KZSC Santa Cruz

On-demand news, interviews, and live performances from KZSC 88.1 FM Santa Cruz - Non-commercial, educational, community radio for the Monterey Bay, California

KZSC Santa Cruz is a news podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 356 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts KZSC Santa Cruz, a news show with 356 episodes published.

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  KZSC Santa Cruz

  Rita Hosking -Singer, Songwriter_2026-09-18 interview on KZSC's "Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & DJ "Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez)

  Sep 30, 202628 min

  Rita is calling in from Nevada City, California, in Grass Valley (shout out to KVMR!), & will be coming to Santa Cruz with her musical partner (& husband) Sean Feder, who accompanies her on Dobro (resophonic guitar) & banjo; Sean is a UCSC graduate (biology major), and a multi-instrumentalist who studied under Arthur Hull, legendary Santa Cruz drummer & widely considered the father of the modern drum circle movement; Sean taught drumming at U.C. Davis where he & Rita met, & they began performing together; during COVID, California had a budget surplus in 2022, & set aside money for the arts - they were looking for mostly visual arts, focusing on energy conservations, public health, etc.; Rita applied, and, much to her surprise, was funded - thus the EP "Climate Country Radio" was born; deep dive into songwriting - it runs the whole gamut, from songs arriving fully formed, to those that take a lot of effort & time...there's a great book "Songwriters on songwriting", with a wide variety; words first or melody? "Yes to both!" Rita is a goal-oriented person, who works best with a vision of where she's going; her song "Clean", about being a Merry Maid? No, she was not a Merry Maid, but she was a housekeeper during college; the "Money Question" (e.g.: "Have you been able to make a living with your art, &, if so, how?") A: Rita made a living as a musician for 10-15 years, but is now part time; yes, merch(andise) sales were a huge part of that, but touring has become much less affordable (due to fewer merch sales); Rita is still putting CDs out, even though she took some time off because of immense frustration - she's been writing a lot, and is planning a CD after this winter when she'll take a self-imposed residency in the North Star House, a Julia Morgan-designed historic estate in Grass Valley, CA. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange & "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez) airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening! To support KZSC (& these podcasts), please go to KZSC.FM and click on the "Donate to KZSC" button in the upper right-hand corner. Thanks!

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  KZSC Santa Cruz

  Ian George - Singer / Songwriter; band leader of "The Knee Pockets"_2026-09-11_interview on KZSC's "Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" by "Dangerous Dan" Orange

  Sep 30, 202628 min

  They are calling from the road, after Ian & "the boys" loaded their 2013 Toyota Sienna "Tetris-style" in Oregon; Ian's boys are 15 & 9, but "the boys" in the van are Ethan Boardman on drums, & Grazer Bazer Phelps on electric bass; this trio, Ian George & the Knee Pockets, is more of a rocker, with Ian plugging in & "shredding" the electric guitar; Ian hails from Bob Dylan's hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota (the bluest state in the mid-continent! "Hell, yeah! We take care of our own!"); when Ian writes songs, does he have a vision of where they'll end up, acoustic or electric, & what style? "That's a really good question!"...it's a function of the structure of the song...the riff...some songs come in 3 minutes (like "Gone"), some take longer (like "Grassy Knoll"); they've got a new CD coming out, "Milk of the Moonlit Sun", which is a line from one of the new songs; their Oregonians now (Grazer Bazer is from southern Oregon; Ethan originally Portland, Maine); "The Money Question?" (Are you able to make a living with music full time, & if so, how?") A: "That's subjective." Ian does odd jobs to fill in gaps, but music is the priority; one of the other guys is in school, and the other works at a sick bar; Ian is on the verge of completing a score for an independent film which will come out next year; Spotify? Maybe he makes enough money to buy a 20 oz. latte every 6 months! Q: "How do the economics work with an album, where other artists are choosing not to put out physical media?" A: "We'll put out both a vinyl album & a CD. People are re-introducing themselves to how cool physical media is." Albums are curated, with an intentional order; this album is in the can, songs aligned, album art done...it's ready to go, working on pressing soon, plus visuals to go with singles that they will post. Show is tomorrow night at The Crêpe Place, with Dead Nettle opening. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening! To support KZSC (& these podcasts), please go to KZSC.FM and click on the "Donate to KZSC" button in the upper right-hand corner. Thanks!

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  KZSC Santa Cruz

  Nina Gerber_Folk guitarist & consummate sideperson_2023-09-08 interview on KZSC's "Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" by "Dangerous Dan" Orange, "Kalamity Kyle" Weller, and "Kaos" (Katrina Clugston)

  Sep 30, 202629 min

  Nina's band, "Duo Quartet" playing tonight; How did Nina meet Pam Delgado & Jeri Jones? "A happy accident!" - they were all playing a memorial show for Sarah Elizabeth Campbell, and Pam & Jeri were there as part of the band "Blame Sally"...later, they called Nina about doing a double bill at the Freight & Salvage; how did Nina end up playing with Kate Wolf? Nina and her brother were in a high school bluegrass band in Sebastopol, and her brother suggested they see Kate...she was playing at West of the Laguna, and Nina was blown away & moved with the music, the connection among the band...and said to herself, "This is what I want to do", deciding that night she wanted to become a professional musician and play in Kate's band; took mandolin lessons with Kate's husband, Don Coffin; sat in on some songs with Kate, then stood in when Don couldn't be there, asked to play more and more..."became part of Kate's band through a luck, being passionate, and tenacity; played with Kate for 8 years before she passed away, which was devastating; played with others because she was known for playing with Kate; was playing Strawberry with Sarah Elizabeth and Greg Brown approached her about joining him for some sons - she ended up playing the entire set; Nina has been able to make a living with music her entire life; her advice? Keep your expenses down! Keep your overhead low and work hard (needed to earn to support her habit of buying instruments!); Nina's goal was to be a side person - unusual in an industry where most seek the spotlight! Ken's line in the Barbie movie, "I want to play my guitar at you!" makes Nina want to see the movie; Nina's advice to aspiring side persons. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange, "Kalamity Kyle" Weller, and "Kaos" (Katrina Clugston) airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2023 is Bushwhacker's 34th year on the air! Thanks for listening! To support KZSC (& these podcasts), please go to KZSC.FM and click on the "Donate to KZSC" button in the upper right-hand corner. Thanks!

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  KZSC Santa Cruz

  Gail Pellerin - 28th District California Assemblymember_2026-09-25_interview on KZSC's "Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & DJ "Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez)

  Sep 30, 202630 min

  Gail is just getting back after her daughter's wedding in Oregon last weekend; we're in a limnal period where all the bills that made it out of the legislature are out, and have either been signed, or are on the Governor's desk to be signed, vetoed, or become law if he does neither (with the deadline at the end of the month); rapid run down of the bills that have been passed (4) and those that are awaiting action (9); September is Suicide Prevention Month, & Assemblymember Pellerin has 15 Heroes in the district; correction on AB1919 regarding the Santa Cruz metro tax being given to the voters as a clear process because state law was not clear. Deep dive into "Objective Standards", California's approach to address the housing affordability crisis, with Santa Cruz & Santa Clara County, both in her district, as the most expensive. It's complicated, given impacts on traffic, water, etc. Q: has it gone too far? A: possibly, as it opens the door to the "builder's remedy"; deep dive into developments in the Seabright neighborhood - is there anything the city can do about it? And parking! 221 parking spaces for 560 units, because the state does not require developments to have parking if they are within a half mile of a bus stop! A: "That's the reality." Community members need to be involved, & there's a virtual meeting coming up next week. A record number of listeners engaged with the DJs via TextGroove during the interview, providing additional questions & comments. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange & "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez) airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening! To support KZSC (& these podcasts), please go to KZSC.FM and click on the "Donate to KZSC" button in the upper right-hand corner. Thanks!

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  KZSC Santa Cruz

  KZSC Santa Cruz - Jenny Skerker - Santa Cruz Water Affordability Modeling, Stanford Ph.D._2026-09-18_interview on KZSC's "Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & DJ "Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez)

  Sep 30, 202631 min

  Jenny completed her Ph.D. at Stanford in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department, so how did she settle on studying the impact of climate change on water in Santa Cruz? Great Question! (#1): she's now working for a water department in the East Bay, but she worked [MORE HERE DAN] on Santa Cruz because they were collaborative, and made for an interesting case study on the impact of climate change on water affordability; why water affordability? Great Question! (#2): because there are a lot of open questions - there's a lot of attention on the impact of climate change on energy, but California voted that there's a Human Right to Water, with less of a focus on affordability; but Jenny is an engineer! How does affordability fit into that? Good Question! (#1): Jenny focuses on affordability as an engineer, with interdisciplinary modeling; Q: What do you most want a public water agency like Santa Cruz to take away from this research, and what would you not want them to conclude from it? Good Question! (#2): the take-away is less exact #s , & more climate change $$ impact; Q: The research seems to highlight a tension between affordability and reliability. How should a utility think about that tradeoff when delaying investments may reduce near-term rates but increase long-term reliability risks and potentially future costs? Good Question! (#3): there ARE trade-offs, & Jenny's modeling provides a quantitative framework; How much of the affordability challenge identified in the study is attributable to climate change itself versus the underlying need to replace aging infrastructure and maintain an existing water system? Another Good Question! (#4): Jenny's modeling explicitly addresses climate change, and does NOT address infrastructure or maintenance; Q: What funding mechanisms do you think have the greatest potential to pay for this? Good Question! (#5): Jenny is not an expert, but discusses tax-funded approaches, State & Federal programs (a model could be LIHEAP, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program); Why Santa Cruz? Close by? Collaborative? Fun to visit & surf? Closed system hydrologicallly (every drop of water that falls in the county is either used or flows to the ocean through habitat that it sustains)? (Almost) all of the above (she doesn't surf - yet!); Q: does her model account for the strongest El Niño ever that's forecast? Good Question! (#6): her modeling does not focus on his, but the "Whiplash" with increasing swings between wet years & dry needs to be addressed; Aquifer storage? Yes, addressed in her models, but not the amount of storage - she does address reliability - desal(ination) is most expensive, but has the largest potential impact - aquifer re-charge might require additional water; there are follow-up papers that will come out of Jenny's lab, with at least one more from her Ph.D. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange & "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez) airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening! To support KZSC (& these podcasts), please go to KZSC.FM and click on the "Donate to KZSC" button in the upper right-hand corner. Thanks!

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