Bay Curious

There's a hidden meaning behind the koi fish stencils, which can be found all over the Bay Area, and in some other cities too. In this episode, reporter Tamuna Chkareuli introduces us to artist Jeremy Novy's, the artist behind the koi, and we learn how to decode the hidden message within each design.  Additional Reading: Web post: Ever Seen A Koi Fish on the Sidewalk? Artist Explains Hidden Meanin...

Back in the early 1960’s, when BART was just a sketch on a map, planners with the young transit agency had a task in front of them. BART had to acquire some 2,200 parcels of land in order to build the future transportation system in the Bay Area. In this week's episode, Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman explores what happened next, and how decades later, memories of the homes and communities that were destroy...

The ruins of Sutro Baths, at the far western edge of San Francisco, are mysterious. Clearly something big used to stand here. Today we take you back in time to what visiting this grand swimming facility would have been like. Additional Reading: Inside Sutro Baths, San Francisco's Once Grand Bathing Palace $1.99 e-book deal available at: Amazon. Apple. Barnes & Noble. Google Play. Kobo. Sign up for...

San Francisco is 49 square miles, but contains more than 1,000 miles of sewer mains, running under every block. Take a trip with Bay Curious reporter Carly Severn into the depths of the city, and discover an otherworldly cave that has reached legendary status with some urban explorers. This story first aired in 2019. Additional Reading: Exploring San Francisco's Hidden Tunnels (YouTube) Tunnels Un...

Reporter Carly Severn gives Olivia Allen-Price a behind-the-scenes look at what it took to get under the streets of San Francisco for her 2019 story. If you value the work Bay Curious does, we’re asking for your financial support. Give at donate.kqed.org/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nate Puckett lives, works and raises his kids on Alameda. In fact, he rarely leaves it. So he was surprised to learn that Alameda hasn't always been an island. We dig into a history with so many twists and turns it's make your head spin. Additional Reading: Alameda -- The Island That Almost Wasn't Why Is Part of Alameda Island in San Francisco? Bay Curious at Green Apple Books Event Sign up for ou...

Listener Allison Pennell recently saw a museum booklet featuring archival photos of Black residents watching the fire that consumed the city after the 1906. It got her wondering how this specific community fared after the quake, especially given the entrenched racism of the time. Additional Reading: Stunning Archival Photos Of the 1906 Earthquake And Fire tanea lunsford lynx's We Were Here project...

Depending on whom you ask, eucalyptus trees are either an icon in California or a fire-prone scourge. In today's episode, reporter Daniel Potter takes us on a journey through how this non-native tree came to the state. We'll learn why it was planted in such large numbers in the first place. Then we explore why some Eucalyptus groves have become a concerning wildfire threat. Additional Reading: Euc...

Bay Curious listener Lorraine Page likes to comb the Pescadero beaches for treasures in her spare time. She used to find abalone shells often, but says in the last ten years she hasn't seen any. She wants to know: what happened to all the abalone? Additional Reading: Climate Change-Induced Heatwaves Are Decimating California's Kelp and Abalone Bay Curious Podcast Garage Event April 11 Read the tra...

Bay Curious listener Jules Winters has great memories of riding the school bus as a kid in suburban Philadelphia. When she moved to the Bay Area, she immediately noticed there weren't as many of those big yellow buses taking kids to school. She wants to know why. Additional Reading: Why Doesn't California Have More School Buses? How the San Francisco School Lottery Works, And How It Doesn't Sign u...

Love it or hate, drag is a hot topic of conversation now. And you really can’t understand how we got to this point nationally without heading to San Francisco. Today we’re taking a crash course through decades of drag herstory to better understand it’s larger impact on San Francisco, and the country. Additional Reading: How SF's Drag Queens Shaped the City (and the World) Show your love by donatin...

On Interstate 280, just south of the Sand Hill Road exit, near Stanford, there is this overpass that crosses over a long, skinny building. Bay Curious listener Eric Nelson has wondered what that building is for years. Turns out, scientists are unraveling the mysteries of the universe inside SLAC. We take you on a tour. Additional Reading: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe Inside SLAC Sign u...

Ever wonder why it can be so hard to fix your own appliances, laptops and other gadgets? Well, you're not alone. And there's a reason why so many things head to the landfill these days, rather than getting fixed. Bay Area "Fix It" advocates are taking matters into their own hands, while they wait for state laws to catch up. Additional Reading: Bay Area's 'Fix It' Culture Thrives Amid State's Forth...

Hike near Leona Heights in Oakland, and you might come across vibrant graffiti art painted on the concrete remnants of an old conveyor tram that transported rock down the hill. This week on the show, reporter Katherine Monahan reveals the history of this place, and talks to artists who have transformed it into an art gallery hidden in the woods. Additional Reading: Read the transcript for this epi...

It's a three-part transit lightning round! First we look at if aggressive driving has gotten worse in recent years. Then we take a trip on the San Francisco Water Taxi, and discover a low-cost way to get out on the San Francisco Bay. Finally, we crunch on the numbers on if the SMART Train in Sonoma and Marin is easing traffic along the 101 corridor. Buckle up, the answers are coming fast and furio...

When listener Beth Caissie moved to San Francisco she'd heard of Ghirardelli Chocolate, but she was surprised there were so many other fabulous chocolate shops around. She wondered if the lineage stretches all the way back to the Gold Rush. It does! And because high quality chocolate was produced here, innovative chocolate makers from all over the world have put their own cultural twist on the swe...

California's primary is just around the corner, on March 5, 2024. This year, there's a statewide Proposition on your primary ballot, but don't worry we've got you covered. Prop 1 asks voters two big questions: Should mental health funding be used for housing? And should the state borrow money to build more housing and treatment facilities? There's tons of interesting stuff in this one. Additional...

Look closely at a map of Oakland and you'll notice an odd spot that seems to have been cut out. That's the city of Piedmont. Bay Curious listener David Levine wanted to know how and why Piedmont came to be separate. And he's curious about how that history has affected the relationship between the two places. KQED's Chris Hambrick went to find out. This episode first aired in 2019, but we still get...

Last year, we invited Bay Curious listeners to submit questions about squirrels, and wow did you deliver! In today's episode KQED's Angela Corral joins in as we tackle the nut economy, why squirrel tails are so fluffy, where they sleep and how long they nurture their young. Additional Resources Yes, That Squirrel Might Be Taunting Your Dog. And More Squirrel Facts Read the transcript for this epis...

Wander onto the parade ground of Fort Scott, and one of the first questions that comes to mind is: "What is this place?" A large grassy field is bordered by tall beige buildings with red roofs. Their windows are boarded up and the place feels deserted. It's particularly odd because Fort Scott is just steps away from epic views over the Golden Gate Bridge, a well-traveled cycling path, and one of t...

The Bay Area's two water temples can be an unexpected finding if you stumble upon one. Stately, round, and featuring tall stone columns, the open-air structures look like they've been plucked right from ancient Rome. Bay Curious listener Will Hoffknecht wanted to know why these monuments exist and look the way they do. KQED’s Katherine Monahan traces their story back to the European colonization o...

When Bay Curious listener Lori Bodenhamer looks at Google Maps, she's always wondered why a small slice of Alameda island is part of San Francisco. The answer takes us all the way back to women the Spanish colonized the area. Additional Reading: Why Is Part of Alameda Island in San Francisco? Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest Your support mak...

For decades there was a phone service in Northern California that would read you the time and date if you dialed POP-CORN, the letters that represented 767-2676. That service went dark back in 2007, and Bay Curious listener George wants to know why. In this nostalgic episode, we take a romp through the innovative technlology that powered time-and-date services, and meet the beloved voice behind PO...

During World War II, 10,000 Italian citizens living in California were forced to leave their homes as part of security measures meant to protect the West Coast from enemy invasion. Others were forced to register as enemy aliens, and were subject to property seizures, curfews and travel restrictions. On this week’s show, Pauline Bartolone investigates what West Coast Italians faced during WWII, how...

In the 1960s and 70s, American beer drinkers didn't have many options. Large brewers were pumping out beer that was bland, tasteless and characterless. But in San Francisco, one small brewer was doing it differently. Their methods weren't new — they were making beer the old fashioned way — but their brew stood out as robust and flavorful among the sea of lackluster options. Their beer garnered a l...