{"podcast":{"title":"Bay Curious","slug":"bay-curious-6896","podcast_index_feed_id":6896,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC4698044094","website_url":"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/baycurious","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/405c75b6-01b3-11ea-b4dc-270e003b0694/image/KQED_Podcast_tiles_-_NPR_network_Bay_Curious.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"KQED","episode_count":515,"summary":"Bay Curious is a show about your questions – and the adventures you find when you go looking for the answers. Join host Olivia Allen-Price to explore all aspects of the San Francisco Bay Area – from the debate over \"Frisco\", to the dinosaurs that once roamed California, to the causes of homelessness. Whether you lived here your whole life, or just arrived, Bay Curious will deepen your understanding of this place you call home.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/bay-curious-6896"},"episode":{"title":"George and Gracie: The Robot Voices of BART","slug":"george-and-gracie-the-robot-voices-of-bart","published_at":"2026-04-06T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/bay-curious-6896/george-and-gracie-the-robot-voices-of-bart","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/bay-curious-6896","url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC2018847747.mp3?updated=1775172365","audio_url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC2018847747.mp3?updated=1775172365","summary":"When BART trains pull into stations, a robotic and antiquated-sounding voice announces its arrival and destination. Bay Curious listener Jimmy Tobin has long been baffled by these voices. They're hard to understand, he says, and why is it that in the cities pioneering AI and synthesized speech models our own trains are nearly unintelligible? Additional Resources: In a Tech Hub Like the Bay Area, Why Do BART Announcements Sound So Ancient? 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 Ana De Almeida Amaral. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"When BART trains pull into stations, a robotic and antiquated-sounding voice announces its arrival and destination. Bay Curious listener Jimmy Tobin has l…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":840,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/bay-curious-6896/episodes/george-and-gracie-the-robot-voices-of-bart/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/bay-curious-6896/george-and-gracie-the-robot-voices-of-bart.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}