Explore every episode of the podcast The San Francisco Experience

Carla Malden is an accomplished screen writer, novelist and memoirist. Among her literary works is the memoir "When do I Start", which she co-authored with her father, Academy award winning actor Karl Malden.

Artificial Intelligence is shaping the future of Cybersecurity.

Risk = Threat x Vulnerability x Consequence

Political violence in America is on the rise. As the Nation has grown more diverse through immigration, militant violence has grown. Attacks have targeted religious and ethnic minorities, law enforcement and have been perpetrated by anti government extremists, religious extremists and lone wolf shooters.

Our twice weekly podcast began in March 2020 at the start of the Pandemic. Over the last four years we have built a global audience with regular listeners in 60 countries including the US, UK, Australia, Canada and Ireland. But the podcast has been listened to and has fans in 144 countries including non English speaking markets like China, Russia, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kazakhstan and Israel to cite a few. The podcast is featured on all major platforms.

Karl Dunn relates the story of a bitter divorce after fighting for many years for Marriage Equality. He found that he was on his own, charting new territory with little information available to same sex couples about navigating the treacherous waters of the California divorce system. But in the end, he argues he is a better person because of the divorce.

The California State University System is the largest public university in the United States with 475,000 students, 53,000 faculty and 23 campuses. This book recounts the implementation of Affirmative Action programs from the 1970s until Proposition 209 banned such programs in 1996

Three historic and tumultuous weeks in American politics saw the Democrats reject incumbent Joe Biden for Kamala Harris. At the same time Republican Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt, appointed a 39 year old Senator from Ohio as his running mate and closed out the Convention on a note of unity to face the Democrats in November.

Donald Trump chose the 39 year old junior Senator from Ohio as his running mate at the Republican Convention in Milwaukee. Vance is a cultural conservative who will likely play a key role campaigning in MidWest swing states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Will the US Federal Reserve issue a digital currency (CBDC) ? 127 countries are studying or piloting CBDCs for their citizens including economic powerhouses like China, EU, India, the UK among others. But it seems like the benefits to the consumer are limited while government control and surveillance seem to be the principal benefits. Do we really want to surrender our financial independence and privacy to a central bank ?

Britain's July 4th General Election marked a reset of the political landscape in the UK with the Labour Party winning a landslide victory of 412 seats in the 650 seat Parliament. The Conservative Party lost over 200 seats, But the moderate Liberal Democrat Party surged into third place with 72 seats, And the Reform Party headed by Nigel Farage garnered four seats. Vince Cable, former leader of the LibDem Party and Government Minister shares his analysis of the reults.

The Snap French elections have resulted in stalemate. But US voters should take heed as we approach our own elections in November in a polarized political environment.

With the advent of social media, there has been a radical change in the dynamics of power and influence with new Influencers blurring truth with disinformation.

The Supreme Court handed down its' awaited decision on immunity for the former President. It was wider ranging and more momentous than many observers had anticipated.

With a market Capitalization of $ 3.1 Trillion, Apple makes 500,000 iPhones everyday mostly in China. 90% of iPhones are produced there. Apple has built the world's most advanced electronic production supply chain in China, not America.

2700 Liberty ships were built in WWII to transport materiel, munitions, food and troops to the front lines. It was the greatest logistical undertaking in military /naval history.

BetaNXT provides end to end solutions across the investment lifecycle.

Joe Biden's disastrous performance in the debate last night has amplified concerns about his fitness for office - mental acuity and physical stamina. Democrats have even called for him to withdraw as a candidate. Uncharted territory in presidential debate history. Professor Pitney helps to put it in perspective, but it is a volatile situation.

San Francisco ranked dead last at #148 with subpar governance. Six categories Financial Stability, Education, Health, Public Safety, Economy and Infrastructure were measured. Three of them - Public Safety, Financial Stability and the Economy - set off flashing red lights, tanking the overall score.

Stem Cell Therapy has produced very positive results in the limited FDA approved therapies which are permitted. But Medical tourism to light touch regulation countries like Mexico, Panama, The Bahamas, is opening the therapy uses and possibilities very quickly. CellCoLabs is an open source company which plans to sell its' stem cells globally.

Is Nuclear Power in the United States about to experience a renaissance given its' "clean" environmental footprint, not contributing to the carbon footprint of electricity generation.

Liz Economy served as China Advisor to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimundo from 2021 to 2023. The Commerce Department oversees US economic policy for China.

76% of the UK's Prime Ministers in the last 80 years graduated from Oxford. There is no comparable University concentration among American Presidents. Does British policy creation suffer as a result of such a narrow leadership pool ?

Creating a Mediterranean Union is key to defending the Southern flank of Nato for this key trading and shipping route.

The Bay Area is home to a significant space industry. It benefits from the national labs located here, research universities and venture capital industry.

The historic conviction of a former President of the United States on business record falsification charges continues to reverberate throughout America. When will he appeal ? What will his sentence be ? And how will the result affect voters ?

Are the super rich entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg solely responsible for creating their wealth, or have government subsidies and incentives been a major contributor ? In which case, should they be taxed at a higher rate ? And what about the Top One Percent : should they pay more tax ?

Neptune successfully completed the round the world sailing race and crew member and Parkinson's patient Bertrand Delhom has completed a lifelong dream.

The Techno Optimist and Techno Pessimist camps - UpWing or DownWing respectively as the author refers to the two views of progress - have been in conflict since the 1970s. The Techno Pessimist view was in full flight recently with the fears of AI posing an existential threat to humanity. But we have been down this road before with Jeremiahs bemoaning the risks of nuclear power or most recently MRNA vaccines. The author argues that we as a society need to jettison these 50 year old shibboleths that are holding back progress and embrace new technologies.

CSER is a Cambridge University center that studies extinction and civilizational collapse risk. Haydn Belfield is a researcher who works on nuclear weapon issues. His review of the Oppenheimer film brings a unique perspective of one who studies the actual impact of nuclear arms on humanity.

Comeback reads like an insider's Presidential Campaign Manual. And it pulls no punches as regards criticisms, painful admissions and much needed prescriptions for the Biden Campaign. With the first Presidential debate slated for June 27th - five weeks away - and Biden lagging in the polls, the author proposes a compelling revamp of the President's messaging.

The Pentecostal Evangelical Movement has begun to focus its proselytizing activity on the Muslim World - countries like Afghanistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan. Adriana relates the unlikely story of a Brazilian missionary couple who along with other Latin American missionaries are having greater success in making conversions.

With Donald Trump the presumptive Republican candidate for President, to be confirmed at the Republican Convention in Milwaukee, July 15 - 18, his MAGA Movement, will be taking a prominent place on the national stage. There are some new groups and issues that are part of the MAGA lineup for 2024 joining the group like the Proud Boys and others. Mike walks us through what to look for.

Jimmy Lai, a media mogul and self made billionaire is paying the price for his pro-Democracy views as his trial enters its fourth month. Despite the US, UK and other countries calling for his immediate release from a show trial with a certain guilty verdict, the Chinese Government has ignored those calls. His son is campaigning for his release.

Carnaval San Francisco is a two day - May 25 & 26 - extravaganza celebrating the many Latin and Caribbean cultures represented in the Bay Area, through dance, music, culture and cuisine. The unique parade takes place on Mission Street on Sunday May 26. The theme is Honor Indigenous Roots and the Grand Marshal of the parade is Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, also a winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize.

George Joannides was a CIA Branch Chief at the CIA Miami Station. He was responsible for the Anti Castro student group the DRE. The DRE baited Oswald in New Orleans for passing out pro Castro flyers. They also ensured that Oswald was interviewed on radio and TV as a left wing Castro sympathizer. Those clips were used after the assassination to bolster the Oswald lone nut Castro supporter image.

San Francisco's tourist industry is a pillar of our economy. With 30,000 hotel rooms, world class cultural activities, and one of America's leading airports, visitors are coming back. The state earned $150 billion in 2023 from tourism.

The AUKUS security agreement would furnish Australia with 8 nuclear powered submarines and other advanced weapons technologies. But it is costly and does Australia have the engineering expertise to build such a fleet ? And would the country become a target for China's wrath with US and UK nuclear subs stationed in Western Australia and US aircraft located in Northern Australia ?

Racial and Gender bias were the subjects of a study at Stanford Law School led by Professor Julian Nyarko, Alex Salinas and Amit Haim. They used an audit approach which is common in employment and housing discrimination studies. The answer is yes to bias and it can be corrected, the team found.

Increasingly the two nations are emphasizing the issue of economic security using export controls, tariffs and approvals which have the effect of reducing the volume of trade between the two. There is a lot at stake: who will blink first ?

Chuck has develop a software program - weightwatcher.ai - which helps identify the emergence of signatures of Artificial General Intelligence in Large Language Models. His research reveals early stage emergence of these signatures but more work needs to be done.

The US spends $500 billion annually on medical costs that could be avoided if more Americans took their prescribed meds for chronic diseases. HiDo has developed a technology to improve medication adherence while improving patient health.

The Chamber promotes policies that ensure all Americans benefit from technology and that the tech industry operates responsibly and fairly.

Spillover, or zoonosis, is the infection of humans with animal viruses. In his book Spillover, David Quammen recounts the frightening phenomenon whereby EBOLA, HIV, SARS among other diseases have moved into human populations. About 60% of human diseases originated in animals. And what is the probable origin of the next pandemic ?

The CCP is promoting the compatibility of traditional Confucian philosophy and Marxist theory. As China rejects the liberal democratic tradition of the World Order it looks to a home grown philosophy as the foundation of its worldview.

Independent voters, especially among Gen Z and Millennials is a growing cohort and eschews the binary choice of Democrat or Republican parties, unlike their Baby Boomer parents. Such a political realignment could help break the polarized politics that plagues our country.

We should all aspire to not only survive but to thrive in our lives. In this book, Rand Selig outlines a roadmap to achieving a meaningful life of purpose, intentionality and focus.

The UK and the United States have entered into a tripartite agreement to share nuclear submarine technology with Australia. The multi year arrangement will furnish 8 nuclear attack submarines through the 2040s. The submarines will replace 6 diesel powered Collins Class subs that will be based in Perth WA. The agreement also encompasses undersea weapons, AI capabilities and training of Australian sailors.

Two competing world views - Atlanticism (Liberal Democracy, Free Markets, Rule of Law) and Eurasianism (Authoritarianism, non-independent judiciaries, state controlled economies) present a stark choice as geopolitics dominates international relations. Russia and China are the principal proponents of Eurasianism whereas the United States and the West subscribe to Atlanticism.