Deep Dive With Larry Kamer Larry Kamer

Larry talks with Vada Manager, Corporate and Pro Sports Advisor, about the involvement of professional sports teams and major corporations in the current Black Lives Matter movement. Do the actions of major brands, such as Nascar banning the Confederate Flag,  signal a watershed moment? Vada and Larry also put on their 'communicator hats' to discuss the messaging around police reform, and how companies message authentic support, and how campaigns will address the need for change as the election heats up.
Episode first aired on June 18, 2020 on KVON 1440AM in Napa, California.

Larry talks with Audrey Cooper, Editor-in-Chief of the San Francisco Chronicle, about local newsrooms, the ongoing COVID pandemic, the power of protests against systemic racism sweeping the nation, and the renewed importance of journalism.
Episode first aired on June 11, 2020 on KVON 1440AM in Napa, California.


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Podcast Name: Deep Dive with Larry Kamer
Episode Name: San Francisco Chronicle Editor-in-Chief Audrey Cooper
 
The Deep Dive with Larry Kamer podcast, originating from the studios of KVON in California’s Napa Valley, shares insights, stories, and perspectives you might not hear elsewhere.  In this episode, host Larry Kamer interviews the editor-in-chief of the San Francisco Chronicle, Audrey Cooper.  Audrey is the first woman in this role in the history of her company, the youngest woman in US history to run a major metro newsroom, and only the third female editor-in-chief of a top-25 US paper.  Under her leadership, the paper has been heralded the best large newspaper in California each year, and has won various journalism awards and Emmys.  While she is planning to leave her post (and California!) in the near future, Audrey is not yet able to share where her new post will take her.
 
She has many insights to share, however, on current events in the journalism world.  Larry first asks Audrey to comment on the state of the US (and, more specifically, the Bay Area) right now.  Audrey described the division, distrust, racism, and withholding of information from the public that she sees around her.  With regard to her work in journalism, she also describes what the current climate is like for people in her line of work.  The suppression of reporters’ work by law enforcement is nothing new, as Larry and Audrey consider, but there are unique factors in the fear, hatred, and danger of the present day, and Audrey has to take extra precautions with her staff.  That being said, she balances her realism about present challenges with an optimistic outlook and admirable ability to see through overstated critiques of the current moment.
 
Audrey and Larry also spend much of their time together discussing Facebook, which Audrey believes shows only a disingenuous appreciation of local news.  She critiques it and its CEO roundly, addressing such things as disinformation and dishonesty, a lack of moral authority, financial motivations, lack of proper regulation, and harm done to democratic structures.  Audrey and Larry conclude their conversation by talking about both the threat and possibilities for partnership presented by alternative news organizations, and by talking about the positives and negatives of the Bay Area.  Audrey used to hate Californians, not understanding their constant smiles, exercising for fun, and weird food.  A couple years into her California tenure, she found she was one of them, and she now appreciates not only the weather and wine, but also the amalgamation of people who believe in what the Bay Area represents.  
 
Links:
Learn more about Audrey.
Learn more about the San Francisco Chronicle.
Learn more about the podcast on Twitter (@deepdiveshow), Instagram (@deepdiveshow), and Facebook.
Email suggestions for the show to deepdiveshow@winedownmedia.

Larry talks with Kevin Madden, GOP political strategist and commentator, about the politics of COVID, what will decide the 2020 election, and how governors and local officials build popularity and trust through their handling of the COVID crisis.
Episode first aired on May 28, 2020 on KVON 1440AM in Napa, California.

In the top half of the show, Larry speaks with Kevin Fagan, a veteran San Francisco Chronicle reporter, about California’s homeless population and how cities are caring for a vulnerable population during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the second half, Larry chats with Tim Miller, a political strategist and author, about his recent article in The Bulwark “The Ten Weeks That Lost the War: A Timeline of How Trump Lied, Bungled and Screwed America in the COVID-19 Crisis”.

Episode first aired on May 21, 2020 on KVON 1440AM in Napa, California.

In the top half of the show, Larry chats with Napa's County Wide Business Advisory Group, an initiative of the Napa Chamber of Commerce. Guests Mike Murray (CEO of Napa Recycling & Waste) and Jeri Hansen (Community Leader, Napa Valley Vinters, CA Women for Agriculture) help us understand how local businesses in Napa can re-open safely.

In the second half, Larry speaks with Interior Designer Steven Miller (Steven Miller Design Studio) about the design of safe workplaces as offices re-open across Napa and California.

Episode first aired on May 14, 2020 on KVON 1440AM in Napa, California.

Larry speaks with John Dunbar, Mayor of Yountville and Chair of the California League of Cities, about the current and future state of our cities and towns given the COVID-19 crisis. We talk about the needs of the 98% of California cities NOT helped by the CARES Act, how they’ll weather the budget storm, and what a comeback will look like.

Episode first aired on May 7, 2020 on KVON 1440AM in Napa, California.