Bay Curious

Port Costa is a tiny, funky town on the Carquinez Strait that looks and feels like a time capsule. We've received several questions about it over the years: Did its old hotel used to be a brothel? Is it haunted? Was Port Costa once a port, as the name suggests? This week, reporter Katherine Monahan heads to this relic of the old west to experience its eclectic charm and find out the answers.

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Candy colored paint jobs, tons of artistic details, with bodies slammed almost to the ground or bouncing on hydraulics—lowriders definitely turn heads wherever they're cruising. Where exactly did this unique car culture get its start? This week, reporter Sebastian Miño-Bucheli takes us on a drive through lowrider history.

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If you've been anywhere along the California coast, you've seen it—ice plant. It's a low, spreading succulent with finger-like leaves and bright pink or yellow flowers. Given its prevalence on our shorelines, you might assume ice plant is meant to be there. But it's actually an invasive species that threatens native plants and wildlife. This week on the show, producer Pauline Bartolone digs into the effects of this pretty pest, and some other herbaceous interlopers.

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California plans to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars and trucks by 2035. But does the state have enough charging stations to support them? Today, some electric vehicle (EV) owners will tell you that charging an EV can be unreliable and stressful—especially if you are depending on public charging stations. Come 2035, the charging crunch could get much worse. This week on Bay Curious, reporter Dana Cronin takes on a road trip to understand what it will take to get more charging stations in our Bay Area neighborhoods.

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It has been called "the world's oldest profession," but it's not one that's often discussed openly. Of course, we're talking about sex work. Attitudes about certain parts of the industry—from porn to strip clubs—have evolved over time, and so has the language used to discuss it. Even the term "sex work" is relatively new. This week, reporter Steven Rascón brings us the story of the woman who coined the term, and the history of the sex worker rights movement.

This episode contains frank discussions about sexual acts, and sex work—some of which is crimina...

Before the rise of Silicon Valley, long before the 1906 quake, way before indigenous peoples settled in the Bay Area—actually way, WAY before humans even existed as a species—some fearsome creatures roamed this land. That's right, I'm talking about dinosaurs. This week we're reprising our 2017 episode from reporter Daniel Potter about what kinds of these "monstrous lizards" swam, stomped and flew over the Bay Area.

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While strolling through the beautiful Morcom Rose Garden, Bay Curious listener Julia Fogelson noticed something peculiar. All over the garden are signs banning a very specific item: glitter. So, what's with all the "NO GLITTER" signs? This week, reporter Christopher Beale takes us to the garden to figure out what sparked the sparkle ban.

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Gone are the days of the Old West with sheriffs sitting astride their horses and star shaped badges gleaming in the dusty sunshine. But the idea of police on horseback isn't a total relic. San Francisco, with the country's second oldest mounted police force, still has a few hooved officers left. This week on the show, producer Katrina Schwartz heads to the stables to meet this four-legged squad.

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There are dozens of shipwrecks in and around San Francisco Bay. And Bay Curious listener Brian Teaff wonders: Is there treasure down there? In some ways yes, but it may not be the type of treasure you're imagining.

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In the early 1960s, cities around the San Francisco Bay Area proposed plans to fill in the bay waters and expand. At the time, there was no regional agency looking at what all those projects together would do to the bay as whole. That's where three Berkeley women stepped in to save the bay.

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