Crosscurrents

Series produced by KALW

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Context, culture and connection from around the Bay Area.

KALW's Crosscurrents is the Bay Area's public radio news magazine. Winner of three awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and voted "Best Local News Program" by SF Weekly, Crosscurrents brings you context, culture and connection from around the Bay Area.


356 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Law
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, founder of St. Paul's Reconciliation and Justice Center, Credit: Julie Caine
Reported by NPR's Jason DeRose, May 2014. Earlier this year the president of Uganda signed into law an Anti-Homosexuality Bill. It makes being gay...

Bought by WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass.


  • Added: May 21, 2014
  • Length: 06:44
  • Purchases: 1
Using technology to tell evicted tenants’ stories
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
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Protests against the tech industry’s impact on housing have grown in number and variety. They’ve been personal, with individual tech executives bei...

  • Added: May 21, 2014
  • Length: 05:23
A fresh food oasis in the Tenderloin
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Fahdl Radman,center, with advisors (l to r) Scott Schaffer and Larry Brucia of Sutti Associates, and Jessica Estrada of the Tenderloin Healthy Corner Store Coalition., Credit: Melanie Young
In San Francisco’s Tenderloin, getting healthy fare often isn’t an option. Without a full service grocery store in the neighborhood, residents rely...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio


  • Added: Jul 14, 2014
  • Length: 05:45
  • Purchases: 1
Oakland Museum takes 'Vinyl' off the shelf
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: ‘Vinyl: The Sound and Culture of Records’ at the Oakland Museum of California is open now until July 19th., Credit: Ashleyanne Krigbaum
Walking into ‘Vinyl: The Sound and Culture of Records,’ one of the newest exhibits at the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA), feels like hanging o...

Bought by KUOW


  • Added: Jul 14, 2014
  • Length: 09:09
  • Purchases: 1
Must love broccoli: A community garden plays matchmaker
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
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San Franciscans love to garden, but a backyard is hard to come by if you live in an apartment. And the 36 city-operated community gardens have wait...

  • Added: Aug 06, 2014
  • Length: 07:25
Interview: Jimmy Carter's call to action
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: KALW's Hana Baba with Jimmy Carter, 39th president of the United States
KALW’s Hana Baba met up with the former president during his recent stop in San Francisco to talk with him about his book, and the issues facing wo...

  • Added: Aug 06, 2014
  • Length: 28:02
The Nile Project: An East African musical journey
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Nile Project musicians rehearse in Kampala, Uganda, Credit: Julie Caine
In a quiet park in Kampala, Uganda, 14 musicians from eight different East African countries sit under a tree.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Aug 06, 2014
  • Length: 09:42
  • Purchases: 1
Meanwhile with Wendy MacNaughton
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Wendy MacNaughton in her San Francisco studio
Despite the media headlines, San Francisco isn’t just the backdrop for some tech zombie apocalypse. Beneath the Google Bus frenzy, San Francisco ha...

  • Added: Oct 08, 2014
  • Length: 09:21
San Francisco drug users bring harm reduction to the streets
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Piece image
There’s a plan circulating in San Francisco to make using crack cocaine safer: give away free crack pipes. It might sound farfetched, but it’s supp...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Oct 08, 2014
  • Length: 08:10
  • Purchases: 1
The New Gold Rush: How tourist rentals are affecting San Francisco’s housing market
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Can this property be legally rented to tourists?, Credit: Ben Trefny
The sharing economy in San Francisco is humming. Companies like Airbnb have figured out how to make a lot of money by using existing housing stock ...

  • Added: Oct 08, 2014
  • Length: 08:40
What could collapse the Golden Gate Bridge?
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: The Golden Gate Bridge, standing strong., Credit: Isabel Angell
Throughout film history, the Golden Gate Bridge has been leveled in earthquakes, ripped apart by apes, melted, and even bitten in half by a mega-sh...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Oct 14, 2014
  • Length: 07:31
  • Purchases: 1
What makes a street dangerous? Decoding deadly Van Ness Avenue
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: The intersection of Grove and Van Ness, where two people have died in 2014., Credit: Isabel Angell
Four people have been killed by cars on Van Ness Avenue in 2014 – more than half of the pedestrian deaths in San Francisco this year.

  • Added: Oct 14, 2014
  • Length: 05:58
How Rudy Corpuz is trying to save the ‘Hood
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Rudy Corpuz, Jr. (center) leads a Silence to Violence march down Market Street on September 4, 2014., Credit: Anna Kolhede
In the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco, at 1038 Howard Street, sits the United Playaz headquarters. United Playaz is an homegrown org...

  • Added: Oct 14, 2014
  • Length: 18:06
Richmond City Council getting civility codes
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
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The freedom of speech is a pillar of our democratic process...it’s supposed to welcome all voices. But what happens those voices sow hate, or threa...

Bought by KVSC


  • Added: Oct 14, 2014
  • Length: 05:34
  • Purchases: 1
Getting around San Francisco after 65
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Christine Atkinson being helped off an On Lok van by driver Esteban Escobedo., Credit: Isabel Angell
Part of getting older means you can’t get around like you used to. Maybe you can’t drive a car anymore, or hike up those big San Francisco hills to...

  • Added: Oct 14, 2014
  • Length: 05:24
Richmond youth learn agriculture and more at Urban Tilth's summer apprenticeship
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Urban Tilth summer apprentices Dante Ricardo, Carlos Hernandez, and Nikia Whittie in the Richmond High garden, Credit: Isabel Angell
It’s a sunny, windy afternoon in Richmond, and Adam Boisvert is out in a garden.

  • Added: Oct 14, 2014
  • Length: 04:35
ROCK program gives Visitacion Valley kids options after school
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
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Natasha Mahia, a student at El Dorado elementary school in Visitacion Valley, is one of ROCK’s biggest fans. ROCK stands for Real Options for City ...

  • Added: Oct 16, 2014
  • Length: 04:37
Oakland Wiki puts 'community brain' online
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
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When you’re trying to figure out a piece of information online, your search will typically bring you to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia about pr...

  • Added: Oct 16, 2014
  • Length: 10:56
This is Home: Journalism comes to the stage
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: RAW Talent poets in This is Home, Credit: Julia B. Chan/CIR
Donte Clark stands in the middle of a dimly lit stage. A projected photo of a dilapidated apartment building flickers on the wall behind him. In th...

  • Added: Oct 16, 2014
  • Length: 12:42
Programming bootcamps: will they shake up the industry?
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Dev Bootcamp class, Credit: Rachel Wong
Around 20 students are standing in a circle in a big open office space. There are both men and women, mostly in their 20s or 30s. One-by-one, they...

  • Added: Oct 16, 2014
  • Length: 07:15