College Admissions Scandal and Death Penalty Moratorium
On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order halting executions of death row inmates for as long as he is in office. California currently has more than 700 inmates on death row, more than any other state, and has not executed a death row inmate since 2006. Newsom said he cannot sign off on executing hundreds of human beings, knowing there are innocent people among them. Also this week, a number of Californians, including actresses and prominent business figures, have been charged in a widespread college admissions scam involving parents who allegedly bribed athletic coaches or paid people to cheat on college entrance exams to help get their kids into Stanford, USC and other top schools.
Guests:
- Scott Shafer, KQED senior editor of California Politics and Government
- Sean Walsh, Republican political consultant, Wilson Walsh Consulting
- Jill Tucker, education reporter, San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco’s New Public Defender
On Monday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed appointed Manohar Raju to be San Francisco’s next public defender. Raju has been with the public defender’s office for 11 years and had been managing its felony division. He will replace Jeff Adachi, who led the office from 2003 until his abrupt death last month at age 59.
Guest: Manohar Raju, San Francisco public defender
“The Age of Surveillance Capitalism”
From smart watches to social media posts to even the words we speak at home, tech companies are capturing enormous amounts of data and then analyzing, bundling and reselling it to third parties. But in a new book, a Harvard Business School professor argues that tech companies aren’t merely mining the intimate details of our lives — they’re also trying to shape and control them, for profit.
Guest: Shoshana Zuboff, author, “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism”