News In Context

The Impacts of Mass Corporate Real Estate Ownership on Communities and Affordability

In this episode, we explore the Bay Area housing market, and how mass corporate ownership of homes and apartments throughout the region affects communities and people trying to afford to rent or buy here.

My Guest is Susie Neilson, Data Reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle - covering housing, domestic migration, and crime & criminal justice.

Susie and a team at the SF Chronicle recently released a series of reports on corporate and LLC real estate - and created an interactive map of who owns property in the Bay Area, an amazing feat of data reporting.

The SF Chronicle series also includes maps of the real estate owned or controlled by a handful of corporate LLCs that can be traced back to a specific power player.

Melissa Weintraub, Resetting the Table to Heal Divides and Prevent Political Violence

In this episode, we talk with Melissa Weintraub, founder & co-executive director of Resetting the Table. Resetting the table focuses on building dialogue and deliberation across political divides, focusing on seemingly intractable differences that are breeding distrust, a lack of empathy, and marginalization. To learn more about Resetting the Table, and to view the film Purple – which uncovers humanity beneath our national conflicts - go to resettingthetable.org/purple.

Making DEI Work Transformative & Relational, with Jacqueline Font-Guzman

In this episode, we explore concepts of privilege - and how they color our systems and perpetuate inequities. We also discuss how building relationships across groups in a community can help us begin to address these systemic issues, while at the same time forging connections and building trust.

My guest is Jacqueline Font-Guzman, vice president for diversity, equity, & inclusion at Eastern Mennonite University; and strategic vision director for the Center of Justice & Peace Building at EMU.

Learning to Listen in Different Ways, with Graham Bodie of the Listen First Project

It’s no secret that polarization is deepening divides across the US. Over the past few years, many people have started or joined what are called bridging organizations to try and bring people together across those divides and help people bridge their differences by cultivating relationships -helping us see each other’s humanity and connecting on commonalities. The hope is that this helps us work together to solve the problems in our communities and society.

In this episode, we welcome Graham Bodie, professor of integrated marketing communication at the University of Mississippi, and chief listening officer with the Listen First Project.

This is Civity Week on News in Context. Civity is a culture of deliberately engaging in relationships of respect and empathy with others who are different - moving people from us-versus-them to we-all-belong.

Listen First also bridges, focusing its efforts on elevating the impact, visibility, and voice of organizations doing bridging work

We explore how Listen First brings bridging organizations together, and works to bring more people to the experience of connecting across differences, and scale the work of bridging divides in communities across the U.S.

We also discuss the act of listening itself, the importance of learning how to listen, and what listening looks like in different contexts.

The impact of fentanyl on communities, with SF Substance Use Expert Dr.Phillip Coffin

In this episode, we explore the sharp increase in fentanyl deaths across the country, including in San Francisco and the Bay Area, which had thus far had great success in combating the opioid epidemic.

My guest is Dr. Philip Coffin, director of substance use research at the San Francisco Department of Public Health - who discusses how fentanyl is different than other opioids, and what we can do to mitigate its impact.

Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine: Why Now, with Stanford Political Scientist Kathryn Stoner

In this episode, we continue our conversation with Stanford political scientist Dr. Kathryn Stoner… on the context of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Stoner is the Mosbacher Director of the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law; Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; Political Scientist at Stanford; and Senior Fellow (by courtesy) at the Hoover Institution.

Stoner is also the author of Russia Resurrected. Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order.

This is Part Two of my interview with Dr. Stoner… You can hear Part One at Newsincontext.net.

Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine in Context, with Stanford Political Scientist Dr. Kathryn Stoner

In this episode, we continue exploring the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - or as our guest, political scientist Dr. Kathryn Stoner, clarifies – Putin’s invasion.

Stoner is the Mosbacher Director of the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law; Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; Political Scientist at Stanford; and Senior Fellow (by courtesy) at the Hoover Institution.

Stoner is also the author of Russia Resurrected. Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order.

My interview with Dr. Stoner will be presented in two parts. This is part one… which focuses on Putin’s version of a global order… and his goals with regard to Ukraine… as well as an exploration of the balancing acts both Putin and NATO are engaging in… as this conflict proceeds. Part 2 will air next week.

Exploring the historical and geopolitical context of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine w/Amir Weiner

In this episode, we explore the historical and geo-political context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as the role and actions of NATO.

As we watch and read about Putin’s brutal actions in Ukraine and how they are affecting the people who live there, many of us find ourselves wondering why this is happening at all.

Discussing this with me today is Dr. Amir Weiner, Director of the Center for Russian, East European, & Eurasian Studies at Stanford University.

Vaccines - the science and our perceptions, with Science Magazine Senior Reporter Meredith Wadman

In this episode, we discuss the realities of COVID-19 and other diseases on our health and well being - and how vaccines have both saved us from the grim realities, and led us to forget just how bad diseases can get without vaccines to keep them at bay.

My guest is Meredith Wadman, senior reporter with Science Magazine in Washington, D.C., and author of The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease.

Communicating Science: Vaccine Efficacy, Public Health, & Combatting Misinformation, with Greta Keenan

In this episode, we discuss vaccines – the science that has brought us such an incredible solution to public health crises; the human response to vaccines, mandates, and scientific information; and how misinformation has derailed clear communication.

My guest is Greta Keenan, program specialist for science & society at the World Economic Forum.

 

Photo Credit: Wellcome Images