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December 12 Newsrooms are hamstrung by the business practices of Wall Street and Big Media, even as newspaper circulation declines and TV news continues the race to the bottom. Both the San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News recently laid off large portions of their newsroom staff. The Internet is vulnerable to the same marketplace compromises. Explore alternative business models to ensure journalism remains a lively piece of our civic life. Barry Parr (Coastsider.com, Mercury Center founder), Michael Stoll

November 28 Our food system is being refashioned by new urban farmers, farmers markets and community-supported agriculture, and importantly, by savvy shoppers who demand local, organic and safe food. Still, food security is tenuous for too many of our neighbors. Amy Franceschini (Victory Gardens, past and present), Willow Rosenthal (City Slicker Farms), Jason Mark (Alemany Farm, and editor of Earth Island Journal) podcast: http://diva.sfsu.edu/users/Chris.Carlsson/ssf_talks?podcast=16

November 14 With Mayor Newsom trying to give away the city’s wi-fi space to a corporate consortium, efforts by Bechtel and other private contractors to take over our public water system, the ongoing scandal of PG&E selling us our own “public” power and their current efforts to take over alternative power, incessant pressure to privatize the public schools, a national culture that blindly accepts corporate interests as preferable to public interests, we’ll talk about how the San Francisco Bay Area

October 24 What are the historic roots of our current ecological politics, how have they shaped today’s environment and the questions we face now? Open space, biodiversity, global warming, fresh water, street design and transit choices, urban farming... local historian Dick Walker (“The City in the Country”), Kearstin Krehbiel (SF Parks Trust), Peter Brastow (Nature in the City), Keirstin Dischinger (Bike Kitchen) podcast: http://diva.sfsu.edu/users/Chris.Carlsson/ssf_talks?podcast=13

October 17 Hugh will present a slideshow of his diverse body of work, ranging from rock posters to anti-war flyers to original paintings, and talk about the ways his politics have informed his art—and vice versa. (http://www.hughillustration.com/) podcast: http://diva.sfsu.edu/users/Chris.Carlsson/ssf_talks?podcast=12

October 10 Does voting matter? Do you urge everyone around you to vote? What kinds of power do we gain or lose by participating in elections? What else can we do? We’ll hear from folks who believe in representative democracy, those who propose reforms, and those who reject it outright. Michael Med-o Whitson, Natasha Marsh (Calif League of Young Voters), James Rucker (colorofchange.org). podcast: http://diva.sfsu.edu/users/Chris.Carlsson/ssf_talks?podcast=11

Sept. 26 We’ll look the possibilities of a radically different relationship to our local water supplies, including our aquifer, creeks and rainfall. But most of San Francisco’s water is supplied by the Tuolumne River, which flows through a series of reservoirs, aqueducts and tunnels to our taps. These facilities are being rebuilt now, along with yet another massively expensive sewer system overhaul. Joel Pomerantz, Spreck Rosenkrans (Environmental Defense Fund), Ruth Gravanis. podcast: http://diva.sfsu.edu/users/Chris.Carlsson/ssf_talks?podcast=9