Crosscurrents

Parents and teachers alike are continuing to grapple with what has undoubtedly been a hot education topic- artificial intelligence. Any K through 12 student with an internet connected device has had access to ChatGPT and other powerful generative AI. 

And one big thing AI can do effectively? Writing. Essays. Homework assignments… So what has that meant for our schools and education? For his 2025 series The Homework Machine, reporter and researcher Jesse Dukes talked to teachers and students throughout California and across the country about AI.

Today we hear part one of his series.

Parents and teachers alike are continuing to grapple with what has undoubtedly been a hot education topic- artificial intelligence. Any K through 12 student with an internet connected device has had access to ChatGPT and other powerful generative AI. 

And one big thing AI can do effectively? Writing. Essays. Homework assignments… So what has that meant for our schools and education? For his 2025 series The Homework Machine, reporter and researcher Jesse Dukes talked to teachers and students throughout California and across the country about AI.

Today we hear part one of his series.

Here’s Youth Speaks alumni Larry Dorsey Jr reading his poem “Blind Man Dancing In The Rain.”

There's a new kind of solar on the block... but will law-makers allow renters to use plug-in solar? Then, a fully electric train ride into the future of Caltrains. And, one group is keeping fun at the center of something that’s the cause of a lot of grumbling -- litter. It's Oakland’s Trash Falcons!

Electricity prices have risen sharply over the past decade. A new, cheap solar power option could cut bills. But it’s facing legal challenges. Crosscurrents host Hana Baba sat down with KALW's climate reporter, Mary Catherine O’Connor, to learn more.

If you’ve ridden Caltrain anywhere between San Francisco and San Jose recently, you might have noticed that those trains have  made the jump to being fully electric. Gone are the days of the loud, lurching—and often smelly—diesel locomotives. 

And electrifying the 51 miles of railway along the Peninsula was not cheap. It was a multi-billion dollar modernization project. It’s also just a small part of a larger, statewide ambition: the California High Speed Rail system.

Last year, KALW’s transportation reporter, Zain Iqbal went on one of the new trains to see what’s changed with electrification.

Reporter Laura Isaza brings us this story from 2023, of one OAKLAND group tackling the trash near their home.

Today, two new stories from Uncuffed. Plus, a special conversation with the Sights and Sounds team about what they’re looking forward to in their second year.

Uncuffed Solano producer Saladin Rushdan loved his first car, a Mercury. But after he was sent to fight in the Vietnam War, he came back a changed man, with different feelings about the car of his youth.

Uncuffed producer Daniel Cowie struggled to find the courage to reach out to his father. But a conversation at Solano State Prison changed everything — and led to him finding his sister.