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"content": "\n\u003cp>When every major live music show feels like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101892062/everyone-hates-ticketmaster\">it costs an arm and a leg\u003c/a>, it’s always a relief when it’s time for San Francisco’s free festival: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13979075/hardly-strictly-lineup-2025-lucinda-williams-samara-joy-courtney-barnett-more\">Hardly Strictly Bluegrass\u003c/a>, often called Hardly Strictly or HSB.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The long-running, all-ages music festival features a packed lineup of country, folk, jazz and bluegrass performers — no ticket required.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But a free festival means big crowds, which can make for a hectic weekend in Golden Gate Park, especially with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055844/hardly-strictly-2025-lineup-schedule-golden-gate-park-san-francisco-maps-parking#bring\">bag checks that have been implemented in recent years. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/HardlyStrictlyBluegrassGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12056114\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/HardlyStrictlyBluegrassGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/HardlyStrictlyBluegrassGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/HardlyStrictlyBluegrassGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">People dance together as Fantastic Negrito performs on the Swan Stage during the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival 2019 at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California, on Oct. 6, 2019. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Read more to learn how to best plan for attending Hardly Strictly next weekend, or jump straight to:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#schedule\">What’s the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2026 schedule?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#parking\">Is parking possible at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#food\">What food and drink can I still bring into Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (and what’s now banned)?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When is Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2026, and where is it in Golden Gate Park?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hardly Strictly will be held Oct. 2-4 at Hellman Hollow and Lindley and Marx meadows in Golden Gate Park.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Entrances will open at 11 a.m. on Friday and at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Performances end at 7 p.m. each day. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1175\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12041404\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-800x470.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-1020x599.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-160x94.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-1536x902.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-1920x1128.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. (Lisa Aliferis/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Attendees are asked to \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2025/\">enter the festival\u003c/a> through gates at:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>JFK Drive and Transverse Drive\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Fulton Street and 30th Avenue\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>JFK Drive and 36th Avenue\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>South Polo Field (Middle Drive and Metson Road)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It gets \u003cem>crowded\u003c/em> at Hardly Strictly, so it’s good to get there early to claim your spot — although this might make stage-hopping hard.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In past years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055844/hardly-strictly-2025-lineup-schedule-golden-gate-park-san-francisco-maps-parking\">waste management has also conducted sweeps of the park\u003c/a> each night after performances end, so you likely won’t be able to “save your place” with blankets and belongings the day before.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"schedule\">What’s the Hardly Strictly schedule, and which artists are playing?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/headline/2026-lineup-announcements/\">entire lineup and schedule can be found on the Hardly Strictly website\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13991930/hardly-strictly-2026-lineup-my-morning-jacket-gillian-welch-kathleen-edwards\">Highlights of the 2026 festival include\u003c/a>:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>My Morning Jacket\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Mavis Staples\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Jesse Welles.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Los Lobos\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And if you aren’t able to make it to HSB in person, the Banjo, Swan, Towers of Gold, Rooster, Arrow and Horseshoe Hill Stages will also be \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.vhx.tv/browse\">livestreamed on HSB’s website\u003c/a>. Some of the artists in the HSB lineup are also \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/out-of-the-park/\">performing in venues around the region\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What can I bring to Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If it’s been a few years since you attended Hardly Strictly, many security measures will be new to you — including fences and entry through the four main gates. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/music/hardly-strictly-announces-new-security-measures-leave-your-cooler-at-home\">measures were implemented\u003c/a> in 2019 following a wave of mass shootings at large events across the U.S. Attendees at Hardly Strictly can now expect a security presence, including body scanners and possible bag and cooler searches.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Each person can bring \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2026/\">a personal item and a bag\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2239117637.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12100876\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2239117637.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2239117637-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2239117637-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thousands gather for the final day of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival at Golden Gate Park on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (Brontë Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Clear bags are recommended for easier entry. Regular bags, such as non-transparent backpacks, must not exceed 6 inches by 8 inches by 3 inches.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Beer and wine are allowed but must be in non-glass containers. Blankets and tarps up to 6 feet by 8 feet, as well as low chairs, are also allowed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Items such as wagons, strollers, low-back chairs, non-clear medium backpacks, totes, and soft coolers are allowed but will be subject to more thorough searches, which may take longer. So if you’re bringing these items, don’t cut it fine to see your favorite act.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You cannot bring:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Large or hard coolers\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>High-backed chairs\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Tables\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Tents\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Umbrellas and shade structures\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Tarps and blankets larger than 6 feet by 8 feet\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Items with an open flame, firearms, drones, fireworks\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Kegs and hard liquor\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Glass containers\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Devices for amplified sound or any item that could cause damage or injury\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Smoking — \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/information--know-your-rights-cannabis-consumer\">including weed\u003c/a> — is also not allowed in any area in Golden Gate Park due to a San Francisco ordinance. (Although you may still see people lighting up on Hippie Hill \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12080068/official-san-francisco-hippie-hill-celebration-canceled-for-third-time-in-a-row-where-to-observe-420-around-the-bay-area\">during certain times of the year\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"food\">What about food at Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Guests \u003cem>are \u003c/em>allowed to bring their own food — just not in glass containers. There are also free water refill stations scattered throughout the festival. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/2026-food-and-drink/\">scope out the list of vendors on Hardly Strictly’s website\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2238863551.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12100882\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2238863551.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2238863551-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2238863551-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tiffanie Tippens dancing to the Dan Tyminski Band performing at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music festival on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in San Francisco, California. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Plan for things to be cashless. Vendors will be located at:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Arrow Food Meadow\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>JFK Food Trucks\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>JFK Flats\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Porch Stage Area\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What’s the weather forecast for Hardly Strictly this year?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Usually, Golden Gate Park is an area of San Francisco that you can rely on to bring the chill even on the balmiest days (which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091823/outside-lands-2026-tickets-parking-road-closures-and-bag-rules\">Outside Lands \u003c/a>attendees know all too well).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But it’s been getting hotter in the Bay Area as of late, so be sure to \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.769421&lon=-122.48621\">keep an eye on the weather forecast\u003c/a> and plan to bring the usual Golden Gate Park survival kit: water, sunscreen and layers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Will there be a bus running in the park during Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The park service will be running its shuttle service during the music festival. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfrecpark.org/1617/Golden-Gate-Park-Free-Shuttle\">Get the shuttle hours and schedule.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does public transit look like during Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can consult \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/travel-updates/hardly-strictly-bluegrass-october-2-4-2026\">SFMTA’s website\u003c/a> for the latest updates on Muni. There will also be \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/travel-updates/hardly-strictly-bluegrass-october-2-4-2026#extra\">extra Muni services\u003c/a> throughout the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Muni routes affected will be N Judah, 5 Fulton, 5R Fulton Rapid, 7 Haight/Noriega, 18 46th Avenue, 28 19th Avenue, 29 Sunset and 44 O’Shaughnessy. Be sure to plan for extra travel time, because there \u003cem>will \u003c/em>be traffic and big crowds.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260911-FareRequired-NG-11.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099241\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260911-FareRequired-NG-11.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260911-FareRequired-NG-11-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260911-FareRequired-NG-11-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Muni bus marquee says “Fare Required” in San Francisco’s Outer Richmond neighborhood on Sept. 11, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The N Judah, 7 Haight/Noriega, 28 19th Avenue, 29 Sunset and 44 O’Shaughnessy lines all serve areas of Golden Gate Park.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There will be no bike valet at Hardly Strictly 2026, so be careful when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101906075/bikes-stolen-in-the-bay-area-show-up-on-global-blackmarket\">parking and locking up your bike.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What roads will be closed around Golden Gate Park?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/547/Golden-Gate-Park-Road-Closures\">Golden Gate Park’s website\u003c/a>, these roads will be closed before and during the event:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Transverse Drive will be closed from Crossover Drive (25th Avenue) to Martin Luther King Drive from 6:00 a.m. Friday until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>JFK Drive between Stow Lake Circle and 36th Avenue will be closed from 8:00 p.m. Thursday until 6:00 p.m. on Monday.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>30th Avenue will be closed from Fulton to JFK Drive from 8:00 p.m. Thursday until Monday at 6:00 p.m.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>36th Avenue from Fulton to the turnaround from 6:00 a.m. Friday until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>JFK Drive closed from 36th Avenue to Chain of Lakes Drive from 6 a.m. Friday until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Polo Fields parking area on both the north (stables) and south side of the Polo fields from 6 a.m. on Friday until 1 p.m. on Monday.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Middle Drive West from Transverse to MLK from Friday at 6:00 a.m. until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Overlook Drive from Transverse to Middle Drive West from Friday at 6:00 a.m. until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Metson Drive from Middle Drive West to MLK from Friday at 6:00 a.m. until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Golden Gate Park’s website also details closures on the days leading up to the festival, stating that JFK Drive will be closed between Transverse Drive and 36th Avenue due to “congestion from load-in.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Bikes will be allowed on JFK at 5 mph speed limit, except when arches are being installed, in which event they will be diverted,” \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/547/Golden-Gate-Park-Road-Closures\">according to the website.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There will be special accommodations for soccer players accessing Polo Field.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"parking\">What parking is available at Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hardly Strictly encourages taking public transportation to the event. If you choose to drive, however, there may be paid parking on a first-come, first-served basis.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Below are the paid parking lots that are usually available during this event. However, they are independently owned, so Hardly Strictly organizers \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2025/#venue\">cannot guarantee they’ll remain exactly the same this year:\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>George Washington High School at 600 32nd Ave. \u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Argonne at 680 18th Ave.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Lawton Alternative School at 1570 31st Ave.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Lafayette Elementary at 4545 Anza St.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>SFUSD Admin Campus at 750 25th Ave.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Accessible parking is available along JFK, west of Chain of Lakes. There will be shuttle stops at JFK & Bernice Rodgers Way, JFK & Chain of Lakes, JFK near Gate 3 entry and GGP Senior Center, 6101 Fulton St.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Remember, if you’re choosing to try to park near Hardly Strictly, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959477/car-break-ins-bay-area-glass-repair-what-to-do\">break-ins are still common in San Francisco\u003c/a> — so leave nothing visible in your vehicle, and if at all possible, leave your trunk exposed to show it’s empty. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Don’t leave any electronics like laptops in your vehicle, even if you think they’re hidden. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959799/how-to-avoid-a-car-break-in-bay-area\">Read more about how to potentially reduce your risk of getting your car broken into.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How does rideshare pickup and drop-off work at Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There will be taxi stands at Fulton from 22nd Avenue to 24th Avenue.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are pickups and drop-offs for rideshares like Lyft and Uber around “Washington High School on both 30th Avenue between Anza and Balboa and on Balboa between 30th and 31st [avenues],” according to the \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2026/\">Hardly Strictly website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are pickups on Irving between 25th Avenue and 27th Avenue.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Due to the large amounts of traffic coming to and from the park, ridesharing apps will only allow pin drops from the designated pickup area, so you should make your way to the drop-off/pickup location before calling for your ride,” the website notes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bear in mind: Ordering a Waymo specifically could get tricky at places with high crowds. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For example, Fourth of July this year saw \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/post/waymo-fleet-clogs-presidio-july-4-fireworks-leaving-vehicles-stranded-towed/19455862/\">many Waymos gridlocked and jammed in traffic\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/outside-lands-muni-ridership-transit-waymo-22382965.php\">\u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, things went smoother after the city placed pickup/drop-off restrictions at the recent Outside Lands festival.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What should I know about accessibility at Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2026/\">the website\u003c/a>, Golden Gate Park “covers a lot of space and encompasses many types of terrain, including grassy fields, sandy pathways, paved walkways, potholes” and more.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Guests who seek accessible services can get a wristband at a tent near JFK and 36th Avenue, adjacent to Gate 3. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"724\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/2025accessibilitymap2025.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12058463\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/2025accessibilitymap2025.png 969w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/2025accessibilitymap2025-160x120.png 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An accessibility map of the 2025 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in Golden Gate Park. (Courtesy of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The map below highlights the usual accessible services at Hardly Strictly, like entrances, viewing spots and accessible portable bathrooms.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Accessible parking is available along JFK, west of Chain of Lakes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There will be shuttle stops at JFK & Bernice Rodgers Way, JFK & Chain of Lakes, JFK near Gate 3 entry and GGP Senior Center, 6101 Fulton St.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What should I know about staying safe in a large crowd?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As with any busy day at a festival, you should stay aware of your health and bodily needs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>KQED has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093415/the-no-judgement-guide-to-not-passing-out-at-a-concert-and-other-concert-health-tips\">a thorough guide on staying healthy and upright at a concert\u003c/a> that tackles fainting, dehydration, standing in the heat and the all-encompassing festival-goer’s mission of avoiding the dreaded port-a-potties.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Crowds can be especially overwhelming for some people. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>With \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/11/1054765905/what-went-wrong-at-astroworld-the-deadly-dynamics-of-crowd-surge\">past tragic incidents at other festivals\u003c/a>, it does not hurt to be cautious and prepared. Read \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053828800/south-korea-seoul-halloween-crowd-safety-tips\">NPR’s full guide on what to do if you find yourself caught in a crowd crush\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093685\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589-2000x1500.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fans faint at concerts for a variety of reasons. Event medical professionals explain how to stay safe. (Anna Vignet/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to Mehdi Moussaïd, a research scientist in Berlin who studies crowd behavior, rely on your instincts and senses if you feel like the crowd is getting too dense. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you get stuck in a crush, move with the crowd, put your arms out in front of your chest and hold them there.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“In this position, you would have some space, just a little bit, to push for half a centimeter or just 1 centimeter — enough for you to keep breathing,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053828800/south-korea-seoul-halloween-crowd-safety-tips\">Moussaïd told NPR in 2022\u003c/a>. “It’s not going to be comfortable. You’re going to be feeling really bad, but at least you’ll survive.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story includes reporting by KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/nvoynovskaya\">\u003cem>Nastia Voynovskaya\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/gmeline\">\u003cem>Gabe Meline\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ralexandra\">\u003cem>Rae Alexandra\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>When every major live music show feels like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101892062/everyone-hates-ticketmaster\">it costs an arm and a leg\u003c/a>, it’s always a relief when it’s time for San Francisco’s free festival: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13979075/hardly-strictly-lineup-2025-lucinda-williams-samara-joy-courtney-barnett-more\">Hardly Strictly Bluegrass\u003c/a>, often called Hardly Strictly or HSB.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>When every major live music show feels like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101892062/everyone-hates-ticketmaster\">it costs an arm and a leg\u003c/a>, it’s always a relief when it’s time for San Francisco’s free festival: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13979075/hardly-strictly-lineup-2025-lucinda-williams-samara-joy-courtney-barnett-more\">Hardly Strictly Bluegrass\u003c/a>, often called Hardly Strictly or HSB.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The long-running, all-ages music festival features a packed lineup of country, folk, jazz and bluegrass performers — no ticket required.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The long-running, all-ages music festival features a packed lineup of country, folk, jazz and bluegrass performers — no ticket required.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But a free festival means big crowds, which can make for a hectic weekend in Golden Gate Park, especially with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055844/hardly-strictly-2025-lineup-schedule-golden-gate-park-san-francisco-maps-parking#bring\">bag checks that have been implemented in recent years. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But a free festival means big crowds, which can make for a hectic weekend in Golden Gate Park, especially with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055844/hardly-strictly-2025-lineup-schedule-golden-gate-park-san-francisco-maps-parking#bring\">bag checks that have been implemented in recent years. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/HardlyStrictlyBluegrassGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/HardlyStrictlyBluegrassGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/HardlyStrictlyBluegrassGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/HardlyStrictlyBluegrassGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12056114\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/HardlyStrictlyBluegrassGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/HardlyStrictlyBluegrassGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/HardlyStrictlyBluegrassGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">People dance together as Fantastic Negrito performs on the Swan Stage during the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival 2019 at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California, on Oct. 6, 2019. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/HardlyStrictlyBluegrassGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12056114\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">People dance together as Fantastic Negrito performs on the Swan Stage during the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival 2019 at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California, on Oct. 6, 2019. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Read more to learn how to best plan for attending Hardly Strictly next weekend, or jump straight to:\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Read more to learn how to best plan for attending Hardly Strictly next weekend, or jump straight to:\u003c/p>\n"
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"What’s the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2026 schedule?",
"Is parking possible at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass?",
"What food and drink can I still bring into Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (and what’s now banned)?"
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null,
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#schedule\">What’s the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2026 schedule?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#schedule\">What’s the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2026 schedule?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#parking\">Is parking possible at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#parking\">Is parking possible at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#food\">What food and drink can I still bring into Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (and what’s now banned)?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#food\">What food and drink can I still bring into Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (and what’s now banned)?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n"
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{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "When is Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2026, and where is it in Golden Gate Park?",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When is Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2026, and where is it in Golden Gate Park?\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Hardly Strictly will be held Oct. 2-4 at Hellman Hollow and Lindley and Marx meadows in Golden Gate Park.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Hardly Strictly will be held Oct. 2-4 at Hellman Hollow and Lindley and Marx meadows in Golden Gate Park.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Entrances will open at 11 a.m. on Friday and at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Performances end at 7 p.m. each day. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Entrances will open at 11 a.m. on Friday and at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Performances end at 7 p.m. each day. \u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-800x470.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-1020x599.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-160x94.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-1536x902.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-1920x1128.jpg 1920w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12041404\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-800x470.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-1020x599.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-160x94.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-1536x902.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-1920x1128.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Lisa Aliferis/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12041404\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Lisa Aliferis/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Attendees are asked to \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2025/\">enter the festival\u003c/a> through gates at:\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Attendees are asked to \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2025/\">enter the festival\u003c/a> through gates at:\u003c/p>\n"
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"JFK Drive and Transverse Drive",
"Fulton Street and 30th Avenue",
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"South Polo Field (Middle Drive and Metson Road)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Fulton Street and 30th Avenue\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It gets \u003cem>crowded\u003c/em> at Hardly Strictly, so it’s good to get there early to claim your spot — although this might make stage-hopping hard.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>It gets \u003cem>crowded\u003c/em> at Hardly Strictly, so it’s good to get there early to claim your spot — although this might make stage-hopping hard.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In past years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055844/hardly-strictly-2025-lineup-schedule-golden-gate-park-san-francisco-maps-parking\">waste management has also conducted sweeps of the park\u003c/a> each night after performances end, so you likely won’t be able to “save your place” with blankets and belongings the day before.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In past years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055844/hardly-strictly-2025-lineup-schedule-golden-gate-park-san-francisco-maps-parking\">waste management has also conducted sweeps of the park\u003c/a> each night after performances end, so you likely won’t be able to “save your place” with blankets and belongings the day before.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerBlocks": []
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{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "What’s the Hardly Strictly schedule, and which artists are playing?",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"schedule\">What’s the Hardly Strictly schedule, and which artists are playing?\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/headline/2026-lineup-announcements/\">entire lineup and schedule can be found on the Hardly Strictly website\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/headline/2026-lineup-announcements/\">entire lineup and schedule can be found on the Hardly Strictly website\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13991930/hardly-strictly-2026-lineup-my-morning-jacket-gillian-welch-kathleen-edwards\">Highlights of the 2026 festival include\u003c/a>:\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13991930/hardly-strictly-2026-lineup-my-morning-jacket-gillian-welch-kathleen-edwards\">Highlights of the 2026 festival include\u003c/a>:\u003c/p>\n"
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"items": [
"My Morning Jacket",
"Mavis Staples",
"Jesse Welles.",
"Los Lobos"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003c/ul>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>My Morning Jacket\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Jesse Welles.\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Los Lobos\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And if you aren’t able to make it to HSB in person, the Banjo, Swan, Towers of Gold, Rooster, Arrow and Horseshoe Hill Stages will also be \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.vhx.tv/browse\">livestreamed on HSB’s website\u003c/a>. Some of the artists in the HSB lineup are also \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/out-of-the-park/\">performing in venues around the region\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>And if you aren’t able to make it to HSB in person, the Banjo, Swan, Towers of Gold, Rooster, Arrow and Horseshoe Hill Stages will also be \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.vhx.tv/browse\">livestreamed on HSB’s website\u003c/a>. Some of the artists in the HSB lineup are also \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/out-of-the-park/\">performing in venues around the region\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
],
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{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "What can I bring to Hardly Strictly?",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What can I bring to Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What can I bring to Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n"
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{
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If it’s been a few years since you attended Hardly Strictly, many security measures will be new to you — including fences and entry through the four main gates. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>If it’s been a few years since you attended Hardly Strictly, many security measures will be new to you — including fences and entry through the four main gates. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/music/hardly-strictly-announces-new-security-measures-leave-your-cooler-at-home\">measures were implemented\u003c/a> in 2019 following a wave of mass shootings at large events across the U.S. Attendees at Hardly Strictly can now expect a security presence, including body scanners and possible bag and cooler searches.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/music/hardly-strictly-announces-new-security-measures-leave-your-cooler-at-home\">measures were implemented\u003c/a> in 2019 following a wave of mass shootings at large events across the U.S. Attendees at Hardly Strictly can now expect a security presence, including body scanners and possible bag and cooler searches.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Each person can bring \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2026/\">a personal item and a bag\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Each person can bring \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2026/\">a personal item and a bag\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2239117637.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2239117637-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2239117637-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2239117637.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12100876\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2239117637.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2239117637-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2239117637-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thousands gather for the final day of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival at Golden Gate Park on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Brontë Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2239117637.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12100876\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thousands gather for the final day of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival at Golden Gate Park on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Brontë Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Clear bags are recommended for easier entry. Regular bags, such as non-transparent backpacks, must not exceed 6 inches by 8 inches by 3 inches.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Clear bags are recommended for easier entry. Regular bags, such as non-transparent backpacks, must not exceed 6 inches by 8 inches by 3 inches.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Beer and wine are allowed but must be in non-glass containers. Blankets and tarps up to 6 feet by 8 feet, as well as low chairs, are also allowed.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Beer and wine are allowed but must be in non-glass containers. Blankets and tarps up to 6 feet by 8 feet, as well as low chairs, are also allowed.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Items such as wagons, strollers, low-back chairs, non-clear medium backpacks, totes, and soft coolers are allowed but will be subject to more thorough searches, which may take longer. So if you’re bringing these items, don’t cut it fine to see your favorite act.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Items such as wagons, strollers, low-back chairs, non-clear medium backpacks, totes, and soft coolers are allowed but will be subject to more thorough searches, which may take longer. So if you’re bringing these items, don’t cut it fine to see your favorite act.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You cannot bring:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003c/ul>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Tarps and blankets larger than 6 feet by 8 feet\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Items with an open flame, firearms, drones, fireworks\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Kegs and hard liquor\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Glass containers\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>Glass containers\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Devices for amplified sound or any item that could cause damage or injury\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Smoking — \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/information--know-your-rights-cannabis-consumer\">including weed\u003c/a> — is also not allowed in any area in Golden Gate Park due to a San Francisco ordinance. (Although you may still see people lighting up on Hippie Hill \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12080068/official-san-francisco-hippie-hill-celebration-canceled-for-third-time-in-a-row-where-to-observe-420-around-the-bay-area\">during certain times of the year\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Smoking — \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/information--know-your-rights-cannabis-consumer\">including weed\u003c/a> — is also not allowed in any area in Golden Gate Park due to a San Francisco ordinance. (Although you may still see people lighting up on Hippie Hill \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12080068/official-san-francisco-hippie-hill-celebration-canceled-for-third-time-in-a-row-where-to-observe-420-around-the-bay-area\">during certain times of the year\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n"
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{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "What about food at Hardly Strictly?",
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},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"food\">What about food at Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"food\">What about food at Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Guests \u003cem>are \u003c/em>allowed to bring their own food — just not in glass containers. There are also free water refill stations scattered throughout the festival. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Guests \u003cem>are \u003c/em>allowed to bring their own food — just not in glass containers. There are also free water refill stations scattered throughout the festival. \u003c/p>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>You can \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/2026-food-and-drink/\">scope out the list of vendors on Hardly Strictly’s website\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>You can \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/2026-food-and-drink/\">scope out the list of vendors on Hardly Strictly’s website\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
],
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2238863551.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2238863551-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2238863551-1536x1025.jpg 1536w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2238863551.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12100882\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2238863551.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2238863551-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2238863551-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tiffanie Tippens dancing to the Dan Tyminski Band performing at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music festival on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in San Francisco, California. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2238863551.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12100882\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tiffanie Tippens dancing to the Dan Tyminski Band performing at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music festival on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in San Francisco, California. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Plan for things to be cashless. Vendors will be located at:\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>JFK Food Trucks\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>JFK Flats\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Porch Stage Area\u003c/li>\n",
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{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "What’s the weather forecast for Hardly Strictly this year?",
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},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What’s the weather forecast for Hardly Strictly this year?\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Usually, Golden Gate Park is an area of San Francisco that you can rely on to bring the chill even on the balmiest days (which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091823/outside-lands-2026-tickets-parking-road-closures-and-bag-rules\">Outside Lands \u003c/a>attendees know all too well).\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Usually, Golden Gate Park is an area of San Francisco that you can rely on to bring the chill even on the balmiest days (which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091823/outside-lands-2026-tickets-parking-road-closures-and-bag-rules\">Outside Lands \u003c/a>attendees know all too well).\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But it’s been getting hotter in the Bay Area as of late, so be sure to \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.769421&lon=-122.48621\">keep an eye on the weather forecast\u003c/a> and plan to bring the usual Golden Gate Park survival kit: water, sunscreen and layers.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>But it’s been getting hotter in the Bay Area as of late, so be sure to \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.769421&lon=-122.48621\">keep an eye on the weather forecast\u003c/a> and plan to bring the usual Golden Gate Park survival kit: water, sunscreen and layers.\u003c/p>\n"
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{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Will there be a bus running in the park during Hardly Strictly?",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Will there be a bus running in the park during Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Will there be a bus running in the park during Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The park service will be running its shuttle service during the music festival. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfrecpark.org/1617/Golden-Gate-Park-Free-Shuttle\">Get the shuttle hours and schedule.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The park service will be running its shuttle service during the music festival. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfrecpark.org/1617/Golden-Gate-Park-Free-Shuttle\">Get the shuttle hours and schedule.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n"
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{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "What does public transit look like during Hardly Strictly?",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does public transit look like during Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does public transit look like during Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>You can consult \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/travel-updates/hardly-strictly-bluegrass-october-2-4-2026\">SFMTA’s website\u003c/a> for the latest updates on Muni. There will also be \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/travel-updates/hardly-strictly-bluegrass-october-2-4-2026#extra\">extra Muni services\u003c/a> throughout the weekend.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>You can consult \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/travel-updates/hardly-strictly-bluegrass-october-2-4-2026\">SFMTA’s website\u003c/a> for the latest updates on Muni. There will also be \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/travel-updates/hardly-strictly-bluegrass-october-2-4-2026#extra\">extra Muni services\u003c/a> throughout the weekend.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Muni routes affected will be N Judah, 5 Fulton, 5R Fulton Rapid, 7 Haight/Noriega, 18 46th Avenue, 28 19th Avenue, 29 Sunset and 44 O’Shaughnessy. Be sure to plan for extra travel time, because there \u003cem>will \u003c/em>be traffic and big crowds.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Muni routes affected will be N Judah, 5 Fulton, 5R Fulton Rapid, 7 Haight/Noriega, 18 46th Avenue, 28 19th Avenue, 29 Sunset and 44 O’Shaughnessy. Be sure to plan for extra travel time, because there \u003cem>will \u003c/em>be traffic and big crowds.\u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260911-FareRequired-NG-11.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260911-FareRequired-NG-11-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260911-FareRequired-NG-11-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260911-FareRequired-NG-11.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099241\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260911-FareRequired-NG-11.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260911-FareRequired-NG-11-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260911-FareRequired-NG-11-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Muni bus marquee says “Fare Required” in San Francisco’s Outer Richmond neighborhood on Sept. 11, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260911-FareRequired-NG-11.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099241\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Muni bus marquee says “Fare Required” in San Francisco’s Outer Richmond neighborhood on Sept. 11, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The N Judah, 7 Haight/Noriega, 28 19th Avenue, 29 Sunset and 44 O’Shaughnessy lines all serve areas of Golden Gate Park.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The N Judah, 7 Haight/Noriega, 28 19th Avenue, 29 Sunset and 44 O’Shaughnessy lines all serve areas of Golden Gate Park.\u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There will be no bike valet at Hardly Strictly 2026, so be careful when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101906075/bikes-stolen-in-the-bay-area-show-up-on-global-blackmarket\">parking and locking up your bike.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>There will be no bike valet at Hardly Strictly 2026, so be careful when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101906075/bikes-stolen-in-the-bay-area-show-up-on-global-blackmarket\">parking and locking up your bike.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "What roads will be closed around Golden Gate Park?",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What roads will be closed around Golden Gate Park?\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What roads will be closed around Golden Gate Park?\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/547/Golden-Gate-Park-Road-Closures\">Golden Gate Park’s website\u003c/a>, these roads will be closed before and during the event:\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/547/Golden-Gate-Park-Road-Closures\">Golden Gate Park’s website\u003c/a>, these roads will be closed before and during the event:\u003c/p>\n"
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"Transverse Drive will be closed from Crossover Drive (25th Avenue) to Martin Luther King Drive from 6:00 a.m. Friday until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.",
"JFK Drive between Stow Lake Circle and 36th Avenue will be closed from 8:00 p.m. Thursday until 6:00 p.m. on Monday.",
"30th Avenue will be closed from Fulton to JFK Drive from 8:00 p.m. Thursday until Monday at 6:00 p.m.",
"36th Avenue from Fulton to the turnaround from 6:00 a.m. Friday until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday",
"JFK Drive closed from 36th Avenue to Chain of Lakes Drive from 6 a.m. Friday until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.",
"Polo Fields parking area on both the north (stables) and south side of the Polo fields from 6 a.m. on Friday until 1 p.m. on Monday.",
"Middle Drive West from Transverse to MLK from Friday at 6:00 a.m. until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.",
"Overlook Drive from Transverse to Middle Drive West from Friday at 6:00 a.m. until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.",
"Metson Drive from Middle Drive West to MLK from Friday at 6:00 a.m. until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday."
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003c/ul>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Transverse Drive will be closed from Crossover Drive (25th Avenue) to Martin Luther King Drive from 6:00 a.m. Friday until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>Transverse Drive will be closed from Crossover Drive (25th Avenue) to Martin Luther King Drive from 6:00 a.m. Friday until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>JFK Drive between Stow Lake Circle and 36th Avenue will be closed from 8:00 p.m. Thursday until 6:00 p.m. on Monday.\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>JFK Drive between Stow Lake Circle and 36th Avenue will be closed from 8:00 p.m. Thursday until 6:00 p.m. on Monday.\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>30th Avenue will be closed from Fulton to JFK Drive from 8:00 p.m. Thursday until Monday at 6:00 p.m.\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>30th Avenue will be closed from Fulton to JFK Drive from 8:00 p.m. Thursday until Monday at 6:00 p.m.\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>36th Avenue from Fulton to the turnaround from 6:00 a.m. Friday until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>36th Avenue from Fulton to the turnaround from 6:00 a.m. Friday until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday\u003c/li>\n"
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{
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>JFK Drive closed from 36th Avenue to Chain of Lakes Drive from 6 a.m. Friday until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>JFK Drive closed from 36th Avenue to Chain of Lakes Drive from 6 a.m. Friday until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Polo Fields parking area on both the north (stables) and south side of the Polo fields from 6 a.m. on Friday until 1 p.m. on Monday.\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>Polo Fields parking area on both the north (stables) and south side of the Polo fields from 6 a.m. on Friday until 1 p.m. on Monday.\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Middle Drive West from Transverse to MLK from Friday at 6:00 a.m. until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>Middle Drive West from Transverse to MLK from Friday at 6:00 a.m. until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Overlook Drive from Transverse to Middle Drive West from Friday at 6:00 a.m. until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>Overlook Drive from Transverse to Middle Drive West from Friday at 6:00 a.m. until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n"
]
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Metson Drive from Middle Drive West to MLK from Friday at 6:00 a.m. until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>Metson Drive from Middle Drive West to MLK from Friday at 6:00 a.m. until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Golden Gate Park’s website also details closures on the days leading up to the festival, stating that JFK Drive will be closed between Transverse Drive and 36th Avenue due to “congestion from load-in.” \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Golden Gate Park’s website also details closures on the days leading up to the festival, stating that JFK Drive will be closed between Transverse Drive and 36th Avenue due to “congestion from load-in.” \u003c/p>\n"
],
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Bikes will be allowed on JFK at 5 mph speed limit, except when arches are being installed, in which event they will be diverted,” \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/547/Golden-Gate-Park-Road-Closures\">according to the website.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>“Bikes will be allowed on JFK at 5 mph speed limit, except when arches are being installed, in which event they will be diverted,” \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/547/Golden-Gate-Park-Road-Closures\">according to the website.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There will be special accommodations for soccer players accessing Polo Field.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>There will be special accommodations for soccer players accessing Polo Field.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "What parking is available at Hardly Strictly?",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"parking\">What parking is available at Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Hardly Strictly encourages taking public transportation to the event. If you choose to drive, however, there may be paid parking on a first-come, first-served basis.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Hardly Strictly encourages taking public transportation to the event. If you choose to drive, however, there may be paid parking on a first-come, first-served basis.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Below are the paid parking lots that are usually available during this event. However, they are independently owned, so Hardly Strictly organizers \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2025/#venue\">cannot guarantee they’ll remain exactly the same this year:\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Below are the paid parking lots that are usually available during this event. However, they are independently owned, so Hardly Strictly organizers \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2025/#venue\">cannot guarantee they’ll remain exactly the same this year:\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n"
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"George Washington High School at 600 32nd Ave. ",
"Argonne at 680 18th Ave.",
"Lawton Alternative School at 1570 31st Ave.",
"Lafayette Elementary at 4545 Anza St.",
"SFUSD Admin Campus at 750 25th Ave."
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>George Washington High School at 600 32nd Ave. \u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>George Washington High School at 600 32nd Ave. \u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Argonne at 680 18th Ave.\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Lawton Alternative School at 1570 31st Ave.\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Lafayette Elementary at 4545 Anza St.\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>Lafayette Elementary at 4545 Anza St.\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>SFUSD Admin Campus at 750 25th Ave.\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>SFUSD Admin Campus at 750 25th Ave.\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Accessible parking is available along JFK, west of Chain of Lakes. There will be shuttle stops at JFK & Bernice Rodgers Way, JFK & Chain of Lakes, JFK near Gate 3 entry and GGP Senior Center, 6101 Fulton St.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Accessible parking is available along JFK, west of Chain of Lakes. There will be shuttle stops at JFK & Bernice Rodgers Way, JFK & Chain of Lakes, JFK near Gate 3 entry and GGP Senior Center, 6101 Fulton St.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Remember, if you’re choosing to try to park near Hardly Strictly, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959477/car-break-ins-bay-area-glass-repair-what-to-do\">break-ins are still common in San Francisco\u003c/a> — so leave nothing visible in your vehicle, and if at all possible, leave your trunk exposed to show it’s empty. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Remember, if you’re choosing to try to park near Hardly Strictly, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959477/car-break-ins-bay-area-glass-repair-what-to-do\">break-ins are still common in San Francisco\u003c/a> — so leave nothing visible in your vehicle, and if at all possible, leave your trunk exposed to show it’s empty. \u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Don’t leave any electronics like laptops in your vehicle, even if you think they’re hidden. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959799/how-to-avoid-a-car-break-in-bay-area\">Read more about how to potentially reduce your risk of getting your car broken into.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Don’t leave any electronics like laptops in your vehicle, even if you think they’re hidden. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959799/how-to-avoid-a-car-break-in-bay-area\">Read more about how to potentially reduce your risk of getting your car broken into.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "How does rideshare pickup and drop-off work at Hardly Strictly?",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How does rideshare pickup and drop-off work at Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There will be taxi stands at Fulton from 22nd Avenue to 24th Avenue.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>There will be taxi stands at Fulton from 22nd Avenue to 24th Avenue.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There are pickups and drop-offs for rideshares like Lyft and Uber around “Washington High School on both 30th Avenue between Anza and Balboa and on Balboa between 30th and 31st [avenues],” according to the \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2026/\">Hardly Strictly website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>There are pickups and drop-offs for rideshares like Lyft and Uber around “Washington High School on both 30th Avenue between Anza and Balboa and on Balboa between 30th and 31st [avenues],” according to the \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2026/\">Hardly Strictly website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There are pickups on Irving between 25th Avenue and 27th Avenue.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>There are pickups on Irving between 25th Avenue and 27th Avenue.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Due to the large amounts of traffic coming to and from the park, ridesharing apps will only allow pin drops from the designated pickup area, so you should make your way to the drop-off/pickup location before calling for your ride,” the website notes.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Due to the large amounts of traffic coming to and from the park, ridesharing apps will only allow pin drops from the designated pickup area, so you should make your way to the drop-off/pickup location before calling for your ride,” the website notes.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Bear in mind: Ordering a Waymo specifically could get tricky at places with high crowds. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Bear in mind: Ordering a Waymo specifically could get tricky at places with high crowds. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For example, Fourth of July this year saw \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/post/waymo-fleet-clogs-presidio-july-4-fireworks-leaving-vehicles-stranded-towed/19455862/\">many Waymos gridlocked and jammed in traffic\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>For example, Fourth of July this year saw \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/post/waymo-fleet-clogs-presidio-july-4-fireworks-leaving-vehicles-stranded-towed/19455862/\">many Waymos gridlocked and jammed in traffic\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/outside-lands-muni-ridership-transit-waymo-22382965.php\">\u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, things went smoother after the city placed pickup/drop-off restrictions at the recent Outside Lands festival.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>But according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/outside-lands-muni-ridership-transit-waymo-22382965.php\">\u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, things went smoother after the city placed pickup/drop-off restrictions at the recent Outside Lands festival.\u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "What should I know about accessibility at Hardly Strictly?",
"level": 2
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What should I know about accessibility at Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2026/\">the website\u003c/a>, Golden Gate Park “covers a lot of space and encompasses many types of terrain, including grassy fields, sandy pathways, paved walkways, potholes” and more.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2026/\">the website\u003c/a>, Golden Gate Park “covers a lot of space and encompasses many types of terrain, including grassy fields, sandy pathways, paved walkways, potholes” and more.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Guests who seek accessible services can get a wristband at a tent near JFK and 36th Avenue, adjacent to Gate 3. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Guests who seek accessible services can get a wristband at a tent near JFK and 36th Avenue, adjacent to Gate 3. \u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/2025accessibilitymap2025.png 969w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/2025accessibilitymap2025-160x120.png 160w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/2025accessibilitymap2025.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12058463\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/2025accessibilitymap2025.png 969w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/2025accessibilitymap2025-160x120.png 160w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An accessibility map of the 2025 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in Golden Gate Park.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/2025accessibilitymap2025.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12058463\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An accessibility map of the 2025 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in Golden Gate Park.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The map below highlights the usual accessible services at Hardly Strictly, like entrances, viewing spots and accessible portable bathrooms.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The map below highlights the usual accessible services at Hardly Strictly, like entrances, viewing spots and accessible portable bathrooms.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Accessible parking is available along JFK, west of Chain of Lakes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There will be shuttle stops at JFK & Bernice Rodgers Way, JFK & Chain of Lakes, JFK near Gate 3 entry and GGP Senior Center, 6101 Fulton St.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>There will be shuttle stops at JFK & Bernice Rodgers Way, JFK & Chain of Lakes, JFK near Gate 3 entry and GGP Senior Center, 6101 Fulton St.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "What should I know about staying safe in a large crowd?",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What should I know about staying safe in a large crowd?\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What should I know about staying safe in a large crowd?\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As with any busy day at a festival, you should stay aware of your health and bodily needs. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>As with any busy day at a festival, you should stay aware of your health and bodily needs. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>KQED has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093415/the-no-judgement-guide-to-not-passing-out-at-a-concert-and-other-concert-health-tips\">a thorough guide on staying healthy and upright at a concert\u003c/a> that tackles fainting, dehydration, standing in the heat and the all-encompassing festival-goer’s mission of avoiding the dreaded port-a-potties.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>KQED has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093415/the-no-judgement-guide-to-not-passing-out-at-a-concert-and-other-concert-health-tips\">a thorough guide on staying healthy and upright at a concert\u003c/a> that tackles fainting, dehydration, standing in the heat and the all-encompassing festival-goer’s mission of avoiding the dreaded port-a-potties.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Crowds can be especially overwhelming for some people. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Crowds can be especially overwhelming for some people. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>With \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/11/1054765905/what-went-wrong-at-astroworld-the-deadly-dynamics-of-crowd-surge\">past tragic incidents at other festivals\u003c/a>, it does not hurt to be cautious and prepared. Read \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053828800/south-korea-seoul-halloween-crowd-safety-tips\">NPR’s full guide on what to do if you find yourself caught in a crowd crush\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>With \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/11/1054765905/what-went-wrong-at-astroworld-the-deadly-dynamics-of-crowd-surge\">past tragic incidents at other festivals\u003c/a>, it does not hurt to be cautious and prepared. Read \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053828800/south-korea-seoul-halloween-crowd-safety-tips\">NPR’s full guide on what to do if you find yourself caught in a crowd crush\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589-2000x1500.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589-2048x1536.jpg 2048w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093685\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589-2000x1500.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fans faint at concerts for a variety of reasons. Event medical professionals explain how to stay safe.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Anna Vignet/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093685\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fans faint at concerts for a variety of reasons. Event medical professionals explain how to stay safe.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Anna Vignet/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to Mehdi Moussaïd, a research scientist in Berlin who studies crowd behavior, rely on your instincts and senses if you feel like the crowd is getting too dense. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>According to Mehdi Moussaïd, a research scientist in Berlin who studies crowd behavior, rely on your instincts and senses if you feel like the crowd is getting too dense. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If you get stuck in a crush, move with the crowd, put your arms out in front of your chest and hold them there.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>If you get stuck in a crush, move with the crowd, put your arms out in front of your chest and hold them there.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“In this position, you would have some space, just a little bit, to push for half a centimeter or just 1 centimeter — enough for you to keep breathing,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053828800/south-korea-seoul-halloween-crowd-safety-tips\">Moussaïd told NPR in 2022\u003c/a>. “It’s not going to be comfortable. You’re going to be feeling really bad, but at least you’ll survive.”\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>“In this position, you would have some space, just a little bit, to push for half a centimeter or just 1 centimeter — enough for you to keep breathing,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053828800/south-korea-seoul-halloween-crowd-safety-tips\">Moussaïd told NPR in 2022\u003c/a>. “It’s not going to be comfortable. You’re going to be feeling really bad, but at least you’ll survive.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story includes reporting by KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/nvoynovskaya\">\u003cem>Nastia Voynovskaya\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/gmeline\">\u003cem>Gabe Meline\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ralexandra\">\u003cem>Rae Alexandra\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story includes reporting by KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/nvoynovskaya\">\u003cem>Nastia Voynovskaya\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/gmeline\">\u003cem>Gabe Meline\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ralexandra\">\u003cem>Rae Alexandra\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is San Francisco's longstanding music festival for all ages with a huge artist lineup. And the best part? It’s free. ",
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"title": "Hardly Strictly 2026: The Weekend's Lineup, Schedule, Parking, Maps and Bag Policy | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>When every major live music show feels like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101892062/everyone-hates-ticketmaster\">it costs an arm and a leg\u003c/a>, it’s always a relief when it’s time for San Francisco’s free festival: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13979075/hardly-strictly-lineup-2025-lucinda-williams-samara-joy-courtney-barnett-more\">Hardly Strictly Bluegrass\u003c/a>, often called Hardly Strictly or HSB.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The long-running, all-ages music festival features a packed lineup of country, folk, jazz and bluegrass performers — no ticket required.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But a free festival means big crowds, which can make for a hectic weekend in Golden Gate Park, especially with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055844/hardly-strictly-2025-lineup-schedule-golden-gate-park-san-francisco-maps-parking#bring\">bag checks that have been implemented in recent years. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/HardlyStrictlyBluegrassGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12056114\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/HardlyStrictlyBluegrassGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/HardlyStrictlyBluegrassGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/HardlyStrictlyBluegrassGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">People dance together as Fantastic Negrito performs on the Swan Stage during the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival 2019 at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California, on Oct. 6, 2019. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Read more to learn how to best plan for attending Hardly Strictly next weekend, or jump straight to:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#schedule\">What’s the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2026 schedule?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#parking\">Is parking possible at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#food\">What food and drink can I still bring into Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (and what’s now banned)?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When is Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2026, and where is it in Golden Gate Park?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hardly Strictly will be held Oct. 2-4 at Hellman Hollow and Lindley and Marx meadows in Golden Gate Park.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Entrances will open at 11 a.m. on Friday and at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Performances end at 7 p.m. each day. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1175\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12041404\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-800x470.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-1020x599.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-160x94.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-1536x902.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_6619_qed-1920x1128.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. (Lisa Aliferis/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Attendees are asked to \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2025/\">enter the festival\u003c/a> through gates at:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>JFK Drive and Transverse Drive\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Fulton Street and 30th Avenue\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>JFK Drive and 36th Avenue\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>South Polo Field (Middle Drive and Metson Road)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It gets \u003cem>crowded\u003c/em> at Hardly Strictly, so it’s good to get there early to claim your spot — although this might make stage-hopping hard.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In past years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055844/hardly-strictly-2025-lineup-schedule-golden-gate-park-san-francisco-maps-parking\">waste management has also conducted sweeps of the park\u003c/a> each night after performances end, so you likely won’t be able to “save your place” with blankets and belongings the day before.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"schedule\">What’s the Hardly Strictly schedule, and which artists are playing?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/headline/2026-lineup-announcements/\">entire lineup and schedule can be found on the Hardly Strictly website\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13991930/hardly-strictly-2026-lineup-my-morning-jacket-gillian-welch-kathleen-edwards\">Highlights of the 2026 festival include\u003c/a>:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>My Morning Jacket\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Mavis Staples\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Jesse Welles.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Los Lobos\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And if you aren’t able to make it to HSB in person, the Banjo, Swan, Towers of Gold, Rooster, Arrow and Horseshoe Hill Stages will also be \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.vhx.tv/browse\">livestreamed on HSB’s website\u003c/a>. Some of the artists in the HSB lineup are also \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/out-of-the-park/\">performing in venues around the region\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What can I bring to Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If it’s been a few years since you attended Hardly Strictly, many security measures will be new to you — including fences and entry through the four main gates. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/music/hardly-strictly-announces-new-security-measures-leave-your-cooler-at-home\">measures were implemented\u003c/a> in 2019 following a wave of mass shootings at large events across the U.S. Attendees at Hardly Strictly can now expect a security presence, including body scanners and possible bag and cooler searches.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Each person can bring \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2026/\">a personal item and a bag\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2239117637.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12100876\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2239117637.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2239117637-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2239117637-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thousands gather for the final day of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival at Golden Gate Park on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (Brontë Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Clear bags are recommended for easier entry. Regular bags, such as non-transparent backpacks, must not exceed 6 inches by 8 inches by 3 inches.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Beer and wine are allowed but must be in non-glass containers. Blankets and tarps up to 6 feet by 8 feet, as well as low chairs, are also allowed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Items such as wagons, strollers, low-back chairs, non-clear medium backpacks, totes, and soft coolers are allowed but will be subject to more thorough searches, which may take longer. So if you’re bringing these items, don’t cut it fine to see your favorite act.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You cannot bring:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Large or hard coolers\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>High-backed chairs\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Tables\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Tents\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Umbrellas and shade structures\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Tarps and blankets larger than 6 feet by 8 feet\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Items with an open flame, firearms, drones, fireworks\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Kegs and hard liquor\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Glass containers\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Devices for amplified sound or any item that could cause damage or injury\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Smoking — \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/information--know-your-rights-cannabis-consumer\">including weed\u003c/a> — is also not allowed in any area in Golden Gate Park due to a San Francisco ordinance. (Although you may still see people lighting up on Hippie Hill \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12080068/official-san-francisco-hippie-hill-celebration-canceled-for-third-time-in-a-row-where-to-observe-420-around-the-bay-area\">during certain times of the year\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"food\">What about food at Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Guests \u003cem>are \u003c/em>allowed to bring their own food — just not in glass containers. There are also free water refill stations scattered throughout the festival. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/2026-food-and-drink/\">scope out the list of vendors on Hardly Strictly’s website\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2238863551.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12100882\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2238863551.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2238863551-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2238863551-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tiffanie Tippens dancing to the Dan Tyminski Band performing at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music festival on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in San Francisco, California. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Plan for things to be cashless. Vendors will be located at:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Arrow Food Meadow\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>JFK Food Trucks\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>JFK Flats\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Porch Stage Area\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What’s the weather forecast for Hardly Strictly this year?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Usually, Golden Gate Park is an area of San Francisco that you can rely on to bring the chill even on the balmiest days (which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091823/outside-lands-2026-tickets-parking-road-closures-and-bag-rules\">Outside Lands \u003c/a>attendees know all too well).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But it’s been getting hotter in the Bay Area as of late, so be sure to \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.769421&lon=-122.48621\">keep an eye on the weather forecast\u003c/a> and plan to bring the usual Golden Gate Park survival kit: water, sunscreen and layers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Will there be a bus running in the park during Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The park service will be running its shuttle service during the music festival. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfrecpark.org/1617/Golden-Gate-Park-Free-Shuttle\">Get the shuttle hours and schedule.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does public transit look like during Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can consult \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/travel-updates/hardly-strictly-bluegrass-october-2-4-2026\">SFMTA’s website\u003c/a> for the latest updates on Muni. There will also be \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/travel-updates/hardly-strictly-bluegrass-october-2-4-2026#extra\">extra Muni services\u003c/a> throughout the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Muni routes affected will be N Judah, 5 Fulton, 5R Fulton Rapid, 7 Haight/Noriega, 18 46th Avenue, 28 19th Avenue, 29 Sunset and 44 O’Shaughnessy. Be sure to plan for extra travel time, because there \u003cem>will \u003c/em>be traffic and big crowds.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260911-FareRequired-NG-11.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099241\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260911-FareRequired-NG-11.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260911-FareRequired-NG-11-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260911-FareRequired-NG-11-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Muni bus marquee says “Fare Required” in San Francisco’s Outer Richmond neighborhood on Sept. 11, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The N Judah, 7 Haight/Noriega, 28 19th Avenue, 29 Sunset and 44 O’Shaughnessy lines all serve areas of Golden Gate Park.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There will be no bike valet at Hardly Strictly 2026, so be careful when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101906075/bikes-stolen-in-the-bay-area-show-up-on-global-blackmarket\">parking and locking up your bike.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What roads will be closed around Golden Gate Park?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/547/Golden-Gate-Park-Road-Closures\">Golden Gate Park’s website\u003c/a>, these roads will be closed before and during the event:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Transverse Drive will be closed from Crossover Drive (25th Avenue) to Martin Luther King Drive from 6:00 a.m. Friday until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>JFK Drive between Stow Lake Circle and 36th Avenue will be closed from 8:00 p.m. Thursday until 6:00 p.m. on Monday.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>30th Avenue will be closed from Fulton to JFK Drive from 8:00 p.m. Thursday until Monday at 6:00 p.m.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>36th Avenue from Fulton to the turnaround from 6:00 a.m. Friday until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>JFK Drive closed from 36th Avenue to Chain of Lakes Drive from 6 a.m. Friday until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Polo Fields parking area on both the north (stables) and south side of the Polo fields from 6 a.m. on Friday until 1 p.m. on Monday.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Middle Drive West from Transverse to MLK from Friday at 6:00 a.m. until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Overlook Drive from Transverse to Middle Drive West from Friday at 6:00 a.m. until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Metson Drive from Middle Drive West to MLK from Friday at 6:00 a.m. until 11:55 p.m. on Sunday.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Golden Gate Park’s website also details closures on the days leading up to the festival, stating that JFK Drive will be closed between Transverse Drive and 36th Avenue due to “congestion from load-in.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Bikes will be allowed on JFK at 5 mph speed limit, except when arches are being installed, in which event they will be diverted,” \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/547/Golden-Gate-Park-Road-Closures\">according to the website.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There will be special accommodations for soccer players accessing Polo Field.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"parking\">What parking is available at Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hardly Strictly encourages taking public transportation to the event. If you choose to drive, however, there may be paid parking on a first-come, first-served basis.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Below are the paid parking lots that are usually available during this event. However, they are independently owned, so Hardly Strictly organizers \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2025/#venue\">cannot guarantee they’ll remain exactly the same this year:\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>George Washington High School at 600 32nd Ave. \u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Argonne at 680 18th Ave.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Lawton Alternative School at 1570 31st Ave.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Lafayette Elementary at 4545 Anza St.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>SFUSD Admin Campus at 750 25th Ave.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Accessible parking is available along JFK, west of Chain of Lakes. There will be shuttle stops at JFK & Bernice Rodgers Way, JFK & Chain of Lakes, JFK near Gate 3 entry and GGP Senior Center, 6101 Fulton St.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Remember, if you’re choosing to try to park near Hardly Strictly, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959477/car-break-ins-bay-area-glass-repair-what-to-do\">break-ins are still common in San Francisco\u003c/a> — so leave nothing visible in your vehicle, and if at all possible, leave your trunk exposed to show it’s empty. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Don’t leave any electronics like laptops in your vehicle, even if you think they’re hidden. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959799/how-to-avoid-a-car-break-in-bay-area\">Read more about how to potentially reduce your risk of getting your car broken into.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How does rideshare pickup and drop-off work at Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There will be taxi stands at Fulton from 22nd Avenue to 24th Avenue.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are pickups and drop-offs for rideshares like Lyft and Uber around “Washington High School on both 30th Avenue between Anza and Balboa and on Balboa between 30th and 31st [avenues],” according to the \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2026/\">Hardly Strictly website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are pickups on Irving between 25th Avenue and 27th Avenue.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Due to the large amounts of traffic coming to and from the park, ridesharing apps will only allow pin drops from the designated pickup area, so you should make your way to the drop-off/pickup location before calling for your ride,” the website notes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bear in mind: Ordering a Waymo specifically could get tricky at places with high crowds. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For example, Fourth of July this year saw \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/post/waymo-fleet-clogs-presidio-july-4-fireworks-leaving-vehicles-stranded-towed/19455862/\">many Waymos gridlocked and jammed in traffic\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/outside-lands-muni-ridership-transit-waymo-22382965.php\">\u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, things went smoother after the city placed pickup/drop-off restrictions at the recent Outside Lands festival.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What should I know about accessibility at Hardly Strictly?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2026/\">the website\u003c/a>, Golden Gate Park “covers a lot of space and encompasses many types of terrain, including grassy fields, sandy pathways, paved walkways, potholes” and more.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Guests who seek accessible services can get a wristband at a tent near JFK and 36th Avenue, adjacent to Gate 3. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"724\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/2025accessibilitymap2025.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12058463\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/2025accessibilitymap2025.png 969w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/2025accessibilitymap2025-160x120.png 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An accessibility map of the 2025 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in Golden Gate Park. (Courtesy of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The map below highlights the usual accessible services at Hardly Strictly, like entrances, viewing spots and accessible portable bathrooms.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Accessible parking is available along JFK, west of Chain of Lakes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There will be shuttle stops at JFK & Bernice Rodgers Way, JFK & Chain of Lakes, JFK near Gate 3 entry and GGP Senior Center, 6101 Fulton St.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What should I know about staying safe in a large crowd?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As with any busy day at a festival, you should stay aware of your health and bodily needs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>KQED has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093415/the-no-judgement-guide-to-not-passing-out-at-a-concert-and-other-concert-health-tips\">a thorough guide on staying healthy and upright at a concert\u003c/a> that tackles fainting, dehydration, standing in the heat and the all-encompassing festival-goer’s mission of avoiding the dreaded port-a-potties.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Crowds can be especially overwhelming for some people. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>With \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/11/1054765905/what-went-wrong-at-astroworld-the-deadly-dynamics-of-crowd-surge\">past tragic incidents at other festivals\u003c/a>, it does not hurt to be cautious and prepared. Read \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053828800/south-korea-seoul-halloween-crowd-safety-tips\">NPR’s full guide on what to do if you find yourself caught in a crowd crush\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093685\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589-2000x1500.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/IMG_1589-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fans faint at concerts for a variety of reasons. Event medical professionals explain how to stay safe. (Anna Vignet/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to Mehdi Moussaïd, a research scientist in Berlin who studies crowd behavior, rely on your instincts and senses if you feel like the crowd is getting too dense. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you get stuck in a crush, move with the crowd, put your arms out in front of your chest and hold them there.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“In this position, you would have some space, just a little bit, to push for half a centimeter or just 1 centimeter — enough for you to keep breathing,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053828800/south-korea-seoul-halloween-crowd-safety-tips\">Moussaïd told NPR in 2022\u003c/a>. “It’s not going to be comfortable. You’re going to be feeling really bad, but at least you’ll survive.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story includes reporting by KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/nvoynovskaya\">\u003cem>Nastia Voynovskaya\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/gmeline\">\u003cem>Gabe Meline\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ralexandra\">\u003cem>Rae Alexandra\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "states-settle-lawsuit-over-paramount-warner-merger-clearing-key-hurdle-for-81-billion-deal",
"title": "States Settle Lawsuit Over Paramount-Warner Merger, Clearing Key Hurdle for $81 Billion Deal",
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"headTitle": "States Settle Lawsuit Over Paramount-Warner Merger, Clearing Key Hurdle for $81 Billion Deal | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>Twelve states and Hollywood writers \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091887/us-judge-says-paramount-and-warner-bros-must-temporarily-pause-merger\">challenging Paramount’s buyout\u003c/a> of Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to settle their lawsuits on Monday, effectively paving the way for the $81 billion mega merger to cross the finish line, with some new commitments from the company. The blockbuster deal \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/warner-discovery-paramount-skydance-cbs-cnn-26252771aa58c8b6b2243809bad13e77\">will still bring together\u003c/a> two of Hollywood’s oldest studios, key TV networks like CBS and CNN and streaming platforms HBO Max and Paramount+, as well as decades-old libraries with titles ranging from “Harry Potter” to “Top Gun.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But among terms of Monday’s agreement announced by California Attorney General Rob Bonta — who led the states’ case — Paramount pledged to increase film production in the U.S., commit millions of dollars to a fund aimed at supporting workers who are displaced by the merger and establish monitoring of editorial independence of the company’s news operations.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The settlement still needs a final sign-off by a judge. Bonta said Monday’s agreement was about “protecting people’s careers, the lives they’ve built here in California, the livelihoods their families rely on” — but he maintained it was not a vote in support of the merger.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260717-FILMMAKER-RALLY-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12091614\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260717-FILMMAKER-RALLY-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260717-FILMMAKER-RALLY-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260717-FILMMAKER-RALLY-MD-01-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Filmmaker and comedian W. Kamau Bell speaks at a rally calling for immediate action to stop the proposed $110 billion Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery merger, in front of the federal courthouse in Oakland on July 17, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I don’t think these two companies should merge,” Bonta said in a Monday press conference. “But that’s not something that we are focused on with our resolution here.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Paramount CEO David Ellison welcomed the settlement, which he said marked “complete clearance for this merger.” He added that “bringing Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery together will build that stronger Hollywood, creating expanded opportunity for our people and even more great entertainment for audiences around the world.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The coalition of states — including entertainment heavyweights like California and New York — sued to block the merger in July, alleging a Paramount-Warner combo would “extinguish competition” and lead to fewer choices for consumers, particularly movie theatergoers and cable customers across the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Writers Guild of America also filed suit, and both challenges were headed toward a full antitrust trial set to kick off in March. The WGA separately confirmed Monday that it settled its case, too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We continue to believe the merger will cause damage to writers and the industry at large,” the guild said in a statement. “Now that the Attorneys General have settled with Paramount, however, as a nonprofit, the WGA must contend with the reality of forging ahead alone, with no backing from government enforcers, with a complex antitrust lawsuit that would cost millions of dollars to pursue through trial.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The union added that Paramount had agreed to prohibit writer layoffs at CBS News for five years and to pay $17.5 million to WGA’s health fund, along with attorneys’ fees from the litigation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Paramount previously agreed to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/warner-bros-paramount-skydance-0f4ed7b4627b2d0ac8c1f1626689bf5d\">delay its transaction well into next year\u003c/a> so the challenges could make their way through court. It then \u003ca href=\"https://ir.paramount.com/news-releases/news-release-details/paramount-skydance-satisfies-all-regulatory-conditions-under\">quickly called\u003c/a> for a settlement — arguing that it had satisfied all regulatory clearances worldwide (including from \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/paramount-warner-regulation-antitrust-994c277d12297b8a7507fcb78004f679\">the Trump administration’s Justice Department\u003c/a> ), saying that the states’ lawsuit, in particular, was its “final obstacle.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As reports of the states reaching a settlement with Paramount emerged Monday, critics decried the deal — while warning of what further consolidation could mean in an industry \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/warner-discovery-paramount-skydance-cbs-cnn-26252771aa58c8b6b2243809bad13e77\">already controlled\u003c/a> by just a few major players.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Today, billionaires have yet again bribed, censored, and bullied their way to the top,” Alvaro Bedoya, senior adviser at the American Economic Liberties Project and a former commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, said in a statement. “Layoffs will follow. People from L.A. to Atlanta will lose their jobs, small businesses will lose their contracts, your cable bill and movie ticket will be even more expensive.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>AP Writers Sophie Austin in Sacramento contributed. Sisak reported from New York.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260717-FILMMAKER-RALLY-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12091614\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260717-FILMMAKER-RALLY-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260717-FILMMAKER-RALLY-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260717-FILMMAKER-RALLY-MD-01-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Filmmaker and comedian W. Kamau Bell speaks at a rally calling for immediate action to stop the proposed $110 billion Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery merger, in front of the federal courthouse in Oakland on July 17, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I don’t think these two companies should merge,” Bonta said in a Monday press conference. “But that’s not something that we are focused on with our resolution here.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Paramount CEO David Ellison welcomed the settlement, which he said marked “complete clearance for this merger.” He added that “bringing Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery together will build that stronger Hollywood, creating expanded opportunity for our people and even more great entertainment for audiences around the world.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Writers Guild of America also filed suit, and both challenges were headed toward a full antitrust trial set to kick off in March. The WGA separately confirmed Monday that it settled its case, too.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We continue to believe the merger will cause damage to writers and the industry at large,” the guild said in a statement. “Now that the Attorneys General have settled with Paramount, however, as a nonprofit, the WGA must contend with the reality of forging ahead alone, with no backing from government enforcers, with a complex antitrust lawsuit that would cost millions of dollars to pursue through trial.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The union added that Paramount had agreed to prohibit writer layoffs at CBS News for five years and to pay $17.5 million to WGA’s health fund, along with attorneys’ fees from the litigation.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Paramount previously agreed to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/warner-bros-paramount-skydance-0f4ed7b4627b2d0ac8c1f1626689bf5d\">delay its transaction well into next year\u003c/a> so the challenges could make their way through court. It then \u003ca href=\"https://ir.paramount.com/news-releases/news-release-details/paramount-skydance-satisfies-all-regulatory-conditions-under\">quickly called\u003c/a> for a settlement — arguing that it had satisfied all regulatory clearances worldwide (including from \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/paramount-warner-regulation-antitrust-994c277d12297b8a7507fcb78004f679\">the Trump administration’s Justice Department\u003c/a> ), saying that the states’ lawsuit, in particular, was its “final obstacle.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Paramount previously agreed to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/warner-bros-paramount-skydance-0f4ed7b4627b2d0ac8c1f1626689bf5d\">delay its transaction well into next year\u003c/a> so the challenges could make their way through court. It then \u003ca href=\"https://ir.paramount.com/news-releases/news-release-details/paramount-skydance-satisfies-all-regulatory-conditions-under\">quickly called\u003c/a> for a settlement — arguing that it had satisfied all regulatory clearances worldwide (including from \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/paramount-warner-regulation-antitrust-994c277d12297b8a7507fcb78004f679\">the Trump administration’s Justice Department\u003c/a> ), saying that the states’ lawsuit, in particular, was its “final obstacle.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As reports of the states reaching a settlement with Paramount emerged Monday, critics decried the deal — while warning of what further consolidation could mean in an industry \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/warner-discovery-paramount-skydance-cbs-cnn-26252771aa58c8b6b2243809bad13e77\">already controlled\u003c/a> by just a few major players.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As reports of the states reaching a settlement with Paramount emerged Monday, critics decried the deal — while warning of what further consolidation could mean in an industry \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/warner-discovery-paramount-skydance-cbs-cnn-26252771aa58c8b6b2243809bad13e77\">already controlled\u003c/a> by just a few major players.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Today, billionaires have yet again bribed, censored, and bullied their way to the top,” Alvaro Bedoya, senior adviser at the American Economic Liberties Project and a former commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, said in a statement. “Layoffs will follow. People from L.A. to Atlanta will lose their jobs, small businesses will lose their contracts, your cable bill and movie ticket will be even more expensive.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Today, billionaires have yet again bribed, censored, and bullied their way to the top,” Alvaro Bedoya, senior adviser at the American Economic Liberties Project and a former commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, said in a statement. “Layoffs will follow. People from L.A. to Atlanta will lose their jobs, small businesses will lose their contracts, your cable bill and movie ticket will be even more expensive.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>AP Writers Sophie Austin in Sacramento contributed. Sisak reported from New York.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Twelve states and Hollywood writers challenging Paramount’s buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery have agreed to settle their lawsuits against the mega merger.",
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"title": "States Settle Lawsuit Over Paramount-Warner Merger, Clearing Key Hurdle for $81 Billion Deal | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Twelve states and Hollywood writers \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091887/us-judge-says-paramount-and-warner-bros-must-temporarily-pause-merger\">challenging Paramount’s buyout\u003c/a> of Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to settle their lawsuits on Monday, effectively paving the way for the $81 billion mega merger to cross the finish line, with some new commitments from the company. The blockbuster deal \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/warner-discovery-paramount-skydance-cbs-cnn-26252771aa58c8b6b2243809bad13e77\">will still bring together\u003c/a> two of Hollywood’s oldest studios, key TV networks like CBS and CNN and streaming platforms HBO Max and Paramount+, as well as decades-old libraries with titles ranging from “Harry Potter” to “Top Gun.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But among terms of Monday’s agreement announced by California Attorney General Rob Bonta — who led the states’ case — Paramount pledged to increase film production in the U.S., commit millions of dollars to a fund aimed at supporting workers who are displaced by the merger and establish monitoring of editorial independence of the company’s news operations.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The settlement still needs a final sign-off by a judge. Bonta said Monday’s agreement was about “protecting people’s careers, the lives they’ve built here in California, the livelihoods their families rely on” — but he maintained it was not a vote in support of the merger.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260717-FILMMAKER-RALLY-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12091614\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260717-FILMMAKER-RALLY-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260717-FILMMAKER-RALLY-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260717-FILMMAKER-RALLY-MD-01-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Filmmaker and comedian W. Kamau Bell speaks at a rally calling for immediate action to stop the proposed $110 billion Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery merger, in front of the federal courthouse in Oakland on July 17, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I don’t think these two companies should merge,” Bonta said in a Monday press conference. “But that’s not something that we are focused on with our resolution here.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Paramount CEO David Ellison welcomed the settlement, which he said marked “complete clearance for this merger.” He added that “bringing Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery together will build that stronger Hollywood, creating expanded opportunity for our people and even more great entertainment for audiences around the world.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The coalition of states — including entertainment heavyweights like California and New York — sued to block the merger in July, alleging a Paramount-Warner combo would “extinguish competition” and lead to fewer choices for consumers, particularly movie theatergoers and cable customers across the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Writers Guild of America also filed suit, and both challenges were headed toward a full antitrust trial set to kick off in March. The WGA separately confirmed Monday that it settled its case, too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We continue to believe the merger will cause damage to writers and the industry at large,” the guild said in a statement. “Now that the Attorneys General have settled with Paramount, however, as a nonprofit, the WGA must contend with the reality of forging ahead alone, with no backing from government enforcers, with a complex antitrust lawsuit that would cost millions of dollars to pursue through trial.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The union added that Paramount had agreed to prohibit writer layoffs at CBS News for five years and to pay $17.5 million to WGA’s health fund, along with attorneys’ fees from the litigation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Paramount previously agreed to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/warner-bros-paramount-skydance-0f4ed7b4627b2d0ac8c1f1626689bf5d\">delay its transaction well into next year\u003c/a> so the challenges could make their way through court. It then \u003ca href=\"https://ir.paramount.com/news-releases/news-release-details/paramount-skydance-satisfies-all-regulatory-conditions-under\">quickly called\u003c/a> for a settlement — arguing that it had satisfied all regulatory clearances worldwide (including from \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/paramount-warner-regulation-antitrust-994c277d12297b8a7507fcb78004f679\">the Trump administration’s Justice Department\u003c/a> ), saying that the states’ lawsuit, in particular, was its “final obstacle.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As reports of the states reaching a settlement with Paramount emerged Monday, critics decried the deal — while warning of what further consolidation could mean in an industry \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/warner-discovery-paramount-skydance-cbs-cnn-26252771aa58c8b6b2243809bad13e77\">already controlled\u003c/a> by just a few major players.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Today, billionaires have yet again bribed, censored, and bullied their way to the top,” Alvaro Bedoya, senior adviser at the American Economic Liberties Project and a former commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, said in a statement. “Layoffs will follow. People from L.A. to Atlanta will lose their jobs, small businesses will lose their contracts, your cable bill and movie ticket will be even more expensive.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>AP Writers Sophie Austin in Sacramento contributed. Sisak reported from New York.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "will-we-still-learn-languages-when-machines-can-translate-with-abby-walker",
"title": "Will We Still Learn Languages When Machines Can Translate? (with Abby Walker)",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#Transcript\">View Full Episode Transcript\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Live AI translation tools are making it easier to converse across languages without a human translator, a phrasebook, or years of study. So will we all just stop taking Spanish or Mandarin classes? Sociolinguist \u003ca href=\"https://liberalarts.vt.edu/departments-and-schools/department-of-english/faculty/abby-walker.html\">Abby Walker\u003c/a> doesn’t think so. She shares the many reasons we learn new languages, some of which have little to do with functional communication at all. We also hear how one AI-assisted conversation brought two future in-laws together, why machine translation is still so darn buggy, and why some languages are attracting a resurgence of new learners even in the age of translation apps.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Life, Automated is a production of the Ryan Institute on Complexity, at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. The host is Jess Love, senior director. Distributed by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/lifeautomated\">KQED\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> This is Life, Automated, the show where we explore what it means to live, work, and make decisions in a world increasingly shaped by machines. I think it’s fair to say that over the past five years, we’ve been bombarded by all the new things AI can suddenly do. It’s solving these long unsolved math theorems, generating songs that rack up millions of listens, and even colluding with other AIs to break into servers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There’s so much crazy stuff happening, that a lot of other advances that would’ve seemed mind-blowing to us 10, 15 years ago feel almost pedestrian in comparison. I’d put real-time language translation down as one of these advances. Chat bots and translation apps now draw from a range of different kinds of AI to offer live translation for tons of different languages.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can hear something in a language you don’t know, like Korean. You can use your phone to translate that speech into a language you do know, like English. “Which way is the restroom?” Offer your response in English. “Oh, yeah, it’s down this hallway here, second door on the right side.” And then it will speak your response aloud in Korean.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can do this today. People already are doing this. What’s more, a lot of tech companies are developing wearables, think smart glasses, smart earbuds, to make live translation more frictionless. No more fumbling for your phone. This is literally straight out of science fiction. Star Trek’s universal translator, Dr.Who’s TARDIS translation matrix, and from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the Babel Fish. For me, this raises some big questions. What do these live translation tools really let us do that we couldn’t do before? Will they ever fully replace human translators? And should my eight-year-old still be taking Spanish classes in school?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Today’s guest is Abby Walker, a sociolinguist at Virginia Tech, where she’s co-director of the Speech Lab. She’s also a longtime friend from my grad school days. I’m Jess Love, and this is Life, Automated from Kellogg’s Ryan Institute on Complexity, distributed by KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Welcome Abby Walker to Life Automated.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Thank you for having me, Jess. I’m so excited to be here.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> So there’s a clip I want to play for you. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>I wanted Abby and I to listen to some tape we recorded from a person who recently used one of these live translation tools. This person’s name is Larry Berliner. Larry’s son was in love, and this was Larry’s first time meeting the girlfriend’s parents.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Here’s the catch. Larry, father of the boyfriend, spoke English but not Chinese. And Kevin, father of the girlfriend, spoke Chinese but not English. So they used a ChatGPT app on one of their cell phones to translate between them. In this first clip, Larry’s just remarking about what this tool did for the two of them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Larry Berliner]:\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem> If not for this, I wouldn’t have got to know Kevin at all. I was able to connect with Kevin, meet Kevin, talk to Kevin seriously about myself, about my business, about my thoughts of his own daughter, what his daughter has transformed in my son. So much, right? There was so much I was able to say to him.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> And here’s another part of that conversation, this time with Larry talking about how having the tool helped everyone else in the room, too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Larry Berliner]:\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem> We have all been there, where there’s the individual who’s the translator amongst three people or among five people, sometimes eight. And two things happen. One is that translator has to work so hard. You can see how much energy they’re having to invest in translating for everybody and make the room successful. The other thing you see is how slow everything goes. The point is, that’s not what happened in our room because Larry and Kevin were involved in this AI-enhanced live translation mode, and the other four were freed. So they were able to have a free, wonderful, free-ranging conversation, and they were able to have that ability to connect in their way.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, I love that example and how it’s not just about the personal interaction, but actually about the group dynamics, too. It shows you the work that’s involved in having a human translator, that someone has to mediate that process for you, and that’s actually work on them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I hadn’t really thought about that aspect of it, which is kinda cool. If you have a human interpreter, there might be things that you want to talk about that you don’t want them to hear about. And I think this is a common situation a little bit with, we know sometimes when immigrants come to a country where they don’t speak the kind of dominant language, that often their kids become interpreters, as they’re dealing with banks and as they’re dealing with medical providers. But, like if you think about, do you want your daughters to know all of your personal information that you might talk about with a doctor? No, right? And so just getting to choose who hears what information, yeah, that’s going to be really empowering.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Yeah, I mean, it seems like in this example, depending on who is going to have to play that role of translator, is he going to feel comfortable, showering all this attention on perhaps his future daughter-in-law, for instance? If she’s the one translating.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yes. Yeah. That would be really embarrassing. Though it may be a cool, slick move as well. She has to be like, “Oh, Daddy’s saying I’m so pretty,” and yeah, something like that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> So already these tools are letting people connect with other people in new ways, really connect. But I didn’t invite Abby on this show just to marvel over what’s now possible with machine translation. Like I said, I have a lot of questions. Like, “Is that it? Are we humans all just done learning second, third, fourth languages because the machines can translate for us now? Or are there some parts of a conversation that a machine probably isn’t going to be able to translate for us, at least not anytime soon?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>So a lot of people think of translation as just this simple process of taking words from one language and then mapping them one-to-one onto another language. But from a sociolinguist perspective, what else is language doing other than delivering that kind of information?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> It’s doing so much, Jess. I love all the other things that language does. So one of the big things that I study and my field looks at is all the other information in the speech signal. So not just the content of the message but how you’re delivering it and all the other information that comes from that. So for example, anyone listening right now, you can probably hear that I was not born and raised in America.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I’ve got a New Zealand English accent. But people in New Zealand can probably also hear that I’ve lived in America for a while, that’s probably in my speech as well. You might be able to hear that you and I are friends and friendly. We’re both trying to be friendly. We’re both trying to sound smart right now, right?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Maybe you can tell that this is a little bit more awkward formality for us than usual conversation with wine. So just your identity, and sometimes that stuff you’re trying to mark, like sometimes you’re like, “I want to sound really professional in this moment. I want to sound really from this place. I want to really lean into my higher roots or my New Zealand roots or something.” But then other times, there’s information there that you just can’t even control, right? Like, I’m not always necessarily trying to be like, “I’m a woman,” but most people will hear my voice and be like, “You’re a woman.” Or I’m not always trying to say I’m from New Zealand, but my vowels are always saying I’m from New Zealand.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Right. So whether you want to or not, you are communicating a whole lot about who you are as a person and maybe how you’re feeling in that moment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Abby says that any tool focused primarily on the words we are saying will always miss a lot of the social information that language communicates, information that a human interpreter who can pick up on body language or emotion could probably make better sense of.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> And even at the word level there’s a lot of ways for a translation to be incomplete. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker: \u003c/strong>I mean, some things like if I say boot or trunk of a car, that’s a difference between British and American English. But I’m thinking even things more like if I say groovy or neato or amazeballs or, we have lots of ways to express that something’s cool, and how another language does that, they might miss that I’m being playful, or they might miss that I’m outdated in my slang. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>How do you translate that someone is saying amazeballs unironically because they’re really that excited? How do you translate that someone is saying groovy ironically because they’re making fun of themselves for being five decades late to the party? And that’s not all. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker: \u003c/strong>The other thing that language has built into it, both in vocal tone and stuff, but then also in word choice and sometimes actually in your grammar, is your relationship to other people. It’s not just me expressing my identity. I can also be trying to say something about the relationship that you and I have or the relationship I’d like us to have. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So anything that is doing this translation, whether it’s a human or whether it’s a machine, they’re having to make some choices, and the nature of those choices are not going to be obvious to somebody who’s participating and only able to understand one side of that conversation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, and most of the time, again, this… The technology’s kind of amazing. Being able to talk with anyone who you couldn’t talk to before, if the alternative is not being able to talk to them at all, that’s pretty amazing. But there are going to be times where if you don’t know the situation, it might be doing some really impolite things, and you might not know, right? Like the translation system might have decided to use an informal tone here, and you don’t realize it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>And to some extent, that’s going to be true of a human translator but to a much lesser extent if they are very culturally fluent with both languages.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, no, I actually… Now I’m remembering I had a student who was Korean-American, and her parents had come over from Korea beforehand, so they were native Korean speakers, and I was learning Korean at the time. And it was graduation, and I was saying something to her dad, like I don’t know. I can’t remember what I was saying, but I was trying to say something polite. And she’s like, “Um,” kind of to her dad like, “Uh, she’s just learning.” And I was like… I assumed that I’d used some impolite grammatical forms or something, right? I’d done some… She knew that I was kind of doing something inappropriate that I didn’t know that I was doing and was just smoothing over the situation because yeah, I think one of the things that humans do is that we’re very socially savvy. We’re always looking at, contextually, what’s contextually appropriate language. And if you’re a bilingual person, which a human translator has to be, right, to some degree to be able to do this translation work, presumably they’re going to know the social navigation pathways of both languages. And so they’re going to be able to pull on that information.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Is there a danger that if we do move toward this world of relatively frictionless live translation, we could become overconfident that we’ve understood everything?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, that’s… I think that’s almost part of it. It’s almost like the same problem that people are having right now with, you know, you hand in an essay that AI produced, and it looks so good that you don’t know that the citations are made-up. It’s that sort of confidence that it got the answer right that you would have that same kind of problem with translation, too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Given the sheer complexity of language and all the things it’s trying to do, maybe it shouldn’t be a big surprise that as incredible as these tools are, they still make mistakes. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/live-voice-translation-is-the-ai-americans-want-most-ahead-of-email-drafting-and-meeting-notes-new-deepl-research-finds-302858925.html\">recent survey\u003c/a> found that about half of people who’ve used some kind of translation app, chat bot, or wearable find it clunky.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>My own personal experience is pretty hit or miss. When I visited Quebec City this summer, Airbnb automatically translated my text messages to my host into French, and then translated his responses back into English. It was so seamless that I barely noticed. But then, when I tried out a pair of smart glasses to have a spoken conversation with a Bulgarian scholar here at the Ryan Institute about his summer vacation, a topic slightly more nuanced than what is the entry code to the apartment, it was a little rough.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At first, I had to repeat my question three times until the glasses finally heard me well enough to translate. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Jess Love talking to Bulgarian Scholar]: \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>“All right, let’s try again. Okay. Okay. I was holding it too long. I heard a rumor that you are going to the Dolomites this summer to do some hiking.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Bulgarian Scholar Translation Audio]:\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>That’s exactly how we’re going with a large group of friends. It’s about 20 people, and I’m pretty excited since it’s raining here, but there are almost no mountains, and I very rarely get to see mountains.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hungarian Scholar: \u003c/strong>It’s somewhat accurate.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> The glasses kept messing up. We managed to stumble through a basic conversation but only because my colleague knew English and could correct the mistakes. It was not frictionless. So at least with the tools we have today, it’s pretty clear to me that some tasks will still require human translators, even if a lot of others don’t, and Abby agreed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I think it’s the case that we’re always going to need human translators, because there are high-stakes situations, right? Like international negotiations, big business deals. But I also imagine a young person looking at a career path and still seeing, probably rightly so, that there’s going to be less path forward for them there. And I think about the medical world a bit. I think that’s often where there was a feeling that there would be a lot of interpreters was in the medical field.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And you do already see them starting to use these tools and these translation tools automatically. You would hope they would always have someone on staff still, like to do translations when things get really nuanced and stuff. But I do think if I was a young person looking, even though there still will be those jobs, I would wonder about them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> I would wonder too. Some of the practical reasons for learning a language are going away. After all, not everyone is going to be involved in negotiating corporate mergers or making high-stakes medical decisions. For a lot of situations, good enough really is good enough. And AI’s getting better. Companies are already trying to deal with these issues by like collecting visual data or following people over time so the machines have access to previous conversations.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There’s no guarantee that these tools will still be making the same kinds of mistakes in five years, or even two. And so, yeah, some people who would’ve learned another language probably will decide, “Eh, why bother?” But Abby doesn’t see a future where people just decide to stop learning other languages, no matter how good the machines get, because there are a bunch of reasons for learning a language that have nothing to do with the mere exchange of information.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After the break, she makes her case. We’ll also hear why some very unexpected languages are actually experiencing a resurgence of new learners, apps be damned. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I’m going to Germany later this year. The big reason, one of the big reasons I wanted to go to Germany, apart from working with some great researchers, is that I wanted to get my German better. I have no need to get German better. This is not an important thing in my life. I will not speak it. I will never need it, but I want to be good at it, right? I want to be better at it. I like it. I enjoy it. It’s a puzzle. It’s a game.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Abby’s not alone. A lot of people are learning languages they don’t have to learn for purely communicative reasons, like because they need a job or need to get around a city.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Like people right now are learning Welsh, and people are learning Te Reo Māori, and these people can all speak English in Wales and in New Zealand, but they’re choosing to learn this language that they do not need for communication, so why are they choosing to learn this language? Because they have an identity connection to this language, right? And so its important to them, separate from how many other people they can talk to in this language, right? Like its kind of a way to connect to an identity, because I think people really do associate languages with identity.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Yeah, that’s so interesting. Is there a resurgence in people trying to learn these minority languages, even right now in 2026?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yes. There’s definitely a resurgence in people trying to learn these languages. But that’s been happening since the ’80s, ’90s, 2000s. But since I’ve been in the States for almost 20 years now, and when I go back to New Zealand, it is shocking to me the amount of Te Reo that is around now.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> And what is Te Reo [Māori]?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> It’s the language. Sorry. It’s Māori. Māori. Sorry. It’s the Māori language. It’s just called the language, so it’s Te Reo.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Yeah, can you just give a little… ‘Cause most of our audience is not from New Zealand, so just give a little… What is this language, and why do you think that people are learning to speak it more in New Zealand?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, so this was the first language, human language spoken in New Zealand by the Māori. And then waves of English settlers came, and the language was forbidden, like happens in many of these situations. There was both an incentive to learn English for economic reasons, but then there were also actual moves to ban the language in school. And so kids would get smacked and things if they were speaking it in playgrounds and stuff. And so there was a generation or two that kind of were native speakers of Māori that literally intentionally chose not to pass it on to their children because it had only caused grief for them, right?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And then there was this next generation that was “Wait, we’ve lost this kind of connection to our identity.” And so there’s been this really big resurgence. And this is happening before the technology that we’re talking about, but it’s happening because this has identity meaning to people. This is culturally significant to them. Quite correctly, they see it as something that was taken away from them by kind of outsiders, and then they are trying to correct that and connect to these roots. Which what’s really interesting in New Zealand is a ton of white people or Pākehā, like me, a ton of white people have been learning Māori as well, right? So it’s also becoming a symbol of your political and New Zealand identity as well. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So because this language has more cultural significance than it does, a purely functional significance, do you see it as pretty protected or insulated from some of the challenges of machine translation?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah. When I’m thinking about it, now that we’re talking about it, I do think that it would be unlikely that you would use a translation app. If you were talking to someone who was a native or near-native fluent speaker of Te Reo and you wanted to communicate with them, you would do it in English or you would learn Te Reo. Why would you use an app to talk to them in this language, stiltingly with pauses and slowly when you both can talk in English, right? They are not going to appreciate that. They’re not really going to be interested in that, and what would probably be more impressive was you stumbling through some beginner Te Reo, which at least showed that you were putting in some effort yourself, right?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Do you remember that Mamdani clip? Should I try to find it and play it?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Okay. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>Abby wanted us to listen to this recent video released by Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker: \u003c/strong>So there’s this clip you can find, it went kind of a little viral, a little while ago, and it’s Mamdani doing… the mayor of New York doing a piece to camera, and it’s kind of some political speech. I don’t know what he’s actually promoting.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Zohran Mamdani speaking in Spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And so he is talking in Spanish and so he is trying to, you know, reach his Spanish Constituence. He does not speak Spanish, right? And so, there is this video of him and he is kind of like stumbling through Spanish and he takes it again and he’s getting corrected by AOC on his pronunciation. He keeps kind of forgetting things. And they’ve released this, right? And they think it’s not crazy that that happened but it’s very interesting to me that they released it because they are trying to emphasize that it wasn’t easy for him to speak Spanish and that he needed help speaking Spanish and he is not good at Spanish, but they knew that it would be charming and it is, right? Because it shows someone is trying to speak Spanish, right? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Zohran Mamdani speaking in Spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They could have just released speeches with him in like fluent Spanish, or they could have had someone else who is a fluent Spanish speaker speaking on his behalf. In a little while, they could probably do videos where it looks like he is speaking Spanish, right? We’re kind of at that point of the technology now with video and audio that we could have something that sounds like him speaking in Spanish, looks like him speaking in Spanish. But they don’t do that, right? What they do is show someone who isn’t very good and who is trying, right? Part of what is really important to people is that you try to speak their language, right? And an app takes out that friction. It makes communication easier, but part of what language is signaling, too, when you use a language that is not a language that comes easy to you, is you’re signaling that you are trying, right? You are signaling that you are putting in some effort, that you don’t expect them to just understand you, and that you’re putting in some effort to be understood.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> All right. Well, we’ve been dancing around this idea of the importance of friction, and I want to just ask you to spell it out. Why is friction important? What could friction signal? We’ve talked about belonging, we’ve talked about effort. What else?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I mean, if I’m really just using an app to talk to you, right, I… And I’m not paying attention, I’m not really trying to do anything, I’m just trying to communicate with you, so I use an app, and it spits out whatever to talk to you, and I nod. You got the message, I got the message, I move on. Like, I haven’t really changed because of that interaction, right? So when you learn a language, to talk to someone, the effort of doing it, you are actually also changing yourself. So you are adding vocab, adding things that you can use in a new situation, adding things that you can use when you don’t have your phone around you, et cetera. So there’s just, literally you are changing a little bit, maybe in small ways. There is some evidence for regular bilinguals, like people who are regularly using multiple languages in their day-to-day, that they have better executive function than monolingual speakers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And by executive function, we’re talking about your ability to ignore irrelevant information and suppress responses that you might automatically make. And if you think about it, this makes a lot of sense why this would be tied to bilingualism, because you have a day where you are telling whatever language you’re not using, you’re saying, “Shut up. This isn’t about you.” So you’re ignoring anything else that’s irrelevant while you’re having these conversations. And from my understanding, those advantages get bigger as you age. So it’s essentially like you’re keeping your brain more active in this particular way. So obviously, all of those benefits, and just the fact that each time I stumble through something in German or Korean or today Māori, I am getting a little bit better, right? I’m learning a little bit more. That is this really big obvious thing that is being lost, is just that you are not having this growth. And it’s almost sad in some ways, because you had an opportunity, right? So let’s say you go to another country, you stay there for two months. You have this opportunity to do something, and you just spend all the time using these translation apps. You miss this opportunity to have this personal growth.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> It’s true. I went to Italy, and by the end of the trip, I was fully capable of asking where the bathroom was all by myself.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> In Italian?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> In Italian.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Wow.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Don’t ask me to do it now.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I was gonna say.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Oh, boy. Try. Al bagno? Bagno? Bagno? I don’t want to talk about it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>Live translation tools are decent, and they’re going to get better. You can even imagine a version that works out most of the bugs. AI that does start picking up on body language and slang. Science fiction becoming reality. The universal translator, the Babel fish. But do we always want that? Throughout our conversation, as we talked about the importance of friction, it struck me that maybe today’s live translation tools, imperfect as they are, have their own charms, not despite the friction, but because of it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I decided to play Abby another excerpt from our conversation with proud dad, Larry Berliner. While he and fellow dad Kevin were conversing on their ChatGPT app, they were speaking into the phone, which would generate a written translation, which the other one would read. Hardly seamless. But here, Larry talks about the conversation being so profound because of those seams.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Larry Berliner]:\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem> This allowed us to speak in long paragraphs, like I’m doing right now, right? Shakespearean style, not a back and forth, but long paragraphs of ideas, and then it would translate, and we’d watch each other read it, which was exciting, and then the person would respond. And what ended up being magical was, first of all, we did it for a very long time.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>What he chose to talk about was things that I don’t think he would ever have spoke about first if I was speaking his native language. Or wow, the extent of which is amazing. He talked about how he had met Sonya and the previous people he had been with at the time. He talked about his failures as a father. And just– it was immediately right to the bone.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> I’m just struck by how he feels that conversation was facilitated by the fact that there was this level of friction, of literally having to read. Maybe the fact that you’re putting something into print and then somebody is going to read it makes you less likely to just waste that time to say, “Well, what do you think of the weather?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, I mean, that’s a really interesting idea, and it kinda makes sense. What it makes me think, though, is that there was this feeling that this was temporary, right? That this was not going to be the regular state of affairs. It’s almost like deathbed conversation. It feels like a little bit like what it sounded like to me. Just “I need you to, here are some really big things on my mind and my heart that I just really want you to know now that we’ve got this opportunity.” It is interesting, though, to think about, what if you never get there with someone who speaks your own language because you’ve always got the dance of we can speak so easily to each other.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Yeah, and it was the artificiality of their own communication that led to something much deeper. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I love that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> So am I going to encourage my eight-year-old to learn Spanish? Yes, absolutely. There’s so much we can’t know about AI and where it’s headed, but even if some reasons for learning another language go away, others won’t, or could even grow in importance. And in honor of our topic this week, we’ve machine translated our credits into ‘Klingon and back’, because why not?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Here we go. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Klingon words] \u003c/em>I am Jess of the clan Love. \u003cem>[Klingon words] \u003c/em>At the Northwestern University Citadel of Knowledge, inside the Kellogg School of Management, Life, Automated is an honorable battle quest of the Ryan Institute on Complexity. KQED hurls our battle transmissions across the void to conquer the airwaves.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jesse Dukes sliced the captured sounds into submission. Stephen Jackson forged the battle hymns and struck the war drums. The machinery masters, Will Feeney and George Christensen, trapped the vocal cries of the interrogation inside the sound cage. Ananya Mallapragada commanded the proclamations of our glory and subjugated the civilian chatter web.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Producer: Jesse Dukes\u003cbr>Music: Steven Jackson\u003cbr>Recording: George Christensen, Will Feeney\u003cbr>Promotional help from Ananya Mallapragada\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Editorial guidance from Laura Pavin\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Special thanks to Larry Berliner and Georgi Demirev for their help testing out live translation tools\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Live AI translation tools are making it easier to converse across languages without a human translator, a phrasebook, or years of study. So will we all just stop taking Spanish or Mandarin classes? Sociolinguist \u003ca href=\"https://liberalarts.vt.edu/departments-and-schools/department-of-english/faculty/abby-walker.html\">Abby Walker\u003c/a> doesn’t think so. She shares the many reasons we learn new languages, some of which have little to do with functional communication at all. We also hear how one AI-assisted conversation brought two future in-laws together, why machine translation is still so darn buggy, and why some languages are attracting a resurgence of new learners even in the age of translation apps.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> This is Life, Automated, the show where we explore what it means to live, work, and make decisions in a world increasingly shaped by machines. I think it’s fair to say that over the past five years, we’ve been bombarded by all the new things AI can suddenly do. It’s solving these long unsolved math theorems, generating songs that rack up millions of listens, and even colluding with other AIs to break into servers.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> This is Life, Automated, the show where we explore what it means to live, work, and make decisions in a world increasingly shaped by machines. I think it’s fair to say that over the past five years, we’ve been bombarded by all the new things AI can suddenly do. It’s solving these long unsolved math theorems, generating songs that rack up millions of listens, and even colluding with other AIs to break into servers.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There’s so much crazy stuff happening, that a lot of other advances that would’ve seemed mind-blowing to us 10, 15 years ago feel almost pedestrian in comparison. I’d put real-time language translation down as one of these advances. Chat bots and translation apps now draw from a range of different kinds of AI to offer live translation for tons of different languages.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>You can hear something in a language you don’t know, like Korean. You can use your phone to translate that speech into a language you do know, like English. “Which way is the restroom?” Offer your response in English. “Oh, yeah, it’s down this hallway here, second door on the right side.” And then it will speak your response aloud in Korean.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>You can do this today. People already are doing this. What’s more, a lot of tech companies are developing wearables, think smart glasses, smart earbuds, to make live translation more frictionless. No more fumbling for your phone. This is literally straight out of science fiction. Star Trek’s universal translator, Dr.Who’s TARDIS translation matrix, and from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the Babel Fish. For me, this raises some big questions. What do these live translation tools really let us do that we couldn’t do before? Will they ever fully replace human translators? And should my eight-year-old still be taking Spanish classes in school?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>You can do this today. People already are doing this. What’s more, a lot of tech companies are developing wearables, think smart glasses, smart earbuds, to make live translation more frictionless. No more fumbling for your phone. This is literally straight out of science fiction. Star Trek’s universal translator, Dr.Who’s TARDIS translation matrix, and from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the Babel Fish. For me, this raises some big questions. What do these live translation tools really let us do that we couldn’t do before? Will they ever fully replace human translators? And should my eight-year-old still be taking Spanish classes in school?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Today’s guest is Abby Walker, a sociolinguist at Virginia Tech, where she’s co-director of the Speech Lab. She’s also a longtime friend from my grad school days. I’m Jess Love, and this is Life, Automated from Kellogg’s Ryan Institute on Complexity, distributed by KQED. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Today’s guest is Abby Walker, a sociolinguist at Virginia Tech, where she’s co-director of the Speech Lab. She’s also a longtime friend from my grad school days. I’m Jess Love, and this is Life, Automated from Kellogg’s Ryan Institute on Complexity, distributed by KQED. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Welcome Abby Walker to Life Automated.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Welcome Abby Walker to Life Automated.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Thank you for having me, Jess. I’m so excited to be here.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Thank you for having me, Jess. I’m so excited to be here.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> So there’s a clip I want to play for you. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> So there’s a clip I want to play for you. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>I wanted Abby and I to listen to some tape we recorded from a person who recently used one of these live translation tools. This person’s name is Larry Berliner. Larry’s son was in love, and this was Larry’s first time meeting the girlfriend’s parents.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>I wanted Abby and I to listen to some tape we recorded from a person who recently used one of these live translation tools. This person’s name is Larry Berliner. Larry’s son was in love, and this was Larry’s first time meeting the girlfriend’s parents.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Here’s the catch. Larry, father of the boyfriend, spoke English but not Chinese. And Kevin, father of the girlfriend, spoke Chinese but not English. So they used a ChatGPT app on one of their cell phones to translate between them. In this first clip, Larry’s just remarking about what this tool did for the two of them.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Here’s the catch. Larry, father of the boyfriend, spoke English but not Chinese. And Kevin, father of the girlfriend, spoke Chinese but not English. So they used a ChatGPT app on one of their cell phones to translate between them. In this first clip, Larry’s just remarking about what this tool did for the two of them.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Larry Berliner]:\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem> If not for this, I wouldn’t have got to know Kevin at all. I was able to connect with Kevin, meet Kevin, talk to Kevin seriously about myself, about my business, about my thoughts of his own daughter, what his daughter has transformed in my son. So much, right? There was so much I was able to say to him.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Larry Berliner]:\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem> If not for this, I wouldn’t have got to know Kevin at all. I was able to connect with Kevin, meet Kevin, talk to Kevin seriously about myself, about my business, about my thoughts of his own daughter, what his daughter has transformed in my son. So much, right? There was so much I was able to say to him.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> And here’s another part of that conversation, this time with Larry talking about how having the tool helped everyone else in the room, too.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> And here’s another part of that conversation, this time with Larry talking about how having the tool helped everyone else in the room, too.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Larry Berliner]:\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem> We have all been there, where there’s the individual who’s the translator amongst three people or among five people, sometimes eight. And two things happen. One is that translator has to work so hard. You can see how much energy they’re having to invest in translating for everybody and make the room successful. The other thing you see is how slow everything goes. The point is, that’s not what happened in our room because Larry and Kevin were involved in this AI-enhanced live translation mode, and the other four were freed. So they were able to have a free, wonderful, free-ranging conversation, and they were able to have that ability to connect in their way.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Larry Berliner]:\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem> We have all been there, where there’s the individual who’s the translator amongst three people or among five people, sometimes eight. And two things happen. One is that translator has to work so hard. You can see how much energy they’re having to invest in translating for everybody and make the room successful. The other thing you see is how slow everything goes. The point is, that’s not what happened in our room because Larry and Kevin were involved in this AI-enhanced live translation mode, and the other four were freed. So they were able to have a free, wonderful, free-ranging conversation, and they were able to have that ability to connect in their way.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, I love that example and how it’s not just about the personal interaction, but actually about the group dynamics, too. It shows you the work that’s involved in having a human translator, that someone has to mediate that process for you, and that’s actually work on them.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, I love that example and how it’s not just about the personal interaction, but actually about the group dynamics, too. It shows you the work that’s involved in having a human translator, that someone has to mediate that process for you, and that’s actually work on them.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I hadn’t really thought about that aspect of it, which is kinda cool. If you have a human interpreter, there might be things that you want to talk about that you don’t want them to hear about. And I think this is a common situation a little bit with, we know sometimes when immigrants come to a country where they don’t speak the kind of dominant language, that often their kids become interpreters, as they’re dealing with banks and as they’re dealing with medical providers. But, like if you think about, do you want your daughters to know all of your personal information that you might talk about with a doctor? No, right? And so just getting to choose who hears what information, yeah, that’s going to be really empowering.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>I hadn’t really thought about that aspect of it, which is kinda cool. If you have a human interpreter, there might be things that you want to talk about that you don’t want them to hear about. And I think this is a common situation a little bit with, we know sometimes when immigrants come to a country where they don’t speak the kind of dominant language, that often their kids become interpreters, as they’re dealing with banks and as they’re dealing with medical providers. But, like if you think about, do you want your daughters to know all of your personal information that you might talk about with a doctor? No, right? And so just getting to choose who hears what information, yeah, that’s going to be really empowering.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Yeah, I mean, it seems like in this example, depending on who is going to have to play that role of translator, is he going to feel comfortable, showering all this attention on perhaps his future daughter-in-law, for instance? If she’s the one translating.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Yeah, I mean, it seems like in this example, depending on who is going to have to play that role of translator, is he going to feel comfortable, showering all this attention on perhaps his future daughter-in-law, for instance? If she’s the one translating.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yes. Yeah. That would be really embarrassing. Though it may be a cool, slick move as well. She has to be like, “Oh, Daddy’s saying I’m so pretty,” and yeah, something like that.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yes. Yeah. That would be really embarrassing. Though it may be a cool, slick move as well. She has to be like, “Oh, Daddy’s saying I’m so pretty,” and yeah, something like that.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> So already these tools are letting people connect with other people in new ways, really connect. But I didn’t invite Abby on this show just to marvel over what’s now possible with machine translation. Like I said, I have a lot of questions. Like, “Is that it? Are we humans all just done learning second, third, fourth languages because the machines can translate for us now? Or are there some parts of a conversation that a machine probably isn’t going to be able to translate for us, at least not anytime soon?”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> So already these tools are letting people connect with other people in new ways, really connect. But I didn’t invite Abby on this show just to marvel over what’s now possible with machine translation. Like I said, I have a lot of questions. Like, “Is that it? Are we humans all just done learning second, third, fourth languages because the machines can translate for us now? Or are there some parts of a conversation that a machine probably isn’t going to be able to translate for us, at least not anytime soon?”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>So a lot of people think of translation as just this simple process of taking words from one language and then mapping them one-to-one onto another language. But from a sociolinguist perspective, what else is language doing other than delivering that kind of information?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>So a lot of people think of translation as just this simple process of taking words from one language and then mapping them one-to-one onto another language. But from a sociolinguist perspective, what else is language doing other than delivering that kind of information?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> It’s doing so much, Jess. I love all the other things that language does. So one of the big things that I study and my field looks at is all the other information in the speech signal. So not just the content of the message but how you’re delivering it and all the other information that comes from that. So for example, anyone listening right now, you can probably hear that I was not born and raised in America.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> It’s doing so much, Jess. I love all the other things that language does. So one of the big things that I study and my field looks at is all the other information in the speech signal. So not just the content of the message but how you’re delivering it and all the other information that comes from that. So for example, anyone listening right now, you can probably hear that I was not born and raised in America.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I’ve got a New Zealand English accent. But people in New Zealand can probably also hear that I’ve lived in America for a while, that’s probably in my speech as well. You might be able to hear that you and I are friends and friendly. We’re both trying to be friendly. We’re both trying to sound smart right now, right?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>I’ve got a New Zealand English accent. But people in New Zealand can probably also hear that I’ve lived in America for a while, that’s probably in my speech as well. You might be able to hear that you and I are friends and friendly. We’re both trying to be friendly. We’re both trying to sound smart right now, right?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Maybe you can tell that this is a little bit more awkward formality for us than usual conversation with wine. So just your identity, and sometimes that stuff you’re trying to mark, like sometimes you’re like, “I want to sound really professional in this moment. I want to sound really from this place. I want to really lean into my higher roots or my New Zealand roots or something.” But then other times, there’s information there that you just can’t even control, right? Like, I’m not always necessarily trying to be like, “I’m a woman,” but most people will hear my voice and be like, “You’re a woman.” Or I’m not always trying to say I’m from New Zealand, but my vowels are always saying I’m from New Zealand.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Maybe you can tell that this is a little bit more awkward formality for us than usual conversation with wine. So just your identity, and sometimes that stuff you’re trying to mark, like sometimes you’re like, “I want to sound really professional in this moment. I want to sound really from this place. I want to really lean into my higher roots or my New Zealand roots or something.” But then other times, there’s information there that you just can’t even control, right? Like, I’m not always necessarily trying to be like, “I’m a woman,” but most people will hear my voice and be like, “You’re a woman.” Or I’m not always trying to say I’m from New Zealand, but my vowels are always saying I’m from New Zealand.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Right. So whether you want to or not, you are communicating a whole lot about who you are as a person and maybe how you’re feeling in that moment.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Right. So whether you want to or not, you are communicating a whole lot about who you are as a person and maybe how you’re feeling in that moment.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Abby says that any tool focused primarily on the words we are saying will always miss a lot of the social information that language communicates, information that a human interpreter who can pick up on body language or emotion could probably make better sense of.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Abby says that any tool focused primarily on the words we are saying will always miss a lot of the social information that language communicates, information that a human interpreter who can pick up on body language or emotion could probably make better sense of.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> And even at the word level there’s a lot of ways for a translation to be incomplete. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> And even at the word level there’s a lot of ways for a translation to be incomplete. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker: \u003c/strong>I mean, some things like if I say boot or trunk of a car, that’s a difference between British and American English. But I’m thinking even things more like if I say groovy or neato or amazeballs or, we have lots of ways to express that something’s cool, and how another language does that, they might miss that I’m being playful, or they might miss that I’m outdated in my slang. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker: \u003c/strong>I mean, some things like if I say boot or trunk of a car, that’s a difference between British and American English. But I’m thinking even things more like if I say groovy or neato or amazeballs or, we have lots of ways to express that something’s cool, and how another language does that, they might miss that I’m being playful, or they might miss that I’m outdated in my slang. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>How do you translate that someone is saying amazeballs unironically because they’re really that excited? How do you translate that someone is saying groovy ironically because they’re making fun of themselves for being five decades late to the party? And that’s not all. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>How do you translate that someone is saying amazeballs unironically because they’re really that excited? How do you translate that someone is saying groovy ironically because they’re making fun of themselves for being five decades late to the party? And that’s not all. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker: \u003c/strong>The other thing that language has built into it, both in vocal tone and stuff, but then also in word choice and sometimes actually in your grammar, is your relationship to other people. It’s not just me expressing my identity. I can also be trying to say something about the relationship that you and I have or the relationship I’d like us to have. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker: \u003c/strong>The other thing that language has built into it, both in vocal tone and stuff, but then also in word choice and sometimes actually in your grammar, is your relationship to other people. It’s not just me expressing my identity. I can also be trying to say something about the relationship that you and I have or the relationship I’d like us to have. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So anything that is doing this translation, whether it’s a human or whether it’s a machine, they’re having to make some choices, and the nature of those choices are not going to be obvious to somebody who’s participating and only able to understand one side of that conversation.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So anything that is doing this translation, whether it’s a human or whether it’s a machine, they’re having to make some choices, and the nature of those choices are not going to be obvious to somebody who’s participating and only able to understand one side of that conversation.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, and most of the time, again, this… The technology’s kind of amazing. Being able to talk with anyone who you couldn’t talk to before, if the alternative is not being able to talk to them at all, that’s pretty amazing. But there are going to be times where if you don’t know the situation, it might be doing some really impolite things, and you might not know, right? Like the translation system might have decided to use an informal tone here, and you don’t realize it. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, and most of the time, again, this… The technology’s kind of amazing. Being able to talk with anyone who you couldn’t talk to before, if the alternative is not being able to talk to them at all, that’s pretty amazing. But there are going to be times where if you don’t know the situation, it might be doing some really impolite things, and you might not know, right? Like the translation system might have decided to use an informal tone here, and you don’t realize it. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>And to some extent, that’s going to be true of a human translator but to a much lesser extent if they are very culturally fluent with both languages.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>And to some extent, that’s going to be true of a human translator but to a much lesser extent if they are very culturally fluent with both languages.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, no, I actually… Now I’m remembering I had a student who was Korean-American, and her parents had come over from Korea beforehand, so they were native Korean speakers, and I was learning Korean at the time. And it was graduation, and I was saying something to her dad, like I don’t know. I can’t remember what I was saying, but I was trying to say something polite. And she’s like, “Um,” kind of to her dad like, “Uh, she’s just learning.” And I was like… I assumed that I’d used some impolite grammatical forms or something, right? I’d done some… She knew that I was kind of doing something inappropriate that I didn’t know that I was doing and was just smoothing over the situation because yeah, I think one of the things that humans do is that we’re very socially savvy. We’re always looking at, contextually, what’s contextually appropriate language. And if you’re a bilingual person, which a human translator has to be, right, to some degree to be able to do this translation work, presumably they’re going to know the social navigation pathways of both languages. And so they’re going to be able to pull on that information.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, no, I actually… Now I’m remembering I had a student who was Korean-American, and her parents had come over from Korea beforehand, so they were native Korean speakers, and I was learning Korean at the time. And it was graduation, and I was saying something to her dad, like I don’t know. I can’t remember what I was saying, but I was trying to say something polite. And she’s like, “Um,” kind of to her dad like, “Uh, she’s just learning.” And I was like… I assumed that I’d used some impolite grammatical forms or something, right? I’d done some… She knew that I was kind of doing something inappropriate that I didn’t know that I was doing and was just smoothing over the situation because yeah, I think one of the things that humans do is that we’re very socially savvy. We’re always looking at, contextually, what’s contextually appropriate language. And if you’re a bilingual person, which a human translator has to be, right, to some degree to be able to do this translation work, presumably they’re going to know the social navigation pathways of both languages. And so they’re going to be able to pull on that information.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Is there a danger that if we do move toward this world of relatively frictionless live translation, we could become overconfident that we’ve understood everything?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Is there a danger that if we do move toward this world of relatively frictionless live translation, we could become overconfident that we’ve understood everything?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, that’s… I think that’s almost part of it. It’s almost like the same problem that people are having right now with, you know, you hand in an essay that AI produced, and it looks so good that you don’t know that the citations are made-up. It’s that sort of confidence that it got the answer right that you would have that same kind of problem with translation, too.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, that’s… I think that’s almost part of it. It’s almost like the same problem that people are having right now with, you know, you hand in an essay that AI produced, and it looks so good that you don’t know that the citations are made-up. It’s that sort of confidence that it got the answer right that you would have that same kind of problem with translation, too.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Given the sheer complexity of language and all the things it’s trying to do, maybe it shouldn’t be a big surprise that as incredible as these tools are, they still make mistakes. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/live-voice-translation-is-the-ai-americans-want-most-ahead-of-email-drafting-and-meeting-notes-new-deepl-research-finds-302858925.html\">recent survey\u003c/a> found that about half of people who’ve used some kind of translation app, chat bot, or wearable find it clunky.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Given the sheer complexity of language and all the things it’s trying to do, maybe it shouldn’t be a big surprise that as incredible as these tools are, they still make mistakes. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/live-voice-translation-is-the-ai-americans-want-most-ahead-of-email-drafting-and-meeting-notes-new-deepl-research-finds-302858925.html\">recent survey\u003c/a> found that about half of people who’ve used some kind of translation app, chat bot, or wearable find it clunky.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>My own personal experience is pretty hit or miss. When I visited Quebec City this summer, Airbnb automatically translated my text messages to my host into French, and then translated his responses back into English. It was so seamless that I barely noticed. But then, when I tried out a pair of smart glasses to have a spoken conversation with a Bulgarian scholar here at the Ryan Institute about his summer vacation, a topic slightly more nuanced than what is the entry code to the apartment, it was a little rough.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>My own personal experience is pretty hit or miss. When I visited Quebec City this summer, Airbnb automatically translated my text messages to my host into French, and then translated his responses back into English. It was so seamless that I barely noticed. But then, when I tried out a pair of smart glasses to have a spoken conversation with a Bulgarian scholar here at the Ryan Institute about his summer vacation, a topic slightly more nuanced than what is the entry code to the apartment, it was a little rough.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At first, I had to repeat my question three times until the glasses finally heard me well enough to translate. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>At first, I had to repeat my question three times until the glasses finally heard me well enough to translate. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Jess Love talking to Bulgarian Scholar]: \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>“All right, let’s try again. Okay. Okay. I was holding it too long. I heard a rumor that you are going to the Dolomites this summer to do some hiking.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Jess Love talking to Bulgarian Scholar]: \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>“All right, let’s try again. Okay. Okay. I was holding it too long. I heard a rumor that you are going to the Dolomites this summer to do some hiking.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Bulgarian Scholar Translation Audio]:\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>That’s exactly how we’re going with a large group of friends. It’s about 20 people, and I’m pretty excited since it’s raining here, but there are almost no mountains, and I very rarely get to see mountains.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Bulgarian Scholar Translation Audio]:\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>That’s exactly how we’re going with a large group of friends. It’s about 20 people, and I’m pretty excited since it’s raining here, but there are almost no mountains, and I very rarely get to see mountains.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hungarian Scholar: \u003c/strong>It’s somewhat accurate.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hungarian Scholar: \u003c/strong>It’s somewhat accurate.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> The glasses kept messing up. We managed to stumble through a basic conversation but only because my colleague knew English and could correct the mistakes. It was not frictionless. So at least with the tools we have today, it’s pretty clear to me that some tasks will still require human translators, even if a lot of others don’t, and Abby agreed.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> The glasses kept messing up. We managed to stumble through a basic conversation but only because my colleague knew English and could correct the mistakes. It was not frictionless. So at least with the tools we have today, it’s pretty clear to me that some tasks will still require human translators, even if a lot of others don’t, and Abby agreed.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I think it’s the case that we’re always going to need human translators, because there are high-stakes situations, right? Like international negotiations, big business deals. But I also imagine a young person looking at a career path and still seeing, probably rightly so, that there’s going to be less path forward for them there. And I think about the medical world a bit. I think that’s often where there was a feeling that there would be a lot of interpreters was in the medical field.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I think it’s the case that we’re always going to need human translators, because there are high-stakes situations, right? Like international negotiations, big business deals. But I also imagine a young person looking at a career path and still seeing, probably rightly so, that there’s going to be less path forward for them there. And I think about the medical world a bit. I think that’s often where there was a feeling that there would be a lot of interpreters was in the medical field.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And you do already see them starting to use these tools and these translation tools automatically. You would hope they would always have someone on staff still, like to do translations when things get really nuanced and stuff. But I do think if I was a young person looking, even though there still will be those jobs, I would wonder about them.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>And you do already see them starting to use these tools and these translation tools automatically. You would hope they would always have someone on staff still, like to do translations when things get really nuanced and stuff. But I do think if I was a young person looking, even though there still will be those jobs, I would wonder about them.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> I would wonder too. Some of the practical reasons for learning a language are going away. After all, not everyone is going to be involved in negotiating corporate mergers or making high-stakes medical decisions. For a lot of situations, good enough really is good enough. And AI’s getting better. Companies are already trying to deal with these issues by like collecting visual data or following people over time so the machines have access to previous conversations.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> I would wonder too. Some of the practical reasons for learning a language are going away. After all, not everyone is going to be involved in negotiating corporate mergers or making high-stakes medical decisions. For a lot of situations, good enough really is good enough. And AI’s getting better. Companies are already trying to deal with these issues by like collecting visual data or following people over time so the machines have access to previous conversations.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There’s no guarantee that these tools will still be making the same kinds of mistakes in five years, or even two. And so, yeah, some people who would’ve learned another language probably will decide, “Eh, why bother?” But Abby doesn’t see a future where people just decide to stop learning other languages, no matter how good the machines get, because there are a bunch of reasons for learning a language that have nothing to do with the mere exchange of information.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>There’s no guarantee that these tools will still be making the same kinds of mistakes in five years, or even two. And so, yeah, some people who would’ve learned another language probably will decide, “Eh, why bother?” But Abby doesn’t see a future where people just decide to stop learning other languages, no matter how good the machines get, because there are a bunch of reasons for learning a language that have nothing to do with the mere exchange of information.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After the break, she makes her case. We’ll also hear why some very unexpected languages are actually experiencing a resurgence of new learners, apps be damned. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>After the break, she makes her case. We’ll also hear why some very unexpected languages are actually experiencing a resurgence of new learners, apps be damned. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I’m going to Germany later this year. The big reason, one of the big reasons I wanted to go to Germany, apart from working with some great researchers, is that I wanted to get my German better. I have no need to get German better. This is not an important thing in my life. I will not speak it. I will never need it, but I want to be good at it, right? I want to be better at it. I like it. I enjoy it. It’s a puzzle. It’s a game.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I’m going to Germany later this year. The big reason, one of the big reasons I wanted to go to Germany, apart from working with some great researchers, is that I wanted to get my German better. I have no need to get German better. This is not an important thing in my life. I will not speak it. I will never need it, but I want to be good at it, right? I want to be better at it. I like it. I enjoy it. It’s a puzzle. It’s a game.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Abby’s not alone. A lot of people are learning languages they don’t have to learn for purely communicative reasons, like because they need a job or need to get around a city.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Abby’s not alone. A lot of people are learning languages they don’t have to learn for purely communicative reasons, like because they need a job or need to get around a city.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Like people right now are learning Welsh, and people are learning Te Reo Māori, and these people can all speak English in Wales and in New Zealand, but they’re choosing to learn this language that they do not need for communication, so why are they choosing to learn this language? Because they have an identity connection to this language, right? And so its important to them, separate from how many other people they can talk to in this language, right? Like its kind of a way to connect to an identity, because I think people really do associate languages with identity.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Like people right now are learning Welsh, and people are learning Te Reo Māori, and these people can all speak English in Wales and in New Zealand, but they’re choosing to learn this language that they do not need for communication, so why are they choosing to learn this language? Because they have an identity connection to this language, right? And so its important to them, separate from how many other people they can talk to in this language, right? Like its kind of a way to connect to an identity, because I think people really do associate languages with identity.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Yeah, that’s so interesting. Is there a resurgence in people trying to learn these minority languages, even right now in 2026?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Yeah, that’s so interesting. Is there a resurgence in people trying to learn these minority languages, even right now in 2026?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yes. There’s definitely a resurgence in people trying to learn these languages. But that’s been happening since the ’80s, ’90s, 2000s. But since I’ve been in the States for almost 20 years now, and when I go back to New Zealand, it is shocking to me the amount of Te Reo that is around now.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yes. There’s definitely a resurgence in people trying to learn these languages. But that’s been happening since the ’80s, ’90s, 2000s. But since I’ve been in the States for almost 20 years now, and when I go back to New Zealand, it is shocking to me the amount of Te Reo that is around now.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> And what is Te Reo [Māori]?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> And what is Te Reo [Māori]?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> It’s the language. Sorry. It’s Māori. Māori. Sorry. It’s the Māori language. It’s just called the language, so it’s Te Reo.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> It’s the language. Sorry. It’s Māori. Māori. Sorry. It’s the Māori language. It’s just called the language, so it’s Te Reo.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Yeah, can you just give a little… ‘Cause most of our audience is not from New Zealand, so just give a little… What is this language, and why do you think that people are learning to speak it more in New Zealand?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Yeah, can you just give a little… ‘Cause most of our audience is not from New Zealand, so just give a little… What is this language, and why do you think that people are learning to speak it more in New Zealand?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, so this was the first language, human language spoken in New Zealand by the Māori. And then waves of English settlers came, and the language was forbidden, like happens in many of these situations. There was both an incentive to learn English for economic reasons, but then there were also actual moves to ban the language in school. And so kids would get smacked and things if they were speaking it in playgrounds and stuff. And so there was a generation or two that kind of were native speakers of Māori that literally intentionally chose not to pass it on to their children because it had only caused grief for them, right?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, so this was the first language, human language spoken in New Zealand by the Māori. And then waves of English settlers came, and the language was forbidden, like happens in many of these situations. There was both an incentive to learn English for economic reasons, but then there were also actual moves to ban the language in school. And so kids would get smacked and things if they were speaking it in playgrounds and stuff. And so there was a generation or two that kind of were native speakers of Māori that literally intentionally chose not to pass it on to their children because it had only caused grief for them, right?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And then there was this next generation that was “Wait, we’ve lost this kind of connection to our identity.” And so there’s been this really big resurgence. And this is happening before the technology that we’re talking about, but it’s happening because this has identity meaning to people. This is culturally significant to them. Quite correctly, they see it as something that was taken away from them by kind of outsiders, and then they are trying to correct that and connect to these roots. Which what’s really interesting in New Zealand is a ton of white people or Pākehā, like me, a ton of white people have been learning Māori as well, right? So it’s also becoming a symbol of your political and New Zealand identity as well. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>And then there was this next generation that was “Wait, we’ve lost this kind of connection to our identity.” And so there’s been this really big resurgence. And this is happening before the technology that we’re talking about, but it’s happening because this has identity meaning to people. This is culturally significant to them. Quite correctly, they see it as something that was taken away from them by kind of outsiders, and then they are trying to correct that and connect to these roots. Which what’s really interesting in New Zealand is a ton of white people or Pākehā, like me, a ton of white people have been learning Māori as well, right? So it’s also becoming a symbol of your political and New Zealand identity as well. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So because this language has more cultural significance than it does, a purely functional significance, do you see it as pretty protected or insulated from some of the challenges of machine translation?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So because this language has more cultural significance than it does, a purely functional significance, do you see it as pretty protected or insulated from some of the challenges of machine translation?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah. When I’m thinking about it, now that we’re talking about it, I do think that it would be unlikely that you would use a translation app. If you were talking to someone who was a native or near-native fluent speaker of Te Reo and you wanted to communicate with them, you would do it in English or you would learn Te Reo. Why would you use an app to talk to them in this language, stiltingly with pauses and slowly when you both can talk in English, right? They are not going to appreciate that. They’re not really going to be interested in that, and what would probably be more impressive was you stumbling through some beginner Te Reo, which at least showed that you were putting in some effort yourself, right?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah. When I’m thinking about it, now that we’re talking about it, I do think that it would be unlikely that you would use a translation app. If you were talking to someone who was a native or near-native fluent speaker of Te Reo and you wanted to communicate with them, you would do it in English or you would learn Te Reo. Why would you use an app to talk to them in this language, stiltingly with pauses and slowly when you both can talk in English, right? They are not going to appreciate that. They’re not really going to be interested in that, and what would probably be more impressive was you stumbling through some beginner Te Reo, which at least showed that you were putting in some effort yourself, right?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Do you remember that Mamdani clip? Should I try to find it and play it?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Do you remember that Mamdani clip? Should I try to find it and play it?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Okay. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Okay. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>Abby wanted us to listen to this recent video released by Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>Abby wanted us to listen to this recent video released by Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker: \u003c/strong>So there’s this clip you can find, it went kind of a little viral, a little while ago, and it’s Mamdani doing… the mayor of New York doing a piece to camera, and it’s kind of some political speech. I don’t know what he’s actually promoting.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker: \u003c/strong>So there’s this clip you can find, it went kind of a little viral, a little while ago, and it’s Mamdani doing… the mayor of New York doing a piece to camera, and it’s kind of some political speech. I don’t know what he’s actually promoting.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Zohran Mamdani speaking in Spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And so he is talking in Spanish and so he is trying to, you know, reach his Spanish Constituence. He does not speak Spanish, right? And so, there is this video of him and he is kind of like stumbling through Spanish and he takes it again and he’s getting corrected by AOC on his pronunciation. He keeps kind of forgetting things. And they’ve released this, right? And they think it’s not crazy that that happened but it’s very interesting to me that they released it because they are trying to emphasize that it wasn’t easy for him to speak Spanish and that he needed help speaking Spanish and he is not good at Spanish, but they knew that it would be charming and it is, right? Because it shows someone is trying to speak Spanish, right? \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>And so he is talking in Spanish and so he is trying to, you know, reach his Spanish Constituence. He does not speak Spanish, right? And so, there is this video of him and he is kind of like stumbling through Spanish and he takes it again and he’s getting corrected by AOC on his pronunciation. He keeps kind of forgetting things. And they’ve released this, right? And they think it’s not crazy that that happened but it’s very interesting to me that they released it because they are trying to emphasize that it wasn’t easy for him to speak Spanish and that he needed help speaking Spanish and he is not good at Spanish, but they knew that it would be charming and it is, right? Because it shows someone is trying to speak Spanish, right? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Zohran Mamdani speaking in Spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Zohran Mamdani speaking in Spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>They could have just released speeches with him in like fluent Spanish, or they could have had someone else who is a fluent Spanish speaker speaking on his behalf. In a little while, they could probably do videos where it looks like he is speaking Spanish, right? We’re kind of at that point of the technology now with video and audio that we could have something that sounds like him speaking in Spanish, looks like him speaking in Spanish. But they don’t do that, right? What they do is show someone who isn’t very good and who is trying, right? Part of what is really important to people is that you try to speak their language, right? And an app takes out that friction. It makes communication easier, but part of what language is signaling, too, when you use a language that is not a language that comes easy to you, is you’re signaling that you are trying, right? You are signaling that you are putting in some effort, that you don’t expect them to just understand you, and that you’re putting in some effort to be understood.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>They could have just released speeches with him in like fluent Spanish, or they could have had someone else who is a fluent Spanish speaker speaking on his behalf. In a little while, they could probably do videos where it looks like he is speaking Spanish, right? We’re kind of at that point of the technology now with video and audio that we could have something that sounds like him speaking in Spanish, looks like him speaking in Spanish. But they don’t do that, right? What they do is show someone who isn’t very good and who is trying, right? Part of what is really important to people is that you try to speak their language, right? And an app takes out that friction. It makes communication easier, but part of what language is signaling, too, when you use a language that is not a language that comes easy to you, is you’re signaling that you are trying, right? You are signaling that you are putting in some effort, that you don’t expect them to just understand you, and that you’re putting in some effort to be understood.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> All right. Well, we’ve been dancing around this idea of the importance of friction, and I want to just ask you to spell it out. Why is friction important? What could friction signal? We’ve talked about belonging, we’ve talked about effort. What else?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I mean, if I’m really just using an app to talk to you, right, I… And I’m not paying attention, I’m not really trying to do anything, I’m just trying to communicate with you, so I use an app, and it spits out whatever to talk to you, and I nod. You got the message, I got the message, I move on. Like, I haven’t really changed because of that interaction, right? So when you learn a language, to talk to someone, the effort of doing it, you are actually also changing yourself. So you are adding vocab, adding things that you can use in a new situation, adding things that you can use when you don’t have your phone around you, et cetera. So there’s just, literally you are changing a little bit, maybe in small ways. There is some evidence for regular bilinguals, like people who are regularly using multiple languages in their day-to-day, that they have better executive function than monolingual speakers.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I mean, if I’m really just using an app to talk to you, right, I… And I’m not paying attention, I’m not really trying to do anything, I’m just trying to communicate with you, so I use an app, and it spits out whatever to talk to you, and I nod. You got the message, I got the message, I move on. Like, I haven’t really changed because of that interaction, right? So when you learn a language, to talk to someone, the effort of doing it, you are actually also changing yourself. So you are adding vocab, adding things that you can use in a new situation, adding things that you can use when you don’t have your phone around you, et cetera. So there’s just, literally you are changing a little bit, maybe in small ways. There is some evidence for regular bilinguals, like people who are regularly using multiple languages in their day-to-day, that they have better executive function than monolingual speakers.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And by executive function, we’re talking about your ability to ignore irrelevant information and suppress responses that you might automatically make. And if you think about it, this makes a lot of sense why this would be tied to bilingualism, because you have a day where you are telling whatever language you’re not using, you’re saying, “Shut up. This isn’t about you.” So you’re ignoring anything else that’s irrelevant while you’re having these conversations. And from my understanding, those advantages get bigger as you age. So it’s essentially like you’re keeping your brain more active in this particular way. So obviously, all of those benefits, and just the fact that each time I stumble through something in German or Korean or today Māori, I am getting a little bit better, right? I’m learning a little bit more. That is this really big obvious thing that is being lost, is just that you are not having this growth. And it’s almost sad in some ways, because you had an opportunity, right? So let’s say you go to another country, you stay there for two months. You have this opportunity to do something, and you just spend all the time using these translation apps. You miss this opportunity to have this personal growth.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>And by executive function, we’re talking about your ability to ignore irrelevant information and suppress responses that you might automatically make. And if you think about it, this makes a lot of sense why this would be tied to bilingualism, because you have a day where you are telling whatever language you’re not using, you’re saying, “Shut up. This isn’t about you.” So you’re ignoring anything else that’s irrelevant while you’re having these conversations. And from my understanding, those advantages get bigger as you age. So it’s essentially like you’re keeping your brain more active in this particular way. So obviously, all of those benefits, and just the fact that each time I stumble through something in German or Korean or today Māori, I am getting a little bit better, right? I’m learning a little bit more. That is this really big obvious thing that is being lost, is just that you are not having this growth. And it’s almost sad in some ways, because you had an opportunity, right? So let’s say you go to another country, you stay there for two months. You have this opportunity to do something, and you just spend all the time using these translation apps. You miss this opportunity to have this personal growth.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> It’s true. I went to Italy, and by the end of the trip, I was fully capable of asking where the bathroom was all by myself.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Don’t ask me to do it now.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I was gonna say.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Oh, boy. Try. Al bagno? Bagno? Bagno? I don’t want to talk about it. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Oh, boy. Try. Al bagno? Bagno? Bagno? I don’t want to talk about it. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Okay.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>Live translation tools are decent, and they’re going to get better. You can even imagine a version that works out most of the bugs. AI that does start picking up on body language and slang. Science fiction becoming reality. The universal translator, the Babel fish. But do we always want that? Throughout our conversation, as we talked about the importance of friction, it struck me that maybe today’s live translation tools, imperfect as they are, have their own charms, not despite the friction, but because of it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>Live translation tools are decent, and they’re going to get better. You can even imagine a version that works out most of the bugs. AI that does start picking up on body language and slang. Science fiction becoming reality. The universal translator, the Babel fish. But do we always want that? Throughout our conversation, as we talked about the importance of friction, it struck me that maybe today’s live translation tools, imperfect as they are, have their own charms, not despite the friction, but because of it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I decided to play Abby another excerpt from our conversation with proud dad, Larry Berliner. While he and fellow dad Kevin were conversing on their ChatGPT app, they were speaking into the phone, which would generate a written translation, which the other one would read. Hardly seamless. But here, Larry talks about the conversation being so profound because of those seams.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>I decided to play Abby another excerpt from our conversation with proud dad, Larry Berliner. While he and fellow dad Kevin were conversing on their ChatGPT app, they were speaking into the phone, which would generate a written translation, which the other one would read. Hardly seamless. But here, Larry talks about the conversation being so profound because of those seams.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Larry Berliner]:\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem> This allowed us to speak in long paragraphs, like I’m doing right now, right? Shakespearean style, not a back and forth, but long paragraphs of ideas, and then it would translate, and we’d watch each other read it, which was exciting, and then the person would respond. And what ended up being magical was, first of all, we did it for a very long time.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Larry Berliner]:\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem> This allowed us to speak in long paragraphs, like I’m doing right now, right? Shakespearean style, not a back and forth, but long paragraphs of ideas, and then it would translate, and we’d watch each other read it, which was exciting, and then the person would respond. And what ended up being magical was, first of all, we did it for a very long time.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>What he chose to talk about was things that I don’t think he would ever have spoke about first if I was speaking his native language. Or wow, the extent of which is amazing. He talked about how he had met Sonya and the previous people he had been with at the time. He talked about his failures as a father. And just– it was immediately right to the bone.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>What he chose to talk about was things that I don’t think he would ever have spoke about first if I was speaking his native language. Or wow, the extent of which is amazing. He talked about how he had met Sonya and the previous people he had been with at the time. He talked about his failures as a father. And just– it was immediately right to the bone.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> I’m just struck by how he feels that conversation was facilitated by the fact that there was this level of friction, of literally having to read. Maybe the fact that you’re putting something into print and then somebody is going to read it makes you less likely to just waste that time to say, “Well, what do you think of the weather?”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, I mean, that’s a really interesting idea, and it kinda makes sense. What it makes me think, though, is that there was this feeling that this was temporary, right? That this was not going to be the regular state of affairs. It’s almost like deathbed conversation. It feels like a little bit like what it sounded like to me. Just “I need you to, here are some really big things on my mind and my heart that I just really want you to know now that we’ve got this opportunity.” It is interesting, though, to think about, what if you never get there with someone who speaks your own language because you’ve always got the dance of we can speak so easily to each other.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, I mean, that’s a really interesting idea, and it kinda makes sense. What it makes me think, though, is that there was this feeling that this was temporary, right? That this was not going to be the regular state of affairs. It’s almost like deathbed conversation. It feels like a little bit like what it sounded like to me. Just “I need you to, here are some really big things on my mind and my heart that I just really want you to know now that we’ve got this opportunity.” It is interesting, though, to think about, what if you never get there with someone who speaks your own language because you’ve always got the dance of we can speak so easily to each other.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Yeah, and it was the artificiality of their own communication that led to something much deeper. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I love that.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> So am I going to encourage my eight-year-old to learn Spanish? Yes, absolutely. There’s so much we can’t know about AI and where it’s headed, but even if some reasons for learning another language go away, others won’t, or could even grow in importance. And in honor of our topic this week, we’ve machine translated our credits into ‘Klingon and back’, because why not?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> So am I going to encourage my eight-year-old to learn Spanish? Yes, absolutely. There’s so much we can’t know about AI and where it’s headed, but even if some reasons for learning another language go away, others won’t, or could even grow in importance. And in honor of our topic this week, we’ve machine translated our credits into ‘Klingon and back’, because why not?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Klingon words] \u003c/em>I am Jess of the clan Love. \u003cem>[Klingon words] \u003c/em>At the Northwestern University Citadel of Knowledge, inside the Kellogg School of Management, Life, Automated is an honorable battle quest of the Ryan Institute on Complexity. KQED hurls our battle transmissions across the void to conquer the airwaves.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Klingon words] \u003c/em>I am Jess of the clan Love. \u003cem>[Klingon words] \u003c/em>At the Northwestern University Citadel of Knowledge, inside the Kellogg School of Management, Life, Automated is an honorable battle quest of the Ryan Institute on Complexity. KQED hurls our battle transmissions across the void to conquer the airwaves.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jesse Dukes sliced the captured sounds into submission. Stephen Jackson forged the battle hymns and struck the war drums. The machinery masters, Will Feeney and George Christensen, trapped the vocal cries of the interrogation inside the sound cage. Ananya Mallapragada commanded the proclamations of our glory and subjugated the civilian chatter web.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Producer: Jesse Dukes\u003cbr>Music: Steven Jackson\u003cbr>Recording: George Christensen, Will Feeney\u003cbr>Promotional help from Ananya Mallapragada\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Special thanks to Larry Berliner and Georgi Demirev for their help testing out live translation tools\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#Transcript\">View Full Episode Transcript\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Live AI translation tools are making it easier to converse across languages without a human translator, a phrasebook, or years of study. So will we all just stop taking Spanish or Mandarin classes? Sociolinguist \u003ca href=\"https://liberalarts.vt.edu/departments-and-schools/department-of-english/faculty/abby-walker.html\">Abby Walker\u003c/a> doesn’t think so. She shares the many reasons we learn new languages, some of which have little to do with functional communication at all. We also hear how one AI-assisted conversation brought two future in-laws together, why machine translation is still so darn buggy, and why some languages are attracting a resurgence of new learners even in the age of translation apps.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Life, Automated is a production of the Ryan Institute on Complexity, at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. The host is Jess Love, senior director. Distributed by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/lifeautomated\">KQED\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> This is Life, Automated, the show where we explore what it means to live, work, and make decisions in a world increasingly shaped by machines. I think it’s fair to say that over the past five years, we’ve been bombarded by all the new things AI can suddenly do. It’s solving these long unsolved math theorems, generating songs that rack up millions of listens, and even colluding with other AIs to break into servers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There’s so much crazy stuff happening, that a lot of other advances that would’ve seemed mind-blowing to us 10, 15 years ago feel almost pedestrian in comparison. I’d put real-time language translation down as one of these advances. Chat bots and translation apps now draw from a range of different kinds of AI to offer live translation for tons of different languages.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can hear something in a language you don’t know, like Korean. You can use your phone to translate that speech into a language you do know, like English. “Which way is the restroom?” Offer your response in English. “Oh, yeah, it’s down this hallway here, second door on the right side.” And then it will speak your response aloud in Korean.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can do this today. People already are doing this. What’s more, a lot of tech companies are developing wearables, think smart glasses, smart earbuds, to make live translation more frictionless. No more fumbling for your phone. This is literally straight out of science fiction. Star Trek’s universal translator, Dr.Who’s TARDIS translation matrix, and from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the Babel Fish. For me, this raises some big questions. What do these live translation tools really let us do that we couldn’t do before? Will they ever fully replace human translators? And should my eight-year-old still be taking Spanish classes in school?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Today’s guest is Abby Walker, a sociolinguist at Virginia Tech, where she’s co-director of the Speech Lab. She’s also a longtime friend from my grad school days. I’m Jess Love, and this is Life, Automated from Kellogg’s Ryan Institute on Complexity, distributed by KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Welcome Abby Walker to Life Automated.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Thank you for having me, Jess. I’m so excited to be here.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> So there’s a clip I want to play for you. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>I wanted Abby and I to listen to some tape we recorded from a person who recently used one of these live translation tools. This person’s name is Larry Berliner. Larry’s son was in love, and this was Larry’s first time meeting the girlfriend’s parents.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Here’s the catch. Larry, father of the boyfriend, spoke English but not Chinese. And Kevin, father of the girlfriend, spoke Chinese but not English. So they used a ChatGPT app on one of their cell phones to translate between them. In this first clip, Larry’s just remarking about what this tool did for the two of them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Larry Berliner]:\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem> If not for this, I wouldn’t have got to know Kevin at all. I was able to connect with Kevin, meet Kevin, talk to Kevin seriously about myself, about my business, about my thoughts of his own daughter, what his daughter has transformed in my son. So much, right? There was so much I was able to say to him.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> And here’s another part of that conversation, this time with Larry talking about how having the tool helped everyone else in the room, too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Larry Berliner]:\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem> We have all been there, where there’s the individual who’s the translator amongst three people or among five people, sometimes eight. And two things happen. One is that translator has to work so hard. You can see how much energy they’re having to invest in translating for everybody and make the room successful. The other thing you see is how slow everything goes. The point is, that’s not what happened in our room because Larry and Kevin were involved in this AI-enhanced live translation mode, and the other four were freed. So they were able to have a free, wonderful, free-ranging conversation, and they were able to have that ability to connect in their way.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, I love that example and how it’s not just about the personal interaction, but actually about the group dynamics, too. It shows you the work that’s involved in having a human translator, that someone has to mediate that process for you, and that’s actually work on them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I hadn’t really thought about that aspect of it, which is kinda cool. If you have a human interpreter, there might be things that you want to talk about that you don’t want them to hear about. And I think this is a common situation a little bit with, we know sometimes when immigrants come to a country where they don’t speak the kind of dominant language, that often their kids become interpreters, as they’re dealing with banks and as they’re dealing with medical providers. But, like if you think about, do you want your daughters to know all of your personal information that you might talk about with a doctor? No, right? And so just getting to choose who hears what information, yeah, that’s going to be really empowering.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Yeah, I mean, it seems like in this example, depending on who is going to have to play that role of translator, is he going to feel comfortable, showering all this attention on perhaps his future daughter-in-law, for instance? If she’s the one translating.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yes. Yeah. That would be really embarrassing. Though it may be a cool, slick move as well. She has to be like, “Oh, Daddy’s saying I’m so pretty,” and yeah, something like that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> So already these tools are letting people connect with other people in new ways, really connect. But I didn’t invite Abby on this show just to marvel over what’s now possible with machine translation. Like I said, I have a lot of questions. Like, “Is that it? Are we humans all just done learning second, third, fourth languages because the machines can translate for us now? Or are there some parts of a conversation that a machine probably isn’t going to be able to translate for us, at least not anytime soon?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>So a lot of people think of translation as just this simple process of taking words from one language and then mapping them one-to-one onto another language. But from a sociolinguist perspective, what else is language doing other than delivering that kind of information?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> It’s doing so much, Jess. I love all the other things that language does. So one of the big things that I study and my field looks at is all the other information in the speech signal. So not just the content of the message but how you’re delivering it and all the other information that comes from that. So for example, anyone listening right now, you can probably hear that I was not born and raised in America.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I’ve got a New Zealand English accent. But people in New Zealand can probably also hear that I’ve lived in America for a while, that’s probably in my speech as well. You might be able to hear that you and I are friends and friendly. We’re both trying to be friendly. We’re both trying to sound smart right now, right?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Maybe you can tell that this is a little bit more awkward formality for us than usual conversation with wine. So just your identity, and sometimes that stuff you’re trying to mark, like sometimes you’re like, “I want to sound really professional in this moment. I want to sound really from this place. I want to really lean into my higher roots or my New Zealand roots or something.” But then other times, there’s information there that you just can’t even control, right? Like, I’m not always necessarily trying to be like, “I’m a woman,” but most people will hear my voice and be like, “You’re a woman.” Or I’m not always trying to say I’m from New Zealand, but my vowels are always saying I’m from New Zealand.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Right. So whether you want to or not, you are communicating a whole lot about who you are as a person and maybe how you’re feeling in that moment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Abby says that any tool focused primarily on the words we are saying will always miss a lot of the social information that language communicates, information that a human interpreter who can pick up on body language or emotion could probably make better sense of.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> And even at the word level there’s a lot of ways for a translation to be incomplete. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker: \u003c/strong>I mean, some things like if I say boot or trunk of a car, that’s a difference between British and American English. But I’m thinking even things more like if I say groovy or neato or amazeballs or, we have lots of ways to express that something’s cool, and how another language does that, they might miss that I’m being playful, or they might miss that I’m outdated in my slang. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>How do you translate that someone is saying amazeballs unironically because they’re really that excited? How do you translate that someone is saying groovy ironically because they’re making fun of themselves for being five decades late to the party? And that’s not all. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker: \u003c/strong>The other thing that language has built into it, both in vocal tone and stuff, but then also in word choice and sometimes actually in your grammar, is your relationship to other people. It’s not just me expressing my identity. I can also be trying to say something about the relationship that you and I have or the relationship I’d like us to have. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So anything that is doing this translation, whether it’s a human or whether it’s a machine, they’re having to make some choices, and the nature of those choices are not going to be obvious to somebody who’s participating and only able to understand one side of that conversation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, and most of the time, again, this… The technology’s kind of amazing. Being able to talk with anyone who you couldn’t talk to before, if the alternative is not being able to talk to them at all, that’s pretty amazing. But there are going to be times where if you don’t know the situation, it might be doing some really impolite things, and you might not know, right? Like the translation system might have decided to use an informal tone here, and you don’t realize it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>And to some extent, that’s going to be true of a human translator but to a much lesser extent if they are very culturally fluent with both languages.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, no, I actually… Now I’m remembering I had a student who was Korean-American, and her parents had come over from Korea beforehand, so they were native Korean speakers, and I was learning Korean at the time. And it was graduation, and I was saying something to her dad, like I don’t know. I can’t remember what I was saying, but I was trying to say something polite. And she’s like, “Um,” kind of to her dad like, “Uh, she’s just learning.” And I was like… I assumed that I’d used some impolite grammatical forms or something, right? I’d done some… She knew that I was kind of doing something inappropriate that I didn’t know that I was doing and was just smoothing over the situation because yeah, I think one of the things that humans do is that we’re very socially savvy. We’re always looking at, contextually, what’s contextually appropriate language. And if you’re a bilingual person, which a human translator has to be, right, to some degree to be able to do this translation work, presumably they’re going to know the social navigation pathways of both languages. And so they’re going to be able to pull on that information.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Is there a danger that if we do move toward this world of relatively frictionless live translation, we could become overconfident that we’ve understood everything?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, that’s… I think that’s almost part of it. It’s almost like the same problem that people are having right now with, you know, you hand in an essay that AI produced, and it looks so good that you don’t know that the citations are made-up. It’s that sort of confidence that it got the answer right that you would have that same kind of problem with translation, too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Given the sheer complexity of language and all the things it’s trying to do, maybe it shouldn’t be a big surprise that as incredible as these tools are, they still make mistakes. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/live-voice-translation-is-the-ai-americans-want-most-ahead-of-email-drafting-and-meeting-notes-new-deepl-research-finds-302858925.html\">recent survey\u003c/a> found that about half of people who’ve used some kind of translation app, chat bot, or wearable find it clunky.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>My own personal experience is pretty hit or miss. When I visited Quebec City this summer, Airbnb automatically translated my text messages to my host into French, and then translated his responses back into English. It was so seamless that I barely noticed. But then, when I tried out a pair of smart glasses to have a spoken conversation with a Bulgarian scholar here at the Ryan Institute about his summer vacation, a topic slightly more nuanced than what is the entry code to the apartment, it was a little rough.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At first, I had to repeat my question three times until the glasses finally heard me well enough to translate. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Jess Love talking to Bulgarian Scholar]: \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>“All right, let’s try again. Okay. Okay. I was holding it too long. I heard a rumor that you are going to the Dolomites this summer to do some hiking.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Bulgarian Scholar Translation Audio]:\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>That’s exactly how we’re going with a large group of friends. It’s about 20 people, and I’m pretty excited since it’s raining here, but there are almost no mountains, and I very rarely get to see mountains.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hungarian Scholar: \u003c/strong>It’s somewhat accurate.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> The glasses kept messing up. We managed to stumble through a basic conversation but only because my colleague knew English and could correct the mistakes. It was not frictionless. So at least with the tools we have today, it’s pretty clear to me that some tasks will still require human translators, even if a lot of others don’t, and Abby agreed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I think it’s the case that we’re always going to need human translators, because there are high-stakes situations, right? Like international negotiations, big business deals. But I also imagine a young person looking at a career path and still seeing, probably rightly so, that there’s going to be less path forward for them there. And I think about the medical world a bit. I think that’s often where there was a feeling that there would be a lot of interpreters was in the medical field.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And you do already see them starting to use these tools and these translation tools automatically. You would hope they would always have someone on staff still, like to do translations when things get really nuanced and stuff. But I do think if I was a young person looking, even though there still will be those jobs, I would wonder about them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> I would wonder too. Some of the practical reasons for learning a language are going away. After all, not everyone is going to be involved in negotiating corporate mergers or making high-stakes medical decisions. For a lot of situations, good enough really is good enough. And AI’s getting better. Companies are already trying to deal with these issues by like collecting visual data or following people over time so the machines have access to previous conversations.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There’s no guarantee that these tools will still be making the same kinds of mistakes in five years, or even two. And so, yeah, some people who would’ve learned another language probably will decide, “Eh, why bother?” But Abby doesn’t see a future where people just decide to stop learning other languages, no matter how good the machines get, because there are a bunch of reasons for learning a language that have nothing to do with the mere exchange of information.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After the break, she makes her case. We’ll also hear why some very unexpected languages are actually experiencing a resurgence of new learners, apps be damned. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I’m going to Germany later this year. The big reason, one of the big reasons I wanted to go to Germany, apart from working with some great researchers, is that I wanted to get my German better. I have no need to get German better. This is not an important thing in my life. I will not speak it. I will never need it, but I want to be good at it, right? I want to be better at it. I like it. I enjoy it. It’s a puzzle. It’s a game.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Abby’s not alone. A lot of people are learning languages they don’t have to learn for purely communicative reasons, like because they need a job or need to get around a city.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Like people right now are learning Welsh, and people are learning Te Reo Māori, and these people can all speak English in Wales and in New Zealand, but they’re choosing to learn this language that they do not need for communication, so why are they choosing to learn this language? Because they have an identity connection to this language, right? And so its important to them, separate from how many other people they can talk to in this language, right? Like its kind of a way to connect to an identity, because I think people really do associate languages with identity.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Yeah, that’s so interesting. Is there a resurgence in people trying to learn these minority languages, even right now in 2026?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yes. There’s definitely a resurgence in people trying to learn these languages. But that’s been happening since the ’80s, ’90s, 2000s. But since I’ve been in the States for almost 20 years now, and when I go back to New Zealand, it is shocking to me the amount of Te Reo that is around now.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> And what is Te Reo [Māori]?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> It’s the language. Sorry. It’s Māori. Māori. Sorry. It’s the Māori language. It’s just called the language, so it’s Te Reo.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Yeah, can you just give a little… ‘Cause most of our audience is not from New Zealand, so just give a little… What is this language, and why do you think that people are learning to speak it more in New Zealand?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, so this was the first language, human language spoken in New Zealand by the Māori. And then waves of English settlers came, and the language was forbidden, like happens in many of these situations. There was both an incentive to learn English for economic reasons, but then there were also actual moves to ban the language in school. And so kids would get smacked and things if they were speaking it in playgrounds and stuff. And so there was a generation or two that kind of were native speakers of Māori that literally intentionally chose not to pass it on to their children because it had only caused grief for them, right?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And then there was this next generation that was “Wait, we’ve lost this kind of connection to our identity.” And so there’s been this really big resurgence. And this is happening before the technology that we’re talking about, but it’s happening because this has identity meaning to people. This is culturally significant to them. Quite correctly, they see it as something that was taken away from them by kind of outsiders, and then they are trying to correct that and connect to these roots. Which what’s really interesting in New Zealand is a ton of white people or Pākehā, like me, a ton of white people have been learning Māori as well, right? So it’s also becoming a symbol of your political and New Zealand identity as well. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So because this language has more cultural significance than it does, a purely functional significance, do you see it as pretty protected or insulated from some of the challenges of machine translation?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah. When I’m thinking about it, now that we’re talking about it, I do think that it would be unlikely that you would use a translation app. If you were talking to someone who was a native or near-native fluent speaker of Te Reo and you wanted to communicate with them, you would do it in English or you would learn Te Reo. Why would you use an app to talk to them in this language, stiltingly with pauses and slowly when you both can talk in English, right? They are not going to appreciate that. They’re not really going to be interested in that, and what would probably be more impressive was you stumbling through some beginner Te Reo, which at least showed that you were putting in some effort yourself, right?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Do you remember that Mamdani clip? Should I try to find it and play it?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Okay. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>Abby wanted us to listen to this recent video released by Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker: \u003c/strong>So there’s this clip you can find, it went kind of a little viral, a little while ago, and it’s Mamdani doing… the mayor of New York doing a piece to camera, and it’s kind of some political speech. I don’t know what he’s actually promoting.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Zohran Mamdani speaking in Spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And so he is talking in Spanish and so he is trying to, you know, reach his Spanish Constituence. He does not speak Spanish, right? And so, there is this video of him and he is kind of like stumbling through Spanish and he takes it again and he’s getting corrected by AOC on his pronunciation. He keeps kind of forgetting things. And they’ve released this, right? And they think it’s not crazy that that happened but it’s very interesting to me that they released it because they are trying to emphasize that it wasn’t easy for him to speak Spanish and that he needed help speaking Spanish and he is not good at Spanish, but they knew that it would be charming and it is, right? Because it shows someone is trying to speak Spanish, right? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Zohran Mamdani speaking in Spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They could have just released speeches with him in like fluent Spanish, or they could have had someone else who is a fluent Spanish speaker speaking on his behalf. In a little while, they could probably do videos where it looks like he is speaking Spanish, right? We’re kind of at that point of the technology now with video and audio that we could have something that sounds like him speaking in Spanish, looks like him speaking in Spanish. But they don’t do that, right? What they do is show someone who isn’t very good and who is trying, right? Part of what is really important to people is that you try to speak their language, right? And an app takes out that friction. It makes communication easier, but part of what language is signaling, too, when you use a language that is not a language that comes easy to you, is you’re signaling that you are trying, right? You are signaling that you are putting in some effort, that you don’t expect them to just understand you, and that you’re putting in some effort to be understood.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> All right. Well, we’ve been dancing around this idea of the importance of friction, and I want to just ask you to spell it out. Why is friction important? What could friction signal? We’ve talked about belonging, we’ve talked about effort. What else?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I mean, if I’m really just using an app to talk to you, right, I… And I’m not paying attention, I’m not really trying to do anything, I’m just trying to communicate with you, so I use an app, and it spits out whatever to talk to you, and I nod. You got the message, I got the message, I move on. Like, I haven’t really changed because of that interaction, right? So when you learn a language, to talk to someone, the effort of doing it, you are actually also changing yourself. So you are adding vocab, adding things that you can use in a new situation, adding things that you can use when you don’t have your phone around you, et cetera. So there’s just, literally you are changing a little bit, maybe in small ways. There is some evidence for regular bilinguals, like people who are regularly using multiple languages in their day-to-day, that they have better executive function than monolingual speakers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And by executive function, we’re talking about your ability to ignore irrelevant information and suppress responses that you might automatically make. And if you think about it, this makes a lot of sense why this would be tied to bilingualism, because you have a day where you are telling whatever language you’re not using, you’re saying, “Shut up. This isn’t about you.” So you’re ignoring anything else that’s irrelevant while you’re having these conversations. And from my understanding, those advantages get bigger as you age. So it’s essentially like you’re keeping your brain more active in this particular way. So obviously, all of those benefits, and just the fact that each time I stumble through something in German or Korean or today Māori, I am getting a little bit better, right? I’m learning a little bit more. That is this really big obvious thing that is being lost, is just that you are not having this growth. And it’s almost sad in some ways, because you had an opportunity, right? So let’s say you go to another country, you stay there for two months. You have this opportunity to do something, and you just spend all the time using these translation apps. You miss this opportunity to have this personal growth.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> It’s true. I went to Italy, and by the end of the trip, I was fully capable of asking where the bathroom was all by myself.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> In Italian?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> In Italian.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Wow.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Don’t ask me to do it now.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I was gonna say.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Oh, boy. Try. Al bagno? Bagno? Bagno? I don’t want to talk about it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>Live translation tools are decent, and they’re going to get better. You can even imagine a version that works out most of the bugs. AI that does start picking up on body language and slang. Science fiction becoming reality. The universal translator, the Babel fish. But do we always want that? Throughout our conversation, as we talked about the importance of friction, it struck me that maybe today’s live translation tools, imperfect as they are, have their own charms, not despite the friction, but because of it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I decided to play Abby another excerpt from our conversation with proud dad, Larry Berliner. While he and fellow dad Kevin were conversing on their ChatGPT app, they were speaking into the phone, which would generate a written translation, which the other one would read. Hardly seamless. But here, Larry talks about the conversation being so profound because of those seams.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Larry Berliner]:\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem> This allowed us to speak in long paragraphs, like I’m doing right now, right? Shakespearean style, not a back and forth, but long paragraphs of ideas, and then it would translate, and we’d watch each other read it, which was exciting, and then the person would respond. And what ended up being magical was, first of all, we did it for a very long time.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>What he chose to talk about was things that I don’t think he would ever have spoke about first if I was speaking his native language. Or wow, the extent of which is amazing. He talked about how he had met Sonya and the previous people he had been with at the time. He talked about his failures as a father. And just– it was immediately right to the bone.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> I’m just struck by how he feels that conversation was facilitated by the fact that there was this level of friction, of literally having to read. Maybe the fact that you’re putting something into print and then somebody is going to read it makes you less likely to just waste that time to say, “Well, what do you think of the weather?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> Yeah, I mean, that’s a really interesting idea, and it kinda makes sense. What it makes me think, though, is that there was this feeling that this was temporary, right? That this was not going to be the regular state of affairs. It’s almost like deathbed conversation. It feels like a little bit like what it sounded like to me. Just “I need you to, here are some really big things on my mind and my heart that I just really want you to know now that we’ve got this opportunity.” It is interesting, though, to think about, what if you never get there with someone who speaks your own language because you’ve always got the dance of we can speak so easily to each other.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Yeah, and it was the artificiality of their own communication that led to something much deeper. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abby Walker:\u003c/strong> I love that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> So am I going to encourage my eight-year-old to learn Spanish? Yes, absolutely. There’s so much we can’t know about AI and where it’s headed, but even if some reasons for learning another language go away, others won’t, or could even grow in importance. And in honor of our topic this week, we’ve machine translated our credits into ‘Klingon and back’, because why not?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Here we go. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Klingon words] \u003c/em>I am Jess of the clan Love. \u003cem>[Klingon words] \u003c/em>At the Northwestern University Citadel of Knowledge, inside the Kellogg School of Management, Life, Automated is an honorable battle quest of the Ryan Institute on Complexity. KQED hurls our battle transmissions across the void to conquer the airwaves.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jesse Dukes sliced the captured sounds into submission. Stephen Jackson forged the battle hymns and struck the war drums. The machinery masters, Will Feeney and George Christensen, trapped the vocal cries of the interrogation inside the sound cage. Ananya Mallapragada commanded the proclamations of our glory and subjugated the civilian chatter web.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Producer: Jesse Dukes\u003cbr>Music: Steven Jackson\u003cbr>Recording: George Christensen, Will Feeney\u003cbr>Promotional help from Ananya Mallapragada\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Editorial guidance from Laura Pavin\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Special thanks to Larry Berliner and Georgi Demirev for their help testing out live translation tools\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "melkam-enkutatash-san-jose-welcomes-the-ethiopian-new-year",
"title": "‘Melkam Enkutatash!’ San José Welcomes the Ethiopian New Year",
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"headTitle": "‘Melkam Enkutatash!’ San José Welcomes the Ethiopian New Year | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>Dressed from head to toe in resplendent yellow, Semert Haile passed out flowers as she walked through \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a>’s Arena Green East Park. “Melkam Enkutatash!” she greeted everyone. “Happy Ethiopian New Year!”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And not even the roaring of airplanes taking off from San José Mineta International Airport nearby was enough to drown out the sound of music and children’s laughter at this Ethiopian New Year celebration. This Enkutatash event was first held in the South Bay in 1991. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Organized by the nonprofit Ethiopian Community Services, Sunday’s celebration drew thousands — both Ethiopian residents and supporters — in a testament to the growing strength of the Ethiopian diaspora in the Bay Area’s biggest city.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-01017_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099609\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-01017_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-01017_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-01017_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Children play together at an Ethiopian New Year celebration at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-7 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12099605\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00295_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099605\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00295_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00295_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00295_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An attendee wears a yellow flower, also known as adey ababa, which blooms during the New Year, on their sleeve at an Ethiopian New Year celebration at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12099602\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00069_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099602\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00069_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00069_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00069_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Children play soccer at an Ethiopian New Year celebration at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Just like the Western Gregorian calendar, the Ethiopian Ge’ez calendar is \u003ca href=\"https://ethiopianembassy.org/ethiopian-time/\">based on the year\u003c/a> of Jesus Christ’s birth. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Because the Gregorian and Ge’ez calendars differ on Christ’s exact birth year, however, this Enkutatash marks the beginning of the year 2019.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We are seven years behind in Ethiopia,” Haile joked.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘Shout out to our community’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Haile was not the only one dressed in yellow on Sunday. Hundreds of families from all over the South Bay showed up wearing shirts, headbands and traditional \u003ca href=\"https://www.pinterest.com/erichick/habesha-dresses/\">habesha dresses\u003c/a> embellished with intricate gold patterns. Many designs feature a yellow flower, similar to those that Haile gave away.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While it may resemble a sunflower, this is adey abeba — a flower native to Ethiopia that blooms at the end of the rainy summer season, marking both the start of September and the new year.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Back in Ethiopia, the children go door to door giving these flowers as a gift,” Haile reminisced. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00113_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099603\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00113_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00113_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00113_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Semert Haile poses for a portrait at an Ethiopian New Year celebration at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-8 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12099607\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00638_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099607\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00638_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00638_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00638_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A child waves an adey ababa flower during a singing performance at an Ethiopian New Year celebration at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12099606\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00516_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099606\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00516_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00516_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00516_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Children celebrate Ethiopian New Year on a stage at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s been more than 20 years since she left her home in the capital city of Addis Ababa. Coming to California was a great opportunity, she said — but also somewhat of an isolating experience. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When it’s the New Year, everybody’s together each day. Everyone eats together. The house is warm,” she said. “Here, you have to be invited by other people [to celebrate the New Year].”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That’s why Haile and other leaders of the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://ecssanjose.org/\">Ethiopian Community Services\u003c/a> started a public Enkutatash celebration in San José decades ago. It’s an opportunity for Ethiopians who have recently arrived to meet new people and not experience the same isolation she once felt, Haile said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When they come to the U.S., they maybe get lost. They miss all their support groups,” she said. “You don’t know what others are going through while they’re trying to adjust to Western culture.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Haile quickly gathered hundreds of children to the stage to sing “Abebayehosh,” a traditional song celebrating the new year in Amharic — one of the many languages spoken in Ethiopia.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The kids who were not on stage were playing soccer nearby in the park. Many are part of Maleda Youth Soccer Club, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091408/maleda-where-san-joses-brightest-soccer-stars-get-started\">created in 2004\u003c/a> by Ethiopian families in the South Bay who wanted a safe place for their kids to both play and learn more about their heritage. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Among the club’s alumni is professional soccer player Naomi Girma — currently center back for England’s Women’s Super League club Chelsea FC and a strong contender for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. Girma grew up in San José and credits Maleda for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13988410/naomi-girma-us-womens-soccer-star-returns-san-jose\">helping kick-start\u003c/a> her passion for soccer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The community works hard to make sure younger generations know their heritage, Hawi Desda said. Growing up in East Palo Alto, she would travel across the Bay Area to different religious and athletic events led by other Ethiopian families. Now, Desda lives in San José and was attending the Enkutatash celebration with friends she met at church. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s so many events for folks growing up within the diaspora that don’t have access to what’s happening back in Ethiopia,” she said. “Shout out to our community for creating such spaces for young people to be in community with each other.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘Like home away from home’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For more than 40 years, the Bay Area has been home to this thriving Ethiopian community that reflects the country’s immense cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Many families who first moved to the region in the ’80s and ’90s were fleeing Ethiopia’s civil war and found economic opportunities in Silicon Valley, building the electronic components for personal computers during the first dot-com boom. Other families brought with them cherished family recipes and opened restaurants, helping to make the Bay Area one of the country’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13905230/zeni-ethiopian-restaurant-san-jose\">top hubs for Ethiopian cuisine\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Even folks visiting from far away were impressed by Sunday’s celebrations. “It’s like home away from home,” said Samry Derje, who was visiting San José from northern Virginia, part of the greater Washington, D.C., metropolitan area — another \u003ca href=\"https://wamu.org/story/16/04/21/how_did_the_dc_region_become_home_to_the_largest_population_of_ethiopians_in_the_us/\">major Ethiopian enclave\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-9 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12099604\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00258_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099604\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00258_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00258_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00258_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Genet Hailegiogirgis and her daughter pose for a portrait wearing matching outfits at an Ethiopian New Year celebration at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12099601\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00006_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099601\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00006_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00006_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00006_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Alex Feke (left) and his daughters pose for a portrait with the Ethiopian flag at an Ethiopian New Year celebration at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to city officials, there are more than 25,000 people of Ethiopian origin living in San José. Across Santa Clara County, that number is estimated to rise to over 30,000. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What I love about the community is how tight-knit it is,” said San José Mayor Matt Mahan, who also spoke at the celebration. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Many of us in America live much more isolated lives, and the sense of community and the way that people care for each other is really beautiful,” he added. “There’s a lot to learn here.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As the sun started to set over the celebrations, Arena Green East and the Guadalupe River flowing nearby shone with a yellow that rivaled the adey abeba flower.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And as families said their goodbyes and began to leave for home, Haile made sure to remind them: “See you next year!”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Dressed from head to toe in resplendent yellow, Semert Haile passed out flowers as she walked through \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a>’s Arena Green East Park. “Melkam Enkutatash!” she greeted everyone. “Happy Ethiopian New Year!”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And not even the roaring of airplanes taking off from San José Mineta International Airport nearby was enough to drown out the sound of music and children’s laughter at this Ethiopian New Year celebration. This Enkutatash event was first held in the South Bay in 1991. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>And not even the roaring of airplanes taking off from San José Mineta International Airport nearby was enough to drown out the sound of music and children’s laughter at this Ethiopian New Year celebration. This Enkutatash event was first held in the South Bay in 1991. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Organized by the nonprofit Ethiopian Community Services, Sunday’s celebration drew thousands — both Ethiopian residents and supporters — in a testament to the growing strength of the Ethiopian diaspora in the Bay Area’s biggest city.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-01017_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099609\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Children play together at an Ethiopian New Year celebration at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00295_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099605\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An attendee wears a yellow flower, also known as adey ababa, which blooms during the New Year, on their sleeve at an Ethiopian New Year celebration at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Just like the Western Gregorian calendar, the Ethiopian Ge’ez calendar is \u003ca href=\"https://ethiopianembassy.org/ethiopian-time/\">based on the year\u003c/a> of Jesus Christ’s birth. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Because the Gregorian and Ge’ez calendars differ on Christ’s exact birth year, however, this Enkutatash marks the beginning of the year 2019.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We are seven years behind in Ethiopia,” Haile joked.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Haile was not the only one dressed in yellow on Sunday. Hundreds of families from all over the South Bay showed up wearing shirts, headbands and traditional \u003ca href=\"https://www.pinterest.com/erichick/habesha-dresses/\">habesha dresses\u003c/a> embellished with intricate gold patterns. Many designs feature a yellow flower, similar to those that Haile gave away.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>While it may resemble a sunflower, this is adey abeba — a flower native to Ethiopia that blooms at the end of the rainy summer season, marking both the start of September and the new year.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Back in Ethiopia, the children go door to door giving these flowers as a gift,” Haile reminisced. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It’s been more than 20 years since she left her home in the capital city of Addis Ababa. Coming to California was a great opportunity, she said — but also somewhat of an isolating experience. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“When it’s the New Year, everybody’s together each day. Everyone eats together. The house is warm,” she said. “Here, you have to be invited by other people [to celebrate the New Year].”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That’s why Haile and other leaders of the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://ecssanjose.org/\">Ethiopian Community Services\u003c/a> started a public Enkutatash celebration in San José decades ago. It’s an opportunity for Ethiopians who have recently arrived to meet new people and not experience the same isolation she once felt, Haile said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“When they come to the U.S., they maybe get lost. They miss all their support groups,” she said. “You don’t know what others are going through while they’re trying to adjust to Western culture.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Haile quickly gathered hundreds of children to the stage to sing “Abebayehosh,” a traditional song celebrating the new year in Amharic — one of the many languages spoken in Ethiopia.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The kids who were not on stage were playing soccer nearby in the park. Many are part of Maleda Youth Soccer Club, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091408/maleda-where-san-joses-brightest-soccer-stars-get-started\">created in 2004\u003c/a> by Ethiopian families in the South Bay who wanted a safe place for their kids to both play and learn more about their heritage. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The kids who were not on stage were playing soccer nearby in the park. Many are part of Maleda Youth Soccer Club, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091408/maleda-where-san-joses-brightest-soccer-stars-get-started\">created in 2004\u003c/a> by Ethiopian families in the South Bay who wanted a safe place for their kids to both play and learn more about their heritage. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Among the club’s alumni is professional soccer player Naomi Girma — currently center back for England’s Women’s Super League club Chelsea FC and a strong contender for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. Girma grew up in San José and credits Maleda for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13988410/naomi-girma-us-womens-soccer-star-returns-san-jose\">helping kick-start\u003c/a> her passion for soccer.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The community works hard to make sure younger generations know their heritage, Hawi Desda said. Growing up in East Palo Alto, she would travel across the Bay Area to different religious and athletic events led by other Ethiopian families. Now, Desda lives in San José and was attending the Enkutatash celebration with friends she met at church. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The community works hard to make sure younger generations know their heritage, Hawi Desda said. Growing up in East Palo Alto, she would travel across the Bay Area to different religious and athletic events led by other Ethiopian families. Now, Desda lives in San José and was attending the Enkutatash celebration with friends she met at church. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There’s so many events for folks growing up within the diaspora that don’t have access to what’s happening back in Ethiopia,” she said. “Shout out to our community for creating such spaces for young people to be in community with each other.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For more than 40 years, the Bay Area has been home to this thriving Ethiopian community that reflects the country’s immense cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Even folks visiting from far away were impressed by Sunday’s celebrations. “It’s like home away from home,” said Samry Derje, who was visiting San José from northern Virginia, part of the greater Washington, D.C., metropolitan area — another \u003ca href=\"https://wamu.org/story/16/04/21/how_did_the_dc_region_become_home_to_the_largest_population_of_ethiopians_in_the_us/\">major Ethiopian enclave\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to city officials, there are more than 25,000 people of Ethiopian origin living in San José. Across Santa Clara County, that number is estimated to rise to over 30,000. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“What I love about the community is how tight-knit it is,” said San José Mayor Matt Mahan, who also spoke at the celebration. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Many of us in America live much more isolated lives, and the sense of community and the way that people care for each other is really beautiful,” he added. “There’s a lot to learn here.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As the sun started to set over the celebrations, Arena Green East and the Guadalupe River flowing nearby shone with a yellow that rivaled the adey abeba flower.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And as families said their goodbyes and began to leave for home, Haile made sure to remind them: “See you next year!”\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Thousands showed up to the South Bay’s celebration this weekend, with plenty of music, soccer and adey abeba — the flower traditionally used to mark the occasion.\n",
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"title": "‘Melkam Enkutatash!’ San José Welcomes the Ethiopian New Year | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Dressed from head to toe in resplendent yellow, Semert Haile passed out flowers as she walked through \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a>’s Arena Green East Park. “Melkam Enkutatash!” she greeted everyone. “Happy Ethiopian New Year!”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And not even the roaring of airplanes taking off from San José Mineta International Airport nearby was enough to drown out the sound of music and children’s laughter at this Ethiopian New Year celebration. This Enkutatash event was first held in the South Bay in 1991. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Organized by the nonprofit Ethiopian Community Services, Sunday’s celebration drew thousands — both Ethiopian residents and supporters — in a testament to the growing strength of the Ethiopian diaspora in the Bay Area’s biggest city.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-01017_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099609\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-01017_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-01017_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-01017_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Children play together at an Ethiopian New Year celebration at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-7 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12099605\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00295_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099605\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00295_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00295_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00295_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An attendee wears a yellow flower, also known as adey ababa, which blooms during the New Year, on their sleeve at an Ethiopian New Year celebration at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12099602\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00069_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099602\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00069_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00069_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00069_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Children play soccer at an Ethiopian New Year celebration at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Just like the Western Gregorian calendar, the Ethiopian Ge’ez calendar is \u003ca href=\"https://ethiopianembassy.org/ethiopian-time/\">based on the year\u003c/a> of Jesus Christ’s birth. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Because the Gregorian and Ge’ez calendars differ on Christ’s exact birth year, however, this Enkutatash marks the beginning of the year 2019.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We are seven years behind in Ethiopia,” Haile joked.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘Shout out to our community’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Haile was not the only one dressed in yellow on Sunday. Hundreds of families from all over the South Bay showed up wearing shirts, headbands and traditional \u003ca href=\"https://www.pinterest.com/erichick/habesha-dresses/\">habesha dresses\u003c/a> embellished with intricate gold patterns. Many designs feature a yellow flower, similar to those that Haile gave away.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While it may resemble a sunflower, this is adey abeba — a flower native to Ethiopia that blooms at the end of the rainy summer season, marking both the start of September and the new year.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Back in Ethiopia, the children go door to door giving these flowers as a gift,” Haile reminisced. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00113_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099603\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00113_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00113_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00113_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Semert Haile poses for a portrait at an Ethiopian New Year celebration at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-8 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12099607\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00638_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099607\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00638_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00638_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00638_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A child waves an adey ababa flower during a singing performance at an Ethiopian New Year celebration at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12099606\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00516_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099606\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00516_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00516_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00516_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Children celebrate Ethiopian New Year on a stage at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s been more than 20 years since she left her home in the capital city of Addis Ababa. Coming to California was a great opportunity, she said — but also somewhat of an isolating experience. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When it’s the New Year, everybody’s together each day. Everyone eats together. The house is warm,” she said. “Here, you have to be invited by other people [to celebrate the New Year].”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That’s why Haile and other leaders of the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://ecssanjose.org/\">Ethiopian Community Services\u003c/a> started a public Enkutatash celebration in San José decades ago. It’s an opportunity for Ethiopians who have recently arrived to meet new people and not experience the same isolation she once felt, Haile said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When they come to the U.S., they maybe get lost. They miss all their support groups,” she said. “You don’t know what others are going through while they’re trying to adjust to Western culture.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Haile quickly gathered hundreds of children to the stage to sing “Abebayehosh,” a traditional song celebrating the new year in Amharic — one of the many languages spoken in Ethiopia.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The kids who were not on stage were playing soccer nearby in the park. Many are part of Maleda Youth Soccer Club, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091408/maleda-where-san-joses-brightest-soccer-stars-get-started\">created in 2004\u003c/a> by Ethiopian families in the South Bay who wanted a safe place for their kids to both play and learn more about their heritage. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Among the club’s alumni is professional soccer player Naomi Girma — currently center back for England’s Women’s Super League club Chelsea FC and a strong contender for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. Girma grew up in San José and credits Maleda for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13988410/naomi-girma-us-womens-soccer-star-returns-san-jose\">helping kick-start\u003c/a> her passion for soccer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The community works hard to make sure younger generations know their heritage, Hawi Desda said. Growing up in East Palo Alto, she would travel across the Bay Area to different religious and athletic events led by other Ethiopian families. Now, Desda lives in San José and was attending the Enkutatash celebration with friends she met at church. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s so many events for folks growing up within the diaspora that don’t have access to what’s happening back in Ethiopia,” she said. “Shout out to our community for creating such spaces for young people to be in community with each other.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘Like home away from home’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For more than 40 years, the Bay Area has been home to this thriving Ethiopian community that reflects the country’s immense cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Many families who first moved to the region in the ’80s and ’90s were fleeing Ethiopia’s civil war and found economic opportunities in Silicon Valley, building the electronic components for personal computers during the first dot-com boom. Other families brought with them cherished family recipes and opened restaurants, helping to make the Bay Area one of the country’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13905230/zeni-ethiopian-restaurant-san-jose\">top hubs for Ethiopian cuisine\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Even folks visiting from far away were impressed by Sunday’s celebrations. “It’s like home away from home,” said Samry Derje, who was visiting San José from northern Virginia, part of the greater Washington, D.C., metropolitan area — another \u003ca href=\"https://wamu.org/story/16/04/21/how_did_the_dc_region_become_home_to_the_largest_population_of_ethiopians_in_the_us/\">major Ethiopian enclave\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-9 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12099604\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00258_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099604\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00258_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00258_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00258_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Genet Hailegiogirgis and her daughter pose for a portrait wearing matching outfits at an Ethiopian New Year celebration at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12099601\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00006_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099601\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00006_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00006_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260913-ethiopiannewyear-00006_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Alex Feke (left) and his daughters pose for a portrait with the Ethiopian flag at an Ethiopian New Year celebration at Guadalupe River Park in San José on Sept. 13, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to city officials, there are more than 25,000 people of Ethiopian origin living in San José. Across Santa Clara County, that number is estimated to rise to over 30,000. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What I love about the community is how tight-knit it is,” said San José Mayor Matt Mahan, who also spoke at the celebration. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Many of us in America live much more isolated lives, and the sense of community and the way that people care for each other is really beautiful,” he added. “There’s a lot to learn here.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As the sun started to set over the celebrations, Arena Green East and the Guadalupe River flowing nearby shone with a yellow that rivaled the adey abeba flower.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And as families said their goodbyes and began to leave for home, Haile made sure to remind them: “See you next year!”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "going-to-portola-music-festival-2026-what-to-know-from-bag-policy-to-parking",
"title": "Going to Portola Music Festival 2026? What to Know: From Bag Policy to Parking",
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"headTitle": "Going to Portola Music Festival 2026? What to Know: From Bag Policy to Parking | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13990263/portola-festival-lineup-2026-robyn-zara-larsson-four-tet\">coming back to San Francisco\u003c/a> on Sept. 26 and 27, with a lineup that includes Zara Larsson, Robyn, Kelela, Fatboy Slim and Swedish House Mafia.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While the festival itself is a relatively new addition to San Francisco’s musical calendar, it attracts \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/travel-updates/portola-music-festival-september-28-29-2024\">crowds of around 45,000 people\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Our guide \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12054345/portola-music-festival-2025-sf-lineup-bag-policy-pier-80-parking\">last year\u003c/a> highlighted KQED’s own media and marketing campaigns manager, Emma Yee, who has attended the Portola Music Festival every year since it launched in 2022. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240928_Portola_EG_34_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097016\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240928_Portola_EG_34_qed-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240928_Portola_EG_34_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240928_Portola_EG_34_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Warren Manio, 36, sits on top of his friend’s shoulders as Natasha Bedingfield performs at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sept. 28, 2024. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yee said that for her, what sets this event apart from the more well-known festivals like Outside Lands and Stern Grove is its industrial-feeling Pier 80 warehouse location near the Dogpatch District.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s in between a big naval ship and a big crane,” she said, and for her this “bare-bones” aesthetic makes Portola’s lineup — which includes EDM, alternative and pop acts — all the more enjoyable. “It has a very specific curated taste that’s kind of hard to encapsulate, but it all kind of somehow works together.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you’ve already got tickets to the Portola Music Festival — or are contemplating buying them — keep reading for our guide to everything you need to know about attending, with insider tips on what to bring, advice for first-timers, road closures, public transportation options and more. Keep in mind, some details — like food and transit details — have not yet been released for this year’s festival and are likely to be published closer to the date. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When and where is the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival spans a whole weekend: Saturday, Sept. 26, and Sunday, Sept. 27. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Doors open at 1 p.m. each day, and music ends around 11 p.m. The entrance to the event is at \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">900 Marin St. in San Francisco\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can view the entire festival lineup — and the set times — on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/set-times/\">Portola Music Festival’s website\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>KQED Arts also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13990263/portola-festival-lineup-2026-robyn-zara-larsson-four-tet\">highlighted key performers\u003c/a> who are set to appear at the festival.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Along with the weekend festival, there is also \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/portola-week/\">Portola Week,\u003c/a> which hosts a wide range of acts. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Many of the lineup performers will \u003cem>also\u003c/em> be playing during Portola Week — so if there is a conflict and you can’t make it to a performance during a festival — or couldn’t get tickets at all — you \u003cem>may \u003c/em>be able to catch them at another venue if you move fast.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Check out the schedule and secure tickets for \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/portola-week/\">Portola Week on the festival’s website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can I still get tickets to the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As of publication, \u003ca href=\"https://www.axs.com/festivals/1455602?mkt_campaign=&queueittoken=e_4810573852172~q_883a51b7-df79-45ca-a85b-f8598a924e9f~ts_1788454070~ce_true~rt_safetynet~h_44961655dfd2af3f1c796de9dcc2614e2d36506c01c01cd8cadd7635c082197b\">passes to the Portola Music Festival — including VIP packages — were still available on AXS\u003c/a>. Remember, the event is for ages 21+ only.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/passes/\">festival’s website\u003c/a> warns people \u003cem>not\u003c/em> to buy passes from a third party, and that organizers “won’t service, authenticate or support passes” purchased from a third party or scalper. If you decide to forge ahead with buying a third-party ticket, Portola organizers also note that receipts and order confirmations can be faked or forged, so “don’t be fooled.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What should I know about the Portola Music Festival’s Pier 80 venue?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Plan for poor phone service\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A pro tip from Yee: She advised you to make sure that your tickets are already loaded on the \u003ca href=\"https://support.axs.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002034107-What-is-AXS-Mobile-ID\">AXS Mobile app\u003c/a> you used to purchase them, or are waiting in your phone’s wallet app — because the cell signal at Pier 80 is not super strong, and you might not be able to do this in line. Consider also bringing a portable charger, she said, which is \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#what-can-i-bring\">allowed at this festival\u003c/a> (some venues prohibit them).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you are going with a group of people and you decide to split up, establish a meeting spot where you can get together again — in case your messages are slow to send.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/250920_Portola_day1_GH-32_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098827\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/250920_Portola_day1_GH-32_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/250920_Portola_day1_GH-32_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/250920_Portola_day1_GH-32_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Christina Aguilera performs on the Pier Stage at Portola Festival in San Francisco, on Sept. 20, 2025. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Don’t rely on cash\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival is \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/general-info/#general-info\">a cashless event\u003c/a>, but any cash you do bring can be converted to a prepaid Visa Card at a Guest Service booth.\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Prepare to move around …\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While the Pier 80 venue is on “the smaller side” as festivals go, noted Yee, it also has a lot of “open space” that makes it relatively easy to jump from stage to stage. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That said, usual festival rules apply: If you want to get a good spot for a set, be sure to get to that stage early to avoid a mass of people. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But also be aware of your own health and bodily needs — KQED has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093415/the-no-judgement-guide-to-not-passing-out-at-a-concert-and-other-concert-health-tips\">a thorough guide on concert health\u003c/a> that tackles fainting, dehydration, standing in the heat and the all-encompassing festival-goer’s mission of avoiding the dreaded port-a-potties.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Also, be prepared to move around a stage a little, advised Yee, as the volume of Portola sets can range widely from extremely loud (earplugs are recommended) to “on the quiet side” — especially the stages near the water.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_77_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098828\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_77_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_77_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_77_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A festival attendee wears light-up fur leg warmers at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sept. 29, 2024. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">… and dress for comfort (and variable temperatures)\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Over the years, Portola organizers have added blue astroturf and floor mats to make standing on Pier 80’s concrete easier on your knees and feet — but you should still plan on wearing very comfortable shoes. You’ll also find some seating and water stations around the venue.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Be sure to check \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.7335&lon=-122.392\">the National Weather Service\u003c/a> ahead of the festival to know what to wear. Yee advised that while the warehouse stage in particular gets very warm, the temperature can drop significantly at night. Pier 80’s waterfront location can also make for a lot of wind around the open-air stages. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The event will happen \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/general-info/#general-info\">rain or shine\u003c/a> and has \u003ca href=\"https://portolamusicfestival.com/faq/\">indoor and outdoor sets\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_04_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12054356\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_04_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_04_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_04_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andie Romero, 30, uses a parasol decorated with colorful charms to protect herself from the sun at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sept. 28, 2024. Romero, a festival enthusiast, has taken the parasol with her to countless festivals, considers it a staple, and has repaired it each time a charm falls off. “It’s been through a lot,” she said. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cem>Don’t \u003c/em>plan on in-and-out privileges\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Once you enter the venue, you cannot reenter on the same day — so don’t park somewhere you’ll need to feed a meter.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Know what you’ll do in a crowd situation\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Portola is a 21+ festival, which you may find makes this crowd feel a little less rowdy than other concerts and festivals, Yee said. If you’re among the people who’ve expressed \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/04/bad-behaviour-at-concerts-normalised-experts-say\">concern\u003c/a> about \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/2023-concert-etiquette-guide-1234740935/\">concert etiquette\u003c/a> devolving since the pandemic — a phenomenon which even has its \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_abuse_in_the_2020s\">own Wikipedia page\u003c/a> — this might be music to your ears.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It will be crowded, though, with an expected attendance of 45,000 people. If you are the type of person to get overwhelmed in a busy place, take a look at NPR’s full guide on what to do if you find yourself caught in \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053828800/south-korea-seoul-halloween-crowd-safety-tips\">a crowd crush\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to Mehdi Moussaïd, a research scientist in Berlin who studies crowd behavior, rely on your instincts and senses if you feel like the crowd is getting too dense. If you get stuck in a crush, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053828800/south-korea-seoul-halloween-crowd-safety-tips\">move with the crowd and put your arms out\u003c/a> in front of your chest and hold them there, he told NPR in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What’s the bag policy at the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival has an \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#what-can-i-bring\">extensive list\u003c/a> of what you can and cannot bring to Pier 80. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Be sure to read closely, because some classic rave attire, like toys or LED gloves, may not be allowed. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_74_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098832\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_74_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_74_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_74_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Justice performs at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Just a few of the items prohibited under the Portola Music Festival policy include: \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Non-clear bags larger than 4.5’’ x 6.5’’ x 1.5’’ \u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Masks (although medical face coverings to protect against COVID, like N95 masks, are allowed)\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Aerosol products, including sunscreen\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Outside food or drinks\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Flags and flyers\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Flashlights and glow sticks\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Chain wallets and chains\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Airhorns \u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Audio recording devices, drones, laptops, tablets, selfie sticks and professional cameras\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Chairs, coolers, hammocks, tents and wagons/wheeled carts\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Drugs\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Pets (although service animals are allowed)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_59_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12054358\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_59_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_59_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_59_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thousands of people dance as Disclosure performs at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sept. 29, 2024. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival’s website also said that there can be no “VHS copies of \u003cem>Mrs. Doubtfire\u003c/em> (1993) starring Robin Williams and Sally Field with a supporting performance by Pierce Brosnan who really did nothing wrong despite being the film’s primary antagonist.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This reporter cannot verify what will happen if you do bring a copy of the San Francisco classic.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can see the full list of allowed items \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/general-info/\">on the Portola website\u003c/a>, including empty water bottles 64 ounces or less, phones and chargers (although charging lockers are also \u003ca href=\"https://www.tixr.com/groups/lockandrock/events/portola-music-festival-2026-charging-locker-rentals-192214\">available\u003c/a>) and breast pumps and stored breast milk or formula. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is there food at the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Food, alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic drinks are available at the festival, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#food-drink\">a list of vendors found on the website\u003c/a> including:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Señor Sisig\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Saigon Sandwich\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Noodle Boys\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Bodega SF\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Humphry Slocombe\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Love Burn Hot Chicken\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Sunrise Deli\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There will be vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are also free water refill stations at the site.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is there parking at the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Festival officials highly recommend that you \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">\u003cem>not\u003c/em> drive\u003c/a> to the event, since there is no designated parking available at Pier 80. There is also no designated ADA parking.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you do end up driving, you may be able to find parking in the Dogpatch near Pier 80 by using \u003ca href=\"https://spothero.com/\">third-party apps like SpotHero\u003c/a>. Be careful not to block driveways and sidewalks, unless you’d like to return to find your car towed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_40_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098842\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_40_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_40_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_40_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gesaffelstein performs at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Some Caltrain stations — although \u003ca href=\"https://www.caltrain.com/station/22ndstreet\">not the ones closest to Pier 80\u003c/a> — have \u003ca href=\"https://www.caltrain.com/rider-information/parking\">parking for around $5.50\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Remember, break-ins are common in the Bay, so leave nothing visible in your vehicle. Never leave any electronics, like laptops, in your vehicle, even if you think they’re hidden. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Read KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959799/how-to-avoid-a-car-break-in-bay-area\">full guide\u003c/a> to reducing your chances of suffering a car break-in in San Francisco (and if you’re unlucky enough to have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959477/car-break-ins-bay-area-glass-repair-what-to-do\">your car broken into\u003c/a>, our guide to how to claim the costs of window repair and stolen items from your insurance).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are the closest public transit options to the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Here are the available public transit options. To avoid getting stranded, be sure to check when your last train or bus leaves. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">BART and shuttles\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you take BART to the 24th Street station in San Francisco’s Mission District, you can walk to the intersection of Valencia Street and 24th Street to take Portola’s free shuttle to Pier 80. You can plan your journey by using \u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/planner\">BART’s Trip Planner\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Free Shuttles \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">will consistently run\u003c/a> between Pier 80 and 24th Street from 12:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. People will be picked up at the corner of 24th Street and Valencia Street.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:ada.portola@goldenvoice.com\">ada.portola@goldenvoice.com\u003c/a> ahead of time to secure a spot on the festival’s accessible shuttles.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/022626_BARTFile_GH_003_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/022626_BARTFile_GH_003_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/022626_BARTFile_GH_003_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/022626_BARTFile_GH_003_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A BART train arrives as riders wait on the platform at the 24th Street Mission Station in San Francisco on Feb. 26, 2026. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">SF Muni\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Figure out your route by using \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/trip-planner\">SFMTA’s Trip Planner\u003c/a>.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">the music festival’s website\u003c/a>, your options for getting to the events are:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>T Third Train: From the Powell Street BART Station, walk to the Union Square/Market Street Station and board Muni’s T Third line toward Sunnydale. Get off at the intersection of Third Street and Marin Street, just a block from Pier 80.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Route 48 Quintara: Exit at the intersection of 23rd Street and Third Street and walk 10 minutes to Pier 80.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Route 19 Polk: Exit at the intersection of Connecticut Street and Cesar Chavez Street and walk 10 minutes to Pier 80.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Route 15 Bayview Hunters Point Express: Exit at the intersection of Third Street and Marin Street, two blocks from Pier 80.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When leaving the event, the options are:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>T Third Train at the Third Street & 23rd Street Station or Third Street & Evans Avenue Station.\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Keep in mind that the platform at Third Street and Marin Street will be temporarily unavailable from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m., according to the website. \u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>The trains will stop at the Union Square-Market Street Station, where you can walk to the Powell Street BART Station, Market Street bus routes or AC Transit Transbay Bus Service. The Union Square-Market Street Station, Chinatown Station and Yerba Buena/Moscone stations will stay open late until 1 a.m.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Route 48 Quintara runs 24/7 and connects to the 24th Street BART Station. Board at the intersection of 23rd Street and Third Street. Buses run every 20 minutes before 11:30 p.m. and every 30 minutes after 11:30 p.m.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Route 91 OWL is an overnight route connecting Pier 80 to Ocean Avenue, West Portal, and 19th Street.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-TRANSITRIDERSHIPREBOUND00197_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12081645\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-TRANSITRIDERSHIPREBOUND00197_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-TRANSITRIDERSHIPREBOUND00197_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-TRANSITRIDERSHIPREBOUND00197_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Trains are stationed at the Caltrain station on King Street and Fourth Street in San Francisco on April 27, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Caltrain\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The closest Caltrain station is the 22nd Street Station, which is about a mile walk from Pier 80. Keep in mind, this stop does not have elevator service.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can plan your trip on \u003ca href=\"http://www.caltrain.com/\">Caltrain’s website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Biking\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There is \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">no valet service\u003c/a> this year. There are several nearby bike racks that you can find on SFMTA’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/maps/san-francisco-bike-network-map\">Bike Network Map\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can also check out \u003ca href=\"https://bikesharemap.com/sanfrancisco/\">Bay Wheels stations\u003c/a> around Pier 80. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can use the promo code PORTOLA26 to get $5 off a ride when using a Lyft Bike.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where can I get picked up and dropped off by rideshare services?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">pick-up and drop-off location\u003c/a> for rideshare services like Lyft and Uber is located at \u003ca href=\"https://pier70sf.com/\">Pier 70\u003c/a>. Expect traffic delays and accompanying surge prices on apps like Uber and Lyft.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What do I need to know about accessibility at the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There is \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/ada/\">no pre-registration for accessibility\u003c/a>. Instead, you’ll have to register onsite at the event itself, at the two Accessibility Services Hubs near the Box Office at the entrance and inside the venue. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the hub, you can get help registering your service animal, getting an Assisted Listening Device System and getting an accessibility wristband. Do not take off the wristband during the festival weekend. A companion can also get a wristband.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_10_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098847\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_10_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_10_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_10_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Emilio Arias, 36, wears a Victorian-style wig at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to the festival’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/ada/\">website\u003c/a>, “The venue is navigable for people with mobility disabilities. The event is held on primarily cement terrain.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The festival will not be able to provide transportation between stages, but can provide some guidance on navigating routes at the hubs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival website has \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/ada/\">a page on its accessibility policies\u003c/a>, as well as a contact if you have more questions: \u003ca href=\"mailto:ada.portola@goldenvoice.com\">ada.portola@goldenvoice.com\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13990263/portola-festival-lineup-2026-robyn-zara-larsson-four-tet\">coming back to San Francisco\u003c/a> on Sept. 26 and 27, with a lineup that includes Zara Larsson, Robyn, Kelela, Fatboy Slim and Swedish House Mafia.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13990263/portola-festival-lineup-2026-robyn-zara-larsson-four-tet\">coming back to San Francisco\u003c/a> on Sept. 26 and 27, with a lineup that includes Zara Larsson, Robyn, Kelela, Fatboy Slim and Swedish House Mafia.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>While the festival itself is a relatively new addition to San Francisco’s musical calendar, it attracts \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/travel-updates/portola-music-festival-september-28-29-2024\">crowds of around 45,000 people\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>While the festival itself is a relatively new addition to San Francisco’s musical calendar, it attracts \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/travel-updates/portola-music-festival-september-28-29-2024\">crowds of around 45,000 people\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Our guide \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12054345/portola-music-festival-2025-sf-lineup-bag-policy-pier-80-parking\">last year\u003c/a> highlighted KQED’s own media and marketing campaigns manager, Emma Yee, who has attended the Portola Music Festival every year since it launched in 2022. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Our guide \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12054345/portola-music-festival-2025-sf-lineup-bag-policy-pier-80-parking\">last year\u003c/a> highlighted KQED’s own media and marketing campaigns manager, Emma Yee, who has attended the Portola Music Festival every year since it launched in 2022. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240928_Portola_EG_34_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097016\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240928_Portola_EG_34_qed-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240928_Portola_EG_34_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240928_Portola_EG_34_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Warren Manio, 36, sits on top of his friend’s shoulders as Natasha Bedingfield performs at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sept. 28, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240928_Portola_EG_34_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097016\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Warren Manio, 36, sits on top of his friend’s shoulders as Natasha Bedingfield performs at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sept. 28, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Yee said that for her, what sets this event apart from the more well-known festivals like Outside Lands and Stern Grove is its industrial-feeling Pier 80 warehouse location near the Dogpatch District.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Yee said that for her, what sets this event apart from the more well-known festivals like Outside Lands and Stern Grove is its industrial-feeling Pier 80 warehouse location near the Dogpatch District.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s in between a big naval ship and a big crane,” she said, and for her this “bare-bones” aesthetic makes Portola’s lineup — which includes EDM, alternative and pop acts — all the more enjoyable. “It has a very specific curated taste that’s kind of hard to encapsulate, but it all kind of somehow works together.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It’s in between a big naval ship and a big crane,” she said, and for her this “bare-bones” aesthetic makes Portola’s lineup — which includes EDM, alternative and pop acts — all the more enjoyable. “It has a very specific curated taste that’s kind of hard to encapsulate, but it all kind of somehow works together.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If you’ve already got tickets to the Portola Music Festival — or are contemplating buying them — keep reading for our guide to everything you need to know about attending, with insider tips on what to bring, advice for first-timers, road closures, public transportation options and more. Keep in mind, some details — like food and transit details — have not yet been released for this year’s festival and are likely to be published closer to the date. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If you’ve already got tickets to the Portola Music Festival — or are contemplating buying them — keep reading for our guide to everything you need to know about attending, with insider tips on what to bring, advice for first-timers, road closures, public transportation options and more. Keep in mind, some details — like food and transit details — have not yet been released for this year’s festival and are likely to be published closer to the date. \u003c/p>\n"
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"text": "When and where is the Portola Music Festival?",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When and where is the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival spans a whole weekend: Saturday, Sept. 26, and Sunday, Sept. 27. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Doors open at 1 p.m. each day, and music ends around 11 p.m. The entrance to the event is at \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">900 Marin St. in San Francisco\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Doors open at 1 p.m. each day, and music ends around 11 p.m. The entrance to the event is at \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">900 Marin St. in San Francisco\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>You can view the entire festival lineup — and the set times — on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/set-times/\">Portola Music Festival’s website\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>You can view the entire festival lineup — and the set times — on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/set-times/\">Portola Music Festival’s website\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>KQED Arts also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13990263/portola-festival-lineup-2026-robyn-zara-larsson-four-tet\">highlighted key performers\u003c/a> who are set to appear at the festival.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>KQED Arts also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13990263/portola-festival-lineup-2026-robyn-zara-larsson-four-tet\">highlighted key performers\u003c/a> who are set to appear at the festival.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Along with the weekend festival, there is also \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/portola-week/\">Portola Week,\u003c/a> which hosts a wide range of acts. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Along with the weekend festival, there is also \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/portola-week/\">Portola Week,\u003c/a> which hosts a wide range of acts. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Many of the lineup performers will \u003cem>also\u003c/em> be playing during Portola Week — so if there is a conflict and you can’t make it to a performance during a festival — or couldn’t get tickets at all — you \u003cem>may \u003c/em>be able to catch them at another venue if you move fast.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Many of the lineup performers will \u003cem>also\u003c/em> be playing during Portola Week — so if there is a conflict and you can’t make it to a performance during a festival — or couldn’t get tickets at all — you \u003cem>may \u003c/em>be able to catch them at another venue if you move fast.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Check out the schedule and secure tickets for \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/portola-week/\">Portola Week on the festival’s website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Check out the schedule and secure tickets for \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/portola-week/\">Portola Week on the festival’s website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Can I still get tickets to the Portola Music Festival?",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can I still get tickets to the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As of publication, \u003ca href=\"https://www.axs.com/festivals/1455602?mkt_campaign=&queueittoken=e_4810573852172~q_883a51b7-df79-45ca-a85b-f8598a924e9f~ts_1788454070~ce_true~rt_safetynet~h_44961655dfd2af3f1c796de9dcc2614e2d36506c01c01cd8cadd7635c082197b\">passes to the Portola Music Festival — including VIP packages — were still available on AXS\u003c/a>. Remember, the event is for ages 21+ only.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>As of publication, \u003ca href=\"https://www.axs.com/festivals/1455602?mkt_campaign=&queueittoken=e_4810573852172~q_883a51b7-df79-45ca-a85b-f8598a924e9f~ts_1788454070~ce_true~rt_safetynet~h_44961655dfd2af3f1c796de9dcc2614e2d36506c01c01cd8cadd7635c082197b\">passes to the Portola Music Festival — including VIP packages — were still available on AXS\u003c/a>. Remember, the event is for ages 21+ only.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/passes/\">festival’s website\u003c/a> warns people \u003cem>not\u003c/em> to buy passes from a third party, and that organizers “won’t service, authenticate or support passes” purchased from a third party or scalper. If you decide to forge ahead with buying a third-party ticket, Portola organizers also note that receipts and order confirmations can be faked or forged, so “don’t be fooled.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/passes/\">festival’s website\u003c/a> warns people \u003cem>not\u003c/em> to buy passes from a third party, and that organizers “won’t service, authenticate or support passes” purchased from a third party or scalper. If you decide to forge ahead with buying a third-party ticket, Portola organizers also note that receipts and order confirmations can be faked or forged, so “don’t be fooled.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "What should I know about the Portola Music Festival’s Pier 80 venue?",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What should I know about the Portola Music Festival’s Pier 80 venue?\u003c/h2>\n",
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"attrs": {
"level": 3,
"text": "Plan for poor phone service"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Plan for poor phone service\u003c/h3>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A pro tip from Yee: She advised you to make sure that your tickets are already loaded on the \u003ca href=\"https://support.axs.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002034107-What-is-AXS-Mobile-ID\">AXS Mobile app\u003c/a> you used to purchase them, or are waiting in your phone’s wallet app — because the cell signal at Pier 80 is not super strong, and you might not be able to do this in line. Consider also bringing a portable charger, she said, which is \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#what-can-i-bring\">allowed at this festival\u003c/a> (some venues prohibit them).\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>A pro tip from Yee: She advised you to make sure that your tickets are already loaded on the \u003ca href=\"https://support.axs.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002034107-What-is-AXS-Mobile-ID\">AXS Mobile app\u003c/a> you used to purchase them, or are waiting in your phone’s wallet app — because the cell signal at Pier 80 is not super strong, and you might not be able to do this in line. Consider also bringing a portable charger, she said, which is \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#what-can-i-bring\">allowed at this festival\u003c/a> (some venues prohibit them).\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If you are going with a group of people and you decide to split up, establish a meeting spot where you can get together again — in case your messages are slow to send.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If you are going with a group of people and you decide to split up, establish a meeting spot where you can get together again — in case your messages are slow to send.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/250920_Portola_day1_GH-32_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098827\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/250920_Portola_day1_GH-32_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/250920_Portola_day1_GH-32_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/250920_Portola_day1_GH-32_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Christina Aguilera performs on the Pier Stage at Portola Festival in San Francisco, on Sept. 20, 2025.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/250920_Portola_day1_GH-32_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098827\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Christina Aguilera performs on the Pier Stage at Portola Festival in San Francisco, on Sept. 20, 2025.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"text": "Don’t rely on cash"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival is \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/general-info/#general-info\">a cashless event\u003c/a>, but any cash you do bring can be converted to a prepaid Visa Card at a Guest Service booth.\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival is \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/general-info/#general-info\">a cashless event\u003c/a>, but any cash you do bring can be converted to a prepaid Visa Card at a Guest Service booth.\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>While the Pier 80 venue is on “the smaller side” as festivals go, noted Yee, it also has a lot of “open space” that makes it relatively easy to jump from stage to stage. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>While the Pier 80 venue is on “the smaller side” as festivals go, noted Yee, it also has a lot of “open space” that makes it relatively easy to jump from stage to stage. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That said, usual festival rules apply: If you want to get a good spot for a set, be sure to get to that stage early to avoid a mass of people. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>That said, usual festival rules apply: If you want to get a good spot for a set, be sure to get to that stage early to avoid a mass of people. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But also be aware of your own health and bodily needs — KQED has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093415/the-no-judgement-guide-to-not-passing-out-at-a-concert-and-other-concert-health-tips\">a thorough guide on concert health\u003c/a> that tackles fainting, dehydration, standing in the heat and the all-encompassing festival-goer’s mission of avoiding the dreaded port-a-potties.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>But also be aware of your own health and bodily needs — KQED has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093415/the-no-judgement-guide-to-not-passing-out-at-a-concert-and-other-concert-health-tips\">a thorough guide on concert health\u003c/a> that tackles fainting, dehydration, standing in the heat and the all-encompassing festival-goer’s mission of avoiding the dreaded port-a-potties.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Also, be prepared to move around a stage a little, advised Yee, as the volume of Portola sets can range widely from extremely loud (earplugs are recommended) to “on the quiet side” — especially the stages near the water.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Also, be prepared to move around a stage a little, advised Yee, as the volume of Portola sets can range widely from extremely loud (earplugs are recommended) to “on the quiet side” — especially the stages near the water.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_77_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098828\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_77_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_77_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_77_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A festival attendee wears light-up fur leg warmers at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sept. 29, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_77_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098828\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A festival attendee wears light-up fur leg warmers at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sept. 29, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Over the years, Portola organizers have added blue astroturf and floor mats to make standing on Pier 80’s concrete easier on your knees and feet — but you should still plan on wearing very comfortable shoes. You’ll also find some seating and water stations around the venue.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Over the years, Portola organizers have added blue astroturf and floor mats to make standing on Pier 80’s concrete easier on your knees and feet — but you should still plan on wearing very comfortable shoes. You’ll also find some seating and water stations around the venue.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Be sure to check \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.7335&lon=-122.392\">the National Weather Service\u003c/a> ahead of the festival to know what to wear. Yee advised that while the warehouse stage in particular gets very warm, the temperature can drop significantly at night. Pier 80’s waterfront location can also make for a lot of wind around the open-air stages. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Be sure to check \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.7335&lon=-122.392\">the National Weather Service\u003c/a> ahead of the festival to know what to wear. Yee advised that while the warehouse stage in particular gets very warm, the temperature can drop significantly at night. Pier 80’s waterfront location can also make for a lot of wind around the open-air stages. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The event will happen \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/general-info/#general-info\">rain or shine\u003c/a> and has \u003ca href=\"https://portolamusicfestival.com/faq/\">indoor and outdoor sets\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The event will happen \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/general-info/#general-info\">rain or shine\u003c/a> and has \u003ca href=\"https://portolamusicfestival.com/faq/\">indoor and outdoor sets\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_04_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12054356\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_04_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_04_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_04_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andie Romero, 30, uses a parasol decorated with colorful charms to protect herself from the sun at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sept. 28, 2024. Romero, a festival enthusiast, has taken the parasol with her to countless festivals, considers it a staple, and has repaired it each time a charm falls off. “It’s been through a lot,” she said.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_04_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12054356\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andie Romero, 30, uses a parasol decorated with colorful charms to protect herself from the sun at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sept. 28, 2024. Romero, a festival enthusiast, has taken the parasol with her to countless festivals, considers it a staple, and has repaired it each time a charm falls off. “It’s been through a lot,” she said.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
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"text": "Don’t plan on in-and-out privileges"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cem>Don’t \u003c/em>plan on in-and-out privileges\u003c/h3>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cem>Don’t \u003c/em>plan on in-and-out privileges\u003c/h3>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Once you enter the venue, you cannot reenter on the same day — so don’t park somewhere you’ll need to feed a meter.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Once you enter the venue, you cannot reenter on the same day — so don’t park somewhere you’ll need to feed a meter.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"level": 3,
"text": "Know what you’ll do in a crowd situation "
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Know what you’ll do in a crowd situation\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n",
"innerContent": [
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Portola is a 21+ festival, which you may find makes this crowd feel a little less rowdy than other concerts and festivals, Yee said. If you’re among the people who’ve expressed \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/04/bad-behaviour-at-concerts-normalised-experts-say\">concern\u003c/a> about \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/2023-concert-etiquette-guide-1234740935/\">concert etiquette\u003c/a> devolving since the pandemic — a phenomenon which even has its \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_abuse_in_the_2020s\">own Wikipedia page\u003c/a> — this might be music to your ears.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Portola is a 21+ festival, which you may find makes this crowd feel a little less rowdy than other concerts and festivals, Yee said. If you’re among the people who’ve expressed \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/04/bad-behaviour-at-concerts-normalised-experts-say\">concern\u003c/a> about \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/2023-concert-etiquette-guide-1234740935/\">concert etiquette\u003c/a> devolving since the pandemic — a phenomenon which even has its \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_abuse_in_the_2020s\">own Wikipedia page\u003c/a> — this might be music to your ears.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It will be crowded, though, with an expected attendance of 45,000 people. If you are the type of person to get overwhelmed in a busy place, take a look at NPR’s full guide on what to do if you find yourself caught in \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053828800/south-korea-seoul-halloween-crowd-safety-tips\">a crowd crush\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>It will be crowded, though, with an expected attendance of 45,000 people. If you are the type of person to get overwhelmed in a busy place, take a look at NPR’s full guide on what to do if you find yourself caught in \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053828800/south-korea-seoul-halloween-crowd-safety-tips\">a crowd crush\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to Mehdi Moussaïd, a research scientist in Berlin who studies crowd behavior, rely on your instincts and senses if you feel like the crowd is getting too dense. If you get stuck in a crush, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053828800/south-korea-seoul-halloween-crowd-safety-tips\">move with the crowd and put your arms out\u003c/a> in front of your chest and hold them there, he told NPR in 2022.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>According to Mehdi Moussaïd, a research scientist in Berlin who studies crowd behavior, rely on your instincts and senses if you feel like the crowd is getting too dense. If you get stuck in a crush, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053828800/south-korea-seoul-halloween-crowd-safety-tips\">move with the crowd and put your arms out\u003c/a> in front of your chest and hold them there, he told NPR in 2022.\u003c/p>\n"
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{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "What’s the bag policy at the Portola Music Festival?",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What’s the bag policy at the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What’s the bag policy at the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival has an \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#what-can-i-bring\">extensive list\u003c/a> of what you can and cannot bring to Pier 80. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival has an \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#what-can-i-bring\">extensive list\u003c/a> of what you can and cannot bring to Pier 80. \u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Be sure to read closely, because some classic rave attire, like toys or LED gloves, may not be allowed. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Be sure to read closely, because some classic rave attire, like toys or LED gloves, may not be allowed. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_74_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098832\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_74_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_74_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_74_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Justice performs at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_74_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098832\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Justice performs at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Just a few of the items prohibited under the Portola Music Festival policy include: \u003c/p>\n",
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"Non-clear bags larger than 4.5’’ x 6.5’’ x 1.5’’ ",
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"Aerosol products, including sunscreen",
"Outside food or drinks",
"Flags and flyers",
"Flashlights and glow sticks",
"Chain wallets and chains",
"Airhorns ",
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"Drugs",
"Pets (although service animals are allowed)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003c/ul>\n",
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null,
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Non-clear bags larger than 4.5’’ x 6.5’’ x 1.5’’ \u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>Non-clear bags larger than 4.5’’ x 6.5’’ x 1.5’’ \u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Masks (although medical face coverings to protect against COVID, like N95 masks, are allowed)\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>Masks (although medical face coverings to protect against COVID, like N95 masks, are allowed)\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Aerosol products, including sunscreen\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>Aerosol products, including sunscreen\u003c/li>\n"
]
},
{
"blockName": "core/list-item",
"attrs": [],
"innerBlocks": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Outside food or drinks\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>Outside food or drinks\u003c/li>\n"
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},
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Flags and flyers\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>Flags and flyers\u003c/li>\n"
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},
{
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"attrs": [],
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Flashlights and glow sticks\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>Flashlights and glow sticks\u003c/li>\n"
]
},
{
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"attrs": [],
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Chain wallets and chains\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>Chain wallets and chains\u003c/li>\n"
]
},
{
"blockName": "core/list-item",
"attrs": [],
"innerBlocks": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Airhorns \u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>Airhorns \u003c/li>\n"
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},
{
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"attrs": [],
"innerBlocks": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Audio recording devices, drones, laptops, tablets, selfie sticks and professional cameras\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>Audio recording devices, drones, laptops, tablets, selfie sticks and professional cameras\u003c/li>\n"
]
},
{
"blockName": "core/list-item",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Chairs, coolers, hammocks, tents and wagons/wheeled carts\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>Chairs, coolers, hammocks, tents and wagons/wheeled carts\u003c/li>\n"
]
},
{
"blockName": "core/list-item",
"attrs": [],
"innerBlocks": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Drugs\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>Drugs\u003c/li>\n"
]
},
{
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"attrs": [],
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Pets (although service animals are allowed)\u003c/li>\n",
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{
"blockName": "core/image",
"attrs": {
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_59_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_59_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_59_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_59_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12054358\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_59_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_59_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_59_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thousands of people dance as Disclosure performs at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sept. 29, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_59_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12054358\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thousands of people dance as Disclosure performs at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sept. 29, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival’s website also said that there can be no “VHS copies of \u003cem>Mrs. Doubtfire\u003c/em> (1993) starring Robin Williams and Sally Field with a supporting performance by Pierce Brosnan who really did nothing wrong despite being the film’s primary antagonist.”\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival’s website also said that there can be no “VHS copies of \u003cem>Mrs. Doubtfire\u003c/em> (1993) starring Robin Williams and Sally Field with a supporting performance by Pierce Brosnan who really did nothing wrong despite being the film’s primary antagonist.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This reporter cannot verify what will happen if you do bring a copy of the San Francisco classic.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>This reporter cannot verify what will happen if you do bring a copy of the San Francisco classic.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>You can see the full list of allowed items \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/general-info/\">on the Portola website\u003c/a>, including empty water bottles 64 ounces or less, phones and chargers (although charging lockers are also \u003ca href=\"https://www.tixr.com/groups/lockandrock/events/portola-music-festival-2026-charging-locker-rentals-192214\">available\u003c/a>) and breast pumps and stored breast milk or formula. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>You can see the full list of allowed items \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/general-info/\">on the Portola website\u003c/a>, including empty water bottles 64 ounces or less, phones and chargers (although charging lockers are also \u003ca href=\"https://www.tixr.com/groups/lockandrock/events/portola-music-festival-2026-charging-locker-rentals-192214\">available\u003c/a>) and breast pumps and stored breast milk or formula. \u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Is there food at the Portola Music Festival?",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Food, alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic drinks are available at the festival, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#food-drink\">a list of vendors found on the website\u003c/a> including:\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Food, alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic drinks are available at the festival, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#food-drink\">a list of vendors found on the website\u003c/a> including:\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Humphry Slocombe\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Love Burn Hot Chicken\u003c/li>\n",
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"attrs": [],
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Sunrise Deli\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>Sunrise Deli\u003c/li>\n"
]
}
]
},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
"dropCap": false
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There will be vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>There will be vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.\u003c/p>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": []
},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
"dropCap": false
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There are also free water refill stations at the site.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>There are also free water refill stations at the site.\u003c/p>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": []
},
{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Is there parking at the Portola Music Festival?",
"level": 2
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is there parking at the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is there parking at the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": []
},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Festival officials highly recommend that you \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">\u003cem>not\u003c/em> drive\u003c/a> to the event, since there is no designated parking available at Pier 80. There is also no designated ADA parking.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Festival officials highly recommend that you \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">\u003cem>not\u003c/em> drive\u003c/a> to the event, since there is no designated parking available at Pier 80. There is also no designated ADA parking.\u003c/p>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": []
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{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If you do end up driving, you may be able to find parking in the Dogpatch near Pier 80 by using \u003ca href=\"https://spothero.com/\">third-party apps like SpotHero\u003c/a>. Be careful not to block driveways and sidewalks, unless you’d like to return to find your car towed.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>If you do end up driving, you may be able to find parking in the Dogpatch near Pier 80 by using \u003ca href=\"https://spothero.com/\">third-party apps like SpotHero\u003c/a>. Be careful not to block driveways and sidewalks, unless you’d like to return to find your car towed.\u003c/p>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": []
},
{
"blockName": "core/image",
"attrs": {
"id": 12098842,
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"alt": "",
"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_40_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_40_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_40_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_40_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098842\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_40_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_40_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_40_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gesaffelstein performs at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_40_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098842\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gesaffelstein performs at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": []
},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
"dropCap": false
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Some Caltrain stations — although \u003ca href=\"https://www.caltrain.com/station/22ndstreet\">not the ones closest to Pier 80\u003c/a> — have \u003ca href=\"https://www.caltrain.com/rider-information/parking\">parking for around $5.50\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Some Caltrain stations — although \u003ca href=\"https://www.caltrain.com/station/22ndstreet\">not the ones closest to Pier 80\u003c/a> — have \u003ca href=\"https://www.caltrain.com/rider-information/parking\">parking for around $5.50\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": []
},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
"dropCap": false
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Remember, break-ins are common in the Bay, so leave nothing visible in your vehicle. Never leave any electronics, like laptops, in your vehicle, even if you think they’re hidden. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Remember, break-ins are common in the Bay, so leave nothing visible in your vehicle. Never leave any electronics, like laptops, in your vehicle, even if you think they’re hidden. \u003c/p>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": []
},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
"dropCap": false
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Read KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959799/how-to-avoid-a-car-break-in-bay-area\">full guide\u003c/a> to reducing your chances of suffering a car break-in in San Francisco (and if you’re unlucky enough to have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959477/car-break-ins-bay-area-glass-repair-what-to-do\">your car broken into\u003c/a>, our guide to how to claim the costs of window repair and stolen items from your insurance).\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Read KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959799/how-to-avoid-a-car-break-in-bay-area\">full guide\u003c/a> to reducing your chances of suffering a car break-in in San Francisco (and if you’re unlucky enough to have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959477/car-break-ins-bay-area-glass-repair-what-to-do\">your car broken into\u003c/a>, our guide to how to claim the costs of window repair and stolen items from your insurance).\u003c/p>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": []
},
{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "What are the closest public transit options to the Portola Music Festival?",
"level": 2
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are the closest public transit options to the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are the closest public transit options to the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": []
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{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Here are the available public transit options. To avoid getting stranded, be sure to check when your last train or bus leaves. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Here are the available public transit options. To avoid getting stranded, be sure to check when your last train or bus leaves. \u003c/p>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": []
},
{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"level": 3,
"text": "BART and shuttles"
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">BART and shuttles\u003c/h3>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">BART and shuttles\u003c/h3>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If you take BART to the 24th Street station in San Francisco’s Mission District, you can walk to the intersection of Valencia Street and 24th Street to take Portola’s free shuttle to Pier 80. You can plan your journey by using \u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/planner\">BART’s Trip Planner\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>If you take BART to the 24th Street station in San Francisco’s Mission District, you can walk to the intersection of Valencia Street and 24th Street to take Portola’s free shuttle to Pier 80. You can plan your journey by using \u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/planner\">BART’s Trip Planner\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Free Shuttles \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">will consistently run\u003c/a> between Pier 80 and 24th Street from 12:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. People will be picked up at the corner of 24th Street and Valencia Street.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Free Shuttles \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">will consistently run\u003c/a> between Pier 80 and 24th Street from 12:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. People will be picked up at the corner of 24th Street and Valencia Street.\u003c/p>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": []
},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
"dropCap": false
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:ada.portola@goldenvoice.com\">ada.portola@goldenvoice.com\u003c/a> ahead of time to secure a spot on the festival’s accessible shuttles.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:ada.portola@goldenvoice.com\">ada.portola@goldenvoice.com\u003c/a> ahead of time to secure a spot on the festival’s accessible shuttles.\u003c/p>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": []
},
{
"blockName": "core/image",
"attrs": {
"id": 12097280,
"sizeSlug": "full",
"linkDestination": "none",
"alt": "",
"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/022626_BARTFile_GH_003_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/022626_BARTFile_GH_003_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/022626_BARTFile_GH_003_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/022626_BARTFile_GH_003_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/022626_BARTFile_GH_003_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/022626_BARTFile_GH_003_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/022626_BARTFile_GH_003_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A BART train arrives as riders wait on the platform at the 24th Street Mission Station in San Francisco on Feb. 26, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/022626_BARTFile_GH_003_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097280\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A BART train arrives as riders wait on the platform at the 24th Street Mission Station in San Francisco on Feb. 26, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"level": 3,
"text": "SF Muni"
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">SF Muni\u003c/h3>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">SF Muni\u003c/h3>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
"dropCap": false
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Figure out your route by using \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/trip-planner\">SFMTA’s Trip Planner\u003c/a>.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Figure out your route by using \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/trip-planner\">SFMTA’s Trip Planner\u003c/a>.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n"
],
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},
{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": {
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">the music festival’s website\u003c/a>, your options for getting to the events are:\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">the music festival’s website\u003c/a>, your options for getting to the events are:\u003c/p>\n"
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"items": [
"T Third Train: From the Powell Street BART Station, walk to the Union Square/Market Street Station and board Muni’s T Third line toward Sunnydale. Get off at the intersection of Third Street and Marin Street, just a block from Pier 80.",
"Route 48 Quintara: Exit at the intersection of 23rd Street and Third Street and walk 10 minutes to Pier 80.",
"Route 19 Polk: Exit at the intersection of Connecticut Street and Cesar Chavez Street and walk 10 minutes to Pier 80.",
"Route 15 Bayview Hunters Point Express: Exit at the intersection of Third Street and Marin Street, two blocks from Pier 80."
],
"ordered": false,
"values": ""
},
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003c/ul>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">",
null,
"\n\n",
null,
"\n\n",
null,
"\n\n",
null,
"\u003c/ul>\n"
],
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{
"blockName": "core/list-item",
"attrs": [],
"innerBlocks": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>T Third Train: From the Powell Street BART Station, walk to the Union Square/Market Street Station and board Muni’s T Third line toward Sunnydale. Get off at the intersection of Third Street and Marin Street, just a block from Pier 80.\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>T Third Train: From the Powell Street BART Station, walk to the Union Square/Market Street Station and board Muni’s T Third line toward Sunnydale. Get off at the intersection of Third Street and Marin Street, just a block from Pier 80.\u003c/li>\n"
]
},
{
"blockName": "core/list-item",
"attrs": [],
"innerBlocks": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Route 48 Quintara: Exit at the intersection of 23rd Street and Third Street and walk 10 minutes to Pier 80.\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>Route 48 Quintara: Exit at the intersection of 23rd Street and Third Street and walk 10 minutes to Pier 80.\u003c/li>\n"
]
},
{
"blockName": "core/list-item",
"attrs": [],
"innerBlocks": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Route 19 Polk: Exit at the intersection of Connecticut Street and Cesar Chavez Street and walk 10 minutes to Pier 80.\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>Route 19 Polk: Exit at the intersection of Connecticut Street and Cesar Chavez Street and walk 10 minutes to Pier 80.\u003c/li>\n"
]
},
{
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"attrs": [],
"innerBlocks": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Route 15 Bayview Hunters Point Express: Exit at the intersection of Third Street and Marin Street, two blocks from Pier 80.\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>Route 15 Bayview Hunters Point Express: Exit at the intersection of Third Street and Marin Street, two blocks from Pier 80.\u003c/li>\n"
]
}
]
},
{
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"attrs": {
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>When leaving the event, the options are:\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>When leaving the event, the options are:\u003c/p>\n"
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"T Third Train at the Third Street & 23rd Street Station or Third Street & Evans Avenue Station.",
"Route 48 Quintara runs 24/7 and connects to the 24th Street BART Station. Board at the intersection of 23rd Street and Third Street. Buses run every 20 minutes before 11:30 p.m. and every 30 minutes after 11:30 p.m.",
"Route 91 OWL is an overnight route connecting Pier 80 to Ocean Avenue, West Portal, and 19th Street."
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n\n\n\u003c/ul>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">",
null,
"\n\n",
null,
"\n\n",
null,
"\u003c/ul>\n"
],
"innerBlocks": [
{
"blockName": "core/list-item",
"attrs": [],
"innerBlocks": [
{
"blockName": "core/list",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Keep in mind that the platform at Third Street and Marin Street will be temporarily unavailable from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m., according to the website. \u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>Keep in mind that the platform at Third Street and Marin Street will be temporarily unavailable from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m., according to the website. \u003c/li>\n"
]
},
{
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"attrs": [],
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>The trains will stop at the Union Square-Market Street Station, where you can walk to the Powell Street BART Station, Market Street bus routes or AC Transit Transbay Bus Service. The Union Square-Market Street Station, Chinatown Station and Yerba Buena/Moscone stations will stay open late until 1 a.m.\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>The trains will stop at the Union Square-Market Street Station, where you can walk to the Powell Street BART Station, Market Street bus routes or AC Transit Transbay Bus Service. The Union Square-Market Street Station, Chinatown Station and Yerba Buena/Moscone stations will stay open late until 1 a.m.\u003c/li>\n"
]
}
],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n\u003c/ul>\n",
"innerContent": [
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null,
"\n\n",
null,
"\u003c/ul>\n"
]
}
],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>T Third Train at the Third Street & 23rd Street Station or Third Street & Evans Avenue Station.\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>T Third Train at the Third Street & 23rd Street Station or Third Street & Evans Avenue Station.",
null,
"\u003c/li>\n"
]
},
{
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"attrs": [],
"innerBlocks": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Route 48 Quintara runs 24/7 and connects to the 24th Street BART Station. Board at the intersection of 23rd Street and Third Street. Buses run every 20 minutes before 11:30 p.m. and every 30 minutes after 11:30 p.m.\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>Route 48 Quintara runs 24/7 and connects to the 24th Street BART Station. Board at the intersection of 23rd Street and Third Street. Buses run every 20 minutes before 11:30 p.m. and every 30 minutes after 11:30 p.m.\u003c/li>\n"
]
},
{
"blockName": "core/list-item",
"attrs": [],
"innerBlocks": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Route 91 OWL is an overnight route connecting Pier 80 to Ocean Avenue, West Portal, and 19th Street.\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>Route 91 OWL is an overnight route connecting Pier 80 to Ocean Avenue, West Portal, and 19th Street.\u003c/li>\n"
]
}
]
},
{
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"attrs": {
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-TRANSITRIDERSHIPREBOUND00197_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-TRANSITRIDERSHIPREBOUND00197_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-TRANSITRIDERSHIPREBOUND00197_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-TRANSITRIDERSHIPREBOUND00197_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12081645\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-TRANSITRIDERSHIPREBOUND00197_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-TRANSITRIDERSHIPREBOUND00197_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-TRANSITRIDERSHIPREBOUND00197_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Trains are stationed at the Caltrain station on King Street and Fourth Street in San Francisco on April 27, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-TRANSITRIDERSHIPREBOUND00197_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12081645\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Trains are stationed at the Caltrain station on King Street and Fourth Street in San Francisco on April 27, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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{
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"attrs": {
"level": 3,
"text": "Caltrain"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Caltrain\u003c/h3>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Caltrain\u003c/h3>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The closest Caltrain station is the 22nd Street Station, which is about a mile walk from Pier 80. Keep in mind, this stop does not have elevator service.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The closest Caltrain station is the 22nd Street Station, which is about a mile walk from Pier 80. Keep in mind, this stop does not have elevator service.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>You can plan your trip on \u003ca href=\"http://www.caltrain.com/\">Caltrain’s website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>You can plan your trip on \u003ca href=\"http://www.caltrain.com/\">Caltrain’s website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
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"text": "Biking"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Biking\u003c/h3>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Biking\u003c/h3>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There is \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">no valet service\u003c/a> this year. There are several nearby bike racks that you can find on SFMTA’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/maps/san-francisco-bike-network-map\">Bike Network Map\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>There is \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">no valet service\u003c/a> this year. There are several nearby bike racks that you can find on SFMTA’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/maps/san-francisco-bike-network-map\">Bike Network Map\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>You can also check out \u003ca href=\"https://bikesharemap.com/sanfrancisco/\">Bay Wheels stations\u003c/a> around Pier 80. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>You can also check out \u003ca href=\"https://bikesharemap.com/sanfrancisco/\">Bay Wheels stations\u003c/a> around Pier 80. \u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>You can use the promo code PORTOLA26 to get $5 off a ride when using a Lyft Bike.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>You can use the promo code PORTOLA26 to get $5 off a ride when using a Lyft Bike.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerBlocks": []
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{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Where can I get picked up and dropped off by rideshare services?",
"level": 2
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where can I get picked up and dropped off by rideshare services?\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where can I get picked up and dropped off by rideshare services?\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerBlocks": []
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"attrs": {
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">pick-up and drop-off location\u003c/a> for rideshare services like Lyft and Uber is located at \u003ca href=\"https://pier70sf.com/\">Pier 70\u003c/a>. Expect traffic delays and accompanying surge prices on apps like Uber and Lyft.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">pick-up and drop-off location\u003c/a> for rideshare services like Lyft and Uber is located at \u003ca href=\"https://pier70sf.com/\">Pier 70\u003c/a>. Expect traffic delays and accompanying surge prices on apps like Uber and Lyft.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "What do I need to know about accessibility at the Portola Music Festival?",
"level": 2
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What do I need to know about accessibility at the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What do I need to know about accessibility at the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There is \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/ada/\">no pre-registration for accessibility\u003c/a>. Instead, you’ll have to register onsite at the event itself, at the two Accessibility Services Hubs near the Box Office at the entrance and inside the venue. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>There is \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/ada/\">no pre-registration for accessibility\u003c/a>. Instead, you’ll have to register onsite at the event itself, at the two Accessibility Services Hubs near the Box Office at the entrance and inside the venue. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At the hub, you can get help registering your service animal, getting an Assisted Listening Device System and getting an accessibility wristband. Do not take off the wristband during the festival weekend. A companion can also get a wristband.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>At the hub, you can get help registering your service animal, getting an Assisted Listening Device System and getting an accessibility wristband. Do not take off the wristband during the festival weekend. A companion can also get a wristband.\u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_10_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_10_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_10_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_10_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098847\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_10_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_10_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_10_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Emilio Arias, 36, wears a Victorian-style wig at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_10_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098847\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Emilio Arias, 36, wears a Victorian-style wig at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to the festival’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/ada/\">website\u003c/a>, “The venue is navigable for people with mobility disabilities. The event is held on primarily cement terrain.” \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>According to the festival’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/ada/\">website\u003c/a>, “The venue is navigable for people with mobility disabilities. The event is held on primarily cement terrain.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The festival will not be able to provide transportation between stages, but can provide some guidance on navigating routes at the hubs. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The festival will not be able to provide transportation between stages, but can provide some guidance on navigating routes at the hubs. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival website has \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/ada/\">a page on its accessibility policies\u003c/a>, as well as a contact if you have more questions: \u003ca href=\"mailto:ada.portola@goldenvoice.com\">ada.portola@goldenvoice.com\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival website has \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/ada/\">a page on its accessibility policies\u003c/a>, as well as a contact if you have more questions: \u003ca href=\"mailto:ada.portola@goldenvoice.com\">ada.portola@goldenvoice.com\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "The Portola Music Festival is coming back to San Francisco, and KQED has the ultimate guide on how to prepare for the weekend.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13990263/portola-festival-lineup-2026-robyn-zara-larsson-four-tet\">coming back to San Francisco\u003c/a> on Sept. 26 and 27, with a lineup that includes Zara Larsson, Robyn, Kelela, Fatboy Slim and Swedish House Mafia.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While the festival itself is a relatively new addition to San Francisco’s musical calendar, it attracts \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/travel-updates/portola-music-festival-september-28-29-2024\">crowds of around 45,000 people\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Our guide \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12054345/portola-music-festival-2025-sf-lineup-bag-policy-pier-80-parking\">last year\u003c/a> highlighted KQED’s own media and marketing campaigns manager, Emma Yee, who has attended the Portola Music Festival every year since it launched in 2022. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240928_Portola_EG_34_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097016\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240928_Portola_EG_34_qed-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240928_Portola_EG_34_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240928_Portola_EG_34_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Warren Manio, 36, sits on top of his friend’s shoulders as Natasha Bedingfield performs at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sept. 28, 2024. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yee said that for her, what sets this event apart from the more well-known festivals like Outside Lands and Stern Grove is its industrial-feeling Pier 80 warehouse location near the Dogpatch District.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s in between a big naval ship and a big crane,” she said, and for her this “bare-bones” aesthetic makes Portola’s lineup — which includes EDM, alternative and pop acts — all the more enjoyable. “It has a very specific curated taste that’s kind of hard to encapsulate, but it all kind of somehow works together.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you’ve already got tickets to the Portola Music Festival — or are contemplating buying them — keep reading for our guide to everything you need to know about attending, with insider tips on what to bring, advice for first-timers, road closures, public transportation options and more. Keep in mind, some details — like food and transit details — have not yet been released for this year’s festival and are likely to be published closer to the date. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When and where is the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival spans a whole weekend: Saturday, Sept. 26, and Sunday, Sept. 27. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Doors open at 1 p.m. each day, and music ends around 11 p.m. The entrance to the event is at \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">900 Marin St. in San Francisco\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can view the entire festival lineup — and the set times — on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/set-times/\">Portola Music Festival’s website\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>KQED Arts also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13990263/portola-festival-lineup-2026-robyn-zara-larsson-four-tet\">highlighted key performers\u003c/a> who are set to appear at the festival.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Along with the weekend festival, there is also \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/portola-week/\">Portola Week,\u003c/a> which hosts a wide range of acts. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Many of the lineup performers will \u003cem>also\u003c/em> be playing during Portola Week — so if there is a conflict and you can’t make it to a performance during a festival — or couldn’t get tickets at all — you \u003cem>may \u003c/em>be able to catch them at another venue if you move fast.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Check out the schedule and secure tickets for \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/portola-week/\">Portola Week on the festival’s website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can I still get tickets to the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As of publication, \u003ca href=\"https://www.axs.com/festivals/1455602?mkt_campaign=&queueittoken=e_4810573852172~q_883a51b7-df79-45ca-a85b-f8598a924e9f~ts_1788454070~ce_true~rt_safetynet~h_44961655dfd2af3f1c796de9dcc2614e2d36506c01c01cd8cadd7635c082197b\">passes to the Portola Music Festival — including VIP packages — were still available on AXS\u003c/a>. Remember, the event is for ages 21+ only.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/passes/\">festival’s website\u003c/a> warns people \u003cem>not\u003c/em> to buy passes from a third party, and that organizers “won’t service, authenticate or support passes” purchased from a third party or scalper. If you decide to forge ahead with buying a third-party ticket, Portola organizers also note that receipts and order confirmations can be faked or forged, so “don’t be fooled.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What should I know about the Portola Music Festival’s Pier 80 venue?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Plan for poor phone service\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A pro tip from Yee: She advised you to make sure that your tickets are already loaded on the \u003ca href=\"https://support.axs.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002034107-What-is-AXS-Mobile-ID\">AXS Mobile app\u003c/a> you used to purchase them, or are waiting in your phone’s wallet app — because the cell signal at Pier 80 is not super strong, and you might not be able to do this in line. Consider also bringing a portable charger, she said, which is \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#what-can-i-bring\">allowed at this festival\u003c/a> (some venues prohibit them).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you are going with a group of people and you decide to split up, establish a meeting spot where you can get together again — in case your messages are slow to send.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/250920_Portola_day1_GH-32_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098827\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/250920_Portola_day1_GH-32_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/250920_Portola_day1_GH-32_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/250920_Portola_day1_GH-32_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Christina Aguilera performs on the Pier Stage at Portola Festival in San Francisco, on Sept. 20, 2025. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Don’t rely on cash\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival is \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/general-info/#general-info\">a cashless event\u003c/a>, but any cash you do bring can be converted to a prepaid Visa Card at a Guest Service booth.\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Prepare to move around …\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While the Pier 80 venue is on “the smaller side” as festivals go, noted Yee, it also has a lot of “open space” that makes it relatively easy to jump from stage to stage. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That said, usual festival rules apply: If you want to get a good spot for a set, be sure to get to that stage early to avoid a mass of people. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But also be aware of your own health and bodily needs — KQED has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093415/the-no-judgement-guide-to-not-passing-out-at-a-concert-and-other-concert-health-tips\">a thorough guide on concert health\u003c/a> that tackles fainting, dehydration, standing in the heat and the all-encompassing festival-goer’s mission of avoiding the dreaded port-a-potties.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Also, be prepared to move around a stage a little, advised Yee, as the volume of Portola sets can range widely from extremely loud (earplugs are recommended) to “on the quiet side” — especially the stages near the water.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_77_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098828\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_77_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_77_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_77_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A festival attendee wears light-up fur leg warmers at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sept. 29, 2024. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">… and dress for comfort (and variable temperatures)\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Over the years, Portola organizers have added blue astroturf and floor mats to make standing on Pier 80’s concrete easier on your knees and feet — but you should still plan on wearing very comfortable shoes. You’ll also find some seating and water stations around the venue.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Be sure to check \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.7335&lon=-122.392\">the National Weather Service\u003c/a> ahead of the festival to know what to wear. Yee advised that while the warehouse stage in particular gets very warm, the temperature can drop significantly at night. Pier 80’s waterfront location can also make for a lot of wind around the open-air stages. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The event will happen \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/general-info/#general-info\">rain or shine\u003c/a> and has \u003ca href=\"https://portolamusicfestival.com/faq/\">indoor and outdoor sets\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_04_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12054356\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_04_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_04_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_04_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andie Romero, 30, uses a parasol decorated with colorful charms to protect herself from the sun at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sept. 28, 2024. Romero, a festival enthusiast, has taken the parasol with her to countless festivals, considers it a staple, and has repaired it each time a charm falls off. “It’s been through a lot,” she said. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cem>Don’t \u003c/em>plan on in-and-out privileges\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Once you enter the venue, you cannot reenter on the same day — so don’t park somewhere you’ll need to feed a meter.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Know what you’ll do in a crowd situation\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Portola is a 21+ festival, which you may find makes this crowd feel a little less rowdy than other concerts and festivals, Yee said. If you’re among the people who’ve expressed \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/04/bad-behaviour-at-concerts-normalised-experts-say\">concern\u003c/a> about \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/2023-concert-etiquette-guide-1234740935/\">concert etiquette\u003c/a> devolving since the pandemic — a phenomenon which even has its \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_abuse_in_the_2020s\">own Wikipedia page\u003c/a> — this might be music to your ears.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It will be crowded, though, with an expected attendance of 45,000 people. If you are the type of person to get overwhelmed in a busy place, take a look at NPR’s full guide on what to do if you find yourself caught in \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053828800/south-korea-seoul-halloween-crowd-safety-tips\">a crowd crush\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to Mehdi Moussaïd, a research scientist in Berlin who studies crowd behavior, rely on your instincts and senses if you feel like the crowd is getting too dense. If you get stuck in a crush, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053828800/south-korea-seoul-halloween-crowd-safety-tips\">move with the crowd and put your arms out\u003c/a> in front of your chest and hold them there, he told NPR in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What’s the bag policy at the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival has an \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#what-can-i-bring\">extensive list\u003c/a> of what you can and cannot bring to Pier 80. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Be sure to read closely, because some classic rave attire, like toys or LED gloves, may not be allowed. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_74_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098832\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_74_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_74_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_74_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Justice performs at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Just a few of the items prohibited under the Portola Music Festival policy include: \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Non-clear bags larger than 4.5’’ x 6.5’’ x 1.5’’ \u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Masks (although medical face coverings to protect against COVID, like N95 masks, are allowed)\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Aerosol products, including sunscreen\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Outside food or drinks\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Flags and flyers\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Flashlights and glow sticks\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Chain wallets and chains\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Airhorns \u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Audio recording devices, drones, laptops, tablets, selfie sticks and professional cameras\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Chairs, coolers, hammocks, tents and wagons/wheeled carts\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Drugs\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Pets (although service animals are allowed)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_59_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12054358\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_59_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_59_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/240928_Portola_EG_59_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thousands of people dance as Disclosure performs at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sept. 29, 2024. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival’s website also said that there can be no “VHS copies of \u003cem>Mrs. Doubtfire\u003c/em> (1993) starring Robin Williams and Sally Field with a supporting performance by Pierce Brosnan who really did nothing wrong despite being the film’s primary antagonist.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This reporter cannot verify what will happen if you do bring a copy of the San Francisco classic.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can see the full list of allowed items \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/general-info/\">on the Portola website\u003c/a>, including empty water bottles 64 ounces or less, phones and chargers (although charging lockers are also \u003ca href=\"https://www.tixr.com/groups/lockandrock/events/portola-music-festival-2026-charging-locker-rentals-192214\">available\u003c/a>) and breast pumps and stored breast milk or formula. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is there food at the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Food, alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic drinks are available at the festival, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#food-drink\">a list of vendors found on the website\u003c/a> including:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Señor Sisig\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Saigon Sandwich\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Noodle Boys\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Bodega SF\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Humphry Slocombe\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Love Burn Hot Chicken\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Sunrise Deli\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There will be vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are also free water refill stations at the site.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is there parking at the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Festival officials highly recommend that you \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">\u003cem>not\u003c/em> drive\u003c/a> to the event, since there is no designated parking available at Pier 80. There is also no designated ADA parking.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you do end up driving, you may be able to find parking in the Dogpatch near Pier 80 by using \u003ca href=\"https://spothero.com/\">third-party apps like SpotHero\u003c/a>. Be careful not to block driveways and sidewalks, unless you’d like to return to find your car towed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_40_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098842\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_40_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_40_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_40_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gesaffelstein performs at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Some Caltrain stations — although \u003ca href=\"https://www.caltrain.com/station/22ndstreet\">not the ones closest to Pier 80\u003c/a> — have \u003ca href=\"https://www.caltrain.com/rider-information/parking\">parking for around $5.50\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Remember, break-ins are common in the Bay, so leave nothing visible in your vehicle. Never leave any electronics, like laptops, in your vehicle, even if you think they’re hidden. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Read KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959799/how-to-avoid-a-car-break-in-bay-area\">full guide\u003c/a> to reducing your chances of suffering a car break-in in San Francisco (and if you’re unlucky enough to have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959477/car-break-ins-bay-area-glass-repair-what-to-do\">your car broken into\u003c/a>, our guide to how to claim the costs of window repair and stolen items from your insurance).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are the closest public transit options to the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Here are the available public transit options. To avoid getting stranded, be sure to check when your last train or bus leaves. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">BART and shuttles\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you take BART to the 24th Street station in San Francisco’s Mission District, you can walk to the intersection of Valencia Street and 24th Street to take Portola’s free shuttle to Pier 80. You can plan your journey by using \u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/planner\">BART’s Trip Planner\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Free Shuttles \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">will consistently run\u003c/a> between Pier 80 and 24th Street from 12:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. People will be picked up at the corner of 24th Street and Valencia Street.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:ada.portola@goldenvoice.com\">ada.portola@goldenvoice.com\u003c/a> ahead of time to secure a spot on the festival’s accessible shuttles.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/022626_BARTFile_GH_003_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/022626_BARTFile_GH_003_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/022626_BARTFile_GH_003_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/022626_BARTFile_GH_003_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A BART train arrives as riders wait on the platform at the 24th Street Mission Station in San Francisco on Feb. 26, 2026. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">SF Muni\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Figure out your route by using \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/trip-planner\">SFMTA’s Trip Planner\u003c/a>.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">the music festival’s website\u003c/a>, your options for getting to the events are:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>T Third Train: From the Powell Street BART Station, walk to the Union Square/Market Street Station and board Muni’s T Third line toward Sunnydale. Get off at the intersection of Third Street and Marin Street, just a block from Pier 80.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Route 48 Quintara: Exit at the intersection of 23rd Street and Third Street and walk 10 minutes to Pier 80.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Route 19 Polk: Exit at the intersection of Connecticut Street and Cesar Chavez Street and walk 10 minutes to Pier 80.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Route 15 Bayview Hunters Point Express: Exit at the intersection of Third Street and Marin Street, two blocks from Pier 80.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When leaving the event, the options are:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>T Third Train at the Third Street & 23rd Street Station or Third Street & Evans Avenue Station.\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Keep in mind that the platform at Third Street and Marin Street will be temporarily unavailable from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m., according to the website. \u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>The trains will stop at the Union Square-Market Street Station, where you can walk to the Powell Street BART Station, Market Street bus routes or AC Transit Transbay Bus Service. The Union Square-Market Street Station, Chinatown Station and Yerba Buena/Moscone stations will stay open late until 1 a.m.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Route 48 Quintara runs 24/7 and connects to the 24th Street BART Station. Board at the intersection of 23rd Street and Third Street. Buses run every 20 minutes before 11:30 p.m. and every 30 minutes after 11:30 p.m.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Route 91 OWL is an overnight route connecting Pier 80 to Ocean Avenue, West Portal, and 19th Street.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-TRANSITRIDERSHIPREBOUND00197_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12081645\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-TRANSITRIDERSHIPREBOUND00197_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-TRANSITRIDERSHIPREBOUND00197_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-TRANSITRIDERSHIPREBOUND00197_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Trains are stationed at the Caltrain station on King Street and Fourth Street in San Francisco on April 27, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Caltrain\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The closest Caltrain station is the 22nd Street Station, which is about a mile walk from Pier 80. Keep in mind, this stop does not have elevator service.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can plan your trip on \u003ca href=\"http://www.caltrain.com/\">Caltrain’s website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Biking\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There is \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">no valet service\u003c/a> this year. There are several nearby bike racks that you can find on SFMTA’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/maps/san-francisco-bike-network-map\">Bike Network Map\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can also check out \u003ca href=\"https://bikesharemap.com/sanfrancisco/\">Bay Wheels stations\u003c/a> around Pier 80. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can use the promo code PORTOLA26 to get $5 off a ride when using a Lyft Bike.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where can I get picked up and dropped off by rideshare services?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/plan/#get-in-get-out\">pick-up and drop-off location\u003c/a> for rideshare services like Lyft and Uber is located at \u003ca href=\"https://pier70sf.com/\">Pier 70\u003c/a>. Expect traffic delays and accompanying surge prices on apps like Uber and Lyft.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What do I need to know about accessibility at the Portola Music Festival?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There is \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/ada/\">no pre-registration for accessibility\u003c/a>. Instead, you’ll have to register onsite at the event itself, at the two Accessibility Services Hubs near the Box Office at the entrance and inside the venue. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the hub, you can get help registering your service animal, getting an Assisted Listening Device System and getting an accessibility wristband. Do not take off the wristband during the festival weekend. A companion can also get a wristband.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_10_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098847\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_10_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_10_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/240928_Portola_EG_10_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Emilio Arias, 36, wears a Victorian-style wig at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to the festival’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/ada/\">website\u003c/a>, “The venue is navigable for people with mobility disabilities. The event is held on primarily cement terrain.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The festival will not be able to provide transportation between stages, but can provide some guidance on navigating routes at the hubs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Portola Music Festival website has \u003ca href=\"https://www.portolamusicfestival.com/ada/\">a page on its accessibility policies\u003c/a>, as well as a contact if you have more questions: \u003ca href=\"mailto:ada.portola@goldenvoice.com\">ada.portola@goldenvoice.com\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "how-to-show-up-for-your-community-this-hispanic-heritage-month",
"title": "How to Show Up for Your Community This Hispanic Heritage Month",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was reported for K Onda KQED, a monthly newsletter focused on the Bay Area’s Latinx community. \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/newsletters/k-onda\">\u003cem>Click here to subscribe.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tucked inside a compact shop near the corner of 25th and Mission streets in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>, Mission Lotería is evolving from promoting local businesses into a small business of its own.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The organization, which started in 2019, plans to open its first storefront on Sept. 10 at 2884 Mission St., selling giftable items such as hand-painted clay coffee mugs, purses designed by a Colombian artist, clothing, and stationery and cards designed by Bay Area artists. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What began years ago as a creative campaign celebrating the Mission, supporting neighborhood businesses, and bringing our community together has grown into more than we could have imagined,” said Luis Quiroz, founder of Mission Lotería. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The store’s opening coincides with the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, which spans from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I intentionally planned the store opening just before Hispanic Heritage Month so that we could lean into the festivities that were to come and be able to highlight the Latino voices and the Latino artists that are going to be featured here.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-KOndaSeptember-01-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098318\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-KOndaSeptember-01-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-KOndaSeptember-01-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-KOndaSeptember-01-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lotería art at Mission Lotería’s new storefront in San Francisco on Sept. 3, 2026. The space will serve as a home for community events, workshops and local art. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Mission Lotería takes inspiration from Lotería, a beloved bingo-style board game from Mexico known for iconic images such as a cactus plant, a woman in a small boat on Lake Chapala, a man carrying a large globe on his back and a radiant sun. Quiroz, 36, created the marketing platform to support local artists and small businesses by organizing community events and neighborhood tours. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I want people to visit Mission Lotería and then venture into a cafe shop or a taqueria or a restaurant or another brick-and-mortar store,” Quiroz said. “It’s the starting point to bring them to the other parts of the Mission.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The organization provides a template for how to support Latino businesses with intention and thoughtfulness, especially at a time when the Trump administration \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12087915/bay-area-cities-ask-us-judge-to-block-trump-from-cutting-funds-over-dei-immigration\">vigorously attacks diversity initiatives\u003c/a> and has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097313/northern-california-ice-arrests-surged-this-summer\">launched a deportation apparatus\u003c/a> that has largely targeted Latino immigrants and hurts Latine communities nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“To be sitting here and about to open a storefront in the Mission, in the Latino cultural district of San Francisco,” said Quiroz, who was previously undocumented. “It’s my way of resisting. They’re not going to hold me down. They’re not going to hold us down. We’re here, we’re here to stay, and we’re out here. We’re thriving.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This year’s Hispanic Heritage Month presents an opportunity for Latinos to support businesses, organizations and community members who have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096833/how-immigration-raids-are-affecting-children-in-los-angeles\">felt the toll\u003c/a> of the administration’s anti-immigration policies that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101913621/the-psychological-toll-of-trumps-immigration-policies-on-bay-area-latinos\">have had a chilling effect\u003c/a>, with immigrants staying home, shopping less, attending fewer public events and even being afraid to speak Spanish in public. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This has also been a challenging year for many Latinx-owned businesses between the fear immigrants are feeling and higher costs of doing business, said Alicia Villanueva, owner and founder of Hayward-based Alicia’s Tamales Los Mayas.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Seeing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073728/us-citizen-army-veteran-detained-by-ice-sues-for-damages-in-federal-court\">hardworking people\u003c/a> picked up off the street, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094994/detained-at-green-card-interview-how-a-bay-area-family-is-healing-from-sudden-separation?utm_medium=email&utm_source=engagingnetworks&utm_campaign=20260814_NewsDaily_Newsletter_SponsorBlock&utm_content=20260814_NewsDaily_Newsletter_SponsorBlock+8642121190\">families being separated\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12028303/ice-arrest-left-bay-area-man-hospitalized-struggling-breathe-attorney-says\">parents being detained\u003c/a> and leaving children behind is demoralizing, she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I am a citizen now, since last year, and I still feel this trauma,” she said. “Like when I’m driving, and I see the police or something — it scares me.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For many food vendors, Hispanic Heritage Month is one of the busiest times of the year, Villanueva said, but this year is different because the community needs a morale boost.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We really celebrate our cultures, our cuisine and all these traditions that we bring from our countries,” she said. “To keep our traditions alive is one of the responsibilities that we have for future generations.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-KOndaSeptember-06-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098323\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-KOndaSeptember-06-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-KOndaSeptember-06-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-KOndaSeptember-06-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Concha candles and mugs for sale at Mission Lotería’s new storefront in San Francisco on Sept. 3, 2026. The space will serve as a home for community events, workshops and local art. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Villanueva said it pains her to see immigrants living in fear and suffering, especially since she understands the desire to come to the United States to work and advance. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She started her company in 2010 after selling tamales door to door. She joined a business incubator program for entrepreneurs at San Francisco-based La Cocina that helped her establish a wholesale and catering business and secure capital to grow. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Sixteen years later, Villanueva employs 21 workers who cater events, sell food to retail stores, provide passenger meals for Alaska Airlines and make school lunches for students throughout Northern California. Her next goal is national distribution, the 65-year-old said. She embodies an ethos of permanent optimism that many immigrants espouse. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The time is really hard,” Villanueva said. “But if you have your passion, your dreams, no matter what, just keep going. Don’t be afraid.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, for many Latines, Hispanic Heritage Month can come off as cringe. Corporations use it as a time to pander to Latinos and perform solidarity with clichés such as adding pictures of tacos to non-food-related content or putting the Spanish letter ñ where it doesn’t belong. So it’s no wonder why many people tend to snub their noses at seasonal, tone-deaf marketing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What I can appreciate about Hispanic Heritage Month is the opportunity to unapologetically lean into the beauty, strength and value of Latino culture. Lately, I have been hearing the phrase, “Solo el pueblo salva al pueblo” (Only the community will save the community), which reminds me that celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month might include sharing our culture with others — but it’s most important to show up for ourselves. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We think about Latinx heritage 365 days a year,” said Josiah Alderete, co-owner of Medicine for Nightmares in San Francisco. The bookstore is Black- and Latino-owned and has made a point to stock books written by and about people of color from its inception five years ago — not just for affinity months. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’m always thrilled people celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, but the truth is, we are always celebrating it,” he said. “You can come in here and see yourself 12 months of the year.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Practical ways to show up this Hispanic Heritage Month: \u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Attend Hispanic Heritage Month events \u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Cities and organizations across the Bay Area are planning festivities to honor and celebrate Latine residents and culture, which has turned into an act of resistance. (Check out K Onda’s comprehensive guide.) \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Over the last year, several event organizers have said they were advised against holding large public gatherings like festivals for fear of ICE showing up and detaining people. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But most organizers decided that offering joy, reinforcing culture and coming together was more important than giving in to fear. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12030084\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dolls for sale at Luz de Luna, a gift store on 24th Street in San Francisco, on March 5, 2025. Owner Denise Gonzales says about 70% of the products sold in store are imported from Mexico. (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Prioritize shopping at Latino-owned businesses, especially small ones\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I covered retail and consumer issues many years ago, and the biggest lesson I learned was that consumers have way more power than they know. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Every dollar people spend fuels someone’s bottom line, so choose where you shop wisely, because our spending power picks winners and losers every day. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That’s why I don’t feel bad buying an artisan or locally made item such as soaps, honey, produce from a farmer’s market or a handmade gift, even if I could have found something cheaper at a big-box store. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When I buy a cup of fruit from a street vendor, I feel good about buying a healthy snack and supporting someone who is often depending on that day’s sales to survive. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Read more books about Latin American identity and history by Latino authors\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For a dose of cultural criticism and an exploration of how personal histories intersect with mainstream culture, I recommend \u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/704670/magicalrealism-by-vanessa-angelica-villarreal/\">\u003cem>Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders\u003c/em> by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal\u003c/a>, which I recently read and found evocative. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Other books to check out: \u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Migrant-Heart/Reyna-Grande/9781668055274\">\u003cem>Migrant Heart\u003c/em> by Reyna Grande\u003c/a>, a true gem of a writer who makes her home in Northern California, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Keeper-of-My-Kin/Ada-Ferrer/9781668025659\">\u003cem>Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by Ada Ferrer, who appeared \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101913858/a-family-divided-by-cubas-revolution\">on Forum earlier this year\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And, here are some recommendations from Alderete, of Medicine for Nightmares: the young adult novel, \u003ca href=\"https://www.harpercollins.com/products/estela-undrowning-rene-pena-govea\">\u003cem>Estela, Undrowning\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by San Francisco writer and educator \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101913189/local-ya-novels-tell-san-francisco-stories\">René Peña-Govea\u003c/a>; the poetry collection \u003ca href=\"https://unpress.nevada.edu/9781647792183/where-heaven-sinks/\">\u003cem>When Heaven Sinks\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by María Esquinca (who coincidently is a former KQED colleague); the nonfiction book \u003ca href=\"https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324004370\">\u003cem>Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire & Revolution in the Borderlands\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by Kelly Lytle Hernández; and the memoir \u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/803724/terrestre-spanish-edition-by-cristina-rivera-garza/\">\u003cem>Terrestre\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and scholar Cristina Rivera Garza.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was reported for K Onda KQED, a monthly newsletter focused on the Bay Area’s Latinx community. \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/newsletters/k-onda\">\u003cem>Click here to subscribe.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tucked inside a compact shop near the corner of 25th and Mission streets in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>, Mission Lotería is evolving from promoting local businesses into a small business of its own.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Tucked inside a compact shop near the corner of 25th and Mission streets in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>, Mission Lotería is evolving from promoting local businesses into a small business of its own.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The organization, which started in 2019, plans to open its first storefront on Sept. 10 at 2884 Mission St., selling giftable items such as hand-painted clay coffee mugs, purses designed by a Colombian artist, clothing, and stationery and cards designed by Bay Area artists. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The organization, which started in 2019, plans to open its first storefront on Sept. 10 at 2884 Mission St., selling giftable items such as hand-painted clay coffee mugs, purses designed by a Colombian artist, clothing, and stationery and cards designed by Bay Area artists. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“What began years ago as a creative campaign celebrating the Mission, supporting neighborhood businesses, and bringing our community together has grown into more than we could have imagined,” said Luis Quiroz, founder of Mission Lotería. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“What began years ago as a creative campaign celebrating the Mission, supporting neighborhood businesses, and bringing our community together has grown into more than we could have imagined,” said Luis Quiroz, founder of Mission Lotería. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The store’s opening coincides with the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, which spans from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The store’s opening coincides with the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, which spans from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I intentionally planned the store opening just before Hispanic Heritage Month so that we could lean into the festivities that were to come and be able to highlight the Latino voices and the Latino artists that are going to be featured here.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I intentionally planned the store opening just before Hispanic Heritage Month so that we could lean into the festivities that were to come and be able to highlight the Latino voices and the Latino artists that are going to be featured here.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Mission Lotería takes inspiration from Lotería, a beloved bingo-style board game from Mexico known for iconic images such as a cactus plant, a woman in a small boat on Lake Chapala, a man carrying a large globe on his back and a radiant sun. Quiroz, 36, created the marketing platform to support local artists and small businesses by organizing community events and neighborhood tours. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Mission Lotería takes inspiration from Lotería, a beloved bingo-style board game from Mexico known for iconic images such as a cactus plant, a woman in a small boat on Lake Chapala, a man carrying a large globe on his back and a radiant sun. Quiroz, 36, created the marketing platform to support local artists and small businesses by organizing community events and neighborhood tours. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I want people to visit Mission Lotería and then venture into a cafe shop or a taqueria or a restaurant or another brick-and-mortar store,” Quiroz said. “It’s the starting point to bring them to the other parts of the Mission.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I want people to visit Mission Lotería and then venture into a cafe shop or a taqueria or a restaurant or another brick-and-mortar store,” Quiroz said. “It’s the starting point to bring them to the other parts of the Mission.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The organization provides a template for how to support Latino businesses with intention and thoughtfulness, especially at a time when the Trump administration \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12087915/bay-area-cities-ask-us-judge-to-block-trump-from-cutting-funds-over-dei-immigration\">vigorously attacks diversity initiatives\u003c/a> and has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097313/northern-california-ice-arrests-surged-this-summer\">launched a deportation apparatus\u003c/a> that has largely targeted Latino immigrants and hurts Latine communities nationwide.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The organization provides a template for how to support Latino businesses with intention and thoughtfulness, especially at a time when the Trump administration \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12087915/bay-area-cities-ask-us-judge-to-block-trump-from-cutting-funds-over-dei-immigration\">vigorously attacks diversity initiatives\u003c/a> and has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097313/northern-california-ice-arrests-surged-this-summer\">launched a deportation apparatus\u003c/a> that has largely targeted Latino immigrants and hurts Latine communities nationwide.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“To be sitting here and about to open a storefront in the Mission, in the Latino cultural district of San Francisco,” said Quiroz, who was previously undocumented. “It’s my way of resisting. They’re not going to hold me down. They’re not going to hold us down. We’re here, we’re here to stay, and we’re out here. We’re thriving.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“To be sitting here and about to open a storefront in the Mission, in the Latino cultural district of San Francisco,” said Quiroz, who was previously undocumented. “It’s my way of resisting. They’re not going to hold me down. They’re not going to hold us down. We’re here, we’re here to stay, and we’re out here. We’re thriving.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This year’s Hispanic Heritage Month presents an opportunity for Latinos to support businesses, organizations and community members who have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096833/how-immigration-raids-are-affecting-children-in-los-angeles\">felt the toll\u003c/a> of the administration’s anti-immigration policies that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101913621/the-psychological-toll-of-trumps-immigration-policies-on-bay-area-latinos\">have had a chilling effect\u003c/a>, with immigrants staying home, shopping less, attending fewer public events and even being afraid to speak Spanish in public. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This year’s Hispanic Heritage Month presents an opportunity for Latinos to support businesses, organizations and community members who have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096833/how-immigration-raids-are-affecting-children-in-los-angeles\">felt the toll\u003c/a> of the administration’s anti-immigration policies that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101913621/the-psychological-toll-of-trumps-immigration-policies-on-bay-area-latinos\">have had a chilling effect\u003c/a>, with immigrants staying home, shopping less, attending fewer public events and even being afraid to speak Spanish in public. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This has also been a challenging year for many Latinx-owned businesses between the fear immigrants are feeling and higher costs of doing business, said Alicia Villanueva, owner and founder of Hayward-based Alicia’s Tamales Los Mayas.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This has also been a challenging year for many Latinx-owned businesses between the fear immigrants are feeling and higher costs of doing business, said Alicia Villanueva, owner and founder of Hayward-based Alicia’s Tamales Los Mayas.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Seeing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073728/us-citizen-army-veteran-detained-by-ice-sues-for-damages-in-federal-court\">hardworking people\u003c/a> picked up off the street, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094994/detained-at-green-card-interview-how-a-bay-area-family-is-healing-from-sudden-separation?utm_medium=email&utm_source=engagingnetworks&utm_campaign=20260814_NewsDaily_Newsletter_SponsorBlock&utm_content=20260814_NewsDaily_Newsletter_SponsorBlock+8642121190\">families being separated\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12028303/ice-arrest-left-bay-area-man-hospitalized-struggling-breathe-attorney-says\">parents being detained\u003c/a> and leaving children behind is demoralizing, she said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Seeing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073728/us-citizen-army-veteran-detained-by-ice-sues-for-damages-in-federal-court\">hardworking people\u003c/a> picked up off the street, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094994/detained-at-green-card-interview-how-a-bay-area-family-is-healing-from-sudden-separation?utm_medium=email&utm_source=engagingnetworks&utm_campaign=20260814_NewsDaily_Newsletter_SponsorBlock&utm_content=20260814_NewsDaily_Newsletter_SponsorBlock+8642121190\">families being separated\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12028303/ice-arrest-left-bay-area-man-hospitalized-struggling-breathe-attorney-says\">parents being detained\u003c/a> and leaving children behind is demoralizing, she said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I am a citizen now, since last year, and I still feel this trauma,” she said. “Like when I’m driving, and I see the police or something — it scares me.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I am a citizen now, since last year, and I still feel this trauma,” she said. “Like when I’m driving, and I see the police or something — it scares me.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For many food vendors, Hispanic Heritage Month is one of the busiest times of the year, Villanueva said, but this year is different because the community needs a morale boost.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>For many food vendors, Hispanic Heritage Month is one of the busiest times of the year, Villanueva said, but this year is different because the community needs a morale boost.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We really celebrate our cultures, our cuisine and all these traditions that we bring from our countries,” she said. “To keep our traditions alive is one of the responsibilities that we have for future generations.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We really celebrate our cultures, our cuisine and all these traditions that we bring from our countries,” she said. “To keep our traditions alive is one of the responsibilities that we have for future generations.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Villanueva said it pains her to see immigrants living in fear and suffering, especially since she understands the desire to come to the United States to work and advance. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>She started her company in 2010 after selling tamales door to door. She joined a business incubator program for entrepreneurs at San Francisco-based La Cocina that helped her establish a wholesale and catering business and secure capital to grow. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>She started her company in 2010 after selling tamales door to door. She joined a business incubator program for entrepreneurs at San Francisco-based La Cocina that helped her establish a wholesale and catering business and secure capital to grow. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Sixteen years later, Villanueva employs 21 workers who cater events, sell food to retail stores, provide passenger meals for Alaska Airlines and make school lunches for students throughout Northern California. Her next goal is national distribution, the 65-year-old said. She embodies an ethos of permanent optimism that many immigrants espouse. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Sixteen years later, Villanueva employs 21 workers who cater events, sell food to retail stores, provide passenger meals for Alaska Airlines and make school lunches for students throughout Northern California. Her next goal is national distribution, the 65-year-old said. She embodies an ethos of permanent optimism that many immigrants espouse. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The time is really hard,” Villanueva said. “But if you have your passion, your dreams, no matter what, just keep going. Don’t be afraid.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Still, for many Latines, Hispanic Heritage Month can come off as cringe. Corporations use it as a time to pander to Latinos and perform solidarity with clichés such as adding pictures of tacos to non-food-related content or putting the Spanish letter ñ where it doesn’t belong. So it’s no wonder why many people tend to snub their noses at seasonal, tone-deaf marketing. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Still, for many Latines, Hispanic Heritage Month can come off as cringe. Corporations use it as a time to pander to Latinos and perform solidarity with clichés such as adding pictures of tacos to non-food-related content or putting the Spanish letter ñ where it doesn’t belong. So it’s no wonder why many people tend to snub their noses at seasonal, tone-deaf marketing. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>What I can appreciate about Hispanic Heritage Month is the opportunity to unapologetically lean into the beauty, strength and value of Latino culture. Lately, I have been hearing the phrase, “Solo el pueblo salva al pueblo” (Only the community will save the community), which reminds me that celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month might include sharing our culture with others — but it’s most important to show up for ourselves. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>What I can appreciate about Hispanic Heritage Month is the opportunity to unapologetically lean into the beauty, strength and value of Latino culture. Lately, I have been hearing the phrase, “Solo el pueblo salva al pueblo” (Only the community will save the community), which reminds me that celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month might include sharing our culture with others — but it’s most important to show up for ourselves. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We think about Latinx heritage 365 days a year,” said Josiah Alderete, co-owner of Medicine for Nightmares in San Francisco. The bookstore is Black- and Latino-owned and has made a point to stock books written by and about people of color from its inception five years ago — not just for affinity months. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We think about Latinx heritage 365 days a year,” said Josiah Alderete, co-owner of Medicine for Nightmares in San Francisco. The bookstore is Black- and Latino-owned and has made a point to stock books written by and about people of color from its inception five years ago — not just for affinity months. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I’m always thrilled people celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, but the truth is, we are always celebrating it,” he said. “You can come in here and see yourself 12 months of the year.” \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>“I’m always thrilled people celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, but the truth is, we are always celebrating it,” he said. “You can come in here and see yourself 12 months of the year.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"text": "Practical ways to show up this Hispanic Heritage Month: ",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Practical ways to show up this Hispanic Heritage Month: \u003c/h2>\n",
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"text": "Attend Hispanic Heritage Month events "
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Attend Hispanic Heritage Month events \u003c/h3>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Cities and organizations across the Bay Area are planning festivities to honor and celebrate Latine residents and culture, which has turned into an act of resistance. (Check out K Onda’s comprehensive guide.) \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Cities and organizations across the Bay Area are planning festivities to honor and celebrate Latine residents and culture, which has turned into an act of resistance. (Check out K Onda’s comprehensive guide.) \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Over the last year, several event organizers have said they were advised against holding large public gatherings like festivals for fear of ICE showing up and detaining people. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Over the last year, several event organizers have said they were advised against holding large public gatherings like festivals for fear of ICE showing up and detaining people. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But most organizers decided that offering joy, reinforcing culture and coming together was more important than giving in to fear. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12030084\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dolls for sale at Luz de Luna, a gift store on 24th Street in San Francisco, on March 5, 2025. Owner Denise Gonzales says about 70% of the products sold in store are imported from Mexico.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12030084\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dolls for sale at Luz de Luna, a gift store on 24th Street in San Francisco, on March 5, 2025. Owner Denise Gonzales says about 70% of the products sold in store are imported from Mexico.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"text": "Prioritize shopping at Latino-owned businesses, especially small ones"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I covered retail and consumer issues many years ago, and the biggest lesson I learned was that consumers have way more power than they know. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>I covered retail and consumer issues many years ago, and the biggest lesson I learned was that consumers have way more power than they know. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Every dollar people spend fuels someone’s bottom line, so choose where you shop wisely, because our spending power picks winners and losers every day. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Every dollar people spend fuels someone’s bottom line, so choose where you shop wisely, because our spending power picks winners and losers every day. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That’s why I don’t feel bad buying an artisan or locally made item such as soaps, honey, produce from a farmer’s market or a handmade gift, even if I could have found something cheaper at a big-box store. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>That’s why I don’t feel bad buying an artisan or locally made item such as soaps, honey, produce from a farmer’s market or a handmade gift, even if I could have found something cheaper at a big-box store. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>When I buy a cup of fruit from a street vendor, I feel good about buying a healthy snack and supporting someone who is often depending on that day’s sales to survive. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>When I buy a cup of fruit from a street vendor, I feel good about buying a healthy snack and supporting someone who is often depending on that day’s sales to survive. \u003c/p>\n"
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"text": "Read more books about Latin American identity and history by Latino authors "
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For a dose of cultural criticism and an exploration of how personal histories intersect with mainstream culture, I recommend \u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/704670/magicalrealism-by-vanessa-angelica-villarreal/\">\u003cem>Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders\u003c/em> by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal\u003c/a>, which I recently read and found evocative. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Other books to check out: \u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Migrant-Heart/Reyna-Grande/9781668055274\">\u003cem>Migrant Heart\u003c/em> by Reyna Grande\u003c/a>, a true gem of a writer who makes her home in Northern California, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Keeper-of-My-Kin/Ada-Ferrer/9781668025659\">\u003cem>Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by Ada Ferrer, who appeared \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101913858/a-family-divided-by-cubas-revolution\">on Forum earlier this year\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Other books to check out: \u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Migrant-Heart/Reyna-Grande/9781668055274\">\u003cem>Migrant Heart\u003c/em> by Reyna Grande\u003c/a>, a true gem of a writer who makes her home in Northern California, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Keeper-of-My-Kin/Ada-Ferrer/9781668025659\">\u003cem>Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by Ada Ferrer, who appeared \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101913858/a-family-divided-by-cubas-revolution\">on Forum earlier this year\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And, here are some recommendations from Alderete, of Medicine for Nightmares: the young adult novel, \u003ca href=\"https://www.harpercollins.com/products/estela-undrowning-rene-pena-govea\">\u003cem>Estela, Undrowning\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by San Francisco writer and educator \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101913189/local-ya-novels-tell-san-francisco-stories\">René Peña-Govea\u003c/a>; the poetry collection \u003ca href=\"https://unpress.nevada.edu/9781647792183/where-heaven-sinks/\">\u003cem>When Heaven Sinks\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by María Esquinca (who coincidently is a former KQED colleague); the nonfiction book \u003ca href=\"https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324004370\">\u003cem>Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire & Revolution in the Borderlands\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by Kelly Lytle Hernández; and the memoir \u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/803724/terrestre-spanish-edition-by-cristina-rivera-garza/\">\u003cem>Terrestre\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and scholar Cristina Rivera Garza.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "This Hispanic Heritage Month, support your community with intention and thoughtfulness. \n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was reported for K Onda KQED, a monthly newsletter focused on the Bay Area’s Latinx community. \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/newsletters/k-onda\">\u003cem>Click here to subscribe.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tucked inside a compact shop near the corner of 25th and Mission streets in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>, Mission Lotería is evolving from promoting local businesses into a small business of its own.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The organization, which started in 2019, plans to open its first storefront on Sept. 10 at 2884 Mission St., selling giftable items such as hand-painted clay coffee mugs, purses designed by a Colombian artist, clothing, and stationery and cards designed by Bay Area artists. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What began years ago as a creative campaign celebrating the Mission, supporting neighborhood businesses, and bringing our community together has grown into more than we could have imagined,” said Luis Quiroz, founder of Mission Lotería. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The store’s opening coincides with the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, which spans from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I intentionally planned the store opening just before Hispanic Heritage Month so that we could lean into the festivities that were to come and be able to highlight the Latino voices and the Latino artists that are going to be featured here.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-KOndaSeptember-01-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098318\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-KOndaSeptember-01-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-KOndaSeptember-01-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-KOndaSeptember-01-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lotería art at Mission Lotería’s new storefront in San Francisco on Sept. 3, 2026. The space will serve as a home for community events, workshops and local art. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Mission Lotería takes inspiration from Lotería, a beloved bingo-style board game from Mexico known for iconic images such as a cactus plant, a woman in a small boat on Lake Chapala, a man carrying a large globe on his back and a radiant sun. Quiroz, 36, created the marketing platform to support local artists and small businesses by organizing community events and neighborhood tours. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I want people to visit Mission Lotería and then venture into a cafe shop or a taqueria or a restaurant or another brick-and-mortar store,” Quiroz said. “It’s the starting point to bring them to the other parts of the Mission.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The organization provides a template for how to support Latino businesses with intention and thoughtfulness, especially at a time when the Trump administration \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12087915/bay-area-cities-ask-us-judge-to-block-trump-from-cutting-funds-over-dei-immigration\">vigorously attacks diversity initiatives\u003c/a> and has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097313/northern-california-ice-arrests-surged-this-summer\">launched a deportation apparatus\u003c/a> that has largely targeted Latino immigrants and hurts Latine communities nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“To be sitting here and about to open a storefront in the Mission, in the Latino cultural district of San Francisco,” said Quiroz, who was previously undocumented. “It’s my way of resisting. They’re not going to hold me down. They’re not going to hold us down. We’re here, we’re here to stay, and we’re out here. We’re thriving.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This year’s Hispanic Heritage Month presents an opportunity for Latinos to support businesses, organizations and community members who have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096833/how-immigration-raids-are-affecting-children-in-los-angeles\">felt the toll\u003c/a> of the administration’s anti-immigration policies that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101913621/the-psychological-toll-of-trumps-immigration-policies-on-bay-area-latinos\">have had a chilling effect\u003c/a>, with immigrants staying home, shopping less, attending fewer public events and even being afraid to speak Spanish in public. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This has also been a challenging year for many Latinx-owned businesses between the fear immigrants are feeling and higher costs of doing business, said Alicia Villanueva, owner and founder of Hayward-based Alicia’s Tamales Los Mayas.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Seeing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073728/us-citizen-army-veteran-detained-by-ice-sues-for-damages-in-federal-court\">hardworking people\u003c/a> picked up off the street, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094994/detained-at-green-card-interview-how-a-bay-area-family-is-healing-from-sudden-separation?utm_medium=email&utm_source=engagingnetworks&utm_campaign=20260814_NewsDaily_Newsletter_SponsorBlock&utm_content=20260814_NewsDaily_Newsletter_SponsorBlock+8642121190\">families being separated\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12028303/ice-arrest-left-bay-area-man-hospitalized-struggling-breathe-attorney-says\">parents being detained\u003c/a> and leaving children behind is demoralizing, she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I am a citizen now, since last year, and I still feel this trauma,” she said. “Like when I’m driving, and I see the police or something — it scares me.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For many food vendors, Hispanic Heritage Month is one of the busiest times of the year, Villanueva said, but this year is different because the community needs a morale boost.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We really celebrate our cultures, our cuisine and all these traditions that we bring from our countries,” she said. “To keep our traditions alive is one of the responsibilities that we have for future generations.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-KOndaSeptember-06-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098323\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-KOndaSeptember-06-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-KOndaSeptember-06-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-KOndaSeptember-06-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Concha candles and mugs for sale at Mission Lotería’s new storefront in San Francisco on Sept. 3, 2026. The space will serve as a home for community events, workshops and local art. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Villanueva said it pains her to see immigrants living in fear and suffering, especially since she understands the desire to come to the United States to work and advance. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She started her company in 2010 after selling tamales door to door. She joined a business incubator program for entrepreneurs at San Francisco-based La Cocina that helped her establish a wholesale and catering business and secure capital to grow. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Sixteen years later, Villanueva employs 21 workers who cater events, sell food to retail stores, provide passenger meals for Alaska Airlines and make school lunches for students throughout Northern California. Her next goal is national distribution, the 65-year-old said. She embodies an ethos of permanent optimism that many immigrants espouse. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The time is really hard,” Villanueva said. “But if you have your passion, your dreams, no matter what, just keep going. Don’t be afraid.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, for many Latines, Hispanic Heritage Month can come off as cringe. Corporations use it as a time to pander to Latinos and perform solidarity with clichés such as adding pictures of tacos to non-food-related content or putting the Spanish letter ñ where it doesn’t belong. So it’s no wonder why many people tend to snub their noses at seasonal, tone-deaf marketing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What I can appreciate about Hispanic Heritage Month is the opportunity to unapologetically lean into the beauty, strength and value of Latino culture. Lately, I have been hearing the phrase, “Solo el pueblo salva al pueblo” (Only the community will save the community), which reminds me that celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month might include sharing our culture with others — but it’s most important to show up for ourselves. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We think about Latinx heritage 365 days a year,” said Josiah Alderete, co-owner of Medicine for Nightmares in San Francisco. The bookstore is Black- and Latino-owned and has made a point to stock books written by and about people of color from its inception five years ago — not just for affinity months. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’m always thrilled people celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, but the truth is, we are always celebrating it,” he said. “You can come in here and see yourself 12 months of the year.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Practical ways to show up this Hispanic Heritage Month: \u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Attend Hispanic Heritage Month events \u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Cities and organizations across the Bay Area are planning festivities to honor and celebrate Latine residents and culture, which has turned into an act of resistance. (Check out K Onda’s comprehensive guide.) \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Over the last year, several event organizers have said they were advised against holding large public gatherings like festivals for fear of ICE showing up and detaining people. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But most organizers decided that offering joy, reinforcing culture and coming together was more important than giving in to fear. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12030084\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250305_TariffsImpact_GC-10_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dolls for sale at Luz de Luna, a gift store on 24th Street in San Francisco, on March 5, 2025. Owner Denise Gonzales says about 70% of the products sold in store are imported from Mexico. (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Prioritize shopping at Latino-owned businesses, especially small ones\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I covered retail and consumer issues many years ago, and the biggest lesson I learned was that consumers have way more power than they know. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Every dollar people spend fuels someone’s bottom line, so choose where you shop wisely, because our spending power picks winners and losers every day. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That’s why I don’t feel bad buying an artisan or locally made item such as soaps, honey, produce from a farmer’s market or a handmade gift, even if I could have found something cheaper at a big-box store. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When I buy a cup of fruit from a street vendor, I feel good about buying a healthy snack and supporting someone who is often depending on that day’s sales to survive. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Read more books about Latin American identity and history by Latino authors\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For a dose of cultural criticism and an exploration of how personal histories intersect with mainstream culture, I recommend \u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/704670/magicalrealism-by-vanessa-angelica-villarreal/\">\u003cem>Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders\u003c/em> by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal\u003c/a>, which I recently read and found evocative. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Other books to check out: \u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Migrant-Heart/Reyna-Grande/9781668055274\">\u003cem>Migrant Heart\u003c/em> by Reyna Grande\u003c/a>, a true gem of a writer who makes her home in Northern California, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Keeper-of-My-Kin/Ada-Ferrer/9781668025659\">\u003cem>Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by Ada Ferrer, who appeared \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101913858/a-family-divided-by-cubas-revolution\">on Forum earlier this year\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And, here are some recommendations from Alderete, of Medicine for Nightmares: the young adult novel, \u003ca href=\"https://www.harpercollins.com/products/estela-undrowning-rene-pena-govea\">\u003cem>Estela, Undrowning\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by San Francisco writer and educator \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101913189/local-ya-novels-tell-san-francisco-stories\">René Peña-Govea\u003c/a>; the poetry collection \u003ca href=\"https://unpress.nevada.edu/9781647792183/where-heaven-sinks/\">\u003cem>When Heaven Sinks\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by María Esquinca (who coincidently is a former KQED colleague); the nonfiction book \u003ca href=\"https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324004370\">\u003cem>Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire & Revolution in the Borderlands\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by Kelly Lytle Hernández; and the memoir \u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/803724/terrestre-spanish-edition-by-cristina-rivera-garza/\">\u003cem>Terrestre\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and scholar Cristina Rivera Garza.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "native-americans-in-central-california-ring-in-powwow-season",
"title": "Native Americans in Central California Ring in Powwow Season",
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"headTitle": "Native Americans in Central California Ring in Powwow Season | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Here are the morning’s top stories on Monday, September 7, 2026\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Powwows are common in many parts of the country where Native Americans call home. But did you know some regions have powwow seasons? \u003ca href=\"https://calendar.powwows.com/events/categories/pow-wows-in-california/\">California’s powwow season \u003c/a>recently kicked off in Central California. And it brought tribes from as far as New York and Canada to Table Mountain Rancheria casino just outside of Fresno, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kvpr.org/community/2026-08-27/outside-fresno-tribal-members-dance-to-their-own-beat\">where the sound of a long tradition rang out.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>California \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097964/why-sick-sea-lions-are-washing-up-on-california-beaches-right-now\">sea lion poisonings are surging\u003c/a> along the coast, and warm waters brought by El Niño could make things worse.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Researchers estimate \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/unsheltered-people-within-mile-la-olympic-venues\">that close to 6,000 unsheltered people live within a mile of venues\u003c/a> for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kvpr.org/community/2026-08-27/outside-fresno-tribal-members-dance-to-their-own-beat\">“\u003cstrong>You Dance For Your Loved Ones. You Dance For Someone Who Can’t Dance.\u003c/strong>“\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s a Saturday evening, and a steady drum is beating as dozens of people representing many Native American tribes circle a large patch of grass. Small kids dance alongside adults, each in their own tribal colors and with their own rhythm. Dozens more watch intently from the sidelines.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The grassy area is known as an “arena,” and it’s tucked into a golden hillside in eastern Fresno County. This is a social gathering known as a “powwow.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Although Native tribes have held ceremonial gatherings for centuries, powwows are a 19th century tradition,\u003ca href=\"https://www.visitcalifornia.com/experience/pow-wows-california/\"> and late summer is California’s busy season.\u003c/a> These gatherings are formal ways of exchanging culture, but what tribes really come here to do is dance – what they consider as “spreading medicine.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Waylon Burrough organized this celebration. He’s a member of the Chukchansi Indians. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Dancing is healing,” he says. “You dance for your loved ones. You dance for someone who can’t dance.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He says at powwows, everyone brings something special. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Each different regalia has a different meaning. And each dance has a different story behind it.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tribal members come from all over. There’s Choctaw, Mono Indians, Seminole, Lakota, and Navajo, but Burrough says where they come from isn’t the story – it’s what happens when they get here. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We dance in a circular motion. And clockwise motion. And to the beat of the drum. So it’s like dancing with time.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Everyone moves to the same beat, like a heartbeat. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Twirling in the arena is Murphy Bear-McCloud. He’s 17 years old, and belongs to the Dunlap Band of Mono Indians as well as a tribe in Oklahoma. He’s wearing yellow and orange – with two fans of feathers called bustles that look like fireworks on his back. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The bustles used to be flat, not big. And they used to be a lot smaller but now they just got bigger because everyone wanted a flare,” says Bear-McCloud. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He shares more with me after his dance… once he catches his breath. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I do this powwow for a living. I’ve been dancing since I was real young, when I could walk. It’s just been sticking with me my whole life.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This time of the year is his busiest. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Usually I do it like weekend after weekend after weekend. Like usually I’m never home for weeks. So I’m not going to be home until November.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One of his fans interrupts our interview. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This guy’s going to be a superstar in life right here. You know why? Because he’s guided by the best and he’s got the best. And this is his uncle Craig Hackett speaking. And if anybody’s got anything to say to this boy, you can find me. Just say ‘whats up.’” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That’s what you call a proud uncle.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>By nightfall, it’s time to compete for prize money.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lilliane Shakespeare Largo is waiting for her turn. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’m from the Diné Nation, which is Navajo, and I’m also part of Northern Arapahoe and Mescalero Apache,” says Shakespeare Largo. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She’s 25 and came in from New Mexico. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We drove all night, it was about a 10 hour drive.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She’s performing the “Women’s Northern Buckskin” dance. A large feather points up from her head and curtains of white buckskin fringe hang from her brightly colored shawl.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“My favorite color is blue. So I made my whole bead work blue. And then they’re family designs,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the arena, Largo and the other women take one step. And then another. Their buckskin sways in the wind – almost in slow motion. Then, time is up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The winner? Largo – she’s taking home 1,000 dollars. This is a special win for her. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’m five months postpartum. So it’s a lot harder for me. But I feel happy when I do perform well.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Her dad is holding her five month old baby as they celebrate. Here, three generations point to the spirit of these powwows. Tribal members don’t just come to dance for themselves. But also for their ancestors, and the next generation, who will one day learn to dance to their own beat. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097964/why-sick-sea-lions-are-washing-up-on-california-beaches-right-now\">Sea Lions in Crisis As Toxic Algae Blooms Off California Coast \u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.marinemammalcenter.org/\">The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito\u003c/a> is fielding up to 600 calls a day about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1914632/algae-poisoned-sea-lions-inundate-marine-mammal-center\">sea lions\u003c/a> that appear confused, lethargic, and, in some cases, dead. The center has treated more than 100 sea lions — above the yearly average of 75 to 90 — with the majority of these cases occurring since the start of July.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>An algal bloom is poisoning mammals with a toxin called \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1931779/scientists-uncover-genetic-basis-for-toxic-algal-blooms\">domoic acid\u003c/a>, which can cause seizures and heart failure. The animals ingest the naturally occurring neurotoxin by eating fish or shellfish. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Giancarlo Rulli is a spokesperson for the center.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen a major flare-up in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties,” Rulli said. “This is highly emotional, and it can be very disturbing to see an animal that’s not in control of itself out on the beach.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Additional rescues have taken place in San Mateo, San Francisco, Marin and Sonoma counties. The center has also treated a handful of northern fur seals. Treating a single mammal can require up to six trained responders and may involve repeated doses of anti-seizure medication.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s brutal on the animals,” Rulli said. “We are seeing animals die out on the beaches. There are a fair amount of carcasses out there. We’re seeing animals pass away in transport being brought back to the hospital.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Rulli said the cases are a sign that the toxin has worked its way through the food chain in “a short-term burst,” but said the center is also seeing chronic cases where sea lions have “brain lesions and permanent heart damage.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Along the northern California coast, marine algal blooms are primarily caused by natural factors such as ocean upwelling of nutrient-rich water and warm ocean temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Polluted runoff from agriculture and other human activities also feed blooms, a factor projected to become more frequent and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/harmful-algal-blooms/about/harmful-algal-blooms-contributing-factors-and-impacts.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">severe\u003c/a> due to human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Rulli says that already warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures, and further warming from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2001688/strong-el-nino-may-bring-record-sea-level-and-coastal-flooding-to-bay-area\">the climate pattern El Niño\u003c/a>, could exponentially increase the number of affected mammals. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/unsheltered-people-within-mile-la-olympic-venues\">Initial Count of Unsheltered People by L.A. County “Obviously Low,” UCLA Researcher Says\u003c/a> \u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Local officials expect that security plans for the 2028 Olympics will require unhoused people to vacate areas around competition venues, but exactly how many people is unclear.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://home2028.la/\">new report from academics\u003c/a> at USC and UCLA indicates that potentially close to 6,000 people could be displaced. That figure is more than three times higher than an estimate the L.A. County Department of Housing and Homelessness gave LAist earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That just seemed obviously low,” said Randall Kuhn, a UCLA professor and demographer who co-runs \u003ca href=\"https://archive.is/o/0tb4r/https://www.paths.la/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a monthly survey of unhoused people in L.A.\u003c/a> In total, there are around 49,000 unsheltered people countywide, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://archive.is/o/0tb4r/https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/la-homelessness-rose-in-2026-official-count-shows\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2026 point-in-time homeless count\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kuhn and his colleagues came up with their higher estimate using numbers from that count, which estimates the number of unhoused people by census tract. They then adjusted those figures based on how much each tract overlapped with a potential Olympic security perimeter and the length of walkable and major streets where unhoused people were likely to be located.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp> ”The numbers just give us a good starting point, right? What really matters is the people in those buffers.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Here are the morning’s top stories on Monday, September 7, 2026\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n",
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"Powwows are common in many parts of the country where Native Americans call home. But did you know some regions have powwow seasons? California’s powwow season recently kicked off in Central California. And it brought tribes from as far as New York and Canada to Table Mountain Rancheria casino just outside of Fresno, where the sound of a long tradition rang out.",
"California sea lion poisonings are surging along the coast, and warm waters brought by El Niño could make things worse.",
"Researchers estimate that close to 6,000 unsheltered people live within a mile of venues for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles."
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Powwows are common in many parts of the country where Native Americans call home. But did you know some regions have powwow seasons? \u003ca href=\"https://calendar.powwows.com/events/categories/pow-wows-in-california/\">California’s powwow season \u003c/a>recently kicked off in Central California. And it brought tribes from as far as New York and Canada to Table Mountain Rancheria casino just outside of Fresno, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kvpr.org/community/2026-08-27/outside-fresno-tribal-members-dance-to-their-own-beat\">where the sound of a long tradition rang out.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>Powwows are common in many parts of the country where Native Americans call home. But did you know some regions have powwow seasons? \u003ca href=\"https://calendar.powwows.com/events/categories/pow-wows-in-california/\">California’s powwow season \u003c/a>recently kicked off in Central California. And it brought tribes from as far as New York and Canada to Table Mountain Rancheria casino just outside of Fresno, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kvpr.org/community/2026-08-27/outside-fresno-tribal-members-dance-to-their-own-beat\">where the sound of a long tradition rang out.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>California \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097964/why-sick-sea-lions-are-washing-up-on-california-beaches-right-now\">sea lion poisonings are surging\u003c/a> along the coast, and warm waters brought by El Niño could make things worse.\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>California \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097964/why-sick-sea-lions-are-washing-up-on-california-beaches-right-now\">sea lion poisonings are surging\u003c/a> along the coast, and warm waters brought by El Niño could make things worse.\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>Researchers estimate \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/unsheltered-people-within-mile-la-olympic-venues\">that close to 6,000 unsheltered people live within a mile of venues\u003c/a> for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>Researchers estimate \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/unsheltered-people-within-mile-la-olympic-venues\">that close to 6,000 unsheltered people live within a mile of venues\u003c/a> for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kvpr.org/community/2026-08-27/outside-fresno-tribal-members-dance-to-their-own-beat\">“\u003cstrong>You Dance For Your Loved Ones. You Dance For Someone Who Can’t Dance.\u003c/strong>“\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It’s a Saturday evening, and a steady drum is beating as dozens of people representing many Native American tribes circle a large patch of grass. Small kids dance alongside adults, each in their own tribal colors and with their own rhythm. Dozens more watch intently from the sidelines.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>It’s a Saturday evening, and a steady drum is beating as dozens of people representing many Native American tribes circle a large patch of grass. Small kids dance alongside adults, each in their own tribal colors and with their own rhythm. Dozens more watch intently from the sidelines.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The grassy area is known as an “arena,” and it’s tucked into a golden hillside in eastern Fresno County. This is a social gathering known as a “powwow.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The grassy area is known as an “arena,” and it’s tucked into a golden hillside in eastern Fresno County. This is a social gathering known as a “powwow.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Although Native tribes have held ceremonial gatherings for centuries, powwows are a 19th century tradition,\u003ca href=\"https://www.visitcalifornia.com/experience/pow-wows-california/\"> and late summer is California’s busy season.\u003c/a> These gatherings are formal ways of exchanging culture, but what tribes really come here to do is dance – what they consider as “spreading medicine.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Although Native tribes have held ceremonial gatherings for centuries, powwows are a 19th century tradition,\u003ca href=\"https://www.visitcalifornia.com/experience/pow-wows-california/\"> and late summer is California’s busy season.\u003c/a> These gatherings are formal ways of exchanging culture, but what tribes really come here to do is dance – what they consider as “spreading medicine.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Waylon Burrough organized this celebration. He’s a member of the Chukchansi Indians. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Dancing is healing,” he says. “You dance for your loved ones. You dance for someone who can’t dance.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Dancing is healing,” he says. “You dance for your loved ones. You dance for someone who can’t dance.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He says at powwows, everyone brings something special. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>He says at powwows, everyone brings something special. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Each different regalia has a different meaning. And each dance has a different story behind it.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Each different regalia has a different meaning. And each dance has a different story behind it.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tribal members come from all over. There’s Choctaw, Mono Indians, Seminole, Lakota, and Navajo, but Burrough says where they come from isn’t the story – it’s what happens when they get here. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Tribal members come from all over. There’s Choctaw, Mono Indians, Seminole, Lakota, and Navajo, but Burrough says where they come from isn’t the story – it’s what happens when they get here. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We dance in a circular motion. And clockwise motion. And to the beat of the drum. So it’s like dancing with time.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We dance in a circular motion. And clockwise motion. And to the beat of the drum. So it’s like dancing with time.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Everyone moves to the same beat, like a heartbeat. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Twirling in the arena is Murphy Bear-McCloud. He’s 17 years old, and belongs to the Dunlap Band of Mono Indians as well as a tribe in Oklahoma. He’s wearing yellow and orange – with two fans of feathers called bustles that look like fireworks on his back. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Twirling in the arena is Murphy Bear-McCloud. He’s 17 years old, and belongs to the Dunlap Band of Mono Indians as well as a tribe in Oklahoma. He’s wearing yellow and orange – with two fans of feathers called bustles that look like fireworks on his back. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The bustles used to be flat, not big. And they used to be a lot smaller but now they just got bigger because everyone wanted a flare,” says Bear-McCloud. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He shares more with me after his dance… once he catches his breath. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>He shares more with me after his dance… once he catches his breath. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I do this powwow for a living. I’ve been dancing since I was real young, when I could walk. It’s just been sticking with me my whole life.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I do this powwow for a living. I’ve been dancing since I was real young, when I could walk. It’s just been sticking with me my whole life.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This time of the year is his busiest. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Usually I do it like weekend after weekend after weekend. Like usually I’m never home for weeks. So I’m not going to be home until November.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Usually I do it like weekend after weekend after weekend. Like usually I’m never home for weeks. So I’m not going to be home until November.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>One of his fans interrupts our interview. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This guy’s going to be a superstar in life right here. You know why? Because he’s guided by the best and he’s got the best. And this is his uncle Craig Hackett speaking. And if anybody’s got anything to say to this boy, you can find me. Just say ‘whats up.’” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“This guy’s going to be a superstar in life right here. You know why? Because he’s guided by the best and he’s got the best. And this is his uncle Craig Hackett speaking. And if anybody’s got anything to say to this boy, you can find me. Just say ‘whats up.’” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That’s what you call a proud uncle.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>By nightfall, it’s time to compete for prize money.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Lilliane Shakespeare Largo is waiting for her turn. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Lilliane Shakespeare Largo is waiting for her turn. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I’m from the Diné Nation, which is Navajo, and I’m also part of Northern Arapahoe and Mescalero Apache,” says Shakespeare Largo. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>She’s 25 and came in from New Mexico. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We drove all night, it was about a 10 hour drive.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>She’s performing the “Women’s Northern Buckskin” dance. A large feather points up from her head and curtains of white buckskin fringe hang from her brightly colored shawl.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>She’s performing the “Women’s Northern Buckskin” dance. A large feather points up from her head and curtains of white buckskin fringe hang from her brightly colored shawl.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“My favorite color is blue. So I made my whole bead work blue. And then they’re family designs,” she says.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“My favorite color is blue. So I made my whole bead work blue. And then they’re family designs,” she says.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the arena, Largo and the other women take one step. And then another. Their buckskin sways in the wind – almost in slow motion. Then, time is up.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In the arena, Largo and the other women take one step. And then another. Their buckskin sways in the wind – almost in slow motion. Then, time is up.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The winner? Largo – she’s taking home 1,000 dollars. This is a special win for her. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The winner? Largo – she’s taking home 1,000 dollars. This is a special win for her. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I’m five months postpartum. So it’s a lot harder for me. But I feel happy when I do perform well.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I’m five months postpartum. So it’s a lot harder for me. But I feel happy when I do perform well.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Her dad is holding her five month old baby as they celebrate. Here, three generations point to the spirit of these powwows. Tribal members don’t just come to dance for themselves. But also for their ancestors, and the next generation, who will one day learn to dance to their own beat. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Her dad is holding her five month old baby as they celebrate. Here, three generations point to the spirit of these powwows. Tribal members don’t just come to dance for themselves. But also for their ancestors, and the next generation, who will one day learn to dance to their own beat. \u003c/p>\n"
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"text": "Sea Lions in Crisis As Toxic Algae Blooms Off California Coast",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097964/why-sick-sea-lions-are-washing-up-on-california-beaches-right-now\">Sea Lions in Crisis As Toxic Algae Blooms Off California Coast \u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.marinemammalcenter.org/\">The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito\u003c/a> is fielding up to 600 calls a day about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1914632/algae-poisoned-sea-lions-inundate-marine-mammal-center\">sea lions\u003c/a> that appear confused, lethargic, and, in some cases, dead. The center has treated more than 100 sea lions — above the yearly average of 75 to 90 — with the majority of these cases occurring since the start of July.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.marinemammalcenter.org/\">The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito\u003c/a> is fielding up to 600 calls a day about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1914632/algae-poisoned-sea-lions-inundate-marine-mammal-center\">sea lions\u003c/a> that appear confused, lethargic, and, in some cases, dead. The center has treated more than 100 sea lions — above the yearly average of 75 to 90 — with the majority of these cases occurring since the start of July.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>An algal bloom is poisoning mammals with a toxin called \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1931779/scientists-uncover-genetic-basis-for-toxic-algal-blooms\">domoic acid\u003c/a>, which can cause seizures and heart failure. The animals ingest the naturally occurring neurotoxin by eating fish or shellfish. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>An algal bloom is poisoning mammals with a toxin called \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1931779/scientists-uncover-genetic-basis-for-toxic-algal-blooms\">domoic acid\u003c/a>, which can cause seizures and heart failure. The animals ingest the naturally occurring neurotoxin by eating fish or shellfish. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Giancarlo Rulli is a spokesperson for the center.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen a major flare-up in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties,” Rulli said. “This is highly emotional, and it can be very disturbing to see an animal that’s not in control of itself out on the beach.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen a major flare-up in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties,” Rulli said. “This is highly emotional, and it can be very disturbing to see an animal that’s not in control of itself out on the beach.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Additional rescues have taken place in San Mateo, San Francisco, Marin and Sonoma counties. The center has also treated a handful of northern fur seals. Treating a single mammal can require up to six trained responders and may involve repeated doses of anti-seizure medication.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Additional rescues have taken place in San Mateo, San Francisco, Marin and Sonoma counties. The center has also treated a handful of northern fur seals. Treating a single mammal can require up to six trained responders and may involve repeated doses of anti-seizure medication.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s brutal on the animals,” Rulli said. “We are seeing animals die out on the beaches. There are a fair amount of carcasses out there. We’re seeing animals pass away in transport being brought back to the hospital.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It’s brutal on the animals,” Rulli said. “We are seeing animals die out on the beaches. There are a fair amount of carcasses out there. We’re seeing animals pass away in transport being brought back to the hospital.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Rulli said the cases are a sign that the toxin has worked its way through the food chain in “a short-term burst,” but said the center is also seeing chronic cases where sea lions have “brain lesions and permanent heart damage.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Rulli said the cases are a sign that the toxin has worked its way through the food chain in “a short-term burst,” but said the center is also seeing chronic cases where sea lions have “brain lesions and permanent heart damage.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Along the northern California coast, marine algal blooms are primarily caused by natural factors such as ocean upwelling of nutrient-rich water and warm ocean temperatures.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Polluted runoff from agriculture and other human activities also feed blooms, a factor projected to become more frequent and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/harmful-algal-blooms/about/harmful-algal-blooms-contributing-factors-and-impacts.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">severe\u003c/a> due to human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Polluted runoff from agriculture and other human activities also feed blooms, a factor projected to become more frequent and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/harmful-algal-blooms/about/harmful-algal-blooms-contributing-factors-and-impacts.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">severe\u003c/a> due to human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Rulli says that already warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures, and further warming from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2001688/strong-el-nino-may-bring-record-sea-level-and-coastal-flooding-to-bay-area\">the climate pattern El Niño\u003c/a>, could exponentially increase the number of affected mammals. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Rulli says that already warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures, and further warming from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2001688/strong-el-nino-may-bring-record-sea-level-and-coastal-flooding-to-bay-area\">the climate pattern El Niño\u003c/a>, could exponentially increase the number of affected mammals. \u003c/p>\n"
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"text": "Initial Count of Unsheltered People by L.A. County “Obviously Low,” UCLA Researcher Says",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/unsheltered-people-within-mile-la-olympic-venues\">Initial Count of Unsheltered People by L.A. County “Obviously Low,” UCLA Researcher Says\u003c/a> \u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Local officials expect that security plans for the 2028 Olympics will require unhoused people to vacate areas around competition venues, but exactly how many people is unclear.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://home2028.la/\">new report from academics\u003c/a> at USC and UCLA indicates that potentially close to 6,000 people could be displaced. That figure is more than three times higher than an estimate the L.A. County Department of Housing and Homelessness gave LAist earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://home2028.la/\">new report from academics\u003c/a> at USC and UCLA indicates that potentially close to 6,000 people could be displaced. That figure is more than three times higher than an estimate the L.A. County Department of Housing and Homelessness gave LAist earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“That just seemed obviously low,” said Randall Kuhn, a UCLA professor and demographer who co-runs \u003ca href=\"https://archive.is/o/0tb4r/https://www.paths.la/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a monthly survey of unhoused people in L.A.\u003c/a> In total, there are around 49,000 unsheltered people countywide, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://archive.is/o/0tb4r/https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/la-homelessness-rose-in-2026-official-count-shows\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2026 point-in-time homeless count\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“That just seemed obviously low,” said Randall Kuhn, a UCLA professor and demographer who co-runs \u003ca href=\"https://archive.is/o/0tb4r/https://www.paths.la/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a monthly survey of unhoused people in L.A.\u003c/a> In total, there are around 49,000 unsheltered people countywide, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://archive.is/o/0tb4r/https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/la-homelessness-rose-in-2026-official-count-shows\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2026 point-in-time homeless count\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Kuhn and his colleagues came up with their higher estimate using numbers from that count, which estimates the number of unhoused people by census tract. They then adjusted those figures based on how much each tract overlapped with a potential Olympic security perimeter and the length of walkable and major streets where unhoused people were likely to be located.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Kuhn and his colleagues came up with their higher estimate using numbers from that count, which estimates the number of unhoused people by census tract. They then adjusted those figures based on how much each tract overlapped with a potential Olympic security perimeter and the length of walkable and major streets where unhoused people were likely to be located.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp> ”The numbers just give us a good starting point, right? What really matters is the people in those buffers.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Late summer is the busy season here for the traditional Native ceremonial gathering full of dancing. \n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Here are the morning’s top stories on Monday, September 7, 2026\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Powwows are common in many parts of the country where Native Americans call home. But did you know some regions have powwow seasons? \u003ca href=\"https://calendar.powwows.com/events/categories/pow-wows-in-california/\">California’s powwow season \u003c/a>recently kicked off in Central California. And it brought tribes from as far as New York and Canada to Table Mountain Rancheria casino just outside of Fresno, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kvpr.org/community/2026-08-27/outside-fresno-tribal-members-dance-to-their-own-beat\">where the sound of a long tradition rang out.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>California \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097964/why-sick-sea-lions-are-washing-up-on-california-beaches-right-now\">sea lion poisonings are surging\u003c/a> along the coast, and warm waters brought by El Niño could make things worse.\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Researchers estimate \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/unsheltered-people-within-mile-la-olympic-venues\">that close to 6,000 unsheltered people live within a mile of venues\u003c/a> for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kvpr.org/community/2026-08-27/outside-fresno-tribal-members-dance-to-their-own-beat\">“\u003cstrong>You Dance For Your Loved Ones. You Dance For Someone Who Can’t Dance.\u003c/strong>“\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s a Saturday evening, and a steady drum is beating as dozens of people representing many Native American tribes circle a large patch of grass. Small kids dance alongside adults, each in their own tribal colors and with their own rhythm. Dozens more watch intently from the sidelines.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The grassy area is known as an “arena,” and it’s tucked into a golden hillside in eastern Fresno County. This is a social gathering known as a “powwow.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Although Native tribes have held ceremonial gatherings for centuries, powwows are a 19th century tradition,\u003ca href=\"https://www.visitcalifornia.com/experience/pow-wows-california/\"> and late summer is California’s busy season.\u003c/a> These gatherings are formal ways of exchanging culture, but what tribes really come here to do is dance – what they consider as “spreading medicine.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Waylon Burrough organized this celebration. He’s a member of the Chukchansi Indians. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Dancing is healing,” he says. “You dance for your loved ones. You dance for someone who can’t dance.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He says at powwows, everyone brings something special. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Each different regalia has a different meaning. And each dance has a different story behind it.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tribal members come from all over. There’s Choctaw, Mono Indians, Seminole, Lakota, and Navajo, but Burrough says where they come from isn’t the story – it’s what happens when they get here. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We dance in a circular motion. And clockwise motion. And to the beat of the drum. So it’s like dancing with time.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Everyone moves to the same beat, like a heartbeat. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Twirling in the arena is Murphy Bear-McCloud. He’s 17 years old, and belongs to the Dunlap Band of Mono Indians as well as a tribe in Oklahoma. He’s wearing yellow and orange – with two fans of feathers called bustles that look like fireworks on his back. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The bustles used to be flat, not big. And they used to be a lot smaller but now they just got bigger because everyone wanted a flare,” says Bear-McCloud. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He shares more with me after his dance… once he catches his breath. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I do this powwow for a living. I’ve been dancing since I was real young, when I could walk. It’s just been sticking with me my whole life.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This time of the year is his busiest. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Usually I do it like weekend after weekend after weekend. Like usually I’m never home for weeks. So I’m not going to be home until November.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One of his fans interrupts our interview. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This guy’s going to be a superstar in life right here. You know why? Because he’s guided by the best and he’s got the best. And this is his uncle Craig Hackett speaking. And if anybody’s got anything to say to this boy, you can find me. Just say ‘whats up.’” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That’s what you call a proud uncle.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>By nightfall, it’s time to compete for prize money.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lilliane Shakespeare Largo is waiting for her turn. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’m from the Diné Nation, which is Navajo, and I’m also part of Northern Arapahoe and Mescalero Apache,” says Shakespeare Largo. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She’s 25 and came in from New Mexico. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We drove all night, it was about a 10 hour drive.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She’s performing the “Women’s Northern Buckskin” dance. A large feather points up from her head and curtains of white buckskin fringe hang from her brightly colored shawl.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“My favorite color is blue. So I made my whole bead work blue. And then they’re family designs,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the arena, Largo and the other women take one step. And then another. Their buckskin sways in the wind – almost in slow motion. Then, time is up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The winner? Largo – she’s taking home 1,000 dollars. This is a special win for her. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’m five months postpartum. So it’s a lot harder for me. But I feel happy when I do perform well.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Her dad is holding her five month old baby as they celebrate. Here, three generations point to the spirit of these powwows. Tribal members don’t just come to dance for themselves. But also for their ancestors, and the next generation, who will one day learn to dance to their own beat. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097964/why-sick-sea-lions-are-washing-up-on-california-beaches-right-now\">Sea Lions in Crisis As Toxic Algae Blooms Off California Coast \u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.marinemammalcenter.org/\">The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito\u003c/a> is fielding up to 600 calls a day about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1914632/algae-poisoned-sea-lions-inundate-marine-mammal-center\">sea lions\u003c/a> that appear confused, lethargic, and, in some cases, dead. The center has treated more than 100 sea lions — above the yearly average of 75 to 90 — with the majority of these cases occurring since the start of July.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>An algal bloom is poisoning mammals with a toxin called \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1931779/scientists-uncover-genetic-basis-for-toxic-algal-blooms\">domoic acid\u003c/a>, which can cause seizures and heart failure. The animals ingest the naturally occurring neurotoxin by eating fish or shellfish. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Giancarlo Rulli is a spokesperson for the center.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen a major flare-up in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties,” Rulli said. “This is highly emotional, and it can be very disturbing to see an animal that’s not in control of itself out on the beach.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Additional rescues have taken place in San Mateo, San Francisco, Marin and Sonoma counties. The center has also treated a handful of northern fur seals. Treating a single mammal can require up to six trained responders and may involve repeated doses of anti-seizure medication.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s brutal on the animals,” Rulli said. “We are seeing animals die out on the beaches. There are a fair amount of carcasses out there. We’re seeing animals pass away in transport being brought back to the hospital.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Rulli said the cases are a sign that the toxin has worked its way through the food chain in “a short-term burst,” but said the center is also seeing chronic cases where sea lions have “brain lesions and permanent heart damage.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Along the northern California coast, marine algal blooms are primarily caused by natural factors such as ocean upwelling of nutrient-rich water and warm ocean temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Polluted runoff from agriculture and other human activities also feed blooms, a factor projected to become more frequent and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/harmful-algal-blooms/about/harmful-algal-blooms-contributing-factors-and-impacts.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">severe\u003c/a> due to human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Rulli says that already warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures, and further warming from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2001688/strong-el-nino-may-bring-record-sea-level-and-coastal-flooding-to-bay-area\">the climate pattern El Niño\u003c/a>, could exponentially increase the number of affected mammals. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/unsheltered-people-within-mile-la-olympic-venues\">Initial Count of Unsheltered People by L.A. County “Obviously Low,” UCLA Researcher Says\u003c/a> \u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Local officials expect that security plans for the 2028 Olympics will require unhoused people to vacate areas around competition venues, but exactly how many people is unclear.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://home2028.la/\">new report from academics\u003c/a> at USC and UCLA indicates that potentially close to 6,000 people could be displaced. That figure is more than three times higher than an estimate the L.A. County Department of Housing and Homelessness gave LAist earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That just seemed obviously low,” said Randall Kuhn, a UCLA professor and demographer who co-runs \u003ca href=\"https://archive.is/o/0tb4r/https://www.paths.la/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a monthly survey of unhoused people in L.A.\u003c/a> In total, there are around 49,000 unsheltered people countywide, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://archive.is/o/0tb4r/https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/la-homelessness-rose-in-2026-official-count-shows\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2026 point-in-time homeless count\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kuhn and his colleagues came up with their higher estimate using numbers from that count, which estimates the number of unhoused people by census tract. They then adjusted those figures based on how much each tract overlapped with a potential Olympic security perimeter and the length of walkable and major streets where unhoused people were likely to be located.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp> ”The numbers just give us a good starting point, right? What really matters is the people in those buffers.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Psychedelic 'Furthur' Bus Rolls Back Into San Francisco for New Grateful Dead Exhibit",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>Ken Kesey’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/139463/ken-kesey-and-the-merry-pranksters-a-celebration-of-going-further\">school bus\u003c/a> — once painted in bright, swirly colors and driven across the country on a psychedelic journey — is back in San Francisco after 60 years as the centerpiece of a new exhibition celebrating the legacy of the Grateful Dead, a band that rose from the city’s famed hippie movement.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Forever Grateful/Golden Gate Park” opens Saturday and will also feature the \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/grateful-dead-60th-anniversary-san-francisco-a607472bd5a08bec5d9409ea6f6b0a4d\">Grateful Dead\u003c/a> frontman \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12051030/30-years-after-his-death-a-reflection-on-grateful-dead-jerry-garcias-political-legacy\">Jerry Garcia\u003c/a>’s BMW, which remains in mint condition and has never been displayed publicly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The two iconic artifacts will anchor an exhibition that immerses visitors in the colors, sounds and sights of the counterculture that flourished in San Francisco in the 1960s.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kesey rode the bus dubbed “Furthur” during the cross-country trip by the late author and his Merry Band of Pranksters to expand human consciousness through art, music and mind-altering drugs.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754382087-scaled-e1788557678942.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098539\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Eric Pirone looks into Ken Kesey’s psychedelic bus “Furthur” where it will be displayed at the Forever Grateful exhibit presented by the Haight Street Art Center at the County Fair Building in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on Sept. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This invites people to communicate and connect around art, music, and activism,” said Kelly Harris, executive director of the Haight Street Art Center, which organized the exhibition. “In this day and age, when we need something to bridge community, we know that this space allows for that to happen and Furthur is the portal.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A celebration of hippie love, activism\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The exhibition aims to celebrate the city’s history of hippie love and activism at a time when San Francisco is grappling with widening economic inequality fueled by an AI-driven technology boom, and the nation confronts deepening political divisions and collective fatigue.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Formed in 1965, the Grateful Dead is synonymous with San Francisco and its counterculture. Members lived in a dirt-cheap Victorian in the Haight and later became a significant part of 1967’s \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/0afc13ab32e2468ab869590bb38b0bf5\">Summer of Love\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And it all started with the bus.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kesey bought the bus with the proceeds from “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” In 1964, the writer and his friends drove it on a marijuana and LSD-fueled journey from coast to coast, helping introduce Americans to the emerging psychedelic scene.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That history-making road trip was later recounted in Tom Wolfe’s 1968 bestseller, “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Upon their return to California, Kesey, who as a student had been a guinea pig for government tests of the mind-altering drug, shared his experiences at a series of parties at his home in the hills above Stanford University that became known as the “acid tests.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The parties featured a local bar band called The Warlocks, which turned into the Grateful Dead. The bus became a defining feature of the “acid tests” as Kesey and his friends took the parties on the road, mainly around the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This entire exhibit, it’s a very layered story of the Grateful Dead and their influence, their phenomenon, and their impact on communities, on society, on people, and how their legacy still lives on,” said Renee de Cossio, director of exhibitions at the Haight Street Art Center.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Deadheads can recite why they fell in love with the music, how it happened and the moment it all clicked. They embrace something just as important as the music itself — the community that comes together at a Dead show.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Exhibit immerses visitors in counterculture\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Visitors will be invited to record their first encounter with the counterculture — whether it was becoming a Deadhead, as the band’s fans are called, while Garcia was still alive, discovering the band after his death, or experiencing the Grateful Dead for the first time through the exhibition.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Actors with the Third Rail Projects, a New York-based experiential performance company, will guide visitors through part of the exhibit, including a dark tunnel full of mirrors that leads into booths where they will start conversations with the audience.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They will then lead small groups to experience a liquid light show, a 1960s art form that mixes liquids of different densities in watch glasses and projects colorful, shifting psychedelic patterns onto every space of a room, creating the sensation of being inside a giant, multicolor lava lamp.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12098541\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754388683-2000x1333.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098541\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754388683-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754388683-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754388683-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754388683-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The interior of Ken Kesey’s psychedelic bus “Furthur” is shown while displayed at the Forever Grateful exhibit presented by the Haight Street Art Center at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park, Sept. 1, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12098543\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754075708-2000x1333.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098543\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754075708-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754075708-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754075708-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754075708-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Renee de Cossio, Director of Exhibitions at Haight Street Art Center, takes the cover off of Grateful Dead member Jerry Garcia’s BMW that will be displayed at the Forever Grateful exhibit presented by the Haight Street Art Center at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park, Sept. 1, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You might go with the people that you came with, or you might get packaged with a couple other folks that you didn’t know, and you’ll then unpack the experience with each other and have a conversation with a stranger that you wouldn’t have had otherwise,” said Edward Rice, associate managing director at Third Rail Projects.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The exhibit, which runs through Oct. 25, will also feature photographs from the band’s many concerts in Golden Gate Park and a screen-printing station where visitors can create their own art.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It will also help launch an effort to restore the now-dilapidated Furthur bus, which got its name after a typo on its destination sign. The bus was kept on the Kesey family farm in Pleasant Hill, Oregon, and was last seen in public at Woodstock in 1969.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The focal point is the Furthur bus. And Furthur is a call to action. Never stop creating, never stop exploring, keep going further,” Harris said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Deadheads can recite why they fell in love with the music, how it happened and the moment it all clicked. They embrace something just as important as the music itself — the community that comes together at a Dead show.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Actors with the Third Rail Projects, a New York-based experiential performance company, will guide visitors through part of the exhibit, including a dark tunnel full of mirrors that leads into booths where they will start conversations with the audience.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The exhibit, which runs through Oct. 25, will also feature photographs from the band’s many concerts in Golden Gate Park and a screen-printing station where visitors can create their own art.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The focal point is the Furthur bus. And Furthur is a call to action. Never stop creating, never stop exploring, keep going further,” Harris said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Ken Kesey’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/139463/ken-kesey-and-the-merry-pranksters-a-celebration-of-going-further\">school bus\u003c/a> — once painted in bright, swirly colors and driven across the country on a psychedelic journey — is back in San Francisco after 60 years as the centerpiece of a new exhibition celebrating the legacy of the Grateful Dead, a band that rose from the city’s famed hippie movement.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Forever Grateful/Golden Gate Park” opens Saturday and will also feature the \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/grateful-dead-60th-anniversary-san-francisco-a607472bd5a08bec5d9409ea6f6b0a4d\">Grateful Dead\u003c/a> frontman \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12051030/30-years-after-his-death-a-reflection-on-grateful-dead-jerry-garcias-political-legacy\">Jerry Garcia\u003c/a>’s BMW, which remains in mint condition and has never been displayed publicly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The two iconic artifacts will anchor an exhibition that immerses visitors in the colors, sounds and sights of the counterculture that flourished in San Francisco in the 1960s.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kesey rode the bus dubbed “Furthur” during the cross-country trip by the late author and his Merry Band of Pranksters to expand human consciousness through art, music and mind-altering drugs.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754382087-scaled-e1788557678942.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098539\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Eric Pirone looks into Ken Kesey’s psychedelic bus “Furthur” where it will be displayed at the Forever Grateful exhibit presented by the Haight Street Art Center at the County Fair Building in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on Sept. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This invites people to communicate and connect around art, music, and activism,” said Kelly Harris, executive director of the Haight Street Art Center, which organized the exhibition. “In this day and age, when we need something to bridge community, we know that this space allows for that to happen and Furthur is the portal.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A celebration of hippie love, activism\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The exhibition aims to celebrate the city’s history of hippie love and activism at a time when San Francisco is grappling with widening economic inequality fueled by an AI-driven technology boom, and the nation confronts deepening political divisions and collective fatigue.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Formed in 1965, the Grateful Dead is synonymous with San Francisco and its counterculture. Members lived in a dirt-cheap Victorian in the Haight and later became a significant part of 1967’s \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/0afc13ab32e2468ab869590bb38b0bf5\">Summer of Love\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And it all started with the bus.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kesey bought the bus with the proceeds from “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” In 1964, the writer and his friends drove it on a marijuana and LSD-fueled journey from coast to coast, helping introduce Americans to the emerging psychedelic scene.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That history-making road trip was later recounted in Tom Wolfe’s 1968 bestseller, “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Upon their return to California, Kesey, who as a student had been a guinea pig for government tests of the mind-altering drug, shared his experiences at a series of parties at his home in the hills above Stanford University that became known as the “acid tests.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The parties featured a local bar band called The Warlocks, which turned into the Grateful Dead. The bus became a defining feature of the “acid tests” as Kesey and his friends took the parties on the road, mainly around the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This entire exhibit, it’s a very layered story of the Grateful Dead and their influence, their phenomenon, and their impact on communities, on society, on people, and how their legacy still lives on,” said Renee de Cossio, director of exhibitions at the Haight Street Art Center.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Deadheads can recite why they fell in love with the music, how it happened and the moment it all clicked. They embrace something just as important as the music itself — the community that comes together at a Dead show.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Exhibit immerses visitors in counterculture\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Visitors will be invited to record their first encounter with the counterculture — whether it was becoming a Deadhead, as the band’s fans are called, while Garcia was still alive, discovering the band after his death, or experiencing the Grateful Dead for the first time through the exhibition.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Actors with the Third Rail Projects, a New York-based experiential performance company, will guide visitors through part of the exhibit, including a dark tunnel full of mirrors that leads into booths where they will start conversations with the audience.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They will then lead small groups to experience a liquid light show, a 1960s art form that mixes liquids of different densities in watch glasses and projects colorful, shifting psychedelic patterns onto every space of a room, creating the sensation of being inside a giant, multicolor lava lamp.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12098541\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754388683-2000x1333.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098541\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754388683-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754388683-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754388683-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754388683-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The interior of Ken Kesey’s psychedelic bus “Furthur” is shown while displayed at the Forever Grateful exhibit presented by the Haight Street Art Center at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park, Sept. 1, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12098543\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754075708-2000x1333.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098543\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754075708-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754075708-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754075708-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/AP26246754075708-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Renee de Cossio, Director of Exhibitions at Haight Street Art Center, takes the cover off of Grateful Dead member Jerry Garcia’s BMW that will be displayed at the Forever Grateful exhibit presented by the Haight Street Art Center at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park, Sept. 1, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You might go with the people that you came with, or you might get packaged with a couple other folks that you didn’t know, and you’ll then unpack the experience with each other and have a conversation with a stranger that you wouldn’t have had otherwise,” said Edward Rice, associate managing director at Third Rail Projects.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The exhibit, which runs through Oct. 25, will also feature photographs from the band’s many concerts in Golden Gate Park and a screen-printing station where visitors can create their own art.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It will also help launch an effort to restore the now-dilapidated Furthur bus, which got its name after a typo on its destination sign. The bus was kept on the Kesey family farm in Pleasant Hill, Oregon, and was last seen in public at Woodstock in 1969.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The focal point is the Furthur bus. And Furthur is a call to action. Never stop creating, never stop exploring, keep going further,” Harris said.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "for-these-millennial-fountain-pen-fans-community-is-the-real-collectible",
"title": "For These Millennial Fountain Pen Fans, Community Is the Real Collectible",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>Angelique Ramsey of Long Beach owns about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13992300/finding-your-people-meetups-hobbies-making-friends-bay-area\">25 fountain pens\u003c/a>. Her favorite is the Benu Euphoria, a glittering pen with a custom “architect” nib, a specialty grind that changes the shape of the line as you move the pen across the page.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I was looking for something that wasn’t a throwaway,” said Ramsey, 38. “I like that intentionality of sitting down and writing a letter, having something that’s a possession that you take care of. And so, you know, you can go overboard with it, but you don’t have to.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In this era of incessant, instant communication, fountain pens seem like a novelty from another, analog era. Perhaps this is exactly why millennials especially are flocking to events like the \u003ca href=\"https://sanfranciscopenshow.com\">S.F. Pen Show\u003c/a> at the end of August, to rub shoulders with an estimated 5,000 people in various stages of vintage writing instrument obsession at the Westin San Francisco Airport Hotel in Millbrae.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Though the San Francisco show isn’t the biggest in the country — that distinction belongs to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.dcpenshow.com\">Washington, D.C., Fountain Pen Supershow\u003c/a> — the S.F. Pen Show has become a major gathering for the Pacific Rim pen community.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-2-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097876\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-2-KQED.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-2-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left, Angelique Ramsey, Tracy Velasquez and Jennifer Harford attend the S.F. Pen Show in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 28, 2026. Ramsey and Velasquez said they were primarily focused on drawing Harford, new to fountain pens, deeper into the obsession. (Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-5 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12097620\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00087_TV-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097620\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00087_TV-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00087_TV-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00087_TV-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pens on display at Michael’s Fat Boy pen booth at the San Francisco International Pen Show at The Westin San Francisco Airport in Millbrae on Aug. 30, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12097599\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00313_TV-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097599\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00313_TV-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00313_TV-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00313_TV-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Clare Coco holds up a pen made from abalone shells at the San Francisco International Pen Show at The Westin San Francisco Airport in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 30, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Patrick Yandell, 31, manages U.S. business for the pen manufacturer OMAS, founded a century ago in Bologna, Italy. Like many vintage pen brands, OMAS has had a complicated corporate history. LVMH bought the company from the founder’s heirs in 2000. After subsequent ownership changes and a period of dormancy, the brand was revived by descendants of the founder, Armando Simoni. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yandell says most people own digital devices to accomplish most of the practical tasks that used to be accomplished with pen and paper. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can still find the sober black and navy blue pens similar to what your parents and grandparents wrote with, to be sure. But the display cases at the Pen Show are filled with iridescent resin, glitter and breathtakingly elaborate Japanese lacquerwork. The taste today is for pens — and accessories — that deliver maximum delight. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Fountain pens cost anywhere from a few dollars for something like a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gouletpens.com/products/platinum-preppy-fountain-pen-violet\">Platinum Preppy\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://www.executivepensdirect.com/en-us/blogs/fun-stuff/the-ten-most-expensive-pens-in-the-world\">millions of dollars\u003c/a>, depending on a pen’s brand, craftsmanship, rarity and the precious materials involved. Your mileage will vary depending on your taste and bank account balance. That said, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to have a good time.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What we’re seeing now is a lot of people who came to fountain pens, not out of any practical sense whatsoever, but just as a hobby,” said Yandell, who owns more than 200 pens himself. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s part of a whole ecosystem that’s arisen.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Traditional OMAS pens are still on offer, and newer models are made with materials and techniques that evoke the company’s hundred-year history. The old world is still there — it just has more glitter, to accommodate the fact that a growing number of the people doing the buying and selling are in their 30s and 40s.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That sparkle caught the eye of Gardena-resident Tracy Velasquez, who traveled to the Pen Show with Ramsey and another friend, Jennifer Harford. Velasquez has nearly 100 pens in her collection. Her favorite is also a Benu Euphoria, a gift from her husband called Vodka on the Rocks. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The resin body is striking, made from a silver luminescent resin and featuring multicolored holographic sparkles. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I really like collecting things that are shiny,” Velasquez said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In contrast with her friends Ramsey and Velasquez, 38-year-old Harford of Berkeley owned exactly one: a Pilot fountain pen widely celebrated as an entry-level favorite. That was her entry down the rabbit hole that is fountain pen collecting, one her friends watch with affectionate excitement. They traveled north just to see her eyes agog at the crowds and the vast array of pens on display at the S.F. Pen Show.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097875\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-1-KQED.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-1-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A display case of Ogivas at the S.F. Pen Show in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 28, 2026, showcases materials and techniques that evoke the hundred-year history of Italian pen maker OMAS. The old world is still there. It just has more glitter. (Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>“My fiancé bought me my first pen and ink, and so he was kind of the one to push me into it,” she said. “And once I had that start, then I was like, I see what the hype is.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.capenshow.com/\">California Pen Show\u003c/a>, held near Los Angeles each February, also has a particularly strong West Coast presence, but if the presence of Southern Californians at the Westin was any indication, the two shows complement each other as much as they compete. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That’s true for Fernanda Izidorio, who lives in Los Angeles and owns about 40 pens. She said the trip north is as much about community as it is machinery.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Izidorio is a member of the Greater Los Angeles Metro Pen & Ink Group, or Glampig, which has a presence on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/glampig_club/\">Instagram\u003c/a> and Discord, as well as IRL groups that meet in L.A. and Orange counties. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00109_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097574\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00109_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00109_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00109_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Michael Hochstetler hovers a magnifying glass over a fountain pen at Michael’s Fat Boy pen booth at the San Francisco International Pen Show at The Westin San Francisco Airport in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 30, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-6 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"12097877\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-3-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097877\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-3-KQED.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-3-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fernanda Izidorio is a member of the Greater Los Angeles Metro Pen & Ink Group, or Glampig, which has presence on Instagram and Discord, as well as IRL groups that meet in L.A. and Orange counties. “I actually really like meeting people in person,” Izidorio said. (Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12097596\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00237_TV-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097596\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00237_TV-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00237_TV-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00237_TV-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Attendees browse at the San Francisco International Pen Show at The Westin San Francisco Airport in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 30, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I actually really like meeting people in person,” Izidorio said. “It is, in a way, online. We get to contact each other, communicate through Discord. But then we actually meet in person and try pens. That’s very fun.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are careers in this universe beyond manufacturing and retail. Nik Pang, 43, for instance, is a \u003ca href=\"https://entropy.ink\">professional calligrapher\u003c/a> who repairs and sells vintage pens.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Pang and his wife have imposed a hard “cap” on his personal collection: 700 pens and pen-like objects. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>About 500 of them, he said, aren’t particularly useful for writing, but he’s interested in the history of the technology. His wife once asked him a morbidly useful question: If their house were burning, and he had time to save just a few pens, which ones would he take?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Two of them are family heirlooms. His grandfather’s fountain pen was a Parker Duofold, commemorating 30 years on the police force. His father’s was a Parker 75, used while earning his doctorate.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That’s part of what makes the fountain-pen revival so multifaceted. The appeal is craftsmanship, as well as beauty, style and the pleasure of finding a community that draws in people from multiple generations, across the globe.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Angelique Ramsey of Long Beach owns about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13992300/finding-your-people-meetups-hobbies-making-friends-bay-area\">25 fountain pens\u003c/a>. Her favorite is the Benu Euphoria, a glittering pen with a custom “architect” nib, a specialty grind that changes the shape of the line as you move the pen across the page.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I was looking for something that wasn’t a throwaway,” said Ramsey, 38. “I like that intentionality of sitting down and writing a letter, having something that’s a possession that you take care of. And so, you know, you can go overboard with it, but you don’t have to.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I was looking for something that wasn’t a throwaway,” said Ramsey, 38. “I like that intentionality of sitting down and writing a letter, having something that’s a possession that you take care of. And so, you know, you can go overboard with it, but you don’t have to.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In this era of incessant, instant communication, fountain pens seem like a novelty from another, analog era. Perhaps this is exactly why millennials especially are flocking to events like the \u003ca href=\"https://sanfranciscopenshow.com\">S.F. Pen Show\u003c/a> at the end of August, to rub shoulders with an estimated 5,000 people in various stages of vintage writing instrument obsession at the Westin San Francisco Airport Hotel in Millbrae.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In this era of incessant, instant communication, fountain pens seem like a novelty from another, analog era. Perhaps this is exactly why millennials especially are flocking to events like the \u003ca href=\"https://sanfranciscopenshow.com\">S.F. Pen Show\u003c/a> at the end of August, to rub shoulders with an estimated 5,000 people in various stages of vintage writing instrument obsession at the Westin San Francisco Airport Hotel in Millbrae.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Though the San Francisco show isn’t the biggest in the country — that distinction belongs to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.dcpenshow.com\">Washington, D.C., Fountain Pen Supershow\u003c/a> — the S.F. Pen Show has become a major gathering for the Pacific Rim pen community.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Though the San Francisco show isn’t the biggest in the country — that distinction belongs to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.dcpenshow.com\">Washington, D.C., Fountain Pen Supershow\u003c/a> — the S.F. Pen Show has become a major gathering for the Pacific Rim pen community.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-2-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097876\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-2-KQED.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-2-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left, Angelique Ramsey, Tracy Velasquez and Jennifer Harford attend the S.F. Pen Show in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 28, 2026. Ramsey and Velasquez said they were primarily focused on drawing Harford, new to fountain pens, deeper into the obsession.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-2-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097876\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left, Angelique Ramsey, Tracy Velasquez and Jennifer Harford attend the S.F. Pen Show in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 28, 2026. Ramsey and Velasquez said they were primarily focused on drawing Harford, new to fountain pens, deeper into the obsession.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Patrick Yandell, 31, manages U.S. business for the pen manufacturer OMAS, founded a century ago in Bologna, Italy. Like many vintage pen brands, OMAS has had a complicated corporate history. LVMH bought the company from the founder’s heirs in 2000. After subsequent ownership changes and a period of dormancy, the brand was revived by descendants of the founder, Armando Simoni. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Patrick Yandell, 31, manages U.S. business for the pen manufacturer OMAS, founded a century ago in Bologna, Italy. Like many vintage pen brands, OMAS has had a complicated corporate history. LVMH bought the company from the founder’s heirs in 2000. After subsequent ownership changes and a period of dormancy, the brand was revived by descendants of the founder, Armando Simoni. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Yandell says most people own digital devices to accomplish most of the practical tasks that used to be accomplished with pen and paper. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>You can still find the sober black and navy blue pens similar to what your parents and grandparents wrote with, to be sure. But the display cases at the Pen Show are filled with iridescent resin, glitter and breathtakingly elaborate Japanese lacquerwork. The taste today is for pens — and accessories — that deliver maximum delight. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>You can still find the sober black and navy blue pens similar to what your parents and grandparents wrote with, to be sure. But the display cases at the Pen Show are filled with iridescent resin, glitter and breathtakingly elaborate Japanese lacquerwork. The taste today is for pens — and accessories — that deliver maximum delight. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Fountain pens cost anywhere from a few dollars for something like a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gouletpens.com/products/platinum-preppy-fountain-pen-violet\">Platinum Preppy\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://www.executivepensdirect.com/en-us/blogs/fun-stuff/the-ten-most-expensive-pens-in-the-world\">millions of dollars\u003c/a>, depending on a pen’s brand, craftsmanship, rarity and the precious materials involved. Your mileage will vary depending on your taste and bank account balance. That said, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to have a good time.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“What we’re seeing now is a lot of people who came to fountain pens, not out of any practical sense whatsoever, but just as a hobby,” said Yandell, who owns more than 200 pens himself. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Traditional OMAS pens are still on offer, and newer models are made with materials and techniques that evoke the company’s hundred-year history. The old world is still there — it just has more glitter, to accommodate the fact that a growing number of the people doing the buying and selling are in their 30s and 40s.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Traditional OMAS pens are still on offer, and newer models are made with materials and techniques that evoke the company’s hundred-year history. The old world is still there — it just has more glitter, to accommodate the fact that a growing number of the people doing the buying and selling are in their 30s and 40s.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That sparkle caught the eye of Gardena-resident Tracy Velasquez, who traveled to the Pen Show with Ramsey and another friend, Jennifer Harford. Velasquez has nearly 100 pens in her collection. Her favorite is also a Benu Euphoria, a gift from her husband called Vodka on the Rocks. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>That sparkle caught the eye of Gardena-resident Tracy Velasquez, who traveled to the Pen Show with Ramsey and another friend, Jennifer Harford. Velasquez has nearly 100 pens in her collection. Her favorite is also a Benu Euphoria, a gift from her husband called Vodka on the Rocks. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The resin body is striking, made from a silver luminescent resin and featuring multicolored holographic sparkles. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I really like collecting things that are shiny,” Velasquez said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In contrast with her friends Ramsey and Velasquez, 38-year-old Harford of Berkeley owned exactly one: a Pilot fountain pen widely celebrated as an entry-level favorite. That was her entry down the rabbit hole that is fountain pen collecting, one her friends watch with affectionate excitement. They traveled north just to see her eyes agog at the crowds and the vast array of pens on display at the S.F. Pen Show.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In contrast with her friends Ramsey and Velasquez, 38-year-old Harford of Berkeley owned exactly one: a Pilot fountain pen widely celebrated as an entry-level favorite. That was her entry down the rabbit hole that is fountain pen collecting, one her friends watch with affectionate excitement. They traveled north just to see her eyes agog at the crowds and the vast array of pens on display at the S.F. Pen Show.\u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097875\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A display case of Ogivas at the S.F. Pen Show in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 28, 2026, showcases materials and techniques that evoke the hundred-year history of Italian pen maker OMAS. The old world is still there. It just has more glitter.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“My fiancé bought me my first pen and ink, and so he was kind of the one to push me into it,” she said. “And once I had that start, then I was like, I see what the hype is.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.capenshow.com/\">California Pen Show\u003c/a>, held near Los Angeles each February, also has a particularly strong West Coast presence, but if the presence of Southern Californians at the Westin was any indication, the two shows complement each other as much as they compete. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-3-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097877\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fernanda Izidorio is a member of the Greater Los Angeles Metro Pen & Ink Group, or Glampig, which has presence on Instagram and Discord, as well as IRL groups that meet in L.A. and Orange counties. “I actually really like meeting people in person,” Izidorio said.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I actually really like meeting people in person,” Izidorio said. “It is, in a way, online. We get to contact each other, communicate through Discord. But then we actually meet in person and try pens. That’s very fun.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There are careers in this universe beyond manufacturing and retail. Nik Pang, 43, for instance, is a \u003ca href=\"https://entropy.ink\">professional calligrapher\u003c/a> who repairs and sells vintage pens.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Pang and his wife have imposed a hard “cap” on his personal collection: 700 pens and pen-like objects. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>About 500 of them, he said, aren’t particularly useful for writing, but he’s interested in the history of the technology. His wife once asked him a morbidly useful question: If their house were burning, and he had time to save just a few pens, which ones would he take?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>About 500 of them, he said, aren’t particularly useful for writing, but he’s interested in the history of the technology. His wife once asked him a morbidly useful question: If their house were burning, and he had time to save just a few pens, which ones would he take?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Two of them are family heirlooms. His grandfather’s fountain pen was a Parker Duofold, commemorating 30 years on the police force. His father’s was a Parker 75, used while earning his doctorate.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Two of them are family heirlooms. His grandfather’s fountain pen was a Parker Duofold, commemorating 30 years on the police force. His father’s was a Parker 75, used while earning his doctorate.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That’s part of what makes the fountain-pen revival so multifaceted. The appeal is craftsmanship, as well as beauty, style and the pleasure of finding a community that draws in people from multiple generations, across the globe.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Around 5,000 people gathered in San Francisco in August for an international fountain pen show. Many collectors who grew up digital are remaking the culture, online and IRL.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Angelique Ramsey of Long Beach owns about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13992300/finding-your-people-meetups-hobbies-making-friends-bay-area\">25 fountain pens\u003c/a>. Her favorite is the Benu Euphoria, a glittering pen with a custom “architect” nib, a specialty grind that changes the shape of the line as you move the pen across the page.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I was looking for something that wasn’t a throwaway,” said Ramsey, 38. “I like that intentionality of sitting down and writing a letter, having something that’s a possession that you take care of. And so, you know, you can go overboard with it, but you don’t have to.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In this era of incessant, instant communication, fountain pens seem like a novelty from another, analog era. Perhaps this is exactly why millennials especially are flocking to events like the \u003ca href=\"https://sanfranciscopenshow.com\">S.F. Pen Show\u003c/a> at the end of August, to rub shoulders with an estimated 5,000 people in various stages of vintage writing instrument obsession at the Westin San Francisco Airport Hotel in Millbrae.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Though the San Francisco show isn’t the biggest in the country — that distinction belongs to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.dcpenshow.com\">Washington, D.C., Fountain Pen Supershow\u003c/a> — the S.F. Pen Show has become a major gathering for the Pacific Rim pen community.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-2-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097876\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-2-KQED.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-2-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left, Angelique Ramsey, Tracy Velasquez and Jennifer Harford attend the S.F. Pen Show in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 28, 2026. Ramsey and Velasquez said they were primarily focused on drawing Harford, new to fountain pens, deeper into the obsession. (Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-5 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12097620\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00087_TV-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097620\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00087_TV-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00087_TV-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00087_TV-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pens on display at Michael’s Fat Boy pen booth at the San Francisco International Pen Show at The Westin San Francisco Airport in Millbrae on Aug. 30, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12097599\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00313_TV-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097599\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00313_TV-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00313_TV-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00313_TV-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Clare Coco holds up a pen made from abalone shells at the San Francisco International Pen Show at The Westin San Francisco Airport in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 30, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Patrick Yandell, 31, manages U.S. business for the pen manufacturer OMAS, founded a century ago in Bologna, Italy. Like many vintage pen brands, OMAS has had a complicated corporate history. LVMH bought the company from the founder’s heirs in 2000. After subsequent ownership changes and a period of dormancy, the brand was revived by descendants of the founder, Armando Simoni. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yandell says most people own digital devices to accomplish most of the practical tasks that used to be accomplished with pen and paper. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You can still find the sober black and navy blue pens similar to what your parents and grandparents wrote with, to be sure. But the display cases at the Pen Show are filled with iridescent resin, glitter and breathtakingly elaborate Japanese lacquerwork. The taste today is for pens — and accessories — that deliver maximum delight. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Fountain pens cost anywhere from a few dollars for something like a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gouletpens.com/products/platinum-preppy-fountain-pen-violet\">Platinum Preppy\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://www.executivepensdirect.com/en-us/blogs/fun-stuff/the-ten-most-expensive-pens-in-the-world\">millions of dollars\u003c/a>, depending on a pen’s brand, craftsmanship, rarity and the precious materials involved. Your mileage will vary depending on your taste and bank account balance. That said, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to have a good time.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What we’re seeing now is a lot of people who came to fountain pens, not out of any practical sense whatsoever, but just as a hobby,” said Yandell, who owns more than 200 pens himself. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s part of a whole ecosystem that’s arisen.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Traditional OMAS pens are still on offer, and newer models are made with materials and techniques that evoke the company’s hundred-year history. The old world is still there — it just has more glitter, to accommodate the fact that a growing number of the people doing the buying and selling are in their 30s and 40s.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That sparkle caught the eye of Gardena-resident Tracy Velasquez, who traveled to the Pen Show with Ramsey and another friend, Jennifer Harford. Velasquez has nearly 100 pens in her collection. Her favorite is also a Benu Euphoria, a gift from her husband called Vodka on the Rocks. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The resin body is striking, made from a silver luminescent resin and featuring multicolored holographic sparkles. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I really like collecting things that are shiny,” Velasquez said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In contrast with her friends Ramsey and Velasquez, 38-year-old Harford of Berkeley owned exactly one: a Pilot fountain pen widely celebrated as an entry-level favorite. That was her entry down the rabbit hole that is fountain pen collecting, one her friends watch with affectionate excitement. They traveled north just to see her eyes agog at the crowds and the vast array of pens on display at the S.F. Pen Show.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097875\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-1-KQED.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-1-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A display case of Ogivas at the S.F. Pen Show in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 28, 2026, showcases materials and techniques that evoke the hundred-year history of Italian pen maker OMAS. The old world is still there. It just has more glitter. (Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>“My fiancé bought me my first pen and ink, and so he was kind of the one to push me into it,” she said. “And once I had that start, then I was like, I see what the hype is.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.capenshow.com/\">California Pen Show\u003c/a>, held near Los Angeles each February, also has a particularly strong West Coast presence, but if the presence of Southern Californians at the Westin was any indication, the two shows complement each other as much as they compete. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That’s true for Fernanda Izidorio, who lives in Los Angeles and owns about 40 pens. She said the trip north is as much about community as it is machinery.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Izidorio is a member of the Greater Los Angeles Metro Pen & Ink Group, or Glampig, which has a presence on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/glampig_club/\">Instagram\u003c/a> and Discord, as well as IRL groups that meet in L.A. and Orange counties. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00109_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097574\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00109_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00109_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00109_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Michael Hochstetler hovers a magnifying glass over a fountain pen at Michael’s Fat Boy pen booth at the San Francisco International Pen Show at The Westin San Francisco Airport in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 30, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-6 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"12097877\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-3-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097877\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-3-KQED.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/RainingFountainPens-RM-3-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fernanda Izidorio is a member of the Greater Los Angeles Metro Pen & Ink Group, or Glampig, which has presence on Instagram and Discord, as well as IRL groups that meet in L.A. and Orange counties. “I actually really like meeting people in person,” Izidorio said. (Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12097596\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00237_TV-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097596\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00237_TV-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00237_TV-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260830-itsrainingfountainpens-00237_TV-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Attendees browse at the San Francisco International Pen Show at The Westin San Francisco Airport in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 30, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I actually really like meeting people in person,” Izidorio said. “It is, in a way, online. We get to contact each other, communicate through Discord. But then we actually meet in person and try pens. That’s very fun.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are careers in this universe beyond manufacturing and retail. Nik Pang, 43, for instance, is a \u003ca href=\"https://entropy.ink\">professional calligrapher\u003c/a> who repairs and sells vintage pens.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Pang and his wife have imposed a hard “cap” on his personal collection: 700 pens and pen-like objects. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>About 500 of them, he said, aren’t particularly useful for writing, but he’s interested in the history of the technology. His wife once asked him a morbidly useful question: If their house were burning, and he had time to save just a few pens, which ones would he take?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Two of them are family heirlooms. His grandfather’s fountain pen was a Parker Duofold, commemorating 30 years on the police force. His father’s was a Parker 75, used while earning his doctorate.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That’s part of what makes the fountain-pen revival so multifaceted. The appeal is craftsmanship, as well as beauty, style and the pleasure of finding a community that draws in people from multiple generations, across the globe.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "time-capsules-huge-san-francisco-archive-of-kids-books-traces-long-history-of-lgbtq-families",
"title": "‘Time Capsules’: Huge San Francisco Archive of Kids' Books Traces Long History of LGBTQ Families",
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"headTitle": "‘Time Capsules’: Huge San Francisco Archive of Kids’ Books Traces Long History of LGBTQ Families | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-kqed-v2-dropcap-paragraph dropcap-paragraph\">\u003cspan class=\"dropcap\">A\u003c/span>s a book collector in the early 2000s, Randall Tarpey-Schwed and his husband read bedtime stories endlessly to their children.\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We read all kinds of children’s books to our kids,” Tarpey-Schwed of Mill Valley said. “But I wanted to make sure that some of those showed \u003cem>their \u003c/em>kind of family.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tarpey-Schwed’s passion had taught him to go searching for deep cuts like these: specifically, books for young people that featured LGBTQ families and characters. He began scouring used book websites and other corners of the internet for titles to bring back to his family — something that he said took “a lot of persistence.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But his efforts paid off when these books became an instant hit with his daughters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’d ask them, ‘What do you want to read tonight?’” he said. “Sometimes they would say, ‘Oh, I want a Papa and Daddy book.’”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-71-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095736\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-71-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-71-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-71-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A person reads a newspaper at the Mechanics’ Institute Library in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Exploring his growing collection, Tarpey-Schwed saw how the genre evolved — especially when looking at the earlier titles from as early as the 1960s. While some of the books were undoubtedly dated, they still communicated the values he and his husband felt were important: acceptance, community and love.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Over the years, he eventually amassed over 200 books, magazines and other printed materials that featured queer characters, themes and other diverse representations of families. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As his daughters grew up, Tarpey-Schwed carefully packed the books away. But he always wanted to find a home for them. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Then, through the bibliophile circles of San Francisco, Myles Cooper, a library manager at the Mechanics’ Institute — a beautiful \u003ca href=\"https://www.vogue.com/article/what-is-beaux-arts-architecture\">Beaux-Arts-style\u003c/a> historical library in downtown San Francisco — found out about Tarpey-Schwed’s archive of books. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Which is how Tarpey-Schwed handed off his yearslong work in November last year — and how the Mechanics Institute became the new, public home of what they call one of the most thorough catalogs of early LGBTQ children’s literature in the United States, dating from 1969. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Scores of books which for years were stored in Tarpey-Schwed’s home can now be viewed in person by appointment or \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/\">online\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The Mechanics’ Institute was willing to make a commitment to preserve it as a collection, rather than, say, putting all the books into circulation,” Tarpey-Schwed said. “I felt this was more important to keep it together. Because, in its whole, it shows the history of the genre.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘It’s adorable — and it’s true’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Mechanics’ Institute dates back to the 19th century, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/archives/the-mechanics-institute-san-francisco-s-first-tech-incubator/article_644e6ace-b579-52eb-bbb2-6aec5a9534f5.html\">years before\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://sfpl.org/about-us/history-san-francisco-public-library\">the first branch of the San Francisco Public Library\u003c/a> opened its doors. During \u003ca href=\"https://www.milibrary.org/about-us/history-and-mission/\">its initial years\u003c/a>, the center served as a place for people to learn vocational skills at the tail end of the Gold Rush. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Now, the Mechanics’ Institute is a home for the Bay Area’s chess players, cultural events and \u003ca href=\"https://www.milibrary.org/research-and-resources/special-collections/\">special collections\u003c/a> for researchers to dive into. And a major reason, Cooper said, why the Mechanics’ Institute took in Tarpey-Schwed’s “wonderful addition” was to “widen, broaden and tell more stories that relate to people here and that are important to people today.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While the Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection has some contemporary examples, what makes it unique are the earlier titles Tarpey-Schwed discovered — many of which came from small independent presses, are out of print or were self-published.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-81-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095738\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-81-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-81-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-81-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist, is photographed at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Like \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/items/KB-146/heather-has-two-mommies\">“Heather Has Two Mommies”\u003c/a> by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Diana Souza, self-published in 1989 before being picked up a year earlier by \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20131103212823/http://www.glbtq.com/sfeatures/interviewsalyson.html\">Alyson Wonderland\u003c/a> — a then-brand-new LGBTQ children’s fiction publisher. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The collection, while telling the story of LGBTQ families, “also tells the stories of publishing,” Cooper said. “Publishers that dared to print some of those first stories that had representation of alternative families.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tarpey-Schwed’s collection traces how the genre was also impacted by real-life events, like legal developments around marriage equality and family law — or the lack of them. For instance, some of the earlier works Tarpey-Schwed found written before \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12016010/reflecting-on-the-fight-for-marriage-equality\">marriage equality\u003c/a> tried to grapple with what to \u003cem>call \u003c/em>the union of two parents, or a new partner of a parent. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“So, it could be ‘roommate’ — which I think is a hilarious euphemism,” he said. “There’s one story in which a little girl is portrayed as living with her mother and her godmother. But when you look at the iconography of the image, it’s clearly a lesbian couple.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A title that became dear to Tarpey-Schwed’s own family is \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/items/KB-137/in-our-mothers-house\">“In Our Mother’s House,”\u003c/a> by Patricia Polacco, which follows two moms throwing a block party in Berkeley. At one point in the book, a neighbor storms in and snaps at the family, scaring the kids.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“And then — this is going to choke me up talking about it — what happens is that every one of the neighbors, one by one, comes up and gives the family a hug,” Tarpey-Schwed said. “Even though it’s a complicated and nuanced story, at the end, it cuts right through to: ‘But your family is loved.’”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-7 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12095737\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-79-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095737\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-79-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-79-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-79-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist, is photographed at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12095722\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-8-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095722\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-8-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-8-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-8-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through a box of books from the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s maybe an assumption out there that writing a children’s book is like writing a dumbed-down version of an adult book, and that’s completely wrong,” he said. “Children’s books are a genre of their own, and a really good children’s book is a good book, period.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For Cooper, \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/items/KB-139/and-tango-makes-three\">“And Tango Makes Three”\u003c/a> has a special place in his heart, bringing back memories of reading it to elementary-school students upon its first release in 2005. Written by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell and illustrated by Henry Cole, the famous book is based on \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/feb/08/usa.gayrights\">a true story\u003c/a> of two penguins in a New York zoo who raise a baby chick named Tango after zoo keepers notice their desire for a family — evidenced by their attempts to “hatch” a rock.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“How can you argue with that?” Cooper said. “It’s adorable, and it’s true.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘A broad censorship effect’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, “And Tango Makes Three” — like many of the books in the Tarpey-Schwed collection — has been a target of \u003ca href=\"https://www.ala.org/bbooks/book-ban-data\">coordinated campaigns nationwide\u003c/a> that aim to pull diverse books off the shelves of public libraries and schools. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is a very fragile area of collections,” Cooper said. “They’re being banned, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2024/08/book-bans-california-libraries/\">even in public libraries in California\u003c/a>. It really is an area that we need to collect and keep and maintain just for our own history.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2016, the American Library Association \u003ca href=\"https://www.ala.org/bbooks/book-ban-data\">tracked 208 unique titles\u003c/a> that were challenged in public schools and libraries in the United States. In 2025, that number shot up to over 4,200 titles — and nearly 40% of those titles featured LGBTQ characters or characters of color. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-44-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095731\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-44-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-44-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-44-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through Asha’s Mums, a book published in 1990, which is part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The ALA also found that almost all book challenges in 2025 were initiated \u003ca href=\"https://www.ala.org/bbooks/book-ban-data\">by pressure groups, government officials and decision-makers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Along with these challenges, \u003ca href=\"https://lawlibguides.sandiego.edu/c.php?g=1421168&p=10542274\">various laws and policies\u003c/a> — some carrying serious consequences for offenders — can be found across the country that are attempting to restrict materials based on broad definitions like being \u003ca href=\"https://arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Filed-Complaint-Fayetteville-Public-Library-et-al.-v.-Crawford-County-et-al.pdf\">“harmful to minors.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The wave of censorship seen in the 2020s arose after the initial stages of the pandemic, often involving the same people involved with the anti-masking movement, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101904708/conservative-mothers-as-a-political-force-in-california\">Moms for Liberty\u003c/a>, said Sarah Lamdan, the executive director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“A lot of the emphasis on book bans and censorship attacks has been around the concept of ‘protecting children,’” Lamdan said. But “anyone who’s willing to say that “And Tango Makes Three” could be harmful to anyone isn’t being honest with themselves or the community that they’re addressing.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And as the book challenges increase across the country, “the fatigue around fighting it has definitely set in at the same time,” said Jonathan Friedman, the Sy Syms managing director of U.S. free expression programs at PEN America. “It’s just normalized; it’s not news.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco authors and married duo Sarah and Ian Hoffman are very familiar with that fatigue. They are the authors of \u003ca href=\"https://www.sarahandianhoffman.com/books/\">the “Jacob” picture book series\u003c/a>, which includes installments like “Jacob’s New Dress”.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The first time one of their books was banned was in 2017, in a North Carolina school district. Bans at the time were rare enough, Sarah Hoffman said, that the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/us/north-carolina-school-jacobs-new-dress-book.html\">\u003cem>New York Times \u003c/em>was interested in the story\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We got all these love notes from people in North Carolina saying things like, ‘We’re so sorry, we are not all like that, we don’t want to ban your book, your book is wonderful.’ So it was actually kind of a great experience,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But now, “the book banners are so well organized … It’s impossible for anyone to keep up with,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-67-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095735\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-67-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-67-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-67-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Mechanics’ Institute Library in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California does have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893478/california-pushes-back-on-the-book-banning-movement\">some protections against these campaigns\u003c/a>. In 2024, the state adopted a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1825\">Freedom to Read Act\u003c/a>, which states that public libraries cannot exclude materials from their shelves based on content like race, gender and sexual orientation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s not a cure-all. It doesn’t mean that, ‘Okay, there’s no more censorship in California,’” the American Library Association’s Lamdan said. Rather, “there’s a tool to push back on censorship attempts,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But in many other parts of the country, the book banning movement has only strengthened — especially after the Supreme Court’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.oyez.org/cases/2024/24-297\">\u003cem>Mahmoud v. Taylor\u003c/em>\u003c/a> ruling in 2025 that a group of parents’ freedom of religion was violated when they couldn’t opt their children out of a class that included LGBTQ storybooks.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What is so stunning about that decision is that it has this potential to have such a broad censorship effect on the very books that we know can have such a powerful positive impact for many young children,” Friedman said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘Able to see themselves’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Libraries are intended to meet the needs of their communities, Lamdan said — and are supposed to have an array of books that touch every person.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For her, the Mechanics’ Institute’s motives for acquiring Tarpey-Schwed’s collection show “exactly why censorship in libraries is so harmful.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Everybody deserves to see themselves reflected in stories and to see themselves reflected in library collections,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Making sure children feel seen is a major motivating factor for the works written by Half Moon Bay author Cynthia Chin-Lee — compounded by her experience as an Asian American growing up in the 60s with little to no representation in the stories around her.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-8 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12095727\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-25-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095727\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-25-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-25-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-25-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through the pages of The Generous Jefferson Bartleby Jones, a book published in 1991, which is a part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12095730\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-41-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095730\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-41-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-41-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-41-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through Asha’s Mums, a book published in 1990, which is part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Her picture book \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/items/KB-020/operation-marriage\">“Operation Marriage”\u003c/a>, which features in the Mechanics’ Institute Tarpey-Schwed collection, follows Alex and her younger brother Nicky, who are trying to convince their moms to get married before \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11981023/a-queer-journalist-reflects-on-the-legacy-of-the-propostion-8-trial-tapes\">the passage of Proposition 8\u003c/a> — the California law that banned same-sex marriage in 2008, which was ultimately struck down a few years later.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chin-Lee said it’s based on a true story about a family who attended her church in Palo Alto. In fact, the making of the picture book was a community effort: People from the church even posed for pictures, which local artist Lea Lyon then illustrated, she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But in 2023 — well after the legalization of gay marriage nationwide — “Operation Marriage” was challenged by \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1am1vKU3MR1209AanJVqySFtRYe3IiB1k/edit?gid=479202673#gid=479202673\">a Midland, Texas, county commissioner\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.mrt.com/news/article/midland-county-releases-full-list-redesignated-18342965.php\">a group of volunteers\u003c/a> who wanted to remove it from the shelves of the children’s section of a public library and into the adults’ section.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We have freedom of speech, freedom of writing, and the kids that are LGBTQ especially need our support,” she said. “They need to be able to see themselves in books.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>These books also play a role for parents. The Hoffmans’ first book about Jacob — “Jacob’s New Dress” — depicted a little boy who wants to wear a dress. It was based on their son Sam, who, as a kid, “liked all things that were pink and girly and sparkly” and asked to wear a dress to school when he was four, Sarah Hoffman said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That was when we faced our first issue as parents, because we wanted to let Sam be himself,” she said. “And clearly this was coming from \u003cem>him\u003c/em>, because nothing around him said little boys should like these things.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-31-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095728\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-31-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-31-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-31-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through the pages of Daddy’s Roommate, a book published in 1990, which is a part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While they were the only parents in Sam’s school navigating this, they connected with other parents online all over the world who also had \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/loveyouforyou\">gender nonconforming kids\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Everyone felt alone until they found this group, and suddenly we had community,” Hoffman said. “We realized that we all face the same kinds of issues.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The collection is already acting as a historical reference — and source of inspiration — for the field’s writers too. Like San Francisco children’s book author Marcus Ewert, the writer of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.sevenstories.com/books/2795-10-000-dresses\">10,000 Dresses\u003c/a>,” about a young trans girl named Bailey. For Ewert, the archive functions as a trove of the genre’s pioneers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Oh my God, I wanna spend hours and hours and hours just looking at all these things,” he said. “As little time capsules, as little pieces of history.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘Profound effects’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Along with being a resource for early examples of LGBTQ children’s literature, Tarpey-Schwed said he hoped that more titles and examples will continue to be added to the collection.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The children’s publishing world in the past few years has seen a major wave of inclusive literature, partly thanks to industry-wide initiatives like the \u003ca href=\"https://www.diversebooks.org/\">We Need Diverse Books campaign\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It was hugely successful in getting all these stories out there that weren’t being told,” Ian Hoffman said. But the backlash to the campaign was also swift — and he admitted the last few years have felt “bleak.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-9 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12095724\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095724\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-12-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-12-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-12-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The authors of the 1979 children’s book When Megan Went Away dedicate the book to children of lesbian mothers. The book is a part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12095726\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-18-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095726\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-18-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-18-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-18-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through the pages of a 1989 self-published version Heather Has Two Mommies, which is a part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But his wife, Sarah Hoffman, had some optimism. “We can temporarily go back, but you can’t change the fact that these books have existed,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For Mechanics’ Institute archivist Cooper, the collection has been an exciting opportunity to learn more about children’s literature. Most people in his 40s like him, or older, have never experienced queer picture books.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“[We] didn’t grow up with these kinds of stories,” he said. “I think that really does affect children … When they’re thinking about their life, what’s it going to be like? ‘I never pictured having a family, because I didn’t see that reflected in literature.’” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This can really have profound effects on children today,” Cooper said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "As a book collector in the early 2000s, Randall Tarpey-Schwed and his husband read bedtime stories endlessly to their children.\u003cbr>"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-kqed-v2-dropcap-paragraph dropcap-paragraph\">\u003cspan class=\"dropcap\">A\u003c/span>s a book collector in the early 2000s, Randall Tarpey-Schwed and his husband read bedtime stories endlessly to their children.\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We read all kinds of children’s books to our kids,” Tarpey-Schwed of Mill Valley said. “But I wanted to make sure that some of those showed \u003cem>their \u003c/em>kind of family.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We read all kinds of children’s books to our kids,” Tarpey-Schwed of Mill Valley said. “But I wanted to make sure that some of those showed \u003cem>their \u003c/em>kind of family.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tarpey-Schwed’s passion had taught him to go searching for deep cuts like these: specifically, books for young people that featured LGBTQ families and characters. He began scouring used book websites and other corners of the internet for titles to bring back to his family — something that he said took “a lot of persistence.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But his efforts paid off when these books became an instant hit with his daughters. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I’d ask them, ‘What do you want to read tonight?’” he said. “Sometimes they would say, ‘Oh, I want a Papa and Daddy book.’”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-71-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095736\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-71-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-71-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-71-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A person reads a newspaper at the Mechanics’ Institute Library in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Exploring his growing collection, Tarpey-Schwed saw how the genre evolved — especially when looking at the earlier titles from as early as the 1960s. While some of the books were undoubtedly dated, they still communicated the values he and his husband felt were important: acceptance, community and love.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Exploring his growing collection, Tarpey-Schwed saw how the genre evolved — especially when looking at the earlier titles from as early as the 1960s. While some of the books were undoubtedly dated, they still communicated the values he and his husband felt were important: acceptance, community and love.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Over the years, he eventually amassed over 200 books, magazines and other printed materials that featured queer characters, themes and other diverse representations of families. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Over the years, he eventually amassed over 200 books, magazines and other printed materials that featured queer characters, themes and other diverse representations of families. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As his daughters grew up, Tarpey-Schwed carefully packed the books away. But he always wanted to find a home for them. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Then, through the bibliophile circles of San Francisco, Myles Cooper, a library manager at the Mechanics’ Institute — a beautiful \u003ca href=\"https://www.vogue.com/article/what-is-beaux-arts-architecture\">Beaux-Arts-style\u003c/a> historical library in downtown San Francisco — found out about Tarpey-Schwed’s archive of books. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Then, through the bibliophile circles of San Francisco, Myles Cooper, a library manager at the Mechanics’ Institute — a beautiful \u003ca href=\"https://www.vogue.com/article/what-is-beaux-arts-architecture\">Beaux-Arts-style\u003c/a> historical library in downtown San Francisco — found out about Tarpey-Schwed’s archive of books. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Which is how Tarpey-Schwed handed off his yearslong work in November last year — and how the Mechanics Institute became the new, public home of what they call one of the most thorough catalogs of early LGBTQ children’s literature in the United States, dating from 1969. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Which is how Tarpey-Schwed handed off his yearslong work in November last year — and how the Mechanics Institute became the new, public home of what they call one of the most thorough catalogs of early LGBTQ children’s literature in the United States, dating from 1969. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Scores of books which for years were stored in Tarpey-Schwed’s home can now be viewed in person by appointment or \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/\">online\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Scores of books which for years were stored in Tarpey-Schwed’s home can now be viewed in person by appointment or \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/\">online\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The Mechanics’ Institute was willing to make a commitment to preserve it as a collection, rather than, say, putting all the books into circulation,” Tarpey-Schwed said. “I felt this was more important to keep it together. Because, in its whole, it shows the history of the genre.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"text": "‘It’s adorable — and it’s true’",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Mechanics’ Institute dates back to the 19th century, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/archives/the-mechanics-institute-san-francisco-s-first-tech-incubator/article_644e6ace-b579-52eb-bbb2-6aec5a9534f5.html\">years before\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://sfpl.org/about-us/history-san-francisco-public-library\">the first branch of the San Francisco Public Library\u003c/a> opened its doors. During \u003ca href=\"https://www.milibrary.org/about-us/history-and-mission/\">its initial years\u003c/a>, the center served as a place for people to learn vocational skills at the tail end of the Gold Rush. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Mechanics’ Institute dates back to the 19th century, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/archives/the-mechanics-institute-san-francisco-s-first-tech-incubator/article_644e6ace-b579-52eb-bbb2-6aec5a9534f5.html\">years before\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://sfpl.org/about-us/history-san-francisco-public-library\">the first branch of the San Francisco Public Library\u003c/a> opened its doors. During \u003ca href=\"https://www.milibrary.org/about-us/history-and-mission/\">its initial years\u003c/a>, the center served as a place for people to learn vocational skills at the tail end of the Gold Rush. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Now, the Mechanics’ Institute is a home for the Bay Area’s chess players, cultural events and \u003ca href=\"https://www.milibrary.org/research-and-resources/special-collections/\">special collections\u003c/a> for researchers to dive into. And a major reason, Cooper said, why the Mechanics’ Institute took in Tarpey-Schwed’s “wonderful addition” was to “widen, broaden and tell more stories that relate to people here and that are important to people today.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Now, the Mechanics’ Institute is a home for the Bay Area’s chess players, cultural events and \u003ca href=\"https://www.milibrary.org/research-and-resources/special-collections/\">special collections\u003c/a> for researchers to dive into. And a major reason, Cooper said, why the Mechanics’ Institute took in Tarpey-Schwed’s “wonderful addition” was to “widen, broaden and tell more stories that relate to people here and that are important to people today.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>While the Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection has some contemporary examples, what makes it unique are the earlier titles Tarpey-Schwed discovered — many of which came from small independent presses, are out of print or were self-published.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>While the Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection has some contemporary examples, what makes it unique are the earlier titles Tarpey-Schwed discovered — many of which came from small independent presses, are out of print or were self-published.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-81-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095738\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-81-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-81-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-81-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist, is photographed at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-81-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095738\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist, is photographed at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Like \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/items/KB-146/heather-has-two-mommies\">“Heather Has Two Mommies”\u003c/a> by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Diana Souza, self-published in 1989 before being picked up a year earlier by \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20131103212823/http://www.glbtq.com/sfeatures/interviewsalyson.html\">Alyson Wonderland\u003c/a> — a then-brand-new LGBTQ children’s fiction publisher. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Like \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/items/KB-146/heather-has-two-mommies\">“Heather Has Two Mommies”\u003c/a> by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Diana Souza, self-published in 1989 before being picked up a year earlier by \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20131103212823/http://www.glbtq.com/sfeatures/interviewsalyson.html\">Alyson Wonderland\u003c/a> — a then-brand-new LGBTQ children’s fiction publisher. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The collection, while telling the story of LGBTQ families, “also tells the stories of publishing,” Cooper said. “Publishers that dared to print some of those first stories that had representation of alternative families.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The collection, while telling the story of LGBTQ families, “also tells the stories of publishing,” Cooper said. “Publishers that dared to print some of those first stories that had representation of alternative families.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tarpey-Schwed’s collection traces how the genre was also impacted by real-life events, like legal developments around marriage equality and family law — or the lack of them. For instance, some of the earlier works Tarpey-Schwed found written before \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12016010/reflecting-on-the-fight-for-marriage-equality\">marriage equality\u003c/a> tried to grapple with what to \u003cem>call \u003c/em>the union of two parents, or a new partner of a parent. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Tarpey-Schwed’s collection traces how the genre was also impacted by real-life events, like legal developments around marriage equality and family law — or the lack of them. For instance, some of the earlier works Tarpey-Schwed found written before \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12016010/reflecting-on-the-fight-for-marriage-equality\">marriage equality\u003c/a> tried to grapple with what to \u003cem>call \u003c/em>the union of two parents, or a new partner of a parent. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“So, it could be ‘roommate’ — which I think is a hilarious euphemism,” he said. “There’s one story in which a little girl is portrayed as living with her mother and her godmother. But when you look at the iconography of the image, it’s clearly a lesbian couple.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“So, it could be ‘roommate’ — which I think is a hilarious euphemism,” he said. “There’s one story in which a little girl is portrayed as living with her mother and her godmother. But when you look at the iconography of the image, it’s clearly a lesbian couple.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A title that became dear to Tarpey-Schwed’s own family is \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/items/KB-137/in-our-mothers-house\">“In Our Mother’s House,”\u003c/a> by Patricia Polacco, which follows two moms throwing a block party in Berkeley. At one point in the book, a neighbor storms in and snaps at the family, scaring the kids.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>A title that became dear to Tarpey-Schwed’s own family is \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/items/KB-137/in-our-mothers-house\">“In Our Mother’s House,”\u003c/a> by Patricia Polacco, which follows two moms throwing a block party in Berkeley. At one point in the book, a neighbor storms in and snaps at the family, scaring the kids.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“And then — this is going to choke me up talking about it — what happens is that every one of the neighbors, one by one, comes up and gives the family a hug,” Tarpey-Schwed said. “Even though it’s a complicated and nuanced story, at the end, it cuts right through to: ‘But your family is loved.’”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“And then — this is going to choke me up talking about it — what happens is that every one of the neighbors, one by one, comes up and gives the family a hug,” Tarpey-Schwed said. “Even though it’s a complicated and nuanced story, at the end, it cuts right through to: ‘But your family is loved.’”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There’s maybe an assumption out there that writing a children’s book is like writing a dumbed-down version of an adult book, and that’s completely wrong,” he said. “Children’s books are a genre of their own, and a really good children’s book is a good book, period.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For Cooper, \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/items/KB-139/and-tango-makes-three\">“And Tango Makes Three”\u003c/a> has a special place in his heart, bringing back memories of reading it to elementary-school students upon its first release in 2005. Written by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell and illustrated by Henry Cole, the famous book is based on \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/feb/08/usa.gayrights\">a true story\u003c/a> of two penguins in a New York zoo who raise a baby chick named Tango after zoo keepers notice their desire for a family — evidenced by their attempts to “hatch” a rock.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, “And Tango Makes Three” — like many of the books in the Tarpey-Schwed collection — has been a target of \u003ca href=\"https://www.ala.org/bbooks/book-ban-data\">coordinated campaigns nationwide\u003c/a> that aim to pull diverse books off the shelves of public libraries and schools. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This is a very fragile area of collections,” Cooper said. “They’re being banned, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2024/08/book-bans-california-libraries/\">even in public libraries in California\u003c/a>. It really is an area that we need to collect and keep and maintain just for our own history.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“This is a very fragile area of collections,” Cooper said. “They’re being banned, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2024/08/book-bans-california-libraries/\">even in public libraries in California\u003c/a>. It really is an area that we need to collect and keep and maintain just for our own history.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 2016, the American Library Association \u003ca href=\"https://www.ala.org/bbooks/book-ban-data\">tracked 208 unique titles\u003c/a> that were challenged in public schools and libraries in the United States. In 2025, that number shot up to over 4,200 titles — and nearly 40% of those titles featured LGBTQ characters or characters of color. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In 2016, the American Library Association \u003ca href=\"https://www.ala.org/bbooks/book-ban-data\">tracked 208 unique titles\u003c/a> that were challenged in public schools and libraries in the United States. In 2025, that number shot up to over 4,200 titles — and nearly 40% of those titles featured LGBTQ characters or characters of color. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-44-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095731\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-44-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-44-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-44-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through Asha’s Mums, a book published in 1990, which is part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-44-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095731\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through Asha’s Mums, a book published in 1990, which is part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The ALA also found that almost all book challenges in 2025 were initiated \u003ca href=\"https://www.ala.org/bbooks/book-ban-data\">by pressure groups, government officials and decision-makers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Along with these challenges, \u003ca href=\"https://lawlibguides.sandiego.edu/c.php?g=1421168&p=10542274\">various laws and policies\u003c/a> — some carrying serious consequences for offenders — can be found across the country that are attempting to restrict materials based on broad definitions like being \u003ca href=\"https://arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Filed-Complaint-Fayetteville-Public-Library-et-al.-v.-Crawford-County-et-al.pdf\">“harmful to minors.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The wave of censorship seen in the 2020s arose after the initial stages of the pandemic, often involving the same people involved with the anti-masking movement, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101904708/conservative-mothers-as-a-political-force-in-california\">Moms for Liberty\u003c/a>, said Sarah Lamdan, the executive director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“A lot of the emphasis on book bans and censorship attacks has been around the concept of ‘protecting children,’” Lamdan said. But “anyone who’s willing to say that “And Tango Makes Three” could be harmful to anyone isn’t being honest with themselves or the community that they’re addressing.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And as the book challenges increase across the country, “the fatigue around fighting it has definitely set in at the same time,” said Jonathan Friedman, the Sy Syms managing director of U.S. free expression programs at PEN America. “It’s just normalized; it’s not news.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>And as the book challenges increase across the country, “the fatigue around fighting it has definitely set in at the same time,” said Jonathan Friedman, the Sy Syms managing director of U.S. free expression programs at PEN America. “It’s just normalized; it’s not news.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San Francisco authors and married duo Sarah and Ian Hoffman are very familiar with that fatigue. They are the authors of \u003ca href=\"https://www.sarahandianhoffman.com/books/\">the “Jacob” picture book series\u003c/a>, which includes installments like “Jacob’s New Dress”.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>San Francisco authors and married duo Sarah and Ian Hoffman are very familiar with that fatigue. They are the authors of \u003ca href=\"https://www.sarahandianhoffman.com/books/\">the “Jacob” picture book series\u003c/a>, which includes installments like “Jacob’s New Dress”.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The first time one of their books was banned was in 2017, in a North Carolina school district. Bans at the time were rare enough, Sarah Hoffman said, that the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/us/north-carolina-school-jacobs-new-dress-book.html\">\u003cem>New York Times \u003c/em>was interested in the story\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The first time one of their books was banned was in 2017, in a North Carolina school district. Bans at the time were rare enough, Sarah Hoffman said, that the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/us/north-carolina-school-jacobs-new-dress-book.html\">\u003cem>New York Times \u003c/em>was interested in the story\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We got all these love notes from people in North Carolina saying things like, ‘We’re so sorry, we are not all like that, we don’t want to ban your book, your book is wonderful.’ So it was actually kind of a great experience,” she said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We got all these love notes from people in North Carolina saying things like, ‘We’re so sorry, we are not all like that, we don’t want to ban your book, your book is wonderful.’ So it was actually kind of a great experience,” she said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But now, “the book banners are so well organized … It’s impossible for anyone to keep up with,” she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But now, “the book banners are so well organized … It’s impossible for anyone to keep up with,” she said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-67-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095735\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-67-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-67-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-67-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Mechanics’ Institute Library in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California does have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893478/california-pushes-back-on-the-book-banning-movement\">some protections against these campaigns\u003c/a>. In 2024, the state adopted a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1825\">Freedom to Read Act\u003c/a>, which states that public libraries cannot exclude materials from their shelves based on content like race, gender and sexual orientation.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s not a cure-all. It doesn’t mean that, ‘Okay, there’s no more censorship in California,’” the American Library Association’s Lamdan said. Rather, “there’s a tool to push back on censorship attempts,” she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But in many other parts of the country, the book banning movement has only strengthened — especially after the Supreme Court’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.oyez.org/cases/2024/24-297\">\u003cem>Mahmoud v. Taylor\u003c/em>\u003c/a> ruling in 2025 that a group of parents’ freedom of religion was violated when they couldn’t opt their children out of a class that included LGBTQ storybooks.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“What is so stunning about that decision is that it has this potential to have such a broad censorship effect on the very books that we know can have such a powerful positive impact for many young children,” Friedman said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“What is so stunning about that decision is that it has this potential to have such a broad censorship effect on the very books that we know can have such a powerful positive impact for many young children,” Friedman said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Libraries are intended to meet the needs of their communities, Lamdan said — and are supposed to have an array of books that touch every person.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For her, the Mechanics’ Institute’s motives for acquiring Tarpey-Schwed’s collection show “exactly why censorship in libraries is so harmful.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Everybody deserves to see themselves reflected in stories and to see themselves reflected in library collections,” she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Making sure children feel seen is a major motivating factor for the works written by Half Moon Bay author Cynthia Chin-Lee — compounded by her experience as an Asian American growing up in the 60s with little to no representation in the stories around her.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-25-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095727\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through the pages of The Generous Jefferson Bartleby Jones, a book published in 1991, which is a part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-41-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095730\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through Asha’s Mums, a book published in 1990, which is part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Her picture book \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/items/KB-020/operation-marriage\">“Operation Marriage”\u003c/a>, which features in the Mechanics’ Institute Tarpey-Schwed collection, follows Alex and her younger brother Nicky, who are trying to convince their moms to get married before \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11981023/a-queer-journalist-reflects-on-the-legacy-of-the-propostion-8-trial-tapes\">the passage of Proposition 8\u003c/a> — the California law that banned same-sex marriage in 2008, which was ultimately struck down a few years later.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Her picture book \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/items/KB-020/operation-marriage\">“Operation Marriage”\u003c/a>, which features in the Mechanics’ Institute Tarpey-Schwed collection, follows Alex and her younger brother Nicky, who are trying to convince their moms to get married before \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11981023/a-queer-journalist-reflects-on-the-legacy-of-the-propostion-8-trial-tapes\">the passage of Proposition 8\u003c/a> — the California law that banned same-sex marriage in 2008, which was ultimately struck down a few years later.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Chin-Lee said it’s based on a true story about a family who attended her church in Palo Alto. In fact, the making of the picture book was a community effort: People from the church even posed for pictures, which local artist Lea Lyon then illustrated, she said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But in 2023 — well after the legalization of gay marriage nationwide — “Operation Marriage” was challenged by \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1am1vKU3MR1209AanJVqySFtRYe3IiB1k/edit?gid=479202673#gid=479202673\">a Midland, Texas, county commissioner\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.mrt.com/news/article/midland-county-releases-full-list-redesignated-18342965.php\">a group of volunteers\u003c/a> who wanted to remove it from the shelves of the children’s section of a public library and into the adults’ section.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We have freedom of speech, freedom of writing, and the kids that are LGBTQ especially need our support,” she said. “They need to be able to see themselves in books.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>These books also play a role for parents. The Hoffmans’ first book about Jacob — “Jacob’s New Dress” — depicted a little boy who wants to wear a dress. It was based on their son Sam, who, as a kid, “liked all things that were pink and girly and sparkly” and asked to wear a dress to school when he was four, Sarah Hoffman said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“That was when we faced our first issue as parents, because we wanted to let Sam be himself,” she said. “And clearly this was coming from \u003cem>him\u003c/em>, because nothing around him said little boys should like these things.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-31-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095728\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-31-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-31-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-31-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through the pages of Daddy’s Roommate, a book published in 1990, which is a part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-31-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095728\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through the pages of Daddy’s Roommate, a book published in 1990, which is a part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>While they were the only parents in Sam’s school navigating this, they connected with other parents online all over the world who also had \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/loveyouforyou\">gender nonconforming kids\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The collection is already acting as a historical reference — and source of inspiration — for the field’s writers too. Like San Francisco children’s book author Marcus Ewert, the writer of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.sevenstories.com/books/2795-10-000-dresses\">10,000 Dresses\u003c/a>,” about a young trans girl named Bailey. For Ewert, the archive functions as a trove of the genre’s pioneers.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The collection is already acting as a historical reference — and source of inspiration — for the field’s writers too. Like San Francisco children’s book author Marcus Ewert, the writer of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.sevenstories.com/books/2795-10-000-dresses\">10,000 Dresses\u003c/a>,” about a young trans girl named Bailey. For Ewert, the archive functions as a trove of the genre’s pioneers.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Oh my God, I wanna spend hours and hours and hours just looking at all these things,” he said. “As little time capsules, as little pieces of history.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Along with being a resource for early examples of LGBTQ children’s literature, Tarpey-Schwed said he hoped that more titles and examples will continue to be added to the collection.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The children’s publishing world in the past few years has seen a major wave of inclusive literature, partly thanks to industry-wide initiatives like the \u003ca href=\"https://www.diversebooks.org/\">We Need Diverse Books campaign\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It was hugely successful in getting all these stories out there that weren’t being told,” Ian Hoffman said. But the backlash to the campaign was also swift — and he admitted the last few years have felt “bleak.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095724\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The authors of the 1979 children’s book When Megan Went Away dedicate the book to children of lesbian mothers. The book is a part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095724\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The authors of the 1979 children’s book When Megan Went Away dedicate the book to children of lesbian mothers. The book is a part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-18-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095726\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through the pages of a 1989 self-published version Heather Has Two Mommies, which is a part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But his wife, Sarah Hoffman, had some optimism. “We can temporarily go back, but you can’t change the fact that these books have existed,” she said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For Mechanics’ Institute archivist Cooper, the collection has been an exciting opportunity to learn more about children’s literature. Most people in his 40s like him, or older, have never experienced queer picture books.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“[We] didn’t grow up with these kinds of stories,” he said. “I think that really does affect children … When they’re thinking about their life, what’s it going to be like? ‘I never pictured having a family, because I didn’t see that reflected in literature.’” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“[We] didn’t grow up with these kinds of stories,” he said. “I think that really does affect children … When they’re thinking about their life, what’s it going to be like? ‘I never pictured having a family, because I didn’t see that reflected in literature.’” \u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "Amid book bans, how one collector's quest to find books for his children that reflected their own family created a public archive at the Mechanics’ Institute.",
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"title": "‘Time Capsules’: Huge San Francisco Archive of Kids' Books Traces Long History of LGBTQ Families | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-kqed-v2-dropcap-paragraph dropcap-paragraph\">\u003cspan class=\"dropcap\">A\u003c/span>s a book collector in the early 2000s, Randall Tarpey-Schwed and his husband read bedtime stories endlessly to their children.\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We read all kinds of children’s books to our kids,” Tarpey-Schwed of Mill Valley said. “But I wanted to make sure that some of those showed \u003cem>their \u003c/em>kind of family.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tarpey-Schwed’s passion had taught him to go searching for deep cuts like these: specifically, books for young people that featured LGBTQ families and characters. He began scouring used book websites and other corners of the internet for titles to bring back to his family — something that he said took “a lot of persistence.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But his efforts paid off when these books became an instant hit with his daughters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’d ask them, ‘What do you want to read tonight?’” he said. “Sometimes they would say, ‘Oh, I want a Papa and Daddy book.’”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-71-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095736\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-71-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-71-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-71-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A person reads a newspaper at the Mechanics’ Institute Library in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Exploring his growing collection, Tarpey-Schwed saw how the genre evolved — especially when looking at the earlier titles from as early as the 1960s. While some of the books were undoubtedly dated, they still communicated the values he and his husband felt were important: acceptance, community and love.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Over the years, he eventually amassed over 200 books, magazines and other printed materials that featured queer characters, themes and other diverse representations of families. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As his daughters grew up, Tarpey-Schwed carefully packed the books away. But he always wanted to find a home for them. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Then, through the bibliophile circles of San Francisco, Myles Cooper, a library manager at the Mechanics’ Institute — a beautiful \u003ca href=\"https://www.vogue.com/article/what-is-beaux-arts-architecture\">Beaux-Arts-style\u003c/a> historical library in downtown San Francisco — found out about Tarpey-Schwed’s archive of books. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Which is how Tarpey-Schwed handed off his yearslong work in November last year — and how the Mechanics Institute became the new, public home of what they call one of the most thorough catalogs of early LGBTQ children’s literature in the United States, dating from 1969. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Scores of books which for years were stored in Tarpey-Schwed’s home can now be viewed in person by appointment or \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/\">online\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The Mechanics’ Institute was willing to make a commitment to preserve it as a collection, rather than, say, putting all the books into circulation,” Tarpey-Schwed said. “I felt this was more important to keep it together. Because, in its whole, it shows the history of the genre.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘It’s adorable — and it’s true’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Mechanics’ Institute dates back to the 19th century, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/archives/the-mechanics-institute-san-francisco-s-first-tech-incubator/article_644e6ace-b579-52eb-bbb2-6aec5a9534f5.html\">years before\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://sfpl.org/about-us/history-san-francisco-public-library\">the first branch of the San Francisco Public Library\u003c/a> opened its doors. During \u003ca href=\"https://www.milibrary.org/about-us/history-and-mission/\">its initial years\u003c/a>, the center served as a place for people to learn vocational skills at the tail end of the Gold Rush. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Now, the Mechanics’ Institute is a home for the Bay Area’s chess players, cultural events and \u003ca href=\"https://www.milibrary.org/research-and-resources/special-collections/\">special collections\u003c/a> for researchers to dive into. And a major reason, Cooper said, why the Mechanics’ Institute took in Tarpey-Schwed’s “wonderful addition” was to “widen, broaden and tell more stories that relate to people here and that are important to people today.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While the Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection has some contemporary examples, what makes it unique are the earlier titles Tarpey-Schwed discovered — many of which came from small independent presses, are out of print or were self-published.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-81-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095738\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-81-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-81-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-81-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist, is photographed at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Like \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/items/KB-146/heather-has-two-mommies\">“Heather Has Two Mommies”\u003c/a> by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Diana Souza, self-published in 1989 before being picked up a year earlier by \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20131103212823/http://www.glbtq.com/sfeatures/interviewsalyson.html\">Alyson Wonderland\u003c/a> — a then-brand-new LGBTQ children’s fiction publisher. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The collection, while telling the story of LGBTQ families, “also tells the stories of publishing,” Cooper said. “Publishers that dared to print some of those first stories that had representation of alternative families.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tarpey-Schwed’s collection traces how the genre was also impacted by real-life events, like legal developments around marriage equality and family law — or the lack of them. For instance, some of the earlier works Tarpey-Schwed found written before \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12016010/reflecting-on-the-fight-for-marriage-equality\">marriage equality\u003c/a> tried to grapple with what to \u003cem>call \u003c/em>the union of two parents, or a new partner of a parent. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“So, it could be ‘roommate’ — which I think is a hilarious euphemism,” he said. “There’s one story in which a little girl is portrayed as living with her mother and her godmother. But when you look at the iconography of the image, it’s clearly a lesbian couple.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A title that became dear to Tarpey-Schwed’s own family is \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/items/KB-137/in-our-mothers-house\">“In Our Mother’s House,”\u003c/a> by Patricia Polacco, which follows two moms throwing a block party in Berkeley. At one point in the book, a neighbor storms in and snaps at the family, scaring the kids.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“And then — this is going to choke me up talking about it — what happens is that every one of the neighbors, one by one, comes up and gives the family a hug,” Tarpey-Schwed said. “Even though it’s a complicated and nuanced story, at the end, it cuts right through to: ‘But your family is loved.’”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-7 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12095737\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-79-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095737\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-79-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-79-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-79-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist, is photographed at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12095722\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-8-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095722\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-8-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-8-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-8-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through a box of books from the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s maybe an assumption out there that writing a children’s book is like writing a dumbed-down version of an adult book, and that’s completely wrong,” he said. “Children’s books are a genre of their own, and a really good children’s book is a good book, period.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For Cooper, \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/items/KB-139/and-tango-makes-three\">“And Tango Makes Three”\u003c/a> has a special place in his heart, bringing back memories of reading it to elementary-school students upon its first release in 2005. Written by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell and illustrated by Henry Cole, the famous book is based on \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/feb/08/usa.gayrights\">a true story\u003c/a> of two penguins in a New York zoo who raise a baby chick named Tango after zoo keepers notice their desire for a family — evidenced by their attempts to “hatch” a rock.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“How can you argue with that?” Cooper said. “It’s adorable, and it’s true.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘A broad censorship effect’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, “And Tango Makes Three” — like many of the books in the Tarpey-Schwed collection — has been a target of \u003ca href=\"https://www.ala.org/bbooks/book-ban-data\">coordinated campaigns nationwide\u003c/a> that aim to pull diverse books off the shelves of public libraries and schools. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is a very fragile area of collections,” Cooper said. “They’re being banned, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2024/08/book-bans-california-libraries/\">even in public libraries in California\u003c/a>. It really is an area that we need to collect and keep and maintain just for our own history.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2016, the American Library Association \u003ca href=\"https://www.ala.org/bbooks/book-ban-data\">tracked 208 unique titles\u003c/a> that were challenged in public schools and libraries in the United States. In 2025, that number shot up to over 4,200 titles — and nearly 40% of those titles featured LGBTQ characters or characters of color. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-44-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095731\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-44-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-44-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-44-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through Asha’s Mums, a book published in 1990, which is part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The ALA also found that almost all book challenges in 2025 were initiated \u003ca href=\"https://www.ala.org/bbooks/book-ban-data\">by pressure groups, government officials and decision-makers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Along with these challenges, \u003ca href=\"https://lawlibguides.sandiego.edu/c.php?g=1421168&p=10542274\">various laws and policies\u003c/a> — some carrying serious consequences for offenders — can be found across the country that are attempting to restrict materials based on broad definitions like being \u003ca href=\"https://arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Filed-Complaint-Fayetteville-Public-Library-et-al.-v.-Crawford-County-et-al.pdf\">“harmful to minors.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The wave of censorship seen in the 2020s arose after the initial stages of the pandemic, often involving the same people involved with the anti-masking movement, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101904708/conservative-mothers-as-a-political-force-in-california\">Moms for Liberty\u003c/a>, said Sarah Lamdan, the executive director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“A lot of the emphasis on book bans and censorship attacks has been around the concept of ‘protecting children,’” Lamdan said. But “anyone who’s willing to say that “And Tango Makes Three” could be harmful to anyone isn’t being honest with themselves or the community that they’re addressing.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And as the book challenges increase across the country, “the fatigue around fighting it has definitely set in at the same time,” said Jonathan Friedman, the Sy Syms managing director of U.S. free expression programs at PEN America. “It’s just normalized; it’s not news.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco authors and married duo Sarah and Ian Hoffman are very familiar with that fatigue. They are the authors of \u003ca href=\"https://www.sarahandianhoffman.com/books/\">the “Jacob” picture book series\u003c/a>, which includes installments like “Jacob’s New Dress”.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The first time one of their books was banned was in 2017, in a North Carolina school district. Bans at the time were rare enough, Sarah Hoffman said, that the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/us/north-carolina-school-jacobs-new-dress-book.html\">\u003cem>New York Times \u003c/em>was interested in the story\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We got all these love notes from people in North Carolina saying things like, ‘We’re so sorry, we are not all like that, we don’t want to ban your book, your book is wonderful.’ So it was actually kind of a great experience,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But now, “the book banners are so well organized … It’s impossible for anyone to keep up with,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-67-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095735\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-67-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-67-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-67-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Mechanics’ Institute Library in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California does have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893478/california-pushes-back-on-the-book-banning-movement\">some protections against these campaigns\u003c/a>. In 2024, the state adopted a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1825\">Freedom to Read Act\u003c/a>, which states that public libraries cannot exclude materials from their shelves based on content like race, gender and sexual orientation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s not a cure-all. It doesn’t mean that, ‘Okay, there’s no more censorship in California,’” the American Library Association’s Lamdan said. Rather, “there’s a tool to push back on censorship attempts,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But in many other parts of the country, the book banning movement has only strengthened — especially after the Supreme Court’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.oyez.org/cases/2024/24-297\">\u003cem>Mahmoud v. Taylor\u003c/em>\u003c/a> ruling in 2025 that a group of parents’ freedom of religion was violated when they couldn’t opt their children out of a class that included LGBTQ storybooks.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What is so stunning about that decision is that it has this potential to have such a broad censorship effect on the very books that we know can have such a powerful positive impact for many young children,” Friedman said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘Able to see themselves’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Libraries are intended to meet the needs of their communities, Lamdan said — and are supposed to have an array of books that touch every person.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For her, the Mechanics’ Institute’s motives for acquiring Tarpey-Schwed’s collection show “exactly why censorship in libraries is so harmful.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Everybody deserves to see themselves reflected in stories and to see themselves reflected in library collections,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Making sure children feel seen is a major motivating factor for the works written by Half Moon Bay author Cynthia Chin-Lee — compounded by her experience as an Asian American growing up in the 60s with little to no representation in the stories around her.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-8 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12095727\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-25-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095727\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-25-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-25-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-25-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through the pages of The Generous Jefferson Bartleby Jones, a book published in 1991, which is a part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12095730\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-41-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095730\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-41-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-41-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-41-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through Asha’s Mums, a book published in 1990, which is part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Her picture book \u003ca href=\"https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/items/KB-020/operation-marriage\">“Operation Marriage”\u003c/a>, which features in the Mechanics’ Institute Tarpey-Schwed collection, follows Alex and her younger brother Nicky, who are trying to convince their moms to get married before \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11981023/a-queer-journalist-reflects-on-the-legacy-of-the-propostion-8-trial-tapes\">the passage of Proposition 8\u003c/a> — the California law that banned same-sex marriage in 2008, which was ultimately struck down a few years later.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chin-Lee said it’s based on a true story about a family who attended her church in Palo Alto. In fact, the making of the picture book was a community effort: People from the church even posed for pictures, which local artist Lea Lyon then illustrated, she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But in 2023 — well after the legalization of gay marriage nationwide — “Operation Marriage” was challenged by \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1am1vKU3MR1209AanJVqySFtRYe3IiB1k/edit?gid=479202673#gid=479202673\">a Midland, Texas, county commissioner\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.mrt.com/news/article/midland-county-releases-full-list-redesignated-18342965.php\">a group of volunteers\u003c/a> who wanted to remove it from the shelves of the children’s section of a public library and into the adults’ section.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We have freedom of speech, freedom of writing, and the kids that are LGBTQ especially need our support,” she said. “They need to be able to see themselves in books.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>These books also play a role for parents. The Hoffmans’ first book about Jacob — “Jacob’s New Dress” — depicted a little boy who wants to wear a dress. It was based on their son Sam, who, as a kid, “liked all things that were pink and girly and sparkly” and asked to wear a dress to school when he was four, Sarah Hoffman said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That was when we faced our first issue as parents, because we wanted to let Sam be himself,” she said. “And clearly this was coming from \u003cem>him\u003c/em>, because nothing around him said little boys should like these things.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-31-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095728\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-31-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-31-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-31-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through the pages of Daddy’s Roommate, a book published in 1990, which is a part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While they were the only parents in Sam’s school navigating this, they connected with other parents online all over the world who also had \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/loveyouforyou\">gender nonconforming kids\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Everyone felt alone until they found this group, and suddenly we had community,” Hoffman said. “We realized that we all face the same kinds of issues.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The collection is already acting as a historical reference — and source of inspiration — for the field’s writers too. Like San Francisco children’s book author Marcus Ewert, the writer of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.sevenstories.com/books/2795-10-000-dresses\">10,000 Dresses\u003c/a>,” about a young trans girl named Bailey. For Ewert, the archive functions as a trove of the genre’s pioneers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Oh my God, I wanna spend hours and hours and hours just looking at all these things,” he said. “As little time capsules, as little pieces of history.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘Profound effects’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Along with being a resource for early examples of LGBTQ children’s literature, Tarpey-Schwed said he hoped that more titles and examples will continue to be added to the collection.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The children’s publishing world in the past few years has seen a major wave of inclusive literature, partly thanks to industry-wide initiatives like the \u003ca href=\"https://www.diversebooks.org/\">We Need Diverse Books campaign\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It was hugely successful in getting all these stories out there that weren’t being told,” Ian Hoffman said. But the backlash to the campaign was also swift — and he admitted the last few years have felt “bleak.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-9 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12095724\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095724\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-12-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-12-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-12-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The authors of the 1979 children’s book When Megan Went Away dedicate the book to children of lesbian mothers. The book is a part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12095726\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-18-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095726\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-18-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-18-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260814-LGBTBookArchive-NG-18-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myles Cooper, library manager and archivist at the Mechanics’ Institute, flips through the pages of a 1989 self-published version Heather Has Two Mommies, which is a part of the institute’s Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Collection, at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But his wife, Sarah Hoffman, had some optimism. “We can temporarily go back, but you can’t change the fact that these books have existed,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For Mechanics’ Institute archivist Cooper, the collection has been an exciting opportunity to learn more about children’s literature. Most people in his 40s like him, or older, have never experienced queer picture books.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“[We] didn’t grow up with these kinds of stories,” he said. “I think that really does affect children … When they’re thinking about their life, what’s it going to be like? ‘I never pictured having a family, because I didn’t see that reflected in literature.’” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This can really have profound effects on children today,” Cooper said.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "going-down-the-ai-music-slop-chute-with-camilo-landau-dream-machines",
"title": "Going Down the AI Music Slop Chute with Camilo Landau",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>Can people tell the difference between a song made by human musicians, and one prompted by AI? Oftentimes not, it turns out. But that doesn’t make the distinction any less important. Dream Machines hosts Alexis Madrigal and Robin Sloan talk to longtime musician Camilo Landau, who also works in music analysis at \u003ca href=\"https://www.pandora.com/about/mgp\">The Music Genome Project\u003c/a> at streaming service Pandora. Camilo and his colleagues have sifted through millions of tracks uploaded by musicians and users to catalogue their musical elements, all with the aim of curating personalized music recommendations. And he says most of the new music he’s seeing these days is generated by AI. On today’s show, they discuss whether AI music is connecting with listeners, delve into San Francisco’s AI slop music “scene,” and contemplate the consequences of a world where music is produced in the time it takes a finger to tap a screen. \u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guest: \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://camilolandau.com/home\">Camilo Landau\u003c/a>, musician and music analyst\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>I’m Alexis Madrigal.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>I’m Robin Sloan and this is KQED’s Dream Machines, a podcast about AI, how it works, what it means, how it feels. Yeah, how I feel. And importantly, it’s rooted here in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>So the other day, I was sitting with a friend of mine, prize fighter in Emeryville, great bar in the East Bay. And he was kind of blowing my mind about the current state of music. He works at Pandora now, but he’s a long time musician in Latin American music. He’s been like recording and playing music all over the Bay Area and the world since he was like 15 years old. And now that he works at pandora, he’s encountering this strange flood. Of things that is sort of like coming through the doors that is not made by any human being, maybe somebody pushed a button. And it’s AI-generated music that is now sitting there right next to the stuff that was made by someone with a heart and big toes and eyes and a brain. And a guitar. And a a guitar, perhaps, or maybe a theremin. And when we’re sitting at this bar, it was just kind of blowing my mind with this new world. Of AI and music. And it was basically saying something like, close to half of the songs that are getting on the streaming platforms are just AI music entirely. And that like, no one’s actually listening to it. So you have this strange situation where the platforms are being absolutely flooded with these songs. And also they’re just sitting there not even racking up the listens. So please welcome Camila Landa. Yes, thank you. It could be here.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, it’s fascinating that the volume is just so enormous. Like you said, flooded with these AI-generated songs that nobody wants to hear, and no one asked for, and no ones listening to. And it’s these prompt-based platforms where you just say, I would like 1,000 melancholy pop songs, and then it just generates them faster than real time. So faster than you could play it or listen to it a single time. It’s actually just printing sound files. It’s not like creating music in the way that we think of assembling these different instruments and we’re recording them and layering them. Not like that at all. It’s like, I’ve seen 100,000 reggae songs, so I know what a sound file of a reggae song looks like and I can print something that looks very similar. I can’t I just cannot help imagine it coming out of\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>the like the pasta extruder. Yeah, it’s a sausage, sausage extruder actually. Yeah, yeah, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Just a tube, just a tube of audio. For me, that’s kind of the disappointment. So a lot of this I feel is a big disappointment because it’s what could, what could you be doing with AI generation of music? You could be making sounds that we can’t physically make. You could invent, anything you can imagine suddenly can be music. But we’re not seeing anything like that. We’re seeing just, you know, tens of millions of boring pop songs. So as you.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>At your, from your desk, see what’s uploaded day by day, is that your characterization that it’s far more of this kind of automatic slop?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, I mean by far more, I mean all, all, you know, like, or maybe there’s like a few dozen interesting ones out of, you know, tens of millions. Okay, I’m going to, uh, point to this Deezer report, uh French, I believe they’re French music streaming service company. Deezers put out, um, a report on, on AI generated music, 45% they’re saying 45% of the music that’s delivered to platforms is AI generated. And this I think this is industry wide. Yeah. So that’s almost half.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>I mean, what a what a curve. This is new in the last two years. Yes. Yeah\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>And, like, if we were to just hear it, could I tell the difference, do you think? Well, I mean…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Also, according to Deezer’s report, I think it’s 97% of people. And they did this blind test in different countries. 97% percent of people can’t tell the difference. But even though they don’t know it’s AI music, they don’t seem to be liking it or connecting with it. So a very small percentage of the music that people listen to is AI-generated, even though almost half of it that is being created. Proof.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Like the proof is in the pudding there, you know, right? Like people don’t, they don’t like it even if they can’t tell the difference. That’s like.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah. I mean, it really made me rethink what is music, right? Because I spent a long time learning how to play music good, right, and like mastering skills because I thought that like, yeah, if you can play it good, then that makes better music. Now, I think I was wrong. Right. The point of music is not to play a music good. The point a music is to have a human expression and connect with other people through human communication. And that’s the piece that AI can’t do.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Oh, that’s so interesting. It’s almost like a unintentional natural experiment where they said, okay, let’s take out that technical competence piece and just do that. Let’s say like, cause you can do that before. To have technical competence, you had to also be a living, breathing human musician with like a heart and ideas. And they’re like, oh no, no, no, we can do it without that. And let’s see. And now we have the result of that experiment, which is that it is somehow hollow. Yeah, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>I mean, how do you even know, you know, from your position, like how do even know that it is AI generated? Like how, are there tells? Are there like detectors? Like how does that work?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yes, there are tells, there’re detectors. Well, sometimes they’ll just say, composer, UDio, Suno, something like that. So they just tell you. Yeah, and then sometimes it’s, oh, here’s a brand new artist who just dropped 30 albums and 1,200 songs or something like that and let’s look them up online. Oh, they don’t exist. There is no artist. They had a really busy weekend, okay? They were locked in. So some of the tells can be something like, all right, well, each song has a different singer, right? Like male, female, different range, tonalities, vocal qualities. Each song is a different style. So OK, oh, you got a hard rock song followed by a country song followed by electronic music, and completely disjointed, right. And so there’s another one. Fully produced songs that sound like incredible studio musicians, incredible recording. But maybe they didn’t master the record or something like that. Like, why would they have spent so much money on this production? And it still has this kind of like gauzy sound to it a little bit. And then it’s other sort of like, remember with photos you see like the third hand and stuff like that, so sometimes it’s stuff like that like the track starts super abruptly or ends super abruptly. Or… This section comes in in a super weird place where people wouldn’t put it. No human musician would ever score it like that. And then sometimes it’s almost the opposite. It’s like too formulaic and perfect. Yeah. Yes. AI has solved the wrong problem here. The wrong problem was never that we don’t have enough music, right? We’ve had plenty of music. We have more music than we could possibly listen to. But that piece of connecting with the artist, I think, is actually completely fundamental, right, because best case scenario, And it’s highly likely that an AI will produce a song that fits really well on a particular playlist and resonate really well with people. Cause it’s producing tens of millions of songs. So just statistically, it’s gonna be one that’s gonna fit really well. So you’re listening to whatever you listen, you hear a new song and you like it. Oh, that’s kind of cool. What is this? And you go and look it up and check it out. And you realize, I’ve been fooled. I’ve be tricked. I’ve bee deceived. That’s the feeling that you get. And, and cause that is the impetus. You want to connect with the artist and there’s no artist and it’s wild that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>You would try to put out music without that stuff, because it’s so clear there’s that drive to know about where did this, what soul did this song come from? It’s like that gets kind of like maybe the core lie of the current AI era. Like the thing that we didn’t have to do, but that we did do was to like give these the chatbots and these things like an eye, to let them pretend to be a human. Like everything else could work exactly the same, and I feel like, oh man. I wish we hadn’t done that, you know? I wish they hadn’t been like, yes, I am a being in here that you can sort of connect with, because it is, it’s fundamentally deceitful, I think, about what’s happening behind the curtain. Sure, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>I think so. I mean, I think, yeah, like the tool itself isn’t the problem. It’s, somebody has to be making those decisions and that’s not happening, right? Like it’s the human decisions are what make the art, right. And, and there is no decision here. You’re just prompting a thing and then it’s going to make the decisions, right I mean we have music that’s completely electronically produced by humans using machines. Yeah, right, like, but somebody’s making those decisions somebody’s deciding this is where I want the hi-hats to come in. Or whatever it is, and that’s not what’s happening with AI. It’s like, print me 5,000 songs, and then in five minutes later, you have, you know.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Robyn, so there’s none of that scene, there’s not of that like playing music good and transmission of all these things. But you went to what Passage for. You\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Yeah, maybe. Of AI music. Maybe, maybe it is the seed being planted, you know, as this, as the stuff emerges. I saw a digital poster for a scene, for a show in San Francisco, and it was called the Gen Punk Slop Show. Slop, right there in the title, not hiding it, celebrating it. It was in a big, cruddy art warehouse in Soma, you know, kind of hard to find. One. They had a stage set up, but the host, who’s also an open AI researcher, just deeply embedded in the AI scene and obviously a great enthusiast, announced that we were gonna hear a whole night, hours and hours full of songs, that’s sort of a sequence of performers, were they even performers, that they had organized and all this music had come straight out of the AI machines. And this was something we heard. That was magical, what a thing to hear music from nowhere. They started out with a set glitchy, pitched up, hyper-pop, like super high tempo. I will tell you, in those first moments, it was a wild thing to see a group of people dancing, I mean really dancing in that bad Burning Man way. It’s a music that came from nowhere, music without a musician, music without Bye! A reason behind it other than a prompt. This goes on through the night and I have to say, on these big speakers, it sounded good. I mean, it was technically very- But that beat drop. It was very competent. It was smooth. It shined in the right places. One of the producers at the end of their bundle of songs leaned into the microphone. There’s the only words we heard from them the whole time. They said, shout out Claude. Yeah. These are the new superstar DJs. Yeah. Claude does your taxes and produces your EDM. What a world. Superstar DJs! Yeah. And then I kept expecting there to be someone who maybe had, I don’t know, pieced parts together or used AI samples. But no, it was all these just like soup to nuts AI generations. And the thing that struck me the most, maybe the glimpse of something truly new in this event, was about midway through getting close to midnight, One of the performers came up, I say performer, but I don’t even know if that’s what they were doing. The figure took the stage wearing one of those great, shiny, reflective helmets. That’s the helmet? Yeah, kind of like dead mouse or something, one of these cool new cyber DJs. So they stood up to the front with a laptop, and they’re actually projecting their screen up on the wall behind them, and it was Suno. So just completely shamelessly, unapologetically, They were clicking through their generations. You saw the prompts, you know, dark EDM with skittering beats. And it just was, it was wild because already, you know, we had the figure of the DJ who would stand at the front of a stage with their laptop. And people would say, oh man, what is he even doing? He’s just like pressing play on an MP3. So this person was just pressing play on an mp3 that they hadn’t even made. And in a weird way, it was kind of radical. It’s like, okay, what are they now? What is their role? And is this the new performer of the 21st century? You get to wear a shiny helmet and press play and.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Life is good. It’s a scene of some kind, you know, that essentially like celebrated the sausage. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>You’ve never, boy, you have never seen more people more excited about AI Slab.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>I mean, I almost think that if it were sort of like live generation, that’s kind of more interesting because that’s almost the promise of AI that is not being explored much, which is why even print these songs in the first place? You can actually create the perfect song for this particular moment. I can check out your playlists, your play lists, my play lists. Know that we’re all in proximity. We have our Geolocation, we know what the weather is here. We can have our Apple watches on and can be reading our heart rate and biometrics. It can be adjusting in real time. The tempos of the songs based on all of those factors. Why bother printing that? That could be the perfect song for us three right now, right here. And that goes more to what the heart of what is music. It’s vibrations in the air. That might not be good for anyone else ever, which is what we’re seeing where nobody’s listening to these songs, right? But why not just like make something that’s for here and now. Vibe composing. Vibe, composing!\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>I didn’t prompt that and so I left the show, walked out into the San Francisco drizzle, thinking that maybe that was the most interesting thing I’d seen, that it creates this new stand.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>The freedom to just create without responsibility, because you can always just pass it off. I didn’t actually create it, something else did.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>You do see like if AI can just produce a pop song perfectly, instantly, every time, the value of doing that as a human being just feels like it goes to zero, you know? Right.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Yeah, of course, I want to believe that’s right, but I do think we underestimate the power of things being easy at our peril. You know, the last great music technology scare, you know, synthesizers created as simulations of, you know strings and, you know, brass and everything else. But like then. Drum machines. And the drum machine, right. And again, and as you all know, invented as accompaniment, you know, it was like, oh, you can’t afford a drummer, get this little box to go. Right\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>But that organ, it’s attached to the organ.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Yeah, and then, but then it was, but, but then it, you know, repurposed and adapted and, and sort of gave rise to wild new genres. I mean, these were tools that kind of had a grain and they pushed back and they both, um, demanded and sort of invited mastery and boy, Suno just wants you to say, give me a song and I’ll do the rest. Maybe that there’s a bit of danger there and it’s something that is new. I mean\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>So the thing with the drum machine and the synthesizers and stuff, yes, there was a scare, right? People are like, oh, now people aren’t gonna hire drummers. This is gonna kill music. Oh, that’s so squared off. It doesn’t have any of the human swing and feel. That all turned out to be, I think, wrong, right, because people found this new tool and started using it for super cool, interesting stuff. They created whole new cultures and subcultures and whole new art forms, hip hop. You know, I mean, you know, people are like, oh, wait, you’re just sampling somebody else’s, you’re not even playing music, you just sampling it. No, they were creating new stuff on top of that, and they were using a new tool to create new art forms, right? They started connecting it with whole larger subcultures, but we’re not seeing any of that. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Is it different this time? That’s ultimately the thing. That is the question.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>It feels like it’s different this time. And there are reasons that it could be different. Again, this sense of ease, you know, there’s a difference, right, between a musician and a user. I feel like a lot of folks are stuck in the mode of being a user, there’s also a difference between a tool, even if it is a high-tech tool, a drum machine, a synthesizer, that you have in your garage or your basement versus a service that exists only on this far-off server controlled by this company and they change it whenever they want, however they want. You know let’s say you learn how to use it. You’ve become a virtuoso and then they announce the big upgrades to know 7.0 and you’re like wait Wait a minute. Where did my piano go? So these are I think these are real risks. It’s it is kind of new new territory\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>I mean, we’ve talked a little bit about drum machines and the way that drum machines and that form of technology created new genres of music and new realms of culture. You know, there were other musical technologies through time that also had kind of this fascinating impact. You know one, recently there was a big show of Bernie Krause’s work at the Exploratorium, you know, recording these soundscapes all across there. The world and really showing the way that these ecologies as they degraded, their soundscapes also degraded. One thing that felt so important about that show, because it is fundamentally about climate change, is that music, even though it was essentially nature and a microphone, and the selection apparatus, a human making a decision there, it was really deeply political in its orientation. It wasn’t just sounds to make you feel good, it was sounds to you realize we’re destroying the earth and it’s species.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>And the drum machine, you know, this would begin as the most robotic, you know, tick, boom, tick boom, powers them probably the most political music. It’s been made certainly, certainly in the 20th century. Yeah. Incredible.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Do you think there’s a pathway? Does AI music have an inherent politics? Is it just because it’s slop, it’s just conservative in some deep sense, or could it have some other politics?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Well, I mean, one interesting thing is that you can always, in many of these platforms, you can insert your own lyrics or suggest lyrics. So there actually is quite a bit of right-wing country AI music. Like hard-right, like racist and stuff, right? Which is, I’m mean, problematic in many ways, but. But so typical. It’s just like expect.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Well, and sort of, you imagine the strange liberation of the person saying, oh, I could never get anybody to sing these before, but the robot will sing whatever I want. I mean, that’s pretty grim.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, but there’s also something liberating, I think, about being able to create any kinds of music, right? Like, you can create whatever you’re imagining, you should be able to create it. Okay, well, maybe it doesn’t work perfectly like that today. But that is the promise, is that, like, you have an idea and something in your imagination, and if you can get it out, if this can help you get it out, then that’s cool. It’s not exactly what’s happening, but there is a promise there. There is a promise there.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Some liberatory little grain of potential in there that could take off. I mean, uh, maybe just to wrap us up back into sort of Pandora and what you, we know you don’t speak for the company, but just if you like, imagine what streaming services might look like in response to what is likely to be an increasing onslaught of this. It’s like half the music is probably the best it’s going to get. So, all right, five years from now. Now it’s. 99% of the music that is submitted to, you know, Pandora or Spotify or whatever is all AI slop. Like, what happens?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, I mean, it’s interesting. So there’s a few things. Spotify and Warner and the major labels and UDO or Suno, one of the AI companies, there was a lawsuit, they came to an agreement, which essentially they acquired, they become the same company. And so it’s. Spotify purportedly is working on a feature for like basically AI remix of any song in there, in these certain catalogs that they control. So the idea would be like, I don’t know, you could be like okay, I want this Daft Punk song, but in the style of Lofi Beats or whatever. Yeah. You kind of just like create these sort of AI remixes on the fly using this particular catalog that’s licensed to do so. I mean, I kind of don’t f-\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>think that that’s what people want. I mean, you know this well from the front lines of Pandora, the way we know that people listen to music. Every listen of every track is not an emotional resonance. It is this lull. Elevator music.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Music for everything yeah\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. You know, yeah this music it’s the it’s the final the final victory of music\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>in this functional music space, I do think there is like, I kind of think that’s the sweet spot for this AI music, right? These lo-fi beats for studying or whatever. You don’t, you’re not listening to the songs. You have it on the background. You’re just trying to get a vibe. AI can do quite a convincing job of doing that, you know, a stream, like a constant stream of lo-Fi stuff. And it just, I pretty sure it was all. Just to drown out your roommate, Tony. I’m pretty sure was all the AI generated. Hey, if it can do a perfectly good job of this and people don’t really care, then fine, whatever. On the other hand, there’s also plenty of human created lo-fi beats that, you know, plenty like, you know, millions of hours or whatever, like, so why not prioritize that? And, you know, is, is the AI doing it better? No. Is it doing it competently? Sure. But is it doing a better job? So no. So then why use that? Why not prioritize the human stuff? And now the AI does that endlessly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Simulations of simulations of simulations\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>It is a grim, grim vision of the world, so I like some of your other visions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>In our conversation, I feel like we’ve come up with between three and five actually exciting paths and gestures, and it just so happens that we’re stuck with the very worst one at this moment, but that’s okay.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, which is that the vast, vast like almost all majority of AI generated music is really just used for fraud to try to trick people into playing they’re just putting out massive volumes of music just in the off chance somebody might accidentally click on one or one of them might get on something and they can make a few cents.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>It’s like the worst arbitrage, like tokens into streams. And they’re trying to make like one fraction of one cent on each of those things. That is depressing. Um, well, um, Camilo, I feel like I have learned, uh, so much about the strange state of AI.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>I mean, I think there are a lot of interesting AI tools being used in music, in production, right? I mean there’s AI mastering AI, you know, like, okay, here’s a thing. I know what a finished song should sound like and what an unfinished song sounds like and I can help you make your unfinished song sound sparklier and louder, right. Great. I mean it’s not as good as hiring a real mastering engineer, but it’s, that’s a good tool for musicians to be able to have to make their music sound better. Great. Yeah, yeah. But there’s still somebody making music in that instance, right? There’s somebody assembling, somebody making decisions. A human making decisions, I think, is the important element.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>The core, right? It’s almost a filter. You can say like, did somebody have an opinion or a vision or one tiny idea? I’ll take it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>There it is, lowest common denominator, we have found it. One tiny idea.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>I think people connect because they’re connecting with the artists, with the music, and if that’s not how this music is being made, then I’m not convinced it’ll work.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>I had like the worst possible scenario where it’s like, do-do-do, do-doodle-do. Five years later, we’re here. It’s like the most popular song in the world is AI, you know, and we’re like, ah. We’ll come back to Camilo on that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>We got to trust and hope that listeners will hold the line. It’s actually heartening in a way that, you know, all the machinations are certainly at the platforms. We’d love to be able to serve music without authors that you didn’t have to pay for. But if listeners won’t take it, they can’t get around that. So, hey, let’s all stay real. Stay positive. Let’s stay all very persnickety in our listening.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>KQED’s Dream Machines is made by humans and hosted by me, Robin Sloan and Alexis Madrigal. Our series is produced by Anayansi Diaz-Cortez and Derek Lartaud. Sound design by Brendan Willard. Jen Chien is the executive producer and Ethan Toven-Lindsey, our editor-in-chief. Support for the production of Dream Machines comes from the Krishnan Shah family, Dorothy Marsh and other generous KQED members. Special thanks to Chris Egusa, Annie Fruit, Paul Lancour, Vivian Morales, Zaldy Serrano, Xtine Tiñoso, Hazel Tesoro, and Alex Tran. And of course, thank you to the Close All Tabs team for letting us visit their feed this month.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Can people tell the difference between a song made by human musicians, and one prompted by AI? Oftentimes not, it turns out. But that doesn’t make the distinction any less important. Dream Machines hosts Alexis Madrigal and Robin Sloan talk to longtime musician Camilo Landau, who also works in music analysis at \u003ca href=\"https://www.pandora.com/about/mgp\">The Music Genome Project\u003c/a> at streaming service Pandora. Camilo and his colleagues have sifted through millions of tracks uploaded by musicians and users to catalogue their musical elements, all with the aim of curating personalized music recommendations. And he says most of the new music he’s seeing these days is generated by AI. On today’s show, they discuss whether AI music is connecting with listeners, delve into San Francisco’s AI slop music “scene,” and contemplate the consequences of a world where music is produced in the time it takes a finger to tap a screen. \u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Can people tell the difference between a song made by human musicians, and one prompted by AI? Oftentimes not, it turns out. But that doesn’t make the distinction any less important. Dream Machines hosts Alexis Madrigal and Robin Sloan talk to longtime musician Camilo Landau, who also works in music analysis at \u003ca href=\"https://www.pandora.com/about/mgp\">The Music Genome Project\u003c/a> at streaming service Pandora. Camilo and his colleagues have sifted through millions of tracks uploaded by musicians and users to catalogue their musical elements, all with the aim of curating personalized music recommendations. And he says most of the new music he’s seeing these days is generated by AI. On today’s show, they discuss whether AI music is connecting with listeners, delve into San Francisco’s AI slop music “scene,” and contemplate the consequences of a world where music is produced in the time it takes a finger to tap a screen. \u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guest: \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://camilolandau.com/home\">Camilo Landau\u003c/a>, musician and music analyst\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guest: \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://camilolandau.com/home\">Camilo Landau\u003c/a>, musician and music analyst\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>I’m Alexis Madrigal.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>I’m Alexis Madrigal.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>I’m Robin Sloan and this is KQED’s Dream Machines, a podcast about AI, how it works, what it means, how it feels. Yeah, how I feel. And importantly, it’s rooted here in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>I’m Robin Sloan and this is KQED’s Dream Machines, a podcast about AI, how it works, what it means, how it feels. Yeah, how I feel. And importantly, it’s rooted here in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>So the other day, I was sitting with a friend of mine, prize fighter in Emeryville, great bar in the East Bay. And he was kind of blowing my mind about the current state of music. He works at Pandora now, but he’s a long time musician in Latin American music. He’s been like recording and playing music all over the Bay Area and the world since he was like 15 years old. And now that he works at pandora, he’s encountering this strange flood. Of things that is sort of like coming through the doors that is not made by any human being, maybe somebody pushed a button. And it’s AI-generated music that is now sitting there right next to the stuff that was made by someone with a heart and big toes and eyes and a brain. And a guitar. And a a guitar, perhaps, or maybe a theremin. And when we’re sitting at this bar, it was just kind of blowing my mind with this new world. Of AI and music. And it was basically saying something like, close to half of the songs that are getting on the streaming platforms are just AI music entirely. And that like, no one’s actually listening to it. So you have this strange situation where the platforms are being absolutely flooded with these songs. And also they’re just sitting there not even racking up the listens. So please welcome Camila Landa. Yes, thank you. It could be here.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>So the other day, I was sitting with a friend of mine, prize fighter in Emeryville, great bar in the East Bay. And he was kind of blowing my mind about the current state of music. He works at Pandora now, but he’s a long time musician in Latin American music. He’s been like recording and playing music all over the Bay Area and the world since he was like 15 years old. And now that he works at pandora, he’s encountering this strange flood. Of things that is sort of like coming through the doors that is not made by any human being, maybe somebody pushed a button. And it’s AI-generated music that is now sitting there right next to the stuff that was made by someone with a heart and big toes and eyes and a brain. And a guitar. And a a guitar, perhaps, or maybe a theremin. And when we’re sitting at this bar, it was just kind of blowing my mind with this new world. Of AI and music. And it was basically saying something like, close to half of the songs that are getting on the streaming platforms are just AI music entirely. And that like, no one’s actually listening to it. So you have this strange situation where the platforms are being absolutely flooded with these songs. And also they’re just sitting there not even racking up the listens. So please welcome Camila Landa. Yes, thank you. It could be here.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, it’s fascinating that the volume is just so enormous. Like you said, flooded with these AI-generated songs that nobody wants to hear, and no one asked for, and no ones listening to. And it’s these prompt-based platforms where you just say, I would like 1,000 melancholy pop songs, and then it just generates them faster than real time. So faster than you could play it or listen to it a single time. It’s actually just printing sound files. It’s not like creating music in the way that we think of assembling these different instruments and we’re recording them and layering them. Not like that at all. It’s like, I’ve seen 100,000 reggae songs, so I know what a sound file of a reggae song looks like and I can print something that looks very similar. I can’t I just cannot help imagine it coming out of\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, it’s fascinating that the volume is just so enormous. Like you said, flooded with these AI-generated songs that nobody wants to hear, and no one asked for, and no ones listening to. And it’s these prompt-based platforms where you just say, I would like 1,000 melancholy pop songs, and then it just generates them faster than real time. So faster than you could play it or listen to it a single time. It’s actually just printing sound files. It’s not like creating music in the way that we think of assembling these different instruments and we’re recording them and layering them. Not like that at all. It’s like, I’ve seen 100,000 reggae songs, so I know what a sound file of a reggae song looks like and I can print something that looks very similar. I can’t I just cannot help imagine it coming out of\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>the like the pasta extruder. Yeah, it’s a sausage, sausage extruder actually. Yeah, yeah, yeah.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>the like the pasta extruder. Yeah, it’s a sausage, sausage extruder actually. Yeah, yeah, yeah.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Just a tube, just a tube of audio. For me, that’s kind of the disappointment. So a lot of this I feel is a big disappointment because it’s what could, what could you be doing with AI generation of music? You could be making sounds that we can’t physically make. You could invent, anything you can imagine suddenly can be music. But we’re not seeing anything like that. We’re seeing just, you know, tens of millions of boring pop songs. So as you.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Just a tube, just a tube of audio. For me, that’s kind of the disappointment. So a lot of this I feel is a big disappointment because it’s what could, what could you be doing with AI generation of music? You could be making sounds that we can’t physically make. You could invent, anything you can imagine suddenly can be music. But we’re not seeing anything like that. We’re seeing just, you know, tens of millions of boring pop songs. So as you.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>At your, from your desk, see what’s uploaded day by day, is that your characterization that it’s far more of this kind of automatic slop?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>At your, from your desk, see what’s uploaded day by day, is that your characterization that it’s far more of this kind of automatic slop?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, I mean by far more, I mean all, all, you know, like, or maybe there’s like a few dozen interesting ones out of, you know, tens of millions. Okay, I’m going to, uh, point to this Deezer report, uh French, I believe they’re French music streaming service company. Deezers put out, um, a report on, on AI generated music, 45% they’re saying 45% of the music that’s delivered to platforms is AI generated. And this I think this is industry wide. Yeah. So that’s almost half.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, I mean by far more, I mean all, all, you know, like, or maybe there’s like a few dozen interesting ones out of, you know, tens of millions. Okay, I’m going to, uh, point to this Deezer report, uh French, I believe they’re French music streaming service company. Deezers put out, um, a report on, on AI generated music, 45% they’re saying 45% of the music that’s delivered to platforms is AI generated. And this I think this is industry wide. Yeah. So that’s almost half.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>I mean, what a what a curve. This is new in the last two years. Yes. Yeah\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>I mean, what a what a curve. This is new in the last two years. Yes. Yeah\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>And, like, if we were to just hear it, could I tell the difference, do you think? Well, I mean…\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Also, according to Deezer’s report, I think it’s 97% of people. And they did this blind test in different countries. 97% percent of people can’t tell the difference. But even though they don’t know it’s AI music, they don’t seem to be liking it or connecting with it. So a very small percentage of the music that people listen to is AI-generated, even though almost half of it that is being created. Proof.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Also, according to Deezer’s report, I think it’s 97% of people. And they did this blind test in different countries. 97% percent of people can’t tell the difference. But even though they don’t know it’s AI music, they don’t seem to be liking it or connecting with it. So a very small percentage of the music that people listen to is AI-generated, even though almost half of it that is being created. Proof.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Like the proof is in the pudding there, you know, right? Like people don’t, they don’t like it even if they can’t tell the difference. That’s like.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Like the proof is in the pudding there, you know, right? Like people don’t, they don’t like it even if they can’t tell the difference. That’s like.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah. I mean, it really made me rethink what is music, right? Because I spent a long time learning how to play music good, right, and like mastering skills because I thought that like, yeah, if you can play it good, then that makes better music. Now, I think I was wrong. Right. The point of music is not to play a music good. The point a music is to have a human expression and connect with other people through human communication. And that’s the piece that AI can’t do.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah. I mean, it really made me rethink what is music, right? Because I spent a long time learning how to play music good, right, and like mastering skills because I thought that like, yeah, if you can play it good, then that makes better music. Now, I think I was wrong. Right. The point of music is not to play a music good. The point a music is to have a human expression and connect with other people through human communication. And that’s the piece that AI can’t do.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Oh, that’s so interesting. It’s almost like a unintentional natural experiment where they said, okay, let’s take out that technical competence piece and just do that. Let’s say like, cause you can do that before. To have technical competence, you had to also be a living, breathing human musician with like a heart and ideas. And they’re like, oh no, no, no, we can do it without that. And let’s see. And now we have the result of that experiment, which is that it is somehow hollow. Yeah, yeah.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Oh, that’s so interesting. It’s almost like a unintentional natural experiment where they said, okay, let’s take out that technical competence piece and just do that. Let’s say like, cause you can do that before. To have technical competence, you had to also be a living, breathing human musician with like a heart and ideas. And they’re like, oh no, no, no, we can do it without that. And let’s see. And now we have the result of that experiment, which is that it is somehow hollow. Yeah, yeah.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>I mean, how do you even know, you know, from your position, like how do even know that it is AI generated? Like how, are there tells? Are there like detectors? Like how does that work?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>I mean, how do you even know, you know, from your position, like how do even know that it is AI generated? Like how, are there tells? Are there like detectors? Like how does that work?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yes, there are tells, there’re detectors. Well, sometimes they’ll just say, composer, UDio, Suno, something like that. So they just tell you. Yeah, and then sometimes it’s, oh, here’s a brand new artist who just dropped 30 albums and 1,200 songs or something like that and let’s look them up online. Oh, they don’t exist. There is no artist. They had a really busy weekend, okay? They were locked in. So some of the tells can be something like, all right, well, each song has a different singer, right? Like male, female, different range, tonalities, vocal qualities. Each song is a different style. So OK, oh, you got a hard rock song followed by a country song followed by electronic music, and completely disjointed, right. And so there’s another one. Fully produced songs that sound like incredible studio musicians, incredible recording. But maybe they didn’t master the record or something like that. Like, why would they have spent so much money on this production? And it still has this kind of like gauzy sound to it a little bit. And then it’s other sort of like, remember with photos you see like the third hand and stuff like that, so sometimes it’s stuff like that like the track starts super abruptly or ends super abruptly. Or… This section comes in in a super weird place where people wouldn’t put it. No human musician would ever score it like that. And then sometimes it’s almost the opposite. It’s like too formulaic and perfect. Yeah. Yes. AI has solved the wrong problem here. The wrong problem was never that we don’t have enough music, right? We’ve had plenty of music. We have more music than we could possibly listen to. But that piece of connecting with the artist, I think, is actually completely fundamental, right, because best case scenario, And it’s highly likely that an AI will produce a song that fits really well on a particular playlist and resonate really well with people. Cause it’s producing tens of millions of songs. So just statistically, it’s gonna be one that’s gonna fit really well. So you’re listening to whatever you listen, you hear a new song and you like it. Oh, that’s kind of cool. What is this? And you go and look it up and check it out. And you realize, I’ve been fooled. I’ve be tricked. I’ve bee deceived. That’s the feeling that you get. And, and cause that is the impetus. You want to connect with the artist and there’s no artist and it’s wild that.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yes, there are tells, there’re detectors. Well, sometimes they’ll just say, composer, UDio, Suno, something like that. So they just tell you. Yeah, and then sometimes it’s, oh, here’s a brand new artist who just dropped 30 albums and 1,200 songs or something like that and let’s look them up online. Oh, they don’t exist. There is no artist. They had a really busy weekend, okay? They were locked in. So some of the tells can be something like, all right, well, each song has a different singer, right? Like male, female, different range, tonalities, vocal qualities. Each song is a different style. So OK, oh, you got a hard rock song followed by a country song followed by electronic music, and completely disjointed, right. And so there’s another one. Fully produced songs that sound like incredible studio musicians, incredible recording. But maybe they didn’t master the record or something like that. Like, why would they have spent so much money on this production? And it still has this kind of like gauzy sound to it a little bit. And then it’s other sort of like, remember with photos you see like the third hand and stuff like that, so sometimes it’s stuff like that like the track starts super abruptly or ends super abruptly. Or… This section comes in in a super weird place where people wouldn’t put it. No human musician would ever score it like that. And then sometimes it’s almost the opposite. It’s like too formulaic and perfect. Yeah. Yes. AI has solved the wrong problem here. The wrong problem was never that we don’t have enough music, right? We’ve had plenty of music. We have more music than we could possibly listen to. But that piece of connecting with the artist, I think, is actually completely fundamental, right, because best case scenario, And it’s highly likely that an AI will produce a song that fits really well on a particular playlist and resonate really well with people. Cause it’s producing tens of millions of songs. So just statistically, it’s gonna be one that’s gonna fit really well. So you’re listening to whatever you listen, you hear a new song and you like it. Oh, that’s kind of cool. What is this? And you go and look it up and check it out. And you realize, I’ve been fooled. I’ve be tricked. I’ve bee deceived. That’s the feeling that you get. And, and cause that is the impetus. You want to connect with the artist and there’s no artist and it’s wild that.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>You would try to put out music without that stuff, because it’s so clear there’s that drive to know about where did this, what soul did this song come from? It’s like that gets kind of like maybe the core lie of the current AI era. Like the thing that we didn’t have to do, but that we did do was to like give these the chatbots and these things like an eye, to let them pretend to be a human. Like everything else could work exactly the same, and I feel like, oh man. I wish we hadn’t done that, you know? I wish they hadn’t been like, yes, I am a being in here that you can sort of connect with, because it is, it’s fundamentally deceitful, I think, about what’s happening behind the curtain. Sure, yeah.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>You would try to put out music without that stuff, because it’s so clear there’s that drive to know about where did this, what soul did this song come from? It’s like that gets kind of like maybe the core lie of the current AI era. Like the thing that we didn’t have to do, but that we did do was to like give these the chatbots and these things like an eye, to let them pretend to be a human. Like everything else could work exactly the same, and I feel like, oh man. I wish we hadn’t done that, you know? I wish they hadn’t been like, yes, I am a being in here that you can sort of connect with, because it is, it’s fundamentally deceitful, I think, about what’s happening behind the curtain. Sure, yeah.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>I think so. I mean, I think, yeah, like the tool itself isn’t the problem. It’s, somebody has to be making those decisions and that’s not happening, right? Like it’s the human decisions are what make the art, right. And, and there is no decision here. You’re just prompting a thing and then it’s going to make the decisions, right I mean we have music that’s completely electronically produced by humans using machines. Yeah, right, like, but somebody’s making those decisions somebody’s deciding this is where I want the hi-hats to come in. Or whatever it is, and that’s not what’s happening with AI. It’s like, print me 5,000 songs, and then in five minutes later, you have, you know.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>I think so. I mean, I think, yeah, like the tool itself isn’t the problem. It’s, somebody has to be making those decisions and that’s not happening, right? Like it’s the human decisions are what make the art, right. And, and there is no decision here. You’re just prompting a thing and then it’s going to make the decisions, right I mean we have music that’s completely electronically produced by humans using machines. Yeah, right, like, but somebody’s making those decisions somebody’s deciding this is where I want the hi-hats to come in. Or whatever it is, and that’s not what’s happening with AI. It’s like, print me 5,000 songs, and then in five minutes later, you have, you know.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Robyn, so there’s none of that scene, there’s not of that like playing music good and transmission of all these things. But you went to what Passage for. You\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Robyn, so there’s none of that scene, there’s not of that like playing music good and transmission of all these things. But you went to what Passage for. You\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Yeah, maybe. Of AI music. Maybe, maybe it is the seed being planted, you know, as this, as the stuff emerges. I saw a digital poster for a scene, for a show in San Francisco, and it was called the Gen Punk Slop Show. Slop, right there in the title, not hiding it, celebrating it. It was in a big, cruddy art warehouse in Soma, you know, kind of hard to find. One. They had a stage set up, but the host, who’s also an open AI researcher, just deeply embedded in the AI scene and obviously a great enthusiast, announced that we were gonna hear a whole night, hours and hours full of songs, that’s sort of a sequence of performers, were they even performers, that they had organized and all this music had come straight out of the AI machines. And this was something we heard. That was magical, what a thing to hear music from nowhere. They started out with a set glitchy, pitched up, hyper-pop, like super high tempo. I will tell you, in those first moments, it was a wild thing to see a group of people dancing, I mean really dancing in that bad Burning Man way. It’s a music that came from nowhere, music without a musician, music without Bye! A reason behind it other than a prompt. This goes on through the night and I have to say, on these big speakers, it sounded good. I mean, it was technically very- But that beat drop. It was very competent. It was smooth. It shined in the right places. One of the producers at the end of their bundle of songs leaned into the microphone. There’s the only words we heard from them the whole time. They said, shout out Claude. Yeah. These are the new superstar DJs. Yeah. Claude does your taxes and produces your EDM. What a world. Superstar DJs! Yeah. And then I kept expecting there to be someone who maybe had, I don’t know, pieced parts together or used AI samples. But no, it was all these just like soup to nuts AI generations. And the thing that struck me the most, maybe the glimpse of something truly new in this event, was about midway through getting close to midnight, One of the performers came up, I say performer, but I don’t even know if that’s what they were doing. The figure took the stage wearing one of those great, shiny, reflective helmets. That’s the helmet? Yeah, kind of like dead mouse or something, one of these cool new cyber DJs. So they stood up to the front with a laptop, and they’re actually projecting their screen up on the wall behind them, and it was Suno. So just completely shamelessly, unapologetically, They were clicking through their generations. You saw the prompts, you know, dark EDM with skittering beats. And it just was, it was wild because already, you know, we had the figure of the DJ who would stand at the front of a stage with their laptop. And people would say, oh man, what is he even doing? He’s just like pressing play on an MP3. So this person was just pressing play on an mp3 that they hadn’t even made. And in a weird way, it was kind of radical. It’s like, okay, what are they now? What is their role? And is this the new performer of the 21st century? You get to wear a shiny helmet and press play and.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Yeah, maybe. Of AI music. Maybe, maybe it is the seed being planted, you know, as this, as the stuff emerges. I saw a digital poster for a scene, for a show in San Francisco, and it was called the Gen Punk Slop Show. Slop, right there in the title, not hiding it, celebrating it. It was in a big, cruddy art warehouse in Soma, you know, kind of hard to find. One. They had a stage set up, but the host, who’s also an open AI researcher, just deeply embedded in the AI scene and obviously a great enthusiast, announced that we were gonna hear a whole night, hours and hours full of songs, that’s sort of a sequence of performers, were they even performers, that they had organized and all this music had come straight out of the AI machines. And this was something we heard. That was magical, what a thing to hear music from nowhere. They started out with a set glitchy, pitched up, hyper-pop, like super high tempo. I will tell you, in those first moments, it was a wild thing to see a group of people dancing, I mean really dancing in that bad Burning Man way. It’s a music that came from nowhere, music without a musician, music without Bye! A reason behind it other than a prompt. This goes on through the night and I have to say, on these big speakers, it sounded good. I mean, it was technically very- But that beat drop. It was very competent. It was smooth. It shined in the right places. One of the producers at the end of their bundle of songs leaned into the microphone. There’s the only words we heard from them the whole time. They said, shout out Claude. Yeah. These are the new superstar DJs. Yeah. Claude does your taxes and produces your EDM. What a world. Superstar DJs! Yeah. And then I kept expecting there to be someone who maybe had, I don’t know, pieced parts together or used AI samples. But no, it was all these just like soup to nuts AI generations. And the thing that struck me the most, maybe the glimpse of something truly new in this event, was about midway through getting close to midnight, One of the performers came up, I say performer, but I don’t even know if that’s what they were doing. The figure took the stage wearing one of those great, shiny, reflective helmets. That’s the helmet? Yeah, kind of like dead mouse or something, one of these cool new cyber DJs. So they stood up to the front with a laptop, and they’re actually projecting their screen up on the wall behind them, and it was Suno. So just completely shamelessly, unapologetically, They were clicking through their generations. You saw the prompts, you know, dark EDM with skittering beats. And it just was, it was wild because already, you know, we had the figure of the DJ who would stand at the front of a stage with their laptop. And people would say, oh man, what is he even doing? He’s just like pressing play on an MP3. So this person was just pressing play on an mp3 that they hadn’t even made. And in a weird way, it was kind of radical. It’s like, okay, what are they now? What is their role? And is this the new performer of the 21st century? You get to wear a shiny helmet and press play and.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Life is good. It’s a scene of some kind, you know, that essentially like celebrated the sausage. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Life is good. It’s a scene of some kind, you know, that essentially like celebrated the sausage. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>You’ve never, boy, you have never seen more people more excited about AI Slab.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>You’ve never, boy, you have never seen more people more excited about AI Slab.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>I mean, I almost think that if it were sort of like live generation, that’s kind of more interesting because that’s almost the promise of AI that is not being explored much, which is why even print these songs in the first place? You can actually create the perfect song for this particular moment. I can check out your playlists, your play lists, my play lists. Know that we’re all in proximity. We have our Geolocation, we know what the weather is here. We can have our Apple watches on and can be reading our heart rate and biometrics. It can be adjusting in real time. The tempos of the songs based on all of those factors. Why bother printing that? That could be the perfect song for us three right now, right here. And that goes more to what the heart of what is music. It’s vibrations in the air. That might not be good for anyone else ever, which is what we’re seeing where nobody’s listening to these songs, right? But why not just like make something that’s for here and now. Vibe composing. Vibe, composing!\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>I mean, I almost think that if it were sort of like live generation, that’s kind of more interesting because that’s almost the promise of AI that is not being explored much, which is why even print these songs in the first place? You can actually create the perfect song for this particular moment. I can check out your playlists, your play lists, my play lists. Know that we’re all in proximity. We have our Geolocation, we know what the weather is here. We can have our Apple watches on and can be reading our heart rate and biometrics. It can be adjusting in real time. The tempos of the songs based on all of those factors. Why bother printing that? That could be the perfect song for us three right now, right here. And that goes more to what the heart of what is music. It’s vibrations in the air. That might not be good for anyone else ever, which is what we’re seeing where nobody’s listening to these songs, right? But why not just like make something that’s for here and now. Vibe composing. Vibe, composing!\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>I didn’t prompt that and so I left the show, walked out into the San Francisco drizzle, thinking that maybe that was the most interesting thing I’d seen, that it creates this new stand.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>I didn’t prompt that and so I left the show, walked out into the San Francisco drizzle, thinking that maybe that was the most interesting thing I’d seen, that it creates this new stand.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>The freedom to just create without responsibility, because you can always just pass it off. I didn’t actually create it, something else did.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>The freedom to just create without responsibility, because you can always just pass it off. I didn’t actually create it, something else did.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>You do see like if AI can just produce a pop song perfectly, instantly, every time, the value of doing that as a human being just feels like it goes to zero, you know? Right.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>You do see like if AI can just produce a pop song perfectly, instantly, every time, the value of doing that as a human being just feels like it goes to zero, you know? Right.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Yeah, of course, I want to believe that’s right, but I do think we underestimate the power of things being easy at our peril. You know, the last great music technology scare, you know, synthesizers created as simulations of, you know strings and, you know, brass and everything else. But like then. Drum machines. And the drum machine, right. And again, and as you all know, invented as accompaniment, you know, it was like, oh, you can’t afford a drummer, get this little box to go. Right\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Yeah, of course, I want to believe that’s right, but I do think we underestimate the power of things being easy at our peril. You know, the last great music technology scare, you know, synthesizers created as simulations of, you know strings and, you know, brass and everything else. But like then. Drum machines. And the drum machine, right. And again, and as you all know, invented as accompaniment, you know, it was like, oh, you can’t afford a drummer, get this little box to go. Right\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>But that organ, it’s attached to the organ.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>But that organ, it’s attached to the organ.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Yeah, and then, but then it was, but, but then it, you know, repurposed and adapted and, and sort of gave rise to wild new genres. I mean, these were tools that kind of had a grain and they pushed back and they both, um, demanded and sort of invited mastery and boy, Suno just wants you to say, give me a song and I’ll do the rest. Maybe that there’s a bit of danger there and it’s something that is new. I mean\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Yeah, and then, but then it was, but, but then it, you know, repurposed and adapted and, and sort of gave rise to wild new genres. I mean, these were tools that kind of had a grain and they pushed back and they both, um, demanded and sort of invited mastery and boy, Suno just wants you to say, give me a song and I’ll do the rest. Maybe that there’s a bit of danger there and it’s something that is new. I mean\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>So the thing with the drum machine and the synthesizers and stuff, yes, there was a scare, right? People are like, oh, now people aren’t gonna hire drummers. This is gonna kill music. Oh, that’s so squared off. It doesn’t have any of the human swing and feel. That all turned out to be, I think, wrong, right, because people found this new tool and started using it for super cool, interesting stuff. They created whole new cultures and subcultures and whole new art forms, hip hop. You know, I mean, you know, people are like, oh, wait, you’re just sampling somebody else’s, you’re not even playing music, you just sampling it. No, they were creating new stuff on top of that, and they were using a new tool to create new art forms, right? They started connecting it with whole larger subcultures, but we’re not seeing any of that. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>So the thing with the drum machine and the synthesizers and stuff, yes, there was a scare, right? People are like, oh, now people aren’t gonna hire drummers. This is gonna kill music. Oh, that’s so squared off. It doesn’t have any of the human swing and feel. That all turned out to be, I think, wrong, right, because people found this new tool and started using it for super cool, interesting stuff. They created whole new cultures and subcultures and whole new art forms, hip hop. You know, I mean, you know, people are like, oh, wait, you’re just sampling somebody else’s, you’re not even playing music, you just sampling it. No, they were creating new stuff on top of that, and they were using a new tool to create new art forms, right? They started connecting it with whole larger subcultures, but we’re not seeing any of that. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Is it different this time? That’s ultimately the thing. That is the question.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Is it different this time? That’s ultimately the thing. That is the question.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>It feels like it’s different this time. And there are reasons that it could be different. Again, this sense of ease, you know, there’s a difference, right, between a musician and a user. I feel like a lot of folks are stuck in the mode of being a user, there’s also a difference between a tool, even if it is a high-tech tool, a drum machine, a synthesizer, that you have in your garage or your basement versus a service that exists only on this far-off server controlled by this company and they change it whenever they want, however they want. You know let’s say you learn how to use it. You’ve become a virtuoso and then they announce the big upgrades to know 7.0 and you’re like wait Wait a minute. Where did my piano go? So these are I think these are real risks. It’s it is kind of new new territory\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>I mean, we’ve talked a little bit about drum machines and the way that drum machines and that form of technology created new genres of music and new realms of culture. You know, there were other musical technologies through time that also had kind of this fascinating impact. You know one, recently there was a big show of Bernie Krause’s work at the Exploratorium, you know, recording these soundscapes all across there. The world and really showing the way that these ecologies as they degraded, their soundscapes also degraded. One thing that felt so important about that show, because it is fundamentally about climate change, is that music, even though it was essentially nature and a microphone, and the selection apparatus, a human making a decision there, it was really deeply political in its orientation. It wasn’t just sounds to make you feel good, it was sounds to you realize we’re destroying the earth and it’s species.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>I mean, we’ve talked a little bit about drum machines and the way that drum machines and that form of technology created new genres of music and new realms of culture. You know, there were other musical technologies through time that also had kind of this fascinating impact. You know one, recently there was a big show of Bernie Krause’s work at the Exploratorium, you know, recording these soundscapes all across there. The world and really showing the way that these ecologies as they degraded, their soundscapes also degraded. One thing that felt so important about that show, because it is fundamentally about climate change, is that music, even though it was essentially nature and a microphone, and the selection apparatus, a human making a decision there, it was really deeply political in its orientation. It wasn’t just sounds to make you feel good, it was sounds to you realize we’re destroying the earth and it’s species.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>And the drum machine, you know, this would begin as the most robotic, you know, tick, boom, tick boom, powers them probably the most political music. It’s been made certainly, certainly in the 20th century. Yeah. Incredible.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>And the drum machine, you know, this would begin as the most robotic, you know, tick, boom, tick boom, powers them probably the most political music. It’s been made certainly, certainly in the 20th century. Yeah. Incredible.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Do you think there’s a pathway? Does AI music have an inherent politics? Is it just because it’s slop, it’s just conservative in some deep sense, or could it have some other politics?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Well, I mean, one interesting thing is that you can always, in many of these platforms, you can insert your own lyrics or suggest lyrics. So there actually is quite a bit of right-wing country AI music. Like hard-right, like racist and stuff, right? Which is, I’m mean, problematic in many ways, but. But so typical. It’s just like expect.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Well, I mean, one interesting thing is that you can always, in many of these platforms, you can insert your own lyrics or suggest lyrics. So there actually is quite a bit of right-wing country AI music. Like hard-right, like racist and stuff, right? Which is, I’m mean, problematic in many ways, but. But so typical. It’s just like expect.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Well, and sort of, you imagine the strange liberation of the person saying, oh, I could never get anybody to sing these before, but the robot will sing whatever I want. I mean, that’s pretty grim.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, but there’s also something liberating, I think, about being able to create any kinds of music, right? Like, you can create whatever you’re imagining, you should be able to create it. Okay, well, maybe it doesn’t work perfectly like that today. But that is the promise, is that, like, you have an idea and something in your imagination, and if you can get it out, if this can help you get it out, then that’s cool. It’s not exactly what’s happening, but there is a promise there. There is a promise there.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Some liberatory little grain of potential in there that could take off. I mean, uh, maybe just to wrap us up back into sort of Pandora and what you, we know you don’t speak for the company, but just if you like, imagine what streaming services might look like in response to what is likely to be an increasing onslaught of this. It’s like half the music is probably the best it’s going to get. So, all right, five years from now. Now it’s. 99% of the music that is submitted to, you know, Pandora or Spotify or whatever is all AI slop. Like, what happens?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, I mean, it’s interesting. So there’s a few things. Spotify and Warner and the major labels and UDO or Suno, one of the AI companies, there was a lawsuit, they came to an agreement, which essentially they acquired, they become the same company. And so it’s. Spotify purportedly is working on a feature for like basically AI remix of any song in there, in these certain catalogs that they control. So the idea would be like, I don’t know, you could be like okay, I want this Daft Punk song, but in the style of Lofi Beats or whatever. Yeah. You kind of just like create these sort of AI remixes on the fly using this particular catalog that’s licensed to do so. I mean, I kind of don’t f-\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, I mean, it’s interesting. So there’s a few things. Spotify and Warner and the major labels and UDO or Suno, one of the AI companies, there was a lawsuit, they came to an agreement, which essentially they acquired, they become the same company. And so it’s. Spotify purportedly is working on a feature for like basically AI remix of any song in there, in these certain catalogs that they control. So the idea would be like, I don’t know, you could be like okay, I want this Daft Punk song, but in the style of Lofi Beats or whatever. Yeah. You kind of just like create these sort of AI remixes on the fly using this particular catalog that’s licensed to do so. I mean, I kind of don’t f-\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>think that that’s what people want. I mean, you know this well from the front lines of Pandora, the way we know that people listen to music. Every listen of every track is not an emotional resonance. It is this lull. Elevator music.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>think that that’s what people want. I mean, you know this well from the front lines of Pandora, the way we know that people listen to music. Every listen of every track is not an emotional resonance. It is this lull. Elevator music.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Music for everything yeah\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. You know, yeah this music it’s the it’s the final the final victory of music\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>in this functional music space, I do think there is like, I kind of think that’s the sweet spot for this AI music, right? These lo-fi beats for studying or whatever. You don’t, you’re not listening to the songs. You have it on the background. You’re just trying to get a vibe. AI can do quite a convincing job of doing that, you know, a stream, like a constant stream of lo-Fi stuff. And it just, I pretty sure it was all. Just to drown out your roommate, Tony. I’m pretty sure was all the AI generated. Hey, if it can do a perfectly good job of this and people don’t really care, then fine, whatever. On the other hand, there’s also plenty of human created lo-fi beats that, you know, plenty like, you know, millions of hours or whatever, like, so why not prioritize that? And, you know, is, is the AI doing it better? No. Is it doing it competently? Sure. But is it doing a better job? So no. So then why use that? Why not prioritize the human stuff? And now the AI does that endlessly.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>in this functional music space, I do think there is like, I kind of think that’s the sweet spot for this AI music, right? These lo-fi beats for studying or whatever. You don’t, you’re not listening to the songs. You have it on the background. You’re just trying to get a vibe. AI can do quite a convincing job of doing that, you know, a stream, like a constant stream of lo-Fi stuff. And it just, I pretty sure it was all. Just to drown out your roommate, Tony. I’m pretty sure was all the AI generated. Hey, if it can do a perfectly good job of this and people don’t really care, then fine, whatever. On the other hand, there’s also plenty of human created lo-fi beats that, you know, plenty like, you know, millions of hours or whatever, like, so why not prioritize that? And, you know, is, is the AI doing it better? No. Is it doing it competently? Sure. But is it doing a better job? So no. So then why use that? Why not prioritize the human stuff? And now the AI does that endlessly.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Simulations of simulations of simulations\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>It is a grim, grim vision of the world, so I like some of your other visions.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>It is a grim, grim vision of the world, so I like some of your other visions.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>In our conversation, I feel like we’ve come up with between three and five actually exciting paths and gestures, and it just so happens that we’re stuck with the very worst one at this moment, but that’s okay.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>In our conversation, I feel like we’ve come up with between three and five actually exciting paths and gestures, and it just so happens that we’re stuck with the very worst one at this moment, but that’s okay.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, which is that the vast, vast like almost all majority of AI generated music is really just used for fraud to try to trick people into playing they’re just putting out massive volumes of music just in the off chance somebody might accidentally click on one or one of them might get on something and they can make a few cents.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, which is that the vast, vast like almost all majority of AI generated music is really just used for fraud to try to trick people into playing they’re just putting out massive volumes of music just in the off chance somebody might accidentally click on one or one of them might get on something and they can make a few cents.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>It’s like the worst arbitrage, like tokens into streams. And they’re trying to make like one fraction of one cent on each of those things. That is depressing. Um, well, um, Camilo, I feel like I have learned, uh, so much about the strange state of AI.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>It’s like the worst arbitrage, like tokens into streams. And they’re trying to make like one fraction of one cent on each of those things. That is depressing. Um, well, um, Camilo, I feel like I have learned, uh, so much about the strange state of AI.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>I mean, I think there are a lot of interesting AI tools being used in music, in production, right? I mean there’s AI mastering AI, you know, like, okay, here’s a thing. I know what a finished song should sound like and what an unfinished song sounds like and I can help you make your unfinished song sound sparklier and louder, right. Great. I mean it’s not as good as hiring a real mastering engineer, but it’s, that’s a good tool for musicians to be able to have to make their music sound better. Great. Yeah, yeah. But there’s still somebody making music in that instance, right? There’s somebody assembling, somebody making decisions. A human making decisions, I think, is the important element.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>I mean, I think there are a lot of interesting AI tools being used in music, in production, right? I mean there’s AI mastering AI, you know, like, okay, here’s a thing. I know what a finished song should sound like and what an unfinished song sounds like and I can help you make your unfinished song sound sparklier and louder, right. Great. I mean it’s not as good as hiring a real mastering engineer, but it’s, that’s a good tool for musicians to be able to have to make their music sound better. Great. Yeah, yeah. But there’s still somebody making music in that instance, right? There’s somebody assembling, somebody making decisions. A human making decisions, I think, is the important element.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>The core, right? It’s almost a filter. You can say like, did somebody have an opinion or a vision or one tiny idea? I’ll take it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>The core, right? It’s almost a filter. You can say like, did somebody have an opinion or a vision or one tiny idea? I’ll take it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>There it is, lowest common denominator, we have found it. One tiny idea.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>There it is, lowest common denominator, we have found it. One tiny idea.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>I think people connect because they’re connecting with the artists, with the music, and if that’s not how this music is being made, then I’m not convinced it’ll work.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>I think people connect because they’re connecting with the artists, with the music, and if that’s not how this music is being made, then I’m not convinced it’ll work.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>I had like the worst possible scenario where it’s like, do-do-do, do-doodle-do. Five years later, we’re here. It’s like the most popular song in the world is AI, you know, and we’re like, ah. We’ll come back to Camilo on that.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>I had like the worst possible scenario where it’s like, do-do-do, do-doodle-do. Five years later, we’re here. It’s like the most popular song in the world is AI, you know, and we’re like, ah. We’ll come back to Camilo on that.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>We got to trust and hope that listeners will hold the line. It’s actually heartening in a way that, you know, all the machinations are certainly at the platforms. We’d love to be able to serve music without authors that you didn’t have to pay for. But if listeners won’t take it, they can’t get around that. So, hey, let’s all stay real. Stay positive. Let’s stay all very persnickety in our listening.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>We got to trust and hope that listeners will hold the line. It’s actually heartening in a way that, you know, all the machinations are certainly at the platforms. We’d love to be able to serve music without authors that you didn’t have to pay for. But if listeners won’t take it, they can’t get around that. So, hey, let’s all stay real. Stay positive. Let’s stay all very persnickety in our listening.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>KQED’s Dream Machines is made by humans and hosted by me, Robin Sloan and Alexis Madrigal. Our series is produced by Anayansi Diaz-Cortez and Derek Lartaud. Sound design by Brendan Willard. Jen Chien is the executive producer and Ethan Toven-Lindsey, our editor-in-chief. Support for the production of Dream Machines comes from the Krishnan Shah family, Dorothy Marsh and other generous KQED members. Special thanks to Chris Egusa, Annie Fruit, Paul Lancour, Vivian Morales, Zaldy Serrano, Xtine Tiñoso, Hazel Tesoro, and Alex Tran. And of course, thank you to the Close All Tabs team for letting us visit their feed this month.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>KQED’s Dream Machines is made by humans and hosted by me, Robin Sloan and Alexis Madrigal. Our series is produced by Anayansi Diaz-Cortez and Derek Lartaud. Sound design by Brendan Willard. Jen Chien is the executive producer and Ethan Toven-Lindsey, our editor-in-chief. Support for the production of Dream Machines comes from the Krishnan Shah family, Dorothy Marsh and other generous KQED members. Special thanks to Chris Egusa, Annie Fruit, Paul Lancour, Vivian Morales, Zaldy Serrano, Xtine Tiñoso, Hazel Tesoro, and Alex Tran. And of course, thank you to the Close All Tabs team for letting us visit their feed this month.\u003c/p>\n"
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Can people tell the difference between a song made by human musicians, and one prompted by AI? Oftentimes not, it turns out. But that doesn’t make the distinction any less important. Dream Machines hosts Alexis Madrigal and Robin Sloan talk to longtime musician Camilo Landau, who also works in music analysis at \u003ca href=\"https://www.pandora.com/about/mgp\">The Music Genome Project\u003c/a> at streaming service Pandora. Camilo and his colleagues have sifted through millions of tracks uploaded by musicians and users to catalogue their musical elements, all with the aim of curating personalized music recommendations. And he says most of the new music he’s seeing these days is generated by AI. On today’s show, they discuss whether AI music is connecting with listeners, delve into San Francisco’s AI slop music “scene,” and contemplate the consequences of a world where music is produced in the time it takes a finger to tap a screen. \u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guest: \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://camilolandau.com/home\">Camilo Landau\u003c/a>, musician and music analyst\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>I’m Alexis Madrigal.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>I’m Robin Sloan and this is KQED’s Dream Machines, a podcast about AI, how it works, what it means, how it feels. Yeah, how I feel. And importantly, it’s rooted here in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>So the other day, I was sitting with a friend of mine, prize fighter in Emeryville, great bar in the East Bay. And he was kind of blowing my mind about the current state of music. He works at Pandora now, but he’s a long time musician in Latin American music. He’s been like recording and playing music all over the Bay Area and the world since he was like 15 years old. And now that he works at pandora, he’s encountering this strange flood. Of things that is sort of like coming through the doors that is not made by any human being, maybe somebody pushed a button. And it’s AI-generated music that is now sitting there right next to the stuff that was made by someone with a heart and big toes and eyes and a brain. And a guitar. And a a guitar, perhaps, or maybe a theremin. And when we’re sitting at this bar, it was just kind of blowing my mind with this new world. Of AI and music. And it was basically saying something like, close to half of the songs that are getting on the streaming platforms are just AI music entirely. And that like, no one’s actually listening to it. So you have this strange situation where the platforms are being absolutely flooded with these songs. And also they’re just sitting there not even racking up the listens. So please welcome Camila Landa. Yes, thank you. It could be here.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, it’s fascinating that the volume is just so enormous. Like you said, flooded with these AI-generated songs that nobody wants to hear, and no one asked for, and no ones listening to. And it’s these prompt-based platforms where you just say, I would like 1,000 melancholy pop songs, and then it just generates them faster than real time. So faster than you could play it or listen to it a single time. It’s actually just printing sound files. It’s not like creating music in the way that we think of assembling these different instruments and we’re recording them and layering them. Not like that at all. It’s like, I’ve seen 100,000 reggae songs, so I know what a sound file of a reggae song looks like and I can print something that looks very similar. I can’t I just cannot help imagine it coming out of\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>the like the pasta extruder. Yeah, it’s a sausage, sausage extruder actually. Yeah, yeah, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Just a tube, just a tube of audio. For me, that’s kind of the disappointment. So a lot of this I feel is a big disappointment because it’s what could, what could you be doing with AI generation of music? You could be making sounds that we can’t physically make. You could invent, anything you can imagine suddenly can be music. But we’re not seeing anything like that. We’re seeing just, you know, tens of millions of boring pop songs. So as you.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>At your, from your desk, see what’s uploaded day by day, is that your characterization that it’s far more of this kind of automatic slop?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, I mean by far more, I mean all, all, you know, like, or maybe there’s like a few dozen interesting ones out of, you know, tens of millions. Okay, I’m going to, uh, point to this Deezer report, uh French, I believe they’re French music streaming service company. Deezers put out, um, a report on, on AI generated music, 45% they’re saying 45% of the music that’s delivered to platforms is AI generated. And this I think this is industry wide. Yeah. So that’s almost half.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>I mean, what a what a curve. This is new in the last two years. Yes. Yeah\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>And, like, if we were to just hear it, could I tell the difference, do you think? Well, I mean…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Also, according to Deezer’s report, I think it’s 97% of people. And they did this blind test in different countries. 97% percent of people can’t tell the difference. But even though they don’t know it’s AI music, they don’t seem to be liking it or connecting with it. So a very small percentage of the music that people listen to is AI-generated, even though almost half of it that is being created. Proof.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Like the proof is in the pudding there, you know, right? Like people don’t, they don’t like it even if they can’t tell the difference. That’s like.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah. I mean, it really made me rethink what is music, right? Because I spent a long time learning how to play music good, right, and like mastering skills because I thought that like, yeah, if you can play it good, then that makes better music. Now, I think I was wrong. Right. The point of music is not to play a music good. The point a music is to have a human expression and connect with other people through human communication. And that’s the piece that AI can’t do.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Oh, that’s so interesting. It’s almost like a unintentional natural experiment where they said, okay, let’s take out that technical competence piece and just do that. Let’s say like, cause you can do that before. To have technical competence, you had to also be a living, breathing human musician with like a heart and ideas. And they’re like, oh no, no, no, we can do it without that. And let’s see. And now we have the result of that experiment, which is that it is somehow hollow. Yeah, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>I mean, how do you even know, you know, from your position, like how do even know that it is AI generated? Like how, are there tells? Are there like detectors? Like how does that work?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yes, there are tells, there’re detectors. Well, sometimes they’ll just say, composer, UDio, Suno, something like that. So they just tell you. Yeah, and then sometimes it’s, oh, here’s a brand new artist who just dropped 30 albums and 1,200 songs or something like that and let’s look them up online. Oh, they don’t exist. There is no artist. They had a really busy weekend, okay? They were locked in. So some of the tells can be something like, all right, well, each song has a different singer, right? Like male, female, different range, tonalities, vocal qualities. Each song is a different style. So OK, oh, you got a hard rock song followed by a country song followed by electronic music, and completely disjointed, right. And so there’s another one. Fully produced songs that sound like incredible studio musicians, incredible recording. But maybe they didn’t master the record or something like that. Like, why would they have spent so much money on this production? And it still has this kind of like gauzy sound to it a little bit. And then it’s other sort of like, remember with photos you see like the third hand and stuff like that, so sometimes it’s stuff like that like the track starts super abruptly or ends super abruptly. Or… This section comes in in a super weird place where people wouldn’t put it. No human musician would ever score it like that. And then sometimes it’s almost the opposite. It’s like too formulaic and perfect. Yeah. Yes. AI has solved the wrong problem here. The wrong problem was never that we don’t have enough music, right? We’ve had plenty of music. We have more music than we could possibly listen to. But that piece of connecting with the artist, I think, is actually completely fundamental, right, because best case scenario, And it’s highly likely that an AI will produce a song that fits really well on a particular playlist and resonate really well with people. Cause it’s producing tens of millions of songs. So just statistically, it’s gonna be one that’s gonna fit really well. So you’re listening to whatever you listen, you hear a new song and you like it. Oh, that’s kind of cool. What is this? And you go and look it up and check it out. And you realize, I’ve been fooled. I’ve be tricked. I’ve bee deceived. That’s the feeling that you get. And, and cause that is the impetus. You want to connect with the artist and there’s no artist and it’s wild that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>You would try to put out music without that stuff, because it’s so clear there’s that drive to know about where did this, what soul did this song come from? It’s like that gets kind of like maybe the core lie of the current AI era. Like the thing that we didn’t have to do, but that we did do was to like give these the chatbots and these things like an eye, to let them pretend to be a human. Like everything else could work exactly the same, and I feel like, oh man. I wish we hadn’t done that, you know? I wish they hadn’t been like, yes, I am a being in here that you can sort of connect with, because it is, it’s fundamentally deceitful, I think, about what’s happening behind the curtain. Sure, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>I think so. I mean, I think, yeah, like the tool itself isn’t the problem. It’s, somebody has to be making those decisions and that’s not happening, right? Like it’s the human decisions are what make the art, right. And, and there is no decision here. You’re just prompting a thing and then it’s going to make the decisions, right I mean we have music that’s completely electronically produced by humans using machines. Yeah, right, like, but somebody’s making those decisions somebody’s deciding this is where I want the hi-hats to come in. Or whatever it is, and that’s not what’s happening with AI. It’s like, print me 5,000 songs, and then in five minutes later, you have, you know.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Robyn, so there’s none of that scene, there’s not of that like playing music good and transmission of all these things. But you went to what Passage for. You\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Yeah, maybe. Of AI music. Maybe, maybe it is the seed being planted, you know, as this, as the stuff emerges. I saw a digital poster for a scene, for a show in San Francisco, and it was called the Gen Punk Slop Show. Slop, right there in the title, not hiding it, celebrating it. It was in a big, cruddy art warehouse in Soma, you know, kind of hard to find. One. They had a stage set up, but the host, who’s also an open AI researcher, just deeply embedded in the AI scene and obviously a great enthusiast, announced that we were gonna hear a whole night, hours and hours full of songs, that’s sort of a sequence of performers, were they even performers, that they had organized and all this music had come straight out of the AI machines. And this was something we heard. That was magical, what a thing to hear music from nowhere. They started out with a set glitchy, pitched up, hyper-pop, like super high tempo. I will tell you, in those first moments, it was a wild thing to see a group of people dancing, I mean really dancing in that bad Burning Man way. It’s a music that came from nowhere, music without a musician, music without Bye! A reason behind it other than a prompt. This goes on through the night and I have to say, on these big speakers, it sounded good. I mean, it was technically very- But that beat drop. It was very competent. It was smooth. It shined in the right places. One of the producers at the end of their bundle of songs leaned into the microphone. There’s the only words we heard from them the whole time. They said, shout out Claude. Yeah. These are the new superstar DJs. Yeah. Claude does your taxes and produces your EDM. What a world. Superstar DJs! Yeah. And then I kept expecting there to be someone who maybe had, I don’t know, pieced parts together or used AI samples. But no, it was all these just like soup to nuts AI generations. And the thing that struck me the most, maybe the glimpse of something truly new in this event, was about midway through getting close to midnight, One of the performers came up, I say performer, but I don’t even know if that’s what they were doing. The figure took the stage wearing one of those great, shiny, reflective helmets. That’s the helmet? Yeah, kind of like dead mouse or something, one of these cool new cyber DJs. So they stood up to the front with a laptop, and they’re actually projecting their screen up on the wall behind them, and it was Suno. So just completely shamelessly, unapologetically, They were clicking through their generations. You saw the prompts, you know, dark EDM with skittering beats. And it just was, it was wild because already, you know, we had the figure of the DJ who would stand at the front of a stage with their laptop. And people would say, oh man, what is he even doing? He’s just like pressing play on an MP3. So this person was just pressing play on an mp3 that they hadn’t even made. And in a weird way, it was kind of radical. It’s like, okay, what are they now? What is their role? And is this the new performer of the 21st century? You get to wear a shiny helmet and press play and.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Life is good. It’s a scene of some kind, you know, that essentially like celebrated the sausage. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>You’ve never, boy, you have never seen more people more excited about AI Slab.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>I mean, I almost think that if it were sort of like live generation, that’s kind of more interesting because that’s almost the promise of AI that is not being explored much, which is why even print these songs in the first place? You can actually create the perfect song for this particular moment. I can check out your playlists, your play lists, my play lists. Know that we’re all in proximity. We have our Geolocation, we know what the weather is here. We can have our Apple watches on and can be reading our heart rate and biometrics. It can be adjusting in real time. The tempos of the songs based on all of those factors. Why bother printing that? That could be the perfect song for us three right now, right here. And that goes more to what the heart of what is music. It’s vibrations in the air. That might not be good for anyone else ever, which is what we’re seeing where nobody’s listening to these songs, right? But why not just like make something that’s for here and now. Vibe composing. Vibe, composing!\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>I didn’t prompt that and so I left the show, walked out into the San Francisco drizzle, thinking that maybe that was the most interesting thing I’d seen, that it creates this new stand.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>The freedom to just create without responsibility, because you can always just pass it off. I didn’t actually create it, something else did.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>You do see like if AI can just produce a pop song perfectly, instantly, every time, the value of doing that as a human being just feels like it goes to zero, you know? Right.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Yeah, of course, I want to believe that’s right, but I do think we underestimate the power of things being easy at our peril. You know, the last great music technology scare, you know, synthesizers created as simulations of, you know strings and, you know, brass and everything else. But like then. Drum machines. And the drum machine, right. And again, and as you all know, invented as accompaniment, you know, it was like, oh, you can’t afford a drummer, get this little box to go. Right\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>But that organ, it’s attached to the organ.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Yeah, and then, but then it was, but, but then it, you know, repurposed and adapted and, and sort of gave rise to wild new genres. I mean, these were tools that kind of had a grain and they pushed back and they both, um, demanded and sort of invited mastery and boy, Suno just wants you to say, give me a song and I’ll do the rest. Maybe that there’s a bit of danger there and it’s something that is new. I mean\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>So the thing with the drum machine and the synthesizers and stuff, yes, there was a scare, right? People are like, oh, now people aren’t gonna hire drummers. This is gonna kill music. Oh, that’s so squared off. It doesn’t have any of the human swing and feel. That all turned out to be, I think, wrong, right, because people found this new tool and started using it for super cool, interesting stuff. They created whole new cultures and subcultures and whole new art forms, hip hop. You know, I mean, you know, people are like, oh, wait, you’re just sampling somebody else’s, you’re not even playing music, you just sampling it. No, they were creating new stuff on top of that, and they were using a new tool to create new art forms, right? They started connecting it with whole larger subcultures, but we’re not seeing any of that. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Is it different this time? That’s ultimately the thing. That is the question.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>It feels like it’s different this time. And there are reasons that it could be different. Again, this sense of ease, you know, there’s a difference, right, between a musician and a user. I feel like a lot of folks are stuck in the mode of being a user, there’s also a difference between a tool, even if it is a high-tech tool, a drum machine, a synthesizer, that you have in your garage or your basement versus a service that exists only on this far-off server controlled by this company and they change it whenever they want, however they want. You know let’s say you learn how to use it. You’ve become a virtuoso and then they announce the big upgrades to know 7.0 and you’re like wait Wait a minute. Where did my piano go? So these are I think these are real risks. It’s it is kind of new new territory\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>I mean, we’ve talked a little bit about drum machines and the way that drum machines and that form of technology created new genres of music and new realms of culture. You know, there were other musical technologies through time that also had kind of this fascinating impact. You know one, recently there was a big show of Bernie Krause’s work at the Exploratorium, you know, recording these soundscapes all across there. The world and really showing the way that these ecologies as they degraded, their soundscapes also degraded. One thing that felt so important about that show, because it is fundamentally about climate change, is that music, even though it was essentially nature and a microphone, and the selection apparatus, a human making a decision there, it was really deeply political in its orientation. It wasn’t just sounds to make you feel good, it was sounds to you realize we’re destroying the earth and it’s species.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>And the drum machine, you know, this would begin as the most robotic, you know, tick, boom, tick boom, powers them probably the most political music. It’s been made certainly, certainly in the 20th century. Yeah. Incredible.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Do you think there’s a pathway? Does AI music have an inherent politics? Is it just because it’s slop, it’s just conservative in some deep sense, or could it have some other politics?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Well, I mean, one interesting thing is that you can always, in many of these platforms, you can insert your own lyrics or suggest lyrics. So there actually is quite a bit of right-wing country AI music. Like hard-right, like racist and stuff, right? Which is, I’m mean, problematic in many ways, but. But so typical. It’s just like expect.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Well, and sort of, you imagine the strange liberation of the person saying, oh, I could never get anybody to sing these before, but the robot will sing whatever I want. I mean, that’s pretty grim.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, but there’s also something liberating, I think, about being able to create any kinds of music, right? Like, you can create whatever you’re imagining, you should be able to create it. Okay, well, maybe it doesn’t work perfectly like that today. But that is the promise, is that, like, you have an idea and something in your imagination, and if you can get it out, if this can help you get it out, then that’s cool. It’s not exactly what’s happening, but there is a promise there. There is a promise there.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Some liberatory little grain of potential in there that could take off. I mean, uh, maybe just to wrap us up back into sort of Pandora and what you, we know you don’t speak for the company, but just if you like, imagine what streaming services might look like in response to what is likely to be an increasing onslaught of this. It’s like half the music is probably the best it’s going to get. So, all right, five years from now. Now it’s. 99% of the music that is submitted to, you know, Pandora or Spotify or whatever is all AI slop. Like, what happens?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, I mean, it’s interesting. So there’s a few things. Spotify and Warner and the major labels and UDO or Suno, one of the AI companies, there was a lawsuit, they came to an agreement, which essentially they acquired, they become the same company. And so it’s. Spotify purportedly is working on a feature for like basically AI remix of any song in there, in these certain catalogs that they control. So the idea would be like, I don’t know, you could be like okay, I want this Daft Punk song, but in the style of Lofi Beats or whatever. Yeah. You kind of just like create these sort of AI remixes on the fly using this particular catalog that’s licensed to do so. I mean, I kind of don’t f-\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>think that that’s what people want. I mean, you know this well from the front lines of Pandora, the way we know that people listen to music. Every listen of every track is not an emotional resonance. It is this lull. Elevator music.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>Music for everything yeah\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. You know, yeah this music it’s the it’s the final the final victory of music\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>in this functional music space, I do think there is like, I kind of think that’s the sweet spot for this AI music, right? These lo-fi beats for studying or whatever. You don’t, you’re not listening to the songs. You have it on the background. You’re just trying to get a vibe. AI can do quite a convincing job of doing that, you know, a stream, like a constant stream of lo-Fi stuff. And it just, I pretty sure it was all. Just to drown out your roommate, Tony. I’m pretty sure was all the AI generated. Hey, if it can do a perfectly good job of this and people don’t really care, then fine, whatever. On the other hand, there’s also plenty of human created lo-fi beats that, you know, plenty like, you know, millions of hours or whatever, like, so why not prioritize that? And, you know, is, is the AI doing it better? No. Is it doing it competently? Sure. But is it doing a better job? So no. So then why use that? Why not prioritize the human stuff? And now the AI does that endlessly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>Simulations of simulations of simulations\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>It is a grim, grim vision of the world, so I like some of your other visions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>In our conversation, I feel like we’ve come up with between three and five actually exciting paths and gestures, and it just so happens that we’re stuck with the very worst one at this moment, but that’s okay.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>Yeah, which is that the vast, vast like almost all majority of AI generated music is really just used for fraud to try to trick people into playing they’re just putting out massive volumes of music just in the off chance somebody might accidentally click on one or one of them might get on something and they can make a few cents.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>It’s like the worst arbitrage, like tokens into streams. And they’re trying to make like one fraction of one cent on each of those things. That is depressing. Um, well, um, Camilo, I feel like I have learned, uh, so much about the strange state of AI.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>I mean, I think there are a lot of interesting AI tools being used in music, in production, right? I mean there’s AI mastering AI, you know, like, okay, here’s a thing. I know what a finished song should sound like and what an unfinished song sounds like and I can help you make your unfinished song sound sparklier and louder, right. Great. I mean it’s not as good as hiring a real mastering engineer, but it’s, that’s a good tool for musicians to be able to have to make their music sound better. Great. Yeah, yeah. But there’s still somebody making music in that instance, right? There’s somebody assembling, somebody making decisions. A human making decisions, I think, is the important element.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>The core, right? It’s almost a filter. You can say like, did somebody have an opinion or a vision or one tiny idea? I’ll take it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>There it is, lowest common denominator, we have found it. One tiny idea.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Camilo Landau \u003c/strong>I think people connect because they’re connecting with the artists, with the music, and if that’s not how this music is being made, then I’m not convinced it’ll work.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alexis Madrigal \u003c/strong>I had like the worst possible scenario where it’s like, do-do-do, do-doodle-do. Five years later, we’re here. It’s like the most popular song in the world is AI, you know, and we’re like, ah. We’ll come back to Camilo on that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>We got to trust and hope that listeners will hold the line. It’s actually heartening in a way that, you know, all the machinations are certainly at the platforms. We’d love to be able to serve music without authors that you didn’t have to pay for. But if listeners won’t take it, they can’t get around that. So, hey, let’s all stay real. Stay positive. Let’s stay all very persnickety in our listening.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Robin Sloan \u003c/strong>KQED’s Dream Machines is made by humans and hosted by me, Robin Sloan and Alexis Madrigal. Our series is produced by Anayansi Diaz-Cortez and Derek Lartaud. Sound design by Brendan Willard. Jen Chien is the executive producer and Ethan Toven-Lindsey, our editor-in-chief. Support for the production of Dream Machines comes from the Krishnan Shah family, Dorothy Marsh and other generous KQED members. Special thanks to Chris Egusa, Annie Fruit, Paul Lancour, Vivian Morales, Zaldy Serrano, Xtine Tiñoso, Hazel Tesoro, and Alex Tran. And of course, thank you to the Close All Tabs team for letting us visit their feed this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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