Crosscurrents

André E. Preston has never been defined by one art form, hobby, or passion. His interests range from music to comic books to outer space. He’s the creator of a graphic novel series and accompanying live performance called “The Universal Funk Opera.” 

The show is on at Neck of The Woods Saturday November 15, 2025!

Today, a story about leaving this world… and coming back. Then, a new film about a daughter learning to accept her gay father. And, why unhoused people use “street names.” 

An Uncuffed story from the California Institution for Women about leaving this world and coming back. 

In the new film, “Fairyland,” a poet moves across the country to San Francisco, with his young daughter in the 1970’s. In their new community, the father, Steve Abbott, lives openly as a gay man.  The film explores his relationship with his daughter, Alysia, as she tries to make sense of it all. 

“Fairyland” is based on the memoir Alysia wrote in 2013. KALW’s Sights and Sounds host Jenee Darden spoke with filmmaker Andrew Durham. Here’s an excerpt from their conversation.

Here's SF’s poet laureate Jenny Lim reading her piece “Time traveler, For Bob Kaufman and John Coltrane.”

The Northern California chapter of Society of Professional Journalists recently announced their 2025 award winners… KALW took home four awards! So next we’re bringing you an episode from Sidewalk Stories, which won a Public Service award.  

The series Sidewalk Stories, is a collaboration between Crosscurrents and the East Bay’s Street Spirit newspaper/ where we hear from unhoused people about how they survive and build a life outside. And in this piece, we hear about “street names."

The California Zephyr is an iconic trainline between the Bay Area and Colorado. Today, the railroad's surprising impact on food and civil rights in the state. All aboard for an episode of California Foodways.

Today, we celebrate the legacy and work of StoryCorps. And we play you some of our favorite conversations recorded right here, in the Bay Area.

Today, how a Bay Area town remembers Humphrey the Humpback, forty years on from his 1985 dramatic visit to the Bay Delta.

On October 10, 1985, a humpback whale dubbed “Humphrey” got lost and swam nearly 70 miles inland, inspiring one of the largest and most publicized whale rescues in U.S. history.