Bay Curious

When Bay Curious listener Justin Hartung was growing up in Oakland, he remembers the Bay being blue. After moving to New York for college in the early 90s, and returning back to the East Bay a couple years ago, he noticed a big difference in the hue of the harbor. When did it get so green?Additional Reading:Feel Like the S.F. Bay Used to Be Bluer? You're Not Imagining ItReported by Amanda Font. 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 and Patricia Yollin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To celebrate the third birthday of the Bay Curious podcast we are answering listener questions about our favorite episodes, how we make the show, our theme music, the way we choose questions, and questions we wish we received. Also don't miss our birthday celebration on November 14th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Babe's Monte Carlo in San Francisco. Register at BayCurious.org/events.Additional reading/listening:Why Do Some Hate the Nickname ‘Frisco’?What Would It Take to Make Lake Merritt Swimmable?Bay Curious has been made possible by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Vinnee Tong, Ryan Levi, Suzie Racho, Julie Caine, Erika Kelly, Paul Lancour, Kelly O’Mara, Carly Severn, Katie McMurran, Rob Speight, Pat Yollin, Maggie Galloway, Holly Kernan, Ethan Lindsay, and Julia McEvoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco is 49 square miles, but contains more than 1,000 miles of sewer mains, running under every block. Take a trip with Bay Curious reporter Carly Severn into the depths of the city, and discover an otherworldly cave that has reached legendary status with some urban explorers.VIDEO: Take A Trip Into San Francisco's Sewer SystemWeb story: Tunnels Under San Francisco? Inside the Dark, Dangerous World of the SewersReported by Carly Severn. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Suzie Racho and Rob Speight. Additional support from Julie Caine, Paul Lancour, Patricia Yollin, Vinnee Tong and Ethan Lindsey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bay Area is defined by water. Not just by the bay itself, but by the Pacific Ocean and myriad rivers, reservoirs, lakes and ponds. Yet most of the bodies of water you drive past are devoid of people. No swimming. No splashing around. Not even on the hottest days. Why is that?Additional Reading (including a list of where you can swim):Why Can’t You Swim in Most Bay Area Lakes?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, Suzie Racho, Ethan Lindsey and Patricia Yollin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two Oakland ice cream makers claim they invented the famous flavor — Fenton's Creamery and Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream. Either way, the depression-era creation changed the game for ice cream flavors in America.More food history episodes: Dutch Crunch Mai Tai Green Goddess Salad Dressing It's It Ice Cream Sandwiches Sourdough Irish Coffee Reported by Sasha Khokha, host of The California Report Magazine. Edited by Suzie Racho. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek and Katie McMurran. Additional support from Paul Lancour, Suzie Racho, Julie Caine, Kyana Moghadam, Carly Severn, Vinnee Tong, Ethan Lindsey and Pat Yollin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our first stop is the Bay Model in Sausalito, a roughly 1.5-acre model of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta system. We visit The Santa Cruz Surfing Museum, which pays tribute to over 100 years of surfing in the area. Our last stop is at Musée Mécanique where we meet the owner of this vast coin-operated collection.Additional Reading:12 Off-Beat Museums in the Bay Area To Visit This FallSanta Cruz Museum Shines Light on the History of SurfingReported by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Bianca Taylor and Maggie Galloway. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek and Katie McMurran. Additional support from Julie Caine, Paul Lancour, Suzie Racho and Patricia Yollin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lake Tahoe is the backyard playground for many in the Bay Area, so earlier this year we asked the Bay Curious audience what questions they had about this recreational hot spot. We collaborated with TahoeLand, a podcast from Capital Public Radio, to answer them!– Are there dead bodies at the bottom of the lake?– What’s the story behind Tahoe Tessie?– What does it mean to keep Tahoe blue?– Why is keeping Tahoe blue important?Find more reporting on how climate change is impacting Lake Tahoe by checking out the TahoeLand podcast.Web story: Do Preserved Bodies Dwell in Lake Tahoe’s Depths?! The Truth Behind Tahoe’s MythsReporting by Ezra David Romero, Sally Schilling and Emily Zentner.Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Robert Speight, Katie McMurran and Paul Lancour. Additional support from Julie Caine, Suzie Racho, Ethan Lindsey and Pat Yollin.Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller.Ask us a question or sign up for our newsletter at BayCurious.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back in the 1960s, San Francisco had really bad television reception. By many accounts, it was the worst of any city in America.Good reception required a clear line of sight from the broadcast tower to your TV antenna, and in hilly San Francisco this was a challenge. Broadcasters began the hunt for a location to build a very tall tower that could send a clear TV signal far and wide.A site was selected and plans were drawn up — but not without a bounty of controversy.Read the full web story: Sutro Tower: The Origins of an ‘Eyesore’Video from Jessica’s trip to the top: A Trip to the Top of Sutro TowerThis episode first aired on Jan. 5, 2017. It features question asker Craig Rubens.===Reported by Jessica Placzek. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Adam Grossberg and Katie McMurran. Additional support from Julie Caine, Paul Lancour, Suzie Racho, Ethan Lindsey and Patricia Yollin.Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller.Ask us a question, vote in a voting round or sign up for our newsletter at BayCurious.org.Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’re in Berkeley and wander far enough up Marin Avenue, there’s no doubt you’ll run into the Fountain at The Circle. The grand Beaux Arts fountain has become a symbol of the neighborhood and has inspired numerous paintings and drawings. It even has its own Berkeley Public Library card design.But this fountain also symbolizes a big moment in Berkeley’s history, and how one developer’s dream almost changed California history forever.Reported by Maggie Galloway.Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek and Katie McMurran. Additional support from Julie Caine, Suzie Racho, Patricia Yollin, Carly Severn and Bianca Hernandez.Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller.Ask us a question or sign up for our newsletter at BayCurious.org.Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It might seem like everyone thinks their local airport is the worst of them all: the longest security lines, the worst food, the most delays.But we in the Bay Area have good reason to complain. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, in 2018 SFO was the third-most-delayed major airport in the U.S. in terms of arrivals, with about 26 percent of arriving flights delayed. And that’s not unique to last year. Since 2010, SFO has consistently ranked in the top four of the most delayed airports, some years dipping as low as 69 percent of flights arriving on-time.Also, what’s the deal with the ‘O’ in SFO?Read the full web story on airport codes here: Why the ‘O’ in San Francisco’s Airport Code, SFO?Read the full web story on delays here: Why SFO Is Notorious For DelaysReported by Maggie Galloway and Jessica PlaczekBay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Maggie Galloway, Robert Speight, Katie McMurran, Paul Lancour and Ryan Levi. Additional support from Julie Caine, Suzie Racho, Ethan Lindsey, Pat Yollin and David Weir.Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller.Ask us a question or sign up for our newsletter at BayCurious.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices