I’m guest hosting Your Call’s Media Roundtable this morning at 10am PT, where we’ll first discuss the state of emergency in El Salvador, following a rise in gang violence. The measure restricts the freedom of the press and suspends civil liberties including the right to assembly and access to a lawyer. More than 17,000 have been arrested since the state of emergency was declared a month ago.
According to El Faro, a leading investigative digital news outlet, earlier this month, President Bukele also ordered changes to the Penal Code that press advocates warn censor journalism about gangs and would impede news outlets from questioning the official narrative on issues such as security policy and the government’s secret negotiations with the gangs.
Joining us will be Anna-Cat Brigida, a freelance journalist in Latin America.
Then we’ll talk about why California continues to approve new oil and gas wells. The state approved more new wells in March and April than in any two-month period since last October. We also discuss the power and influence of fossil fuel lobbyists on regulators and lawmakers in California. According to a new analysis by Capital & Main, between 2018 and 2021, lobbying organizations representing oil and gas companies spent almost $77.5 million advocating for the industry’s interests in Sacramento.
Joining us will be Aaron Cantu, award winning investigative journalist covering gas and oil in California for the Capital and Main.
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 these guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
It’s a double-shot of shows on KALW 91.7 FM today, my last two of the year. First, this morning on Your Call’s One Planet Series at 10am PT, we’ll discuss how climate science is being politicized in schools with investigative journalist Katie Worth, author of the riveting new book, Miseducation: How Climate Change Is Taught in America.
In the second half of the show, we’ll cover the mental health impacts of air pollution with reporter Kristina Marusic.
Then tonight at 6pm PT, I’ll be co-hosting State of the Bay to assess recent decisions rejecting or delaying housing projects by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. UC Davis Professor of Law Chris Elmendorf will help us understand the statewide legal implications of these anti-housing decisions, in particular the recent delay of a 500-unit housing development near BART.
Then we’ll discuss the state of the Bay Area’s “slow streets” movement, which close streets to most traffic for improved pedestrian and bike safety. What do you think about these measures? Ask our guests Eillie Anzilotti of the SFMTA and community planner Leah Chambers.
Finally, you’ll hear my interview with with Phil Ginsburg, General Manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, who will discuss some of the holiday festivities available in the city’s public spaces.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 10am PT for Your Call and then again at 6pm PT for State of the Bay. What comments or questions do you have for these guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
On this morning Your Call’s Media Roundtable, we’ll discuss coverage of gerrymandering. From Oregon to Texas, states are finalizing new congressional district maps ahead of the 2022 midterms. According to an analysis by the Washington Post, as of late November, the new maps in 15 states have already netted a double-digit increase in solidly Republican seats compared with previous maps there.
And this week, the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Texas over the state’s redrawn congressional and state legislative districts. The lawsuit alleges that the Texas redistricting plan violated the Voting Rights Act by discriminating against the state’s “growing minority electorate.” Joining us to discuss will be:
David Daley, journalist, senior fellow for FairVote, and author of Unrigged: How Americans Battled Back To Save Democracy.
Then we’ll cover the Biden administration’s renewable energy policies. According to a new analysis by the nonprofit Public Citizen, the Biden administration’s average monthly permits for oil and gas drilling on public lands are up more than 35% from when Trump took office in 2017. To discuss this and other climate policies, we’ll be joined by:
Sammy Roth, climate and energy reporter at the Los Angeles Times, and writer of the weekly Boiling Point newsletter.
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 these reporters? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
On today’s edition of Your Call’s Media Roundtable, we’ll discuss the latest developments in Sudan. On October 25, Sudan’s military seized power in a coup, arrested leading civilian politicians and declared a state of emergency. Since then, 42 people have been killed in mass anti-military protests. Hundreds have been arrested.
Joining us to provide the latest will be:
Isma’il Kushkush, a freelance Sudanese American journalist.
Plus, we’ll cover the future of abortion rights in the United States, as the Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday over a Mississippi abortion law that could gut or overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade landmark decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
We’ll be joined by:
Alanna Vagianos, Gender Reporter at HuffPost
Amy Littlefield, abortion access correspondent for the Nation
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 these reporters? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
On today’s Your Call’s Media Roundtable on KALW, we’ll discuss the Pandora Papers, a trove of nearly 12 million confidential documents that reveals how the wealthy use secret offshore companies to hide their assets.
The Pandora Papers investigation also reveals how banks and law firms work closely with offshore service providers to design complex corporate structures. The investigation is the world’s largest-ever journalistic collaboration, involving more than 600 journalists from 150 media outlets in 117 countries.
Joining us will be Kevin Hall, North America editor for the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
And we’ll cover the fallout from the Southern California oil spill with Joe Mozingo, projects reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Will this tragedy spur action to phase out fossil fuel production in the state?
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 these reporters? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
On today’s Your Call, we’ll discuss the legacy of the Reagan administration’s anti-union tactics. Forty years ago, 13,000 air traffic controllers who were members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), went on strike.
They were demanding an annual wage increase, upgrades to outdated equipment, and a reduced workweek. Two days later, former President Ronald Reagan fired 11,345 of them. September 19 is the anniversary of the Solidarity March on Washington, organized by labor leaders in support of the strike. What has the lasting effect of strikebreaking been on workers?
Joining us to discuss is Joseph McCartin, Professor of History at Georgetown University, where he is founding Executive Director of the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. His books include Labor’s Great War: The Struggle for Industrial Democracy and the Origins of Modern American Labor Relations, and Collision Course: Ronald Reagan, the Air Traffic Controllers, and the Strike that Changed America.
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 about what is at stake? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
On today’s Your Call, I’ll be guest hosting once again to discuss the recall election of California Governor Gavin Newsom.
If more than 50% of voters oust Newsom, whichever candidate receives the most votes will win. We’ll discuss Newsom’s record, what issues Californians are concerned about, and what this recall signals about the state’s political future. Joining us will be:
- Alexei Koseff, state Capitol reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle, covering Governor Gavin Newsom and California government from Sacramento
- Emily Hoeven is a reporter at CalMatters, where she writes the daily WhatMatters newsletter
Polls will be open until 8pm tonight. You can complete the Same-Day Voter Registration process and request your ballot in person at your county elections office or polling location. If you’re voting by mail, it must be postmarked by today. Or you can return it in-person to a secure ballot drop box or to a voting location or your county elections office.
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 about what is at stake? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
On today’s Your Call at 10am PT, we’ll discuss America’s student debt crisis. Around 45 million borrowers owe a collective $1.7 trillion in student debt.
While federal student loan payments and interest are on pause until January 31, 2022, progressive Democrats and student loan borrower advocacy groups are still urging President Biden to cancel $50,0000 or more in student debt for every borrower. That plan would make 36 million borrowers debt-free.
What will it take to forgive student debt? We’ll be joined by:
- Natalia Abrams, president and co-founder of StudentDebtCrisis, a non-profit organization dedicated to student loan debt reform
- Whitney Barkley-Denney, Senior Policy Counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit research and policy group whose purpose is to push for policies that curb predatory lending
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 10am. Call 866-798-TALK with questions or comments!
I’m guest hosting today’s Your Call at 10am on KALW, speaking with UCSF Dr. Monica Gandhi about how we are going to get out of the pandemic. Dr. Gandhi is the professor of Medicine and Associate Division Chief of the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine at UCSF.
The US is now averaging around 160,000 new cases every day. We’ll discuss if booster shots are necessary for all eligible groups even though global vaccine distribution is still lagging far behind. In fact, around 60% of people in higher-income countries are vaccinated compared to only 1% of those in poorer countries. Experts say that this vaccine inequality is epidemiologically irresponsible.
What questions do you have? Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 10am. Call 866-798-TALK with questions or comments!
On this morning’s 10am edition of Your Call’s Media Roundtable, I’ll interview Ben Ehrenreich, a columnist at The Nation magazine, about the coverage of the just-concluded UN climate conference in Madrid. The high-profile failure of the event was punctuated by thousands of young activists protesting the lack of action by big polluters.
Then, later in the program, we will talk about the Trump impeachment vote in the U.S. House of Representatives and what comes next. I’ll interview:
- Michael Winship, a senior Writing Fellow at the website Common Dreams and longtime Bill Moyers writing partner; and
- Dan Froomkin, founder of Press Watch, a media project that monitors political reporting and encourages more responsible, informed and informative campaign and government coverage.
You can stream it live at 10am today or listen to 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area. Call 866-798-TALK with questions or comments!
