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Pickleball Gaining Popularity One Dink at a Time Jul 20, 2022

Show notes

If you overheard someone shout, “nice dink in the kitchen!” you probably just walked by a pickleball court. Pickleball, the fastest growing sport in the United States, is taking over park and rec centers all over California as players clamor for more court time. Invented in 1965 by a Washington state congressman and his friend to entertain their bored kids, pickleball’s popularity took off during the pandemic, with an almost 40% increase in players. Across the country over four million people are playing pickleball, and its enthusiasts have formed a variety of professional organizations, leagues and tournaments with an eye to getting certified as an Olympic sport. We’ll look at how and why pickleball has become an American obsession. Have you picked up a paddle?

Guests:

John Walters, sportswriter, Sports Illustrated; adjunct professor of Sports Media, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Walters wrote the Sports Illustrated cover story about pickleball "Barbarians in the Kitchen"

Rachel Simon, author, "Pickleball for All: Everything But the 'Kitchen' Sink" which comes out on August 30

Jordan Briones, pickleball professional and instructor; co-founder, Primetime Pickleball; creator, pickleball YouTube instruction channel: @brionespickleball.

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Shortage of Monkeypox Vaccine Sparks Protest and Fear in Bay Area Jul 20, 2022

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Many Bay Area residents are scrambling and traveling long distances to get a monkeypox vaccine. Public health officials are warning of the serious shortage of vaccines needed to combat the growing outbreaks of monkeypox across the country. Since it was detected in the U.S. in May, the CDC has reported over 1,800 cases of the painful, but very rarely fatal, viral disease. About a quarter of the cases are in California, which expected to receive 15,000 doses of the vaccine this week but logistical, bureaucratic and technical errors on a federal level have slowed the distribution of nearly 7 million doses nationwide. Although anyone can get the disease, U.S. monkeypox cases have disproportionately affected men who have sex with men. LGBTQ activists protested federal offices in San Francisco this week out of concern we’re seeing a repeat of the public health failures of the early days of the HIV epidemic. We’ll discuss concerns about monkeypox and what local public health officials are doing to respond.

Guests:

Anne Rimoin , professor, Center for Global and Immigrant Health, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health

Susan Philip, director of Director of Population Health Division, San Francisco Department of Public Health

Tyler TerMeer, CEO, San Francisco AIDS Foundation

Fernando Gomez-Benitez , deputy director, Mission Neighborhood Health Center

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Could Abortion Providers Become Conscientious Objectors? Jul 19, 2022

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In 1973, not long after the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, Congress amended the Public Health Service Act to allow medical professionals to refuse to provide abortion care on the basis of their moral or religious beliefs. But if healthcare workers can be “conscientious objectors” to abortion care, couldn’t “conscientious providers” of abortion be legally protected, too? That’s the question University of San Diego law professor and bioethicist Dov Fox asks in his recent New York Times op-ed “What Will Happen if Doctors Defy the Law to Provide Abortions?” We’ll talk to Fox and other experts about the medical and moral dilemmas abortion providers face in the post-Roe world.

Guests:

Dov Fox, professor of law and director, Center for Health Law Policy and Bioethics, University of San Diego School of Law

Dr. Jennifer Conti, adjunct clinical assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Stanford University

Sonja Sharp, metro reporter, LA Times

Dr. David Eisenberg , associate director, Division of Family Planning, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine

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Erika L. Sanchez’s Memoir Takes On Mental Illness, Motherhood, and “Crying in the Bathroom” Jul 19, 2022

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Acclaimed poet and novelist Erika L. Sanchez’s memoir, “Crying in the Bathroom,” presents a series of poignant essays about growing up in Chicago in a working-class Mexican neighborhood, her rise to literary fame and her struggles with mental illness. Her book details many moments when she was successfully achieving her dreams and, simultaneously, considering ending her life. Sanchez is also author of the poetry collection, “Lessons on Expulsion,” and the young adult novel, “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter,” that is being adapted into a movie. She joins us to talk about making it as a Mexican-American writer, sex and shame, Buddhism, and crying in the bathroom.

Guests:

Erika L. Sanchez, poet, novelist, essayist and professor at DePaul University. Her new memoir is "Crying the Bathroom." Her other books include the poetry collection, "Lessons on Expulsion," the young adult novel, "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter."

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Malcolm Nance on The Insurgents Who Want to Kill Americans Jul 19, 2022

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By the end of the summer of 2020 -- after a violent militia group plotted to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and after Proud Boys members attacked Black Lives Matters protesters in cities around the country -- it was clear to intelligence professionals that these groups "were planning for war." That's according to counterterrorism expert Malcolm Nance, whose new book "They Want to Kill Americans" traces the rise of what he calls TITUS, or the Trump Insurgency in the United States. We'll talk to Nance about who the insurgents are and how we can counteract the threat they pose to our democracy.

Guests:

Malcolm Nance, former United States naval intelligence officer, specializing in cryptology & counterterrorism. His new book is "They Want to Kill Americans: The Militias, Terrorists, and Deranged Ideology of the Trump Insurgency."

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Laguna Honda Hospital Has 60 Days to Move Over 600 Patients Before It Shuts Down. It’s Only Placed 48 So Far. Jul 19, 2022

Show notes

Laguna Honda Hospital opened up in 1866 to care for the city’s poor and indigent. Now over 150 years later, federal officials have threatened to shut the hospital, which operates as a skilled nursing facility, because of failed inspections prompted by two nonfatal drug overdoses that occurred onsite. In order to be recertified to operate, Laguna Honda must move out over 600 of its residents and has until September 13 to make that happen. So far, they have only moved 48 patients. What happened to the hospital and how will these patients be taken care of? We’ll discuss the ongoing situation at Laguna Honda and talk about what this situation says about how we care for our most vulnerable friends and neighbors.

Guests:

Sydney Johnson, public health reporter, San Francisco Examiner.

Tony Chicotel, Staff Attorney, California Advocates For Nursing Home Reform.

Jessica Lehman, executive director, Senior & Disability Action.

Roland Pickens, director of the San Francisco Health Network, a network of 13 clinics in SF, interim CEO of Laguna Honda Hospital, Laguna Honda Hospital.

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Should Biden Run Again in 2024? Jul 15, 2022

Show notes

President Biden’s approval rating is below 40%, and a poll this week from the New York Times and Siena College found 64% of Democratic voters would prefer a new presidential candidate in 2024. We’ll talk about what’s fueling voter dissatisfaction with the president, and we want to hear from you: should Biden run again? If not, do you have ideas of who should pick up the mantle?

Guests:

Tamara Keith, NPR White House correspondent, Co-host of the @NPRPolitics podcast.

Marisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED - Co-host of KQED's Political Breakdown show.

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The Snappers, Clackers, Ka-chunkers and Sha-shonkers That Make Movies Sound Great Jul 15, 2022

Show notes

When E.T. walked across the screen and into the hearts of moviegoers everywhere, that lovable space alien who wanted to “phone home” needed a sound for its walk. Foley artists, the sound magicians who add special effects to movies, decided to use a bag of jello in a damp T-shirt. Indeed, a Foley artist is nothing but ingenious. Snappers, clackers, ka-chunkers, sha-shonkers and things that go “ronk” are just a few things you might find in their toolbox, along with celery — good for broken bones — or paperclips on gloves to imitate a cat walking down the hall. We’ll learn about these tricks of the trade from some of the world’s best Foley artists at Skywalker Sound in Marin.

Guests:

Anna Wiener, contributing writer, The New Yorker - She is the author of the memoir "Uncanny Valley." Her most recent piece for the New Yorker is titled "Noisemakers."

Shelley Roden, Foley artist, Skywalker Sound - Roden has worked as a Foley artist for over 25 years, and has worked on "Black Panther," "Top Gun: Maverick," "Soul," "Turning Red," and hundreds of other films.

Scott Curtis, Foley Mixer, Curtis has mixed sound for a variety of movies including "Titanic," "Team America" and "Black Panther."

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Would You Leave the United States If You Could? Jul 14, 2022

Show notes

“Where else can we go when this country turns on us?” That’s the question author Wajahat Ali wrestles with in his recent column for the Daily Beast, “Is It Time for Me to Leave America?” Ali, who is Muslim and U.S.-born, says it feels reckless not to have at least an exit plan if you’re a person of color in the United States in this political and cultural climate. He also says that in his heart, he knows he will stay. We’ll talk with Ali and others who’ve contemplated emigrating about what’s prompting them to leave and what’s keeping them home.

Guests:

Wajahat Ali, author, "Go Back to Where You Came From;" columnist, the Daily Beast; co-host, Democracy-ish

Areyon Jolivette, Los Angeles-based writer

Bridget R. McCurtis, DEI and leadership strategist, living in St. Kitts

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The James Webb Telescope Reveals the Edges of the Universe Jul 14, 2022

Show notes

A nursery of stars. Galaxies 13 billion light years away. The Carina Nebula. These are some of the spectacular images captured by the James Webb Telescope from its vantage point one million miles away from earth. As the telescope’s detail-saturated pictures were beamed across the world on Tuesday, they were met with awed silence as well as whoops of joy from scientists, some whose entire careers have been dedicated to the telescope. One of the most complicated spacecraft ever launched, the the telescope, which boasts a sun shield the size of a tennis court, will beam back images and data for the next 20 years. We’ll talk to scientists who helped design the James Webb Telescope and find out what we can expect to see next.

Guests:

Marcia Rieke, Regents' professor of Astronomy and astronomer, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona - Dr. Rieke is the principal investigator for the NIRCam on the James Webb Space Telescope.

Tom Greene, astrophysicist, Space Science and Astrobiology Division at NASA Ames Research Center - Dr. Greene works on the NIRCam and MIRI science instruments on the James Webb Telescope.

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

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