Davisville

Heard of the Davis Angels Network, or Silicon Valley Bank? The former is working to build a local culture that supports and invests in start-up companies in Davis, and the latter was founded in 1982 to become a major source of funding for emerging tech companies in the Silicon Valley (and grew into an international bank). On today’s Davisville, Lonnie Bookbinder of the Davis Angels, and retired SV Bank chairman Bob Medearis, who both live in Davis, talk about the real efforts to place more start-up ventures in town. There’s more going on in this area in Davis than you might know about.

Shades of Blue: Writers on Depression, Suicide, and Feeling Blue is a new collection of essays by 35 writers, edited by Amy Ferris. Two of the writers are Debra LoGuerico DeAngelo, Winters Express editor and columnist for the Davis Enterprise, and David Lacy, who grew up in Davis and now teaches writing in Southern California. "It is possible to find hope and solidarity in these pages, but don’t expect a feel-good trip," says the review in Publishers Weekly. "It’s a true-to-life kick in the pants designed to bring comfort to anyone who’s feeling hopeless." On today’s show, DeAngelo and Lacy talk about Shades of Blue, and the experiences behind their stories—Lacy’s “Allies in the Sky,” and DeAngelo’s “If I Love You, You’ll Leave.”

Even if you don’t own stocks, you’ve probably heard about the steep price swings in the stock market since August, and perhaps wondered what they mean. Brad Barber, a professor of finance at UC Davis, is an often-quoted expert (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN) on the market, investor psychology and related subjects. On today’s show we talk about investing in stocks, this year’s volatility, his research into the habits of the average investor, and the evolution away from pensions that guarantee a defined payout.

The $300 milion Nishi Gateway project would be a major addition to Davis. It would build research space, offices, housing for rent and for sale, and a relatively small amount of retail on what’s now vacant land southwest of downtown and next to UC Davis. Davis voters, through a citywide ballot, could vote yes or no on the project as soon as June 2016. Sustainable design, jobs, traffic, population growth, the local economy, partnerships with UC Davis--this project touches on all these recurring Davis issues. Today we discuss its ins & outs with the project's managing partner, Tim Ruff of Davis.