Sights + Sounds: Bay Area Book Festival 2026

SHOW: Cultural Explorations and Tributes

Today, we’ll hear how Bay Area listening bars have their roots in World War II Japanese culture. Finding a space just for music. Then, we’ll unpack the throughline that connects the different Chinatowns around the world. Plus, a poetic ode to the Mission.

Listening bars challenge us to sit down, shut up, and tune in

A different kind of bar scene has grown across the Bay Area since the pandemic: listening bars. Derived from a tradition that took off in 1930s Tokyo, they're businesses that play high-fidelity music from vintage speakers. Reporter Nava Rawls went to find out if these special places made for listening are one-hit wonders… or here to stay.

Worst Quality Crab podcast: Bonnie Tsui

This is our last episode airing during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, so today we bring you a conversation from our friends at the podcast “Worst Quality Crab.”  Their show is a conversational version of an Asian American cookbook. It’s hosted by Freesia and Samson Lee, and they talk to guests about food that is meaningful to them, family history, and the people that make their shared meals so memorable.  Last week, they hosted a live taping of their podcast at KALW’s event space in downtown San Francisco. And they invited Bonnie Tsui, the bestselling author of “American Chinatown,” which won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature.  Bonnie had a lot to say about growing up with fortune cookies, but we want to start this excerpt from their conversation with her childhood memories of the different Chinatowns that became the inspiration for her book.

Bay Poets: 'Mission Vision' by poet Alejandro Murguía

San Francisco’s first Latino poet laureate, Alejandro Murguia published his poem ‘Mission Vision,’ in 2013. Here is Bay Poets host Josiah Luis Alderete reciting it.

SHOW: Envisioning, Writing, and Taxing Bay Area Futures

Today, we hear advocates defend their cases for San Francisco’s competing tax propositions. We’re getting into San Francisco props C and D. Then, we hear from a young South Bay organizer on how youth are feeling about voting this year. Then, how James Baldwin inspired this year’s theme for the Bay Area Book Festival.