watch the other episodes?
S5: I watched some of them.
S4: Okay , I'm gonna watch them.
S2: Yeah , I watched them.
S4: I watched it , but if they're as cringey as this episode , I may. Not.
S5: Not. They're not quite the same. They're.
S2: There's markedly less. Nudity.
S4: Nudity.
S2: Okay , that is true.
S5: Well , it's all very next door. I mean , it's the kind of issues that we peddle in as the local journalist , for sure.
S4: Um , it's like next door comes to life.
S5: It literally is. Okay. Um , but the finale of this show , if you haven't heard , features local legend Daniel Markowski , who , if you are journalists or anybody who's adjacent to politics , you might know of him as a local gadfly. He's run for office. Many times he ran for mayor. He's run in district two multiple times. He's running in district two right now , actually. Are you. Sure?
S4: Sure? He actually. No , I don't think. Yeah , I think he just showed up. He tried it for him.
S5: He tried.
S4: So the vibes are a candidate? Yeah.
S5: Yeah. He gives perpetual candidate vibes. Yeah , but the reason that he was featured on the show was because of his decision to regularly work out in his driveway wearing nothing but a yellow thong bikini. And his neighbors , including a nearby church , found that , um , quite upsetting. Disturbing , right? And I told them that , okay , well , this is a San Diego issue. Like , we have to talk about this , but you guys will have to watch the episode. And just like , beware , though , like , it's like there's a lot of nudity. Like , we can't watch it in the office. You need to , like , go home and do this. Yeah , on your own. And I get a text from Andrea and she's like , you did not warn me , and I literally did. But it is.
S4: I know you literally did it like. There.
S2: There. Was.
S4: Was. One thing is to say , like , this man is in a Speedo , that's a thong. And so I assumed , like , I'm going to get some views of his cheeks. No , no , no.
S2: There was a nudity warning. I don't know that there was a warning , that there were like drippings , and. That.
S4: That. Was.
S2: Was.
S4: Nature that would traumatize like , I can't.
S5: Well , the thing is , is when you're watching the episode , there's all these like allusions to like nudist. And basically at one point in the episode , he , um , moves over to Florida for a week to try living in a nudist colony. And so everybody's naked. You're seeing like , everybody's double cheeked up , like they're not hiding anything. And it is kind of alarming when you're watching the episode , like as soon as he arrives in his colony , he just , like , strips down and like , you're like , oh , we're doing this.
S4: Well , no , you got it. Okay. So he's like , they're giving some background into who he is and a little bit of his life , like they mentioned that he , you know , had ran for office several times in San Diego. And that was the moment it clicked for me that I actually moderated a forum that he was on , and I remember I specifically remember he said something mean to me about Voice of San Diego , but like everything else , I don't remember. Like , I don't remember what questions I asked him during the panel. I don't remember what his answers were , if he even had any. Like I just like blocked that out for some reason.
S2: And he is a prolific commenter on Voice of San Diego.
S4: For like 300 plus comments. I actually checked it. Or 500 plus. Um , so they like , go into this background and he like shows his OnlyFans account , which like shows his like nude photos and very graphic , very up close images of his private parts that traumatized me. Um , but then I love this bit. So before he moves to Florida , he like googles places I can be naked where people won't be mad at me.
S2: All of this , this whole part felt like it was kind of hiding the ball , You know , reality shows obviously do a lot of prompting behind the scenes , but this felt like.
S4: No , it felt genuine.
S2: No , it felt like the producers were like , hey , let's have you move to this place or go visit for a week just for the show. The purposes of the show.
S5: I think that's exactly what happened because I've read some interviews.
S2: He talks about it in the interview. Yeah.
S5: Yeah. They're like , well , have you ever tried this? Would you be down to try it? And I mean , like , I think why I wanted to talk about this on the episode because you can go watch it yourself and get that whole story is beginning with naked. Yeah , with a huge warning on it , but.
S2: Many , many , many warnings.
S5: This guy has like a long time reputation in San Diego for , like , honestly being pretty problematic. I mean , Scott , yeah , there's probably a reason you guys didn't talk about this last week because Scott really doesn't like this guy. Yeah , yeah.
S2: And I think there are lots of good reasons that he is not a paragon of virtue. You know , clothing , unclothed or not.
S5: No , I mean , even I remember when I worked at the Union Tribune in the opinion section , he was a very prolific letter writer , constantly writing letters. I was going through some of them before this , and almost all of them refer to France in one way or another , like he has.
S2: As he says in the show , his mom did live on the beaches of Normandy during D-Day. Right?
S5: Right? Yeah.
S2: That was destroyed.
S5: That's abundantly clear. Um , he you. There's all these , like , old essays that he's published over the years that have , like , very kind of inconsistent political ideologies. Like , at one point he's saying the trolley needs to be on the beach , but he's also like very anti bike lane. But he's also like a very passionate cyclist.
S2: And he's a he's very passionate about um , you know health body health. He at one point says that he wants to bring Make America Healthy Again to San Diego , uh , in one just incredibly unhinged Times of San Diego opinion piece. He not only talks about his stuff and how he's against the bike lanes , but in favor of bicycling. But also , just like happens to throw in like an anti-trans thing in there for no discernible reason. It's just he is kind of a schizophrenic personality in that way. Yeah.
S5: Yeah. And I think after the show came out , his OnlyFans apparently following increased by 20,000%.
S2: Okay , so I did a little bit of research on this.
S4: I actually wanted to fact check that , but I was like afraid. Like I was like afraid of the process. I'd have to.
S2: It wasn't it wasn't a very long process. So I , I paused it because they show the home page of his only 5000 in the in the show. I paused it. He had , up to that point two likes on his entire profile. People had like two pieces of content that he'd posted on OnlyFans. And he is , you know , posts links to his OnlyFans quite often , uh , on Twitter. So I looked at his OnlyFans now and he has like 147 likes. So he says in interviews that his following has increased by 20,000%. I think that's very hyperbolic. I don't think two likes to 147 constitutes.
S5: A little bit tomato tomato. But yeah after this came out , you know , he clearly felt very vindicated because it's clear that , you know , his neighbours are framed these like terrible close minded bullies.
S2: Clothes minded bullies.
S5: Clothes minded bullies. And , um.
S4: What's up with the guy who's , like , decked out in green Bay Packers stuff , right?
S5: I'm like , I like , literally could not think of a more perfect person to be the , like , face of San Diego on a national stage. Like somebody like this. Crazy. Um , but , you know , supposedly he got a bunch of messages after the episode , like supporting him from all of these people. And I think that , like , he's a very endearing character. And I personally just like , love , like any singular character like this , I'm just so fascinated by. But I think it is our job as local journalists who have been getting emails from him for years to say that he is actually crazy in a bad way? Yeah , in a lot of.
S2: Ways is somebody who also kind of likes the sort of sideshow characters in our world and thinks that having people like this sideshow characters like this is like one of the essential things of having a city and having , you know , discourse and having a civic world. It's unfortunately , sometimes you have to see a really old guys really wrinkly. Um , you know , or I mean , maybe not , at least his butt cheeks. Right? Uh , it is fascinating to see him ascend to this new level of notoriety. I don't think it was necessary , but it is fascinating to watch. And you're right. And that he is not very sympathetic. He's not a very sympathetic character. But at the same time , there is a humanity there that is sort of moving.
S4: That's what I found interesting.
S2: Even after all these years , he's still , like , desperately searching for love. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. In the family.
S2: And the family. And that is interesting. I think it's great that he's searching for that , I guess. Would I do that at his age on an HBO reality show? Probably not. But to each their own.
S5: I was going through the comments and on we had written a morning report about this , and he commented on it and said something.
S4: About wondering about that.
S5: Yeah , yeah. I said something about all of us at Voice of San Diego having an IQ of 47.
S2: Incapable of conceptualization , truth and honesty.
S5: So yeah , I don't know if we've changed his mind today , but.
S2: Although he does brag that the series neighbors averaged nearly 2.9 million cross-platform viewers per episode , a stunning performance for unscripted television , and that the show landed a season two. I wonder if they're going to bring him back as like a totem each each season. They have to have him.
S4: Oh , yeah.
S2: You think so?
S5: Excellently well. But yeah , he you left us in the dust and. Good for you.
S4: Good for you.
S1: After the break , Jacob and the Voice of San Diego podcast crew talk orphaned bear cubs. Stay with us.
S4: And now we're joined in the studio by our fabulous environment reporter , McKenzie Elmer. What's up? Mack?
S5: Hey , how's it going?
S4: Good to have you in. Good to be. Here.
S7: Here. Yeah. Um , I'll just say , sometimes when I'm here , I'm talking about dead animals , which makes people sad sometimes.
S5: All the time.
S4: Trigger warning.
S2: The critter coroner.
S7: The critter coroner. Yeah. That's what you were talking about. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. That's our that's our new segment for the podcast. Perfect.
S7: Perfect. Okay. Okay , well , I better , man , I better get to work and find some more stories.
S4: Well , let's backpedal , let our listeners know what we're talking about. You had a story about two very adorable cubs. But kind of a sad story. Yeah.
S7: Yeah. I was just looking through the news , environmental news around San Diego and saw there were these two orphaned bear cubs at the Ramona Wildlife Center , which is owned by the San Diego Humane Society , was taken care of , and I kind of looked further into the story and learned that their mother , who had been nicknamed Blondie by the residents of Monrovia , had been , um , basically arrested by the California Fish and Wildlife Service and put down because she had apparently swiped at a woman who was walking her dog and scratched her. Mhm. Um , and at first I was very enraged , as many just reading that preliminary story was , um , you know , did we really have to euthanize the. Mother.
S6: Mother. Bear?
S7: Bear? And did these cubs have to be orphaned? Like , why can't you just pick them up and move them to the forest? Um , Monrovia is already right by the forest. It's where the line of the San Gabriel Mountains , um , kind of where that wilderness area starts. At least the northern part of town.
S5: So , like , bears are like a part of life there. Well.
S4: Well.
S7: Sure , that's kind of the question. Um , as I as I looked more into it , I kind of learned that , uh , Monrovia seems to think they have this sort of special relationship with bears or the special connection to bears. Yes , they are located next to the wilderness , but , um , it seems to me they've kind of become dignified in a way. Like there. This bear was nicknamed Blondie , and I learned from the state that she'd been living in Denning , underneath a home with her cubs for a couple of months , and the owners knew and didn't report it , which is illegal to like harbor wildlife in your or around your home.
S4: Did they just think like , oh.
S7: Cute , I don't know. I guess so when you talk to Monrovia residents , not not all of them , of course. I spoke with one city councilman , um , Ed Belden. I think his name is. And he was quite defensive about this bear. And he said , you know , you know , these these bears are just part of our community. Um , we see them all the time. I see a bear more than I see a raccoon. Oh , I know , which was kind of shocking. Um , but.
S2: That's like , too many bears or too few records.
S7: Bears eating the raccoons.
S5: There might be a relationship there.
S7: I should I should specify these are black bears. Not like grizzly bears , right? There aren't any grizzlies. I don't think I shouldn't say that. Someone's going to email me and say yes , there is right here. Uh , but black bears can get to be like £500. And they're not like where I'm from in Wisconsin , they're usually a lot smaller , but here they can get kind of big. So the bear head also , I guess the state had DNA evidence linking this bear to another attack.
S4: That was crazy.
S2: In case evidence. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. Like forensic file? Yeah.
S7: Yeah. It was a very , like , crime case situation. Um , so they had collected DNA evidence from the first attack where this guy , I guess , was just sitting on his porch , and the bear approached him and swiped at him. I don't understand how these , like , swipes happened.
S4: That's crazy. Blondie was in the system , though.
S7: Yeah , she was in the system and they only linked it to her after they , of course captured her and like , took her DNA and then ran it through the Baird DNA database.
S2: I mean , what's so interesting kind of about your story and the way and the headline was like , why were to blame for these orphaned bear cubs? It's it's that this town , clearly , as you said , has this reverence for bears. I mean , there was Blondie. There was also what cinnamon and another mother bear nicknamed cinnamon. Yeah.
S7: Yeah. I asked the city councilman what he knew about Blondie and how long she'd been in town , and he denied knowing how long or even knowing her. And I said , well , what other bears do you know? And he was like , well , there's cinnamon and there's Oreo. I was like , oh my God. There's just there apparently are lots of them just roaming around. And the issue is where I think the city and the state disagree heavily is that these bears can become what's called habituated , which officially means they are accustomed to human presence , you know , after they've been repeatedly exposed to humans or like they associate humans with food sources , so they don't necessarily like , so they lose their fear of humans , which is what a wild bear would have , and would generally protect the bear and the human from any kind of interaction. But apparently , as talking to the city councilman and the community with their huge reaction to this bear's death , it's clear that they some just feel these bears are like seeing a raccoon in your neighborhood , you know , and it's totally fine. And we you know , I think they just kind of want these bears to be a part of the community.
S5: Interestingly , so is the solution that people are supposed to just not engage with the bears or like , you know , I imagine this.
S2: Don't give them nicknames.
S5: Well , right. Like I imagine this community is kind of like encroached on like the wildlife where the bears live. So , like , how do you prevent something like that?
S7: That was one argument the councilman made is that he's like , we're not an encroaching city. We've been here since like 1857 or something. You know , like gold mining towns kind of sort of era , I don't know. Um , so they've always lived , I guess , at the edge of this wilderness. Um , I don't really know the truth behind , like , if bears have been there since the 1850s.
S5: Well , just kind of like. It's like the coyotes here. It's like , yeah , there's coyotes here , but we I understand that they've always been here and they always will be here. And that's just kind of like part of life.
S7: Well , interestingly. So I did ask like , well , what are the rules? What do you guys tell citizens when they see a bear? Like , what are they supposed to do? Because when talking with the state , they said , you know , nobody reported the bear to us , which we could have then taken the bear family and relocated them to the wild , um , which would be the course of action they would prefer. And so , like , none of the city rules exactly say that they do say if you see a coyote , you can call the Pasadena Humane Society and they'll come pick them up. But there's nothing about a bear sighting. And I asked the councilman , like , what should you do if you see a bear? Should you report to the state? He's like , I don't know if you see if I see a deer , should I call the state and report it to them? And I was like , I don't think that's the same.
S2: Really sassy. I mean.
S7: One is an apex predator. One is , you know.
S4: What's a £500? Yeah , animal.
S7: But the thing is , is it ends badly for the bear and the human. I mean , the humans were getting injured because these bears had habituated or become comfortable. And then , um , the bear gets put down. And this is kind of a trend like with , with this , these sorts of situations.
S4: Where the cubs are.
S7: Orphaned and now the cubs are orphaned. And now we have these specialists who are helping the bears and Ramona , I went over there to to watch them get ready. They , like , put on a bear mask and they put on a fur coat , and they throw teddy bears in the den , and they get bear scented hay from some , like Zoo and Alpine or something , and they don't speak around the cage and they're just trying to keep even though , like they're clearly humans , they're like trying to associate , not associate with these bears and have the bears , like , not get used to looking at human faces or whatever.
S2: So it's such a bizarre thing. Do you think the bears are like? We know these are humans. These are weird.
S7: I actually thought about it. You can get like , they do some sort of assessment at the end that says , you know , these bears are wild enough to be released , and if they're not sat. Right.
S2: Right. Yeah.
S7: Yeah. And if they're not , they have to be relocated to some kind of a sanctuary or something. So , I don't know , it'd be interesting to see how many of these bears actually do stay out in the wild. I did ask the state that , and they were like , well , you know , we put collars on them and track them until they they fall off. So typically they said it's pretty successful. They stay out there for , you know , nine months at least afterwards.
S5: But no , the FOMO I got last week was crazy. Matt calls me at like 8 a.m. it's like , do you want to go on this spontaneous bear adventure? And I had the flu , so I couldn't , and then a couple hours later , I just get sent a picture of you wearing like a bear suit.
S7: It wasn't me. I wish.
S5: They had let. Me.
S7: Me. I thought it was , you know , it was. It was one of the staffers. That's funny that you thought it was me.
S5: I was like , I can't believe they're letting you go in there with the bears. I didn't realize they were bear cubs.
S7: I did ask , I did it.
S4: In her bear suit with her reporter's notebook.
S2: As long as she sprays down with , like , the bear pheromones or whatever.
S5: I was so mad , I was like , I should be in a bear suit right now , but I'm here , like , blowing my nose.
S7: Like , yeah.
S2: This is a this is a tough story for me because I and we've talked about this a lot. Actually , I firmly believe that we are , as a species , encroaching on the ancestral lands of many different species. Like I am , actually , when , you know a coyote eats a cat or something , I don't really have much sympathy for Jacob.
S4: You're gonna say that.
S5: You're gonna regret saying that.
S2: I mean , sorry. Here's the woodworking , outdoor cat , outdoor cat.
S5: Emails coming. In.
S2: In. That outdoor cat is doing much more damage.
S4: I don't f with cats.
S2: Yes , but I'm not. I'm not putting one in a bag and smashing it.
S7: But it's true. Coyotes run around North Park like on University Heights. Never on the sidewalk.
S2: But an outdoor cat does much more damage to the ecosystem , kills birds , kills all sorts of things. Then. Then a coyote does. A coyote is doing what it should do. Getting rid of the invasive species.
S7: Getting rid of. Cats.
S2: Cats. Exactly. That is what I'm saying.
S4: Oh , okay.
S5: Jacob has a huge anti cat bias. That's why.
S4: He's like. So I thought you can talk about the possums.
S2: I'm allergic to them.
S4: But you love that's why.
S2: No I also think that I'm also Team Coyote.
S7: But yeah it's it's true. I mean , we are certainly encroaching on on their land in so many ways. I think the only reason why San Diego has these like coyotes is because we have these canyons that we can't build into. Lucky for the wildlife. Otherwise , we'd be like LA and we'd be a huge , you know , piece of concrete stretching for miles and miles.
S2: And it's incredible. I mean , we've talked about this before , about how there were literal coyote scalping sort of bounties in San Diego for for years and years. There were people who paid. If you brought in pelts for of coyotes.
S7: I think you just got to write that story.
S2: Because they were trying to eradicate coyotes and they just couldn't.
S4: Do it. There's your next critter corner.
S7: Well , this Ramona Wildlife Center , they also accept coyotes and mountain lions and bobcats , so they also rehabilitate those.
S4: And release them back into the. Wild.
S7: Wild. Yeah , if they can. Yeah.
S5: I think the the central irony for me of this story was that , you know , humans are kind of like what caused this bear to be euthanized. And now it's like up to humans to save these cubs. Yeah. In , like , the most unhuman way that they possibly can. Um , and hopefully it works out.
S7: Well , we're , you know , it costs resources , too. It's like , just relocate them and let them live a happy life with their mom. Or we could , you know , euthanize them and then separate them. It's just it's a mess. But there really is no I must say , I feel there is really no like , wilderness anymore. We are just managing what is left. So that's kind of part of this , I think. And one other thing I will say , I found research showing that increased drought , which we are experiencing from climate change , is also a driver pushing animals out of the wilderness into like human neighborhoods because they're looking for water. So we are expecting to have kind of a rough summer. And so one might one might expect more animal encounters. So stay tuned.
S2: Mackenzie , as a good environment reporter , can always find a link back to climate change.
S4: Yeah , we have to.
S7: It's linked to everything. Give me something and I'll link it to climate change.
S4: Well , thank you for coming in. Yeah.
S7: Yeah. Thanks , guys.
S8: Thanks for listening to the Voice of San Diego podcast , the most popular public affairs podcast in San Diego that talks about a nudist on a reality show. I'm Andrea Sanchez Villafane , managing editor at Voice of San Diego. Bella Ross is our social media producer , Jacob McKinney is our education reporter , and Matt Scrubby is the producer of this show. Thanks for listening. We'll talk to you next week.
S1: Special thanks to Jacob McKinney , Scott Lewis , Matt Scrubby and everyone. On the Voice of San Diego podcast for their help with this episode. We'll be back in two weeks with a new episode of The Finest. And thank you so much for listening. If this episode resonated with you , please subscribe , leave a rating or comment. It makes a real difference and helps stories like these reach more people. The finest is a production of KPBS Public Media in San Diego. I'm your host , Julia Dixon Evans. Our producer is Anthony Wallace , who also composed the score. Ben Redlich is our engineer and Chris Nguyen is our editor. This episode was written and researched by Anthony and me.
