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Loss, Grief and Mourning in the Age of A.I. Imitations Aug 02, 2021

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Last fall, in search of a way to cope with his grief over the death of his fiancée eight years prior, Joshua Barbeau used artificial intelligence software to program a chatbot to simulate his fiancée, based on old texts she’d sent him. Barbeau told the San Francisco Chronicle that his conversations with the A.I. bot allowed him to feel a sense of closure and to better handle his grief. Barbeau isn’t the first to chat with digital imitations of lost loved ones, and as A.I software improves, he’s not likely to be the last. It’s all spawning ethics concerns and broader conversations around grief itself. We’ll talk about postmortem A.I. ethics and how A.I. might impact our mourning processes in the years to come.

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Tell Us Your Podcast Recommendations Jul 30, 2021

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Podcasts are booming, and it’s hard work to choose among the more than 2 million titles now available on popular streaming services like Spotify and iTunes. Whether your tastes veer toward pop culture, true crime or narrative storytelling, we want to hear from you. What’s the podcast you can’t stop telling your friends about? What do you look for in a podcast? We’ll hear your top picks and get recommendations from a panel of critics and podcasters.

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Olympics Week One Roundup: Wins, Losses, and Reckonings on Athlete Mental Health, Sexism Jul 30, 2021

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On Thursday, U.S. gymnast Sunisa Lee won all-around gold as fellow gymnast and defending champion Simone Biles celebrated in the stands following her withdrawal from the event earlier this week. We’ll catch up on the big news--and the controversies around women’s uniforms and athlete mental health--in the first big week of the Olympics. And we hear how the Olympians with Bay Area ties are faring, including in mountain biking, softball, and swimming.

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In 'Stereo(TYPE),' poet Jonah Mixon-Webster Analyzes Identity and His Hometown Flint, Michigan Jul 29, 2021

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"It is 2020 and the City of Flint Says, / 'Don't boil the water' / And I refuse to drink a single drop / from any tap or bottle now. I've stopped / bathing completely, waiting for rain to slick / my skin back on. So begins Jonah Mixon-Webster's poem "Incubation," featured in his debut poetry collection, Stereo(TYPE). Initially published by Ahsahta Press in 2018 and re-published by Knopf Doubleday this month, "Stereo(TYPE)" describes Mixon-Webster's experiences and traumas endured as a Black queer man and criticizes the governmental neglect and treatment of his hometown, Flint, Michigan. In poems that vary in form and use words that overlap and span pages, balancing harshness with tenderness, Mixon-Webster's poetry collection explores what it means to tell one's story - and the story of one's community - through experiments in language.

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New Poll of Likely Voters Shows Newsom Recall Vote Is Close Jul 29, 2021

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A new poll by UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies shows that among likely voters, 47% favor the recall of Governor Gavin Newsom, and 50% oppose. While the referendum date is September 14th, mail-in voting starts next month and campaigning for and against the proposal is heating up across the state. We look at where the recall currently stands and how voter turnout might affect the outcome.

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Author Kristen Radtke Takes a 'Journey Through American Loneliness' Jul 29, 2021

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Is there a difference between feeling alone and being lonely? This is one of the questions that propelled author Kristen Radtke to write "Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness." Evocative yet spare illustrations by Radtke propel her search to understand the biological underpinnings of loneliness, the research around it and the ways in which it is expressed and handled in American culture. A combination of graphic nonfiction and memoir, "Seek You" moves beyond Radtke's own story to look at loneliness through multiple lenses. We talk to Radtke to learn more about what it means to be lonely.

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Sobering Testimony from Police Officers Launches House Committee Investigation of January 6 Insurrection Jul 28, 2021

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Four police officers who were on the scene January 6th as insurrectionists breached the U.S. Capitol gave emotional testimony on Tuesday about the physical, verbal --and in some cases racist -- abuse they endured. Meanwhile, Congressional Republican leadership continues to downplay the insurrection, a fact that one officer testifying yesterday called “disgraceful.” We get your reaction to the first major hearing of the House select committee investigating the deadly Capitol attack.

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How the Delta Variant Is Driving Another Wave of COVID-19 Jul 28, 2021

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The Delta variant now accounts for the vast majority of new COVID-19 infections in the United States. New models suggest the variant is driving a stark increase in daily case counts. Already, hospitals in some communities in Florida have matched their peaks from the days before the vaccines. The CDC has revised its guidelines about who needs to wear a mask and why. In this hour, we talk about what a Delta wave looks like, who is most at risk, and what’s different now as we mark 450 days of the pandemic.

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'Orca' Explores Extinction Crisis Facing Pacific Northwest Whales Jul 26, 2021

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In 2018, science journalist Lynda Mapes drew international attention for her day-by-day coverage of the female orca known as "Tahlequah," who carried her dead newborn calf more than 1000 miles through the Salish Sea before finally letting her go. That reporting formed the basis for Mapes's newest book "Orca: Shared Waters, Shared Home," which explores the sophisticated social networks that orcas form and the environmental threats that are driving them to extinction.

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Checking in on Bay Area Ferries Jul 26, 2021

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Not much can beat sipping a coffee or drink from the cafe as you gaze over the SF skyline heading to work — or returning home — on one of the ferries that crisscross the San Francisco Bay. But the pandemic lockdown hit the ferries hard: From one day to the next, the Golden Gate Ferry went from operating six vessels a day, to two. In this hour, we get the latest on when ferry service will be restored to pre-pandemic levels, hear about new routes and plans for a “green fleet” and learn why ferries are key in a disaster.

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