In her latest book, Lara Bazelon demolishes some popular myths about working Moms : the perfect life/work balance, the selfless mother and toxic female ambition among other tropes. She calls on women to embrace the imbalances of working and raising kids and to demand flexibility in the workplace and the home. The book is a blend of personal memoir and interviews of numerous career women and their stories. Lara shares her professional and personal accomplishments in this warm, fast paced intervie...
May 24, 2022•36 min•Season 14Ep. 14
Neutral Sweden and non-aligned Finland will join NATO in reaction to Putin's invasion and war against Ukraine. An adamant foe of NATO expansion, Putin has achieved what he long railed against - NATO on Russia's doorstep.
May 21, 2022•29 min•Season 14Ep. 13
Truffaut's 1973 ensemble comedy is a movie about making a movie. Jacqueline Bissett was one of the cast members and principal lead. The movie won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1974 with French filmmaker Truffaut accepting the award. It is one of his best films and worth re-watching.
May 20, 2022•30 min•Season 14Ep. 12
Robert Altman's 1975 drama takes place in Nashville, Tennessee and chronicles the intersecting lives of numerous people - the main cast numbers 24 actors - with country music, the entertainment industry and politics the principal themes. The film runs 2 hours and 40 minutes and at times feels like a documentary. A 1970s classic.
May 17, 2022•34 min•Season 14Ep. 11
Abortion in Canada was decriminalized in 1988, 15 years after the American Roe v Wade decision. While the Roe decision treated abortion as a woman's right, Canada treats it as a medical procedure to be discussed and agreed to by the pregnant woman and her doctor. Has Canada's approach been better than America's ? Sean Fine walks us through our neighbor's very different approach to terminating a pregnancy.
May 12, 2022•27 min•Season 14Ep. 10
Last week's unprecedented leak of an unpublished Supreme Court decision - the first time in the Court's history - has rocked Washington. And the prospect of overturning a 49 year old legal precedent which will take away a woman's right to an abortion at least nationally, is just beginning to sink in. Will other Supreme Court decisions such as legalization of contraception or gay marriage be under threat next ? American society is about to undergo a massive and historic change.
May 09, 2022•34 min•Season 14Ep. 9
Freezing Order is a true story of money laundering, murder and surviving Vladimir Putin's wrath. Bill Browder's latest expose of Russian graft and criminality recounts a Russian tax refund scam, that the Interior Ministry created for the financial benefit of Putin's oligarch cronies, and then sued Browder in US courts as the engineer and beneficiary. With Vladimir Putin as one of the likely recipient's of part of the deal, the Russians pulled out every legal and political trick to divert the tra...
May 07, 2022•15 min•Season 14Ep. 8
Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion on April 25. The deal will close later this year. Musk has stated that he believes in Freedom of Speech and looks forward to ensuring that the social media messaging platform continues to remain open to all. But major changes are bound to follow in the business operations of Twitter once Musk takes control.
Apr 29, 2022•34 min•Season 14Ep. 7
Two months ago Russia's foreign reserves were frozen and crippling economic sanctions were imposed on the country. The goal was and is to push Russia into a deep recession, cause runaway inflation and bring a speedy end to the war in Ukraine. Have they started to bite ? But could they be thwarted by China, India and Israel providing a back door lifeline to bust the sanctions ?
Apr 28, 2022•30 min•Season 14Ep. 6
San Francisco's District Attorney faces an unprecedented recall election in less than seven weeks - June 7 - and the polls augur ill for him. 68% of San Francisco voters want to get rid of Chesa Boudin, mid way through a four year term. Bungled cases, judicial admonitions, high staff turnover and rising crime rates show Boudin has an uphill struggle to hold onto his office. Can he engineer a Hail Mary pass to save his office or is it a lost cause ?
Apr 21, 2022•31 min•Season 14Ep. 5
In the ranks of global spycraft, the UK continues to punch above its' weight, competing with the US, Russia, China and Israel. And at the heart of any nation's intelligence operation is a sophisticated information gathering apparatus consisting of Signals Intelligence (Sigint) and Communications Intelligence (Comint). GCHQ is the UK's equivalent of America's NSA. Professor John Ferris of the University of Calgary was allowed unprecedented access to GCHQ's archives - one of the world's most secre...
Apr 19, 2022•45 min•Season 14Ep. 4
Matt Continetti is a Senior Fellow at The American Enterprise Institute and a frequent contributor to The New York Times, Atlantic, Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. He has also been a contributing editor to the National Review and Commentary magazine. In his latest book, The Right, he traces the evolution of the American Conservative movement from 1920s populism, through the Goldwater and Reagan eras to the populism of Donald Trump and Sarah Palin. A comprehensive, well researched an...
Apr 15, 2022•40 min•Season 14Ep. 3
Women have rarely participated in peace negotiations, though they suffer a disproportionate share of civilian injuries and suffering in modern day conflicts. Enter Sanam Naraghi Anderlini who has worked tirelessly for over 25 years both on the frontlines as a mediator and at the international level as a policy advocate to ensure that women play their rightful role in peace negotiations. Sanam is the Director of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security at the London School of Economics as well as...
Apr 12, 2022•35 min•Season 14Ep. 2
James Joyce's great novel of the 20th Century - Ulysses - now has a companion guide with Ambassador Mulhall's new book. In today's episode the Ambassador shares his keen insights into Joyce's greatest work.
Apr 08, 2022•44 min•Season 14Ep. 1
Buzzy Martin taught guitar to the convicts at San Quentin Prison for three years and shows how music can transform lives, even for hardened criminals. The book and soon to be released motion picture present a compelling message about rehabilitation in one of America's toughest penitentiaries. With 2.3 million prisoners locked up, mass incarceration in this country needs to be addressed.
Apr 05, 2022•38 min•Season 13Ep. 19
Unleashed is a story of loss, healing and growing stronger from dealing with unexpected tragedy. The protagonists all gain comfort and insight from each other and their animals. Skye shares her thoughts on the writing practice and her journey as a writer.
Apr 02, 2022•33 min•Season 13Ep. 18
Israel has built a broad and deep technology ecosystem in Silicon Valley. And it is a two way street. In addition to the numerous California tech companies with operations in Israel, there are many Israeli companies flourishing in Silicon Valley in the fields of cybersecurity, fintech, mobility, agtech and water. Our two guests discuss in depth how this close relationship benefits both countries.
Mar 30, 2022•30 min•Season 13Ep. 17
The 94th Academy Awards was one for the history books to paraphrase Chris Rock, one of the presenters. The best actor award went to Will Smith for his starring role in King Richard. But the Motion Picture Academy is weighing whether to sanction Smith. Jessica Chastain won best actress for The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Best film went to Coda.
Mar 29, 2022•39 min•Season 13Ep. 16
Russia's post Communist democratic reforms in the 1990's gave the country a representative form of government with a relatively free press. But under Vladimir Putin's 22 year rule, the country has slipped back into an autocratic style of governance. Professor Pankina recounts how the Communist regime absorbed many of the governing structures of the Tsarist era which continue to influence Russia's civil society even to this day. An additional blogpost on this podcast will follow.
Mar 28, 2022•35 min•Season 13Ep. 15
Cannabis sales passed $17.5 billion in the United States during 2020 which was a 46% increase over 2019. Sales in California reached $4.4 billion in 2020. With 18 states having legalized recreational marijuana and 5 more states weighing ballot measures in 2022, the trend to nationwide legalization is growing. Women are playing an increasing role in the industry and in this episode, Chase Roberts discusses several of them.
Mar 25, 2022•26 min•Season 13Ep. 14
Barry Waitte took his entrepreneurial skills and drive from the center of the tech industry in Silicon Valley and headed 85 miles North across the Golden Gate Bridge to create an award winning winery. And along the way he took up endurance horse back riding, learning to ride a horse at the age of 39 ! Listen to today's podcast to learn how to transfer your entrepreneurial drive to your dream career.
Mar 23, 2022•34 min•Season 13Ep. 13
Sir Chris Deverell is a retired British General. He served from 2016 to 2019 as one of the UK Chiefs of Staff in the Joint Forces Command, now called Strategic Command. His 40 years of experience in the British Army included assignments in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Germany.
Mar 21, 2022•33 min•Season 13Ep. 12
China believes in internet sovereignty, whereby each country should control its' own internet. And it is looking to influence Internet governance and free speech policies through international organizations and the UN. Most recently, Russia has implemented controls on its' citizens access to internet information following China's example. Are the free wheeling days of the world wide web numbered ?
Mar 16, 2022•32 min•Season 13Ep. 11
Sebastopol's 15th annual Documentary Film Festival premiers March 24 through the 27 with 73 films featured. Over 600 films were submitted for consideration from around the world. The Motion Picture Academy has approved the festival as a qualifying festival for the Documentary Short Subject Category for the Academy Awards. Of the 8000 film festivals that cover the whole gamut of films, only 158 have qualified for this coveted status.
Mar 14, 2022•24 min•Season 13Ep. 10
American Universities in the 1960s were caught up tumultuous times. On the one hand, resources flowed liberally to expand the number of campuses and faculty to educate the Baby Boomers. But at the same time, academia was transformed as Civil Rights and Vietnam War protests brought a growing and unprecedented politicization to campuses across the country. Dr. Schrecker recounts her professional experience during the 1960s and the echoes of that era are still felt to this day.
Mar 11, 2022•39 min•Season 13Ep. 9
The Russian Army was led to believe that their invasion of Ukraine would last a matter of days, resulting in their sweeping the capital Kyiv and installing a puppet President. But 13 days in, the Russians have met with fierce Ukrainian resistance. Retired US Marine Colonel Brendan Kearney explains the quagmire the Russians have created and history does not augur well for the invaders or Putin for that matter.
Mar 09, 2022•26 min•Season 13Ep. 8
1980's TV was renowned for its lavish primetime soap operas like Dallas and Dynasty. But the San Francisco Bay Area was celebrated and showcased through Falcon Crest, set in the mythical Tuscany Valley - read Napa Valley. After being absent from TV for many years, it has come back on Amazon Prime, IMDB-TV streaming. So all nine seasons of wine country escapism can be enjoyed by another generation. And after two years of the pandemic and now a Russian invasion of Ukraine, we are ready for some 19...
Mar 06, 2022•40 min•Season 13Ep. 7
Speaking to us from his office in Lviv, in Western Ukraine, Oleg gives us a sense of the nation's drive to maintain infrastructure and energy supplies to this Texas size, nation of 44 million, in the middle of Winter. Gas production is only down 1.1% in the midst of the war with Russia. How has life changed as we enter week two of the invasion ?
Mar 04, 2022•27 min•Season 13Ep. 6
Ian Brooks is a business coach and founder of Rhodes Smith LLC. He works to help clients transform their lives and their companies. In his book, he outlines the tools you need to transform your life when faced with change in order to live your best life. Award winning and one of the best Self Help books of 2021.
Mar 03, 2022•34 min•Season 13Ep. 5
Karkhiv is the second largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1.5 million in the North East of the country, 440 kilometers from Kyiv, the capital. Julia recounts what it's like to live day to day in the war zone that her city has become, with the Russian Army 35 kilometers away.
Mar 03, 2022•22 min•Season 13Ep. 4
