On today’s Your Call Media Roundtable, I’ll be guest hosting to discuss the presidential election in Mexico.
Last Sunday, Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, won the election with nearly 60 percent of the vote, according to a rapid sample count by Mexico’s electoral authority.
Her party, the ruling Morena party, founded by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, will control two-thirds of both chambers of the national Congress and 24 of Mexico’s 32 governorships. Joining us to get the latest will be Alfredo Corchado, executive editor of the Puente News Collaborative.
Then in the second half of the show, we’ll discuss a Washington Post investigation that reveals how billions in US taxpayer dollars are paying for private-school tuition at conservative religious schools. Almost five million private school students are benefiting from vouchers.
The programs, popular with conservatives, are rapidly growing in GOP-run states, with a total of 29 states plus DC operating some sort of voucher system, according to the investigation. Eight states created or expanded voucher programs last year, and this year, Alabama, Georgia and Missouri have approved or expanded voucher-type programs. Some recently enacted plans are just starting to take effect or will be phased in over the next few years.
- Ohio: This year, more than 150,000 Ohio students are using vouchers, with 91 percent attending religious schools.
- Wisconsin: About 55,000 vouchers were given this school year with 96 percent attending religious schools.
- Indiana: About 98 percent of vouchers go to religious schools.
- Florida: This year, 400,000 students participated, with at least 82 percent of them attending religious schools. Florida has the largest voucher program with a cost of $3 billion this year alone.
- Arizona: More than 75,000 students are benefiting from the Empowerment Scholarship Program, which pays for any educational expense. 87 percent of $229 million that was spent for that program in 2022-2023 went to religious schools.
Our guest will be Laura Meckler, national education writer at the Washington Post.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 10am PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
I’m guest hosting Your Call this morning, where we’ll talk with two media makers about their work exposing government corruption and neglect.
First, we’ll discuss a new PBS Frontline film “A Dangerous Assignment: Uncovering Corruption in Maduro’s Venezuela” with director Juan Ravell. The film documents the perilous work of investigative journalism in Venezuela.
Then we’ll interview Chris Egusa about his award-winning 2-part documentary series on KALW, “Without A Voice: Abuse and Neglect in California Disability Group Homes.” It reports on California’s developmental disability system, where residents in group homes have been victims of abuse and neglect.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 10am PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
Tonight on State of the Bay, we’ll celebrate female trailblazers in Bay Area sports.
First, San Francisco Giants coach Alyssa Nakken will share how she became the first on-field female coach in the MLB.
Then we’ll have a conversation with Jess Smith, President of WNBA Golden State Valkyries, and Brady Stewart, CEO of women’s soccer team Bay FC, about the future of women’s sports.
Then we’ll finish off this special episode with DJ Umami, who keeps the fans on their feet at the Giants games.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 6pm PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
I’ll be a guest on KQED Forum at 10am PT today for our In Transit series, this time discussing the future of Amtrak and long-distance passenger rail in California.
Amtrak reports that overall demand for passenger rail is soaring, as yearly ridership totals approach pre-pandemic levels. But here in California the story is different. Popular west coast lines are losing riders and remain challenged by underinvestment and too much track priority to freight trains. In addition, increasingly powerful storms and rising seas threaten Amtrak’s infrastructure, with Southern California’s Pacific Surfliner has repeatedly suspended service for emergency repairs.
Joining me as a panelist on the show will be Tom Zoellner, English professor at Chapman University and author of “Train: Riding the Rails That Created the Modern World -from the Trans-Siberian to the Southwest Chief.”
Tune in on KQED 88.5 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 10am PT!
Tonight on State of the Bay, we’ll delve into the challenges facing California’s wine industry with Esther Mobley, senior wine critic at the San Francisco Chronicle.
We’re also joined by Seamus Murphy, executive director of The San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority, who will share the details of a 25-year plan to enhance, expand and electrify the San Francisco Bay Ferry System.
Finally, we’ll hear from psychedelic comedian Adam Strauss about his one-man show,”The Mushroom Cure.”
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 6pm PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
Tonight on State of the Bay, I’ll interview San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu about what the Supreme Court’s Grants Pass decision will mean for the legal treatment of San Francisco’s homeless population. I’ll also talk to him about his lawsuit against Oakland over its airport renaming.
Then we’ll cover the latest developments in the Oakland A’s saga with journalist Dan Moore and Jorge Leon, founder of the fan group Oakland ’68s. What’s the latest on the team’s plan to move temporarily to Sacramento and eventually to Las Vegas?
And finally, we’ll meet San Francisco artist Yunfei Ren, who uses sound, sculpture, and photography to highlight underrepresented groups and experiences. We are highlighting his exhibit called “Prevailing Winds,” which is currently at the Guardhouse in Fort Mason.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 6pm PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
On today’s Your Call Media Roundtable, we’ll discuss the ongoing crackdown on college campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, including at UCLA, Columbia University and University of Texas. We’ll hear from journalists who have been covering these student protests, including:
- Tasbeeh Herwees, a writer, journalist and a member of Writers Against the War on Gaza
- Constanza Montemayor, a senior staff reporter for the the Daily Bruin at UCLA
- Yasmeen Altaji, a multimedia journalist currently pursuing her M.A. in Journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Then, we’ll talk about the major United Auto Workers’ union victory at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, in the heart of the anti-labor union South. Joining us will be:
- Steven Greenhouse, veteran labor journalist and the author of Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor
- Mike Elk, an Emmy-nominated labor reporter and the co-founder of Payday Report
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 10am PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
I’m guest hosting Your Call’s One Planet Series this morning. First, we’ll cover a Washington Post-Examination News investigation into how food companies are promoting ultra-processed foods, laden with sweeteners and additives, in order to cash in on the popular “anti-diet” movement. What tactics are they using on unsuspecting consumers?
We’ll be joined by co-authors of the “As obesity rises, Big Food and dietitians push ‘anti-diet’ advice:”
- Sasha Chavkin, senior reporter for The Examination, a nonprofit newsroom covering global public health
- Caitlin Gilbert, a Well+Being data reporter at The Washington Post
Then we’ll talk about a Guardian investigation into an unprecedented deal in which Greenstone Resource Partners, a private company backed by global investors, sold rights to the Colorado River’s water. The deal allows a big suburban expansion 200 miles away near Phoenix to go forward, but it leaves a small agricultural community reeling. Joining us will be Maanvi Singh, west coast reporter for the Guardian.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 10am PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
I’m guest hosting Your Call’s Media Roundtable this morning at 10am PT. We’ll start by covering the ongoing university crackdowns on pro-Palestinian protesters and their encampments. What’s the latest from our country’s campuses? We’ll be joined by:
- Hoda Sherif, Journalist receiving her master’s degree at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, and
- Lara-Nour Walton, reporting deputy of audio at Columbia Daily Spectator.
Then we’ll discuss the move among many states to restrict public protests in general, with Adam Federman, reporting fellow with Type Investigations and author of Fasting and Feasting: The Life of Visionary Food Writer Patience Gray.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 10am PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
I’m guest hosting Your Call’s One Planet Series this morning at 10am PT. We’ll discuss Until the End of the World, a new documentary that investigates the fast-growing fish farming industry across three continents.
The film exposes how communities in different regions are fighting against the expansion of these fish farms, which are accused of polluting pristine waters, overtaking natural resources, and even fostering hunger and food insecurity.
Aquaculture is the fastest growing food industry in the world, promising to be a sustainable solution to feed a growing global population that could reach 9.7 billion people in 2050. But is this industry a viable and sustainable answer for food security?
Joining us will be Francesco De Augustinis, the award winning journalist and filmmaker, and the founder of One Earth.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 10am PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
