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James B. Stewart is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist whose new book "DEEP STATE: Trump, the FBI and the Rule of Law"  tries to place in context the myriad events and people who've emerged in the dizzying last three years as part of the storyline that is the Trump presidency.    

Hundreds of cases of serious lung illness linked to vaping--most likely related to cannabis products. Questions about the source of those products. Bigger questions about exactly what's in those products.  It all adds up to a nationwide public health mystery. Peter Hackett is CEO of AiRVapor, a Bay Area company that imports and sells a wide variety of products for the vaping industry.

The story of legendary Delta blues musician Robert Johnson has been told many times. But many of the facts are far from true, and many of the truths are even more amazing when the details are added. Bruce Conforth is a longtime scholar of history and the blues and is co-author of the book "Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson".

Communities around America are up in arms over what's seen as an epidemic of vaping among young people. Some (like San Francisco) are moving to restrict or ban the sales of e-cigarettes and vaping products. But not every health professional thinks this is a good idea. Kevin McGirr is a professor of Community Health Systtems at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing, and he views the vaping debate through the lenses of "harm reduction" and social justice.

Jakob Dylan and Andrew Slater are the men behind the new documentary film "Echo in the Canyon". It's a look at the mid-60's musical scene that many associate with the "California Sound". Dylan and Slater are longtime friends and associates; Dylan the frontman for the rock band The Wallflowers and Slater a music producer, agent, and record label executive.

Duffy Jennings is a San Francisco native who would wind up as a reporter at his hometown newspaper, covering major stories in the turbulent 1970's. He later became the vice president of public relations for the San Francisco Giants and spent many more years in public relations in the Silicon Valley. Now, Jennings is telling his story in a book: "Reporter's Note Book: A San Francisco Chronicle Journalist's Diary of the Shocking Seventies". He talked with us about his life and times.

America's healthcare system needs help. Pretty much everyone can agree on that. But what's the fix? VillageMD is trying to tackle the primary care physician issue. Co-founder and CEO Tim Barry talked with us about how they hope to do it.

He's the guy who wrote Banjo for Dummies, so you'd assume Bay Area banjo whiz Bill Evans would know his way around the banjo. You'd be right! Settle in for a conversation--punctuated with musical examples--about this important American musical instrument.

When longtime technology advocate and investor Roger McNamee began to smell something rotten in the way Facebook was being used to sway people with misinformation and target groups in a divisive way, he spoke out. And that was the beginning of the journey that led McNamee to meet with members of Congress, help found the Center for Humane Technology, and write a book entitled "Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe".

Genetic engineering. CRISPR. GMO’s. How much do any of us really know about these concepts and technologies that are literally changing life as we know it?  Fyodor Urnov has a deep understanding of the technologies and issues involved. He’s currently a visiting researcher at the Innovative Genomics Institute at UC Berkeley.

The craft beer revolution has created legions of people who can speak knowledgeably about a dozen varieties of hops. But what do they know about beer's essential ingredient, malt? Ron Silebrstein is a veteran craft brewer who co-founded Admiral Maltings in Alameda, CA.

Are you and your smartphone spending too much time together? Probably! Catherine Price has written about our phone fixation--and what you can do about it--in her book "How To Break Up With Your Phone".  You can learn more at her website.

Darrell Jobe spent time in prison before entering the packaging industry. Now he's hoping to change the way America deals with two major issues: wasteful packaging and the way we treat people who've been convicted of crimes. He's the founder and president of Vericool.

The West's "new normal": massive and deadly wildfires. Where do we go from here? Can we learn to live with fire in our forests?  Bill Stewart is a forestry specialist at U-C Berkeley and co-director of the U-C Center for Forestry. He joined us to look into the future of fire.

Free food at work: it's gone from a perk offered by a handful of high-tech startups to a fairly common employee benefit. Ali Sabeti is CEO of ZeroCater, the San Francisco-based company that serves as an intermediary between workplaces and food vendors. He joined us for a conversation about food and the way it's consumerd at the office these days.

When Denise Mueller-Korenek goes out for a bike ride, look out. The Southern California woman owns the world record for a motor-paced cyclist after reaching 183.9 MPH on the Bonneville Salt Flats. She talked with Stan and Susan about her journey to the record, and what's next.

Most of the focus on energy storage has been on batteries. But a Bay Area company hopes the future will be full of flywheels.  We talk with Seth Sanders, PhD, the chief scientist and co-founder of Amber Kinetics.

The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Remember that? It passed Congress and was signed by President Trump late in 2017, but the first tax returns Americans will file under the new law won't be submitted until early 2019. Our conversation is with Mark Steber, Senior Vice President and Chief Tax Officer at Jackson Hewitt Tax Service.

Once upon a time, you could find a local music store pretty much anywhere in America. Instruments, sheet music, lessons...the whole package. But like many other retail sectors, music stores have been challenged by massive changes. Alan Rosen is President and CEO of Bay Area music retailer Bananas at Large, and he has a front-row seat for this story.

Who knows what mysteries lie beneasth the surface of the sea? Liz Taylor has made it her life's work to help people find out. She's President and CEO of DOER Marine (Deep Ocean Exploration and Research), a San Francisco Bay Area-based company that designs and builds tools for underwater exploration.