BackTalk with Becca

Meet some of Santa Cruz' remarkable people, Wednesday @ 6:30pm on This is Us.
An international artist, a world class chocolatier, SC High School class of '54 and surfing icon, Jack O'Neill are all profiled in this Santa Cruz edition of This is Us. Here's a Sneak Peek:

Neil deGrasse Tyson, host of Nova scienceNOW, will share his thoughts on the cosmos with our members on April 21. Join us at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco at 8pm. Click here for more info!

Back in 1993 Bay Area filmmaker Dorothy Fadiman was nominated for an Academy Award for her film,When Abortion Was Illegal: Untold Stories, a co-production with KTEH. The film captured first person accounts of women who experienced illegal abortions and the people who assisted them. Many women didn't survive these back-room, anesthetic-free procedures. Their moving stories are told as well.

In the following years, Fadiman produced two additional films, “From Danger to Dignity” and “The Fragile Promise of Choice,” about changes in the laws governing abortion.

This year KTEH and KQED are re-releasing the award winning trilogy. You can see it on KTEH - Fridays at 11pm starting April, 2nd.

Be sure to join us tonight for This is Us. We'll profile thoroughbred horse racing's all-time winning jockey, Russell Baze. The hall of fame rider is once again gunning for a mount and a shot at the run for the roses and the Kentucky Derby this May. The leading money rider at Golden Gate Fields in Northern California, Baze remains at the top of his game. To find out what keeps a veteran jockey in the saddle after 30 years, ridding and winning against much younger men, meet Russell Baze - the jock who never lost his passion for getting to the finish line first, tonight at 6:30 on This is Us.

This morning I was invited to hear Gubernatorial candidate, Steve Poizner
answer questions from KQED Public Radio's Scott Shafer and Silicon Valley business leaders at Microsoft's
Convention Center in Mountain View.

First, Shafer questioned Poizner then came questions from the audience. The 60-minute question-and-answer session was taped by KQED. You can hear the program on Sunday, March 28, from 3-4 p.m., on KQED 88.5 FM in the Bay Area and KQEI 189.3 FM in Sacramento.

The forum, organized by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, is part of
their Road to the State House series and was hosted, in part, by Microsoft
and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

"Got to Have Art" was Annie Morhouser's (Annie Glass) answer to the question, "if you wrote a slogan to sell the arts, what would it be?" Eddie Gale countered with "Inner Peace Through Art!" This was just part of a lively discussion about the arts between members and friends of KTEH and five local, fine and performing artists who have been profiled on This is Us.

How are artists faring the current economic climate, are they able to expand their audiences and is San Jose "artist friendly?" These are a few of the questions that were fielded by the stellar panel. Sculpter/painter Susana Arias and Jazz musician Eddie Gale weighed in with the individual artist's perpecitive. Irene Dalis, founder of Opera San Jose and prima ballerina, Karen Gabay offered the arts organization point of view, while artist/entrepreneur Annie Morhouser represented the business angle. The gathering was organized by KTEH/KQED and hosted by Joe and Nicki Parisi.

Early California settler and legendary stagecoach driver Charlie Parkhurst comes to life in San Jose's History Park. He's just one of the many local characters from long ago who stroll the streets of the living history exhibit depicting San Jose in the 1890s. Recently, John Gregg got a chance to interview the celebrated Pioneer.

You can meet more characters from San Jose's early days,

a family who grow seeds for the world's most famous gardens, some of San Jose's youngest musicians and fly into the wild blue yonder with WWII WASP Jean Harman on This is Us Monday, March 22 at 12:30 a.m. Can't wait? You can see more profiles from the show here.

This week This is Us comes from San Jose's Japantown. One of only three Japantowns in the country, it's a real local treasure

On the show this week, you’ll hear the remarkable stories of four Japanese Americans, a doctor who was one of only two women in her 1941 medical school class, a couple who’s story is hard to beat- they founded San Jose Taiko, and a man who’s name is familiar to all of us. We named our airport for him- Norman Mineta.

Finally, I hope you have an appetite because we’ll also learn a lot about making sushi from local chef- Kazoo. Here's a sneak peek:

Local athletes shine this time around on This is Us, as we profile San Jose Sharks star center and current Canadian Olympic hockey player, Joe Thornton. You'll also get the chance to lace up the gloves and meet Gilroy’s two-time world champion boxer Robert “Ghost” Guerrero. And setting up a perfect trifecta is thoroughbred horse racing's all-time winning jockey Russell Baze.

The Golden Gate Fields star rider has a shot for the first Saturday in May and the Kentucky Derby aboard the recent El Camino Real Derby winner, Connemara. Hold on to the winning ticket and join us another episode of This Is Us. In case you are on the bench, you can see it again on Saturday 2/27 at 1:30 p.m.

If you like history, we've found just the ticket and it's free! This is Us recently visited History Park where you can take a big step back in time and emerge in San Jose-1890. Many of the 27 buildings you'll see there are authentic, historic structures, moved to the park for preservation. A few have been replicated. The effect is fascinating.

You can stroll through the "town" or ride, in 1890's style, on the old San Jose trolley. When you get tired, take a seat in O'Brien's Candy Factory or watch the squirrels play from a park bench in the plaza.

The antique buildings are just the beginning. Docents, portraying people from the past, can be found in the print shop, the one room school house, theDashaway Stables even the doctor's office. We were able to interview many of these characters for upcoming episodes of This is Us including Charlie Parkhurst, the colorful stagecoach driver (pictured above), who drove between San Jose and Santa Cruz. Join This is Us for backdoor tours of History Park on March 10th & 17th.