Free Live Podcast: 30 Years of the WNBA + New Pro Women's Baseball (SF)

KALW Public Media KALW’s BOUNCE podcast is back! Join us live and in person to explore the Women’s Pro Baseball League, 30 years of the WNBA and much more! Join KALW for an evening celebrating the stories, history, and future of women’s sports live at our studio event space in downtown SF. This Month’s Features 30 Years of the WNBA: Maya Goldberg-Safir is joined by guest Andrea Lepore and journalist Jordan Karnes to trace the history of the WNBA, from the dawn of the league with the Sacramento Monarchs to the Golden State Valkyries’ reign of Ballhalla. Stepping Up to the Plate – Inside the Women’s Pro Baseball League: KALW’s Anna Casalme gives the scoop on the new league, its inaugural season, and how the San Francisco Firebells will rep the Bay. Community Sound-Off – Say your piece about what’s happening across the world of pro women’s sports in an open community conversation with our guests and hosts. This Month’s Guests Maya Goldberg-Safir makes stories about women’s basketball and splits her time between Chicago and Oakland, where she was born and raised. She spent 12 years at the Third Coast International Audio Festival in Chicago and is the creator of Rough Notes, a newsletter breaking traditional rules of sportswriting and chronicling women’s basketball throughout its evolutions. Andrea Lepore is a purpose-driven, creative visionary with deep experience in sports, culture and community development. Raised in an immigrant Italian-American family of artisans and artists, Andrea’s career spanning pro sports, sustainable design and award-winning hospitality brands, brings a unique, cross-sector perspective to the intersection of sports, style and social impact Jordan Karnes (they/them) is a reporter and producer who works in the intersection of sports, identity, and culture. They are an alum of KALW’s 2025 Audio Academy as well as the Chair of the Literary Arts Department at Oakland School for the Arts. Anna Gabriella Casalme (she/her) is a 2025-2026 Audio Academy Fellow. Anna is a writer and educator committed to lifting up diverse stories and storytelling in all sorts of formats, now including public radio. She is the founder and managing director of Novelly Publishing & Youth Authors Week, which publishes and advocates for teen authors. She received her BA in Human Biology and Education from Stanford University and her MSc in Childhood Studies from the University of Edinburgh. She lives in San Francisco, where her favorite thing to do is take classes for fun at City College. This Month’s Hosts: Erin Lim is Bay Area born-and-raised. She has called San Francisco home for two decades and has worked in various communication roles around The Bay. Erin started her career in local radio, then moved into newsrooms and cable TV productions, and then landed in PR/marketing. During her years in PR (hotel and film), she founded the award-winning culture podcast Bitch Talk and is producing a documentary called The Nomadic Family Project. Both creative projects continue to inspire her. Recently, Erin graduated from KALW’s Audio Academy and is the host of KALW’s BOUNCE, a podcast about the first season of the Golden State Valkyries. Ben Trefny has been part of the KALW family since 2003, where he currently serves as Executive Producer. As Executive News Editor, News Director, and Interim Executive Director, he helped the news department win numerous regional and national awards for long- and short-form journalism. He also helped create numerous training programs — for teenagers, incarcerated people, and early-career journalists — and has taught hundreds of audio producers. His current work focuses on journalism, live events, and partnerships. There is a $10 – $20 sliding scale suggested donation for this event. Nobody will be turned away for lack of funds. Please become a KALW member today and receive your first drink on us at all 220 Montgomery events. 220 Montgomery St., San Francisco, 2 blocks from BART/MUNI…