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We’ve had a few months now to get to know this new coronavirus and because it is so new there’s been a lot to learn - how it infects new people, how it changes over time, just how deadly it might be. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we check in with some of the Bay Area scientists who have been studying this pandemic to hear from them what they’ve managed to learn so far. Guests: Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, chief of infectious diseases at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and professor of epidemiology at Stanford's School of Medicine Dr. Marm Kilpatrick, who studies infectious diseases at UC Santa Cruz’s Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Host: Keith Menconi
We have a special guest host for this episode, my teammate at Product Hunt, Abadesi Osunsade. She is the author of Dream Big, Hustle Hard: The Millennial Woman's Guide to Success in Tech. She'll be hosting more episodes alongside me this year. Ann Miura-Ko is a founding partner at Floodgate, a seed-stage VC firm in Palo Alto. She has been called “the most powerful woman in startups” by Forbes and is an early investor in Lyft and TaskRabbit. She is also a lecturer in entrepreneurship at Stanford's School of Engineering and a founding member of All Raise. In this episode we talk about: Ann recounts how she got to where she is today, including what it was like growing up with a NASA scientist for a dad. She talks about some of the formative moments in her career and explains why she says that a “career path” is a misnomer. The mentors that have helped Ann throughout her career, and why she never approaches a relationship with an expectation of mentorship, but instead always “begins with an act of service.” Why the tech industry should always take a step back to question whether everyone prospers from its work, the five values that drive her investments at Floodgate, and why they tell entrepreneurs “your life's work is our life's work.” How she manages her children's relationships with social media (“browsing Instagram feels like not being invited to every party everyone else is having”), how she is personally working to increase the number of underrepresented founders, and the business benefit of diversity. We also discuss some of their favorite products including an old-fashioned note-taking system for the digital age, a better way to organize your tabs in Chrome, and a built-in CRM for your Gmail inbox. We’ll be back next week so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Breaker, Overcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Also, big thanks to our sponsors, Rally Rd and AngelList, for their support.
Andy Revkin is an award-winning journalist whose life work has centered on reporting about the environment and climate change. He spoke to producer Mike Osborne about his early seafaring adventures, how he got his start in journalism, and his view that climate change is a symptom of a much bigger story about our species coming of age on a finite planet. We also have a short bonus segment featuring David Biello, who has just published a new book about the Anthropocene titled “The Unnatural World: The Race to Remake Civilization in Earth's Newest Age.” Generation Anthropocene is supported by Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences and by Worldview Stanford.
"What if life isn't something that happens *on* a planet, but is something that happens *to* a planet? What if the planet itself is alive?" Thus begins one of the many intriguing thought exercises in astrobiologist David Grinspoon's new book, Earth in Human Hands (available Dec. 6, 2016). David has long been a friend of the show, in large part because he possesses a unique ability to bring the geologic imagination to life. His approach to the Anthropocene draws extensively from deep time and close observations of other planets to see what we might learn about our uncomfortable situation here on Earth. If the Anthropocene is part of the geologic time table (it is), and if the geologic time table is largely defined by life (it is), then does our current situation mean something much broader in terms of planetary evolution? David chats with GenAnthro producer Miles Traer about the new book, mind-bending perspectives on time, and why the Anthropocene hopefully marks the start, and not the end, of something quite spectacular. Generation Anthropocene is supported by Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences and by Worldview Stanford.
How did life begin on Earth? Curiously, scientists often search for the answer on other planets or moons in our solar system. After all, if we want to see whether our theories are right, we need to find another example of life somewhere. The search has taken us to some strange places seemingly frozen in time that give us hints to what Earth looked like billions of years ago when life first appeared in the geologic record: places like Mars that show evidence of fossil oceans, and places like Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, that show evidence of liquid water oceans containing organic molecules hidden under an icy crust. NASA astrobiologist Chris McKay has been a member of missions that sent spacecraft to these and other places in search of that elusive other example of life in the universe. He recently sat down with producer Miles Traer to discuss the best current theories for the origin of life on Earth, why Antarctica is a lot like one of Saturn’s moons, the challenges of collecting data from other planets, and the reasons we’re captivated by the question, “Are we alone in the universe?” Generation Anthropocene is supported by Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences and by Worldview Stanford.
“In Asia or Africa around 60 million years ago, snakes became more venomous, though scientists aren't quite sure why then and there.” Sometimes understanding global environmental change requires that we simply know how nature works. And not just the pleasant side of nature, but all of it. When we look back through the wonders of Darwinian evolution, we gain a deeper appreciation for certain aspects of the natural world that seem… uncomfortable: things like snakes, spiders, jellyfish, Komodo Dragons, and tiny caterpillars that can easily kill humans. This week, scientist Christie Wilcox takes us on a journey through the evolution of the chemical cocktails we call “venom,” which she wrote about in her new book called, “Venomous: How Earth’s Deadliest Creatures Mastered Biochemistry.” Travel along from venom’s earliest formation, its evolution into a potent weapon, and its further transformation by doctors today as a potentially revolutionary tool in developing new medicines. Image by Brent Myers Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ Generation Anthropocene is produced by Miles Traer, Michael Osborne, and Leslie Change. The podcast is supported by Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences and by Worldview Stanford.
Think of the Anthropocene as a science fiction thought experiment. We imagine future geologists looking back into the rock record, and trying to pinpoint when humans became the dominant geologic force. In many ways, science fiction is the perfect genre for exploring environmental issues – running out scenarios and “what ifs” to their extremes, and imagining how that world would look and feel. Award-winning science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson does exactly that in many of his works. In this thought-provoking conversation, producer Mike Osborne sits down with Robinson to talk about his creative process and environmental thinking, what makes for good science fiction, and the genre’s capacity to imagine future societies shaped by climate change. Generation Anthropocene is supported by Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences and by Worldview Stanford
As cities around the world absorb more and more people, many urbanites want to reconnect with local food. This has led to the rise and spread of urban agriculture, and at the center of this movement is Will Allen, the founder and CEO of the nonprofit Growing Power. In today’s episode, Allen shares his life story, and discusses his passion for urban agriculture and food security, as well as how urban farming can strengthen community ties. We also have a short bonus segment this week, brought to us by Reade Levinson. She recently traveled to Alaska to research salmon fishing, which is under threat from the side effects of the Canadian mining industry. Generation Anthropocene is supported by Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences and by Worldview Stanford.
When we think of space, we typically think of beautiful images taken by powerful telescopes and interplanetary rovers. We think of the rings around Saturn; the giant red spot on Jupiter; or Martian rover selfies. But what does the surface of Mars sound like? What haunting melody should we expect from our Sun? And what do these sounds teach us about our cosmic neighborhood? On today’s episode, producer Miles Traer takes us on an audio tour of the solar system, with a rich library of sounds recorded and converted from satellite and rover data. So put on a pair of headphones and join us for a voyage of exploration and discovery as we explore the sounds of space. Generation Anthropocene is supported by Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences and by Worldview Stanford.
Disney movies have captured the imaginations of children and adults for decades. The endearing characters, the colorful landscapes, and the epic tales of heroism carry a sense of wonder and playfulness. But what we rarely notice is that woven into many of these films is a deeper story about the natural world. In Disney movies we learn the rules of the forest, the hierarchy of the jungle, and humankind's relationship to nature. Underlying every film is an implicit morality, one that seems so logical and universal that, as the audience, we hardly ever question its origin or message. In this interview, environmental historian Richard White helps us see the world of Disney with fresh eyes. Along the way, he challenges our assumptions about nature, and exposes how the stories of Disney are really stories about ourselves. Generation Anthropocene is supported by Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences and by Worldview Stanford Image by wbeem Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/deconstructing-college-admissions-rat-race. America's elite colleges and universities spend millions of dollars to generate thousands of applicants, the vast majority of whom they reject. High school students – and their parents – work hard to gain entry to such institutions, and can be devastated by the rejection. Is there a purpose to this rat race? What values are implicit in the American college admissions process? John and Ken offer admission to Mitchell Stevens from Stanford's School of Education, author of "Creating A Class: College Admissions and the Education of Elites," for a program recorded with an audience of high school students in Palo Alto, California.
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/immigration-and-citizenship. What are the effects of immigration on culture in America? Does it promote homogenization, diversity, or both? Cultural enrichment, or assimilation? What challenges does immigration raise? What immigration policies should the American government adopt, with respect to economics, culture, and ethics? How can we justify denying privileges and protections to people based simply upon where they were born? What, if any, restrictions on immigration and citizenship are permissible? John and welcome Noe Lozano, Dean of Diversity at Stanford's School of Engineering, to discuss the challenges and benefits of immigration.
Kathleen Eisenhardt, a professor of management science and engineering at Stanford, explains the advantages of developing simple rules for business and life, sharing examples from industries ranging from startups to sports and entertainment. Eisenhardt, who teaches in Stanford's School of Engineering, co-wrote the 2015 book "Simple Rules: How to Thrive in a Complex World."
Tina Seelig, Professor of the Practice in Stanford's School of Engineering, describes how imagination leads to entrepreneurship, charting the course from rough ideas to polished ventures. Introducing a new framework called the "Inventure Cycle," Seelig captures the attitudes and actions necessary to foster innovation and bring breakthrough ideas to the world.