The San Francisco Experience

Political violence in America is on the rise. As the Nation has grown more diverse through immigration, militant violence has grown. Attacks have targeted religious and ethnic minorities, law enforcement and have been perpetrated by anti government extremists, religious extremists and lone wolf shooters.

With a market Capitalization of $ 3.1 Trillion, Apple makes 500,000 iPhones everyday mostly in China. 90% of iPhones are produced there. Apple has built the world's most advanced electronic production supply chain in China, not America.

The Bay Area is home to a significant space industry. It benefits from the national labs located here, research universities and venture capital industry.

George Joannides was a CIA Branch Chief at the CIA Miami Station. He was responsible for the Anti Castro student group the DRE. The DRE baited Oswald in New Orleans for passing out pro Castro flyers. They also ensured that Oswald was interviewed on radio and TV as a left wing Castro sympathizer. Those clips were used after the assassination to bolster the Oswald lone nut Castro supporter image.

Independent voters, especially among Gen Z and Millennials is a growing cohort and eschews the binary choice of Democrat or Republican parties, unlike their Baby Boomer parents. Such a political realignment could help break the polarized politics that plagues our country.

Jayne Mansfield was a Hollywood film star of the late 1950s and early 60s. Her daughter Mariska Hargitay has directed this documentary with a strong personal memoir of her Mother. It can be seen on HBO.

An era of great technological change is unfolding before us which will transform every aspect of our lives sooner than you think.

To reduce the chasm of polarization in American Politics, Professor Fishkin has developed a successful process of Deliberative Polling that he has employed in 160 cases in the US and overseas to great success.

Michelangelo's 34 frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, which he painted in the 16th Century, are considered to be one of the greatest artworks in the Western artistic canon. Martin Biallas, the CEO of SEE Global Entertainment, walks us through the creative genius behind the Exhibition which is currently on display at San Francisco's St. Mary's Cathedral as well as eight other global venues.

Henry Christophe was a Haitian revolutionary leader and patriot who fought in the Battle of Savannah against the British. He rose through the ranks of the French Army to become a General. Then went on to be President and subsequently King of the State of Haiti.

Life has found ways to adapt on Earth for almost 4 billion years. Climate change, industrial pollution and diseases pose new and additional burdens on all forms of life. Yet adaptation continues all around us.

The Big Beautiful Bill contains AI legislation that would preclude all states from regulating AI for 10 years. Any existing laws would be paused for 10 years. Such action could decimate consumer protections. But AI fans argue that having 50 states each legislating their own rules would hamstring AI development putting the US at a competitive disadvantage to China.

Independent voters are a growing slice of the American electorate: They swung to Trump in 2024 and 2016 and Biden in 2020. The Independent Center focuses on these voters who are fiscally responsible, socially tolerant and free to choose the best options for themselves, their families and communities.

When President Trump federalized the CA National Guard during the LA riots, he set up a confrontation with Governor Gavin Newsom who sued the Administration in Federal Court. While Newsom won the first round, Trump has appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, with the CA National Guard continuing under the command of the President pending the appeal.

For almost 50 years Progressivism has favored a Jeffersonian approach giving weight to the individual's concerns pushing power down instead of a Hamiltonian approach favoring pushing power up.

Antisemitism has emerged as a growing threat to America's Jewish community. Academia has been a breeding ground for this pernicious philosophy. Professor Perliger outlines its' origins and early steps to confront it on campus and in society.

Mayor Daniel Lurie is 5 months into his term as Mayor of San Francisco and he is getting good marks so far. Journalist and San Franciscan Erica Sandberg discusses how the Mayor is managing a major transformation of The City by The Bay.

Cuts to Universities' federally funded research budgets are impacting the top Scientific Research Universities in the United States. We have started to feel it here in Silicon Valley. Where will it lead ?

1925 marked a peak year in American Literature with the publication of The Great Gatsby, In our Time, The Harlem Renaissance. Tom has created a reference work marking the outstanding books and authors of the pivotal year for American Literature.

Ambassador Sullivan served as Deputy Secretary of State from 2017 to 2019. He then became Ambassador to the Russian Federation serving as Ambassador from 2019 to 2022. He served in both the Trump and Biden Administrations in the lead up to and early in the Ukraine War.

Ambassador Bill Luers was an advocate of promoting American interests overseas, by showcasing our leading writers, painters and artists through Cultural Exchange Programs. He remained committed to the persuasive soft power of Culture to further US foreign policy goals. "Uncommon Company" is a memoir of his work promoting the Arts overseas and at home.

A memoir which melds Frank's professional development and progress in the White House with personal impressions and anecdotes about President Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan from 1981 to 1989.

While US and Russian diplomatic relations remain frozen citizen diplomats continue to talk to each other despite limited official contacts.

The 2024 presidential campaign was especially momentous with an incumbent President leaving the race after a disastrous debate performance and the challenger being attacked by assassins two times. Unparalleled in modern times.

In January 1945 Art and Architecture magazine commissioned 8 nationally known architects to design contemporary, single family homes with a specific budget to meet the expected homebuilding boom in the post war era. 33 Case Study homes were built as models from 1945 to 1966. The Stahl House in Los Angeles is Case Study House #22 and is open to visit.

Bertrand Delhom was the first person with Parkinson's to sail around the world in the competitive Ocean Global Race (OGR). Building on that experience to raise public awareness of Parkinson's a fundraising regatta will be held on the SF Bay in April 2026 and the MJF Fdn will be involved with sponsoring the Neptune in the 2027 OGR.

Spark SF Public Schools is the official non profit partner of The San Francisco Unified School District. They mobilize philanthropic and community support for San Francisco's public school students ranging from mental health programs to reading at grade level literacy.

The United States has often used pressure tactics like sanctions, military threats and diplomatic isolation - Coercive Diplomacy - to achieve foreign policy goals. But from 1990 to 2020 the results of such actions has been mixed. Why ? Is Coercive Diplomacy still a statecraft tool for the US to use so frequently ?

Turner Classic Movies hosts a classic movie festival every year in Los Angeles. The theme this year was " Grand Illusions: Fantastic Worlds on Film ". Shaun Chang attended this year and shares his impressions.

Canada goes to the polls on Monday April 28, 2025 to choose a new government. Incumbent Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre are the two main candidates for the top job. The election will be the first held against the backdrop of the Trump tariffs which have dominated the election campaign. The incumbent Liberals were likely to lose earlier this year but have surged back as President Trump taunted Justin Trudeau and suggested Canada should become the 51st state.

The Post War Consensus, based on the Open Society was crafted to dampen and eliminate passions that fueled nationalism, militarism, anti-semitism in WWI and WWII. The de-emphasis of traditional beliefs in family, flag, faith in favor of individualism, secularity and internationalism served to cool emotions and for 80 years in the Western Democracies peace prevailed. But that consensus is coming to an end as a wave of Populism has swept across the US, UK and other nations. What will replace it ?

The Ravensbruck concentration camp was a labor camp housing political dissidents from across the German occupied continent of Europe. The book tells the story of four French women who had a major impact for the good on the inmates, and their fellow countrymen. "Something must be done."

Joe Rogan interviewed the Telepathy Tapes producer Ky Dickens. Michael Marshall is the co-host of The Know Rogan Experience and critically analyses the claims made about telepathy in the interview. He is also editor of The Skeptic Magazine.

Mark Twain's novel features an enslaved man Jim who teams up with young Huck rafting down the Mississippi to freedom. But Jim has become one of the more controversial characters in American Literature. This book sheds new light on one of Mark Twain's most endearing albeit misunderstood characters.

San Francisco's venerable Ferry Building opened in 1898 but by 1938 with the opening of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges, the need for commuter ferries vanished overnight. And with that, the grand transit hub fell on uncertain times. But through luck and civic activism the iconic former transportation hub has reinvented itself yet again, and is the centerpiece of a revived Embarcadero.

Veteran San Francisco Chronicle journalist Kevin Fagan wrote a 5 part series on homelessness in 2003 called "Shame of the City". Some of the characters profiled in that series became lifelong friends and were profiled in The Lost and The Found. Kevin had a 32 year career at The Chronicle.

Canada has a new Prime Minister, Mark Carney, and faces a General Election on April 28, 2025. The key - some would say existential - issues facing Canadian voters are the Economy and managing the US relationship with the Trump Administration. Marci Surkes served as advisor to Justin Trudeau, the former Prime Minister and witnessed historic policy debates and decisions.

Technology has reversed the information balance of power between the public and the elites .

Populist agendas of the Left and Right threaten to undermine fundamental principles that underpin liberal democracies. What can we do to reverse the trend ? Is it too late ?

San Francisco has over 4500 reports of child abuse annually. Safe and Sound for over 50 years has been working with at risk families to deal with the problem and prevent recurrences.

As an example of American True Crime stories, the Zodiac killings in the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s and 1970s, continue to fascinate. In today's episode, we discuss the 2007 movie, Zodiac and the 2024 Netflix docuseries, This is the Zodiac speaking.

Paranormal phenomena are all around us: UFOs, Telepathy, alien abductions. But what is the psychology behind such beliefs ? Anomalistic Psychology seeks to explain the psychological bases of these beliefs.

The Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco is an independent biomedical research institution that empowers world class scientists to find new pathways to cure disease.

Men have a different relationship with their health and doctors than women have. And it continues to evolve for the better as men are more likely to seek care earlier than they would have done 30 plus years ago. But there is still a cultural bias against appearing to be weak: more change is warranted.

New tech has created many billionaires and with that, extreme wealth. With AI and other advanced technologies on the horizon, the prospect of even greater wealth creation is highly likely. But how is social policy evolving to address the social ills that accompany new technology and new wealth ?

President Trump has convened a meeting with Russia in Riyadh to discuss Peace in Ukraine. President Macron also convened a meeting of European leaders while President Zelensky of Ukraine is meeting with Turkish President Erdogan in Ankara. First steps to end the three year conflict.

The third Monday of February is a federal holiday established to honor our first President George Washington. But since 1970 when it was created, the holiday has evolved to acknowledge all of the 45 men who have served as President.

Violeta Parra was a renowned folksinger whose Chilean folk songs have been popularized around the world. She also ventured into painting and ceramics and was well received in Europe. Though the Chilean public was less excited about her art in the 1960s.

Google dominates the search market with an 89.6% share. With most Americans getting their news from the Internet, Google News is a major delivery system. Yet 63% of its stories lean Left, per All Sides Media, 16% Center and 6% Right. Tusk is working to level the playing field and to address that ideological skew.

The wildly popular podcast series Telepathy Tapes now in its' second season, argues that some non verbal autistic children can communicate via telepathy. But traditional psychologists are skeptical, arguing that the subjects in the series and communication methods used are not subject to rigorous scientific testing and scrutiny.

A library worker in Venice, California is transported back in time to the era of the Romantic Poets - Keats, Percy, Mary Shelly, Lord Byron - and shares their lives and intimacies. Can she change the course of their lives and history ?