San Francisco has long been associated with psychedelics, but when it comes to mind-altering substances, no other drug may be as closely tied to the Bay Area as MDMA, often known as "ecstasy" or "molly."

​MDMA was basically unheard of until 1977, when Bay Area chemist Sasha Shulgin gave therapist Leo Zeff a homemade batch. Zeff found the drug nothing short revelatory and spent the remainder of his life evangelizing its therapeutic potential. ​But the drug quickly caught the attention of ravers across the world, and soon thereafter, the DEA. In 1985, it was classified Schedule One: high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use.

​40 years later — in the midst of the so-called "psychedelic renaissance" — more scientific research is being done on MDMA than ever before. Last year, Lykos Therapeutics applied to the FDA for approval of MDMA assisted therapy. Though the trial results were considered outstanding by many, the FDA ultimately rejected the new drug application.

​But the quest for legal MDMA therapy is far from over. Tonight, in our first live event, we discuss the full history and scientific evidence with researchers, therapists, and journalists who have all played a seminal role in better understanding this misunderstood drug.

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Homelessness may be California’s most intractable problem. Over the past decades, encampments have begun to feel like a permanent part of the California landscape. To many housed Californians, they are eyesores, but these communities provide their residents very tangible benefits: watchful neighbors, mutual aid networks, and a sense of belonging.

This month on Radio Pacific, we have three different stories, from three different communities, from three different cities around the Bay Area – all facing the same issue: people in power deciding they can no longer be there. First, a tent encampment on the side of I-80 in Berkeley. Second, an RV community in San Francisco. And third, a group living on derelict boats off the coast of Saulsalito.

Thank you for listening to Radio Pacific, from KALW. We're fully independent, local media. The biggest thing you can do to support us is share this episode with your friends, and subscribe to and rate this feed!

You can sign up for our newsletter at radiopacific.co. And please reach out, we'd love to hear from you: eli.cohen@radiopacific.co.

Los Angeles has always been an ecological impossibility. Perched on the edge of the continent, the city is vulnerable to every conceivable catastrophe: earthquakes, tsunamis, mudslides, and of course, fire. Fifty years ago, Joan Didion wrote that “The city burning is Los Angeles’s deepest image of itself.”

This year, in the dead of winter, that horror was realized yet again. On January 7, five different fires broke out across the city, overwhelming first responders. Fueled by the blistering Santa Ana winds, the blazes tore through the heart of the city, becoming some of the deadliest and most destructive in state history.

For our second episode, we examine fire in California from two angles. First, Don Hankins, a fire ecologist and Plains Miwok cultural practitioner, tells us about the increasing role of Indigenous fire stewardship in California fire management. Second, Rebecca Nolan, a radio producer and California native, shares an audio portrait about growing up with the Santa Ana winds.

Thank you for listening to Radio Pacific, from KALW. We're fully independent, local media. The biggest thing you can do to support us is share this episode with your friends, and subscribe to and rate this feed!

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President Trump returned to power on the promise to “carry out the largest deportation operation in American history.” The campaign has already deported thousands, sent waves of terror throughout immigrant communities, and even pushed the country to the brink of a constitutional crisis.

In our first episode, California legal scholar Kevin R. Johnson puts the first months of Trump’s administration in perspective and helps us understand California’s unique role and disturbing role in the country’s immigration history.

Then we look into one form of resistance to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), “Rapid Response Hotlines.” These community-run, 24/7 lines keep tabs on ICE activity in their neighborhoods, and dispatch legal assistance to those who need it.

To understand how they work, we sit down with filmmaker Paloma Martinez, whose beautiful short documentary “Enforcement Hours” follows the San Francisco Rapid Response Hotline during President Trump’s first term. We’re joined by Finn Palamaro, a staff member at the non-profit Mission Action and the lead organizer on SF’s Rapid Response Hotline.

Thank you for listening to Radio Pacific, from KALW. We're fully independent, local media. The biggest thing you can do to support us is share this episode with your friends, and subscribe to and rate this feed!

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If you want to understand California, you should start with our ballot props.

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