The Finest
Episodes
Scientists are still mapping plants. How the public is helping — with an app
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What's growing in your backyard?In San Diego, one of America's most biodiverse regions, the answer is more complicated than you might think. It's home...
The matcha boom: How a centuries-old tradition became a global craze
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Matcha has become a global sensation. The bright green powdered tea now appears in lattes, smoothies, desserts and viral foods across social media fee...
Unboxing hidden music history: Lou Curtiss' Whimsical Collection and vinyl's survival
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Lou Curtiss dedicated his life to preserving forgotten music — and now his extraordinary personal collection is being shared with the community he n...
Bonus: One of Their Own, a San Diego officer's death and the questions left behind
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Content note: This episode contains discussion of suicide and domestic abuse. If you or someone you know needs support, call or text 988 for the Suici...
Topeka Clementine performs live at KPBS and talks cooking, art, viral moments and music as action
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
San Diego's Topeka Clementine brought the KPBS patio to life with a performance as part of the Sundrenched Sounds live music series — spontaneous, c...
The art, the joy, the keeper: The hidden work behind Niki de Saint Phalle's beloved mosaic sculptures
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The bold, joyful sculptures of Niki de Saint Phalle are woven into San Diego’s landscape, even if many people don’t know her name. In this episode...
From Seafood City to stardom: How Jessica Sanchez returned to 'America's Got Talent' 20 years later
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jessica Sanchez seemed born to be a star. At 10, she took the leap from singing in her local Filipino grocery store, Seafood City, in San Diego onto t...
'Made in a Home Kitchen': Raíz Chocolate turns Mexican tradition into a microenterprise
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Elizabeth "Ely" Rosales Aguilar has built Raíz Chocolate from her San Diego home kitchen, turning a childhood love of chocolate into a small but thri...
Risograph revival: How a forgotten printer built a global DIY art movement
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Risograph printing was built for efficiency — a fast, economical way to make thousands of identical copies for offices, churches and schools. It was...
The Finest: New season, new stories
09 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Finest returns with a new season, exploring the people, art and movements redefining San Diego culture. From discovering new species in local pres...
A special episode where a superfan takes our survey — plus your chance to win a Finest T-shirt
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We’re dropping a special minisode during our season break with one request: Help shape Season 2 of The Finest by taking our anonymous survey at KPBS...
The nation's largest book ban: Inside the fight to read in America's prisons
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For many people who are incarcerated, a single book can be life-changing – a rare source of freedom and connection in a system built on isolation. T...
The lost composer: Alice Barnett and the paradox of fame and memory
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Alice Barnett's music once echoed across America — her songs were performed on national radio, reviewed in major newspapers and sung in concert hall...
The science of the supernatural: Psychics, cults and why we believe
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"Dispatch From Paradise" writer Cora Lee went searching for ghosts in Presidio Park, but her exploration of San Diego's supernatural underbelly didn't...
Big guitars, bigger feelings: Slacker's San Diego story of growing pains and friendship
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
By 25, one San Diegan visited every country on Earth — here's what he found
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
San Diego's Cameron Mofid set out on an audacious quest: to break the record for being the youngest person to visit every country in the world. His jo...
Bonus: Soup dumplings, hidden trails, enemies-to-lovers and a viral clip — reflections from The Finest
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For our 20th episode, The Finest team reflects on our season so far — the episodes that made the biggest impact, what still lingers with us months l...
More than a menu: How Mabel's Gone Fishing became a San Diego gathering place
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mabel’s Gone Fishing is more than a seafood restaurant in North Park — it’s a Michelin Bib Gourmand honoree that quickly became part of the neig...
From TV auctions to social media bidding: How the live shopping thrill lives on
11 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when a TV station pauses its regular programming to auction off everything from kitchen utensils and European vacations to toilet seats a...
Myth, post-truth and empathetic villains – from an ancient fantasy world to Kellyanne Conway: Live at the San Diego Book Festival
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, recorded live at the KPBS San Diego Book Festival, authors Emily Greenberg ("Alternative Facts") and Moses Ose Utomi ("Forever Desert...
The story of Lucky Wong and his legendary one-man diner in San Diego
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1975, Lucky's Breakfast, also known as Lucky's Golden Phenix, opened in North Park with a few U-shaped booths, a short-order griddle and a man name...
Blink-182, lucky breaks and the power of place
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Blink-182 is the biggest band to ever come out of San Diego. But their path — from the dungeon of the original SOMA to global stardom — was shaped...
Romantasy rising: How a dismissed book genre became a publishing powerhouse
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Romantasy has become one of the fastest-growing book genres in publishing — a blend of epic love stories and magical stakes that's capturing the ima...
Bonus: Nortec Collective at 25 — a Port of Entry story
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Port of Entry is a KPBS podcast that tells cross-border stories that connect us — from people whose lives are shaped by the border itself. The show ...
3 friends return to graffiti decades after a police sting shattered their world
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isauro "Junior" Inocencio, Ron Recaido and Romali Licudan grew up as second-generation Filipino Americans in Southeast San Diego during the 1990s. As ...
A Kumeyaay comic book rewrites California's history and inspires a hopeful future
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Kumeyaay have long told stories through rock art, vivid images carved into stone that preserved culture, memory and meaning. Today, that tradition...
Chasing 100 birds in 1 day in America's Birdiest County: Inside the birding boom
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
San Diego is one of the most biodiverse birding regions in North America, with more than 500 recorded species — and its annual Bird Festival draws c...
Tiny Desk local listening party: The Neighborhood Kids and Aleah Discavage
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What started as a low-key folk set behind a desk in a newsroom has become one of music's most iconic stages. This year, NPR's Tiny Desk Contest drew a...
Worn, painted, reimagined: The power and complexity of Our Lady of Guadalupe
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Our Lady of Guadalupe is everywhere in art, memory and protest. She's instantly recognizable — hands in prayer, floral dress, starry mantle — but ...
Bonus: The team behind The Finest talks arts and culture
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this first-ever bonus episode of The Finest, we're flipping things around. Host Julia Dixon Evans sits down with producer Anthony Wallace and edito...
San Diego's last alt-weekly stops the presses, but it's not giving up yet
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For decades, alt-weeklies like the San Diego Reader were a city's rebellious voice, digging into local politics, covering underground arts and publish...
When better sleep silences a painter's muse — now what?
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For most of her adult life, artist Mary Jhun has drawn inspiration from a distinct muse: fractured silhouettes of girls, embellished with surreal deta...
Spotify is changing, so one indie artist is advocating for fairness in a stream-heavy world
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For indie musicians like Julianna Zachariou, Spotify has made music more accessible than ever — but at a cost. With payouts that amount to less than...
San Diego's poets laureate on being a 'government artist' and knocking poetry off its pedestal
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does it mean to be a "government artist" in San Diego?Outgoing Poet Laureate Jason Magabo Perez shares the lessons he's learned from his two-year...
Making it in music: How do you create a local music scene in a 'superstar economy'?
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
San Diego's music scene is full of talent, but making a living off your art? That's a different story.Shua, a Southeast San Diego artist with over a m...
PARU Tea: How the viral matcha spot is transforming tea culture with love and purpose
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when a viral tea brand moves beyond the café model? For Amy Truong and Lani Gobaleza, it meant embracing a deeper purpose — blending s...
The Finest - Trailer
17 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
San Diego's creative scene is thriving in unexpected ways. Musicians are crowdfunding their careers. Tea culture is evolving. A painter's lost dreams ...