# The Bear on the California Flag

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/bay-curious-6896/the-bear-on-the-california-flag
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/bay-curious-6896/the-bear-on-the-california-flag.md
Podcast: [Bay Curious](https://stenobird.com/podcast/bay-curious-6896)
Published: 2026-03-19T10:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC5586697210.mp3?updated=1773875394
Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC5586697210.mp3?updated=1773875394
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/bay-curious-6896/episodes/the-bear-on-the-california-flag
Duration seconds: 1483

## Resource

There's a pervasive story that the bear on California's state flag is modeled on a real California grizzly that was kept in captivity in San Francisco in the late 1800s. But when Bay Curious listener Mark Karn started researching Monarch, the facts weren't lining up for him. He wants to know, is it really Monarch on the state flag? Or, could it be a different bear altogether? Additional Resources: Who Is the Bear on the California Flag? A Story Bigger Than One Legend Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Katherine Monahan. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Gabriela Glueck, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/bay-curious-6896/episodes/the-bear-on-the-california-flag/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/bay-curious-6896/the-bear-on-the-california-flag.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.