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Latest Episodes:

Is Avian Flu the Next Pandemic? Dec 05, 2024

Show notes

Avian flu has killed 1.5 million chickens and turkeys in California and 100 million birds nationwide since the outbreak began in 2022. And earlier this year, scientists discovered that the virus had jumped to mammals, specifically cattle, raising questions about the virus’ mutation. In California, the largest dairy producing state in the country, 475 dairies have reported incidences of avian flu in their herds, and the state recently recalled raw milk from shelves after the virus was detected in milk samples. The virus has also been detected in the wastewater of several Bay Area cities, and 29 dairy workers, and a child in Alameda County with no known contact with animals, have been diagnosed with the flu. We’ll talk to experts about whether avian flu has the makings of a new pandemic and what is being done to contain its spread.

Guests:

Susanne Rust, investigative reporter specializing in environmental issues, Los Angeles Times

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong M.D., infectious disease specialist, UCSF Medical Center

Dr. Michael Payne DVM, large animal vet researcher, Western Institute of Food Safety and Security, University of California School of Veterinary Medicine

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California Tops Nation in Road Rage Dec 04, 2024

Show notes

Californians are the most confrontational drivers in the country according to a recent survey from Forbes Advisor. Nearly half of California drivers surveyed said another driver cut them off on purpose, more than half say they’ve been tailgated and almost a third have been threatened or yelled at. Across the country, the number of people injured or killed in road rage incidents involving a gun has more than doubled since 2018, according to data from the research group Gun Violence Archive. We’ll talk about what triggers road rage — and how tech and social divisions may be playing a role. And we’ll get tips on how to calm down and drive safely, even when you feel you’ve been wronged.

Guests:

Robert (Bob) Nemerovski, Clinical Psychologist practicing in the Bay Area as well as throughout California through teletherapy, (theangerdoc.com)

Andrew Barclay, Sergeant, California Highway Patrol

John Treanor, public relations specialist, AAA Northern California

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DACA Recipients Prepare for An Uncertain Future Dec 04, 2024

Show notes

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, has given more than half a million immigrants protection from deportation since 2012. The program has allowed people brought to the United States as children to work, buy property, start businesses and raise families. The program has weathered plenty of challenges in its 12-year history, and now many recipients are worried that president-elect Donald Trump will try to end the program like he did during his first term. We talk with DACA recipients about how they are preparing for the future and what could happen next.

Guests:

Dulce Garcia, director for U.S.-Mexico border programs, Kids in Need of Defense - An organization that advocates unaccompanied refugee and migrant children. She is a lawyer and DACA recipient.

Sarah Souza, DACA recipient and immigrant rights activist, Serves on the San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission and works as a legislative aide for San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin.

Krsna Avila , staff attorney, Path2Papers - a project of Cornell Law School that helps DACA recipients pursue work visas and other pathways to legal permanent residency.

Leo Rodriguez, student, Univeristy of California, Berkeley - DACA recipient.

Raha Wala, human rights lawyer, lobbyist, and advocacy strategist, National Immigration Law Center

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U.S. Increases Military Aid to Ukraine Ahead of Presidential Transition Dec 03, 2024

Show notes

The U.S. will send an additional $725 million in military aid to Ukraine, the State Department announced on Monday. That’s on top of more than $7 billion in weaponry the Biden Administration has already pledged to the country as it battles to stave off more territorial gains by Russia. The increase in aid comes amid fears among U.S. and NATO officials that president-elect Donald Trump will withhold support and force Ukraine to capitulate. We talk about the latest developments in a war that’s left hundreds of thousands dead and how a Trump Administration might handle it.

Guests:

Steven Pifer , affiliate, Center for International Security and Cooperation - Stanford University; former ambassador to Ukraine and a senior director at the National Security Council in the Clinton administration.

Greg Myre, national security correspondent, NPR

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The ‘Seductive Promise’ and Peril of Microfinance Dec 03, 2024

Show notes

For decades microfinance was touted as a novel solution to poverty. The idea is simple – give poor women tiny loans to jumpstart small businesses and create profit. But when journalist Mara Kardas-Nelson moved to West Africa she met women who were jailed when they couldn’t pay their mounting debt. In her book, “We Are Not Able to Live in the Sky: The Seductive Promise of Microfinance,” Kardas-Nelson explores the complex history that led to microfinance banking empires, the painful reality gripping women who have taken out loans and also the ways that microloans have been a successful tool in lifting people from poverty.

Guests:

Mara Kardas-Nelson, Independent Journalist and Author of We are Not Able To Live in the Sky: The Seductive Promise of Microfinance

Laurie Styron, CEO / Executive Director, CharityWatch -www.charitywatch.org

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Why We ‘Love to Hate’ Comic Sans Dec 02, 2024

Show notes

The quirky, rounded, nominally sans-serif font of Comic Sans became a cultural phenomenon when it first burst onto the scene as a free option in Windows 95. Used in memes, kindergarten classrooms and sometimes even official signage, it’s become “the font everyone loves to hate.” So says Simon Garfield, author of a new biography of Comic Sans. And over its 30 years, the font became recommended by dyslexia organizations and can be used to chart a micro-history of online irony, comedy and backlash cycles. Garfield joins us to share why “no other font gets people so worked up” and how Comic Sans says a lot about how we express ourselves, online and off.

Guests:

Simon Garfield, author, “Comic Sans: The Biography of a Typeface” and “Just My Type: A Book About Fonts”

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How Should the Media Cover the Next Trump Administration? Dec 02, 2024

Show notes

On the campaign trail, president-elect Donald Trump said he “wouldn’t mind so much” if journalists were shot, threatened to revoke broadcast licenses of networks that aired coverage he didn’t like, and called reporters “the enemy of the people.” More recently Trump has demanded that Republican lawmakers kill a bill to protect journalists from revealing their sources. Trump’s first administration had a tense relationship with the media. We talk to experts about how journalists should best cover Trump this time around.

Guests:

Brooke Gladstone, Host and Managing Editor, "On the Media" - from WNYC Studios. Her latest book is 'The Trouble With Reality."

Jon Allsop, journalist and media writer, Columbia Journalism Review's daily newsletter, "The Media Today"

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Forum From the Archives: Miranda July Wrestles with the Female Midlife Crisis in ‘All Fours’ Nov 29, 2024

Show notes

In Miranda July’s new novel, “All Fours,” a 45-year-old artist embarks on a solo roadtrip to New York from her Los Angeles home. She makes it as far as Monrovia, a small town a half-hour from L.A., and waits out the rest of her trip in a motel room while pursuing an infatuation with a Hertz rental car employee. The novel, which shares similarities with July’s own life, explores themes of marital ennui, the fear of sexual irrelevance and the contours of the female midlife crisis. July grew up in Oakland and is known for her performance art, her films “Me and You and Everyone We Know” and “Kajillionaire,” and her fiction “No One Belongs Here More Than You” and “The First Bad Man.” We listen back to our May conversation with July about her new novel and why she describes it as “closer to the bone.”

Guests:

Miranda July, actor, screenwriter, director and author - She’s known for her films “Me and You and Everyone We Know” and “Kajillionaire,” and her fiction includes “No One Belongs Here More Than You” and “The First Bad Man”. Her new novel is "All Fours"

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Forum From the Archives: Rebecca Nagle on the Long and Ongoing Battle for Tribal Sovereignty and Land Nov 29, 2024

Show notes

A truly landmark Supreme Court decision in 2020 resulted in the largest restoration of Native American tribal land in American history. More than half of the state of Oklahoma is now declared “Indian Country” after the court decision. In her book "By the Fire We Carry" journalist Rebecca Nagel, a member of the Cherokee Nation, traces the generations-long fight for sovereignty and the brutal history of tribal land removal that underpinned the decision. We listen back to our September conversation with Nagle about her own family’s complicated legacy in the struggle for justice and the implications of the Supreme Court decision.

Guests:

Rebecca Nagle, author, By the Fire We Carry, The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land, host of the podcast "This Land" - She's also an activist, writer and citizen of the Cherokee Nation - She's also an activist, writer and citizen of the Cherokee Nation

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Forum From the Archives: Pioneering Journalist Connie Chung on a Lifetime of Newsmaking Nov 27, 2024

Show notes

Connie Chung was the first Asian person to anchor a national network news program in the US and the first woman to co-anchor the CBS Evening News. For decades she covered major national stories from Watergate to the Oklahoma City bombing and interviewed presidents and foreign leaders. She also came up in newsrooms of the 1970s and 80s that were beset by rampant sexism. We listen back to our September conversation with Chung about what she calls her “glorious highs and deep lows in the news business” and why, until recently, she struggled to believe she’d found success. Chung’s memoir is “Connie.”

Guests:

Connie Chung, broadcast journalist; author, "Connie: A Memoir"

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