Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchThe Mercury Mine That Built a Boomtown Near San Jose
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 A…
6 months ago
Unsung Heroines: Rebel Girls of the Bay Area
Women have dramatically influenced San Francisco Bay Area history since before the Gold Rush, but their stories are often far less well known. Rae Al…
6 months ago
The Bear on the California Flag
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 Francisc…
6 months, 1 week ago
Secrets of Golden Gate Park
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 …
6 months, 1 week ago
The Navy Jet Generations of SF Kids Played On
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…
6 months, 2 weeks ago
Why So Many Legal Courts in S.F.?
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 …
6 months, 2 weeks ago
How South San Francisco Went From Industrial City to Biotech Hub
When scientists began tinkering with DNA in the 1970s, biotechnology was not welcome in leafy residential neighborhoods or many college towns. But it…
6 months, 3 weeks ago
The Eccentric Personalities Behind Sunnyside Conservatory
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 l…
6 months, 3 weeks ago
The Case of the Missing Tree Frogs
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 a…
7 months ago
How Italian Is North Beach? The Surprising Stats
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 …
7 months ago