Category: DailyShorts

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The Boring Talks - #41 – Pencils

James Ward introduces another curious talk about a subject that may seem boring, but is actually very interesting.... maybe.

Brian Mackenwells is passionate about pencils. In this Boring Talk he shares his passion for good pencils. He talks us through their history, and explains why having a good pencil gives you a pleasurable 'small pivot point that can change your whole mind set'. He also talks us through his favourite pencils, and shares the very personal reason that he can't part with one particular pencil in his collection.

Presenter: James Ward Contributor: Brian Mackenwells Producer: Luke Doran

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Bay Curious - We Built This City on … Water and Marsh?

When Nicole was growing up, her grandmother always told her: Don't live anywhere built on fill. Her uncle also had strong memories of watching the Marina burn after the 1989 earthquake — when parts of the ground liquefied, causing buildings to collapse and gas lines to break.

Nicole wants to follow her grandmother's advice, but she needs to know a few things: "What neighborhoods and cities in the Bay Area are built on filled land? And what are those cities and neighborhoods doing to mitigate the risk of liquefaction?"


Additional Reading


Credits

Reported by Kelly O'Mara. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Katie McMurran and Rob Speight. Additional support from Julie Caine, Paul Lancour, Don Clyde, Carly Severn, Christopher Cox, Bianca Hernandez, Kyana Moghadam, Suzie Racho, Ethan Lindsey, Vinnee Tong and Holly Kernan.

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Bay Curious - You’re Really, Really Curious About BART

We get a lot of BART questions from our listeners, so this week we're answering a slew of them with long-time transit reporter Dan Brekke.

  • How did they build the underwater tunnels for BART?
  • In its nearly 50 years of existence, why has BART taken so long to extend into Santa Clara County? And only normally protruded into San Mateo County and never expanded into any of the North Bay counties?
  • Why are there news kiosks in the BART station that are closed? Why doesn't BART let people run these news kiosks? What is the history? 
  • At the West Oakland BART Station there are ads right next to the third rail. How on earth do they change those out without getting electrocuted?
  • Why does it seem like the escalators are constantly broken?
  • Why does BART announce elevator status all the time?


Our question askers this week were Briana, Brad Meyer, Jay Quigley, Mark, Dan and Eric. 

Additional Goodies


Credits

Produced by Jessica Placzek and Olivia Allen-Price. Featuring KQED's transit editor Dan Brekke. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Katie McMurran and Rob Speight. Additional support from Julie Caine, Paul Lancour, Patricia Yollin, Carly Severn, Christopher Cox, Bianca Hernandez, Kyana Moghadam, Suzie Racho, Ethan Lindsey, Vinnee Tong and Holly Kernan.

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Bay Curious - Jerry Brown’s Impact on Oakland May Surprise You

Jerry Brown has been a dominant force in California politics for decades. He spent 16 years as governor of California, ran for Senate twice, ran for president three times, and spent eight years as Mayor of Oakland. In this episode, we explore how Brown's legacy in Oakland is playing out today with Devin Katayama of The Bay, and Guy Marzorati, producer of new podcast The Political Mind of Jerry Brown. You can subscribe to both in the same place you get Bay Curious.

Produced by Devin Katayama, Marisol Medina-Cadena, Alan Montecillo, Jessica Placzek and Olivia Allen-Price. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Katie McMurran and Rob Speight. Additional support from Julie Caine, Paul Lancour, Kyana Moghadam, Suzie Racho, Ethan Lindsey, Vinnee Tong, Holly Kernan and Patricia Yollin.

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the memory palace - Episode 156: That’s How it Goes Whenever it Snows

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts.

A note on shownotes. In a perfect world, you go into each episode of the Memory Palace knowing nothing about what's coming. It's pretentious, sure, but that's the intention. So, if you don't want any spoilers or anything, you can click play without reading ahead.

Anyway...

**Music **

Notes