Meet the Team

Leon Messenie

Director of Engineering

Leon Messenie is a former KPBS staff member.

Leon Messenie has worked in the engineering department at KPBS for 32 years and currently serves as the Director of Engineering. Leon has also worked as a freelance engineer for several media networks, specializing in sports audio engineering. Leon Messenie started his career in the commercial broadcasting industry at KREX Grand Junction, Colorado. He then moved on to KTNV and KVBC in Las Vegas, Nevada before moving to San Diego and joining KPBS. Leon is a past member of the PBS Enterprise Technology Advisory Committee where he served as Chairman for four years.

RECENT STORIES ON KPBS

CHRISTOPHER KIMBALL'S MILK STREET TELEVISION: Thai Takeout

Jennifer Robinson

Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025 at 1:30 p.m. on KPBS TV / PBS app + YouTube. Milk Street travels to the street markets of Bangkok to learn Thai classics. J.M. Hirsch and Christopher Kimball begin with Thai-Style Coconut and Chicken Soup. Rosemary Gill reveals the art of Hot and Sour Soup with Chicken and Mushrooms, and Bianca Borges shares the technique for making perfect Thai Salad Rolls with Green Chili Dipping Sauce.
Thai Takeout | Milk Street TV Season 8, Episode 13

Milk Street travels to the street markets of Bangkok to learn Thai classics. J.M. Hirsch and Christopher Kimball start off with Thai-Style Coconut and Chicken Soup, using homemade coconut milk as the base of this boldly seasoned soup. Then, Rosemary Gill reveals the art of Hot and Sour Soup with Chicken and Mushrooms, and Bianca Borges returns to Milk Street to share the technique for making perfect Thai Salad Rolls with Green Chili Dipping Sauce.
National

Accordion master Flaco Jimenez has died at 86

John Burnett

Over a career that spanned 70 years, Jimenez' playing came to define Tex-Mex music and carried the tradition-drenched conjunto sound all over the world and across genres.
Politics

Hasan Piker: a "himbo gateway drug" for progressives?

Brittany Luse

Barton Girdwood

Hasan Piker likes fitness, gaming, and progressive politics, and millions of young men flock to him for his opinions. Is he the Joe Rogan of the left that Democrats are looking for? Hasan says no.
International

U.S. officials on rare visit to controversial Gaza aid distribution site

Willem Marx

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee inspected an aid distribution center operated by the U.S. and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah.
Economy

Stock markets drop as Trump unleashes new round of global tariffs

Rafael Nam

Maria Aspan

Investors are reacting to Trump's latest plans to impose a wide range of tariffs. A weaker-than-expected jobs report magnified concerns about how these import taxes would impact the economy.