Ross Files with Dave Ross

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Marshall Allen, Health Insurers Make it Easy for Scammers to Steal Millions Jul 24, 2019

Show notes

Dave talks with journalist Marshall Allen about his latest investigative piece for ProPublica, in which he uncovers a shockingly easy loophole that allows anyone - including people with criminal backgrounds - to send bills to your health insurance.

Some of the biggest companies, including Aetna, United and Cigna, pay 96-99% of bills automatically. And they lose millions of dollars to fraud each year.

Hear parts of the story that didn't make it on air: like the bizarre way one scammer finally got caught after he managed to charge insurance companies $25 million over the course of four years.

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Michael Friedson, What Happens If Ilhan Omar Visits Israel and Palestine Jul 22, 2019

Show notes

Michael Friedson is the co-founder and executive editor of The Media Line, an American news agency covering the Middle East.

He talks with Dave about how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become an American political issue, goes over some quick background on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), and discusses what we can expect and hope for if Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is able to arrange a trip to the region.

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Tom Norwalk, Is Seattle Too Popular? Jul 18, 2019

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Bumper-to-bumper traffic, an entirely new neighborhood in South Lake Union and a long line at the original Starbucks. Who on earth would want even more people in Seattle?

Well, Tom Norwalk would! He's the President and CEO of Visit Seattle, and he sings the praises of our rainy little city in places as far away as Australia and Tokyo.

He sits down with Dave to talk about why tourism in Seattle is a good thing, gives us a sneak peek of some new tourist attractions coming to town, and talks about some of the reasons that overtourism - which is becoming a major problem in European cities - isn't really an issue in the United States.

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Robert Ostrom, The Life-Saving Drug No One Can Afford Jul 03, 2019

Show notes

Robert Ostrom was happy to retire from his job as a nurse and nurse anesthetist after 20+ years working in operating rooms in Seattle. Then he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The health insurance he had switched to for his retirement considered the cancer a pre-existing condition, and that's when Robert found out that the life-saving medication he was taking, Zytiga, would cost as much as $11,000 out of pocket, every month.

Robert talks with Dave about how he found a workaround, and what he wants other people to know if they find themselves in a similar bind.

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Nada Bakos on Iran, Terrorism and Her Life in the CIA Jun 28, 2019

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Dave Ross talks with Nada Bakos, who worked as a "targeter" in the CIA tracking terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. They discuss the escalating tension with Iran, why she considers climate change one of our biggest national security threats, and how Trump's tweets are giving volatile foreign leaders like Putin and Kim Jong Un a dangerously intimate view into our nation's psyche.

Nada Bakos will discuss her new book The Targeter: My Life in the CIA, Hunting Terrorists and Challenging the White House at Seattle's Town Hall on Sunday, June 30th.

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Anna Fifield, The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Kim Jong Un Jun 12, 2019

Show notes

Anna Fifield gained access to Kim Jong Un's inner circle in hopes of uncovering truths about a man shrouded in myth and propaganda at the front of an authoritarian regime. She talked to the aunt and uncle who posed as his parents when he was growing up in Switzerland, Dennis Rodman's entourage, and the Japanese sushi chef who worked in the royal family's household when Kim Jong Un was a child.

Fifield is the Beijing bureau chief for the Washington Post, and her book, The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un is out today. She will be in Seattle for a Town Hall event on Sunday, June 16th at 7:30 pm.

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Malia Burns, First High School Seniors Graduate from a Charter School Jun 11, 2019

Show notes

Malia Burns is the principal of Summit Sierra, a charter school in the International District. Tonight, her very first class of high school seniors is graduating. 98% have been accepted to at least one four-year college or university, and between Summit Sierra and their sister high school in Tacoma, the students have received over $3 million in grants and scholarships.

Dave and Malia discuss opening more charter schools, their policy of not allowing teachers to unionize, and the cost of Summit Sierra compared to a traditional public school.

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Dr. Carrie Rose, Is Your Doctor Exhausted? Jun 04, 2019

Show notes

An national survey from the American Medical Association found that 44% of physicians experience burnout.

It's a startlingly high percentage for a profession that we all rely upon to keep ourselves healthy. And it hasn't always been like this.

Dave Ross sits down with Dr. Carrie Rose to discuss the leading causes behind physician burnout that make it a distinctly modern phenomenon. Dr. Rose practices family medicine, a specialty that experiences one of the highest rates of burnout at 47%.

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Tony Horwitz, Spying on the South May 29, 2019

Show notes

Tony Horwitz passed away suddenly on May 27th during his tour for his latest book, Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide. Horwitz was a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and he also authored Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War.

Dave spoke with Horwitz during the Seattle stop of his book tour just a few weeks ago. They discussed Horwitz's journey retracing the steps of Frederick Law Olmsted across the south, and how to bridge the partisan divide at this particular moment in our nation's history.

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Kathleen Belew, White Power May 28, 2019

Show notes

Dave talks with Kathleen Belew, whose new book Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America gives historical context to the visible white power movement we're seeing resurge during Trump's presidency.

This movement is not new. They're militarized. They're extremely organized online, and created an early version of Facebook for themselves years before Zuckerberg went to Harvard. Belew sees the white power movement as a cellular terrorist organization that is fundamentally anti-American.

Kathleen Belew is an assistant professor of U.S. History at the University of Chicago. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Washington in 2005.

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