This Little-Known Escape From Alcatraz Almost Closed the Prison in 1939

On Jan. 13, 1939, five prisoners managed to saw through the bars of their individual cells in D block, get to the island’s western shoreline, and fashion a raft out of discarded lumber. Ultimately, two escapees were shot (one fatally) by guards, one fell from a cliff edge (and survived) and the fin…

How Bay Area Victorian Women Used Hatpins for Self Defense

‘On Loop’ Book Details Oakland’s Crackdowns on Black Sonic Expression

Rebel Girls: The Indian American Essayist Who Championed Social Justice and Feminism

Kartar Dhillon's sense of fairness propelled her towards every equality movement that crossed her path, throughout her entire life. Dhillon’s quest for justice for all working and disadvantaged people literally knew no bounds.

A New Book About Butterflies Makes the Bay Area a More Magical Place

This comprehensive and gorgeous book is so full of reverence for the prettier flying insects in our midst, so lacking in pretension, and so easy to understand, it’ll inspire even the most fervent city-dwellers to get outside and find the little buggers.

‘The Art of Manga’ Brings New Worlds to the de Young Museum

As the first large-scale exhibition of its kind in North America, Art of Manga at San Francisco’s de Young Museum feels like stepping inside an animation. A feast for fans, but still accessible to manga outsiders, it guides the viewer patiently through the genre’s terms, stories, storyboard sketche…

‘Kim’s Convenience’ is a Funny, Touching Play About an Immigrant Family Business

‘Kim’s Convenience’ runs through Oct. 19 at the Toni Rembe Theater (415 Geary St,, San Francisco). 

Oakland Teens Weave Food Into Fashion at 'Cuisine and Couture' Fashion Show

Cuisine and Couture will take place on Sunday, Oct. 12, from 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m., at the Oakland Museum of California (1000 Oak St., Oakland). Tickets ($25–$75) are available online until sold out.

SF Opera's "Dead Man Walking" Tackles Controversial Issues in Contemporary Way

Rebel Girls: The Jewish ‘Red Angel’ Who Withstood Incarceration for Workers’ Rights

For Elaine Black Yoneda, it wasn’t a choice. When authorities informed her that her three-year-old son Tommy would be imprisoned in a concentration camp for the crime of being half-Japanese, Yoneda — a white Jewish woman — insisted on going with him. Her Japanese American husband Karl was already b…