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What’s Your Favorite California State Park? Jul 26, 2023

Show notes

From coastal beaches to the High Sierra, from redwood forests to desert sand dunes, California’s state park system has nearly three hundred sites available to explore and enjoy. These protected areas offer low-cost ways to scratch that itch for adventure, learn about California’s history and appreciate the state’s natural heritage. We’ll get recommendations from outdoor enthusiasts about where to go and what to do, and we’ll hear from you: what’s your favorite California state park?

Guests:

Brad Day, publisher, Weekendsherpa.com - A free weekly e-mail about accessible outdoor adventures in the Bay Area

Chelsee Lowe, travel and family writer

Jose Gonzalez, founder, Latino Outdoors - a community organization that encourages Latinos to go outdoors

Joe Connors, supervising ranger, Wilder Ranch State Park

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All You Can Eat: The Bay Area’s Favorite Sandwiches and Why We Love Them Jul 26, 2023

Show notes

The Bay Area may not have an official sandwich, but “our local sandwiches have an unparalleled layering of textures that can’t be found anywhere else,” writes Rocky Rivera in a recent essay for KQED. People here love deli meat on Dutch crunch bread or sourdough and don’t skip the avocados! Italian delis such as Little Luca in South San Francisco and Molinari in North Beach have cult followings. Customers line up around the block for Bakesale Betty’s fried chicken sandwich. So, what does it take to elevate a sandwich from just tasty to satisfyingly iconic? For our next installment of All You Can Eat, our regular series about Bay Area food cultures with KQED’s Luke Tsai, we bite into our favorite local sandos and why we love them.

Guests:

Saint Boney, owner and chef, The Saint Sandwich Shop

Cesar Hernandez, associate restaurant critic, San Francisco Chronicle

Albert Ok, owner, Ok's Deli in Oakland

Rocky Rivera, emcee and writer, part of KQED's "Frisco Foodies" series

Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & Culture

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Can Air Conditioning Become Greener? Jul 25, 2023

Show notes

It’s been a sweltering July for large swaths of California, and that means air conditioners have been running on high in households lucky enough to have them. But the energy air conditioners consume and the refrigerants they rely on pose serious threats to the climate. We learn about air conditioning tech and look at California’s efforts to make them greener. And we’ll hear from you: if you have air conditioning, do you have tips for using it efficiently? Or if you don’t have AC, or if you try to avoid using it, how do you keep cool?

Guests:

Ian McGavisk, senior fellow, RMI; author of the Global Cooling Status and Opportunities Report, UNEP

Ari Plachta, climate reporter, Sacramento Bee

Aanchal Kohli, climate policymaker, California Air Resources Board

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How Will Stanford President’s Resignation Impact the University? Jul 25, 2023

Show notes

Following a months-long investigation into his published research, Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced his plan to resign from his post. While investigators did not find that Tessier-Lavigne falsified data himself, they say he failed to respond appropriately when he was made aware of the problems. We’ll be joined Theo Baker, “The Stanford Daily” student reporter who first broke this story, and other experts about why this cost Tessier-Lavigne his job and what this means for Stanford.

Guests:

Theo Baker, investigations editor, The Stanford Daily

Lisa Krieger, research reporter, San Jose Mercury News

Jonathan Wosen, west coast biotech and life sciences reporter, STAT News

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Joy Harden Bradford on how 'Sisterhood Heals' Jul 24, 2023

Show notes

When Black women convene, writes licensed clinical psychologist Joy Harden Bradford, there is a “cadence and rhythm to our gatherings… a natural sisterhood that breeds openness.” That observation underlies Bradford’s approach to group therapy, which she says sparks breakthroughs and healing that often don’t happen as quickly in individual sessions. We talk to Bradford about what makes for a successful therapeutic community, and why elements like humor, intuitiveness and rhythm generate healing of Black women’s spaces. Bradford’s new book is “Sisterhood Heals: The Transformative Power of Healing in Community.”

Guests:

Joy Harden Bradford, licensed psychologist; host and founder Therapy for Black Girls; author, "Sisterhood Heals: The Transformative Power of Healing in Community"

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Immersive Documentary "32 Sounds" Encourages Us to Feel the Noise Jul 24, 2023

Show notes

The hushed thrum of the womb. The warble of the last living species of a now-extinct bird. The fury and thrust of a jet engine in flight. These are some of the sounds that populate filmmaker Sam Green’s immersive documentary “32 Sounds.” The movie is not just a collection of sounds, but rather a meditation on the strange power that sound has on us, whether it is voices, music, the natural world or sounds that we are trying to tune out. Watching the movie, even on a tiny screen, can be a full-body experience in which you’re encouraged by Green, who narrates the film, to feel the sound. We’ll talk to Green and his Oscar-winning sound designer, Mark Mangini, about how sound can literally move us.

32 Sounds will be screened at the Exploratorium on July 27, at the Smith Rafael Film Center July 28-30, the San Francisco Roxie Theater, July 29 and Berkeley’s Rialto Theater, July 30.

Guests:

Sam Green, filmmaker; his film,"32 Sounds" will be screened at the Exploratorium on July 27, at the Smith Rafael Film Center July 28-30, the San Francisco Roxie Theater, July 29 and Berkeley’s Rialto Theater, July 30.

Mark Mangini, sound designer, "32 Sounds"

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Andrew Leland Chronicles His Own Vision Loss in “The Country of the Blind” Jul 21, 2023

Show notes

Writer Andrew Leland has been going blind since he was a teenager, which is when he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. Now in his forties, he reflects that “the most painful part so far has been the not-knowing” when he will completely lose his sight. But his encroaching blindness has also been a portal to creativity and intellectual exploration. As someone who still has his sight, Leland wonders if he is a citizen in “the country of the blind” and if so, what does that mean? We talk to Leland about his new memoir “The Country of the Blind.”

Guests:

Andrew Leland, author, "The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight." Leland is an editor at "The Believer" and, from 2013 to 2019, he hosted and produced the podcast "The Organist" for KCRW in Los Angeles.

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Can A Life Hack Change Your Life? Jul 21, 2023

Show notes

“Show me the life hack you randomly saw one day, that is now an unconscious, standard practice in your life.” That’s the call to action Kelly Hurst posed on TikTok that has since gone viral with over 37,000 responses and millions of views. People have created ingenious shortcuts for all kinds of tasks, from using the car seat warmer to keep takeout warm to using the washing machine as an ice bucket for parties. Life hacks can be anything that saves time, effort or money and takes the friction out of your day. We’ll talk to Hurts and a panel of journalists and life hackers who will share the best (and worst) tips out there, and we’ll hear from you: What’s a life hack that you’ve adopted?

Guests:

Carly Severn, senior editor of audience news, KQED

Jordan Calhoun, editor-in-chief, Lifehacker.com

Kelly Hurst, content creator, TikTok; host, The Life Bath podcast

Ross Yoder, food and lifestyle editor, Buzzfeed

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Historic Double Strike Shuts Down Hollywood Jul 20, 2023

Show notes

Hollywood productions have gone dark after TV and film actors, represented by SAG-AFTRA, joined members of the Writers Guild of America on the picket line last week. Like the writers, actors are striking over compensation, residual payments and the use of AI to replace them. This is the first time in more than 60 years that both writers and actors have gone on strike simultaneously. We’ll talk about the impact of both strikes and the connections between them.

Guests:

Alissa Wilkinson, senior correspondent, Vox

Eric Haywood, writer, producer and director. His TV shows include "Empire" and "Law & Order: Organized Crime"

Jonathan Handel, entertainment and technology attorney, TroyGould. He's also a journalist covering labor and entertainment for Puck.

Kathryn Howell, president, SAG-AFTRA San Francisco-Northern California local; actress known for a wide range of character roles in film and TV, including "Criminal Minds," "The Zodiac" and "James and the Giant Peach."

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America’s Approach to Drug Addiction Isn’t Working, So What Should We Do? Jul 20, 2023

Show notes

In his latest article for The Atlantic, Sam Quinones writes that America’s shift toward treatment instead of jail time for drug abuse “is both well intentioned and out of date, given the massive street supplies of fentanyl and meth. It is failing just about everyone.” He argues that instead of waiting for addicts to voluntarily enter rehab, the legal system should force them to go. Quinones is a journalist who has covered the drug trade for over a decade and published two books on the subject: “The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth” and “Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic.” We’ll talk about how to address the nation’s ever-more challenging drug crisis that we see playing out on our streets and in our families.

Guests:

Sam Quinones, journalist and author. His recent piece in The Atlantic is titled "America's Approach to Addiction Has Gone Off the Rails.” His books include "The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth" and "Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic."

Vitka Eisen, president and CEO, HealthRIGHT 360, San Francisco's largest drug treatment provider

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