The Island Lighthouse Turned Romantic B&B
Just off San Pablo Point, near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, there's a tiny spec of an island with a beautiful Victorian-era building on i...
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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...
Episodes
20 of 530 episodesWhy So Many Golf Courses in Public Parks?
Bay Curious listener Mary Newsom went on a lot of walks during the coronavirus pandemic. While hiking in the Oakland and Berkeley hills, she...
Why Flock License Plate Readers Are So Controversial
Many Bay Area cities from Oakland to San Francisco have contracts with Flock Safety, a surveillance company that offers license plate reader...
Belay On! Outdoor Rock Climbing in San Francisco
In the heart of San Francisco, near the Castro Theater and Corona Heights, there's a rock wall with a striking appearance. Listener Ravi Bho...
A Long-Awaited Refresh for S.F.'s Trash Cans
San Francisco’s trash cans have problems. From debris littering the streets around them, to the — more often than not — broken recycling com...
Welcome to Anchorage 9: Where Ships Park
Stephanie Rolfs, like many Bay Area residents, has spent a lot of time looking out over the bay, watching as ships come and go. The cargo sh...
Got Existential Questions About AI? Try “Life, Automated”
Olivia shares the trailer for a new show. "Life, Automated" explores how to live, work, and make decisions in a world increasingly shaped by...
Bruce Lee's Bay Area Legacy
Bruce Lee was one of the first Asian stars in Hollywood. His path to fame wasn’t easy but it paved the way for other Asian Americans to do t...
The Life of Ishi, Last of His Tribe
When Ishi walked into Oroville, Calif. in 1911, newspapers around the country trumpeted the news with headlines like "Last Wild Indian." He...
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...
The 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...