Bay Curious

Reported by Jon Brooks. Bay Curious is Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Paul Lancour, Suzie Racho and Julia McEvoy. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Ask us a question at BayCurious.org. Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.

What does containment mean? How are wildfires named? What happens after your house burns? Reported by Lindsey Hoshaw, Jessica Placzek, Sukey Lewis and Olivia Allen-Price. Technical director is Paul Lancour. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Many songs in this episode were by Petaluma artist Gio Benedetti, and proceeds from their sale will benefit wildfire survivors. Find and buy his music here: https://giobenedetti.bandcamp.com/ Ask us a question at BayCurious.org. Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.

Spend some time walking around San Francisco, and you'll probably notice the large, brick circles decorating the pavement at some intersections. What are they for? Reported by Sarah Craig. Bay Curious is Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Paul Lancour, Suzie Racho and Julia McEvoy. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Ask us a question at BayCurious.org. Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.

How an S.F. drag artist founded one of the biggest and most bejeweled charities dedicated to LGBTQ causes. Reported by Chloe Veltman. Bay Curious is Olivia Allen-Price, Paul Lancour, Jessica Placzek, Suzie Racho, Penny Nelson and Julia McEvoy. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Ask us a question at BayCurious.org. Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.

Bay Curious listener Marcy Ballard wrote to us wanting to know more about the 442nd Regimental Combat Team — a segregated, Japanese-American unit that fought for the U.S. during the Second World War. She’s pretty sure they must have some remarkable stories to tell. After all, these were men considered to be enemy aliens by the government because of their Japanese heritage. Offensive Anti-Japanese propaganda was circling everywhere. Many were forced to live in internment camps, surrounded by barbed wire and patrolled by armed guards. And yet, they volunteered to fight for America. Soon after, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was created. Its Japanese-American members proved themselves to be valiant soldiers. They took control of strategically important towns in France, and aided in the liberation of Rome. They broke stalwart German defenses, and discovered and freed prisoners of the Dachau concentration camp. They were regularly sent to the front lines to fight in some of the war’s bloodiest battles. Some have

Picture a set of binoculars — only a pair the size of a low-rise building. That’s the shape of BART’s Transbay Tube — the dual-bore, 3.8-mile passageway that connects the West Oakland Station to San Francisco’s Embarcadero Station. Every weekday during peak commute hours, more than 60,000 BART riders cruise through the tube. What most don’t know is that they’re in a trench on the floor of San Francisco Bay. Bay Curious listener Jennifer Schulz rides through the tube a lot and can’t help but to think: What if there was an earthquake? How safe is the Transbay Tube? Would it crack? Would bay water flood into my jam-packed BART car? Could I be trapped? Since 2005, BART has been undergoing a major earthquake retrofit. The final phase is expected to begin next year, finishing up some time in 2023. The cost? So far, $1.3 billion. KQED’s Tena Rubio spoke with Tom Horton, BART’s earthquake safety manager. Is the Transbay Tube safe during an earthquake? What I can say is that it’s safer than most other places people ar

For years Martin Kunz has been looking down the hill from his office at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, out over the water, at one of the longest piers in California — the Berkeley Pier. “I see this every day from my office when I have lunch, and I was curious what the history behind this is,” he said. He submitted a question to Bay Curious, so off we went to find the answer. Lately, the Berkeley Pier has primarily been used as a fishing pier, but decades ago it had a very different purpose. Berkeley’s Population Boom Back in the early 20th century, Berkeley was growing fast. Its population went from 13,214 residents in 1900 to 56,036 in 1920. Thousands of refugees from San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake found homes in Berkeley, the University of California experienced rapid expansion and an electric train system connected Berkeley to other Bay Area cities, such as Oakland. Berkeley was establishing itself as an urban center, yet many of its residents still worked jobs in San Francisco. To get there, workers commu

There's one "no parking" sign in San Francisco that you can bend the rules on ... if the conditions are right. Reported by Penny Nelson. Bay Curious is Olivia Allen-Price, Paul Lancour, Jessica Placzek, Penny Nelson, Suzie Racho and Katie McMurran. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Ask us a question at BayCurious.org. Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.

Whether at Baker Beach or Bay to Breakers, it’s not unusual to see public nudity in San Francisco. What are the current laws on the matter, and how did the city become known for bodies in the buff? Reported by Jessica Placzek. Bay Curious is Olivia Allen-Price, Vinnee Tong, Paul Lancour, Suzie Racho, Penny Nelson and Julia McEvoy. Our managing editor is Ethan Lindsey. Vice President for News is Holly Kernan. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Ask us a question at BayCurious.org. Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.

Reported by Craig Miller. Bay Curious is Olivia Allen-Price, Vinnee Tong, Paul Lancour, Jessica Placzek, Suzie Racho and Penny Nelson. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Ask us a question at BayCurious.org. Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.

Oakland is home to the fifth-busiest container port in the country and all around it, containers are stacked sky high like colorful, life-size Lego bricks. Listener Ajith Kumar asked Bay Curious: “Why are there millions of containers in West Oakland? How much trade is happening via those containers every month?” Bay Curious gets the answer. Credits: Jessica Placzek, Olivia Allen-Price, Vinnee Tong, Paul Lancour and Julia McEvoy.

A Bay Curious listener who hikes a lot wonders: Should he be scared of mountain lions? We find out for him. Reported by Vinnee Tong. Bay Curious is Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Vinnee Tong, Paul Lancour, Penny Nelson, Suzie Racho and Julia McEvoy. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Ask us a question at BayCurious.org. Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.

Two years ago, a big steel and concrete median barrier went in on the Golden Gate Bridge, and two yellow machines appeared that move it several times a day. Bridge commuters have some questions. Reported by Kelly O'Mara. Bay Curious is Olivia Allen-Price, Vinnee Tong, Paul Lancour, Julia McEvoy, Penny Nelson and Suzie Racho. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Ask us a question at BayCurious.org. Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.

Drawbridge was a popular bird hunting destination decades. What happened? Reported by Jessica Placzek. Produced and edited by Olivia Allen-Price, Vinnee Tong, Paul Lancour and Suzie Racho. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Ask us a question at BayCurious.org. Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.

If you attended sixth grade anywhere in or near San Jose, there’s a high likelihood you've been to see the largest collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities on public display anywhere west of the Mississippi. I'm talking about the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum. Credits: Rachael Myrow, Olivia Allen-Price, Vinnee Tong, Paul Lancour, Jessica Placzek, Julia McEvoy.

Why the "O" in SFO? And why is one of Chicago's airports coded ORD? And IAD for Dulles? Reported by Jessica Placzek. Bay Curious is Olivia Allen-Price, Vinnee Tong, Paul Lancour, Suzie Racho, Penny Nelson and Julia McEvoy. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Ask us a question at BayCurious.org. Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.

Since Bay Curious first answered your questions on homelessness in 2017, the cost of living has continued to rise in the Bay Area and with it, the number of people living without a home. In the nine county Bay Area, just over 34,000 people are experiencing homelessness, according to point-in-time counts conducted in January by most counties In at least five of the nine counties, the recent count revealed an increase in the number of homeless people from the last time the count was done in 2017. In this episode, we explore four common questions about homelessness with Audrey Cooper, editor in chief of The San Francisco Chronicle and Kevin Fagan, a reporter with The San Francisco Chronicle who has covered homelessness for more than two decades. More resources: * 89 answers to your questions from The San Francisco Chronicle * One Day, One City, No Relief: 24 hours inside San Francisco’s Homeless Crisis * Homelessness in SF is Complex. Here Are Answers to the Most Common Questions == Produced by

What causes homelessness? What's the best way to help people you see on the street? And what other cities have had success in solving homelessness? Reported by Jessica Placzek, Olivia Allen-Price and Vinnee Tong. Production help from Paul Lancour and Julia McEvoy. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Ask us a question at BayCurious.org. Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.

Our question-asker saw a tsunami hit San Francisco in the movie San Andreas, and wonders: would it really be like? Reported by Johanna Varner and Olivia Allen-Price. Bay Curious is Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Paul Lancour, Vinnee Tong, Suzie Racho, Penny Nelson and Julia McEvoy. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Ask us a question at BayCurious.org. Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.

Reported by Jessica Placzek. Bay Curious is Olivia Allen-Price, Vinnee Tong, Paul Lancour, Suzie Racho, Penny Nelson and Julia McEvoy. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Ask us a question at BayCurious.org. Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.