The Mariners Who Guide Massive Ships Into the Bay
If you ask mariners, they’ll tell you, navigating a boat from the open ocean into the San Francisco Bay is notoriously treacherous. There’s...
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Bay Curious
Bay Curious is a podcast about the unexplored San Francisco Bay Area. Each week we take a deep dive into the mysteries that make this area quirky, delightful and, at times, dysfunctional. It...
Bay Curious Podcast Guide
Listen to Bay Curious, a Society & Culture podcast by KQED. Stream 521 episodes in English, follow new audio stories, and play episodes online on Radio and Podcast.
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Episodes
20 of 521 episodesThe Yemeni Cafe Boom
The first Yemeni cafe opened in the Bay Area in 2022, and since then nearly 20 have opened their doors around the region. Inside you'll find...
The Bay Area Sex-Loving Commune That's Still Going Strong
In the 1960s and 70s the San Francisco Bay Area was home to many intentional communities and co-ops. A lot of people were interested in livi...
What Happens When the Bay Area’s Beloved Ferries Break Down?
The San Francisco Bay Area has two major public ferry agencies serving the north and east bay. Together, they carried 4 million people last...
Campsites Are Hard to Get in California. Try Dispersed Camping Instead
If you aren't the type of person to wake up at 6:30am six months before you want to go camping to reserve a spot, you might be interested in...
The Wetsuit: Born of San Francisco's Frigid Waters
Jack O'Neill is often credited with inventing the first wetsuit and selling it out of one of the nation's first surf shops near San Francisc...
The Brutalist Embarcadero Fountain Some Love, Many Hate
Since it was first unveiled in 1971, the 710-ton brutalist-style Vaillancourt Fountain has been a divisive piece of public art. The tangle o...
The Delightful Story Behind A Thrift Store Vinyl Find
Jess Garcia loves perusing San Francisco thrift stores for treasures. One day, she came across a vinyl record titled "In Baghdad By the Bay:...
The 24 Hour Job of Running Alameda's Bridges
Sarah Reid noticed a control booth attached to one of Alameda's many drawbridges, and wondered if people are inside, working the bridge. Tur...
Concord's Long Road from Navy Weapons Station to Walkable Neighborhood
Suzanne Howard was playing around with Google Maps one day and zoomed in on Concord, in the east bay. She noticed a large open space near Co...
The Most Beautiful Taco Bell in the World
The Pacifica Taco Bell, just outside of San Francisco, is legendary for its beachfront views and retro architecture. But it could never be b...
How to Make Friends in the Bay Area
It's hard these days to make a good old fashioned friend! Especially here in the Bay Area, where there are so many demands for our time and...
Real Voices From San Francisco's Great Quake of 1906
Recently uncovered and long forgotten oral histories from Black Americans who survived the 1906 Earthquake and Fire are front and center in...
The Broken Alphabet of SF's Westside Streets
On the west side of San Francisco, the streets running east-west follow a bit of a pattern. They seem to be alphabetical, starting in the mi...
Redevelopment in San Jose is Hard. Cambrian Park Plaza Shows Us Why.
Cambrian Park Plaza, a strip mall in San Jose, was once the heart of the neighborhood. Featuring a bowling alley, grocery store, post office...
George and Gracie: The Robot Voices of BART
When BART trains pull into stations, a robotic and antiquated-sounding voice announces its arrival and destination. Bay Curious listener Jim...
Overlogged and Thirsty: Bay Area Redwoods Are Struggling
Muir Woods National Monument is known for its towering redwoods because some old growth trees have been preserved there. But redwoods used t...
The Towering Cross in the Middle of San Francisco
Tucked away on a wooded hillside in the middle of San Francisco sits a big concrete cross. When it was built, it could be seen from miles ar...
The Mercury Mine That Built a Boomtown Near San Jose
Before Silicon Valley, before the Valley of Heart’s Delight, the hills south of San Jose were home to one of the world’s richest mercury min...
Unsung Heroines: Rebel Girls of the Bay Area
Women have dramatically influenced San Francisco Bay Area history since before the Gold Rush, but their stories are often far less well know...