The San Francisco Experience

The second recall election of a California Governor in 171 years of statehood takes place tomorrow, Tuesday September 14. The polls are predicting a landslide victory for Gavin Newsom. But the seasoned political scientist Professor David McCuan breaks down the meaning of the race and its' impact on national politics.

Escape to the Stars is a work of science fiction, but with an African American protagonist and hero. All too often the science fiction genre and space travel/adventure stories leave out people of color, and author Mark Sneed rectifies that shortcoming and gives us a unique and new perspective in his sixth novel. Christian Drake the protagonist unlike most space adventurers seems to have a live and...

While the Governor's management of California's response to the Covid pandemic has been an issue in the Recall, he has earned praise and criticism. Angela Hart frames the issues around his handling of Covid and further previews some major MediCal reforms coming in January which will transform the state's healthcare programs especially for the homeless.

With less than two weeks left before the historic Recall Election of Governor Gavin Newsom, the tide of opinion polls seems to be turning in his favor. But are there potential minefield issues like raging wildfires and increasing crime that could ambush his ride to victory ? Alexei Koseff, The Chronicle's Capitol reporter in Sacramento who follows the Governor and the Legislature shares his insigh...

Tina Martin joined the Peace Corps in 1969 and served for two years in Tonga, a Polynesian Kingdom in the South Pacific. At times funny and other times moving, she learned the language and lived like a Tongan in a hut teaching English. Her memoir, entitled "Everything I should have learned I could have learned in Tonga",  is based on the 28 notebook/diaries she kept of her adventure 50 years...

The Economist Intelligence Unit has recently published The Global Liveability Index which ranks the top cities in the world by five criteria, Stability, Healthcare, Culture and Environment, Education and Infrastructure.  It is the first time that the full brunt of the Covid 19 pandemic was factored into the equation, and just as Covid has upended our lives, so too the global City rankings wer...

In his debut novel - which is an ambitious trilogy - Jarrett has written a work about life's  second chances. But a second chance is not always guaranteed to be better than your first chance: it all depends what you make of it. He has a keen eye and incorporates life lessons from his stint as an expat in Thailand into the plot.  This is a well crafted work which earned  glowing prai...

The special recall election of Governor Gavin Newsom is scheduled for September 14, less than three weeks away. The polls are close and the campaigns are moving into high gear. Lauren Rosenhall gives us her perspective on the state of the race 20 days from election day.

Cork is Ireland's second city, located in the South West quadrant of the country and close to the Atlantic Ocean. Its a vibrant city with a strong identity, thriving economy, two world class universities and an innovative arts scene. A sister city of San Francisco since 1984, the links between the two cities are deep and historic. Listen to native son Conor Healy talk proudly  about his homet...

Santander, located on Spain's North Coast, is a center of finance, industry, culture, tourism and agriculture.  Santander native Alfredo Casuso takes us on a tour of this beautiful seaside city.

Newsom has a razor thin lead of 1.2% in the Recall race based on an average of polls according to 538.org. At the same time, the Covid Delta surge is reminding voters - Hispanics in particular - how devastating the 2020 lockdowns were for their community. And the Governor is playing a risky Newsom or Bust strategy. We will track the campaign through election day September 14 with special guests to...

Located 78 miles North of Rome, Orvieto is9 in the Umbria Region. Rich in history and culture, David Perry was inspired to situate his critically acclaimed novel and thriller, Upon this Rock,   in this beautiful hilltop city. David leads us on a tour of the Orvieto's cathedrals, museums, watering holes and hiking trails. And the sequel to his book is in the works !

A closed circle mystery set in the Canadian Rockies as an early Winter sets in, Maeve Martin has come to this mountain top artists' retreat center to focus on the next chapter of her career. At 34 being a lead dancer is fading away. Only seven artists and staff are in residence but  beneath the surface lurks vicious intrigue and deception. A freak avalanche isolates them from the outside world and...

Critical Race Theory (CRT) and teaching it in public schools has been banned in 30 states. California may have just entered the fray with the filing of a federal discrimination lawsuit by the parents of a Latino former student at Sacramento's all boys, Jesuit High School. According to the suit, he was apparently expelled because he was critical of CRT.

Quito is the capital of Ecuador and a city of three million people. My family and I lived there for three years. In today's episode, part of our continuing Hometown series where a local resident gives us their perspective on daily life, Fabian Borrero shares with us his unique perspectives about life in this exquisite city perched almost two miles above sea level in the Andes !

In our continuing series of global cities viewed through the eyes of local residents, we feature Barcelona and Fariba Rezvani and Miguel Valls, the Co-Chairs of the San Francisco Barcelona Sister City Committee. Spain's second largest city after Madrid, Barcelona is a cultural, industrial, artistic and tourist mecca. Fariba and Miguel relocated to Barcelona four years ago and share their impressio...

Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Silicon Valley, SETI seeks to explore, understand and explain the prevalence of life in the Universe. Its' Allen Telescope Array located 300 miles North of San Francisco, is the ears of SETI, listening for extraterrestrial signals. Seth Shostak predicts by the mid 2030s first contact with Earth will have been made, most likely through advanced, alien Artificial...

Linking the 1962 death of Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe and the 1965 death of ace investigative reporter Dorothy Kilgallen with the assassination of JFK might seem like a stretch at first blush. But that is exactly what investigative author Mark Shaw accomplishes when he connects the dots to all three cases. And the lynchpin is Bobby Kennedy. 

California's recall election of Governor Gavin Newsom is set for September 14, 2021. Over 40 candidates are on the ballot. But the unfolding Delta variant Covid resurgence could prove to be a wild card in what was once regarded as an eminently winnable race for Newsom. https://calmatters.org/gavin-newsom-recall-election/

Chris Bail's new book " Breaking the Social Prism - How to make our platforms less Polarizing," analyzes how we got to this crisis point and steps to defuse the situation. The echo chambers, social prisms that distort users and their comments plus political tribalism  is a poisonous trifecta that only social media users can change. 

The classic 49 Mile Drive through San Francisco's picturesque neighborhoods and iconic landmarks has not been revamped since 1939 when it was created for the SF World's Fair and it as auto centric. Enter Heather Knight, reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle and her colleague Peter Hartlaub who have come up with a walker, cyclist, public transit friendly alternative featuring 37 City landmarks.&...

Reg Kelly discusses the QB3 Life Science incubator, a new mega incubator at UC Berkeley to open in October 2021 and groundbreaking research taking place in the San Francisco Bay Area in the field of BioTechnology. And most importantly, cultivating entrepreneurship among scientists and researchers in the Life Sciences. 

Auckland is New Zealand's largest and most affluent city with a population of 1.65 million. It is also the largest city in Polynesia. Rated one of the world's most livable cities, it has also become a very desirable place for relocation: house prices are up 20% in 2021. Native New Zealander Michael Duggan gives us an insider and local perspective on living in this beautiful city.

Money Matters is a story of two sisters on two different trajectories of life, money, men and personal values. The plot plays out against the seedier side of life in Southern California with major themes of Surveillance Technology, Undocumented Immigration, the 2010 Gubernatorial race  and Drug Cartels featuring prominently. It's also a detective mystery with coming of age overtones. A comple...

It's hard to know who to trust in a world of fake news and online relationships. So trusting yourself and listening to your own intuition is more critical than ever. Particularly as ever pervasive Artificial Intelligence supplants human beings in the workforce and service industries. AdaPia shows us how to effectively integrate intuition into our data driven business and life decisions.