An Island Drink with California Roots: The Mai Tai Turns 75
It's summer! You’re sitting on the beach, sand between your toes, sunglasses on. What else could make this picture postcard complete? How about a Mai Tai? This rum cocktail probably makes you think of Hawaii. But it was born right here in California. The Mai Tai turns 75 this year, and we figured we’d give The California Report’s Suzie Racho the tough assignment of tracking down its true origins as part of our series Golden State Plate.
Long Distance: Podcast Connects Filipino Stories Across the Diaspora
It wasn’t just Mai Tais that got their start in California, but also the tiki bar itself. It all started with Don the Beachcomber in Los Angeles. Many of the bartenders in those original tiki bars were Filipino. That’s a story featured in “Long Distance,” a new podcast about the Filipino Diaspora. Host Sasha Khokha talks with host and creator Paola Mardo.
A Humble Burger Helped Fuel the Building of the Shasta Dam and Shaped a Community in Redding
In Redding, there’s a hamburger joint that’s been making its signature item the same way since the 1930s: a burger so thin it gets crispy on the edges, and never, ever comes with a tomato. For the series California Foodways, Lisa Morehouse found that this humble burger helped fuel one of the biggest engineering feats in the state’s history.
UC Davis Honors Chicano Activist and Broadcaster With Posthumous Degree
This past weekend, UC Davis conferred a degree that was 25 years in the making. It was awarded to a student who built a statewide reputation as a broadcaster and Chicano rights activist, and who didn’t live to see the impact of his work. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez brings us his story.