Ben Trefny

Paul Salazar is a member of the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers and keeps a regular astronomy blog called the Urban Astronomer. He sat down with KALW’s Ben Trefny to talk about the upcoming solar eclipse. He also explained what he calls a "spectacular solar event" that only happens twice every hundred years. It's called the Transit of Venus and it's happening on June 5. Listen to find out where and when to watch.

To listen to the full interview aired on Crosscurrents, click here. 

It’s only once a year that you can experience almost complete darkness in the afternoon sky. This Sunday, the Western United States will experience a solar eclipse. But in a special path across Northern California, the moon will be almost fully enclosed by the disc of the sun, creating a “Ring of Fire” effect. To learn more about the science behind the spectacle – and another reason to look up later in May – KALW's Ben Trefny talked to our local expert, Paul Salazar. Salazar is a member of the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers and keeps a regular astronomy blog.

This story is set to the music of Bay Area shakuhachi player Masayuki Koga, who runs the Japanese Music Institute of America. It’s from an album called Eastwind. All poetry in this piece can be found in the book Tamalpais Walking, by Tom Killion and Gary Snyder.

One way to tell stories is through pictures – and they don’t have to be of people. Local photographer Suzi Eszterhas tells stories of family by photographing the family lives of animals around the world. Her work has been featured in publications around the world, and she’s especially well-known for her revealing photographs of newborn animals. She spoke with KALW’s Ben Trefny.

BEN TREFNY: Tell me about your books.

SUZI ESZTERHAS: My books are a six-title series called Eye on the Wild and are about infancy to adulthood for baby animals. Each one follows a different animal and tracks their life as they get older, from birth to when they become an adult.

If you've been keeping up with this team and its 20-odd game winless streak, you've had hope before. You've seen rallies. You've known potential. But you also realize that when it comes to the McLaren Park Mashers, for every silver lining there's a cloud.