Bay Curious Presents: The Speaker

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 democracy. In The Speaker, political reporter Scott Shafer reflects on Pelosi’s historic life and career as she prepares to exit public office. Featuring exclusive interviews with Pelosi herself, along with other prominent figures like Gavin Newsom, Ilhan Omar, Rahm Emanuel and Mick Mulvaney. The Bay Curious team is hard at work gearing up for Prop Fest, our series examining the 14 propositions on the California ballot. As a little amuse-bouche, we're sharing an episode from KQED's new podcast, The Speaker! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 topography as characters. Check out top picks this Halloween season from Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle culture critic, and Carly Severn, Senior Editor of Audience News at KQED. It's a fun conversation about movies, stars and some of the great directors who've been inspired by our region. Additional Resources: Dunsmuir: The Oakland Mansion That Inspired Hollywood Nightmares The Best San Francisco Movies to Stream This Holiday Season Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Carly Severn and Peter Hartlaub. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale, Anna Casalme and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 football fields — were grown at the time. The total valuation of the crop amounted to roughly $2 million. And many of the farmers who grew those flowers were Chinese and Japanese immigrants who had to lease land from white landowners because they weren't allowed to own property. Additional Resources: When Chinese Flower Growers Helped the Bay Area Flower Market Bloom Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcastsThis story was reported by Gabriela Glueck. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale, Anna Casalme and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 there since 1874, its light beaming out to warn boats away from unexpectedly shallow waters. Bay Curious listener Kathleen Taylor noticed the lighthouse on a ferry ride from Vallejo to San Francisco for a baseball game and wondered what went on there over the years. She tagged along as we visited the island and got a private tour with the current keepers. Additional Resources: A Trip to the Remote Island Lighthouse in the Middle of San Francisco Bay Read the transcript for this episode GoFundMe for East Brother pier replacement Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Olivia Allen-Price. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale, Anna Casalme and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 to the golf courses located in East Bay parks. But once shelter-in-place lifted and golfers were back at it, all she saw were golf balls -- everywhere. It made her wonder, why are there so many golf courses in public parks in the Bay Area? Do they help the parks financially? Additional Resources: Why Are There so Many Public Golf Courses in the Bay Area? Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcastsThis story was reported by Sarah Wright. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale, Anna Casalme and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 average speed camera. Many citizens and privacy activists are concerned that the cameras are collecting so much information it's actually a violation of our fourth amendment rights. But law enforcement agencies and their supporters argue that since cities started using the cameras, crime has gone down. Bay Curious listener Dennis Riley has heard some of the news about Flock cameras and began to wonder, how much information do they have about someone like him, who hasn't done anything wrong and isn't suspected of a crime. We dig into why Flock is so controversial, how the technology works and learn what kind of information the cameras are collecting about people and vehicles that pass by. Additional Resources: Why Is Flock Safety So Controversial in the Bay Area? Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Morgan Sung. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale, Anna Casalme and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 the rock has a shiny, almost wet-looking appearance. And as a new convert to rock climbing, he also wondered if he could climb it. We dig into the history of urban climbs like this one and how they helped put the Bay Area at the forefront of rock climbing innovation. And don't worry, we'll do some climbing too! Additional Resources: The San Francisco Rock Climbing Spot Known For Its Shiny Surface Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Francesca Fenzi. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 receptacles are past their intended life span. Replacing them has been a saga that Bay Curious started following in 2022, but at last the new cans are popping up on city streets. This is a refreshed version of our 2022 episode about the trash cans with an update at the end. Additional Resources: The Sordid Saga of San Francisco's Trash Cans Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Christopher Beale. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 obvious as they sit out in the middle of the bay, south of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge and north of the San Mateo bridge. She wondered, how do those ships know where to park? Are there invisible parking "spots" they're pulling up to? How does it all work out there? We called Vessel Traffic Services to find out. Additional Resources: Welcome to Anchorage 9: The Giant Ship Parking Lot You Pass Every Day Read the transcript for this episode Why Specialized Mariners Are Required on Every Ship Sailing Into San Francisco Bay Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Katrina Schwartz. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 like if AI can do much of what humans can? Will AI tools isolate us further, or steer us back toward community and common ground? Can the average person expect to be better off a decade from now? And what the heck should we tell a sixteen-year-old who wants to know whether learning German (or design, or coding, or the piano) is still worth it? Life, Automated is grounded and non-ideological, going deep without getting too technical. Because you shouldn’t need to be an “AI person” to understand the future we’re collectively building. Find it wherever you listen or at https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/lifeautomated Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices