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Latest Episodes:

New Movie ‘How to Blow Up a Pipeline’ Raises Questions about Climate Activism Apr 26, 2023

Show notes

The new movie ‘How to Blow up a Pipeline’ is a heist thriller about a group of young, mainly Gen Z, climate activists who decide to detonate a Texas pipeline in protest against Big Oil. They strive to risk no lives besides their own and for minimal environmental impact. But the questions remain: is this a valid form of protest? Are they eco-terrorists or activists? As climate change becomes more urgent and systemic solutions remain bogged down, viewers are left wondering what the limits are of effective action. We’ll hear from the filmmakers and from you: Are you an activist? What line do you refuse to cross?

Guests:

Dan Garber, film editor, "How to Blow Up a Pipeline"

Jordan Sjol, co-screenwriter and executive producer, "How to Blow Up a Pipeline"

Ariela Barer , co-screenwriter, producer and actor, "How to Blow Up a Pipeline"

Forrest Goodluck, actor, "How to Blow Up a Pipeline"

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KQED Youth Takeover: Iran’s Protest Movement Through the Eyes of the Bay Area Diaspora Apr 26, 2023

Show notes

Seven months ago 22 year old Mahsa Amini died in custody after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for an “improper hijab.” Her death prompted uproar and sparked a movement that extended throughout Iran and over social media. As part of KQED’s annual Youth Takeover week, Saratoga High sophomore Ryan Heshmati brings together a panel of Iranian women to discuss the viability of the movement in Iran in the face of the regime’s brutal crackdown against protesters and to discuss their own activism in the Bay Area.

Guests:

Ryan Heshmati, Saratoga High School sophomore

Shideh, young Iranian immigrant who recently came to the United States for education

Persis Karim, poet, essayist and Director for the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies, San Francisco State University

Pantea Karimi, Iranian-American artist and teacher

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Can You Love the Art of a Person You Loathe? Apr 25, 2023

Show notes

“What ought we to do about great art made by bad men?” That’s the question that undergirds Claire Dederer’s new book “Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma,” which explores whether and how we can love the works of people who’ve committed morally reprehensible acts. Dededer calls her book “an autobiography of the audience” — an effort to make sense of the complicated emotions we feel when engaging with the art of someone we loathe. We talk to Dederer about what it means — and whether it’s possible — to separate the art from the artist.

Guests:

Claire Dederer, author, "Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma"

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KQED Youth Takeover: Cybersecurity Tips and Tricks for a Safer Digital Life Apr 25, 2023

Show notes

Cybersecurity underpins our digital lives, and is relevant for all ages – including teens. According to the CDC, teens spend between 7.5 to 9 hours a day on their screens and being mindful of cybersecurity best practices is critical. As part of KQED’s annual Youth Takeover week, Cupertino High senior Rajvi Khanjan Shroff, founder of Project Cyber, a youth-run cybersecurity organization, joins us with a panel of experts she’s brought together to discuss what tips and tricks you can use to protect your devices and digital accounts to become cybersecure.

Guests:

Sheera Frenkel, technology reporter based in San Francisco, The New York Times; co-author of "An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination"

Rinki Sethi, vice president and Chief Information Security Officer, Bill.com

Rajvi Khanjan Shroff, high school senior, Cupertino High School; founder, Project Cyber - a cybersecurity organization

Riju Parakh, associate director, Global Cybersecurity and Managed Services Methodology Development for Ernst and Young

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Supreme Court Preserves Access to Key Abortion Drug, For Now Apr 24, 2023

Show notes

When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that “the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.” But less than a year later, the Supreme Court found itself needing to weigh in on medication abortion access. It decided on Friday to preserve access to mifepristone, a gold standard abortion drug, while lower courts sort out challenges to the FDA’s approval of the drug. We’ll examine where medication abortion access currently stands and what its future could look like.

Guests:

Shefali Luthra, health reporter covering the intersection of gender and health care, The 19th - an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy

Mary Ziegler, professor of law, UC Davis; author, "Dollars for Life: The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Fall of the Republican Establishment"

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Oakland A’s Fans Process Team’s Impending Departure Apr 24, 2023

Show notes

For decades, a dedicated, but shrinking, contingent of Oakland A’s fans piled into the Coliseum season after season, banging on drums and sporting their green and gold gear with pride. They did so despite the looming possibility that the team would depart. Now that team owners struck a deal to build a stadium in Las Vegas, scores of Oakland A’s fans are feeling stunned, dejected and hurt. The Vegas proposal comes after numerous failed attempts to find a new home in the Bay Area. We’ll talk about how fans are coping and what could happen next in the A’s long and complicated stadium saga.

Related articles:

The A’s Are A Poison Pill, by Ray Ratto

Guests:

Ann Killion, sports columnist, San Francisco Chronicle

David Peters, member, Howard Terminal Community Benefits Agreement Steering Committee; founder, Black Liberation Walking Tour; 3rd generation West Oakland resident and lifelong Oakland A's fan

Melissa Lockard, senior editor and staff writer, The Athletic; founder, the Oakland Clubhouse - a blog that covered Oakland A's prospects; lifelong A's fan

Bryan Johansen, co-owner, Last Dive Bar - small business that makes Coliseum-inspired merchandise and puts on events to rally support to keep the A's in Oakland

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How the Modern American Wedding Was Supersized Apr 21, 2023

Show notes

Weddings have gone from celebrating the “Big Day” to the “Big Year,” says journalist Annie Atherton. There’s the proposal party, the engagement party, the bachelor and/or bachelorette parties and even, a will-you-be-my-bridesmaid party. It’s all turned into wedding sprawl observes Atherton. While multi-day weddings are common in many cultures, the numerosity of events stretched over a year or more, feels new. Social media and consumerism play some role in the supersizing of weddings. But how can you separate the idea of the wedding you think you’re supposed to have from the one you really want? We’ll talk about how couples, families and guests are handling the modern wedding, and what to do about saying “I do.”

Guests:

Annie Midori Atherton, freelance writer and author of the recent Atlantic Magazine piece "The Uncontrollable Rise of Wedding Sprawl"

Chanda Daniels, wedding planner, A Monique Affair and Chanda Daniels Planning and Design

Cele Otnes, professor emerita of business administration, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign - Otnes studies rituals and consumer culture

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The Transformational Power of the Cassette Tape Apr 21, 2023

Show notes

When the Sony Walkman arrived in 1979 it not only changed the way we experience audio, it also changed the way we experience the world. Suddenly listening was a private experience and everyone with headphones on was experiencing their surroundings with a different soundtrack. Radiolab senior producer Simon Adler created a five part series for the podcast and a new live performance about the transformations spawned by that easy access to audio through the cassette tape and Walkman. We talk with Adler about the impact of the cassette tape across the globe – from opening communist China’s ears to rock and roll through our exported plastic trash to delivering hypnotic self help messages straight to listeners’ souls. What’s a cassette tape that changed your life?

Guests:

Simon Adler, senior producer, Radiolab

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Clancy Martin Explains ‘How Not To Kill Yourself’ Apr 20, 2023

Show notes

“I’ve lived nearly all my life with two incompatible ideas in my head,” writes philosophy professor Clancy Martin. “I wish I were dead and I’m glad my suicides failed.” Martin’s new book, “How Not To Kill Yourself,” combines memoir with research to take readers into the mind of a suicidal person. We talk to Martin about what to do if you or a loved one are considering suicide and why it’s important that we push against the stigma that attaches to those who contemplate ending their lives.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, you can call or text the national suicide hotline at 988.

Guests:

Clancy Martin, philosophy professor, University of Missouri, Kansas City; author, “How Not To Kill Yourself: A Portrait of the Suicidal Mind”

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Internet Archive Wants To Share Books Online, But Are They Breaking the Law? Apr 20, 2023

Show notes

For 26 years, the Open Library of the San Francisco-based Internet Archive has been preserving millions of books and lending them out freely online. Last month, a federal judge sided with a group of book publishing giants – Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, and Wiley – that sued the nonprofit archive for “mass copyright infringement.” Publishers argued, and the court agreed, that the Open Library provided a way for libraries to avoid paying ebook licensing fees that generate substantial revenue for publishers. Internet Archive, whose mission is to provide “universal access to all knowledge,” said it will appeal the ruling. We’ll talk about the dispute and explore how the lawsuit could set the stage for what book lending looks like in an increasingly digital era.

Guests:

Brewster Kahle, digital librarian; founder, Internet Archive

Sydney Johnson, reporter, KQED News

Tyler Ochoa, professor, Santa Clara University School of Law

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