KQED's Perspectives

In 1977, 23-year-old Jake Carpenter set out to design a better version of the Snurfer, a stand-up sled he loved to ride as a teenager. Working by himself in a barn in Londonderry, Vermont, he sanded and whittled stacks of wood, trying to create the perfect ride. He eventually helped launch an entirely new sport, while building the largest snowboard brand in the world. PLUS for our postscript "How You Built That," how Jane Och solved the problem of guacamole turning brown, with a container that removes air pockets, the Guac-Lock.

Teachers are often sticklers for detail and Steve Hettleman says it's not just for the sake of being fussy.

Susan Dix Lyon’ daughter is 14, the age where connection becomes a stubborn equation.

Jon Weller’s family home, like so many tangibles, was lost to the Wine County fires. The intangibles are all that’s left.

Marilyn Englander teaches ESL classes, where she sees the determination, spirit and passion that build a great country.

As the Wine Country fires were raging, most of us could only look on from afar in horror and anxiety, hope for the best and do what we can to nurture our own safety. Kate Gustin has this Perspective.

At age 22, Whitney Wolfe helped launch Tinder, one of the world's most popular dating apps. But a few years later, she left Tinder and filed a lawsuit against the company alleging sexual harassment. The ensuing attention from the media – and cyberbullying from strangers – prompted her to launch Bumble, a new kind of dating app where women make the first move. Today, the Bumble app has been downloaded more than 20 million times. PLUS for our postscript "How You Built That," how Michelle Innis invented De-Fishing soap to freshen up her fisherman husband, and how it wound up in WalMart.

Northern California has been united in tragedy, but Holly Hubbard Preston says it also is united in something bigger -- acts of grace.

Pete Gavin has evacuated his Napa Valley house and doesn’t know its fate. But his home is strong and secure.

Faced with destruction of his family cabin in the 2016 Soberanes fire, Stan Goldberg reflects on the meaning of memory and loss.

Dontae Rayford encounters racial animus where he'd least expected it.

When Adam Shaw's home full of beautiful things was threatened by wildlife, he had to save what matters most.

In 1989, college senior Wendy Kopp was trying to figure out how to improve American public schools. For her senior thesis, she proposed creating a national teaching corps that would recruit recent college grads to teach in underserved schools. One year later, she launched the nonprofit, Teach for America. Today, TFA has 50,000 alumni, a budget of nearly $300 million, and continues to place thousands of teachers across the country. PLUS in our postscript "How You Built That," how a game of Secret Santa led Chris Waters to create Constructed Adventures, elaborate scavenger hunts for all occasions.

Away from the city, its quiet. Not really, says Peggy Hansen. It’s just the noise people make that’s absent.

Jayita Bhojwani visits a used book store and is reminded that a book can be so much more than a collection of words.