In the conversations surrounding police reform, you may have heard about qualified immunity. Qualified immunity is a protection for police officers when they violate the constitution performing their job. Some see it as protection for our police officers doing their jobs, others see it as something that is abused and allows for violations of the law to go unpunished. Joanna Schwartz has studied qualified immunity and it's impact on the public and police. She published her findings in her new book: SHIELDED: How the Police Became Untouchable

The budget proposal from the King County Regional Homlessness Authority is in the billions and some, like Andrea Suarez, founder and Executive Director Of We Heart Seattle, believe the city continues to move in the wrong direction. She says her organization is a bipartisan, boots on the ground group that is taking action that will help the city and the issue of homelessness, others see her work as controversial. She joins us to explain. 

Technology is rapidly evolving and soon, business owners, the government and even one day, yourself will become familiar with Quantum Computing. This form of computation is changing the way people solve problems, from how to load an airplane properly to cracking encryption. What are the pros and cons of what seems like a very powerful new form of technology? CEO of IONQ Peter Chapman joins us to discuss. 

Awe is all around us. From the biggest, life changing events to stopping to smell the flowers on your way to the beach. You can find awe in everything, and when you do find awe, you'd be surprised at how much it can add to your life. Dacher Keltner has been studying the idea of awe for 15 years, and has a new book, AWE: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life. He teaches Dave Ross and Colleen O'Brien that sometimes you really do need to walk and smell the roses. 

The War in Ukraine has brought us, seemingly, closer to nuclear war. The closest we've been since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Comments from President Putin have raised questions such as what would the fallout be if Russia did use nuclear weapons? Is Putin really considering using weapons of that scale and how would the United States respond? Emma Belcher is the president of the Ploughshares fund, a foundation with one goal in mind, reducing the threat of nuclear weapons. She joins us to navigate the threats.

Aging... something every person dreads, what does it mean for your physical and well being? Can you rely on just having "good genes"?

Rose Kenney, author of Age Proof: The New Science of Living a Longer and Healthier Life s has been studying the aging process and she sits down with KIRO News Radio's Dave Ross to discuss the different aging processes, healthy ways to age, "brain training" games and how policy makers use age data to make decisions. 

There are plenty of well-understood risk factors for homelessness; addiction, mental illness, poverty. 

But it turns out that even in places where the poverty rates are some of the highest in the nation, homelessness doesn't necessarily follow. One of the biggest risk factors for homelessness is actually pretty simple: it's the cost of housing.

Academic Gregg Colburn and data journalist Clayton Aldern are the authors of the new book Homelessness is a Housing Problem. They join KIRO Newsradio's Dave Ross to talk about their research on rent spikes and real estate bidding wars in cities like Seattle and San Francisco, where tents are on the sidewalks in front of million-dollar homes.

It's no surprise to anyone that Americans today are deeply divided. How do we have conversations with the people we vehemently disagree with on, well — everything?

Journalist Mónica Guzmán is the liberal daughter of Mexican immigrants who voted — twice — for Donald Trump.

She joins KIRO Radio's Colleen O'Brien and Dave Ross to discuss an organization that's been putting people from all across the political spectrum in the same room to talk about everything from stolen elections to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Her book is I Never Thought of It That Way, available for purchase here.

Mónica Guzmán will be in conversation with political cartoonist David Horsey at Seattle's Town Hall on March 22nd, 2022. Tickets available here.

And you can find a Braver Angels event to attend here.

Dr Gleb Yemetz is a cardiac surgeon. He has been living with his staff at a hospital in Kyiv since the invasion began, performing emergency surgeries for the critically wounded.

Dave Ross spoke with him on the evening of February 28th ... day 5 of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Dr Yemetz describes Russian advances on the city of Kyiv, the situation inside his hospital and the threat of nuclear war.