Shows / Crosscurrents
Crosscurrents
Crosscurrents is KALW Public Radio's award-winning news magazine, broadcasting in the Bay Area Mondays through Thursdays on 91.7 FM. We make joyful, informative stories that engage people across the economic, social, and cultural divides in our community.
Episodes
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: California's Insurance Commissioner's Race and Day of the Dead
We dig into the California’s Insurance Commissioner's race, and why you should pay attention to it. Then, we visit a vibrant statue in Oakland that honors the…
- Crosscurrents
California’s next insurance commissioner will have a big impact on your wallet
California's insurance commissioner regulates the largest property insurance market in the country. This year, the vote for who fills that job could have a…
- Crosscurrents
Sights + Sounds: La Catrina sculpture brings joy to the Fruitvale community
We visit a vibrant statue in Oakland that honors the Day of the Dead.
- Crosscurrents
Bay Poets: 'Postcards from the Living' by Jenny Qi
Jenny Qi is a Chinese-American poet living in San Francisco. She reads from her poem 'Postcards from the Living.'
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: The Visiting Room
Today, we hear about one of the few places where you can spend time with your loved ones in prison.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: Gliding Through San Francisco
We hear how a skateboarding collective is fighting to save their home. Then, we meet the folks encouraging people to use skateboards as transportation, and a…
- Crosscurrents
These women are tired of voting over the Great Highway; they rather skate it
Just two years after the Sunset Dunes park was established, it’s at risk of closure again.
- Crosscurrents
Why skateboarding may be your new meditative practice
We meet the folks encouraging people to use skateboards as transportation.
- Crosscurrents
Bay Area Beats: Skating legend Tommy Guerrero
Skating legend Tommy Guerrero on the rhythm of the board and the bass
- Crosscurrents
Meet the Desi drag queens reworking Bollywood and making the Bay their home
Raj Krishna and Jason Sharma founded Masala Mahal, one of the only Desi drag collectives in the country. KALW’s Srishti Prabha follows them from rehearsal to…
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: Sausalito's Measure X and Honoring Culture Through Desi Drag
In Sausalito there’s a ballot measure that has everyone there talking. Then, a Bay Area drag duo is rewriting the ending to one of Bollywood's most iconic love…
- Crosscurrents
The fight over Sausalito's waterfront
A ballot measure in Sausalito would change zoning rules, with the biggest impact to the Marinship, the town’s historic WWII shipyard.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: The Divide on Prop 40 and Culturally Responsive Care
We take a closer look at a November ballot measure making headlines. Then, a new book aims to help Black communities navigate psychiatric care.
- Crosscurrents
Why educators are divided on Prop 40
Prop 40 is asking voters to approve a first-of-its-kind wealth tax on billionaires. Most of that money would go to healthcare, but could this measure also help…
- Crosscurrents
Advocating for culturally responsive care
A new book aims to help Black families as they navigate psychiatric care.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: Pretty Things
Today we hear all about beauty in prison. How women on the inside make do with Lipstick, mascara, and redefine what beauty means to them.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: Oakland's Corruption Trial and California's Prop 45
We breakdown a statewide proposition that takes up 17 pages of your voter guide. Then, the federal corruption trial involving former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao…
- Crosscurrents
Corruption trial of former Oakland mayor begins
An update from The Oaklanside's City Hall reporter Eli Wolfe, regarding the corruption trail of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and other defendants.
- Crosscurrents
California voters to decide whether to reform key environmental law
A ballot measure seeks to speed up projects like housing and energy infrastructure. Opponents say it puts business interests ahead of environmental and civic…
- Crosscurrents
Bay Poets: Chile de Árbol by Maria Guerrero
In this poem Maria Guerrero uses Chile de Árbol as her muse to describe how its evolution and spiciness mimics much deeper emotions.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: The History of BART and Transit Culture
We hear from folks who proudly celebrate their love for Bay Area public transit, and we dive into the complicated history of BART.
- Crosscurrents
The other story of BART in the Mission
BART’s facing cuts to its services. Voters put a measure on the ballot to fund it. But when two BART stations were built in the Mission in the 1970s, many…
- Crosscurrents
KALW Live: Transit culture with the Muni Diaries podcast
We hear from folks who proudly celebrate their love for Bay Area public transit.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: Tracking the Unhoused and the WNBA Semifinals
Today, a conversation about why it’s so hard to count how many people experience homelessness in our communities. Then, what it was like at the WNBA semifinals…
- Crosscurrents
Why it’s so hard to get an accurate snapshot of unhoused people
As Bay Area cities start to release the full results of their 2026 Point-in-Time homeless counts, we dig into why it’s so hard to count how many people…
- Crosscurrents
BOUNCE Ep. 12: The Valkyries First Finals
An insight into what it was like at the WNBA semifinals in Las Vegas.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: SF's New Vertical Innovation Village and Economic Inequality
How a project in downtown SF is tied to some dark ideas about the city’s future. Then, how do Californians rationalize wealth inequality?
- Crosscurrents
Inside Frontier Tower, the complicated story of SF’s “vertical innovation village”
German investors bought an empty office building in downtown San Francisco. Now it's a tech hub with lofty ideas, and some controversial ties.
- Crosscurrents
How Californians have rationalized economic inequality
How Californians rationalize the wealth inequality that we see everyday.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: How Stories Connect Us
How a teen immigrant from Sudan has adapted to life in the Bay Area. Then, we hear how stories connect us.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: Barbershop Talks and WNBA Tunnel Fits
An Oakland-born educator tells us why he helps recreate a Barbershop on campus. Then, we dive into the history of why WNBA players have had to tone down their…
- Crosscurrents
Barbershop Talk brings college students free cuts and real talk
An Oakland-born educator tells us why he helps recreate a Barbershop on campus.
- Crosscurrents
BOUNCE Ep. 11: The evolution of the WNBA tunnel fit
We dive into the history of why WNBA players have had to tone down their style.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: AI Literacy and the Return of a Superhero
We’ll hear how teens can build better AI literacy skills. Then, we’ll meet the team that brought back an 80's comic book super hero.
- Crosscurrents
Sights + Sounds: Cartoonists Stephan Pastis and Will Henry join forces for a He-Man book series
We meet the team that brought back an 80s comic book super hero for today’s middle grade readers.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: Rogue AI and the Complexities of Being Bilingual
Why an AI agent pitched our newsroom a story and we celebrate Bilingual Child Month.
- Crosscurrents
Why an AI agent pitched our newsroom a story
Our tech reporter breaks down why an AI agent pitched our newsroom a story, and the panic over Rogue AI.
- Crosscurrents
The Stoop: Mother Tongue
We celebrate Bilingual Child Month by hearing a story of a Ghanaian American woman.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: San Francisco Politics and Decades of Storytelling
We hear why SF Mayor Lurie may get everything he is pushing for this election season. Then, writer Isabel Allende reflects on decades of storytelling.
- Crosscurrents
Bay Area Politics: Follow the Money
We pull back the curtain on the money shaping San Francisco politics.
- Crosscurrents
Sights + Sounds: Isabel Allende shares her writing journey
Writer Isabel Allende reflects on decades of storytelling.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: From I-580 to Route 101
We hear how Oakland students reignited an environmental equity debate, and we meet a Stanford public health doctor, turned journalist, turned stand up comedian.
- Crosscurrents
I-580 Truck Ban: Who should bear the burden of diesel pollution in the East Bay?
Caltrans is studying whether to lift a decades-old truck ban on I-580. Residents on both sides agree: shifting the pollution isn't enough.
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Dr. Seema Yasmin: from the CDC to the Comedy Club
We meet a Stanford public health doctor, turned journalist, turned stand up comedian.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: Social Media's Impact on Teens and Urban Farming
How teens can avoid falling for social media content that’s harmful. Then, we meet an Oakland artist turned farmer.
- Crosscurrents
tbh: Social media's weight loss culture impacts teens
How teens can avoid falling for social media content that’s harmful.
- Crosscurrents
Sights + Sounds: Fantastic Negrito's Revolution Plantation Farm
We meet the Oakland artist who put down his guitar, and picked up a shovel.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: SF Ballots, Voices, and Mariachi
Elections are approaching quickly and there is a lot to unpack. Plus, we are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.
- Crosscurrents
Inside your San Francisco election ballot
Get the lowdown on your San Francisco ballot for the November 3rd election.
- Crosscurrents
Mariachi Femenil Orgullo Mexicano raise their voices
We're celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and hearing how one mariachi ensemble is reframing tradition.
- Crosscurrents
Golden State Valkyries Gabby Williams
Valkyries All-Star Gabby Williams was born in Nevada, but the Bay has become her new home and she’s not sitting courtside.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: Flock Cameras and the Bay
Privacy concerns are growing in The Bay Area and around the nation, surrounding Flock cameras. Today, the debates and questions about how this technology is…
- Crosscurrents
Taking the long way: San Francisco's Crosstown Trail
We get lost and find our way on San Francisco’s Crosstown trail.
- Crosscurrents
State of the Bay: Flock Camera Controversy
Privacy concerns are growing in The Bay Area and around the nation, surrounding Flock cameras. We hear the debates and questions about how this technology is…
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: Social Media and Teens
Cities around the world are passing or considering laws that restrict social media. We’ll hear what teenagers think and how they are choosing to get involved…
- Crosscurrents
BOUNCE: The Golden State Storm
We hear about the new women’s tackle football team that’s touched down in Oakland. Plus, the latest from the world of women’s professional sports.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: The Meaning of Family
On today's episode of Uncuffed, we hear how Producers at San Quentin, Solano and the California Institution for Women, find family in unexpected places.
- Crosscurrents
SHOW: The Precarious Future of Transit
Public transportation is on the minds of teenagers as potential BART cuts loom and a campaign works to address harassment on transit.
- Crosscurrents
tbh: How BART cuts could affect Bay Area teens
BART currently faces a three hundred million dollar deficit. Tbh producer Lukas Smith talked with Bay Area teens to see how potential cuts would affect them.