Lifestyle Episodes

The 17 mile trail that crosses San Francisco from the Bay in the South East corner of the City to Land's End in its' North West Corner, cuts right through the heart of our 49 square miles of natural beauty. It traverses urban gardens, solid neighborhoods, the Presidio, Golden Gate Park and leads you to the dramatic cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The brainchild of Bob Siegel a one time Peace Corps volunteer and college professor, the Crosstown Trail has become a top attraction during Covid...

DNA genealogical testing is dominated by Ancestry.com and 23 and Me. MIT's Technology Review estimates that 26 million such test kits have been sold by these two companies. While their growth has been explosive, privacy concerns are growing. The sale of genetic data to 3rd parties is especially sensitive. And the open source genealogy website GEDMatch has even fewer privacy safeguards than the Direct To Customer testers. Is your genetic data safe ? Where is the industry headed ? --- Send in a...

In 2019 87,00 Californians relocated to Texas. And in 2020 we lost several iconic Bay Area tech companies to the Lone Star state such as Oracle, Hewlett Packard and Palantir. Podcast celebrity Joe Rogan moved to Austin and Tesla founder Elon Musk did likewise. The cost of living in Houston is 65% lower than San Francisco while salaries are 17% less. Can California stem the flow of this exodus ? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/james-herlihy/message

The gray wolf, one of America's iconic symbols of the Old West, is to lose its' endangered species status. The Trump Administration argues that 45 years of protection has seen its numbers grow six fold to 6000. But conservationists contend that the wolf is not firmly re-established in America. The Pro and Anti wolf lobbies bring a visceral passion to the subject that some have compared to the Abortion campaign. Will the opponents succeed in overturning this delisting action ? --- Send in a vo...

San Francisco is looking to re-name 44 of its' 114 schools. The move was prompted by a review of existing names for slavery links, genocide perpetrators, colonialists, white supremacists etc. 9 US Presidents' names would be stripped from our schools including, Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt. Even Senator Dianne Feinstein would lose her place of honor and our Spanish Colonial historic roots expunged. But San Francisco's schools are still closed to in person learning and many, even in woke San ...

California experienced its' smallest net population growth in 2019 - 87,000 or 0.2%, the smallest net increase since 1900. The 2020 net increase is likely to be even smaller. Are the unaffordable housing costs, high taxes and high cost of living, to say nothing about wildfire air pollution and last in the nation Covid re-opening finally starting to bite ? A host of online websites offer one stop shopping Exit California packages. Are we reaching a breaking point ? Meanwhile Texans warn newly tra...

The 3700 California prison inmates who volunteer to be firefighters as we wage war on the Wildfires, will be eligible to have their records expunged as a result of their service. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the legislation into law yesterday. It's an important step for former inmates to obtain a professional certification as an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) the pre-requisite to apply for a civilian firefighter job. the 3700 inmate firefighters make up 26% of those on the frontlines of the ...

San Francisco's skies turned the color of Irish Single Malt Whiskey, even down to that hint of smokiness on Wednesday morning. The deep orange/amber twilight persisted most of Wednesday forcing everyone to turn on their headlights and don N95 surgical masks against the ash that swirled in the air. As if the Coronavirus were not enough. Massive wildfires, 100 miles to the North East of San Francisco exploded to life during overnight wind storms. The resulting mountains of smoke poured into the Ba...

With San Francisco"s gyms closed for four months, hiking the urban environment of one of America's most beautiful cities affords lots of opportunities for vigorous exercise. But how is urban hiking different from walking ? We want some physical challenge which is demanding and satisfying at the same time. Listen to today's podcast for some tips on changing your city scape into an exciting outdoor adventure venue, --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/james-herlihy/message

San Francisco's Rainbow Honor Walk serves to acknowledge and memorialize Great men and women of the LGBTQ Community. 44 large bronze plaques have been laid along Castro Street and Market Street sidewalks to memorialize people like James Baldwin, Frida Kahlo, Tennessee Williams, Virginia Woolf to cite but a few. The plan is to eventually place 500 plaques to memorialize luminaries of the LGBTQ community. As the rest of the country witnesses statues being torn down and monuments being defaced, San...

In the closing days of World War II, San Francisco hosted the organizing conference which created the UN. The conference took place at the War Memorial Opera House from April 25 to June 26, 1945. Why did San Francisco get this honor ? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/james-herlihy/message

On September 22, 1975 would be assassin Sara Jane Moore waited outside the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco's Union Square to kill President Gerald Ford. The first shot missed the President's head by 5 inches. Our 38th President literally and figuratively dodged an assassin's bullet on the streets of San Francisco. I was present at the lunch, met the President, shook his hand and chatted with him before his brush with death. I heard the shots ring out and watched in horror as the presidential ...

In 1847, at the height of the Irish Potato Famine, the Choctaw Nation donated $170 to Irish famine relief. Returning the favor, 173 years later, many Irish are donating to a GoFundMe page for Navajo, Hopi and Choctaw Covid-19 relief. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/james-herlihy/message

Apple and Google roll out their Coronavirus tracking APP to public health authorities Tuesday April 28. Will it infringe our right to privacy ? Should we care ? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/james-herlihy/message

Tony Bennett will lead a mass, civic singalong on Saturday April 25 at 12 noon. All 850,000 inhabitants of San Francisco are invited to join in as a thank you to the Covid-19 frontline workers who have taken care of us and kept us safe during the Pandemic. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/james-herlihy/message

In the fifth and final part of the Living on Lockdown series, I explore how and where we get our news on Covid 19 over the rest of the lockdown. With a historic perspective and quotes from Queen Elizabeth II and Henry Kissinger. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/james-herlihy/message

Social isolation can lead to depression and loneliness. Today’s episode provides an alternative, to let you interact online through games, house parties and group movie watching at a distance. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/james-herlihy/message

Urban Hiking is the fastest growing trend in Hiking. It brings the same hiking energy to a CityScape and is a great way to accomplish your cardio fitness goals. Several hiking apps are reviewed. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/james-herlihy/message