SHOW: Electric School Buses And Warriors Heritage Nights
Today, we hear about Oakland’s new electric school buses and how the Trump policies have affected clean transit. Plus, celebrating the diverse populations of the Bay Area.
May 01, 2025•27 min
Crosscurrents
Crosscurrents is KALW Public Radio's award-winning news magazine, broadcasting in the Bay Area Mondays through Thursdays on 91.7 FM. We make joyful, informative stories that engage people across the economic, social, and cultural divides in our community.
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Episodes
Teachable moments at the electric school bus stop
School buses pollute the air and can make students feel dysregulated. Switching to electric can help, but it’s a test of political will.
May 01, 2025•7 min
Impact of Trump's first 100 days on clean transportation projects.
Since the Trump administration put a hold on funding for climate programs back in January, federal support for a wide range of climate related projects has been thrown into question.
May 01, 2025•9 min
Warriors games celebrate Bay Area’s eclectic cultures with heritage nights.
For Nanki Kaur watching basketball has always been a family ritual, and she’s also always been curious to learn about the different cultural communities in the Bay Area. Earlier in the season, she went to Heritage Nights at Warriors’ games and discovered the perfect combination of her two passions.
May 01, 2025•7 min
SHOW: Uncuffed: Hey Mr. DJ
Today, we hear from Uncuffed producer Anthony Ivy. He started working with Uncuffed inside Solano State Prison. Now he has a job on the outside with "The Uncuffed Playlist." Check out more Uncuffed episodes here !
Apr 30, 2025•27 min
SCRAP And Forging Ahead After The Unthinkable Happens
Today, we revisit a story about SCRAP, and how they help teachers keep their classrooms well stocked. Then, one woman’s painful but determined recovery.
Apr 29, 2025•25 min
Why are teachers paying for their own supplies?
SCRAP is a beloved San Francisco non-profit. It's a creative reuse and recycling center that collects and re-distributes tons of stuff. But now they will need to find a new home. While SCRAP looks for its next home and reliable funding to pay for it, we’re bringing you a story from 2016 to demonstrate the ways it serves teachers -- and why teachers need the help.
Apr 29, 2025•8 min
Book It: Finding a way forward from "Pieces You'll Never Get Back"
Samina Ali suffered a disastrous pregnancy, a lengthy coma, and a long, frustrating road to her life’s new normal. Her deeply personal memoir is "Pieces You'll Never Get Back."
Apr 29, 2025•14 min
SHOW: Comedy For Social Change And SF's Poet Laureate
Today, comedians who use humor as a form of political resistance. Then, will the A’s ever find a permanent home to play ball? And, we hear about San Francisco’s Poet Laureate.
Apr 28, 2025•27 min
Laughing through the fear: Comedians find power in humor
Today, we hear from a couple of comedians who share how they use humor as both a source of laughter and a form of political resistance
Apr 28, 2025•9 min
Will the vagabond A's ever find their forever home?
The team formerly known as the Oakland Athletics is playing their "home" games this season in a minor league park in Sacramento. The franchise still intends to move to Las Vegas in three years, but that move appears shrouded in a cloud of uncertainty.
Apr 28, 2025•8 min
San Francisco's Poet Laureate speaks for the people
April is National Poetry Month and to celebrate in proper style Bay Poets has been exploring the Poetry Center at SF State’s amazing archives. Today we wrap up the series and poetry month by talking about San Francisco’s current Poet Laureate, Genny Lim.
Apr 28, 2025•8 min
SHOW: Milkweed, Monarchs, And Migration
Today, the thousand mile journey one musician took to help butterflies migrate. Then, we hear about "Frankenstein" told through ballet. And, KALW’s own open mic night!
Apr 24, 2025•27 min
A musician’s thousand mile journey to help the monarch butterfly
Climate change and industrial agriculture have decimated the western monarch butterfly’s crucial food source, threatening the species. One Santa Cruz musician decided to take a thousand-mile journey to help the monarchs along their migration by planting milkweed.
Apr 24, 2025•14 min
Sights + Sounds: San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director Tamara Rojo on 'Frankenstein'
The San Francisco Ballet’s production of “Frankenstein” opens again on Saturday. Tamara Rojo is the Artistic Director of the San Francisco Ballet, and the first woman to lead the company. KALW’s Jenee Dardin spoke with Tamara about how dance offers a physicality to ’The Creature’s’ emotional struggle.
Apr 24, 2025•8 min
KALW's Open mic night presents: "Gone" by Yolanda Cazessus
On the final Friday of every month, KALW hands the mic over to you, our listeners, for an open mic night at our live event space in Downtown San Francisco. The evening is for local poets, musicians, storytellers, and really anybody with something to say. Today, we bring you an original song from Yolanda Cazessus. Yolanda was the winner of November’s Open Mic! Here she is singing her song, “Gone.”
Apr 24, 2025•5 min
SHOW: Looking For Falcons And Answers To Bird Flu
Barbara Lee is Oakland’s new mayor. Today, a conversation about the race and the immediate needs facing her office. Then, a reading from New Arrivals, our pocket-sized book tour. Plus, two famous falcons at Cal Berkeley have not been seen in months. And, how one poet from the east coast became part of San Francisco’s literary history.
Apr 23, 2025•27 min
Barbara Lee is Oakland's next mayor
Former Congresswoman Barbara Lee was declared the winner in last week's special election for Oakland’s next mayor. She defeated the strongest of her nine rivals, former City Councilman Loren Taylor, by a close, but comfortable margin.
Apr 23, 2025•7 min
New Arrivals: Luiza Flynn-Goodlett poetry collection
It’s Climate Week in San Francisco, so next up we’re bring you a reading from New Arrivals, our pocket sized book tour. Poet Luiza Flynn-Goodlett lives in Richmond. Her recent collection of poetry is “ Mud in Our Mouths .” In this reading she highlights the connections between people, planet, and our shared fate.
Apr 23, 2025•2 min
Berkeley’s famous falcons are missing as bird flu spreads
Peregrine falcons nesting on top of the Campanile at UC Berkeley have become local celebrities. Now, for the first time since their arrival, the birds have not been seen.
Apr 23, 2025•8 min
The jazzy musical poetry of Q.R. Hand Jr.
April is National Poetry Month, so here’s some more poetry! To celebrate in proper style Bay Poets has been exploring the Poetry Center at San Francisco State’s archives. Today’s poet was from the East Coast, and also helped shape San Francisco’s literary scene.
Apr 23, 2025•6 min
SHOW: Innovation In Green-Tech
Today, we hear about San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s first 100 Days in office from local reporters. Then, we’ll visit a research and design firm that’s spawned over a dozen start-ups for green tech. And, a poem about the entanglements of nature, and humanity.
Apr 21, 2025•27 min
SF's Otherlab spawns start-ups with green-tech to fight climate change
San Francisco's Mission district is home to Otherlab. Engineers there are working on projects from floating wind turbines to solar powered scooters. And one of it’s biggest focuses is new start ups. You can find Otherlab spin offs around the Bay Area, manufacturing products to fight climate change.
Apr 21, 2025•13 min
SHOW: Legacies Of Migration
Angel Island provides a compelling setting for a modern Ballet. Then, we discover a museum without walls. And, an East Palo Alto poet on her Louisiana Creole roots.
Apr 17, 2025•27 min
Oakland Ballet draws from the poetry of Angel Island detainees in new show
The Oakland Ballet’s newest performance, the “Angel Island Project," hopes to depict the experiences of Chinese immigrants who were victim to discriminatory travel policies.
Apr 17, 2025•8 min
California Migration Museum shares history without walls
The California Migration Museum doesn't exist in any one space. Instead, they recently launched a catalog of immersive experiences that are entirely digital and portable! You can watch from anywhere, but the real magic is in accessing their self-guided walks while wandering through one of San Francisco’s iconic neighborhoods. The city's storied history comes alive for anyone with a smartphone and a sense of curiosity.
Apr 17, 2025•8 min
Uncuffed: Telling The Truth
Have you ever lied to someone because you thought the truth would be too painful for them to hear? Today, it’s a new episode of Uncuffed - the podcast that empowers people in prison to tell their own stories. In this episode the team talks how being honest with your family while you’re still in prison can be both difficult, and rewarding. Uncuffed: Season 4, Ep. 5 - The Truth
Apr 16, 2025•27 min
SHOW: Lived Experience For Real Solutions To Homelessness
When talking about the issue of homelessness, unhoused voices are sometimes left out. Today we hear about lived experience and real solutions. Then, why one member of the original Star Trek cast is still celebrated by Black communities. And, the poet of the International Hotel.
Apr 15, 2025•27 min
Bay Agenda: Real solutions for unhoused people
To understand the lived challenges and real solutions unhoused people and their advocates are working for, KALW recently hosted a live panel as part of our Bay Agenda series.
Apr 15, 2025•10 min
The International Hotel's poet of struggle
Today, we hear Al Robles reading an excerpt from his poem “Cold Mountain in Chinatown” which he performed at the Poetry Center at San Francisco State on November 10th, 1976. You can watch Al's reading as part of the Poetry Center Digital Archive here !
Apr 15, 2025•6 min
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