Port Costa: Quirky, Historic, Cool

When people think of the Black Panthers, most imagine militant Black men in berets carrying guns. While that's not an inaccurate picture, the Black Panthers did much more than just fight back against racist policing. They created a whole host of community programs. This week, we bring you an excerpt from the Mindshift podcast about one of them — an elementary school in Oakland that made a big impact on education. Additional Reading: 5 Ways the Black Panthers Shaped U.S. Schools Read a transcript of this episode Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing company monthly trivia contest Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Nimah Gobir. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, Christopher Beale, and Ana De Almeida Amaral. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan, and the whole KQED family.

These days, Glen Canyon Park is a tranquil urban park with hiking trails, soccer fields and a playground, which makes it all that more difficult to imagine that it was once home to the first dynamite factory in the United States. Today we’ll join reporter Gabriela Glueck to learn how dynamite made its way to San Francisco and why it was such a transformative product in this state. Plus, we'll explore the stories of Chinese laborers who often had the most dangerous jobs of all in the high explosives industry. Additional Reading: The Explosive History Hidden in Glen Canyon Park Read a transcript of this episode Listen to our kid-friendly playlist on Spotify Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported and produced by Gabriela Glueck. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, Ana De Almedia Amaral and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED family.

There are plenty of 'haunted' places in the Bay Area. But some locations are said to attract ghosts, even if they don't have a connection to the place. Ghost hunters say the USS Hornet, a retired WWII aircraft carrier docked in Alameda, is one such place. Reporter Katherine Monahan recently took a late night tour of the ship with a group of paranormal enthusiasts, and took along her recorder to see if she could pick up any ghostly communications. Additional Reading: The USS Hornet in Alameda Is a Destination for Paranormal Enthusiasts — and You Can Spend the Night There Read a transcript of this episode Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing company monthly trivia contest Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Katherine Monahan. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, Christopher Beale, and Ana De Almeida Amaral. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan, and the whole KQED family.

We're presenting an episode of Close All Tabs, a new miniseries from KQED that explores the intersection of internet culture and politics. In this episode, host Morgan Sung examines the rise of “stan culture” in politics, where passionate supporters rally around political figures with the same fervor typically reserved for pop stars. Read the transcript here. Want to give us feedback on the series? Shoot us an email at [email protected]

California has over 33 million acres of forest land, about a third of the state's total area, as well as other wild land areas. For decades we've done everything possible to suppress fires, but they just keep getting bigger and more destructive. And that's partly because of all our suppression efforts. KQED Science reporter Danielle Venton explains how different ecosystems are evolved to burn sometimes, much more often than they have of late. Additional Reading: Read a transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing company monthly trivia contest Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Danielle Venton. This episode of Bay Curious was made by Olivia Allen-Price, Annie Fruit, Amanda Font, Christopher Beale, and Ana De Almeida Amaral. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan, and the whole KQED family.

Burying the dead in San Francisco has long been banned, but at the Presidio pet cemetery hundreds of dogs, cats, fish, iguanas, and turtles have been laid to rest. This week, Bay Curious Intern Ana De Almeida Amaral takes us to the Presidio to learn about the history of the pet cemetery and to ask "Can I bury my pet here?" Additional Reading: Read a transcript of this episode Web version: The Presidio Pet Cemetery: A Resting Place for Furry Friends Join us for KQED Fest 2024! Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing company monthly trivia contest Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Ana De Almeida Amaral. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, Christopher Beale, and Ana De Almeida Amaral. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan, and the whole KQED family.

One of San Francisco's purported “ghosts,” has a remarkable real-life story often left out of San Francisco's history books. Today we bring back an episode that first aired in 2018, about the remarkable, yet complicated life of Mary Ellen Pleasant. Additional Reading: Read the transcript for this episode Ghost of a Legend: How a San Francisco Civil Rights Icon Was Made a Monster Register for KQED Fest Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts Reported by Carly Severn. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, Ana De Almeida Amaral and Christopher Beale. Additional support on this episode from Jessica Placzek, Paul Lancour, Ryan Levi and Suzie Racho. Thanks also to Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED Family.

In 2014, Californians passed Prop 47, a criminal justice reform measure aimed at sending fewer low-level offenders for drug and theft crimes to prison. Now, Californians are being asked if they want to roll back some of those reforms, and increase the penalties. KQED Politics Correspondent and co-host of Political Breakdown Marisa Lagos takes us through the history, data and arguments of this prop. This is the final episode in our 10-part Prop Fest series, examining the propositions on California's 2024 ballot. We'll be back to regular programming next week. Additional Reading: Read a transcript of this episode Check out the KQED Voter Guide Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Marisa Lagos. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, Christopher Beale, and Ana De Almeida Amaral. The Bay is made by Alan Montecillo, Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Jessica Kariisa. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan, and the whole KQED family.

As our Prop Fest series continues, KQED Health Correspondent Lesley McClurg joins us to explain Prop. 35, which aims to improve Medi-Cal access by making an existing tax on health insurance companies permanent and restricting the allocation of funds to certain Medi-Cal providers. Additional Reading: Read a transcript of this episode Check out the KQED Voter Guide Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Lesley McClurg. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, Christopher Beale, and Ana De Almeida Amaral. The Bay is made by Alan Montecillo, Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Jessica Kariisa. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan, and the whole KQED family.

Today, we take a closer look at Prop 34, which takes aim at how revenues earned through a federal drug pricing program are spent by a very specific number of providers. On the surface it seems like a healthcare prop, but underneath it all is a proxy war over rent control. Reporter Aaron Schrank, who has been covering Prop 34 for NPR member station KCRW in Los Angeles, helps us understand what’s at stake. Additional Reading: Read a transcript of this episode Our episode on Prop 33 and Rent Control Check out the KQED Voter Guide Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Aaron Schrank. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, Christopher Beale, and Ana De Almeida Amaral. The Bay is made by Alan Montecillo, Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Jessica Kariisa. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan, and the whole KQED family.