SFPD cruiser, photographed by Ed Dunens
On this show:
0:08 – Mitch Jeserich joins us to talk about news in Congress, how the Democrat-backed HEROES Act has no Republican support, and how Republicans would like to taper down the additional unemployment insurance that some workers have been receiving. Mitch is the host of Letters and Politics, weekdays at 10AM.
0:34 – Covid-19 is surging in California, and the federal government is charging ahead with plans to punish schools that don’t re-open. We take your calls with Dr. John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. Swartzberg answers questions about teacher and student safety in packed classrooms, the likelihood of bringing the virus home from a workplace, and more. If you had a question for us that didn’t make it on the air, call our off-air voicemail box: (510) 306-2371.
1:08 – Bay Area hospitals are preparing “surge plans” amid increased hospitalizations from Covid-19, but most are not at capacity—yet. We speak with Mallory Moench, a reporter covering health care workers and hospitals for the San Francisco Chronicle during the pandemic. You can read more of Mallory’s reporting here.
1:20 – San Francisco’s city charter establishes minimums for police staffing — and some supervisors say the way to meaningfully defund the SF Police Department is to amend the charter to allow for less policing. Tim Redmond is a veteran San Francisco political reporter, founder and editor of 48hills.org; he joins us to discuss.
1:34 – Why is Facebook continuing to direct its users to pages for the right-wing conspiracy QAnon through its “suggestions” feature? Julia Carrie Wong (@juliacarriew), senior technology reporter for the Guardian, talks about Facebook’s behavior, its inaction in stopping the spread of conspiracy groups, and her latest reporting. Read her investigation: Down the rabbit hole: how QAnon conspiracies thrive on Facebook