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East Bay history podcast that gathers, shares & celebrate stories from Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond and other towns throughout Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.
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Episodes
- 1
Covering the counterculture: How a rebellious era shaped journalism
Hidden gemEast Bay Yesterday host Liam O'Donoghue and Peter Richardson trace how the Bay Area shaped counterculture, Rolling Stone, and the afterlife of the 1960s.
Apr 1, 2026·1h 11m·5 clips - 2
“I felt burning in my throat”: Preparing for nuclear war in Livermore
Hidden gemLiam O'Donoghue opens East Bay Yesterday by connecting AI war-game tests, the START treaty's expiration in early February, and Livermore Lab's planned plutonium buildup.
Mar 4, 2026·1h 16m·5 clips - 3
Welcome to "the floating city": How the Hornet dodged destruction
Hidden gemEast Bay Yesterday follows the USS Hornet, a 1943 Essex-class aircraft carrier docked in Alameda, as the ship considers leaving the East Bay for San Francisco.
Feb 3, 2026·1h 1m·4 clips - 4
“That’s where my power came from”: Betty Reid Soskin's century of chaos and hope
Hidden gem["East Bay Yesterday re-releases Liam's interview with Betty Reid Soskin after her death on December 21, 2025 at age 104, framing her as a witness to slavery memory, World War II segregation, and the Rosie the Riveter park.", "Betty traces her family from Leontine Brough Allen, who was enslaved until 19 and lived to 102, to the 1927 flood that drove the family from New Orleans to Oakland when Betty was six.", "She describes East Oakland's wetlands, Richmond's segregated wartime jobs, the Port Chicago explosion that left her haunted by one teenager named Richard Richert, and the Double V campaign that linked victory overseas with victory over racism at home.", "The interview also covers the record store she ran from a garage window, the death threats and blackface PTA in Danville, and the way she pushed the Rosie the Riveter National Park to include Japanese incarceration, Port Chicago, and the Great Migration."]
Jan 6, 2026·59m·4 clips - 5
How to save a house: Meet the people maintaining some of the Bay’s oldest homes
Hidden gemEast Bay Yesterday uses the Cameron Stanford House to frame Oakland's historic houses as public assets that survived demolition, subdivision, and repeated budget pressure.
Dec 16, 2025·1h 9m·5 clips - 6
“He wanted people to take risks”: An underdog movement’s astonishing rise
Nov 12, 2025·58m - 7
“My neighborhood looks the same as it did 50 years ago”: What needs protection – and what needs to change?
Oct 15, 2025·1h 15m - 8
“The ballroom communist”: How a radical aristocrat changed Oakland
Sep 16, 2025·1h 1m - 9
“We let everybody throw it away”: How garbage worked before corporations took over
Aug 13, 2025·57m - 10
Fighting fascism can be fun: La Peña celebrates 50 years of creative struggle
Jul 10, 2025·47m - 11
“Respect the patch”: How Oakland’s oldest Black motorcycle club survived more than 60 years
Jun 20, 2025·36m - 12
“Not on the wealth corridor”: Why older neighborhoods get left behind
May 20, 2025·1h 11m - 13
Industry makes and breaks the Bay Area: A crash course with Richard Walker
This episode explores the theme of business in East Bay history, featuring an interview with Richard Walker about his book on tech and prosperity in the Bay Area.
Apr 24, 2025·1h 11m - 14
People of the Pacific Circuit: Oakland’s place in the global economy
Apr 2, 2025·1h 12m - 15
“Crockett became Italy”: How a sugar factory created an immigrant enclave
Mar 12, 2025·1h 2m - 16
“A town in the middle of a city”: Live from Jingletown with the Co-Founders crew
A live-recorded episode of East Bay Yesterday featuring a discussion on gentrification and a hip-hop musical inspired by Oakland history.
Feb 20, 2025·1h 21m - 17
Punks on film: How Murray Bowles captured “the physical expression of drama”
Jan 27, 2025·1h 18m - 18
A century of mysteries: Exploring the Fox Theater’s hazy history
Jan 8, 2025·1h 11m - 19
Freight trains, plants, and a vanishing world: Joey Santore on industry and ecology
Dec 10, 2024·1h 5m - 20
The missing chapter: Filling in the blanks of the Bay Area’s Native American history
Nov 22, 2024·1h 2m - 21
Sea walls won’t save us: The past and future of the Bay’s shifting shorelines
Oct 31, 2024·1h 1m - 22
“These stories still matter”: Bay Area Lesbian Archives starts a new chapter
Oct 15, 2024·1h 1m - 23
“The mecca of pleasure seekers in California”: Exploring the rise of the amusement industry
Sep 10, 2024·1h 6m - 24
“Those wonderful smells”: A Bay Area coffee history crash course
Aug 8, 2024·1h 4m - 25
“Everybody wants it preserved”: Time is running out to save this Oakland landmark
Jul 11, 2024·57m - 26
"A crazy gamble": Celebrating 75 years of KPFA radio
Jun 11, 2024·1h 9m - 27
“The jewel of Oakland”: Exploring Lake Merritt and Children’s Fairyland
May 8, 2024·1h 3m - 28
“The neighborhood time forgot”: A strange sliver of waterfront
Apr 4, 2024·56m - 29
“Climbing was all I had”: A history of bouldering in the Berkeley Hills
Mar 6, 2024·44m - 30
“The streets have changed”: “Drug Lords of Oakland” author on the rise and fall of local kingpins
Feb 9, 2024·43m - 31
"Rotten City" no more: The history of a tiny town's transformation
Jan 9, 2024·1h 9m - 32
“He was bringing people together”: Why was Dr. Marcus Foster murdered?
Nov 17, 2023·1h 11m - 33
Unearthing “lives of the dead”: A tour of Oakland’s Mountain View Cemetery
Oct 26, 2023·1h 13m - 34
Abortion, poetry, and stink-bombs: A different kind of “self-help” movement
Oct 11, 2023·1h - 35
Tales from the pit: Lessons from Berkeley’s landfill
Sep 7, 2023·1h - 36
"End of the line": How we lost the Key System
Jul 28, 2023·48m - 37
Long Lost Puzzle: What happened to the grizzly bears and old growth redwoods?
Jul 7, 2023·41m - 38
“You get to play a game of detective”: Longtime librarian Dorothy Lazard uncovers a whole new world
Jun 16, 2023·1h 4m - 39
A curious conversation: Myth-busting and more with Olivia Allen-Price
The host promotes a related podcast and introduces a live event featuring an author discussing a book about hidden stories of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Jun 1, 2023·53m - 40
From volcanoes to potholes: Excavating stories below the soil with Andrew Alden
The host promotes a related podcast about the history of healthcare and sickle cell anemia in Oakland, highlighting the Black Panthers' role and modern breakthroughs.
May 17, 2023·1h - 41
“Time is not money”: Challenging clocks, nostalgia, and more with Jenny Odell
Host Liam O'Donoghue interviews author Jenny O'Dell about Bay Area history and the concept of time, recorded live at a KPFA fundraiser.
Apr 19, 2023·1h - 42
"Who was Joaquin Miller?": Assessing the legacy and land of a controversial icon
Apr 6, 2023·1h 8m - 43
"We were being erased": The woman who saved California’s Black history
Feb 23, 2023·36m - 44
“Is reform possible?”: Investigating Oakland’s dysfunctional police department
Jan 26, 2023·1h 25m - 45
Saved from the wrecking ball: The resurrection of Oakland’s Paramount Theater
Jan 4, 2023·48m - 46
Rooted in Richmond: Touring a "cultural gold mine"
Dec 8, 2022·1h 2m - 47
What happened to “America’s most-read woman”? Rediscovering Elsie Robinson
Nov 2, 2022·51m - 48
“It’s okay to talk about sex toys”: Nenna Joiner digs deep into pleasures of the past
Sep 30, 2022·59m - 49
Nurses, Novelists, Politicians, and Punks: Miriam Klein Stahl’s “Hella Feminist” portraits
Sep 7, 2022·52m - 50
“What made Julia Morgan different?”: Exploring the early years of a superstar architect
Aug 13, 2022·37m