Hello friends‚

Your Senator Steve Glazer here‚ sharing the newest episodes of my podcast‚ Table Talk‚ where we tell surprising stories about people‚ places and politics.

Over the course of the last year and a half I’ve shared over 50 stories – some heartwarming‚ some serious‚ others technical and scientific – and I’ve enjoyed each one. Although my time as your State Senator is coming to an end‚ you’ll still be able to go back and listen to all the past episodes on all podcast platforms; Apple‚ Spotify‚ and others‚ under “Table Talk with Senator Steve Glazer.”

We have several new episodes out‚ check them out below. Make sure to subscribe so you can be the first to hear when I post new episodes. Stay tuned for our Season 3 finale episode‚ out early next week. Thank you for listening!

Sincerely‚

Steve

Inside BART: Safety Changes‚ Fiscal Problems‚ Homelessness‚ Karaoke

This episode of the podcast takes you along for a ride during the morning commute on a San Francisco-bound yellow line train‚ featuring an interview with BART Board President Bevan Dufty. Taking a look at the new safety gates‚ speaking with crisis intervention specialists‚ and learning about new approaches to increasing safety and security on BART. Bonus: BART karaoke with President Dufty.

Inside the Wires of the World’s
Fastest Supercomputer

The world’s fastest supercomputer, El Capitan‚ at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Last month we shared the story of the Lawrence Livermore National Lab’s work on fusion – this month‚ they’ve made waves in the supercomputing space with their new computer El Capitan: verified as the fastest computer in the world. El Capitan has a peak performance of 2.79 exaFLOPS (which translates to 2.79 quintillion calculations per second). Listen to the episode to hear how those calculations help “solve the problems of our time.”

Democracy in Peril: the Collapse of Independent Journalism

Stage appearance by Sen. Glazer (left) and Lenny Mendonca (right) before a national audience of journalism funders at KQED in San Francisco

If you’re concerned about the future of democracy‚ you should also be concerned about the future of journalism. In October‚ I spoke to a national audience of journalism funders at KQED studios in San Francisco about efforts in California to rescue independent journalism. I continue the sobering conversation with local news publishers who share the challenges and rewards of reporting the news.

Household Items Get a Second Life:
Reuse Day in the Neighborhood

For this week’s episode I rode along with a recycling crew as they sorted items on people’s curbs for “Reuse Day‚” where residents leave out gently used items to donate to those in need. We follow the whole story from doorstep to doorstep: tracking items that are picked up‚ sorted and readied for a new home‚ and finally picked up by families in need at the distribution center.

Senate District 7 is based in Northern California’s Contra Costa and Alameda counties‚ encompassing unincorporated areas and the communities of Alamo‚ Antioch‚ Bay Point‚ Bethel Island‚ Brentwood‚ Byron‚ Clayton‚ Concord‚ Danville‚ Discovery Bay‚ Dublin‚ Lafayette‚ Livermore‚ Moraga‚ Oakley‚ Orinda‚ Pittsburg‚ Pleasanton‚ San Ramon‚ and Walnut Creek.