Shows / KQED Arts
Episodes
KQED ArtsWindham Hill Records Celebrates 50 Years of a ‘Quiet Revolution’
Pianist Barbara Higbie has kept the spirit of Windham Hill Records alive in recent years. Founded in 1976 by Will Ackerman, Windham Hill —often incorrectly…
KQED ArtsA Legendary Chef Bids Farewell With One Final Dinner in Oakland
For more than a decade, Sarah Kirnon presided over one of the Bay Area’s most widely celebrated restaurants. Until it closed in 2022, Miss Ollie’s, Kirnon’s…
KQED ArtsThomas Mann Returns to His ‘Fatherland’ in This Practically Flawless Film
Artists are notoriously self-important, but a handful carry themselves as if they were the Matterhorn — stony, daunting, towering over the concerns of ordinary…
KQED ArtsPatrick Stewart, Legend of ‘Star Trek,’ ‘X-Men’ and the Theater, Dies at 86
Patrick Stewart, the classically trained stage actor who scaled the Shakespearean canon and added gravitas to a Star Trek franchise and the X-Men films, has…
KQED ArtsIn ‘Everest: The Other Side,’ Tragedy and Triumph Intermingle on the Peaks of Nepal
Hike up and ski down was Jim Morrison’s relatively straightforward dream, albeit not on your typical ski hill. Morrison and his partner Hilaree Nelson aspired…
KQED ArtsThe Crucible, West Oakland’s Industrial Arts Hub, Shuts Down Suddenly
Students, staff and faculty at The Crucible are in limbo after the sudden closure of the 27-year-old West Oakland industrial arts organization over the…
KQED ArtsIncredible Footage of a World-Class Party at Duke Ellington’s Apartment, Released 54 Years Later
It’s an August night in 1972, and inside of Duke Ellington’s Harlem townhouse, there’s a cocktail party full of cultural giants. Artists who…
KQED ArtsThese ‘Seven Stories About Tammy’ Add Up to One Brilliant Piece of Writing
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the famous opening sequence of Up, the Pixar animated film. That movie begins with a wordless montage of a…
KQED ArtsOakland Theater Project to Turn the New Parish Into a Performing Arts Center
Music fans who worried about the New Parish’s closure late last year can rest assured that the Oakland venue won’t be turning into condos. On Oct. 22, Oakland…
KQED ArtsIn ‘Live From the Hole,’ Kehlani Visits the Prison Where Her Mom Was Once Incarcerated
When richie reseda and JJ’88 invited Kehlani to do a healing circle inside of a women’s prison, she responded in all caps: “HELL YES.” What they didn’t…
KQED ArtsA New Takeout Window in Oakland Sells Killer French Dip Sandwiches Until 2 a.m.
The restaurant’s “Oakland-style” take on a French dip sandwich is a proper steak sandwich that comes pre-dipped. (Thien Pham) The Midnight…
KQED ArtsA Futurist’s Detailed Paintings Get a Futuristic Display
Even at 54, the Transamerica Pyramid manages to look futuristic, probably because no other building in the San Francisco skyline has ever dared to be as weird…
KQED ArtsSan Francisco’s Bottom of the Hill No Longer Shutting Down
Bottom of the Hill, the legendary San Francisco music venue, won’t shut down at the end of the year after all. Earlier this year, owners Kathleen Owen…
KQED Arts‘Clayface’ Is a Surprisingly Good Revenge Thriller-Romance
Someone rather bluntly popped up on X recently to ask Hollywood writer-producer James Gunn a pointed — and here sanitized — question: “Who asked for a Clayface…
KQED Arts‘Wildwood’ Builds an Intricate World the Story Can’t Match
Everything about Wildwood is ambitious. It’s a stop-motion animated movie that stretches over two hours, with 230 hand-controlled puppets across 132 sets, shot…
KQED ArtsAt Ras Ceylon’s Upcoming Show, Bars Come With a Cup of Tea
Ras Ceylon, an Oakland-based MC and educator, recently dropped an album titled ‘Scrollz of Lion Rock.’ The project was executive produced by the…
KQED ArtsNoise Pop Gears Up for Its 2027 Return With Deerhoof and More
Noise Pop just announced phase one of the lineup for its 2027 festival, which takes over San Francisco venues Feb. 18–28 with a packed schedule of shows…
KQED ArtsValkyries Fans’ Most Creative Fits at Game 2 of the WNBA Finals
Before the Golden State Valkyries faced off against the Atlanta Dream during Game 2 of WNBA Finals Monday night, the players set the tone with their tunnel…
KQED ArtsAt the Asian Art Museum, Paintings You’ll Want to Lick
Ha Chong-Hyun: Retrospective doesn’t need a more exciting title because the exhibition is drop dead gorgeous. Though he’s called “the father of Korean…
KQED Arts‘La Bola Negra’ Is a Gay Drama with Historical Sweep and Oscar Buzz
La Bola Negra has a classical core and a modern spirit. Directed by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, this sweeping epic glides back and forth between 1932…
KQED ArtsA Rollicking Vietnamese Sidewalk Cafe Pops Up at San José’s Most Nostalgic Strip Mall
These days, Lion Plaza doesn’t get nearly as much hype as San José’s newer, splashier Vietnamese malls like Vietnam Town and Grand Century. But OGs know the…
KQED ArtsIn ‘Oh, Mary!,’ A Closeted President’s Unhinged Wife Draws Cackles
What’s more interesting, the Civil War or singing in a cabaret club? For the lovely and limber Mary Todd Lincoln, it’s no contest, considering the war with the…
KQED ArtsSan José’s Los Tigres del Norte Take Over NPR’s Tiny Desk
There is no stage too small for San José’s Los Tigres del Norte, yet none can contain its impact. For the last 60 years, the Mexican norteño band has built a…
KQED Arts‘Every Saturday Night’ Captures a Fight for the Fillmore’s Soul
In Every Saturday Night, a world-premiere musical that opened Thursday in San Francisco, a single mother living in the Fillmore District opens her old…
KQED ArtsSisterhood Rules in a 21st-Century Take on ‘Sense and Sensibility’
It is a truth universally acknowledged, as somebody once wrote, that a Jane Austen novel is a precursor to the modern rom-com. And so we find ourselves, in a…
KQED Arts‘You Can See Everything’ Shows Elizabeth Holmes Through Nathan Fielder’s Singular Lens
Thirty-four days before the disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes was due in federal prison to serve an 11-year sentence for conspiracy and fraud, she…
KQED ArtsThis Oakland Shop Changed the Way Home Cooks Think About Spices
John Beaver recalls trying to find a local spice shop when he first moved to Oakland in the late 2000s. A quick Google search yielded only one result: “Spice…
KQED ArtsIn San Francisco, Artists Get a Little Help With the High Cost of Living
How much does it cost to be an artist in San Francisco? It isn’t too hard to calculate. First, there’s the normal expenses we all rack up: food, housing…
KQED ArtsHow Palestinian Rapper MC Abdul Rose from Gaza’s Refugee Camps to the World Stage
“Is it real?” That’s the question MC Abdul kept asking himself when he arrived in San Francisco three years ago. His journey began when he was 11 years old…
KQED ArtsFor 20 Years, Threads of Black American Music Have Converged Here
It’s Halloween season, when some people dress up like skeletons, ghosts or witches. But when picking her costume, Dr. Angela Wellman isn’t like…
KQED ArtsMaking Their House Into a Home Full of Black Art
Oakland’s Streetlight Gallery continues a deep Bay Area tradition of home galleries supporting Black artists.
KQED ArtsDread Scott Imagines a World Without America
At Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, ‘The Body Politic’ demonstrates the inherent power of art.
KQED ArtsIn New Memoir, Lil Jon Salutes The Bay Area
The Atlanta rapper, producer and collaborator with Too Short and E-40 has a new memoir, ‘I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me.’
KQED ArtsIn Redwood City, a Great Taco Is Always Just a Few Blocks Away — Even at Midnight
A late-night crawl through one of the Bay Area’s most taco-rich cities.
KQED Arts‘The Social Reckoning’ Is Classic Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Sorkin revisits a familiar subject, Mark Zuckerberg, in the star-studded ‘The Social Reckoning.’
KQED ArtsDewey Crumpler Paints ‘Portals to Absolute Autonomy’
At the Museum of the African Diaspora, the longtime teacher exhibits five decades of persistent, dynamic work.
KQED ArtsIn ‘Fjord,’ a Religious Family Navigates Norway’s ‘Enlightened’ Norms
As a morality tale, the Palme d'Or-winning film falls short of director Cristian Mungiu's earlier triumphs.
KQED ArtsNational Book Award Finalists Span Continents and Tackle Identity, Justice and War
This year’s crop includes works from authors like Edwidge Danticat and Valeria Luiselli in the spotlight.
KQED ArtsHonoring the Black Panther Party on Its 60th Anniversary
Events throughout October commemorate one of the most important organizations of the 20th century.
KQED ArtsWhy Lake Merritt’s Street Food Scene Is Worth Saving
Oakland's Jerk'n It, a Guyanese oxtail specialist, is one of the informal market's many success stories.
KQED ArtsNovelist Natalie Baszile Captures How Racism Can Tear ‘Friends and Family’ Apart
The Bay Area author follows up ‘Queen Sugar’ with a new book based on a real-life traumatic incident her family experienced.
KQED Arts‘I Believe We Can Stop What’s Happening Now,’ Says Mahmoud Khalil in Oakland
Khalil visited the Bay Area on a book tour for ‘No Land to Stand On,’ a searing call for free speech.
KQED ArtsAs Other Minds Festival Turns 30, an Experimental Music Giant Takes a Bow
Charles Amirkhanian reflects on his legacy in avant-garde music — and his festival and record label’s next era.
KQED ArtsCloaked in Anonymity, Israeli Soldiers Describe Mass Civilian Killings in ‘NAZA’
The documentary, made by Israeli filmmakers, consists of interviews with 24 Israeli military personnel.
KQED ArtsDemahjiae Raps About the Love and Heartbreak of Calling Oakland Home
On his new album ‘YAE,’ the East Oakland lyricist grapples with belonging in the wake of gentrification.
KQED ArtsVictoria Monét’s ‘Frequency of Love’ Aims to Strike the Optimal Sonic Vibration
The Sacramento-raised artist discusses her new album, her passion for love, and going to culinary school.
KQED ArtsThe Fanciest Japanese Pop-Up in Oakland You Haven’t Heard Of
The monthly prix-fixe feasts at Plenty Plus are the brainchild of chef Asuka Uchida.
KQED ArtsThe John Henry Sound System Comes to the Berkeley Public Library
Four 15s slappin' in... your local public library?!
KQED ArtsTom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ Is a ‘Dr. Strangelove’ for the Climate Change Era
As the fate of the world is up in the air, Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s climate-disaster satire teeters on the brink.
KQED ArtsIn Hunters Point, Black History Comes Alive in Malik Seneferu’s Paintings
Not far from where he grew up, Seneferu’s studio is a cultural lab guided by one motto: ‘Remain creative.’
KQED ArtsThe Best Fan Fits and Hot Looks at Portola Festival 2026
Attendees of the electronic music festival brought ‘ate’ to an entirely new level.
KQED ArtsZara Larsson and Adéla Turned Up the Sexy Vibe at Portola on Sunday
Pop princesses mixed with indie sleaze acts and hot electronic R&B on Portola‘s second day.
KQED ArtsRobyn Proved Saturday at Portola Was for the Girls
With strong sets by Tove Lo and Six Sex, the electronic music festival honed in on cult pop acts.
KQED ArtsAfter a Devastating Fire, Oakland’s Only Puerto Rican Restaurant Returns to Its Roots
Puerto Rican Street Cuisine will reopen at its original corner store location in the Dimond District.
KQED Arts‘Forgotten Island’ Is a Trippy Ode to Friendship Set Against Rich Filipino Folklore
Vallejo-born R&B musician H.E.R. lends her voice to one of the main characters in this new film.
KQED ArtsA Hub for Russian and Ukrainian Literature in San Francisco Receives Legacy Designation
Globus Books has brought together Russian-speakers of different cultures and backgrounds for 55 years.
KQED ArtsGreen Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong to Play Free Show in His Hometown of Rodeo
The frontman will perform cover songs with side project The Coverups at a free outdoor festival on Saturday.
KQED ArtsIn ‘Primetime,’ Robert Pattinson Dazzles as Dateline Host Chris Hansen
Lance Oppenheim’s new film identifies a seedy moment when media became the new arbiter of communal justice.
KQED ArtsAt ACT, ‘North By Northwest’ Is an Insult to Hitchcock
With insipid stereotypes and cheap gags, the play makes a zany comedy out of the sophisticated film.
KQED ArtsMissing Portola? You Can Still Dance at These San Francisco Parties
The music festival coincides with Folsom Street Fair and a packed weekend of events at Bay Area clubs.