Bay Curious is a show about your questions – and the adventures you find when you go looking for the answers. Join host Olivia Allen-Price to explore all aspects of the San Francisco Bay Area – from the debate over "Frisco", to the dinosaurs that once roamed California, to the causes of homelessness. Whether you lived here your whole life, or just arrived, Bay Curious will deepen your understanding of this place you call home.
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Sep 30, 2026 · 15:58
Proposition 5 on the 2026 California ballot would change the rules around recalls of elected officials. Additional Resources: Read the transcript for this episode Catch up on all…
Sep 30, 2026 · 13:16
Proposition 4 on the California 2026 ballot would repeal an earlier statewide ban on public financing programs. It would open the door for state and local governments to set up…
Sep 29, 2026 · 16:35
California has what’s known as a “progressive tax system” – basically, the more money you make, the more you pay in income taxes. For years, California voters have approved…
Sep 29, 2026 · 20:36
Proposition 2 on your 2026 California ballot would make changes to how the state's Rainy Day Fund would work. It would both allow lawmakers to set aside more money during…
Sep 28, 2026 · 16:09
Proposition 1 on the 2026 California ballot authorizes the state to take out an $11.25 billion bond to fund an array of affordable housing programs, including the construction…
Sep 26, 2026 · 45:29
Nancy Pelosi is many things: Trailblazer. Lightning rod. First woman Speaker of the House. Mom of five. To some, she’s an out-of-touch elitist, to others, a champion for…
Sep 24, 2026 · 30:44
The San Francisco Bay Area isn't as popular of a filming location as Los Angeles or Vancouver, Canada, but there are some very creepy films that use our unique weather and…
Sep 17, 2026 · 16:39
For much of the 20th century, swaths of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties were home to seas of chrysanthemums, asters and irises. About 200 acres of chrysanthemums — roughly 150…
Sep 3, 2026 · 26:23
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 it. East Brother Light Station has been…
Aug 27, 2026 · 16:36
Bay Curious listener Mary Newsom went on a lot of walks during the coronavirus pandemic. While hiking in the Oakland and Berkeley hills, she noticed that wildlife had come back…
Aug 20, 2026 · 36:06
Many Bay Area cities from Oakland to San Francisco have contracts with Flock Safety, a surveillance company that offers license plate readers that yield far more data than an…
Aug 13, 2026 · 21:51
In the heart of San Francisco, near the Castro Theater and Corona Heights, there's a rock wall with a striking appearance. Listener Ravi Bhoraskar stumbled on it and wondered why…
Aug 6, 2026 · 14:40
San Francisco’s trash cans have problems. From debris littering the streets around them, to the — more often than not — broken recycling compartments, these green garbage…
Jul 30, 2026 · 17:34
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 ships in particular are so big and…
Jul 27, 2026 · 5:02
Olivia shares the trailer for a new show. "Life, Automated" explores how to live, work, and make decisions in a world increasingly shaped by machines. What does the economy look…
Jul 23, 2026 · 30:27
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 the same today. Bruce was a disruptor…
Jul 19, 2026 · 19:49
When Ishi walked into Oroville, Calif. in 1911, newspapers around the country trumpeted the news with headlines like "Last Wild Indian." He was the last of the Yahi, a tribe of…
Jul 9, 2026 · 20:25
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 dense fog that can make it hard to…
Jun 25, 2026 · 15:15
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 coffee drinks built around flavors…
Jun 18, 2026 · 19:14
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 living situations that went counter to how…
Jun 11, 2026 · 14:34
The San Francisco Bay Area has two major public ferry agencies serving the north and east bay. Together, they carried 4 million people last year. Bay Curious listener Kristen…
Jun 4, 2026 · 18:27
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 dispersed camping. It's a free way to…
May 21, 2026 · 22:29
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 Francisco's Ocean Beach. But many people don't…
May 14, 2026 · 20:10
Since it was first unveiled in 1971, the 710-ton brutalist-style Vaillancourt Fountain has been a divisive piece of public art. The tangle of concrete square tubes once fit in…
May 7, 2026 · 27:27
Jess Garcia loves perusing San Francisco thrift stores for treasures. One day, she came across a vinyl record titled "In Baghdad By the Bay: Cora and Santos Beloy," which piqued…
Apr 30, 2026 · 18:48
Sarah Reid noticed a control booth attached to one of Alameda's many drawbridges, and wondered if people are inside, working the bridge. Turns out they are, and it's a…
Apr 27, 2026 · 16:01
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 Concord High School that wasn't labeled,…
Apr 23, 2026 · 17:04
The Pacifica Taco Bell, just outside of San Francisco, is legendary for its beachfront views and retro architecture. But it could never be built today. How did a fast food chain…
Apr 20, 2026 · 27:28
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 attention. On today's show, we hear…
Apr 16, 2026 · 22:51
Recently uncovered and long forgotten oral histories from Black Americans who survived the 1906 Earthquake and Fire are front and center in this episode all about the stories…
Apr 13, 2026 · 14:05
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 middle of the Richmond and going south,…
Apr 9, 2026 · 17:47
Cambrian Park Plaza, a strip mall in San Jose, was once the heart of the neighborhood. Featuring a bowling alley, grocery store, post office, clothing stores and more, it had…
Apr 6, 2026 · 14:00
When BART trains pull into stations, a robotic and antiquated-sounding voice announces its arrival and destination. Bay Curious listener Jimmy Tobin has long been baffled by…
Apr 2, 2026 · 23:36
Muir Woods National Monument is known for its towering redwoods because some old growth trees have been preserved there. But redwoods used to grow all over the San Francisco Bay…
Mar 30, 2026 · 16:14
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 around. Now, a thick grove of trees…
Mar 26, 2026 · 22:04
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 mines: New Almaden. Its quicksilver…
Mar 23, 2026 · 18:30
Women have dramatically influenced San Francisco Bay Area history since before the Gold Rush, but their stories are often far less well known. Rae Alexandra's new book, Unsung…
Mar 19, 2026 · 24:43
There's a pervasive story that the bear on California's state flag is modeled on a real California grizzly that was kept in captivity in San Francisco in the late 1800s. But when…
Mar 16, 2026 · 29:06
San Francisco's Golden Gate Park is at the heart of city life. Created in 1870 when the land was mostly sand dunes, the park is now one of the crown jewels of the city by the bay…
Mar 12, 2026 · 17:29
One of Aaron Van Lieu's first memories is playing on a real fighter jet in San Francisco's Carl Larsen Park. Located on 19th Avenue at Vicente Street, the jet was a delight to…
Mar 9, 2026 · 17:07
Longtime listener Henry Lie was driving through San Francisco one day when he realized the staggering number of legal courts located in the heart of the city. Upon further…
Mar 5, 2026 · 17:28
When scientists began tinkering with DNA in the 1970s, biotechnology was not welcome in leafy residential neighborhoods or many college towns. But it was embraced by an…
Mar 2, 2026 · 16:05
Mary Balmana grew up in San Francisco and has driven down Monterey Boulevard near the Glen Park neighborhood hundreds of times. She often notices a large, beautiful Victorian…
Feb 26, 2026 · 17:24
Bay Curious listener Dave Ellis lives in the South Bay city of Saratoga. When he was a kid growing up there, he remembers loud tree frogs chorusing almost all the time. But now,…
Feb 23, 2026 · 15:04
Bay Curious listener Grant Strother has been visiting San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood his whole life. He loves to get a caprese sandwich at Molinari's Deli, which has…
Feb 19, 2026 · 23:00
Commuting from East Bay cities like Berkeley and Oakland into San Francisco can be dismal. So when people learn there used to be an extensive streetcar system that crisscrossed…
Feb 16, 2026 · 19:07
While you might not recognize the name, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the haunting, almost otherworldly sound the duduk makes. This humble shepherd’s flute wandered out of…
Feb 12, 2026 · 15:21
There's a blue house in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood that is constantly mobbed by French tour groups. Bay Curious listener Helen Walker wants to know, "why?" This episode…
Feb 9, 2026 · 18:15
Recently, several listeners have written to us wondering about the large flocks of crows they see darkening the skies over the Bay Area at sunset each night. The crows are like…
Feb 5, 2026 · 21:08
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan start tomorrow and there are a lot of Bay Area athletes representing our region at the games. We sit down with other Olympics super fans to get…
Jan 29, 2026 · 20:59
High in the Hayward Hills, Ukraina marks the farm and grave of Ukrainian dissident priest Agapius Honcharenko, who fled Russian authorities and settled here with his wife,…
Jan 22, 2026 · 25:17
There's a church in San Francisco where John Coltrane's music is more than jazz -- it's doctrine. The Coltrane Church, as it’s often called, is the oldest Black jazz organization…
Jan 15, 2026 · 21:36
Henry Lie grew up in Pacifica and thought he knew everything there was to know about his hometown, just a few minutes south of San Francisco. So he was shocked to learn about a…
Jan 8, 2026 · 20:49
After the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, thousands of San Franciscans were homeless. City leaders needed them to stay in the city to help rebuild, so they built tiny homes and set up…
Dec 18, 2025 · 31:13
San Francisco is an iconic looking city, so it's a little surprising that more movies aren't shot here. There are a lot of reasons for that -- cost being a main one -- but there…
Dec 11, 2025 · 20:27
Barry Asin flies through SFO about once a month and often stops to take a look at the art exhibits dotted throughout the terminals. He particularly loves the history exhibits…
Dec 4, 2025 · 25:43
Tucked under the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge is a once-grand mansion known as the Nimitz House. Bay Curious listener Ben Kaiser wants to know nearly everything about it…
Nov 20, 2025 · 17:01
San Francisco is known for its distinct neighborhoods, each with its own shopping street, full of local businesses. Listener Sarah Soule grew up in the city and remembers hearing…
Nov 13, 2025 · 16:53
Rita Hayworth, Robin Williams, Adele — these are just a few of the huge stars that have graced the stage of Bimbo’s 365 Club over its 94 years in San Francisco. But the act the…
Nov 6, 2025 · 18:31
In 1950, the U.S. military sprayed bacteria over San Francisco as part of a biological weapons test. The test team thought the bacteria it used was harmless, but several people…
Oct 30, 2025 · 23:53
Stanford University on the San Francisco peninsula is a rarified place, so its intriguing that even 120 years after her death, there's still a mystery surrounding the death of…
Oct 23, 2025 · 21:38
California voters have one proposition on the ballot this November: Proposition 50. It's supporters want California to adopt a new congressional map that could give Democrats…
Oct 16, 2025 · 35:53
In San Francisco, Mabuhay Gardens was the epicenter of punk. Located on Broadway at the edge of North Beach and Chinatown, it was ground zero for the city's emerging punk…
Oct 9, 2025 · 18:05
Lombard Street is famous for its winding brick lane, but beyond that iconic block lies something unexpected: a stretch of old-school motels. Why so many in one place? This week…
Oct 2, 2025 · 18:18
In the popular telling, La Llorona is a ghost. She’s the spirit of a woman who haunts watery places, wailing for her lost children. But as with all stories, the meaning of the…
Sep 25, 2025 · 22:28
As we go about our lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and explore this beautiful state, it's not uncommon to encounter wild animals. Whether you're hiking in the Santa Cruz…
Sep 18, 2025 · 20:40
There are over 900 stairways in San Franciso. Some are simple wooden stairs, others beautiful climbs covered in mosaics, or utilitarian concrete steps. It’s incredibly charming…
Sep 11, 2025 · 15:30
Originally imported to Monterey County for sport by a wealthy landowner in the 1920s, wild boars now number in the hundreds of thousands, and they are destroying sensitive…
Aug 28, 2025 · 18:12
Summer is coming to an end, so we're taking a journey back in time to remember two amusement parks that have etched themselves into the imaginations of generations of Bay Area…
Aug 21, 2025 · 26:14
The Bay Area is a biodiversity hotspot, home to species found nowhere else on Earth. But decades of urbanization have pushed many of these animals — and the ecosystems they…
Aug 14, 2025 · 19:57
Seagulls are everywhere in the Bay Area — flocking to Giant's games in San Francisco and crowding South Bay salt ponds. But are they actually native? Once seasonal visitors from…
Aug 7, 2025 · 24:09
Over the past 40 years, Afghans have steadily immigrated to the East Bay town of Fremont, hoping to start new lives close to others who share their language and culture. We trace…
Jul 31, 2025 · 45:22
Julia Morgan, the pioneering female architect, was born in San Francisco, raised in Oakland and educated at UC Berkeley and the the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She designed…
Jul 24, 2025 · 18:20
Nearly one in three Daly City residents identify as Filipino, according to 2019 Census data. Bay Curious listener Ricky Tjandra wondered what makes this town just south of San…
Jul 17, 2025 · 13:25
Alameda is the second most populous county in the Bay Area, after Santa Clara. Oakland is the biggest city, but the county stretches all the way out to Livermore in the east and…
Jul 10, 2025 · 31:47
Train travel isn't as common as it used to be, but there's one Amtrak route that train enthusiasts love because it's so beautiful -- the California Zephyr. The route starts in…
Jun 26, 2025 · 17:45
The island of Alameda has produced some great baseball players. Hall of Fame hitter Willie Stargell even has a street named after him! Some of those ballplayers were Japanese…
Jun 12, 2025 · 21:16
The Transamerica Pyramid, located in downtown San Francisco, is a skyline staple. But when it was proposed, people hated the idea of a towering symbol of capitalism so close to…
Jun 5, 2025 · 14:59
On a Daly City beach just south of Fort Funston there's a large tunnel carved into the cliff. Bay Curious listener Francisco Alvarado noticed it one day while walking his…
May 29, 2025 · 32:49
Some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley have been popping up in political circles. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has been advising President Trump; billionaire Peter Thiel…
May 22, 2025 · 27:44
If you've ever walked around Pier 39 in San Francisco or made a late-night exit from a concert at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, you're probably familiar with the bacon wrapped…
May 15, 2025 · 17:16
The Great Mall of Milpitas wasn't always a mall; it used to be a massive Ford factory. Bay Curious listener Brandon Choy wanted to know more about its history. The San Jose…
May 8, 2025 · 20:53
Several Bay Area businesses have been around for a really long time. Normandin's car dealership in San Jose opened in 1875 and first sold horses and buggies. And KCBS is…
May 1, 2025 · 19:43
When it comes to private school enrollment, San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo and Marin counties are all well above the state average. But why? In today's episode, we'll…
Apr 30, 2025 · 2:30
Join host Xorje Andrés Olivares and guests to explore what it means to live within a hyphenation. Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to have easy…
Apr 24, 2025 · 39:12
As part of Youth Takeover Week at KQED The Bay and Bay Curious have teamed up to collaborate with four high school students who live in San Pablo, Fremont, Walnut Creek and San…
Apr 21, 2025 · 18:52
Olivia Allen-Price will be taking a step back from the show for a few months to give birth to her second child. Bay Curious producer and editor Katrina Schwartz will be stepping…
Apr 17, 2025 · 16:47
A lot of things in the South Bay, specifically around Cupertino and Mountain View, are named after somebody called Stevens. There’s Stevens Creek Boulevard, the Stevens Creek…
Apr 10, 2025 · 20:40
Starting in the mid-1800s, salmon canneries were big business along the West Coast, stretching all the way up to Alaska. San Francisco played an outsized role in the industry —…
Apr 3, 2025 · 19:44
Bay Curious listener Tom Rauch grew up in Berkeley in the 1960s. Some of his most vivid memories from that time are of the old Berkeley dump. “It really was just this big, giant…
Mar 27, 2025 · 18:28
These days, when you see a show at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, you might be lucky enough to get your very own poster for free. They’re a highly anticipated parting…
Mar 20, 2025 · 28:06
One of the topics we get the most questions about from our audience is transportation. Today we round up answers to a handful of your questions, including: Where does all that…
Mar 13, 2025 · 18:07
A Bay Area artist in Richmond has been stealthily building and placing fairy houses around his neighborhood. His creations bring ‘endless fun and fascination’ to the East Bay…
Mar 6, 2025 · 15:10
San Francisco's oldest lesbian bar, The Wild Side West, is in the Bernal Heights neighborhood. It's been open since 1962 and has a long history of offering sanctuary to a…
Mar 3, 2025 · 4:35
Ever wonder where the internet stops and IRL begins? Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor. From…
Feb 27, 2025 · 19:33
A British sailor named Charles Lightoller visited San Francisco in the late 1800s and raved about the "'Frisco biscuit" he ate there. Carl Merritt read that in a book and…
Feb 20, 2025 · 20:02
Whether it's on the apps or in real life it can be hard to meet romantic partners. We explore what it's like to be dating right now in the Bay Area. This episode is brought to…
Feb 13, 2025 · 24:09
Listener Tadd Williams often sees the 16th Street Station from I-880. It's a huge, stately building in the Beaux-Arts style. It's looking a little rundown now, but it was clearly…
Feb 6, 2025 · 19:53
Reserving camp sites in California can feel sometimes feel as hard as scoring Taylor Swift concert tickets. KQED's Senior Editor for Audience News, Carly Severn, breaks down some…
Jan 30, 2025 · 18:27
Just off the coast of Richmond is a small island that's home to over a hundred bird species, lots of field mice, one dog and one man. The singular human resident is caretaker for…
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