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
10/27: Why it's time to talk about school construction
A California ballot measure sparks a conversation about infrastructure in schools. A choreographer reminisces on falling in love with house music. The story…
- Crosscurrents
10/26: California decides on legalizing recreational marijuana
Today on Crosscurrents: The debate over legalizing recreational marijuana in California. An interview with local MacArthur winner José Quiñones, whose work…
- Crosscurrents
10/25: Should California end the death penalty or speed it up?
California voters will choose to speed up the death penalty or get rid of it entirely. The man who calls the play-by-play for what may be the best basketball…
- Crosscurrents
10/24: Incarceration and rehabilitation at the heart of California's Prop. 57
A ballot measure that would route more inmates out of prison and toward rehabilitation. How some inmates process the impact of their crimes. A conversation…
- Crosscurrents
10/20: Rent review board or rent control?
A look at a proposal in Alameda to to put a solid cap on rent increases. San Francisco leaders and advocates debate housing ballot initiatives. Sounds from the…
- Crosscurrents
10/19: Prop Q would ban San Francisco's homeless tent encampments
High school students at June Jordan School for Equity recover from an on-campus shooting.Prop. Q is a small battle in a larger fight over San Francisco's…
- Crosscurrents
10/18: Giving non-citizen parents a vote
Should non-citizen parents have a vote in school board elections?Reporter Nanette Asimov on the future of City College of San Francisco.Local MacArthur…
- Crosscurrents
10/17: Medallions keep taxi drivers stuck in industry
A small piece of metal that traps some taxi drivers in the industry. Journalist Caroline O'Donovan on her investigation into Blue Apron's Richmond…
- Crosscurrents
10/13: Walking in the footsteps of the Black Panther Party
Walking the streets of Oakland in the footsteps of the Black Panthers. Filling our plates with the People’s Kitchen Collective. Building a wall out of piñatas…
- Crosscurrents
10/12: The impact of a paid route to school
What happens when students can't afford transit to school?East Oakland performers use art to cope with displacement. One of the most visible political…
- Crosscurrents
10/11: Regulating the porn industry
Should condoms be a job requirement for porn actors?The Specialist takes us behind the scenes into the life of a traveling notary.
- Crosscurrents
10/5: Will a tobacco tax deter Californians from smoking?
Today on Crosscurrents: San Francisco will decide whether or not to raise a tobacco tax. Lit-junkie and founder of Quiet Lightening, Evan Karp. The mystery of…
- Crosscurrents
10/4: Getting out the homeless vote
How unhoused San Franciscans approach the housing-issue-laden local ballot.A girls-only clubhouse in Bayview.Why there's no O street in Bayview's alphabetical…
- Crosscurrents
9/29: Judge Aaron Persky faces recall threat
The effort to oust Brock Turner’s judge from the bench sparks a debate about what true justice for victims should look like. A conversation with co-curators of…
- Crosscurrents
9/28: The not-so-old-growth forest on Mt. Sutro
The question of how to manage a not-so-old-growth forest on San Francisco’s Mt. Sutro. The artist and activist Spulu. An East Bay pet store that’s not exactly…
- Crosscurrents
9/27: How standing up to Big Pharma could backfire
Why pharmaceutical companies are spending over $70 million to defeat Prop. 61. How a group of men are learning to be better fathers from inside prison. What…
- Crosscurrents
9/22: Can BART damage my hearing?
Can BART noise damage your hearing? An East Oakland comedian finds his voice at his grandma’s funeral.A conversation with cellist Zoë Keating. We dig into…
- Crosscurrents
9/21: The family of Luis Góngora calls for answers
A family seeks justice for the police shooting of a loved one. Why gun owners are feeling up in arms about Proposition 63. The story of an unlikely…
- Crosscurrents
9/19: The Spiritual Edge
An Oakland pastor turns the tables on homophobia in the church. A new translation revives the poetry and nuance of the Zohar, a Jewish mystical text. Pastor…
- Crosscurrents
9/15: More than a year after Mission fire, displaced still search for home
Searching for a home after fire. Musicians whose preferred stage is inside a tunnel. Nosing around Golden Gate Park's Rose Garden.
- Crosscurrents
9/14: Does East Palo Alto have enough water?
In East Palo Alto a water shortage stalls the city’s plans for growth. A DIY guide to recycling your own water at home. A tour of one of San Francisco’s…
- Crosscurrents
9/13: Mary Roach and the curious science of humans at war
San Francisco officials ask a wary public to trust them as they search for their next police chief. Author Mary Roach on her new book, "Grunt: The Curious…
- Crosscurrents
9/12: Is freelancing the new normal?
What the law can and can't do for gig workers. Why labor law is slow to adapt to the gig economy. A conversation with some of the oldest gig workers around…
- Crosscurrents
9/8: What does it mean to be a court-appointed special advocate?
The bond between a former foster kid and his court-appointed special advocate. A journalist who's changing how the media reports on the foster care system.This…
- Crosscurrents
9/7: Does Urban Shield help or harm local communities?
Activists oppose the law enforcement training event, Urban Shield.Musician Diana Gameros sings about the home she had to leave behind.
- Crosscurrents
9/6: Dead trees are fueling California wildfires, but what's killing the trees?
The tiny culprit behind the pine tree fatalities fueling California's rash of wildfires.For wildlife, the traffic problem at Muir Woods is life or death.The…
- Crosscurrents
9/1: An alternative to calling 911
An alternative to criminalizing homelessness and drug addiction.Aya de Leon's new novel politicizes the pulp genre.This week's Audiograph mystery sound…
- Crosscurrents
8/31: Opioid addiction in San Francisco
The real first responders to drug overdoses? Other users. Opioid addiction, from prescriptions to the streets.The San Quentin Prison Report on coping with…
- Crosscurrents
8/30: Who are national parks for?
An organization trying to change racial stereotypes about who is and is not "outdoorsy." A ranger tells the story of African-American Buffalo Soldiers out…
- Crosscurrents
8/25: Why are teachers buying their own supplies?
A look into how much teachers spend out of pocket on classroom supplies. A conversation with Joshua Raoul Brody. A Bay Area Beats with scat singer Lorin…
- Crosscurrents
8/23: Elders are the fastest growing group of marijuana users
Dr. Laurie Vollen on the science and use of medical marijuana. Seniors discover the benefits of a plant they may have once denounced.Memories of Frank Quan…
- Crosscurrents
8/22: A day in the life of a Lake County fire first responder
What the second major fire in a year means for residents of Lake County.A conversation with local folk, blues and jazz legend Barbara Dane. A remembrance of…
- Crosscurrents
8/18: Ranks of San Jose LGBTQ gun club swell following Orlando shooting
A look inside a local branch of a national LGBT gun rights organization.Keeping up with a Bay-Area based Olympian who plays one of the fastest sports in the…
- Crosscurrents
8/17: Bayview gets its grocery store
Why it's taken so long for San Francisco’s Bayview district to get a full service grocery store.A Bayview choreographer on aerial dance.A KALW student reporter…
- Crosscurrents
8/16: Can this company help Vallejo recover from bankruptcy?
Vallejo hopes to plug in to the electric car market.An effort to bring a California frog back from the brink of extinction.Bay Area students compete in dragon…
- Crosscurrents
8/15: How big companies shape San Francisco's ballot
A look at how local campaign donations influence the way we vote. Dropping in on one of the nation's first LGTBQ studies class. A conversation with Oakland’s…
- Crosscurrents
8/11: Hoppers Hands
The last in our series of audio essays on racial justice. A conversation with Bay Area hip hop artists who are using culture to counter harmful stereotypes…
- Crosscurrents
8/10: "The fear was in my bones"
An East Bay resident voices her personal essay on racial justice.This Ethiopian farmer brings his home flavors to the Bay Area.A tour inside San Francisco's…
- Crosscurrents
8/9: Drought update
Two mothers express their struggle to talk with their sons about race and racism.California relaxes water conservation rules, but it doesn't mean the drought…
- Crosscurrents
8/8: Snake Lady & Wildlife One
The first in a series of audio essays from Bay Area residents on racial injustice. What the closure of a recycling center in West Oakland means for the…
- Crosscurrents
8/4: Sacred spaces
One architect’s process of designing sacred spaces. An interview with a Hiroshima survivor whose Buddhist practice helps her deal with the past. The story…
- Crosscurrents
8/3: Cane trainer
The first day of school is just around the corner—how will the San Francisco's school district cope with a shortage of teachers? We meet a woman who…
- Crosscurrents
8/2: Positive interventions
Why Oakland wants to diversify it's emergency services staff.How a music class became a sanctuary for West Oakland teens.Jessica Jones on promoting healthy…
- Crosscurrents
8/1: Tech addiction
How tech habits can become psychological disorders.A visit to a place designed to help techies do good.A mother remembers her home country of India.
- Crosscurrents
7/26: Dispatch from the DNC
Today on Crosscurrents: Bay Area residents voice their views about the upcoming presidential election. Youth Radio dispatches from the Republican and…
- Crosscurrents
7/25: Family Leave
How some San Franciscans will be affected by the city’s new family leave policy. An interview with Maria Su, Executive Director of the Department of Children…
- Crosscurrents
7/19: Crisis intervention
Training police officers to respond to mental health crises.Corey Rosen on the local improv scene.The story behind the construction of one of the Bay Area's…
- Crosscurrents
7/18: Singing telegram
A local family has delivered singing telegrams for more than 30 years. An interview with hambone expert Unique Derique.
- Crosscurrents
7/14: Who Cares?
As Americans grow older, more of us will either need or be caregivers. But who cares for the caregivers? And what are they doing to care for themselves? In…
- Crosscurrents
7/13: Hidden hunger
In Sacramento, a city in one of the richest agricultural regions of the country, tens of thousands of residents go hungry each day. In this special hour-long…
- Crosscurrents
7/12: Class dismissed
One out of four adults in California is a high school dropout. Class Dismissed takes an up-close look at the crisis through the lives of four young people from…
- Crosscurrents
7/11: Autism grows up
Twenty years after a sharp rise in autism rates, thousands of California children are aging out of special education. Each one enters adulthood with a unique…
- Crosscurrents
7/7: Undercover in a private prison
A reporter goes undercover as a prison guard. How inmates are reaching out to support one another inside San Quentin State Prison. How one local performer…
- Crosscurrents
7/6: How much is your signature worth?
Medical innovations for dealing with incontinence.Playwright Star Finch imagines the coming era of hyper-technology.The true cost of a ballot signature.
- Crosscurrents
6/30: Seeking shelter
Catching up with a couple we met two years ago who were using a bus line as their shelter. A conversation with Jeff Kositsky, San Francisco’s first director of…
- Crosscurrents
6/29: San Francisco's Navigation Centers
One couple's experience living in the Navigation Center—and what came after.Navigation Center Director Julie Leadbettertalks about the center's new…
- Crosscurrents
6/28: Street Spirit
Meet a disabled activist as he gathers information for his next article in homeless newspaper Street Spirit. A man who’s been homeless for eight years…
- Crosscurrents
6/27: Homelessness in the Bay Area
A ride-along with a team trying to make a dent San Francisco’s homelessness problem. A San Francisco nonprofit provides the basics to people living on the…
- Crosscurrents
6/23: Renewable energy
A new take on an old staple —the battery. A policy that will give San Franciscans access to 100 percent renewables without changing a thing. East Bay residents…
- Crosscurrents
6/22: Asian-American identity and mental health
How trauma can be passed down through generations.A multilingual glossary that opens up new spaces for conversation.A StoryCorps coming out story, with a twist.