Ben Trefny

California's outer coast once boasted 27 miles of Bay Area beaches. Up until the 20th Century, these beaches provided a natural buffer for the inner land areas; then came freeways, airports and downtowns. KALW's Ben Trefny spoke with Robin M. Grossinger, Senior Scientist and Historical Ecology Program Director at the San Francisco Estuary Institute about California beaches, landscape heritage and how some of these areas have rebuilt themselves.

A new report from the legislative analyst's office shows California will have to pay more than $700 million a year to cover costs on nearly $10 billion in high speed rail bonds...

Brandon McFarland is the editor of Youth Radio's radio station, AllDayPlay.fm. He joined KALW’s Ben Trefny to talk about the latest in Bay Area music.

BEN TREFNY: So tell me about what’s new on All Day Play.

An extended conversation in which KALW's Ben Trefny interviews filmmaker Andres Cediel about what lies beneath Bay Street in Emeryville: a shopping mall, atop a toxic industrial center, atop a Native American burial ground.

Audio available after 5pm PST on February 16, 2012.

Just off Shellmound Street in Emeryville, an outdoor mall sits on prime real estate. It’s north of a maze of highways leading to the Bay Bridge. A quarter of a million drivers pass within honking distance every single day. While the Bay Street "Urban Village" was only established in the 21st century, the land it sits on has a very rich past. Rich enough to warrant a documentary film that uncovers several layers of unusual history.