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Top 10 Tech Breakthroughs Coming in 2024 with MIT Technology Review Jan 10, 2024

Show notes

Could 2024 be the year we start wearing computers on our faces en masse? Might scientists cure sickle cell patients and move to geothermal energy? The answer is yes, according to the MIT Technology Review. Each year, the journal publishes a list of its top 10 predictions of technologies that could make a lasting impact in the year to come. This year’s list focuses on advancements in health, green energy and computing. We’ll talk with editors and reporters from the magazine about what technological advances they expect to change our lives, and what technological promises probably won’t pan out.

Guests:

Will Douglas Heaven, senior editor for AI, MIT Technology Review

Antonio Regalado, senior editor for biomedicine, MIT Technology Review

Amy Nordrum, executive editor, MIT Technology Review

Casey Crownhart, climate reporter, MIT Technology Review

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The Perception Gap in the US Economy Jan 09, 2024

Show notes

Poll after poll finds Americans believe the economy is getting worse. Yet, indicators such as low unemployment rates, rising wages and declining inflation tell a different story. Economists agree that the country managed to avoid another recession, but why don’t we feel good about it? Prior to 2020, Americans’ feelings about the economy tracked with objective figures, but more recently perception and reality have diverged, creating a disconnect known as the “vibecession.” We’ll talk about the perception gap, how various populations experience the economy differently and what it all means for the presidential election.

Guests:

Rachel Siegel, economy reporter, The Washington Post

Christian Paz, senior politics reporter, Vox

Gilad Edelman, senior editor, The Atlantic

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Caitlin Dickerson on the Future of US Immigration Policy Jan 09, 2024

Show notes

If elected to a second term Donald Trump has promised to carry out “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history” in addition to other harsh approaches to immigration. President Joe Biden, who has long been criticized for continuing many Trump era immigration policies, now faces increasing pressure from both parties to step up enforcement as a record number of migrants are crossing the southern border. We talk with The Atlantic reporter Caitlin Dickerson, who won a 2023 Pulitzer Prize for her immigration reporting, about global migration pressures and the future of US policy.

Guests:

Caitlin Dickerson, staff writer, The Atlantic; winner, 2023 Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on immigration

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Industry's Climate Obstructionism Exposed in Guardian's ‘Big Oil Uncovered’ Jan 08, 2024

Show notes

18 California children are suing the EPA for failing to protect them from climate change. The lawsuit is one of many efforts to hold the fossil fuel industry to account that reporter Dharna Noor highlights in her series for the Guardian US called “Big Oil Uncovered.” We’ll talk to her about the strategies oil and gas companies are using to delay or avoid action on climate change — and the people and policies who are taking them to task.

Related link(s):

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/series/big-oil-uncovered

Guests:

Dharna Noor, fossil fuels and climate reporter, The Guardian US

Ethan Elkind, director, the Climate Program at the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment at UC Berkeley School of Law; host, the Climate Break podcast

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Chronic Absenteeism Plagues Bay Area Schools Jan 08, 2024

Show notes

Last year, nearly a quarter of public school students in California were considered “chronically absent” – more than double what it was before the pandemic. Factors such as parent work schedules, poverty, and lack of interest have led millions of students to miss more than 10 percent of the school year. In response, many schools are trying everything from hiring social workers to offering Uber rides and tastier food to bring more kids to the classroom. We’ll talk with experts and school administrators about chronic absenteeism and what they are doing about it.

Guests:

Carolyn Jones, K-12 education reporter, Calmatters

Gloria Corral, president and CEO, Parent Institute for Quality Education

Hedy Chang, executive director and founder, Attendance Works - a national initiative that works to curb chronic absenteeism in schools.

Chien Wu-Fernandez, associate superintendent, Hayward Unified School District

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Journalist Amy Yee on the ‘Travels Among Tibetan Refugees on Four Continents’ Jan 05, 2024

Show notes

Since China’s annexation of Tibet in the 1950s, more than 100,000 Tibetans have fled the mountainous region, known as the rooftop of the world. Most of those refugees live with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India, citizens of what’s considered the Tibetan government in exile. Journalist Amy Yee has been documenting the stories of Tibetans outside Tibet — in Dharamsala, as well as in Australia, Belgium and New York — and their efforts to preserve their culture abroad. We talk to her about the people, places and rituals she chronicles in her new book, “Far From the Rooftop of the World: Travels Among Tibetan Refugees on Four Continents.”

Guests:

Amy Yee, Bloomberg journalist and author of the new book, “Far from the Rooftop of the World: Travels among Tibetan Refugees on Four Continents”

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Seeking Fellowship without Religion Jan 05, 2024

Show notes

More than 25% of Americans identify as having no religious affiliation and that number is on the rise according to Pew Research. While atheists –also called freethinkers, humanists or secularists –are defined by their lack of religious faith, many are still seeking community to ponder life’s existential questions. For those wanting the fellowship and soul searching found in churches, synagogues and mosques without the religion, there are groups like Atheist United which offers an adventure program bringing together atheists to revel in the awe and wonder of nature. We talk to atheists about how they seek community.

Guests:

Evan Clark, executive director, Atheists United

David Diskin, president, California Freethought Day; co-founder, Sacramento chapter of Sunday Assembly

Samantha McGuire, national field director, American Atheists, Inc.

Arlene Rios, founder, Secular Latinos of San Gabriel Valley

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How 'The Year of Ozempic' Transformed Obesity Treatment… and Much More Jan 04, 2024

Show notes

In a recent piece for the New Yorker called “The Year of Ozempic,” journalist and physician Dhruv Khullar writes that “we may look back on new weight-loss drugs as some of the greatest advances in the annals of chronic disease.” But the drugs don’t work for everyone, and there are ongoing questions about side effects, costs and availability. We’ll talk with Khullar about his piece and check in with UCSF weight loss doctor Diana Thiara about what we’ve learned about drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy over the past year.

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Historic PG&E Rate Increases Will Hit Hard in 2024 Jan 04, 2024

Show notes

Before you open your next electricity bill, you might want to brace yourself. PG&E is hiking their rates starting this month, and this one is historic. Bills for the average household are expected to jump $34.50 a month and there could be more rate hikes on the horizon. The increase will fund projects addressing wildfire mitigation, especially an unprecedented attempt to bury power lines in high-risk areas. After the new rate hike, PG&E rates will have doubled over the last 10 years. Is all the new work necessary? Is sticking ratepayers with the bill the only option? We’ll talk with energy and utility experts about what this move means for PG&E and for the rest of us.

Guests:

Katherine Blunt, energy reporter, Wall Street Journal. Her recent book is "California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric—And What It Means for America’s Power Grid."

Meredith Fowlie, professor, UC Berkeley Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics; faculty director at the Energy Institute at Haas

Mark Toney, executive director, The Utility Reform Network

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Manjula Martin’s ‘The Last Fire Season’ Reflects on Living with Wildfire Jan 03, 2024

Show notes

When Manjula Martin fled her West Sonoma home in the summer of 2020 with wildfire raging around her, she realized her go bag was packed for an apocalypse, not a sleepover. She had flashlights, but no toothbrush. Books, but no shampoo. In her debut memoir, “The Last Fire Season,” Martin reflects on how Californians are simultaneously preparing for the end of the world, while also going about their day-to-day lives. “I had little capacity to navigate the everyday experience of living inside a slow decline,” she writes. We talk to Martin about living life in the Pyrocene, the age of fire.

Guests:

Dhruv Khullar, contributing writer, The New Yorker; practicing physician, Weill Cornell Medicine; assistant professor, Weill Cornell Medical College.

Diana Thiara, medical director, UCSF Weight Loss Management Program

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