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When Will We Get a New House Speaker? Oct 18, 2023

Show notes

On October 3 the House of Representatives ousted California Congressman Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker. After the withdrawal of initial GOP nominee Steve Scalise, their next nominee, Jim Jordan, failed to receive a majority of votes in an election held Tuesday. The House leadership vacuum becomes increasingly problematic as President Biden continues to pledge U.S. support for Ukraine and Israel. We talk about the dysfunction in the House and how it might resolve.

Guests:

Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs, Princeton University - His most recent books include "Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974" and "Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, the Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party"

Lee Drutman, political scientist; author; senior fellow, Political Reform Program at New America

Joan Greve, senior political reporter, The Guardian US

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British Comedian Eddie Izzard Brings Her Remix Tour To San Francisco Oct 18, 2023

Show notes

For more than 35 years, British comedian Eddie Izzard built a career as an openly trans woman, winning Emmy awards, acting for both film and TV and performing in one-woman shows on Broadway. Now, she’s juggling a campaign for a seat in Parliament while making stops in North America for her Remix Tour, which revisits some of her favorite comedy sets. Ahead of her San Francisco shows, we’ll talk with Izzard about getting into politics and what it means to “remix” her old comedy.

Guests:

Eddie Izzard, comedian; author. Izzard is currently running to be the Labour candidate for a seat in Parliament

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Rachel Maddow on How the Past is ‘Prequel’ to U.S. Struggle With Authoritarianism and an Update on What’s At Stake in The Supreme Court’s New Term Oct 17, 2023

Show notes

Contemporary efforts to undermine democracy, spread disinformation and subvert elections are not without precedent in American politics, according to Rachel Maddow, the longtime MSNBC host, author and podcast creator. Rather, they’ve got a “prequel,” a period of American history before and during World War II when an “ultra-right authoritarian movement, weirdly infatuated with foreign dictatorships” planned to attack government targets to sow chaos and ultimately overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt. We’ll talk to Maddow about what we can learn from the Americans who beat back the domestic authoritarians of the 1930s and 1940s. Her new book is “Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism.”

The U.S. Supreme Court’s latest term is underway with another round of big cases to watch. The future of an entire federal agency – the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – is expected to be decided, along with cases about whether someone under a domestic violence restraining order can possess a gun, and the legality of the abortion medication mifepristone. We’ll look at the Court’s docket and what’s at stake with Ian Millhiser, senior correspondent at Vox who covers the Supreme Court.

Guests:

Rachel Maddow, author, "Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism"; host, "The Rachel Maddow Show" on MSNBC. Maddow's other books include “DRIFT: The Unmooring of American Military Power” and “Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth”

Ian Millhiser, senior correspondent, Vox - His books include "Injustices: The Supreme Court's History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted" and "The Agenda: How a Republican Supreme Court is Reshaping America."

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How Colleges are Navigating the New World of AI Chatbots Oct 17, 2023

Show notes

Next month will mark one year since the public release of ChatGPT, the AI-enabled chatbot. The technology immediately sent shockwaves across college campuses: Would it revolutionize higher education, or simply lead to widespread cheating and plagiarism? We’ll look at how chatbots and AI are impacting higher ed, from college essays to classroom teaching.

Guests:

Francesca Caparas, professor of english, De Anza College

Beth McMurtrie, senior writer, The Chronicle of Higher Education

Jenae Cohn, executive director, UC Berkeley Center for Teaching and Learning

Andrew Yu, senior, UC Davis

Jennifer Tran, sophomore, UC Berkeley; student representative, Committee on Teaching, Academic Senate

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Translators on the Art of Translating Oct 16, 2023

Show notes

Literary translators are why we can read poems, novels and essays written in languages we don’t speak, exposing us to otherwise inaccessible ideas and worlds. But even though translators wrestle page by page, paragraph by paragraph, line by line, to convey meaning,humor and pathos, their names don’t always appear on book covers. And translators say their industry is mired in problems of inequitable pay, a lack of diversity and an undervaluing of heritage speakers. We’ll talk with a panel of literary translators about the joys and challenges of their work. Tell us: Have you ever attempted to translate a literary text? What did you notice? What’s your favorite work in translation?

Guests:

Bruna Dantas Lobato, translates from Portuguese; advocate for translators not working into their first language; novelist and author of the forthcoming novel, "Blue Light Hours" - she has just been longlisted for the National Book Award;

Jennifer Croft, author, the forthcoming novel "The Extinction of Irena Rey"; translator for Polish Nobel Laureate Olga Tokarczuk; advocate for translators

Soje, translates from Korean; poet; creator of Chogwa - which presents multiple translations of the same poem in each issue

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New Book, 'This is So Awkward,' Helps Families Navigate Modern Puberty Oct 16, 2023

Show notes

Slamming a bedroom door is one of the first signs a young person is entering puberty. Then come the physical changes, first periods, wet dreams, acne, mood swings and many other shifts. But, today’s young people are experiencing puberty in different ways than their parents’ generation. It starts sooner and lasts longer, making a complex stage of life even more challenging. The authors of a new book, “This is So Awkward: Modern Puberty Explained,” will join us to lay out how puberty has changed and how families can navigate this tricky time in kids’ lives.

Guests:

Cara Natterson, co-author, "This Is So Awkward: Modern Puberty Explained" - Natterson, a pediatrician and podcaster, is the author of ten books including the New York Times bestselling series "The Care and Keeping of You" and “Guy Stuff”

Vanessa Kroll Bennett, co-author, "This is So Awkward: Modern Puberty Explained" - Bennett is co-host of the "Puberty Podcast"

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FORUM IN FOCUS: Mimi Tempestt + Cat Bohannon Oct 14, 2023

Show notes

This week we smash the patriarchy with interviews with multidisciplinary artist, poet, and author Mimi Tempestt on her new collection of poetry, "The Delicacy of Embracing Spirals" and writer and researcher Cat Bohannon on her book “Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution.” Catch up on the week's most compelling interviews in 30 minutes or less.

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A Very 'Spooked' Friday the 13th Oct 13, 2023

Show notes

Glynn Washington hosts the podcast Spooked, which features stories about the supernatural – told by the people who experienced them first-hand. We talk with Glynn about spirits, ghosts, and the stories that make us question what we know. Whether you’re a believer or a skeptic, we invite you to join us as we discuss stories from the Spooked archive, contemplate our relationship with spirits and the afterlife, and explore the cultural roots and value of ghostly tales.

Guests:

Glynn Washington, host and executive producer, Snap Judgment and Spooked podcasts.

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Rare Solar Eclipse Coming to the Bay Area Oct 13, 2023

Show notes

Solar eclipses happen roughly every six months, but they are rarely visible. This weekend, however, Bay Area residents will be able to see the moon pass in front of the sun in an annular eclipse. Another one, a total eclipse, is expected to cross our skies in April 2024. The celestial spectacles will be the last events to appear over the continental U.S. until 2045. We’ll dig into the science of solar eclipses, how to safely view an eclipse and hear the latest in space exploration.

Guests:

Andrew Fraknoi, astronomer and professor, Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco and the OLLI Program at SF State; author of many textbooks and popular books about astronomy

Marina Koren, staff writer, The Atlantic. Koren covers space for the magazine

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Pro Publica Investigates Why 'We Don't Talk About Leonard' Oct 12, 2023

Show notes

Leonard Leo, the powerful and well-funded leader of the Federalist Society who prevailed on the Trump Administration to nominate a slate of conservative, anti-abortion jurists to the Supreme Court, is now the subject of “We Don’t Talk About Leonard,” a new Pro Publica investigation and podcast. Now that he has created a right wing supermajority on the Supreme Court, “Leo has grander ambitions,” according to Pro Publica, “which include fighting against ‘wokism’ in education, ‘one-sided’ journalism, and ideas like environmental, social and governance policies” in corporate America. We learn what Pro Publica’s reporters have uncovered.

Guests:

Andrea Bernstein, creator of "We Don't Talk About Leonard," a podcast from On the Media and ProPublica; author of "American Oligarchs: The Kushners, the Trumps, and the Marriage of Money and Power"

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