This auditory guessing game is part of Audiograph , a crowd-sourced collaborative radio project mapping the Bay Area’s sonic signature.

We played you this sound and asked you to guess what exactly it is and where exactly in the Bay Area we recorded it.

Jessie Beck, a biologist with Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge, is our captain on today ’ s inflatable boat commute to A ñ o Nuevo Island.

Here's the sound we played as a clue. We asked you to guess what exactly it is and where exactly in the Bay Area we recorded it.

Buried deep in Stanford Hospital is a network that’s a little more Jules Verne than Silicon Valley.

Today on Crosscurrents: How one Bay Area school district is offering families extra support so kids get to school on time every day. Inside Real Guitars, the oldest vintage guitar shop in the city.

Alemany Farmers Market started during WWII to support rural farms near San Francisco. Throughout the market’s evolution, its maintained modest prices, diverse customers, and a “local first” attitude towards selling produce. You’ll find an assortment of Latin and Southeast Asian ingredients unlike anywhere else, and it’s open every Saturday, all year long.

I’ve moved 16 times. So when I settled in San Jose, I thought I could finally get some real Vietnamese food. But where to go? A friend brought me to the Grand Century Mall food court in East San Jose to catch up over bánh xèo . It had been years since I’d torn through this sizzling crepe of coconut cream and rice flour batter. Shrimp, slivers of pork, mint, and bean sprouts spilled out the lacy edges of a golden crisp semicircle. It tasted like home. I came back to the mall recently to figure out if there were other people who felt the same way I did. I met Emily Nguyễn, who was eating with friend at one of the laminate tables. She’s in her 40s and came to San Jose as a teenager. “When you migrate to a new country, everything seems strange at the beginning. And at the time we didn’t have a lot of Asian food or shopping malls,” she says. “That’s one of the main reasons why they built this mall for us; to continue that tradition and pass it down to our children.” Emily easily navigates

It’s Friday night on the corner of 16th and Valencia in San Francisco’s Mission District. Shops are closing up and folks that live out here are settling into vacant doorways. The traffic on the street sounds frustrated; revving, waiting, and beeping as the last of the commuters surface from the BART station and breeze by. Most of them don’t even notice a man in a poofy red and white mushroom hat, sorting through a tangled web of colored wires and extension cords.

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

A slickly produced 26-minute video called Plandemic has exploded on social media in recent days, claiming to present a view of COVID-19 that differs from the "official" narrative. The video has been viewed millions of times on YouTube via links that are replaced as quickly as the video-sharing service can remove them for violating its policy against "COVID-19 misinformation." In it, filmmaker Mikki Willis conducts an uncritical interview with Judy Mikovits, who he says has been called "one of the most accomplished scientists of her generation." Never heard of her? You're not alone. Two prominent scientists with backgrounds in AIDS research and infectious diseases, who asked not to be identified over concerns of facing a backlash on social media, told NPR that they did not know who she was. If you were aware of Mikovits before this week, it is probably for two books she published with co-author Kent Heckenlively, one in 2017 and another last month. Heckenlively has also written a book

The Census Bureau says it is continuing the gradual relaunch of limited field operations for the 2020 census next week in nine states where the coronavirus pandemic forced the hand-delivery of paper forms in rural areas to be suspended in mid-March. On May 13, some local census offices in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington are scheduled to restart that fieldwork, according to an updated schedule the bureau published on its website Friday. All workers are expected to be trained in CDC guidance in preventing the spread of COVID-19, and besides a new reusable face mask for every 10 days worked and a pair of gloves for each work day, the bureau has ordered 2 ounces of hand sanitizer for each census worker conducting field operations, the bureau tells NPR in an email. The announcement means more households that receive their mail at post office boxes or drop points are expected to find paper questionnaires left outside their

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

The Pan American Health Organization this week warned of an impending humanitarian crisis in Haiti due to the coronavirus pandemic. Haiti has reported relatively few cases of COVID-19 but it shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, which is experiencing one of the worst outbreaks in the hemisphere. With the Dominican Republic under lockdown, thousands of laid off migrant workers have headed home to Haiti and presumably some of them are carrying the virus with them. "There is real danger of a large-scale outbreak followed by a humanitarian crisis in Haiti," said Carissa Etienne, the head of PAHO, in a briefing this week with reporters. She said Haiti's health-care system is ill-equipped to deal with an outbreak of a highly-infectious, potentially-fatal respiratory disease. And the measures used elsewhere to stem the spread of COVID-19 are impractical or impossible in Haiti. "It is extremely difficult to institute proper social distancing in Haiti," she said —

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.

Protests over stay-at-home orders because of COVID-19 have become more common around the country. In California, a surprising group is behind some of them: those who oppose mandatory vaccinations. On Thursday, a mash-up of people mingled on the sidewalk in front of California's state Capitol in Sacramento. There were Trump supporters wearing MAGA hats and waving American flags. There were Christians, singing along to religious rock songs and raising their hands in prayer. The event's MC. urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to tune into their event. "Everybody up at the Capitol, tell Gavin Newsom [to tune in to] 107.9 FM, if he wants to hear what we have to say," the MC told the crowd over loudspeakers. "It could be kind of good for him!" There were also mothers with their children at the rally. Many people were not wearing face masks or observing social distancing protocols. They'd all come out to protest California's stay-at-home order, put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19. This week's

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

As the COVID-19 pandemic began to pick up in Alaska, Dr. Anne Zink, the state's chief medical officer, faced a difficult choice. Should she continue in-person meetings and nightly briefings with Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy? Or should she opt for a more socially distant form of engagement? Zink chose the latter, saying she wanted to model the behavior that she has been appealing to residents to follow. She now appears at Dunleavy's briefings by video. And over the past two months, she has become a trusted voice as she urges Alaskans to follow the strict social distancing and other public health guidelines adopted by the state administration — which doctors groups have credited with keeping the state's COVID-19 numbers among the lowest in the country. Zink, who has a Facebook fan club and a #ThinkLikeZink hashtag , isn't the only public health official to acquire a cultlike following during the pandemic: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal infectious disease expert, has inspired a Saturday

Dr. Grace Farris is chief of hospital medicine at Mount Sinai West in Manhattan. She also writes a monthly comics column in the Annals of Internal Medicine called "Dr Mom." You can find her on Instagram @coupdegracefarris . Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

President Trump wants states to begin relaxing stay-at-home orders and reopen businesses after the spread of the coronavirus pummeled the global economy and killed millions of jobs. The White House coronavirus task force released guidelines on April 16 to encourage state governors to adopt a phased approach to lifting restrictions across the country. Some states have moved ahead without meeting the criteria . The task force rejected a set of additional detailed draft recommendations for schools, restaurants, churches and mass transit systems from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that it considered " overly prescriptive ." A number of states have already begun to lift restrictions, allowing for businesses including hair salons, diners and tattoo parlors to once again begin accepting customers. Health experts have warned that reopening too quickly could result in a potential rebound in cases. States are supposed to wait to begin lifting any restrictions until they have a 14

For the first time in its 231-year history, the Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments remotely by phone and made the audio available live. The new setup went off largely without difficulties, but produced some memorable moments, including one justice forgetting to unmute and an ill-timed bathroom break. Here are the top five can't-miss moments from this week's history-making oral arguments. A second week of arguments begin on Monday at 10 a.m. ET. Here's a rundown of the cases and how to listen. 1. Justice Clarence Thomas speaks ... a lot Supreme Court oral arguments are verbal jousting matches. The justices pepper the lawyers with questions, interrupting counsel repeatedly and sometimes even interrupting each other. Justice Clarence Thomas, who has sat on the bench for nearly 30 years, has made his dislike of the chaotic process well known, at one point not asking a question for a full decade. But with no line of sight, the telephone arguments have to be rigidly organized, and

In this time of fear and uncertainty, people are going back to the land — more or less. Gardening might just be overtaking sourdough baking, TV binging and playing Animal Crossing as our favorite pandemic coping mechanism So here I am in my back yard, where I've got this lovely four foot by eight food raised garden bed — brand new this year, because yes, I'm one of those people who are trying their hand at gardening. I've got tomatoes, I've got cucumbers, I've got radishes, I've got beets sprouting up, I've got what I think might be a zucchini and a spaghetti squash, but the markers washed away in a storm. And I had some watermelon seedlings, but they died in the last cold snap. So that's why I'm out here today — driving in stakes and draping plastic wrap for the next cold snap. I have to be extra careful now, because I couldn't actually replace my watermelon seedlings — garden centers and hardware stores have been picked clean. Jennifer Atkinson is a senior lecturer in environmental

Very briefly, at the end of 2019 and the start of 2020, there were slightly more women on American nonfarm payrolls than men. That's no longer true. The historically disastrous April jobs report shows that the brunt of job losses fell on women. Women now account for around just under half — 49% — of American workers, and they accounted for 55% of the increase in job losses last month. One way of looking at why that matters that is to look at the gap that opened up between women's and men's unemployment last month. The below chart shows women's unemployment rate minus men's unemployment rate since 2007. Usually, the line bumps around near or just below zero — meaning men's unemployment is usually near or slightly higher than women's. But that spike on the far right shows how women's unemployment leapt to be 2.7 points higher than men's in April. Women had an unemployment rate of 16.2% to men's 13.5% last month. That's uncommon for a recession. The below chart is a longer view, and the

Airlines and airport operators in the United Kingdom are not waiting for the British government to publicly confirm their fears. Already, the groups representing major players in the U.K.'s air travel industry are pushing back on a proposal that would require travelers to quarantine after arriving from outside the country. A spokesperson for Airlines UK — a trade body with British Airways, EasyJet and Ryanair as members — says the group understands from government officials that plans for a quarantine are in the works, but that details remain scarce at the moment. "We need to see the detail of what they are proposing. Public health must of course be the priority and we will continue to be guided by Sage advice," the group said in a statement emailed to NPR, noting that support measures will be necessary to ensure "that we still have a UK aviation sector once the quarantine period is lifted." "We will be asking for assurances that this decision has been led by the science and that

Governors on the East and West Coasts say they’ll work together to reopen businesses. But President Trump says he’s the one calling the shots.

Social distancing and self-isolation are the new normal under the COVID-19 pandemic, and this reality is changing every fiber of society, including the way substance abuse support is handled and administered.

Dr. Stanley Perlman has studied corona viruses for more than 40 years. Now, his research is part of the global race to better understand COVID-19.

What happens to our politics when oil craters? On this edition of River to River , host Ben Kieffer is joined by political scientists Sara Mitchell and Jim McCormick to look at how the imbalance in oil markets may impact geopolitics and discuss the top political headlines of the week. Guests: Sara Mitchell , F. Wendell Miller Professor of Political Science at the University of Iowa Jim McCormick , professor of political science at Iowa State University

Under normal circumstances, a cancer diagnosis can be life altering. But with cases of COVID-19 straining medical systems across the state and with new expectations for social distancing in place, the way in which cancer treatment is received and supported is creating new challenges for some Iowans.

The rash of coronavirus outbreaks in meatpacking plants across the country is causing alarm. On this edition of River to River , IPR’s Amy Mayer explains Iowa’s meat packing challenges.

*This program originally aired on March 6, 2018. The human brain has substantially different dietary needs than other organs, and new research suggests that diet may play a large role in the development of dementia, obesity, and even ability to sleep. On this edition of River to River , Ben Kieffer talks with neuroscientist and nutritionist Lisa Mosconi, whose new book, Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power , explains how diet affects brain power and health. Mosconi says that if she had to pick one food that’s best for brain health, she would say caviar. “I understand it’s expensive and I understand it’s not practical, but from a scientific perspective, the nutritional composition of caviar is a fantastic complement to whatever nutrients your brain needs for health and cognitive fitness.” In lieu of caviar, she says that some fish are rich in a certain type of fat that the brain needs. Those fish include salmon, trout, herring, and anchovies. And for those

On this episode of River to River , guest host Katelyn Harrop speaks with several guests about some of the latest and ongoing coronavirus stories in Iowa, including Gvernor Kim Reynolds' decision to partially reopen businesses in 77 of Iowa's 99 counties, and how survivors of domestic violence can access resources during this national crisis.

The new Gross Domestic Product (GPD) figures show the economy’s sharp decline with the situation expected to get much worse. On this edition of River to River , host Ben Kieffer is joined by political scientists Jonathan Hassid and Jeff Taylor to get an analysis on a new poll indicating half of the country is being economically affected by the coronavirus, the Republican primary in Iowa’s 4 th district and worries about North Korea’s stability. Guests: Jonathan Hassid , associate professor of political science at ISU Jeff Taylor , professor of political science at Dordt University

Across the country, restrictions to limit the spread of the coronavirus are being loosened in some states. On this news buzz edition of River to River , we get a snapshot of the picture here in Iowa.

On this episode of River to River , host Ben Kieffer is joined by former congressman Jim Leach, best known for his 30 years representing Iowa in Washington. Leach, who is also on faculty at the University of Iowa, offers his reflections on the COVID-19 crisis in the context of his latest course, titled “What is Precedented and Unprecedented in Contemporary Politics.”

Many childcare centers across the state have been forced to shut their doors because of COVID-19. For those who are still open, declining enrollment numbers, staff layoffs and difficulties in acquiring and affording necessary supplies has left providers facing tough decisions about the future of their childcare businesses, just as some Iowans begin returning to work.

In this edition of River to River, host Ben Kieffer talks with political analysts Chris Larimer of University of Northern Iowa and Sara Mitchell of University of Iowa about Gov. Kim Reynolds' trip to meet with White House officials about Iowa's response to COVID-19. They also discuss Vice President Mike Pence's upcoming trip to meet with Iowa religious leaders, and get a snapshot of Iowa congressional and senate races heading into the June 2 primary. Guests: Chis Larimer, professor of political science at University of Northern Iowa Sara Mitchell, F. Wendell Miller professor of political science at University of Iowa

Have you ever wondered who invented the wheel? Who told the first joke? Who drank the first beer? Who was the first surgeon? Who sparked the first fire?

For Democrats, flipping the Senate seat held by Republican Joni Ernst is likely to be an uphill battle. On this Newsbuzz edition of River to River , we take a look at the democratic challengers and the week's coronavirus news.

Things do not seem fine at all, but it’s hard to say why.

Sometimes a sketch of a thing needs filling in for its true significance to be known.

While the seniors danced at Prom Night 2001 in Hoisington, Kansas—a town of about 3,000—a tornado hit the town, destroying about a third of it. When they emerged from the dance, they discovered what had happened, and in the weeks that followed, they tried to explain to themselves why the tornado hit where it did. Plus other stories that happen on Prom Night.

We all know TV viewing is up these days, but data from Hub Entertainment and Wurl show just how much, and which services are seeing the biggest upticks.

The 8-hour course covers the fundamental concepts and technologies of online video and includes hands-on exercises featuring some of the most commonly used tools in the industry

Viewing in the U.S. is up almost 27%, and daytime viewing is up most of all?a massive 39% rise since the first week of March.

As business professionals, educators, and others around the globe rely on web conferencing solutions like Zoom to communicate under current conditions, post houses, broadcasters, and video rights holders are either acquainting themselves with cloud video editing solutions like the popular Blackbird platform, or moving once-peripheral distributed production workflows to the center of their operations.

Today, video streaming solutions provider LiveU unveiled a new "State of Live" report, documenting increased "demand for live streaming, mobile apps, and live IP video sharing solutions" during the last five weeks of pandemic mitigation measures.

StreamingPix offers $6,499 capture-to-delivery integrated solution for worship, education, meetings, events, and more.

Zoom meetings have become ubiquitous during the COVID-19 pandemic, but so have concerns about the tool's security. Should you be worried? Not if you use the tools Zoom offers to make meetings more secure, say our experts.

How does a church with no in-house streaming gear or on-staff expertise deliver live-switched, streamed services to hundreds of socially distanced parishioners on four days' notice? Legacy Church's Jeff Leach and Apache Rental Group's Zak Holley explain how they did it in this interview with Streaming Media's Steve Nathans-Kelly.