All Episodes

The songs we write when life doesn't come with answers

Mahjong is having a moment. What that says about how we connect

The Pokémon economy: The real cost of catching 'em all

An electric streetcar network once crisscrossed San Diego. What if we got it back?

The rise, fall and comeback of pro skateboarder Brandon Turner

Rugs, rituals and resilience: How artists are expanding the story of Iran beyond conflict

How streaming changed what we hear — and what musicians earn (May 2025)

Every object tells a story: The unseen craft of theatrical props

Dance or die — and the fight to be more than a headline

Scientists are still mapping plants. How the public is helping — with an app

The matcha boom: How a centuries-old tradition became a global craze

Unboxing hidden music history: Lou Curtiss' Whimsical Collection and vinyl's survival

Bonus: One of Their Own, a San Diego officer's death and the questions left behind

Topeka Clementine performs live at KPBS and talks cooking, art, viral moments and music as action

The art, the joy, the keeper: The hidden work behind Niki de Saint Phalle's beloved mosaic sculptures

From Seafood City to stardom: How Jessica Sanchez returned to 'America's Got Talent' 20 years later

'Made in a Home Kitchen': Raíz Chocolate turns Mexican tradition into a microenterprise

Risograph revival: How a forgotten printer built a global DIY art movement

The Finest: New season, new stories

A special episode where a superfan takes our survey — plus your chance to win a Finest T-shirt

The nation's largest book ban: Inside the fight to read in America's prisons

The lost composer: Alice Barnett and the paradox of fame and memory

The science of the supernatural: Psychics, cults and why we believe

Big guitars, bigger feelings: Slacker's San Diego story of growing pains and friendship

By 25, one San Diegan visited every country on Earth — here's what he found

Bonus: Soup dumplings, hidden trails, enemies-to-lovers and a viral clip — reflections from The Finest

More than a menu: How Mabel's Gone Fishing became a San Diego gathering place

From TV auctions to social media bidding: How the live shopping thrill lives on

Myth, post-truth and empathetic villains – from an ancient fantasy world to Kellyanne Conway: Live at the San Diego Book Festival

The story of Lucky Wong and his legendary one-man diner in San Diego

Blink-182, lucky breaks and the power of place

Romantasy rising: How a dismissed book genre became a publishing powerhouse

Bonus: Nortec Collective at 25 — a Port of Entry story

3 friends return to graffiti decades after a police sting shattered their world

A Kumeyaay comic book rewrites California's history and inspires a hopeful future

Chasing 100 birds in 1 day in America's Birdiest County: Inside the birding boom

Tiny Desk local listening party: The Neighborhood Kids and Aleah Discavage

Worn, painted, reimagined: The power and complexity of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Bonus: The team behind The Finest talks arts and culture

San Diego's last alt-weekly stops the presses, but it's not giving up yet

When better sleep silences a painter's muse — now what?

Spotify is changing, so one indie artist is advocating for fairness in a stream-heavy world

San Diego's poets laureate on being a 'government artist' and knocking poetry off its pedestal

Making it in music: How do you create a local music scene in a 'superstar economy'?

PARU Tea: How the viral matcha spot is transforming tea culture with love and purpose

The Finest - Trailer