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Bay Curious

KQED
San Francisco
California
KQED
San Francisco Bay
Bay Area
Oakland
San Francisco Bay Area
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Climate Change
World War II
BART
Proposition 2
Alameda
Presidio
Sex Work
Gold Rush
Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dogs
Housing Crisis
Golden Gate Park
Port Costa

Bay Curious is a show about your questions – and the adventures you find when you go looking for the answers. Join host Olivia Allen-Price to explore all aspects of the San Francisco Bay Area – from the debate over "Frisco", to the dinosaurs that once roamed California, to the causes of homelessness. Whether you lived here your whole life, or just arrived, Bay Curious will deepen your understandin... more

PublishesTwice weeklyEpisodes527Founded10 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
Places & TravelHistorySociety & Culture

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Artwork for Bay Curious

Latest Episodes

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 conve... more

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 t... more

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 Fr... more

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 fur... more

Key Facts

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Recent Guests

Gary Reed
Head of Vessel Traffic Services (VTS)
Coast Guard
Episode: Welcome to Anchorage 9: Where Ships Park
Jess Love
Science writer and senior director at the Ryan Institute on Complexity
Ryan Institute on Complexity
Episode: Got Existential Questions About AI? Try “Life, Automated”
Sam Hopkins
Bay Curious listener who sparked the Bruce Lee question
Episode: Bruce Lee's Bay Area Legacy
Jeff Chang
Historian and cultural critic, Bruce Lee biographer
Author of Water Mirror Echo, Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America
Episode: Bruce Lee's Bay Area Legacy
Greg Lon Lee
Kung Fu Sifu based in Berkeley
Self-described martial arts instructor in Oakland/Berkeley area
Episode: Bruce Lee's Bay Area Legacy
Katherine Monahan
Reporter with Bay Curious at KQED
KQED
Episode: The Life of Ishi, Last of His Tribe
Steve Schoonover
Author of a book about the Yahi
Independent author/ researcher
Episode: The Life of Ishi, Last of His Tribe
Anne McIntyre
Bar Pilot, BayCurious segment guest
San Francisco BarPilots
Episode: The Mariners Who Guide Massive Ships Into the Bay
Savan Lasur
Bar Pilot, interviewee
San Francisco BarPilots
Episode: The Mariners Who Guide Massive Ships Into the Bay

Hosts

Olivia Allen-Price
Host of Bay Curious, focused on Bay Area questions and storytelling.
Katrina Schwartz
Editor and Producer contributing to Bay Curious content.

Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars from 1.3k ratings
  • So interesting!

    Look forward to this show every week! Keep teaching me things about the place I love to call home!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    EZMC213
    United States3 months ago
  • What’s not to love?

    As a Bay Area native who now lives outside of California, I love listening to Bay Curious for its creative storytelling and robust history that keeps me connected to the Bay. Keep up the outstanding work!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    BayAreaOkie
    United States3 months ago
  • Disappointing

    I've tried for some time to find the value in this podcast. I'm very interested in the subject as a local historian. However the use of journalists to summarize academic or learned perspectives is rarely a good idea, especially here. The journalists get things wrong, draw strange conclusions to fill in blanks and ignore nuance. And of course the voice affectations and intent to keep an honest tone (rather than focus on the content, getting it right and presenting something for the listener to co... more

    Apple Podcasts
    1
    Stay Fat
    United States3 months ago
  • Drawbridges of Alameda

    I’m a huge fan of Bay Curious for several years now. The episode on the drawbridges of Alameda was unexpectedly… lovely.

    Thank you !

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    MessyEm
    United States3 months ago
  • A gem!

    I love this gem of a podcast! It is charming and interesting and a perfect little snack.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    DrayaCarp
    United States4 months ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Listeners find the show consistently informative and family-friendly.
Many appreciate in-depth, nuanced storytelling and archival context.
Fans value accessibility and the spot-on exploration of neighborhood histories.
Listeners praise the local focus and engaging guests, with a strong sense of Bay Area culture.
A few reviews note occasional stylistic critiques or political bias in some series.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Welcome to Anchorage 9: Where Ships Park
Q: What makes this area tricky for mariners to navigate and manage?
The bay's complexity comes from a mix of offshore, bay, estuary, and delta waters, varied depths, narrow channels, fog, and heavy traffic, requiring a large monitoring area and specialized pilots to ensure safe movement.
Welcome to Anchorage 9: Where Ships Park
Q: How does the parking and docking system actually work, and who decides where ships go?
The bar pilots act as expert local valets who know each ship's destination, draft, and timing, coordinating with VTS to allocate specific anchorages and manage the sequence of arrivals and departures across the bay.
Welcome to Anchorage 9: Where Ships Park
Q: Tell me about some of the most prominent anchorages we might see from shore?
Anchorage 5 south of the Richmond Bridge hosts tugboats and serves as a staging area near oil terminals; Anchorage 7 west of Treasure Island is highly visible and sensitive to winds and currents; Anchorage 9 is the major parking lot where large ships wait to birth, repair, or refuel, with 24 anchor buckets in total.
Secrets of Golden Gate Park
Q: What sparked the initial interest in Golden Gate Park's design and purpose?
The hosts explore the park's origins from sand dunes to a public urban green space, highlighting Olmsted's initial skepticism and Hammond Hall's practical, wind-conscious planning.
Campsites Are Hard to Get in California. Try Dispersed Camping Instead
Q: If this is sounding intimidating, but people are still interested, is there sort of a recommendation for where you might get started?
Yes. Start with a managed, lower-friction area like Jackson Demonstration State Forest in Mendocino County, which is CAL FIRE land with first-come, first-serve sites and basic facilities like outhouses, making it a good intro to dispersed camping; another approach is to pick a highway into the Sierra and find a spot a mile off the road in nearby National Forest lands.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
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Age Range
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Frequently Asked Questions About Bay Curious

What is Bay Curious about and what kind of topics does it cover?

A Bay Area–focused exploration that covers a wide range of local questions, from public art and historic landmarks to infrastructure, urban planning, and neighborhood memories. Episodes frequently blend reporting, archival material, and expert or community voices to illuminate how place, policy, and people shape the region. Noteworthy is the show's knack for turning everyday Bay Area curiosities into nuanced, neighborly storytelling—often featuring local historians, reporters, and residents who add texture to familiar places. Potential listeners can expect approachable, deeply local content with a mix of history, culture, and current affairs, served through engaging interviews and listener-driven investigations.

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How many listeners does Bay Curious get?

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What are the audience demographics for Bay Curious?

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How many subscribers and views does Bay Curious have?

To see how many followers or subscribers Bay Curious has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.

Which podcasts are similar to Bay Curious?

These podcasts share a similar audience with Bay Curious:

1. The Bay
2. East Bay Yesterday
3. KQED's The California Report
4. KQED's Forum
5. Political Breakdown

How many episodes of Bay Curious are there?

Bay Curious launched 10 years ago and published 527 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

How do I contact Bay Curious?

Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.

Where can I see ratings and reviews for Bay Curious?

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What guests have appeared on Bay Curious?

Recent guests on Bay Curious include:

1. Gary Reed
2. Jess Love
3. Sam Hopkins
4. Jeff Chang
5. Greg Lon Lee
6. Katherine Monahan
7. Steve Schoonover
8. Anne McIntyre

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

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