California Groundbreakers

Remember when a first date often involved dinner and a movie, a few drinks in a crowded bar, and if things went well, a goodnight kiss? 2020 changed all that with social distancing, mask-wearing and the threat of catching a deadly disease.

But right now, when every adult is eligible for vaccination, what does this summer -- and the future -- hold for modern dating, romance and relationships?

GUESTS

* Paul Eastwick, professor of psychology at UC Davis and head of the university’s Attraction and Relationship Research Lab - http://pauleastwick.com

* Julie Krafchick, producer and co-host of the podcast Date/Able, which focuses on sex, love, dating and relationships - https://www.dateablepodcast.com

PODCAST PLAY BY PLAY

* 0 to 5:20 min - Intro to episode and our guests Paul and Julie

* 5:20 min - How people's views of dating and relationships have changed since the pandemic started

* 9 min - Have people's views, and people's use, of online dating changed. too?

* 14:20 min - Will this summer start another "Roaring 20s," or FODA (fear of dating again) or something else?

* 19:05 min - What role does passion play these days in modern relationships?

* 24:50 min - Has the pandemic changed people's views about weddings and getting hitched?

* 28:50 min - With the pandemic putting so much stress on people's relationships, how to keep them surviving and thriving?

* 33:20 min - Julie and Paul's advice for getting out there to mix and mingle again

What does the future hold for working parents in California?

Will the childcare crisis, homeschooling debacle and issues involving remote work and essential work put us on a new path to better work-life balance?

Are the federal and state governments going to make parenting easier to do going forward?

And how can we use what we’ve learned during the pandemic to ensure that raising kids while working full-time fills us with happiness instead of with heartburn?

We talk with two people who focus on better work-life balance issues professionally at their day job, and also personally at home as parents to young children.

GUESTS

* Danika Dellor, executive director of the California nonprofit Women’s Achievement Network and Development Alliance (WANDA) in Silicon Valley - https://wandasiliconvalley.org

* Liz Morris, deputy director of the Center for WorkLife Law, an advocacy and research organization at the University of California’s Hastings Law - https://worklifelaw.org

PODCAST PLAY BY PLAY

* 0 to 6:50 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, and the reasons for this episode

* 6:50 min - Some significant work-life impacts Dellor and Morris have seen on parents during this pandemic

* 11:40 min - Their thoughts on the Biden Administration's American Families Act and what California legislators are proposing

* 16:10 min - Will paid leave be more widespread and easier to access?

* 19:30 min - Burnout, and the apparent disconnect between what "back to the office" should look like

* 24 min - What should employers be doing to improve work-life balance?

* 27 min - Where are the men in this scenario?

* 32 min - Can we innovate an expanded, and improved, childcare system?

* 36:15 min - Words of advice for current -- and future -- parents who work

RESOURCE GUIDE

The Center for WorkLife Law has COVID-19 resources, including a free legal helpline for parents, family caregivers and pregnant and breastfeeding people.

English: https://worklifelaw.org/covid19/helpline-resources/

Spanish: https://worklifelaw.org/covid19/recursos-de-covid-19/

COVID-19 caused the early deaths of many seniors, but even as we see the light at the end of the tunnel, the big issues of aging and senior care in California won't be easing up. The new Census data shows that California keeps getting older, and by the year 2030, nearly a quarter of our population will be over age 65. That affects nearly everything in this state, including housing, pensions, jobs and of course, healthcare.

That’s why California has created a new Master Plan of Aging to address the issue of aging in the Golden State, and how we’re all going to handle it, no matter how old we are.

We talk with Kim McCoy Wade, director of California’s Department of Aging, who's in charge of rolling out this Master Plan and preparing America’s most populous state for massive demographic change over the next decade. She explains what you need to know, and prepare for, as a California resident who’s getting older by the day.

PODCAST PLAY BY PLAY

* 0 to 5:15 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, and why we're focusing on aging

* 5:15 min - How California's aging demographics affect all of us

* 8:35 min - What the pandemic has shown about the problems of aging in California

* 12:40 min - How to build seniors-suitable housing in a state that's infamous for making housing available for people of any age

* 15:50 min - How to improve nursing homes and give them a "Golden Girls" quality of life

* 19:40 min - How will California innovate healthcare delivery and Medicare?

* 24:05 min - How to use technology to improve seniors' lives

* 26:55 min - Reducing age-ism and keeping seniors productive in society

* 30:30 min - Where's the money going to come from, and how will the Master Planners be held accountable for making this work?

* 36 min - What California citizens can do to make "aging in place" work better in this state

RESOURCE GUIDE

* California's Department of Aging -- check out its "How DO I?" section - https://aging.ca.gov/

* California's Master Plan for Aging - https://mpa.aging.ca.gov/

* Local Playbook for communities, companies and philanthropists can use to help with the plan - https://mpa.aging.ca.gov/LocalPlaybook/

* How to Build Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs, or "granny flats" for short) in California - https://www.hcd.ca.gov/policy-research/accessorydwellingunits.shtml

Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Even though coronavirus infections have sharply dropped, and the CDC is relaxing the rules around masks and mingling, what are we going to do about California’s healthcare system and our shell-shocked hospitals? How can we make sure we prevent so many unnecessary deaths among the people who cook our food, clean our houses, take care of our kids and do all the essential work we rely upon them for?

Join us as we talk with Elaine Batchlor, M.D. -- or "Dr. B" for short -- the CEO of Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Los Angeles, which was the Ground Zero of COVID deaths in California during those dark days last winter. She’ll tell us what went wrong last year and why, and what needs to happen now so we can address California’s major healthcare challenges and do better next time.

PODCAST PLAY BY PLAY

* O to 4:20 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, this episode and "Dr. B"

* 4:20 min - The status report for California hospitals today, where they stand in the COVID-19 battle, and getting people vaccinated

* 7:30 min - What this pandemic is teaching us about California's public health system

* 11:30 min - Where the building blocks -- and the money -- should be focused for creating a successful public health system, and what Dr. Batchlor is doing about this at her own hospital

* 21:30 - Why hospitals in wealthy areas leave hospitals like Dr. Batchlor's in the lurch when they're overwhelmed with patients, even during a pandemic

* 26:40 min - How hard it will be to keep burnt-out healthcare workers on the job, and get young people into the medical field, after this grueling year

* 30:30 min - What can we Californians do to build a better public healthcare system?

RESOURCE GUIDE

* New York Times article on the novel treatment MLK Jr. Community Hospital is now offering the patients it treated for COVID-19 - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/01/us/coronavirus-hospitals-recovery.html

* Medscape article on Dr. Batchlor and how she turned a hospital nicknamed "Killer King" into a highly rated healthcare site in Los Angeles - https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/948712

With recent headlines about scandals and snafus at Big Tech companies like Google and Facebook, tech workers in Silicon Valley are fed up with doing business as usual, and they’re fighting back. Software coders and engineers who earn six-figure salaries are joining forces with the lower-paid workers who make their tech campuses run and embracing the idea of labor unions.

in this episode, we’re talking with two people who believe in the power of collective action to make Silicon Valley a more equitable place.

GUESTS

* Maria Noel Fernandez, director of Silicon Valley Rising (https://siliconvalleyrising.org)

* Christopher Schmidt, software engineer at Google and a founding member of the Alphabet Workers Union (https://alphabetworkersunion.org)

PODCAST PLAY-BY-PLAY

* 0 to 5:10 min - Intro to "This Changes Everything," this specific episode, and our guests

* 5:10 min - Fernandez and Schmidt describe their organizations, the missions, and what they're focusing on now

* 14:20 min - Are tech companies responsive to these groups, and making change?

* 19:20 min - How Google's planned mega-campus in San Jose -- and the concessions it's giving to people living there -- could be a model for the rest of California and the U.S.

* 24:05 min - How have the past 12 months of shutdowns, business crises and remote workforces changed the groups ' missions and tactics?

* 29:35 min - Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama recently voted against unionizing - why did they decide that, and what does that say about working for a Big Tech company?

* 34:30 - How has the pandemic changed the meaning of work, and what it means to be a worker?

* 41:15 min - Fernandez and Schmidt give advice to both management and employees on how they can work together to run a business that benefits everyone

Thirteen months of statewide shutdowns have meant shuttered doors and bankruptcies for businesses in all types of industries, and the exodus of companies leaving California for other states seems to have accelerated. Governor Gavin Newsom has promised that the state will be fully open for business by June 15 if all goes well, but how many businesses will make it to that date? And will they be able to recover and thrive in a post-pandemic economy?

We’re talking to two CEOs in industries that were hit hardest by California’s shutdowns.

GUESTS

* Dustin Lancaster, founder of An Eastside Establishment, the umbrella company for a group of restaurants, bars and hotels in Los Angeles (www.establishmenteast.com)

* Francesca Schuler, CEO of In-Shape Health Clubs, which operates fitness centers statewide (www.inshape.com/our-story)

NOTE: There are some audio glitches between the 8:50-minute and 10:30-minute marks, and again between the 13:15-minute and 14:15-minute marks

PODCAST PLAY-BY-PLAY

* 0 to 4:25 min - Intro to "This Changes Everything," and why we're doing this episode

* 4:25 min - The two CEOs' share a few of the tough decisions they've made in the past year, and where those decisions have put them today

* 10:30 min - Where they got help -- and where they didn't -- from federal, state and local government authorities

* 14:50 min - How different will your restaurants and gyms look to customers when they go back inside? How has that changed the way you run your businesses overall? (Will fine dining bounce back? And do you think cocktails-to-go will stick around?)

* 29:10 min - What should California government do more of to keep businesses here in the state and thriving?

* 38:25 min - The CEOs' advice for current and aspiring business owners in California to run their companies and make them grow

When kids go back to in-person learning, what will that be like? How will the classroom be set up? How will school administrators handle the needs of their students, parents and teachers? And how will California’s public schools be different, for better or for worse, when the new school year begins?

We’re asking these questions to David Miyashiro, superintendent of the Cajon Valley Union School District. His was one of the few in California, and the nation, to keep schools open for in-person learning during the pandemic. And unlike many other districts in the state, Cajon Valley got cooperation from its teachers, parents and school boards to allow students back to the classroom.

PODCAST PLAY BY PLAY

* 0 to 4:20 min - Intro to this episode and why we're talking with David Miyashiro

* 4:20 min - Miyashiro explains his decision process when the shutdown started, and why he decided to reopen his schools when others were not

* 7:25 - How Miyashiro planned in advance for remote learning and using technology outside the classroom

* 9:10 min - Setting up the in-person classroom for a new school year

* 12:05 min - Biggest lessons learned over the past 12 months

* 14:20 min - Handling students' mental health needs

* 15:25 min - How Miyashiro worked with his teachers and the school boards to open up the classrooms

* 19:40 min - There are warning signs of a shortage of public school teachers, and more parents taking their kids out of public schools -- how is Miyashiro handling those issues?

* 23;45 min - What the new school year starting in August will look like in Cajon Valley Unified, and Miyashiro's advice for state officials on what they need to do long-term for public schools

RESOURCE GUIDE

* New York Times story with more info on Miyashiro's decision to reopen Cajon Valley School District for the 2020-2021 school year - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/21/us/cajon-valley-school-reopening.html

Photo Caption: Sandy Huffaker for the New York Times

In this episode, we’re taking a look at The Future of Work in California – how we’ll be doing it, and where we’ll be doing it from.

In Part One, we’re talking about the post-pandemic office, and what it will look like, with two people in the Bay Area who are designing it now - Christopher Good, creative director of One Workplace, and Melissa Pesci, a principal at HGA Architecture in San Francisco.

Then it’s a conversation with Adam D’Angelo, CEO of the technology firm Quora. Last June, he announced that his company, headquartered in Silicon Valley, would now and forever be a “remote first” company.

Listen in as they tell us what the last 12 months has done to the workplace, and the workforce, in California, and how office life will be totally different going forward.

* * * * *

PART ONE

* 0 to 3:55 min - Intro to "This Changes Everything," and our workplace-creator guests, Christopher Good and Melissa Pesci

* 3:55 min - Visualizing what "Workplace 2030" looks like, or at least what to expect for Workplace 2021

* 10:25 min - Open-concept space, or cubicles and closed-door offices?

* 16:55 min - Improving communication between workers in the office and remote workers at home

* 20:40 min - How will the future of how we work, and where we work, affect the urban downtowns where big offices and headquarters are typically based?

*25:20 min - What Good and Pesci look forward to when working in the post-pandemic workplace

PART TWO

* 29:35 min - Intro to Adam D'Angelo, CEO of Quora

* 32:20 min - D'Angelo's views of remote work before the pandemic hit, and how they changed a few months later

* 36:45 min - Why open-space office concepts aren't so great, even for collaborating

* 39:35 min - How Quora's management and working structures have changed since going remote

* 41:30 min - How a "remote first" workplace will actually level the playing field and help employees climb the career ladder

* 44 min - Should workers' paychecks be based on where they live?

* 46:15 min - Will Silicon Valley and the Bay Area take a hit if more companies leave and go remote?

* 48:50 min - One thing D'Angelo misses about working in person with others, but why he advises everyone to be optimistic about remote work going forward

RESOURCE LIST

* Christopher Good's six-part series on LinkedIn about the experience his team went through as they tried to create a better workplace for their company - www.linkedin.com/pulse/culture-community-design-part-1-6-good-cid-ncidq-asid-leed-ap/

* Melissa Pesci's "Redefining Workplace" podcast - https://hga.com/redefining-workplace-podcast/

* Adam D'Angelo's explanation on the Quora blog about why a "remote first" workplace will work best - https://quorablog.quora.com/Remote-First-at-Quora

In this first episode, we’re taking a look at The Future of News in California, and how the pandemic has added more stress to local newspapers, which are already in a downward spiral. If they keep cutting back, or close for good, how will we Californians get our news?

We’re talking about that with:

* Colleen McCain Nelson, the brand new editor in chief of the Sacramento Bee, and regional editor of the McClatchy company’s four other newspapers in California

* Jeff VonKaenel (pictured top right), owner of the News & Review, which has published free weekly community newspapers in Sacramento and Chico for over 40 years.

PODCAST PLAY BY PLAY

* 0 to 8 minutes - Why we're doing this new "This Changes Everything" podcast, and intro to the Bee's new editor Colleen Nelson

* 9:38 min - How can someone who never lived in California be the right pick as top editor for five California newspapers?

* 12:55 - Nelson's answer to the people who say, "I don't subscribe to the Bee because there's nothing to read in it anymore."

* 15:25 - The controversy around "clickbaiting," and how to balance publishing stories that people find interesting to read and publish stories that they should be reading

* 20:12 - Should newspapers focus on certain topics because they've got the staffing (i.e., political reporters in Sacramento) or the reader interest (i.e., restaurants), and less on other topics that don't have that support?

* 23:15 - How the Bee newspapers are covering equity and diversity now

* 28:35 - How the new Community Advisory Boards will work

* 32:20 - Why do hedge funds and billionaires like Jeff Bezos want to buy newspapers, and what does that mean for the future of news?

* 37:30 - What keeps Nelson motivated to keep working in an industry that everyone says is near death

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* 43:30 min - Intro to Jeff VonKaenel

* 44:50 min - He describes the day when he knew the coronavirus would make him layoff 40-plus staffers and stop publishing the papers

* 47:20 min - What goes into the $45,000-per-week cost for publishing newspapers that don't charge for subscriptions

* 50 min - Is the financial model of being supported by advertising totally dead?

* 53 min - If free community newspapers stop printing, where will people get their local news? And do people know -- and care -- about this crisis?

* 56:40 min - VonKaenel talks about the Independent Journalism Fund he started

* 57:55 min - Google and Facebook are setting up multimillion-dollar funds to rescue local journalism -- even though they're seen as the reasons why local newspapers are dying. Will VonKaenel take their money?

* 1 hr, 55 sec - What he has in mind for a new business plan to save local media

* 1 hr, 7:40 min - What Californians can do to ensure local journalism stays alive and thrives

NOTABLE LINKS

* McClatchy Company, owners of the Sacramento Bee, Fresno Bee, Modesto Bee, Merced Sun-Star and The Tribune in San Luis Obispo - www.mcclatchy.com/

* News and Review, which publishes in Chico, Sacramento and Reno - www.newsreview.com

* Nieman Journalism Lab, a great website to read (for free)about what the future of journalism could look like - www.niemanlab.org

* The title of the book that Vanessa couldn't remember when talking to VonKaenel about the connection between newspapers and democracy is "Ghosting the News" by Margaret Sullivan - https://globalreports.columbia.edu/books/ghosting-the-news/

Photo credit: Terry Hagz, Sacramento News & Review

We're doing a new podcast series about California's post-pandemic future.

Here's a quick intro so you know what to expect.

Episodes will drop weekly between March 28 and July 4.