Crosscurrents

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."

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.

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

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. 

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.

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!

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. 

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.

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.”

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.