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The Finest

The Finest

Written by: KPBS Public Media
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 San Diego earns its title as America’s Finest City through the people, art and movements redefining the region’s cultural identity. The Finest is a podcast that highlights the emerging voices and dynamic forces reshaping community and expression. Through personal stories and critical perspectives, each episode brings forward the artists, advocates and ideas driving change and pushing boundaries in the region’s cultural landscape. New episodes premiere Thursdays.KPBS Public Media Art Cooking Entertainment & Performing Arts Food & Wine Music Political Science Politics & Government Social Sciences World
Episodes
  • The Finest: New season, new stories

    The Finest: New season, new stories
    Jan 9 2026
    The Finest returns with a new season, exploring the people, art and movements redefining San Diego culture. From discovering new species in local preserves to reviving forgotten arts, crafting chocolate at home and forging unexpected connections, these stories celebrate ingenuity, resilience, and community. Premiering Jan. 15, new episodes drop weekly. Search The Finest wherever you get your podcasts.
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    2 mins
  • A special episode where a superfan takes our survey — plus your chance to win a Finest T-shirt

    A special episode where a superfan takes our survey — plus your chance to win a Finest T-shirt
    Dec 11 2025

    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.org/TheFinestSurvey. Your feedback helps guide what stories we cover next — and it enters you in a raffle to win an exclusive The Finest T-shirt. We’ll draw winners before the Season 2 premiere on Jan. 15. Plus, KPBS Racial Justice and Social Equity Reporter Katie Hyson, a self-proclaimed The Finest fan, takes the survey live on the show.
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    11 mins
  • The nation's largest book ban: Inside the fight to read in America's prisons

    The nation's largest book ban: Inside the fight to read in America's prisons
    Nov 6 2025
    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. That was true for Cherish Burtson, who discovered during her time in federal prison that reading could be a source of survival. Books became her escape, her education and a starting point to rebuild her life. But getting books behind bars isn't easy. Across the United States, correctional systems routinely ban or reject thousands of titles each year, reflecting deeper struggles over punishment, control and compassion. According to PEN America,  correctional facilities in all 50 states contribute to the nation's largest book ban, censoring more books than schools and libraries combined. This episode follows a group of San Diego volunteers working to get books past prison walls. It explores how the simple act of reading can restore a sense of humanity in even the harshest conditions — and what it says about who we are when we decide who gets to read.Guests:Cherish Burtson, substance use disorders counselor at Family Health Centers of San DiegoMoira Marquis, Freewrite project senior manager at PEN Americaterry vargas, Books Through Bars San Diego volunteerSources:United States Incarceration Profile (Prison Policy Initiative)Incarceration Trends (Vera, 2024)Women’s Pathways to Serious and Habitual Crime: A Person-Centered Analysis Incorporating Gender Responsive Factors (Tim Brennan, Markus Breitenbach, William Dieterich, Emily J. Salisbury and Patricia van Voorhis Notes, Criminal Justice and Behavior via Sage Journals, 2012)East Bay Federal Prison Plagued by Sex Abuse Scandal Will Close Permanently (KQED, 2024)Time-In-Cell: A 2021 Snapshot of Restrictive Housing based on a Nationwide Survey of U.S. Prison Systems (The Correctional Leaders Association & The Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law at Yale Law School, 2022)COVID-19 Timeline (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)Three State Prison Oversight During the COVID-19 Pandemic (John Howard Association of Illinois, the Correctional Association of New York and the Pennsylvania Prison Society, 2021)Groundwork Books Collective (Idealist)Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon (Michael P. Ghiglieri and Thomas M. Myers, 2001)Books Thru Bars 2024 Impact (Books Through Bars San Diego via Instagram, 2024)Books Thru Bars Your Donation at a Glance (Books Through Bars San Diego via Instagram, 2025)Local prison book program brings connection and humanity despite censorship (Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS, 2024)Literature Locked Up How Prison Book Restriction Policies Constitute the Nation’s Largest Book Ban (James Tager, PEN America, 2019)Reading Between the Bars: An In-Depth Look at Prison Censorship (Moira Marquis and Juliana Luna, PEN America, 2023)Disapproved Publications (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)Perfecting the Prison: United States, 1789-1865 (David J. Rothman, Oxford History of the Prison: The Practice of Punishment in Western Society via University of Minnesota Duluth, 1995)History of Eastern State Penitentiary (Eastern State)Deterrence and Incapacitation: A Quick Review of the Research (Laura Bennett and Felicity Rose, The Center for Just Journalism, 2025)Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2025 (Wendy Sawyer and Peter Wagner, Prison Policy Initiative, 2025Custodial Sanctions and Reoffending: A Meta-Analytic Review (Damon M. Petrich, Travis C. Pratt, Cheryl Lero Jonson and Francis T. Cullen, University of Chicago Press Journals, 2021)Prison Banned Books Week: Books give incarcerated people access to the world, but tablets are often used to wall them off (Mike Wessler and Juliana Luna, Prison Policy Initiative, 2024)Books through Bars Stories from the Prison Books Movement (Dave "Mac" Marquis and Moira Marquis, University of Georgia, 2024)
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    37 mins
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