The murals inside of San Francisco’s Coit Tower are a popular tourist destination, but have been a source of contention from their inception. In his new book, “The Coit Tower Murals: New Deal Art and Political Controversy in San Francisco,” San Francisco State professor Robert Cherny chronicles the history of the murals, which were painted in the style of Diego Rivera and depict life in the Bay Area during the 1930s. They were created as part of the New Deal programs that supporting artists following the Great Depression. But controversies sprang up over the murals’ perceived pro-Communist imagery and the value of public art. We’ll talk with Cherny about the murals and their legacy.

Guests:

Robert Cherny, professor emeritus of history, San Francisco State University; author of "The Coit Tower Murals: New Deal Art and Political Controversy in San Francisco"

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Aristotle taught that all human beings want to know,” writes Columbia professor of humanities Mark Lilla, adding that “our own experience teaches us that all human beings also want not to know, sometimes fiercely so.” We’ll talk to Lilla about our innate disposition toward ignorance – whether about a political reality or an uncomfortable family secret. Lilla’s new book is “Ignorance and Bliss: On Wanting Not to Know.”

Guests:

Mark Lilla, professor of the humanities, department of history, Columbia University; http://marklilla.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last year, visitors flocked to the path of the solar eclipse, packed up to visit national parks and headed abroad. While climate change and overtouristing are impacting travel, post-COVID wanderlust shows no sign of abating in 2025. Maybe it will be a trip to Belgrade, Benin or the Bold Coast of Maine. We talk to travel experts about places we’ve been and where we should go in the new year. What’s on your travel bucket list?

Guests:

Faith Adiele, Oakland-based travel writer; author of “Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun”; founder of the “Traveling While BIPOC” writing workshop, for writers who are Black, Indigenous and people of color. Her recent work is featured in "Go Girl 2: The Black Woman's Book of Travel and Adventure".

Amy Virshup, travel editor, The New York Times

Billie Cohen, editorial director, Afar magazine

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the death of a beloved colleague known for his optimism, Stanford psychology professor Jamil Zaki began reflecting on his own cynicism. He discovered that cultural stereotypes casting cynics as smarter and more worldly are wrong. Instead, cynicism undermines relationships and confines our vision of the future. We’ll talk to Zaki about how to quiet our inner cynic to appreciate a humanity he says is “far more beautiful and complex than a cynic imagines.” His new book is “Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness.”

Guests:

Jamil Zaki, professor of psychology, Stanford University; director, Stanford Social Neuroscience Laboratory; author of “Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Neuroscientist and musician Daniel Levitin says we can trace beliefs about music’s power to heal mind, body and spirit back 20,000 years, to the Upper Paleolithic era. But only recently have we had good science to explain how music affects us and how we can use it therapeutically. Not only to relax, uplift and bring us together, but as part of treatment of trauma, depression, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and more. Alexis Madrigal talked onstage with Levitin in collaboration with LitQuake, San Francisco’s literary festival, running through October 26th. We listen back on their conversation and to Levitin’s live musical performance.

Guests:

Daniel Levitin, neuroscientist, musician and author, "I Heard There Was a Secret Chord," "The Organized Mind," "The World in Six Songs" and "This is Your Brain on Music. He is also Dean of Social Sciences at the Minerva Schools in San Francisco.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One problem with 2016 polling data indicating that Hillary Clinton would win the presidency was the oversampling of people with college and graduate degrees. Today’s Democrats tend to value credentials and degrees, while Republicans tend to champion skeptics who distrust institutions like universities. That’s according to political scientist David Hopkins, who says that the “diploma divide” is a main reason our country is so polarized. We’ll talk to Hopkins about our education divide and its political impacts. His new book, with co-author Matt Grossman, is “Polarized by Degrees.”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Looking back at the year in tech in 2024, generative artificial intelligence dominated headlines, became part of our daily lives and pumped up the Bay Area’s job market. On social media, Elon Musk steered the platform X to the right, and worked to elect Donald Trump. Meanwhile, users experimented with other social media platforms, which are increasingly marketing machines for online retailers. We talk about the biggest tech news and trends that shaped our region and the world.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Much has been written about Ronald Reagan, but historian Max Boot’s new biography, which draws on new archival sources and interviews with nearly a hundred people who knew Reagan best, is being hailed as definitive. Boot says Reagan was possessed of “myriad contradictions and inconsistencies:” a skeptic of government who presided over vast spending increases; a gun rights advocate who supported tough gun laws; a man of strong convictions but little intellectual depth. We talk to Boot about why he did not want to write either a “hagiography or a hit job” of the former president and California governor, and both the contrasts and connections he sees between Reagan and Donald Trump. Boot’s new book is “Reagan: His Life and Legend.” What policy, event or moment do you most associate with Ronald Reagan?

Guest:

Max Boot, senior fellow for national security studies, Council on Foreign Relations - columnist, Washington Post; author, "Reagan: His Life and Legend"

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new year holds promise for a new you. But writer Oliver Burkeman says you shouldn’t strive for perfection. Instead, in his latest book, “Meditations for Mortals,” Burkeman encourages readers to embrace imperfection, let some goals slide, and do less. His approach has been called “liberating and humane.” We talk to Burkeman about how to thrive and despite our mortal failings.

Guests:

Oliver Burkeman, author, "Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts".; Burkeman is the author of the best selling book "Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals"

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever reread something you wrote years earlier and cringed? Or maybe you were surprised by the depth, heart and complexity of what your younger self put to the page. Ann Patchett had both experiences recently when she reread her award-winning 2001 book “Bel Canto.” She’s now reissued the novel with her own handwritten margin notes — both complimentary and critical. We’ll talk to Patchett about what she loves about the original and what she would change, and what it’s like to edit your own work decades later. Patchett’s new book is “Bel Canto: The Annotated Edition.”

Guests:

Ann Patchett, author, "Bel Canto: The Annotated Edition"

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices