Salinas Underground

In this episode, we wrap up our experience at this years Ciclovia. This yearly events shuts down over 1 1/2 miles of Alisal Street to cars and allows pedestrians to take over. Seems like the words has got out because this event looked more organized and better attended than other years. The best part of this event is that it is mostly planned and accomplished by some of the awesome youth that lives in Salinas.

This week our guests are Paloma and Jehan from Salinas Valley Recycles also known as the Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority. The tell us about some upcoming events and programs they have going on. They also explain to us exactly what they do and how they are separate, and similar, from both the companies that pick up our garbage and the cities that all work together to try to minimize how much stuff we throw away.

This week we talk about Warcorpse, Cujo's band, show in Santa Cruz. If you have not listened to them time to hit up the old Google machine and listen for yourself. We also talk about the strange excitement about Salinas PD being featured in a TV show and we wonder how that helps "transparency" as the police chief claims. 

In this episode, James and Oz talk about the usual events and happenings going on around Salinas but one event changes the conversation. The Monterey County Republican Women recently invited Sherrif Joe Arpaio for lunch on the peninsula. Why they thought he was a good speaker is is baffling but it also shows that while Monterey County is a California county on the coast, it is still a very divided area politically.

This week our guests are Steven and Eva from Hole Foods Vegan Donuts. What makes their donuts vegan? Why did they start a vegan donut business in Salinas and many other questions get answered in this fun interview. Follow them on Instagram @vegandonuts831 to see where they pop-up next. And get there early, they sold 700 donuts in two hours at their last pop-up.

In this episode a scheduling conflict made us call in the services of our old friend and proprietor of XL Public House James for co-hosting duties along with Oz. They talk about the upcoming arrival of Caltrain service to Salinas. Also, now that Salinas has some sort of nightlife to speak of how does it compare to other cities in the area?

This week in addition to our usual events calendar and talk about local news our guests are a couple of the cast members from the musical HAIR currently going on at the Western Stage. Colin and Lizzy tell us all about what makes this musical special and share their personal history at the Western Stage. The next shows are Friday, August 31st and September 1st so go to WesternStage.com and get your tickets!!

In this episode, we welcome our new social media manager Leah!! She does not only help us make our social media better but she is also the person to talk to if you have an event that you would like us to add to our event calendar and mention during our events segments of the podcast. We also talk about a cool new portal the city of Salinas has that allows anyone to access a ton of city data. We go through some of the most interesting numbers. How many city employees make over $100k? How many LED streetlights do we have in town, figure out here!

This week we talk about major economic changes coming to Salinas. Will the corner of Blanco and Main be home to a new shopping center and will the center have Trader Joes? Also, a major development being planned by the airport might finally bring the R&D jobs that Oz has been yelling about for years. Also upcoming events and general madness!

This weeks episode is all about the social event of the year in Salinas, the Rodeo! This is the week that everyone dusts off their cowboy boots and heads over to the Sports Complex for a huge party. We talk about the events happening around the parade and our memories of past rodeos.

This week our guest is Roxie Heartless, a local quad skater that you can find on the track with the Faultline Derby Devilz or on a quarter pipe at the Salinas skate park. She tells us all about the local roller derby scene and the growing extreme quad scene not just in Monterey County but all over the world. 

This week Oz and Cujo pull out their voter's guides and go through the whole ballot for the upcoming primary elections on June 5th. The voter's guide is over 60 pages long with a whole bunch of writing which can get difficult to get through so we did it for you and present it to you in this episode. Don't forget to vote on June 5th!

In this episode, we talk about the evolution of Netflix and how 5 years ago you would shy away from a show that was a "Netflix Original". Now they are spending hundreds of millions on production and hoarding awards.

This episode was recorded on Mothers Day so we decided to ditch our moms and go to Alvarado Street to drink a record a podcast. Oz updates Cujo on the progress of his tiny podcast production startup called Salad Bytes Media. To follow along on that journey follow @SaladBytesMedia on Twitter and Instagram.

This episode contains the usual Salad Bowl of topics which is usually just Oz releasing a stream of consciousness on the microphone while Cujo does his best to keep track of all the topics. This week Oz gives us an update on his podcast production company Salad Bytes media and gives his opinion on why he thinks red-light cameras in Salinas would be a bad idea.

For the third year in a row, a huge party is going down at Natividad Creek Park this Sunday, May 6! This week we welcome back our old friend Leti Hernandez from Local Urban Gardeners and Todd Farrington from the Big Sur Land Trust to tell us all about the free event. There will be a huge variety of activities and representatives from a lot of local organizations ready to answer any questions. We also talk about the progress Big Sur Land Trust has made with the Carr Lake project in the middle of town. 

In this episode, Oz talks about the awkwardness of walking with a couple of people having a conversation about God and his attempts to not have to answer any questions. He then gives Cujo a long lesson on his interpretation of Existentialism and why he desperately wanted to stay out of the conversation. 

In this episode, Oz talks about his latest project a podcast production company called Salad Bytes Media. He talks about where he is in the business process so far and what the long-term goals are. Can a podcast production company exist and make money in Salinas? Follow along to find out.

This week our guest is Rob from Masa for the Raza Podcast. Way back in the day Rob used to do a restaurant review series for Salinas Underground then he branched off to start his own show. It's always fun to have him back and to reminisce and drink many beers. Check out Masa for the Raza on YouTube and Instagram and anywhere quality podcasts are available!

There are not very many Mexican-American bioengineering post-graduates that attend Stanford and even rarer is one born and raised in Salinas. Rolando Cruz checks all those boxes and he sat down with Oz during a talk about the Bracero program held at the Steinbeck Center. He has an amazing story that goes from a small trailer in Baronda to the halls of Stanford and now he is ready to come back and help inspire others with his love of science. If you need some life inspiration this is your episode.