For decades, the FBI was a man’s world. Anybody else was just living in it, especially the administrative staff.
In the last episode, we learned how the bureau recruited high school girls for clerical work during the 1940s. But for decades women were explicitly prohibited from becoming special agents.
Western Springs resident Jane McCarty was hired out of high school in the late 1960s to work as a stenographer for the FBI. She held several positions during her more than four decades at the organization. Today, the former president of the Society of FBI Alumni talks about the ebbs and flows of women’s access to leadership and autonomy within the bureau. She endured a sexist work environment but later witnessed the first women become FBI special agents.
In which writer and podcaster Grant Brisbee reveals the history of baseball's worst stadium. Special appearance by Richard Nixon and The Beatles. Certificate #31484.
Commuting from East Bay cities like Berkeley and Oakland into San Francisco can be dismal. So when people learn there used to be an extensive streetcar system that crisscrossed the East Bay they want to know, what happened to it? The Key System, as it was known, could get a person from Berkeley or Oakland into San Francisco in 35-40 minutes and was a popular way to travel in the early part of the 20th century. What happened to it and were there nefarious forces contributing to its demise?
This story was reported by Dan Brekke. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED.
Just northwest of Lake Tahoe, eight of the nine skiers that were still trapped under an avalanche were found dead on Wednesday afternoon. The search for the remaining person has turned into a recovery mission more than 24 hours after the collapse buried 15 backcountry skiers under the deadliest avalanche in modern California history. Meanwhile, public comments sent out by an AI-powered advocacy company might’ve led, in part, to a Southern California plan being scrapped that would’ve placed fees on new gas furnaces and water heaters in an effort to cut back on smog-forming pollution. And, it’s a day of celebration for Mikaela Shiffrin, who took gold in slalom. Shiffrin’s the most decorated skier in Olympic history, but failed to medal at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. Mikaela Shiffrin is so back. In business, fire survivors in Altadena say connecting to Southern California Edison’s new underground power lines could cost $20,000 to $40,000 per home, and Rivian's shares jumped up after reporting a profitable year despite a broader slowdown in the EV industry. Read more at LATimes.com.
Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada is nobody’s idea of a partisan firebrand. She’s a moderate, swing-state Democrat with a résumé steeped in law enforcement — all of which makes her an unlikely leader of the Democratic-led shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, which has now entered its sixth day.
But over the past few months, Senator Cortez Masto said she was horrified by the conduct of federal immigration enforcement agents in her own state and across the country. By last week, she and many of her Democratic colleagues in the Senate decided to act on their outrage.
In an interview with her on “The Daily,” Senator Cortez Masto talks about why she decided to support withholding homeland security funding, the political perils for her party in blocking that funding and why she believes most Americans support the strategy.
President Trump convenes the first meeting of his Board of Peace, touting $5 billion in reconstruction pledges for Gaza as Israel gives Hamas 60 days to disarm or face renewed war. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. And Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes the stand in the first-ever social media addiction trial, defending accusations that the company knew kids under 13 were using Instagram and built its platforms to hook young users early.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Robbie Griffiths, Miguel Macias, Tina Kraja, Brett Neely, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Nia Dumas.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
Our deputy Executive Producer is Kelley Dickens.
(0:00) Introduction (01:56) Trump's Board of Peace (06:10) Former Prince Andrew Arrested (08:30) Zuckerberg Defends Meta
Police believe nine people have died after an avalanche in California. President Trump’s “Board of Peace” prepares to meet in Washington, despite being dismissed by European allies. And as artificial intelligence data centers sprout up in American towns, residents are taken aback by the consequences.
In this episode, Spencer A. Klavan joins R. R. Reno on The Editor's Desk to talk about his recent essay, “In the Footsteps of Aeneas” from the February 2026 issue of the magazine.
Barbs. Spurs. Stinks. Scutes. Shrieks. Fashion. Drama. Animal behaviorist, evolutionary biologist, Cal State Long Beach professor, and your new favorite Zoohoplologist, Dr. Ted Stankowich, divulges about putting your dukes up or curling into a ball so you don’t die. Either/or, sometimes both. I went to his lab down at California State Long Beach, for a tour and a chat about armadillos, skunks, pangolins, horned lizards, wombats, coyotes, kit foxes, poodles, porcupines, tigers, deer and the will to keep living.
