NextGenRadio

Finding, coaching and training public media’s next generation.

what does it mean to be ‘home’ ?

Next Generation Radio is a five-day multimedia project highlighting the experiences of individuals in California, one of the fastest-growing states in America.

This project was produced in March 2023 in partnership with University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Our reporters are college and university students or early-career journalists.

A drag queen in a large blonde wig speaking into a microphone as she addresses the crowd. In her other hand she holds a purple butterfly net behind her head used to collect money.

‘DRAGGING’ HERSELF OUT: LONG BEACH DRAG QUEEN FINDS HER TRUE SENSE OF HOME

Pictured is Next Generation Radio participant Kait Lavo.

by KAIT LAVO

Jewels Long Beach, 42, has been grand marshall of the Long Beach pride parade, volunteers weekly in a local AIDS relief center and is the first drag queen to receive a key to the city.

A woman sits in front of a tree and a mural of several people.

FROM SKINNY TREES TO SOCIAL HOURS: AN ARMY VET’S JOURNEY HOME

Pictured is Next Generation Radio participant Rachel Livinal.

by RACHEL LIVINAL

Over a 24-hour period in October 1989, Melissa Degnan boarded a military helicopter and survived an emergency landing, hid behind what she remembered as the “world’s skinniest tree,” and buried the uniform she was wearing.

A mother smiles at the camera while sitting on a couch with her daughter sitting on her lap playing with her hands.

FINDING HOME BETWEEN TWO COUNTRIES, A RED CANOPY AND A PLATE OF PUPUSAS

Pictured is Next Generation Radio participant Tony Morales.

by TONY MORALES

Less than three miles from the USC campus, Blanca Villatoro molds pupusas under a red canopy on the street in front of her apartment complex. She named her food stand Pupuseria Lupita, after her 2-year-old daughter, who plays beside Villatoro as the pupusas cook on the griddle.

A young male sits on a gray couch in a living room with a file cabinet behind him and a stack of books on top.

COMING OUT AND COMING HOME

Pictured is Next Generation Radio participant Paloma Moreno Jiménez.

by PALOMA MORENO JIMÉNEZ

Ryan Wimsatt has two homes — one with the loving family that raised him and another with the friends who supported him as he came to terms with his queer identity.

A group of five standing on a Pier are seen smiling toward the camera.

FORMERLY INCARCERATED STUDENT FINDS HOME IN HIS FAITH

Pictured is Next Generation Radio participant Zaynah Waseem.

by ZAYNAH WASEEM

Philip Thang now relishes the ordinary and mundane.

“Just going to the supermarket, taking my mom to the supermarket and watching her shop was a dream come true for me. I dreamt that moment. Just take my mom to the store, you know, just help my dad around the house,” he said. “I realized that the joy in life is just the small things, not the big things.”