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
In an old church, the Internet Archive stores our digital history
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: The Internet Archive, San Francisco., Credit: Under CC license from Flickr user Beatrice Murch
In San Francisco’s Richmond District, where Geary Boulevard meets Park Presidio, there stands a bright, white, defunct Christian Science church. Th...

Bought by New Hampshire Public Radio and PRX Remix


  • Added: Feb 04, 2015
  • Length: 06:37
  • Purchases: 2
Walk like a Radical: A tour through a century of progressive South Asians in the Bay Area
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: A recreation of protests by South Asian Berkeley students against emergency in India., Credit: Berkeley South Asian Radical Walking Tour
In 2012, Barnali Ghosh began the Berkeley South Asian Radical History Walking Tour with her husband, Anirvan Chatterjee.

  • Added: Feb 03, 2015
  • Length: 08:08
New law gives undocumented Californians a chance to apply for driver’s licenses
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: People wait for their numbers to be called inside the San Jose Driver's License Processing Center, Credit: Angela Johnston
Rosa Santos is leaning over a pile of forms and documents in the corner of the San Jose’s new DMV. I meet her along with her friend. They’re both a...

  • Added: Feb 03, 2015
  • Length: 06:44
Navigating San Francisco’s pretzel bureaucracy
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Piece image
Starting a small business in the Bay Area can be quite a chore. To be successful, you have to twist yourself into unusual shapes.

  • Added: Feb 03, 2015
  • Length: 08:43
The Source: Boom time at San Francisco’s Presidio
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Piece image
San Francisco is America’s second most densely populated area, after Manhattan. And with new construction all over town, it’s going to get even den...

  • Added: Feb 03, 2015
  • Length: 06:01
Touch Of Grey: Lecturing to retired Deadheads
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Peter Richardson lecturing about the legacy of the Grateful Dead., Credit: Jeremy Dalmas
Peter Richardson, a lecturer at San Francisco State, was teaching a course on the Grateful Dead at a school for adults over 50. A cultural history ...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jan 26, 2015
  • Length: 07:44
  • Purchases: 1
Preserving ancient Coptic heritage in the East Bay
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Priests at morning mass in St Antonius Coptic Church, Credit: Hana Baba
The majority of Coptic churches in the country are in California. One of the oldest - St Antonius Coptic Church - is nestled in the Hayward hills. ...

  • Added: Jan 26, 2015
  • Length: 10:39
Black folks in nature
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Rue Mapp, founder of Outdoor Afro, leads a group on a white water adventure, Credit: Outdoor Afro
There's a mountain of statistics that suggest black Americans don’t go out in nature as much as people of other ethnicities, but one Bay Area organ...

Bought by KSKA and New Hampshire Public Radio


  • Added: Jan 14, 2015
  • Length: 06:22
  • Purchases: 2
A park ranger and Buffalo Soldier
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Yosemite National Park ranger Shelton Johnson in uniform as a "Buffalo Soldier."
Shelton Johnson is a ranger at Yosemite National Park. He’s part Cherokee, part African American, and part Seminole. And he’s used his background ...

Bought by New Hampshire Public Radio and WABE


  • Added: Jan 14, 2015
  • Length: 08:28
  • Purchases: 2
Why are there anti-Muslim ads on our public buses?
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Piece image
Earlier this fall San Francisco Muni buses displayed an ad that may have upset you. Or angered you. Or made you feel threatened. The Muni ad was pa...

  • Added: Jan 14, 2015
  • Length: 09:04
Care to join me in a Mint?
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: The Old Mint is currently used for special events. There are also tours on weekends.
The Old Mint was the only financial institution still operational following the 1906 earthquake and fire. At one time, it held a third of the natio...

  • Added: Jan 14, 2015
  • Length: 07:08
The Greenhouse Project: Bringing San Francisco’s forgotten flower farm back to life
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Piece image
In 2002, Juan Carlos Cancino, was riding his bike around town and found an entire city block of dilapidated greenhouses, near a hill in the Portola...

  • Added: Jan 13, 2015
  • Length: 08:44
Video game artists thrive in Bay Area
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Piece image
If Vincent Van Gogh lived in the Bay Area now rather than the Netherlands in the 19th century, maybe he would have been a popular video game design...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jan 13, 2015
  • Length: 08:50
  • Purchases: 1
How one Oakland school is getting kids to class
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: A board encouraging attendance greets students and parents as they walk into Garfield Elemantary School, Credit: Isabel Angell
Oakland schools have a dropout rate that’s higher than the state average. So, the district made solving the problem a priority. Officials started t...

  • Added: Jan 13, 2015
  • Length: 06:18
Robots for humanity: how technology is changing the life of one Bay Area man
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Jane and Henry Evans at their house, Credit: Angela Johnston
Then, Henry suffered from what is called a brain stem dissection. That stroke left him trapped, unable to lift a finger at first, or say a word. Bu...

Bought by New Hampshire Public Radio and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jan 13, 2015
  • Length: 09:33
  • Purchases: 2
Robotic seals comfort dementia patients but raise ethical concerns
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Paro the seal, charging by its electronic pacifier , Credit: Angela Johnston
At the Livermore Veteran’s Hospital, there are a few animals residents can see: wild turkeys that run around the grounds, rattlesnakes that hide ou...

Bought by New Hampshire Public Radio and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jan 13, 2015
  • Length: 08:27
  • Purchases: 2
Capturing a life in stone: Blending artistry & culture to honor the dead
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Judi Leff at her parents' grave in Colma , Credit: Melanie Young
When someone we love dies, how can a headstone express who they were? The answer begins with diamonds.

  • Added: Jan 12, 2015
  • Length: 07:32
Mission High and Bi-Rite Market partner in a neighborhood divided
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Piece image
San Francisco’s Mission District. It’s a neighborhood where Mark Zuckerberg now owns a home, and a place where an affluent, whiter population is di...

  • Added: Jan 12, 2015
  • Length: 06:23
Silicon Valley's Prehistoric Past
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Construction site at the Calaveras Dam in the East Bay hills.
When work began to rebuild the Calaveras Dam, Paleontologist Jim Walker was called to the scene to hunt for fossils. He expected to find a few, but...

Bought by KUOW


  • Added: Jan 12, 2015
  • Length: 05:50
  • Purchases: 1
Could a once-a-day pill end the HIV epidemic in San Francisco?
From: KALW
Series: Crosscurrents
Caption: Mural portrait of Esteban Cuaya-Muñoz at the Oakland Museum of California, by artist Brett Cooke
In November, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors approved legislation allocating $300,000 to help San Franciscans who want PrEP to get access to i...

  • Added: Jan 12, 2015
  • Length: 05:21