The San Francisco Experience

The decline of America's middle class stems from stagnant wages, rising costs for essentials like housing, education and healthcare, technology shifts, globalization, increased income inequality and greater financial vulnerability. A New Deal to shore up the foundations of the Middle Class is long overdue.

Alex Bastian, the CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco, has overseen a steady recovery of this sector from the depths of Covid shutdowns to robust financial performance. With the Super Bowl coming to the City and the Region next month and a surge in conventions and conferences coming to Moscone Center, demand for hotel rooms in 2026 is surging.

Aileen Teague is Assistant Professor at Texas A&M's Bush School of Government and Public Service, Department of International Affairs. She reviews the recent action by the Trump Administration to end Nicolas Maduro's presidency of Venezuela. What happens next ?

A six month voyage of discovery for a recently retired College Professor driving the PanAmerican Highway from Colombia to Tierra del Fuego. Discovering the fauna, flora and rich cultural tapestry of South America. But also a personal journey of self knowledge to lay the groundwork for the next chapter of life.

New economic cooperation plans take shape between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Trump Administration proposes an international roadway through southern Armenia linking Azerbaijan to its Western Exclave, bordering Turkey.

Saddleback Leather Co. manufactures high quality leather goods ranging from travel bags to belts and shoes. Located outside Fort Worth, Texas it is a family owned company with a unique mission and commitment to the highest quality.

Chris is Managing Partner with KPMG with responsibility for the Bay Area and the Pacific Northwest. In the interview Chris references two KPMG studies that are available to listeners : KPMG's CEO Outlook Survey KPMG's American Worker Survey

GPS was created 51years ago. It's ubiquity is due to a constellation of Geostationary Positioning Satellites (GPS). But any satellite signal can be jammed. Skyline's technology is not dependent on satellites and therefore cannot be jammed - a game changing technology.

In today's podcast, Professor Uehling references a letter writing campaign directed to families and other men and women in Crimea and Ukraine. If you wish to reach out by writing to the people who are often on the frontlines of the war with Russia , go to this website for more information : Crimea-Platform.org

Raising capital is a multi-phase process that brings together the entrepreneur and the investor. Scott and his team are at the nexus of that relationship. With a network of 13,000 investors, Black Dog Venture Partners is active nationwide, and is industry agnostic.

Ireland adopted a policy of neutrality in 1939 at the outbreak of World War II. Since then and even as a member of the EU, neutrality has been a hallmark of the nation's foreign policy. But in light of the Russian war in Ukraine and a vast transformation of the Irish economy with Big Pharma, High Tech and Big Data from the US will national security concerns force a step up in national defense...

Aerospace Corporation is a federally funded center for research and development focused on Space. Founded in 1960 and employing over 4500 professionals, it has expanded its remit beyond NASA, NOA and other space related entities to clients in the private sector like Spacex and Blue Origin. AI is increasingly featured in its' space projects.

Ruth Paine passed away August 31, 2025. I attended a Memorial for her at the Quaker Retirement Village, Santa Rosa, November 2, 2025. Her friend and "archivist" as she once called him, Joe Alesi shares his memories of Ruth. She was a witness to history - her testimony to the Warren Commission about JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was pivotal to their findings of his culpability.

Four years of meticulous research by author Andrew Lownie went into this book. And at the same time he was threatened with legal action and retaliation if he published. What has emerged is a detailed account of Andrew and Sarah's conduct over the years which has resulted in King Charles stripping his younger brother of his titles and honors and evicting the couple from the Royal Lodge.

Jensen Hwang, Founder of Nvidia, says that we are now in the era of accelerated compute. And Nomad Platforms is a prime example of that leap in computer technology. The potential applications for Nomad v2 are too numerous to list. But to give you one visual that sums up its capability, its a portable data center the size of a carry on case you can stow in the overhead compartment of a plane !

Alison recounts the story of Del Seymour who recovered after a life of 18 years of homelessness and incarceration to go on to found Code Tenderloin which has reclaimed thousands of former drug addicts and homeless people from the streets of San Francisco. She also gives us a master class in journalistic interview technique drawing out her subject Del to discuss painful truths from his past life. F...

Tom's memoir of a life of accomplishment culminating with a business milestone of being employee number 57 at Facebook is inspirational and full of reflection and introspection. Today as a Coach to CEOs, Philanthropist and a podcaster, he continues to write more inspirational chapters in his personal Book of Life.

Dickie Arbiter served as the Queen's Press Secretary from 1988 to 2000, with a special remit for then Prince Charles and Lady Diana. Since then he has become a noted royal commentator and international lecturer. He brings a unique behind the scenes Palace perspective, and worked with the Queen during the 1992 Annus Horibilis and Diana crises. He discusses the current Andrew crisis and King Cha...

A High School senior has set up his own company to teach after school coding classes to middle schoolers in the Bay Area, overseas and online. Learning to balance life and work as a teenager.

With Nancy Pelosi's announcement that she is not seeking re-election next year, the starting gun to replace her has been fired. The coveted Pelosi endorsement is being discussed: nothing official but Connie Chan appears to be the likely recipient. While not a declared candidate, Supervisor Connie Chan is expected to run. Two other candidates State Senator Scott Weiner and Democratic Socialist...

Election night November 4th saw the Proposition that would re-draw California's congressional districts to favor the Democrats with five seats passed easily. Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat Socialist was elected Mayor of New York, and two moderate women were elected Governor in Virginia and New Jersey. An eventful evening for the Democrats.

The global fashion industry is $1.8 Trillion and represents 1.6% of global GDP. WearIt. AI enables individual users to embed their images wearing selected fashions on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and earn commissions. Drawing on WearIt's team of stylists with access to leading fashion brands, users can build their personal brands

Retail is a challenging business sector due to on line retailers like Amazon for instance. But in San Francisco a unique retail chain located in two iconic and globally famous neighborhoods - the Castro and Haight Ashbury - is successfully showcasing local artists and artisans. It's a business strategy that is paying dividends to its owner and founder Robert Emmons.

The UK turned on its' fastest supercomputer several months ago called Isambard AI. Powered by more than 5000 Nvidia GPUs it is located on the campus of Bristol University. The Center for Supercomputing is headed up by Professor Simon McIntosh-Smith.

There are almost 35 million small businesses in the US and collectively they generated $40 trillion in revenues in 2024. So many people who enjoy corporate careers dream about running their own business. That's what Lloyd and Keith were able to achieve with their picture framing business in San Francisco.