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How Apple Fueled China's Economic and Technological Rise Jun 06, 2025

Show notes

The prevailing narrative about Apple in China over the last two decades is that the Cupertino company took advantage of low wages and weak labor laws to ship out close to half a billion devices per year. Journalist Patrick McGee says that narrative isn’t wrong, but it misses “the biggest piece of the puzzle: that Beijing allowed Apple’s activities so that China could exploit Apple and become a tech powerhouse in its own right.” We talk to McGee about his new book “Apple in China” and the threats the company faces from AI and the Trump administration.

Guests:

Patrick McGee, San Francisco correspondent, Financial Times - author, "Apple in China: The Capture of the World's Greatest Company"

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Tune-Yards’ Merrill Garbus on How She Makes Her Signature Sounds, Live in Studio Jun 06, 2025

Show notes

Oakland based art-pop band Tune-Yards is widely loved for their complex and funky rhythms, layers of sound, thrillingly dynamic vocals, and thought provoking lyrics. The duo, Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner, have just released a new album, “Better Dreaming,” praised by critics as highly danceable and jubilant while, as always, grappling with the state of the world. Merrill Garbus joins us in the studio for a new album listening party and to demonstrate how she creates her powerhouse sound.

Guests:

Merrill Garbus, singer, musician, Tune-Yards - newest album is "Better Dreaming"

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What It’s Like to Parent With Your Friends Jun 05, 2025

Show notes

NPR’s Rhaina Cohen has taken a close look at friend-powered parenting, joining shared households to see how neighbor-and-friend alliances can break the isolation of modern parenthood. We’ll talk about the challenges of communal living and what parents gain—emotionally, practically, even financially—when they raise their kids with their friends. Cohen’s recent piece for the Atlantic is “A Grand Experiment in Parenthood and Friendship.” Would you raise your kids with your best pals?

Guests:

Rhaina Cohen, producer and editor for the NPR Documentary podcast Embedded; author of the Atlantic piece, "A Grand Experiment in Parenthood and Friendship"

Phil Levin, founder, Live Near Friends

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As Final AIDS LifeCycle Ride Ends, Where Does AIDS Research Stand? Jun 05, 2025

Show notes

When the first AIDS LifeCycle ride rolled down the California coastline in 1994, AIDS was the leading cause of death for people aged 25 to 44. Today, HIV is no longer a death sentence and can be treated, though not cured. This weekend, the ride, which has raised $300 million for research, crosses the finish line for the last time. We take this moment to look back on the strides made in AIDS/HIV research and advocacy and explore the impact federal funding cuts to healthcare will have on stopping the spread of AIDS in the U.S. and around the world.

Guests:

Jeff Sheehy, long-time AIDS activist and first openly HIV+ member of SF Board of Supervisors; former board member, California Institute of Regenerative Medicine

Monica Gandhi, infectious disease expert; professor of medicine, UCSF

Jennifer Kates, senior vice president and director of Global Health & HIV Policy, KFF

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Is What Social Media Tells You About Protein… True? Jun 04, 2025

Show notes

“We’re in a protein craze, and it’s hard to ignore,” writes New York Times health reporter Alice Callahan. Social media feeds are inundated with claims about protein – encouraging protein-maxxing diets that contain many times the federal recommendations, and pushing supplements, artificial protein sources and lots of red meat. We’ll talk with Callahan and nutritionists about how to evaluate your own protein needs — and the risks of the online protein obsession.

Guests:

Alice Callahan, nutrition reporter, The New York Times

Christopher Gardner, nutrition scientist and professor of medicine, Stanford Prevention Research Center

Stuart Phillips, professor of kinesiology and nutrition researcher, McMaster University in Ontario, Canada

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Robert Macfarlane on the Lives and Rights of Rivers Jun 04, 2025

Show notes

Celebrated nature writer Robert Macfarlane has written about mountains, trails, and the old ways of humans on Earth. His new book lays out its premise in the title: “Is a River Alive?” He seeks answers to the question in a cloud forest in Ecuador, a dying ecosystem in Chennai, and a powerful river in Canada. We talk to Macfarlane about what rights nature should have and we hear from you. Do you feel a living presence in wild spaces?

Guests:

Robert Macfarlane, nature writer; author, "Is a River Alive?"; Previous books include "Underland: A Deep Time Journey"

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How Multi-level Marketing Became America’s ‘Unseen Propaganda Factory’ Jun 03, 2025

Show notes

For decades, multi-level marketing (or MLM) companies like Amway and Mary Kay have made the promise that people could become their own bosses, earn extra income and work flexible hours under the umbrella of a globally recognized brand. But in reality, the success rates for people working in multi-level marketing “are closer to those of gamblers in a casino.” That’s according to Bridget Read, author of the new book “Little Bosses Everywhere.” We talk to Read about the rise of the MLM model and why she says it helped fuel the modern conservative movement.

Guests:

Bridget Read, features writer, New York Magazine - author of the book “Little Bosses Everywhere: How the Pyramid Scheme Shaped America

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With So Much Vacant Ground Floor Retail, Why Are We Still Building More? Jun 03, 2025

Show notes

When new apartment and office buildings are built, Bay Area cities often require developers to include retail space on the ground floor. The goal s to create vibrant neighborhoods by encouraging foot traffic and what urban planners call street “activation.” And yet, many of these spaces are vacant all over the region from downtown San Francisco to Concord. We’ll talk about the challenges of filling up ground-floor retail, and if we should be changing the way we design buildings and neighborhoods.

Guests:

Sujata Srivastava, chief policy officer, SPUR - a nonprofit public policy organization in the San Francisco Bay Area

Alex Sagues, commercial real estate broker specializing in retail; senior vice president, CRBE

Dr. Daniel G. Chatman, professor and chair of the department of city and regional planning in the college of environmental design, UC Berkeley

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How Trump’s Massive, Wide Ranging Budget Bill Could Affect You Jun 02, 2025

Show notes

President Trump’s budget bill rolls back clean energy initiatives, reduces Medicaid benefits, alters student loan rules, and extends tax cuts to the wealthiest, among other initiatives. It passed in the House by a bare margin, but Republican senator Ron Johnson has called the bill “divorced from reality,” indicating that it may face headwinds in the Senate. We talk with reporters about what’s in the 1000-plus page bill and its political implications.

Guests:

Russell Berman, staff writer, The Atlantic

Claudia Grisales, congressional correspondent, NPR

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Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on the ‘Original Sin’ Controversy Jun 02, 2025

Show notes

Journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s new book, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” has generated massive coverage – and pushback – since its release in May. Some Democrats say it’s not time to focus on the past, amid the turmoil of the current administration. But Tapper and Thompson say that, “journalism about Biden does not excuse or normalize any actions and statements by anyone else, including the forty-fifth and now forty-seventh president.” We’ll talk with the authors about the controversy, the alleged “cover-up” of Biden’s decline and why they say a reckoning is needed for the future of the Democratic party.

Guests:

Jake Tapper, anchor and chief Washington correspondent, CNN; co-author, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again"

Alex Thompson, national political correspondent, Axios; co-author, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again"

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