Hear Here

KALW 91.7FM Local Public Radio is asking the residents of San Francisco and Oakland to tell stories of places in their neighborhood that are meaningful to them. We want you to share what and where's important in your life – your projects, your relationships, your passions – to help us put the “public” back in “public media.” Together, we’ll illuminate life in these two cities, just miles apart, and draw out the common threads that tie us together. And we’ll share what we’ve learned on air, online, on stage, and in public.

How does it work?

You tell us about one of your favorite places in your OAK or SF neighborhood by recording a short audio message right here on the Participate page! We follow up and schedule a time to meet you at that place. We’ll bring our microphones, you bring the story! We’ll ask why this place matters to you and spend some time recording its natural sound. The stories we collect will go on our Listening Map for visitors to hear and explore. Some will even air on KALW 91.7FM.

Find Hear Here online!

  • Share your story or listen to others at hearhere.kalw.org.
  • Follow @HearHereRadio on Twitter to find out where Hear Here producers are popping up in your community.
  • "Like" Hear Here on Facebook to get news about the project.
  • Look out for featured Hear Here stories on the KALW News page.

Hear Here is part of a national initiative of AIR, the Association of Independents in Radio, Inc designed to bring new journalistic and technical ingenuity to extending public media service to more Americans. From Chinese restaurants in Boston, to shuttered factories in Dayton, to the oil fields of North Dakota, to Bay Area startups, the ten Localore production teams are working with their public station incubators to uncover ground-up stories of America in transition.  Follow their development, and learn more at Localore.net.

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5:17pm

Wed May 15, 2013
HEAR HERE: A POP-UP RADIO PROJECT

Hear Here: Seeking a higher education

Esther Goolsby is from East Oakland, and she is one of the people Carl Rist’s program might have helped if it were around back in the 90s. She was living in East Oakland, and at age 16 was already a mom. She told our community storytelling project, Hear Here, about the path she took to a college degree. 

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4:25pm

Tue April 2, 2013
Health, Science, Environment

Hear Here: Down (home) by the Bay at the Berkeley Marina

Credit Courtesy of Flickr user jdnx // Daniel Ramirez

Roger Boyvey lives in a three-story house he built himself. It contains a complete kitchen, a view room, computer room, living room, master bedroom, guest bedroom, bathrooms adorned with stained glass, and a cat named Leo. In his neighborhood, there are just thirteen other houses like his. In this installment of our series of place profiles, Mary Rees visits Boyvey at his home at the Berkeley Marina.

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4:22pm

Tue March 5, 2013
Arts & Culture

Hear Here: Armenian Community Center Bingo Hall

Sometimes we pass a place in our neighborhood everyday, but never know what happens behind the building's facade. When KALW's Anna Sterling decided to look a little deeper into the Armenian Community Center, she discovered a committed father-daughter team of bingo champs.

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4:10pm

Thu February 7, 2013
Arts & Culture

Hear Here: Sam Adato’s Drum Shop, an institution for drummers

Credit Laura Flynn

The phone is ringing and a constant stream of people are coming through the gated door. Sam Adato, a long-haired rocker and owner of the drum shop, buzzes them in from behind the counter.

The intimate shop is a maze of colorful stacks upon stacks of vintage drums. The walls are covered with posters – custom made by Adato – of drummers, rock and roll records, drum equipment and other trinkets he’s collected over the last 20 years from customers and friends. Everyone who comes through the door seems to know each other, it was a familiar place, a place for drummers.

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