A tribute to our 2026 Audio Academy graduates!

A tribute to our 2026 Audio Academy graduates!

From Crosscurrents by KALW

June 11, 2026 · 17 min

About this episode

This episode features a tribute to the 2026 Audio Academy graduates, showcasing clips from their best work.

Every September, KALW welcomes a new cohort of eight fellows to our Audio Academy training program that’s now in its thirteenth year. Over a span of 9 months the current cohort has been hard at work learning what it takes to report and produce sound rich audio features. Stories that allowed them to follow their curiosity, go deeper on urgent issues or celebrate the communities holding people together. Tonight we have the bittersweet honor of graduating this year’s cohort, so today we’re bringing you a special tribute. It’s a collection of clips from their best work. ‘Finding faith in the fight against artificial super intelligence' by Arlen Levy 'The show must go on: Tito Soto and SF's iconic Oasis drag club' by Stafford Hemmer ‘In Oakland, the musical legacy of Japanese American incarceration still resonates’ by Cara Nguyen ‘Goalball emboldens blind athletes on the court and in their lives' by Rachel Longan ‘Women, non-binary players tackle America's Game’ by Jordan Karnes ‘How queer communities are seeing themselves reflected in tide pools' by Anna Casalme ‘Berkeley’s Warming Hut offers a safe space’ by Viviana Vivas ‘Who put up all those gates in the Sunset?‘ by Rae Kim

Topics covered

  • audio training
  • community stories
  • graduation tribute
  • audio features
  • fellowship program
  • cultural legacy
  • queer communities

Keywords

  • Audio Academy
  • graduation
  • KALW
  • audio features
  • community stories
  • fellowship
  • cultural legacy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: KALW

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