Seeing

In 1941,
KALW became
San Francisco’s
first FM radio
station.
Seeing
70!
See some recent
discoveries from
our archives. (p.4-5)
Intensive Listening
Al Letson, host of State of the RE:Union
Brand new seasons of Radiolab,
The Moth Radio Hour and
State of the RE:Union,
concentrated into mind-expanding
weeks of listening. (p.6)
The Challenge to Public Media • Manager’s Notes (p. 3)
Keeping Score
Michael Tilson Thomas and
Suzanne Vega guide you
through 13 Days When Music
Changed Forever. (p.7)
SF Symphony
Music Director
Michael Tilson
Thomas
New on Tuesday Nights at 10 (p.7)
April/May/June 2011
KALW: By and for the community . . .
COMMUNITY BROADCAST PARTNERS
AIA, San Francisco • Berkeley Symphony Orchestra • Burton High School • Center for
Architecture and Design • Global Exchange • INFORUM at The Commonwealth Club • Jewish
Community Center of San Francisco • LitQuake • Mills College • New America Media • Oakland
Asian Cultural Center • Other Minds • San Francisco Conservatory of Music • SF Performances
• StoryCorps • Youth Radio
FOUNDATION SUPPORTERS
Association for Continuing Education • The Charles Schwab Foundation • The Cow Hollow
Foundation • The Friedman Family Foundation • Laurie Cohen Fund • The Levi Strauss
Foundation • Marin Community Foundation • Tulsa and Simone Fund • The Walter and Elise
Haas Fund • The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
KALW VOLUNTEER PRODUCERS
Pamela Brown, Sarah Cahill, Bob Campbell, Ronald Chase, Audrey Dilling, Emily Dulcan, Penina
Eilberg-Schwartz, Chuck Finney, Richard Friedman, Greg Gheorghiu, Rob Hoey, Kent Howard,
Daphne Humes, Robin Hunt, Eric Jansen, Max Jacobs, Tess Kenner, Carol Kocivar, Bea La’O,
David Latulippe, Kyung Jin Lee, Leyna Lightman, Martin MacClain, Ann Maley, Holly McDede,
Lauren Meltzer, Charlie Mintz, Sandy Miranda, Maya Mirsky, Mitzi Mock, David Momphard,
Emmanuel Nado, Mark Naftalin, Marty Nemko, Kevin O’Connell, Joseph Pace, Brian Pelletier,
Art Persyko, Marilyn Pittman, Peter Robinson, Dana Rodriguez, Judith Sansone, Summer Sewell,
Steven Short, Judy Silber, Jennifer Spoerri, Katy Styer, Dore Stein, Devon Strolovitch, Niels
Swinkels, Peter Thompson, Kevin Vance, Chloe Veltman, Melanie Young
KALW VOLUNTEERS
Bud Alderson, Jody Ames, Jean Amos, Dan Barki, Ken Begun, Bob Benjamin, Maxine Berg, Laura
Bernabei, Annette Bistrup, Karl Bouldin, Noelle Boyd, Robbie Brandwynne, Diane Brett, Andrew
Broderick, Joshua Brody, Linda Clever, Jack Dawson, Carolyn Deacy, Natascha Dimitijevic, Roger
Donaldson, George Durgerian, Doug Dyment, Tuffy Eldridge, Jim & Joy Esser, Steve Fankuchen,
Annette Floyd, Taylor Forester, Freeman Fox, Janet Frankel, Nina Frankel, Dave Gomberg, Jo
Gray, Terence Groeper, Paula Groves, Stefan Gruenwedel, Ted Gugenheim, Dan Gunning,
Roger Hall, Ian Hardcastle, Donna Heatherington, Christine Holdrup, Adee Horn, Kent Howard,
Lynn Jefferson, Jenny Jens, Leonard & Kathleen Kaplan, Brenda Kett, Katherine Lincicum, Fred
Lipshultz, Ariel Litsky, Edward Litwin, Toni Lozica, Diana Lum, Jennifer Mahoney, Jack Major,
Stephanie Manning, Horace Marks, Tom Mason, Uday Mather, Sam McClelland, John McDevitt,
Michael McGinley, Fred & Cheryl Merrick, Paul Michael, Roger Miller, Linda Morine, Pat Nash,
Jake Nassif, John Navas, Tim Olson, Alice O’Sullivan, Susan Parini, Amit Pendyal, Art Persyko,
Vada Pinto, Gregor Rittinger, Rick Rose, Max Rosenblum, Leslie Rosenfeld, Marty Rousch, Pam
Routh, Maureen Russell, Mo Shooer, David Siegel, Kevin Stamm, John Sullivan, Brent Sverdlof,
Niels Swinkels, Bian Tan, Yuyu Thein, Robert Tomkinson, Coban Tun, David Vartanoff, Charlie
Wegerley, Marianne Weiner, Leslie Wellbaum, Harry Weller, Steve Wilcott, Greg Wynn
OUR LICENSEE, THE SAN FRANCISCO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Superintendent: Carlos Garcia • Board of Commissioners: Sandra Lee Fewer, Kim-Shree Maufus,
Hydra Mendoza, Emily Murase, Rachel Norton, Jill Wynns, Norman Yee • Director, Office of
Public Outreach and Communications: Gentle Blythe
KALW Personnel
Rose Aguilar, Host
Matt Martin, General Manager Ben Trefny, Managing News
William Helgeson,
Editor
Sandip Roy, Host
Operations Manager
Martina Castro, Senior News
Malihe Razazan, Producer
David Latulippe,
Producer
Ali Budner, Producer
Administration
Chris Hoff, News Engineer
Part-time announcers
Phil Hartman, Engineering
Erica Mu, News Tech Support
Eric Jansen
Annette Bistrup, Membership
Seth Samuel, News Engineer
Debi Kennedy
Joe Burke, Announcer
Hana Baba, Host/Reporter
David Latulippe
Alan Farley, Senior Announcer Casey Miner, Reporter
Bob Sommer
JoAnn Mar, Announcer
Rina Palta, Reporter
Kevin Vance
Ali Winston, Reporter
Holly Kernan, News Director
Eric Wayne
ABOUT KALW
KALW is a pioneer educational station licensed to the San Francisco Unified School District
since March 10, 1941 — the oldest non-commercial FM signal west of the Mississippi.
Mailing address:
KALW Radio
Offices: (415) 841-4121
500 Mansell Street
Fax: (415) 841-4125
San Francisco, CA 94134
Studio Line: (415) 841-4134
For general comments, membership inquiries, and non-profit Public Service Announcement
requests, use the following email address: [email protected]
© Contents KALW
KALW program guide edited by Matt Martin and David Latulippe,
designed by Georgette Petropoulos, Howard Quinn Company
2
869-M
The Challenge to Public Media
• Who is the
public we
serve — and
who’s been
left out?
How do we
build our tent
bigger and
stronger, so
that more
and more
people feel that an attack on public
media is an attack on them?
• As we expand our reach, how do
we deepen our relationship with the
people who have built public radio
into a force in our society no one
could have imagined 40 years ago?
As KALW celebrates 70 years on
the air, I learn more every day about
the deep connections this station has
made in the Bay Area. And I’m more
convinced than ever that if we’re going
to find the right answers to these critical
questions, it will be the result of an ongoing, active dialogue with this amazing
community.
Thank you for being part of Local
Public Radio, and I invite you to listen
closely and to be an active participant
in the future of public media that’s unfolding here at KALW.
Sincerely,
Photo by Patrick Barber
It’s a challenging time for public
media. In the week in which I’m writing
these notes, the House of Representatives voted to end all federal funding to
NPR.
Given the bill’s prospects in the
Senate, it’s a largely symbolic act. But
it’s simply the latest salvo in an aggressive campaign against the very idea of
non-commercial media in this country:
a campaign which recently succeeded
in forcing out NPR CEO Vivian Schiller,
and which aims to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the source
of all federal dollars for public radio &
TV.
In the context of the upheavals that
have defined the first three months of
2011 — uprisings across the Middle
East and North Africa, the tsunami and
nuclear power plant disaster in Japan,
and the battle over the future of public
institutions from Madison to Sacramento — public media’s struggles may seem
relatively insignificant.
But in the context of a world in crisis,
the importance of a human space in the
media — driven not by profit or power,
but by curiosity and creativity, idealism
and community — will only became
greater. If we’re to rise to that challenge,
we need to ask ourselves questions that
go to the root of why we’re here:
• Why does non-commercial media
matter? Why shouldn’t we — as our
critics on Capitol Hill contend — just
sell ads and be done with it?
Matt Martin
General Manager
[email protected]
Snap Judgment Live!
At the Oakland Museum of California
June 3 & 4
Stay Tuned to KALW For Details
3
Throughout the year, we’ll be
bringing you selections from
our archives as we celebrate 70
years of broadcasting history.
KALW’s remote recording
unit c.1948.
“What’s the frequency, Kenneth?”
– Chief Engineer Kenneth Dragoo
with students in 1941.
1952: KALW installs studios for TV instruction.
These studios were the original home of KQEDTV.
4
1953: KALW moves from 42.1
megacycles to 91.7 on the new
FM dial.
2010: Hats off to the award-winning KALW News
Crew!
1989: Loma Prieta earthquake
forces relocation of KALW’s
studios.
2005: KALW donates a portion of its
fund drive proceeds to two New Orleans
stations after Hurricane Katrina.
1988: KALW introduces Fresh Air with Terry
Gross to the Bay Area in.
Announcer Joe Burke in the late
1980s.
5
Keeping Score: 13 Days When Music
Changed Forever
Created and hosted by Michael Tilson Thomas with commentary from Suzanne Vega
and interviews with composers, musicologists, writers, and musicians.
Mondays at 9pm
The latest in the Keeping Score series will focus on musical
revolutions—the composers, compositions, and musical movements
that changed the way people heard, or thought about, music.
Each program will explore the historical backdrop and the musical
precursors to the revolutionary change, as well as examine the
aftershock and the lasting influence of that moment in music history.
Full program details with educational links at kalw.org/keepingscore.
html.
April 4:
February 24, 1607: The Premiere of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo
April 11:
April 22, 1723: The Town Council of Leipzig Appoints Bach as Cantor
April 18: October 29, 1787: The Premiere of Don Giovanni in Prague
April 25: August 8, 1803: Parisian Piano Maker Sebastien Erard Gives One of His
Sturdy New Creations to Beethoven
May 2:
April 7, 1805: The First Public Performance of Beethoven’s Eroica
May 9:
August 13, 1876: The Launch of the First “Ring” cycle at Bayreuth
May 16:
May 6, 1889: The Opening Day of the Exposition Universelle in Paris
May 23:
January 5, 1909: The Premiere of Elektra
May 30:
May 29, 1913: The Premiere of the Ballet, The Rite of Spring
June 6:
December 26, 1926: The Premiere of Sibelius’ Tapiola
June 13:
January 10, 1931: The Debut of Charles Ives’s Three Places in New England
June 20:
January 28, 1936: Pravda condemns Shostakovich’s opera Lady Macbeth of
Mtsensk
June 27:
November 4, 1964: The Premiere of Terry Riley’s In C
Additional Music Specials From KALW
I Love to Rhyme: The Lyrics of Ira Gershwin
Alan Farley continues his special series on Ira Gershwin, and is joined by
Gershwin biographer Philip Furia.
Friday, June 3 at 10pm: Porgy and Bess
Ira’s work with Vernon Duke on The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936
and some miscellaneous songs from 1935-39.
Friday, June 17 at 10pm: “The Gershwins in Hollywood”
Including Shall We Dance?, Damsel in Distress, and The Goldwyn Follies of 1938.
Berkeley Symphony Orchestra
Sunday, May 15 at 4pm
Music Director Joana Carneiro leads the orchestra in Olivier Messiaen’s Oiseaux exotiques,
with pianist Natasha Paremski; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68, Pastoral;
and the world premiere of Mantichora, a new work by Chinese composer Du Yun.
KALW’s Alan Farley hosts, with special interviews during intermission.
6
Intensive Weeks of Creative Radio
For Your Ears & Mind
In the first weeks of April, May and June, join us for “intensive listening weeks” where
we’ll bring you new seasons of three of the most exciting shows in public radio today —
Radiolab, The Moth Radio Hour, and State of the RE:Union — in concentrated form. Tune in
to KALW at 2pm and 8pm every day during those weeks to hear all-new episodes of these
powerful and creative programs.
Radiolab
Hosts Robert Krulwich and Jad Abumrad are back with
new audio investigations that blur the boundaries between
science, philosophy, and human experience. Full program descriptions at kalw.org/radiolab.html. Monday-Friday, April 4-8
at 2 & 8pm, and on selected Tuesday evenings at 9pm.
The Good Show: Lessons from Darwin. (4/4 & 4/5)
Lost and Found How our brains, and our hearts, help us get home. (4/5 & 4/19)
Help! What do you do when your own worst enemy is...you? (4/6 & 5/3)
The Soul Patch Unlikely (and surprisingly simple) answers to seemingly unsolvable
problems. (4/7 & 5/17)
Desperately Seeking Symmetry Jad and Robert set out in search of order and balance in
the world around us, and ask how symmetry shapes our very existence. (4/8 & 5/31)
The Moth Radio Hour
True stories told live on stage without scripts, notes, props, or accompaniment. Each hour mixes humorous and heartbreaking tales told with
honesty, bravery and wit. Monday-Friday, May 2-6 at 2 & 8pm, and on
Tuesday 6/7 & 6/20 at 9pm.
State of the Re:Union
Host Al Letson, one of the winners of the Public Radio
Talent Quest, is back with a new series of shows that explore
how a particular American city or town creates community,
the ways people transcend challenging circumstances and
the vital cultural narratives that give an area its uniqueness.
Monday-Friday, June 6-10 at 2 & 8pm.
Las Vegas, NV (6/6)
Oakland, CA (6/9)
Birmingham, AL (6/7)
Miami, FL (6/10)
Utica, NY (6/8)
Too Much
Information
Ne
on K w
ALW!
Host Benjamen Walker helps you make sense of
life in the digital information age. Using interviews,
stories, journalism, tall tales, and over-sharing, your
host pulls meaning from the deluge with a program
that’s more internet than radio talk show. (Tuesday at
10pm)
7
SUNDAY
MONDAY
Overnight
6 am
7 am
8 am
9 am
10 am
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY THURSDAY
New Dimensions
KALW host Joe Burke
Philosophy Talk 
Fresh Air with Terry Gross, with Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac at 9:01 am
Car Talk
Your Call with host Rose Aguilar. Join the conversation at 415-841-4134 or 866-798-TALK 
Rebroadcast Mon-Thurs at 8pm, Friday at 5pm
West Coast Live
with
Sedge Thomson
World Have Your Say from the BBC

Philosophy Talk
This American Life
(Rebroadcast)
(Rebroadcast)
1 pm
This American Life
Alternative Radio
Are We Alone?
Snap Judgment
Open Air
with Alan Farley 
2 pm
Sound Opinions
The State We’re In
(Radio Netherlands)
BBC’s The Forum:
A World of Ideas
The Sound of
Young America
Dispatches (CBC)
3 pm
New America Now 
4 pm
BBC World Briefing
5 pm
Selected Shorts
11 pm
8
Book Talk 
Minds Over Matter 
Music From The
Hearts of Space
=new program or time
The Tavis Smiley
Show
Your Call 
Crosscurrents from KALW News 
Media Roundtable
(Rebroadcast)
BBC World Briefing
Fresh Air
City Visions 
S.F. School Board meetings
4/12, 4/26, 5/10, 5/24
6/14, 6/28
INFORUM from the
Commonwealth Club
Radiolab
The Moth
Santa Fe
Chamber Music
Too Much
Information
Record Shelf
with Jim Svejda
Snap Judgment
Thistle & Shamrock
with Fiona Ritchie
Your Legal Rights
with Chuck Finney 

This Way Out
CounterSpin

My Music
Fascinatin’ Rhythm
VoiceBox 
Gershwin 6/3, 6/17 
 KALW podcast available 1 pm
2 pm
3 pm
6 pm
7 pm
8 pm
My Word!
Music From
Other Minds
noon
5 pm
Left, Right & Center
Blues Power Hour 
11 am
A Patchwork Quilt
with Kevin Vance
OUT in the Bay 
Africa Mix 
10 am
4 pm
Bluegrass Signal
with Peter Thompson
Fog City Blues 
9 am

Fresh Air with Terry Gross
Your Call 
(Rebroadcast of 11am show.)
Keeping Score
Michael Feldman’s
Whad’Ya Know?
Folk Music & Beyond
with JoAnn Mar
& Bob Campbell
CBC’s As It Happens
with Carol Off and Jeff Douglas
Then & Now
with Sarah Cahill

New America Now 
BBC’s Newshour
(Rebroadcast)
New Letters on the Air
Binah 
7 am
8 am
A daily almanac at 5:49 and 8:49 SF school lunch menu at 6:49
To The Best
Of Our Knowledge
Grit Radio
with Laura Flanders
10 pm
Weekend Edition
with Scott Simon
Including BBC World News from London on the hour and Jim Hightower commentaries at 7:49
Harry Shearer’s
Le Show
9 pm
6 am
Morning Edition from National Public Radio (starts at 5 am)
TUC Radio
noon
8 pm
Overnight
Earthbeat
Work with
Marty Nemko 
7 pm
SATURDAY
BBC World Service Overnight — For detailed listings, visit: bbc.co.uk/worldservice
11 am
6 pm
FRIDAY
Tangents
with Dore Stein


 Available on KALW Local Music Player
9 pm
10 pm
11 pm
9
programming A to Z
AFRICA MIX Musical gems from
Africa and the African diaspora that will
revive your weary soul. Vintage and
contemporary sounds — from Abidjan
to Zimbabwe, the Caribbean, Latin
America, and beyond, with your hosts
Emmanuel Nado and Pamela Brown.
www.kalwafricamix.blogspot.com
(Thursday 9pm-midnight) 
ALTERNATIVE RADIO Progressive
scholars and thinkers share their views,
produced by David Barsamian. 4/4
Beyond Vietnam (Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr.); 4/11 Settlements: Obstacles to Peace
(Kathy Christison ); 4/18 Megabanks:
Too Big to Save (Simon Johnson); 4/25
The Armenian Holocaust (Robert Fisk/
Araxie Barsamian); 5/2 War on the
Earth (Vandana Shiva); (remainder of
schedule unavailable at press time)
www.alternativeradio.org
(Monday at 1pm)
ARE WE ALONE? — Science Radio
for Thinking Species. Searching for life
as we don’t know it begins with understanding life as we do. From amoebas
to zebras, from androids to antimatter, Are We Alone? explores the science
that makes life possible. From the SETI
Institute in Mountain View, California.
(Tuesday at 1pm)
AS IT HAPPENS The international
news magazine from the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation that probes
the major stories of the day, mixing
interviews with coverage in an informative and often irreverent style.
Hosted by Carol Off and Jeff Douglas.
www.cbc.ca/asithappens
(Weekdays, 4pm)
BERKELEY SYMPHONY Music
Director Joana Carneiro leads the
orchestra in Olivier Messiaen’s
Oiseaux exotiques, with pianist
Natasha Paremski; Beethoven’s
Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68,
Pastoral; and the world premiere of
Mantichora, a new work by Chinese
composer Du Yun. KALW’s Alan
Farley hosts, with special interviews
during intermission.
(Sunday, May 15 at 4pm)
10
BBC NEWS Current news from
London and BBC programming.
(Midnight-5am daily.
Sunday at 4pm, Mon-Fri at 3pm)
BINAH The best of arts & ideas,
authors & personalities, produced
in collaboration with the Jewish
Community Center of San Francisco.
Upcoming highlights: 4/7 Eve Ensler;
4/14 Michael Showalter; 4/21 Cokie &
Steve Roberts; 4/28 Jeffrey Goldberg
on Iran; 5/5 Freedom Riders Reunion;
5/12 David Bezmozgis; 5/19 John
Waters; 5/26 Joel Selvin; 6/2 James
Carroll on Jerusalem; 6/9 Writer
Geoff Dyer; 6/16 “Wagner Through a
Jewish Lens” with Deborah Lipstadt,
Randy Cohen, & Joshua Kosman; 6/23
Roy Blount, Jr.; 6/30 Writer Howard
Jacobson on the British Jewish experience (Thursday at noon) 
BLUEGRASS SIGNAL Host
Peter Thompson presents bluegrass
music with elements of Celtic, jazz,
and a variety of folk. Highlights: 4/2
Bluegrass songs about flowers; 4/9
April Birthdays, including Merle
Haggard, Emmylou Harris, & Fiddlin’
Arthur Smith; 4/16 Celebrating the
Rebel Records digital download reissue series; 4/23 On-Air Folk Festival;
4/30 Kathy Kallick; 5/7 The Bluegrass
Side of David Grisman; 5/14 May
Birthdays, including Glen Duncan,
Nick Forster, & Red Smiley; 5/21 New
releases and reissues; 5/28 & 6/4 Grass
Valley preview; 6/11 Some favorite
live recordings; 6/18 June Birthdays,
including Lester Flatt & Clarence
White; 6/25 Guest co-host Todd
Gracyk with a survey of favorite spirituals. (Saturday 6:30-8pm) 
BOOK TALK Alan Farley talks with
authors of our time. Recent guests
have included planetary astronomer
Mike Brown, mystery writer Walter
Mosley, environmental activist Mark
Hertsgaard, poet Dean Rader, biographer Stefan Kanfer, and journalist
Belva Davis. www.kalw.org
(Sunday at 6:30pm) 
Available on KALW’s Local Music Player  KALW podcast available at www.kalw.org
CITY VISIONS Hosts Lauren Meltzer
FOLK MUSIC AND BEYOND
and Joseph Pace explore Bay Area
issues. To participate, call (415) 841-4134
or email [email protected]
www.cityvisionsradio.com.
(Monday at 7pm) 
Hosts JoAnn Mar, Bob Campbell,
and Sandy Miranda present the best
in live and recorded contemporary
folk, traditional, and original music
from America, England, Ireland,
Scotland, and other parts of the
world. Upcoming highlights: 4/2 New
and Recent Releases, including John
Renbourn, June Tabor, and the Wailin’
Jennys; 4/9 Sandy’s Potluck; 4/16 Music
and Conversation with Archie Fisher;
4/23 KALW On-Air Folk Festival; 4/30
Spring Songs; 5/7 Sandy’s Potluck; 5/14
Hard Times Come Again No More;
5/21 Old World Songs Revisited; 5/28
Conscripted Soldiers: Ballads and
songs about young men who got
drafted and sent off to war; 6/4 String
Festival; 6/11 Sandy’s Potluck; 6/18 A
preview of the San Francisco Free Folk
Festival. www.kalwfolk.org
(Saturday 3-5pm) 
COUNTERSPIN An examination
of the week’s news and that which
masquerades as news. www.fair.org
(Friday at 7:30pm)
CROSSCURRENTS The evening
newsmagazine from KALW News
featuring in-depth reporting that
provides context, culture, and
connections to communities around
the Bay Area. www.kalwnews.org
(Monday-Thursday at 5pm)
DISPATCHES Reports and documentaries by the CBC’s Radio correspondents
and other journalists on assignment outside of Canada. www.cbc.ca
(Thursday at 2pm)
EARTHBEAT Produced by Radio
Netherlands Worldwide, Earthbeat examines our footprint on the planet and tells
the stories of the people trying to make
that footprint lighter. http://www.
radionetherlands.nl (Sunday at 6am)
FASCINATIN’ RHYTHM Songs
from the Great American Songbook,
hosted by Michael Lasser. Highlights:
4/1 Distinctive songs about the moon
& stars; 4/8 George and Ira in 1937; 4/15
Personal Songs (pre-mid-1950s) 4/22
Two Kinds of 30s Musicals: escape from
Astaire and Rogers at RKO; everyday grit
from the Gold Diggers at Warner; 4/29
Beginning with Body & Soul; 5/6 Wishing
On a Star; 5/13 You Irritate Me So; 5/20
You Hypnotize Me So; 5/27 The Greatest
of The Follies: 1919 & Irving Berlin; 6/3
Whatever Happened To Wodehouse;
6/10 If Swing Goes; 6/17 Way Out West;
6/24 Crazy Words, Crazy Tunes from the
1920s. www.wxxi.org/rhythm
(Friday at 10pm)
FOG CITY BLUES Host Devon
Strolovitch brings you blues
from the Bay Area and beyond
www.fogcityblues.com
(Wednesday 9-11pm)
shaded boxes indicate locally-produced programming
THE FORUM: A WORLD OF
IDEAS BBC correspondent Bridget
Kendall hosts a weekly discussion where
intellectuals, authors, scientists and
power brokers from around the world
meet and challenge one another about
big ideas. www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/
programmes/ (Tuesday at 2pm)
FRESH AIR Terry Gross hosts this
weekday magazine of contemporary arts
and issues. www.freshair.com
(Weekdays at 9am & 6pm)
GRIT RADIO Host Laura Flanders
cuts through the news and blather of the
week and talks directly to the activists,
newsmakers and artists who are making
change. www.lauraflanders.com
(Monday at Noon)
I LOVE TO RHYME The Lyrics of
Ira Gershwin, hosted by Alan Farley,
with Gershwin biographer Philip
Furia. 6/3 at 10pm: Porgy and Bess,
Ira’s work with Vernon Duke on The
Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 and some miscellaneous songs from 1935-39. 6/17 at
10pm: “The Gershwins in Hollywood”
including Shall We Dance?, Damsel in
Distress, and The Goldwyn Follies of
1938 (Friday 3/25 at 10pm) 
11
programming A to Z
INFORUM From the Commonwealth
Club, programs recorded exclusively
for KALW that provide a forum for
young people to access the best
informed, most involved, and brightest
minds — be they politicians, business
gurus, thought leaders, trendsetters or
culture-jammers. (Tuesday at 7pm)
MORNING EDITION NPR’s signature morning show, with news updates
from the BBC at the top of each hour.
Local host Joe Burke offers today’s school
lunch menu at 6:49, and a daily almanac
at 5:49 and 8:49. Plus daily commentaries
from Jim Hightower at 7:49, and KALW
News’ Morning Reports Tues.–Fri. at 8:51.
www.npr.org (Weekdays 5-9am)
JIM HIGHTOWER A two minute shot
THE MOTH RADIO HOUR It’s
back! True stories told live on stage without scripts, notes, props, or accompaniment. Each hour mixes humorous and
heartbreaking tales told with honesty,
bravery and wit. Enjoy a full “intensive listening week” (Monday-Friday, May 2-6
at 2 & 8pm, and on selected
Tuesday evenings – see p.7)
across the bow aimed at corporate and
political corruption, heard exclusively in
San Francisco on KALW.
(Weekdays at 7:49am)
KEEPING SCORE: The latest in the
San Francisco Symphony’s radio project hosted by music director Michael
Tilson Thomas is subtitled “13 Days
When Music Changed Forever” and is
about musical revolutions—about the
composers, compositions, and musical
movements that changed the way people
heard, or thought about, music. See
page 6 for details, with complete program
information at kalw.org/keepingscore.
html. (Monday at 9pm)
LEFT, RIGHT & CENTER A weekly
confrontation over politics, policy and
popular culture hosted by Matthew
Miller, with Robert Scheer on the left,
Tony Blankley on the right, and Arianna
Huffington in the center. www.kcrw.com
(Friday at 7pm)
LE SHOW A weekly, hour-long romp
through the worlds of media, politics,
sports and show business, leavened with
an eclectic mix of mysterious music, hosted by Harry Shearer. www.harryshearer.
com (Sunday at Noon)
MUSIC FROM OTHER MINDS
New and unusual music produced and
hosted by Richard Friedman for Other
Minds in San Francisco. Program
details at otherminds.org/mfom
(Friday at 11pm)
MUSIC FROM THE HEARTS OF
SPACE Slow music for fast times hosted
by Stephen Hill, bringing you the timeless
world of space, ambient and contemplative music. www.hos.com
(Sunday 10pm-Midnight)
MY WORD! & MY MUSIC From
the BBC archives, panelists explore the
English language as it is written, spoken,
and sung. Between “Word” and “Music”
KALW’s Alan Farley presents a weekly
Noël Coward musical Entr’acte.
(Friday at 8pm)
MARK NAFTALIN’S BLUES
POWER HOUR Contemporary
NEW AMERICA NOW:
DISPATCHES FROM THE NEW
MAJORITIES A weekly take on cur-
and historic blues recordings of
all styles, hosted by Mark Naftalin.
www.bluespower.com
(Wednesday at 11pm)
rent events from the Bay Area’s ethnic
news media hosted by Shirin Sadeghi.
www.newamericamedia.org
(Friday at Noon, Sunday at 3pm) 
MINDS OVER MATTER Dana
Rodriguez, The San Francisco
Chronicle’s Leah Garchik, and author
Gerry Nachman challenge each other
and KALW’s audience on the Bay Area’s
favorite quiz show. Call-in phone:
(415) 841-4134. (Sunday at 7pm) 
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NEW DIMENSIONS A weekly dialogue that gives reasons for embracing
hopefulness regarding contemporary
problems, with perspectives relative
to physical, mental, and spiritual well
being of humanity and the planet.
www.newdimensions.org (Sunday at 7am)
Available on KALW’s Local Music Player  KALW podcast available at www.kalw.org
NEW LETTERS ON THE AIR
Angela Elam hosts this series of conversations with great established and emerging writers of poetry, fiction, drama and
creative non-fiction. www.newletters.org
(Sunday at 6pm)
OPEN AIR Host Alan Farley presents the performing artists and writers
who create our contemporary culture
and arts. Recent guests have included
pianist David Greilsammer, composer
Avner Dorman, mezzo soprano Anne
Sofie von Otter, Tony winning actress
Alice Ripley, and filmmaker Ari Gold.
(Thursday at 1pm)
OUT IN THE BAY Gay radio for San
Francisco and beyond, hosted by Eric
Jansen and Marilyn Pittman. www.
outinthebay.com (Thursday at 7pm) 
A PATCHWORK QUILT Kevin
Vance presents a program of Celtic
and other traditional music, American
roots, singers and songwriters,
interpreters, and instrumentalists.
[email protected]
(Saturday 5-6:30pm) 
PHILOSOPHY TALK Stanford
philosophers John Perry and Ken
Taylor interview guest experts and
respond to questions from listeners.
Philosophy Talk questions everything...except your intelligence.
Upcoming highlights: 4/3 & 4/5 Social
Networking; 4/10 & 4/12 What is an
Adult?; 4/17 & 4/19 The Extended Mind;
4/24 & 4/26 Worship; 5/1 & 5/3 Should
Marriage Be Abolished?; 5/8 & 5/10
Cities, Gentrification, and Inequality;
5/15 & 5/17 Beliefs Gone Wild; 5/22 &
5/24 The Prison System; 5/29 & 5/31
Summer Reading List; 6/5 & 6/7 Gay
Pride & Prejudice; 6/12 & 6/14 The
Language of Responsibility; 6/19 & 6/21
Pornography; 6/26 & 6/28 Anonymity.
www.philosophytalk.org (Sunday at
10am, rebroadcast Tuesday at Noon)
RADIOlAB Hosts Robert Krulwich and
Jad Abumrad are back with new audio
investigations that blur the boundaries
between science, philosophy, and human
experience. Enjoy a full “intensive listening week” (Monday-Friday, April 4-8 at 2
& 8pm, and on selected Tuesday
evenings – see p.7)
shaded boxes indicate locally-produced programming
RECORD SHELF Jim Svejda reviews
compact discs and explores classical music. Upcoming highlights: 4/4
Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn; 4/11
& 4/18 Conductor Harry Christophers;
4/25 The Record Shelf Record Reviews;
5/2 & 5/9 The Young Igor Stravinsky;
5/16 & 5/23 Leon Fleisher; 5/30 Elgar’s
Cockaigne Overture; 6/6 & 6/13 Cellist
Pablo Casals and friends, live recordings
from the 1950s; 6/20 A Buyer’s Guide to
the Beethoven Piano Sonatas; 6/27 Leon
Botstein. www.kusc.org
(Monday at 11pm)
SAN FRANCISCO SCHOOL
BOARD MEETINGS Live gavel-togavel broadcast of the San Francisco
Unified School District board meetings from 555 Franklin Street in San
Francisco. While the Board is in closed
session, educator Carol Kocivar presents an interview feature, “Looking at
Education.” www.sfusd.edu (Tuesdays,
4/12, 4/26, 5/10, 5/24, 6/14, 6/28)
SANTA FE CHAMBER MUSIC
FESTIVAL Popular and lesser-known
classical repertoire, as well as new works
by contemporary composers from one of
the nation’s oldest festivals. Kerry Frumkin hosts the series with commentary
from artistic director, Marc Neikrug, as
well as remarks from many of the performing musicians. For a complete schedule of works and performers, visit kalw.
org/santafe.html. (Monday at 10pm)
SELECTED SHORTS Celebrity
readers from stage and screen, recorded
at Symphony Space in NYC. 4/3 The
Deal, written and read by Mike Birbiglia;
Seeing the World by Lewis Robinson,
read by Thomas Gibson; 4/10 Claire
of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat,
read by Anika Noni Rose; New York
Day Women by Edwidge Danticat, read
by Laurine Towler; 4/17 My Backyard
by Peter Lu, read by Sonia Manzano;
A Room of My Own by Alanna Okun,
read by Rita Wolf; Heirloom China by
Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, read by Sonia
Manzano; Jonathan’s by Teo Soares,
read by David Rakoff; Reading Aloud by
Marina Keegan, read by Rita Wolf; Your
Mother and I by Dave Eggers read by
David Rakoff; Visit by Barry Yourgrau,
read by James Naughton; 4/24 She Shall
Not Be Moved by Shereen Pandit, read
13
programming A to Z
by Rita Wolf; Loose Change by Andrea
Levy, read by Eve Best; Pie Dance by
Molly Giles, read by Kate Burton; 5/1
The Death of Hector, from The Iliad by
Homer, read by Stephen Lang; Cantos
IV and V from Dante’s Inferno, read by
Phylicia Rashad; Captain Ahab, A Novel
by the White Whale by Paul West, read
by Diane Venora; 5/8 Jesus is Waiting
by Amy Hempel, read by Mary Stuart
Masterson; No Other Country by Sean
Tan, read by Campbell Scott; Swimmers
by Daniela Maristany, read by Mary Stuart
Masterson; Number 10 by Edna O’Brien,
read by Marian Seldes; 5/15 (pre-empted
for Berkeley Symphony broadcast); 5/22
The Road Home by Rose Tremain, read
by Paul Hecht; Cary Grant’s Suit by Todd
McEwen, read by James Cromwell; 5/29
The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe,
read by Terrence Mann; Gimpel The Fool
by Isaac Bashevis Singer, read by Isaiah
Sheffer; The Paring Knife by Michael
Oppenheimer, read by Steven Gilborn;
6/5 The Mappist by Barry Lopez, read by
Joe Spano; Devil of a Curve by Walter
Kirn, read by Roscoe Lee Browne; 6/12
For the Relief of Unbearable Urges by
Nathan Englander, read by Jefferson
Mays; A Second of Pleasure by Neil
LaBute, read by Andrew McCarthy and
Maura Tierney; Lies I’ve Told by Sue
Allison, read by Barbara Barrie and David
Strathairn; 6/19 My First Love by Moishe
Nadir, read by John Shea; A Quiet Garden
Spot by Sholem Asch, read by Laura
Esterman; Job’s Jobs by Aimee Bender,
read by Anjelica Huston; 6/26 The Palmist
by Andrew Lam, read by James Naughton;
The Occasional Garden by Saki, read by
Daniel Gerroll; The Balloon by Donald
Barthelme, read by Maria Tucci; The Little
Green Monster by Haruki Murakami, read
by Dana Ivey. (Sunday at 5pm)
SOUND OPINIONS Smart and spirited discussions about a wide range of
popular music, from cutting-edge underground rock and hip-hop, to classic rock,
R&B, electronica, and worldbeat. Hosted
by music critics Jim DeRogatis and Greg
Kot from the studios of WBEZ in Chicago.
www.soundopinions.org (Sunday at 2pm)
STATE OF THE RE:UNION Host
Al Letson, one of the winners of the
Public Radio Talent Quest, is back with a
new series of shows that explore how a
14
particular American city or town creates
community, the ways people transcend
challenging circumstances and the vital
cultural narratives that give an area its
uniqueness. Enjoy a full “intensive listening week” (Monday-Friday, June 6-10 at 2
& 8pm, see p.6)
TANGENTS An unusually diverse,
genre-bending program hosted by
Dore Stein that explores the bridges
connecting various styles of music,
from world and roots to creative jazz
hybrids. www.tangents.com
(Saturday 8pm-Midnight) 
THE SOUND OF YOUNG
AMERICA Host Jesse Thorn mixes
it up with personalities from the
world of entertainment & the arts.
www.maximumfun.org
(Wednesday at 2pm)
THE STATE WE’RE IN Radio Netherlands host Jonathan Groubert presents
stories from all over the world, with a
special focus on human rights issues.
www.radionetherlands.nl
(Monday at 2pm)
THE TAVIS SMILEY SHOW
A weekly high-energy discussion of political, cultural, and global issues of particular relevance to African Americans.
www.tavistalks.org (Friday 1-3pm)
THEN AND NOW Host Sarah
Cahill presents two hours of new and
classical music, with local composer
interviews and previews of upcoming concerts. www.sarahcahill.com
(Sunday 8-10pm) 
THE THISTLE & SHAMROCK
4/2 Vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Jim
Malcolm; 4/9 Music from the Scottish
Lowlands; 4/16 Spring is in the Airs; 4/23
Songs of manual laborers; 4/30 Youthful
vocalists and instrumentalists from
The National Centre of Excellence in
Traditional Music; 5/7 For Our Mothers;
5/14 Multi-instrumentalist and composer William Jackson; 5/21 World Music
Soup; 5/28 Melodies from Brittany;
6/4 Soundtracks: from Barry Lyndon
to Titanic; 6/11 Music of social justice,
peace, and environmental consciousness;
6/18 Best of the Best; 6/25 Music from
the Northern Isles. www.thistleradio.com
(Saturday at 2pm)
Available on KALW’s Local Music Player  KALW podcast available at www.kalw.org
THIS AMERICAN LIFE A different
theme each week with contributions
from a variety of writers and performers, hosted by Ira Glass. www.thislife.org
(Sunday at 1pm and Wednesday at noon)
THIS WAY OUT LGBT stories and
news from around the corner and around
the world, produced by Greg Gordon in
Los Angeles. www.qrd.org
(Thursday at 7:30pm)
TOO MUCH INFORMATION Host
Benjamen Walker helps you make sense
of life in the digital information age.
Using interviews, stories, journalism, tall
tales, and over-sharing, your host pulls
meaning from the deluge with a program
that’s more internet than radio talk show.
NEW on KALW! (Tuesday at 10pm)
TO THE BEST OF OUR
KNOWLEDGE An audio magazine
that offers a fresh perspective on the cultural topics that shape today’s headlines.
www.ttbook.org (Sunday 8-10am)
WEST COAST LIVE! San
Francisco’s “live radio program to the
world” hosted by Sedge Thomson
with pianist Mike Greensill. Two hours
of conversation, performance, and
play, broadcast live from locations
around the Bay Area. Tickets online.
www.wcl.org (Saturday 10am-Noon)
WHAD’YA KNOW? A two-hour
comedy/quiz show hosted by Michael
Feldman, “the sage of Wisconsin.”
www.notmuch.org (Saturday Noon-2pm)
WORK WITH MARTY NEMKO
Career coach Marty Nemko talks with
listeners about work issues, from fi­nding the perfect job to networking,
and regularly offers “3 minute career
makeovers.” Recent guests include
former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert
Reich, Craig Venter, decoder of the
human genome, and David Bornstein,
author of How to Change the World.
www.martynemko.com (Sunday at 11am)
TUC RADIO (Time of Useful
WORLD HAVE YOUR SAY An
Consciousness) Probing reports on the
impact of big corporations on society.
www.tucradio.org (Sunday at 6:30am)
interactive program on key issues in
the news with a worldwide audience,
global hosted by Ros Atkins. To participate in the live webcast at bbc.com
at 10am, call 011 44 20 70 83 72 72 or
email [email protected].
www.worldhaveyoursay.com
(Weekdays at 11am, taped delayed)
VOICEBOX The best of the vocal
music scene from the Bay Area and
beyond, hosted by Chloe Veltman. The
art of singing is explored with musicians who love vocal music and provide
focused, contextual reflection about
their passion. Upcoming hightlights: 4/8
Writing songs for the stage, with composer Dave Malloy; 4/15 Opera translation and subtitles, with Mairi McLaughlin
and Donald Pippin; 4/22 A discussion of
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson with Nicholas
McGegan; 4/29 Songs to workout to; 5/6
The singing chamber ensemble; 5/13
Young opera singers; 5/20 Latino singersongwriters; 5/27 Women singing low; 6/3
(pre-empted for Ira Gershwin Special);
6/10 Chorus America; 6/17(pre-empted
for Ira Gershwin Special); 6/24 Hula singing. www.voicebox-media.org
(Friday at 10pm) 
WEEKEND EDITION Scott Simon
and NPR wrap up the week’s events –
plus arts and newsmakers interviews.
www.npr.org (Saturday 6-9am)
shaded boxes indicate locally-produced programming
WRITER’S ALMANAC Garrison
Keillor’s daily digest of all things proseworthy. www.writersalmanac.com
(Weekdays at 9:01am)
YOUR CALL Politics and culture,
dialogue and debate, hosted by Rose
Aguilar. To participate, call (415) 8414134. www.yourcallradio.org (Now weekdays at 10am. Rebroadcast MondayThursday at 8pm, Fridays at 5pm) 
YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS San
Mateo Deputy District Attorney Chuck
Finney talks with listeners about legal
and consumer problems. Call in your
questions to Chuck and his team of
guest attorneys: (415) 841-4134.
(Wednesday at 7pm)
15
www.kalw.org
Call us with your questions, join us as a new member, or renew your membership: (415) 841-4121
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