♪ ♪ good evening and welcome to kqed newsroom. on tooth's show, the man known as shrimp boy. cooking with crickets and electronic art. we begin with gloria steinem and the governor's race, i'm joined by my colleague, scott schaeffer, he's been with us since the show launched two years ago and now is the new senior editor of our politics and government desk. so nice to have you back. >> good to be here. >> let's talk politics. this week gloria steinem and other prominent feminists, warned publiclyli comptroller n to run in 2018, why are they angry with him?

>> he helped clear some nasty charges of domestic violence pending against a business colleague. the back-story is he joined a company in 2013. at that time the founder of the company had been accused of beating his girlfriend. he was caught on videotape more than 100 times, hitting her within half an hour. he goes to steve wesley, wesley says we've got to get this taken care of before the company goes public. before the ipo. he tells him to call willie brown. he says this incident happened in san francisco. willie brown knows the district attorney, give him a calls, he can help get gascone to brush back these charges. so what happened was, he did call willie. willie brown said for $1 million i'll help it go away. some calls were made, long story short, he ended up pleading guilty to two misdemeanors, because the judge in the case dismissed all the video evidence. and so a lot of that evidence went away. so no indication by the way that george gascone did anything wrong. >> but the bigger question here

now then for wesley is, did you, did you help this man try to evade these accusations? and these charges? >> there's no question about that. they have email going back and forth, he suggested you should call willie brown, here's why, we've got to make this go away. when he finally pleaded guilty to so many lesser charges, sent him an email saying great news, congratulations, so this is as you can understand, really infuriated feminists, including gloria steinem and others based here in san francisco. they're saying if you dare to run for governor, which he's been thinking about doing in 2018, we're going to make sure every voter knows about this. >> how is wesley responding to the accusation? >> he acknowledges, he hasn't been talking, but in a statement he says look we did the right thing as the board we fired this guy. after he pleaded guilty to these misdemeanors, i've been an advocate for women and girls, i created a foundation with my wife ten years ago. but feminist aren't buying that. say calling it crass, and saying

we're not impressed. >> bottom line, you think he'll still run? >> he's got a place in the primary. he's a moderate democrat in the new jungle primary. the top two finishers go up against each other in november. think he feels if he can get in the top two, that as the moderate democrat, he might attract votes from independents and republicans. so the short answer is -- yeah, he seems to still be interested. >> let's turn to congress for a moment. just this week sam farr, the long-time democratic congressman representing santa cruz and monterey, announced he's retiring. he's popular in his districts, was re-elected with 75% of the vote. why is he stepping down at this time? >> i think only in politics when someone retires at the a of 74 or 75, we say why is he retiring? he's been there for a long time. it's hard being a congress member from california, you have to go back and forth every week. when you're in monterey, there's no direct flight so it's tough. you have to think the democrats are in the minority party now.

there's very little likelihood in the near future that's going to change. so it's kind of like beating your head against the wall. you're not going do get your legislation passed. there's very little that you can do. he said it's time for somebody younger, with more energy to do it. >> there's been younger people who are expressing interest. is this a seat that republicans have a chance to pick up? >> very unlikely. no one has really seriously challenged sam farr, it's a democratic district. all the names mentioned so far, including leon panetta's son, deputy district attorney, thinking of running, they're all democrats, bill moning, louisa lehjo, who is a latino, could emerge as a candidate. highly unlikely that a republican would pick that seat up. >> i want to also look ahead to next november's elections, likely to see a lot of initiatives, perhaps as many as 20, why is that? >> there's never a shortage of ballot measures in california.

something is different this time around. jerry brown signed legislation requiring ballot measures to be on november ballot in a general election year. in the past all of these ballot measures were strung out over different elections. they're all going to be on one ballot. also, the threshold for getting something on the ballot is based on the number of people who voted in the previous gubernatorial election. record low turn-out last time, you need fewer signatures to get something on the ballot. a lot of people are saying i'll give that a shot. a lot of things in the pipeline. >> what are some of the top contenders to make the ballot. >> we know there's going to be a referendum on the plastic bag ban. that's made it. and also likely to be a measure requiring porn actors who wear condoms during sexual intercourse. can you imagine voter research before they cast those votes. and marijuana legalization perhaps. there's going to be for sure gun control measure that gavin newsom is pushing, a minimum wage measure. lot of hot-button issues that will draw a lot of people to the

polls. >> you have to ask, will this lead to voter fatigue? or will people vote? and sometimes, if there's so many, people just say no or skip them. >> absolutely. especially the more complicated ones and some of the ones that are going to be on the ballot are going to have a lot of arcane detail. there's kind of a voter fatigue, people's eyes begin to glaze over. as they make their way down the ballot, they get more likely to vote no perhaps. so you could see that for sure. >> scott schaeffer, our new senior editor of politics, thanks so much. you bet. and now, to the trial of raymond chow, the ex-con known to many as shrimp boy. he's on trial for racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder. federal prosecutors say he was at the center of a powerful criminal enterprise in chinatown. cho's attorneys say he's a changed man, devoted to community service.

"los angeles times" reporter lee romney has been following the case. >> you were in the court when the jurors were introduced to chow. >> the surprise was that chow was going to be testifying. he stood up from the defense table with a giant smile on his face. and he, he nodded and looked at the jury and said in english. good afternoon. and sarah made it clear he's going to be testifying in english. because they want to show the jury that he has some difficulties with tenses, things that could have led to some misunderstandings on the body wire recordings that are going to be so central to the case. >> let's talk about the government's case, key to the witness list for them it seems would be a man named dave jordan. an undercover agent. will he testify? and what are the points that he's likely to make? >> the prosecution made it clear that jurors are going to be hea tng a lot from david jordan. david jordan is the cover name of the undercover agent who is really most central to the case.

he was posing as an east bay, east coast mobster. and it was chow who introduced him to a whole bunch of people who ended up engaging in criminal activity with him. money laundering. all in the service of racketeering, being part of the criminal enterprise, trafficking in illegal cigarettes and stolen liquor. and the government says it was chow who was behind the entire thing. he was the sun around which you know, these planets revolved. so that is their case. >> what is the defense case then. chow's attorney, tony syrah, well known for his theatrical style. >> tony serra is sticking to the story that chow is reformed. and so he told the jury i'm going to be going to the exact same well of evidesae as the prosecution, the same body

recordings, body wire recordings, but while they say he was pretending to be innocent and reformed and that he yes, he said no, no, i don't want the money. but he took the money, tony serra is going to say he was reformed. he liked the stakes, he need the the cash. but he never committed a crime aend consistently said he wasn't aware of what crimes were being committed. by these other people. >> so then how strong is the government's case here? do you think they can connect all those dots? >> i think it's going to be gotough to do it without you kn, the reasonable doubt. and that's what serra is banking on. there's a separate part of the case, the most serious part, the murder charges, murder that he really arranged the murder of his predecessor and that he

conspired to arrange the murder of somebody else. in that case they also have a problem. because of the character who is are going to be testifying. are doing it in exchange for leniency and they all are you know, serra will say are not credible. the prosecution has to show that you know, he did these things, he was aware. and that he was behind it all. >> they have to do it beyond a reasonable doubt. >> this case against chow is part of a multimillion-dollar sting operation that lasted five years. it had already led to guilty pleas by ex-state senator lehman yi along with other defendants, to what extent is the government's focus on chow and its tactics on trial here? >> i think that the government is in some ways, having to lay

bare the mechanics of an investigation that they would have perhaps preferred if somebody had just pleaded guilty. they had a great success by in some ways stumbling upon leland yi and getting a guilty plea out of him. but the tactics, the amount of money spent, the years spent, trying to get chow, i think that you know, the defense is going to try to get as much of that in as possible. millions of dollars, on the actual money that went to commit the crimes as well as you know, fancy dinners and $20,000 rolex watch and sara is going to be focusing on that. >> the prosecution will have to justify that. what can we expect next week in the trial? >> the defense is getting about 24-48 hours notice on witnesses and so so not exactly sure but

they are focusing on the murder components of the case first. so it will probably be perhaps a little while before we hear from david jordan. he could come possibly next week. >> we will be watching, i know you well as well, leah romney with the "l.a. times," thank you. >> thank you so much. we are introducing a new segment about big ideas. that could change the way we live, work, play, and even eat. to kick things off we're talking to two people who think the future of food involves insects. joining me are sean mcdonald of bit water farms which helps to finance new cricket farms and leslie zigler which sells flour and baked goods made from crickets. welcome to you both. i have to ask, why crickets? >> why not crickets? they have a great bran if you're going to start with

any insect, crickets recall warm summer nights, chirping, cute, it's not, it doesn't sound very threatening. >> but they don't imply tasty. >> that's only because you haven't tried them yet. we'll fix that. >> shawn, how did you decide to get into the bug grub business and what role do cricket farms play in agriculture? >> yeah. i got involved because we see it as an opportunity to make a tremendous social impact and build the billion-dollar legacy company and that appeals to the entrepreneur in me. i know there's a need for sustain ab sustainable growing and we consider to develop current technologies to do that better. crickets are an exciting path. people love to eat them and use them for all sorts of purposes. we're excited about the team at bit is doing and have received lots of innovation. >> let's talk since you mentioned eating them, let's

lk about the nutritional benefits of eating bugs. are they a good source of protein? >> they are. they're just as good as eating beef. they have more fiber than you know, most other protein sources, they're actually very nutritionally complete. it's not just about protein. they've got the same amount of omega 3s as fish, more iron than spinach and that's pretty incredible. we see it as a way to you know, we get excited. we have a patented flour that we've developed, that is much more nutritionally complete than an all-purpose flour would be. >> you're grinding them up into flour and not serving the whole cricket. >> yes. >> our whole thesis is that for most people, the visual barrier is really what keeps them from wanting to try crickets or any insect really. but by toasting them and grinding them, it's a lot like making coffee. mixing it together with other

ingredients to make a flour that can be used for sweet or savory purposes, it's tasty. >> and the nutritional benefits what are the environmental benefits? >> this is an area that a lot of people have talked about. >> the bottom line is that insects are really efficient at converting feed and water into protein and iron and even nutrients that are important to the way that poultry and fish grow. we know there are different ways to produce them. across the board, they do a really good job of metabolizing. they're not a miracle, but you be can looking at three to five times the efficiency of use of water input to produce crickets and you can look at things like waste streams coming out of industrial food processing to feed the crickets. so all around, it's a big gain. >> i had read that a pound of beef takes 2,000 gallons of

water and 25 pounds of feed to produce. by contrast, crickets, how much less water and feed does it take in. >> it's about a gallon of water to get to one pound of cricket protein. which sin credible. and for context, it takes a gallon of water to make one almond. so compared to nuts and plants, it's quite efficient. >> all of it sounds good. but you've heard the critics, people who contend that the claims are over-exaggerated, for businesses that simply want to make a profit. how do you respond to them. shawn? >> well i think we have to be careful about how we talk about it and be realistic about what the gains are. this is not a magic bullet kind of thing where krikts are 500 times more efficient than the current alternatives, but they're easily 20, 30, 40% better. and they may end up being three to five times as efficient in

the way they process inputs. and even if we're 10%, 20% bett better, that's amazing, the points that critics make are good, there's no perfect recipe for feeding a cricket that is ultralow water and totally free or anything like that. we're seeing a tremendous amount of innovation in that space, their start-ups just focused on how to make that feed process better. they're getting better at the far end of it how we process it, because the water and energy that goes into processing it is part of the footprint and what we see as the ecosystem of exciting businesses is growing. they're getting better. we're seeing improvements in how we produce these things. and i think 20 years from now we'll be seeing, global, insect protein industry. >> and all of this is interesting because of the drought that we've been having here in california. i want to ask you about the ick factor, right?

in most parts of the world people already eat insects, i've tried grasshoppers, they were quite tasty. but it's a huge visual barrier. how do you overcome that? >> that's why we make it into a flour. as i said, i think most people will look at an insect like the ones being shown on the screens and think that does not look delicious. but actually, crickets and shrimps, they're cousins, if you eat shrimp. you've already been kind of eating crickets all along. we joke that they're land shrimp. crickets came on land, shrimp stayed in the sea. but honestly, i think it's a matter of introducing it to people in a way that's familiar. in reality we're not going to have enough protein in 2050. if we keep going this way, our relationship with beef, we've got to look at ways to move protein off the plate and into the staple foods that we eat every day. and so it doesn't feel like much of a, it doesn't feel like much

of a choice to me. if feels like something we need to solve. >> shawn i want to ask you about, so that's the food aspects. what are some of the biggest challenges in turning this into something agriculturally mainstream? >> so it's interesting, there are a lot more cricket farmers in california and united states than most people are aware of. 12 or 15 in california. and dozens, if not over 100 in the united states. so in some places, this is a part of mainstream agriculture in certainly geographic regions. but there are challenges in getting farmers and growers to feel comfortable with the crop. what we see is that the economics of the model are just as valuable as the sustainability component of it. we can talk about, just like alternative energy sources, just not the right thing to do, it's the best thing to do for your

balance book. we make the same case and at the end of the day it's a big motivator. >> leslie, you've got this flour what do you make with them? i see you've brot cookies. >> what are some other products you make? and i have to try one. >> do you have to try one. let's get that going. >> so yeah. absolutely. we, our flour is an all-purpose flour. you can use it for anything. that just tastes like a cookie, right? >> it's actually very tasty. orange ginger, talking with my mouth full on tv making a mess. not very pretty but how much are they? >> those are $10. >> for how many? >> ten cookies. >> $10 for ten cookies. >> yes. >> that's expensive. >> it is, when you're at the beginning of a market, there's not the supply, it's quite expensive. as a business like we have to obviously do what we have to do to keep things ing. but the cricket market right now

per pound is quite expensive. it's over $20 a pound. but that's why i think it's so important the guys at bitwater are doing, which is really starting to create more and more farmers. and -- >> do you see the prices going down? >> yes, absolutely. >> it will be less of a luxury item in the future? >> yes. we're working to develop about a dozen locations over the next few years. we think globally over the next five to ten years it would not surprise me if 1,000 new insect farms come online. >> we will see, the u.n. has estimated nine billion people by 2050. if you can make this thing fly, kudos to you. thank you, both. leslie zigler and shawn mcdonald. what's the essence of an image? that's the question artist jim campbell explores in his work. this weekend, campbell's electronic creations will be featured in a new exhibit at the

san jose institute of contemporary art. we put together this preview. >> so these are waterproof pixels that we're testing. >> i'm jim campbell and i work with light in the field of electronic art. >> i was an engineer in silicon valley for close to 25 years. we made converters from low-resolution tv to high-definition tv. one of the things i was interested in early on andr continue to be, is if you take away all of the details of an image, is there anything useful from an experience of looking at something that's low-resolution, is there some sort of essence that can be found in taking an image and getting rid of most of the information and just leaving a little bit there. my day job was high-definition

tv and my artwork went the other way. >> a lot of the stuff that i do does start out as an experiment. perceptual experiment. these are home movies found on ebay from the 1950s. they could be my home movies. they could be pretty much anyone's home movies from the 1950s. there's no projection. each of these little black circuit boards is a pixel. they're suspended such that they all merge together to create an image reflected off of the wall. there's this kind of optimal distance where all of the light as it's coming out in a cone mixes in the night next to it to create this smooth, soft image. this starts out at about two million pixels. and there's only 500 left.

>> i'm kind of limited in what kind of imagery i can use for these low-resolution works, it needs to be very simple. and have a simple background. like jane's pool for example. we shot that from above. >> the bottom of the pool, being the background. very simple. i had the kids wear black for that, so they would silhouette. >> so this is the software that i used to convert an image. from high-rez, to low-rez. >> it's software i wrote so i can adjust how many pixels i'm capturing. filter it any way that i want. that's my favorite mosaic, it's a chagall mosaic. that's another old roman mosaic. and that's the same mosaic, filtered. isn't that amazing? that's what it looks like from

far away. >> about two years ago i went to rome with a friend and the goal of that trip was to look at the original pixels. if you look at mosaics, they have a lot in common with what we think about as a picture element, which is what pixel stands for. i learned a lot from photographing in detail, ancient mosaics, they actually resolve quite astonishingly by looking at them from far away. they go from being a cartoon to actually being a person. you can say oh, i know that person kind of thing, kind of shocking. >> the largest project that i've done to date is at the san diego airport, it's 750-foot-long sculpture. it's 37,000 individually suspended glass spheres.

>> because it's above your head, i can't put kind of an image that you're used to looking at you know with a bottom and a top. because then sometimes when you're looking at it, it would be upside-dow >> i ended up choosing swimmers, like a swimming lane in a pool. though i specifically worked with swimmers. who were not professionals. i think a lot of my work incorporates some sort of struggle, in terms of the way people are moving. i grew up in a lower middle class, distant suburb, almost the country near chicago. i never met an artist, i never knew there was art school at that point. i think what surprised me the most was i was able to become a successful artist. depending on your definition of successful.

>> art in motion, can you find out more about jim campbell's upcoming exhibit at kqed.org/arts. i'm twee vu, thanks so much for joining us. ♪ ♪ >> announcer: funding for kqed arts is provided by the william and flora b. hewlitt foundation. the william and

and their buns are something i have yet to find anywhere else. >> 'cause i'm not inviting you to my house for dinner. >> breaded and fried and gooey and lovely. >> in the words of arnold schwarzenegger, i'll be back! >> you've heard of connoisseur, i'm a common-sewer! ard off knew i had to some vampires or something. >> let's talk desserts gentlemen, 'cause i se