Crosscurrents

Thirty-four Black women from the Bay Area are addressing issues facing their community with a mix of theater, dance and ritual. It’s the final chapter of a House/Full Of Black Women, a special episode from the Kitchen Sisters. Plus, a poem about self-forgiveness.

It's the final chapter of a House/Full Of Black Women, a special episode from the Kitchen Sisters. It explores the question: how can black people dream, if they cannot sleep?

Danni Blackman is a multi-disciplined artist who’s visual artist name is Decomposing Mystic. Here, she reads her poem by the same name.

From 2015 to 2023, 34 Black women from the Bay Area — gathered monthly around a big dining room table in Oakland. They were artists, scholars, midwives, nurses, an architect, an ice cream maker, a theater director, a choreographer, musicians, a donut maker, educators, sex trafficking abolitionists and survivors. Together, they used theater, dance, and ritual to address issues plaguing their community. Today, we take a seat at their table in part one of this special two part story from our friends at the Kitchen Sisters.

Today, we hear about a sport for blind athletes that relies on only hearing and touch to play. Emboldening athletes on and off the court with goalball. Then, a local playwright questions if Shakespeare actually wrote the literature credited to him. Plus, a Bay Area Author reads from his new YA novel.

Every Wednesday night in Berkeley a group of athletes gets ready to practice their sport. The first thing they have to do is line the court with a tactile marker––string taped to the floor around the perimeter––because this game relies on just two senses, hearing and feeling. This is goalball, a sport invented for blind and low vision people which involves hurling a heavy ball filled with bells at each other. It is sort of the opposite of dodge ball because players are trying to block the ball with their bodies. It might sound painful! So KALW's Rachel Longan visited a goalball tournament and later even padded up to play to find out if it is worth the risk.

William Shakespeare is possibly the most widely recognized writer in western literature… but did he actually write every single thing he gets credit for? It’s a controversial question that many have explored over the years. Including playwright and Oakland native Ted Lange. His new play “Shakespeare Over My Shoulder” is a production of the San Francisco Based African-American Shakespeare Company. KALW’s Jenee Darden spoke with Ted Lange for “The Sights + Sounds Show.” Here’s an excerpt of their conversation.

Now, a segment from New Arrivals, our pocket sized book tour with Bay Area authors. Jase Peeples lives in San Francisco. His new book is, "Before You Can Fly." It’s a young adult coming of age romance set in 1988, that follows Clayton Wheeler, a gay, comic-book obsessed teen who is struggling with his growing feelings for his best friend.

San Francisco’s Sunset district is a quiet, residential area… where almost every house has a locked gate at its front door. Today, what makes a neighborhood safe? Then, we hear a podcast that acknowledges the doom, and envision the bloom, of our shared climate future. Plus, a poet reminds us why fighting for the climate is a way to save ourselves.

If you’ve seen some of the ads in the BART stations… or San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s posts on Instagram… you may notice an emphasis on safety and security in the city. But if you go back in time, there's physical evidence that this rhetoric isn’t new. You can find it in neighborhoods all over the Bay. Take the Sunset district, on San Francisco's westside, where almost every house has a heavy iron gate. KALW’s Rae Kim went right up to the proverbial front door to find out how those gates got there—and what they might be keeping out.

Oakland poet Cyrus Armajani helps us pause to consider nature, humanity, and freedom. Here he is, reading his poem, "Free."

Here’s a question. When you talk about an issue you deeply care about, like climate change- what’s the reaction from the people around you, in your life? Are they supportive, are they dismissive? Sometimes you’re the lone voice at your workplace, or in your family, pushing others to recycle or compost properly… and that can be isolating. That was the topic of discussion at a recent event held here at our KALW event space in downtown San Francisco. We hosted a live recording of the climate-focused podcast Doom and Bloom, hosted by Marc O’Brien. His guest was Dr. Renee Lertzman - a psychologist, researcher, and strategist. In this excerpt, she talks about why some people struggle to act on climate change, despite caring deeply about it- and how it feels to be that lone voice in the room…

Today, we check in with our transportation reporter to get the latest on the spiking gas prices around the Bay Area. Then, Americana and roots singer Miko Marks, talks about her special residency at Yoshi’s. And, a Samoan dynasty in Deathmatch Wrestling.

Getting around the bay has never been… cheap. But if you’ve stopped to fill up your gas tank recently, you’ve definitely noticed that the price per gallon, even with a cash discount, is higher than ever. To understand what’s influencing that rapid increase in gas prices, Crosscurrents host Hana Baba speaks with KALW’s transportation reporter Zain Iqbal, for a segment of what we call “Getting Around the Bay.”

The Oakland-based singer, Miko Marks, first came onto the music scene as a country artist. But Miko’s powerful vocal range is wide, and so is her creativity. Now she identifies as an Americana and roots singer. She currently has a residency at Yoshi’s in Oakland that’s running now throughout the summer. Her next show is Thursday, May 21st. And her special guest is jazz legend Faye Carol. Miko sat down with KALW’s Jenee Darden on “The Sights + Sounds Show.” They spoke about Miko’s growth as an artist. Here’s an excerpt of that interview.

May is when we celebrate Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage. Next we’ll drop in on the world of wrestling. In the Bay Area’s world of pro-wrestling, Polynesian wrestlers are a small but influential group, with a rich and proud history. We bring you their story from our Culture Keepers series – celebrating the Bay Area’s unique spaces and people. Pro-wrestling is DRAMATIC. A combination of storytelling, live theater, sports and entertainment. And Wrestling has a lot of sub-groups… with individual lore, fandoms, and legacies. Reporter Demetrius Johnson introduces us to a wrestler from a Samoan pro-wrestling dynasty, in this story from March 2025.

Oaklanders are angry about the trash spilling onto their streets. Today, an exploration of Oakland’s illegal dumping crisis. And, why unhoused people often get the blame.

Illegal dumping in Oakland is not an issue you can deny, if you spend enough time in the city you will be met again and again by sprawling, incomprehensible mountains of trash. Last year, municipal crews in the city of Oakland collected over 7 million pounds of illegally dumped waste from city streets. And that’s just what they cleared, the trash on the streets keeps piling up. KALW’s Arlen Levy went to find out where it’s all coming from, and what’s being done to clean things up.

Illegal dumping is a big problem in Oakland. Today, we’ll from unhoused people about how the excess garbage that accumulates around encampments impacts their daily lives — and, some of the strategies they use to manage it.

An Oakland musician challenges traditions, while also keeping them alive. Today, the music of World War 2 incarceration camps that helped Japanese Americans protest, connect, and heal. Then, Hrishikesh Hirway, host of the hit podcast Song Exploder, shares how the show, and his new album, came to be.