Bay Curious KQED

Nate Puckett lives, works and raises his kids on Alameda. In fact, he rarely leaves it. So he was surprised to learn that Alameda hasn't always been an island. We dig into a history with so many twists and turns it's make your head spin.

Additional Reading:

Alameda -- The Island That Almost Wasn't

Why Is Part of Alameda Island in San Francisco?

Bay Curious at Green Apple Books Event

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Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts
This story was reported by Pauline Bartolone. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and Katherine Monahan. Additional support from Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Joshua Ling, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED family.

Listener Allison Pennell recently saw a museum booklet featuring archival photos of Black residents watching the fire that consumed the city after the 1906. It got her wondering how this specific community fared after the quake, especially given the entrenched racism of the time.
Additional Reading:

Stunning Archival Photos Of the 1906 Earthquake And Fire

tanea lunsford lynx's We Were Here project

Entire set of Afro-American Oral Histories, Pre-WWII

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Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts
This story was reported by Katrina Schwartz. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale, Brendan Willard and Katherine Monahan. Additional support from Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Joshua Ling, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED family.

Depending on whom you ask, eucalyptus trees are either an icon in California or a fire-prone scourge. In today's episode, reporter Daniel Potter takes us on a journey through how this non-native tree came to the state. We'll learn why it was planted in such large numbers in the first place. Then we explore why some Eucalyptus groves have become a concerning wildfire threat.
Additional Reading:

Eucalyptus: How California's Most Hated Tree Took Root

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Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts
This story was reported by Daniel Potter. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Joshua Ling, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED family.

Bay Curious listener Lorraine Page likes to comb the Pescadero beaches for treasures in her spare time. She used to find abalone shells often, but says in the last ten years she hasn't seen any. She wants to know: what happened to all the abalone?
Additional Reading:

Climate Change-Induced Heatwaves Are Decimating California's Kelp and Abalone

Bay Curious Podcast Garage Event April 11

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Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts

This story was reported by Dana Cronin. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and Brendan Willard. Additional support from Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Joshua Ling, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED family.

Bay Curious listener Jules Winters has great memories of riding the school bus as a kid in suburban Philadelphia. When she moved to the Bay Area, she immediately noticed there weren't as many of those big yellow buses taking kids to school. She wants to know why.

Additional Reading:

Why Doesn't California Have More School Buses?

How the San Francisco School Lottery Works, And How It Doesn't

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Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts
This story was reported by Katrina Schwartz. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz, and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Erika Kelly, Dan Brekke, Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Joshua Ling, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED family.

Love it or hate, drag is a hot topic of conversation now. And you really can’t understand how we got to this point nationally without heading to San Francisco. Today we’re taking a crash course through decades of drag herstory to better understand it’s larger impact on San Francisco, and the country.
Additional Reading:

How SF's Drag Queens Shaped the City (and the World)

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Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. This story was reported by Christopher Beale. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Joshua Ling, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED family.