Crosscurrents

An Oakland musician challenges traditions, while also keeping them alive. Today, the music of World War 2 incarceration camps that helped Japanese Americans protest, connect, and heal. Then, Hrishikesh Hirway, host of the hit podcast Song Exploder, shares how the show, and his new album, came to be.

Today we start with this question: What are the first sounds that come to mind when you think about war? If you happen to say music  - you’re not alone. Oakland musician Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto would agree.She is a beloved musician who has played music her whole life. And it’s music deeply influenced by her family’s history. She’s the descendant of Japanese immigrants who were incarcerated during World War 2. Even after nearly seven decades of performing, Muramoto still shares the songs, and histories, with anyone who wants to listen. KALW’s Cara Nguyen wanted to know more.

Hrishikesh Hirway is best known as the host of the hit podcast Song Exploder - where he asks musicians to break down their creative process. Last spring, KALW’s Music Director Tshego Letsoalo got the distinct privilege of creating a sort of offshoot to Hirway’s podcast with Song Exploder Remix. Each week she stitches together a few episodes from the podcast around a common theme. And the only place you can hear it is on KALW!Now, Hirway has released an album of his own, called In the Last Hour of Light. He’ll be performing here in the Bay this coming weekend. Tshego spoke with Hear-way to learn more about his relationship with music. Here’s part of their conversation.

Today, we hear about a new women’s tackle football team has touched down in Oakland. Then, the past, present, and future of women’s basketball in the Bay.

Football is the most popular sport in America. But, that love doesn’t necessarily extend to athletes who aren’t cisgender men. And old, out-dated attitudes about who can (and should) play football, aren’t stopping athletes from making their mark on the sport. At Oakland’s Laney College, there’s a storm brewing… The Golden State Storm to be exact! It’s the newest women’s tackle football team in the Women's National Football Conference. Kris Grimes is the team's star running back. KALW's Jordan Karnes spoke to Grimes about their move to the Bay Area, and the effort to help the Storm build a competitive team.

Last year, here at KALW, we rebooted our sports podcast, BOUNCE to follow the Valks progress through their first season in the Bay. And BOUNCE will be back following the second Valks season that just started. So recently we hosted a live event celebrating the launch: a tip off party. The event featured a panel discussing Valkyries, and explored the past, present and future of women’s basketball in the Bay Area.

Oakland is at a crossroads with its policies on homelessness. Today, we hear a conversation with Oaklandside housing and homelessness reporter Natalie Orenstein. But first, why it used to be an uphill battle to publish poetry about motherhood. A special live recording of “The Mother Of It All, podcast.” Plus, a reading from a local author. 

Leading up to Mother’s Day, KALW’s show Bay Made, our series that features local audio storytellers, has been airing episodes of the podcast “The Mother Of It All.” The show dives into the different aspects about being a mother, with candid conversations about everything from pregnancy in the digital age, parenting trans children and even the cult of Dr. Becky. The hosts Sarah Wheeler and Miranda Rake capped off their week-long run of episodes on KALW by hosting a live taping of their podcast at our San Francisco live event space at 220 Montgomery. For their guest, they brought Rachel Richardson, the co-founder of Left Margin Lit, a literary arts community in Berkeley and the author of the poetry book “Smother.” In this excerpt, Richardson describes why she opens her book with a quote from J.D. McClatchy, the former editor of the Yale Review. McClatchy has written that he “automatically rejects any poem with the word mother in it."To wrap up the live taping Richardson read a piece she wrote about a tree-planting she took her kids too after the 2013 Rim Fire, here is her poem “After Fire.” Rachel Richardson will be speaking at the Bay Area Book Festival on May 30th. 

Life is going to get tougher for Oakland's homeless population. Last month, the city council approved a new law on encampment sweeps that gives new powers to conduct sweeps, no longer requiring the city to provide housing for those who are displaced.At the same time, Mayor Barbara Lee has established a new office on homeless affairs, pushing against this policy of removing encampments without offering temporary housing options. Natalie Orenstein is a senior reporter with The Oaklandside, who's been covering the story. She spoke to KALW's news editor Sunni Khalid to explore the tensions with two policies that seem at odds.

Today, a segment from New Arrivals- our pocket sized book tour with Bay Area authors. In her book ‘ Why Fly? San Francisco author and pilot Caroline Paul takes us into the cockpit for the harrowing seconds and quick decisions that need to be made during/ an engine failure. 

California is suing the federal government to save our Clean Air Act. Today, a conversation with our Attorney General Rob Bonta. Then, the lead singer of the band Electric Ex explains the process behind their new album Analog Therapy. Plus, authors read from their books about nature, and humanity.

Right now, the state of California has a very litigious relationship with the federal government. Currently our state is actively working on 67 separate lawsuits against Trump’s administration. The legal disputes range from tariffs, public housing funding, sanctuary city policies, ICE agents wearing masks and even birth right citizenship.And, something notable is that almost a quarter of all the lawsuits are related to protecting our environment. Staying on top of all the litigation is the job of our state's Attorney General Rob Bonta. A few weeks ago he visited our live event space in downtown San Francisco to talk with Ethan Elkind, the host of KALW’s show Climate Break.Bonta spoke about one of the most crucial climate lawsuits that is in the court system right now, the fight for our state’s Clean Air Act. Nearly half of our carbon emissions come from transportation, but last year the US Senate voted to block California’s mandate to phase out gas-powered cars by 2035.  In this excerpt, Bonta gives an update on how the lawsuit to protect the Clean Air Act is progressing…

Treasure Island is changing fast — and a new professional women’s soccer facility is part of that transformation. Today, how it’s bringing opportunity, and uncertainty. Then, the artists behind a climate inspired art show in Downtown San Francisco.

Treasure Island redevelopment is underway. For months, construction crews have been building new housing, parks, and roads, transforming the island from a quiet, low-income community into one of San Francisco’s biggest new neighborhoods. The city hopes to bring thousands of new residents to the Island /as part of its plan to expand housing across San Francisco. Reporter Grace McCarty takes us to the island to share progress on one of the new developments: a training facility for Bay FC, the Bay Area’s newest professional women’s soccer team.

For the past couple of years KALW has had a second home at the Mills Building on Montgomery Street in Downtown San Francisco. Besides making great radio here, and training new journalists, we host lots of live events for listeners… like you!Recently one of those events brought guests deeper into the building… to a curated installation inside the halls of the Mills Building: Earth, Air, Fire, Water. It's a multimedia exhibition featuring Bay Area artists that focus on climate change and elemental forces, and invites viewers to consider climate change as an ongoing condition embedded in everyday life.The evening was hosted by KALW’s Ben Trefny in partnership with the Swig company. In this excerpt we hear from the curator of this exhibit, Carey Hurtado, and artists Tanya Geis and Andrew Owen. First, Ben asks Carey - what’s the exhibit all about?

Today, a conversation about how AI is rapidly shaping, and changing, journalism. Then, we hear how more and more people are turning to AI chatbots to help with grieving.

Nowadays, there is a good chance you have heard - or been in conversations about- all the different ways that artificial intelligence is changing the landscape of work. And it’s real.U.S. hospitals have doubled their adoption of AI in two years.Finance companies now execute 70% of equity trades through AI algorithms. And Amazon deployed over 1 million warehouse robots that have boosted productivity per worker by more than 20 times.But journalism is still figuring out what it means. In a recent survey of over 70 countries, nearly 80% of newsrooms had no formal AI policy. KALW is no exception, we are still having very active discussions about the ways AI can or cannot fit into our set of values. To better understand this rapidly changing tool, our live events team put together a panel of people working in different media organizations facing the same question. The panelists were, Katherine Ann Rowlands, who leads Bay City News Foundation, /Ernesto Aguilar of KQED, who oversees content innovation /and Griffin Gaffney, CEO and co-founder of The San Francisco Standard. They were in conversation with KALW’s Executive Producer Ben Trefny.In this excerpt, we begin by hearing Gaffney explaining how The Standard is addressing AI in their newsroom. 

Artificial intelligence is not just changing how we get our information, but also in some cases, how we emotionally process a major life event, like death. When loved ones die we find ways to hold on  — through photos, stories, and keepsakes. Now, things like AI memorial platforms and companion chatbots offer digitized connection with the dead. But with these technologies becoming more common, what are the benefits, and costs, of grieving with a chatbot? KALW’s Artificial Intelligence reporter NeEddra James brings us the story.  

One mariachi ensemble in the Bay Area is reframing traditions. Today, we bring you the art and music of Mariachi Femenil. Then, we hear how seven thousand stranded passengers in a small Canadian town inspired a broadway musical.

Today is Cinco de Mayo! And for the Bay Area that means lots of events featuring mariachi! Many of the songs are sung from the men’s perspectives, and they sometimes carry machismo messages. Mariachi Femenil Orgullo Mexicano is changing that narrative. 

How seven thousand stranded passengers in a small Canadian town inspired a broadway musical.

This month, a transitional housing program for unhoused people in Oakland is closing. Then, how poetry can invite us to celebrate the threads that connect us to one another.

Today, we’re going to feature some of the musicians who have provided a soundtrack for Bay Area protests, the Brass Liberation Orchestra.

Struggling with homelessness can make it hard to maintain simple routines. Today, the artist inviting the unhoused community to come as they are. Then, one new novel is inspired by the legacy of environmental racism.

Today, we'll see how an encampment in Berkeley is coming together with the help of one resident.

One new novel from an Oakland writer is inspired by the legacy of environmental racism.

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.

Poets have always given a voice to social movements. So today, we bring you a conversation with San Francisco’s first Latino Poet Laureate about how this art from shows up now. 

A Palestinian folk dance group is bringing their people’s story to the big stage. Blending the old and the new into one struggle for freedom. And, a first generation immigrant from the Palestinian and Lebanese diaspora shares poetry. Plus, how the wrongful conviction of two Filipino-immigrant nurses inspires a dance production in San Francisco.

Dabke is an Arabic folk dance with roots in Palestine. In Oakland, one troupe is bringing the generations-old dance to the big stage on April 26th- along with the story of their people’s struggle for freedom. 

Today we will be listening to musician and poet Camellia Boutros read an excerpt from her poem.

How the wrongful conviction of two Filipino-immigrant nurses inspires a dance production in San Francisco.

Today, how the ocean can be a very queer place, literally and metaphorically. Then, one play is bringing the excitement of basketball to the stage. And, a poem that takes photobombing to an almost spiritual level.

There is a growing number of people connecting with the ocean through the outdoor activity called tidepooling. KALW Reporter Anna takes us to a queer tidepooling events in the Bay Area to figure out what makes exploring these places on our coasts important, particularly for queer folks.

The play “Flex” takes audiences back to 1998, right after the launch of the WNBA. It is an exciting time for a high school girls basketball team in a dusty, rural Arkansas town. The young ladies are playing hard to win a state championship.

For poetry month Berkeley poet Zack Rogow ponders how the simple act of photobombing persists with a life of its own. 

Today, we hear how the need for housing can clash with the need to protect our natural resources. Then, how residents of the agricultural town of Pescadero have been dealing with flooding for decades.

Cities along the Bay Area shoreline are trying to restore wetlands to help mitigate floods and fight climate change. But as housing prices in the Bay skyrocket some cities like Newark, are also looking to that empty land to build housing.

Pescadero is a small farming town about two miles east of highway 1 on the coast. Today how the residents of the agricultural town in San Mateo County have been dealing with flooding for decades.

Today, we peer through the lens of over 120 years of Muni photography. Then, an immersive show that is set in one of the San Francisco homes that survived the 1906 earthquake. And, a dad gets a first class lesson in empathy at a family visit in prison.

A photographic exhibit at City Hall that came from a hidden archive highlights one of San Francisco’s most venerable institutions.

"EARTHQUAKE! Shaken, But Standing Strong" is an immersive historical show and tour of the surviving Haas-Lilienthal House that will take place on April 17 and 18.

Uncuffed producer Michael Callahan shares a story about how sometimes the roles get reversed when he's parenting from prison. 

For poetry month Oakland poet James Cagney walks us down memory lane with an ode to the home he grew up in. Here is his piece 'What Remains Eternal.'

Today, a conversation with Congressional candidate Marie Hurabiell. Then, the return of the East Bay literary festival Beast Crawl. And, we honor poet Bob Kaufman.

KALW’s State of the Bay has been inviting the candidates for California’s 11th district to come on their show. And we’ve been airing segments of those conversations here on Crosscurrents this month.Today, the final candidate in the series: Marie Hurabiell.

April is National Poetry Month and Downtown Oakland has some of the best Bay Area poets delivering powerful prose. That’s because they’re part of the annual Beast Crawl, Oakland’s longest running literary festival. 

April is National Poetry Month but it is also the birthday month of one of San Francisco's most iconic poets, Bob Kaufman. To mark the occasion, Bay Poets host Josiah Luis Alderete reads one of Bob’s piece "Suicide" from his first book “Golden Sardine” published by City Lights Books in 1967.

Today, a local voice actor and kids podcaster talks about his experience with autism. Then, one new play features four Berkeley teenagers seeking figurative and literal harmony during a summer of music school. And, a local poet reminds us to take a breath.

Today we feature an award winning Bay Area creator who says being neurodivergent is exactly what helped him excel at what he does. Jonathan Cormur is a San Mateo county based voice actor, host of the award winning kids podcast Dorktales Storytime.