Bay Curious

The San Mateo-Hayward Bridge is the longest bridge in California. But the one you drive across today is not the original bridge — that one was built in 1929. Reporter Rachael Myrow looks into the history of the first bridge to cross the San Francisco Bay, and what happened to it.

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This story was reported by Rachael Myrow. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Attila Pelit and Holly Kernan.

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At 3841 18th Street in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood sits a light blue Victorian, not unlike the countless other homes of that style in the city. Except this one is a major tourist destination—if you're French, that is. What makes this particular Blue House so special? We turn to NPR Culture Correspondent Chloe Veltman (who is half French herself) for the the very musical answer to this question.

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This story was reported by Chloe Veltman. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Attila Pelit and Holly Kernan.

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If you were walking down San Francisco’s Fillmore Street in the 1950s, chances are you might run into Billie Holiday stepping out of a restaurant. Or Ella Fitzgerald trying on hats. Or Thelonious Monk smoking a cigarette. In this episode, originally aired in 2020, reporter Bianca Taylor explores the rise of the Fillmore as a cultural center for jazz, and the "urban renewal" that ultimately changed the identity of the neighborhood, and forced out many of its residents.

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This story was reported by Bianca Taylor. This episode was produced by Katrina Schwartz and Asal Ehsanipour. Audio engineering was by Rob Speight and Christopher Beale. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, and Holly Kernan.

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California is aiming to be powered 100% by clean energy by 2045, but there’s still a long way to go. With 840 miles of coastline, could California turn to the ocean as a potential source of power? Reporter Holly J. McDede explores past and present attempts to harness the power of waves, and whether this technology may finally be about to crest.

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This story was reported by Holly J. McDede. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, Christopher Beale and Brendan Willard. Additional support from Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Attila Pelit and Holly Kernan.

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If you're like most people, by now you've been inundated by buzz about the new movie, "Oppenheimer," which chronicles the life of the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb. When he was selected for the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer was a professor at UC Berkeley. Science reporter Lesley McClurg looked into his time at Berkeley, and how he and the school itself helped to make the devices that ended WWII.

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This story was reported by Lesley McClurg. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, Christopher Beale and Brendan Willard. Additional support from Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Attila Pelit, and Holly Kernan.

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Our question asker noticed the Bay Area has many professional men's teams but not a single women's or non-binary professional team. What gives? Smaller cities are able to pull it off, why can't we? In this episode we dive into the history of elite women's sports in the region. We'll learn about some professional teams from yesteryear, plus new efforts underway to make a women's team succeed here.

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This story was reported by Kelly O'Mara. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, Christopher Beale and Brendan Willard. Additional support from Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Jenny Pritchett and Holly Kernan.

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The office vacancy rate in downtown San Francisco is hovering around 30%. Meanwhile, thousands of people are living without shelter on city streets. Bay Curious listener Judith Gottlieb wonders if those empty offices can be converted into housing for people experiencing homelessness. In this episode of Bay Curious, we'll break down what it takes to turn an office into a home, and explore another option for housing people that is gaining more traction.

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This story was reported by Pauline Bartolone. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Jenny Pritchett and Holly Kernan.

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The martini is iconic. Not just because of James Bond, but the glass it’s served in, those neon signs in front of old school bars … it even has its own emoji. It was also created in the Bay Area, though where, specifically, is up for debate. As part of a collaboration with The California Report Magazine, reporter Bianca Taylor shakes up this story about the martini's origins for the series Golden State Plate.

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Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts

This story was reported by Bianca Taylor. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Jenny Pritchett and Holly Kernan.

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One of the first instances of rap lyrics being used during a criminal trial goes back to the early 90s, and the trial of legendary rapper Mac Dre. Dre is best known as one of the pioneers of 'hyphy' music, which helped put Bay Area hip-hop on the map. There’s a lot of lore around what happened during Mac Dre’s trial, so as part of That’s My Word, KQED’s yearlong project on Bay Area hip-hop history, reporter Jessica Kariisa set out to discover what really happened.

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Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts

This story was reported by Jessica Kariisa. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, Christopher Beale and Brendan Willard. Additional support from Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Jenny Pritchett and Holly Kernan.

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People travel from all over the world to see California's beautiful redwood forests. But some of these spectacularly tall and long lived trees aren't doing as well as they once were, particularly the ones in urban settings. Reporter Dana Cronin explores what makes these magnificent giants so unique, and why they're facing growing challenges.

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This story was reported by Dana Cronin. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, Christopher Beale and Brendan Willard. Additional support from Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Jenny Pritchett and Holly Kernan.

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