Crosscurrents
KALW
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.
Location:
San Francisco, CA
Networks:
KALW
Description:
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.
Twitter:
@KALWNews
Language:
English
Contact:
500 Mansell Street San Francisco, CA 90140 (415) 264-7106
Email:
news@kalw.org
Episodes
SHOW: Bomba in the Bay, and a Scary Story from Sudanese Folklore
10/30/2025
Bomba is more than just music. Today, we’ll hear how one of Puerto Rico’s oldest musical traditions lives on in the Bay. Then, we hear a very scary Sudanese folk tale.
Duration:00:26:50
Bomba — music, history, identity, and resistance rolled into one
10/30/2025
Bomba. It's a word you feel: percussive, rhythmic, pulsating. The art form grew out of the Afro Indigenous cultures of Puerto Rico. But it’s much more than dance music. Bomba echoes and resonates with the violent history of slavery and resistance in Puerto Rico.
Duration:00:11:16
Bay Poets: 'Bones talk out the side of their neck' by poet Nia Pearl
10/30/2025
Day of the dead is coming up this weekend and it is a time when many people are thinking about dearly departed loved ones. Next we’ll get a message from the ancestors… through a poem. Here’s poet Nia Pearl with ’Bones talk out of the side of their neck.’
Duration:00:02:11
Sights and Sounds After Dark: Creepy Tales — Widea’s Goat
10/30/2025
Hana Baba recently took part in telling a scary story from her Sudanese culture as part of an evening of “Creepy Tales” from KALW’s Sights and Sounds show.
Duration:00:12:30
SHOW: Families Facing Hard Choices
10/29/2025
Gender affirming care is becoming less accessible for trans youth in the Bay. Today, we’ll hear from families facing tough decisions. Then, the story of a woman in prison who was gifted a book that changed her. And, a collection of readings from Bay Area authors.
Duration:00:24:51
Hard choices for trans youth and families after pause to gender affirming care
10/29/2025
This summer, both Stanford Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente paused gender affirming surgeries for youth under 19 years old. Ever since, the families of transgender kids in the Bay have been facing some hard choices.
Duration:00:12:02
Uncuffed: The book that changed her life
10/29/2025
How a book given to an Uncuffed producer surprised her.
Duration:00:05:04
New Arrivals Collection
10/29/2025
Now we’ll hear some readings from our series New Arrivals, a pocket-sized book tour with Bay Area authors. Today, Oakland authors Emile DeWeaver and Beverly Burch, as well as San Francisco writer Alvin Lu.
Duration:00:04:55
SHOW: Going Back in Time to Understand the Future
10/28/2025
Today, a UC Berkeley historian explores 80 years of US policy in the Middle East. Then, a story on how intense loyalty destroyed a close relationship. And, one beloved music venue in San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood has a morbid history... we meet the ghosts that haunt The Chapel.
Duration:00:26:50
LITQUAKE - 'Kicking the Hornet's Nest: U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East'
10/28/2025
KALW news editor Sunni Khalid recently hosted a conversation with author Daniel Zoughbie- UC Berkeley historian and professor of complex systems science as part of the 2025 Litquake literary festival.
Duration:00:13:55
Uncuffed: How loyalty to one person harmed her relationships with others
10/28/2025
When she was young, Uncuffed producer Keyna Osorio loved her cousins Bud and Rock. But then, when she was told that Rock’s brother snitched on her brother, her idea of loyalty cost her two very meaningful relationships — relationships she could never get back again.
Duration:00:04:15
From mortuary to music venue: Is The Chapel haunted?
10/28/2025
Today, the Chapel is a lively music venue. But many people who work there say its history as a mortuary lingers.
Duration:00:06:33
Bay Poets: 'It is I, the Immigrant' by Elizabeth Jiminez
10/27/2025
This is Chicana poet Elizabeth Jiminez Montelongo, reading her poem “It is I, the immigrant.”
Duration:00:02:11
Day of the Dead Marigolds, and a Transportation Update
10/27/2025
Today, we meet a florist who grows the marigolds used for "Dia de Los Muertos” And, an update on Bay Area roadways and Freeways. Plus, some poetry to help us through these tricky times.
Duration:00:26:50
Getting Around the Bay Q&A: Driving, commuting, parking
10/27/2025
A look at what’s happening in transportation news around the Bay Area, where this week we'll talking about driving, commuting, and parking.
Duration:00:10:40
Florist Mauricio Vivas grows marigolds to celebrate Día de Los Muertos
10/27/2025
Florist Mauricio Vivas grows marigolds for these reverent altars, and sells them at his store “Tony Rossi & Sons Florist” in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood. KALW’s Jenee Darden recently spoke to Mauricio in 2024 about the significance of marigolds for Dia de los Muertos traditions.
Duration:00:10:52
Bay Poets: Lourdes Figueroa reads their untitled poem
10/27/2025
Here's Chicanx poet Lourdes Figueroa reading an excerpt from their untitled poem.
Duration:00:01:51
SHOW: Lifting the Fog and Showing Love
10/23/2025
A local reporter talks about how Latine immigrant communities are preparing for an influx of Federal agents. Then, we go to a show that’s all about celebrating the City by the Bay. And, an Oakland novelist confronts everyday issues through horror.
Duration:00:26:50
Federal agents are heading to the Bay Area today
10/23/2025
To understand what an escalation of federal agents means for San Francisco, and especially Latine immigrants in the Bay Area, we spoke with El Tecolote Investigative Reporter Yesica Prado.
Duration:00:08:56
SHOW: 'Restrained and Sedated' series with Joel Umanzor
10/22/2025
Jose Luis Lopez was a construction worker in Richmond who had an encounter with the police in 2020. Today we hear an investigation into his story and other police involved deaths in Contra Costa County.
Then, how a difficult moment helped lead a young girl to become herself. And, we’ll board an aircraft carrier in Alameda that many people say…is haunted.
Duration:00:26:51