KQED Newsroom: Wildfire Smoke Health Risks, Millennial Politicians, Week in Politics

President Trump nominated a new attorney general this week, William Barr, who served during the George H. W. Bush administration. Barr would replace Jeff Sessions, who resigned under pressure last month. Meanwhile in Sacramento, the legislative session kicked off with the most Democrats in the State Senate and Assembly in modern history and an already ambitious legislative agenda.

Guests:

Scott Shafer, KQED’s Government and Politics Desk senior editor
Guy Marzorati, KQED’s Government and Politics Desk producer and reporter
Sean Walsh, Wilson Walsh Consulting

Wildfire Smoke Poses Long-Term Health Risks

Only two weeks ago, the Bay Area was cloaked in thick smoke from the Camp Fire. Medical experts say wildfire smoke is bad for your lungs and heart and even skin. Researchers are only beginning to understand the risks, but early analysis of hospital data shows the health effects linger long after the flames die down.

Guests:

Aaron Glantz, Reveal and Center for Investigative Reporting senior reporter
Katharine Hammond, UC Berkeley School of Public Health professor of epidemiology

Millennial Politicians

We sit down with a recent Cal grad who put his freshly-minted political economy degree to work on the campaign trail and got elected to the Berkeley City Council. At 22, Rigel Robinson is the youngest person ever elected to that position in Berkeley. He’s part of a wave of young people who ran in the midterm elections, which also drew the highest turnout of young voters during a midterm election in 25 years. We’ll talk about his campaign strategy and what he hopes to accomplish after he’s sworn in on Dec. 8.

Guests:

Rigel Robinson, Berkeley City Councilman-elect
Varsha Sarveshwar, UC Berkeley student and campaign manager

KQED Newsroom: Wildfire Smoke Health Risks, Millennial Politicians, Week in Politics

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