Jeremy Reisig, better known as brotha James, is a one-man band from Elk Rapids. He’ll do all sorts of things — beatbox, play the guitar, rap, sing — sometimes all in the same song. He’s able to do all that because he often loops his own music tracks.

Parallel 45 Theatre is about to try something new. The professional theatre company started in Traverse City seven years ago and typically produces three to four shows throughout the year. Next year, the company wants to produce more shows, for more people.

Michael Moore has hired Joe Beyer as the new executive director for his Traverse City Film Festival. Joe replaces Deb Lake, who resigned last December. “It’s like we found our long-lost soul brother here for Traverse City in the being of Joe Beyer,” says Michael. Joe Beyer returns home to Michigan after working for the Sundance Institute for over 14 years.

San Francisco heads to the polls Tuesday to choose the next Democratic nominee for President of the United States. Voters will also decide on important propositions ranging from funding renovations at City College and financing earthquake safety, to taxing vacant commercial properties.

This year marks the 100th birthday of the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization dedicated to preserving the rights and freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution. Host Grace Won celebrates this historic event with the ACLU of Northern California, as well as Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, local authors and the editors of the new book, Fight of the Century: Writers Reflect on 100 Years of Landmark ACLU Cases.

Every day brings an avalanche of anxiety-inducing news: The spread of novel coronavirus, the reaction of the markets, the stress on the healthcare system, and the pending November elections. Singularly, each event is worrying. Collectively, it is hard to take it all in. Where can we find a moment of respite from all the news? Host Grace Won talks with a group of authors, artists and experts to hear how they are using art, music and literature to cope in these challenging times. What are you listening to, reading or watching to calm your nerves? Guests: Skye Pillsbury, Editor and Podcaster, Inside Podcasting ; Gary Shteyngart , New York Times Bestselling Author of Lake Success, Super Sad True Love Story, Little Failure; David Talbot , Author, Between Heaven and Hell: The Story of My Stroke and Season of the Witch; Founder of Salon.com; and, Martin West , Music Director and Principal Conductor, San Francisco Ballet Resources: San Francisco Shelter in Place FAQs: https://sf.gov/stay-home

Schools are closed, and Zoom is the new classroom for thousands of Bay Area students. We'll discuss how local school districts are handling distance learning, get tips from teachers and hear about what we can do to create equitable learning experiences for all. We'll also get a update on the lastest local pandemic developments and hear a specially composed reflection on life in the coronavirus era by Bay Area novelist Vanessa Hua. And we want to hear from you. Call us during the show with your questions and experiences: 866-798-TALK or send an email anytime to cityvisions@kalw.org . Wednesday, April 15 at 9 PM. Guests : Erin Allday , health reporter, San Francisco Chronicle Peter Chin-Hong , professor of medicine and infectious diseases specialist, UCSF JC Farr , principal, Tamalpais High School in Marin County Lisa Kelly , 6th grade English teacher at the Life Academy in Oakland Jill Tucker, K-12 education reporter, San Francisco Chronicle Vanessa Hua , novelist whose books include

Select Family Law Issues: Host Jeffrey Hayden welcomes family law specialists certified by the California Board of Legal Specialization -- Janet Frankel, whose office is in San Francisco; B J Fadem, with office in San Jose. Both are members of the Family Law Section of the California Lawyers Association. Questions for BJ and Janet? Please call toll-free 866-798-8255. Also, this evening is our once-a-month Call-A-Lawyer Night. The number to call for Call-A-Lawyer is (800) 525-9917. While Your Legal Rights broadcasts 7 'til 8pm PDT, 91.7 FM (online kalw.org), attorneys are available off-the-air as well on the same number: 800-525-9917, for private no-fee consultation on a variety of legal questions. Plus, Thursday, May 31st, Leon Bayer, Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law, will take calls on Bankruptcy: 800-477-3111, 9am 'til Noon, for Mr Bayer's no-obligation public service to KALW listeners.

Is the US President Constitutionally empowered to pardon him/her self? Your Legal Rights host Jeffrey Hayden welcomes specialist in criminal defense and civil litigation Dean Johnson. With attorney practice at Redwood City, California, Mr Johnson summarizes his career through webpages at deanjohnsonattorney.com. Questions for Dean and Jeffrey? Please call toll-free 866-798-8255.

(Rebroadcast from June 13, 2018) Is the US President Constitutionally empowered to pardon him/her self? Your Legal Rights host Jeffrey Hayden welcomes specialist in criminal defense and civil litigation Dean Johnson. With attorney practice at Redwood City, California, Mr Johnson summarizes his career through webpages at deanjohnsonattorney.com.

On this edition of Your Call, we’re hearing how people experiencing domestic violence are receiving support while sheltering at home during the COVID-19 crisis. Organizations around the globe are seeing an increase in domestic violence calls.

On this edition of Your Call’s One Planet Series, we're speaking with journalist and author Antonia Juhasz about the 10th anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, which spewed over 130 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, making it the worst oil spill in US history.

On this edition of Your Call, we’ll get an update on how San Francisco is handling its unhoused population during #COVID19. Last week, advocates staged a protest outside of Mayor London Breed’s house to demand more hotel rooms for people without homes.

WOULD you still celebrate a cup final win for your team if you knew for absolute certain the game had been rigged?

THE SPFL were tonight criticised for giving Scotland’s clubs hope that league reconstruction was a possibility in their controversial end-of-season resolution.

This week on Open Air, KALW’s radio magazine for the Bay Area performing arts, host David Latulippe talks with actors Meera Rohit Kumbhani (pictured, left) and Avanthika Srinivasan (right), cast members of the world premiere of Testmatch , which runs at A.C.T.’s Strand Theater through December 8.

This week on Open Air, KALW’s radio magazine for the Bay Area performing arts, host David Latulippe talks with cellist and singer Amanda Zidow (pictured), who plays the role of the Island Queen Prospera, in Cirque du Soleil’s production Amaluna , currently visiting the Bay Area.

This week on Open Air, KALW’s radio magazine for the performing arts, guest host Leah Garchik talks about the African-American Shakespeare Company's unique annual holiday offering of Cinderella , with AASC founder and executive director Sherri Young and lead actress Funmi Lola (pictured). Cinderella, the often told tale of a scullery maid determined to take her life into her own hands and make it better, runs for 4 performances, December 20-22 at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco.

This week on Open Air, KALW’s weekly radio magazine for the Bay Area performing arts, host David Latulippe talks with Susi Damilano (pictured, left), star of the new production of Tiny Beautiful Things at SF Playhouse - and also the company’s producing director. Performances are through March 7 at SF Playhouse (450 Post St.) in San Francisco.

This week on Open Air, KALW’s weekly radio magazine for the Bay Area performing arts, host David Latulippe talks with actors Lorenzo Pugliese and Daria Pilar Redus (pictured), who play the parts of SpongeBob SquarePants and his squirrel girlfriend Sandy Cheeks, in The SpongeBob Musical , which is in town through February 16.

Open Air, KALW’s weekly radio magazine about the Bay Area Performing Arts, is back!

Regular contributor and critic at large Peter Robinson explores how My Fair Lady turned Shaw’s Pygmalion into a fine musical. ===================== his week on Open Air, KALW’s live radio magazine for the Bay Area Performing Arts in Times of Corona, we raise the virtual curtain for the first installment of Open Air’s Corona Radio Theater . Featuring this week is theater company Word for Word ; renowned for bringing short stories from the page to the stage, fully theatricalized; and their reading - on Zoom - of Tobias Wolff's story, Firelight .

For his latest effort, Amit Peled tackled "the Bible" of cello repertoire by recording the Bach cello suites using Pablo Casal's cello-- the very same cello he originally heard the suites performed on as a child. "I waited for this jewel for so long because I wanted to make sure that the cello allows me to bring out who I am, and not what I have in my mind or in my ear," Peled said. Despite history repeating itself with the same repertoire on the same instrument, Peled's own interpretation continues to embody who he is as a musician. As a world-renowned Israeli-American cellist and professor at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, Peled's recording of the Bach cello suites will go down in history along with his legacy. Hear the full conversation with Of Note's Katy Henriksen in the streaming link above.

Voces8 has once again found a way to represent the world's magnificence by using their voices-- and nothing else. The a capella group's latest album, "Enchanted Isle," pays homage to some of the members' inspirational European homelands. "Many of my formative musical memories come from my town there," says Barnaby Smith, the ensemble's music director. "A lot of the first music I heard as a child came as I was looking at that vista." Listen to the full interview between Barnaby Smith and Of Note's Katy Henriksen with the streaming link above.

The possibilities of artistic expression are limitless with every piece of music, but composer and pianist Craig Swanson took it to another level with the release of his album “The French Suite Kit.” Swanson was inspired by pianist Glenn Gould to create multiple unique variations of Bach’s French Suite No. 4 in Eb Major , giving listeners more control over how they prefer to hear Bach expressed. “Part of the joy of music is its improvisatory nature, and trying to find all of the potential expressions that are worthwhile in your music,” Swanson says. “It seemed to me that there was a wealth of possibility not limiting yourself to one particular way or one particular approach.” Listen to the full interview between Swanson and Of Note’s Katy Henriksen with the streaming link above.

Violinist Itamar Zorman navigated exotic Israeli scales and modes to release his newest album “Evocation,” which highlights distinctive works by German-born Israeli composer Paul Ben-Haim. “There is a really delicate but wonderful balance between the emotional content and the technical form of the piece, and the analytical part of it,” Zorman explains about reflecting Ben-Haim’s multi-cultural influenced compositions. Listen to the full interview between Zorman and Of Note’s Katy Henriksen with the streaming link above.

ALL three Stand comedy clubs closed to the public last Monday. Following the advice of Boris Johnson (note: advice, not a ruling – gotta protect those massive insurance providers, eh Prime Minister?) we didn’t feel it was right to stay open and put people at potential risk.

Even in self-isolation, we can learn something new every day.

Updated at 4:12 p.m. ET Special counsel Robert Mueller shut down his Russia investigation on Wednesday in an unusual appearance in which he restated his findings and made clear that he never considered it an option to charge President Trump. "We are formally closing the special counsel's office," Mueller told reporters at the Justice Department on Wednesday morning. In his 10-minute statement, Mueller highlighted a few portions of his roughly 400-page report , including the section on whether President Trump obstructed justice. "If we had had confidence that the president did not commit a crime, we would have said so," he said. "We did not, however, make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime." Mueller emphasized that Justice Department regulations do not permit the indictment of a sitting president. Accordingly, Mueller said, he never considered it an option to seek one no matter what he had uncovered. If Americans or members of Congress want to hold a

Former special counsel Robert Mueller is testifying before Congress on Wednesday, and lawmakers have so many questions they may not have enough time to ask them all. The House judiciary and intelligence committees have scheduled hearings for 8:30 a.m. and noon. Majority Democrats and minority Republicans are expected to try their utmost to get the most good they can from Mueller — in very different ways. Members of Congress already postponed Mueller's hearings once to wrangle more time. Complicating the matter will be Mueller himself, who has said he intends to confine his testimony to what he has already set forth in his report. In addition, the Justice Department sent Mueller a letter on Monday night saying it expects Mueller to not stray beyond what is publicly known about his work, citing executive privilege. That won't constrain members of Congress from trying. Here are some of the questions they might ask, broken up by the majority and the minority members on these committees.

Updated at 4:56 p.m. ET Peril from foreign interference in American elections will persist through the 2020 presidential race, former special counsel Robert Mueller warned on Wednesday. Asked whether Russia would attempt to attack future U.S. elections, as it did in 2016, Mueller replied: "They're doing it as we sit here." Mueller didn't detail a prescription for how he believes Congress or the United States should respond, but he recommended generally that intelligence and law enforcement agencies should work together. "They should use the full resources that we have to address this," Mueller said. That warning came during hours of hearings, first before the House Judiciary Committee and then the intelligence committee, in which Democrats sought to underscore that Mueller had not cleared Trump of obstruction allegations and that he had found many contacts between Trump's campaign and the Russian interference in the 2016 election. "Did you actually totally exonerate the president?"

Unlike postcard mountain resort towns, or the booming, high-tech corridor centered around Denver, Pueblo is Colorado's faded industrial relic. A city struggling to redefine its economy, and its politics following decades as a solidly blue-collar Democratic stronghold. Pueblo is a two-hour drive south from Denver, through prosperous Colorado Springs with its military bases, defense contractors and megachurches. Wide open plains stretch for miles, mountains off in the distance. And then, popping up out of the horizon, stark vertical lines: Smokestacks from the mill that gave this place its nickname, Steel City. Today only about 6% of Pueblo's jobs are in manufacturing after a decades-long decline. Loading... Old timers like Rod Slyhoff remember the day everything changed, back in 1984. "It's in my mind all the time," said Slyhoff, president and CEO of the Pueblo Chamber of Commerce. "I believe it was in March, 6,500 pink slips were issued to the [steel mill company] employees," Slyhoff

This is part of a series looking at pressing coronavirus questions of the week. We'd like to hear what you're curious about. Email us at goatsandsoda@npr.org with the subject line: "Weekly Coronavirus Questions." More than 76,000 people in the U.S. have died because of COVID-19, and there have been 1.27 million confirmed cases across the country — and nearly 4 million worldwide. Though the virus continues to spread and sicken people, some states and countries are starting to reopen businesses and lift stay-at-home requirements. This week, we look at some of your questions as summer nears and restrictions are eased. Is it safe to swim in pools or lakes? Does the virus spread through the water? People are asking whether they should be concerned about being exposed to the coronavirus while swimming. Experts say water needn't be a cause for concern. The CDC says there is no evidence the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, spas or water

As of Friday in Texas, you can go to a tanning salon. In Indiana, houses of worship are being allowed to open with no cap on attendance. Places like Pennsylvania are taking a more cautious approach, only starting to ease restrictions in some counties based on the number of COVID-19 cases. By Monday, at least 31 states will have partially reopened after seven weeks of restrictions. The moves come as President Trump pushes for the country to get back to work despite public health experts warning that it's too soon. "The early lesson that was learned, really, we learned from the island of Hokkaido in Japan, where they did a really good job of controlling the initial phase of the outbreak," said Bob Bednarczyk, assistant professor of global health and epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta. Because of that success, many of the restrictions on the island were lifted. But cases and deaths surged in a second wave of infections. Twenty-six days later

Updated at 9:44 a.m. ET As a young woman growing up in a poor farming community in Virginia in the 1940 and '50s, with little information about sex or contraception, sexuality was a frightening thing for Carole Cato and her female friends. "We lived in constant fear, I mean all of us," she said. "It was like a tightrope. always wondering, is this going to be the time [I get pregnant]?" Cato, 78, now lives in Columbia, S.C. She grew up in the years before the birth control pill was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, on May 9, 1960. She said teenage girls in her community were told very little about how their bodies worked. "I was very fortunate; I did not get pregnant, but a lot of my friends did. And of course, they just got married and went into their little farmhouses," she said. "But I just felt I just had to get out." At 23, Cato married a widower who already had seven children. They decided seven was enough. By that time, Cato said, the pill allowed the couple to

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays new music from The Flaming Lips , The Hotelier , and Miya Folick . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays new songs by Jens Lekman , Run The Jewels , and Lambchop . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt discusses the 2016 U.S. Music Year-End Nielsen Report and plays new songs by The xx and Timber Timbre . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt explains the results of the Grammys and focuses on two winners—Adele and Chance the Rapper. Plus, a new song from Colin Stetson . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt brings us new tunes from the supergroup of Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly & James McAlister, plus Quelle Chris and Perfume Genius . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

The Iowa high school class of 2020 is experiencing a very different senior year than any class that has come before it. In many cases, prom has already been canceled. Year books will go unsigned. There will be no final performances or competitions. Commencement ceremonies are canceled, postponed or will go virtual. During a time when so many people are sick or have died of COVID-19, it may seem trivial to focus on this loss, but for seniors who have spent 13 years of schooling building up to this moment, the loss is real and sad.

In her book Eligible , author Curtis Sittenfeld retells the Jane Austen classic Pride and Prejudice with a modern, Midwestern twist. The Bennet family lives in Cincinnati, Liz Bennet is a journalist in her late 30’s and the bachelors Bingley and Darcy are wealthy doctors with coastal ties.

Refugees literally sacrifice everything to keep their families safe. Christina Psarra, head of mission for Doctors Without Borders, a humanitarian aid organization, bears witness to their sacrifice and resourcefulness, giving everything she has to help them. Along the way, she's discovered that refugees are not victims--they are survivors and it's her job to help them survive.

Daniela Petruzalek has made it her mission to make the white cisgender male dominated tech industry truly inclusive.

What does it actually take for women to win elections?

Birgit Soyka stands in a large warehouse amongst 68 bird cages, each holding an exotic bird. The walls are covered in photos of brightly colored parrots, and bird-shaped tchotchkes dot the room. She cradles Boogie, a Congo African gray, and a regular guest at the San Francisco Bird Hotel, a spa and resort for birds. “Hi Boogie,” Soyka says; the bird coos in response. As the owner of the San Francisco Bird Hotel, Soyka takes care of Boogie and up to 150 other birds at a time. Her bird-boarding business started back in 2006, when Soyka, who says she’s always loved birds, agreed to “bird sit” a friend’s pet. “It was the beginning of a big snowball and avalanche,” Soyka says. “Out of this one bird came three birds, then 10 birds, then 100 birds.” In 2014, her small business turned into a full-blown bird spa and resort. At the Bird Hotel, all the cages are named after castles around the world; there’s Charlottenburg Palace, Hearst Castle and the Taj Mahal, just to name a few. There are

Corgi Con is a semi-annual celebration of short, sausage-shaped dogs called Corgis. Hundreds of dogs and their families descend on Ocean Beach for a day of events and festivities.

This story originally aired in 2015. All week long, we've been playing this sound , and asking you to guess what exactly it is and where exactly in the Bay Area we recorded it. This auditory guessing game is part of Audiograph , a crowd-sourced collaborative radio project mapping the Bay Area’s sonic signature. Audiograph tells the story of where you live, and the people who live there with you. Every Thursday, we tell you the story behind our weekly mystery sound on Crosscurrents , and here in weekly blog posts. Listen above for the full answer... SARAH CAHILL: “I heard some music coming from somewhere in the building, and I have to say it was a very sensuous experience wandering around thinking, 'oh its this way,' and making a turn and then encountering a little cage of love birds and a little fountain and a pool. I thought 'oh my god' what is this place?!" Congratulations to this week's winner, Joshua Raoul Brody ! Is there a sound from your life that should be featured on

This is part of a series looking at pressing coronavirus questions of the week. We'd like to hear what you're curious about. Email us at goatsandsoda@npr.org with the subject line: "Weekly Coronavirus Questions." More than 76,000 people in the U.S. have died because of COVID-19, and there have been 1.27 million confirmed cases across the country — and nearly 4 million worldwide. Though the virus continues to spread and sicken people, some states and countries are starting to reopen businesses and lift stay-at-home requirements. This week, we look at some of your questions as summer nears and restrictions are eased. Is it safe to swim in pools or lakes? Does the virus spread through the water? People are asking whether they should be concerned about being exposed to the coronavirus while swimming. Experts say water needn't be a cause for concern. The CDC says there is no evidence the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, spas or water

Google says most of its employees will likely be allowed to work remotely through the end of year. In a companywide meeting Thursday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said employees who needed to work in the office would be allowed to return in June or July with enhanced safety measures in place. The rest would likely continue working from home, a Google spokesperson told NPR. Google had originally told employees work-from-home protocols would be in place at least through June 1. Facebook also said it would allow most of its employees to work remotely through the end of 2020, according to media reports. The company had previously announced it was canceling large events through June 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Both companies began telling employees to stay home in March . Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.