SoundOnSight

Under a new executive order, marijuana will go from a Schedule controlled substance - the strictest category under the Controlled Substances Act - to Schedule III. The new categorization recognizes a drug's medical use and carries lower regulatory burdens.We talked to Sunset Connect founder Ali Jamlian about the potential reclassification and what it means for the future of both his company and the cannabis industry at large.

Thirty-year-old Jhony Silva says his entire life in the United States has been political. Born in Honduras but raised in the Bay Area, he is one of the more than 1.3 million people in the country with Temporary Protected Status (TPS).Silva welcomed a court ruling in late December blocking the Trump Administration’s efforts to end TPS for certain countries, but says his state of limbo is still far from ending.

Bay Area activists have been on the corner of 100 Montgomery street almost daily since federal ICE agents began arresting immigrants at their hearings in the SF Immigration Court. They've been critical of Mayor Daniel Lurie for what they see as the city’s refusal to challenge the federal government and more actively defend its residents. Back in October, when President Trump nearly deployed federal troops to the Bay Area to support the immigration crackdown, Daniel Lurie apparently talked down Trump in an 11th hour phone call. His privacy around the details of the call have led to a committee of city commissioners now saying he violated state public-records law.Since that call, the mass layoff of judges has continued at the SF Immigration Court. The backlogged court that started the year with 21 judges is now down to just 4.Beyond seeking to deter ICE operations,  activists at 100 Montgomery Street are offering support to immigrants going into their hearings – mainly, by accompanying them into the courtroom.We talked to Cebollin, who almost every day for the last few months, has been on the street outside the courtroom.

Activists and labor unions in Oakland are escalating demands for local officials to end the shipment of cargo bound for Israel, saying they are willing to call for a general strike and walk off the job if demands are not met. 

It seems like every event has to have a corporate sponsor in the Bay Area these days…or be backed by the city, or some one-syllable tech firm. It’s tedious. It’s stifling.  For the disaffected, an underground alternative naturally endures. You have internet radio stations like this one, HydeFM, along with an ecosystem of crews setting up events.No Bias is an independent media project, party series, and record label running out of Oakland since 2020. If you’ve gone to a renegade rave or seen a techno DJ lately, odds are their smiley face logo was somewhere on the flyer. We talk with the project’s founder, musician and DJ Tal Robinson, about what moves him and the local scene.

The Education Department says MSI programs “discriminate by conferring government benefits exclusively to institutions that meet racial or ethnic quotas.” However, higher education advocates say that the programs are not discriminatory at all, but rather corrective of lingering racial inequity in education. At Laney College in Oakland, one group that Asian immigrants relied on is being forced to shutter.

Fluctuating tariffs on every import, along with outdated city ordinances and permitting requirements, threaten the ecosystem of corner stores and family grocers that pin the city together. The Neighborhood Business Alliance and the Arab American Grocers Association are responding by organizing small businesses on multiple fronts. First – reviving the practice of group purchasing imports.

From food to music to fashion – Arabic and Middle Eastern culture is having a moment. Women-founded and led Mother Armenia is one of the groups pushing that wave in the Bay Area, highlighting Southwest Asian/North African arts and culture through parties, exhibitions, and educational events. We talk about what’s driving the culture in this moment, and the role of nostalgia in diaspora communities.

After nearly two years of Israel’s war in Gaza, most of the strip’s two million people are expected to reach the most severe category of famine by September. We hear from experts and aid workers who have been to Gaza to understand what famine really looks like.

We speak with Nevin Kallepalli, a journalist in Shasta County, about his coverage of the New California state movement, the Cottonwood militia, and the consequences of government neglect in rural areas.

Journalist and photographer Manuel Ortiz speaks with ACoM’s Peter Schurmann about his current reporting mission in El Salvador. According to Ortiz, conditions—especially for the nation’s poorest—have grown more dire.

In police sweeps of homeless encampments and the militarized crackdown on immigrants, the rights of already-marginalized groups are being stripped bare.

SoundOnSight’s Pilot Episode: New budget bill affects Medicaid, student loans; student activists for Palestine dig in against repression; real talk on the H-1B with a visa holder; SFJazz puts on local and underground talent ahead of annual fest.