@jessicaesanchez grew up in the South Bay, the daughter of Filipino and Mexican American parents. Her mother says she started singing as soon as she could talk. By age 10, Jessica was performing all over San Diego's South Bay, including her local Seafood City grocery store, before taking the national stage on the very first season of "America's Got Talent."
By 16, she became the runner-up on "American Idol." She quickly became a hometown icon — someone people here were cheering for. Jessica was molded into a musical prodigy. But as quickly as she rose, the pressure and expectations began to weigh on her.
She questioned her place in the music industry and withdrew from the spotlight. What brought her home to San Diego? And what gave her the strength to return to the national stage, nearly two decades later?
"Being 10 years old and being 16 years old on these big stages, all you see is the spotlight and you're like, 'Oh my gosh. I could win Grammys and go and do tours and sell out stadiums.' And I think I lost the feeling of why I was doing this," Jessica said.
🎧Listen to the newest episode of The Finest at kpbs.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
📝@anthony_wallace , @juliadixonevans , @korisuzukiphoto
Risograph printing was built for efficiency — a fast, economical way to make thousands of identical copies for offices, churches and schools. It was never meant to be expressive or personal. After newer technology pushed the machine into obsolescence, artists began discovering risography — drawn to its unpredictability, physicality and limits. From a squatted bank in the Netherlands to DIY print spaces across Europe and the U.S., Risograph printing became a tool for people working outside traditional art and publishing systems.
In San Diego, that lineage comes into focus at Burn All Books — a space that is part shop, part press and part gathering place. There, Risograph printing isn't just about what gets made, but how: through shared labor, in-person collaboration and a commitment to keeping artists connected in an increasingly expensive and isolating city.
"You need a network of people who want to help you. That's something cobbled together very slowly over a long period of time. I just feel like so much of our success, to me, has felt like a combination of flukes and really wonderful favors and opportunities," said Manda Bernal, who cofounded Burn All Books with her husband Nick.
Listen at kpbs.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
📝@juliadixonevans , @anthony_wallace
📷Julia Dixon Evans
For birders, a “big year” means trying to spot as many distinct bird species as possible within 12 months. It’s part competition, part obsession — and in San Diego County, it’s no easy feat. KPBS producer @anthony_wallace introduces us to three of 2025’s top local birders.
Read more at kpbs.org
Meanwhile, on The Finest podcast...👀
San Diego's rising rock trio Slacker helped launch the pilot phase of the new KPBS Music Series with a live performance — loud, joyful and a little chaotic in the best way, but played with real precision and skill.
The Finest host @juliadixonevans sat down with the @slackerlive right after their set to talk about where their music comes from — the friendships (and burritos) that built it and the feelings behind their biggest songs.
Hear more wherever you get your podcasts.
Rates of depression and anxiety among young people in the U.S. have increased sharply in recent years — it's been called a "youth mental health crisis." Now, a novel approach to combat the issue, developed in the United Kingdom, is coming to San Diego. And it uses a very old kind of medicine.
Starting this month, mental health care providers at San Ysidro Health will begin writing prescriptions for arts and culture. With the help of a care navigator, teenage patients will be able to choose from activities at nearly 200 local arts organizations, including the @oceansidemuseum , @theoldglobe and The Dancehouse.
The initiative, a collaboration between @sanysidrohealth and the Atlanta-based company @the.artpharmacy , is an example of "social prescribing." This type of treatment is still fairly uncommon in the U.S., but it has been blossoming in the United Kingdom for decades.
Read the rest of the story at kpbs.org
📝 @anthony_wallace
📹 Carolyne Corelis, Lara McCaffrey
POV: Your job makes you get up at the crack of dawn to go birding.
Check out the latest episode of The Finest podcast, featuring producer @anthony_wallace and a rare Eastern Phoebe sighting ☺️
Next up, The Finest podcast producer @anthony_wallace gave us a sneak peek in to the behind the scenes of the podcast — including the very eye-catching dry erase board story spreadsheet 🧐
Hear about his favorite episode of the show so far and dig into all the episodes of The Finest at kpbs.org/thefinest
Have you listened to our newest podcast The Finest yet?
Hear what the team — @juliadixonevans , @anthony_wallace and @chrissylenguyen — have to say about it!
Visit kpbs.org/thefinest to learn more.
Come along with us to meet the team of The Finest, KPBS' newest arts and culture podcast!
What does arts and culture mean to you? Tell us in the comments.
Listen to The Finest wherever you get your podcasts.
Living and working in Lima 2023🇵🇪
1. Happy getting jugo—specifically an "especial" which has papaya, banana, raw egg, and vanilla
2. Discussing and eating their sancocho soup with Venezuelan migrants in the middle of the road
3. Exploring ruins with @katie.sypher
4. Learning from locals in Lima's self-built shantytowns, near the "Wall of Shame" that segregates their neighborhood from the rich one nearby
Today, the Trump administration was allowed to put into affect changes to the public charge rule that allows immigration officials to deny green cards based on the use of public benefits, like Medicaid.
Last semester, myself, @lukesimmons92 , and @daja.henry conducted interviews and did data analyses to uncover the impact this rule had, even before it went into action.
We talked to advocates like Cynthia Aragon to explore the fear and confusion it has caused in the immigrant community. Since the public charge updates were announced, she has been unable to convince her own father to enroll her younger siblings in public health insurance.
We found that since the rule emerged, over 100,000 fewer Latinos in our state are enrolled in Medicaid. And analysis of data from other states and the nation as a whole suggests the phenomenon is not confined to Arizona.
Link in bio.
New friends and journalism grad students bond and exhibit newly acquired photography skills in pretty parts of Southern Utah. “It was about as cool I expected it to be,” Katie said. 😎😍 (📸by me, @lukesimmons92 , @katie.sypher , @rachelphillips_ )
