KQED's Forum: Recent Episodes

KQED

Forum tells remarkable and true stories about who we are and where we live. In the first hour, Alexis Madrigal convenes the diverse voices of the Bay Area, before turning to Mina Kim for the second hour to chronicle and center Californians’ experience. In an increasingly divided world, Mina and Alexis host conversations that inform, challenge and unify listeners with big ideas and different viewpoints.

Want to call/submit your comments during our live Forum program Mon-Fri, 9am-11am? We'd love to hear from you! Please dial 866.SF.FORUM or (866) 733-6786 or email forum@kqed.org, tweet, or post on Facebook.

Google spends more than $10 billion per year to maintain its monopoly control over internet search, a U.S. government lawyer alleged in a Washington, D.C. courtroom on Tuesday. In what is being called the most important antitrust trial in nearly 25 years, the U.S. Department of Justice is accusing Google of harming consumers and stifling competition by cutting deals with smartphone makers to be their default search engine. Google, which controls about 90 percent of the U.S. search engine market, said in court on Tuesday that dissatisfied users can simply switch web browsers “with a few easy clicks.” We’ll preview the rest of the trial and examine what is at stake for tech companies and consumers. Guests: Sheelah Kolhatkar, staff writer, The New Yorker - where she writes about Wall Street, Silicon Valley, economics, and politics Bill Baer, visiting fellow governance studies, Brookings Institution; former director, the Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission; former assistant attorney general, the Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice

Summer may be over, but the Bay Area’s hottest days may still be ahead. To manage the heat (and let’s be honest, the fog), two scoops of your favorite local ice cream could come in handy. For our latest installment of “All You Can Eat,” KQED’s Alan Chazaro and Luke Tsai join Forum to talk about the Bay Area’s best cold desserts. We’ll discuss decades-old mainstays like Its-It and Mitchell’s, talk to business owners making cold confections infused with strong cultural influences, and hear from you: What’s a unique and tasty ice cream or cold dessert that you’ve encountered in the Bay Area? Guests: Stephanie De La Cruz, owner, De La Creamery Priti Narayanan, co-owner, Koolfi Creamery and Cafe Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & Culture Alan Chazaro, food reporter, KQED; poet; educator

Why do we collect things like Pokémon cards, old tea sets and comic books? According to Daniel Krawczyk, a behavioral and brain scientist — and pinball machine collector — collecting can help to connect us to our childhood selves, relive prior memories or recall happy moments. And coming together with fellow collectors in conventions or online forums can provide the mental health benefits of community, a chance to revel in shared expertise and share tips. Collecting may even have an evolutionary basis. We’ll hear more from Krawczyk and from you: What do you collect, and why?

Guests:

Daniel Krawczyk, professor of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas

Vicky Chung, social media associate in audience development, KQED - who collects postcards

Pharmacies in California make about 5 million errors every year, according to state regulators. That’s just an estimate, since pharmacies aren’t required to report mistakes, and the big chains are fighting to keep them secret. Meanwhile, pharmacists say they are overworked and underpaid, with many leaving the profession. We’ll hear about a new Los Angeles Times report on pharmacy errors, talk with pharmacists about burnout, and find out what patients can do to protect themselves.

Guests:

Christopher Atkins, pharmacist, an independent pharmacy in LA; former pharmacist, CVS and Vons

Richard Dang, assistant professor of Clinical Pharmacy, USC; immediate past president, California Pharmacists Association

Melody Petersen, investigative reporter covering healthcare and business, Los Angeles Times - Petersen's latest piece is titled "California Pharmacies Are Making Millions of Mistakes. They’re Fighting to Keep that Secret"

Several California school districts, mostly in more conservative pockets of the state, have recently passed policies requiring that schools notify parents if their children identify as transgender. California is suing the first district to pass the policy, Chino Valley Unified School District, by arguing that the rule violates state privacy laws. But that hasn’t stopped other districts from adopting similar rules, even after a judge barred Chino Valley from implementing its own policy until after the legal case plays out. We’ll look into the fight between California and local districts and how it fits into the conservative parents’ rights movement changing how schools are run nationwide.

Guests:

Carolyn Jones, education reporter, CalMatters

Nicole Carr, Atlanta-based investigative reporter, Propublica

Jordan Darling, city reporter, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Robert Marx, assistant professor of child and adolescent development, San Jose State University

In 2017, illustrator Wendy McNaughton completed an artist-in-residency at the Zen Hospice Guest House in San Francisco. She got to know families, caregivers, staff, and the dying. What emerged is her new book, “How To Say Goodbye.” Drawn-from-life illustrations are paired with gentle advice on how to let someone go. “The person dying is in charge,” reflects MacNaughton, and her book offers simple ways to be witness to a loved one’s last moments. And when mutual peace and understanding matters the most, she writes, simple declarations like,“I forgive you. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. Goodbye” can offer closure. We’ll talk to MacNaughton and a hospice caregiver.

Guests:

Wendy MacNaughton, illustrator; artist; graphic journalist - McNaughton's latest book is "How to Say Goodbye." She has illustrated or authored eleven books, including "Salt Fat Acid Heat," and "Meanwhile in San Francisco," and is the creator of DrawTogether, the educational drawing program for kids and adults

Ladybird Morgan, co founder Humane Prison Hospice Project - Morgan is a registered nurse and clinical social worker and has worked in end of life care for over 20 years. She is currently a palliative care consultant with Mettle Health.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is considering whether to sign a bill that would change some of the language you see on the referendum portion of your 2024 ballot. AB 421 would ask voters whether they want to “keep the law” or “overturn the law” and eliminate “Yes” or “No” choices. It would also require the top three sponsors of a referendum to appear on the Secretary of State’s voter information guide. But the final legislation is far more modest than its original version, which would have strengthened government oversight of signature collection, mandated more robust disclosures about the funders of referendum campaigns and required unpaid volunteers to obtain at least 10% of petition signatures. Those failed proposals, backed by labor groups, were favored by a majority of likely California voters, according to a June poll by the Public Policy Institute of California. We’ll talk about what you’d like to change about our state’s referendum process and check in on the measures that have already qualified for the 2024 ballot.

Guests:

Kim Alexander, president and founder, California Voter Foundation

Guy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk

Mia Bonta, state assemblymember representing the 18th assembly district in the East Bay

For decades, it seems, people have been complaining that Burning Man has sold out, lost touch with its original values, or simply jumped the shark. The annual images of hedonism and drugs and glamping tech billionaires has made the week-long celebration in the Nevada desert an easy target. And social media mockery of the festival came to a head this week when attendees got stuck in the mud after a rainstorm. Yet for many, the Burning Man experience continues to be life-changing and transformative, and the event’s influence on arts and culture in the Bay Area and beyond is undeniable. Still, even some longtime Burners are saying the festival needs to change –to become more inclusive, more sensitive to the environment, and more prepared for an extreme weather future. As attendees finally make their way home from the muddy Playa, we’ll get a report back from this year’s event and assess the future of Burning Man.

Guests:

Steven T. Jones, journalist and author of the 2011 book "The Tribes of Burning Man: How an Experimental City in the Desert is Shaping the New American Counterculture"

Favianna Rodriguez, artist and activist; co-lead of a Burning Man camp for people of color, Que Viva camp; co-founder and president, The Center for Cultural Power

David Boyer, director of programming, KALW; producer and host of the podcast "The Intersection," which devoted its third season to Burning Man.

Anna Vignet, social video producer, KQED

Bernie Krause has spent more than 50 years capturing the sounds of nature and examining how animals make harmonious ecosystem soundscapes. His art installation, The Great Animal Orchestra, combining Krause’s audio recordings with stunning visuals representing the frequencies of animal sounds is on display at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. The exhibition features rich soundscapes of dozens of animal species from across the globe, including the Amazon Rainforest and the depths of the Pacific Ocean, but Krause says the silences in the recordings also tell a story– of populations in decline, nearing extinction, or being drowned out by encroaching human-made noise. We’ll talk to Krause about the sounds and silences in the natural world. Guests: Bernie Krause, soundscape ecologist; author, "The Great Animal Orchestra: Finding the Origins of Music in the World's Wild Places"

The tap water in Southern and Central California’s urban areas are among the U.S. regions most exposed to PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” according to a recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey. Almost half the tap water in the United States contains one or more PFAS, high levels of which are linked to health issues like infertility and cancer, the study found. It’s raising questions about water quality in a state where more than 1 million people already lack access to safe water, especially in low-income, disadvantaged communities. Still, “drinking water across California is largely safe,” according to the Pacific Institute. We’ll look at the state of tap water in California and talk with experts about how to make sure your drinking water is safe. Related link(s):

EWG’s Tap Water Database: Look up your local water system to find out which pollutants might be of concern, and find suggestions on the best kinds of home filters to remove those chemicals

EWG’s Water Filter Guide

Guests: Susana De Anda, co-founder and executive director, Community Water Center - a nonprofit environmental justice organization based in California’s San Joaquin Valley E. Joaquin Esquivel, chair, California State Water Resources Control Board Gregory Pierce, director, Human Right to Water Solutions Lab - UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation Tasha Stoiber, senior scientist, Environmental Working Group

Faced with more than 500 lawsuits stemming from clergy sexual abuse, the San Francisco Catholic diocese last week said it had no choice but to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone wrote, “the bankruptcy process is the best way to provide a compassionate and equitable solution” for abuse survivors. But victims say the bankruptcy is just a ploy to deprive them of justice and their day in court. San Francisco’s move to seek bankruptcy relief follows similar filings by the Oakland and Santa Rosa dioceses, following multiple clergy abuse lawsuits. Across the country, more than 30 dioceses have have sought bankruptcy protection. We’ll talk with experts about what it all means for the church, its faithful, and abuse survivors. Guests: Sophia Bollag, reporter, San Francisco Chronicle Michael O'Loughlin, national correspnodent and associate editor, America: The Jesuit Review - O'Loughlin has covered the Catholic church for both the Boston Globe and Crux. He is the author of "Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear" Joey Piscitelli, northwest group leader, SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests) - Piscitelli, a survivor of clergy abuse, won a judgment against the Salesian order following a trial in 2006 in Contra Costa County Marie Reilly, professor of Law, Penn State University - Reilly is an expert in bankruptcy. Her published work includes studies of Catholic dioceses in bankruptcy Rick Simons , attorney, Simons is counsel or co-counsel on 75 individual clergy abuse lawsuits filed in Northern California. He also serves as the Northern California court liaison for the 1,600 clergy abuse cases filed against various Northern California dioceses

Every wildfire has at least two stories, according to writers Justin Angle and Nick Mott. One story is about the devastation exacted on humans, their lives and property. The other story, sometimes at odds with the first, is about fire’s positive impacts on ecosystems. Fire is “something we need to suppress and control,” they write, “yet it’s a natural force we need more of.” Angle and Mott’s new book “This is Wildfire” is about reconciling those perspectives and finding practical ways to live healthily and sustainably in an increasingly fire-prone world. We’ll learn about advances in U.S. forest management and get tips for protecting yourself, your home and your community.

Guests:

Justin Angle, professor, University of Montana College of Business; co-author, "This is Wildfire: How to Protect Yourself, Your Home and Your Community in the Age of Heat"

Nick Mott, journalist; podcast producer; co-author, "This Is Wildfire: How to Protect Yourself, Your Home, and Your Community in the Age of Heat"

Cristina García’s new novel, “Vanishing Maps,” is a sequel to her widely acclaimed debut, “Dreaming in Cuban,” published 30 years ago. The novels follow the del Pinos, a Cuban family disconnected by political allegiances, borders, and immigration. In “Vanishing Maps” the family has scattered beyond Cuba and New York to distant corners of Berlin, Los Angeles, and Moscow. The younger generations are far removed from Cuba, but the island remains a central force in their longings for home and family. García, who was recently a visiting professor at University of San Francisco and resident playwright at Central Works Theater in Berkeley, joins us to talk about how her characters forge bonds and confront borders –- both real and imagined.

Guests:

Cristina García, author of eight novels including "Dreaming in Cuban," "A Handbook to Luck," "The Lady Matador’s Hotel," "King of Cuba," and "Vanishing Maps."

Americans are doing a lot more of their shopping online, and thanks to generous return policies we’re also sending back more of the stuff that doesn’t fit, doesn’t work or just doesn’t look like its JPG. Many of us even regularly buy clothes in multiple sizes and colors and simply send back anything that we don’t like the look of. But very little of what we return, from bathing suits to defective barbeque grills, is repaired or resold as new. Returned inventory created 9.5 billion pounds of landfill waste last year, according to one estimate. And the shipping of returned inventory in the US, to retailers, resellers and repairers, emitted over 24 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2022. We’ll talk about the logistics of the reverse supply chain and the environmental consequences of all the stuff we buy and don’t want.

Guests:

Amanda Mull, staff writer, The Atlantic - who writes the column “Material World” on American consumerism

Tobin Moore, co-founder and principal, Optoro - a returns technology company

Researchers at UCSF have developed a digital avatar to convey the words and facial expressions of a woman with severe paralysis by transmitting her brain activity. They published their results a week after scientists at UC Berkeley announced that they successfully recreated music by recording the brain waves of patients while they listened to songs. We’ll talk with researchers on both projects about the rapidly developing advances in our ability to decode signals in the human brain and the promise of neuroprosthetics to help people regain the ability to speak.

Guests:

Robert Knight, professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, UC Berkeley

Alex Silva, MD-PhD student of Medicine and Bioengineering, University of California San Francisco

For many Californians, developing meaningful relationships with people significantly older or younger than them can be difficult. We live in age-segregated environments that make it challenging to encounter – much less connect with – people in different phases of life. Yet, experts have found that an exchange of perspectives and experiences across generational divides can decrease the health risks of loneliness and social isolation for older adults – and boost life satisfaction and learning in both directions. We’ll explore how we can form cross-generational friendships that enrich our lives and rethink a society that segregates members by age.

Guests: Kathleen Toohill, writer and friend of Sukari Addison Sukari Addison, octogenarian and friend of Kathleen Toohill Laura Newberry, reporter and writer of the "Group Therapy" weekly newsletter, Los Angeles Times Sylvia Vargas, director of community engagement programs, Openhouse SF, which is a non-profit organization serving older LGBTQ adults

A good breakup song can offer you catharsis and a good, long cry. They can help you mediate the feelings caused by a long lost love, a messy goodbye, or a person you never, ever, ever want to get back together with. (Thank you, Taylor Swift). But a breakup song doesn’t have to be about a relationship — it can be about a job you’re leaving behind, a city you’re moving away from, or a friendship that has run its course. And sometimes, even when you’re feeling just fine, cranking up that emo breakup song in your car and singing the lyrics at the top of your lungs can be the exact thing you need. We’re talking about breakup songs, and we want to hear from you: What breakup song got you through a tough time?

Guests: Brontez Purnell, writer, musician and author of "100 Boyfriends." His recent piece for the New York Times Magazine is titled, "I've Listened to This Breakup Song a Million Times" Courtney E. Smith, creator and co-host of the podcast "Songs My Ex Ruined" Asal Ehsanipour, audio producer and writer. Ehsanipour produced the Foretold podcast for the L.A. Times. She is a former KQED reporter and producer.

COVID cases nationwide and in California are increasing at summer’s end. The state’s positivity rate from PCR tests is almost 12% as of mid-August, and wastewater data indicate that the new omicron subvariant, EG.5, is on the rise. But reported case rates are still far below peaks from last winter; UCSF’s Dr. Peter Chin-Hong told the San Francisco Chronicle, “people should not be worried but should not tune out.” We’ll learn more with Dr. Chin-Hong and hear about the new fall booster and the latest research into long COVID and take your COVID questions. Guests: Dr. Peter Chin-Hong M.D., infectious disease specialist, UCSF Medical Center

The Bay Area is home to a thriving video game industry, but many local kids, especially those of color, don’t see career opportunities in it. Several years ago, Damon Packwood founded Gameheads to help college students develop the skills and expertise to create their own video games and land jobs in the field. Participants in the Oakland-based program have built games that reflect their own interests and experiences including a game on Oakland sideshows and one on the slave trade in Cuba. We’ll talk with Packwood and David Brancaccio, host of the Marketplace morning report which has launched a series, “Skin in the Game,” that explores career, economics, and equity issues through the lens of video games. Guests: Damon Packwood, founder and executive director, Gameheads - an Oakland-based video game training program for young people David Brancaccio, host and senior editor, Marketplace Morning Report Camila Garcia Frausto, student, Gameheads; fourth year student and film studies major at UC Berkeley

Southern California Democrat Adam Schiff has served in the U.S. Congress since 2001, and he’s now running to succeed Dianne Feinstein in the Senate. A former federal prosecutor, Schiff chaired the House Intelligence Committee during the Trump administration and led the former president’s first impeachment trial and the Russian election interference investigation that gave rise to it. He was also a member of the House committee that investigated the January 6 insurrection. We’ll talk to Schiff about why he wants to represent California in the Senate and hear about his positions on the economy, the climate, the war in Ukraine and more. Guests: Congressman Adam Schiff, democratic congressman, representing California's 30th District in Burbank; former chair, House Intelligence Committee; member, the select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection; author, "Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could"

As pandemic-era eviction moratoriums have ended, Bay Area counties are seeing a surge of eviction cases coming to court. Some tenants owe tens of thousands of dollars after not paying rent, in some cases, for years. In Alameda County, evictions ballooned to more than 500 per month starting in May. And, a single judge is charged with reviewing all of those cases. We’ll talk about how eviction cases are overwhelming county courts, and what lessons we can take from how the moratoriums played out. Guests: Natalie Orenstein, reporter, Oaklandside

Plastics are everywhere, but L.A. Times environment reporter Susanne Rust thought she was doing a pretty good job avoiding them. That was until she spent a week recording her daily plastic interactions. She found plastics in her phone. Her car. Her swimming equipment. There was almost nothing that Rust encountered that didn’t have plastic in it. Not all the applications of plastic were negative – plastic can make cars and planes lighter and therefore more fuel efficient. But the result of her week-long experiment were sobering nonetheless. We’ll talk to Rust, hear about plastic alternatives, and hear from you about how you navigate a world filled with plastic.

Sunday brought record summer rainfall to much of Southern California, as Tropical Storm Hilary left a trail of flash floods, debris flows, school cancellations, and power outages across the region. Hilary’s approach triggered the first-ever tropical storm watch issued for the state, and was the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years. Though severe in some areas, Hilary was not as destructive as some experts had feared, with no reports of U.S. fatalities or significant injuries as of Monday. We’ll look at the science behind the storm, the role of climate change, and what it reveals about the future of extreme weather in California.

Guests:

Susanne Rust, investigative reporter specializing in environmental issues, LA Times

Judith Enck, president, Beyond Plastics - Enck served as a regional administrator with the EPA during the Obama Administration

Diana Crofts-Pelayo, assistant director of crisis communications, California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services [Cal OES]

Daniel Swain, climate scientist, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA; author, "Extreme Weather Page-A-Day Calendar 2024: A Year of Fire Tornadoes, Atmospheric Rivers, and Other Wild Weather Events"

In 2017 students at Albany High School in the East Bay became aware of a private instagram account created by a student, and followed by just over a dozen more, containing viciously racist posts about fellow classmates. The disputes about why it happened, how to hold the creator and the followers accountable, and what to do about the anger, shame and fear caused by the posts tore through the school and the town. “Whatever you believed about Albany, about America, about teenagers, racism, sexism, social media, punishment and the public discourse on each of these topics, the story of the Instagram account could be marshaled as evidence. It was the incident that explained everything and yet also the incident that couldn’t be explained,” writes Dashka Slater. We talk to her about her five years of reporting on the story and her book, “Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed.” Guests: Dashka Slater, author, "Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed," and "The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives"

There are only eight bear species remaining on the planet — six of which are endangered. Environmental journalist Gloria Dickie, author of the new book “Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future,” set out to profile all eight while questioning how humans’ complex relationship with bears has and continues to inform our interactions with them. “Charismatic and unloved alike, these eight bears are all that remain of a family that has been our steadfast companion since time immemorial, shaping our cultures, our geographies, and our stories,” she writes. We’ll talk about how humans can learn to better co-exist with bears and why she says we need to do more to protect them.

Guests:

Gloria Dickie, environmental journalist; author, "Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future”

Sarinah Simons, human-bear management specialist, California State Parks; host, the “Earth to Humans” podcast

In July, members of the Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin purchased 26 acres of land, part of what was once the tribe’s territory. The fundraising effort to buy the plot, priced at $1.3 million, is just the latest successful Land Back campaign in California, a movement to return stolen land to indigenous control. The deal signaled a momentous return for a community displaced from their land over a century ago but it also evoked conflicted feelings about having to buy back land that was never willingly relinquished. We’ll talk to members of California tribes about recent Land Back successes and the growing momentum around this movement.

Guests:

Joe Sanchez, elder, Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin

Katie Keliiaa, assistant professor of History, University of California Santa Cruz

Michelle Vassel, tribal administrator, Wiyot Tribe

Inés Ixierda, creative director, Sogorea Te' Land Trust

The deep sea is nature’s motherboard, according to author and aquatic explorer Susan Casey. It absorbs heat, buffers excess carbon, drives our climate and regulates the earth’s geochemistry. It’s also home to mountains taller than the Swiss Alps and populated by a cast of “marvelous weirdos:” creatures that have two mouths or three hearts, or transparent heads or eyes in the middle of their backs. And it’s almost completely unknown to us: 80% of the sea floor has never been mapped in any detail. Casey joins us to talk about some of the wonders of the deep sea – and the ecological threats it faces. Her book is “The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean.”

Guests: Susan Casey, author, "The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean." Her previous books include “The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean,” and “The Devil’s Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America’s Great White Sharks.”

Antioch and Pittsburg police officers were arrested Thursday morning in a series of FBI raids, after an 18-month investigation into an alleged criminal network. 10 law enforcement personnel were named across four indictments on charges including civil rights violations, falsification of records and wire fraud. The Antioch Police department has also been the subject of a civil rights investigation launched by California Attorney General Rob Bonta after dozens of officers were caught sending and receiving racist, homophobic, and violent text messages bragging about using force against the city’s residents. We’ll check in on the latest news.

Guests: Nate Gartrell, East Bay Courts Reporter, Bay Area News Group

Hash browns as toast. Baking a block of feta with tomatoes and pasta in one dish. Putting cottage cheese in everything. These are just some ideas from cooking videos that have proliferated over social media. But has their popularity made us better cooks? We’ll meet food content creators who have millions of followers and viral videos, and talk to a food journalist about learning to cook with TikTok. Plus, we’ll hear from you: what’s a dish you learned about on social media and tried with success…or failure?

Guests: Alicia Kennedy, food and culture writer; Kennedy wrote the Vox piece "The Biggest Names in Food Are Just Regular People on TikTok." She is also the author of "No Meat Required" and has a popular food newsletter on Substack. Joanne Molinaro, food content creator and author of "The Korean Vegan Kitchen." Molinaro has created multiple viral videos on TikTok as "The Korean Vegan," where she has three million followers Darlene Schrijver, food content creator. Schrijver, who is based in Rohnert Park, is the creator behind "Salad Lab" which has 2.7 million followers on TikTok

You wouldn’t think that the month in which you’re born has much to do with your medical outcomes. In fact, kids who have summer birthdays are more likely to get the flu than kids born later in the year, and kids diagnosed with ADHD and born in August are prescribed an average of 120 more days of medication than kids born in September. These anomalies are just some of the many hidden forces that “can send two otherwise-similar people down very different paths of care, by chance alone,” according to Harvard Medical School doctors Anupam Jena and Christopher Worsham. We learn why chance events influence how we experience the healthcare system and how we can begin to correct for them. Jena and Worsham’s new book is “Random Acts of Medicine: The Hidden Forces That Sway Doctors, Impact Patients, and Shape Our Health.” Guests: Anupam B. Jena, professor, Harvard Medical School; co-author, "Random Acts of Medicine"; host, Freakonomics, M.D. podcast Christopher Worsham, pulmonary and critical care physician, Massachusetts General Hospital; researcher, Harvard Medical School; co-author, "Random Acts of Medicine"

Public schools across California are rolling out new state math guidelines after years of development, revision, and controversy. State education leaders approved the guidelines this summer and say the framework focuses on instilling “big ideas” in students beyond basic math skills. The new framework aims to improve math test scores at a time when only about a third of students meet state proficiency standards and help more Black and Latinx students excel in math. Critics say the guidelines could hold back more advanced high school students and put too much emphasis on bringing social justice into math lessons among other critiques. As kids head back to classrooms, we’ll talk about what’s in the new framework and take your questions. Guests: Linda Darling-Hammond, president, California State Board of Education; president, Learning Policy Institute Kyndall Brown, PhD, executive director, California Mathematics Project Statewide Office at UCLA Brian Conrad, professor of mathematics; director of undergraduate studies in math, Stanford University

California has not been spared from the national teacher shortage. The state Department of Education reported more than 10,000 teacher vacancies during the 2021-2022 school year, and Los Angeles Unified School District has 450 teacher openings for this new school year. But shortages are particularly acute in rural communities: Alturas Elementary School, in northern California’s Modoc County, is missing a quarter of its necessary teaching staff. From retention to credentialing requirements to logistically impossible state mandates, the problems plaguing Modoc are common among rural districts. We’ll talk about the problems California’s rural school districts are facing in the new school year and hear potential solutions. Related link(s):

‘No one is coming to our rescue’: Inside rural California’s alarming teacher shortage

Low-income students are more likely to be in classrooms with underqualified teachers

Guests: Hailey Branson-Potts, staff writer, Los Angeles Times - who reported the piece, "‘No one is coming to our rescue’: Inside rural California’s alarming teacher shortage" Lisa Pruitt, professor, UC Davis School of Law - whose work focuses on rural communities Tom O'Malley, superintendent, Modoc Joint Unified School District in Alturas, CA Laurel Rulison, kindergarten teacher, Alturas Elementary in Modoc County

Artificial intelligence is being put to work across various fields in the hopes that it can solve some of our most pressing problems. Among them: a growing demand for mental health services and a shortage of providers. Researchers say the technology has the potential to vastly improve patient access, lighten therapist workloads and combat disparities in quality of care but warn of the risks of deploying AI too soon, with vulnerable patients left to bear the brunt of early mistakes. Others question whether AI belongs anywhere near a therapist’s couch. We’ll talk to psychologists and researchers about how AI might transform the mental health industry and how to avoid the worst imagined outcomes. Guests: Jodi Halpern, professor of bioethics and chancellor's chair, University of California, Berkeley Lloyd Minor, dean, Stanford University School of Medicine Mainul Mondal, founder and CEO, Ellipsis Health Betsy Stade, clinical psychologist and postdoctoral researcher, Stanford

To ease crushing urban traffic, London, Stockholm and Singapore all use congestion pricing, charging drivers to use busy roads in city centers or in certain zones at particular times of day. Congestion pricing has yet to be adopted in any U.S. city, but Los Angeles is taking a hard look at the concept. LA Metro will soon release a study examining which parts of the city could benefit most from congestion pricing, the environmental and public health benefits it could bring and who could qualify for carve-outs. We’ll talk with LA Metro about their study, which will be open for public comment once released. And we’ll hear from Ethan Elkind, our partner for our recurring series “In Transit,” about what LA’s proposal could mean for the rest of the state. Guests:

Ethan Elkind, director of the Climate Program at the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment, UC Berkeley School of Law; podcast host, Climate Break

Mark Vallianatos, executive officer in the Office of Strategic Innovation, LA Metro

Women start roughly two out of five businesses in America, but have mostly been shut out of the venture capital ecosphere. Companies funded solely by women snapped up just 2.1 percent of venture capital funding in the United States in 2022. According to research firm Pitchbook, the percentage hasn’t budged much in the past 15 years despite women creating more startups, incubators and venture funds. Women founders say there are still major disparities in how venture capitalists evaluate companies based on gender. We’ll talk about what this trend means for entrepreneurs and the economy.

Guests:

Lata Setty, first founding limited partner and limited partner advisory committee, How Women Invest

Catherine Berman, Co-Founder & CEO, CNote, a fintech company that helps corporations and foundations invest capital into underserved communities at scale

Jeremy Owens, technology editor and San Francisco bureau chief, MarketWatch

Maura O'Neill, distinguished teaching fellow, entrepreneurship and innovation, Haas School of Business, University Of California, Berkeley, founder, The Decade Project, an organization dedicated to making business ownership reflect the race, gender and ethnicity of the United States

“Mourning her absence was breathtaking in a literal sense; it took the wind out of me,” writes Sara Bader about the grief she felt with the death of her best friend. She was not talking about a person; she was writing about her cat, Snowflake, a constant and faithful companion. Pets are like our family, so when one dies the loss can feel immeasurable. But often, society places little value on that grief: “It’s just an animal. Why don’t you get another?” Yet, the death of a faithful, longtime companion, whether dog, cat, bird or other creature, great or small, can leave a void that is hard to fill. We’ll talk about grieving our pets and how to help them across the rainbow bridge.

Guests:

Sara Bader, author, "The Book of Pet Love and Loss"

Jennifer Scarlett, DVM and CEO, San Francisco SPCA; veterinarian

Jill Goodfriend, registered nurse and licensed clinical social worker - Goodfriend leads Berkeley Humane's pet loss support group and specializes in pet loss and grief in her practice

A group of scientists is racing to sequence genes from every plant, animal, and fungus on Earth for a global database of DNA. The organizers of the global Earth BioGenome Project call it a ‘moonshot for biology’ which would provide a treasure trove of information on evolutionary biology, the development of medicines, the conservation of species and more. We talk with scientists about their race against time to collect genes while tens of thousands of species are threatened with extinction and what they hope will come of it.

Guests:

Harris Lewin, chair, the Earth BioGenome Project Executive Committee; distinguished professor Emeritus of Evolution and Ecology, the University of California, Davis

Brad Shaffer, director, UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science; distinguished professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Sadye Paez, chair of the justice, equity, diversity and inclusion committee, the Earth BioGenome Project; collaborator on the Vertebrae Genome Project, the The Rockefeller University

At least 53 people are dead after wildfires whipped through neighborhoods in Maui, destroying the historic town of Lahaina and prompting the evacuation of thousands of residents and visitors. As of Thursday thousands of people were without power and cell service. We talk about the situation on the ground, what it will take to rebuild and how to help those affected.

Guests: Marcel Honore, staff writer, Honolulu Civil Beat Michelle Ka'uhane, senior vice president and chief impact officer, Hawai'i Community Foundation Clay Trauernicht, extension specialist in ecosystems and fire in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawai'i at Manoa Kahele Dukelow, professor of Hawaiian studies and administrator, University of Hawai'i, Maui College Christin Bourland, resident of West Maui

Starting in 2020, the newsletter Blackbird Spy Plane has served readers what’s billed as “unbeatable recon” on style and culture. Journalist Jonah Weiner and design scout Erin Wylie have amassed a cult following for their takes on everything from why you should “Tuck All Tops” to what “Democratizing” fashion really means. The duo provides recommendations on apparel, housewares and even art that celebrates beauty, singularity and unapologetic swagger. We talk with the creators about the newsletter, whether there is a Bay Area style, and how to create your own fashion mindset.

Guests: Jonah Weiner, co-founder, "Blackbird Spyplane," a newsletter about Bay Area style and culture Erin Wylie, design scout; co-founder, "Blackbird Spyplane"

More than 82 million Americans listen to AM radio monthly, and most do so in their cars, according to recent Nielsen data. But many automakers have been phasing out the AM band in electric vehicles, citing interference with the cars’ batteries. That’s sparked bipartisan pushback, as AM radio is both dominated by conservative talk shows and home to non-English-language and local content that can’t be found on the FM band. We’ll talk with some of California’s AM stations about the communities they serve and we’ll hear from you: What do you tune in to AM radio for? Or, if you have an EV that can’t access AM radio: Do you miss it? Guests: Katie Thornton, freelance print and audio journalist; host of the Peabody-winning podcast series “The Divided Dial,” made with WNYC’s “On the Media” about how the right came to dominate U-S talk radio. She also wrote the recent Guardian piece, “New electric cars won’t have AM radio. Rightwingers claim political sabotage” Lilia Galindo, host and producer of the radio talk show “Cafe Con Leche” on KUTY Hermosa 1470 AM Irene Tsan Fong, operations director, In-Language Radio, which represents stations including the 24-hour Bay Area Cantonese-language station KVTO-AM 1400 (93.7 FM San Francisco)

For many of us, the internet has two faces. It can be a place where we’re bombarded by disinformation and polarized viewpoints, subjected to rage and frustration. But it can also be where people with different interests, ideas, and life experiences come together to find common ground. Share jokes. Build things together. This hopeful version of the internet is the focus of a new digital community that Forum’s creating on the platform Discord. We’ll talk about what our new community is, what we hope it will become, how to escape social media’s nasty decline, and how to foster conversations on the internet that aren’t awful. Guests: Eli Pariser, author, "The Filter Bubble: What the internet is hiding from you;" founder, New Public Marina Gorbis, executive director, Institute for the Future Grace Ling, founder, Design Buddies, Discord community Francesca Fenzi, digital community manager, KQED's Forum

Last year, UCLA and USC announced their coming departure from the historic college sports conference of the West Coast: the Pac-12. Last week, the Pac-12 further disintegrated, with Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah all announcing that they are moving to other conferences. TV money drove this consolidation, and it has left Cal and Stanford fans, alumni and athletes wondering about their schools’ future. We talk about the history of the conference and what comes next for California’s college sports. Guests: Joel Anderson, staff writer, Slate - where he also hosts the Slow Burn and Hang Up and Listen podcasts. Former reporter on sports, culture, and politics for ESPN and BuzzFeed News. Marisa Ingemi, sports writer, San Francisco Chronicle Ray Ratto, staff writer, The Defector - Former sportswriter and columnist, San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner

Berkeley landmark coffee shop and diner Au Coquelet closed recently, joining other iconic East Bay cafe closures, including Berkeley’s iconic Caffe Mediterraneum. In a somber comic remembering coffee shops we’ve lost, graphic novelist Briana Loewinsohn reminisces that, “[w]hat I covet most are the big, spacious cafes where you could sit for hours and work or do nothing — or a little of both.” In this edition of our ongoing series, “All You Can Eat,” we talk about what makes a great cafe, their role as crucial, low-barrier community meeting spaces and hear about your most beloved Bay Area coffee. Related link(s) “Please, Don’t Forget Me: Cafes We Have Lost,” a comic strip by Briana Loewinsohn Guests: Henri Boulanger, barista trainer, Red Rock Coffee Creighton Davis, co-founder, Kinfolx Briana Loewinsohn, graphic novelist; high school art teacher; author of "Please, Don't Forget Me: Cafes We Have Lost" - a comic about now-shuttered cafes in the East Bay Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & Culture

Public pools serve as community gathering spaces, havens from the heat and safe and affordable places for people to learn to swim. But public pools in the United States have become increasingly rare over the past century. That’s limited the ability of people of color and those without access to country clubs or backyard pools to learn safely. And it may also be one reason why only 56% of U.S. residents can demonstrate basic swimming skills, according to an American Red Cross poll. We look at the history of public pools in the U.S. and here in California, what’s behind their decline and the racial disparities in drowning rates that persist.

Guests:

Laurie Davies, California assembly memeber, represents parts of Orange and San Diego Counties

Jennifer Lopez, founder, Echo Aquatics - an organization that offers adult and child swim lessons and water sport coaching

Heather McGhee, author, "The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together" - former president, Demos, a public policy think tank; board chair, Color of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization

Patt Morrison, columnist, The Los Angeles Times

The crack epidemic of the 1980s and 90s had a devastating and lasting effect on black communities and the criminal justice system. But Donovan X Ramsey writes that those who survived the era will hardly ever talk about it and when they do it’s, “like a trauma long accepted in hushed voices, with thousand yard stares.” In his book, When Crack Was King, Ramsey is on a quest to understand the crack era through portraits of a user, a kid of an addict, a dealer, and a politician pushing for treating the epidemic as a public health problem. We talk to Ramsey about his book, the myths that permeate our flawed understanding of the crack era and the resilience of communities that lived through it.

Guests:

Donovan X. Ramsey, author, "When Crack Was King" - Ramsey is a former senior reporter with the LA Times. He is currently a senior editor with the Marshall Project.

“It is remarkable,” writes the Atlantic’s Jennifer Senior, “how many Americans have relations who were, at some point during the past century, sequestered from public view… warehoused, disappeared, roughly shorn from the family tree.” Senior’s aunt Adele was institutionalized as a toddler in the 1950s, and it wasn’t until 40 years later that Senior’s mother — Adele’s sister — saw her again. We talk to Jennifer Senior about her new essay “The Ones We Sent Away.”

Guests:

Jennifer Senior, staff writer, The Atlantic - author of the September cover story "The Ones We Sent Away"

A perfect recipe of summer weather, climate-warmed waters and excess nutrient pollution has brought the red tide back to the San Francisco Bay shoreline. The same algae bloom that caused a massive fish die-off in Oakland’s Lake Merritt last summer has appeared again, stretching from Emeryville to Richardson Bay. Is this our new normal? We’ll talk with experts about the algae that’s taking over the Bay and what’s being done about it.

Guests:

Ezra David Romero, climate reporter, KQED

Jonathan Rosenfield Ph.D., science director, San Francisco Baykeeper

Eileen White, executive director, Water Board San Francisco Bay Region

Democrat Barbara Lee has represented Oakland and the East Bay in Congress since 1998, and she’s now running to replace U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is not seeking another term. Well known as the sole member of Congress to vote against giving the president unlimited war powers after 9/11, Lee is co-chair of the House Policy and Steering Committee and serves on the Budget Committee and the Appropriations Committee. As a member of the California state legislature, Lee drafted California’s first Violence Against Women Act and the California Schools Hate Crimes Reduction Act. We’ll talk to Lee about why she wants to represent California in the Senate and hear about her positions on the environment, the war in Ukraine, the economy and more.

Guests: Barbara Lee, U.S. congressmember representing California's 13th district

What do you notice out the window from your seat on BART, or Muni, or the Golden Gate Ferry? When you ride public transit, you’re free to look around, and looking around can tell you a lot about where you live. We talk about the breathtaking vistas and hidden histories revealed to us through the windows of public transit, and how what we see – or don’t see – shapes our connection to the Bay Area.

Guests: Vincent Woo, filmmaker, Woo is the creator and director of "Tunnel Vision: An Unauthorized BART Ride" Liam O'Donoghue, host and producer, East Bay Yesterday Mey Lee , co-curator, "Muni Raised Me" exhibit featured at SOMA Arts earlier this year. Working on another "Muni Raised Me" exhibition for later this year. Sarah Katz-Hyman, editor, Muni Diaries

The pop-up whose Instagram you DM the moment orders reopen. The chef who makes the best dish you’ve ever tasted on a compostable plate. The baker whose vegan desserts have the perfect level of sweetness. California’s pop-up scene flourished in the pandemic, and a new state law eases restrictions for chefs who operate out of their home kitchens. We’ll talk to pop-up entrepreneurs across the state about their culinary creations — and about the challenges of running a pop-up itself, from finding venues to marketing and permitting. And we’ll hear about your favorite pop-up bakers, chefs and coffee-makers — and what you recommend ordering from them. Guests: Adhiti Bandlamudi, Silicon Valley reporter, KQED; runs the new popup Badam Babe Anand Upender, creator, Bay Area pop-up York Street Coffee and the pop-up dinner series "Just Some Folks" Rashida Holmes, chef-owner, Bridgetown Roti, a Caribbean American food pop-up based in LA Vandor Hill, owner, Whack Donuts, a vegan donut pop-up in the Bay Area

Savanah Leaf’s debut feature-length film “Earth Mama” follows Gia, a pregnant 24-year-old single mother of two who is struggling to get her kids back from the foster care system and weighing whether to keep her baby. Set and filmed in Oakland, the film explores Black motherhood, community, and the challenges of escaping cycles of trauma and poverty. Leaf based the film on her short documentary, “The Heart Still Hums,” which also focuses on the stories of young mothers trying to keep their children. We talk with Leaf about capturing the Bay Area’s essence in the film and the personal experiences that inspired it. Guests: Savanah Leaf, director, "Earth Mama." Leaf is also the director of the documentary short, "The Heart Still Hums." She was nominated for a Grammy for her music video "This Land" for Gary Clark, Jr.

Apps like Duolingo offer the tantalizing promise that learning a language will be easy. And fun! And fast! The playfulness of the apps turns language learning into a game to be mastered; on social media, you will find people flexing their streaks on the app. But do these apps work, and if not, what do we get out of it? We talk about learning a language with an app and hear whether an app has helped you gain some new words, phrases or conversation skills in a new language. Guests: Maria Carreira, executive director, American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese - Carreira was formerly a professor of Spanish at CSU Long Beach and the co-founder and co-director of the National Heritage Language Resource Center at UCLA. Joshua Hartshorne, assistant professor, psychology, Boston College - Hartshorne directs the Language Learning Lab at Boston College Andrew Moseman, writer, Moseman's latest piece for Slate is titled "What Do We Even Want from Duolingo?" Moseman is a former editor of "Popular Mechanics" and has written for The Atlantic, Fortune, Scientific American and Esquire

Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on four counts related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. We check in with KQED senior politics editor Scott Shafer about the importance of Trump’s third indictment, what it means for the 2024 election and how California’s Republican party is responding. Then, we talk to Lydia Kiesling, a former resident of the Bay Area, about her new book, “Mobility." Bunny Glenn, the protagonist in Kiesling’s novel, voted for Barack Obama, believes in the science of climate change and, as the daughter of a diplomat was steeped in the effects of environmental devastation and resource wars. She also works in the oil industry. And it’s this ethical compromise, and all the little compromises people make every day, that center Kiesling’s novel. Inspired by the oil power grabs in former Soviet states, and drawn from her own childhood as the daughter of a Foreign Service officer, “Mobility” captures the rootlessness of a young woman struggling to find her place.

For the last year, Americans in mental health crisis have been able to call or text the number 988 to receive immediate counseling, emotional support and community resources. The formerly 10-digit hotline re-launched with the idea that more lives could be saved with a number that’s easier to remember. And in its first year, 988 saw a 35% jump in service, receiving more than 5 million calls, chats and texts. Advocates say there’s still room to grow: according to the latest federal data, more than 12.3 million adults in the U.S. seriously considered suicide in 2021. We’ll talk about the successes and challenges of 988, one year in.

Related link(s):

Answering the Call: A Special Series On America’s New Mental Health Crisis Line (Tradeoffs)

Guests:

Dan Gorenstein, host and executive editor, “Tradeoffs,” a nonprofit health policy news organization

Keris Jän Myrick, California mental health advocate based in L.A.; vice president of partnerships, Inseparable [a mental health advocacy organization]; podcast host, "Unapologetically Black Unicorns"

Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)

Driverless vehicles from autonomous ride services Cruise and Waymo can already be found all over San Francisco, and they may soon become much more common if a state commission grants them permission to expand operations. Some local officials argue the technology isn’t ready, pointing to recent examples of automated cars that stopped on roads, obstructing traffic or emergency responders. Others say the whole idea of self-driving cars is flawed. We’ll talk about the upcoming vote and where the robotaxi industry is headed.

Guests:

Annabel Chang, head of state policy and government relations, Waymo

Dan Chatman, associate professor and chair, Department of City and Regional Planning, UC Berkeley

Dylan Fabris, community and policy manager, San Francisco Transit Riders

Kevin Truong, staff writer, The San Francisco Standard

Federal prosecutors added new charges against Donald Trump stemming from his willful mishandling of classified documents, alleging in a superseding indictment on Thursday that the former president sought to delete incriminating surveillance video at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Meanwhile, the country remains on “indictment watch,” as USA Today’s Josh Meyer reports, while Special Counsel Jack Smith weighs charges against Trump for attempting to overthrow the 2020 election. We examine the current and potential charges against Trump and their political impact.

Guests:

Josh Meyer, domestic security correspondent, USA Today

Rory Little, professor of constitutional law, UC School of Law, San Francisco; former federal prosecutor and criminal defense attorney

The month of July is on track to be the hottest month on record for planet Earth. Three continents are blistering under heat domes. In parts of California, temperatures have gone well above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Los Angeles Times reporter Hayley Smith experienced this firsthand during a reporting trip to Death Valley, where in one day she experienced 128 degrees — which only cooled to 116 degrees at night. California Governor Newsom set up efforts to educate the public about heat events; President Biden announced plans to help communities adapt. But will this be enough? As part of our “Climate Fix” series with the KQED Science team, we’ll talk about how our future is heating up and what can be done to cool our planet.

Guests:

Danielle Venton, science reporter, KQED News

Jeff Goodell, author, "The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on A Scorched Planet," "Big Coal," and "The Water Will Come;" Guggenheim Fellow; regular commentator on energy and climate issues, CNN, MSNBC, and other outlets

Hayley Smith, reporter focusing on extreme weather, Los Angeles Times

Karen A. McKinnon, assistant professor, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Department of Statistics - McKinnon studies large-scale climate variability and change, with a particular focus on connections to high-impact weather events.

Since Mattel launched Barbie into the world in 1959, the doll has been adored for her ability to show girls they can do anything and loathed for her abnormal body proportions. Now, in the first live action film featuring Barbie, she’s on center stage. In the film Barbie is forced to leave her home of ‘Barbieland’—prompting an adventure in the real world and discovering along the way that perfection is found within. Materialism, gender norms, beauty ideals, race, feminism and the patriarchy are all themes in director Greta Gerwig’s $145 million film. Are we all good with Barbie now? What’s the impact and legacy of Barbie on culture today?

Guests: Rae Alexandra, staff writer, KQED Arts & Culture; creator and author, "Rebel Girls from Bay Area History" series Nadra Nittle, education reporter, The 19th Antonia Cereijido, executive producer, LAist Studios

Major League Baseball has implemented a handful of controversial new changes this season that have shaken up America’s favorite pastime. But despite the initial debates over pitch clocks and shifting regulations, both experts and fans generally agree that the rules have made the game more enjoyable with a faster pace and more action. We’ll talk with baseball reporters about the changes and we’ll hear from you: have the new rules improved the game?

Guests: Kyle Glaser, senior writer, Baseball America Jessica Kleinschmidt, multimedia broadcaster, Oakland A's Guy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk

This month, the FDA approved the country’s first-ever daily hormonal contraceptive pill for sale without a prescription. The approval is a major milestone for reproductive care, as state lawmakers ban or limit abortion access throughout the country. The over-the-counter contraceptive, called Opill, has been around for decades, and now Perrigo, the pill’s manufacturer, says it will make the pill “accessible and affordable to women and people of all ages.” We’ll look at the science, the politics and the early history of the pill, and we’ll hear from you: has the pill changed your life? Guests: Pam Belluck, health and science reporter, New York Times Pratima Gupta, assistant professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, UCSD Health Margaret Marsh, historian of medicine and University Professor, Rutgers University. She's the author, with gynecologist Wanda Ronner, of several books on the history of reproductive medicine and technology, including "The Fertility Doctor: John Rock and the Reproductive Revolution."

Plagued by years of abuse allegations, the California Department of Juvenile Justice and the youth facilities it ran, were shut down earlier this summer. Criminal justice reform advocates considered the closures a victory, but now have other concerns. They contend most relocated youth are being moved into juvenile hall facilities that were not designed for long-term detentions and that lack adequate rehabilitation programs and resources. County probation chiefs have also raised concerns that kids who left for state facilities with no history of drug problems or gang affiliations are returning to their home counties with both, raising questions about the conditions within the waning days of state facilities. We talk to experts about those allegations, the stories shared by children coming out of state care, and the future of juvenile justice in California. Guests: Dan Macallair, executive director and co-founder, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice Marlon Yarber, chief probation officer, Sacramento County Israel Salazar Villa, deputy director, California Alliance for Youth and Community Justice Jason Okonofua, assistant professor, Psychology Department, University of California Berkeley

From coastal beaches to the High Sierra, from redwood forests to desert sand dunes, California’s state park system has nearly three hundred sites available to explore and enjoy. These protected areas offer low-cost ways to scratch that itch for adventure, learn about California’s history and appreciate the state’s natural heritage. We’ll get recommendations from outdoor enthusiasts about where to go and what to do, and we’ll hear from you: what’s your favorite California state park? Guests: Brad Day, publisher, Weekendsherpa.com - A free weekly e-mail about accessible outdoor adventures in the Bay Area Chelsee Lowe, travel and family writer Jose Gonzalez, founder, Latino Outdoors - a community organization that encourages Latinos to go outdoors Joe Connors, supervising ranger, Wilder Ranch State Park

The Bay Area may not have an official sandwich, but “our local sandwiches have an unparalleled layering of textures that can’t be found anywhere else,” writes Rocky Rivera in a recent essay for KQED. People here love deli meat on Dutch crunch bread or sourdough and don’t skip the avocados! Italian delis such as Little Luca in South San Francisco and Molinari in North Beach have cult followings. Customers line up around the block for Bakesale Betty’s fried chicken sandwich. So, what does it take to elevate a sandwich from just tasty to satisfyingly iconic? For our next installment of All You Can Eat, our regular series about Bay Area food cultures with KQED’s Luke Tsai, we bite into our favorite local sandos and why we love them. Guests: Saint Boney, owner and chef, The Saint Sandwich Shop Cesar Hernandez, associate restaurant critic, San Francisco Chronicle Albert Ok, owner, Ok's Deli in Oakland Rocky Rivera, emcee and writer, part of KQED's "Frisco Foodies" series Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & Culture

It’s been a sweltering July for large swaths of California, and that means air conditioners have been running on high in households lucky enough to have them. But the energy air conditioners consume and the refrigerants they rely on pose serious threats to the climate. We learn about air conditioning tech and look at California’s efforts to make them greener. And we’ll hear from you: if you have air conditioning, do you have tips for using it efficiently? Or if you don’t have AC, or if you try to avoid using it, how do you keep cool?

Guests:

Ian McGavisk, senior fellow, RMI; author of the Global Cooling Status and Opportunities Report, UNEP

Ari Plachta, climate reporter, Sacramento Bee

Aanchal Kohli, climate policymaker, California Air Resources Board

Following a months-long investigation into his published research, Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced his plan to resign from his post. While investigators did not find that Tessier-Lavigne falsified data himself, they say he failed to respond appropriately when he was made aware of the problems. We’ll be joined Theo Baker, “The Stanford Daily” student reporter who first broke this story, and other experts about why this cost Tessier-Lavigne his job and what this means for Stanford.

Guests:

Theo Baker, investigations editor, The Stanford Daily

Lisa Krieger, research reporter, San Jose Mercury News

Jonathan Wosen, west coast biotech and life sciences reporter, STAT News

When Black women convene, writes licensed clinical psychologist Joy Harden Bradford, there is a “cadence and rhythm to our gatherings… a natural sisterhood that breeds openness.” That observation underlies Bradford’s approach to group therapy, which she says sparks breakthroughs and healing that often don’t happen as quickly in individual sessions. We talk to Bradford about what makes for a successful therapeutic community, and why elements like humor, intuitiveness and rhythm generate healing of Black women’s spaces. Bradford’s new book is “Sisterhood Heals: The Transformative Power of Healing in Community.”

Guests:

Joy Harden Bradford, licensed psychologist; host and founder Therapy for Black Girls; author, "Sisterhood Heals: The Transformative Power of Healing in Community"

The hushed thrum of the womb. The warble of the last living species of a now-extinct bird. The fury and thrust of a jet engine in flight. These are some of the sounds that populate filmmaker Sam Green’s immersive documentary “32 Sounds.” The movie is not just a collection of sounds, but rather a meditation on the strange power that sound has on us, whether it is voices, music, the natural world or sounds that we are trying to tune out. Watching the movie, even on a tiny screen, can be a full-body experience in which you’re encouraged by Green, who narrates the film, to feel the sound. We’ll talk to Green and his Oscar-winning sound designer, Mark Mangini, about how sound can literally move us.

32 Sounds will be screened at the Exploratorium on July 27, at the Smith Rafael Film Center July 28-30, the San Francisco Roxie Theater, July 29 and Berkeley’s Rialto Theater, July 30.

Guests:

Sam Green, filmmaker; his film,"32 Sounds" will be screened at the Exploratorium on July 27, at the Smith Rafael Film Center July 28-30, the San Francisco Roxie Theater, July 29 and Berkeley’s Rialto Theater, July 30.

Mark Mangini, sound designer, "32 Sounds"

Writer Andrew Leland has been going blind since he was a teenager, which is when he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. Now in his forties, he reflects that “the most painful part so far has been the not-knowing” when he will completely lose his sight. But his encroaching blindness has also been a portal to creativity and intellectual exploration. As someone who still has his sight, Leland wonders if he is a citizen in “the country of the blind” and if so, what does that mean? We talk to Leland about his new memoir “The Country of the Blind.” Guests: Andrew Leland, author, "The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight." Leland is an editor at "The Believer" and, from 2013 to 2019, he hosted and produced the podcast "The Organist" for KCRW in Los Angeles.

“Show me the life hack you randomly saw one day, that is now an unconscious, standard practice in your life.” That’s the call to action Kelly Hurst posed on TikTok that has since gone viral with over 37,000 responses and millions of views. People have created ingenious shortcuts for all kinds of tasks, from using the car seat warmer to keep takeout warm to using the washing machine as an ice bucket for parties. Life hacks can be anything that saves time, effort or money and takes the friction out of your day. We’ll talk to Hurts and a panel of journalists and life hackers who will share the best (and worst) tips out there, and we’ll hear from you: What’s a life hack that you’ve adopted?

Guests:

Carly Severn, senior editor of audience news, KQED

Jordan Calhoun, editor-in-chief, Lifehacker.com

Kelly Hurst, content creator, TikTok; host, The Life Bath podcast

Ross Yoder, food and lifestyle editor, Buzzfeed

Hollywood productions have gone dark after TV and film actors, represented by SAG-AFTRA, joined members of the Writers Guild of America on the picket line last week. Like the writers, actors are striking over compensation, residual payments and the use of AI to replace them. This is the first time in more than 60 years that both writers and actors have gone on strike simultaneously. We’ll talk about the impact of both strikes and the connections between them. Guests: Alissa Wilkinson, senior correspondent, Vox Eric Haywood, writer, producer and director. His TV shows include "Empire" and "Law & Order: Organized Crime" Jonathan Handel, entertainment and technology attorney, TroyGould. He's also a journalist covering labor and entertainment for Puck. Kathryn Howell, president, SAG-AFTRA San Francisco-Northern California local; actress known for a wide range of character roles in film and TV, including "Criminal Minds," "The Zodiac" and "James and the Giant Peach."

In his latest article for The Atlantic, Sam Quinones writes that America’s shift toward treatment instead of jail time for drug abuse “is both well intentioned and out of date, given the massive street supplies of fentanyl and meth. It is failing just about everyone.” He argues that instead of waiting for addicts to voluntarily enter rehab, the legal system should force them to go. Quinones is a journalist who has covered the drug trade for over a decade and published two books on the subject: “The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth” and “Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic.” We’ll talk about how to address the nation’s ever-more challenging drug crisis that we see playing out on our streets and in our families. Guests: Sam Quinones, journalist and author. His recent piece in The Atlantic is titled "America's Approach to Addiction Has Gone Off the Rails.” His books include "The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth" and "Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic." Vitka Eisen, president and CEO, HealthRIGHT 360, San Francisco's largest drug treatment provider

Keeping on top of bills and finances can be a challenge for anyone. But for older adults suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and other cognitive issues, things can get out of control fast. They may pay the same bills repeatedly, make impulsive purchases, or fall for online scams. And according to recent studies, financial mistakes can actually be an early sign of dementia. In this hour, we’ll talk about the latest research on memory problems and money, and how to protect your finances from cognitive decline. Guests: Duke Han, professor of family medicine, neurology, psychology and gerontology, Keck School of Medicine, USC Marti DeLiema, assistant professor, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Sarah Boden, health and science reporter, WESA public radio in Pittsburgh

The Women’s World Cup kicks off on July 20 in New Zealand and Australia, and the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team is fighting to maintain its title. The team includes experienced vets like Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan and newcomers like 18-year old Alyssa Thompson and Trinity Rodman. The competition itself is fiercer than ever with new countries entering the field – just one indicator that women’s soccer is finding its footing among fans around the world. Despite broadcast bungles and time zone differences, the league and its players are finally getting their time in the spotlight, globally and here in the States. We’ll talk about the growth of women’s soccer, who to watch in the World Cup and the Bay Area’s new women’s soccer club, the Bay FC. Guests: Marisa Ingemi, sports writer, San Francisco Chronicle Danielle Slaton, co-founder, Bay FC Theo Lloyd-Hughes, freelance journalist reporting on NWSL

It has been a whirlwind few weeks for the tens of millions of Americans struggling with student loan debt. First, on June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s debt cancellation plan. Since then, the administration has announced other plans to help borrowers, and more are in the works. But will they survive legal challenges? And what do the new programs mean for those buried in debt, with payments set to resume as soon as October? We’ll talk about the latest developments and what’s at stake for borrowers in California.

The Rossmoor community in Walnut Creek has a population of nearly 10,000 people aged 55 and older, its own newspaper, bus service and over 200 local clubs, making it feel like its own small town. Opened in 1964, Rossmoor is among the longest running, age-restricted communities in the country. It’s also the cornerstone of the 94595 zip code, which according to the San Francisco Chronicle, is the only zip code in the Bay Area with home prices near their all-time high, in contrast to the rest of the region where home prices are trending lower. We’ll take a look at the history of Rossmoor, why people want to live there and the current state of other developments like it.

Riding a bike instead of taking a car is good for your health and for the planet. But in car-centric California, most people still rely on vehicles for daily trips like commuting to work. For cyclists in the state, that means getting around can be risky, especially when they’re asked to share a road with two-ton metal boxes that are often moving very fast. So what would it take to make cycling safer in California, and how can we improve the state’s biking infrastructure to encourage more riders? We explore those questions as part of Forum’s ongoing series “In Transit.”

One of the most prized objects in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum is a life-size wooden tiger automaton that bellows and roars as it chomps into the neck of a very unfortunate British soldier. Crafted in the late 18th century in Mysore, India, this fascinating creation is at the center of Tania James’ new novel of historical fiction “Loot.” The story follows Abbas, a 17-year old, the tiger’s creator, as he travels from India to Europe and encounters a Dickensian cast of characters from noblemen to foes and friends that are all part of this epic quest. As reviewers note, the novel offers a “wry awareness of the distorting function of racism and colonialism.” We talk to James about her book.

Decades of cognitive science research has shown that children need to be taught to sound out words in order to read. But school districts across the country often ignore or sideline that research in early grades, according to education reporter Emily Hanford, who says that’s one reason that more than 60% of U.S. fourth graders aren’t proficient readers. Hanford’s six-part podcast “Sold a Story,” released late last year by American Public Media, is being cited in newly proposed legislation across the U.S. aimed to address the problem. We talk to Hanford about what’s wrong with the way we teach kids to read and what can be done to improve literacy in California and nationwide.

A new exhibit at the Bedford gallery in Walnut Creek challenges our assumptions about what it means to see. “Sight Unseen” features the work of 13 blind photographers from around the world who use photography in very different ways. In describing his process Pete Eckert of Sacramento writes, “vision is so strong that it masks other senses, other abilities… I feel light so strongly that it allows me to see the bones of my skeleton as pulsating energy.” Scottish artist Rosita McKenzie said, “I sense the light on my face. I hear the rustle of the wind in the trees or smell the fragrance of the flowers in the air, and I think: I’ve really got to take this.” We’ll talk with the curator and featured artists from “Sight Unseen” about how sight-impaired people reveal the world as they see it.

More than a decade ago, historian Jean Pfaelzer was shown a photograph of a young Chinese woman, displayed for sale in a caged brothel in San Francisco in the 1870s. The image made Pfaelzer question her own assumptions about California’s claim to have entered the union as a free state and about the force and effect of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery at the end of the Civil War. Pfaelzer traveled the state for seven years excavating accounts of Black, Indigenous, Asian and immigrant enslavement, concluding that “the story of California is a history of 250 years of uninterrupted human bondage.” We’ll talk to Pfaelzer about her new book “California, A Slate State” and how we might reckon with a history that’s far darker than many Californians realize. Guests: Jean Pfaelzer, historian; author, "California, a Slave State"

The pandemic took a big toll on movie theaters nationwide, and the Bay Area continues to see closures of beloved theaters, like the Embarcadero Center Cinema in San Francisco and the Regal UA Berkeley 7. But there have also been success stories, with many local cinemas fighting to keep their doors open and the movies rolling. We’ll check in with some of the people running those theaters about how their audiences have changed since the pandemic, the new things theaters are doing to bring people in and the role local theaters play in our communities. Guests: Adam Bergeron, co-owner, Cinema SF, which operates The Balboa, The Vogue, and the 4 Star theaters in San Francisco Lex Sloan, executive director, Roxie Theater in San Francisco J. Moses Ceaser, general manager, The New Parkway Theater in Oakland Ellie Mednick, executive director, the Lark Theater in Larkspur

Does it matter if life exists on another planet? To UC Irvine astrobiologist Aomawa Shields it matters in the same way that a mountain matters and screams to be climbed: not knowing is unbearable. Shields has devoted her career to studying the climate and habitability of exoplanets to further the search for extraterrestrial life. She’s also one of very few Black women in a field dominated by white men and a classically trained actor. We talk to her about her journey as a scientist and an artist and her new book “Life on Other Planets: A Memoir of Finding My Place in the Universe.” Guests: Dr. Aomawa Shields, Clare Boothe Luce associate professor of physics and astronomy, UC Irvine; author, "Life on Other Planets: A Memoir of Finding My Place in the Universe"

It’s a common belief about homeless people in California: they move here from other places because of the state’s tolerance, mild weather, and generous services. But according to a recent UCSF study, at least ninety percent of those experiencing homelessness lived in California before losing their housing and 75% are in the same county they used to live in. In the largest study of its kind in nearly three decades, researchers talked to thousands of participants about their experiences to find out what factors pushed them over the edge into homelessness. The real story, researchers found, has more to do with the state’s poverty, inequality, and high housing costs. As part of our ongoing series about homelessness in the Bay Area we’ll dig into the findings with the study’s author and formerly homeless Californians who advised on the project. Guests: Margot Kushel, director, UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, and principal investigator of the study; professor of medicine, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital the Director of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations Jesica Gianola, Lived Expertise Advisory Board representative, UCSF Benioff Homeless and Housing Initiative Robynne Rose-Haymer, Lived Expertise Advisory Board representative, UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative

Being laid off is brutal. It can knock people off career trajectories, destabilize people’s sense of their worth, and cause problems in their personal relationships. This year, the Bay Area has seen more than 15,000 layoffs in tech alone. So, our team here at KQED has gone out to collect the best advice on what to do when you’re laid off. How do you protect your mental health? What’s your next step in getting new work? Should you stay in your field or do something else? How do you talk to your partner or family about what’s happened? We’ll hear your stories and share the best advice that we’ve been able to find.

Guests: Horst Govin, career coach, Job Hunt Bootcamp Carly Severn, senior editor of audience news, KQED Carlos Cabrera-Lomeli, community engagement reporter, KQED Ioanna Angelakis, marriage and family therapist based in San Francisco

More than 70 percent of Californians say they’re happy living in the Golden State, but four in 10 are considering leaving. That’s according to a new survey called the California Community Poll, which found that economic anxiety and dissatisfaction with the state’s legislative priorities are among the top reasons people set their sights on moving. We’ll talk about what the poll says about our state’s varied, competing ideologies and how they map onto age, race and income. And we’ll hear from you: Why you stay, why you’d go, and what you want to see changed to make it easier for you to stick around.

Guests: Dan Schnur, professor, Annenberg School of Communications at USC and UC Berkeley; helped direct the June 2023 California Community Poll Helen Torres, CEO, Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) Nancy Yap, executive director, Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment (CAUSE)

A bill banning caste-based discrimination in California workplaces is moving through the state legislature after the emergence of several high profile discrimination claims in Silicon Valley’s South Asian community. The claims were brought by Dalits, the most oppressed class in the social hierarchy determined by birth, who say they faced blatant prejudice from coworkers, and were punished when they tried to speak out. Opponents of the bill question the prevalence of caste discrimination in the United States and say the legal focus fuels negative stereotypes of South Asians and Hindus. We’ll talk to the lawmaker who wrote the bill and members of the South Asian community fighting for and against the law.

Guests: Aisha Wahab, State Senator, from Hayward, CA Sonia Paul, independent journalist covering caste in the United States; producer, audio documentary for BBC, "The Hidden Caste Codes of Silicon Valley" Prem Pariyar, human relations commissioner, Alameda County Suhag Shukla, executive director and co-founder, Hindu American Foundation

When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action last month, its ruling was focused on college admissions. But some legal experts say that, in practice, the ruling could also discourage diversity efforts by employers. Many workplaces instituted diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. But three years later, those policies are facing scrutiny from conservative legal groups — whom experts say may now be emboldened by the court’s ruling. We’ll talk about the role of DEI practices in the workplace, pushback these efforts may face and how it could all affect diversity where you work.

Guests: Noam Scheiber, reporter covering workers and the workplace, The New York Times Nicole Sanchez, founder & CEO, Vaya Consulting - which advises tech and media companies on issues related to diversity and culture Richard Thompson Ford, professor of Law, Stanford Law School

California native Ada Limón is the new poet laureate of the United States. She plans on, “elevating and promoting the expansiveness of poetry.” Limón, who has published six volumes of poetry, grew up in Sonoma and now lives in Kentucky. She says that poetry lived and breathed in her community growing up and has been key to her solitude as well as her sense of connection. She steps into her new role when America needs healing and unifying from art and artists. Limón joins us to talk about her work, her love of poetry, and how she’s reimagining America’s relationship to poetry. This segment originally aired Aug. 26. Related link(s):

The Contract Says: We'd Like the Conversation to be Bilingual

A New National Anthem

National Poetry Month 2022: Ada Limón Reads “A Good Story”

How can we live the good life, one enlivened by joy, meaning and community? That’s the question UC Berkeley psychology professor Dacher Keltner has been exploring for the last 20 years, and he says he’s found the answer: find awe. It’s the emotion we experience when we encounter vast mysteries — in nature, in art and even in sport. We talk to Keltner about the science of awe and we’ll hear what you find awe-inspiring. This segment originally aired January 9, 2023. Guests: Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology and faculty director of the Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley; author, "Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life"

Did you know that Rocky Road ice cream originated in Oakland? Or that Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera were once married in San Francisco City Hall? Or that a disaster in Concord helped desegregate our nation’s military? Our region is full of fascinating history that even some lifelong residents don’t know about. Uncovering forgotten history and solving local mysteries is what KQED’s Bay Curious podcast is all about. And now, the show’s reporting is in a book, “Bay Curious: Exploring the Hidden True Stories of the San Francisco Bay Area.” KQED’s Olivia Allen-Price, host of Bay Curious joins us to talk about investigating forgotten histories, legendary locals, and the many quirks and oddities that make the Bay Area unique. This segment originally aired May 10, 2023 Guests: Olivia Allen-Price, Host, KQED's Bay Curious - a podcast that investigates questions asked by local residents about things both profound and peculiar that make the Bay Area unique.

Gabrielle Zevin’s most recent novel “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” draws its title from what Zevin calls one of the bleakest speeches in all of Shakespeare, as Macbeth contemplates life’s monotony and meaninglessness. But to one of her characters, the soliloquy is hopeful, and it expresses the essence of a video game: “the idea that if you keep playing, you could win. No loss is permanent, because nothing is permanent, ever.” We talk to Zevin about the video games, art and friendships that animate the novel, and why California occupies a special place in it. This segment originally aired January 20, 2023. Guests: Gabrielle Zevin, author, "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow"

Singer Sid Sriram was born in southern India, but his family moved to Fremont when he was just a year old. His voice and his sound are the product of his family’s legacy as carnatic traditional signers and of a childhood in the Bay Area suburbs, listening to jazz and hip hop. Sriram has already achieved fame in India, his career expanded globally after singing for Grammy-Award winning composer A.R. Rahman, and he was recently featured in an NPR Tiny Desk Concert. He joins us in our studio to sing from his new album and talk about growing up Indian-American in the Fremont and what it’s like to be more famous halfway across the world than where you went to high school. This segment originally aired June 9, 2023 Guests: Sid Sriram, musician, his forthcoming album is Sidharth

“Black history,” writes award-winning artist and graphic designer George McCalman, “tends to mean the ten people who are lauded every Black History Month of every Black History Year.” McCalman upends that constricted notion in his most recent book, “Illustrated Black History,” a tribute to 140 pioneering – but sometimes unseen – Black artists, advocates and thinkers who have “sacrificed their lives and livelihoods or forfeited their homes and sanctuaries” in the course of defining American history. We talk to McCalman about those he chose to profile, paint and celebrate. This segment originally aired February 16, 2023. Guests: George McCalman, artist, graphic designer and creative director; His most recent book is "Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and the Unseen"

In her new book, “Raw Dog: The Naked Truth about Hot Dogs,” author and comedian Jamie Loftus dials in on why America loves the hot dog: “They’re high culture, they’re low culture, they’re sports food and they’re hangover food and they’re deeply American for reasons that few people can explain but everyone has been told their entire lives.” Loftus chronicles her cross-country journey eating some of the country’s most famous hot dogs like JJ Red Hots in North Carolina, Nathan’s Famous in New York, and Ben’s Chili Bowl in D.C. Along the way, she also delves into the history of the hot dog and devotes an entire chapter to how a hot dog is made. In her words, a hot dog is “garbage being repurposed as mass-appeal food.” While light-hearted, Loftus offers a steely look at the meatpacking and food services industry. We’ll talk to Loftus and hear from you: How do you feel about hot dogs? This segment originally aired June 2, 2023 Guests: Jamie Loftus, author, "Raw Dog: The Naked Truth about Hot Dogs"; Emmy-nominated TV writer; podcast host, “My Year In Mensa” and "Bechdel Cast"

The egg, writes Lizzie Stark, is a "universe in a shell." It’s an ingenious piece of tech that contains everything a developing embryo needs, and it’s a symbol of the cosmos in creation myths across cultures. It’s been a tool of political protests, the target of wildlife poachers and the center of a Gold Rush-era territorial war on the Farallon Islands. It’s also inspired painters, conceptual artists and countless cooks. We talk to Stark about her new ode to the ovoid “Egg: A Dozen Ovatures.” This segment originally aired March 28, 2023.

It’s just about summer and time to dig out the red-and-white checkered blanket for a picnic. From banh mi sandwiches at the beach or pork buns at a city park, the Bay Area has no shortage of picnic spots and foods. As part of our All You Can East series, we’ll talk with chef and picnic enthusiast Samin Nosrat and KQED food editor Luke Tsai about how to plan the perfect picnic. Whether you’re headed to the waterfront or Washington Square Park, tell us: what’s your favorite place for a picnic, and what food are you bringing?

This segment originally aired May 24, 2023.

“I experience your wounds as if they were my own,” reads the last line of Clint Smith’s poem “Nociception.” Directed to a child, it explains that just as a sea creature that loses an appendage feels discomfort across its entire body, so does a parent whose child is in pain. The poem is part of Smith’s new collection “Above Ground,” which also celebrates the joy, wonder and even occasional absurdity of being a parent. We talk to Smith about his poetry and what he calls the “simultaneity the human experience:” our capacity to hold fear and anxiety alongside joy and awe. This segment originally aired April 11, 2023. Guests: Clint Smith, poet and staff writer, The Atlantic - his new collection of poetry is "Above Ground." His previous books include "How the Word is Passed."

The US. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that colleges and universities cannot consider race when admitting students – a decision legal experts say will have wide ranging impacts on students, the education system and the nation’s economy. In a 6-3 decision, the court said that race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina are unconstitutional. The plaintiffs in the case, Students for Fair Admissions, argued that Asian students in particular were discriminated against because of their race. California banned affirmative action for state university admissions in 1996 and is one of nine states with similar bans. We’ll discuss the impact of the ban on California’s students and universities, what other states can learn from attempts to diversify universities post-affirmative action and what the expansion of the ban to private colleges means for California. Guests: Teresa Watanabe, education reporter, LA Times Rory Little, professor of constitutional law, UC College of Law, San Francisco Dania Matos, vice chancellor for equity and inclusion, UC Berkeley Michele Siqueiros, president, The Campaign for College Opportunity, which is a non-profit that seeks to help provide an opportunity to go to college for every eligible student in the state.

It’s no secret that American beauty culture, driven by Hollywood and social media, preys on our insecurities and promotes unattainable standards around the world. But another country is giving the U.S. a run for its money. In her new book Flawless, journalist Elise Hu explores the global rise and influence of K-beauty, or South Korean beauty culture, now a $10 billion industry. Hu, NPR’s former Seoul Bureau chief, reveals how that city became the plastic surgery capital of the world. And she examines how other countries, including the U.S., are now embracing South Korean beauty products and practices like double cleansing and snail mucus face masks. We’ll talk with Hu about how K-beauty standards both empower and constrain women, and about what it means to be “beautiful” in the 21st century. Guests: Elise Hu, NPR host-at-large and the host of TED Talks Daily; former Seoul bureau chief, NPR. Author of the new book "Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital"

If Lake Tahoe was a national park, it would be the second-most visited, according to a recent analysis. The area has double the annual visitors of famously crowded Yosemite, but is only about a third of the size. Although outdoor recreation and tourism drive much of Tahoe’s economy, local residents are concerned about a visitor boom that started during the pandemic and is overburdening nearby communities and the lake’s ecosystem. Earlier this month, community leaders released the Lake Tahoe Destination Stewardship Plan, a comprehensive report with dozens of recommendations to help the region grow its economy and maintain the natural resources it’s known for. We’ll talk about the challenges that Lake Tahoe is facing and efforts to reimagine tourism in the region. Guests: Greg Thomas, lifestyle and outdoors editor and host of the Wild West podcast, San Francisco Chronicle Carol Chaplain, executive director, Lake Tahoe Visitor Authority Heidi Hill Drum, executive director, Tahoe Prosperity Center Tony Karwowski, president and CEO, North Tahoe Community Alliance

The GOP presidential race is heating up, with more than a dozen hopefuls vying to take on former president and frontrunner Donald Trump. On the Democratic side, President Biden is talking up the economy, hoping it will lift his dismal approval ratings. In this hour, we’ll break down the latest on the presidential campaign and how issues like the economy, abortion, the war in Ukraine and Trump’s legal woes could shake up the race. Guests: Joe Garofoli, senior political writer, San Francisco Chronicle; host of the podcast “It’s All Political on Fifth and Mission” Carol Leonnig, investigative reporter, Washington Post

Thien Pham’s new graphic memoir, “Family Style”, tells the story of his family’s journey, when he was a young kid, from Vietnam, to a refugee camp in Thailand, to making a home in San Jose. It’s a story told through his memories of the meals he ate along the way. In our latest edition of All You Can Eat, our regular series on Bay Area food cultures with KQED food editor Luke Tsai, we talk with Thien Pham about his life, his art and his food infused memories. And we want to hear from you: tell us about a dish that will always be associated with a particular time in your life.

Guests: Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & Culture Thien Pham, comic artist and author, graphic novel "Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam"

Noise can take years off your life. The louder the environment, the higher the risk of cardiac disease and death. We have long known that loud noises can affect our hearing, but studies have shown that it can impact our mental health, our ability to learn, and our chance to live longer lives. California has made inroads in combating noise pollution — in 2024, gas- powered leaf blowers will be banned, and the state has laws to restrict car exhaust noise. But as the world gets noisier, noise is becoming a public health problem. We talk to experts and hear from you: how do you quiet the world around you?

Guests: Erica Walker, assistant professor of epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health Emily Baumgaertner, national health correspondent, New York Times - She was part of the team on the project "Noise Could Take Years Off Your Life. Here's How." Les Blomberg, founder and executive director, Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, a nonprofit focused on creating a quieter world

A bill moving through the California Legislature would require CalSTERS and CalPERS, the nation’s largest pension funds, to pull billions of dollars they have invested in companies that produce fossil fuels. Some experts say divestment is an effective tool to force some of the largest-scale emitters to reduce emissions and move the economy away from fossil fuels. The movement is gaining momentum and plenty of opposition, including from CalSTERS, CalPERS and labor unions. For our next installment of Climate Fix, our monthly series examining global warming solutions, we’ll talk about how divestment works and what it could mean for California. Guests: Laura Klivans, reporter, KQED Anaya Sayal, campaign coordinator and lead circle member, Youth Vs Apocalypse, a youth-led climate justice group based in the Bay Area Marilyn Waite, managing director, Climate Finance Fund - a philanthropic platform that helps to mobilize capital for climate solutions. Marcie Frost, chief executive officer, CalPERS - the retirement system for more than 1.9 million California public sector workers and their families with roughly $160 billion in assets.

“If it’s wrapped in plastic and has at least one ingredient that you wouldn’t find in your kitchen,” it’s an ultra-processed food, writes infectious disease doctor Chris Van Tulleken. Your McDonald’s and cardboard freezer meals also fit the bill — and so do your so-called health foods and your splurge on a $20 vegan chicken sandwich. Addictive by design, widely available and relatively cheap, ultra-processed foods, or UPFs, make up to 60 percent of the food Americans eat overall, and Van Tulleken says they’re wreaking havoc on our bodies and the planet. We talk to Van Tulleken about his new book “Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn’t Food.” Guests: Chris van Tulleken, scientist, doctor, award-winning BBC broadcaster and author, "Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind the Food That Isn't Food"

At a United Nations water conference in March, amid increasing global water conflicts and climate crises, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres sounded an urgent alarm. “All of humanity’s hopes for the future depend, in some way, on charting a new course to sustainably manage and conserve water,” he said. But what would a new course look like? Renowned water expert and scientist Peter Gleick seeks to answer that question in his latest book “The Three Ages of Water”. The book explores the complex relationship between humans and water throughout history, from ancient civilizations to the modern, scientific “Second Age of Water” when we “learned to manipulate the natural hydrologic cycle” but also did great harm to the planet. We’ll talk with Gleick about his call for a revolutionary “Third Age” of responsible water stewardship. Guests: Peter Gleick, senior fellow and co-founder, Pacific Institute; author, "The Three Ages of Water"

The Supreme Court radically changed the country in just three days last June when it eliminated Americans’ constitutional right to an abortion and weakened popular gun laws. That’s according to Brennan Center for Justice president Michael Waldman, who says the Court is poised to do so again this term by employing its own extreme version of originalism. We’ll talk to Waldman about major cases on voting and affirmative action and the political forces that empower the Court’s hard right faction. Waldman’s new book is “The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America.” Guests: Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice, NYU School of Law; author, "The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America"

“School’s out for the summer!” is a rallying cry for students everywhere. But for working parents, summer poses a whole set of challenges, starting with – who is going to watch the kids during the day? For many, summer camps are the answer. Camps offer the promise of exploration, adventure, and a chance to make new friends and acquire new skills. And if you have a specific hobby or interest – needlework, videography, chess – there is likely a camp for you. But getting a spot in a camp, managing the constellation of choices and conflicting schedules, and, especially, paying for a summer’s worth of camps can present major problems for families. Why is summer camp such a mess? Why aren’t there more affordable options for childcare when school is out? And how can you hack summer to find a spot for your child if you didn’t sign up for one in January? We’ll talk summer camp and hear from you: What’s your child doing this summer?

Guests: Lydia Kiesling, journalist and author. Kiesling's most recent piece for Bloomberg is "How Summer Camp Became Such a Hot Mess for Parents" Eduardo Caballero, co-founder and executive director, EDMO, a summer camp in the Bay Area Jessica Calarco, expert on inequalities in education and family life; associate professor of sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

With huge layoffs in sectors like tech and media dominating the headlines, it’s easy to think that jobs are becoming scarce and that the “Great Resignation” is over. But in fact, some economists say it’s workers, not employers, who still hold the power — especially as Baby Boomers retire. We’ll check in on California’s labor market across different industries and hear your experiences finding a job in today’s economy.

Guests: Aki Ito, senior correspondent covering the workplace and the economy, Insider Sarah Bohn, vice president of Research and Senior Fellow, Public Policy Institute of California

When Martinus Evans began training for marathons, it took “delusional self belief” to keep running. He was over 350 pounds. As a kid, he failed the one-mile physical fitness test. And as a Black man, he didn’t see a lot of people like him training. Even though Evans finished his first marathon at the back of the pack, he says it didn’t bother him one bit. He’s used that mindset to complete eight marathons and to launch a career as a running coach for people of all sizes and skills. In his running club, you can’t ask about weight and you don’t obsess about speed. Evans offers this and other advice in his new book “Slow AF Run Club: The Ultimate Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Run.” He joins us and we hear from you: Are you a runner who doesn’t fit the mold? Guests: Martinus Evans, author, "Slow AF Run Club: The Ultimate Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Run"

Sixteen-year-old environmental activist Greta Thunberg transfixed the world in 2019 when she condemned global leaders for their inaction on climate change. She’s one of thousands of teen girls who’ve agitated for social change in the past centuries, from Claudette Colvin who refused to give up her seat on a segregated Alabama bus to Mabel Ping-Hua Lee who led a march for women’s suffrage. In a new history, writer and editor Mattie Kahn explores how girls have contributed to social and political movements, the qualities they bring to their activism and the dangers they’ve faced in their fights for the greater good. Kahn’s book is “Young and Restless: The Girls Who Sparked America’s Revolutions.” Guests: Mattie Kahn, author, "Young and Restless: The Girls Who Sparked America's Revolutions." Kahn is the former culture director at Glamour, where she covered women’s issues and politics.

Earlier this month, amid a sharp rise in book bans across the country, Governor Gavin Newsom called on educators to preserve students’ access to books, including those that “reflect the diverse experiences and perspectives of Californians.” Individual book bans in U.S. classrooms and school libraries increased by 28 percent during the first half of this school year compared to the prior six months, according to a report by the free speech group PEN America. The increase is partly due to newly-enacted state laws, and the bans “continue to target stories by and about people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals,” according to PEN. While rare in California, book battles are percolating in Temecula and Huntington Beach. We talk about the impact of book bans on free expression and students’ access to literature and diverse perspectives Guests: Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Director, American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom - and executive director of the Freedom to Read Foundation Jaea Rivera, officer, Vandegrift High School Banned Book Club - in Austin, Texas. George M. Johnson, award-winning author of "All Boys Aren't Blue" and "We Are Not Broken" Jeff Horseman, Riverside County government and regional politics reporter, Southern California News Group

Nursing is a vocation as old as humankind, once practiced by men and women. But for many the word “nurse” conjures up an image of Florence Nightingale or a woman in a starched white uniform and funny cap who defers to the doctor. In her new book, “Taking Care,”journalist Sarah DiGregorio challenges these myths: “If you imagine that nursing arose only in relatively recent times, as a profession dedicated to assisting physicians within hospitals,” writes DiGregorio, “you have it backward. Nursing came first.” Her book explores how chauvinism, racism, cultural norms and misogyny have inflected the profession and crucial role that nurses play in providing safe, caring and cutting edge medical care. We’ll talk to DiGregorio about her book and hear from you: How have nurses affected your life? Guests: Sarah DiGregorio , Journalist and Author, "Taking Care: The Story of Nursing and Its Power to Change Our World". DiGregorio is also the author of "Early: An Intimate History of Premature Birth and What It Teaches Us About Being Human"

When the Marathon oil refinery in Martinez closed in 2020, more than 300 unionized workers were laid off from jobs they thought they’d retire from. A study from UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education followed many of those workers and found roughly one in four were still out of work a year later, and most of those who had found new jobs took sizable pay cuts. As we make the necessary transition away from fossil fuels, Forum discusses what kind of jobs will be lost, and gained, in the green economy and what can be done to minimize harm to the workers whose jobs will be erased and to the communities who depend on their industries. Guests: Virginia Parks , professor at the Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy at the University of California, Irvine John Gioia, member, Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors Tracy Scott, president, United Steelworkers Local 5 James Feldermann, former head operator, Marathon Martinez refinery Jessie Hammerling , co-director, The Green Economy Program at the UC Berkeley Labor Center

“The first uniquely American suit,” is how Clarissa Esguerra, a Los Angeles County Museum of Art curator of costume and textiles, describes the Zoot suit. Known for its wide-legged pants and long coats, the Zoot suit became infamous in June 1943. That was when servicemen, police officers and white civilians attacked the young Mexican, Filipino and Black Americans who donned the suits in what became known as the Zoot Suit Riots. To commemorate the riots’ 80th anniversary this month, the L.A. Times put together a multimedia project tracing the suits’ legacy and status today as a symbol of Chicano pride — while noting the paper’s own culpability in anti-Mexican American sentiment at the time. We’ll speak with the reporters and editor who authored the project and hear your reflections. Guests: Gustavo Arellano, columnist, Los Angeles Times Steve Padilla, editor of the showcase feature Column One, The Los Angeles Times - and oversaw the LA Times' Zoot Suit Riots 80th Anniversary Package Elizabeth Escobedo, associate professor of history, University of Denver - and author, "From Coveralls to Zoot Suits: The Lives of Mexican American Women on the World War II Home Front"

After the election of President Obama in 2008, “the world looked and felt different,” writes University of Texas historian Peniel Joseph. That moment also marked the beginning of what Joseph calls America’s Third Reconstruction, a period of racial progress marked by the Black Lives Matter protests and the social justice movements they inspired. But the Third Reconstruction, like the 19th and 20th century versions that preceded it, has also been beset by white backlash and violent retrenchment. We’ll talk to Joseph about what he thinks we’ve achieved in this period and how far we need to go to achieve racial justice. Guests: Peniel Joseph, professor of history and founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, University of Texas at Austin; author, "The Third Reconstruction: America’s Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century"

To celebrate Juneteenth we listen back on our interview with Bay Area-based chef and food justice activist Bryant Terry. He’s created “a communal shrine to the shared culinary histories of the African diaspora,” as he writes in the introduction to “Black Food.” Bringing together a number of contributors who share recipes, stories and artwork — plus Terry’s signature playlists to go with the recipes — “Black Food” aims to be a feast not just for your tastebuds, but your eyes, ears and spirit, too. Terry, who’s also the chef-in-residence at the Museum of the African Diaspora, says this is his last cookbook, but just the beginning of a bigger vision to publish more writers of color under his new publishing imprint 4 Color Books. Terry joins us to talk about “Black Food” and what else he’s got cooking — both in and out of the kitchen. Guests: Bryant Terry, author, "Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora," "Afro-Vegan," and "Vegetable Kingdom;" chef-in-residence, San Francisco's Museum of the African Diaspora

One of the largest collections of transgender history sits in a small garage turned archive in Vallejo. The Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive has been open to the public since 2018. With Pride month underway, we’ll explore a few key objects from the collection, talk about what they teach us about trans history, and discuss what the history of the transgender community in the Bay Area can tell us about the current moment.

Guests: Susan Stryker, incoming faculty in gender and sexuality studies, University of Southern California - Her new book is "Transgender History: The Roots of Today's Revolution." She won an Emmy for the documentary film, "Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria." Ms. Bob Davis, founder & director, Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive in Vallejo

Owls have long fascinated humans. They appear in cave art dating back 30,000 years. They are an integral part of the Harry Potter universe. Why are we so enthralled by these creatures, who contrary to popular belief cannot turn their heads 360 degrees? In her new book, “What An Owl Knows,” science writer Jennifer Ackerman tackles this question. Thanks to new technology and decades of research, we know more about owls than we ever have, including why their eyes are so big, how they can fly without making noise, and whether they are truly monogamous. Ackerman joins us and we hear from you: What’s your favorite owl story or sighting?

Guests: Jennifer Ackerman, science writer; author, "What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds" and also "The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think" and "The Genius of Birds"

Until recently Wood Street in West Oakland was the site of the largest homeless encampment in Northern California. To launch our new series on homelessness in the Bay Area, Forum broadcasts live from Wood Street. We’ll talk with people who lived in the encampment before it was cleared by the city in April, and with city and county officials, about alternatives to encampments for unhoused people and Oakland’s strategy for addressing the homelessness crisis. Guests: Erin Baldassari, housing affordability reporter, KQED LaTonda Simmons, interim homeless administrator, city of Oakland Lucy Kasdin, director, Alameda County Health Care for the Homeless Moose, former resident, Wood Street encampment

Friends tracking friends. Parents tracking kids. Spouses tracking each other. Location sharing has become all the rage in our over-connected world. The feature can be especially handy during an emergency, and can foster a sense of safety, community, and connection. But location sharing can also be misused, leading to privacy concerns and risks such as stalking or harassment. And teens report a “fear of missing out” feeling when they see friends gathering without them. Should we know where our friends and family are at all times? Is this helpful? Healthy? We’ll talk about the pros and cons of sharing coordinates and hear from you: do you love it? Or does it make you uncomfortable? Guests: Rebecca Jennings, senior correspondent covering social platforms and creator economy, Vox - Jennings wrote the recent piece is "Should We Know Where Our Friends Are at All Times?" Julie Jargon, family and tech columnist, Wall Street Journal - Her recent pieces include "Is It OK to Track Your Spouse's Location?" and "Why Teens Say Location Sharing Is the Greatest -- and the Worst." Mahi Jariwala, junior, Monte Vista High School; member, KQED's Youth Advisory Board Joshua Bote, assistant news editor, SFGATE

Watery eyes, a runny nose, quick, desperate breaths: all signs of you may have shaken out, purposefully or not, a few too many dashes of hot sauce. Despite the pain that may come, people can’t seem to get enough of fiery sauces. This is particularly true in the Bay Area, where spice is integral to many of our favorite cuisines. In our latest All You Can Eat segment, we’re talking about how hot sauces bring food to life with KQED’s food editor Luke Tsai and several hot sauce connoisseurs including restaurateurs who have made their own concoctions, or who carry on the recipes created by their ancestors. Guests: Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Tim Herod, co-owner, Wood Goods and Hot Sauce Victor Escobedo, owner of Papalote and self appointed culinary sociologist Sarah Kirnon, chef, former owner of Miss Ollie’s Azalina Eusope, owner of Azalina’s

From low Earth orbit projects to potential moon landings, a 21st century space race is heating up. Following the lead of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, a multitude of private companies are now competing to commercialize space and transform the industry, which up until now has largely been dominated by NASA and government contracts. Technology journalist Ashlee Vance follows the trajectories of four of those companies in his new book “When The Heavens Went On Sale,” and he joins us to talk about this new era of satellites, rockets and for-profit re-envisionings of our relationship with space. Guests: Ashlee Vance, technology writer, Bloomberg Businessweek; author, "When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach," and "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future"

Aisha Harris has long been an observer of pop culture. Today she serves as critic and co-host of NPR’s hit podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, but in the 1990s she was growing up in suburban Connecticut, watching The Powerpuff Girls, and listening to her parents play (and often sing) Stevie Wonder. In her new book “Wannabe,” Harris takes a close look at the pop culture that has shaped who she is today. We talk to her about the book, her thoughts on modern fandom, the evolution of the Black Best Friend trope, and why every show or movie of yesteryear is being remade today. Guests: Aisha Harris, host of Pop Culture Happy Hour, NPR

On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump will be arraigned in a Florida courtroom on charges that he mishandled classified documents and attempted to obstruct justice. According to the 37-count indictment, Trump corralled top secret documents in closets, storage rooms and even a bathroom in Mar-a-Lago, his Florida residence. Included in the documents were information about the country’s nuclear program as well as top-secret military information. We’ll discuss the criminal case against Trump, which includes 31 claims that Trump violated the Espionage Act, as well as its implications for national security and the election. Guests: Shanlon Wu, former federal prosecutor and defense attorney Mike Madrid, co-founder, The Lincoln Project - a group of Republicans seeking to prevent the re-election of President Donald Trump, and political consultant and Partner, GrassrootsLab Sarah Wire, Justice Department, National Security and government accountability reporter, Los Angeles Times focusing on Jan. 6 and domestic extremism

We discuss the Ukraine military’s long-awaited counter-offensive, signaling a new phase in its war with Russia. The push comes as the country reels from the catastrophic Nova Kakhovka dam collapse. We’ll get the latest from Ukraine and talk with the director of a new documentary on the war, “20 Days in Mariupol”. Guests: Steven Pifer, affiliate, Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University; former ambassador to Ukraine; senior director, the National Security Council in the Clinton administration Igor Markov, member of the Board of Directors, Nova Ukraine; research scientist, Meta Mstyslav Chernov, video journalist, Associated Press; director, the documentary, "20 Days in Mariupol" Melinda Haring, nonresident senior fellow, Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center

Diet culture permeates our society. And that’s impacting our kids. Children as young as 3 learn to associate being fat with negative traits, and anti-fat bias can be found in the doctor’s office, in the classroom and on the sports field. In her new book “Fat Talk,” author Virginia Sole-Smith argues we need to take a new approach to how we navigate and discuss fatness and anti-fat bias with our children. Because the current stigmatization isn’t making our kids any healthier. We talk with Sole-Smith about why the word “fat” is OK to use, how to talk about body size and why diets — even those masked as lifestyle changes — can backfire with children and adults. Guests: Virginia Sole-Smith, journalist and author, "Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture," and "Eating Instinct: Food Culture, Body Image and Guilt in America;" she also publishes the newsletter "Burnt Toast"

Singer Sid Sriram was born in southern India, but his family moved to Fremont when he was just a year old. His voice and his sound are the product of his family’s legacy as carnatic traditional signers and of a childhood in the Bay Area suburbs, listening to jazz and hip hop. Sriram has already achieved fame in India, his career expanded globally after singing for Grammy-Award winning composer A.R. Rahm, and he was recently featured in an NPR Tiny Desk Concert. He joins us in our studio to sing from his new album and talk about growing up Indian-American in the Fremont and what it’s like to be more famous halfway across the world than where you went to high school.

Guests: Sid Sriram, musician, his forthcoming album is Sidharth

Humorist Samantha Irby is known for her all-too-relatable essay collections, including 2020’s bestseller “Wow, No Thank You,” and she’s written some of the knockout punch lines on shows like “Shrill” and “And Just Like That.” Her new essay collection, “Quietly Hostile,” explores how success and Hollywood aren’t as glamorous as her hate mail assumes. And with a light touch, she gives toilet etiquette, describes her love for Dave Matthews in playlist form and celebrates thinking about whales when high. Irby joins us to share how she writes about — and finds funny in — the grossness and anxieties of everyday life.

Guests: Samantha Irby, comedian, essayist, blogger, and television writer, author of the new essay collection, "Quietly Hostile." Previous books include "We Are Never Meeting in Real Life" and "Wow, No Thank You"

Every city sits where it does for geological reasons, be that suitable terrain, availability of water or other natural resources, good climate or beautiful scenery. In the case of Oakland, it was all of these things. Since the original inhabitants, the Ohlones, Oakland has attracted settlers for its landscape, beauty and resources, each of which has a connection with its distinctive geology. But as much as the physical terrain shaped Oakland’s development into a bustling city, the people who resided in the East Bay have molded the land right back. As geologist Andrew Alden explores in his book “Deep Oakland: How Geology Shaped a City,” geologic history is a dramatic entanglement of people and place. We’ll talk with Alden about his new book and how the Bay Area’s geology forms the blueprint for our society. Guests: Andrew Alden, geologist, writer, photographer, and geological tour guide. His latest book is “Deep Oakland: How Geology Shaped a City.”

Allergies have intensified over the last few decades. An estimated 30 to 40 percent of the global population has some form of allergy, and experts say that number could rise to 50 percent by the year 2030. So what’s behind this? Research shows it’s a complicated picture, with climate change, our stress levels and genetics all playing roles. We talk to medical anthropologist Theresa McPhail, author of the new book “Allergic,” about what the latest research shows on diagnostics, treatment and what we can do to cope with our allergies in a “changing world.” Guests: Theresa MacPhail, medical anthropologist and associate professor of Science and Technology Studies, Stevens Institute of Technology; author, "Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World"

San Francisco has long been a favorite target of conservative news outlets. But a recent CNN special on the city’s drug and homelessness crises posed the question, “What Happened to San Francisco?” and a New York magazine piece asks: “What is it like to live in a city that no longer believes its problems can be fixed?” For Mayor London Breed, talk of a San Francisco “doom loop” is premature. Her newly released 14.6 billion budget proposal seeks to tackle many of the city’s thorniest problems. We’ll talk to her about her spending plan, her proposal to revive downtown and burnish the city’s image and she’ll take your questions. Guests: London Breed, mayor, City and County of San Francisco

Few drugs in history have generated as much controversy, or held as much promise as MDMA, writes science journalist Rachel Nuwer. Health officials once said the psychedelic drug known as Ecstasy or Molly would eat holes in the brains of the people who took it. Decades later, researchers are on the verge of applying for federal authorization to use the drug to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a move which Nuwer says could revolutionize its place in society. Nuwer traces the little known history of the drug – from its first confirmed human use in the San Francisco Bay Area during the counterculture era, to the cutting edge of therapeutic research – in her new book “I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World.” Guests: Rachel Nuwer, author and freelance science journalist. She's written for outlets like The New York Times and National Geographic. Her new book is “I Feel Love: M-D-M-A and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World.”

Some people may think palm trees are native to California, but they’re not. In fact, non-native flora abound throughout our state. A bill moving through the California Legislature aims to boost the proliferation of native plants by requiring landscaping on some public and commercial areas to use at least 75 percent low-water, native plants by 2035. The idea is to promote cultivation of California’s native plants, increase biodiversity, and respond better to climate change. Native plants play an important role in supporting wildlife and insects that have evolved together over thousands of years. We’ll talk about efforts to grow more native plants in California, how they benefit the environment and how to incorporate them into your garden. Guests: Andrea Williams, director of Biodiversity Initiatives for the California Native Plant Society Michael Wilcox, senior lecturer of Native American Studies and Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, Stanford University Kathy Crane, owner of Yerba Buena Nursery at Pastorino Farms Nina House, museum scientist at the University and Jepson Herbaria, at University of California Berkeley

Citing an increased risk of natural disasters, two of California’s largest property insurers, State Farm and Allstate, are no longer selling new homeowners insurance in the state. Insurers have been shrinking their coverage areas in California for the last few years, especially in wildfire-prone regions, but the latest moves signal just how much insurers are accounting for the increasing costs of climate change. We’ll talk about the impact on homeowners, homebuilders and would-be home buyers and how the state is responding. Guests: Ivan Penn , Los Angeles-based reporter covering alternative energy, The New York Times. Michael Wara, policy director for the Sustainability Accelerator at the Doerr School of Sustainability and director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program and senior research scholar at the Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University Kimiko Barrett, research and policy analyst, Headwater Economics Ricardo Lara, Insurance Commissioner of California

For most of its history, Santa Clara based company Nvidia has been known primarily as a designer of computer parts meant for video games. But in recent years, those parts have become a crucial part of artificial intelligence programs. Now, Nvidia dominates the market of graphics processing units, or GPUs, meant for AI at a time when interest in AI is exploding. Skyrocketing demand for these GPUs have raised stock prices for Nvidia, giving the company a rare market valuation of more than$1 trillion, a distinction shared by only four other U.S. companies: Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet. We’ll talk about Nvidia’s history in Silicon Valley, its recent climb to elite status, and what the rise of AI might mean for the Bay Area. Guests: Cade Metz, technology reporter, the New York Times; author, “Genius Makers: The Mavericks Who Brought A.I. to Google, Facebook, and The World” Margaret O'Mara, Scott and Dorothy Bullitt professor of American History, the University of Washington; author, "The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America" Max A. Cherney, senior tech reporter, the Silicon Valley Business Journal

Haggling. For some people, a transaction is not complete if it doesn’t include a request for a discount, an upgrade or something more. For others, the very idea of haggling makes them cringe. They don’t want to look like a jerk or seem petty about money. But, in an economy where it feels like things are more expensive than ever, haggling can save you money and time. With a little or a lot of haggling you might be able to score reduced rent, get a better hotel room or shave thousands off a medical bill. We’ll talk to experts about why people are reluctant to haggle, how to haggle, and where to haggle. And we’ll hear from you: What’s the best deal you’ve haggled for recently? Guests: Veronica Dagher, personal finance reporter, the Wall Street Journal; author, Wall Street Journal's ebook "Resilience: How 20 Ambitious Women Used Obstacles to Fuel Their Success" Richard Shell, professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics and Management Organization, the Wharton School; author, “Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People” and “The Art of Woo: Using Strategic Persuasion to Sell Your Ideas”

More data from the 2020 Census reveals demographic changes that paint a picture of a different Bay Area today than that of a decade ago. In conjunction with migration out of the area during the pandemic, the region’s population is getting older and homeownership rates are dropping. Racial demographics throughout the nine counties are also shifting, but maybe not in the way you’d expect. We’ll talk about these evolving population trends and what they could mean for the local economy and the housing crisis. Guests: Harriet Blair Rowan, data reporter, Bay Area News Group Hans Johnson, demographer and senior fellow, Public Policy Institute of California Ethan Varian, housing reporter, Bay Area News Group

True crime. Gossip. Niche sports. Deep-dive history. The podcasts that have critics and podcasters hooked in 2022 vary. But what makes a good podcast in today’s saturated and corporate-shaped landscape? We’ll hear from a panel of podcast lovers about the shows that made them turn on episode notifications. And we want to hear from you: Whether your Spotify Wrapped called it your top podcast of 2022 or it’s what you play when you can’t sleep, we hear about your favorite podcasts this year.Guests:Wil Williams, CEO, Hughouse Productions.Ronald Young Jr. , audio producer and storyteller, Senior Producer/Owner, ohitsBigRon studios; host, "Leaving the Theater" podcast.Skye Pillsbury, author, The Squeeze newsletter which reports on the podcast industry

Remember the playground chants, the jump rope songs, the weird little games you played as a kid that were part of your secret kid world? Scholars have a name for it: childlore. You might imagine, given all the differences between kids—country, culture, class, race, media consumption—that this childlore might be vastly different from place to place. But the strange thing is, many of the little things kids say and do, or draw in their notebooks, are remarkably similar across time and place. We’ll talk about the things kids do across cultures and how they spread and evolve.Guests:Julie Beck, senior editor, The Atlantic; author of the article, “Why Did We All Have the Same Childhood?”Rebekah Willett, professor at the Information School, University of Wisconsin at Madison

In a remarkable display of discontent not seen since the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, protesters across China have taken to the streets demanding an end to the country’s stringent zero-Covid policy. At the outset of the pandemic, China adopted a policy of quarantining and locking down its citizens to prevent the spread of Covid. But while most of the world has moved on to treat Covid as endemic, China’s president Xi Jinping, who was confirmed in October for an unprecedented third term, has stuck to its zero-Covid policy. Demonstrators argue that the policy has placed an extraordinary burden on citizens, and they are demanding not just the end to the restrictions, but also Xi’s resignation, a call that is politically sensitive in a nation where dissent is regularly quashed. We’ll talk about the protests and what impact they might have in changing China’s Covid policy and its future.Guests:Kerry Allen, China media analyst, BBC.Victor Shih, chair in China and Pacific Relations, University of California, San Diego.Nancy Qian, James J. O’Connor professor of Economics, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management; founder, Kellogg’s China Research Lab and China Econ Lab, an independent international organization that promotes research about the Chinese economy.

“This brutalization of Ukraine's people is barbaric." Those were Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s words Wednesday for Russian President Vladimir Putin, a day after the United States announced a new round of aid to rebuild Ukraine’s decimated energy infrastructure. Guardian foreign correspondent Luke Harding, who’s been reporting from inside Ukraine since last December, has written what he hopes is a “first draft of history” -- a recounting of the origins and human toll of Russia’s now nine-month-old assault. His new book is “Invasion: The Inside Story of Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival.”Guests:Luke Harding, foreign correspondent, The Guardian; author, "Invasion: The inside Story of Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's Fight for Survival."

Daniel Aston, Kelly Loving, Derrick Rump, Ashley Paugh and Raymond Green Vance. They were the five people gunned down when a shooter entered an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado last weekend and opened fire, in a terrifying massacre that also injured 22. LGBTQ advocates had been warning that a mass killing would follow the Pulse nightclub shooting six years ago, citing alarming increases in violence against transgender and non-binary people and rising anti-trans and anti-queer legislation and rhetoric. We’ll hear how LGBTQ+ communities in Colorado Springs, nationwide and here in California are responding and coping in the aftermath.

Guests: Jo Yurcaba, reporter, NBC Out, the LGBTQ section of NBC News. Elizabeth Pixie, friend of Daniel Aston, who was killed in the Colorado Springs Club Q shooting. Nick Vargas, director of development and strategy, The Source LGBT+ Center in Visalia, CA.

Chef Tanya Holland’s new cookbook – like her family – is rooted in the people and the food of the historical migration from the South to the West. Holland, legendary for her former West Oakland soul food restaurant Brown Sugar Kitchen, weaves recipes with stories of California’s Black culinary pioneers and food industry entrepreneurs in her new cookbook, “California Soul: Recipes from a Culinary Journey West”. We talk with her about the stories that food holds and her California Soul.

Guests: Tanya Holland, author, "California Soul" and "Brown Sugar Kitchen: New-Style, Down-Home Recipes from Sweet West Oakland;" host, "Tanya's Kitchen Table" on the Opra.

Twitter's volatile new owner Elon Musk accused Apple of censorship on Monday, claiming it had threatened to "withhold" the social media platform from its App Store. The apparent feud comes as Twitter reels from an advertiser exodus and mass layoffs that have gutted content moderation and other key teams. We take stock of Twitter in the month since Musk gained control. Guests: Mike Isaac, technology correspondent, New York Times; author, “Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber” Shira Ovide, author of the Tech Friend newsletter, The Washington Post

The San Francisco Bay is the largest estuary in Western North America and a key link in the 4,000-mile Pacific Flyway, one of the primary migratory routes used by birds to move north and south across the continent. It’s a place where birds come to rest and refuel for their long trip, or breed and nest the next generation. But in the span of a few human generations, 90% of California’s wetlands have disappeared to development and agriculture, endangering migrating and local birds. Now drought and sea level rise are further diminishing important bird habitats. As climate change becomes a bigger threat to the Bay Area’s local and migratory birds, scientists and conservationists work to help habitats adapt to climate change to ensure bird’s futures. We’ll talk to bird and conservation experts about how the Bay Area’s bird population has changed, what it means for the environment, for us, and what can be done about it. Guests: Steven Beissinger, Professor of Conservation Biology, UC Berkeley Andrea Jones, Director of Bird Conservation, Audubon California Jenny Odell, author of "How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy"

If you’ve seen a 3-year old wielding a quarter-size violin and sawing at its strings to play Mozart, chances are you witnessed a student of the Suzuki Method. Created by Japanese educator, Shinichi Suzuki, the Suzuki Method is how many young American children learn to play classical music on the violin, cello and piano, among other instruments. But the Suzuki Method isn’t just about teaching children to master Bach or a vehicle for Tiger Parents to cultivate exceptional children. Rather, it’s an approach to education that believes talent is a muscle to be developed and that all children should be measured against their own abilities. We’ll talk about Suzuki and why he believed that little children could do great things. Guests: Eri Hotta, author, Suzuki: The Man and His Dream to Teach The Children of the World Cathy Lee, Suzuki Method educator, Lee studied directly with Shinichi Suzuki, and has taught violin for over 40 years. She has also trained dozens of teachers in the Suzuki Method.

In less than a month, crypto-billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried went from industry leader to pariah. His cryptocurrency exchange FTX has filed for bankruptcy, with the filings listing more than one million creditors impacted. The formerly $32 billion dollar company is now the target of investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department; Bankman-Fried is facing public scrutiny amid allegations of fraud. We’ll talk about the allegations against Bankman-Fried, where the crypto market stands and what we can learn from this moment. Guests: Margaret O'Mara, historian of the modern United States, University of Washington Hilary Allen, professor of law, American University

From the roar of wind against mountains and the slam of waves on the shore to early morning birdsong, the sounds that fill our natural world are not only beautiful, they’re at risk, writes biologist David George Haskell in his new book, “Sounds Wild and Broken.” Haskell describes a global sonic landscape that’s threatened by human-induced habitat destruction and noise pollution and warns that by smothering the earth’s many voices, we’re not only imperiling species but losing our connection to the natural world. But by paying attention to sounds both natural and human-created, we can understand what’s at stake — and mobilize to protect it. Haskell joins to share more about our world’s sonic diversity and guide us in listening to it. Guests: David George Haskell, author, “Sounds Wild and Broken: Sonic Marvels, Evolution’s Creativity and the Crisis of Sensory Extinction”; William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies, The University of the South

California native Ada Limón is the new poet laureate of the United States. She plans on, “elevating and promoting the expansiveness of poetry.” Limón, who has published six volumes of poetry, grew up in Sonoma and now lives in Kentucky. She says that poetry lived and breathed in her community growing up and has been key to her solitude as well as her sense of connection. She steps into her new role when America needs healing and unifying from art and artists. Limón joins us to talk about her work, her love of poetry, and how she’s reimagining America’s relationship to poetry. Guests: Ada Limón, poet, 24th Poet Laureate of the United States

As a country, America is experiencing a powerful wave of anxiety. Almost 80 percent of psychologists say the number of anxiety disorders in their patients has increased since the onset of the pandemic, per a recent survey from the American Psychological Association. And according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 7 million Americans suffer from generalized anxiety disorder. The factors at play vary widely between individuals, and experts say there’s no one treatment that works for everyone. We’ll talk about the latest research on clinical anxiety and solutions for managing it, from cognitive behavioral therapy to pharmaceuticals. Guests: Stefan G. Hofmann, professor of Psychology, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University Andrea Petersen, health reporter, The Wall Street Journal; author, "On Edge: A Journey through Anxiety"

For today’s show we need you to dig into your memory and put yourself in your own shoes. Does your adult self recognize yourself as a child? Can you empathize? Are you still that person or have you changed? Do you feel integrated as a person or is your former self a stranger? In his article “Are You the Same Person You Used to Be?" Ideas editor for The New Yorker, Joshua Rothman, explores how much of our personality is set from childhood, and the varied relationships we have with our younger selves. Guests: Joshua Rothman, ideas editor, The New Yorker

Rabia Chaudry's struggles with weight and body image started when she was just a toddler: she was less than a year old when her family moved to the United States from Pakistan and adopted American penchants for snacking and junk food. As she gained weight throughout her childhood, family members teased her, questioned whether she’d ever marry and gave her the nickname “Fatty Fatty Boom Boom.” We’ll talk to Chaudry about her new memoir and how food and family have shaped her, both metaphorically and literally. Guests: Rabia Chaudry, author, "Fatty Fatty Boom Boom." Her first book was "Adnan's Story: The Search for Truth and Justice After Serial" - Chaudry is also an attorney, advocate and host of the podcast "Undisclosed."

Practicing gratitude seems straight forward: think of the good things about your life and be thankful for them. Studies show this simple practice can have major mental, emotional and physical health benefits. But gratitude is complicated in a consumer-driven society that encourages people to want more and more. In this week of giving thanks, we dive into what gratitude is and how to nurture it in a healthy way. Guests: Carvell Wallace, writer, formerly Slate's parenting advice columnist and host of Slate's podcast, Mom and Dad are Fighting - he's working on a book on childhood trauma. Emiliana Simon-Thomas, science director of the Greater Good Science Center, University of California, Berkeley.

Passports promise adventure. They verify who you are and where you've been. Sometimes they can protect you. Sometimes they cannot. The first passport dates back to Biblical times, and the modern passport as we know it is an invention of the early 20th century. At its core the passport is a request for safe passage, and as author Patrick Bixby notes, “these little books have the capacity to tell stories like few other documents.” In his new book, “License to Travel,” Bixby explores the cultural history of passports and how they have helped define the boundaries of the modern world. We’ll talk to Bixby and other travel writers about passports, what they represent, and the talismanic-like power they hold. What does your passport mean to you?

Guests: Patrick Bixby, author, "License to Travel: A Cultural History of the Passport;" associate professor of English, the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University Peachanan "Pete" Rojwongsuriya, founder and blogger, "Bucketlistly Blog," Rojwongsuriya has visited 85 countries; author, "Traveling the World on a Third World Passport- What It Is Like and How to Overcome It" Lale Arikoglu, articles editor, Conde Nast Traveler; podcast host, Conde Nast Traveler podcast "Women Who Travel"

What happens when an outspoken critic of the technology industry finds herself at the helm of one of the largest messaging apps in the world? Meredith Whittaker made her name as one of the tech industry’s strongest internal critics, helping lead the worker uprising at Google, founding an institute to rethink the ethics of AI, and promoting a platform for a real progressive politics in technology. Now, she’s the president of non-profit organization Signal, which builds a messaging app of the same name known for its serious dedication to privacy. This episode, we talk with Whittaker about the current moment in tech, if privacy still matters, and what she can do to help Signal prosper, despite its Big Tech competition.

Guests: Meredith Whittaker, president, the Signal Foundation

Nearly 48,000 University of California graduate students, post-docs and researchers stayed off their jobs for a third day on Wednesday, in what labor leaders are calling the largest higher ed strike in U.S. history. The majority of UC graduate students spend more than a third of their income on rent, according to a union survey, and their average income is around $24,000 a year. Graduate students are striking across all 10 UC campuses, picketing and pausing their roles as graders, advisers and classroom teachers. We’ll talk about where negotiations with the university stand and hear your reactions.

Guests: Holly Rusch, lead news editor, The Daily Nexus, UCSB's independent, student-run newspaper Blake Jones, California education reporter, Politico John Logan, director of Labor Studies, San Francisco State University Neal Sweeney, president, UAW5810; postdoctoral scholar in molecular biology, UC Santa Cruz Letitia Silas, executive director of systemwide labor relations, University of California Office of the President

Last year, poet and writer Clint Smith wrote the book, “How the World is Passed,” exploring how the US has failed to come to terms with the reality and legacy of slavery. Now, for an Atlantic cover story, “Monuments to the Unthinkable” he’s traveled to Germany to see how that country has grappled with memorializing its own ugly history. We talk with Smith about history, memory, and the stories a nation tells itself.

Guests: Clint Smith, poet, "How the Word is Passed;" staff writer, The Atlantic

Have you heard the conventional narrative that parents who adopt are “saviors,” and kids who are adopted should feel unfettered gratitude? What impact does this narrative have when it comes to the complications many adoptees experience? In her recent conversation in the Atlantic with fellow adoptee Tony Hynes, writer Nicole Chung and Hynes dig into the nuances of trans-racial adoption, birth family connection and what it means to grow up hearing you were “saved.” They join us to rethink adoption narratives. Guests: Nicole Chung, author of "All You Can Ever Know" and the forthcoming "A Living Remedy;" writer of the column "I Have Notes" for The Atlantic Tony Hynes, Ph.D. candidate and training specialist in adoption; author of "The Son With Two Moms"

A shelf of clear glass jars filled with spices can be so beautiful – think vibrant turmeric cozying up next to a dark red chili powder – and also so intimidating. How to joyfully indulge in new spices without creating a global mish mash of tastes? And what exactly is a spice anyway? As part of our All You Can Eat series on Bay Area food cultures with KQED food editor Luke Tsai, we’ll talk with local spice connoisseurs about how to use spices, how to find them and how to support equity in the spice trade. Guests: Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & Culture Sana Javeri Kadri, founder and CEO, Diaspora Co. John Beaver, co-founder, Oaktown Spice Shop

What in our lives sets us up to experience joy? And how does joy make us act and feel? Those are the the central questions poet and essayist Ross Gay explores in his new book, “Inciting Joy,” an ode to skateboarding, gardening, pick-up basketball and other practices and rituals that can make joy more available to us. We talk to Gay about the connections between joy and sorrow -- and joy and solidarity -- and why he says that joy, which gets us to love, is a practice of survival. Guests: Ross Gay, poet and essayist, "Inciting Joy," "Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude" and "The Book of Delights"

Wildfires and recording-breaking heat waves continue to pose huge challenges for Pacific Gas and Electric, the state’s largest investor-owned utility. The company has undergone years of turmoil and legal trouble after its equipment sparked multiple wildfires including the 2018 Camp Fire that killed 85 people in Paradise. PG&E emerged from bankruptcy in 2020 and is now under new leadership, but how well the company can navigate safety concerns, corporate responsibility, and cost control after years of mismanagement remains uncertain. We take stock of PG&E and how the utility can move forward. Guests: Michael Wara, policy director for the Sustainability Accelerator at the Doerr School of Sustainability; director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program and senior research scholar at the Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University David Roberts, author and host of Volts, a newsletter and podcast about clean energy and politics Lily Jamali, senior reporter, Marketplace

The red wave Republicans hoped for never materialized, but they are close to winning a majority in the House as the nation awaits results in key House races. Meanwhile in the Senate, the balance ofpower rests on a Nevada race that as of Friday is too close to call and the December Senate runoff between incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock and his challenger, Herschel Walker. We’ll talkabout what we’ve learned from the midterms and their impact in California and the next two years of the Biden presidency. Guests: Melanie Mason, national political correspondent, Los Angeles Times. Domenico Montanaro, senior political editor and correspondent, NPR.

American news coverage about Mexico invariably focuses on migration and drug cartels. Less talked about is whether the country is edging towards authoritarianism under President AndrésManuel López Obrador. Elected in 2018 to a six-year term, the president’s tight control over the Morena political party and his attacks on civil institutions have drawn comparisons to Donald Trump. Earlier this year, López Obrador, also known as AMLO, brought in the military to not only police city streets but run government infrastructure like airports, giving the military unprecedented powers in a move that alarmed democracy watchers. Described as the “Teflon president,” López Obrador enjoys a 60% approval rating despite a stagnant economy and rising criminal violence. We’ll talk with experts about the state of Mexico’s democracy. Guests: Denise Dresser, professor, political science, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). Dresser's most recent article for Foreign Affairs is titled "Mexico's Dying Democracy." María Marván Laborde , professor, political science, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Marván Laborde is currently a fellow with the U.S.-Mexico Institute at UC San Diego. Natalie Kitroeff, Bureau Chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, New York Times

Roughly 70 million Americans have a chronic sleep disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and lack of sleep is associated with chronic disease, mental illness andpoor quality of life. So, what can we do to help ourselves? We talk with UCSF sleep researcher Aric A. Prather about how to calm our ruminating minds and other strategies to help us get a goodnight's rest. His new book is "The Sleep Prescription: Seven Days to Unlocking Your Best Rest."

Guests: Aric Prather, professor of psychiatry and behavioral Sciences, UCSF - His new book is "The Sleep Prescription: Seven Days to Unlocking Your Best Rest."

When Alexandra Horowitz brought home a pandemic puppy it was clear little Quiddity would be very closely watched. Horowitz is founder of Barnard’s Dog Cognition Lab and her previous books explored questions of how dogs experience the world. In her new book, “The Year of the Puppy: How Dogs Become Themselves” she follows her puppy from his very beginnings as “a mewling splodge of fur,” through his first year. We talk to Horowitz about what she learned and why puppies are cognitively interesting as well as being the cutest little balls of fluff, and how those two things might be related.

Guests: Alexandra Horowitz, author, "The Year of the Puppy: How Dogs Become Themselves;" founder, the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College.

Nearly one in three Black Californians has received inadequate treatment for pain or otherwise been unfairly treated by a health care provider because of their race or ethnicity. That’s according to a new study from the California Health Care Foundation, which also found that 26 percent of Black Californians have at least once decided not to seek medical care because they expected disrespect or unjust treatment. When it comes to addressing the problem, 80 percent of those surveyed said it is important to increase the number of Black healthcare workers and Black-led, community-based clinics. We’ll talk about how the health care system could better serve its Black patients and hear your experiences.

Related link(s): - Listening to Black Californians: How the Health Care System Undermines Their Pursuit of Good Health - Listening to Black Californians - California lacks Black doctors. Here’s how the state can add more Guests: Katherine Haynes, senior program officer, California Health Care Foundation (CHCF). Wynton Sims, third year medical student, UCSF. Dr. Kim Rhoads, founder, Umoja Health; associate professor of epidemiology & biostatistics and associate director, Community Engagement, UCSF School of Medicine.

Wall Street Journal reporter Ben Kesling’s new book, “Bravo Company,” tells the story of one Army regiment’s deployment to Afghanistan and their struggles on their return home. Bravo Company was a group of paratroopers who experienced a large number of deaths, lost limbs and other injuries while serving in 2009 and 2010. Kesling, who served in combat zones as a Marine in Iraq Afghanistan, explores veterans’ complicated experiences with deployments, combat, and healing. As we approach Veteran’s Day, we discuss the harsh realities and aftermath of the War On Terror and what it means to serve your country.

Guests: Ben Kesling, Midwest correspondent, Wall Street Journal; author, "Bravo Company: An Afghanistan Deployment and its Aftermath"

There’s about to be a new sheriff in Santa Clara county, for the first time in about a quarter century. Oakland and San Jose are getting new mayors, San Francisco is deciding whether the interim District Attorney should stay in the job. Voters are deciding on housing, crime, abortion, kidneys and a whole lot more. We’ll pore over those Bay Area and State election results with the help of KQED’s politics team. Guests: Marisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED; co-host of KQED's Political Breakdown show Guy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk Darwin BondGraham, newseditor, Oaklandside

This midterm election is a nail-biter. Very tight congressional races across California could determine which party takes control of the House and Senate. California voters are also choosing a governor and an attorney general as well as other statewide officers, and deciding whether to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state’s constitution. As the results come in, we review the outcomes of key races across the state and hear your reactions. Guests: Joshua Yeager, reporter, KVPR Nicole Nixon, politics reporter, Cap Radio Scott Shafer, senior editor for KQED’s California Politics and Government desk and co-host of Political Breakdown

Scientists have yet to discover evidence of life beyond earth, but according to NASA researchers that doesn't mean the universe is lifeless. Where does the scientific search for life beyond our planet stand? From the possibility of extraterrestrial microbial life to the radiowave search for “intelligent” life, we’ll talk about what modern science tells us about whether we’re alone in the universe. Guests: Marina Koren, staff writer, The Atlantic - she covers space for the magazine G. Scott Hubbard, former director, NASA Ames Research Center; author, “Exploring Mars: Chronicles from a Decade of Discovery” Dan Werthimer, SETI Chief Scientist, UC Berkeley Department of Astronomy

In the past week, reports of major layoffs at tech employers including Twitter, Meta and online payments company Stripe are fueling fears of a tech bust 2.0. Earlier this year, electric vehicle makers Tesla and Rivian, software maker Autodesk and fintech company Robinhood also cut hundreds of workers. The news is sending jolts through the Bay Area, which has enjoyed historically low unemployment for several years with high demand for tech workers. We talk about what these layoffs mean for the Bay Area’s economy and how to gauge the threat of an impending recession. Guests: Jeff Bellisario, executive director, Bay Area Council Economic Institute Sheera Frenkel, technology reporter based in San Francisco, The New York Times; co-author, "An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination"

Federal tax law prohibits churches and other nonprofit religious organizations from endorsing candidates and otherwise engaging in political campaigns. But a new ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigation finds violations by churches across multiple states, including California. We'll learn more about the report, and we'll hear how your places of worship handle political matters. Guests: Jeremy Schwartz , reporter, ProPublica-Texas Tribune Investigative Initiative. Jessica Priest, engagement reporter, ProPublica-Texas Tribune Investigative Initiative.

“Not everyone should get a say” seems counterintuitive to the idea of democracy. But according to Atlantic writer Jerusalem Demsas, when it comes to new housing or infrastructure projects, sometimes community input can be undemocratic. Often a vocal and persistent minority is able to stymie much-needed proposals. We’ll talk with Demsas and experts about how participatory democracy can get in the way of progress and whether it can be fixed. Guests: Jerusalem Demsas, staff writer, Atlantic Magazine Katherine Levine Einstein, associate professor, political science and director of Undergraduate Studies, Boston University; co-author, "Neighborhood Defenders: Participatory Politics and America's Housing Crisis" Paul Sabin, Randolph W. Townsend, Jr. Professor of History and Professor of American Studies, Yale University; author, "Public Citizens: The Attack on Big Government and the Remaking of American Liberalism;"

When last week’s 5.1 magnitude earthquake hit near San Jose, more than two million people received an alert — up to 19 seconds before they felt shaking. But how do earthquake early warning systems work, exactly? And what should we do when we get an alert? From how to “drop, cover, and hold on” to how to evaluate your home’s seismic resiliency, we’ll answer your earthquake questions with seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones. And we’ll hear about how California has been — and should be — prepared for earthquakes big and small.

Resource(s) mentioned on air: "Brace + Bolt" grant program for California homeowners Guests: Dr. Lucy Jones, research associate Seismological Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; author, "The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us (and What We Can Do About Them)"; founder, Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society

Next week San Francisco voters will decide whether to approve a new parcel tax to fund City College, which has faced severe financial struggles for the past decade. City College, and almost all of California’s community colleges, have seen enrollment dip since 2020 despite an infusion of state money systemwide aimed at bringing students back. Forum talks about the future of community colleges in a changing education landscape.

Guests: Jessie Ryan, executive vice president, The Campaign for College Opportunity Organization: a non-profit policy and research organization that advocates for Californians to attend and succeed in college. Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, reporter/producer covering politics, KQED News. Sara Goldrick-Rab, author, "Paying the Price: College Costs, Financial Aid, and the Betrayal of the American Dream." Vick Chung, former city college student trustee and candidate for city college board of trustees.

Nearly a third of Americans -- and nearly 60% of MAGA Republicans -- say that resorting to violence to achieve political objectives is usually or always justified, according to new research from U.C. Davis. The findings come as prosecutors charge the man who last week violently attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, and as threats against members of Congress continue to surge, having increased by nearly tenfold since 2016. We’ll talk about the growing threat of political violence in the United States and what’s driving it.

Guests: Garen Wintemute M.D., director, Violence Prevention Research Program at UC-Davis - He also practices and teaches emergency medicine at the UC-Davis School of Medicine. Catie Edmondson, congressional reporter, The New York Times.

When New Yorker writer Hua Hsu was growing up in Cupertino in the 1990s as the only child of Taiwanese immigrants, he created mixtapes and zines – homemade Xerox pastiches of writing, photos and collages – as a “way to find a tribe.” Hsu’s search for his people eventually led him to UC Berkeley where he, a lover of esoteric and undiscovered bands, forged an unlikely friendship with Ken, a Japanese-American frat boy whose love of the Dave Matthews Band, initially repelled Hsu. That friendship and Ken’s murder are at the heart of Hsu’s new memoir “Stay True,” which documents the profound and the mundane moments of a 90s kid seeking to forge his identity.

Guests: Hua Hsu, author, "Stay True;" staff writer, the New Yorker; professor of Literature, Bard College

When LA Times associate editor Jessica Roy had her wallet stolen, she braced for the worst: She froze her credit, filed a federal identity theft complaint and requested a police report. But when thieves began using her name to obtain bank accounts, car loans and bail bonds, she wasn't prepared for the bureaucratic nightmare that followed as she tried to recover her money and restore her credit. Her experience might sound familiar — a recent survey estimates that 42 million Americans were victimized by some type of identity fraud in 2021, with total losses estimated at $52 billion. Roy joins us to talk about how banks, credit agencies and law enforcement can do more to protect us. Guests: Jessica Roy, assistant editor, utility journalism, LA Times Eva Velasquez, president/CEO, Identity Theft Resource Center - a nonprofit based in San Diego that provides assistance to victims of identity theft.

Elon Musk took ownership of the San Francisco based social media network Twitter less than a week ago and he’s already overhauling the company. Musk immediately fired several executives and board members and news organizations have reported that mass layoffs could be imminent. He also tweeted he wants to charge a monthly fee for users to retain verified status. We dive into what this new era at Twitter means for the Bay Area, users and the social media landscape. Guests: Annalee Newitz, Science journalist and author of "Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction" - Newitz is also the author of the novels "The Future of Another Timeline," and "Autonomous." Website: techsploitation.com Damon Beres, senior editor focused on technology, The Atlantic

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared skeptical of race-conscious admission policies at the University of North Carolina and Harvard University throughout five hours of oral arguments on Monday. If the Court decides against the universities, it could issue a ruling broad enough to overturn decades of precedent permitting the limited use of race in college admissions and even, according to Vox Supreme Court correspondent Ian Millhiser, “prohibit the government from considering race in virtually any context, including efforts to voluntarily integrate racially segregated grade schools and other institutions." We’ll talk about the cases and their potential outcomes and what they may mean for California. Guests: Michele Goodwin, Chancellor's professor, UC Irvine School of Law - Her books include "Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood" Ian Millhiser, senior correspondent, Vox - His books include "Injustices: The Supreme Court's History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted" and "The Agenda: How a Republican Supreme Court is Reshaping America."

George Saunders is widely considered one of the greatest fiction writers alive, attested to by all the prizes, the respect of other writers, and even book sales. He’s got his first book of short stories in a decade. It’s called Liberation Day, and it will surprise no one that it is a brilliant work filled with generosity, pain, and characters who can’t quite answer the door when honesty comes knocking. The book affirms that lurking in every office, off every highway, underneath the ground, there are humans, and so there are stories. Forum talks to George Saunders about his new book, the changing political climate for fiction, and the magic of short stories. Guests: George Saunders, writer, MacArthur "genius" and Booker Prize winner, "Liberation Day: Stories"

No one knows you like your sibling. They are the keepers of family secrets. They know how to push your buttons. They are probably the longest-lasting relationship you’ll have in your life. Why is it that the outside world considers you a functioning adult, but your siblings still treat you like the family crybaby? What happens when parents pass and siblings drift apart? We look at sibling relationships and hear from you: what do you love most or find hardest about your sibling relationship? Guests: Aretha Hampton, licensed clinical social worker, sole proprietor of Roots Consultation Services in Berkeley. Laurie Kramer, Professor, Applied Psychology, Northeastern University. Catherine Carr, Host of the podcast "Relatively" which focuses on siblings and their dynamics.

Terms such as artificial intelligence, big data and machine learning bring to mind computers processing loads of data into uses for the real world. But the authors of a recent essay published in the magazine Noema say the truth is much uglier, and often ignored. “Far from the sophisticated, sentient machines portrayed in media and pop culture, so-called AI systems are fueled by millions of underpaid workers around the world, performing repetitive tasks under precarious labor conditions,” they write in the essay, “The Exploited Labor Behind Artificial Intelligence.” One of the authors, Timnit Gebru, lost her job at Google for raising ethical concerns about AI, and now advocates for better practices and regulations to protect people. Another, Adrienne Williams, is a former Amazon delivery driver who organized in protest of unsafe conditions. They join us to discuss the hidden dangers and ethical questions surrounding AI. Guests: Adrienne Williams, a former Amazon delivery driver and organizer. Timnit Gebru, computer scientist and artificial intelligence researcher.

Michael Gillespie is a cancer survivor and cat lover who used to work for Nerds On Call in Illinois. Fabian Wosar is a high school dropout from Germany who became obsessed with computer viruses at age 11. Sarah White is a computer science prodigy who became a malware expert as a teenager. They’re all members of the Ransomware Hunting Team, an invitation-only group of elite coders who crack ransomware attacks across the globe. We learn more about these cybercrime fighters from Pro Publica reporters Renee Dudley and Daniel Golden, authors of the new book “TheRansomware Hunting Team.”

Guests: Renee Dudley, technology reporter, Pro Publica - co-author, "The Ransomware Hunting Team: A Band of Misfits' Improbable Crusade to Save the World from Cybercrime." Daniel Golden, senior editor and reporter, Pro Publica - co-author, "The Ransomware Hunting Team: A Band of Misfits' Improbable Crusade to Save the World from Cybercrime."

What has the Democratic Party become under Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s leadership, and how is it changing? How does the government actually function, as viewed from the inside? We’ll ask a man with a front-row seat: John Lawrence, who was Pelosi’s chief of staff during some of the tensest and most pivotal decisions in recent American history.

Guests: John Lawrence, former chief of staff for Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Author, "Arc of Power: Inside Nancy Pelosi's Speakership 2005-2010." Visiting Professor, University of California Washington Center.

Plastic is designed to last. And last it does. Often composed of “forever chemicals” which take thousands of years to break down, it flakes throughout its life into microplastics — fragments, fibers and films less than 5 millimeters long. Microplastics are everywhere: they’re in our air, our water and our food, and they’re in our own bodies. And their effect on human health is still largely unknown, writes Wired science journalist Matt Simon in his new book “A Poison Like No Other.” Simon joins us to discuss the extent of the microplastic threat and what we can do.

Guests: Matt Simon, science journalist, WIRED; author, “A Poison Like No Other: How Microplastics Corrupted Our Planet and Our Bodies”, "Plight of the Living Dead: What Real-Life Zombies Reveal About Our World—and Ourselves" and "The Wasp That Brainwashed the Caterpillar: Evolution's Unbelievable Solutions to Life's Biggest Problems."

Crime in Oakland is up. The problem of homelessness seems intractable. And the A’s may or may not be leaving for Las Vegas. These are only some of the issues facing Oakland’s next mayor. Ten candidates are vying for the spot, and ranked choice voting will play a role in who comes out ahead. We’ll talk to reporters about who is running, the candidates’ positions, and we’ll hear from you: What do you want the next mayor to focus on?

Guests: Darwin BondGraham, News editor, Oaklandside Maria Fernanda Bernal, reporter, KQED

Rants by rap artist Kanye West put antisemitism front and center over the weekend as a hate group amplified West’s remarks on banners hung from a Southern California freeway overpass. According to the Anti-Defamation League, a record number of antisemitic incidents were reported from 2019 to 2020. Corporations from Adidas to Facebook plus celebrities and politicians have come out strongly against antisemitism. We’ll talk about the roots of antisemitism and why some Jewish Americans struggle to speak out against antisemitism in the context of the country’s current tensions. Guests: Dov Waxman, professor of Political Science, UCLA; director, UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies and the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Chair of Israel Studies at UCLA Emily Tamkin, author, "Bad Jews: A History of American Jewish Politics and Identities;" senior US editor, The New Statesmen

Wednesday, by actual Congressional decree, is Public Radio Music Day. We’re celebrating by listening to some of our favorite live music performances from Forum and from the KQED Live series, which hosts performances, discussions, food experiences and live storytelling in our beautiful KQED building. We’ll listen back to Mexican musician Silvana Estrada – who was in town earlier this year for the San Jose Jazz Festival – and local musicians Fantastic Negrito, Salami Rose Joe Louis and La Doña. Guests: Fantastic Negrito, Grammy Award winning Oakland-based musician Silvana Estrada, Mexican musician, singer and songwriter Salami Rose Joe Louis, Bay Area based musician, composer, producer and planetary scientist La Doña, San Francisco native musician, activist and educator

2022 MacArthur fellow Martha Gonzalez describes herself as an ‘artivista’ – at once an artist and an activist. The frontwoman of the East Los Angeles band Quetzal, Gonzalez focuses on the ways communities of color use music and creative expression as political tools toward social justice. From community fandango workshops to recording projects between women in L.A. and Veracruz, Mexico, Gonzalez makes music a conduit for conversation centering communities and their challenges. We’ll talk with Gonzalez about how her music practice and her activism influence each other. Guests: Martha Gonzalez, Associate Professor in the Intercollegiate Department of Chicana/o Latina/o Studies, Scripps/Claremont College; 2022 MacArthur ‘genius grant’ recipient; singer/songwriter/percussionist, the East Los Angeles band Quetzal.

In 2021, Khristian Rabut bought a gas station along Interstate 205 in Tracy. Instead of just offering customers the usual gas station fare, he and his wife Marie added a Filipino-themed ice cream shop and bakery. “It’s an unexpected but deliciously welcome surprise,” wrote KQED food writer Alan Chazaro about the gas station-creamery-bakery. He and KQED food editor Luke Tsai share a love of unusual places that serve up amazing dishes. In our next installment of All You Can Eat, our regular segment about Bay Area food cultures, we’ll discuss hidden food treasures. And we want to hear from you, what are some unlikely places where you found exceptional food? Guests: Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Alan Chazaro, food reporter, KQED; poet and educator Susana Guerrero, food reporter, SFGATE

Citing dramatically reduced Covid-related hospitalizations and deaths, Governor Gavin Newsom announced this week that he's lifting California's Covid-19 state of emergency at the end of February. But as uptake of the new bivalent booster remains low, there may be reason for caution as winter approaches. That's according to UCSF's Dr. Bob Wachter, who joins us to answer your questions about case rates, subvariants, vaccines and more. Guests: Dr. Robert "Bob" Wachter, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.

You’ve heard the stories and seen the headlines – life-saving drugs can be so expensive, people have to choose between them and buying food or paying rent. Oakland’s Priti Krishtel is working on a solution to this terrifying problem – she wants to reform the patent system. Pharmaceutical companies hold patents on their products, creating an ongoing monopoly that prevents competitors from bringing cheaper medications to the market to drive prices down. We’ll talk with Krishtel, who was recently awarded a MacArthur grant, about how she got into health justice and how she plans to update the patent system to bring equity to the medical system and save lives. Guests: Priti Krishtel, health justice lawyer and co-founder and co-executive director Organization: I-MAK. - a non-profit building a more just and equitable medicines system. She is also a 2022 MacArthur fellow.

Remember former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty in August to running a years-long tax evasion scheme? He’s set to testify in the tax fraud trial of the Trump Organization that begins in New York on Monday, the first time Trump’s businesses have faced criminal proceedings. That’s just one in an array of civil and criminal cases and investigations involving the former president and his associates and businesses. We’ll take stock of Trump’s legal liabilities and look at what we can expect next from prosecutors.

Guests: Jennifer Taub, professor of law, Western New England School of Law; author, "Big Dirty Money: The Shocking Injustice and Unseen Cost of White Collar Crime." Luke Broadwater, congressional reporter, New York Times.

If you browse the self-help aisles or click on a TED Talk, you will rarely be given the advice that “it’s OK to be mediocre.” You’re more likely to be told how to achieve excellence, how to rise above the fray to distinguish yourself and how, if you get good enough at your hobby, you can make it a side hustle. But maybe it’s best if we embrace the joy of being average in our pursuits, and just do what we like even if we are not good at it. We’ll talk about the freedom of stinking at things, and finding pleasure in the process, rather than obsessing over the product and result. And we’ll hear from you: What’s something that you’re perfectly happy to be bad at?

Guests: Rachel Feintzeig, columnist, Wall Street Journal - She wrote the article "Go Ahead. Let Yourself Be Bad at Something." Brigid Schulte, author, "Overwhelmed: How to Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time"; director, Better Life Lab at New America, a public policy nonprofit. Thea Monyee, licensed marriage and family therapist, Founder - MarleyAyo, a creative wellness consulting company.

Since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, removing Americans’ constitutional right to an abortion, a dozen states have enacted near-total bans on the procedure and more are expected to do so in the coming months. That’s causing many candidates in California and across the nation to emphasize their support for reproductive rights, and Pew Research Center polling shows the issue is important to a majority of voters across both parties. We’ll talk about the role abortion is playing in the midterms here and in key states, and we want to hear from you: Is abortion driving your vote? Guests: Joe Garofoli, senior political writer, San Francisco Chronicle; host, the podcast “It’s All Political on Fifth and Mission” Maya Prabhu, state government reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Lauren Rankin , writer, speaker, and activist; author, "Bodies on the Line: At the Front Lines of the Fight to Protect Abortion in America" Melanie Mason, national political correspondent, Los Angeles Times

Nearly 44% of Californians rent their homes, but the vast majority of state legislators don’t. In the state assembly, only three out of 80 members are solely renters: Matt Haney, D-San Francisco; Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles; and Alex Lee, D-San Jose. The lawmakers say the imbalance between assembly members who are renters and those who are homeowners leads to fewer laws that address tenant needs. We’ll talk to Haney, Lee and Bryan about a caucus they are launching in the state assembly to advocate for tenants’ rights amid California’s ongoing housing crisis.

Guests: Matt Haney, member, California State Assembly - represents the eastern portion of San Francisco. Isaac Bryan, member, California State Assembly - he represents much of South Central Los Angeles. Alex Lee, member, California State Assembly - he represents Santa Clara, Milpitas, Fremont, Newark and a small portion of western San Jose. He is the youngest state Asian American, first openly bisexual, and first Gen Z legislator state legislator in California history.

On this November’s ballot, voters will decide on whether to legalize sports betting and whether to tax the rich to subsidize electric cars. Proposition 26 would legalize sports betting in Indian casinos and horse tracks and is opposed by gaming businesses. Proposition 27 would allow online betting and is generally opposed by gaming tribes. Together supporters and opponents of the two propositions have spent over $500 million on their campaigns, and polls predict that both will fail. Proposition 30 proposes a tax on personal income over two million dollars with 80% of the proceeds going to subsidize electric cars and charging stations and the remaining going to wildfire safety. We’ll talk about the three measures with our KQED Politics team and take your questions. Guests: Guy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk Kevin Stark, Reporter, KQED Science Maanvi Singh, West Coast reporter, Guardian

The pandemic shutdowns forced millions of small businesses across the country to close up shop or barely hang on. Journalist Gary Rivlin spent months following a group of small business owners struggling to survive the pandemic in his new book, “Saving Main Street: Small Business in the Time of COVID-19.” His book chronicles the personal and financial risks the owners had to take amid a contentious presidential election, confusing government aid programs and contradictory safety guidelines. Rivlin joins us to talk about how the pandemic forever changed how small businesses operate and how they are faring now. Guests: Gary Rivlin, Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and author, "Saving Main Street Small Business in the Tine of COVID-19"

On March 16, 2021, eight people were killed by a gunman in Atlanta, GA — the majority of whom were Asian women. The murders galvanized a political and social movement, according to Titi Yu, director of the new PBS documentary “Rising Against Asian Hate: One Day in March.” We’ll hear from family members of victims of anti-Asian violence about their attempts to bring justice to their loved ones, and the difficulties advocates and legislators face in attempting to prosecute acts of anti-Asian violence as hate crimes. Guests: Robert Peterson, son of Yong Ae Yue, who was killed in the Atlanta spa shootings on March 16, 2021 Titi Yu, director, "Rising Against Asian Hate" Monthanus Ratanapakdee, daughter of Vicha Ratanapakdee who was fatally assaulted in San Francisco on January 28, 2021 Charles Jung, executive director, California Asian Pacific American Bar Association (Cal-APABA)

San Jose voters will decide on several key races this election including selecting the mayor, several city council members and the county sheriff. In the mayoral race, county supervisor Cindy Chavez and city council member Matt Mahan are competing to lead the nation’s 10th largest city. At the county level, voters will select a replacement for Sheriff Laurie Smith, who is not running for reelection amid grand jury allegations of misconduct and an ongoing investigation into cases of abuse at county jails. As part of KQED’s politics team’s takeover of Forum this week, we’ll talk about the candidates and the issues dominating the races – including housing, homelessness and crime – and we’ll take your election questions. Guests: Garrick Percival, professor and department chair, Department of Political Science, San Jose State University Guy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk Alex Shoor, executive director and co-founder, Catalyze SV, a nonprofit focused on creating sustainable, equitable, and vibrant places for people in Silicon Valley Trân Nguyễn, investigative reporter, San Jose Spotlight, and Report For America Corps Member

The outcomes of a number of competitive races up and down the state could determine which party controls the House of Representatives come January. We’ll talk about the congressional races in California to keep an eye on, and we’ll break down the statewide races on your ballot, from governor to controller to attorney general. Guests: Scott Shafer, senior editor for KQED’s California Politics and Government desk and co-host of Political Breakdown Guy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk Seema Mehta, politics reporter, Los Angeles Times

Ballots have landed in mailboxes across California. Now comes the hard part: figuring out what all the ballot measures mean. Senior editor Scott Shafer and the rest of KQED’s politics team has youcovered. We’ll talk about the most interesting items on Bay Area ballots, including mayoral and DA races, a slew of local housing measures and a state proposition that taxes the rich to tackle climate change. We’re here to answer your ballot questions. Guests: Guy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk. Marisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED - Co-host of KQED's Political Breakdown show. Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, Reporter/Producer covering politics, KQED News.

As an 11-year old kid growing up in the L.A. suburbs, writer Jonathan Abrams managed to wheedle a Tupac Shakur cassette from a sympathetic Circuit City employee. When his mom discovered the tape with its parental advisory sticker, she made him return it, but that didn’t deter Abrams’ love for hip-hop. In his new oral history of hip-hop “The Come Up,” Abrams goes back to the genre’s roots and traces its iterations, innovations, and impact on not just music, but global culture. We’ll talk to Abrams and hear from you, who’s your go to hip-hop artist and what’s on your essential hip-hop playlist?

Guests: Jonathan Abrams, "The Come Up: An Oral History of the Rise of Hip-Hop," Abrams is a staff writer for the New York Times and author of "All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of the Wire" and "Boys Among Men.

Cal Berkeley alum Sheng Wang never expected himself to pursue a career in comedy. But after twenty years as a comedian, practicing his material at San Francisco venues, his hour-long Netflix special “Sweet and Juicy” has propelled him into the spotlight. We’ll talk with Sheng about the road to his new found fame and we’ll check in with local comedians about the Bay Area comedy scene.

Guests: Sheng Wang, comedian, writer and actor.

“Our lives would have been impossible without Ronald Reagan,” says Patty Rodriguez in the opening episode of the podcast series, Out of the Shadows: Children of 86. Rodriguez and co-host Erick Galindo created the series to explore the complicated legacy of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. The act, which provided amnesty and a path to legal status to millions of undocumented residents, came about because of an unlikely ally: then-President Reagan. We’ll talk about the history of the 1986 law, the millions of lives it changed and the families it brought out of the shadows.

Guests: Erick Galindo, journalist, writer, podcast creator, television showrunner, producer and co-host, Out of the Shadows: Children of 86 podcast. Ana Raquel Minian Andjel, associate professor of History, Stanford University; author, "Undocumented Lives: The Untold Story of Mexican Migration."

During a raucous L.A. city council meeting yesterday, a crowd of demonstrators demanded the resignations of Nury Martinez, Kevin DeLeón, and Gil Cedillo, three council members who had been caught on tape making racist and derogatory comments about Blacks, Jews, Central Americans, and Armenians, among others. Amidst the shouting, the one moment of quiet came as council member Michael Bonin tearfully shared his outrage over racist remarks made by Martinez, the council’s Latina president, about Bonin's adopted Black son, who Martinez, using a racist slur, called a monkey in need of a “beatdown." Though Martinez resigned from her position as council president, none of the three members has offered to resign from the council. We’ll talk to political analysts about the fallout and the racial and political fault lines revealed by this scandal. Guests: Erika D. Smith, columnist, Los Angeles Times Saul Gonzalez, co-host, The California Report at KQED Gustavo Arellano, columnist, Los Angeles Times

San Francisco chef Anna Voloshyna’s new cookbook Budmo! is a celebration of Ukrainian food and a call to rescue the regional diversity of her home country’s cuisine from the cultural erasure of Soviet occupation. Voloshyna’s hometown in southern Ukraine is now on the front lines of the Russian retreat and she’s been hosting pop-ups and fundraisers for Ukraine relief. We’ll talk food-memories, recipes and about “Budmo!” a toast that means “let us be”. “Whenever I hear it, I know there will be delicious food, blazing drinks, and countless toasts,” she writes. “This word is fierce and vigorous—a perfect embodiment of Eastern European cuisine.” Forum talks with Voloshyna as part of All You Can Eat, our series on the food cultures of the Bay Area. Guests: Anna Voloshyna, chef, blogger, culinary instructor; author, Budmo!

More Californians are contributing their dollars and time to elections in states like Michigan and Arizona where the winning party will have control over reproductive rights, redistricting and potentially the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. We’ll talk to Russell Berman about what’s at stake in state races across the country, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case that could expand statehouse authority over federal elections. Berman’s recent piece for the Atlantic is “The Next Presidential Election Is Happening Right Now in the States.” Guests: Russell Berman, staff writer, The Atlantic Craig Mauger, state politics reporter, The Detroit News Mary Jo Pitzl, state policy, politics and elections reporter, The Arizona Republic

Two Bay Area scientists have won the 2022 Nobel Prize. Stanford’s Carolyn Bertozzi is one of just eight women to ever win the prize in chemistry (out of 189 total winners). The Nobel committee described her as “an inspiration for women and queer people in STEM.” John Clauser, now 79 years old, received the prize in physics for research he conducted 50 years ago on quantum entanglement - research that he says was considered irrelevant at the time, but has since provided the foundation for quantum computation and quantum communication. Bertozzi and Clauser join Forum to talk about their work and take your science questions. Guests: Dr. John Clauser, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in physics Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry; professor, Stanford University

After years of struggling and fighting for every role, actor Constance Wu had a popular TV show and a starring role in the hit movie “Crazy Rich Asians.” Then one day she sent out a tweet that nearly cratered her career. The backlash that ensued became the impetus for her new book “Making A Scene,” a collection of essays in which Wu reflects on the burden and responsibility of being a women of color in an industry run largely by men, her childhood as the daughter of immigrants who were not " tiger parents” and her journey as an artist. Wu joins us to talk about what it takes to make a scene and be heard. Guests: Constance Wu, Author, "Making a Scene." Wu has starred in the films "Crazy Rich Asians" and "Hustlers." She previously starred in the series "Fresh Off the Boat."

For thousands of years and hundreds of generations, the Ohlone people have lived on the land that is now known as the East Bay. They were forcibly removed from their land with the arrival of Europeans beginning in the 18th Century. To begin to address the historic harms of the city’s founding, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and tribal Chairperson Corrina Gould started a conversation in 2018 that has grown into a partnership between the City of Oakland and the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust. With final city council approval in November, the trust will be given the rights to a section of Joaquin Miller park known as Sequoia Point, and Oakland will become the first city in California to use municipal property as reparations for land stolen from Native American territories. On this Indigenous Peoples day, we’ll talk to Corrina Gould and Mayor Schaaf about what this means for the Native community in the Bay and how it can serve as precedent for other cities. Related articles: Rematriate the Land Fund - The Sogorea Te Land Trust Guests: Corrina Gould, Director, Sogorea Te’ Land Trust; spokeswoman and Tribal Chair of the Confederated Villages of Lisjan/Ohlone; Co-Founder and Lead Organizer, Indian People Organizing for Change. Libby Schaaf, Mayor, Oakland

In San Francisco, more than half of people experiencing homelessness are unsheltered. In contrast, just three percent of Boston’s unhoused people are living on the streets. With another winter coming on, what steps might California take? What can we learn from Massachusetts? Guests: Darrell Steinberg, Mayor, Sacramento Erin Baldassari, housing affordability reporter, KQED Lyndia Downie, president and executive director, Pine Street Inn - a homeless services provider in Boston, MA Jennifer Friedenbach, Executive Director, Coalition on Homelessness

Craft beer has a long history in California with breweries such as Anchor Steam that started in San Francisco in the mid-1800s and still brews there today. But lately, the industry has exploded. In the past decade the number of craft breweries in California has tripled to 1,100 – and growing. It’s a competitive landscape out there for small, independent beer makers. We’ll talk about what is driving the growth of craft beer in California, why IPAs still dominate beer lists and hear your picks for your favorite local brews. Guests: Barry Braden, co-founder and owner, Fieldwork Brewing Eric Ortega, craft beer specialist and taproom coordinator, Almanac Beer Company Herlinda Heras, artisan beverage expert and co-host of Brew HaHa, a craft beer show, KSRO in Sonoma

After Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans last month to mobilize more troops to wage his campaign against Ukraine, the reality of the war is setting in for ordinary Russians, according to the Washington Post’s Mary Ilyushina, who’s reporting near the region. Hundreds of thousands of Russians have fled to neighboring countries to avoid the draft, and anti-war protests are mounting. We’ll look at how the mobilization is changing how Russians perceive the war and their government. Guests: Michael Kimmage, professor and history department chair, Catholic University of America; co-author, "What Mobilization Means for Russia: The End of Putin's Bargain with the People" Mary Ilyushina, Russia reporter, Washington Post

Many California lawmakers agree that the lack of unaffordable housing is a huge challenge, but for years they have not agreed on how to fix the problem. This year, the Legislature passed more than 40 laws that promise to boost housing construction. One law allows developers to turn empty strip malls and office buildings into housing. Other laws reduce parking requirements for new housing developments and make it easier for school districts to build teacher housing. Advocates say that though the laws are mostly incremental tweaks to existing policies, they could add up to big changes in the long run. We’ll take a look at this year’s new housing laws and what they could mean for you. Guests: David Garcia, policy director, Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley Buffy Wicks, member, California State Assembly - She represents California’s 15th Assembly District, which includes all or portions of the cities of Oakland, Richmond, Berkeley, Emeryville, Albany, El Cerrito, San Pablo, Pinole, El Sobrante, Hercules, Kensington, and Piedmont. Alfred Twu, architect; housing activist; commissioner, Berkeley Planning and Landmarks commissions

Stretching 2,600 miles from Mexico to Canada, the Pacific Crest Trail winds through the Mojave Desert, up to the Sierras and along the Cascades. Backpackers who have hit the trail rave about its beauty and many include “thru hiking” the entirety of the trail on their bucket lists. But what has always been a difficult journey is now getting even harder due to climate change. We’ll talk about how extreme weather, drought and wildfires have impacted the trail, known as the PCT, from beginning to end. Have you hiked the PCT? What was your journey like? Guests: Rowan Moore Gerety, Reporter, Gerety's recent piece for the New York Times is titled "Heat, Water, Fire: How Climate Change Is Transforming the Pacific Crest Trail." Jazmin Ortega, Pacific Crest Trail Thru Hiker, Ortega thru hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in 2019. Her trail name is Flamethrower. Scott Wilkinson, Content Development Director, Pacific Crest Trail Association, a nonprofit focused on protecting and preserving the Pacific Crest National Scenic.

Many of the Bay Area’s industrial sites are situated on the waterfront, right next to communities of color. As climate change causes groundwater levels to rise, toxic chemicals buried there threaten to release into the neighborhoods, exacerbating a decades-long pattern of environmental and economic injustice. Now some community advocates are calling for reparations in the form of climate justice, asking for money and services to repair the harms caused by the decision to allow toxic industries in their communities. Forum talks about the threat of toxic flooding and what can be done to prevent it. Guests: Kristina Hill, director, Institute for Urban and Regional Development, College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley. Ezra David Romero, climate reporter, KQED Margaret Gordon, co-director, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project

Most everyone recognizes Prince's masterpiece "Purple Rain," the Grammy Award-winning album engineered by Susan Rogers. But do you know why you love this record? In her new book "This is What It Sounds Like," Rogers explains that we all have a unique "listener profile," determined by how we respond to seven musical elements, such as lyrics, melody and timbre. Rogers joins us to explain what the music we love says about us. Guests: Susan Rogers, cognitive neuroscientist and a professor, Berklee College of Music; multiplatinum record producer; sound engineer for Prince’s; recipient of the Music Producer’s Guild Outstanding Contribution to U.K. Music award.

Two Berkeley High School students were shot and killed at an Oakland birthday party on Saturday. On Wednesday six adults were shot at an Oakland school. The week before, two men were killed near their mosque after attending services, and in a shooting outside of city hall during a city council meeting, one man was killed, one injured. Forum talks with Oakland’s mayor, chief of police, and the city’s chief of violence prevention about what explains the surge in violent crime and what can be done about it. Guests: Libby Schaaf, Oakland mayor LeRonne Armstrong, police chief, Oakland Police Department Guillermo Cespedes, chief of Violence Prevention, City of Oakland

Many small California towns that were devastated by recent wildfires are determined to rebuild, such as Greenville, which is the community at the focus of the Los Angeles Times series "Rebuild,Reburn." But as climate change intensifies wildfires -- and political extremism -- the state is facing a dilemma as resources dwindle. How long will it be sustainable to send aid to rebuild towns that face continual danger from wildfires? We'll talk with journalists who investigated the unrest growing in rural towns and what people on both sides have to say.

Guests: Erika D. Smith, columnist, Los Angeles Times. Anita Chabria, columnist, Los Angeles Times.

Julia Morgan is best known as the architect of opulent, eccentric Hearst Castle, but she designed roughly 700 buildings in her 50-year career. From her first commission, the El Campanil bell tower at Mill’s college, to the Arts and Crafts Asilomar and the Gothic and Moorish Berkeley City Club, the Oakland-raised architect created many of California’s most distinctive and disparate buildings in a time when architecture was an almost exclusively male field. We’ll talk with Victoria Kastner, author of “Julia Morgan: An Intimate Biography of the Trailblazing Architect” and we’ll hear from listeners: What’s your favorite Julia Morgan building? Guests: Victoria Kastner, author, "Julia Morgan: An Intimate Biography of the Trailblazing Architect."

Getting a good night’s sleep is important for restoring our bodies and minds after a long day. But sometimes the stress of the world follows us into dreamland. Getting lost, missing a final exam, losing teeth - these are among the many common iterations of stress dreams. We’ll talk with dream and sleep experts about why we have stressful dreams and how to deal with them.

Guests: Kelly Bulkeley, dream researcher and director, Sleep and Dream Database. Aric Prather, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UCSF.

Jonathan Escoffery’s debut book, “If I Survive You,” presents a series of connected stories about an immigrant family from Jamaica trying to acclimate to life in America. The characters tackle racism, belonging, natural disasters and generational divides. A native of Miami now based in Oakland, Escoffery joins us to talk about storytelling and his decades-long journey to publishing a book. Guests: Jonathan Escoffery, author, his debut short story collection, "If I Survive You," was released in September of 2022.

Chief Justice of California Tani Cantil-Sakauye is stepping down in January after serving a 12-year term on the state's high court. Nominated by former republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, she was the first non-white person and the second woman to lead the court. She joins us to reflect on her time on the bench, the future of the California judiciary and her newly announced next role as president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California. Guests: Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Chief Justice of California

It seems that everyone wants a happy ending, and nothing delivers that better than a romance novel. The Harlequin romance bodice rippers of old have evolved. Today’s romance novels feature diverse protagonists – including men. They offer more real-to-life scenarios, and often mash into other genres like science fiction. In the last five years, booksellers have seen a 740% increase in the sales of LGBTQ romance novels, with 850,000 books sold last year. We’ll talk about the rise of the romance novel and hear from you…what’s your favorite?

Guests: Jasmine Guillory, novelist and writer, "Drunk on Love" — Her work has appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Bon Appetit, and Time. Mia Sosa, novelist, "The Wedding Crasher" and "The Worst Best Man" Olivia Waite, novelist, "The Hellion's Waltz" and "The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows;" romance novel reviewer, the New York Times

Sally Yates, who as acting attorney general refused to defend the travel ban on Muslim-majority countries. Reproductive rights attorney Brigitte Amiri, who represented teen migrants denied abortions. These are among the women lawyers Dahlia Lithwick profiles in her new book “Lady Justice” -- the ones who she says fought the racism, sexism, transphobia and xenophobia that took root and flourished during the Trump presidency. We’ll talk to Lithwick about how women are harnessing the law to advance civil rights, even as the Supreme Court and state legislatures work to curtail them. Guests: Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor, Slate; host of podcast Amicus; writer of "Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America"

Chef and author Illyanna Maisonet, a former food columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, made a name for herself by reimagining Puerto Rican cuisine. Her debut cookbook, “Diasporican: A Puerto Rican Cookbook.” chronicles Maisonet’s experience as a Puerto Rican living in Sacramento and how this region’s cultures have informed her cooking. Maisonet joins us to talk about her book as part of our next installment of All You Can Eat, our regular segment about the food cultures of the Bay Area with KQED food editor Luke Tsai. Guests: Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Illyanna Maisonet, chef and author, her debut cookbook, "Diasporican: A Puerto Rican Cookbook” comes out in October 2022. Jose 'Cheo' Ortiz, chef and restaurant owner, La Perla Restaurant, Oakland - Authentic Puerto Rican cuisine Jacqueline Roman, chef and owner, El Coqui Puerto Rican Cuisine in Santa Rosa Lourdes “Lulu” Marquez Nau, chef and owner, Casa Borinqueña in Oakland

Come 2027, Californians will have a new post-death option: to become human compost. A law signed by Governor Newsom this month made California the fifth state to legalize “natural organic reduction,” which lets human bodies decompose into a cubic yard of soil. While green burials — the process of wrapping the deceased in a shroud and placing them in the ground — are already legal, composting doesn’t require a dedicated portion of land. And though it’s more expensive than cremation, it’s also less carbon-intensive. We’ll talk about the new law and hear whether you’d want to become human compost. Guests: Courtney Applewhite, doctoral candidate studying environmental disposition ("eco-funerals"), UC Santa Barbara Cristina Garcia, assembly member, representing California's 58th Assembly District Katrina Spade, founder and CEO, Recompose

The death of the 22-year old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, for a supposed violation of the country’s strict dress code, has sparked protests across Iran and around the world. As Iranian citizens protest in call for justice and women's rights reform, many have gotten arrested, injured and even killed. We'll talk with Iranians here in the U.S. about the reactions to Amini's death and the status of women's rights in Iran. Guests: Persis Karim, Iranian-American poet and essayist; director for the Center of Iranian Diaspora Studies, San Francisco State University Shaghayegh Cyrous, artist Hoda Katebi, writer, community organizer and creative educator

Points, badges, progress bars and leaderboards: they’re among the games designed to make dull activities fun -- and to make us more productive at the gym, in school or at work. But to video game developer Adrian Hon, gamification has become the twenty-first century’s most advanced form of behavioral control, coercing our decisions and justifying corporate and government surveillance. We’ll talk to Hon about his new book “You’ve Been Played.” Guests: Adrian Hon, game developer and author, "You've Been Played: How Corporations, Governments and Schools Use Games to Control Us All."

Three historic BIPOC-focused media outlets are celebrating anniversaries this fall - India Currents turns 35, Willie Ratliff, the publisher of San Francisco Bayview National Black Newspaper turns 90, and the Mission’s El Tecolote turns 52. These outlets may be small (compared to the mainstream media) but they are mighty. We’ll find out how their communities sustained their local media through the pandemic, and how the outlets sustained their communities in turn. Thriving together through difficult times. Guests: Vandana Kumar, Editor-in-chief, publisher and co-founder, India Currents. Nube Brown, Editor-in-chief, San Francisco Bayview National Black Newspaper. Alexis Terrazas, Editor-in-chief, El Tecolote.

The California condor is not one of nature’s cutest birds, but it is probably one of its most compelling. The largest bird in North America, the condor has a wingspan measuring nine and a half feet. It can fly at speeds up to 50 miles per hour, glide at 15,000 feet in the air without flapping, and can cover 150 miles a day. The condor once flew freely across the west, but by 1982, only 23 condors remained in existence worldwide, and by 1987, all living condors were in captive breeding programs. The success of those programs has allowed the reintroduction of the condor to the wild, and this year, the condor was reintroduced to Northern California in partnership with the federal government and partners like the Yurok Tribe. We’ll talk to experts about reintroducing a species to the wild, and hear from you: What comes to mind when you think of the California condor?

Guests: Tiana Wiliams-Claussen, Director, Yurok Tribe Wildlife Department. Joe Burnett, Senior Wildlife Biologist and California Condor Recovery Program Manager, Ventana Wildlife Society. Ashleigh Blackford, California Condor Coordinator & At-Risk Species Coordinator, U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife.

With the goal of helping San Francisco’s under-resourced students develop their voices as writers, the nonprofit 826 Valencia — founded at that exact address in San Francisco’s Mission District — turned 20 this year. There are now nine 826 chapters nationwide, and in San Francisco more than 5,600 students are served by the program in the back of its pirate store flagship, in its Tenderloin and Mission Bay centers and in eleven public schools across the city. Nearly 3 thousand students have been published in its writing collections and podcasts, proudly calling themselves published authors. We’ll hear some works by 826’s youth authors and talk with the founders and current team about the importance of celebrating — and publishing — youth voices.

Related link(s): "Truth Of The Fenced Castle" by Tiarri More 826 Valencia Podcasts Guests: Dave Eggers, co-founder, 826 Valencia Nínive Calegari , co-founder, 826 Valencia Bita Nazarian, executive director, 826 Valencia Bianca Catalan, alumnus and Board Member, 826 Valencia

In one of her undergraduate history seminars, Harvard professor Drew Gilpin Faust recently discovered that the majority of her students could not read cursive. To them, it was like a foreign language. This is not surprising as cursive was not part of the Common Core educational standards introduced in 2010, though half of the nation’s states, including California, now include cursive in their curriculum. Some argue that computers have made the need for handwriting obsolete. But research suggests that handwriting, and cursive in particular, helps children read better and retain knowledge. What is lost when we cannot write or read in cursive? We’ll talk to experts on handwriting, and we’ll hear from you: Is cursive relevant anymore and how’s your handwriting?

Guests: Drew Gilpin Faust, Arthur Kingsley University professor in History Organization, Harvard University - Faust is the former president of Harvard University; recent article for the Atlantic is titled, "Gen Z Never Learned to Read Cursive" Robert Wiley, assistant professor, Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Greensboro Virginia Berninger, professor emeritus, University of Washington College of Education Sandra Gutierrez, associate DIY Editor, Popular Science; recent article, "Wait, It's Not to Late to Get Good Handwriting"

Jann Wenner started Rolling Stone magazine in San Francisco at the tender age of 21 – placing himself smack in the middle of 1967’s wild and groundbreaking music scene. We’ll talk with Wenner about San Francisco rock and roll, the legacy of Rolling Stone magazine and his new memoir, “Like a Rolling Stone”.

Guests: Jann Wenner, founder, Rolling Stone Magazine; author of the memoir, "Like a Rolling Stone"

Why do some people with mental illnesses recover while others with the same diagnosis don’t? According to New Yorker staff writer Rachel Aviv, the answer in part lies in the gap between people’s actual experiences and the language of contemporary psychiatry that names and defines their conditions. In her new book “Strangers to Ourselves” Aviv writes about people who she says “have come up against the limits of psychiatric ways of understanding themselves” -- a woman who stopped taking her meds because she didn’t know who she was without them, a man subject to years of failed psychoanalysis, and Aviv herself, who at age six was hospitalized for refusing to eat. We’ll talk to Aviv about her discoveries. Guests: Rachel Aviv, writer of "Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us"

President Biden says he aims to end hunger and food insecurity in the United States by 2030. Next week the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health will consider the policy changes needed to reach that goal. The last conference on hunger and health was in 1969 during the Nixon administration, and it led to many of the nation’s major health policies like child nutrition assistance and food stamps. We’ll talk about what hunger and food insecurity looks like in the U.S. now, and what it would take to ensure no Americans go hungry. Guests: Ahori Pathak, director of policy, Poverty to Prosperity Program at Center for American Progress Kassandra Martinchek, research associate, Urban Institute Dariush Mozaffarian, cardiologist and professor of nutrition, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University; co-chair of the Task Force on Hunger, Nutrition and health - an independent task force working to help inform the White House Conference

Ukraine surprised both Russia and the world last week with sharp counter offensives in the northeast that have retaken land occupied by Russian troops. Ukrainian forces liberating these areas have discovered not only hastily abandoned Russian outposts, but also further signs of war crimes: outside the town of Izium, a mass grave containing over 400 bodies, primarily civilians, some bearing evidence of torture, is in the process of being exhumed. As winter approaches, both sides of the war hope to make decisive progress and the United States on Friday pledged an additional $600 million to assist Ukraine. We’ll talk about where the war stands. Guests: Franklin Foer, staff writer, the Atlantic

Traveling on BART allows riders to move between Oakland to San Francisco in seven minutes – a modern convenience some people take for granted. The iconic light-rail system that makes it possible turns 50 this year. BART has grown from a dozen stations in 1972 to 50 connected by 131 miles of tracks. The milestone comes at a time when ridership hovers around 40 percent of pre-pandemic levels bringing major financial challenges. And, the current system still falls short of the original vision drawn up in the late 50s. We talk about how BART arrived at its current station and where the system plans to take us in the decades to come. Guests: Dan Brekke, editor and reporter, KQED News Robert Powers, general manager, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) Lateefah Simon, BART Board member; president of Akonadi Foundation; co-chair of Governor Newsom's police reform task force

The tech startup Sanas transforms accented English to a white, midwestern American voice. Sanas contends that this technology can help overseas call center workers who are dealing with racist harassment. But those who have studied call centers and the "white voice" say this only puts a filter over the very problems the technology aims to remedy. We'll talk with experts about intolerance for accented speech, the challenges facing international call center workers and what it means to “sound white. Related link(s): - Sanas, the buzzy Bay Area startup that wants to make the world sound whiter Guests: Sharath Keshava Narayana, Co-Founder & COO, Sanas Joshua Bote, assistant news editor, SFGATE Winifred Poster, adjunct faculty in International Affairs, Washington University St. Louis; author, “Borders in Service: Enactments of Nationhood in Transnational Call Centres” Tom McEnaney, associate professor of Comparative Literature and of Spanish and Portuguese, UC Berkeley

Workers across the country keep talking about “quiet quitting” – the idea that employees should fulfill their job duties in the time they are paid to work – nothing more or less. It sounds logical, but quiet quitting has stirred a lot of feelings and debate this summer. Workplace experts can’t seem to agree on what it is or if it’s even real. In a recent article, Derek Thompson of The Atlantic argues that quiet quitting is not new or novel. Meanwhile, Boston Globe writer Beth Teitell says quiet quitting should extend to other facets of life beyond jobs. We’ll dive into the concept of quiet quitting and what it means to you. Guests: Mr. Derek Thompson, staff writer and the author of the Work in Progress newsletter, The Atlantic Magazine; author of the recent article, "Quiet Quitting Is a Fake Trend" Beth Teitell, staff writer, The Boston Globe; author of the recent article, "Our obsession with ‘quiet quitting’ doesn’t seem to be going away"

Fog is an indelible part of the magic and culture of San Francisco, providing inspiration for poets and artists and a sometimes-welcome buffer against summer heat. But a new New York Times story by John Branch warns that fog’s future is uncertain, imperiled by a changing climate. Branch joins us to talk about his reporting on the city's famous fog and its elusive future.

Guests: John Branch, reporter, the New York Times. Diane Frank, author, editor, "Fog and Light: San Francisco Through the Eyes of the Poets Who Live Here."

In the 1950s, San Francisco’s Fillmore district was known as the Harlem of the West. It was famous for its jazz music, its artists and its writers and it served as a cultural hot spot for San Francisco. Writer Margaret Wilkerson Sexton captures the neighborhood’s zeitgeist in her new novel “On the Rooftop,” which tells the story of a single mother and her three daughters trying to make it in music. The Fillmore that Sexton’s characters occupy is a vibrant Black community in danger of being erased by an encroaching displacement campaign. We’ll talk to Sexton about her book and what made the Fillmore “Bop City.” Guests: Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, author, "On the Rooftop" - also author of "A Kind of Freedom" and "The Revisioners."

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed California’s FAST Recovery Act on Labor Day, authorizing the creation of a council aimed to set minimum labor standards in fast food franchises. The council, composed of workers, franchise owners, corporate representatives and state officials, would also have the power to raise the minimum wage for fast food employees to $22. Of the 550,000 fast food workers in the state, most earn near minimum wage: $15 statewide for businesses with 26 or more employees, and higher in certain cities like San Francisco, where it’s $16.32. Advocates of the legislation say it would also create better redress for wage theft and health and safety hazards. Critics have filed a referendum to block the law and turn it into a ballot measure. We’ll talk about how the FAST Recovery Act could affect California’s economy and its fast food workers.

Guests: Ken Jacobs, chair, Center for Labor Research and Education at UC Berkeley. Farida Jhabvala Romero, labor correspondent, KQED. Christopher Thornberg, director, Center for Economic Forecasting and Development, UC Riverside School of Business; founding partner, Beacon Economics. Crystal Orozco, worker, McDonald’s in Sacramento.

Last week, California struggled under one of the worst heat waves in written history. Several cities across the state, including San Jose and Redwood City, shot through record-breaking temperatures. With the heat and demand for air conditioning, the state's energy grid almost couldn’t hold. But thanks to a text telling us: “Power interruptions may occur unless you take action,” residents and businesses turned off lights, unplugged devices and kept the power humming. But as heat waves are projected to become more frequent, more intense, and longer-lasting under climate change, can California’s power grid handle it? We’ll be talking about how California’s power grid works, how it's adapting and how it performed during the heat wave.

Guests: Alexandra (Sascha) von Meier, independent consultant, she was Director of Electric Grid Research at the California Institute for Energy and Environment for a decade retired professor UC Berkeley electrical engineering. Duncan Callaway, associate professor of Energy and Resources, UC Berkeley; faculty scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Ivan Penn, energy correspondent, New York Times

CNN is a cable news network in flux. Earlier this month, John Harwood, its White House correspondent, announced his departure one day after he stated on air that, “The Republican Party right now is led by a dishonest demagogue. Many, many Republicans are rallying behind his lies about the 2020 election.” The network also recently fired Brian Stelter, a frequent critic of Trump and Fox News. The changes at CNN have caused speculation that these moves may be influenced by cable mogul, John Malone, one of its major investors, who has praised Fox News and openly expressed a hope that CNN would “evolve back to the kind of journalism that it started with, and actually have journalists, which would be unique and refreshing.” But where is the middle ground when some politicians routinely attack the truth as lies and push misinformation as truth? We’ll talk to media critic Jay Rosen about the future of journalism in a post-Trump era. Guests: Jay Rosen, press critic and editor, PressThink.org; professor of journalism, New York University

When Americans hear about surveillance in China, it is usually through a dystopian lens. There is good reason for that—in the west of the country, the Uighur minority has been persecuted with unprecedented technological force. In a new book, “Surveillance State: Inside China's Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control” veteran Wall Street Journal reporters Josh Chin and Liza Lin aim to expand that lens, to “help people grasp state surveillance in its totality.” They ask how the Chinese government’s deployment of AI-powered tools of social control can actually be alluring and useful to everyday people, even as it is nightmarish to those caught in its algorithmic teeth. Guests: Josh Chin, deputy bureau chief in China, The Wall Street Journal Liza Lin, data use and privacy journalist, The Wall Street Journal

Did beavers get a publicist? Mother Jones magazine asked that question last week after a spate of national news stories appeared celebrating the rodents’ role in protecting the environment. Long considered a nuisance, the furry dam-builders are finally being recognized for improving stream quality, mitigating wildfire and floods and fighting climate change, among other contributions. The state of California is even hiring a team of environmental scientists to work on “nature-based restoration solutions involving beavers.” We’ll talk about efforts to restore habitat for the beaver, which Governor Newsom has called an “untapped, creative climate-solving hero.” Guests: Emily Fairfax, assistant professor of environmental science and resource management, California State University Channel Islands Ben Goldfarb, journalist and author, "Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter" Chad Dibble, deputy director, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Frankie Myers, vice-chair, Yurok Tribe

California legalized recreational cannabis in 2016 promising to create the “largest legal weed market in the world,” according to a recent story in the Los Angeles Times. Legalization promised to generate millions of new tax dollars and lure marijuana farmers and sellers away from the black market. That didn’t happen as planned. Instead, illegal cannabis farming has exploded. We’ll dig into the L.A. Times investigation that examines the violence, deaths, and environmental damage from the illegal grows and why the law legalizing pot has fallen so short. Guests: Paige St. John, investigative reporter, Los Angeles Times; author of the recent article, "The reality of legal weed in California: Huge illegal grows, violence, worker exploitation and deaths"

After the election of President Obama in 2008, “the world looked and felt different,” writes University of Texas historian Peniel Joseph. That moment also marked the beginning of what Joseph calls America’s Third Reconstruction, a period of racial progress marked by the Black Lives Matter protests and the social justice movements they inspired. But the Third Reconstruction, like the 19th and 20th century versions that preceded it, has also been beset by white backlash and violent retrenchment. We’ll talk to Joseph about what he thinks we’ve achieved in this period and how far we need to go to achieve racial justice. Guests: Peniel Joseph, professor of history and founding director, Center for the Study of Race and Democracy - University of Texas at Austin; author, "The Third Reconstruction: America’s Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century"

When he was 9, poet Javier Zamora traveled 3,000 miles by bus, boat and on foot, without family or friends, from El Salvador to the United States. The trip was supposed to take two weeks. It tooknine. Along the way, Zamora was embraced by fellow migrants and folded into a makeshift family. With them, Zamora encountered corrupt police officers and was robbed of the little money he had. He scrambled over mountains and under barbed wire fences that laced the desert border, all so he could be reunited with his parents who lived in Marin and who he had not seen in years. Thousandsof immigrants, including children, have experienced similar journeys, but few have described them as eloquently as Zamora. We’ll talk to Zamora about those nine weeks to the border, which he recounts in his new memoir “Solito,” and his experience as an immigrant growing up in San Rafael. Guests: Javier Zamora, Author of the memoir "Solito," Zamora has been a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University and a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. He is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. His debut poetry collection, which focuses on the impact of war and immigration on his family, is titled "Unaccompanied."

Dressing for extreme heat is not as simple as wearing as little as possible. That’s especially true when you have to go to work, court, or a wedding: and especially if gender norms dictate that you need to wear pants or a suit. And many of the new fabrics optimized for cooling aren’t climate — or cost — friendly, as New York Times climate adaptation reporter Christopher Flavelle found when hetried out two dozen shirts, pants and suits designed for heat. We’ll talk about why choosing an outfit in our warming climate is surprisingly complicated.

Guests: Christopher Flavelle, climate adaptation reporter, New York Times. Konrad Rykaczewski, associate professor, School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, and Senior Global Futures Scientist, Arizona State University. Sarah Everts, associate professor and chair in digital science journalism, Carleton University - author, “The Joy of Sweat: The Strange Science of Perspiration.”

After pandemic closures and slowdowns the Bay Area is facing a fall packed with exciting events. From Lear at CalShakes to the Bernice Bing collection at the Asian Art Museum to the return of Oakland hometown hero Kehlani, we’ll talk with KQED’s art reporters about their best picks for the coming season and their new Fall Arts Preview.

Guests: Gabe Meline, senior editor, KQED Arts & Culture Sarah Hotchkiss, Senior Associate Editor, KQED Arts & Culture David John Chávez, theatre critic, author of the theater portion of KQED’s fall arts preview Kristie Song, KQED Arts Intern, author of the fall book guide

“The Constitution is too fundamentally antidemocratic a document to serve democratic purposes reliably,” argues legal scholar and cultural critic Jedediah Purdy. In his new book, “Two Cheers for Politics: Why Democracy Is Flawed, Frightening, and Our Best Hope,” Purdy argues that the Constitution is standing in the way of democracy and suggests that we need to amend it. Purdy also urges us to not give up on politics, which he views as “not optional,” if we are to keep working on the experiment of democracy. We’ll talk about the Constitution, reforming politics, and other ways Purdy believes we can create a more perfect union.

Guests: Jedediah Purdy, professor, Duke Law School; author, "Two Cheers for Politics: Why Democracy is Flawed, Frightening and Our Best Hope"

As private equity companies have increasingly bought up nursing homes across the country, many are experiencing an alarming trend: higher death rates for patients. Stanford medical student turned journalist Yasmine Rafiei dug deep into what happened at one such facility, St. Joseph’s Home for the Aged in Richmond, Virginia, in a recent article in The New Yorker. Her article details how the experience and quality of life changed for residents as the new owners cut costs. She joins us to talk about her investigation.

Guests: Charlene Harrington, professor emerita, School of Nursing at UCSF Medical School Yasmin Rafiei, reporter in residence, the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California, Berkeley; medical student, Stanford University on leave; author, recent New Yorker article, “When Private Equity Takes Over a Nursing Home” Sponsored

California’s new Secretary for Environmental Protection, Yana Garcia, is no stranger to community-based and indigenous-led environmental justice. As CalEPA’s Deputy Secretary for Environmental Justice, Tribal Affairs and Border Relations, Garcia centered collaborations with Mexican community and environmental justice organizations, informed by her own experiences growing up in Oakland, California, and Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico. The first Latina Secretary of CalEPA, Garcia joins us to share how she plans to steer the agency on climate change, air and water quality and environmental justice. Guests: Yana Garcia, Secretary for Environmental Protection, CalEPA

For centuries, America has lured millions of immigrants here with dreams of rising from rags to riches in a short amount of time. But the authors of “Streets of Gold: America’s Untold Story of Immigrant Success,” say that story is mostly a myth. The authors, Stanford professor Ran Abramitzky and Princeton professor Leah Boustan bust other popular opinions about immigration, such as the idea that immigrants “take all the jobs,” “refuse to assimilate,” and pose all kinds of threats to the “American way of life.” Abramitzky and Boustan spent years combing through data that painted different narratives than most Americans are used to hearing. They will join us to bust myths about immigrants and share what the research really says about immigration, past and present. Guests: Leah Boustan, professor of economics and director of the Industrial Relations Section, Princeton University Ran Abramitzky, professor of economics and Senior Associate Dean for the Social Sciences, Stanford University

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved last week the use of reformulated COVID-19 boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech for people ages 12 years and older and from Moderna for those 18 and older. The boosters are bivalent, meaning that they’re designed to protect against both the original virus strain as well as the more transmissible and immune-evading Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5. In a statement Saturday, the California Department of Public Health said that the state is preparing to offer doses “as supplies arrive within the next few days.” We’ll talk about the new booster, explore the science of immune response and take your questions. Guests: Dr. Grace Lee, associate chief medical officer for practice innovation and pediatric infectious diseases physician, Stanford Children’s Health; member, U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP); member, COVID-19 Vaccines Workgroup Mehul Suthar, associate professor of pediatrics and member of the Vaccine Center, Emory University

According to research, before the pandemic, half of California’s third graders did not read at grade level, and the state’s fourth graders lagged behind the national average in reading. Additionally, in 800 schools around the state, 75% of the students failed to read at grade level. Despite these dire numbers, the state lacks a comprehensive approach to literacy instruction, and in 2017, California became the first state to be sued for denying children the civil right to literacy. But the solutions to these problems are not simple. Controversy exists over how to teach reading and in recent years, a push to implement evidence-based reading instruction has caused schools around the country to re-evaluate their approach. We talk to experts about the science of reading and California’s approach to teaching kids to read. Guests: Kareem Weaver, co-founder, Fulcrum, a non-profit focused on improving reading outcomes for students. Weaver is also a member of the Oakland NAACP Education Committee, a senior fellow for the National Council on Teacher Quality, and an award-winning teacher and administrator in Oakland. Emily Hanford, senior producer and correspondent, American Public Media. Hanford is the creator of the podcast "Hard Words," which focuses on why children aren't being taught to read. She is working on "Sold a Story," a new podcast about the missteps in teaching children how to read. John Fensterwald, editor-at-large, EdSource, an independent not-for-profit research and reporting organization

From the roar of wind against mountains and the slam of waves on the shore to early morning birdsong, the sounds that fill our natural world are not only beautiful, they’re at risk, writes biologist David George Haskell in his new book, “Sounds Wild and Broken.” Haskell describes a global sonic landscape that’s threatened by human-induced habitat destruction and noise pollution and warns that by smothering the earth’s many voices, we’re not only imperiling species but losing our connection to the natural world. Haskell joins to share more about our world’s sonic diversity and guide us in listening to it. Guests: David George Haskell, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies, University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee; author of the book, “Sounds Wild and Broken: Sonic Marvels, Evolution’s Creativity and the Crisis of Sensory Extinction”

In some parts of the country, barbecue is a fighting word. It launches hot debates on vinegar versus tomato-based sauce and the right ways to rub, spice and smoke. KQED Food editor Luke Tsai has a different take. His new series, BBQ in the Bay, highlights the region’s unique barbecue cultures from various traditions of cooking food outdoors over an open flame and how it brings communities together. As part of Forum’s regular segment on food cultures of the Bay Area, called All You Can Eat, we’ll dish on Mongolian barbecue, lechon, barbacoa, barbecue oysters, brisket and much more. Guests: Pendarvis "Pen" Harshaw , columnist, KQED Arts; host, KQED's "Rightnowish" podcast Luke Tsai , food editor, KQED Ray Castro, dentist in East Bay; Amateur barbecue competitor Rocky Rivera, emcee and writer; part of KQED's BBQ in the Bay series

California state lawmakers were up until the early morning hours Thursday, casting votes on the remaining bills of the legislative session. Measures to combat climate change, protect abortion rights and expand affordable housing are among the hundreds of bills now headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has until September 30 to sign or veto them. We'll talk with political reporters about what passed, what failed and what’s ahead. Guests: Guy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk Alexei Koseff, reporter, CalMatters Lara Korte, state politics reporter, Politico; co-author, Politico's California Playbook

Bay Area native Emma Chamberlain was a kid who used to complain about the DMV on Youtube a few years ago and now is one of Gen Z’s top fashion influencers who works with global brands. She has advice on what to wear this summer, what coffee to buy – her line, of course – and you can follow her exploits during Paris Fashion week. But is Emma Chamberlain a celebrity or an influencer or a content creator or… all three? Gen Z, born between roughly 1997 to 2012, has a different relationship with social media than older cohorts since it’s been with them most of their lives. We’ll discuss influencers such as Chamberlain and how Gen Z has reshaped what it means to be a social media star. Guests: Madison Semarjian, founder, Mada, an app for styling and buying clothing Moises Mendez II, culture reporter, Time Magazine Steffi Cao, social news reporter, BuzzFeed Greisy Hernandez, mental health and wellness advocate and social media personality

It’s hot outside and getting hotter. Excessive heat warnings are in effect this week for Southern and Central California, with temperatures as high as 112 degrees in the San Fernando and San Joaquin Valleys and 115 degrees in the Inland Empire expected by Labor Day. And temperatures in Northern California are expected to be up to 20 degrees warmer than normal through Tuesday. We’ll talk about who’s most at risk, how to stay cool and how California’s state and local officials are thinking about mitigating the effects of heat and record temperatures induced by climate change. Guests: David Lawrence, meteorologist and Emergency Response Specialist, National Weather Service V. Kelly Turner, co-director, Luskin Center for Innovation; associate professor of Urban Planning and Geography, UCLA Dr. Gina Solomon, director of the Achieving Resilient Communities project, Public Health Institute; clinical professor of Medicine, University of California San Francisco Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, representing California's 56th State Assembly District; lead sponsor, Assembly Bills 2238 and 2243

There have always been plenty of sad songs to help us wallow in the loss of romantic love, but during the pandemic, and through these last several difficult years, more musicians have been processing other kinds of grief through their music. We’ll talk with Bay Area musicians grappling with the death of parents, siblings and children through their music. Others have taken on the deep sadness of the pandemic, gun violence and living with systemic racism. We’ll talk about the music of grief and we’ll hear from listeners: what song helps you mourn? Guests: Nastia Voynovskaya, associate editor, KQED Arts Rexx Life Raj , rapper, musician, most recent album is "The Blue Hour" Karega Bailey, musician, Sol Development Felicia Gangloff-Bailey, musician, SOL Development Samora Pinderhughes, musician, most recent album is "Grief" Brijean Murphy, musician, her band, Brijean's new EP, "Angelo," released in August

By 2035, California plans to phase out sales of new gas-powered cars. The new regulations announced last week by the California Air Resource Board formalize Governor Gavin Newsom’s 2020 executive order which proposed banning the sale of cars that run on fossil fuels. Environmentalists have hailed this move as a much-needed step to address climate change. We’ll talk about what it means for the world’s fifth largest economy and the state that invented car culture to go electric, and we’ll hear from you: are you ready to get an electric car or will you be hanging on to your gas-powered car as long as you can? Guests: Russ Mitchell, Automotive Editor, Los Angeles Times. He is based in Berkeley and covers the automotive industry. Ethan Elkind, director of the Climate Program at the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment, UC Berkeley School of Law; host of the podcast, Climate Break Margo Oge, Former director, US EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality; Author of "Driving the Future: Combating Climate Change with Cleaner, Smarter Cars"

QAnon, the far right conspiracy movement, hasn’t dominated the headlines lately, but is still an active force in politics. Even locally, members of a QAnon group harassed Los Gatos town council members and shut down a meeting last year. We talk with the creators and hosts of ViceTV’s documentary series “QAnon: The Search for Q.” Now in its second season, the series looks into how the viral movement continues leading people down a path of misinformation, anti-democratic ideologies and violence. We’ll talk about the evolution of the QAnon movement and the danger posed by its followers. Guests: Bayan Joonam, film producer, creator and host, "QAnon: The Search for Q" for ViceTV Marley Clements, documentary filmmaker, host and creator of "QAnon: The Search For Q" for ViceTV

Tinder — the world’s most downloaded dating app — turns 10 in September. Many see the app as having transformed online dating from a last resort for older people to a young person’s game: according to Tinder, more than half of its members are between the ages of 18 and 25. More than 75 billion matches have taken place on the app — and we want to hear if you were part of any of them. How was your relationship with the app kindled — or extinguished — and what have you learned from the times you swiped right? Guests: Jesús G. Smith, assistant professor of Ethnic Studies, Lawrence University Emily Witt, staff writer, The New Yorker; author, "Future Sex: A New Kind of Free Love" Alina Liu, clinical psychologist in San Francisco

When writer Britt Young, who was born without most of her left forearm, got an expensive, high tech myoelectric prosthetic four years ago she was so excited she threw an “arm party”. But the prosthetic was heavy and hard to use and she hardly ever put it on again. In an article in IEEE Spectrum, Young says the media and the tech world have been seduced by whiz-bang prosthetic technology at the expense of what most disabled people really need: access, reliability and affordability. “We are caught in a bionic-hand arms race” she writes “It’s time to ask who prostheses are really for, and what we hope they will actually accomplish.” Guests: Britt H Young, writer, "The Bionic-Hand Arms Race" in IEEE; PhD candidate in Geography, UC Berkeley

“It’s hard to say exactly when PG&E Corporation began to fall,” writes Wall Street Journal energy reporter Katherine Blunt. But the deep decline of the state’s largest utility was hardly more apparent than in the aftermath of the 2018 Camp Fire, the blaze ignited by PG&E’s deteriorated equipment that killed 85 people and destroyed the Northern California town of Paradise. Blunt’s new book “California Burning” explains how the Camp Fire exposed the utility’s systemic problems — including chronic mismanagement and criminal neglect of its infrastructure — and why PG&E’s failures are not just a California story, but a cautionary tale for the entire nation’s power grid. Guests: Katherine Blunt, energy reporter, Wall Street Journal; author, "California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric—And What It Means for America’s Power Grid"

Big changes are planned for San Francisco’s beloved Castro Theater, which celebrated its 100th birthday this year. Live music promoter Another Planet Entertainment, which now manages the storied venue, wants to restore and renovate it. That includes replacing the orchestra style seats with removable ones allowing for standing room concerts. But more than five thousand fans of the theater have signed a petition opposing the renovation. We’ll talk about the future of the Castro Theater and we want to hear from you. Share one of your favorite memories from the Castro Theater. Guests: Gabe Meline, senior editor, KQED Arts & Culture. Peter Pastreich, executive director, Castro Theatre Conservancy - a nonprofit committed to the preservation of the Castro Theatre, and to the preservation of the kind of programming that has served its community and San Francisco for the last 100 years. Gregg Perloff, CEO, Another Planet Entretainment

The artificial intelligence-powered image generator DALL-E 2 can take any words you type in — like "purple kittens snorkeling in the style of Monet" — and create that as a picture. There are some company-imposed limitations to what you can tell the AI to make: you can’t upload faces and you can’t generate images of public figures. But as fake images and videos become easier to generate— by anyone — what does the new landscape of online misinformation look like? Deepfake expert Hany Farid joins us to share his fears and hopes for this brave new world of image generation.

Related link(s): Tom Cruise Deepfake TikTok

Guests: Hany Farid, professor with a joint appointment in electrical engineering & computer sciences and the School of Information, UC Berkeley. Lama Ahmad, policy researcher, OpenAI.

Sonoma native Ada Limón sees her work as the nation’s new poet laureate as “elevating and promoting the expansiveness of poetry.” Limón's poems cover a huge range of subjects, from groundhogs to grief. “Poetry allows us to breathe,” she said in an interview after being selected as poet laureate. “I really truly believe with my whole body in the power of poetry and in the power of poetry to heal and bring together communities.” Limón joins us to talk about her work, her love of poetry, and how she’s reimagining America’s relationship to poetry. Related link(s):

The Contract Says: We'd Like the Conversation to be Bilingual

A New National Anthem

National Poetry Month 2022: Ada Limón Reads “A Good Story”

Guests: Ada Limón, poet, 24th Poet Laureate of the United States.

During the pandemic, experts seemed to have plans on how to open up bars, malls, and airports, but no real idea about how to open schools consistently across the country and how to put children’s needs first. In her new book “The Stolen Year,” education reporter Anya Kamenetz offers a thorough autopsy of how Covid unfolded for kids. Beginning with the early days of the pandemic, Kamenetz examines how the intense pressure Covid put on schools exposed the inequities woven into the fabric of American life, including the impact of racism, childhood poverty and hunger, inadequate childcare, and dysfunctional politics, among other issues. We’ll talk with Kamenetz about what went well, what went wrong, and where to go next.

Guests: Anya Kamenetz, education reporter and author, "The Stolen Year: How Covid Changed Children's Lives, and Where We Go Now," "The Art of Screen Time: How Your Family Can Balance Digital Media and Real Life" and "The Test: How to Survive Our National Obsession with Standardized Testing."

People often like to introduce novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah as a writer who tackles the traumas and aftereffects of colonialism, especially in East Africa. But in accepting the Nobel Prize for literature last year, he made space for the fullness of all lives, not least those living in traumatic places. “Writing cannot be just about battling and polemics, however invigorating and comforting that can be,” he said. “Writing is not about one thing, not about this issue or that, or this concern or another, and since its concern is human life in one way or another, sooner or later cruelty and love and weakness become its subject.” We’ll talk to Gurnah about his gorgeous novel "After Lives" which is being published in the U.S. this month.

Guests: Abdulrazak Gurnah, novelist and author, "After Lives" - winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature

Brittney Griner, the WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist, remains detained in Russia after a court there sentenced her earlier this month to nine years in prison for carrying a small amount of hashish oil into the country. Her conviction and sentence came after a month-long trial widely denounced as a sham designed to give Russia political leverage over the United States. Griner’s case, painful in its injustice, is not unique: foreign governments are unlawfully holding dozens of Americans, and government hostage-taking is on the rise. We’ll talk about the impacts on families of political prisoners and what it may take to bring Griner and other Americans home. Guests: Jason Rezaian, global opinions writer, The Washington Post; author, "Prisoner: My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison–Solitary Confinement, a Sham Trial, High-Stakes Diplomacy, and the Extraordinary Efforts It Took to Get Me Out" Danielle Gilbert, Rosenwald fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy & International Security, Dartmouth College Kierra Johnson, executive director, National LGBTQ Task Force

When the first coffee shop or food truck rolls into a neighborhood, many locals have come to fear what might be coming next: rising housing prices and displacement. Restaurants, farmers markets and coffee shops are often a harbinger of gentrification. Some restaurateurs, and the food critics that send customers their way, have been grappling with the role they play in disrupting longstanding communities, and what they can do to create a positive presence in a community. As part of our regular series, All You Can Eat, with KQED food editor Luke Tsai, we’ll talk with food critics and food professionals about gentrification, food and community. Guests: Cesar Hernandez, associate restaurant critic, San Francisco Chronicle Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Mona Holmes, reporter, Eater Los Angeles Reem Assil, chef, Reem's California; author, "Arabiyya: Recipes From the Life of An Arab in Diaspora" Jay Foster, chef, restauranteur and marketplace general manager, La Cocina - non profit that helps immigrant women formalize their food businesses

Dr. Anthony Fauci, who guided the U.S. through the AIDS and Covid-19 pandemics, announced on Monday that he’s stepping down in December as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and as chief medical advisor to President Biden. Meanwhile, CDC chief Rochelle Walensky has announced plans to overhaul the agency, telling staff in an internal video last week that it's "responsible for some pretty dramatic, pretty public mistakes" in its handling of Covid-19. We talk to UCSF's Dr. Bob Wachter about both events and hear your reflections. Guests: Dr. Robert "Bob" Wachter, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco Michael Specter, staff writer, The New Yorker; author of "Fauci"

California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill on Monday that would have allowed San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles to test out supervised drug use centers. New York City is home to two such centers that are operated and funded by nonprofits. Advocates say those centers have saved dozens of lives of people who otherwise may have overdosed on city streets while critics say they encourage drug addiction. We’ll discuss whether advocates will keep pushing for safe injection sites in California and how effectively those centers have functioned in other places. Guests: Marisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED; co-host, KQED's Political Breakdown show Heather Knight, columnist, San Francisco Chronicle Caroline Lewis, health reporter, WNYC/New York Public Radio Stephanie Nolen, global health reporter, New York Times

It may seem a bit strange to be talking about [the] rising risk of a California megaflood amidst severe drought. But it’s not as paradoxical as it might seem,” tweeted Daniel Swain, co-lead author of the recently published study in the journal Science Advances, “Climate change is increasing the risk of a California megaflood.” Megastorms fueled by atmospheric rivers could bring more than 16 inches of rainfall across the state in one month. More rain than snow could fall in the Sierra Nevada, leading to extreme runoff. That’s according to the study’s climate models, which estimate that California’s current annual risk of a megaflood is 1 in 50 — with human-caused climate change projected to increase that risk over time. We’ll talk to the scientists behind the report about their findings and how California should respond. Related link(s): “The Coming California Megastorm,” The New York Times Guests: Daniel Swain, climate scientist, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA and The Nature Conservancy of California. Xingying Huang, project scientist, Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Michael Mierzwa, manager, Floodplain Management Branch, California Department of Water Resources (DWR).

As a queer young poet in San Francisco’s underground literary scene, Michelle Tea writes that she thought of pregnancy “the same way I thought of any STD, but with a dose of the movie Alien." But soon after turning 40 she decided to give it a go, seeking a “less traditional, queer, and community-centric mode of making a family” In her new memoir "Knocking Myself Up," the acclaimed author writes about the ups and downs of that journey. She joins us to talk about the book and and the world of LGBTQ pregnancy and parenting. Guests: Michelle Tea, author and poet, her latest book is "Knocking Myself Up: A Memoir of My (In)Fertility."

“Separating children was not just a side effect, but the intent,” writes The Atlantic’s Caitlin Dickerson in her recent investigation of the Trump Administration’s Zero Tolerance policy. Border agents separated more than 5000 migrant children from their families under Zero Tolerance, even as policymakers had no plans in place to adequately shelter, care for or even keep track of the surge in children they knew would fall into U.S. custody. We talk to Dickerson about her 18-month look at the origins of the U.S.’s forced separation policy and the bureaucratic machinery that enabled it.

Guests: Caitlin Dickerson, staff writer, The Atlantic - author of the investigation "The Secret History of Family Separation."

Kaiser Permanente mental health workers across Northern California went on strike this week, calling for an increase in staffing. They say that crushing workloads are causing delays in care and endangering patients. Kaiser says it is the strike that is hurting patients, and points to a nationwide shortage of clinicians. In this hour of Forum we’ll get the latest on the negotiations and the growing demand for mental health services. (If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the 988 suicide hotline. For Kaiser members seeking help accessing care, the California Department of Managed Care Help Center is available at 1-888-466-2219 or www.HealthHelp.ca.gov. If you believe you are experiencing a medical emergency, dial 9-1-1 or go to the nearest hospital.)

Guests: Jocelyn Wiener, Health and Mental Health reporter, CalMatters Ilana Marcucci-Morris, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Kaiser Naomi Johnson, Associate Clinical Social Worker, Kaiser Scott Wiener, California state senator, representing San Francisco

“The mall is personal,” writes design critic Alexandra Lange in her latest book “Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall.” For denizens of the suburbs, the mall is the place where people got their first jobs, got their first taste of independence goofing around with middle school friends, or bought their first hot dog on a stick. And while often derided by design critics, the mall in its heyday has been immortalized in movies like “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” “Clueless,” “Mean Girls,” and more recently “Stranger Things.” With the rise in the online economy, many have heralded the demise of these temples of commerce but malls continue to reinvent themselves. We’ll talk about the cultural and design history of malls and hear from you about your favorite mall memory.

Guests: Alexandra Lange, author, “Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall”; design critic; columnist, Bloomberg CityLab

The pandemic has hit the East Bay’s Latino immigrant community disproportionately hard. And to make matters worse, many were unable to access services that were available - things like rent relief, food aid, and help with utility bills. A recent El Tímpano report, produced in collaboration with Latino USA, looks at the consequences of these obstacles as well as community solutions. We’ll discuss the report, the role of language barriers and touch on some of the unique challenges faced by Maya Guatemalans in the East Bay who speak an indigenous language called Mam.

Guests: Tania Quintana, program coordinator, Education Super Highway; community organizer, researcher and writer. Madeleine Bair, journalist and founder of El Tímpano. Linda Roman, program specialist, Tech Exchange.

Correction: This episode mentions a video of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sean Hannity that does not exist; the video was manipulated. We apologize for not catching the error on air. The now-unsealed warrant authorizing the search of Donald Trump’s residence last week indicates the FBI is investigating the former president for possible violations of three laws, including the Espionage Act. Eleven sets of classified documents, some of which were marked top-secret, were recovered by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago. We’ll talk about what we can expect next from the Justice Department, recap the defenses and claims made so far by the former president and his team, and analyze how this could play out politically. Guests: Andrew Weissmann, professor of Practice with the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law, New York University School of Law - former federal prosecutor and general counsel to the FBI Marisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED; Co-host of KQED's Political Breakdown show

In 1969, a group of students, activists and community members in Berkeley transformed a muddy abandoned parking lot into a park. They called it People's Park and ever since, the space has served as a hub for political organizing, culture and community. But throughout its 53 year history, there have been ongoing disputes over the land between the park community and the park’s owner, UC Berkeley. Now, the university has big plans to build housing on the site, which has led to recent clashes between protesters and police. We’ll hear from the UC and opponents of the plan, and we ask our listeners: what should the future of the park look like? Guests: Dan Mogulof, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Public Affairs, University of California, Berkeley Harvey Smith, member of People's Park Historic District Advocacy Group; author of "Berkeley and the New Deal" Supriya Yelimeli, housing and homelessness reporter, Berkeleyside

"From a modern perspective," writes biographer Alec Nevala-Lee, Buckminster Fuller resembles "a Silicon Valley visionary who was born a half century too soon." But the relentlessly optimistic futurist, entrepreneur and geodesic dome pioneer was also a self-promoter who exaggerated his inventions and failed to credit his collaborators. We’ll talk to Nevala-Lee about Fuller’s scientific and cultural contributions and his complicated legacy. Guests: Alec Nevala-Lee, author, Inventor of the Future: The Visionary Life of Buckminster Fuller

During the pandemic, many people turned to shopping to adapt, cope or relieve stress. Now, some consumers are dealing with buyer’s remorse over items like air fryers, hot tubs, fancy exercise bikes, massive amounts of baking supplies or even new pets. While others have regrets over things they didn’t spend money on such as a home improvement project now that material and labor costs have soared. We talk with experts about why consumers make decisions they later wish they hadn’t and how to manage regret. And, we want to hear your stories of pandemic purchase regrets, write us an email or send a voice memo to forum@kqed.org. Guests: Jorge Barraza, professor of psychology, University of Southern California Aparna Labroo, professor of marketing and consumer psychologist, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

“This is it, the end of a story that started in Compton, California, with a little Black girl who just wanted to play tennis,” said Serena Williams in her retirement announcement in Vogue magazine. For nearly three decades, Williams has dominated and transformed the sport of tennis. Williams won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, 14 major championships in doubles with her sister, Venus, and four Olympic gold medals. Considered by many to be the GOAT, or greatest of all time, Williams has been an inspiration to a generation of tennis players, and her career has had special resonance for Black women, on and off the court. We’ll talk about her legacy and we want to hear from you: What has Serena Williams meant to you? Guests: Gerry Marzaroti, journalist, New Yorker Magazine; author, "Seeing Serena" Cecil Harris, veteran sports reporter; host, podcast docuseries "All-American: Venus & Serena"; author, "Different Strokes: Serena, Venus, and the Unfinished Black Tennis Revolution," and "Charging the Net: A History of Blacks in Tennis from Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe to the Williams Sisters" Suzette Hackney, deputy editor and national columnist, USA TODAY LZ Granderson, columnist, The Los Angeles Times; host, "Life Out Loud with LZ Granderson" podcast

It’s been a year since the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, leaving the Taliban in full control of the country. Thousands of refugees fled the country in fear of the new regime, many ending up in the Bay Area, one of the largest Afghan communities in the US. In this hour, we’ll hear from local Afghans about how evacuees are dealing with challenges like the housing crisis and uncertainty over immigration status. We’ll also get an update on the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, which is facing widespread hunger and poverty and a Taliban crackdown on women’s rights. Guests: Joseph Azam, board chair, Afghan-American Foundation - non-partisan non-profit focused on advocating on behalf of Afghan American community Matthieu Aikins, author, "The Naked Don't Fear the Water: An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees;" contributing writer, the New York Times Magazine Zuhal Bahaduri, executive director and co-founder, The 5ive Pillars Organization

"My ideas about the Inland Empire have always been seeded with a prickly skepticism" writes Tyrone Beason in the latest installment of his L.A. Times series, "My Country." But as Beason immersed himself in the vast region, he discovered a bygone California of orange trees and wild burros that's drawing more and more people of color who are escaping expensive and predominantly white coastal cities. We'll talk to Beason about his journeys in the Inland Empire and how migration is reshaping the region racially, politically and culturally. Guests: Tyrone Beason, staff writer, Los Angeles Times - His recent piece for the Times is "In the vastness of the Inland Empire, people of color find ‘peace in these troubled times.’" Fatima Nelson, recent Inland Empire transplant; community engagement specialist, UC Riverside’s Center for Social Innovation.

Mexican singer Silvana Estrada and the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest have at least one thing in common: they both defy genre. The 25-year-old singer from the coastal Mexican state of Veracruz is now on tour promoting her latest album, “Marchita.” Estrada’s music is rooted in jazz, but spans a fusion of musical styles. The summer jazz fest takes a similar approach by making jazz the base, but layering in dozens of other styles such as blues and R&B, salsa, cumbia and folk music from around the world. Estrada is one of headliners who will perform at the 12-stage jazz festival this weekend. She joins us to preview the festival and to talk about how she both embraces and rejects musical traditions.

Guests: Silvana Estrada, Mexican singer, will perform at the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2022 on Aug. 13. Betto Arcos, music journalist, curated the Latin Tropical Stage for the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2022. Brendan Rawson, executive director, San Jose Jazz.

Forty-eight million Americans use Medicare Part D to access their prescription medications, and according to a Department of Health and Human Services study from January of this year, more than 5 million Medicare beneficiaries are struggling to afford those prescriptions. But if enacted, the Inflation Reduction Act could soon bring those prices down. The legislation would give the federal government more bargaining power in Medicare negotiations with pharmaceutical companies and cap out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs for covered Medicare recipients beginning in 2025. We’ll talk about the bill and how it could impact your prescription drug costs. Guests: Juliette Cubanski, deputy director of the Program on Medicare Policy, KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). Astrid Galván, editor, Axios Latino. David Mitchell, founder, Patients For Affordable Drugs, Patients For Affordable Drugs NOW - diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2010.

It’s estimated that over 8% of adults in the U.S. have ADHD, also known as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. For many adults, life during the pandemic, with its shifts in schedule and intense demand for multi-tasking, made them more aware of disordered feelings, leading them to an ADHD diagnosis. In other instances, parents who are in the process of getting their child diagnosed with ADHD realize that they suffer from many of the same symptoms as their kids. Indeed, ADHD is often underdiagnosed in women and people of color. We’ll look at what it’s like to be diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and how to manage and live with it. Related link(s):

HALP at UCSF

Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD)

Guests: Stephen Hinshaw, distinguished professor of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley; professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UC San Francisco; author, "Straight Talk about ADHD in Girls" - released this month, and "Another Kind of Madness: A Journey through the Stigma and Hope of Mental Illness." Sara Chung, post-doctoral fellow, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UCSF School of Medicine - Chung was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult.

The FBI executed a search of Donald Trump’s Palm Beach, FL residence on Monday, suggesting that the Department of Justice could be edging closer to bringing criminal charges against the former president. News of the raid prompted house minority leader Kevin McCarthy to issue a statement accusing the DOJ of “weaponized politicization” and warning Attorney General Merrick Garland to “preserve your documents and clear your calendar.” Meanwhile, a federal appellate court ruled Tuesday that the House Ways and Means Committee may legally obtain Trump’s tax returns from the I.R.S. We’ll talk about the legal and political implications of both developments and how Republican officials are responding. Guests: Zack Beauchamp, senior correspondent, Vox Jessica Levinson, professor of law, Loyola Law School; host of the podcast “Passing Judgment” Michael Conway, adjunct lecturer, Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications; served as counsel to House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment trial of President Nixon

Temperatures have been reaching what passes as warm in and around San Francisco, and in other parts of the Bay Area it’s legitimately hot. We’ll talk about what we eat and drink when the temperatures soar. Do you sweat it out with a spicy hot soup or cool down with a block of cold tofu? Do you seek out halo-halo, Italian ice or a bomb pop? We’re talking about hot weather foods in a summer edition of All You Can Eat, our regular segment with KQED Food Editor Luke Tsai. Guests: Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Nora Haron, executive chef and owner, SanDai Restaurant + Kopi Bar - opening in Walnut Creek in the fall Amod Chopra, second generation owner, Vik's Chaat Christian Reynoso, chef, recipe developer, cooking columnist, SF Chronicle Martin Bournhonesqu, farmer , local CSA and sells produce to restaurants

“Top Gun: Maverick,” the Tom Cruise-starring sequel to the 1986 Tom Cruise-starring classic, is topping this summer’s domestic box office — and it’s now the U.S.’ seventh highest-grossing film, ever. “Nope,” the third movie from horror visionary Jordan Peele, has friends swapping interpretations around the campfire. And “Minions: The Rise of Gru” wasn’t just a big hit with little kids, but also with teens who grew up with the franchise — and showed up to screenings in suits, calling themselves #GentleMinions. Whether it’s nonstop action, beach scenes or nostalgia, some films just scream “summer movie.” We want to hear from you: what makes a summer movie to you? Which movie do you revisit every summer? Why?

Caution: This episode contains spoilers for "Nope" in its last 10 minutes.

Guests: Kristen Meinzer, podcast co-host, Movie Therapy with Rafer and Kristen Dave Schilling, contributing writer, LA Times Image Felicia Viator, associate professor of History, San Francisco State University

After decades of attempts to enact climate change legislation, the Senate passed a massive bill this weekend. The Inflation Reduction Act directs nearly $370 billion dollars in new spending to slash carbon emissions in the next eight years by giving Americans more access to clean energy. Robinson Meyer, staff writer at The Atlantic, will join us to break down what’s in the largest federal clean energy investment in U.S. history and what you need to know. Guests: Robinson Meyer, staff writer, The Atlantic; author, The Weekly Planet newsletter

Americans of Asian descent are commonly lumped together under the broad identifier of “Asian American.” But such a general term can overlook powerful histories and distinctions among ethnicities. In her new book “Asian American Histories of the United States,” author Catherine Ceniza Choy reminds us that Asian Americans are not a monolith. “Like a galaxy of stars,” she writes, “the multiple origins of Asian American history are distinctive, but most meaningful when collectively visible as in a constellation, revealing intricate connections that present new ways of seeing, understanding, and moving forward.” We’ll talk with Choy about the evolution of the Asian American identity and the diversity it encompasses. Guests: Catherine Ceniza Choy, associate dean, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Justice, and Professor of Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley; author, "Asian American Histories of the United States" and "Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History."

In her new memoir, “The Man Who Could Move Clouds,” Ingrid Rojas Contreras tells the story of a journey she took with her mother to her native Colombia to exhume her grandfather’s remains. She intricately weaves family histories involving her curandero grandfather, her mother who could appear in two places at once and her own magical inheritance sparked by a bout of amnesia. Rojas Contreras, who now calls the Bay Area home, joins us to talk about infusing magic into story telling and how memory is both a burden and a treasure. Guests: Ingrid Rojas Contreras, author, "The Man Who Could Move Clouds"

The Oakland Museum’s new exhibit, Hella Feminist, was scheduled to open two years ago to mark the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. The pandemic pushed the opening into a drastically changed climate for women after the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to an abortion. Through the works of contemporary artists responding to our current moment and an examination of historical items from the museum’s archive, the exhibit challenges visitors to interrogate the history and our concepts of feminism. Forum talks with the museum curators about the exhibit and what feminism means in this moment.

Guests: Carin Adams, curator of art, OMCA Erendina Delgadillo, consulting curator, Hella Feminist exhibit at OMCA Lisa Silberstein, co-curator, Hella Feminist exhibit at OMCA

Adoption is frequently cited, particularly among those opposed to abortion, as a solution to an unwanted pregnancy. But in fact, fewer than one in ten people denied abortion care chooses to put their child up for adoption, according to UCSF studies. We’ll explore why, and we’ll hear from women who did choose adoption about their experiences.

Guests: Angie Swanson-Kyriaco, birth mother; executive director, MPower Alliance Gretchen Sisson, sociologist in the department of obstetrics and gynecology and reproductive sciences, UCSF Ashley Morales, birth mother; program administrative assistant, La Selva, an outpatient behavioral health treatment program Susan Dusza Guerra Leksander, birth mother; agency and clinical director, Pact, an adoption alliance

California reported more than 1,100 probable or confirmed cases of monkeypox on Tuesday, a day after Governor Newsom declared a public health state of emergency to address the rapid spread of the disease in the state. Monkeypox, which spreads through close physical contact, has disproportionately affected gay and bisexual men, and LGBTQ activists are protesting the long wait times and limited availability of vaccines in many California counties. We’ll take your questions about monkeypox, the state response and how best to stay protected.

Guests: Dr. Peter Chin-Hong M.D., Infectious Disease specialist, UCSF Medical Center Scott Wiener, California state senator, representing San Francisco Tom Temprano, political director, Equality California, an LGBTQ+ rights advocacy organization

Inflation has driven prices skyward for all kinds of goods from gas to home goods. Even grocery store staples like cereal, milk and eggs have seen price hikes. While big chain brands might be able to weather these increases better, independent retailers are feeling these costs much more sharply. We’ll talk to local grocers from around the Bay Area to hear how they are dealing with the impact of inflation on their businesses and communities.

Guests: Chi Dixon, marketing and communications manager, Berkeley Bowl Eric Liittschwager, independent operator of the Grocery Outlet in the Mission in San Francisco

Landscape irrigation accounts for about half of residential water use in California, according to state data. That’s leading some drought-conscious residents to consider tearing up their lawns in favor of less water-intensive gardens. We’ll talk about how to embark on removing your lawn and the plants, grasses and trees you might consider replacing it with. Guests: Flora Grubb, owner, Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco Shawn Maestretti, founder and principal, Studio Petrichor - a landscape architectural design firm Caitlin Hernández, LA explained reporter, KPCC-LAist

A violent civil war has raged in Ethiopia for nearly two years, claiming 500,000 lives and displacing millions. Despite the current ceasefire, humanitarian aid is struggling to reach those who need it, leaving millions more at risk of starvation. Watching from afar, the Bay Area community of Ethiopians are trying to raise awareness about the crisis abroad. But the divisions between ethnic groups in Ethiopia are also finding their way closer to home. We’ll discuss the situation abroad and here in the Bay Area with members of local Ethiopian activist groups. Guests: Esayas Hailemariam, legal scholar; member and leader, Global Society Tigrayan Scholars Hanna Tamrat, co-organizer, San Francisco Bay Area Amhara Ethiopians Robael Gizachew, leader, Bay Area Oromo Youth Association Laetitia Bader, Horn of Africa director, Human Rights Watch Adey Hagos, founder, Cafe Romanat

Popular cryptocurrencies have plunged in 2022: both Bitcoin and Ethereum have lost about half their value since the first of the year, and Dogecoin has fallen by more 90% since its peak in 2021. But while wealthy and early crypto investors have weathered the downturn, smaller players have fared less well, revealing what New York Times fintech reporter David Yaffe-Bellany calls "a yawning divide." We talk about the crypto collapse and hear from you, if you're a crypto investor: about how has the downturn affected you. Guests: David Yaffe-Bellany, reporter, New York Times - who covers cryptocurrencies and fintech Edwardo Jackson, founder, BlacksinBitcoin - He's also founder of the defi token CD3D Moorari Shah, partner, Sheppard Mullin

Polls show that roughly a quarter of Americans are dieting. That’s despite research showing that very few people succeed in losing weight and keeping it off over time. A new Bloomberg podcast, Losing It, investigates the myths and realities of nutritional science and the power of the dieting industry. Forum talks with the podcast creators about the invention of the calorie as a weight loss tool, the branding of the South Beach Diet, and the complex relationship between health and the numbers on the scale. Guests: Kristen V. Brown, editor, Losing It - a Bloomberg podcast Emma Court, host and reporter, Losing It - a Bloomberg podcast

Researchers estimate that as many as half of pregnancies in the United States were not planned and roughly one in five pregnancies ends in an abortion. With the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade and the end of the federal right to an abortion, many sexual health educators and advocates are calling to enhance reproductive education – for people of all ages. Advocates say prevention and education can help people take charge of their reproductive health, but in many states sex education in schools is limited and under attack. We’ll talk about the state of sex ed in a post-Roe America. Guests: Shafia Zaloom, author, "Sex, Teens and Everything in Between: The New and Necessary Conversations Today's Teenagers Need to Have about Consent, Sexual Harassment, Healthy Relationships, Love, and More;" health educator, Urban School in San Francisco Christopher Pepper, health educator, San Francisco Unified School District

Even as we’re seeing more on-screen depictions of disability in films like “CODA” and “Sound of Metal,” the number of disabled people behind the camera remains low. That affects what stories are told — and their accuracy. As disabled artists push for more opportunities to tell their stories — on film, in visual art and through dance — we’ll talk with some in California who are advancing the cultural landscape of disability storytelling. We want to hear from you: What stories would you like to see told? Our thanks to Cathleen Riddley for ASL interpretation and Sherri Patti for live transcription during this hour. Guests: Nasreen Alkhateeb, filmmaker based in Los Angeles Alison O'Daniel, visual artist and filmmaker based in Los Angeles and San Francisco Antoine Hunter (AKA Purple Fire Crow), director, producer and choreographer based in Oakland; founder, Urban Jazz Dance Company and Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival

Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang together with dozens of other Democratic and Republican politicians announced on Wednesday that they're launching Forward, a new political party designed to appeal to centrists. But historically, third political parties have gained little traction in the United States. We'll talk about why and what could be different this time. And we'll hear from you: Would you support a third political party? What would it stand for? Guests: Eric Schickler, co-director, Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley Mindy Romero, founder and director, Center for Inclusive Democracy, formerly the California Civic Engagement Project - a non-partisan research center at the University of Southern California Tina Nguyen, national correspondent and founding partner, Puck

While the concept of spectators packing an arena to watch competitive video gaming at a college level may be perplexing to more traditional sports fans, the popularity of collegiate esports is growing in the Bay Area. in the Bay Area. In 2018 the streaming platform Twitch, which hosts esports competitions, moved their headquarters to San Francisco. In 2021, San Jose State University’s Bay Area Vandals competed in the biggest international Valorant tournament and the Chase Center is hosting the League of Legends Championship Finals in November. Clubs and teams are now commonplace at colleges across the country. We’ll dive into the world of college esports and discuss what’s drawing students and Universities to esports programs. Guests: Luke Winkie, freelance writer Johanna Brewer, assistant professor of computer science at Smith College and director of research, AnyKey Kirk Robles, associate director of business development for student affairs at U.C. Berkeley Ryan Winter, president of Gaming Gators at San Francisco State University

For New Yorker staff writer Hua Hsu, they’re cardboard cutouts that decorated his parents’ wedding, “each the size of a 45-r.p.m. single: an orange Snoopy and two Woodstocks, one white and one light blue.” For artist Ari Bird, it’s a tree pompom that her grandfather painted gold and gave to her as a child. Whether it's a portrait, a wedding dress, an album or a Snoopy cutout, the objects we inherit speak to who our families are, who we were, and what we value. We want to hear from you: what’s a family heirloom passed down to you — or that you hope to pass down to future generations? What makes it valuable? Guests: Hua Hsu, staff writer, New Yorker magazine; professor of Literature, Bard College; author, forthcoming memoir "Stay True" Ari Bird, visual artist based in Oakland and San Diego

After seeing yet another ‘30 under 30’ and ‘40 under 40’ list celebrating the achievements of young people, San Francisco geriatric doctor Anna Chodos decided it was time people started hearing about the remarkable achievement of living into old age. She started the 80 over 80 project to share the stories and experiences of San Franciscans over the age of 80. Forum talks with Chodos and participants about their rich and rewarding lives, their experiences during the pandemic, and aging in a society that fears getting old. Guests: Margaret Graf, founder, Senior Power - for seniors in the Sunset Judy Goddess, founder and reporter, sfseniorbeat.com Annie White, facilitator, Network for Elders - an organization in the Bayview supporting older adults Anna Chodos, geriatrician and medical director of outpatient geriatrics services, San Francisco Health Network; associate professor, UCSF in Geriatrics

A study published in the journal Nature this week documented yet more symptoms – including hair loss and sexual dysfunction – associated with long covid, a syndrome the CDC reports afflicts roughly a fifth of people who contract Covid-19. The Nature study also found that long covid sufferers are more likely to be young, members of ethnic minority groups, and economically disadvantaged. We’ll talk about the latest long covid science and hear from long haulers about how they have adjusted to life with a chronic illness. Guests: Eric Topol, professor of molecular medicine and executive vice president, Scripps Research Institute Angela Meriquez Vázquez, long COVID patient and President of Body Politic Paige Morrisey, 25-year-old COVID long-hauler

The sizzler, a popular dish in Mumbai, is an over-the-top melange of pasta, paneer, grilled onions and peppers, samosas, cabbage and shredded Mexican cheese – all piled on a sizzling hot platter. It was inspired, so the story goes, by a visit to a Sizzler chain restaurant in California in the 1960s, and it has returned to California in some South Bay restaurants. But as any child of immigrants knows, cultural food mashups don’t have to be flashy. For KQED reporter Adhiti Bandlamudi, whose article tracked down the history of the Sizzler, it was grilled paneer tacos. For San Francisco Chronicle food critic Soliel Ho, it was Ho’s grandmother’s jasmine rice with maggi seasoning, topped with turkey cold cuts. Ho calls it “assimilation food”: “food that’s made to close the gap between homes: a critical need when one lives in exile.” As part of our ongoing segment on Bay Area food cultures, we’ll talk about all kinds of food mashups, from that Indian Sizzler to hot cheetos in a burrito to putting a splash of fish sauce in the mac and cheese. Guests: Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Soleil Ho, restaurant critic, San Francisco Chronicle Adhiti Bandlamudi, Silicon Valley Reporter, KQED Alan Chazaro, food reporter, KQED

“Pregnant people,” a phrase to include those who can bear children, but don’t identify as women, has been used more often in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade. Some feminists have pushed back against the term and other gender-inclusive language like “birthing people” and “people who menstruate,” saying that these terms obfuscate gender-specific violence against women and reduce people to their body parts. Others have pushed back to that pushback, saying that the explicit inclusion of trans and nonbinary people only strengthens the fight for gender equity. We’ll talk about why the term evokes such strong emotions, and hear your thoughts, with powerhouse feminist thinkers Judith Butler and Roxane Gay. Guests: Susan Davis, senior editor, Forum Judith Butler, Maxine Elliot Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature, UC Berkeley Roxane Gay, author, "Difficult Women," "Hunger," and "Bad Feminist;" editor, the new anthology "The Selected Works of Audre Lorde"

Millions of renters could face evictions now that rental relief programs and bans on evictions have expired, or will soon. Those government programs targeted people who lost income during the pandemic, but many Californians have yet to recover financially and owe thousands in back rent. Even under existing programs, more than 135,000 households in California, nearly a third of the total, had their rent relief applications rejected, according to CalMatters. All of that along with rents creeping back up to pre-pandemic levels, could make way for a wave of new evictions. We’ll talk about vulnerable tenants and what local, state and federal agencies could do to help. Guests: Erin Baldassari, housing affordability reporter, KQED; co-host, "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America" podcast Manuela Tobias, housing reporter, CalMatters Bonnie Bertram, producer and writer, Retro Report; partnered with Frontline, documentary "Facing Eviction" debuts on July 26.

By his own account, journalist and author Alec Wilkinson was a terrible math student -- and passed his high school math classes only by cheating. But at age 65, he decided he’d try again to learn the subject that had left him feeling abused and aggrieved. His joyful and humbling quest is the subject of his new memoir "A Divine Language.” We'll talk to him about what he learned and we'll hear from you: have you tried to master a subject later in life? Guests: Alec Wilkinson, author, "A Divine Language: Learning Algebra, Geometry, and Calculus at the Edge of Old Age" - He's also a contributing writer for the New Yorker; his previous books include "The Ice Balloon," "The Protest Singer" and "The Happiest Man in the World."

Thanks to a series of recalls, resignations and re-shuffles, San Francisco has a new district attorney, new school board members, and a new city attorney, all of whom were appointed by Mayor London Breed. Now that the mayor has a team in place that is mostly of her choosing, what will she do to confront the city’s considerable challenges? Is the city in for a major course change? We’ll talk about San Francisco’s post-recall politics with a roundtable of reporters. Guests: Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, Reporter/Producer, KQED News. Scott Shafer, senior editor for KQED’s California Politics and Government desk and co-host of Political Breakdown. Annie Gaus, editor, SF Standard

Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti” has topped the Billboard albums chart for five weeks this summer, with his Latin trap and reggaetón beats on heavy rotation at beach days and house parties alike. The latest releases of Drake and Beyoncé are signaling for some a revival of house music, its uptempo beats symbolizing joy amidst struggle. And after 27 years, Netflix and TikTok returned Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” to the charts —winning fans not yet born at its release. This summer’s most popular music is eclectic, but there just may be a unifying energy to it all. We’ll discuss the sounds of Summer 2022 and hear your song of the summer.

Guests: Pendarvis "Pen" Harshaw, columnist, KQED Arts - host, KQED's "Rightnowish" podcast. Kelefa Sanneh, author, Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres - staff writer, The New Yorker; former music critic, The New York Times. Reanna Cruz, producer, Switched on Pop.

The Jan. 6 House Committee is wrapping up its summer hearings this week with testimony from two former Trump staffers who both resigned the day of the insurrection: Matthew Pottinger, former deputy national security adviser, and Sarah Matthews, a former White House deputy press secretary. The focus of recent hearings has been to detail former President Donald Trump’s role in inciting the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol and his repeated attempts to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election. We’ll talk about the latest revelations from the committee hearing, what could happen next and the political implications of the hearings so far. Guests: Shanlon Wu, criminal defense attorney and CNN legal analyst, former federal prosecutor who also served as counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno. Grace Panetta, Senior Politics reporter, Business Insider. Clara Jeffery, editor in chief, Mother Jones - San Francisco-based national magazine specializing in investigative, political, and social justice reporting.

Kids aged 14 to 17 should get a minimum of eight hours of sleep a night, according to the National Sleep Foundation. But more than three-quarters of U.S. high school students report sleeping less than that on school nights, CDC surveys show. To help teens sleep better, California became the first state in the nation to set new start times for public schools: as of July 1, high schools cannot start earlier than 8:30, and middle schools no earlier than 8:00. We'll hear what you think of the new schedules and take your teen and adolescent sleep questions.

Guests: Dr. Rafael Pelayo, clinical professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Division of Sleep Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center; author, “How to Sleep: The New Science-Based Solutions for Sleeping Through the Night” Lisa L. Lewis, author, "The Sleep-Deprived Teen: Why Our Teenagers Are So Tired, and How Parents and Schools Can Help Them Thrive"

In life, friends come in many buckets: school friends, teammates, neighbors. And then there is the work friend: the co-worker who understands how you spend eight hours of your day, the person who you seek out for coffee breaks to commiserate and who shares the workplace lingo. Work friends often remain just friends at work, but sometimes you start hanging out away from work and introduce them to your other friends and family. The importance of the work friend cannot be underestimated: a recent survey found that 70% of workers cited having friends at work as a critical component of a satisfying work place, and workers who report having a work friend are more likely to stay with their company. We’ll talk about friendships at work, the thrill of making your first work friend, and how to form work friendships in this pandemic-inflected world.

Guests: Julie Beck, senior editor, The Atlantic - Beck has written extensively about friendships as part of The Atlantic's "Friendship Files." Her most recent piece is titled "The Six Forces That Fuel Friendship" Emma Goldberg, reporter, New York Times - Goldberg covers the future of work for the New York Times. She wrote the article "The Magic of Your First Work Friends" Dr. Marisa Franco, psychologist and friendship expert; author, her forthcoming book is titled "Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help you Make -- and Keep -- Friends"

If you overheard someone shout, “nice dink in the kitchen!” you probably just walked by a pickleball court. Pickleball, the fastest growing sport in the United States, is taking over park and rec centers all over California as players clamor for more court time. Invented in 1965 by a Washington state congressman and his friend to entertain their bored kids, pickleball’s popularity took off during the pandemic, with an almost 40% increase in players. Across the country over four million people are playing pickleball, and its enthusiasts have formed a variety of professional organizations, leagues and tournaments with an eye to getting certified as an Olympic sport. We’ll look at how and why pickleball has become an American obsession. Have you picked up a paddle? Guests: John Walters, sportswriter, Sports Illustrated; adjunct professor of Sports Media, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Walters wrote the Sports Illustrated cover story about pickleball "Barbarians in the Kitchen" Rachel Simon, author, "Pickleball for All: Everything But the 'Kitchen' Sink" which comes out on August 30 Jordan Briones, pickleball professional and instructor; co-founder, Primetime Pickleball; creator, pickleball YouTube instruction channel: @brionespickleball.

Many Bay Area residents are scrambling and traveling long distances to get a monkeypox vaccine. Public health officials are warning of the serious shortage of vaccines needed to combat the growing outbreaks of monkeypox across the country. Since it was detected in the U.S. in May, the CDC has reported over 1,800 cases of the painful, but very rarely fatal, viral disease. About a quarter of the cases are in California, which expected to receive 15,000 doses of the vaccine this week but logistical, bureaucratic and technical errors on a federal level have slowed the distribution of nearly 7 million doses nationwide. Although anyone can get the disease, U.S. monkeypox cases have disproportionately affected men who have sex with men. LGBTQ activists protested federal offices in San Francisco this week out of concern we’re seeing a repeat of the public health failures of the early days of the HIV epidemic. We’ll discuss concerns about monkeypox and what local public health officials are doing to respond. Guests: Anne Rimoin , professor, Center for Global and Immigrant Health, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health Susan Philip, director of Director of Population Health Division, San Francisco Department of Public Health

Tyler TerMeer, CEO, San Francisco AIDS Foundation

Fernando Gomez-Benitez , deputy director, Mission Neighborhood Health Center

In 1973, not long after the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, Congress amended the Public Health Service Act to allow medical professionals to refuse to provide abortion care on the basis of their moral or religious beliefs. But if healthcare workers can be “conscientious objectors” to abortion care, couldn’t “conscientious providers” of abortion be legally protected, too? That’s the question University of San Diego law professor and bioethicist Dov Fox asks in his recent New York Times op-ed “What Will Happen if Doctors Defy the Law to Provide Abortions?” We’ll talk to Fox and other experts about the medical and moral dilemmas abortion providers face in the post-Roe world. Guests: Dov Fox, professor of law and director, Center for Health Law Policy and Bioethics, University of San Diego School of Law Dr. Jennifer Conti, adjunct clinical assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Stanford University Sonja Sharp, metro reporter, LA Times Dr. David Eisenberg , associate director, Division of Family Planning, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine

Acclaimed poet and novelist Erika L. Sanchez’s memoir, “Crying in the Bathroom,” presents a series of poignant essays about growing up in Chicago in a working-class Mexican neighborhood, her rise to literary fame and her struggles with mental illness. Her book details many moments when she was successfully achieving her dreams and, simultaneously, considering ending her life. Sanchez is also author of the poetry collection, “Lessons on Expulsion,” and the young adult novel, “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter,” that is being adapted into a movie. She joins us to talk about making it as a Mexican-American writer, sex and shame, Buddhism, and crying in the bathroom. Guests: Erika L. Sanchez, poet, novelist, essayist and professor at DePaul University. Her new memoir is "Crying the Bathroom." Her other books include the poetry collection, "Lessons on Expulsion," the young adult novel, "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter."

By the end of the summer of 2020 -- after a violent militia group plotted to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and after Proud Boys members attacked Black Lives Matters protesters in cities around the country -- it was clear to intelligence professionals that these groups "were planning for war." That's according to counterterrorism expert Malcolm Nance, whose new book "They Want to Kill Americans" traces the rise of what he calls TITUS, or the Trump Insurgency in the United States. We'll talk to Nance about who the insurgents are and how we can counteract the threat they pose to our democracy. Guests: Malcolm Nance, former United States naval intelligence officer, specializing in cryptology & counterterrorism. His new book is "They Want to Kill Americans: The Militias, Terrorists, and Deranged Ideology of the Trump Insurgency."

Laguna Honda Hospital opened up in 1866 to care for the city’s poor and indigent. Now over 150 years later, federal officials have threatened to shut the hospital, which operates as a skilled nursing facility, because of failed inspections prompted by two nonfatal drug overdoses that occurred onsite. In order to be recertified to operate, Laguna Honda must move out over 600 of its residents and has until September 13 to make that happen. So far, they have only moved 48 patients. What happened to the hospital and how will these patients be taken care of? We’ll discuss the ongoing situation at Laguna Honda and talk about what this situation says about how we care for our most vulnerable friends and neighbors. Guests: Sydney Johnson, public health reporter, San Francisco Examiner. Tony Chicotel, Staff Attorney, California Advocates For Nursing Home Reform. Jessica Lehman, executive director, Senior & Disability Action. Roland Pickens, director of the San Francisco Health Network, a network of 13 clinics in SF, interim CEO of Laguna Honda Hospital, Laguna Honda Hospital.

President Biden’s approval rating is below 40%, and a poll this week from the New York Times and Siena College found 64% of Democratic voters would prefer a new presidential candidate in 2024. We’ll talk about what’s fueling voter dissatisfaction with the president, and we want to hear from you: should Biden run again? If not, do you have ideas of who should pick up the mantle?

Guests: Tamara Keith, NPR White House correspondent, Co-host of the @NPRPolitics podcast. Marisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED - Co-host of KQED's Political Breakdown show.

When E.T. walked across the screen and into the hearts of moviegoers everywhere, that lovable space alien who wanted to “phone home” needed a sound for its walk. Foley artists, the sound magicians who add special effects to movies, decided to use a bag of jello in a damp T-shirt. Indeed, a Foley artist is nothing but ingenious. Snappers, clackers, ka-chunkers, sha-shonkers and things that go “ronk” are just a few things you might find in their toolbox, along with celery — good for broken bones — or paperclips on gloves to imitate a cat walking down the hall. We’ll learn about these tricks of the trade from some of the world’s best Foley artists at Skywalker Sound in Marin.

Guests: Anna Wiener, contributing writer, The New Yorker - She is the author of the memoir "Uncanny Valley." Her most recent piece for the New Yorker is titled "Noisemakers." Shelley Roden, Foley artist, Skywalker Sound - Roden has worked as a Foley artist for over 25 years, and has worked on "Black Panther," "Top Gun: Maverick," "Soul," "Turning Red," and hundreds of other films. Scott Curtis, Foley Mixer, Curtis has mixed sound for a variety of movies including "Titanic," "Team America" and "Black Panther."

“Where else can we go when this country turns on us?” That’s the question author Wajahat Ali wrestles with in his recent column for the Daily Beast, “Is It Time for Me to Leave America?” Ali, who is Muslim and U.S.-born, says it feels reckless not to have at least an exit plan if you’re a person of color in the United States in this political and cultural climate. He also says that in his heart, he knows he will stay. We’ll talk with Ali and others who’ve contemplated emigrating about what’s prompting them to leave and what’s keeping them home.

Guests: Wajahat Ali, author, "Go Back to Where You Came From;" columnist, the Daily Beast; co-host, Democracy-ish Areyon Jolivette, Los Angeles-based writer Bridget R. McCurtis, DEI and leadership strategist, living in St. Kitts

A nursery of stars. Galaxies 13 billion light years away. The Carina Nebula. These are some of the spectacular images captured by the James Webb Telescope from its vantage point one million miles away from earth. As the telescope’s detail-saturated pictures were beamed across the world on Tuesday, they were met with awed silence as well as whoops of joy from scientists, some whose entire careers have been dedicated to the telescope. One of the most complicated spacecraft ever launched, the the telescope, which boasts a sun shield the size of a tennis court, will beam back images and data for the next 20 years. We’ll talk to scientists who helped design the James Webb Telescope and find out what we can expect to see next.

Guests: Marcia Rieke, Regents' professor of Astronomy and astronomer, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona - Dr. Rieke is the principal investigator for the NIRCam on the James Webb Space Telescope. Tom Greene, astrophysicist, Space Science and Astrobiology Division at NASA Ames Research Center - Dr. Greene works on the NIRCam and MIRI science instruments on the James Webb Telescope. Marina Koren, staff writer, The Atlantic - Koren covers space for the magazine.

The day that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Gov. Gavin Newsom affirmed that California would be a sanctuary for those seeking abortion care and signed legislation protecting doctors and patients from liability imposed by states banning the procedure. About 10,000 more out-of-state residents will come to California annually to seek abortion care, according to a new UCLA report. But about 40 percent of California counties don’t have a single abortion provider. We’ll look at California’s “access deserts” and the realities of abortion access in the state, for Californians and out-of-state abortion-seekers alike. Guests: Lauren Hepler, housing and retail reporter, San Francisco Chronicle Fabiola Carrión, director, Reproductive and Sexual Health, National Health Law Program Michelle Rivera, program manager, Act For Women and Girls Jon Dunn, President/CEO, Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol held another hearing Tuesday revealing more details about how former President Trump repeatedly tried to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election despite many aides and advisors counseling him to stop. Another key focus was on the right-wing extremist groups including the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers that helped organize the insurrection in coordination with Trump and his advisors. We discuss the latest news from the Jan. 6 committee hearing and dive into the rise of violent extremist groups. Guests: Claudia Grisales, congressional reporter on NPR's Washington desk Kali Holloway, columnist, The Nation Lindsay Schubiner, director of Western States Center's Momentum Program A.C. Thompson, reporter, ProPublica and FRONTLINE correspondent. His investigation into the assault on the U.S. Capitol is featured in an updated version of the Frontline documentary "American Insurrection."

Covid 19 cases are on the rise again as various Omicron subvariants spread. Epidemiologists warn that people may not have as much immunity to new variants compared with previous strains of the virus. It can be hard to keep track of changing guidelines such as when to wear a mask or schedule vaccine boosters. Evaluating the risk for summer travel can be confusing. We take your questions about new Covid 19 variants and discuss the latest news, research, and where we are in the pandemic. Guests: Dr. Bob Wachter, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco Dr. Yvonne (Bonnie) Maldonado, professor of Pediatrics and of Epidemiology and Population Health Chief, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases Stanford University School of Medicine

Nearly 80 percent of Southern California’s doughnut shops are estimated to be owned by Cambodian immigrants. Many of those owners, who struggled over hot fryers at shops open 24hours a day, seven days a week, hoped that their own children would move away from the doughnut business and join the ranks of white-collar professionals. But a generation of “doughnut kids” are opting to continue family traditions and run the shops they grew up in. They are modernizing the business while learning how to be the boss. We'll talk about doughnuts and the experience of continuing a family business’ legacy. Guests: Cathy Chaplin, senior reporter and editor, Eater LA, - author of "Food Lovers' Guide to Los Angeles." She is the author of the article "The Future of LA’s Cambodian-Owned Doughnut Shops Is in the Hands of the Next Generation." Dorothy Chow, vice-president, B & H Bakery Distributors. Danette Kuoch, co-owner and operator, California Donuts - Kuoch is a second-generation doughnut shop owner and created the Snickers doughnut.

Stockton is the most diverse city in America. It was also one of the hardest hit by post-industrial decline, the Great Recession and foreclosures, leading it to bankruptcy in 2012. In her book, “The Fight to Save The Town: Reimagining Discarded America,” Stanford law professor Michelle Wilde Anderson took a close look at Stockton and three other cities with widespread poverty and gutted local governments — cities that have been written off as “dying.” But in each of the towns, Anderson profiles ways residents have fought back and found new ways to address systemic issues like violence, community trauma, loss of home ownership and starved shared resources. Forum talks with Anderson about what it takes to make “discarded” cities a place residents want to stay and fight for. Guests: Michelle Wilde Anderson, professor of Law, Stanford University; author, "The Fight to Save the Town: Reimagining Discarded America" Jasmine Dellafosse, community organizer, Gathering for Justice

Whether it was streaming our favorite songs, tuning into a live DJ set online or picking up an instrument, music helped many of us navigate this difficult year. In August, we asked listeners to share the songs getting you through 2020 and we've been playing some of them on air each week. This hour, as the year comes to a close, we'll play more of the songs you said kept you going in 2020 and talk with NPR's music correspondent Ann Powers about the meaning of music in a year like this one. This segment originally aired on 12/30/20. Guests: Ann Powers, music critic and correspondent, NPR Ariana Proehl, producer and fill-in host, Forum Derreck Johnson, designer, Slate; event producer and promoter

There’s a dream of the Bay Area as a place of liberation: queer liberation, Black liberation, trans liberation, liberation for all. It’s a reputation that has pulled young people to the Bay Area for decades. But when Corey Antonio Rose moved to San Francisco from Jacksonville Florida in 2021 and searched for places that would embrace a young, gay Black man like himself, he was disappointed. In a series for the KQED podcast RightNowish, he looked at the history of those spaces in the Bay Area and the role of anti-blackness in the Bay Area’s queer community. We’ll talk with Rose about whether the Bay Area fails to live up to its reputation as a queer haven and how to find spaces that foster community and belonging. Guests: Corey Antonio Rose, producer and host of "Searching for a Kiki," a three-part series on the KQED podcast Rightnowish, KQED. Victoria Kirby York, deputy executive director, National Black Justice Coalition - a civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black LGBTQ+ people and co-sponsor of the Lavender Book, a directory of safe spaces. Don Romesburg, professor, Sonoma State University - whose expertise includes sexuality and gender in U.S. history, childhood and adolescence, transgender studies, race and sexuality, and queer performance and popular culture.

Veterinarians are nearly three times more likely than the general public to die by suicide, and one in six has contemplated taking their life, according to recent studies. The industry has never been under more stress: During the pandemic, pet ownership in the United States rose by 70% and the demand for veterinary assistance has risen exponentially. But many veterinarians are leaving the profession because of intense workloads, crushing student debt, hostile pet owners, and the trauma of euthanizing animals they’ve cared for from cradle to grave. We’ll talk about the mental health challenges veterinarians and vet techs are facing, and what can be done. This segment originally aired on March 8, 2022.

Guests: Dr. Susan Cohen, social worker, Dr. Cohen runs support groups for veterinarians and animal welfare workers; former director of counseling, the Animal Medical Center in New York City Dr. Melanie Goble, founding board member, Not One More Vet -- a nonprofit organization devoted to helping the veterinarian medical community with mental health issue; practicing veterinarian Jennifer Scarlett, president, San Francisco SPCA; veterinarian Dr. Cherese Sullivan, president, Multicultural Veterinary Medical Association; practices general veterinary medicine

Though it was expected, the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has sent shock waves throughout the country. Legislatures in more than two dozen states have already or are preparing to severely restrict or eliminate abortion access. Some providers immediately halted services as soon as the Court’s decision came out while other providers are now scrambling to care for an influx of people seeking care. And patients, some as young as ten years old, are crossing state lines for emergency abortions. We examine the landscape of reproductive rights post-Roe and answer your questions about the impact of the Supreme Court's ruling.

Guests: Margot Sanger-Katz, health care correspondent, The New York Times Elizabeth Nash, principal policy associate, State Issues, Guttmacher Institute, research and policy organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) worldwide Mike DeBonis, congressional reporter, Washington Post

From celebrities like Harry Styles and the members of boy band BTS to social media beauty influencers like Patrick Starrr and Kenneth Senegal, more and more men and nonbinary folk are publicly embracing makeup in their daily lives. And as author and journalist David Yi argues in their new book, the male beauty influencers of today have ancient cultural precedents. “Pretty Boys” traces male beauty figures throughout history, from Ramses the Great to ‘80s glam rockers to drag culture newly entering the mainstream. We’ll hear about how beauty influencers, both past and present, have explored gender through makeup. This segment originally aired June 11, 2021 Guests: Kenneth Senegal, Beauty Entertainment influencer David Yi, founder and editor, Very Good Light -- a men's beauty publication; author, "Pretty Boys: Legendary Icons Who Redefined Beauty and How to Glow Up, Too"

Judging from the recent Supreme Court decisions allowing prayer during high school sports, the use of public funds for religious schools and the overturning of the federal right to an abortion, one might conclude that practicing religion is on the rise in the U.S. But, nearly 30% of Americans are not affiliated with a religious institution, a rapid decline in recent decades. People are now questioning how the erosion of the separation of church and state might affect religious beliefs and personal relationships with religious institutions. Are you religious? How are you affected by the recent court decisions on the religious cases? We’ll dive into how religion influences politics and policy and how religion plays a role in your life. Guests: Carolyn Chen, associate professor of Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley; co-director, Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion; author, "Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley" Barbara Perry, presidential studies director, University of Virginia's Miller Center

Pain is a "hallmark of consciousness among all beings," writes physician Haider Warraich in his new book "The Song of Our Scars." Pain, he explains, is also gendered, racial and above all so personal that it's the one thing truly our own. Like an estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide, Warraich himself lives with chronic pain, brought on by a devastating back injury. We'll talk to Warraich about the biology of pain and how we experience what he calls our most complicated sensation. Guests: Haider Warraich, author, "The Song of Our Scars: The Untold Story of Pain." He's also a physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the VA Boston Healthcare System and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.

Chores are well… a chore. And for many households, the lockdown only intensified domestic tension over tasks like cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping. We’ll talk to experts about how to make chores more manageable and equitable, how to share the load with children, roommates and spouses, and how to make the drudgery of keeping everything in order feel more like a delight. Guests: Eve Rodsky, author, "Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do (and More Life to Live)," which has been adapted into a documentary to be released in select theaters and on demand on Friday, July 8. Allie Volpe, senior reporter, Vox

“There’s nothing wrong with me because of the color of my skin.” Award-winning scholar and author Ibram X. Kendi wants us to imagine a world where all kids of color could be taught to internalize that antiracist idea and develop their sense of self through it. We'll talk to Kendi about how we as caregivers can help them do that and why we need to work to build an antiracist society that can protect all children. Kendi’s new book is “How to Raise an Antiracist.”

Fireworks may be in your future this holiday, but there are other reasons to gaze skyward in July. We’ll talk about meteor showers and other celestial events you can catch, hear about the Mars Perseverance rover’s latest adventures and get updates on the James Hubble telescope, expected to release its first images this month.

America's national anthem “The Star Spangled Banner” was written by a white lawyer who owned slaves but fought for Black freedom in court. That contradiction captures the controversy embedded in the song. It is a song that can inspire patriotic fervor and ignite passionate protest. It is also notoriously hard to sing. We talk to Mark Clague about the anthem and his new book about it, "O Say Can You Hear." As we go into this Fourth of July weekend, during a time when the nation is roiled by the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the congressional hearings on the insurrection at the Capitol, we hear from you about what patriotism means to you now. And what song speaks to your vision for America?

This year’s ground shifting Supreme Court term comes to a close on Thursday. This term, the Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, expanded religious rights and struck down gun regulation. In the process, it has positioned its jurisprudence to rely heavily on historical precedents from colonial times to guide its decisions. With confidence in the Supreme Court at an all-time low, many Americans believe that the justices are out of step with the majority of the country. What will that mean for the Court’s future? We’ll talk to a panel of experts about the term’s most significant rulings and look at what might be on the docket for next year’s term when Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson joins the Court. Guests: Rory Little, professor; UC-Hastings College of the Law; former attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice Margaret Russell, professor of Constitutional Law; Santa Clara University School of Law

In some parts of the country, barbecue is a fighting word. It launches hot debates on vinegar versus tomato-based sauce and the right ways to rub, spice and smoke. KQED Food editor Luke Tsai has a different take. His new series, BBQ in the Bay, highlights the region’s unique barbecue cultures from various traditions of cooking food outdoors over an open flame and how it brings communities together. As part of Forum’s regular segment on food cultures of the Bay Area, called All You Can Eat, we’ll dish on Mongolian barbecue, lechon, barbacoa, barbecue oysters, brisket and much more.

Guests: Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Pendarvis "Pen" Harshaw, columnist, KQED Arts; host, KQED's "Rightnowish" podcast Ray Castro, dentist in East Bay; amateur barbecue competitor Rocky Rivera, emcee; writer; part of KQED's BBQ in the Bay series

The Food and Drug Administration’s vaccines advisory committee decided Tuesday to recommend that covid vaccines be reformulated to better protect against the highly transmissible omicron variant. The vote comes as reported coronavirus cases top 10 million in California – a figure widely considered an undercount. We’ll discuss what the vote means, as well as the latest on covid subvariants, boosters and long covid, with UCSF’s Dr. Peter Chin-Hong. Guests: Dr. Peter Chin-Hong M.D., infectious disease specialist, UCSF Medical Center

Former President Donald Trump tried to wrestle control of a vehicle so he could join the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2020. That was just one of several major revelations from Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former chief of staff Mark Meadows, during Tuesday’s testimony before the House committee investigating the attack. Hutchinson also testified that Trump called to lift security during his rally despite knowing that many people were heavily armed, threw his lunch at a wall over a news article about former Attorney General William Barr, and endorsed a violent attack on Vice President Mike Pence. Former Trump staffers and aides have testified before the committee, giving the nation a fuller account of what happened on Jan. 6 and how Trump behaved. We discuss the latest news from the committee hearings and what these revelations mean for Americans. Guests: Nicholas Wu, reporter covering Congress, Politico Aimee Allison, founder, She the People - an organization elevating the political voice of women of color Ankush Khardori, lawyer based in Washington, D.C; contributing writer, New York magazine's Intelligencer; contributing editor, Politico magazine

A recent Los Angeles Times report examined seven affordable housing projects in Northern California in which the cost of development surpassed $1 million per unit. Part of the reason for the exorbitant cost of building is skyrocketing construction prices with rising material and labor costs exacerbated by the pandemic and supply chain shortages. But, as the L.A. Times points out, local and state requirements add a sizable amount to the total expense. For nonprofit developers who build subsidized housing, that means fewer units for more money. As California looks for ways to alleviate the housing crisis, we discuss why affordable housing is becoming more unaffordable and strategies to bring down the price tag. Guests: Liam Dillon, statewide housing affordability and neighborhood change reporter, Los Angeles Times Heather Hood, vice president, Northern California, Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. Tim Grayson, California State assembly member, district 14 (encompasses portions of Contra Costa and Solano Counties) Ben Metcalf, managing director, Terner Center of Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley; former director, California Department of Housing and Community Development

Former President Trump repeatedly tried to persuade top Justice Department officials to act on baseless fraud allegations in the days after the 2020 election, former acting deputy attorney general Richard Donoghue testified on Thursday. As the January 6 committee hearings pause before resuming in July, we'll analyze the information presented so far and talk about what's next for the DOJ's investigation into Trump’s attempt to interfere in the 2020 election.

Author Ben Tarnoff thinks the internet is broken:It is rife with misinformation and vitriolic hate speech. It potentially invades privacy rights. In the United States, it costs way too much to access compared with prices in other countries. And, it’s no surprise that it doesn’t work for consumers, Tarnoff says, because the internet was built by companies focused on power and profit. In his new book, “Internet for the People: The Fight for Our Digital Future,” Tarnoff offers a vision for a better internet that centers on public ownership of internet service providers and companies. We’ll talk to Tarnoff about his hopes for a more utopian internet. Guests: Ben Tarnoff, author, "Internet for the People: The Fight for Our Digital Future"; founding editor, Logic magazine

Roe v. Wade is overturned. Just short of 50 years after the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion, the Court ruled Friday in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that states may ban the procedure as early as conception. The ruling is expected to set in motion a cascade of highly restrictive abortion laws in half of the states. We analyze the decision, look at its impact and hear your reactions. Guests: Michele Goodwin, Chancellor's professor and director, Center for Biotechnology & Global Health Policy, UC Irvine School of Law; author, "Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood" Susan Matthews, news director, Slate - host of season 7 of the Slow Burn podcast, about Roe v. Wade

"Painful" is how many reproductive rights advocates are describing their reactions to the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe vs. Wade that was officially released Friday. A leaked draft decision in May warned of the impending opinion's ruling. In dissent, the Court's three liberal justices warned that the opinion's approach "places in jeopardy other rights, from contraception to same-sex intimacy and marriage." In this hour, we hear and react to listeners as they process the Supreme Court's decision. Guests: Jessica Pinckney, executive director, Access Reproductive Justice, a nonprofit that helps patients access abortions by providing information, financial and logistical assistance Lauren Rankin, writer, speaker, and activist; author, "Bodies on the Line: At the Front Lines of the Fight to Protect Abortion in America"

California allocated a record $1.5 billion for wildfire prevention and forest health in 2021. Yet Cal Fire, the agency largely in charge of prevention efforts, is struggling to track and implement projects and took years to authorize to establish a prescribed-burn workforce certification program, as required by state law. At the same time, its firefighting staff has increased substantially — demonstrating what experts have characterized as an internal prioritization of suppression over mitigation. That’s all according to a monthslong investigation by California Newsroom reporters, who join us to talk about their findings.

“I really wanted to depict the ways that young Black girls are made adults by a culture that sees us that way,” says Leila Mottley of her debut novel “Nightcrawling." The 2018 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate started writing the book when she was 17 and three years later, has received glowing reviews and a spot in the Oprah Book Club. Set in Oakland, “Nightcrawling” tells the story of Kiara, a character who offers an unflinching and lyrical portrayal of what it is to be poor, Black and a young woman. We talk to Mottley about her book. Guests: Leila Mottley, author, "Nightcrawling" --Mottley was the 2018 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate.

Bumblebees can’t see red, but they can detect the ultraviolet hue, invisible to humans, at the center of a sunflower. A fly can taste an apple just by landing on it, and a rattlesnake can perceive the infrared radiation emanating from warm-blooded prey. Those are just some of the extraordinary animal senses that science journalist Ed Yong celebrates in his new book “An Immense World.” We’ll talk to Yong about what he learned and hear how humans can limit behaviors that endanger the sensory environments of other species. Guests: Ed Yong, science writer, The Atlantic; author, "An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us"

There’s the family that you’re born with, and then there’s the family that you choose. The concept of chosen family took hold several decades ago in the LGBTQ+ community often out of necessity when people were rejected by their biological families and developed familial relationships with new loved ones. Experts define chosen family as people who you are not tied to by blood or law, but who you treat as family. Your chosen family is there for you not because they’re related, but because you relate to them. We discuss chosen families, how they are formed and what they mean to people. Guests: Nayeema Raza, documentary filmmaker and senior editor, New York Times Opinion. She's also the author of the article "My Father’s Last Gift to Me Came After His Death." Dawn O. Braithwaite, professor emeritus of communication, Department of Communication Studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Baruch Porras-Hernandez, writer, performer, organizer, host, curator, stand up comedian, and author of the chapbooks “I Miss You, Delicate” and “Lovers of the Deep Fried Circle” and co-organizar of KQED's ¿Dónde Esta Mi Gente? Literary Series

Learning a new language is easier said than done, and English in particular is a tricky one to master. It is a language that has absorbed influences from other languages and is still constantly evolving, with rules that seem like they’re never followed. On the internet, resources abound, but English language learners, particularly those who immigrate as adults, still face barriers to fluency. We talk with experts about the process of learning English, the social stigma that comes with not speaking fluently, and how technology is changing the way we learn. And we want to hear from you - have you had to learn English as a second language? What was your experience like?

Thursday’s hearing on the Jan. 6 insurrection highlighted the effort to convince then-Vice President Mike Pence to stop the certification of the 2020 election. The committee presented evidence of the potential criminal liability of lawyer John Eastman, the architect of that plan, who asked Rudy Giuliani for a presidential pardon following the insurrection. We’ll analyze that and other takeaways from the hearing and talk to California Congressman Adam Schiff, who will lead Tuesday’s hearing.

Guests: Ron Elving, senior editor and correspondent on the Washington Desk, NPR News Ankush Khardori, former federal prosecutor based in Washington, D.C.; contributing writer, New York magazine's Intelligencer; contributing editor, Politico magazine Rep. Adam Schiff, Democratic Congressman representing California's 28th District in Los Angeles County; chair, House Intelligence Committee; member, Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol

As the United States observes its second Juneteenth as a federal holiday, we’ll look to its history here in California and the role the Bay Area played in the movement that led to its federal recognition. We’ll talk about what this recognition means in the push for Black American reparations and policy changes and hear about the growth of Bay Area Juneteenth festivals and celebrations in recent years.

Guests: James Taylor, professor of Political Science, University of San Francisco; member, Reparations Task Force, San Francisco Orlando Williams, board member, Berkeley Juneteenth Festival Barbara Krauthamer, dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts and professor of History, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Unlikely. That’s what Golden State Warriors Coach Steve Kerr called this championship. After two years of battling injuries and tough losses, the Dubs won their fourth NBA title in eight years Thursday, beating the Celtics in Boston. We hear your reactions to Golden State’s victory.

Geoffrey Fowler recalls that when he first began reporting on consumer tech innovations two decades ago, the worst you might say about a product was that it was too expensive or too hard to use. But today, the tech we've come to depend on can steal our data, spy on our kids, send us down rabbit holes and feed us misinformation. Fowler joins us to talk about his new Washington Post series "We the Users," which identifies the tech products and services that fail us and how to fix them.

Reem Assil, owner of San Francisco and Oakland’s Reem’s Kitchen, began her career as a chef with a thirst for activism, often advocating for social justice and sustainability at work. As the opening chef of Dyafa, an Arab fine-dining restaurant in Oakland, Assil began to reimagine power dynamics in the kitchen which she boldly reflected on in her Eater article, “Don’t Call Me Chef.” Assil joins Forum to talk about her new book, “Arabiyya: Recipes from the Life of an Arab in Diaspora,” in which she weaves personal essays on food, family, identity, hospitality, activism and political struggles amid recipes influenced by Arab flavors.

For decades, award-winning health journalist Linda Villarosa says she “long understood that something about being Black has led to the documented poor health of Black Americans.” And that “something” was not race per se or poverty or lack of access to education, information, or healthcare. According to Villarosa, poor health outcomes are directly tied to racism itself. In her latest book, “Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation,” Villarosa draws a direct line from centuries of discrimination and ongoing bias to the the health of the Black community. She debunks myths that continue to persist and offers a path forward to addressing racism that exists in our healthcare system. We talk to Villarosa about her book and answer your questions.

Norman Mineta, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Transportation, Congressmember and San Jose mayor, will be laid to rest in San Jose on Wednesday. Mineta was born in San Jose in 1931. During the Second World War, at the age of 10, he was imprisoned with his family in a Japanese internment camp in Wyoming. As a U.S. Representative, Mineta worked to provide reparations for interned Japanese Americans, co-sponsoring the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. As the Secretary of Transportation on Sept. 11, 2001, Mineta fought against appeals to intern Muslim Americans and later founded the Transportation Security Administration. We'll discuss Mineta’s legacy and celebrate his life.

Water has agency. It wants to go where it wants to go. Humans, particularly in recent centuries, have fought against the desires of water with almost unimaginable amounts of concrete, pumps the size of houses, and enormous canals. We’ve usually been able to make the water go where we want it to, and keep it from where we don’t. But, journalist Erica Gies argues in her new book, "Water Always Wins," that our water system here in the state and around the world is not going to hold for much longer. What comes after, she says, will require us to live and work with water’s desires, not against them.

In blunt testimony to the January 6th committee, former Attorney General William Barr testified he thought Donald Trump was “detached from reality” as the former President continued to tout the lie of a stolen election, a lie that had been repeatedly been debunked by Trump’s own advisors and campaign. Interweaving recorded interviews with live witnesses, on day two of the hearings, the committee focused on Trump’s knowledge that there was no credible basis for claims the 2020 election had been stolen and heard that there were two camps among Trump’s advisors: Team Normal and Team Rudy, which urged Trump to claim victory and pushed lies about voting fraud. We’ll talk to Select Committee member Representative Zoe Lofgren and a panel of experts about other revelations.

“What would it mean to build artificial intelligence and other machines that were more like octopuses, more like fungi, or more like forests?” asks James Bridle in their new book, “Ways of Being.” From computers made of crabs, to theories of plant memory, to the legal push for an elephant’s personhood, “Ways of Being” looks beyond human intelligence to examine how our technology could better encompass the Earth’s complexity. Exploring different forms of intelligence — and all we don’t know about our world — Bridle argues that we can develop partnerships with non-threatening AI, rethink our computers, reform our politics and even save our shared planet.

“The appearance of the anus was momentous in animal evolution, turning a one-hole digestive sac into an open-ended tunnel,” writes Katherine J. Wu in her Atlantic piece, “The Body’s Most Embarrassing Organ Is an Evolutionary Marvel,” set to appear in this year’s Best American Science and Nature Writing. Yet societal taboos can keep us from talking about this evolutionary marvel, and that “creates a bit of a blind spot—one that keeps us from understanding a fundamental aspect of our own biology.” Wu joins us to celebrate the anus and its biology, and to hear how you talk about – or avoid talking about – the anus and other underappreciated body parts.

A new series from KQED Arts & Culture takes stock of how Bay Area artists have weathered the pandemic and what they are doing now to lift up themselves and their communities. "Our Creative Futures" profiles artists and programs that support them, highlighting voguers in Oakland tackling LGBTQ+ health issues, a guaranteed income pilot program for artists and a new collective in San Francisco that uplifts Filipino voices. We’ll talk about the challenges for local artists and the ways that many have found to thrive during the pandemic.

Residents of California's South Coast -- the hydrologic region that includes Los Angeles -- used about 25% more water in April than a year ago, according to state data released this week. Statewide, urban dwellers used about 17% more. That's sounding alarms about Californians’ ability and willingness to conserve water in the third year of what's shaping up to be the worst drought in state history. We’ll hear how Las Vegas's water agency has pushed its residents and businesses to conserve and talk about the practices that might work in California.

Office buildings in downtown San Francisco sit empty or nearly empty as thousands of workers continue working from home. Back in 2019, San Francisco had one of the tightest office real estate markets in the country with about 5% vacancy and record-setting rental rates. Now, vacancy has plummeted to 24% and rental rates have fallen by 13% since the end of 2019, according to commercial brokerage firm CBRE. But, it’s not just cubicles that are deserted – so are the sidewalks and many of the cafes, stores and small businesses that catered to the office crowd. The trend is prompting some developers, landlords and policymakers to consider turning some office towers into much needed housing, but similar efforts have proven difficult in the past. We’ll talk about how to reimagine and pump new life into San Francisco’s downtown business districts.

As Californians went to the polls on Tuesday to vote in the state’s primary, predicted low voter turnout seemed to be the top headline statewide. While every registered voter was mailed a ballot, only 16% of them had been returned by Tuesday. This lackluster turnout stands in contrast to the energy behind some of the hotly contested races, like the mayor’s campaign in Los Angeles and the effort to recall San Francisco’s progressive district attorney. And while a recent poll by the Public Policy Institute placed the economy, inflation and housing at the top of Californian’s concerns, political observers note that this primary seems to be a referendum on pandemic crime rates. We’ll analyze the results, and talk about what message voters are sending about state politics and what these results portend for the November midterms.

Voters cast ballots in consequential races across the Bay Area on Tuesday. San Franciscans decided whether to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin, a campaign followed in national media as a referendum on progressive criminal justice reform. San Jose’s mayoral primary brought in historic amounts of campaign spending. We’ll look at the impact of California’s new redistricting maps on congressional elections, discuss the possible reasons for low voter turnout and analyze election results from around the Bay.

California – and specifically Lincoln Park in San Francisco – is at least in theory the ultimate destination for the band of travelers and seekers that populate Amor Towles’s latest novel, “The Lincoln Highway.” But their journey becomes defined by detours, reversals and recalibrations – in much the same way that Towles describes how he composes his novels. “While I’m writing chapters,” he says, “I’m also adapting to surprises that surface from the work.” We’ll talk to Towles about the themes that unite his novels and his own odyssey as a writer.

Tens of millions of Mexicans immigrated to the U.S. to give their children better lives, but now some of those children are choosing to pack up and make their own lives in Mexico. The pandemic has fueled a major uptick in Americans looking to move abroad including a growing number of people moving to countries where their families originated from, especially Mexico. Many of those expatriates desire not just to live abroad, but also to reconnect with their ancestral homeland and heritage. But it’s a move that’s often fraught with challenges and complex questions about identity. We talk with Americans of Mexican descent now living in Mexico and why they decided to migrate in reverse.

California voters head to the polls Tuesday to narrow the candidate fields in multiple state and local elections, from mayors’ races in San Jose and Los Angeles to statewide contests for governor, attorney general and state controller. In what some political observers consider to be referendums on pandemic crime rates, voters will also weigh in on candidates for Los Angeles sheriff and decide whether to recall San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin. We’ll hear about the potential repercussions for November, the biggest races, and your thoughts and questions ahead of election day.

The Golden State Warriors are back in the NBA finals this year, facing serious competition from a tough Boston Celtics squad. We’ll talk about their season, the return of key players to the court, the future of the franchise and how they’re looking in the finals with reporters who’ve been following the Warriors all season long.

Oklahoma last week became the first state to ban almost all abortions from the moment of conception, and at least 20 more are poised to outlaw or severely restrict the procedure if, as widely expected, the Supreme Court overrules Roe v. Wade this month. How did we get to this point? That’s the question legal historian Mary Ziegler seeks to untangle in her new book “Dollars for Life: The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Fall of the Republican Establishment.” We’ll talk to Ziegler about the ebb and flow of U.S. popular sentiment about abortion and the ways extremist abortion foes joined forces with -- and ultimately co-opted -- the GOP.

Fantastic Negrito is one of the most original and successful performers to emerge from the Bay Area over the last decade. A musician, a storyteller and a carrier of our region’s Black musical traditions, he began performing on the streets of Oakland. Now he’s won 3 Grammys and he’s got a new album coming out today. Alexis, Mina Kim and some lucky KQED Live fans, got to hear a preview of that album a few months back, and we’re excited to finally be able to share Fantastic Negrito’s electric performance with you.

As teachers process the horror of the Uvalde shootings, they’re also managing concerns about safety in their own workplaces and supporting and protecting students worried about gun violence. And that’s all on top of two years working under the stresses of the pandemic. We’ll talk to teachers across California about how they’re coping in the wake of Uvalde — inside the classroom and out.

Summer is the perfect time to hop in the car for a day trip, and while there’s nothing wrong with stopping at In-N-Out on 580, with a little planning, you can find something unexpected and delightful as you hit the road. As part of our regular segment on Bay Area food cultures, KQED food editor Luke Tsai joins us with his suggestions for how to plan your excursion to include delicious stops along the way. What’s your favorite roadside stop or dining destination?

An infectious disease arrives in San Francisco and is immediately associated with residents of Chinatown. Scientists and public health officials try to stop the spread. White residents believe they are immune. Politicians and the business class say the disease is not real because they worry about hurting commerce. Vulnerable people die in droves. A new PBS documentary, “Plague at the Golden Gate,” takes viewers back to 1900 when the bubonic plague hit San Francisco in a manner eerily similar to the way the COVID-19 pandemic has played out the past three years. The film examines how racism, discrimination, and misinformation contributed to the spread of the disease. We’ll talk about the film and how history is repeating itself.

With the possibility of rolling blackouts looming for the summer, Governor Gavin Newsom said last week that he would consider delaying the 2025 shutdown of Diablo Canyon, California's last remaining nuclear power plant. As the world seeks to wean itself off of fossil fuels, some climate change activists have argued for a pivot to nuclear energy. But while nuclear energy technology has improved, concerns persist about nuclear power, the waste it generates and the possibility of disasters like Fukushima, Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. We’ll talk about the future of nuclear energy and whether it can be a viable way to combat climate change.

In her new book, "Work Pray Code," UC Berkeley professor Carolyn Chen offers up a provocative spin on what has happened among Silicon Valley professionals. Their work has become their religion. She means this literally, and she’s a religion professor, so she should know. Based on in-depth interviews with more than 100 Silicon Valley workers, she found that their work isn’t soul-crushing but rather as she writes, “Work has become a spiritual practice that inspires religious fervor. People are not ‘selling their souls’ at work. Rather, work is where they find their souls.” We’ll talk with Chen about her new book and ask our listeners: Is work where you look for belonging, identity, and transcendence?

What if some of the same public health strategies used to manage a pandemic could be marshaled to stem gun violence? As legislative solutions falter and firearm sales continue to increase, gun violence prevention advocates are looking to public health approaches that include systematic data collection, individual and community-level risk assessments and evidence-based prevention measures. We’ll look at what it means to treat gun violence as a public health emergency -- and the community organizations doing that work in California.

A recent piece in the New York Times, called the Oakland A’s “the loneliest team in baseball.” Though the Coliseum where they play can hold 57,000 fans, on average only 6,000 show up for home games. What happened to the glorious days of the A’s when manager Billy Beane was acclaimed for his savvy in managing the roster and payroll to get the most out of bench players? Has the management of the A’s turned off fans with their threats to move to Las Vegas if they don’t get a new stadium? And can Bay Area fans sustain two major league baseball teams? We’ll look at the state of the Oakland A’s, their future, and the hard economics of major league baseball.

“Modern life conspires against friendship,” says Atlantic staff writer Jennifer Senior, "even as it requires the bonds of friendship all the more." That’s one of the paradoxes at the center of Senior’s new piece “It’s Your Friends Who Break Your Heart” — a meditation on why friendships fade and collapse and why in midlife those losses sting particularly hard. We’ll talk to Senior about how at 52 she’s navigating what she calls a “Great Pandemic Friendship Reckoning” and what it means to overcome the heartbreak of a lost friend.

More than one million Americans have died from COVID-19. Close to 8,000 Americans have died from gun violence in 2022. Another nine thousand died of suicide. The difficult news of our time goes far beyond death. The planet is in crisis, tornados, floods and fires are ravishing whole towns, economic instability, racial injustice, and the rolling back of rights we’ve counted on for 50 years. It’s a lot. On this Memorial Day, we take time to make space for our individual and collective grief.

“War remains a large part of who we are as Americans,” writes Phil Klay, who notes that almost a sixth of our federal budget goes to defense, supporting a military that now wages counterterrorism campaigns in 85 countries. But those overseas wars are invisible to most Americans because they’re fought by so few and because of political and strategic choices that shield them from public view. We’ll talk to Klay, an award-winning fiction writer and veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, about the chasm between the military and civilian experience and what our wars say about us as Americans.

This week’s deadly shooting rampage at a Texas elementary school didn’t stop the National Rifle Association from holding its annual meeting this weekend in Houston. The latest massacre ignited another round of demands for tighter gun regulations and more criticism of the NRA and politicians who take donations from the group. But some experts say the NRA is mired in dysfunction and is no longer the force it once was. At the same time, activists and pro-gun-control lobbies are gaining more traction in the political arena. We’ll talk about the NRA’s role in gun violence and efforts to counter their influence.

The nation is mourning the 19 children and two teachers gunned down on Tuesday at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, TX, the deadliest school massacre since a gunman murdered 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT nearly a decade ago. And the horror of the shooting -- and the unspeakable grief experienced by family members, classmates and all those who loved the victims -- is agonizingly commonplace. More than 311,000 students in K-12 schools in the United States have experienced gun violence on their campuses since 1999, and tens of millions of Americans have been touched by gun violence in their communities, according to data collected by the Washington Post. We’ll talk about the profound toll borne by survivors of mass shootings.

Novelist and journalist Vanessa Hua’s new book “Forbidden City” is a historical fiction set in 1960s China. It’s the story of a 16-year-old girl who was plucked from a rural village to join a troupe of dancers formed to satisfy an aging Chairman Mao’s – historically accurate – love of ballroom dance and teenage girls. Hua writes in the author’s notes, “I believe that fiction flourishes where the official record ends”; the novel leaves the impression that even if the woman at the center of the book were real, she would have been erased from history. We’ll talk about the dynamics of gender, power and manipulation that resonate across time and geography. “The past,” Hua writes, “is never as distant as it seems.”

On May 26, 2021, a Valley Transportation Authority employee in San Jose shot and killed nine coworkers in what became the Bay Area's most deadly mass shooting. As the nation mourns the deaths of 19 students and two teachers killed in a Texas elementary school this week, we remember the victims and the tragedy in San Jose on the first anniversary of the shooting.

President Biden is weighing proposals to cancel some student loan debt, which in the aggregate totals more than $1.7 trillion – a record high figure that outpaces the nation’s collective credit card debt. We’ll talk about who’s most likely to shoulder student loans and hear from those who’ve been grappling with them. And we’ll hear from you: How have student loans affected your life? Would you be doing something different if you didn't have education debt?

For better or worse, Twitter is a crucial part of our public sphere now. That’s one reason that Elon Musk may end up buying the social media platform. The move is prompting experts and scholars to reconsider the future of digital communities. Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Reddit have been criticized for overt censorship and for algorithms and guidelines that encourage the spread of misinformation. People in both camps have been asking: who should own and run these platforms and what should an online public sphere look like? We’ll talk about the future of digital communities in the social media landscape and we’ll want to hear from you. What do you want in an online commons?

When they came to power in August, the Taliban assured the international community that the status of Afghan women would be secure. The opposite has been true: women are being erased from public life. They are restricted from working outside the home. If they travel more than 45 miles from their house, they must be accompanied by a male relative. Girls no longer have access to secondary education. More recently, the Taliban has decreed that women should be covered from head to toe when in public. We’ll look at the latest in Afghanistan, the status of its women and girls, and answer your questions.

John Mooallem became a magazine writer after realizing that “instead of thumping my head against the biggest questions of my own life” he could train his insights and inquiry on the world. “I’d been puzzling over myself, torturously trying to unlock the truth of who I was. The truth is, I am the puzzling,” he writes in the prologue to his collection of essays, “Serious Face.” In his wide ranging collection, Mooallem brings his "puzzling" to, among other things, our relationship to nature and disaster, our concepts of evolution, a pigeon pyramid scheme and his own face. Jon Mooallem joins Forum to talk about his new book and the question that he says binds the essays together: Why are we not better than we are?

After the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked, some abortion advocates recommended that people delete apps that track menstrual cycles for fear that this information could be used against them in a post-Roe America. Given the draft opinion’s conclusions questioning the right to privacy, digital privacy experts warned that private search queries and health data could be weaponized — against everyone. With all the personal information our phones contain, we’ll talk about the implications of a post-Roe America for personal data, community surveillance and the constitutional right to privacy itself. And we want to hear from you: What are your questions about data and privacy post-Roe? What actions are you taking to protect your personal data?

“Learn to live with the cringe,” advised Taylor Swift at NYU’s recent commencement ceremony for the Class of 2022. Across the nation, graduates are being peppered with all kinds of advice from commencement speakers who range from politicians, scientists, CEOs, celebrities, and their own classmates. So what makes a good graduation speech? Is it pearls of wisdom like “Oh the places you’ll go” or “Today is the first day of the rest of your life” or the practical advice: “Wear sunscreen”? Or is it the humor or gravitas of the speaker? Next on Forum, we’ll talk about graduation speeches and hear from you: What is a piece of advice you’ve heard in a commencement speech that has stayed with you?

It’s been known as the “happiest place on earth,” and if you’re a Californian, chances are you have been to Disneyland at least once. Indeed, when he opened the park in 1955, Walt Disney declared that “Disneyland is your land.” In 2019, over 18 million people visited Disneyland, and since its opening, the company estimates that 750 million visitors have come to the park, taking a spin on the Mad Hatter’s tea cups, zooming through Space Mountain, or sampling its refreshments and snacks, which include roasted turkey legs, churros and a simple box of popcorn. Nearly 70 years after it was founded, Disneyland has managed to stay both relevant and a bucket list destination. But how has a private park owned by a corporate behemoth managed to lodge itself into the California imagination? We’ll talk to two Disneyland experts to learn more, and we’ll hear from you about what feelings or memories Disneyland evokes.

Summer travel is on the rebound after a steep decline in 2020. But, as more people indulge the urge to travel this year, prices for gas, hotels and plane tickets have soared. That, along with ongoing concerns about the pandemic are forcing some travelers to rethink how and where they travel. Many people are hunting for new experiences like discovering a lesser-known state park or small town on the coast. We’ll talk about how summer travel has changed and what’s on your itinerary this year.

California’s seven-day COVID positive test rate is at five percent, the California Department of Public Health reported on Tuesday — the highest rate since February. The news comes as COVID cases have more than tripled in the U.S. since April 1, owing in large part to the highly transmissible BA.2 omicron subvariant. With many pandemic mandates lifted but masking still “strongly recommended” in much of the state, we’ll hear how you’re thinking about COVID risk and discuss the latest on prevention and treatment with UCSF’s Dr. Bob Wachter.

In a career spanning over two decades, five albums, numerous musical features in film and television and now a lifestyle brand, R&B singer-songwriter Goapele continues to make a mark in music with her soulful sound and introspective lyrics. Her iconic song “Closer,” which was first released independently in 2001, remains influential in R&B music today, inspiring artists like fellow Bay Area musician H.E.R. Raised in a social justice-driven household in Oakland, Goapele has been a voice for prison reform, HIV/AIDS awareness and other causes throughout her career. This week Goapele, who now resides in Los Angeles, returns to Oakland for a four-night stint at Yoshi’s from May 19 to 22. We’ll talk to Goapele about her upcoming shows, her childhood in the Bay, her music and more.

Who was George Floyd, and what was it like to live in his America? Those are the questions that Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Tolu Olorunippa set out to answer in their new biography “His Name is George Floyd." Based on public and private records and hundreds of interviews with those close to him, the book examines Floyd's life in its complexity and the institutions stacked against him, from his birth to his murder by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin two years ago this month. We talk to Samuels and Olorunippa about Floyd's journey and how his story encapsulates "the compounding and relentless traumas" of the Black experience in America.

A recent DNA analysis has found that the federally unrecognized Muwekma Ohlone Tribe has been in the Bay Area for at least 2,000 years. The evidence bolsters the tribe’s decades-long case to reinstate their federal recognition which they lost, along with dozens of other California Indian tribes, in the 1920s. Tribal leaders say recognition is a necessary first step for the Muwekma Ohlone to establish a reservation. But tribal law experts say the process for gaining federal recognition is complicated and political. We’ll talk about why some tribes are– or are not – recognized, what federal recognition means for them, and the current efforts from tribes such as the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe to gain recognition.

Next month, Berkeley’s Cafe Ohlone will reopen in a new space in the Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. The restaurant, which serves traditional dishes of the Bay Area’s original inhabitants, closed during the pandemic. Cafe Ohlone’s owners say they hope to repair the fraught relationship the Ohlone people have with the Hearst Museum, which contains a large collection of Ohlone artifacts. We’ll talk about the next iteration of Cafe Ohlone and their goal of affirming Ohlone culture.

Dating, for everyone, is full of tricky social conventions. How long should you wait to call someone after getting their number? Who should cover the dinner bill? And navigating some of these situations can be extra difficult for autistic people. Netflix’s new season of “Love on the Spectrum,” an American version of the Australian docuseries, produced by Northern Pictures, premieres on Wednesday and explores the unique hurdles – and joys – that autistic people face when entering the dating pool. We’ll talk about love, heartbreak, and how autism plays into the beautiful messiness of it all with some of the people who made the show possible.

Jane Stanford and her robber baron husband Leland founded what would become Stanford University in 1885. 20 years later Jane Stanford was murdered, poisoned by strychnine. Historian Richard White dives into the corruption and coverups shrouding the unsolved murder in his new book, “Who Killed Jane Stanford?” His book is both a true crime mystery and a history of the corruption, inequality, yellow journalism, pseudo-science and racism of California’s Gilded Age. Forum talks with White about reviving a cold case more than a century old and the present day resonance of examining “the rich people who created monuments to themselves, and whose lives are reminders that the problem with philanthropy is very often philanthropists.”

Barely a day after a gunman killed 10 people at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store in a predominantly Black neighborhood, another gunman at a church service for a Taiwanese congregation in Laguna Woods, California, killed one person and injured several others. “This should not be our new normal,” said Orange County representative Katie Porter. And yet, these incidents and their impacts feel all too familiar: Communities of color feeling unspeakable grief and terror. We’ll discuss the hate-filled ideology and so-called “replacement theory” being mentioned in the wake of the Buffalo massacre.

For about a quarter century, KQED Forum listeners have been getting dressed, brushing their teeth and driving to work to the sounds of “Peter Pan” by musician Mike Marshall. On Monday, they will have a new soundtrack. Each hour of the show is getting its own new theme song, composed by NPR’s Ramtin Arablouei. To mark the occasion, we’ll talk about what makes a great theme song, including the best TV themes through the decades. And we’ll open the phone lines to ask our listeners: What TV theme song do you never skip?

Jigsaws, crosswords, Sudokus, cryptics and even scavenger hunts: A.J. Jacobs is convinced that puzzles of all kinds have made him a better person. In his new book, “The Puzzler,” Jacobs takes readers along as he enters all manner of puzzle competitions, talks to puzzle makers and solvers and looks at the history of some of the most popular puzzles around. His book also has embedded within it a specially crafted puzzle with a $10,000 prize for the first person to solve it. We’ll talk to Jacobs about why he thinks puzzles shift our worldviews, build community and make us better thinkers.

Bay Area singer-songwriter Sean Hayes has been singing the blues for the last 30 years, but his music seems especially necessary these days. “Pain, suffering, worry meet pain again,” he sings on his newly released album “Be Like Water.” Hayes describes himself as a songwriter who “makes music to dance to or cry to, or maybe both at the same time.” He joins us in the studio to play live from his new album.

"Any kind of comfort or satisfaction is poisonous to any kind of growth,” choreographer Alonzo King told Forum ten years ago on the 30th anniversary of his company LINES Ballet. “You want to expand your heart and expand your mind. And that wants to continue going until you leave the planet,” he said. Now, with his 40th anniversary ballet “Deep River” opening at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on Friday, King joins Forum to talk about his expansive career and the process of making art in uncomfortable times.

According to a recent survey by Pew Research, the majority of Americans favor abortion rights. But in the leaked draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, Justice Samuel A. Alito writes “We cannot allow our decisions to be affected by any extraneous influences such as concern about the public’s reaction to our work.” Public reaction, however, has been swift. Demonstrators decrying the opinion have gathered outside the Supreme Court, the homes of Supreme Court justices and in demonstrations across the country. In response to the draft opinion, some states have indicated they intend to introduce laws to ban and even criminalize abortion, while other states have begun drafting legislation to create safe havens for reproductive rights. Given the divide between the majority of the Court who voted in favor of this draft and the public’s support of abortion rights, has the Supreme Court lost its legitimacy as a branch of government that is blind to politics? We’ll talk to Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick about the future of the Court and what is at stake.

Last Thursday, we spoke with San Francisco Chronicle reporters about their yearlong investigation into the city-funded single-room-occupancy buildings that are supposed to provide supportive housing for the homeless. In this show, we’ll get an inside look from staff that run SROs and the nonprofit operators that oversee them. Some operators say the city hasn’t given them adequate resources and funding to serve their tenants, who often struggle with drug and behavioral issues. Meanwhile, staff say they are underpaid and under-supported in jobs that often involve dealing with violence and verbal abuse from residents. Still, there is evidence that SROs are a proven model to move people off the streets and create community among residents and staff. We’ll talk about what it's like to run an SRO and what supportive housing projects need to succeed.

What does it mean for a generation of young people to come of age seeing other young Black people routinely endangered, attacked or killed? In her new book of essays titled “The Trayvon Generation,” poet, scholar and educator Elizabeth Alexander explores that question and meditates on the persistence of racism in the American experience. She writes that “the race work of the generations of my great-grandparents, my grandparents, my parents, and myself is the work of our children’s generation” – a reality Alexander says she both laments and feels enraged by. The book, which includes poetry as well as visual art, expands on her viral 2020 New Yorker essay that reflected on the young people who have always known stories like Trayvon’s – and George Floyd’s and Breonna Taylor’s and Philando Castile’s and…. We’ll talk to Alexander about “The Trayvon Generation” and her hopes for its future.

On June 7, San Francisco voters will decide whether to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin. It’s a ballot fight that pits the former public defender’s progressive ideas on criminal justice reform against claims that he’s soft on criminals and has made San Francisco’s streets more dangerous. Boudin joins us to talk about his record and what he thinks his opponents get wrong, crime in San Francisco and why he thinks he should stay in office.

Robert McNamara was president of the Ford Motor Company, head of the World Bank, U.S. Secretary of Defense and widely considered to be the architect of the Vietnam War. He was also a father. His son, Craig McNamara, depicts their strained, yet love-filled, relationship in his new book, “Because Our Fathers Lied,” which explores the wall that existed between them as a result of Craig’s deep opposition to the Vietnam War. We’ll talk with McNamara about what it means to carve out his own legacy and how he contends with his father’s actions today.

When a classmate in junior high school told Julissa Arce, an immigrant from Mexico, that she sounded like a white girl, she took it as a compliment. “Sounding like a white girl gave me a false sense of security. Having an accent said I was from someplace else; sounding like a white girl fooled me into thinking I could belong in the United States,” she writes in her new book, “You Sound Like A White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation.” Writer, speaker, and immigration rights advocate, Arce became well known after publishing her first book, “My (Underground) American Dream,” about her experience working for Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs even though she was undocumented. In her latest release, she eviscerates the idea that through assimilation, anyone can be successful and accepted in America. In reality, she argues, assimilation functions as a tool of white supremacy. We talk with Arce about what it means to reject assimilation and how Latinos and other people of color are reclaiming their identities.

The decision to terminate a pregnancy is rarely easy, and the reasons women choose abortions are varied. Some are already parents who don’t want another child. Some feel too young to become a parent. Some can’t bear to birth a child conceived in sexual violence. Some are afraid of the risks of pregnancy. And some, simply, don’t want to be pregnant. As Americans' nearly 50-year old constitutional right to an abortion approaches its probable end, we hear from women across the state who have chosen to terminate their pregnancies and what concerns them most about life in a post-Roe world.

Various economic factors don’t seem to add up these days. Consumer spending is up year over year, but the country’s gross domestic product fell during the first quarter. Home values are higher than ever in many cities across, but 401k balances are taking a hit from stock market declines. Wages are finally inching up for some workers, but inflation is taking a bite out of purchasing power. Employers continue adding jobs, but worker participation in the workforce hasn’t bounced back. We dive into the contradictions in the economy and what it means for you.

“Mommy, I don’t know what red looks like to you.” That’s the first philosophical puzzle that Scott Hershovitz says he remembers putting to his befuddled parents. And it’s children’s observations like those that Hershovitz, now a full-grown philosophy professor, says that parents need to nurture and take seriously. We’ll talk to Hershovitz about why young kids, unencumbered by received wisdom about the universe, make excellent philosophers and how childlike thinking can teach all of us to better grapple with the mysteries of human existence. Hershovitz’s new book is "Nasty, Brutish, and Short: Adventures in Philosophy with My Kids."

The Italian food many Americans grew up with — often called “red sauce” cuisine — is influenced by Italian traditions, “but it is not Italian food,” writes Ian MacAllen, author of “Red Sauce: How Italian Food Became American.” This distinction between Italian and Italian American food evolved from the story of Italian immigration to America — one where pizza and pasta ended up becoming synonymous with American food itself. The Bay Area’s own wine, tomato sauce and cioppino stems from the legacies of the Italian American immigrants who brought their old-world tastes to California’s vineyards and tomato fields. We’ll talk about the legacy and culture of Italian Americans in the Bay Area today, from North Beach to Temescal’s Colombo Club to San Jose’s Chiaramonte's Deli.

The leaked draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade has sent shock waves across the country, particularly for those who assumed their 50-year old constitutional right to abortion was safe. But court watchers long have predicted this outcome, brought on by the decades-long efforts of Christian fundamentalists and other far-right actors to remake the Republican party. We'll talk about the political forces that brought us to this moment and the other core privacy rights -- from contraception to gay marriage -- that may be imperiled.

A year-long San Francisco Chronicle investigation found that a San Francisco program that leases residential hotels as a transitional solution for unhoused residents has failed drastically. According to the investigation, many residents reported living in squalid rooms infested with bugs, rats, and black mold. Reporters found that, of 515 people tracked by the government, 21% returned to the streets and a quarter died in the program. They also found that violence toward residents and staff, robbery, and drug overdose deaths were common occurrences in some decrepit buildings. We’ll talk about the investigation’s findings, who should be held accountable and what can be done to provide decent transitional housing for people getting off the streets.

Danica Roem stunned the world of Virginia politics in 2017 when she became the first openly trans person to win a seat in a state legislature. She defeated a Republican who held the seat for more than a quarter century -- a lawmaker who called himself the state’s "chief homophobe." Roem, who's also a former journalist and thrash metal band front woman, joins us to talk about her new memoir "Burn the Page," all about her unlikely rise in politics and the importance of being your authentic self.

Congressman Adam Schiff returned recently from a surprise trip to Ukraine with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats where they observed the toll of the Russian invasion and met with President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the U.S.'s military and humanitarian commitment to the country. We’ll talk to Schiff about the trip and the status of President Biden's proposed $33 billion aid package for Ukraine, now awaiting congressional approval.

While Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s leaked draft opinion overturning Roe v Wade sparked outrage and protests across the country, in California advocates for abortion access have long been preparing for the decision. Governor Gavin Newsom appointed a Future of Abortion Council whose December policy recommendations are now a set of proposed state laws that would provide funds for abortion access for those in states with restrictive laws and protect doctors who provide services, among other policy changes designed to make California a sanctuary for reproductive rights. From providing tele-health and abortion pills across state lines to ensuring childcare and travel for those seeking services, Forum looks at the role of California in a post Roe country.

A leaked Supreme Court draft opinion published by Politico on Monday night indicates the majority of the Court would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. In the document written by Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and joined by the majority of the Court, Alito called Roe wrongly decided and suggested that the issue of abortion should be left to politicians, not courts. If the final opinion follows the logic of the draft, it would represent a fundamental shift in the law and politics around reproductive rights. And while draft opinions are commonly circulated by the justices, the leak of a draft is unprecedented in modern Supreme Court history and raises questions about the operation of the Court itself. We’ll talk about the leak, the draft opinion, and what lies ahead.

In his latest play, "The Incrementalist," Oakland playwright Cleavon Smith explores the tension between those who advocate immediate, radical reform to address injustices and those who believe in an incremental approach to changing systems and policies over time. Playing at Berkeley's Aurora Theatre Company through May 15, "The Incrementalist" follows a public intellectual who is brought to UC Berkeley’s campus in 2022 to help facilitate conversations concerning police violence after campus police attack and injure a Black Student Union leader during a protest. The play also includes scenes from student life in 1992, highlighting both the ongoing issues of racism and police violence and the ongoing debate over how best to address them. Smith joins Forum in studio to talk about the play, as well as his personal journey from Mississippian to Californian and from naval officer to playwright.

Since the 1990s, lawmakers and advocates have justified harsh anti-crime policies, like California’s Three Strikes Law, as a way to bring justice to the victims of violent crimes. But a new movement is emerging that centers crime survivors, especially women of color, who are often overlooked by a system that’s supposed to help them with services and support – and who don’t always agree with the tough-on-crime agenda. We’ll talk about how the conversation about justice for crime survivors is shifting in California.

Two large oil refineries in the Bay Area want to switch from processing crude oil and instead turn vegetable oil and animal fats into biofuels. Phillips 66 in Rodeo and Marathon in Martinez say their plans to convert the refineries to create renewable diesel advances California’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel reliance. But some environmental groups and communities close to the refineries oppose the plan, saying a reliance on biofuels contributes to deforestation and other environmental problems that actually accelerate climate change. As the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors considers an appeal to the plans next week, Forum looks at the local, state and global ramifications of California’s push toward biofuels.

“I basically went from living in a fishbowl, which is the prison yard, to swimming in a whole ocean.” That’s how Travielle Pope describes what it was like to reintegrate into a profoundly changed society after serving 26 years of a life sentence in a California prison. Pope is one of eight formerly incarcerated people KQED’s Pendarvis Harshaw and his co-producer Brandon Tauszik profile for their new multimedia project “Facing Life.” It explores the everyday challenges – from operating smartphones to finding jobs and shelter – the formerly incarcerated face. We’ll talk about the project and why Harshaw and Tauszik say it’s time to “prepare for a society where mass incarceration is no longer a thing—but mass integration is.”

Sports journalism has long been a male-dominated field. According to last year’s Associated Press Sports Editors Racial and Gender Report Card, less than 15% of sports reporters in the U.S. and Canada are women. One aspiring sports journalist hoping to be a part of improving that statistic is high school sophomore Mahi Jariwala from Danville, who created and hosts her own sports podcast “She Can Ball.” As part of KQED’s annual Youth Takeover week, Jariwala joins Alexis Madrigal to co-host Forum’s conversation with Bay Area sports journalists Kerith Burke and Amy Gutierrez, plus ESPN’s Mina Kimes and MLB Network's Keiana Martin, about navigating the male-dominated sports media industry and reporting on your favorite sports teams.

For years, Asian Americans have largely been overlooked when it comes to representation in the media. This has begun to change some recently following the success of “Crazy Rich Asians.” There have been more box office hits centering Asian American characters and stories, like “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Turning Red” and Marvel’s “Shang-Chi.” Still, a recent survey found that, “Americans struggle to name prominent Asian Americans, despite several being in the news this year.” Some Asian American youth activists are recognizing the power of media images and art to influence change and using it to push back on Asian stereotypes and hate, as anti-Asian hate crimes increased by 339 percent in 2021. In this student-produced segment, as part of KQED’s Youth Takeover week, we’ll talk with Asian American youth artists and activists about the importance of Asian representation in media and the arts.

Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and dozens of others are giving TV and movie viewers more choices than ever. But many consumers are feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of monthly subscriptions they’ve accumulated — and their cost. At the same time, the abrupt shutdown of news streaming service CNN+ and reports of subscriber losses by Netflix are signaling problems with the paid streaming business model. Have we reached peak streaming? We’ll take up the question and hear your thoughts.

acquire the company on Monday it spawned a lot of questions in the Bay Area. Will Musk uproot Twitter from its San Francisco home, the way he moved Tesla's headquarters to Texas? If so, what would that mean for the mid-Market neighborhood where San Francisco once lured Twitter with big tax breaks in hopes of transforming the blighted area. And for employees of Twitter, many are wondering how the richest man in the world might transform their workplace, for better or worse. We’ll talk about what Twitter under Elon Musk might look like for the Bay Area and we want to hear from Twitter employees and those who live or work in mid-Market: How do you think this move will change your job or your neighborhood?

We all are “a multitude of stories,” say the producers of The Moth Radio hour and podcast, the project that for 25 years has made storytellers of thousands of people around the world. Now, The Moth has published a new book, “How to Tell A Story,” all about how to turn our ephemeral experiences into memorable stories. We’ll talk about what makes for a good story and hear tips for telling your own, whether you’re in a job interview, introducing yourself to strangers or processing a complicated life experience.

The average American produces 4.9 pounds of waste daily, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. This is inspiring some to adopt a zero-waste lifestyle, which involves maximizing already-owned items to reduce individual plastic consumption and waste production. While the zero-waste lifestyle has appeared in more social media feeds and advertisements in recent years, it is far from new, with roots tracing back to many communities of color. The spike in popularity has made some activists feel the movement has obscured those roots, reflecting ongoing racism within the environmental activist community. In this student-produced segment as part of KQED’s annual Youth Takeover, we’ll take a critical look at the origins of zero-waste living and how it can be practiced today.

Twitter has reached a deal to sell the company to tech mogul Elon Musk for about $44 billion, valuing the company at $54.20 a share. If the sale goes through, Musk vows to make changes to the platform, most notably loosening speech guidelines and making Twitter’s algorithms open source. In a statement on Monday, Musk said that “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.” Musk’s acquisition of the platform poses many questions around free speech, and some experts have predicted that Musk’s proposed changes could make it easier for spam, misinformation, and illicit content to spread. We’ll talk about what Twitter could look like under Musk’s ownership and what it means for its users and employees.

Following a visit with president Volodymir Zelensky in Ukraine, U.S. Defense Secretary Austin Lloyd declared that Russia’s military capability should be targeted so "it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine." The Biden Administration announced that it would bring back diplomats to Ukraine and also provide the embattled country with $322 million in military aid. Meanwhile, Russia renewed its ferocious attack, bombing two train depots in central Ukraine, and Ukrainian officials acknowledged that 42 villages had fallen into Russian control. As peace talks have stalled and the grim brutality of the Russian invasion wears on, thousands are dead and once-thriving cities like Mariupol have been completely destroyed. With no clear end in sight, we talk about what a protracted conflict in Ukraine means for the region and the world.

The San Francisco Night Ministry has listened to those who want to talk every night since 1964. Night Ministers walk the streets of the Tenderloin offering an ear to anyone who wants to talk, and trained volunteers operate their phone lines until 4 in the morning. It’s gone on for more than 20,800 nights in a row and counting. The interfaith organization provides spiritual care for all, holding services for many faiths outdoors to increase accessibility. In its own words, “We do not judge or convert. We meet people where they are and offer loving presence.” We’ll hear about the Night Ministry’s work, the support that they hear folks need and what it means to truly listen.

The Bay Area’s biggest city has a major political race on the horizon. Sam Liccardo has been San Jose’s mayor since 2015, and the race to succeed him is heating up. This mayoral race is shaping up to be the most expensive in San Jose’s history, with more than 1.5 million dollars already amassed in campaign contributions, including $300,000 from the San Francisco 49ers. We’ll talk about the candidates on the ballot for June’s mayoral election, their platforms and endorsements, and we’ll hear from you: which priorities do you want from San Jose’s next mayor?

In her new book “Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop,” music journalist Danyel Smith highlights the genius and cultural impact of artists like Whitney Houston, Gladys Knight, Donna Summer, Aretha Franklin, Janet Jackson and more. Pulling not just from research but from her own experiences interviewing a number of the pop icons featured, the book presents a unique mix of memoir, criticism and music history that demands Black women artists get their due recognition. Smith joins us to talk about pop stars of “Shine Bright” and the influence they had on her own life as a Black girl growing up in Oakland and Los Angeles.

Reem Assil, owner of San Francisco and Oakland’s Reem’s Kitchen, began her career as a chef with a thirst for activism, often advocating for social justice and sustainability at work. As the opening chef of Dyafa, an Arab fine-dining restaurant in Oakland, Assil began to reimagine power dynamics in the kitchen which she boldly reflected on in her Eater article, “Don’t Call Me Chef.” Assil joins Forum to talk about her new book, “Arabiyya: Recipes from the Life of an Arab in Diaspora,” in which she weaves personal essays on food, family, identity, hospitality, activism and political struggles amid recipes influenced by Arab flavors.

“If we don’t want to live in a nepotistic society, we have to stop practicing nepotism,” Brookings Institution senior fellow Richard V. Reeves writes in a recent Atlantic piece titled, “Why the U.S. Needs to End Legacy Admissions.” Legacy admissions — when preference is given to college applicants who are related to an alum — is facing heightened scrutiny in the U.S. Some schools are abandoning the practice, and some state and federal lawmakers are seeking to curtail it. In California, a 2019 law requires four-year colleges that consider legacy status in admissions – such as Stanford and the University of Southern California – to disclose their practices. We’ll take a look at the nationwide pressures mounting against legacy admissions and hear your views.

In the fall of 1967 Huey Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther party, was charged with shooting and killing a police officer on the streets of West Oakland. The trial that followed came to revolutionize the jury selection process in criminal proceedings and put the then relatively unknown Panther Party into the national spotlight. The film “American Justice on Trial” premiering Friday at the SF Film Festival examines the trial and its consequences. Forum talks with the film's producer as well as Huey Newton’s brother, Melvin, and David Harper, jury foreman during the historic trial which changed his life, and the lives of many others.

Airlines, transit agencies and rideshare companies across the country are no longer requiring passengers and staff to wear face coverings after a federal judge in Florida on Monday struck down federal mask mandates for public transportation. That’s leaving travelers to navigate a patchwork of local rules and raising health and safety questions for some. We’ll talk about the impact of the ruling, which the Department of Justice may appeal, and hear how you’re feeling about going maskless on airplanes, trains and buses.

About a decade ago national publications started paying a lot of attention to Oakland’s food scene. The city burst out of San Francisco’s shadow to become a distinct culinary city in its own right. KQED Food Editor Luke Tsai writes that the buzziest of Oakland’s “golden age” restaurants were headed by women of color, “charismatic chefs who were cooking food that was deeply personal, reflecting the cultures that shaped their identities—Afro-Caribbean, Mexican, Korean, Lao.” But over the years notable favorites like Brown Sugar Kitchen, Fuse Box and Juhu Beach Club have closed, and this month beloved Miss Ollie’s has shut its doors. We’ll talk with Luke Tsai and Miss Ollie’s owner Sarah Kirnon about the forces that changed Oakland’s restaurant scene and we want to hear from you. What do you remember from that era? What restaurants are exciting to you now?

Marlene Sanchez grew up in San Francisco’s Mission District and experienced the effects of the criminal justice system from an early age. She landed in juvenile detention after getting into a fight at school, an experience that led her to community organizing and activism by the time she was 15. Now she’s the new executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, working to end mass incarceration. We’ll talk with Sanchez, the first woman of color to lead the organization, about the fight for criminal justice reform, advocating for incarcerated women and what it means to invest in communities of color.

Pain is a "hallmark of consciousness among all beings," writes physician Haider Warraich in his new book "The Song of Our Scars." Pain, he explains, is also gendered, racial and above all so personal that it's the one thing truly our own. Like an estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide, Warraich himself lives with chronic pain, brought on by a devastating back injury. We'll talk to Warraich about the biology of pain and how we experience what he calls our most complicated sensation.

“Never trust a candy house! It was only a matter of time before someone made them pay for what they thought they were getting for free,” warns a character in “The Candy House,” illuminating the novel’s larger curiosity around Big Tech in its setting: a world where minds and memories can be uploaded to the cloud and accessed by others. “The Candy House” is Jennifer Egan’s follow-up to her 2010 novel “A Visit from the Goon Squad,” which won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award. Known for its inventive playing with form — each chapter can be read as an independent short story, with distinct and yet interconnected characters; one chapter is told entirely through PowerPoint — “Goon Squad” introduced some of the characters and storytelling techniques continued and expanded in this new novel. Egan joins us to discuss storytelling in our online age and why she considers this book an “homage to fiction.”

What’s in a name? The question originally posed by Shakespeare is also the title of New York University sophomore Aria Young’s winning entry to this year’s NPR College Podcast Challenge. Young changed her name from 杨沁悦, or Yáng Qìn Yuè, when she moved to Pennsylvania from Shanghai for high school because her original name was “too hard for the English tongue to pronounce,” she says in the podcast. But sometimes she feels her adopted last name isn’t quite right either. We’ll talk about what it means to change your name to “fit in” in America, or to have learned your family has done so, and we’ll hear from listeners about what their names mean to them.

Coronavirus cases are on the rise in the northeastern United States, driven by the highly transmissible BA.2, a subvariant of Omicron. We’ll look at what the increase portends for the Bay Area, where cases remain relatively low amid loosening restrictions. And we’ll get the latest on the Covid lockdowns in China which have led to clashes with police over evictions and food shortages.

Author and Emory University professor Dorothy Brown says she became a tax lawyer to avoid dealing with race. “I learned early on that people might look at me and see black, but as far as tax law was concerned, the only color that mattered was green,” she writes in her book “The Whiteness of Wealth”. But it soon became clear to her that America’s tax system was worsening the country’s racial wealth gap, which it also helped create. As we approach tax day, we’ll talk with Brown about her new book and how the tax code is stacked against Black Americans.

Tax Day is coming up. If you’re a procrastinator, instead of compiling your receipts and looking for your W-2 form, you may have gone down a rabbit hole online— and there is no deeper rabbit hole than the one provided by Wikipedia. From the Streisand Effect to fart lightning to the lost state of Westsylvania, the social media account Depths of Wikipedia is dedicated to chronicling the weird and wonderful facts and articles on the internet’s free encyclopedia. We’ll explore some of the strangest topics, passages and photos on the site, and hear some of your favorite entries.

California living has inspired songwriters across generations and genres – from Otis Redding “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” to pop star Katy Perry saluting “California Gurls” to hip hop artists Dr. Dre and Tupac proclaiming “California Love.” The Golden State has also inspired many a playlist, including the “California Playlist” currently being crowd-sourced by The New York Times California Today newsletter. We’ll talk about and play some of the songs that make up the soundtrack of California and hear what songs capture the essence of California for you.

Owner and manager of KGUA in Gualala, California, Peggy Berryhill has been described as “The First Lady of Native Radio.” As the host of KGUA’s flagship program “Peggy’s Place,” Berryhill spotlights community members: its artists, librarians and lighthouse operator. Part of the Muscogee Nation, Berryhill has worked over her more than four decades-long career to push back on Native stereotypes in mainstream coverage and has collected and preserved hundreds of hours of interviews with Native community members. She joins us on this episode of Forum to discuss the importance of community radio and of hearing Native voices.

On April 1st 1950, about 144,000 census takers fanned out across the United States to count the population. Each conversation they had was reduced to a handwritten entry on a census form. Now, 72 years later, the National Archives has released those manuscripts. You can find Marilyn Monroe, Jerry Garcia, Jimi Hendrix, and maybe a long-forgotten relative in these pages. But the census represents more than an exercise in genealogical spelunking; it is an American political tool that has been in force since 1790. We’ll talk to census historians about what they hope to find in the 1950 census, and why this information is so meaningful. Related link(s): 1950 Census

After acquiring a nine percent stake in Twitter through a series of stock purchases this year, multi-billionaire libertarian entrepreneur Elon Musk is now the social media giant's largest shareholder. That's raising questions about how the controversial Tesla and SpaceX founder and self-described "free speech absolutist" could shape the platform. We'll take up the issues.

Apple and Google last year drew praise from consumer privacy advocates when they took steps to stop advertisers and other third party companies from tracking users’ online activities. Apple introduced new privacy settings for its mobile devices, and Google announced a plan to block digital tracking cookies from its Chrome browser by the end of 2023. But another form of digital tracking, known as “first party” tracking, is now on the rise by Google, Pinterest, Tik-Tok and other sites that gather users' searches, location data and other information. We'll get the latest.

Jazzercise. The Thighmaster. Jane Fonda’s Workout. These are but a few of the exercise fads that author Danielle Friedman recounts in her new book “Let’s Get Physical,” a history of women and personal fitness. For much of the 20th century, “sweating was considered unladylike and women tried to hide their muscles under sleeves,” writes Friedman. The rise of personal fitness, however, offered women a chance to be strong. Yet, along with its message of strength and individual empowerment, women’s fitness is also caught up in the burdens posed by beauty standards. We’ll talk to Friedman about these contradictions and how the industry can change to “harness exercise in ways that truly liberate all women.”

Earlier this month, workers at an Amazon warehouse in New York City voted to form the first union in company history. Organized mostly by current and former workers, the successful union drive did not rely on professional organizers and was financed not by union dues, but by GoFundMe donations. The win is energizing to many self-organizing union drives that are gaining momentum elsewhere, like Starbucks and Apple stores. So could Amazon Labor Union’s success as an independent union contribute to a new playbook for labor organizing? We’ll take a closer look at the possible ripple effects and we’ll also learn about the often untold history of various labor organizers who similarly carved their own paths in the U.S. labor movement.

Millions of genetically-modified, non-biting mosquitoes may soon be set loose in California after federal regulators gave the green light to a study aimed at preventing transmission of diseases like Zika and dengue. British biotech firm Oxitech says its technology alters male mosquitos to only produce viable male offspring, leading to population declines as females die off. While it may sound like the plot of a horror movie, the company says the new process is safe and necessary to address the growing global threat of mosquito-borne diseases. But some scientists and other critics say it could create even more virulent mosquitos, among other health and environmental risks. We’ll discuss the plan, which still requires state approval.

In 2019 a PG&E volt transmission line failed, starting the Kincade Fire in Sonoma County, and two years later, PG&E power lines sparked what became the Dixie Fire, the largest wildfire in California’s history. On Monday, the utility company reached a settlement of $55 million which allows it to escape criminal liability stemming from those fires. We’ll talk with Marketplace reporter Lily Jamali about the settlement and where the money will go.

“A post-Roe world will not resemble a pre-Roe world,” writes Jessica Bruder in her recent Atlantic piece on how underground networks of abortion activists are deploying medical and educational tactics to prepare for what they say will be the Supreme Court’s all but certain decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. A number of states have already approved highly restrictive abortion laws, including most recently Oklahoma, which last week moved to ban all abortions except to save the life of the mother. Meanwhile, Gov. Newsom has declared California a “reproductive freedom state,” and advocates have created the California Future of Abortion Council to protect and expand access to reproductive health care. We’ll hear from Bruder and activists about how they’re preparing for a post-Roe world and the role California will play.

As the war in Ukraine enters its sixth week, stories of mounting human rights abuses and grisly images of civilians, seemingly executed and left to die in the streets, have shocked the world. According to Ukrainian officials, in Bucha, a suburb outside of Kyiv which was occupied for one month, several hundred civilians have been killed and in their retreat, Russian forces engaged in a spree of killing, raping and looting. Officials say these crimes were not limited to Bucha, but represent a consistent pattern of Russian warfare tactics meant to terrorize civilians. Addressing the United Nations earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of committing war crimes and called for the body to convene a tribunal to bring perpetrators to justice. We’ll talk to experts and a reporter on the ground about whether and how these crimes will be prosecuted.

"The Work-Life Balance and the Selfless Mother are false gods." That's according to law professor and social and racial justice advocate Lara Bazelon, who says that more women need to stop feeling guilty about their professional ambitions and recognize that having a career is not at odds with being a good mother. In fact, women who prioritize their careers can model valuable lessons for their children, including independence and resilience. We'll talk to Bazelon about her new book "Ambitious Like a Mother."

Last year, KQED's Arts & Culture team launched the music series "Pass the Aux" to spotlight new music by Bay Area artists. Highlights from the series this year have included the elegant vocals of Kadhja Bonet on her song "Dear Gina," the dembow and salsa rhythms of La Dona's "Pena con Pan" and the gentle meditations on love and grief in The Seshen's "This Time Around," among others. KQED Arts columnist and podcast host Pendarvis Harshaw joins us to showcase those tracks and more of the team's favorite early 2022 releases.

Of the 87 officially recognized statues on public display in San Francisco, only two are of women. When KQED’s Rae Alexandra learned that disappointing fact, she set out to highlight the unsungwomen who helped shape Bay Area history with her series “Rebel Girls.” From a formerly enslaved cook who became a celebrity chef to a pistol-packing Gold Rush gambler who beat men at theirown game, “Rebel Girls” stories remind us how diverse and rich women’s contributions to the Bay Area have been across centuries. Alexandra joins us to highlight some of the amazing women she’s featured in the series.

California is in its third year of extreme drought. Given that, is it time to rethink California’s role as the breadbasket of the country? Agriculture brought in $49.1 billion to the state, nearly half of which was money made from exporting crops. But agriculture also uses 80% of the state’s water. Last year the industry lost 87,000 jobs, and crop land totaling an area bigger than Los Angeles went unplanted. What crops are reasonable to continue to produce? What should be jettisoned? And what crops and farm practices can be adaptable enough for the dwindling water supply? We’ll talk about the future of agriculture with experts and a farmer in the Central Valley.

Trump lawyer John Eastman turned over 101 emails on Wednesday to the House select committee investigating the January 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol, in response to an order by California federal judge David Carter who said the communications “clearly advanced the plan to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021.” Judge Carter's ruling last week came as the Justice Department widens its investigation into those who may have financed and planned the attacks designed to interfere with Congress's certification of the 2020 election. We'll talk about the latest developments.

Fresno is launching a pilot program to help protect street vendors from harassment and assault. Councilmembers and community organizations there are teaming up to install cameras on street vendors’ carts and provide them with small business resources. The effort comes a year after the death of Lorenzo Perez, a street vendor who was murdered in April, 2021 while selling corn. We talk with journalist Melissa Montalvo, who reported on the story for the Fresno Bee and Fresno councilmember Luis Chavez, one of the initiative’s leaders.

Libraries have long been a beloved hub for education and community, but as our state and nation battle crises of growing income inequality, homelessness and mental health, the work of public librarians these days can be just as much about social work as it is about books and information. In the new book “Overdue: Reckoning with the Public Library,” author and former librarian Amanda Oliver considers how public libraries have evolved and why they’ve been tasked to fill so many roles in our society. Oliver, who developed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder while working as a public librarian in Washington, D.C., asks whether public librarians can – and should – continue to fill the gap in our social safety net. As the country celebrates National Library Week, Oliver and California librarians join us to unpack these questions.

The beloved, influential early internet food site, Chowhound, has ended its run 25 years after its founding. The site encouraged an independent ethos. According to the ‘Chowhound Manifesto,’ “Foodies eat where they're told. Chowhounds blaze trails. They comb through neighborhoods for culinary treasure. They despise hype.” KQED’s Food Editor, Luke Tsai flexed his food writing chops on Chowhound and as part of our regular series with Luke about Bay Area food culture, he and another Chowhound regular join us to reminisce about the boom days of Chowhound.

In her new book “Girls Who Green the World,” journalist Diana Kapp profiles 34 women who are working in smart, creative and often entrepreneurial ways to beat back climate change. From recycling food containers into other products to creating a better toilet that can be used in urban slums where sanitation is difficult to find to repurposing and recycling clothing, these women have found ways to make meaningful changes that can heal the planet. We’ll talk to Kapp and two of the climate entrepreneurs profiled in her book.

California on Friday dropped its requirement that those attending indoor events with more than 1000 people show proof of vaccination or a negative test, the latest manifestation of the state's decision to manage COVID-19 as an endemic virus as cases and deaths level off statewide. But public health officials are watching the highly transmissible omicron subvariant BA.2, which has caused surges in parts of Europe and Asia and, recently, in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Massachusetts. We’ll take stock of how California is faring in this stage, and we’ll also look at recent studies on the longer term cognitive and cardiovascular impacts of coronavirus infection.

On March 2, a father in Sacramento walked into a church for a supervised visit with his three young children. He ended up killing five people: his children, the church member who volunteered to chaperone, and himself. This is a scenario that journalist Mark Follman is all too familiar with. An editor for the magazine Mother Jones, Follman has studied mass shootings for years, and even built a database of such murders because none had previously existed. For his new book, “Trigger Points,” Follman attempts to understand what might be done to prevent shootings before they happen. He’s talked to criminologists and mental health specialists to understand the psychology of mass shooters and looks at whether a model exists for intervening constructively with troubled people before they get their hands on a weapon. We’ll talk to Follman about his book.

In the new Apple TV+ series “Pachinko,” adapted from the bestselling novel by Min Jin Lee, every generation is in dialogue, either indirectly or directly, with the ones that come before and after it. That’s according to Soo Hugh, the series’ creator, showrunner and writer. “Pachinko,” a sweeping multi-generational family drama, features the story of Sunja, played by Oscar winner Yuh-Jung Youn, an impoverished young woman who suffers through the 20th century Japanese occupation of Korea, and later with her family faces of life of hardship and discrimination in Japan. We’ll talk to Hugh about the creative challenges of adapting a beloved novel and what it’s like to create spaces for the telling of diverse stories.

Youth leaders and activists in Sacramento are working to support their communities today, a day after the 2 a.m. shooting in Sacramento that left 6 dead and at least 12 wounded. Videos on social media, eyewitness accounts, and police statements indicate the shooting occurred at 10th and K streets, roughly two blocks northwest of the state Capitol, as club and bar attendees were leaving for the night. Political leaders immediately responded with calls for stronger gun controls in the state. “Thoughts and prayers aren’t nearly enough,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said on Sunday. “We must do more as a city, as a state, and as a nation. This senseless epidemic of gun violence must be addressed. How many unending tragedies does it take before we begin to cure the sickness in this country? Let us be honest, this is a sickness.”

In response to the war in Ukraine, the United States and its allies have implemented sweeping and unprecedented set sanctions against Russia, rendering the nation a pariah state. Flight space has been closed. Export of goods that could be used for military purposes have been banned. Some countries have stopped importing Russian oil. The yachts and private planes of oligarchs have been seized. Transactions with the Russian Central Bank are now barred and both government and individual bank accounts have been frozen. But are these sanctions working to stop the war? Will they lead to the toppling of Russian President Vladimir Putin? We’ll talk about sanctions and how they work with a panel of experts.

With his new single “OFF” reaching No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Radio chart this week and a new arena tour, Grammy Award-winning singer Maxwell is back in the spotlight. The Night Tour features fellow R&B acts Anthony Hamilton and Joe, and is scheduled to come to Los Angeles and Oakland in mid-April. Maxwell says you can expect a “sexy” show that pays homage to women and feminine energies. We talk to Maxwell about getting back on the road, his upcoming album, his favorite song to perform, and more.

The Netflix series, “Inventing Anna,” reached No. 1 on Nielsen’s Top 10 streaming rankings and has dominated social media discussions for weeks. But it’s not just the profile of wannabe socialite Anna Delvey capturing our interest – television series about scammers abound these days, including former venture capital darlings like WeWork’s Adam Neumann and Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes in the shows “WeCrashed” and “The Dropout.” Not to mention podcasts, documentaries and longform articles that often inspire the fictionalized versions. What is the human behavior driving this interest: Is it just schadenfreude? Or are there other elements informing our interest? We’ll explore this latest content trend and why, as a culture, we’re so into scammer stories.

Joshua Miele is a 2021 MacArthur fellow who develops and invents adaptive technologies for blind and visually impaired persons ranging from tactile-Braille street maps to crowd-sourced audio descriptions for YouTube videos. But back in fall 1987, he was a freshman at UC Berkeley and newly a member of “The Cave,” a library basement gathering hub for Berkeley’s blind students. Following the disability rights movement spearheaded at Berkeley in the ‘60s and ‘70s, The Cave provided its denizens with a space for community, inspiration and innovation as they entered the digital age. We’ll talk about how The Cave was crucial for the innovations of Miele and other alumni, its enduring legacies, and how accessibility tech has progressed in the past few decades.

Benjamin Franklin is “the most amazing American of the 18th century,” according to documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. Burns’ latest documentary on Franklin premieres on PBS next week, and it looks at the ways in which the 18th century reluctant revolutionary operated within a political climate not dissimilar from our own. To Burns, Franklin’s political thinking could help inform modern questions about American identity, partisan divides, international diplomacy and even vaccines. Burns joins us to talk about Franklin's flaws, contradictions and contributions.

Three out of four of the planet’s known animal species are insects, and their populations are crashing as a result of climate change, habitat loss, pesticides and pollution. And the ecosystem-wide effects of all of these losses could be deadly for humanity: globally, one-third of our food is pollinated by bees, flies, butterflies, moths and beetles. We’ll talk with Oliver Milman about his new book, “The Insect Crisis” — and how we can protect what he calls “the miniature empires that hold life aloft on our raucous, plastic-strewn, beautiful planet.”

China has refused to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, despite requests from Western nations, and it has criticized sanctions against Russia. “China-Russia cooperation has no limits,” a Chinese government spokesman said Wednesday as Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov visited China for the first time since the Ukraine War began. What will that cooperation look like as the war continues? Will it include Chinese military aid or assistance circumventing sanctions? And how does the relationship between Chinese president Xi Jinping and Russian president Vladimir Putin, a relationship believed to be close, impact policy? We’ll talk to experts on Chinese foreign policy to learn more.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday ordered cities, water districts and other agencies to tighten their conservation rules, as the state comes to grips with the realities of a drier-than-needed winter rainy season. “While we have made historic investments to protect our communities, economy and ecosystems from the worsening drought across the West, it is clear we need to do more,” Gov. Newsom said. “Today, I am calling on local water agencies to implement more aggressive water conservation measures.” The governor’s executive order focuses on the actions of the 420 largest water providers in the state, even as California’s urban residents have fallen far short of a goal set to voluntarily reduce their water usage. San Jose Mercury News natural resources and environment reporter Paul Rogers helps unpack the latest on the drought and the state’s new water rules.

Paso Robles is a small wine country town between the Pacific coast and the Central Valley – it’s a multicultural town, too, but many residents of color there feel invisible. That’s according to Los Angeles Times reporter Tyrone Beason who features Paso Robles in the latest installment of his ongoing “My Country” series, which explores the things that bind us and tries to make sense of the things that tear us apart. Beason digs into the different viewpoints behind a recent fight to reinstate an ethnic studies class at a local high school, which faced a backlash before ultimately being approved. That debate, like similar debates across the country around ethnic studies curriculum, revealed deeper fissures within the community. Beason joins us to talk about the story and what he learned from the residents of Paso Robles.

From his time with the Merry Pranksters to his influence on Steve Jobs to his utopian “Whole Earth Catalog,” Stewart Brand epitomizes the Bay Area counterculture visionary. Brand has “an eerie knack for showing up first at the onset of some social movement or technological inflection point and then moving on just when everyone else catches up,” writes technology reporter John Markoff. Forum talks with Markoff about the life, work and influence of Brand and his new biography, "Whole Earth: The Many Lives of Stewart Brand.”

Drivers in California paid an average of $5.93 per gallon of regular gas on Monday — about $1.50 more than the national average. Gas prices rose nationwide following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but while they’ve leveled off in other states, California’s are still rising. To lessen the impact, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a gas rebate last week that would provide between $400 and $800 to California car owners. We’ll talk about the rebate and other legislative proposals and explore why gas in California is so expensive.

In the early 1970s, Dave Goelz was an industrial designer working for Hewlett-Packard by day and obsessing over the puppets on Sesame Street in his spare time. Fifty years later, Goelz still has the dream job he left Silicon Valley to pursue. He’s the Muppet performer bringing life to Gonzo, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Waldolf, Zoot and others. We’ll talk about the creative alchemy of Jim Henson’s Muppet universe with Goelz as well as Henson’s biographer and the curator of Imagination Unlimited, an exhibit about Henson which opens this week at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.

Reyna Grande’s new novel, “A Ballad of Love and Glory,” tells the story of the San Patricios, a battalion of Irish soldiers who fought for Mexico during the Mexican-American War that ended in 1848. The book explores the brutality and contradictions of war while bringing to life the stories of John Riley, the leader of the San Patricios, and Ximena, a woman displaced by the war who becomes an army nurse. Although the Mexican-American war is sometimes called “The Forgotten War,” the conflict reshaped two nations and has had a profound impact on how Mexican Americans are viewed and treated. Grande joins us to talk about the legacy of the war and its parallels to modern day armed conflicts.

In response to the mounting humanitarian crisis brought on by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Biden Administration on Thursday announced that it would allow 100,000 Ukrainian refugees into the United States. Meanwhile, immigration advocates are intensifying their calls on U.S. officials to end Title 42, a Trump-era public health rule that has been used to expel tens of thousands of migrants at the southern border. We'll get the latest on both issues.

During the pandemic, not only did children aged 8 to 18 spend more time on their screens, those under 13 who are technically barred by age limits from platforms, are increasingly gravitating to social media. The new study by Common Sense Media looked at what kids like to do on their screens – spoiler alert: watch videos – and reports that kids on average spend one and a half hours a day on social media but say they don’t really like it. We’ll talk about what this research means and how parents, teachers and caregivers can respond to these trends.

The 94th annual Academy Awards ceremony takes place on Sunday, and event boosters hope that a cast of three female comedic hosts, including Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall, and a reworked format will reinvigorate the award show's flagging popularity. We’ll talk about the nominations – both the critical favorites and the sleepers – and hear your picks for best films and performances.

Journalist Dave Iverson says that there were a lot of things he didn’t know when he made the decision to move in with his 95-year old mother Adelaide in 2004 to take care of her. “I didn’t know that I would be tested in ways I’d never imagined,” he writes in his new memoir, “or rewarded in ways I’d never dreamed.” He also had no idea that Adelaide would live nearly 10 years more, before passing away at age 105. Iverson, a former host of KQED Forum, joins us to talk about the burdens and benefits of caring for a loved one, how America is failing its caregivers, and his new book "Winter Stars: An elderly mother, an aging son, and life’s final journey".

The maternal mortality rate for Black mothers is nearly three times that of white mothers nationwide. These numbers are leading many African-American families to seek the services of doulas, care which has been shown to improve birth outcomes. To mark World Doula Week, we’ll talk with Black doulas about their work, the costs of racism in American healthcare, and about why some are wary of the state of California's efforts to regulate the profession.

During her three days of Senate confirmation hearings this week, Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has fielded a range of questions about her judicial philosophy, her experience as a public defender and what some observers say are not-so-subtle racist attempts to cast her as a radical. If confirmed, Judge Jackson would be the first Black woman to sit on the high court. We’ll talk about the hearing and what lies ahead in the confirmation process.

Russia and Ukraine supply nearly one-quarter of the world’s wheat which feeds billions of people around the world. The war in Ukraine has not only cut off supply to wheat and other important exports like sunflower oil, barley and fertilizer, it has also raised the price of those products. Wheat prices are now 21% higher than last month. For regions like the Middle East and Africa, which rely on Ukrainian crops, the increase in cost and decrease in supply means many could go hungry. We’ll look at the important role Ukraine plays in the global food supply chain, the impacts the war is having on it, and what is being done to prevent a deepening global hunger crisis.

Confirmation hearings begin on Monday for President Biden’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. The first Black woman to be nominated to the high court, Jackson is expected to face questions about her judicial philosophy and her views on issues facing the Court including abortion, voting rights and affirmative action. Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has stated that there is “no question” that Jackson, who has previously been confirmed by the Senate as an appellate judge, is qualified for the position. Nevertheless, the Harvard-trained Jackson has faced GOP attacks on topics as disparate as her record on crime to her LSAT score, criticisms which her supporters have noted seem rooted in racism. We’ll look at what to expect during the confirmation hearings.

Cow cheese. Goat cheese. Vegan cheese? From dairy farming and cheesemaking to tours and tastings, there are a world of old traditions and new family businesses making Northern California one of the most magical cheese-scapes on earth. In this recording of a recent Forum Live event at KQED's San Francisco headquarters, we talk about some of California's yummiest cheeses with the people who know them best.

Sandhya Acharya has a window into the COVID-era lives of her child and his classmates through their art.

From closed schools to missed moments like graduation or visiting with family, children have borne an unusually heavy burden during the pandemic. Children were among the last to get vaccinated. They were unable to go to school in person. They have lost caregivers and loved ones. On the educational front, studies report that across the country, early reading skills are at a new low. And kids of all ages are more stressed than ever. But while the pandemic has been hard on children, there have also been lessons learned about grace, kindness and how to do better by kids. We’ll look at the price children have paid in the pandemic, and what parents and others can do to support them.

The Bay Area heads to the Big Dance! The University of San Francisco men’s basketball team makes its first NCAA tournament appearance in 24 years. Saint Mary’s College men’s team is in the mix too, following up on its 2019 bid. And on the women’s side, Stanford University's team will seek to defend its title as the reigning NCAA champions. We’ll talk to former Stanford basketball star Kiana Williams, who helped the team take last year's trophy, about winning in 2021 and the team's road to a championship this year. Then, we'll talk with college reporters about their school’s NCAA tournament bids and hear what teams are making your Final Four brackets.

Last week, a Texas judge temporarily blocked a directive from Governor Greg Abbott calling for child abuse investigations of parents who seek gender-affirming medical care for their transgender children. But Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton plans to appeal, and more states are considering similar laws: Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bill prohibits instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity before fourth grade, and the Human Rights Campaign is tracking nearly 300 pieces of legislation it characterizes as anti-LGBTQ+. We want to hear from you: How have recent anti-LGBTQ+ bills affected you? How have you approached talking to your kids about gender and sexuality? Guests: Cathryn Oakley, State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel, Human Rights Campaign Dr. Jack Turban, chief fellow in child and adolescent psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine Jo Yurcaba, reporter, NBC Out, the LGBTQ section of NBC News Lizette Trujillo, member, Human Rights Campaign’s Parents for Transgender Equality National Council

Writer Azar Nafisi says totalitarian regimes pay “too much attention to poets and writers, harassing, jailing and even killing them,” but in America the problem is too little attention, silencing them through “indifference and negligence.” Nafisi’s new book, “Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times,” is written as a series of letters to her late father discussing the writers she turns to when grappling with oppression and injustice, including Salman Rushdie, Plato, Zora Neale Hurston, Ray Bradbury and Margaret Atwood. “I am not talking about literature of resistance but literature as resistance,” she writes, the ways “literature and art resist seats of power – not only that of kings and tyrants, but the tyrant within us as well.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom has introduced a new policy framework to provide community-based mental health and substance use disorder treatment services to Californians, many of whom are experiencing homelessness. The proposal calls for a statewide network of CARE (Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment) Courts to serve as a mental health arm of county civil courts and create court-ordered care plans. The proposal has received support from a number of mayors or city officials across the state, including Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego. Critics worry this plan’s court orders perpetuates a history of state control over people with mental illness and disabilities that not ultimately serve them well. Gov. Newsom joins us to discuss his proposal – then we’ll hear expert reactions and unpack what the plan may look like in action.

Silicon Valley employs a lot of highly skilled Ukrainian tech workers. As Ukrainians globally pitch in to resist Russia’s advance, tech workers are banding together to use their skills for Ukrainian resistance and aid. We’ll check in with tech workers in the Bay Area and Ukraine who are fighting Russian propaganda and cyber efforts, handling logistics to marshal supplies and move refugees and carrying other acts of IT resistance.

According to a new Wall Street Journal report, the Russian government has threatened that it will seize assets of companies that withdraw from Russia and also arrest corporate leaders who criticize the government. Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Proctor & Gamble, IBM and Kentucky Fried Chicken are among the corporations that have been warned. This move by the government comes after a spate of Western companies announced that they will be rolling back their Russian business or cutting off ties with Russia altogether. We’ll talk about what this means for the future of Western businesses in Russia.

Ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine faltered on Monday while Russia’s devastating attacks on cities in Ukraine continued to intensify. Meanwhile, amid a widening humanitarian crisis that’s forced more than two million Ukrainians to flee, President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to press for more military equipment from NATO member states and will appeal to U.S. lawmakers in a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. As the invasion enters its third week, we take stock of the war’s devastating impact and the further actions the U.S. and its allies may take.

Seventy percent of Bay Area employers are expecting to bring their workers back to the office this month, according to a recent Bay Area Council survey. But many are asking for only three days in person, a major shift from pre-pandemic times. As businesses begin to return to in-person work, employers are looking to find the right balance of time spent remote and face-to-face. Silicon Valley is a case-in-point: Google is telling most workers they need to come into the office at least three days a week starting April 4, but Twitter said its employees can work from home permanently if they want. We’ll talk with experts about the “new normal” of work and what it means for Bay Area companies, employees, and communities.

President Biden joined a retreat with House Democrats in Philadelphia on Friday to strategize about the party's priorities ahead of what many political watchers say could be a bruising midterm election cycle for them. We'll preview some key races and look at Georgia's transition to a battleground state during the 2020 election campaign. Guests: Melanie Mason, national political correspondent, Los Angeles Times Annie Karni, congressional correspondent, New York Times Greg Bluestein, politics reporter, Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His forthcoming book is "FLIPPED: How Georgia Turned Purple and Broke the Monopoly on Republican Power."

President Joe Biden issued a long-awaited cryptocurrency executive order Wednesday, directing federal agencies to study a wide range of issues including protecting consumers and businesses, safeguarding national security, and preventing criminal activity. The order also includes a directive to study the possibility of creating a U.S. digital dollar, an idea that other countries like China, which already has government-backed tokens, have embraced. Biden’s order comes as countries around the world have been rushing to catch up on regulating the cryptocurrency market. We’ll talk about the prevalence of crypto, its growing acceptance as a currency and how it should be regulated. Guests: Laura Shin, host, "Unchained" podcast. Shin is the author of "The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies and the Making of the First Cryptocurrency Craze" Nathaniel Popper, author of "Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money" Charlie Warzel, contributing writer, The Atlantic. Warzel is the author of "Galaxy Brain," a newsletter about the internet and big ideas

Seventy-four percent of Asian American and Pacific Islander women reported having personally experienced racism or discrimination in the last 12 months, according to a new study by the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum. The news comes as we approach the March 16 anniversary of the murder of eight people, most of them Asian women, at three Atlanta-area spas. We’ll discuss the latest data on harassment and hate crimes against Asian Americans and what civil rights groups and others are doing to fight it Guests: Russell Jeung, professor of Asian American studies, San Francisco State University; co-founder, Stop AAPI Hate R.O. Kwon , author, the novel "The Incendiaries,"; co-editor, the anthology "KINK: Stories," and the Vanity Fair article, "A Letter to My Fellow Asian Women Whose Hearts Are Still Breaking." Nellie Tran, Associate Professor of Counseling and School Psychology, San Diego State University.

Nastia Voynovskaya, an associate editor for KQED Arts, was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and raised in the Bay Area and Florida after her family immigrated to the U.S. in the late nineties. In a recent story for KQED, she shares that for many former Soviet immigrants, Russia’s war on Ukraine is horrific. She writes: "Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine feels particularly vile because it’s so contrary to the kinship many people from both nations feel." A kinship Voynovskaya feels in her own family, which includes a Ukrainian stepfather, and that she felt at early protests held in San Francisco against the war. We’ll talk to Voynovskaya about her reflections and how some former Soviet immigrants are reacting to Russia's war on Ukraine.

“In Russia—where there is increasing distrust of official state narratives, and an ongoing crackdown on independent media that has forced me and many others to leave the country—it is difficult to know what is true and what is fiction,” wrote Roman Badanin, former editor-in-chief of the independent Russian investigative outlet Proekt, in October 2021. Badanin has been targeted by the Russian government for his investigative reporting, and he’s the founder and editor in chief of a news collaboration between similarly targeted reporters, Agentstvo. He joins us to talk about censorship in Russia today and the independent Russian journalists working illegally to convey the truth.

California’s mask mandate for its K-12 schools ends after Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last month. The state now strongly recommends, but does not require, masks in K-12 school settings: that decision is now up to school districts. We want to hear your thoughts and questions about California’s lifting of its mask mandate for K-12 schools, especially if you’re a parent, educator or student. Leave us a voicemail: 415-553-3300. Guests: Grace Lee, associate chief medical officer for Practice Innovation and pediatric infectious diseases physician, Stanford Children’s Health Dr. Erica Pan, California State Epidemiologist and deputy director for the Center for Infectious Diseases, California Department of Public Health Hilaria Bauer, superintendent, Alum Rock Unified School District

At the outset of the war in Ukraine, many expected the Russian army would quickly capture the country. But images of trucks mired in mud and reports that Russian troops are running out of food suggest that Russia’s invasion has suffered from poor planning. It is the small, but important details of waging war – spare tires for blow outs, adequate fuel, sufficient food supplies for troops, the right kind of screws to repair a tank – that seem to have stalled the Russian invasion in Ukraine, to the surprise of analysts. We’ll look at how the everyday details of waging war, which has killed hundreds of Ukrainian men, women and children, have slowed the Russians down. Guests: Marc Champion, senior reporter covering Europe and Middle East, Bloomberg News Dr. Cynthia Cook, director, Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group; senior fellow, International Security Program, Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) J.D. Williams, senior international and defense policy researcher, Rand Corporation; has served on the National Intelligence Council; retired Marine colonel

“I like to think of cooking as a map,” writes J. Kenji López-Alt, the award-winning chef, cooking show host and author. But, he says, to learn the science and techniques that underlie a recipe is “like being given an atlas.” López-Alt’s newest book, “The Wok,” explains how to stir-fry, deep-fry, steam, simmer and braise in what he calls “the most versatile pan in your kitchen.” It also features more than 200 recipes. We’ll talk to López-Alt about what draws him to wok cooking, get his recipe tips and hear his reflections on his career so far.

Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a tax rebate to lessen the impact of rising gas prices in his State of the State address Tuesday, reiterating that California stands in solidarity with Ukraine, even as domestic energy prices increase because of the Russian invasion. We’ll look at the rebate proposal and analyze the address.

Picture an oyster and your imagination might autofill in a flute of champagne and an ocean view. But an oyster feast in the Bay Area may more often be a big, multiethnic family oyster barbecue or a binge on Taiwanese oyster omelets. As part of our series on the food cultures of the Bay Area with KQED food editor Luke Tsai, we’ll talk about the way we eat and celebrate oysters.

New state data reveal that California workers face years-long waits to resolve cases of wage theft through California’s Labor Commissioner’s Office. Last year the average wait time for a worker to get a hearing on a claim that their employer didn’t pay owed wages was more than three years in Oakland – the worst in the state. San Francisco’s wait time was a little over two and a half years. According to advocates, the delays discourage workers from reporting wage thefts, in turn reinforcing systems of worker exploitation. The Labor Commissioner’s Office cites staffing shortages as a key problem in hearing cases efficiently, compounded by the pandemic. We’ll learn more about the causes and effects of California’s wage theft claims backlog.

Veterinarians are nearly three times more likely than the general public to die by suicide, and one in six has contemplated taking their life, according to recent studies. The industry has never been under more stress: during the pandemic, one in five households adopted a new pet, and the demand for veterinary assistance has risen exponentially. But many veterinarians are leaving the profession because of intense workloads, crushing student debt, hostile pet owners, and the trauma of euthanizing animals they’ve cared for from cradle to grave. We’ll talk about the mental health challenges veterinarians and vet techs are facing, and what can be done. In the United States, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255 and in Spanish at 1-888-628-9454. They offer Tele-Interpreter services in over 150 additional languages. Guests: Dr. Jennifer Scarlett, president, San Francisco SPCA; veterinarian Dr. Susan Cohen, social worker; VIN Foundation Vets4Vets program Dr. Cherese Sullivan, president, Multicultural Veterinary Medical Association; Dr. Sullivan is a practicing veterinarian. Dr. Melanie Goble, founding board member, Not One More Vet; Dr. Goble is a practicing veterinarian.

San Francisco has long embraced a philosophy of harm reduction in its drug treatment programs. The goal is to prevent deaths and disease by providing clean syringes, medications that help curb addiction, and other judgment-free treatment support. Studies show that this approach does save lives. But now the city is in the midst of a fentanyl-fueled overdose crisis, with more than 1300 deaths over two years. In response, some officials are questioning the effectiveness of the harm reduction model, calling for other options like abstinence-only treatment programs. We’ll discuss the history, science and politics of drug treatment in San Francisco. Guests: Keith Humphreys, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Stanford School of Medicine Vitka Eisen, president and CEO, HealthRIGHT 360 Ahsha Safai, member, San Francisco Board of Supervisors, District 11 Jen Jeffries , former IV drug user currently on methadone. Medication assisted treatment coordinator, San Francisco AIDS Foundation

At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council Friday U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the "world narrowly averted a nuclear catastrophe" after Russia shelled a nuclear power plant in southeast Ukraine overnight. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack "nuclear terror" and continued to press for a no-fly zone over the country, a request NATO has so far denied. As the Russian invasion extends into its second week, we'll hear the latest developments from the ground and talk about how the global community is responding, and realigning, in support of Ukraine. Guests: Steven Pifer, William Perry fellow, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University; former ambassador to Ukraine Richard Ensor, Ukraine correspondent, The Economist

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is likely to increase inflation, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Thursday. Inflation was already on the rise in the U.S.: prices rose 7.5 percent in January compared to last year, the highest inflation rate since the early 1980s. The word inflation often invokes the specter of the 1970s, a time of economic crisis, energy shocks, and the fracturing of the post-war social contract. The historical analogy also suggests some courses of action — like cutting government spending and raising interest rates. But are the 2020s, with our pandemic related supply shortages and Great Resignation, so similar to the 1970s? And if not, how should we be thinking about our inflation? We'll be joined by a historian and an economist who will help us think through what rising prices have meant and what they mean today. Guests: Meg Jacobs , senior research scholar in History and Public Affairs, Princeton University J.W. Mason, economist, Roosevelt Institute; professor of economics, John Jay College at the City University of New York

1992 Olympic gold medalist and world champion figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi joined Forum Live on February 25th, KQED’s in person and live-streamed event series, to talk about the scandals plaguing this year’s Olympics, anti-Asian racism and not being seen as fully American as she rose through the figure skating ranks, and her work supporting children’s literacy. We air the conversation as the Winter Paralympics get underway.

In 2020, UC Berkeley scientist Jennifer Doudna, along with French scientist Emanuelle Charpentier, won a Nobel prize for her work on the revolutionary method for editing DNA known as CRISPR. But this week Doudna's lab at UC Berkeley lost its case with the U.S. patent office, stripping it of key patent rights to the tool and anywhere from 100 million to 10 billion dollars in potential licensing revenue, according to experts. We’ll talk about what the ruling means for UC Berkeley and the possible ripple effects within the biotech industry. Guests: Megan Molteni , Science writer, STAT News Samantha Zyontz, Research fellow, Intellectual Property and Fellow, Center for Law and Biosciences, Stanford University

From the roar of wind against mountains and the slam of waves on the shore to early morning birdsong, the sounds that fill our natural world are not only beautiful, they’re at risk, writes biologist David George Haskell in his new book, “Sounds Wild and Broken.” Haskell describes a global sonic landscape that’s threatened by human-induced habitat destruction and noise pollution and warns that by smothering the earth’s many voices, we’re not only imperiling species but losing our connection to the natural world. But by paying attention to sounds both natural and human-created, we can understand what’s at stake — and mobilize to protect it. Haskell joins to share more about our world’s sonic diversity and guide us in listening to it.

In the leadup to Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, many cybersecurity experts warned that the Kremlin would also wage an all-out information war. After all, Russia is known as a master of information operations, weaponizing social networks, YouTube, and state television to spread propaganda. But as Russian troops continue to advance on the battlefield, Ukraine may be winning the information war. Coming up on Forum, we’ll discuss war in the age of social media.

The war in Ukraine, the economy and the pandemic are the expected centerpieces of President Biden’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday, which comes as Russia’s invasion escalates, triggering a refugee and humanitarian crisis in Europe and unleashing economic shocks around the globe. President Biden's address in the halls of the U.S. Capitol that a little over a year ago was overrun by insurrectionists also comes at a critical time as Democrats work to shore up their slim majority and Republicans work to recapture congressional seats lost in 2020. We’ll talk about Biden’s speech and the milestones that lie ahead.

The price of oil and natural gas has spiked following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the retaliatory sanctions against Russia imposed by the United States, European Union and their allies. Much of Europe is dependent on Russia’s reserves of oil and natural gas, and much of the world relies on Russian metals and agricultural exports from Russia and Ukraine. From rising costs for energy and food, to the risk of cyberattacks on banking systems, to a further squeezing of supply chains, we’ll discuss the possible global economic effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and of the newly imposed sanctions.

On Monday, Russian forces took aim at the city of Kharkiv, pounding the enclave with rockets on the fifth day of the Ukrainian invasion. Scheduled peace talks between Ukraine and Russia did nothing to stop the fighting; Belarus has entered the fray in support of Russia; Russian President Vladimir Putin has placed his nation on nuclear alert. Images of ferocious resistance by Ukrainian troops and civilians have captured the attention of Western governments which continue to pledge aid in the form of money, weapons and humanitarian assistance. Even Switzerland, a nation with a history of neutrality, has come out against Russian aggression. Meanwhile, the toll of war has been monumental. The UN reports that more than 500,000 Ukrainians, many of them families with children, have fled to western border nations as refugees, and aid agencies warn that the humanitarian crisis shows no sign of abating. As the siege continues, we’ll talk about the hardships Ukrainians are facing, and we’ll also look at the history of Russia’s relationship with Ukraine and what Putin’s endgame might be.

For author Jackie Higgins, the bizarre-looking star-nosed mole has a lot to tell us about how humans perceive the world. The fastest eater in the animal kingdom, its secret weapon is 22 tentacles that stick out of its nostril, giving it an uncanny sense of touch. In her new book “Sentient,” Higgins explores the different sensory powers found in the animal kingdom, like pheromone detection or the innate sense of time. A nature filmmaker who studied with Richard Dawkins, Higgins joins us to talk about the book, and about why everything we were taught about humans having only five senses is wrong.

Calling her "one of the nation's brightest legal minds," President Biden on Friday nominated federal appellate court judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. If confirmed, she would be the first Black woman to serve on the high court and would replace Justice Stephen Breyer, who is set to retire in June. Judge Jackson, who clerked for Justice Breyer, is also a former trial court judge and federal public defender. We'll talk about the significance of her nomination and how she could shape Supreme Court doctrine.

Russian forces on Friday closed in on the outskirts of Ukraine's capital city Kyiv, and aerial assaults continued, forcing tens of thousands of Ukrainians from their homes. Rose Gottemoeller, who served as NATO Deputy Secretary General from 2016 to 2019, calls the invasion an "enormous tragedy" that threatens to destroy Ukraine and that could signal President Vladimir Putin's intent to turn Russia into a pariah state. We'll talk about what NATO and the U.S. need to do to de-escalate and deter further violence.

Rep. Ro Khanna is one of a handful of congress members who represent Silicon Valley. His district stretches from Fremont to Cupertino, and in his new book, “Dignity in a Digital Age,” Khanna argues that to achieve digital equity, tech needs to be less geographically concentrated. The book also addresses multiple legislative proposals to tighten federal regulation of consumer privacy, digital wealth inequality and the cognitive impacts of social media. We’ll talk with Rep. Khanna about the book, his proposed “Internet Bill of Rights,” and how to make tech work for all of us.

On Thursday morning, Russian forces unleashed an air and land assault on Ukraine, and by day’s end, troops were closing in on the country’s capital Kyiv and had taken control of Chernobyl, the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster. According to the Ukrainian government, at least 57 citizens have been killed and 169 wounded. Meanwhile, civilians attempted to flee cities under missile assault. In a televised statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky committed to the fight saying that “a new iron curtain” is closing around Eastern Europe and his job is to keep Ukraine in the west. President Joe Biden and leaders around the world condemned the Russian invasion, and Biden also announced sanctions against Russia and its leaders. We’ll talk about the latest developments and what lies ahead.

As a longtime family physician, John Abramson became alarmed by the growing influence of drug makers over how doctors do their jobs. Abramson, who also teaches at Harvard Medical School, later became an expert witness in pharmaceutical lawsuits, which gave him a front row seat to the industry’s abuses. In his new book “Sickening,” Abramson shares troubling cases of drug companies interfering in medical research – often at the expense of patients. Abramson joins Forum to talk about the book and how to reform the American healthcare system.

One day in the summer of 2019, Solomon Hughes, a former Cal basketball star then working in academia, got a message from a former college teammate-turned actor: an untitled TV series was searching for someone to play the great basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Based on the 2014 book “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers” by Jeff Pearlman, the series now has a name, “Winning Time,” and premieres Mar. 6 on HBO. And Hughes, who landed the role, now has his first turn as an actor. We’ll talk to Hughes about the series, becoming an actor and the legacy of the Showtime Lakers dynasty that ruled the court in the 1980s.

Every year, thousands of bees are transported from other regions of the country to pollinate California’s highly profitable almond crops. But the valuable hives belonging to those migrant worker bees have now become targets for thieves: so far this year, beekeepers have reported more than 1,000 beehives stolen from orchards across the state. We discuss the growing problem of beehive thefts and the sophisticated tools and tactics beekeepers are using to protect their bees.

During the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted of murdering George Floyd, many remember the emotional testimony of Darnella Frazier, the Black teen who filmed the murder. Her testimony and that of other eyewitnesses, many of whom were Black, were a central part of the prosecution’s case. Black people didn’t always have the right to testify in court in the U.S., though – and not just in the Jim Crow South, but in California as well, which had a Black testimony exclusion law on the books from 1850 to 1863. That lesser known law, and the consequences of it, is the subject of a new episode of the podcast “Gold Chains,” produced by the ACLU of Northern California. We talk to the podcast’s creator, Tammerlin Drummond, about this history and why Black testimony mattered then – and still matters today.

State efforts to curtail reproductive rights are on the rise as Florida, Arizona and West Virginia all consider bills that would ban abortions after 15 weeks. Meanwhile, lawmakers in South Dakota, Alabama, Missouri and Arkansas have introduced bills that copy SB 8, the Texas law that bans all abortions, even in the case of rape and incest, after six weeks and lets private citizens enforce the ban by suing anyone who “aids and abets” in an abortion. According to the Guttmacher Institute, in the last year 108 laws rolling back reproductive rights have been introduced in state legislatures across the country. As the Supreme Court weighs whether Roe v. Wade will stand, we’ll examine the politics behind these latest measures and where they will lead.

Few places in the Bay Area have seen more demographic change than Richmond, California. From the white and Black southern migrants who decamped to the shipyards to the Mexican, Central American, and Laotian immigrants who have come in successive waves, new arrivals to the city have for years brought a remarkable mix of food cultures. We’ll talk with KQED food editor Luke Tsai about Richmond’s rich and evolving culinary scene.

UC Berkeley is one of the world’s greatest public universities, and a prized piece of an American higher education system that remains the envy of the world. But it’s also beset by the larger problems of the Bay Area, namely ongoing and bitter disputes over housing development. The university says it may be forced to cut its incoming class by thousands of seats and freeze enrollment in the wake of a court ruling over its expansion plans. Neighborhood groups had sued to block the plans over environmental concerns, and in August a court ruled in their favor. On Friday, Governor Gavin Newsom weighed in on behalf of the university, asking the state supreme court to overturn the ruling. We’ll get the latest on the case.

On June 7, San Francisco voters will decide whether to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin, and in Los Angeles, the effort to recall District Attorney George Gascón is collecting signatures to meet a July deadline. Supporters of both recalls claim the DAs are responsible for an uptick in property and violent crime and too lenient on offenders. But have San Francisco and Los Angeles actually become less safe, and what impact have the district attorneys’ policies had on their respective cities? We’ll discuss the recall efforts and pandemic crime rates in both metropolises.

“Evictions do not affect everyone equally,” says housing affordability reporter Molly Solomon in the second episode of KQED's podcast "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America." Black renters are more likely to be evicted than white renters, with Black women being evicted at higher rates than others. These disparities, among other troubling eviction patterns that emerged during the pandemic, are examined in the second season of “SOLD OUT,” co-hosted by Solomon and fellow KQED housing affordability reporter Erin Baldassari. Solomon and Baldassari join us to talk about their reporting and the history behind the Bay Area’s ongoing eviction disparities.

“The pursuit of justice creates injustice,” writes CNN Senior Legal Analyst Laura Coates in her new book, “Just Pursuit.” Coates began her career as a federal prosecutor in Washington D.C. with optimism. She had come from the Department of Justice where she had worked for both the Bush and Obama Administrations enforcing voting rights. In that role, she found herself being welcomed in Black communities as a hero ensuring votes would be counted. But as a prosecutor, that same community viewed her as working for the wrong side. And, after witnessing justice in action, Coates herself became distrustful of the very system in which she was a decision maker. We’ll talk to Coates about her book, the state of voting rights, and the difficult balancing act of being a Black woman, wife, and mother seeking to uphold the law and retain her humanity. This episode originally aired on Feb. 8.

As the world around us has become more chaotic, puzzles have provided a moment of respite. The 9 x 9 grid of a Sudoku, the verticals and horizontals of a crossword, the comforting circle of the New York Times’ Spelling Bee all offer solvers a beginning and an end; they are places where problems have solutions. We talk to puzzle constructors, puzzle solvers, and puzzle lovers about why puzzles of all kinds – from jigsaws to anagrams to Wordle – have been such a joy lately. And we’ll have a special puzzle for you to solve, too. This episode originally aired on Jan. 14.

Next week marks the 50th anniversary of President Nixon’s historic visit to China, a multi-day diplomatic tour that kickstarted efforts to normalize relations between the two countries. That event animates Gish Jen’s latest work of fiction, “Thank You, Mr. Nixon,” a collection of chronological, interrelated stories about what Jen calls the “surreal” changes that China has undergone in the last half century. We’ll talk to Jen about her book and how she thinks about the relationship between the United States and China, both the personal and the political.

President Biden said on Thursday that he believes Russia will attack Ukraine "within the next several days," characterizing the risk of an invasion as "very high." His remarks came a day after U.S. officials reported that Russia has not withdrawn any of the more than 7000 troops it has amassed near the Ukraine border. We'll talk about the latest developments with former Ukraine Ambassador Steve Pifer.

The forced removal and imprisonment of substantially the entire West Coast Japanese population during World War II tore up the lives of more than a hundred thousand people. It also ripped holes in the urban fabric, at exactly the time when the West Coast began to experience an influx of Black Americans from Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and other parts of the south. These shifts had a huge effect on San Francisco, the Bay Area as a whole, and the entire West Coast. We’ll talk with two historians about the lasting marks that internment left on our cities. But first, 102-year-old Yae Wada shares her story of being forced to relocate from her home in Berkeley to a prison camp in Utah. Guests: Yae Wada, 102-year-old Berkeley resident; imprisoned during WWII in the Tanforan Assembly Center and the Topaz concentration camp Meredith Oda, associate professor of history and associate chair of the department of gender, race, and identity, University of Nevada, Reno; author, "The Gateway to the Pacific: Japanese Americans and the Remaking of San Francisco" Charlotte Brooks, professor of history, Baruch College, City University of New York; author, "Alien Neighbors, Foreign Friends: Asian Americans, Housing, and the Transformation of Urban California"

COVID-19 has taken an enormous toll on not just students but on the educators who’ve been struggling to deliver lessons — and moral support — to kids throughout the pandemic. More than 90% of teachers say pandemic-related stress and burnout are serious problems, and 55% of teachers say they’re considering leaving their jobs sooner than planned, according to a recent National Education Association poll. We’ll hear from a panel of California teachers about how they’ve been coping with staffing shortages and other stressors, all while educating and nurturing their students in a third pandemic school year. Guests: Haydee Rodriguez, History and English teacher, Central Union High School in Imperial County Lauren Brown, early literacy coach, Oakland Unified School District Dr. Drew Ishii, math teacher, Sage Hill School in Orange County Arienne Adamcikova, Spanish teacher, Capuchino High School in San Bruno

Like many major U.S. cities, Oakland has seen an increase in gun violence during the pandemic. Last year, Oakland Police Department investigated 134 homicides, the most since 2012. And shootings increased by 21 percent. We’ll talk with Oakland’s Chief of Violence Prevention Guillermo Cespedes about the spike and his community-based strategies for reducing homicides in the city.

The demand for no and low-alcohol wine, beer and spirits skyrocketed during the pandemic, with brands seeing a 315% surge in sales over the last year alone, according to Nielsen data. It's no longer just a market for those abstaining from alcohol, either -- 78% of people buying these offerings also buy alcohol. Experts point to wellness trends, particularly among younger demographics, and those looking to moderate their drinking habits. And suppliers are keeping up, with numerous new brands emerging and big legacy brands like Budweiser and Heineken adding non-alcoholic drinks to their slates. We'll talk to wine and spirits writer Kate Dingwall about this booming market and where it's headed. Have you hopped on the non-alcoholic spirits train? Tell us what you're drinking and enjoying!

“How did conservative values that Republicans claimed to cherish, like small government, fiscal responsibility, and morality in public service, get completely eroded as an unshakable faith in Donald Trump grew to define the party?” That’s the question driving New York Times national politics reporter Jeremy W. Peters’s new book "Insurgency: How Republicans Lost Their Party and Got Everything They Ever Wanted.” In it, Peters outlines key points and events in recent history that fueled conservatives’ “revolution from within,” like the “Ground Zero Mosque” controversy that bolstered Trump’s image as a politician and an overlooked New Hampshire senate race in 2014 that would inform the playbook for GOP anti-immigration policy. He also interviewed former President Donald Trump for the book. We’ll talk to Peters about “Insurgency” and about his reporting on former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s loss Tuesday in the defamation lawsuit she brought against the New York Times.

In 1942, at age three, John Tateishi was imprisoned with his family at Manzanar, one of ten U.S. government camps used to incarcerate Japanese Americans during World War II. Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that year, gave the U.S. military the ability to designate areas "from which any or all persons may be excluded." Tateishi later went on to lead the fight for reparations for Japanese Americans forced into the camps. As part of our ongoing coverage of the 80th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, we’ll talk with Tateishi about his family’s experience and his book “Redress: The Inside Story of the Successful Campaign for Japanese American Reparations”.

San Franciscans voted Tuesday in the contentious recall election of three members of the San Francisco Board of Education — Alison Collins, Gabriela López and Faauuga Moliga — with more than 70% of votes in favor of ousting all three. Outraged parents called for the election in the midst of the pandemic saying the board failed to prioritize a return to in-person classes. This expensive recall, funded by some of San Francisco's wealthiest venture capitalists, could reshape the future of the San Francisco Unified School District. We’ll talk with KQED education reporter Vanessa Rancaño and politics reporter Guy Marzorati about the election.

Remote work is hard on everyone, but imagine starting your career on Zoom. For two pandemic years, Gen Z has been entering the workforce with limited opportunities for in-person training, mentorship or workplace community. But some young workers say they like the informality and flexibility associated with remote work. We’ll hear from young employees about what it’s like to onboard in a pandemic and get tips on how to make that transition easier.

When Ruth Sasaki was asked in 2018 to edit and contribute to the "Topaz Stories" that remember Japanese-American experiences during internment, she was so happy to apply her skills as a short story writer to help document and preserve a piece of history that impacted her own family. A third-generation San Franciscan, Sasaki's mother's family, the Takahashis, were interned at Topaz and Tanforan camps. Sasaki joins us as part of Forum's First Person Series to talk about "Topaz Stories" and reflect on the 80th anniversary of Japanese internment in the U.S.

Wild pigs have been marauding through 56 out of California’s 58 counties leaving destruction in their wake. Pigs in the Bay Area have trampled vineyards, gouged out golf courses, rototilled baseball fields and wreaked havoc on farms. A new bill introduced by a Napa state senator would allow property owners to kill the pigs without getting a permit first. It’s a baby step compared to Texas where you can rent a gunner seat in a chopper to shoot the hogs from the air, but it’s a sign of growing frustration in a normally animal tolerant state. We’ll talk about the trouble these pigs are causing, why they’re here and what can be done about it.

“I’ve never really liked my personality, and other people don’t like it either,” writes Atlantic writer Olga Khazan. In her latest article, “I Gave Myself Three Months to Change My Personality,” Khazan tries out meditation, a gratitude journal and improv classes among other exercises to achieve her goal of becoming more agreeable. We’ll talk to Khazan about how it went and what social science says about just how malleable our personalities are. Guests: Olga Khazan, staff writer, The Atlantic, author of Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World.

On February 16, California’s indoor mask mandate is set to expire. After that date, the state will no longer require vaccinated individuals to wear masks indoors; masks will still be required in K-12 schools, healthcare facilities and congregate settings like nursing homes. Most California counties have stated that they will follow this guidance, but in Santa Clara and Los Angeles counties, officials are still requiring masks indoors. This rollback in mask mandates comes as Omicron case numbers and hospitalizations are receding in most parts of the state. We’ll hear how public health experts are assessing COVID-19 risk and answer your questions about the changing rules. Guests: Yvonne Maldonaldo, professor of pediatrics and of epidemiology and population health; chief, division of pediatric infectious diseases, Stanford University School of Medicine Lesley McClurg, health reporter, KQED

The role of the comedian has been hotly debated in recent years with what seems like a new flashpoint every few months. Last fall, Dave Chappelle’s latest Netflix comedy special and continued inclusion of jokes at the expense of trans people led to protests and polarizing arguments online about “punching down” and what is and isn’t considered funny. In the last few weeks, comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan has been called out not just for spreading misinformation but also for his past use of racial slurs. Vox culture writer Aja Romano says this latest debate around Rogan “underscores comedy’s evolving conversation about morality, cancel culture, and how to be funny” and speaks to a larger “existential crisis” for comedy. We’ll unpack the ongoing debate over what makes good comedy.

When journalist Florence William’s 25 year marriage ended she found herself not just emotionally shattered but physically ill. She couldn’t sleep, she lost weight and her immune system was shot, she kept getting sick. She wasn’t sure why. “Much has been written about the science of falling in love but very little about what happens on the other side,” Williams writes in her new book, “Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey”. Williams joins Forum to talk about her wide ranging quest to understand the connection between emotional and physical pain and to find ways to heal.

A draft plan issued Tuesday by the California High Speed Rail Authority puts the cost of the San Francisco-to-Los Angeles bullet train at $105 billion, about $5 billion more than previous estimates. The plan, which is open for a 60-day public comment period, cites "significant progress" on the Central Valley portion of the rail system and advances in obtaining necessary right-of-way parcels, long a sticking point for planners. We'll talk to rail authority CEO Brian Kelly about what's next for California's massive rail project. Guests: Brian Kelly, CEO, California High Speed Rail Authority

Hundreds of truckers in Canada who are protesting vaccine mandates have shut down bridges and borders and brought the nation’s capital Ottawa to a near standstill. The protest began in late January when a convoy of trucks began traveling from western Canada to Ottawa. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has demanded that the protesters go home, but the truckers and their supporters show no signs of leaving. Meanwhile, copycat protests have emerged in France, New Zealand and Australia and there are talks about organizing a similar demonstration in the U.S. We’ll talk about the protest and its implications. Guests: Emma Jacobs, reporter, NPR; has covered the Ottawa protests on the ground Steve Reilly, investigative reporter, Grid News Andrew Cohen, journalist and associate professor of journalism and communications at Carleton University, Ottawa

President Biden said this week that American citizens should leave Ukraine amid uncertainty over a possible Russian invasion. Russia says it has no such plans. But the country has over 100,000 troops massed near the Ukrainian border and is set to start ten days of military drills on Thursday in Belarus, Ukraine’s neighbor to the north. We’ll talk to former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul about how the Biden administration should handle the conflict. Then, Politico’s Maggie Miller on why a clash between those two countries could “give the world its first experience of a true cyber war”-- and a glimpse into the future of modern warfare. Guests: Michael McFaul, director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University; former U.S ambassador to Russia Maggie Miller, cybersecurity reporter, Politico

“Modern life conspires against friendship,” says Atlantic staff writer Jennifer Senior, "even as it requires the bonds of friendship all the more." That’s one of the paradoxes at the center of Senior’s new piece “It’s Your Friends Who Break Your Heart” — a meditation on why friendships fade and collapse and why in midlife those losses sting particularly hard. We’ll talk to Senior about how at 52 she’s navigating what she calls a “Great Pandemic Friendship Reckoning” and what it means to overcome the heartbreak of a lost friend.

Vegan food has come a long way from sad side salads. Judging from the lines winding far down the block at Oakland’s Vegan Mob restaurant, vegan restaurants are surging in popularity. Some of the Bay Area’s busiest restaurants are owned and operated by people of color serving vegan versions of the food they grew up eating, like burgers, barbeque and pork-heavy burritos. We’ll talk about the new wave of vegan restaurants as part of our series on the food cultures of the Bay Area with KQED Food Editor Luke Tsai.

“Textiles and yarn did not have enough structure and volume, but clay I found was and is just right,” Edith Heath once said. The co-founder of Heath Ceramics is the focus of an exhibition at Oakland Museum of California, which looks at how Heath’s relocation to San Francisco informed and inspired her iconic mid-century ceramic designs. In Sausalito, Heath Ceramics revolutionized ceramic houseware, designing and manufacturing accessible, stylish dinnerware that could be used for Sunday best or on the patio. We’ll talk about how Heath fits within the larger history of ceramics in Northern California, what makes California clay so special and why Heath Ceramics remains relevant, nearly 75 years after its founding.

“The pursuit of justice creates injustice,” writes CNN Senior Legal Analyst Laura Coates in her new book, “Just Pursuit.” Coates began her career as a federal prosecutor in Washington D.C. with optimism. She had come from the Department of Justice where she had worked for both the Bush and Obama Administrations enforcing voting rights. In that role, she found herself being welcomed in Black communities as a hero ensuring votes would be counted. But as a prosecutor, that same community viewed her as working for the wrong side. And, after witnessing justice in action, Coates herself became distrustful of the very system in which she was a decision maker. We’ll talk to Coates about her book, the state of voting rights, and the difficult balancing act of being a Black woman, wife, and mother seeking to uphold the law and retain her humanity.

The San Francisco Art Institute and the University of San Francisco announced this month that they’re planning to merge. Under the agreement, USF will acquire the cash-strapped 151-year old arts college and offer a program called SFAI@USF in the fall. The move is reminiscent of Northeastern University’s acquisition of Mills College in September 2021 as small colleges and arts schools deal with financial pressures compounded by Covid. We’ll talk about the implications for SFAI’s students and adjunct faculty, as well as for the broader arts community of the Bay Area, and look ahead at a new era for the irreverent contemporary arts school.

Oakland’s school board is set to vote Tuesday on a highly controversial plan to permanently close or merge up to 15 schools over the next two years due to declining enrollment and lack of funding. “OUSD simply has too many schools and ... keeping these schools open negatively impacts all students and staff within OUSD,” district officials wrote in a statement. Students, staff, and parents have been protesting the move, and two teachers are waging a hunger strike in response. They say they were blindsided by the proposal and point to the fact that the move would disproportionately affect students of color and less affluent communities. We’ll preview the vote and discuss the future of Oakland’s schools.

Russia is planning to release a video of a fake Ukrainian attack that it would use to justify an invasion, U.S. officials said on Thursday. The Kremlin has denied the charge. But according to Stanford intelligence expert Amy Zegart, so-called deepfake videos and photographs are among the biggest challenges facing U.S. spy agencies. We are living in an era when bad actors can cause “massive disruption, destruction, and deception with the click of a mouse,” she writes in her new book, “Spies, Lies, and Algorithms.” Zegart joins us to talk about the book and the future of espionage in an era of artificial intelligence and cyberwarfare.

In a victory for the extreme right, Shasta voters have apparently chosen to recall Leonard Moty, a longtime Republican county supervisor and former Redding police chief. Moty and other moderate board members had faced a backlash from militia groups over COVID-19 and gun policies. We’ll talk to KQED’s Scott Shafer about the vote and what it means for right-wing movements, the GOP and politics in the state.

Sam Liccardo is in his final year as San Jose’s mayor and he has passed a first-in-the-country ordinance on an issue he cares fervently about – gun control. The ordinance, which requires gun owners to carry liability insurance, comes a year after nine people were killed in a mass shooting at a Valley Transportation Authority rail yard in San Jose. Mayor Liccardo joins Forum to talk about the new ordinance and other issues important to San Jose residents such as how the city is addressing its homeless and housing crises, a new spike in traffic fatalities, a proposal to allow non-citizens to vote in local elections and San Jose’s status as tofu capital of America. And we’ll take your questions for the mayor.

“We are all weird about money,” writes Paco de Leon in her new book, “Finance for the People.” Getting a grip on your finances often means learning how to deal with an unequal system, she writes. And, according to her, having money means having power — and that means it’s vital for all people to understand how to save, pay off loans and invest. This all begins with asserting your worth — something people of marginalized communities are systematically disincentivized from doing, in part because they’ve long been hurt by wage and revenue gaps. De Leon is the founder of The Hell Yeah Group, a financial firm designed to assist creatives with their finances, and is a creative herself. She joins us to talk about all things financial, and to hear from you: What’s affected your ability to get the money you deserve?

The city of Santa Rosa is saying farewell to its bard. Santa Rosa Press Democrat columnist Gaye Lebaron has retired after a 65-year career at the paper and an estimated 8,500 columns. “Few newspaper columnists have ever been so closely associated with one city for so long,” writes the Press Democrat’s editorial board, “Herb Caen and San Francisco, Mike Royko and Chicago, Gaye LeBaron and Santa Rosa.” In addition to writing a daily newspaper column for more than 40 years Lebaron has also written several books about Santa Rosa and Sonoma County history. She joins us to talk about the county’s past and present and what it means to spend more than six decades writing about the place she lives and loves.

Jay Dee, J Dilla, Dilla — Detroit-born hip-hop producer James Dewitt Yancey went by many names, but his rhythmic brilliance was always the same, whether he was producing for artists like The Pharcyde, Busta Rhymes, A Tribe Called Quest or his own group Slum Village, to name a few. Today, 16 years after his untimely death at age 32 from a rare blood disease, the impact of his industry-changing sound is still heard throughout music. That impact, and the story behind it, is the subject of the new book “Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm” by Dan Charnas. Equal parts biography, musicology and cultural history, Charnas tells the story of Yancey’s genius, and how he took music’s rhythm standards of “straight time” and “swing time” and created a whole new standard: Dilla Time.

This year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing, set to kick off on Friday, have been called “the most complex Games ever” by the Wall Street Journal. The Los Angeles Times dubs them “the feel guilty Games.” The event is opening amid intense Covid-19 restrictions and concerns over Chinese human rights violations, like the persecution of the Uyghur Muslims and jailing of activists. Those have prompted President Biden to boycott the Games, though U.S. athletes are still competing. The head of the International Olympic Committee said last month that the Games “must be beyond all political disputes.” But as Georgetown University professor Victor Cha points out, the Olympics have always been political. He joins us to talk about the history of bans and boycotts surrounding the Games, and how China and the US are navigating this year’s event. Guests: Victor Cha , Vice Dean and Professor of Government, Georgetown University, former Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council. Author of "Beyond the Final Score: The Politics of Sport."

Early on in the award-winning documentary "Writing with Fire," a reporter named Meera Devi sits patiently before a police officer, demanding to know why he hasn't acted on a local villager's multiple reports of rape. Similar scenes follow, as Devi and her colleagues, journalists with India's only all-female, Dalit-run news network, seek to hold officials to account for caste and gender-based violence, corruption and other abuses. We talk to the directors of "Writing with Fire," now shortlisted for an Academy Award, about the growing influence of the newspaper Khabar Lahariya and the women who run it. Guests: Sushmit Ghosh, producer and director, "Writing With Fire" Rintu Thomas, producer and director, "Writing with Fire"

The Kitchen Sisters, the audio project of Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva, has been collecting stories from “the B-side of history” since 1979. These stories dive into worlds hidden from the headlines, immersing listeners into the music, sounds and atmospheres of American culture, populated by famous and underrecognized figures alike. The Library of Congress announced in January that it will acquire the archive of the Kitchen Sisters, comprising photos, journals and more than 7,000 hours of audio. We’ll play some of the audio from the Kitchen Sisters’ most iconic episodes, set in the Bay Area and beyond, and we want to hear from you: What’s one story from your family that shouldn’t be lost to history?

A Tennessee school board last week voted to remove the Pulitzer-prize winning graphic novel Maus from an 8th grade course on the Holocaust. And that’s just one of many examples of recent bans instituted by parents, activists, school boards and lawmakers. According to the American Library Association, it has seen an “unprecedented” number of book bans in the last year. But unlike previous waves of book bannings, this latest wave has a different tone and tenor; bans are often targeted at books that center on the experience of diverse characters or are written by authors of color. Politicians like Texas Governor Greg Abbott are also using bans as campaign platforms to galvanize right wing voters. And while many bans are advocated by conservatives, there are also efforts by parents, like those in a Burbank, California school district, to remove books like “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “Of Mice and Men” from the curriculum because of the racist depictions in those books. We’ll look at why book banning is spreading across the country and what might be done to reverse the trend.

Three years after placing a moratorium on executions in California, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the closure of death row at San Quentin on Monday. More than 500 inmates will merge with the general prison population at other maximum security facilities over the next two years, but will maintain their current sentences. California hasn’t performed an execution since 2006. While critics of capital punishment cheered the move, one advocate for crime victims said Newsom was “pouring more salt on the wounds of victims” We’ll talk with San Francisco Chronicle reporter Kevin Fagan about the changes at San Quentin and the future of the death penalty in California.

Early results of an ongoing clinical trial found that cash aid to low-income mothers increases brain activity in babies – a finding that could help shape social policy. Called "Baby's First Years," it's the first study in the U.S. to look at the impact of poverty reduction on early childhood development. "We don't need brain science to tell us that no child should live in poverty, " asserts Dr. Kimberly Noble, one of the neuroscientists who led the study. But while many have assumed other factors, not poverty, impact childhood development, "evidence here suggests that reducing poverty may in and of itself affect child development." We'll discuss the study and what it could mean for public policy, like President Biden’s proposed child tax credit, going forward.

A bill seeking to cover every Californian with state-financed health insurance faced a Monday deadline to make it out of the state assembly. But just before it was set for a vote, Assembly Bill 1400 was withdrawn by its author, Democrat Ash Kalra. The bill would have made California the only state in the nation with a single-payer health care system if enacted. But some legislators balked at the cost of the system, known as CalCare, which had been estimated at between $314 billion and $391 billion per year. We’ll discuss the bill’s fate— and the future of single-payer healthcare in the state – with KQED’s April Dembosky.

In the film “The Lost Daughter” directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, actor Olivia Colman plays Leda, a middle-aged college professor who encounters a young mother and her daughter while on vacation, prompting memories from Leda’s past, when she left her husband and two young daughters for three years. This story, adapted from Elena Ferrante’s 2006 novel of the same name, conjured feelings of relief for Los Angeles-based author Amina Cain – not because the main character once abandoned her children, but because a different kind of story about motherhood was being told. In an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, Cain, who has never wanted children, writes: “It’s rare to see a film or read a novel that depicts ambivalence around motherhood, even rarer one that rejects that life completely, which I deeply appreciate about ‘The Lost Daughter.’ I’m hungry for these stories.” We talk to Cain about why ambivalence towards motherhood still feels socially taboo.

An increasing portion of human life is structured by powerful and opaque technological systems. Getting a loan, parole hearings, resume sorting, the political ads that appear on your device: Across fields, machine learning systems are trying to sort you into statistical buckets. Worse, NBC technology correspondent Jacob Ward argues, the data that artificial intelligence systems use to predict what we’ll do next mostly show “the ancient instincts… the tribalism, the anthropomorphism, the gut feelings,” because targeting those parts of us is the most profitable way for companies to use AI. Ward joins us to talk about his new book, “The Loop: How Technology is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back."

A new study from researchers at Stanford University finds that on an annual basis, the methane leaking from residential gas ovens in the U.S. has the same negative effect on the climate as 500,000 gas-powered cars. These findings come as climate activists and legislators nationwide increase efforts to ban natural gas hookups in new building construction. In California, although 60 percent of homes use gas stoves, compared to the national average of one-third, dozens of cities and counties have implemented or promoted legislation to phase out the use of natural gas in new builds. We’ll talk with the study’s lead researcher and discuss what this means for consumers and the industry. Guests: Rob Jackson, professor of Earth System Science, Stanford University; senior fellow, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and the Precourt Institute for Energy Katherine Blunt , energy reporter, Wall Street Journal

Voters in Shasta County will decide on Tuesday whether to recall Leonard Moty, a Republican county supervisor and former police chief from Redding. The recall effort in this heavily Republican region, where Donald Trump won 65% of the vote in 2020, is led not by Democrats, but by a far right militia group who say Moty doesn't support their pro-gun and anti-mask values aggressively enough. We'll talk to KQED's Scott Shafer about his look into the political fight in Shasta County and what it could signal about the future of the Republican party in California.

Private equity investment in healthcare has exploded in recent years, with companies trying to squeeze maximum profits out of doctor’s offices, hospitals and more. A recent U.C. Berkeley study found the value of private equity healthcare deals nearly tripled in the last decade. Some industry experts say it has hampered the ability of providers to respond to the pandemic. We’ll look at how private investors are reshaping healthcare, and why critics say it is putting patients at risk. Guests: Richard Scheffler, professor of health economics, UC Berkeley; member, Healthy California for All Commission Gretchen Morgenson, senior financial reporter, NBC News Investigations Mitchell Li, practicing emergency physician; co-founder, Take Medicine Back, an advocacy group which seeks to remove private equity from healthcare

Rejection is normal and happens to all of us, but it still never feels good to get that email or call from an admissions officer or potential employer saying you weren’t “the one.” In a recent article for The Atlantic titled “A Toast to All the Rejects,” NPR producer Rhaina Cohen writes about the power of turning one’s rejections into a celebration with friends or colleagues. Cohen’s article was inspired by a graduate student lab at UC Irvine led by social sciences professor Barbara Sarnecka where they created a group spreadsheet to collect everyone’s rejections from jobs, academic journals or grants. When they reached 100 rejections as a group, they threw a party. “Instead of shying away from rejection, they’re asking us to run straight toward it—and to do so together,” writes Cohen. We explore the idea of reframing – and even celebrating – rejection.

Northern and Southern California are going to battle on Sunday when the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams face off for this year’s National Football Conference championship and a bid for the Super Bowl. We'll talk about the all-California matchup and hear your fan predictions.

Isabel Allende’s new novel, “Violeta,” opens in the midst of a pandemic, under quarantine conditions. Only it’s 1920 and the Spanish flu. Violeta has just been born; she spends her early life in the virus-induced social bubble that we’ve all come to know. Inspired by Allende’s own mother, Violeta is born into elite, but falls into a rural social stratum after the Great Depression. It’s a saga about family secrets, exiles and resilience, as well as a reflection on the century when the world became technologically modern and socially fractured. We’ll talk with Allende about the novel, her mother and writing through — and about — a pandemic.

After nearly three decades on the Supreme Court, Justice Stephen Breyer said on Tuesday that he will retire by the end of the current term. Justice Breyer, one of the Court's three liberal members, will step down as the Court considers major cases involving abortion and gun rights. Breyer’s retirement offers President Biden, who vowed during the campaign to nominate a Black woman justice, his first opportunity to shape the Court. It also comes at a time when the non-partisan nature of the Court has come under question. We'll talk about Breyer’s legacy, who might succeed him and the future direction of the Court.

A new report released this week details the experiences of Silicon Valley’s “shadow workforce” -- the temporary contract workers tech companies hire through third parties. These contractors, who are disproportionately women and people of color, receive different pay, benefits and protections than employees. While tech companies have fared well during the pandemic, according to the report authored by TechEquity Collaborative, “the temporary, contract, and contingent workers who are classified differently from their directly-employed counterparts despite performing critical roles for the companies—have been locked out of tech’s prosperity.” We’ll discuss the yearlong investigation’s findings about this “two-tier system” of employment and why some are pushing to change it.

Port of Oakland commissioners will vote Thursday on whether to approve an open air rock and gravel storage facility at the port. The port says the Eagle Rock Aggregates facility will bring much needed construction materials to the Bay Area. The proposal is strongly opposed by some West Oakland residents who say the dust from the facility will further pollute the already dirty air in the neighborhood from the port. Pollution has contributed to higher rates of respiratory illness, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in West Oakland compared to other areas of the city. We’ll discuss the proposal, its environmental impacts and the port’s relationship with its neighbors.

“I believe America is simultaneously a riotous comedy and a heartbreaking tragedy,” writes Wajahat Ali in his new memoir “Go Back to Where You Came From.” With humor, Ali recounts a Bay Area childhood growing up as the shy, pop culture-loving, Husky jeans-wearing only son of Pakistani immigrants. Although the community around him made clear the only acceptable careers for him were doctor, engineer, or successful businessman (the only other option was being “a failure”), Ali found a career as a writer, and it was art that saved Ali when his family’s lives were blown apart by scandal. In this book, part autobiography and part social criticism, Ali takes apart the myth of the “moderate Muslim,” and describes what life in America is like post-9/11 and post-Trump for a Muslim who once felt free enough to pray publicly at a Cirque du Soleil concert and the stalls of the Gap, but who no longer feels he can. We’ll talk to Ali about his book and what it means to be American when your fellow citizens question your right to be there.

Lunar New Year is only a week away, on February 1st, which means some of you could already be running behind in getting the spread ready. As part of our new series on the food cultures of the Bay Area with KQED Food Editor Luke Tsai, we’ll talk about the traditional, and not so traditional, foods of the New Year. Whether you’re planning an elaborate feast or just picking up take-out, we want to hear your favorite lunar New Year’s dish or tradition. If you stick with the Gregorian calendar and celebrated weeks ago, we still want to hear from you. What do you eat to mark the New Year and to bring you luck or abundance?

More than 120 restaurants closed in San Francisco in 2021 — and many still-open places feel like they’re on their last legs. Dining simply has not come back, and though some businesses have prospered by making lemons into take-out, others are tapping out. And it’s not just restaurants: the iconic Castro Theater is planning a switch to live events to survive. We open the phone lines to commemorate the beloved Bay Area restaurants and small businesses we’ve lost in recent years.

Beset by a climate crisis that's creating ever more devastating wildfires, Californians may find it "easy, even comforting, to sit in despair," writes reporter Liz Weil. But, she continues, "nihilism is a failure of the imagination, the bleak, easy way out. We need to face the lives before us." That includes recognizing that we're in what climate futurists call the "trans-apocalypse:" a reality defined by the imperative that humans engage constantly with ecological threats. We'll talk to Weil about the origins of California's wildfire problem and how we can reframe and address it.

Last Thursday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced that the latest Covid surge in San Francisco, which was fueled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, was on a downward trend, having peaked in early January. This welcome news comes as San Francisco shifts its thinking on Covid. According to the city’s Department of Public Health, the goal is not to stop Covid infections, but rather to focus on preventing worse outcomes like severe illness, hospitalization and death. We’ll get an update from Dr. Naveena Bobba, the department’s deputy director, about how the city is handling Covid and how San Francisco’s approach could influence state policy.

In his new book "Davos Man," New York Times Global Economics Correspondent Peter S. Goodman exposes the role of elite billionaires in deepening global inequality, often while burnishing a do-gooder image. Goodman joins us to talk about how gatherings like the annual World Economic Forum in Davos help the mega-rich divert attention from their efforts to dodge taxes and fight regulation.

With historic numbers of people quitting their jobs, there’s no question that American workers are fried and fed-up. But according to author Jonathan Malesic the country’s burnout crisis goes much deeper than the pandemic. A former college professor, he’s the author of a new book "The End of Burnout: Why Work Drains Us and How to Build Better Lives." He joins us to talk about the history of Americans’ dysfunctional relationship with work and how to fix what he calls our "burnout culture." But first, we check in with Riverside County Congressman Mark Takano, the author of a bill that would create a 32-hour workweek.

Endangered and rare forms of salmon are being spotted in surprising places around the Bay Area — some of which they haven’t visited in almost two decades. Chinook salmon were even seen in Oakland’s Lake Merritt last month; now coho salmon are swimming in the tiny tributaries of the San Geronimo Valley. The reason for this year’s sightings can be traced back to the heavy rains over the last several months, which timed well for these breeds’ spawning periods. But in the bigger picture, land development, climate change, overfishing and drought have all played a role in why we haven’t seen these fish in so long — and are part of the conversation on how we can work to keep them around in the future. We’ll answer your questions about the salmon currently swimming in the Bay Area.

After one month and 1.5 million kilometers of travel since its launch on Christmas, the James Webb Space Telescope is set to reach its orbit destination Monday. It’s the beginning of a profound shift in the way we see deep space: the telescope will be able to look back 13.7 billion years back in time. To get to this point has taken 10 billion dollars and a quarter of a century of work. For nearly all of that time, astronomer Marcia Rieke was on the project. As she waits for the telescope to thrust into orbit, we’ll talk with her about what it’s like to see a career’s worth of preparation finally come to fruition and what she hopes to learn from the telescope’s journey.

It’s been five years since California legalized marijuana under Proposition 64 and opened the doors to a new legal market. Yet today, the majority of cannabis consumed here is not legal. A key reason: it’s difficult and costly to start and maintain a state-licensed cannabis business. Meanwhile, a robust system for setting up shop as part of the illicit market has been in place long before voters approved Prop 64. Last week cannabis farmers, business owners and advocates gathered at the State Capitol to demand reform to the burdensome tax system that’s frustrating businesses and growers of all sizes but making small businesses and farms especially vulnerable to collapse. In outlining next year’s state budget proposal this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he “supports cannabis tax reform and plans to work with the Legislature to make modifications to California’s cannabis tax policy to help stabilize the market.” We’ll take stock of California’s cannabis industry and proposed reforms.

In 2016, the public learned that Millennium Tower, a 60-story luxury condo highrise in downtown San Francisco, was tilting to the northwestby 16 inches. Fast forward five years and the lean is now at about 26 inches. The tower has been sinking at a rate of about 3 inches per year despite tens of millions of dollars being spent to stop it. . Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, the firm hired to fix the leaning tower, recently submitted a revised plan to city officials after their previous efforts resulted in increased titling. We talk about the latest developments in the Millennium Tower saga.

The city of Sunnyvale is at war with thousands of crows that have invaded downtown. To try and drive the birds away, city employees have been armed with $20 green laser pointers. Ideas for other solutions abound: hang effigies of dead crows off of buildings, blast crow distress sounds from boomboxes, light up the sky with pyrotechnics. What is it with all the crows? And what will it take to shoo them away?

You may not know who Bruno is, but you do probably know that we don’t talk about him thanks to a song from the animated film “Encanto.” The movie, about a magical Colombian family struggling to maintain their special powers, hit movie theaters in late November and has since infiltrated households across the country with its catchy songs – six of which have landed on the Billboard Hot 100 list this week. Disney, the studio behind the film, is known for pumping out hit songs such as “Let it Go” from “Frozen” or “A Whole New World” from “Aladdin”, but the multi-track success of Encanto is unprecedented. We talk about why songs like, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” “Surface Pressure,” and “What Else Can I Do,” are stuck in so many heads of kids and adults alike. Guests: Pamela Avila, Los Angeles-based entertainment editor, USA Today, and author of the article, “What Disney’s 'Encanto' teaches us about self-worth and overcoming intergenerational family trauma.” Bethonie Butler, reporter covering television and pop culture, The Washington Post, and author of the recent article, “How ‘Encanto’ and its vibrant soundtrack became a viral phenomenon”

President Biden called his first year in office one of "enormous progress" in a press conference Wednesday, citing a successful vaccine rollout, record job creation and the enactment of his bipartisan infrastructure law. But his voting rights and "Build Back Better" plans remain stalled in a bitterly divided Congress, and ongoing supply chain issues and fears of inflation threaten economic recovery and, potentially, Democrats' ability to maintain their House and Senate majorities. We'll look back at Biden's first year and the thorny challenges that lie ahead. Guests: Domenico Montanaro, senior political editor and correspondent, NPR

Writer Kathryn Schulz says her father’s death at 74, surrounded by people he loved, was “not a tragedy.” But it was still cataclysmic. “Popular wisdom will tell you that it comes in stages,” she writes about grief, “denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance — and that may be true. But the Paleozoic Era also came in stages … and it lasted 290 million years.” In the midst of despair, Schulz also reveled in the joy of new love, having met her future wife the year before. Forum talks with the New Yorker staff writer about the confluence of major events in her life, the experience of deeply feeling opposite emotions at the same time and her memoir, “Lost & Found.”

Raising children is a daunting task, but when you are an immigrant, there can be so many more obstacles and opportunities to navigate: Should you raise your child to speak your native language? How much of your culture do you want to celebrate and what might you want to leave behind? How should you react when your child rejects your lovingly made bento or tiffin filled with homemade delicacies for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Author and immigrant Masha Rumer has pondered these questions in her new book, “Parenting with an Accent,” and we’ll talk to her and a panel of parents about the joys and heartaches of raising a child far from the country you came from.

When patients with severe depression don’t respond to medication, psychiatrists sometimes turn to a treatment known as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). The non-invasive therapy uses pulses of magnetic activity to stimulate the brain, and about half of patients see their symptoms improve. Now, researchers at Stanford say they have developed a new and improved version of rTMS, tailored to each patients’ neurocircuitry. In one study, nearly 80 percent of severely depressed patients experienced a normal mood within five days. We’ll talk to the lead researcher on the Stanford study and other experts in the field about the latest developments in rTMS and other methods of treating depression and mental illness.

“Many historians have been seduced by the desire to manage the story of our founding, protecting our identity as an exceptional, fundamentally just nation,” writes Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones in the preface to “The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story.” The project, created by Hannah-Jones, reframes our popular understanding of U.S. history and considers “a new origin story” that started not with the Declaration of Independence, but rather with the introduction of slavery in late August 1619, when the first ship carrying enslaved people from Africa arrived in the British colony of Virginia. Originally launched as a special edition of the New York Times Magazine in 2019, an expanded book version of the project came out in November. We’ll talk to Hannah-Jones about the new book, the debates the project has sparked about how we write and teach U.S. history and the power of shared national memory

The fast-spreading omicron variant has snarled schools and made this return from the holidays particularly difficult. As record numbers of California children have tested positive for COVID and even been hospitalized, many students and teachers are reluctant to return to the classroom, especially without adequate protection and safety protocols. We’ll check in with an Oakland student organizer about a petition that’s gained over a thousand signatures to boycott classes until demands over safety are met. And, as omicron looks to be nearing its peak, we talk with experts about what to expect in the next few weeks, and what lies beyond. Given all we know now, given how tired we all are, what would count as “winning” when the next surge hits?

The highly transmissible omicron variant has resulted in a surge in COVID-19 cases across the United States, filling hospitals and contributing to worker shortages across industries. The good news is that vaccines appear to dramatically decrease the risk of serious illness. But doctors and public health experts say that even the vaccinated should continue to mask and practice social distancing – and should under no circumstances actively attempt to contract COVID. We’ll discuss the personal and community-based reasons why you don’t want to contract omicron with Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo.

When Stanley Nelson was growing up in 1950s New York, the award-winning documentary filmmaker had no idea he wanted to enter the profession because, he recalls, film wasn't a career option for African Americans at all. Nelson has gone on to direct and produce scores of documentaries over a decades-long career, shedding light on both familiar and underappreciated corners of the American experience. We'll talk to him about his latest film, "Attica," which was recently shortlisted for an Academy Award, and hear why he avoids re-enactments, how he gets his subjects to open up to him and what draws him to stories of institutions and movements that are greater than any one individual.

The U.S. Mint has issued a new quarter featuring writer Maya Angelou with her arms aloft, in front of a rising sun. It’s the first time a Black woman has been featured on a U.S. quarter. In light of the honor, we look back at a remarkable television series that Maya Angelou created for KQED in 1968. The groundbreaking series, ‘Blacks, Blues, Black!’ celebrated the culture and history of Africa and the influence of Black culture on American society. We’ll listen back to clips from the show and talk about the Bay Area’s Black community in the late 60s and the intersection of culture and activism. Guests: Cheryl Fabio, filmmaker, directed and produced "Evolutionary Blues," a documentary about West Oakland's music and community Dorothy Tsuruta, professor of Africana Studies, specializing in literature, San Francisco State University

Dorothy Lazard, who retired as head librarian of the Oakland History Center last month, has her own fan club, composed of grateful readers, patrons, journalists, professors, and writers. Her devoted following is the result of 21 years spent at the Oakland Public Library, the last dozen at the History Center where she meticulously and thoughtfully shed light on the untold stories of Oakland, its people and its history. We talk to Lazard about what it means to hold a city’s history and what she plans on doing next.

Conversations about the history of slavery are often confined to the North and the South, with the West viewed as a free “promised land.” But California passed laws, like the Fugitive Slave Act of 1852, that reinforced the institution of slavery, and otherwise allowed coerced, unpaid labor in the state. And the laws impacted more than just Black people, too. Historian Stacey L. Smith writes in her book “Freedom’s Frontier” that “ diverse forms of American Indian servitude, sexual trafficking in bound women, and contract labor involving Latin Americans, Asians, and Pacific Islanders all kept the slavery question alive in California during the 1850s.” This history has been brought to the fore in recent weeks as the state’s Reparations Task Force continues to hear testimony about the impacts of slavery on African Americans. We take a closer look at this part of California’s past and why it matters.

As the world around us has become more chaotic, puzzles have provided a moment of respite. The 9 x 9 grid of a Sudoku, the verticals and horizontals of a crossword, the comforting circle of the New York Times’ Spelling Bee all offer solvers a beginning and an end; they are places where problems have solutions. We talk to puzzle constructors, puzzle solvers, and puzzle lovers about why puzzles of all kinds – from jigsaws to anagrams to Wordle – have been such a joy lately. And we’ll have a special puzzle for you to solve, too.

Ridesharing has long been a part of farmworker communities, before companies like Uber and Lyft came along. So when faced with a lack of transportation options in his small town of Huron in the Central Valley, Mayor Rey Leon took inspiration from farmworkers to launch the Green Raiteros -- a ridesharing program that provides free transportation to residents using a fleet of all electric vehicles. Most community members use the service for necessary medical appointments that are miles away. In addition to filling a community need, LA Times reporter Evan Halper – who covered Leon and Green Raiteros in a recent story – says the program "has put Huron on the map as perhaps the greenest migrant farmworker community in the country." Leon and Halper join us to talk about the program and the example it sets for greater state and federal efforts to go electric.

Modern prenatal blood tests that screen for a range of fetal abnormalities are billed by their Silicon Valley creators as reliable and accurate, designed to bring peace of mind to anxious parents. But a New York Times investigation has found that positive results on those tests are inaccurate roughly 85 percent of the time. We'll talk to Times investigative journalist Sarah Kliff about what she uncovered.

Clue: She’s an Oakland engineer, the first woman to win a million dollars on Jeopardy, the first transgender contestant to qualify for the show’s Tournament of Champions, and she’s currently on a 30-game winning streak. Answer: Who is Amy Schneider? Schneider joins Forum to talk about her run on Jeopardy, the key to her success, and how going down the rabbit hole of curiosity can make you a Jeopardy champion and a better person.

Expect a lot of construction in the coming year around the Bay Area as developers move forward on various massive real estate projects - the kind of developments that take years to plan and construct and can transform a pocket of a city with new housing, office space, retail and outdoor areas. In San Francisco alone, work could start on about 3,000 units. On Treasure Island, the first few hundred homes of 8,000 planned housing units will come to the market this year, roughly two decades after the project started. In San Francisco’s Dogpatch, the Potrero Power Station is one of a handful of large-scale developments redefining the formerly isolated neighborhood. In Oakland, hundreds of new residents have already moved into Brooklyn Basin, a revamped former industrial area turned waterfront community that will include parks and retail along with housing. We take a look at some of the megaprojects in progress in the Bay Area, why they are so hard to build and what they mean for the region’s housing crisis.

A growing number of Americans say they do not have a religious affiliation, according to a recent Pew survey. Today, roughly 30% of American adults are religiously unaffiliated, up from 19% in 2011. The study also found that while Christians are still in the majority, their share of the adult population declined by 12 percentage points over the same time period. We’ll talk with a Pew researcher and religion experts about the survey's findings and what they mean for organized religion and the country.

One of the smaller cruelties among the many tragedies of the COVID pandemic is that the virus’ attack on the sense of smell and taste has robbed us of one of the few pleasures of being sick: delicious comfort food. It’s a symptom that doctors say seems to be less common with omicron. So as the new variant stampedes through the Bay Area, we’ll talk with KQED food editor Luke Tsai about our favorite foods to eat when we’re sick or in need of comfort. This is the first installation of a new regular segment with Tsai: he’ll join us every other week to dig into the many food cultures of the Bay Area. We want to hear from you: Whether from your kitchen or ordered as takeout, what do you eat when you’re sick?

In recent months, headlines about the so-called “Great Resignation” have abounded: Americans, the story goes, are reevaluating their work lives and leaving their jobs in droves. But although quitting is at historic levels, many economists say the trend is widely misunderstood. We’ll talk with experts about what the data really say, and look at how the rest of the world sees what's wrong with the American labor market.

On Tuesday, both President Biden and Vice President Harris plan to give remarks in Atlanta about the importance of passing voting rights legislation and combatting a slew of states’ efforts to restrict the franchise. If Republicans defeat the federal legislation, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has signaled he will push for the elimination of the filibuster in hopes of sending it to Biden’s desk without bipartisan support. Critics say that the Biden Administration is offering words, not deeds, and that time is running out as states gear up for the 2022 midterm elections. What is the state of voting rights and what can be done?

Five years ago, Nigel Poor, an artist, and Earlonne Woods, an inmate in San Quentin, created a podcast chronicling the stories and daily life of prison. “Ear Hustle” smashed prison stereotypes with humor and candor even as it revealed the human toll of mass incarceration. The podcast became an enormous hit, surpassing 40 million downloads, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and was nominated for a Peabody Award. Poor and Woods’ new book “This is Ear Hustle” fills in the details about their remarkable project, and they join us to discuss what it means to tell stories about life in prison, from the inside.

In June 2018, a dozen young soccer players and their coach became trapped more than two miles inside the Tham Luang Cave in northern Thailand, as a sudden monsoon swept into the region and inundated the underground passages. The world watched transfixed for weeks as rescuers located the boys, brought them supplies and engineered a way to bring them to safety. Cave diver Rick Stanton was among those leading the effort and he joins us to talk about the rescue, the rarefied world of underwater cave diving and his new book "Aquanaut."

As the surge of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus continues to intensify, some Bay Area schools have been closing or shifting to remote learning. In San Francisco and Oakland, hundreds of teachers and aides called in sick for in-person classes last week to protest what they say are unsafe work conditions. Meanwhile, many parents are stumped about how best to protect their children from being infected – especially those of kids too young to be vaccinated – as hospitalizations of young people rise across the state. We’ll talk about how schools and families are coping with the omicron crisis.

Los Angeles and Oakland take starring roles in the television shows “Insecure,” “Gentefied” and “Blindspotting,” which bring audiences new takes on those cities and the people who live there. The shows follow Black and Latino characters trying to navigate adulthood, life choices, relationships– all amid rapidly changing neighborhoods. We talk about how those shows broke Hollywood norms, celebrate predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods, and resonate with California viewers.

The violent attack on the capitol a year ago was a jolt to the American consciousness that our revered democracy had broken. Now, with the anniversary of the attacks behind us, we look ahead and consider paths to strengthen democracy and governance with journalist James Fallows. We’ll consider: What is working in our democracy? How do we nurture it? And how can we reverse the streams of disinformation that have corrupted our politics?

One year ago today, as the nation watched in disbelief, Trump supporters trampled barricades and stormed the Capitol to stop the certification of President Biden’s election. Insurrectionists scaled walls, occupied Congressional offices, and took over the Senate floor. Meanwhile as police officers battled to bring order, some suffering grievous injuries as a result, staffers and lawmakers sheltered in place, some fearing for their lives. January 6 was a day of violence. It was also a moment of reckoning, and on this anniversary, co-hosts Alexis Madrigal and Ariana Proehl ask where our country is headed. What are your memories of that day? How does our nation heal and bridge its many divides?

We’ll bring you live NPR coverage of the Jan. 6 anniversary events at the White House and in Congress, followed by expert analysis co-hosted by Alexis Madrigal and Ariana Proehl.

The day after the January 6 insurrection, pundits and politicians predicted that this unprecedented breach of the Capitol would be the pivot point that brought American democracy back from the brink. But has it? With a country consumed by a pandemic, chronic inequality, and polarized political parties, nothing much seems to have changed in the last year. As the nation begins to reflect on the one year anniversary of the insurrection, we’ll talk to Representative Adam Schiff, journalist Zack Beauchamp and Professor Kellie Carter Jackson about where the American experiment is headed.

This holiday season, many of us gave and received houseplants as gifts. But what do you do if you aren’t quite sure how to take care of those plants… or even what they are, exactly? Bay Area plant sellers join to provide advice on how to care for your new snake plant, or bring your early-pandemic philodendron back to life. We’ll answer your questions on watering, repotting and how to optimize sunlight in the Bay Area’s microclimates. Call in with your houseplant situation, and for listeners with green thumbs, tell us: what’s your go-to houseplant care tip?

A year ago this week, far-right extremists stormed the U.S. Capitol, an insurrection spurred by the false accusations from President Trump that the “election was stolen.” The events of Jan. 6 led to multiple deaths and wounded more than 100. Frontline, in partnership with ProPublica and Berkeley Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program, has been tracking the rise of far right extremist groups and their role in the capitol attacks. A new, updated version of their April 2021 documentary “American Insurrection,” digs into the continued aftermath of the insurrection and former President Trump’s role in encouraging it. We’ll speak with correspondent A.C. Thompson about what we know one year later, the decades-long rise of far-right extremist groups, and the threats they pose.

Yard waste and food scraps take up half of California’s landfills and produce one fifth of methane emissions in the state. That’s according to CalRecycle, the state agency that oversees waste management. A new state law seeks to lower those greenhouse gas emissions, requiring businesses and residents to separate green waste from other trash. We’ll get the details on the new law and how it will be rolled out.

California’s oral history archives is a treasure trove of first person accounts by politicians, staffers and others who've kept our state government running. Now, thanks to Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s office, those archives are more accessible to the public than ever. We’ll hear about her plans for new oral histories focused on tribal and Latino leaders, Black history and the LGBTQ community.

The Bay Area’s rainy season is in full force and with it comes the fungi. For mycology enthusiasts, that means gearing up with hiking boots and identification guides and tromping through damp soil in search of mushrooms. We’ll talk about the best local spots for foraging, as well as the roles mushrooms play in cuisine, health and sustainability. And we want to hear from you: Are you a Bay Area mycologist, seasoned or newbie? What are your tips? Questions?

A federal jury in San Jose found Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes guilty on 4 of 11 charges in a widely watched fraud trail that was seen as an indictment of a Silicon Valley 'fake it till you make it' startup culture. We'll talk about the trial and what it may mean for Silicon Valley.

Most American do not meet physical activity guidelines for their age group. So for some folks, the new year will bring renewed resolve to exercise more. But how do you stick with your resolution, and how do you get fit without injuring yourself? Whether your goal is to just sit less and move more, or participate in a triathlon, we’ll get expert guidance for getting fit in 2022.

At the World Health Organization coronavirus briefing last month, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the COVID-19 pandemic “must” end in 2022, stating that there will be enough vaccines to protect the world's entire adult population in the first three months of the year. But concern remains, he added, over successful implementation and equitable distribution of the vaccines. We'll get the latest on the Omicron variant and what 2022 could bring.

In his new book “Major Labels,” journalist and music critic Kelefa Sanneh takes on the history of popular music through seven genres that have defined it: rock, R&B, country, punk, hip-hop, dance and pop. The book not only highlights key artists and events in music’s evolution over the last 50 years, but reveals how music is a tool to build and mold identity. In his chapter on punk music, Sanneh shares reflections of the genre’s pivotal role in his own coming of age. And while music is often celebrated for bringing people together, Sanneh is pointed in the ways people’s cherished music tastes and tensions between “mainstream” vs. “outsider” styles can be more antagonistic than unifying. Sanneh joins us to talk about “Major Labels.”

Pendarvis Harshaw, host of the KQED Arts podcast Rightnowish, joins us to talk about some of his favorite episodes of the year. We'll also hear about his editorial philosophy and get his insider take on the history of the hyphy movement in hip hop.

You can't actually revisit your elementary school years. But, writes Jude Stewart, your nose can transport you there with a mere whiff of dry chalk, wet wool or the stale waft of cafeteria lunch. We'll talk to Stewart about why we smell, how we smell and the power of our olfactory sense to shape our perceptions of the people and world around us. Her new book is "Revelations in Air: A Guidebook to Smell."

“I write about people who do extraordinary things,” observed the pioneering science fiction writer Octavia Butler, “it just turned out that it was called science fiction.” This month, Forum’s book club discusses Butler’s 1993 novel “Parable of the Sower." In it, 15-year-old Lauren Olamina navigates a California in the early 2020s that has been beset by climate change, grotesque income inequality, and violence. Sound familiar? Butler has been lauded as prescient and prophetic, but she called herself merely observant and able to imagine what the world could be like if no one bothered to change. We’ll talk about the book, Octavia Butler’s legacy and what speculative fiction can teach us about our own current reality.

"It is 2020 and the City of Flint Says, / 'Don't boil the water' / And I refuse to drink a single drop / from any tap or bottle now. I've stopped / bathing completely, waiting for rain to slick / my skin back on. So begins Jonah Mixon-Webster's poem "Incubation," featured in his debut poetry collection, Stereo(TYPE). Initially published by Ahsahta Press in 2018 and re-published by Knopf Doubleday this month, "Stereo(TYPE)" describes Mixon-Webster's experiences and traumas endured as a Black queer man and criticizes the governmental neglect and treatment of his hometown, Flint, Michigan. In poems that vary in form and use words that overlap and span pages, balancing harshness with tenderness, Mixon-Webster's poetry collection explores what it means to tell one's story - and the story of one's community - through experiments in language.

Rita Dove, winner of a Pulitzer Prize for poetry and the nation’s first Black poet laureate, has returned with a new volume of poems titled “Playlist for the Apocalypse.” It’s Dove’s first book in 12 years -- in part due to a health battle with multiple sclerosis that she reveals and poignantly reflects on in a sequence called “Little Book of Woe.” Both personal and political, Dove’s poems also meditate on American life today, in all its strife, uncertainty, complexity and beauty. Dove joins us to talk about the book and her return to writing.

When asked to name some of the Bay Area’s signature foods, many would jump to name Mission burritos, It’s-It ice cream sandwiches or — especially for tourists visiting San Francisco piers — clam chowder. KQED food editor Luke Tsai is adding another food to that list: garlic noodles. “Here in the Bay Area, Asian Americans love garlic noodles. Black and Latino folks love garlic noodles. Indeed, once you start looking for garlic noodles, it seems, you find them everywhere,” Tsai writes in his recent article. So what’s behind the love for this dish born in San Francisco’s Vietnamese community? We’ll talk to Tsai about how garlic noodles became one of the Bay Area’s most iconic foods.

Two California scientists, David Julius from UCSF and Ardem Patapoutian from San Diego's Scripps Research, have won the 2021 Nobel Prize for medicine. In their work, which focuses on the biology of our senses, Julius and Patapoutian identified receptors that allow the cells in your body to sense touch and temperature. Their findings hold potential medical applications for better treatment of chronic pain. We talk with the prize-winning researchers about their work.

As Sam Quinones was researching America's opiate epidemic for his award-winning 2015 book "Dreamland," he watched a troubling phenomenon emerge. As pain-pill prescribing fell, drug traffickers with unfettered access to the world's chemical markets began to fill the void with dangerous synthetic drugs. Opiate addicts began to switch to fentanyl and particularly potent forms of methamphetamine, ultimately driving overdose deaths to record levels in 2020. Quinones joins us to talk about the devastating impact of the synthetic drug era, as told in his new book "The Least of Us," and how communities are trying to recover.

Nearly 227 million Americans across all ages play video games, according to an Entertainment Software Association report. And the world of video games is more than just franchise titles and big-name companies like Sony and Nintendo -- there’s a diverse and growing cohort of gamers, designers, developers and executives driving innovation in the art, tech, and narrative of a changing industry. We take an interactive look at the gaming world and the next generation of gamers and game design.

Have you ever felt "slipfast" (a longing to melt into a crowd and become invisible)? Or "scabulous" (proud of a certain scar on your body)? Those are some of the many words John Koenig has created for emotions we've felt all our lives but lacked words to describe. We talk to Koenig about why he says there are vast holes in our emotional lexicon and why it's important for humans to develop a richer language to describe our interior lives. Koenig's new book, more than ten years in the making, is "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows."

This beautiful Bay Area of ours contains stories and secrets, histories and futures — and if you know where to look and what questions to ask, you will find them. Imbibe enough of those and that’s how you become a person of this place. That can be hard work OR you can listen to the KQED podcast Bay Curious. Host Olivia Allen-Price joins us as we revisit Bay Curious episodes about Frida Kahlo, saying Frisco, dialing POP-CORN for the time, and more.

In a time of uncertainty, the holiday movie offers a world of good cheer, maybe a few good songs, and a reliably predictable happy ending. But what makes a good holiday movie? Hallmark, Lifetime, Netflix and other outlets are offering viewers hundreds of titles – nearly all romantic comedies that have resurrected careers of stars from the 90s and which invariably feature snow, hot cocoa and two people who don’t get along but eventually fall in love. And then there are classics like “It’s A Wonderful Life” and “Meet Me in St. Louis.” We’ll talk about why holiday movies are so popular, hear from you about your favorites, and answer the question: “Is Die Hard a holiday movie?”

As the year ends, we’ll take a moment to look back at books that we loved, couldn’t stop thinking about, and kept telling others to read. As we enter the third year of the pandemic, readers are still gravitating toward dystopian-themed books. Other popular titles explore topics such as white supremacy, identity, and connecting with nature. Some of the top picks from the Forum team include Clint Smith’s “How the Word is Passed,” “Crying in H Mart” by Michelle Zauner, Jose Vadi's “Interstate,” and “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia E. Butler. And we want to hear your picks, send us the best book you read last year and why to forum@kqed.org or leave us a voicemail at 415-553-3300.

As we continued to navigate the pandemic in 2021, music remained a key source of solace and entertainment. We reemerged into public spaces to attend live shows and festivals. Lil Nas X had everyone talking with a very savvy release of his debut album “Montero” and made clear he was no “one hit wonder.” Wizkid and Tems’ infectious Afro-pop song “Essence” got a second life at parties and cookouts, becoming one of the year’s biggest hits. Powerhouse singers Jasmine Sullivan and Adele both had triumphant returns with searing, vulnerable albums after years without releasing music. And we got a new look at beloved artists like Tina Turner and The Beatles in feature documentaries. We unpack some of the biggest songs and musical moments of 2021.

In this hour, we unpack some of the Bay Area’s best songs and biggest musical moments of 2021. Bay Area rapper Stunnaman02 got everyone “Big Steppin” with his song and viral dance move. The band Destroy Boys brought us “cathartic, angst-combating, middle-finger-pointing post-punk” according to KQED contributor Rae Alexandra. Local singer-songwriters weren’t afraid to be their authentic selves and share how they’re really feeling about the world. Communities and fans mourned beloved Bay Area hip hop artists Gift of Gab of Blackalicious, Shock G of Digital Underground and Baba Zumbi of Zion-I. We’ll hit rewind on 2021 and get listeners' picks for the best in local music.

Last December, amid news of effective vaccines and a new administration, Atlantic science writer Ed Yong tweeted that he was “gently hopeful” about getting to celebrate his 40th birthday party in person in 2021 with a few dozen friends. A lot can change in a year. With a third wave of Covid looming thanks to the highly transmissible Omicron variant, Yong made the tough call to cancel his party last week. We talk with Yong about the latest Omicron developments and preview President Biden’s planned Tuesday address to the nation on Covid.

For her new book How the Other Half Eats: The Untold Story of Food and Inequality in America, Stanford-trained sociologist Priya Fielding-Singh talked to 75 Bay Area families from a variety of backgrounds about their everyday food choices. She joins us to discuss class, race, and nutritional inequity and why, as she writes in the book, “access to healthy food is about more than geography and finances.”

For his new book, ‘Misfire: Inside the Downfall of the NRA,’ NPR investigative reporter Tim Mak dove deep into the inner workings of the National Rifle Association. Over the course of three years, Mak interviewed 120 sources and pored through thousands of pages of documents, emails and memos, and in his book, he offers a portrait of an organization wracked by venality, gross mismanagement and financial misconduct, much of it caused by Wayne LaPierre, the NRA CEO and his wife Susan, who plundered membership dues to pay for their extravagant lifestyle. We talk to Mak about his book and the future of the NRA.

Brazilian jazz guitarist Bola Sete is considered one of the greatest – but also underappreciated – musical talents of his era. A new three-disc compilation, “Samba in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse, 1966-1968,” captures live recordings of Sete, who lived and performed in the Bay Area for decades, at a storied jazz club. Critics say the new album highlights Sete, who died in Marin County in 1987, at the prime of his career and brings much deserved appreciation to his artistry. The recordings, however, could have been lost forever if not for a few strokes of fate. We talk about the life and music of Bola Sete.

Of the many Californians who died of COVID , 1 in 8 lived in a nursing home, totaling almost 9400 people. The high death toll is now prompting legislators to rethink oversight and funding of these institutions. We’ll talk about how the pandemic has exposed systemic problems with the quality of care in nursing homes and what a proposed state budget reform linking nursing home funding to new quality standards, might mean for the approximately 400,000 state nursing home residents.

In her celebrated 1999 essay collection "Remembered Rapture" — about the life and craft of a writer — feminist author and educator bell hooks insisted that "[n]o Black woman writer in this culture can write ‘too much’. Indeed, no woman writer can write ‘too much'.... No woman has ever written enough.” hooks, who passed away Wednesday at age 69, published more than 30 books, including the noted works “Ain’t I A Woman?”, “All About Love,” “Sisters of the Yam” and “Teaching to Transgress.” Her writing was foundational in shaping Black feminist thought and widening the feminist worldview beyond white, middle class identity. From her pointed critiques of the “imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarch” to her poignant thoughts on love and healing, we'll reflect on hooks' life and work.

The Food and Drug administration on Thursday permanently lifted a restriction on mailing abortion pills to patients. Previously, the pills had to be physically handed out by physicians, but that rule had been loosened during the pandemic. The decision comes as the US Supreme court is considering limits on abortion rights, and is likely to spark further legal battles. We’ll talk about the FDA’s move with Roll Call reporter Sandyha Raman.

The searing images of Afghans desperate to get on to planes leaving Kabul brought the world’s attention to the crisis created in part by the American withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in August. In the four months that have passed, the Taliban have solidified their rule, the international community has responded with sanctions and asset freezes of funds, and a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions has begun unfolding. According to the United Nations, “nearly 23 million people – that is 55% of the population – are facing extreme levels of hunger and nearly 9 million of them are at risk of famine.” The Bay Area is home to one of the largest enclaves of Afghan Americans, and that community has been working tirelessly to help new arrivals and to offer assistance to a country in tatters. As the intensifying crisis nearly disappears from American media coverage, we talk to an Afghan refugee about her fraught journey to leave the country she loves and her community’s struggle to resettle, and we’ll discuss the humanitarian crisis facing those left behind.

Taking the side of environmental groups and commercial beekeepers, a California judge earlier this month said he would issue a statewide order banning a pesticide called sulfoxaflor. Part of the class of neuro-active insecticides called neonicotinoids, sulfoxaflor protects crops from insects, but scientists say it is toxic to bees. A study by environmental group Earthjustice found that the number of honeybee colonies in the U.S. fell by 45% from April 2020 to April 2021. We’ll talk about the ban and the worrying decline of pollinators.

A new investigation by the Los Angeles Times looks at the cases of California doctors who were barred from practice for sexually abusing patients. And it uncovers an alarming pattern: more than half of those who sought to get their licenses back since 2013 were reinstated by the state Medical Board. That’s a higher rate than for doctors who lost their licenses for all other reasons, the Times found. We’ll talk with Times reporters about their investigation, the lack of repercussions for abusers, and hear the stories of abuse victims.

The Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry set a new NBA record for career three-pointers on Tuesday. His career total is now 2,977, surpassing Ray Allen’s record set in 2014. "I never wanted to call myself the greatest shooter until I got this record,” Curry said in a post-game press conference, “So I'm comfortable saying that now." We'll talk about Curry’s historic achievement, his legacy and how he’s changed the way basketball is played with The Athletic columnist Marcus Thompson, author of "Golden: The Miraculous Rise of Steph Curry."

Cutting up fruit and delivering it to you without asking if you want it. Sending Google alerts about murders in your area. Sitting with you while you do hours of Kumon homework. These are a few of the ways immigrant parents show their love according to comedian Meghana Indurti, who has a recent New Yorker humor piece on the topic. Her TikToks featuring her stoic father, who didn’t say the words “I love you” until she was 22, have gone viral. We’ll talk to Indurti and we want to hear from you. How have your immigrant parents expressed their affection?

According to a recent Pew study, a rising percentage of adults in the U.S. are living without a spouse or partner. But U.S. social policy still tends to value families over individuals – reflected in the structure of everything from our tax codes to social security and workplace benefits. As a result, according to the same Pew study, unpartnered adults generally have worse economic and social status outcomes than those who are married or cohabiting. In a story for The Goods by Vox, culture writer and author Anne Helen Petersen asks “what would it look like to create small systems of care for one another that go beyond one other individual?” Petersen joins us to consider that question and talk about the escalating costs of being single in the U.S.

Laurie Ann Steves drove from Seattle to San Francisco last May to try to reconnect with her daughter, Jessica, who is addicted to fentanyl and lives on and off the streets of San Francisco. Steves joins us to share how she tried to intervene in her daughter’s life, just months after losing her son to addiction, and we’ll hear from the San Francisco Chronicle journalists who documented her efforts. As we enter the holiday season, which can be a particularly painful time for those wanting to connect with a loved one struggling with mental health problems, homelessness or drug addiction, we get advice from UCSF psychiatrist Dr. Fumi Mitsuishi.

"These text messages leave no doubt, the White House knew exactly what was happening at the Capitol," said Congresswoman Liz Cheney on Monday night at a meeting of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the Capitol. Cheney, the ranking Republican on the committee, read a series of text messages former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows received on Jan. 6. The committee voted unanimously to refer Meadows for criminal contempt of Congress charges for refusing to cooperate with the investigation. We'll talk about new evidence made public last night about his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Dr. Anthony Fauci told ABC News on Sunday that Omicron's apparent ability to evade some protection from COVID vaccines is "sobering". But the good news, he said, is that boosters can dramatically increase the level of defense. We'll get the latest on the new variant from Fauci, including why he thinks we may not need Omicron-specific vaccines. Then, the Atlantic's Sarah Zhang joins us to take your questions on COVID and talk about her latest article "Omicron’s Explosive Growth Is a Warning Sign"

An outsourcing loophole in the H-1B visa program has allowed tech companies to get away with underpaying their migrant workers by millions of dollars, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute. While the report focuses on the workers under the IT staffing firm HCL Technologies, the tactic of outsourcing labor to migrant workers and paying them less compared to their U.S. born counterparts to save money is all too common, the report claims. We’ll talk with the study’s co-author.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision last week not to block SB 8, the Texas law that bans abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy and that also gives private citizens a right to sue anyone who “aids and abets” an abortion, an outraged California governor Gavin Newsom responded by stating he would use that law’s framework to address gun violence. “If the most efficient way to keep these devastating weapons off our streets is to add the threat of private lawsuits, we should do just that,” Newsom said in a statement. “California will use that authority to protect people’s lives,” declared the governor, “where Texas used it to put women in harm’s way.” We’ll discuss whether Newsom’s plan is legally viable and politically astute.

In a not-so-distant past, kids played with toys like Clackers that could shatter into sharp pieces, or lawn darts that caused serious injuries and deaths, or Suzy Homemaker dolls that reinforced gender stereotypes. “Dangerous Games: Treacherous Toys We Loved As Kids,” an exhibit at the Napa Valley Museum in Yountville, celebrates vintage toys and explores the physical and psychological harms some of them posed. We talk about the exhibit, why kids are drawn to dangerous toys and why they rouse so much nostalgia.

Sea levels are expected to rise by more than three feet before century’s end if meaningful action is not taken against climate change. The resulting flooding could impact more than 400 of California’s hazard sites, including power plants and toxic waste facilities— and expose hazardous pollutants to nearby residents. The neighbors of these sites are five times more likely to be people of color and low-income, prompting further environmental justice concerns. That’s all according to a recent statewide mapping project from UC Berkeley and UCLA environmental health professors. We’ll discuss the project’s findings and what can be done to address them.

Comedian and storyteller Mike Birbiglia has been called “the king of the one-man show." His first solo piece “Sleepwalk with Me", all about his life as a stand-up comic, was a hit off-Broadway and spawned a book and feature film. And he made it all the way to Broadway with 2019’s award-winning “The New One” in which he riffed on his fear of fatherhood. In January he’ll bring his latest “The Old Man and the Pool” to Berkeley Rep. We’ll talk to Birbiglia about the show and why his confessional style, which he describes as “a hybrid of comedy and emotionality” seems to resonate with audiences.

Virtual learning has led to a boom in school surveillance technologies that can monitor students’ online behavior and allow teachers to view students’ screens and search histories. Though many schools are back in person, surveillance tech appears here to stay, with 81% of teachers reporting using some form of it. Proponents say the technology curbs cheating, keeps students on task and helps identify instances of threats or abuse. But critics have concerns about privacy and data collection. They also have equity concerns: as this technology is more likely to be deployed on school devices, students without personal devices — especially low-income students of color — are more likely to be surveilled. We’ll talk about all of this and take your questions.

Artist Judy Chicago made her name in the 1970s with her groundbreaking feminist piece, “The Dinner Party”. Chicago has said she didn’t know if she’d live long enough to escape the shadow of that iconic piece. Now, in the first retrospective of her work, the full range of the 82 year old artist’s career is on exhibit at San Francisco’s de Young Museum. The retrospective highlights “how forward thinking and daring Judy has always been in tackling uncomfortable subject matter that is now very much at the forefront of our current discourse,” curator Claudia Schmuckli said. Forum talks with Judy Chicago and Schmuckli about the evolution of her art and social consciousness.

As 2021 winds down, we want to hear from you about your favorite discoveries of the year. Did you find new places to go, things to do, cooking techniques or hobbies that inspired and sustained you over the past year? Whether it’s finding an exciting new TikTok influencer or a hidden neighborhood stairway–share your 2021 passions with us.

Pfizer and BioNTech said Wednesday that laboratory tests suggest that their coronavirus vaccine is effective against the Omicron variant after three doses, adding that just two doses “may not be sufficient to protect against infection”. We’ll get the latest on Covid research and treatment and take your coronavirus questions with Bob Wachter, chair of UCSF’s Department of Medicine.

“To all the wild, mad girls.” That’s to whom Venita Blackburn dedicates “How to Wrestle a Girl,” her new short story collection set amid the urban landscapes of Southern California. The stories explore in part what Blackburn describes as the “physicality of girlhood” -- girls' changing bodies and desires, their athleticism and their fierce protection of each other in the face of external threats. We talk to Blackburn about the book and her own California girlhood that inspired it.

In his new article for The Atlantic, “Trump’s Next Coup Has Already Begun,” staff writer Barton Gellman looks at efforts to subvert democracy and upcoming elections, warning that government officials will be making "a grievous mistake" if they don’t take these threats more seriously. Gellman calls the January 6 insurrection a “practice” for future, more effective, efforts by Trump and the GOP to overturn an election. Last month a European think tank added the U.S. to its list of "backsliding" democracies for the first time. Their report highlighted that “a historic turning point came in 2020-21 when former president Donald Trump questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 election results in the United States.” We'll talk to Gellman about the state of U.S. democracy and what it could mean for the 2024 presidential election.

Eighty-eight percent of California’s nail salon owners do not have enough customers to meet business expenses and rehire workers, and most salon workers are now taking home less than $400 per week. That’s according to a new study from the UCLA Labor Center and the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, outlining the “tremendous emotional and financial strain” of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nail salon industry. California’s nail salons, which employ roughly 100,000 licensed manicurists, are primarily small businesses staffed principally by women and Vietnamese immigrants and refugees. We’ll talk about the challenges salon workers and owners face in the state and the practices and policy solutions that could help them.

Farmworkers in California work outside even during wildfires that fill the air with toxic smoke. California law requires employers to provide mask and safety guidance during those periods of dangerous air. But, an investigation by KQED and The California Newsroom found that state officials rarely enforce those rules putting roughly 4 million outdoor workers at risk. Despite those failures, Douglas Parker, the former head of California Division of Occupational Health and Safety responsible for enforcing the regulations, was recently appointed by President Joe Biden to lead the nation’s worker health and safety efforts. We talk about the investigation’s findings and whether California regulators are falling short in protecting workers.

First uncovered almost a century ago, sickle cell disease is a painful and debilitating red blood cell disorder that can lead to other medical problems like infections and strokes. It hits Black people the hardest, has historically lacked research, and patients have struggled to access basic care. We’ll hear about a promising new UCSF clinical trial using CRISPR gene editing technology on patients’ stem cells. And we talk with a patient about how the disease has affected her life and her community.

Sierra Nevada snowpack, a vital water source for California, could vanish within the next 25 years, according to a new study from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. While scientists have tracked and warned about diminishing levels of snow covering the Sierra Nevada for years, the new research provided a more specific timeline about when California could reach a no-snow reality and what that means from a scientific perspective. The study’s authors, however, want their study to not just alarm people, but also push them to change behaviors and policies to slow down or reverse the loss of snow in the Sierras. We’ll talk about how climate change is reducing the Sierra snowpack and what that means for the state.

Ajwang Rading’s name will appear on the ballot for the first time next fall when he runs to represent California’s 18th Congressional district, which includes parts of San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. Having grown up in and out of homelessness, Rading has a different perspective when it comes to tackling housing and social service issues in Silicon Valley. We talk with Rading about his past and future as part of Forum's First Person series, which profiles local leaders and change-makers who make the Bay Area unique.

Fish have a sacred role for the Klamath Tribes in the Klamath Basin, which spans part of Southern Oregon and Northern California. An 1864 treaty gives tribes the "exclusive right of taking fish in the streams and lakes,” but drought and poor water quality are killing the fish and causing a fight over resources between indigenous tribes and white farmers who were promised certain water allocations of their own. A new Fault Lines documentary by Al Jazeera called "When the Water Stopped," delves into the different sides of the conflict that is fueled by climate change, decades of federal land mismanagement and racism. According to activist and Klamath tribal member Joey Gentry, “our water crisis still exists today because of racism against the tribe, and racism against the tribe exists, in part, today because of our water crisis." We'll talk with Gentry and environmental reporter Emma Marris about the ongoing conflict and what it will take to resolve it.

The parents of a teenager accused of fatally shooting four classmates and wounding seven other people at a Michigan high school last week were charged with involuntary manslaughter Saturday. Charges against parents in school shootings are rare. But Michigan prosecutor Karen D. McDonald called the actions of the parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, "egregious" based on evidence that they bought the gun for their son and kept it unsecured. We'll talk about parental criminal liability in school shootings, and its potential to prevent gun violence by minors.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in what looks to be the beginning of the end of Roe v. Wade, according to legal scholars. If that is the case, and Roe is reversed, there stands to be a number of ripple effects beyond abortion rights, too. In a new article for The Atlantic, "What Roe Could Take Down With It," constitutional law expert Kimberly Wehle writes that "the logic being used against Roe could weaken the legal foundations of many rights Americans value deeply" including laws regulating marriage equality and contraception use, for example. We'll consider the different layers of what's at stake with abortion rights and beyond.

With gas-burning vehicles the largest source of California's greenhouse gas emissions, transitioning to clean energy sources in transportation is considered key to slowing climate change. In recent weeks California has been allocated a major boost in federal and state funds to expand the electric vehicle charging network. We'll discuss the plans and how much they might move the needle on e-vehicle adoption. We’ll also look at promising new technology to make EV's more attractive and affordable, and innovative proposals for improving charging, including electrified roads that charge the car while you drive.

Have you ever felt "slipfast" (a longing to melt into a crowd and become invisible)? Or "scabulous" (proud of a certain scar on your body)? Those are some of the many words John Keonig has created for emotions we've felt all our lives but lacked words to describe. We talk to Keonig about why he says there are vast holes in our emotional lexicon and why it's important for humans to develop a richer language to describe our interior lives. Koenig's new book, more than ten years in the making, is "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows."

Scorpions might be terrifying to most people. But to scientist Lauren Esposito, they are the foundation of her career, which has taken her from a childhood in El Paso, turning over rocks in search of insects, to eventually land her at the California Academy of Sciences. In addition to discovering new species of these arachnids, she’s also become an outspoken advocate for queer scientists. An ongoing exhibit she curated at the California Academy of Sciences celebrates the contributions of LGBTQ+ people. Esposito joins as part of our first person series, which profiles leaders and change-makers in the Bay Area. We’ll talk with her about the organization she founded, 500 Queer Scientists, why she’s drawn to studying scorpions, and how she has so far managed to avoid being stung.

For decades, young athletes only had one major route to the playing professional leagues — playing for an NCAA Division I team. Today, however, talented basketball players have a chance to skip college and go professional in leagues like Overtime Elite, which pays its players six-figure salaries while prepping them for a professional career either in the NBA or abroad. Is this a positive trend that allows athletes to monetize their abilities or is it a youth sports culture taken to the apex of extremes? We’ll talk about professional high school basketball and what it means for the future of the sport.

On Wednesday, officials in San Francisco confirmed California’s first case of the coronavirus omicron variant. The patient in the case had recently traveled to South Africa, whose scientists first identified the omicron variant and tracked thousands of cases among its population. The emergence of the variant has reinforced concerns about low rates of vaccination in Africa and other developing regions, which have struggled to obtain and administer vaccines for their citizens. We’ll talk about global vaccine inequities and how to expand vaccine access worldwide.

Retailers hope for a record holiday spending season this year, but for many Americans, prices rising at the fastest rate in 30 years may hamper holiday glee at the checkout counter. Even Christmas trees are up to 30% more expensive than last year. We’ll break down how prices and supply chain issues are affecting consumers, and get some tips on how to save money while beating shortages. And we want to hear from you: How are you changing your shopping habits this holiday season?

The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday morning in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The case, brought by Mississippi’s only licensed abortion clinic, challenges a 2018 state law that bans nearly all abortions after 15 weeks, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Mississippi officials are asking the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that affirms the constitutional right to abortion. Meanwhile, abortion restrictions in states such as Mississippi and Texas are pushing people to travel out-of-state to seek abortion care. We examine the Mississippi case and its potential impact on California.

On Monday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced -- in a tweet -- that he was leaving the company he co-founded in 2006. His successor, Parag Agrawal, started as a product engineer and climbed Twitter’s ranks to become Chief Technology Officer in 2017. We'll look at Dorsey’s legacy and discuss what the change could mean for the future of the San Francisco-based social media giant as it grapples with challenges like misinformation and finding new users.

Earlier this year, California proposed an overhaul of its K-12 math teaching guidelines to address racial and economic disparities in math achievement. The draft proposal recommends de-emphasizing calculus, detracking some students and incorporating data science and equity and inclusion into math instruction. Critics say that the framework, which is an optional set of guidelines and not a new curriculum, politicizes math. We talk to Stanford professor Jo Boaler, a member of the committee which drafted the guidelines, about the proposed framework.

Thirty years ago, white Los Angeles police officers savagely beat Rodney Glen King, a young Black man who had led them on a high-speed chase through the city. After a jury failed to convict four police officers, despite a graphic videotape of the beating, the city erupted into violence. This season of Slate’s Slow Burn podcast dives into the events of early 1990s Los Angeles and the decades of police brutality and injustice that led to them. We’ll talk with host Joel Anderson about the characters, context and legacy of the biggest U.S. civil disturbance of the 20th century.

We'll break down the latest news from Sacramento and other political headlines from around the state with guest host Marisa Lagos.

The World Health Organization today warned that the global risk from the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, is “very high”. The variant, first discovered in South Africa, has now been detected in more than a dozen countries. We’ll talk about what we know so far about how contagious the variant is and how effective vaccines are likely to be against it.

Albert Samaha is the son of immigrants from the Philippines, a country molded by centuries of Spanish and American colonization and imperialism. His new book “Concepcion: An Immigrant Family’s Fortunes” is part memoir, part family history. Samaha reflects on his Filipino American identity and his family’s immigration experience, comparing the America he grew up in to the America that shaped his ancestors’ homeland. We’ll talk with Samaha about assimilation, Filipino American underrepresentation and how the descendants of immigrants reckon with the sacrifices of their elders.

The pandemic forced many of us to rethink cultural norms — one being the expectation that people, especially women and younger folks, should color or hide their roots. Amid salon closures and cancelled social events, many people chose to grow out their gray hair, and some are sticking with the look. We’ll talk about why for some the choice to go gray can feel fraught, and why for others it brings a sense of empowerment. And we want to hear from you: Did you decide to grow out your gray hair during the pandemic? Or are you on the fence about whether to forgo the dye? What does gray hair mean to you?

Airports are often the first, last, and sometimes only impression a traveler has of a city. Singapore's Changi airport dazzles; Newark Airport in New Jersey offers less delight. SFO leads the way in design with its newly opened Harvey Milk Terminal which boasts Heath tiles in the restrooms, lighting that makes you look less tired, and improved acoustic design. But the airport industry has been challenged by the pandemic, which dropped traveller numbers and put new stresses on airports already grappling with issues like aging infrastructure. We'll talk about airports you love, airports you never want to see again, and hear from experts about airports of the future. This segment originally aired Oct. 1.

Last December, Forum spoke to four nurses and doctors on the frontlines of COVID care in California. At the time, cases were surging statewide, and no vaccines were available. They described heartbreaking patient deaths, overflowing ICUs and the heavy emotional toll of their work. The same healthcare workers join us again, nine months later, to share what has improved and the profound challenges that remain for those caring for the sickest patients. This segment originally aired Sept. 23.

In his latest book “Our Country Friends,” novelist Gary Shteyngart tackles the pandemic novel. In the book, the protagonist, Sasha Senderovsky, a writer whose star is slowly flaming out, gathers his family and high school friends in a pod at his country home to ride out the early days of the pandemic. Lauded by the New York Times as the “perfect novel for these times and all times,” “Our Country Friends uses the pandemic to explore themes of family, longing, and loss all with Shteyngart’s characteristic humor and wit. We’ll talk to Shteyngart, who is famous for his dystopian novel “Super Sad True Love Story,” about what it was like to write in real-time about the dystopia unfolding around him. This segment originally aired Nov. 3.

In a new cover story for The Atlantic, writer Hannah Giorgis looks critically at Hollywood’s writers’ rooms and how most of them look nothing like America. Documenting the history of Black writers who have navigated predominantly white writers’ rooms — often confronting implicit and explicit biases — Giorgis reveals the renaissance of onscreen representation they helped bring to television. Still, Hollywood remains an industry dominated by white men, and that continues to impact the hiring of offscreen Black talent and who’s at the table. We’ll talk to Giorgis about whether the tide is really turning in Hollywood when it comes to diverse representation — not only in the stories we tell, but who’s telling them. This segment originally aired Sept. 20.

Bay Area-based chef and food justice activist Bryant Terry is back with another cookbook — but this time it’s not just his recipes. He’s created “a communal shrine to the shared culinary histories of the African diaspora,” as he writes in the introduction to “Black Food.” Bringing together a number of contributors who share recipes, stories and artwork — plus Terry’s signature playlists to go with the recipes — “Black Food” aims to be a feast not just for your tastebuds, but your eyes, ears and spirit, too. Terry, who’s also the chef-in-residence at the Museum of the African Diaspora, says this is his last cookbook, but just the beginning of a bigger vision to publish more writers of color under his new publishing imprint 4 Color Books. Terry joins us to talk about “Black Food” and what else he’s got cooking — both in and out of the kitchen. This segment originally aired Nov. 9.

Earlier this year, the National Institutes of Health announced funding of more than $1 billion for research into the prolonged health consequences of COVID-19 infections. Since then, reports of what’s called long covid have only risen. Symptoms range from fatigue to coughing to chest pain and even to nerve pain. We’ll get the latest science on long covid, hear how often it occurs and what are its symptoms, and learn what’s being done to tackle it.

Thanksgiving might be our most traditional meal, but what do we really know about all the processes that suck up raw ingredients and spit out turkeys, potato flakes, and jellied cranberry sauce into the modern supermarket? This hour on Forum, we’ll discuss the science and engineering behind some of America’s most iconic foods. We’ll talk Thanksgiving favorites, new flavors and beyond.

You’ve heard it all before: Boomers have all the money, millennials are the unluckiest generation, gen z are changing the nature of work (and scaring their bosses). But a lot of generational analysis is really just fake science, argues social researcher Bobby Duffy in his new book “The Generation Myth: Why When You’re Born Matters Less Than You Think.” Duffy joins us to debunk stereotypes around generational trends, and illuminate the real challenges facing different generations.

The documentary "Moving San Francisco" guides viewers through a history of public transit in a region rife with innovation. From the iconic cable cars that climb the city's hills to the fleet of ferries on the bay to ride-hailing services, how people traverse the Bay Area has evolved with the times. And transit systems are still evolving - navigating issues of equity and affordability are as much part of the conversation as trying to regulate new technology. We'll talk with the makers of "Moving San Francisco" and some of the documentary's guests about how public transit has shaped San Francisco and what the city's transportation network could become in the future.

Overcoming adversity has been the hallmark of Michael Tubb’s eventful life. When he was six, his father was sentenced to a near-life term in prison. At 22, Tubbs was elected to Stockton’s city council while still a student at Stanford. At 26, he became the city’s youngest and first black mayor. Along the way he founded programs to help underserved youth get to college, taught in high school, and introduced Universal Basic Income to the city. It has not all been easy as he reflects in his new memoir, “The Deeper the Roots.” Tubbs grapples with the survivor’s guilt that comes from seeing family murdered and friends caught up in poverty and violence. We’ll talk to Tubbs about his book and the stories and people who have shaped his life so far.

Traveling can be a slog across the board, especially around the holidays. But for plus-size travelers it can also be a dehumanizing experience — navigating stares and glares and accommodations not built for their bodies and comfort. According to the CDC, about 74 percent of adults in the U.S. are overweight, yet this isn’t reflected in travel amenities. From airplane seat sizes to hotel towels and furniture to weight restrictions for excursions, the experience of plus-size travelers is often ignored. Travelers like Bay Area native Annette Richmond, who founded the online community Fat Girls Traveling, are creating opportunities for more inclusive travel experiences. We’ll talk to Richmond and others about both the harsh and hopeful realities of traveling as a plus-size person.

The California School for the Deaf, Riverside’s football team is having a Hollywood-worthy season. They are the top team in their league and are on their way to clinching the title, not just by winning, but by dominating their opponents. Not too long ago, they suffered through seven straight losing seasons, and worse than that were the sneers and low expectations of rivals who assumed a team of deaf athletes could not prevail. Their quarterback calls them not just a team, but a brotherhood. We’ll talk to the school’s superintendent and reporter Thomas Fuller about the Cub’s championship season.

Cosmic rewards await very early risers on Friday: the full moon will glow reddish-brown in the longest partial lunar eclipse in almost six centuries. We’ll hear how, when and where to view it. We’ll also talk about the Mars Perseverance Rover’s latest discoveries, the just-scheduled December launch of the James Webb Space Telescope and all of your astronomy-related questions.

Longtime Santa Clara Sheriff Laurie Smith is facing calls to step down from the County Board of Supervisors and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo for her handling of the county jail and its treatment of mentally ill inmates. In 2015, three Santa Clara County correctional officers beat a mentally ill man to death in a jail cell. In 2018, another group of county officers failed to intervene when 24-year-old Andrew Hogan suffered a traumatic brain injury while experiencing a severe psychiatric crisis. We discuss concerns about Smith’s leadership and how the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department treats mentally ill people in and out of jail.

Amid the isolation of shelter-in-place restrictions last year, three artists --Erika Chong Shuch, Rowena Richie and Ryan Tacata --responded by creating “Artists & Elders,” a project connecting artists with senior citizens to create and exchange art. Informed by Richie’s work with people with dementia, a disease which counts isolation as a risk factor, "Artists & Elders" sought to be a source of creative social engagement, fueled by imagination and pleasure. More than 80 artist-elder pairs around the world have joined the project, and participants share that even more impactful than the works of art have been the lasting bonds they’ve created. We hear from some of the project’s participants and reflect on the power of art and friendship.

Western monarch butterflies all but disappeared from coastal California last fall but there are now promising signs of an uptick in numbers. The Pacific Grove Monarch Sanctuary, which didn’t see a single monarch last winter, recently counted over 13,000 butterflies. As citizen scientists begin this year’s Thanksgiving monarch butterfly count, we talk with experts about why we’re seeing an unexpected rebound in monarch butterflies, and what it might mean for their future.

The Transgender community holds a particular place in San Francisco history; the city by the Bay is the first to have a cultural district dedicated to that history and community. Compton’s Transgender Cultural District was named after the cafeteria that was the site of a riot in 1966, a response to police harassment of transgender people, several years before the more well known Stonewall riots in New York. The six block district spans parts of the Tenderloin and SoMa. We talk about the district, and what the city can do to support its transgender community during and beyond Transgender Awareness Week.

Punching flight attendants, hurling racial slurs at the crew, throwing luggage at staff. These are just a few of the over 5,000 complaints of unruly passenger behavior that the FAA has received this year. Airlines have banned some passengers for life, flight attendants have demanded more protection, and the FAA has announced a zero tolerance policy for this behavior and levied over $1 million in fines this year. As the holiday travel season picks up, we look at why there’s been an uptick in bad behavior, what can be done about it and what you can expect when you travel.

Last winter, flu infections in the United States plummeted by more than 99 percent to about 2,000 from about 38 million the year before. The dramatic drop in flu cases led to far fewer deaths as well -- in most years, flu ranks in the top 10 leading causes of death in the U.S. Experts say that last year’s steep decline stems from behaviors meant to suppress the spread of the coronavirus: social distancing, social isolation and masking, as well as vaccinations. Cases of the flu are beginning to increase and more are expected now that the economy has mostly reopened after the pandemic shutdowns. We discuss how the coronavirus changed the game for the spread of influenza and how Americans can keep flu numbers down in the future.

The Bay Area’s harsh system of penalties for late payments on bridge tolls disproportionately hurts low income residents, people of color and non English speakers, according to a new report by the Bay Area public policy group, SPUR. The report found residents struggling to pay tens of thousands of dollars in late fees, as high as 12 times the original toll, leading to deepening debt and a block on vehicle registration. We’ll discuss equity issues in late fee penalties, calls for system reform and the new steps taken by the Bay Area Toll Authority to address the issue.

Megan Mylan's new documentary "Simple As Water" begins dreamily, as four small children laugh, jump rope and chase balloons while their mother looks on. Then tents and clotheslines come into view, and we understand that the family lives in a makeshift encampment in Greece, home to thousands of migrants fleeing the Syrian civil war. Mylan follows groups of Syrian refugees as they try to carve out lives in different parts of the world, creating a film she calls a "love story celebrating the elemental bonds between parent and child." We'll talk to the Academy Award-winning director about the film and the families she features.

Beer bottles, reading glasses, tires, and fishing line. What do these things have in common? All of them have been found by divers who are dedicated to cleaning up Lake Tahoe. Since it was founded three years ago, the nonprofit Clean Up the Lake and volunteer divers have pulled out over 18,000 pounds of trash from the lake. The trash that is pulled isn’t just carted away; it is catalogued and weighed before disposal so the data can be used to understand how it ended up there and what might be done to curtail the problem. We’ll talk to the organization’s founder Colin West and Darcie Goodman Collins from the League to Save Lake Tahoe about efforts to keep Tahoe blue and trash free.

Ten years ago the Occupy Movement dominated local and national news as encampments of protesters nationwide brought conversations about income inequality and the gross disparities between the top 1% of wealth holders and the bottom 99% into the mainstream. We’ll look back at two of the nation’s most visible and active occupy movements, in Oakland and in New York, and assess their legacy in politics, policies, activism and on the cities they took place in, after the tents came down.

You can't actually revisit your elementary school years. But, writes Jude Stewart, your nose can transport you there with a mere whiff of dry chalk, wet wool or the stale waft of cafeteria lunch. We'll talk to Stewart about why we smell, how we smell and the power of our olfactory sense to shape our perceptions of the people and world around us. Her new book is "Revelations in Air: A Guidebook to Smell."

From Thomas Nast’s cartoons exposing corruption in late 19th century New York City politics, to the Peanuts comic strip in the 1950’s, to graphic memoirs like Persepolis, Columbia University American studies professor Jeremy Dauber traces the evolution of the art form in his new book “American Comics: A History”. Dauber joins us to discuss why cartoons, comic strips, and graphic novels have captured the American imagination and what they can reveal about the changing politics and culture of the country. And we’ll talk with a contemporary Bay Area cartoonist about what is gained from using illustrations to tell stories.

When everything from fast fashion brands to uber rides make green claims, it’s easy to feel that eco-friendly consumer products are plentiful. But in many cases, the claims are misleading and minimize businesses’ harmful environmental practices. We’ll talk about what terms like “sustainably sourced” actually mean, the tactics behind greenwashing and how to identify truly sustainable products.

It’s the youngest generation that will feel the most severe effects of climate change, and youth activists are raising alarms both at home and at the COP26 climate summit, which ends this week. Delegates released a draft agreement Wednesday acknowledging the need to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, but the pact is short on concrete commitments. That’s raising concerns among youth activists, who are widely skeptical that world leaders are committed to cutting carbon emissions aggressively enough. We’ll talk with some California youth involved in climate organizing and education to get their thoughts about the summit and what comes after.

“I write about people who do extraordinary things,” observed the pioneering science fiction writer Octavia Butler, “it just turned out that it was called science fiction.” This month Forum’s book club discusses Butler’s 1993 novel “Parable of the Sower. In it, fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina navigates a California in the early 2020’s that has been beset by climate change, grotesque income inequality, and violence. Sound familiar? Butler has been lauded as prescient and prophetic, but she called herself merely observant and able to imagine what the world could be like if no one bothered to change. We’ll talk about the book, Octavia Butler’s legacy, and what speculative fiction can teach us about our own current reality.

Congress passed a massive $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan last week. We'll learn more about what that means for California, which is expected to receive about $45.5 billion from the legislation. In other news across the state: the California Redistricting Commission is expected to release draft maps on Wednesday; Newsom spoke out Tuesday following a slew of "Where's Newsom" headlines after he went 11 days without a public appearance; and the recall effort against San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin will be on the ballot in June. We'll dig into the stories behind the headlines.

The most recent count of Oakland’s homeless population in 2019 found 4071 unhoused people, an alarming 47% increase from two years prior. In recent reporting, San Francisco Chronicle reporters put faces on those numbers, spending five months shadowing four Oaklanders who lost everything and are now unhoused in the communities they grew up in. Reporter Kevin Fagan will join us to share what he and his colleagues learned about how Leonard "Pumpkin" Ambrose, Delbra Taylor, Derrick Soo, and Gwyn Teninty became homeless after the age of fifty. And we’ll talk with experts about the role healthcare, low wages, and lack of affordable housing play in Oakland’s growing crisis.

As Sam Quinones was researching America's opiate epidemic for his award-winning 2015 book "Dreamland," he watched a troubling phenomenon emerge. As pain-pill prescribing fell, drug traffickers with unfettered access to the world's chemical markets began to fill the void with dangerous synthetic drugs. Opiate addicts began to switch to fentanyl and particularly potent forms of methamphetamine, ultimately driving overdose deaths to record levels in 2020. Quinones joins us to talk about the devastating impact of the synthetic drug era, as told in his new book "The Least of Us," and how communities are trying to recover.

Bay Area-based chef and food justice activist Bryant Terry is back with another cookbook -- but this time it’s not just his recipes. He’s created “a communal shrine to the shared culinary histories of the African diaspora,” as he writes in the introduction to “Black Food.” Bringing together a number of contributors who share recipes, stories and artwork -- plus Terry’s signature playlists to go with the recipes -- “Black Food” aims to be a feast not just for your taste buds, but your eyes, ears and spirit, too. Terry, who’s also the chef-in-residence at the Museum of the African Diaspora, says this is his last cookbook, but just the beginning of a bigger vision to publish more writers of color under his new publishing imprint 4 Color Books. Terry joins us to talk about “Black Food” and what else he’s got cooking -- both in and out of the kitchen.

In her recent story for The Atlantic, health reporter Sarah Zhang writes that we all know how the COVID-19 pandemic ends: the virus becomes endemic, and we'll have to live with it forever. But what's unknown is how we'll manage the transition to endemicity, a path ahead that right now she says is nonexistent. We'll talk to Zhang about how the country finds its "off-ramp to normal."

Antonio Lopez is many things. He’s an East Palo Alto native and, at 27, he’s its youngest serving city council member. He’s a doctoral student in Modern Thought and Literature at Stanford. And he’s an award winning poet, with a recently published book titled “Gentefication” an invented word he defines in part as, “when gentrification becomes personal, and the poet as native subject must invade language itself, when mobility just isn’t enough, and the poet must populate the canon itself from within”. We talk with Lopez about politics, poetry and advocating for residents of a city that is simultaneously in the middle of, and outside of, Silicon Valley. It’s part of Forum's First Person series, which profiles local leaders and change-makers who make the Bay Area unique.

Across the country, an alarming and disproportionate number of black girls and teenagers were involved in police use of force cases, according to a recent analysis by The Marshall Project. The nonprofit news organization, which focuses on criminal justice in America, found that thousands of minors each year are subjected to what police consider “low level” use of force ranging from being tackled to the ground to having guns pointed at them. Reporters analyzed about 4,000 records of incidents from six major cities and found that Black girls made up 20 percent of the youth involved compared with white girls at 3 percent. We’ll talk with the Marshall Project reporters about police use of force against young people and the significant psychological trauma that it can cause.

Wilma Chan, an Alameda County Supervisor and former member of the California State Assembly, died on Wednesday after being struck by a car as she walked her dog. Described by her colleagues as fearless, compassionate, and tenacious, Chan was known for her advocacy for women, children, and immigrants, and for promoting criminal justice and health care reform. She was the first Asian American to serve as Assembly majority leader and the first Asian American to be elected to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. We'll remember her legacy.

Public lands have become a refuge for many people who can’t afford housing in the west and who are rejecting certain societal norms that no longer serve them well. For some, becoming vehicle-dwellers and nomads is a way to take back control of their lives. This way of life was portrayed in Chloe Zhao’s award-winning film “Nomadland” which starred Frances McDormand and featured a number of real-life nomads. While vehicle-dwelling and nomadism are not new, the pandemic has exacerbated the existing housing crisis and “push” factors that have made more people choose nomadism. It’s also given rise to community tensions for those who use public lands solely for recreation. We’ll learn more about nomad living experiences and how they’re pushing the bounds of how we’ve traditionally thought about the use of public lands.

Oakland is one of the most diverse cities in the country. It’s also one of the most unequal. Architectural and Urban Historian Mitchell Schwarzer dives into the politics and decisions that helped make it that way in his new book, Hella Town: Oakland’s History of Development and Disruption. Schwarzer traces how decades-old decisions about where to put a park or a parking lot, a building or a bungalow, a highway or a BART rail shaped the economics and inequities of Oakland. Forum talks to Schwarzer about the history of the city’s booms and busts and the complexities of today’s Oakland.

PG&E announced this week that it's the subject of a federal investigation for its possible role in causing the Dixie Fire, the second largest in California history. The utility also said it's likely to amass at least $1.15 billion in losses associated with the fire, which burned one million acres and destroyed the Northern California town of Greenville. We'll hear what’s next for PG&E. We’ll also talk about the high cost of fighting wildfire in the state, and the lessons that can be drawn from California’s battles with recent mega-fires, which are expected to become more frequent as the climate gets hotter and drier.

For 46 years, the San Francisco-based American Indian Film Festival has showcased features, documentaries and animated works from Native filmmakers. This year’s festival kicks off Friday with more than a hundred films at a time when filmmakers and audiences are clamoring for more representation of Native communities. Although, Native creators are seeing more interest in their stories and projects in recent years, films made by and about Native Americans rarely, if ever, reach mainstream success. The Hollywood Diversity Report found that Native Americans account for less than 1 percent of on-screen and behind the scenes talent in the U.S. entertainment industry. We talk about Native representation in film and the challenges of making and distributing Native American-centered films.

In late September, writer Saeed Jones lamented the selfishness and cruelty he’d witnessed during the pandemic: “I’m angry and sad and bitter,” he tweeted, adding, “This is not who I want to be.” In October, ProPublica published a story by journalist Sarah Smith with the headline “We’re Losing Our Humanity and the Pandemic Is to Blame,” documenting stories of willful disregard for others’ needs and concerns. We’ll talk about what’s fueling internal rage and public disputes everywhere from grocery stores to airplanes, and what the pandemic has exposed in our human relationships.

In his latest book “Our Country Friends,” novelist Gary Shteyngart tackles the pandemic novel. In the book, the protagonist, Sasha Senderovsky, a writer whose star is slowly flaming out, gathers his family and high school friends in a pod at his country home to ride out the early days of the pandemic. Lauded by the New York Times as the “perfect novel for these times and all times,” “Our Country Friends uses the pandemic to explore themes of family, longing, and loss all with Shteyngart’s characteristic humor and wit. We’ll talk to Shteyngart, who is famous for his dystopian novel “Super Sad True Love Story,” about what it was like to write in real-time about the dystopia unfolding around him.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of SB 8, the controversial Texas law that bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy and deputizes private citizens to enforce it. We’ll analyze what the justices’ responses may signal about the fate of the law, and we’ll look ahead to other cases on the Court’s docket bearing on the regulation of guns, greenhouse gas emissions and immigration.

Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead, is an ancient tradition that started with indigenous people in the Americas, morphed when Catholics arrived, and has seen a resurgence in recent decades in California. This year, the Los Angeles Times set up a virtual Día de Los Muertos altar this year to create a community space to honor loved ones who have passed. The virtual altar reflects the pandemic, which pushed many traditions online, and an example of how the Latin American tradition of honoring the dead has evolved over time. We discuss the practice of honoring the dead as well as cultural and personal connections to Dia de los Muertos.

Across California, cities are reckoning with their historical legacies of racism towards the Chinese community. In May, Antioch became the first city to issue a formal apology for its anti-Chinese policies and the mob-led destruction of its Chinatown in 1876. This month, San Jose followed with a similar apology for enforcing anti-Chinese policies and fomenting racial hatred that resulted in the obliteration by fire of its Chinatown, once one of the largest in California, in 1887. For many Californians, the scope of violence towards Chinese immigrants is history they have never learned. For descendants of these settlers, the stories are not just history, but a sorrowful legacy that continues to impact their lives. We talk about why these apologies are happening now, and whether saying sorry is enough to right past wrongs.

The 2021 UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, begins Sunday, collecting world leaders and activists to discuss and negotiate ambitious climate change policies with the aim of staying below 1.5 degrees of global temperature rise. California, which has already been experiencing the effects of climate change in the forms of sea level rise, record-breaking wildfires and extensive droughts, will be represented by a 22-member delegation of state lawmakers and a number of activists. We’ll talk about the goals of California’s delegation and what’s at stake for the state.

Activist and former sharecropper Fannie Lou Hamer famously said “you are not free, whether you are Black or white, until I am free.” Hamer and her bold, radical honesty are the subject of a new biography by historian Keisha Blain, who sheds light on Hamer’s life and the ideas and political strategies that were central to the Civil Rights movement. In “Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America,” Blain documents key moments in Hamer’s activism, including her pivotal role in co-founding the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. As voting rights remain a battleground in the U.S., Blain joins us to talk about Hamer’s legacy and the lessons we can learn from her activism.

This week, a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended a dosage for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 5 and up and California state officials say they’re preparing to offer them by the end of next week. The vaccines would be authorized under emergency use with full FDA approval expected sometime in 2022. While some parents say they are eager to vaccinate their elementary-school-age children, many remain hesitant. Meanwhile school districts in California including in Los Angeles, Oakland and Sacramento have already set up vaccine mandates for students starting as early as January. Public health and education officials now face the challenge of getting as many of the state’s eligible 3.5 million children vaccinated as possible. We dig into the latest news and answer your questions about pediatric vaccines and school mandates.

In time for Halloween frights, horror podcast hosts share their picks for the best films of the genre. From zombie apocalypses to tales of the demon-possessed, we'll hear what makes for a satisfying cinematic descent into terror. And we'll explore why some of us avoid the scary stuff, and why others can't get enough of the dark side.

McSweeney’s, the idiosyncratic San Francisco publishing company, releases a literary journal, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, with no fixed format. The quarterly has been published in a variety of artistic, unusual forms from an oblong edition to a bundle of mail delivered to the wrong address. Its new “Audio Issue” may be the most elaborate yet. It’s a box of booklets, a scroll, a keychain, a fictional toy company catalog and other objects that, in a collaboration with Radiotopia producers, all have audio components. The issue experiments with ways audio and text work together in storytelling, and it seeks to expand our understanding of what it means to make art accessible to those with impaired hearing, or sight, by expanding content across the senses.

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, San Francisco's Museum of the African Diaspora reopened its doors to the public last week. Featured in the museum's newly renovated space are the first solo exhibitions of two of Africa's most critically-acclaimed contemporary artists: Ghanaian painter Amoako Boafo and Malawi-born, Johannesburg-based Billie Zangewa. We'll talk with the curators about the shows, which both center and celebrate the Black gaze.

Top oil and gas executives from Chevron, ExxonMobile, BP America and Shell will testify Thursday before a house committee examining the fossil fuel industry’s role in promoting climate disinformation. The probe, which House Democrats plan to model on the Big Tobacco hearings of the 1990s, will examine whether Big Oil has misled Americans about how fossil fuels have contributed to climate change and whether those companies can be held accountable. We’ll preview the hearing and also hear about efforts to hold responsible parties in the oil spill in Southern CA earlier this month.

San Jose’s food scene has long flown under the radar. It’s overshadowed by the established culinary reputations of its San Francisco and Oakland neighbors and the city suffers from its association with frequently derided tech culture. But KQED food editor Luke Tsai says he’d rather eat in San Jose than almost anywhere else in the Bay Area. Tsai says San Jose’s robust immigrant communities have formed a thriving and diverse dining experience that deserves more time in the spotlight. Tsai joins us to talk more about the San Jose food scene and some of his favorite restaurants in the city.

Sonoma County has seen a 100-year flood, a historic drought and six major wildfires that have left death and destruction in their wake, and subjected residents to months of bad air days and routine power shut-offs -- just in the last four years. What does living with chronic catastrophes like these do to people? How does it affect their minds, bodies and spirits? The four-part podcast, “Chronic Catastrophe,” led by journalism students at Santa Rosa Junior College, takes up that question, interviewing experts and local residents about the real impacts of climate change on people’s lives. We’ll talk with the podcast’s producers about the series and their own personal experiences coping through “chronic catastrophe.”

"Judging is not for the faint of heart," writes Judge LaDoris Cordell in her new memoir "Her Honor." Over two decades, as the first Black female jurist to sit on a superior court in Northern California, Cordell oversaw thousands of civil and criminal cases, many of which laid bare for her the racial biases and other structural flaws that infect the legal system. We'll talk about her experiences on the bench and her proposals to reform how justice is administered in U.S. courts.

After a flood of criticism from parents, three members of the San Francisco Board of Education are facing recall in a special election set for Feb. 15. Recall supporters accused the board members of mismanaging school re-openings during the pandemic, misplacing energy on renaming schools and changing the admissions process for Lowell High School, the elite magnet school, and being ill-prepared to steward the district’s finances amid a looming $116 million budget deficit. We’ll discuss what’s next for the school board.

It's hard to talk about death. And the COVID-19 pandemic has made those conversations even harder, as families have grappled with the sudden illness of loved ones and hospital protocols have shifted those freighted interactions to Zoom. We’ll talk about how to start conversations about end-of-life care, post-mortem wishes and estate planning. And we want to hear from you: Has the pandemic inspired you to make an end-of-life plan? What advice do you need to have an effective conversation about death with your loved ones?

When he founded the Internet Archive 25 years ago, Brewster Kahle ambitiously set out to create a modern-day library that would “create a permanent memory for the Web that can be leveraged to make a new Global Mind.” Housed in a former church on Funston Street in San Francisco, the archive has amassed 70 million gigabytes of data that includes 65 million books, texts, movies, audio files, and images. Its Wayback Machine has saved more than 653 billion web pages and counting. While Kahle’s ideals have stayed steady, the internet has radically changed. We’ll talk with Kahle and a panel of experts about what the internet is, could be and should be.

The Bay Area was hit with historic levels of rain on Sunday, causing massive flooding in Marin and power outages for close to 150,000 households. We'll get an update on the damage caused and talk about whether this extreme weather may be the new normal.

Every year about 500,000 Americans who give birth experience anxiety, guilt and insomnia after their baby is born -- and some are even suicidal. The postpartum mental health care they receive varies greatly. Mother and Baby Units are considered the gold standard of inpatient psychiatric care for new mothers in England and several other countries, but none exist in the U.S., despite mental health issues being one of the leading causes of maternal death. We’ll look at the differences in postpartum mental health care in the U.S. and the U.K, and learn about California’s first inpatient perinatal psychiatry unit.

Hundreds of thousands of workers in industries ranging from health care to coal mining are on strike, in a massive wave of labor actions being dubbed “Striketober”. But even off the picket lines there may be quieter indicators of worker rebellion. Employees are quitting at record rates and employers are struggling to find workers, even after hiking up wages. To former Labor Secretary and UC Berkeley Professor Robert Reich, these are signs that American workers may finally have the bargaining power to push back against low wages, long hours and bad working conditions. “You might say workers have declared a national general strike until they get better pay and improved working conditions” he wrote in an opinion piece for The Guardian. We’ll talk to Robert Reich about this moment and the future of labor.

Earlier this month, Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation that makes California the first state in the nation to require health care facilities to offer screening for hepatitis B and C, which if left untreated can lead to fatal liver disease and cancer. Almost 90% of people with chronic hepatitis B in California are members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Black Americans have the second highest rate of chronic infection. We'll talk about how the law will work and take your questions.

Last month, Marie Wilcox of Woodlake, Calif., the last known fluent speaker of the indigenous language, Wukchumni, passed away. Before she died, she dedicated herself to preserving the language by putting together a Wukchumni dictionary and recording herself speaking. Similar efforts are underway across California, a state where some 100 indigenous languages were spoken before the arrival of Europeans. Many of those languages have disappeared entirely and some have only a few fluent speakers left. We talk about what it takes to save a language and the work of the California Language Archive at the University of California, Berkeley.

It was a hot October weekend. Typical Bay Area fall weather, and the end of fire season. A small fire that had broken out in the hills above the Caldecott Tunnel looked nearly extinguished. But then the wind kicked up, and suddenly what had been a campfire-size blaze, became an inferno. That firestorm would go on to kill 25 people and destroy 3,400 homes. Thirty years ago, it seemed like an anomaly. Today, fires so large that they create their own weather systems have become an annual event. We’ll talk about lessons learned from the Tunnel Fire with people who lived through it and with those trying to prevent another conflagration from happening again.

California’s historic Reparations Task Force heard testimony last week on anti-Black racism in housing, education, banking and the environment as part of a series of meetings considering the impact of slavery in the state. Vice chair of the task force, Dr. Amos Brown, emphasized the importance of the hearings, declaring: “We need to make sure that these testimonies are shouted from the house top and throughout the length and breadth of this state of California.” Commissioned by Assembly Bill 3121 last fall to “study and develop reparation proposals for African Americans,” this task force is the first of its kind in the U.S. We’ll talk to task force chair Kamilah Moore about the recent hearings and key questions the group is exploring in their study, including who would qualify for reparations.

Puffy jackets, colorful patterns and statement accessories aren’t just trendy wardrobe staples among young people. Senior citizens are showing off what enjoying old age can look like through their unique styles. Photography projects such as Advanced Style and Chinatown Pretty capture the joy, wisdom and stories of neighborhood elders who boldly express themselves through their outfits. We’ll talk with the creators of those projects and discuss what we can all learn from the senior fashionistas strutting the sidewalks in our own communities.

When labor economist David Card began studying the minimum wage in the 1990’s, conventional wisdom, and economic theory, held that an increase in the minimum wage would lead to job loss. But in a move that revolutionized the way economics could be done, Card and his colleague, Alan Krueger, compared the real world data from a state that raised the minimum wage to one that didn’t, and found that the increase didn’t kill jobs. This “natural experiment” allowed Card to study the effects of policy changes or chance events in a way similar to clinical trials in medicine. Another natural experiment found that an influx of immigrants did not lower the wages of low-skilled native born workers. Forum talks with Berkeley professor David Card about his work, the “credibility revolution” in economics that it spawned and winning, with Stanford professor Guido Imbens and Joshua Angrist from MIT, the Nobel Prize in economics.

Thirty years ago, a small, mostly-extinguished grassfire was stoked by a hot, dry wind that ignited a firestorm in the Oakland and Berkeley hills killing 25 people and destroying more than 3,400 homes. As the Bay Area remembers the Tunnel Fire, we talk to Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf about the lessons the city and firefighters learned from the tragedy and her own memories of that fire which destroyed her family home.

Donald Trump on Monday sued the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection to prevent it from accessing a broad swath of records from his administration. The filing came just before the Committee convenes on Tuesday to pursue criminal contempt charges against Trump ally Steve Bannon for his refusal to cooperate with investigators. We'll talk to Los Angeles Congressman Adam Schiff, who sits on the Select Committee, about his efforts to hold January 6 rioters and their enablers to account, and about his new book "Midnight in Washington," which details the antidemocratic forces still at work in the U.S. political system.

In his new book, "The Loneliest Americans," Jay Caspian Kang sets out to challenge the assumed solidarity of Asian Americans of different classes and waves of immigration. What unites all the peoples from all the different places in the globe’s largest continent? Maybe not enough to create a cohesive political unit, Kang argues. We’ll talk with Kang, a staff writer for the New York Times Opinion page and New York Times Magazine, about his book, radical politics, and Berkeley through the eyes of a recent East Coast transplant.

Colin Powell, 84, died on Monday due to complications from COVID-19. Powell was one of the largest figures in American public, political and military life of the past four decades. As a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, secretary of state and national security adviser he helped craft modern U.S. foreign policy, including his controversial role in the lead up to the Iraq war in 2003. Born in Harlem, N.Y., to Jamaican parents, Powell was a pioneer in a number of his public service roles, including his time as the first Black Secretary of State and first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. When he endorsed Barack Obama for President in 2008, it was one of then-Senator Obama's most significant endorsements, particularly because of Powell's military credentials. We remember Powell's impact on American life, and how his role affected Californians of all political stripes.

"Please... be quiet!" That's the desperate plea that becomes a constant refrain for 13-year-old Benny Oh, the protagonist of Ruth Ozeki's new novel, "The Book of Form and Emptiness." After his beloved father dies, Benny starts literally to hear "things" - from the old lettuce that sighs from the refrigerator to the stapler that yaks away unbidden. Benny comes to find solace in a library and discovers "the Book" that will narrate his story. We talk to Ozeki about the novel and the Zen philosophy that informs it.

As fire survivors await compensation from PG&E for wildfires sparked by their equipment, hedge funds grossed at least $2 billion by getting rid of PG&E stock bought under the bankruptcy deal last year. That’s according to a new KQED/California Newsroom analysis. The hedge fund stock dump lowered PG&E's share price, and that’s affecting fire survivors’ compensation and resulting in higher prices for the utility’s ratepayers, who already pay 80% more for power than the U.S average. We get the details.

The future of high-speed rail in California remains in jeopardy as funds dry up. Now, the Los Angeles Times reports that the High-Speed Rail Authority will have to approve at least another billion dollars in cost overruns to pay its contractors. Also in question: Will it even be high speed? We get the latest on the state’s expensive, delayed, and mismanaged bullet train project.

Authors Joanna Ho and Lisa Moore Ramée want young readers of all backgrounds to see themselves in stories. In her debut children’s book “Eyes that Kiss in the Corners,” Ho tells the story of a child’s love of her Asian eyes. In her new picture book, “Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma,” Ho highlights world-famous cellist, immigration and the way music can build bridges between different communities. Ramée's young adult novels “A Good Kind of Trouble” and “Something to Say” both center young Black girl protagonists who embark on journeys to find their voices and what it means to stand for something, in your own life or in the community. Ho and Ramée recently joined us for a FORUM LIVE event to talk about the shared themes in their stories of identity, self acceptance and finding one’s voice.

This is an encore presentation of Forum: The story of reggaeton music is layered and complex, and, according to reggaeton pioneer Ivy Queen, “the real story of reggaeton is about la resistencia. Resistance.” Queen is also the narrator of the new podcast “Loud” by Spotify and Futuro Studios, which gives reggaeton the documentary treatment and explores its nuances. “Loud” journeys through reggaeton’s origins in Jamaican dancehall to Panamanian reggae in español to “las calles” of Puerto Rico to New York and beyond. Once criminalized in Puerto Rico in the ‘90s and early aughts, reggaeton is now one of the most popular genres in the world -- reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny was Spotify’s most-streamed artist in 2020. We’ll take a critical look at reggaeton’s origins and evolution, from its dancehall roots to the massive pop presence it has today.

“I am freedom,” says Rahsaan Thomas in a recorded phone call from San Quentin State Prison, featured in a new performance by Flyaway Productions and Museum of the African Diaspora. "Meet Us Quickly with Your Mercy" combines first-person recordings with music and aerial choreography— with the goal of conveying the solidarity of Black and Jewish activism for racial justice and prison abolition. It’s rooted in a four-year collaboration that comprised hundreds of letters, prison visits and monitored phone calls between artistic director Jo Kreiter and lead writer Thomas, who co-hosts and co-produces the Pulitzer Prize-nominated podcast “Ear Hustle” and who is currently incarcerated in San Quentin. "Meet Us Quickly with Your Mercy” will run through Oct. 17 and charge no admission fee. Kreiter and Thomas join us to discuss the show and its message.

Every eight years, the state goes through a process to determine how much and what kind of housing should be built in every California city. The allotment, known as the Regional Housing Needs Assessment, is up for renewal this year and has called for cities to plan for more housing than in the past. Historically, most cities don’t build the housing the state recommends, and dozens have already filed lawsuits fighting the numbers. RHNA only tells cities how much housing they should plan for, but doesn’t require them to approve housing projects or ensure that the housing is actually. We’ll talk about this year’s assessment process and why the vast majority of cities fall short of the state’s goals.

Despite more and more Americans having stuff delivered during the pandemic, the USPS is in deep financial trouble. In order to save money, the USPS has made a few operational changes. One of the big ones: The U.S. Postal Service began slowing down delivery of some letters and packages starting Oct. 1. But economists say that’s a vicious cycle -- if you make a product worse, fewer people will buy it, and that will only exacerbate the postal service’s problems. This is not new -- the postal service has been in trouble for years, facing massive losses. The Postmaster General told Congress that there’s “no end in sight,” in particular because the agency is on the hook for billions in employee pensions. We talk about the problems plaguing the postal service, how to make the agency viable for the future and what that means for you.

As part of our First Person series, Forum invites Bay Area residents to share their lived experience leading remarkable and important lives within our community. Matt Marostica lives in Berkeley but is the High Councilor in the Oakland Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as people within the faith prefer to be called instead of the more common term Mormon. Marostica, a former bishop of the Berkeley ward, says his congregation is made up of all sorts of people, from openly-gay members, to undocumented immigrants, to conservatives. Marostica says he loves his church and faith community, and is working to change it from the inside.

The coronavirus pandemic led to not only high unemployment from business closures and layoffs, but it has also induced a record number of worker resignations. This past August alone, close to 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In what has been dubbed “The Great Resignation," workers are less likely than ever to settle for jobs they consider unacceptable. We talk with experts about what’s driving people to quit and how businesses are responding.

The Department of Justice asked a federal appeals court on Monday to halt Texas's abortion law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. This comes after a federal appeals court on Friday temporarily reinstated Texas’s law, following a brief block by a lower court. Amid the legal uncertainty, local news organizations are reporting a near-total shutdown of abortions in Texas, and the ripple effects have already been seen in California, where clinics are scheduling appointments for women planning to travel from Texas. In the meantime, on Dec. 1 the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in the closely-watched Mississippi abortion case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which could overturn Roe v. Wade. We’ll discuss the latest news regarding abortion law and the current stakes in Texas, Mississippi and beyond.

Pedestrian deaths increased 46% nationwide in the past decade, while the number of all other traffic deaths rose by just 5%. Black pedestrians were killed at a rate 82% higher than whites, and residents of low-income neighborhoods are far more likely to be struck by a car and killed than people in higher income neighborhoods. We hear from experts about the role vehicle speed, smart phones, and our enduring attachment to SUV’s are playing in the tragic, and unequal, rise in deaths. And, we talk with a mother whose son died in a pedestrian accident about what urgently needs to be done to make streets safer.

"I don't want to die anywhere else," writes José Vadi in "Inter State," his new essay collection about California. Vadi explores what he calls our "disjointed mosaic of a state" from his vantage point as a poet, skateboarder, laid-off tech worker and grandson of a Central Valley farmworker. We talk to Vadi about California and the variegated experiences of its inhabitants.

“In the United States, it’s very stark that the past is not yet past. Problems that we think of as historical in fact continue to impact our lives on a daily basis,” says Princeton historian and writer Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor. Last week Taylor received a 2021 MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship for her scholarship on how past and present political and economic policies sustain chronic racial inequality, and how social movements, like Black Lives Matter, can transform that narrative. We’ll talk to Taylor about her work and her most recent book “Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Home Ownership” which was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer prize.

For decades, organizations, doctors and parents focused on treating autism as a disease and steered millions of dollars in funding to find a “cure” instead of to provide services to autistic people. Political journalist Eric Garcia chronicles that history in his new book “We’re not Broken: Changing The Autism Conversation,” and draws on his own experience as an autistic person to lay out the ongoing challenges and misperceptions they face. Garcia points out that autistic people are often portrayed as white male children or engineers, when in fact autistic people come in every gender and ethnic background. We talk with Garcia about why autism is so misunderstood and how to change the narrative.

Has all the pandemic time in your home kitchen perfected your souffli? Or maybe you've realized it's possible to survive on just condiments. For a lot of us our cooking habits vacillated during this time between unrealistically high culinary expectations and dispiritingly low ones. But hopefully you've found at least a few just right, joy bringing, doable dishes that have brought comfort to your day. We want to hear about those meals.

Governor Gavin Newsom has until October 10th to sign or veto the bills on his desk. We'll talk with KQED's politics team's Katie Orr and Marisa Lagos about some of the bills he's signed into law, including drug sentencing reform and the nation's first ban on nonconsensual removal of a condom during sex. And we'll look at some of the closely watched bills still waiting on a decision.

The pandemic forced many of us to rethink cultural norms — one being the expectation that people, especially women and younger folks, should color or hide their roots. Amid salon closures and cancelled social events, many people chose to grow out their gray hair, and some are sticking with the look. We’ll talk about why for some the choice to go gray can feel fraught, and why for others it brings a sense of empowerment. And we want to hear from you: Did you decide to grow out your gray hair during the pandemic? Or are you on the fence about whether to forgo the dye? What does gray hair mean to you?

Hispanic Heritage Month ends Oct. 15, and in a recent column for the Los Angeles Times, staff writer Daniel Hernandez explores the meaning behind the plethora of ironic memes that have popped up to celebrate and poke fun at the occasion. Some of the memes offer ironic takes on popular songs, characters such as Mama Coco from the movie “Coco,” and customs such as eating a tortilla slathered with butter or using ovens to store pots and pans. Hernandez joins us to discuss the memes and the deeper themes they reveal about, as he writes, “the state of ambivalence that we have about ourselves, and that non-Latino Americans continue to have about us.”

Two California scientists, David Julius from UCSF and Ardem Patapoutian from San Diego's Scripps Research, have won the 2021 Nobel Prize for medicine. In their work, which focuses on the biology of our senses, Julius and Patapoutian identified receptors that allow the cells in your body to sense touch and temperature. Their findings hold potential medical applications for better treatment of chronic pain. We talk with the prize-winning researchers about their work.

Not many people get a backstage pass to history, but Ben Fong-Torres has. As a writer and music editor for Rolling Stone magazine, Fong-Torres stood at the center of an era of rock and roll from which acts like Bob Dylan, The Doors, the Grateful Dead and Elton John emerged, and his writing was so revered by musicians that Fong-Torres was often the only journalist bands would talk to. A new documentary by Suzanne Joe Kai taps into Fong-Torres’ personal archives and includes interviews with him as well as some of his famous subjects to tell the story of how Fong-Torres, the Bay Area-born son of Chinese immigrants, found himself in the middle of the cultural zeitgeist. We’ll talk to Fong-Torres about the film, which will be shown at the upcoming Mill Valley Film Festival.

During a recent Los Angeles Dodgers game, three people sprinted across the field waving banners with the names of former neighborhoods -- Bishop, La Loma and Palo Verde -- that were razed on the land that is now home to the team’s stadium. The protest was an attempt to call attention to a piece of L.A. history known as the Battle of Chavez Ravine, when in the 1950s city officials displaced roughly 1,800 mostly Mexican American families from the area. Officials promised to build a new public housing complex where the families could live, but instead sold the land to the Dodgers to build a stadium. We talk about that history and Mexican Americans’ deep and complicated relationship with the team.

During the past decade, widespread optimism for what technology could accomplish turned into a backlash against Silicon Valley and what it has spawned. Social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter hold enormous power over our economies and lives, but nobody is quite sure how to rein in the companies. In their new book, “System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot,” three Stanford University professors from different fields spell out exactly what has gone wrong and offer ideas to hold the powerful accountable in meaningful ways.

It's been 30 years since Anita Hill testified before an all-male Senate Judiciary Committee during Clarence Thomas's Supreme Court confirmation hearing, describing how he sexually harassed her in the workplace. Anita Hill joins us to reflect on that experience, which she says laid bare the systemic faults in a confirmation process that still casts doubt on the credibility of women, and to talk about her new book "Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence."

A pipeline leak first reported on Saturday has spilled at least 126,000 gallons of crude oil into the Pacific, washing up on the shores of Huntington Beach and contaminating the area's environmentally sensitive wetlands and marshes. While the leak has been stopped, clean-up efforts are just getting underway. We'll talk about the effects of the oil spill and its impacts on the Huntington Beach community and environment.

What do a bicycle, a living room sofa, spools of copper wire, and a six-pack of Cherry Vanilla Coke Zero have in common? All of them may soon be or currently are in short supply as the global economy experiences a supply chain in disarray that has left few consumer goods and commodities untouched. Ships backed up and waiting to dock in California ports, containers that wait for trucks or trains to deliver them, and warehouses that lack enough labor to unpack those containers – all contribute to the bottlenecks in the supply chain that threaten to leave store shelves empty. With the holidays around the corner, some retailers, like Costco, are hiring their own ships to help deliver goods. We’ll look into what is causing these supply chain issues and how they might be resolved in the near- and long-term future.

Join us for a roundup of political news in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed numerous bills into laws in the past few weeks including a slew of laws aimed at increasing affordable housing, a new requirement for disclosing policy misconduct records, and changes to the state’s conservatorship law known as the #FreeBritney bill. We’ll take a look at what legislation is moving forward and other political news.

The San Francisco Giants have clinched a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2016. With 105 wins under their belt, the 2021 team is among the best in the franchise’s history, and have a serious shot at beating the Los Angeles Dodgers for the division title. With the end of the season in sight, the team could soon be reliving the glory days of their championship victories in the 2010s. We’ll talk about what has contributed to the Giants’ successful run and what to expect from the playoffs.

Drug company Merck is applying for emergency use authorization in the U.S. for a new oral treatment for COVID-19 that trials suggest cuts the risk of hospitalization or death by half. We'll talk with UCSF's Dr. Monica Gandhi about the promising new treatment, get the latest coronavirus numbers for the Bay Area, and hear what to expect now that flu season is around the corner.

Residents of the small Northern California town of Willows suffered from smoke-filled air four out of twelve months in 2020. That makes it the smokiest place in the Western United States. That’s according to a recent analysis by NPR’s California Newsroom that looked at air quality across the state--and the country--between 2016 and 2020. We’ll hear about the investigation and catch up on the newest science on how smoke affects health. Then at 10:40, we’ll dive deep in on how to read and interpret air quality maps, and which ones are best.

Airports are often the first, last, and sometimes only impression a traveler has of a city. Singapore's Changi airport dazzles; Newark Airport in New Jersey offers less delight. SFO leads the way in design with its newly opened Harvey Milk Terminal which boasts Heath tiles in the restrooms, lighting that makes you look less tired, and improved acoustic design. But the airport industry has been challenged by the pandemic, which dropped traveller numbers and put new stresses on airports already grappling with issues like aging infrastructure. We'll talk about airports you love, airports you never want to see again, and hear from experts about airports of the future.

The new film “The Many Saints of Newark” brings Sopranos fans a prequel to the revered HBO series about mobsters in New Jersey. Director Alan Taylor, who won an Emmy for his work on the show, joins us to talk about the movie set during Tony Soprano’s adolescence against a backdrop of the 1967 Newark race riots. The series, which ran for six seasons between 1999 and 2007 followed the story of Tony Soprano, a mafia boss who sought help for anxiety and mental health issues. We discuss the new film, which comes out Friday in theaters and on HBO, and the legacy of “The Sopranos.”

A federal lawsuit from Texas is challenging the Indian Child Welfare Act, the landmark 1978 law designed to keep Native American children within Native American families in state child custody proceedings. The case, Brackeen v. Haaland, is the subject of the second season of the award-winning podcast “This Land” which explores the threats the case poses to the legal structure that defends Native American rights. We’ll talk with writer, activist and “This Land” host Rebecca Nagle about the political interests driving the court challenge and the children and families affected.

The last time Congress re-negotiated who is eligible for asylum in the United States, it came in the aftermath of the fall of Saigon, when an influx of southeast Asian refugees forced changes to how Americans provided sanctuary. Now, as Afghan refugees continue to arrive after the fall of Kabul and amidst the continuing stream of people fleeing violence in the Americas, could this be a moment when our system changes again? And if so, how might we create a better system? In the final show of our series on asylum we talk about how to build a better system for providing humanitarian relief at our borders and inside our country.

Forum Book Club returns with "How Much of These Hills Is Gold," the debut novel from C. Pam Zhang. Longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, the book has been praised for its "arresting," "lyrical," and "ravishingly written" style. It follows the quest of two Chinese-American orphans, Sam and Lucy, to bury their father, a failed gold prospector. In this tender coming-of-age story, Zhang asks "what makes a home a home?" and in placing a Chinese family at its center, a group that history has not just forgotten, but in some instances, erased, the novel reshapes the American western. We'll talk to Zhang and a panel of fellow writers about the book.

In the latest installment of Forum's series on asylum seeking in the U.S., we'll take a look at what challenges Central American refugee communities in the Bay Area face. Many struggle to have their cases and stories heard. We'll also check in on the Central American Minors initiative allowing Central American migrant children to enter the country legally, which the Biden administration revived earlier this month. Community advocates Esmeralda Mendoza of East Bay Sanctuary Covenant and Vanessa Velasco of CARECEN SF join us.

Marin County officials are considering desalination plants to help weather a drought that is expected to deplete water resources as early as next summer. Newark has desalinated brackish water from the groundwater basin beneath Alameda Creek since 2003. And Antioch is launching its own desalination project. But critics say the environmental and economic costs of the technology are too high. We’ll hear which Bay Area counties are looking to desalination for drought mitigation and discuss the pros and cons of the technology.

Pfizer and BioNTech announced Tuesday that they submitted data to the FDA showing that their COVID vaccine is safe and effective for children ages 5 -11 We'll talk about when we can expect the agency to act -- and best practices for parents of young kids in the meantime -- with Paul Offit, a pediatrician and member of the FDA Covid Vaccine Advisory Panel. We'll also talk to Offit about his new book "You Bet Your Life," a history of medical innovations from the earliest antibiotics to the first blood transfusions, and the profound risks that accompanied them.

The Bay Area has been home to a vibrant Afghan community for decades. California lawmakers have been showing unified support in welcoming Afghan asylum seekers to the Bay Area, proposing legislation and holding a string of town halls in support of resettlement efforts. Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August, KQED reports that local service provider Jewish Family & Community Services resettled 77 Afghans in the East Bay -- which is typically the number of people they resettle over six months. But a warm welcome doesn't solve a major issue at hand: the Bay Area's and California's housing affordability crisis. We'll speak with Harris Mojadedi, a local community organizer and member of the Afghan Coalition, about the status of resettlement efforts here in the Bay Area and what Bay Area residents can do to help.

Palo Alto officials next month plan to reopen University Avenue and some other streets that had been closed to car traffic during the pandemic. Some retailers say turning streets into outdoor dining areas has hurt their businesses by reducing parking spaces and covering up storefronts. Meanwhile many restaurant owners, especially those who invested in furniture and parklets, want to keep streets closed to continue serving customers outside. Various cities are facing similar dilemmas about whether to reopen streets and effective ways to support businesses. We’ll talk about how cities and residents are rethinking uses for public roadways and spaces.

California's conditional release program, known as CONREP, is supposed to enable patients leaving state psychiatric hospitals to transition to an independent life and avoid violent relapses. But a new investigation by The Marshall Project and the Los Angeles Times found that CONREP can put former patients in a decades-long legal limbo during which the state dictates where they live, whether they can work and whom they can see -- even requiring permission for activities like creative writing or joining a book group. Those in CONREP are disproportionately people of color. We'll talk to Marshall Project staff writer Christie Thompson about what she uncovered.

The ESPN 30 for 30 podcast, “The King of Crenshaw,” examines the life and legacy of hip hop artist, entrepreneur and son of South Los Angeles Nipsey Hussle told through the lens of his close relationships with professional basketball players. Hosted by Justin Tinsley, a senior writer for ESPN’s The Undefeated, the four-part series explores black male friendship, grief, resilience -- and the responsibility that comes with “making it out” of a poor neighborhood and giving back. Hussle was not only famous for his music, but also for the way he used his fame to contribute to his South L.A. neighborhood, mapping out a vision for land ownership and community empowerment before he was tragically murdered in 2019 at 33 years old. It was that spirit and dedication that influenced fellow entertainers and NBA athletes who come from similar backgrounds. Tinsley joins us to discuss “The King of Crenshaw.”

Images of border patrol agents on horses forcibly beating back Haitian asylum seekers at the Mexican border have been igniting outrage. It’s just the latest refugee crisis that critics say the U.S. has handled poorly. This week on Forum we’ll talk with members of the Bay Area’s Haitian, Afghan, and Central American communities to discuss conditions in their countries and the struggle to gain refugee status. First, to launch the series, we look at the origins of international asylum policy, which was established after the US rejected Jews fleeing the Holocaust. We’ll discuss how the U.S asylum rules have morphed over the decades and how we’ve made decisions about who should be let in and why.

Haiti is grappling with an unprecedented environmental crisis after a recent hurricane and earthquake. A political crisis following the assassination of the Haitian president has left the Haitian people with a crashing economy, and violence. After the U.S. began deporting some of the approximately 13,000 Haitian migrants to have arrived at the Mexican border, the U.S. special envoy for Haiti resigned in protest, citing the “inhumane” treatment of Haitian migrants at the border as well as the decision to deport them as they flee political and environmental devastation. We speak with Bay Area resident Claude-Alix Bertrand, Haiti’s ambassador to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, to get his thoughts on the Haitian migration crisis.

Everything has a story — including that street couch in your neighborhood. As USC professor and creator of streetcouch.com Keith Plocek puts it: “Just think of all the sitting. All the conversations. All the silences. Life. Death. Butts. Pets.” And then one day, that piece of furniture ends up on the street and a new story begins — a lucky find for someone, a new canvas for a graffiti artist or an addition to the landfill. In a recent story for the Los Angeles Times, reporter Julissa James explored the range of experiences with street furniture, from the joy of a good find and refurbishing job to the queasy questioning of what’s in those cushions, especially in the age of COVID-19. We’ll talk about the culture of street furniture and hear your street furniture stories.

A recently-surfaced memo written by conservative lawyer John Eastman revealed a detailed plan for the Trump administration to overturn President Joe Biden’s election. The document included a six-step plan for Pence to overturn the election in early 2021, including throwing out legal ballots in seven states. The explicit nature of these strategies from President Trump’s legal team shows the stopgaps and weaknesses in our nation’s election laws. We talk to Washington Post reporter Philip Bump and Politico reporter Nicholas Wu about how we might address the loopholes that President Trump sought to exploit, and discuss whether formerly-establishment figures like Eastman may face any fallout or punishment.

Berkeley’s influential Chez Panisse restaurant has turned 50. The restaurant transformed food culture in the Bay Area and put California, and farm to table cuisine, on the global culinary map. We talk with founder Alice Waters, and chefs and food producers who got their start at the restaurant, about the history and legacy of Chez Panisse and the future of the ecosystem of farms, food and restaurants it inspired.

Most of the 70,000 survivors of wildfires sparked by PG&E equipment between 2015 and 2018, have yet to see any of the promised $13.5 billion settlement with the utility. Now, attorneys in a burgeoning wildfire litigation arena are working fast to hang their shingles in towns like Quincy and Susanville, where many wildfire evacuees -- trapped in motels or staying with friends-- try to figure out their next steps. The lawyers promise big settlements out of PG&E. But many families who once turned to these same lawyers after losing homes and loved ones to previous wildfires, still sleep in cars and trailers and are warning recent wildfire survivors to beware of unkept promises from the legal profession.

Last December, Forum spoke to four nurses and doctors on the frontlines of COVID care in California. At the time, cases were surging statewide, and no vaccines were available. They described heartbreaking patient deaths, overflowing ICUs and the heavy emotional toll of their work. The same healthcare workers join us again, nine months later, to share what has improved and the profound challenges that remain for those caring for the sickest patients.

The word freedom can be used in so many ways, sometimes at cross purposes. There are those who defend the freedom to remain unvaccinated, others the freedom to move in the world without excess risk. “Can you think of a more depleted, imprecise, or weaponized word?” writes author and Bay Area native Maggie Nelson in her new essay collection, “On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint”. Nelson probes the idea of freedom in the context of some of the most charged disagreements of our age, including around climate change, sexuality, addiction and more. She joins us to share what freedom means to her and why she sees it as “an unending present practice, something already going on.”

"Life is something we need to stop correcting." That's what Theo, the single astrobiologist father who narrates Richard Powers's latest novel, thinks when doctors try to prescribe medication for Robin, his passionately curious and emotionally volatile young son. But as Robin continues to lash out, Theo enrolls him in an experimental brain therapy that expands his empathic abilities and sharpens his scientific gifts. The novel, informed in part by the classic story "Flowers for Algernon," explores what Powers calls the bafflement of empathy -- whether we would have to give up being ourselves in order to understand someone who isn't us." We talk with Powers about "Bewilderment."

When the KNP Complex fire, which has burned about 40 square miles in the Western Sierra, began spreading through Sequoia National Park, firefighters mobilized to preserve the park's groves of ancient sequoia trees. Among the trees imperiled by the still uncontained fire, was General Sherman, the world's largest tree. We’ll hear about firefighters’ extraordinary efforts to save the giants, including wrapping them in aluminum blankets. And we’ll also talk about what a future of climate-intensified fires means for the iconic sequoias.

In the 2020 Census, the number of Latinos who selected “white” as their race dropped to 20% from 53% in 2010, at the same time more Latinos selected “two or more races” or “other” as their racial category. Experts say this indicates an evolution in Latinos' complicated relationship with race. The terms Latino and Hispanic emerged as categories in the U.S. Census decades ago, but the way the categories are presented on forms has been a source of controversy and confusion for just as long. Latinos come from a variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds, so the concept of a diverse group under one umbrella can be just as problematic as it can be empowering. We dive into the nuances of racial identity and how perceptions of race are shifting among Latinx people.

For years, top officials at Facebook have been aware of the platform's adverse impacts on users, and they've turned a blind eye to company employees who've tried to push for change. That's according to a new Wall Street Journal investigation that uncovered internal documents suggesting the company willfully disregarded reports that it's harming teens' mental health and failing to stop the spread of misinformation. In a blog post, Facebook said the investigation deliberately mischaracterized the company's actions and "conferred egregiously false motives" on its leadership. We'll talk to the reporters behind the investigation about what they learned.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a set of housing bills last week that aim to increase the state’s housing inventory and return attention to his ambitious goals to build more housing. In 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic, Newsom called for California to build roughly 500,000 new homes per year to reach a goal of 3.5 million new housing units by 2025. Meanwhile, California has on average added less than 100,000 units of housing per year for the past decade, according to CalMatters. Experts say some of the new housing laws, SB 8, SB 9, SB 10 could usher in hundreds of thousands of new homes over time by making it easier to build more units on lots previously designated solely for single-family homes. We talk about whether these laws will increase housing supply, how they could influence housing prices, and how they could change the look and feel of neighborhoods across the state.

In a new cover story for The Atlantic, writer Hannah Giorgis looks critically at Hollywood’s writers’ rooms and how most of them look nothing like America. Documenting the history of Black writers who have navigated predominantly white writers’ rooms -- often confronting implicit and explicit biases -- Giorgis reveals the renaissance of onscreen representation they helped bring to television. Still, Hollywood remains an industry dominated by white men, and that continues to impact the hiring of offscreen Black talent and who’s at the table. We’ll talk to Giorgis about whether the tide is really turning in Hollywood when it comes to diverse representation -- not only in the stories we tell, but who’s telling them.

It may come as a surprise to some of the region’s urban dwellers that more than 1000 miles of trails outline the San Francisco Bay. Running along the water’s edge through nine counties, the Bay trail passes by museums, bars, and parks ready for kite flying. And the Ridge trail circumnavigates the Bay at a higher elevation, offering 365 degree views across the region. We’ll hear about the provenance and evolution of these two different but precious hiking and biking resources, and what they mean to the region.

President Joe Biden stopped construction on Trump’s signature wall along the southern border, but he’s asking for more than a billion dollars in his proposed budget for border infrastructure including modern security technology to bolster a “smart wall” increasingly reliant on surveillance tech that backers in Congress have called an effective and humane approach. But critics say the use of facial recognition software, license plate readers, ground sensors and mobile surveillance towers that send alerts to border agents are part of an increasingly militarized border that drives migrants to deadlier paths and imperils the privacy rights of residents near the border. We’ll talk about the new approach to border security and the private defense surveillance tech industry that benefits from it.

One of the key action scenes in the new Marvel Studios film, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” involves a city bus losing control on California Street in San Francisco’s Nob Hill neighborhood. Other scenes are filmed in the city’s Richmond District -- not a typical locale for a major Hollywood production. The film, released Sept. 3, celebrates San Francisco and Asian Americans in other ways as well. We’ll talk about San Francisco’s role in the movie, which is already one of the year’s biggest hits.

Gov. Gavin Newsom beat the attempt to recall him this week handily, with over 60% of the vote, so far. But the results haven’t seemed to phase failed Republican challenger Larry Elder, who’s proclaimed he’s not leaving California’s political stage. Elder’s rise prompted Los Angeles Times columnist Erika D. Smith to ponder if he could usher in a new era of Black conservatism in California, even while he embraces Trump and denies the existence of systemic racism. As we wind down from this week’s recall, we’ll talk to Smith about her latest columns and hear from Black conservative Corrin Rankin, who vice-chairs the Central Valley GOP, about what she thinks Elder means for California’s Black Republican voters and hopeful leaders.

Last week, SF Weekly, the free alternative newspaper, announced that it would cease publication for the foreseeable future. The loss of the paper, which won numerous accolades, including a George K. Polk Award for investigative reporting on the U.S. Navy's handling of nuclear waste at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, has been called incalculable. Its closure echoes the 2014 demise of the Weeklys bitter rival, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and it leaves the city with no alt-weeklies. Yet, there was a time when alt-weeklies, their issues fat with pages of copy and advertising, were a vibrant part of the Bay Area's zeitgeist. We'll talk about the golden age of alt-weeklies and whether newer, online models of local journalism can fill that void.

Among the various bills sitting on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk is AB 701, which would require companies that operate warehouses in California to disclose productivity quotas and tracking information to employees and government agencies. The bill takes aim at Amazon Inc., a global retailer that employs more than 150,000 workers and maintains more than 60 warehouses in California. Workers nationwide have complained about grueling conditions at the company’s distribution centers, which demand repetitive tasks and long hours that can lead to injury. We’ll talk about the legislation and efforts to ensure worker safety in Amazon warehouses.

In his new book “Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy,” historian Adam Tooze analyzes the different ways governments around the world responded to the pandemic and what their responses say about the way power works in the modern world. Synthesizing information from dozens of countries, Tooze traces various levels of economic interaction and their impacts “from main streets to central banks, from families to factories, from favelas to traders.” Tooze joins us to discuss “Shutdown” and share his thoughts on what we can learn from the pandemic when it comes to preparing for future global “polycrises.”

California's recall process has been called undemocratic, confusing and inordinately expensive. We look at proposals both to change it, such as increasing the number of signatures required to put a recall on the ballot, and to eliminate it altogether. And we continue to bring you live analysis of Tuesday's vote and hear your reactions.

The petition to recall Governor Gavin Newsom began in February of last year. Now, more than a year and a half later, California voters decided against the effort. On the day after the final ballots were cast, we analyze the election results and discuss what they tell us about the future of Gavin Newsom, the state’s Republican party, California’s pandemic response and more.

Bears who break and enter, elephants who commit manslaughter and deer who jaywalk: they’re all the subject of science writer Mary Roach’s latest book “Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law.” Roach spent two years immersed in the quirky, complex world of human-wildlife conflict prevention -- embedding with elephant attack specialists, bear forensics investigators and professional bird scarers. We talk to Roach about why wild animals encroach on human spaces and how we can coexist more peacefully with our animal neighbors.

Lake Powell, a 190-mile long reservoir in Utah that holds back the Colorado River, and which can hold 24 million acres of water, has dropped 140 feet since 2000 and 50 feet in the last year. But as the lake's surface recedes, leaving a bathtub-like ring marking its evaporation, Glen Canyon, a natural wonder which was partially flooded by the dam, has reemerged. As Elizabeth Kolbert writes, in that canyon, we are seeing the Colorado River restore itself in real time. Well talk to Kolbert about what it's like to celebrate "the effects of what, by most standards counts as a disaster" and the confounding feelings of finding silver linings in climate change.

The special election to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom is Tuesday. As of Sept. 9, a third of mailed ballots have been returned, according to Political Data, Inc. Current polls show Gov. Newsom in position to survive the recall effort. Still, get out the vote efforts remain strong with President Biden visiting California on Monday to help campaign for Newsom. Conservative radio talk show host Larry Elder continues to lead polling for the candidate to replace Newsom, should he be recalled. One critical voting bloc campaigns are vying for is Latinos, who have propelled Democrats to a complete lock on the Legislature and every statewide office from the Governor’s office on down. We’ll hear reporting on how Latinos are reacting to campaign messages targeting them both for and against the recall, and get the latest voter turnout news on the eve of the election.

During the past year, state legislatures across the country have implemented restrictive voting laws that experts say will stop some voters from casting ballots. Voter suppression is not a new phenomenon in the United States, but lawmakers are coming up with new ways to restrict voting access. In Texas for example, a recently passed state law limits the use of ballot drop boxes and impedes election officials from promoting vote-by-mail, according to the New York Times. Efforts to protect voting rights and access at the federal level have stalled in Congress. Meanwhile, California finds itself in the middle of a gubernatorial recall election in which a small minority of voters could decide the fate of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who overwhelmingly won his office in 2018. We talk about laws and policies limiting voting access and their threat to democracy.

California’s eviction moratorium expires on Sept. 30. Renters can still apply for state assistance and receive limited protections through March of next year, but tenants and advocates say the protections offer a patchwork solution and that the rental relief program rollout has been slow and tedious. In fact, only about 18 percent of renters who applied for state rental relief have received money. Meanwhile, more than 750,000 households in California are behind on rent owing an estimated $2.8 billion, according to the National Equity Atlas, a database focused on racial and economic equity. We’ll hear from tenants who have struggled to pay rent during the pandemic and how they are coping with limited state assistance and possible eviction.

Looking back at the news headlines in the Bay Area on September 10, 2001 gives us a snapshot of what consumed us that day. There was violence: a mass shooting in Sacramento, the murder of a family in Bernal Heights. Barry Bonds reached 63 home runs the day before. Democrats were hitting President George W. Bush on the sluggish economy. The Dow Industrial Average neared 10,000. It wouldn’t reach that level again until 2009. We look back at life, politics and culture on 9/10/01 to take measure of what changed after that next day.

The Texas anti-abortion law which the Supreme Court declined to block, took many by surprise. The law prohibits abortions after six weeks, even in the case of rape and incest, and includes a novel civil enforcement provision that would allow private citizens to sue anyone who provides or aids and abets an abortion procedure. In remarks defending the law, Texas Governor Greg Abbott claimed a rape victim could obtain an abortion in the six-week period. Critics, like the Planned Parenthood PAC, responded forcefully tweeting: If you don't understand many people don't even know they're pregnant until after 6 weeks, then you shouldn't be restricting their options. Well talk about the impact the Texas law has had in the state and throughout the nation and how it is resetting the debate on abortion rights.

Fifty years ago this week, people incarcerated at Attica Correctional Facility in New York rebelled, taking hostages after their requests for reform were denied by prison administrators. Attica State Prison was overpopulated at the time and the majority Black and Latino prisoners lived in dehumanizing conditions, including physical and mental abuse and allowances of only one shower a week. In taking over the prison, one of the voices of the rebellion, Elliot “L.D.” Barkley declared: “We are men! We are not beasts and we do not intend to be driven or beaten as such!” When New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller ordered state police to retake the prison after four days of failed negotiations, 39 people were killed in what the subsequent McKay Commission called “the bloodiest one-day encounter between Americans since the Civil War.” On this anniversary, we’ll reflect on the Attica Prison Rebellion of 1971, its legacy and ties to numerous prison rebellions at the time — including in California — and what it has meant for today’s reform efforts.

California faces a shortfall of more than 40,000 full-time equivalent registered nurses, a gap that's expected to last until 2026, according to a new UCSF report. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced experienced nurses to quit the field owing to exhaustion and burnout, and hospitals are struggling to fill positions. We'll talk about the toll the staffing shortage is taking on nurses, patients and hospitals and how to mitigate it.

Rewarding someone for not abusing drugs might sound counterintuitive, but in fact, its a highly effective form of treatment. Called "contingency management," the treatment focuses on positive reinforcement, and the VA has been using it successfully for the last ten years. A bill on California Governor Gavin Newsom's desk would help fund this program statewide. We'll talk to experts about how and why contingency management works and how it could improve treatment outcomes.

First Fridays, a popular monthly art walk and street fair in Oakland, will restart in October -- months after event organizers originally planned to resume after pandemic closures. They said they couldn’t afford a $24,000 per event fee the Oakland police charged for security. Other events have also been delayed or canceled because of prohibitively expensive security fees, which event organizers say seem arbitrary and often surface at the last minute. Oakland’s city council approved a resolution last year to change the public events permitting process, but hasn’t been implemented. We talk about the cost of putting on events in Oakland and what the city could do to address the problem.

The pandemic might feel endless, but for scientists COVID-19 is still relatively new and research is evolving quickly. We'll talk with an infectious disease specialist about major studies that have come out recently. There are new findings on masks, the effectiveness of vaccines, and how much immunity we get from prior COVID infections. We'll talk about the newest research and treatments and we'll take your questions.

Skies darkened by smoke. Streets flooded by rain. Temperatures so hot, sea animals boiled in the ocean. Given this year of extreme weather, fire and heat, it is no wonder that “eco-anxiety” or “climate dread” have entered our vernacular. But they are more than catchphrases. Climate-induced anxiety is a real set of emotions that can require attention and treatment and for some, those emotions are a call to action. We’ll talk about climate anxiety and the climate solutions it’s helping to foster.

A decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior over extending the lease of parkland by dairy and beef cattle ranchers in Point Reyes National Seashore is due by September 13th. It would be the first update to the park's general management plan since 1980, and includes a proposal to kill some of the park's tule elk. We'll hear what's at stake in the upcoming decision, and get the history behind the battle over whether ranching should continue at Point Reyes.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who has represented the northwestern portion of Alameda County for more than 20 years, was the sole vote against war in Afghanistan in 2001. This moment is central to the new documentary from director Abby Ginzberg, Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth To Power. The film depicts Rep. Lee's decades-long career, tracing her early political awareness as a student at Mills College and UC Berkeley through her work on civil rights, AIDS funding and anti-poverty work. We'll talk with the Congresswoman and the documentary's director about her career and her recent statement that, there has never, and will never, be a U.S. military solution in Afghanistan.

Subscription-based website OnlyFans, popularly used by sex workers, announced last month it would ban sexually explicit content, blaming the decision on payment providers. Less than one week later, the company said it would suspend the ban, amid backlash from sex workers and advocates. Online sex work and platforms like OnlyFans boomed in popularity during the pandemic, and many online sex workers report increased autonomy and safety compared with in-person work. Yet the industry is volatile and dependent on payment providers, which have longstanding histories of financial discrimination against sex workers. We’ll talk about the online sex work industry and hear from those who work in it.

Packing an emergency go bag is advice every Californian is familiar with. But what happens when you actually have to evacuate? Residents of cities and towns across California have been learning these hard lessons as the state grapples with numerous wildfires. This year alone, as many as 60,000 people have had to evacuate due to wildfires that to date have burned 1.9 million acres around the state. This hour of Forum, we talk to residents of South Lake Tahoe who have evacuated as the Caldor fire inches towards their homes. Well also talk to survivors of megafires to find out what happens once the fire is out.

The United States Tennis Association launched a new mental health initiative for players in this year's U.S. Open, which is currently underway. The effort follows tennis star Naomi Osaka's withdrawal from the French Open earlier this year, where she revealed struggles with her mental health and sparked a flurry of media conversations about what's appropriate to expect and demand of athletes. Offering licensed mental health providers and quiet rooms among other services, the program also aims to combat stigma. We'll talk about the initiative, as well as what it means for sports governing bodies to meaningfully address athletes' mental health concerns.

A former factory worker in China, 31-year-old Luo Huazhong, made global headlines in April when he chose to “lie flat” and opt for working odd jobs and an overall slower lifestyle than is culturally accepted. It’s a feeling that has resonated with many in the U.S., particularly millennials and Gen Z, who are leading what’s been termed “The Great Resignation.” It’s a phenomenon that’s taken hold during this period of high employee turnover, as workers feel more confident in the economy and in making career changes that better meet their needs. Writers Cassady Rosenblum and LZ Granderson each reflect on this growing shift in Americans’ relationship with work in recent essays, and they join us to discuss today’s culture of work in the U.S. and consider the possibility of one that’s less about “grinding” and more friendly to “lying flat.”

Late Wednesday night in an unsigned majority opinion, the Supreme Court declined to block a Texas law that prohibits any abortions after six weeks, making it the most restrictive in the nation. The law, which prohibits abortions even in the case of rape and incest, is not enforced by the state; instead it deputizes private citizens to sue anyone who performs or “aids and abets” an abortion procedure. Chief Justice John Roberts, siding with the minority, described the law “unusual” and “unprecedented” in its attempt to delegate enforcement to private citizens. And writing in dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor called the Court’s order “stunning” and criticized the majority for allowing the law to remain in effect while appeals are ongoing. We’ll talk about the Texas law, the latest developments and what this means for Roe v. Wade.

The South Lake Tahoe area remains under evacuation orders while the Caldor Fire continues to spread. At least 191,607 acres had burned as of Tuesday morning, according to Cal Fire. One of the major issues firefighting efforts have to contend with are spot fires. According to Scott Stephens, professor of fire science at UC Berkeley, almost 90% of the fire’s embers have a chance of sparking a new fire because of current drought conditions and ongoing winds. Stephens and KQED climate reporter Ezra David Romero join us for the latest news and analysis on the Caldor Fire.

In the last 10 years, nearly four dozen California workers have died from heat related-illnesses, according to an investigation by Columbia Journalism Investigations, NPR, KPCC and The California Newsroom. Public health experts say heat-related deaths are 100% preventable. But the investigation finds they still occur because of the chronic underfunding and understaffing of California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health — Cal/OSHA, which is charged with enforcing heat standards and protocols. Without proper inspections, employers can skirt regulations, placing farmworkers, construction workers, landscapers and others who work outdoors at a higher risk for heat-related deaths. With climate change only making California’s temperatures hotter, we’ll talk to the story’s reporters about the breadth of the issue and what’s being done to address it.

With football season beginning, some fans are conflicted about whether or not to change the channel. Amid mounting evidence on player brain injuries, compensation questions for college athletes and the National Football League’s treatment of Colin Kaepernick, some once-diehard fans feel they can’t ethically continue to watch. Still, even though the 2021 Super Bowl reported decreased viewership, 96.4 million still tuned in. We want to hear from you: What’s the moral math of your football consumption?

College dropout Elizabeth Holmes once claimed her start-up Theranos would transform blood tests and modern medicine. At its peak in 2015, the company was worth $9 billion and was set to roll out its products across the country. But that came crashing down when investigations revealing that the technology was unreliable resulted in criminal charges against Holmes for defrauding investors and clients. Delayed by the pandemic, Holmes’ trial is finally underway in San Jose. We discuss what you need to know to follow along with the proceedings, and hear how the controversy has shaken Silicon Valley and startup culture.

After a 20-year U.S.-led war and occupation, the Taliban control Afghanistan once again, calling into doubt the continued exercise of freedoms gained by Afghan women, particularly those in urban areas. We'll talk about what Taliban rule may mean for Afghan women and girls. We'll also talk about President Biden's resettlement plans for Afghan refugees and the political backlash he's facing.

The United States military has officially pulled out of Afghanistan and the withdrawal has brought comparisons to the fall of Saigon in 1975. But a superficial historical analogy can be as misleading as it is enlightening. We’ll look back at the end of American interventions with scholars of Vietnam, Afghanistan and the Middle East. We’ll ask what can happen after the military leaves and what we can learn about the possible future of Afghanistan by looking at examples from history.

From the undocumented immigrants who work in industrial slaughterhouses to the guards charged with keeping order in the most notorious U.S. prisons: they're the hidden workers journalist Eyal Press writes about in his latest book, "Dirty Work." Press explores the psychic and emotional toll borne by poor people and people of color who are disproportionately trapped in jobs that the public at large sees as morally tainted, but essential to maintaining our prevailing social order. We'll talk with Press about what he uncovered.

The Forum Book Club pick for August 2021 is Nawaaz Ahmed’s debut novel “Radiant Fugitives.” Set in San Francisco in and around 2010, it tells the story of Seema, a lesbian and political organizer with doubts about the efficacy of politics even as she works on the campaigns of President Obama, District Attorney Kamala Harris and California’s 2008 proposition on gay marriage. Over the course of the final five days of her pregnancy, she tries to reconnect with her estranged, terminally ill mother who has travelled from India for the birth, and her devout Muslim sister, in from Texas. Narrated by Seema’s newborn son, the novel weaves together three generations’ stories, drawing inspiration from the Quran and the poetry of Wordsworth and Keats.

Japanese baseball player Shohei Ohtani is having the season of his career. Last week the Los Angeles Angels pitcher hit his 40th home run of the season, setting a franchise record for the fastest player to reach the figure. Ohtani’s performance both on the mound and at the plate is drawing comparisons to another top pitcher with a big swing: baseball legend Babe Ruth. Amidst all the fanfare, though, Ohtani’s rising stardom is revealing long-standing biases in baseball and sports media after two commentators made ignorant and offensive remarks regarding his race and nationality. We’ll talk about the excitement surrounding Ohtani and his impact on baseball.

In a story for the Los Angeles Times, journalist Tyrone Beason shines a light on the experience and history of Black Americans living in Palm Springs. While few in numbers, Black residents are part of a history that reaches back to the first half of the 20th century when, Beason writes, "hundreds of Black people from the South, and from Los Angeles and the Bay Area, settled in desert communities like Palm Springs." Beason interviews a number of current residents, some whose families have been in Palm Springs for generations, about the homes they've made in predominantly Black neighborhoods and the discrimination they've faced. Beason joins us to discuss how the U.S.'s legacy of segregated housing is reflected in Palm Springs and why Black Americans in California's desert assert they are "here to stay."

When visitors now walk into the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, they’ll face a mural outlining the earth’s strata designed by the late feminist artist Luchita Hurtado, part of BAMPFA’s newest exhibit “New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century.” The exhibit examines the feminist practice of more than 67 contemporary artists through pieces spanning the past two decades of feminist art. With sections dedicated to examining gender expansivity, the “male gaze” and women’s labor, the exhibit is part of a larger BAMPFA effort to bring together more than 100 arts organizations dedicated to social justice known as the Feminist Art Coalition. We’ll speak with the exhibit’s curator to discuss what it means to center feminism in 21st century art.

In her debut memoir, "Don’t Let it Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body," Savala Nolan’s 12 deeply personal essays probe unsettled territory in her own life. Nolan tackles motherhood, sex, and feelings of otherness from the perspective of a self-described big-bodied mixed-race woman. One essay recounts her persistent prenatal pain that was ignored by her white physicians despite multiple emergency room visits. The author and director of the Center for Social Justice at the University of California, Berkeley, joins us to share her observations about the way our culture treats Black women.

Nearly half of California is mired in exceptional drought, including vast swaths of the Central Valley, which produces roughly 40% of the nation's fruits, vegetables and nuts. Water shortages in the region are having profound effects on growers, who are uprooting crops, letting fields lie fallow and turning their lands into solar farms and other uses. We'll hear from farmers about how the drought is affecting their operations and the steps they're taking to mitigate the worst impacts.

Michael Morgan, conductor of the Oakland Symphony Orchestra died last week at 63. Morgan was known as a virtuosic conductor and a passionate advocate for making classical music accessible to an Oakland community he was deeply invested in. He embraced a melding of musical genres, even bringing in comedian W. Kamau Bell and activist Dolores Huerta to curate playlists for his orchestra to perform. “Being a classical musician, being a conductor, being Black, being gay — all of these things put you on the outside,” Michael Morgan, said in 2013. “So you get accustomed to constructing your own world because there are not a lot of clear paths to follow and not a lot of people that are just like you.” We remember Michael Morgan with some of the musicians and performers he worked with.

The Citizen app, which, like Nextdoor, has been blamed for inciting vigilantism, recently launched a private service of on-call safety experts that users can contact 24/7 for help. Called “Protect,” this service monitors a user’s location, connecting them with a Citizen employee who can decide to bump the situation up to a 911 call. We’ll hear about the new frontier of safety apps and why critics say these crime and safety-reporting apps promote harassment, racial bias and over-surveillance.

“The ‘zero COVID’ dream of fully stamping out the virus is a fantasy,” writes the Atlantic’s Ed Yong in his most recent piece, “How the Pandemic Now Ends.” Yong, who was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on COVID-19, updates his seminal March 2020 article “How the Pandemic Will End” in wake of the delta variant. Vaccines alone will not end the pandemic, he writes — the pandemic will now never fully end, it will mutate into an endemic. But how long it takes for that to happen depends on mitigation efforts — many of which have been eschewed by state and local governments in an attempt to return to “normalcy.” He joins us to discuss this stage of the pandemic’s estimated impacts on hospitals and vulnerable populations as well as how we’ll reach the light at the end of the tunnel.

The Centers for Disease Control published a study on Tuesday that found that while vaccine efficacy against the delta variant of covid-19 is moderately decreased, vaccines still lower infection risk for the SARS-CoV-2 virus by two-thirds. The study reported the efficacy of Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines against the virus dropped from about 90 percent to 66 percent once the delta variant became the dominant strain. This study comes one day after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its full approval of Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine on Monday. The announcement is expected to improve vaccination rates and push into effect private and public employer vaccine mandates, which had been contingent on FDA’s action. We’ll discuss the study and the effects of the first covid-19 vaccine FDA authorization and take your questions.

After wildfires destroyed more than 30 wine properties in the last year alone, Napa County’s wine industry is asking for more firefighting resources and is even proposing that the county investigate forming its own fire department. Unlike other rural counties with few resources, Napa can afford additional firefighting helicopters and used fire trucks. We’ll hear how a community scarred by years of wildfire devastation wants to change how it fights wildfire and what that means for ensuring access to high-stakes emergency resources for all.

More than 42,000 California residents have been told to evacuate their homes as nine major wildfires continue to burn. More than one and a half million acres have burned this year, that’s more than burned this time last year, in what was a record breaking fire season. We’ll get an update on the fires and evacuations, and we’ll check in on the effectiveness of the state’s response.

Larry Elder, the diehard Trump champion who opposes the minimum wage and said that climate change is a "crock," is the frontrunner to replace Governor Gavin Newsom, should Californians vote to recall him next month. Elder, an attorney who grew up in South Central Los Angeles, forged a decades-long career as a libertarian talk radio host, at one point nurturing the aspirations of Trump advisor Stephen Miller. We'll talk about Elder's political views and the controversies that surround him.

Rita Dove, winner of a Pulitzer Prize for poetry and the nation’s first Black poet laureate, has returned with a new volume of poems titled “Playlist for the Apocalypse.” It’s Dove’s first book in 12 years -- in part due to a health battle with multiple sclerosis that she reveals and poignantly reflects on in a sequence called “Little Book of Woe.” Both personal and political, Dove’s poems also meditate on American life today, in all its strife, uncertainty, complexity and beauty. Dove joins us to talk about the book and her return to writing.

Toyota will produce about 140,000 fewer cars and trucks next month, a 40 percent cut to its September production, as a result of the lack of microchips necessary for its electric vehicles. It’s just one of many recent effects from the global semiconductor shortage, which is slowing the delivery of cars, computers, medical technologies and many other products. This crisis in the semiconductor supply chain has widespread impacts on the global economy, as well as on our economy here in the U.S. We’ll analyze why this is such a major problem, what it means for Bay Area companies and what the U.S. could do to once again become a leader in semiconductor production.

The use of the kind of chokehold that killed George Floyd last year should, according to constitutional law scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, be a clear-cut violation of the Fourth Amendment's ban on excessive police force. But as Chemerinsky explains in his new book "Presumed Guilty," chokeholds remain in use in most of the United States because of a decades-old Supreme Court decision that tightly restricts federal lawsuits challenging police misconduct. We'll talk about the judicial doctrines that enable illegal police behavior and how to reform them.

Russ Ellis is a man for all seasons. He was a track star at UCLA, the first black professor to teach at Claremont and a UC Berkeley vice chancellor for student affairs and architecture professor. When Ellis retired in 1994, he threw himself into new pursuits. Painting classes. Sculpture. A men’s group. His latest venture is his first album, “Songs from the Garden,” which includes 11 tracks he wrote and recorded and is available on local label Berkeley Cat Records. In his words, he’s “kissing the joy as it flies.” We’ll talk with Ellis about his music and how this age has given him the gift of being “too old to get nervous.”

Documentary filmmaker Peter Nicks began filming at Oakland High School in fall 2019 to capture its seniors’ final year. He ended up capturing the specifically local experiences of a global turning point. From a student-led campaign to remove police officers from their school that begins months before George Floyd’s murder and resultant protests, to uncertain conversations around a new virus and an eventual Zoom graduation, the documentary “Homeroom” provides insight into the 2020 graduating class, depicting the students of Oakland High as the vanguard of national conversations on inequity and social justice. Nicks, whose previous Oakland-set documentaries depicted a public hospital and the city’s police force, joins us to discuss “Homeroom” and what it means to tell Oakland’s stories.

Many parents and kids are feeling relief as the state's 6 million K-12 school children head back into the classroom for full time, in-person classes after more than a year of mostly distance learning. But fears over the spread of the highly contagious delta coronavirus variant have other parents signing their children up for independent study and demanding online zoom classes. Experts and state officials continue to back a full reopening, pointing to rising absenteeism, depression and anxiety among many children, as well as devastating loss of learning for students in predominantly low-income school districts. We'll talk about what California's schools are doing to keep students safe and address parents' concerns.

The story of reggaeton music is layered and complex, and, according to reggaeton pioneer Ivy Queen, “the real story of reggaeton is about la resistencia. Resistance.” Queen is also the narrator of the new podcast “Loud” by Spotify and Futuro Studios, which gives reggaeton the documentary treatment and explores its nuances. “Loud” journeys through reggaeton’s origins in Jamaican dancehall to Panamanian reggae in español to “las calles” of Puerto Rico to New York and beyond. Once criminalized in Puerto Rico in the ‘90s and early aughts, reggaeton is now one of the most popular genres in the world -- reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny was Spotify’s most-streamed artist in 2020. We’ll take a critical look at reggaeton’s origins and evolution, from its dancehall roots to the massive pop presence it has today.

"For thousands of years, time has been harnessed, politicized and weaponized," writes technology historian and horologist David Rooney in his new book, "About Time." Rooney examines a dozen timekeepers from sundials and hourglasses to the atomic clocks on satellites that create GPS. In doing so, he traces time's role in shaping civilization, pushing against perceptions of clocks objectivity and analyzing the utilization of time in accumulating and maintaining power. The son of a clockmaker and former curator of timekeeping at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, Rooney joins us to discuss the power of clocks.

Outside the gates of the Kabul airport, thousands of Afghans seeking to flee the country camp along the access road, which is now blocked by the Taliban. Scenes like this have Afghan-Americans anxiously watching the news and waiting to hear from loved ones. Northern California is home to the largest Afghan diaspora in the country. As Afghanistan reels from the takeover by the Taliban, we talk to community members about how they are taking in the quickly shifting news and their work to prepare for the growing refugee crisis. How you can help: NPR: The Simple Steps You Can Take to Help Afghan Refugees

More than 20 million California voters are receiving mail-in ballots now for the Sept. 14 gubernatorial recall election. Voters will be asked only two questions: whether to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom and, if he is recalled, who should be the new governor. Even for a state that leans blue, most polling shows voters are split over whether or not to remove Newsom. We'll talk with KQED's politics team to break down when to vote, the candidates on the ballot and why participation in this election is so important.

When asked to name some of the Bay Area’s signature foods, many would jump to name Mission burritos, It’s-It ice cream sandwiches or — especially for tourists visiting San Francisco piers — clam chowder. KQED food editor Luke Tsai is adding another food to that list: garlic noodles. “Here in the Bay Area, Asian Americans love garlic noodles. Black and Latino folks love garlic noodles. Indeed, once you start looking for garlic noodles, it seems, you find them everywhere,” Tsai writes in his recent article. So what’s behind the love for this dish born in San Francisco’s Vietnamese community? We’ll talk to Tsai about how garlic noodles became one of the Bay Area’s most iconic foods.

A 2018 analysis by the Center for American Progress estimates that state colleges allocate more than $1,000 less per year for Black and Latinx students than white students. Americas colleges and universities have a dirty open secret: they have never given Black people an equal chance to succeed, writes Atlantic staff writer Adam Harris in his new book, The State Must Provide. Harris traces the laws and practices that established racial inequality and segregation in higher education back to slave codes through Plessy v. Ferguson and the overturning of affirmative action policies. He joins us to discuss this history of racial exclusion and segregation and his argument that financial support of historically Black colleges and universities could act as a form of reparations.

I have spent much of my journalism career bearing witness to the human cost of climate change, writes Lizzie Johnson in her new book, "Paradise: One Towns Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire." Nearly three years after the Camp Fire decimated the town of Paradise, taking 85 lives and razing 90 percent of its homes, Johnson weaves together its human impact, building from her San Francisco Chronicle reporting and an estimated 500 interviews. In Paradise, she writes of an ambulance holding a premature newborn and his IV-attached mother, a school bus driver maneuvering to save his passengers and other narratives of attempting survival against a blaze engulfing distances greater than a football field each second. Johnson joins us to share Paradises stories and what they foretell in the face of climate inaction.

The Bay Area saw some of the biggest increases in people signing up for food stamps during the pandemic. Home to the highest income inequality in California, the Bay Area’s hunger problem has been an issue of growing concern since well before COVID-19. The Biden administration announced Monday that it will approve the largest permanent increase in food assistance in the history of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Yet the Bay Area’s cost of living may mean that increase is only a drop in the bucket. We talk with researchers and advocates about the unique landscape of food insecurity in the Bay Area and how they’re addressing the problem.

With breathtaking speed, the Taliban have regained control of Afghanistan for the first time since American military forces drove them out 20 years ago. Collapse of the U.S.-backed government triggered panic in Kabul,with many questions about what comes next as the Taliban takes over. We'll talk with Afghan-Americans in California about how they're reacting to the news and we'll look back at the past decades of American military involvement to ask how intelligence so badly underestimated the strength of the Taliban and overestimated the stability of the Afghan government.

Alameda school board member Mia Bonta and attorney Janani Ramachandran are vying to represent East Bay Assembly District 18 and succeed Bonta's husband, Rob Bonta, who resigned to become the California attorney general. A special runoff election on Aug. 31 will determine who will become the next representative for the district, which covers West Oakland to San Leandro. We talk with the candidates to get their views on housing supply, criminal justice reform and more.

For a few days in late 2015, global outrage coursed at the photo of Alan Kurdi, the lifeless two-year old Syrian boy found washed ashore in Turkey after the boat carrying him and other migrants sank on its way to Greece. Omar El Akkad's new novel "What Strange Paradise" imagines an alternative narrative: a young migrant child survives a shipwreck and tries to forge his way to safety. El Akkad, who's also a journalist and former war correspondent, says he wrote the novel to counter what he calls "the privilege of instantaneous forgetting." We talk to him about the ongoing global refugee crisis and the human stories that inform his work.

Later this year, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope will be strapped to a French rocket and launched nearly one million miles into space to look at galaxies formed 300 million years after the Big Bang. The telescope employs new and novel technology, including a gold-covered mirror, the largest ever launched into space, and a sunshield the size of a tennis court and made of five paper-thin layers that will cool down the telescope's sensitive infrared equipment. The hope is that the telescope, which has taken 25 years to design and build at a cost of $10 billion, will shoot back images even more spectacular than the Hubble Telescope. The engineering risks are complex, but scientists hope for a grand reward.

In one month, the U.S. will mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11, when nearly 3,000 Americans were killed in terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In a new piece for The Atlantic, staff writer Jennifer Senior details how the family of Bobby McIlvaine continues to mourn and search for meaning two decades after he was killed in the attacks. The portrait reveals the disparate ways his loved ones process their grief, including Bobby’s father, who turned to 9/11 truther conspiracies to make sense of the loss, and Bobby’s former girlfriend, who holds on to one of his journals. As we remember the tragedy of that fateful day in 2001, we’ll talk to Senior about what the McIlvaines’ story tells us about grieving, both as individuals and as a nation.

The number of adolescent patients needing hospitalizations for eating disorders has doubled at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals during the pandemic. In-patient treatment centers have also seen demand skyrocket and now have months-long waiting lists. Experts say that for young people, not being able to see friends or family, taking classes online and spending more time scrolling through social media feeds have all contributed to the rapid increase in eating disorders. We talk about why the pandemic has created a ripe environment for more eating disorders and how to address the problem.

The 2020 Olympics in Tokyo have been described as the “strangest” or “weirdest” in Olympic history. The pandemic delayed the games for a year and limited how the world’s biggest sporting tournament could play out--no spectators, lots of covered faces, social distancing and players isolated from others. The games also roused a plethora of debates ranging from questions over player uniforms to questions about identity to whether they should have been held at all in a country with low coronavirus vaccination rates. In this hour of Forum, we look back at the Tokyo Olympics and explore the triumphs, and challenges of putting on the games in the middle of a pandemic and also dive into California’s influence on the games.

Last week, Apple announced it will scan U.S. iPhones for images of child sexual abuse. It’s a serious problem. Back in 2018, 45 million photos and videos with child sex abuse material were reported by tech firms. Apple’s move was praised by child protection groups. But privacy experts say that this is an alarming departure from the company’s commitment to security, and will open the door to governments to surveil their citizens.

California’s fourth largest hydroelectric plant, Hyatt Powerplant at Lake Oroville, has been shut down due to lack of water for the first time in its nearly 60 year history. This after water levels sank to 24% of the lake’s capacity, in what the Department of Water Resources attributed to “climate-induced drought.” We discuss the effects of California’s drought on the power supply and what steps the state is taking to make up for the loss of water and hydroelectric power.

President Biden announced an executive order last week that aims to make half of all new vehicles sold electric by 2030. The move is part of Biden’s larger plan for taking action on the climate crisis and has the backing of U.S. automakers. Not a legally binding mandate and more of a voluntary pledge, it remains to be seen how much progress will ultimately be made in helping lower greenhouse gas emissions. California set its own goal for electric vehicles earlier this year when Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered all sales of new gas-powered vehicles in the state phased out by 2035. Many Democrats urged Biden to pursue a similar order, which is closer to those adopted by other countries, but he resisted. We’ll learn more about Biden’s executive order and what impact California’s own policies and growing electric vehicle industry will have on the national plan.

A new report this week from the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change presents a brutal picture of the devastation already caused by human-created climate change. It is a dire warning about a worsening future without swift, dramatic action to reduce warming. To slow down the pace of climate change, the report says, we need to stop emitting carbon dioxide altogether and dramatically reduce other greenhouse gas emissions. Most of this we’ve known for a long time. But what will it actually take to make the change? In this hour we talk about actionable political, social and technological solutions to climate change.

While 63% of Californians are now vaccinated against COVID-19, in many parts of the state health officials are struggling with how to convince those who are reluctant. Forum looks at the varied reasons for vaccine hesitancy by training a spotlight on Fresno county, where less than half of residents are fully vaccinated. We check in with residents about how they’re making vaccine decisions and talk with health officials about what they’re doing to change minds, address concerns and improve access.

The Dixie Fire, which has ravaged hundreds of thousands of acres in Northern California and leveled the town of Greenville, has become the second largest fire in state history. Of the ten fires with the widest acreage devastation in recorded California history, seven have taken place in the past three years. On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Siskiyou, Nevada and Plumas Counties. We provide the latest updates on Northern California’s fires, how the state is responding and what lies ahead.

Scientists project that Bay Area sea levels are likely to rise as much as seven feet by the end of this century, directly affecting the millions of people in homes and commercial spaces along the water. In response, cities across the region are grappling with how to afford the cost of defending their shorelines. As Facebook and Google’s tech campuses expand even further into these vulnerable areas, calls are growing for the tech industry to provide more funding for building defenses. We discuss who should pay to protect Bay Area land from rising seas.

Deadlines inspire a range of reactions. For some, blood runs cold at the mere mention. Others claim their best work comes about when running against the clock — or they so they say as they procrastinate into the night. And still for others, a due date is a mere suggestion. We’ll explore the psychology that shapes our attitudes toward deadlines, as well as how industries focused on maximizing time and productivity can make matters worse for everyone. We want to hear how you tackle deadlines — just don’t wait until the last minute to tell us.

In the Oakland Museum of California’s new exhibition “Mothership: Voyage into Afrofuturism,” artists of all mediums imagine the world through a Black cultural lens. As such, “Afrofuturism” is represented in many different visuals, sounds and ideas throughout the exhibition, with one striking quote printed on a wall stating, “In Afrofuturism, science, magic, and the divine feminine are interconnected.” And for fans of funk group Parliament, you can even be “beamed up” by a replica of the mothership that was a mainstay of their live performances. We’ll talk with the show’s curators and one of the participating artists about the exhibition, which highlights author Octavia E. Butler, jazz musician Sun Ra, filmmaker Khalil Joseph and more.

"A tocsin that Americans then chose to ignore, its warnings remain strikingly relevant today." That's how New Yorker staff Jelani Cobb writer characterizes the landmark 1968 Kerner Commission report that analyzed the systemic racism that led to a dozen urban uprisings between 1964 and 1967. We'll talk to Cobb about "The Essential Kerner Commission Report" which re-examines and re-contextualizes its recommendations in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police. And we'll talk to Cobb about his new HBO documentary series "Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union" and how the former president shaped our national discourse on race.

Journalist Courtney Martin thought long and hard about where to send her budding kindergartener to school, deciding between private school or the neighborhood public school designated as “failing” by its test scores. The Oakland-based writer chronicles the experience in her new book, “Learning in Public: Lessons for a Racially Divided America From My Daughter’s School.” In choosing to send her white child to a majority-Black school, Martin comes to better understand the racial segregation still present within U.S. schools, and she analyzes why so many self-described progressive white parents still favor private schools. Martin joins us to share her thoughts on why supporting public education benefits us all.

Postpartum depression is not just the province of women. According to studies, about ten percent of men in the United States experience paternal postpartum depression during the first year of their baby's life. That depression can be expressed as irritability, anger and substance abuse, but it often goes undiagnosed. We talk about the latest research on paternal postpartum depression, the stigma associated with it and how to encourage fathers to seek support.

Janice Mirikitani, a beloved local icon who was San Francisco's second poet laureate and a co-founder of GLIDE, died last week at the age of 80. Known equally for her poetry and her fierce advocacy on behalf of San Francisco's most vulnerable residents, Mirikitani played a pivotal role in shaping the community and work of Glide Memorial Church, alongside her husband Cecil Williams. As a poet, she poignantly blended her art and activism, publishing four books including "Shedding Silence" and "We, The Dangerous." Mirikitani believed in "caring dangerously" saying in a talk at Glide Memorial Church in 2014 that "caring dangerously means that you dare to take the risk to open yourself up to somebody else." We'll reflect on the life and legacy of Janice Mirikitani.

More than 344 people died from accidental overdoses in San Francisco between January and June this year, according to the city’s chief medical examiner. Most of these overdoses involved fentanyl, a synthetic opiate that acts more quickly than heroin and is 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine. Fentanyl also caused the majority of 2020’s 710 overdose deaths. On Monday, San Francisco launched its Street Overdose Response Team, which provides resources and follow-up services for overdose survivors; the city also plans to allocate $13.2 million to additional overdose prevention efforts. We’ll talk about San Francisco’s response to the overdose crisis as well as its root causes.

“Right now,” writes Shugri Said Salh at the outset of her new memoir, “I should be married to an old nomadic man, leading a nasty-tempered camel through the desert in search of water.” That’s if war and family circumstances had not wrested Salh from her nomadic childhood in the Somali desert, sending her on a migratory journey that ended in Northern California. We’ll talk to Salh about her life’s arc as a goat herder, a refugee and a suburban mother of three -- and how her early nomadic years inform her daily life now.

With new evidence that the delta variant of COVID-19 is highly contagious and spreads as easily as chickenpox, questions and concerns are being raised by parents with children under 12 who are not yet eligible for vaccination. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control still recommend in-person learning for the return to school this fall, with both recommending all children over age 2 wear masks at school, regardless of vaccination status. We’ll speak with infectious disease expert Dr. Yvonne Maldonado about the latest on how the delta variant affects children and what precautions parents can take.

On the front lines of California’s raging wildfires, teams of incarcerated men and women work alongside free-world crews to stop our state’s increasingly dangerous forest fires. They make a fraction of the pay to confront the same dangers and show the same bravery. In a new book, Breathing Fire, Jaime Lowe paints a deep portrait of one group of incarcerated women firefighters, delving into how they got to prison, the dangerous work they do to get themselves out, and what happens when the fires end, and they’re back out in the world. We’ll talk with Lowe and two of the firefighters she chronicles in the book about life, inside and out.

For more than 100 years, the U.S. government forcibly relocated tens of thousands of Native American children to boarding schools under a federal assimilation program meant to suppress their languages, beliefs and identities. Historians estimate that by the early 20th century, more than three-quarters of all Native children attended one of more than 350 re-education schools, including an estimated 10 in California. In June, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland launched the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative to investigate the loss of life, abuse and generational trauma associated with the schools. We’ll talk about the painful legacy of indigenous boarding schools in California and nationally.

Last fall, in search of a way to cope with his grief over the death of his fiancée eight years prior, Joshua Barbeau used artificial intelligence software to program a chatbot to simulate his fiancée, based on old texts she’d sent him. Barbeau told the San Francisco Chronicle that his conversations with the A.I. bot allowed him to feel a sense of closure and to better handle his grief. Barbeau isn’t the first to chat with digital imitations of lost loved ones, and as A.I software improves, he’s not likely to be the last. It’s all spawning ethics concerns and broader conversations around grief itself. We’ll talk about postmortem A.I. ethics and how A.I. might impact our mourning processes in the years to come.

Podcasts are booming, and it’s hard work to choose among the more than 2 million titles now available on popular streaming services like Spotify and iTunes. Whether your tastes veer toward pop culture, true crime or narrative storytelling, we want to hear from you. What’s the podcast you can’t stop telling your friends about? What do you look for in a podcast? We’ll hear your top picks and get recommendations from a panel of critics and podcasters.

On Thursday, U.S. gymnast Sunisa Lee won all-around gold as fellow gymnast and defending champion Simone Biles celebrated in the stands following her withdrawal from the event earlier this week. We’ll catch up on the big news--and the controversies around women’s uniforms and athlete mental health--in the first big week of the Olympics. And we hear how the Olympians with Bay Area ties are faring, including in mountain biking, softball, and swimming.

"It is 2020 and the City of Flint Says, / 'Don't boil the water' / And I refuse to drink a single drop / from any tap or bottle now. I've stopped / bathing completely, waiting for rain to slick / my skin back on. So begins Jonah Mixon-Webster's poem "Incubation," featured in his debut poetry collection, Stereo(TYPE). Initially published by Ahsahta Press in 2018 and re-published by Knopf Doubleday this month, "Stereo(TYPE)" describes Mixon-Webster's experiences and traumas endured as a Black queer man and criticizes the governmental neglect and treatment of his hometown, Flint, Michigan. In poems that vary in form and use words that overlap and span pages, balancing harshness with tenderness, Mixon-Webster's poetry collection explores what it means to tell one's story - and the story of one's community - through experiments in language.

A new poll by UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies shows that among likely voters, 47% favor the recall of Governor Gavin Newsom, and 50% oppose. While the referendum date is September 14th, mail-in voting starts next month and campaigning for and against the proposal is heating up across the state. We look at where the recall currently stands and how voter turnout might affect the outcome.

Is there a difference between feeling alone and being lonely? This is one of the questions that propelled author Kristen Radtke to write "Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness." Evocative yet spare illustrations by Radtke propel her search to understand the biological underpinnings of loneliness, the research around it and the ways in which it is expressed and handled in American culture. A combination of graphic nonfiction and memoir, "Seek You" moves beyond Radtke's own story to look at loneliness through multiple lenses. We talk to Radtke to learn more about what it means to be lonely.

Four police officers who were on the scene January 6th as insurrectionists breached the U.S. Capitol gave emotional testimony on Tuesday about the physical, verbal --and in some cases racist -- abuse they endured. Meanwhile, Congressional Republican leadership continues to downplay the insurrection, a fact that one officer testifying yesterday called “disgraceful.” We get your reaction to the first major hearing of the House select committee investigating the deadly Capitol attack.

The Delta variant now accounts for the vast majority of new COVID-19 infections in the United States. New models suggest the variant is driving a stark increase in daily case counts. Already, hospitals in some communities in Florida have matched their peaks from the days before the vaccines. The CDC has revised its guidelines about who needs to wear a mask and why. In this hour, we talk about what a Delta wave looks like, who is most at risk, and what’s different now as we mark 450 days of the pandemic.

In 2018, science journalist Lynda Mapes drew international attention for her day-by-day coverage of the female orca known as "Tahlequah," who carried her dead newborn calf more than 1000 miles through the Salish Sea before finally letting her go. That reporting formed the basis for Mapes's newest book "Orca: Shared Waters, Shared Home," which explores the sophisticated social networks that orcas form and the environmental threats that are driving them to extinction.

Not much can beat sipping a coffee or drink from the cafe as you gaze over the SF skyline heading to work — or returning home — on one of the ferries that crisscross the San Francisco Bay. But the pandemic lockdown hit the ferries hard: From one day to the next, the Golden Gate Ferry went from operating six vessels a day, to two. In this hour, we get the latest on when ferry service will be restored to pre-pandemic levels, hear about new routes and plans for a “green fleet” and learn why ferries are key in a disaster.

Yamiche Alcindor may be the ultimate Washington multi-tasker. She’s the White House correspondent for the PBS Newshour, a political contributor for NBC News and MSNBC, and as of this May, she is the new moderator of “Washington Week,” the current affairs program that has been on air since 1967. At “Washington Week,” Alcindor follows in the footsteps of her mentor, Gwen Ifill, who previously hosted the show and died of cancer in 2016. We’ll talk to Alcindor about covering Washington, her hopes for her new program, and her take on the latest news.

To sweat is human. That’s according to science journalist Sarah Everts, whose new book “The Joy of Sweat” explores the biology of what she calls our “oddly flamboyant” way of controlling body temperature. We’ll hear why some of us are more profuse -- and smellier -- perspirers than others, what drives our cravings for sweaty workouts and hot soaks and why we still spend billions annually on products to hide the effects of our natural cooling system.

There’s no better time than now to head out for a picnic. There are few weather impediments in the Bay Area — besides fog and wind — and the pandemic taught us that enjoying life outdoors is a good way to go. Whether you’re just having a sunset cocktail (or mocktail) or going full-on three-course meal, we’ll talk about how to picnic in style, which foods are best to bring and where to find that perfect picnic spot. We’ll get ideas to liven up your picnic with San Francisco Chronicle’s restaurant critic Soleil Ho, and we want your tips: What’s your go-to picnic recipe? Where are your favorite Bay Area spots to bring the family or friends for an al fresco meal?

In the first retrospective of his work on the West Coast, SFMOMA’s current exhibition on electronic art pioneer Nam June Paik features more than 200 works from the artist whose five-decade career “changed the way we look at screens.” One of most acclaimed of the first generation of video artists, Paik’s early work in the 1960s changed perceptions of television, video and the boundary between art and spectator through its integration of camera, video, music and performance. We’ll talk about Paik’s work and legacy, and we’ll hear from contemporary video artists who will discuss Paik’s impact on their own art.

For our inaugural Forum Book Club, we’ve picked Maceo Montoya’s “Preparatory Notes for Future Masterpieces.” The book interweaves its narrative with drawings and scholarly footnotes to tell the story of an aspiring painter with grand ambitions. This would-be artist faces several roadblocks: he is coming of age in 1940s New Mexico with no economic means to support his dreams and, instead of painting, he writes long notes for future works of art. Montoya takes readers along the narrator’s quest to become a celebrated artist — a journey that takes unusual turns including runs in with Chicanx historical figures such as activist Reies Lopez Tijerina and writer Oscar Zeta Acosta. In this comical and satirical tale, Montoya takes aim at what it means to tell a Chicano story, which Chicano narratives are elevated and who gets to become an artist. We’ll meet on the air to talk with Montoya and hear readers’ comments, reactions and questions.

Recent space flights by Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson have raised the tantalizing question of whether space travel is in our near future. Space exploration has traditionally been the venture of governments, but with last November’s launch of an astronaut crew to the International Space Station by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX, commercial flights to deep space seem more tangible. But is privatized space travel by billionaires just a vanity project? Or is this a huge step towards tackling space, the final frontier?

PG&E announced yesterday that it will bury power lines in high wildfire risk areas of California, amounting to 10,000 miles of lines, enough to reach about halfway around the earth. The utility says the plan would also eliminate the need to order power shutdowns during high fire risk events. We’ll talk with an expert about the advantages of underground power lines and what they cost.

In the first half of the 20th century, California forcibly sterilized more than 20,000 people in state hospitals and other institutions, under a 1909 eugenics law that remained on the books for seven decades. The victims, deemed by the state as "feeble-minded" or otherwise unfit to have children, were disproportionately women and racial minorities. Now, the state is set to pay reparations to hundreds of survivors, as well as to victims who were involuntarily sterilized in state prisons well after the eugenics law was repealed in 1979. We'll talk about this dark chapter of California history and its survivors' quest for justice.

President Joe Biden lashed out at Facebook last week, saying the site was killing people by spreading coronavirus-vaccine misinformation. As New York Times reporters Cecilia Kang and Sheera Frenkel highlight in their new book An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebooks Battle for Domination, conspiracy theories and hate speech are not just problems that plague the company, they are the inevitable byproducts of the company's algorithms which keep users glued to the screen and mines their data. Relying on 400 interviews of current and former employees and executives, Kang and Frankel give an insiders view of how Facebook influenced the 2016 election, the Trump era and the January 6th insurrection and how the company struggles to create policies that can stay ahead of the challenges created by its own technology. We talk to Kang and Frenkel about their book, and growing tensions between Facebook and the Biden administration.

Writer and director John Singleton’s 1991 debut film “Boyz N the Hood,” centered on the coming of age of a Black man in South Central Los Angeles named Tre. Played by Cuba Gooding Jr., Tre learns lessons about Black manhood, cyclical violence and gentrification from his father, played by Laurence Fishburne, and his neighbors, with standout performances by Ice Cube and Morris Chestnut. Some critics called the film the cinematic equivalent of N.W.A.’s music, from which it draws its title, for drawing attention to the high mortality rates of and mainstream apathy to the plight of those residing in majority-Black neighborhoods in 1990s Los Angeles County. We’ll talk about the characters, moments and themes from the film that have stayed with us, three decades later.

In Germany, searches for the missing continue in the wake of recent catastrophic flooding that destroyed villages and claimed almost 200 lives so far. That disaster, together with wildfires that rage in Canada and the western U.S. and record-breaking temperatures in Russia, led New York Times climate correspondent Somini Sengupta to conclude that “the world as a whole is neither prepared to slow down climate change, nor live with it.” We’ll talk to Sengupta about why even wealthy countries are ill-equipped to deal with the worst effects of climate change and what it will take to force international action.

California’s ongoing drought and predicted heatwave is causing overly warm and low level waters and threatening to kill off the entire populations of already endangered species like the chinook salmon. Negotiations between the State Water Resources Control Board and the federal Bureau of Reclamation approved a plan for managing water levels. However, experts predict that releasing water into the irrigation system this early will disrupt salmon spawning season and could kill as many as 88% of the salmon in the river. These complications coincide with the increase in a parasite that’s also killing off the fish. We discuss the impact of poor water conditions and increasing heat and hear what creative options are on the table to save the salmon.

Fuel breaks and prescribed burns are some of the tools used by firefighters to help reduce the severity of wildfires. California Governor Gavin Newsom was recently criticized for misrepresenting his track record when it comes to wildfire prevention, clearing just a fraction of the acreage claimed. The state has now set aside an additional $500 million for wildfire prevention, but will it be enough? As we head toward peak fire season this fall, we’ll get the latest science around wildfire prevention and hear what the state is doing to try to prevent out of control wildfires.

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the U.S. are in limbo, after a Texas judge ruled on Friday that former President Barack Obama illegally launched the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2012. The ruling does not end legal protections for the roughly 650,000 current DACA participants who came to the United States as children and who are not residents or citizens. However the legal decision does suspend approvals of new applications and leaves open the door for DACA to end in the future. President Biden has already pledged to appeal the ruling and called on Congress to protect so-called Dreamers and create a path to citizenship for millions of people who lack legal status in the United States. In this hour, we get an overview of the legal decision and what happens next and also hear from immigrants and families who could be hurt by this decision, now and in the future.

California has almost 3 million children 5 years old and under. Hundreds of thousands of these kids lack affordable childcare because of backlogs in the state’s subsidized childcare program. The pandemic --which led to the closure of 8,500 childcare facilities--only worsened the bottleneck. And lack of childcare means that in many households one--or both parents--won’t be able to work. In this hour, we examine the long term access and affordability problems in early childhood care and how it affects the state’s persistent achievement gap. We’ll also hear about a state plan to phase in universal transitional kindergarten.

Many of us spent the better part of the last pandemic year taking pains to minimize interactions with people outside our households or pods. With social venues now reopened, many vaccinated adults have the chance to meet new people and chat at length again — but do we remember how to talk to strangers? Journalist Joe Keohane joins us to remind us how and to explain why even small talk and passing interactions with those we don’t know can enhance happiness, cognitive functioning and our sense of belonging. We want to hear from you: Tell us about a memorable time that you connected with a stranger.

In a major breakthrough, scientists at UC San Francisco developed technology to decode words from the brain activity of a paralyzed man who is unable to speak and translate them to text that appears on a screen. The technology, known as a “speech neuroprosthesis,” may hold promise for the thousands of people each year who lose speech owing to a stroke, accident or disease. We’ll talk to the researchers about their achievement.

It's summer in the Bay Area, which means it’s time to cozy up by the fire and read some books about tropical islands, deserts and other warm places. We’ll gather a panel of Bay Area booksellers and bookworms to discuss summer reading trends and the best books coming out this summer. They’ll take your questions on what to stick in your bag for that campervan trip, whether you’re looking to dive into a weighty historical biography or plow through a pile of pulpy fun. And we’ll want to hear your picks: what book are you recommending to all your friends this summer?

Blindspotting was one of 2018’s critically acclaimed films. Penned by old friends, Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal, it took on race and gentrification in Oakland. Now, they’re back with a new television show based on the movie that’s a wild love letter to the Bay Area. We’ll talk with them both about the show and honoring the place that made them.

Ransomware group REvil’s sites on the dark web went down Tuesday, weeks after the group attacked meat processing company JBS and information technology firm Kaseya in a breach that compromised up to 1,500 clients. And those attacks came on the heels of DarkSide’s major strike in May against the Colonial Pipeline, forcing it to temporarily cease operations. Ransomware attacks — which encrypt online systems and hold their data for ransom — more than doubled from 2019 to 2020 in the US, according to a Washington Post analysis. We’ll look at how and why these attacks occur and the national security threat they pose.

Los Angeles County has over the last several days recorded more than 3000 new covid cases, 99 percent of which occurred among the unvaccinated, according to the county health department. The spike in cases, fueled by the rapidly spreading delta variant, mirrors that of other regions in the state and country beset by low vaccination rates. The increase also comes as California tries to adopt a cautious approach to school reopening this fall, requiring even vaccinated students and teachers to wear masks. We’ll talk about the effort to vaccinate more Americans as the delta variant takes hold and take your vaccine questions.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, one of America’s premier thinkers on racism and systemic inequality, has taken on many roles: Atlantic staff writer, best-selling author, novelist and comic book writer. Last week, Coates made headlines for his latest move: teaching journalism at his alma mater Howard University along with Pulitzer-prize winning New York Times “1619 Project” writer Nikole Hannah-Jones. The announcement came after Hannah-Jones rejected an offer from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after a contentious and drawn-out tenure process, which Coates publicly criticized. We talk with Coates about disinformation, police brutality and the role of journalism in American democracy.

The class of 2021 has graduated and millions of young people are now looking to start their first “real world” jobs. Some experts say the current economy is among the best for young workers in decades, now that post-shutdown hiring is ramping up and some industries confront persistent labor shortages. Still, for some workers, finding the best opportunity can be both daunting and time-consuming. We’ll hear stories of starting out in the workplace and get guidance from experts.

When Ifeoma Ozoma detailed the racism and sexism she faced as a Pinterest employee in a Twitter thread back in June 2020, she did so knowing she was in violation of her nondisclosure agreement. Now, Ozoma is co-sponsoring a California bill to protect workers under NDAs who say they’ve been discriminated against on the basis of race, sexual orientation, religion, disability or age. The bill would expand protections passed several years ago for workers who come forward about sex-based discrimination despite having signed an NDA. With no companies formally against the new bill, it could signal a shift in big tech, which has long been protected by NDA practices. We’ll talk about the fight over NDAs and what it could mean for workers in the tech industry and beyond.

Twenty years ago, California went dark. Without enough electricity to power the state, rolling blackouts shut down businesses, PG&E filed for bankruptcy, the state’s economy contracted and then-Governor Gray Davis’ administration spiraled into crisis. Part of the blame rested with Enron Corporation, an energy company whose brokers created an artificial electricity shortage by taking power plants offline — thereby raising prices by 800% or more. Enron ultimately unravelled when whistleblowers revealed its books were cooked, but not before the company severely damaged energy markets. Two decades later, Forum asks what we’ve learned from that calamity— and whether our electricity supply is safe from market manipulation.

A recent KQED report found that Kaiser Permanente, the largest health insurer in California, impeded some patients from accessing brexanolone, the first and only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat postpartum depression. The condition, affecting one in eight new mothers in California, can harm parents and children if left untreated. KQED reporter April Dembosky joins us to discuss her reporting and the challenges parents face in receiving treatment for postpartum depression.

By law, trucks weighing more than 4.5 tons are barred from driving through a portion of Interstate 580 in Oakland and San Leandro near the East Bay Hills. This 10-mile ban means most commercial trucks use Interstate 880, which runs through Black and Latinx neighborhoods and is a historically working class region. Research from the Environmental Defense Fund found that concentrations of black carbon along I-880 were approximately 80% higher than average concentrations along I-580. Why are trucks banned from this stretch of I-580, and should residents along I-880 exclusively bear the burden of truck pollution? We’ll discuss the pushback to I-580’s truck ban.

Decades ago, when forest ecologist Suzanne Simard set out to understand why forests tended to heal themselves when left to their own devices, she uncovered early evidence that trees communicate with each other, lending mutual aid during times of duress. Over the years her research deepened and expanded, marked by discoveries that trees relay information through cryptic underground fungal networks and that old trees, known as mother trees, can discern which seedlings are their own and transmit food and water to them. We’ll talk to Simard about her work, and the intertwined story of her family, all chronicled in her new book “Finding the Mother Tree.”

Is San Francisco over? Its a question that has dominated conversations in the city for years, maybe even decades. Has its maverick soul been lost to the tech industry, outrageous rents and the sadness of the suffering in the streets? For a city proud of its reputation as the glittering, devil-may-care zone of misrule at the end of the continent, the question of how its changed touches on San Franciscans deepest sense of who they are, who they were, and who they want to be, writer Gary Kamiya says in the introduction to a new essay collection, The End of The Golden Gate: Writers on Loving and (Sometimes) Leaving San Francisco. Well talk with some of the books contributors and we want to hear from you: Why do you stay? Why have you left?

From celebrities like Harry Styles and the members of boy band BTS to social media beauty influencers like Patrick Starrr and Kenneth Senegal, more and more men and nonbinary folk are publicly embracing makeup in their daily lives. And as author and journalist David Yi argues in their new book, the male beauty influencers of today have ancient cultural precedents. “Pretty Boys” traces male beauty figures throughout history, from Ramses the Great to ‘80s glam rockers to drag culture newly entering the mainstream. We’ll hear about how beauty influencers, both past and present, have explored gender through makeup.

Last week temperatures hit 116 degrees in Portland, 108 in Seattle, and 121 degrees in western Canada. According to news reports, nearly one billion sea animals may have cooked to death in British Columbia. San Francisco, a similarly temperate climate, has had its own moments of extreme heat. It reached 106 degrees during the 2017 heat wave, breaking all previous records. But what would happen if San Francisco’s temperatures reached as high as Portland's did last week? How would roads, bridges and the health system respond to 116 degree temperatures? Could the electrical grid manage to stay on line? Forum talks to a panel of experts about what a future with extreme heat looks like and what we should be doing to prepare.

At a seashell museum on Sanibel, an island off southwest Florida, environmental journalist Cynthia Barnett discovered that 90% of the museum’s visitors didn’t know shells were made from living animals. In her new book “The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans,” Barnett explains the science of how shells are made and their role in the ecosystem of the oceans. And she delves into the long cultural history of seashells which have been used as money, jewelry, tools, instruments, building materials and more. Barnett joins us to discuss the mysteries of seashells and their mollusk makers and what they can teach us about the health of our oceans.

The social media app TikTok has grown exponentially since its release in 2016, with over 689 million active users worldwide. Famous for its short, looping videos that feature a range of content including lip syncs, dance routines, personal storytelling and documentary-style footage, it’s become a popular place to spend hours online, especially among Gen Z. Particularly in the past year, when in-person interaction was limited due to the pandemic, many people found community on TikTok and used it as a way to de-stress or express their creativity. We’ll talk about TikTok’s appeal and hear from popular creators Nick Cho and Taylor Cassidy about the communities they’ve found and built on the app.

Can self-deception be beneficial? That’s one of the questions animating Shankar Vedantam’s new book “Useful Delusions,” which argues that holding false beliefs is not necessarily a sign of pathology or ignorance. We’ll talk to theHidden Brain podcast host about the lies we tell ourselves — and each other — and the role some forms of deception play in sustaining relationships and advancing mental well-being.

Sebastian Junger walked 400 miles from Washington, D.C., to Pittsburgh, using railroad lines to follow the footsteps of America’s first colonizers. Analyzing what freedom meant to the settlers and indigenous people of this land centuries ago and what it means to its inhabitants today, Junger describes his trek in his new book, “Freedom.” “We failed to come up with a single moral or legal justification for what we were doing other than the dilute principle that we weren't causing harm so we should be able to keep doing it,” he writes. Junger joins us to talk about his journey, “Freedom” and the tension between doing whatever you want and the bonds of community.

Have you watched a throwback TV show or movie recently that — upon viewing now — made you cringe because of scenes or jokes that are so obviously, well, cringeworthy? The expansive library of old TV shows and films made available for nostalgia viewing on streaming services prompted some rude awakenings about content we thought we loved. We’ll reflect on the ways our awareness as viewers may have shifted and consider the TV shows and films that don’t quite stack up to today’s social norms. We’ll also discuss the movies and shows that have stood the test of time and why. Is there an old TV show or film that lost its charm for you upon re-watching?

In this special holiday edition of Forum, we've gone back into our archives to two interviews that Michael Krasny, our recently retired host, did in 2011. They showcase his depth and love of literature as he speaks with the winners of that year's National Book Critics Circle Award, Jennifer Egan and Isabel Wilkerson. Egan's novel "A Visit From the Goon Squad," traipses through San Francisco and beyond. Wilkerson's "The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story Of America's Great Migration" reframed the origins of modern America.

John Paul Brammer, the self-described “Chicano Carrie Bradshaw,” writes the popular column, ¡Hola Papi!, which he started in 2017 when dating app Grindr launched LGBTQ site INTO and needed steady content. He soon realized he had tapped into a trove of unmet demand for gay dating advice. Brammer, who grew up in rural Oklahoma, has written for various publications including The Guardian, Teen Vogue, The Trevor Project, Condé Nast, and Netflix and now publishes ¡Hola Papi! on Substack. He joins us to talk about his new memoir, “¡Hola Papi!: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons,” which explores coming of age, coming out and finding love through essays based on his column.

Prosecutors charged the Trump Organization and its CFO Allen Weisselberg on Thursday with running a 15-year scheme to defraud the government of income tax payments. The charges arose from an ongoing multi-year investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney and the New York Attorney General into off-the-books payments made to Weisselberg and other Trump Organization employees. We’ll talk about the latest developments and what’s at stake for the former president and his businesses.

When film director, poet and playwright Kathleen Collins passed away in 1988, her work had yet to fully receive its due. Following the efforts of her daughter Nina Lorez Collins, her 1982 film “Losing Ground,” one of the first feature films directed by a Black American woman, received a theatrical release in 2015 — and is presently streaming for free on Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive’s website through July 6. Her books “Whatever Happened to Interracial Love?” and “Notes From a Black Woman’s Diary” were published in the past five years, and her collection of four one-act plays, entitled “Begin the Beguine,” is being performed by Oakland Theater Project via livestream and drive-in through July 3. We’ll talk with Oakland Theater Project co-directors Michael Socrates Moran and Dawn L. Troupe, who also stars in each of the four plays, about “Begin the Beguine” and Collins’ artistic legacy.

Bolinas, writes English Professor Lytle Shaw, is “the only instance I could think of where a town was essentially governed by poets.” Shaw’s thoughts are part of a new anniversary edition of “On the Mesa: An Anthology of Bolinas Writing” originally published in 1971, featuring the work of a remarkable group of poets living in or near Bolinas in the late 60s and 70s, including Diane Di Prima, Phillip Whalen, Robert Creeley, JoAnne Kyger, Anne Waldman and other icons of the period. We’ll talk about the Bolinas scene, the new edition of the anthology and capturing Bolinas counterculture through its poetry.

California bars insurance companies from cancelling residential property insurance policies for homes in places that burned in the 2020 wildfires. But after years of catastrophic fires, insurance companies are refusing to renew policies for a growing number of the 3 million Californians who have homes in high wildfire risk zones. Finding replacement coverage can cost many times more than an original policy. Now, the insurance industry is talking about raising rates based on a home’s exposure to climate change induced catastrophe. We’ll hear about a growing crisis in the state’s insurance market, and what the industry, consumer advocates, and legislators are trying to do about it.

In three weeks, the Oakland City Council will vote whether to approve the A’s proposal to build a new baseball stadium at Howard Terminal. The A’s say their waterfront proposal, which includes housing, a performance space and hotels, will revitalize West Oakland, an area of the city that has historically suffered from gentrification and displacement by infrastructure like BART and freeways. Opponents say it will cost jobs at the port and argue that the stadium should be built at the Coliseum where ample transportation infrastructure exists. Ratcheting up the tension is the A’s ultimatum that if they can’t build on the waterfront, they will move away entirely, leaving Oakland without a major league sports team following the loss of the Raiders and the Warriors. We’ll hear about the plan and what it means for Oakland and Bay Area sports fans.

Poet, teacher and Atlantic staff writer Clint Smith joins us to talk about his new book, How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America. Smith takes readers on a tour of eight sites to examine the history of slavery in America and how that history lives on through stories -- who tells them, how and where. Along his journey, he discovers buried facts, false narratives and often willful ignorance of a dark time in our nation’s history that still has implications. We’ll talk about how Americans’ understanding of slavery -- or lack of it -- plays out today.

Public transit ridership is slowly rising after the pandemic forced transit agencies to cut services. But few other agencies across the nation decreased service as much as Muni and BART, and San Francisco ridership was at 39 percent of pre-pandemic levels in May, according to a recent San Francisco Chronicle analysis. San Francisco is also experiencing tension between the Board of Supervisors and Mayor London Breed over a proposal to eliminate Muni fares for this summer. We’ll check in with SFMTA, BART, AC Transit and VTA about their announced service increases, capacity requirements and plans to entice riders back. And we want to hear from you: What should these agencies prioritize as they re-expand services?

As the Supreme Court's term nears a close, we analyze some of the significant opinions released so far, which span religious liberty and free speech questions, the rights of union organizers and the Affordable Care Act. We'll also look at what's at stake in two Arizona voting rights cases awaiting a decision, and how the Court's 6-3 conservative majority is influencing its jurisprudence.

More than a quarter of Americans are estranged from a close family member, new research from Cornell University finds. The reasons for breaking off contact are familiar: divides over money, values and parental divorce, along with tension from parenting choices or in-law relationships. We’ll talk about the nuances of the phenomenon, including U.S. cultural individualism, the nuclear family’s decline, and the traditions of chosen family within LGBTQ+ communities. And, of course, we want to hear your stories about navigating deep rifts within your own family.

“It should puzzle us more than it does that one of the greatest foci of human ingenuity and concentrated effort over the past millennia has been the problem of how to get drunk,” writes Edward Slingerland in his new book “Drunk.” Alcohol might not only enable personal creativity and social ease — it may have aided the cohesion and innovation necessary to create civilizations themselves. Slingerland does not dismiss the gravity of addiction and its endangering behaviors, but in appealing to history, neuroscience and art, he makes the case that drinking, socially and in moderation, can advance social goods.

Californian’s famously love their cars, but around the Bay Area a lot of people are more passionate about other ways to roll, like bikes, roller skates or skateboards. KQED’s podcast, Rightnowish, is celebrating our love of wheels and the role they play in community and culture with a series called “Roll With Us”. We’ll talk with host Pendarvis Harshaw about the San Franciscan who’s been dancing on his roller skates for half a century, “chair skating” with the extreme wheelchair sports league, the South Bay’s lowrider car culture and more. And we want to hear from you. Are you part of a community on wheels?

With the approval of two major cannabis growing and distribution projects, Antioch has put itself on the map as a significant player in the marijuana industry. “I don’t mind being known as the cannabis capital of Northern California,” declared Antioch mayor Lamar Thorpe, citing the jobs that it would bring to the eastern Contra Costa County town. Meanwhile, Sonoma County has set aside a proposal to ease restrictions around growing cannabis and entered into a study phase to analyze the environmental impacts of that ordinance. We’ll talk to a panel of experts about the changing geography of cannabis cultivation.

For 13 years, pop star Britney Spears has been subject to a conservatorship that controlled many of her life decisions, and on Wednesday, Spears testified damningly about the damage done to her by that arrangement. According to the star, her conservators have forcibly placed her on lithium, pushed her into unnecessary rehab, and prevented from having children by refusing to let her remove her IUD. “I deserve to have a life. I've worked my whole life. . . I deserve to have the same rights as anybody does,” declared Spears. We’ll talk about the hearing and what happens next.

In Brandon Taylor’s new collection of short stories, “Filthy Animals,” characters either hide their teeth or give in to their animalistic impulses. They thirst: for success, belonging and emotional connection. Taylor, whose debut novel “Real Life” met widespread critical acclaim, is also known for his newsletter and Twitter account, which both combine anecdotes with broader cultural analyses on topics ranging from contemporary “internet novels” to literary classics to the art of writing itself. We’ll talk with Taylor about his craft, the underrepresentation and tokenization of Black, queer identities in literature and his goal to attain truth through fiction.

When we learned that engineers are frantically working to get rid of the annoyingly loud hum that started projecting from the Golden Gate Bridge last summer, it got us wondering about other iconic sounds of the Bay Area. We’ll talk with KQED’s Bay Curious host Olivia Allen-Price about the stories behind some of the sounds of the area, like the sometimes deafening cawing of crows and the rattle of a cable car chains underfoot. And we’ll want to hear, really hear, from you. Call us with your imitation of the sounds that say “Bay Area” to you.

Alzheimer's disease affects more than 6 million people in the U.S., and there have been no good existing treatment options. That seemed to change earlier this month when the FDA approved a new drug called Aduhelm that claims to slow the progression of the disease. But while some patients are celebrating the news, many scientists say the drug will deliver marginal, or even no, benefits and that it could have risky side effects. And at a cost of $56,000 annually per patient, some members of the U.S. Senate are calling for an investigation into how the drug will affect the Medicare program. We discuss the controversy around the FDA’s approval of Aduhelm and we’ll get an update on Alzheimer’s research.

Celebrated writer and podcaster Ashley C. Ford grew up knowing that her father was in prison, but she never knew the reason why. As she writes in her new memoir “Somebody’s Daughter,” she found herself confronting the truth about her father’s crime while coping with her own devastating trauma. The book chronicles Ford’s upbringing in a tight-knit, Black family in Fort Wayne, Indiana, a place she eventually had to leave to find herself and create a career out of writing. We’ll talk to Ford about her memoir and journey as a writer.

More than a half-century after the Fair Housing Act made housing discrimination illegal, segregation in residential communities is not only prevalent, but on the rise. More than 80% of metropolitan regions in the U.S. have become more segregated since 1990, and many Bay Area cities are among them, according to a report released this week from UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute. Housing segregation can affect income, health and educational opportunities, particularly for people of color. We’ll talk about the impacts of segregation in the Bay Area and which cities have become more or less segregated in the past few decades.

Carl Nassib, a defensive lineman for the Las Vegas Raiders, made history this week as the first active NFL player to publicly identify as gay. We'll talk about the significance of his announcement with Rick Welts, president and chief operating officer of the Golden State Warriors. Welts himself came out while he was an executive with the Phoenix Suns, and we'll hear his reflections on the pressures faced by LGBTQ professional athletes.

As people resume pre-pandemic activities and a number of workers return to offices, some are dealing with pandemic hangovers in the form of burnout.The term “burnout” gained prevalence in recent years to describe when someone feels exhausted, ineffective and unmotivated to do activities they once enjoyed. Experts say this state, often caused by chronic stress, can affect workers at all levels and occupations and won’t be fixed by time off or even outright quitting. We’ll talk about burnout and how to heal from it, and we want to hear your experiences. Email us at Forum@kqed.org or leave a voicememo at 415-553-3300.

Often called a “regional Chinese cuisine,” Taiwanese food is making its own distinctive mark on the Bay Area food landscape. Taiwanese restaurants and pop-ups are serving up dishes like lu rou fan, a pork belly rice, and gua bao, an open pork bun, and cooking up dishes for an immigrant diaspora nostalgic for the night markets of Taipei. We take a deep dive into Taiwanese food with KQED food editor Luke Tsai and a local restaurateur who explain what makes Taiwanese food Taiwanese.

The Western monarch butterfly population has fallen by 99% since the 1980’s largely due to pesticide use and habitat loss. And the butterflies that have survived are changing their behavior in unexpected ways, remaining in the Bay Area over the winter instead of heading to the California coast from October to March. In response, conservation groups like Oakland’s Pollinator Posse are working to restore habitats by planting native milkweed. We’ll discuss why important pollinators are disappearing and what can be done about it.

Critical race theory has come under fire from some conservatives, elected leaders, parents and educators. The concept evolved decades ago from legal scholarship seeking to understand how racial bias plays a role in U.S. laws and institutions. Efforts to dismantle critical race theory are now gaining traction more than a year into what many people consider a national reckoning with racism. More than twenty states have introduced or passed legislation that would ban schools from teaching about racism or “divisive concepts.” We talk about what critical race theory is and why it is stirring backlash now.

Sacramento-based poet Alexandra Huynh says that poetry is a way both to acknowledge our reality and imagine a better world. Huynh, who was appointed the 2021 National Youth Poet Laureate last month, interweaves stories and images of fire in California, floods in Vietnam and the global impact of a single footprint. We’ll talk about her work, which addresses social injustice, the global effects of climate change and her Vietnamese American identity, and the importance of youth voices in poetry.

Confronting the reality of climate change is often a terrifying and paralyzing activity. But, in the right hands, the story of our warming planet can be a tale of human ingenuity, resilience, and adaptability. Humans, for better or worse, find ways to adapt to almost anything, even the collapse of civilizations. Forum brings together two legendary local science fiction writers, Kim Stanley Robinson and Annalee Newitz, to get their incisive perspectives on the question of the long-term fate of humanity. We’ll talk about the future of the climate, past civilizations of the earth and the audacity of imagining that human beings might find ways to thrive later this century.

Decades ago, when forest ecologist Suzanne Simard set out to understand why forests tended to heal themselves when left to their own devices, she uncovered early evidence that trees communicate with each other, lending mutual aid during times of duress. Over the years her research deepened and expanded, marked by discoveries that trees relay information through cryptic underground fungal networks and that old trees, known as mother trees, can discern which seedlings are their own and transmit food and water to them. We’ll talk to Simard about her work, and the intertwined story of her family, all chronicled in her new book “Finding the Mother Tree.”

The Bay Area has recently been presented more as a bundle of problems than the generative, fascinating place that it’s been for decades. What are creators in the Bay Area thinking about the future of our cities? How might it change to be a better place for more of our residents? And what could Forum’s role be in building this community? These are some of the questions that Alexis Madrigal, Forum’s new host for the show’s first hour, will be asking of his guests. Spotlighting figures whose work on issues of economic justice, climate, design, and culture are driving innovation in the region, we’ll also be hearing from our Bay Area audience about what you want to hear. To begin, Forum co-host Mina Kim will turn the tables and interview Alexis about how he sees the Bay. What are your questions for Forum’s newest moderator? How should we cover the Bay Area? Who — or what — makes the it special to you? And what are the questions that intrigue and confound you about this region we call home?

Of the 1,300 top Hollywood films of 2007 to 2019, just 44 featured Asian American and Pacific Islander lead actors, and of those only six were women. That’s according to a new USC Annenberg study that found a dearth of AAPI representation both behind and in front of the camera — as well as abundant on-screen stereotypical depictions that exoticize, hypersexualize or emasculate Asian characters. We’ll talk about the study and hear from actors, writers, directors and producers about their experiences of anti-Asian bias and stereotyping in Hollywood and what needs to change.

Calling it “one of the greatest honors” he would have as president, on Thursday, Joe Biden signed new legislation to make June 19 a federal holiday. Known as Juneteenth, the holiday commemorates June 19th, 1865, the day when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas first learned that the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been signed two years earlier, had ended slavery. We talk about Juneteenth and the significance of it being recognized as a federal holiday. How do you plan to celebrate?

Earlier this week, a video surfaced showing a man filling a bag with items in a San Francisco Walgreens then exiting the store on his bike with the stolen goods as onlookers and a security guard filmed him. This is the latest evidence of a problem that retailers say is driving them out of the city. Now, some in the retail and grocery industries are demanding a focus on solving these types of crimes and harsher penalties for theft. We discuss the scale of organized retail crime in San Francisco, what communities it’s targeting, and what can be done about it.

Former Obama Administration official Andy Slavitt was one of the few outside health experts regularly talking to the Trump White House during the pandemic's first year, bearing witness to what he calls "missed opportunities, willful neglect, and indifference and denial from our president." During that time, as Covid-19 deaths skyrocketed, Slavitt began publicly documenting what he saw, and those observations form the basis of his new book "Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response." We'll talk to Slavitt about what could and should have been done to prevent such massive loss of life, and what governments still need to do to effectively contain the coronavirus.

As the lockdown ends, Bay Area arts exhibits and shows are re-emerging. Through a free app Kronos Quartet and Composer Ellen Reid present a curated, GPS-based experience that encourages reflection and exploration of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. How does it work, and why Golden Gate Park? We’ll speak with the team behind this new interactive experience.

Across the Bay Area, employers in retail, restaurants and other industries, report that there are more jobs available than workers to fill them. As California re-opens for business, concern is rising that a labor shortage may impede the state’s ability to bounce back from the pandemic. While there appears to be no single reason for the worker shortage, economists say the high cost of living, wage stagnation, and worker demands are among the reasons that employees cite for not taking available jobs or even staying out of the job market altogether. We’ll talk to a panel of experts and hear from employers and employees about the latest labor dynamics.

Forecasters are predicting an intense, multi-day heat wave in California this week that could shatter records for mid-June. Cities across the state are expected to see triple-digit temperatures, and parts of the Central Valley could reach 120 degrees. We'll talk about what the heat wave might signal for the state's warming climate, as well as how to best stay cool this week.

For more than a year, thousands of renters in California have been able to stave off evictions thanks to a state moratorium. But that moratorium is set to expire at the end of June unless state lawmakers grant an extension. Meanwhile, more than 900,000 households are behind on paying rent, according to the National Equity Atlas. So far, government programs aimed at helping renters have only reached a small fraction of eligible tenants. We talk about the prospects of extending eviction protections and the impacts on renters if the moratorium ends this month.

Before the pandemic took hold, some higher education institutions -- particularly community colleges and small or mid-sized private schools -- were struggling with declining enrollment and financial problems. And those challenges became far worse during the shutdown. By Spring 2021, the total number of undergraduates fell by five percent from 2020 — 727,000 students in all — according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Educators and policymakers say the drop indicates that many would-be college students are struggling to access or afford college— even if a degree could help them advance economically. We talk about these enrollment challenges and how they can be addressed.

California heads toward a full reopening of its economy on Tuesday, as COVID-19 infections reach their lowest levels in 14 months in the state. Capacity restrictions on most businesses will be lifted and physical distancing requirements will be gone. Some decisions still need to be made, such as whether fully vaccinated workers can go maskless. We’ll get the latest on exactly what reopening will look like and what it means for Bay Area businesses and the economy. And we’ll hear from you. Are you ready for a full reopening?

As Californians get ready to go to the beach this summer, there's a new worry to consider: ticks that carry Lyme disease. A new four-year study has found that the coastal brushlands from Mendocino to Monterey are home to Lyme disease-carrying ticks, which were previously thought to populate mainly inland areas. We'll talk about the study and how you can protect yourself from tick bites.

The Consumer Price Index rose by five percent in May compared to the same period a year ago — the sharpest increase since 2008. The new Labor Department numbers come as consumers are experiencing sticker shock over products like lumber and used cars. We'll talk about whether the price increases are a temporary byproduct of pandemic-related shortages or a sign of an inflationary period to come.

In his latest book “Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal,” author and Atlantic staff writer George Packer argues that the country is not divided in two camps, but rather that it’s split into four Americas. Those Americas — Free America, Smart America, Real America, and Just America — are separated along political, economic, educational, religious and social justice lines, and Packer notes, “I don’t much want to live in the republic of any of them.” Instead, he says we need to find a way to trust one another to create a nation with the eye on the prize: to be an Equal America. We’ll talk to Packer about his book.

From celebrities like Harry Styles and the members of boy band BTS to social media beauty influencers like Patrick Starrr and Kenneth Senegal, more and more men and nonbinary folk are publicly embracing makeup in their daily lives. And as author and journalist David Yi argues in their new book, the male beauty influencers of today have ancient cultural precedents. “Pretty Boys” traces male beauty figures throughout history, from Ramses the Great to ‘80s glam rockers to drag culture newly entering the mainstream. We’ll hear about how beauty influencers, both past and present, have explored gender through makeup.

Ahmed Muhammad recently became the first Black male valedictorian in Oakland Technical High School’s over 100 year history. In his graduation speech Muhammad said, "there is absolutely no way you can tell me I am the first Black person capable of being valedictorian." Ahmed joins us to speak about his homage to those who "had the ability but not the opportunity" and his plans to continue supporting the youth of Oakland and the greater Bay Area community.

From the 1969 Stonewall riots to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, activism has been at the core of the LGBTQ community. That activism has led to landmark changes such as legalizing same sex marriage, which, according to a recent Gallup poll, 70% of Americans support. The meaning of Pride has also evolved as the battle for rights and equality continues. We talk with three generations of queer activists about how the struggles and victories in the past 50 years laid the groundwork for the legal, political and cultural advances we see today.

For decades, police misconduct investigations in California were kept secret from the public. That all changed when a 2018 law, SB 1421, made many of those records accessible under the California Public Records Act. “On Our Watch,” a new podcast by KQED and NPR, examines how California law enforcement investigates complaints of misconduct, the harm experienced by the people who filed these complaints — and how that harm was sometimes furthered in the process of seeking accountability. The podcast tells stories of police killings, sexual harassment and excessive force that in many cases left survivors and families demanding justice for years. We’ll hear about those stories and the shadow world of police discipline.

As the drought worsens, Santa Clara County has declared a water shortage emergency, paving the way for mandatory water restrictions for the county's residents. While most individual water usage is drop in the bucket compared with agricultural water use, many residents and businesses want to do something to help. Did you know that you can save approximately 25 gallons of water by taking a five-minute shower instead of a 10-minute shower? We’ll get the latest on how the drought is affecting the Bay Area, and learn some tips for conserving water usage at home and at work.

According to a recent report published by ProPublica, some of the nation’s richest executives — Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Mike Bloomberg, to name a few — pay little to no income tax. This news may come as no surprise to many, but one startling fact stands out: the methods and deductions these billionaires use are all perfectly legal. Using a trove of leaked IRS files, reporters from ProPublica analyzed more than 15 years worth of tax returns to unveil the ways in which the wealthiest among us avoid paying federal income tax. We’ll hear about the report.

It’s been 40 years since the CDC first reported cases of a deadly, rare lung infection in five previously healthy gay men in Los Angeles. The infection came later to be understood as a symptom of HIV-AIDS, the syndrome that has claimed more than 700,000 American lives. We’ll hear reflections from those who knew and cared for the earliest and sickest patients, in an era of scarce public health information and widespread homophobia.

As part of his $12 billion two-year plan to address homelessness, Governor Newsom initially earmarked $7 billion to be used for a variety of housing measures, including Project Homekey, a state-sponsored program that buys existing motels, hotels and office buildings to convert them into housing. Housing advocates say this is a game changer that could create 43,000 units of housing that would help alleviate the suffering of the 161,000 people in California without a home. But some experts say it’s unlikely to be sufficient, as the state’s homeless population grows due to unemployment from the pandemic and the looming end of the statewide eviction moratorium. We’ll talk about how Homekey works, who it serves and whether this ambitious program is a sustainable solution for what has been an intractable problem.

More than 2.5 million people in the United States -- the majority of whom are women, immigrants and people of color -- work in what’s known as the care economy. They’re house cleaners, nannies and caregivers for the elderly. During the pandemic, many lost their jobs while others took immense risks to keep working. Ai-Jen Poo, who heads the National Domestic Workers Alliance, joins us to talk about the fight to secure better pay and benefits for workers and why she believes that domestic work should be treated as essential infrastructure.

Nancy Reagan is one of the most controversial first ladies in U.S. history. She rewrote the role of political spouse first in Sacramento when her husband was governor, then in the White House. In her new biography, “The Triumph of Nancy Reagan,” Washington Post political columnist Karen Tumulty traces Nancy Reagan's personal history and the path that led to her becoming so influential in the Reagan Whitehouse. Tumulty joins us to discuss her in-depth portrayal of the first lady.

A Federal judge in San Diego struck down California’s ban on assault-style guns on Friday. The state is appealing the ruling, but how effective is the ban? California has 107 laws on the books aimed at gun control, but it also has the most mass-shootings in the nation. We’ll examine the court decision and the future and effectiveness of gun laws in California.

Prime coastline property in Los Angeles County known as Bruce’s Beach could be returned to descendants of its early 20th century Black owners if a state senate bill approved this week becomes law. In the 1920s, the Manhattan Beach City Council seized the beachfront land from Willa and Charles Bruce, who endured years of brutal harassment by white neighbors and the KKK. Its return could be a model for reparations in the state and comes as California’s new reparations task force convenes. We’ll talk about the history of Bruce’s Beach and its significance amid broader efforts to compensate Black Californians for historical injustices.

In his new book “Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors and Patients,” Dr. Robert Pearl offers an indictment of physician culture -- a culture he argues leads to doctor burnout and bad patient outcomes. For 18 years, Pearl served as the CEO of the Permanente Medical Group, the largest medical group in the country, and that experience led him to realize that to improve care for patients, doctors needed to re-evaluate the cultural norms they had been trained to accept. We’ll talk to Pearl about how fixing healthcare in America means also fixing its doctors.

Travel-deprived Americans are snapping up airline tickets and hotel reservations, heralding a summer 2021 vacation boom. Photos from destinations ranging from campgrounds to Caribbean islands are popping up in social media feeds. But how safe is travel and what do vacationers need to consider as the economy reopens? Many Americans are opting for domestic travel, leading to rental cars and hotels booking up in popular cities. We discuss where people are heading this summer and what’s changed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

When Carol Offen’s son needed a kidney, she did not hesitate to offer her own, but she still had a lot of questions. In the United States, nearly 100,000 people are waiting for a kidney transplant with waitlists as long as five years or more, and every day 12 people die of kidney disease. As a result, living kidney donations have become increasingly popular. We talk to Offen, co-author of the book “The Insider’s Guide to Living Kidney Donation,” and Dr. Nancy Ascher, an organ transplant expert who is also a kidney donor, about organ transplants and what it takes to make what organ recipients call, “the greatest gift.”

One tenth of the world's mature giant sequoias were killed by the Castle Fire that scorched the southern Sierra Nevada late last year after a flurry of lightning strikes according to a new draft report prepared by the National Park Service. That’s an estimated 7,500 to 10,000 trees that had previously survived thousands of years of wildfires. Giant sequoias capture carbon dioxide from human pollution, provide critical habitat for wildlife and protect the watershed that communities rely on. We’ll talk about how far-reaching the consequences of losing these trees could be, the impact of this year’s extreme drought conditions on sequoia seedling regrowth and the outlook for sequoias in a changing climate.

A growing number of adults are choosing to not become parents, a lifestyle described as “child-free.” Yet many people, especially women, say they feel judged by their families, friends — and even their own doctors — when they vocalize not wanting children. By the same token, some parents say that to express regret — for the age at which they had kids, for their partner choice or for becoming a parent at all — is entirely taboo. As birth rates decline in the U.S. and globally, we’ll talk about the societal taboos around parenthood, why they’re so pervasive and how the conversation may be shifting.

Could biologists be America’s next generation of farmers? By now, we are all familiar with plant-based burgers, but dozens of Silicon Valley start-ups are hoping to transform what we eat by using ingredients like algae, mycelium and pea protein to create a wide range of foods. Tech-driven food has been lauded as good for the environment, but what exactly are we eating? Is lab food like fake eggs and seafood from a petri dish healthy and sustainable? We’ll talk to author and investigative reporter, Larissa Zimberoff, about her new book - “Technically Food: Inside Silicon Valley’s Mission to Change What We Eat.”

More than a year into a pandemic that's left millions of Californians jobless, it's harder than ever to reach the state’s Employment Development Department. That's according to a new San Francisco Chronicle analysis which found that in May, nearly a third of callers couldn’t get through to EDD, and each caller averaged more than 10 tries. The frustrating situation has led some to hire intermediaries, like Autodial and Claimr, to help them break through jammed lines. We’ll talk about how those services work and hear about your experiences dealing with EDD.

In her new book “Unraveled: The Life and Death of a Garment,” author and sustainability advocate Maxine Bédat explores the complex world of how clothes end up on our bodies. While clothing has become cheaper and more plentiful overall, the clothing industry’s productivity comes at a great cost to garment workers and the environment, Bédat argues. By chronicling the life cycle of a garment, from cotton seed to a finished pair of jeans, Bédat demonstrates the need to rethink our obsession with “fast fashion,” low prices and overstuffed closets.

When four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open on Monday, her decision set off a flurry of reaction well beyond the world of tennis. Before the tournament began, Osaka announced she would not be doing any post-match press conferences, a decision that cost her $15,000 in fines and resulted in threats from other Grand Slams of future punishment and possible expulsion for failure to talk to the media. In response, Osaka issued a statement withdrawing from the tournament, saying she has been suffering from “long bouts of depression.” Her sponsors and athletes like NBA star Steph Curry have lauded her candid response. Critics have argued that press is part of the game. What obligations do professional athletes have to the press, and what responsibility does the press have to them?

As the vaccinated shed their masks and rejoin the world, they may be required to prove their vaccination status to enter events or to travel. But while many countries are developing a federal vaccine passport, the Biden administration says the U.S will not. That’s left private companies and some cities and states to develop systems for digital proof of vaccination. We’ll check in on the progress of vaccination passports and when and where you may need one.

Researchers estimate that some 20 to 40 percent of food in America goes to waste at some point in the span from farm to kitchen. Strategies for reducing food waste — such as upcycling, artificial intelligence and expanded cooking education — are gaining traction among producers and consumers alike. Americans throw out roughly a quarter of the food they buy. At the same time, the number of people struggling to afford food on a regular basis increased during the pandemic. We talk about methods to reduce food waste, climate change and food insecurity.

Even amid a global pandemic, weight stayed center stage in the national consciousness as many bemoaned their lockdown weight gain, commonly called the “Covid 15.” That’s no surprise to critics who say that the cult of thinness and the pervasive message that being skinny equals wellness have long been part of American culture. While society has become more size inclusive, some argue that the damage to self image, particularly for millennial women, has been done. We’ll talk about body image, diet culture, and what it means to equate health with thinness. To get help with an eating disorder, the National Eating Disorders Association has toll-free warm line at 1-800-931-2237 and for 24/7 crisis support, you can text 'NEDA' to 741741.

English and Spanish are the most commonly spoken languages in the U.S., and some people see Spanglish -- a hybrid of the two -- as the future. Latinx youth are embracing Spanglish in ways previous generations were told was unacceptable, freely using un poquito de eso and a little bit of that in conversation. We talk about the origins of Spanglish, how people are using it today and why it’s growing.

Over the past year of on and off shelter in place restrictions, so many of us discovered--and in some cases, rediscovered--places that helped us get through those times. A park we had never known about. A room in our home that was rarely used. A path we had walked passed many times before but never traveled upon. What was your pandemic place? We talk with journalists Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley, co-authors of the forthcoming book, Until Proven Safe which examines quarantines from medieval Venice to outer space to reveal new ideas about quarantine.

Media conversations about the origin of COVID-19 intensified this week, after President Biden ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to "redouble" efforts to determine whether the virus emerged through cross-species transmission or escaped from a research lab in Wuhan, China. In a highly publicized joint report in February, the World Health Organization and the Chinese government dismissed the lab-leak theory as "extremely unlikely." But since then, more scientists are calling for new investigations, as a consensus forms that both scenarios are still viable. We'll talk about the politics -- and geopolitics--complicating the inquiry into the pandemic's origins.

In his new memoir, “Punch Me Up to the Gods,” writer Brian Broome describes growing up gay and Black in small town Ohio. Broome learned to hide his sexuality in a family, and a community, where masculinity was everything. His memoir traces his journey surviving an abusive father, poverty, racism, violence and addiction to finally embrace his sexuality and value as a man. Brian Broome joins Forum to discuss his new memoir which he has described as, “a kind of love letter to Black boys,” to tell them that you don’t have to be this thing that the world keeps telling you that you are.

Have you watched a throwback TV show or movie recently that — upon viewing now — made you cringe because of scenes or jokes that are so obviously, well, cringeworthy? The expansive library of old TV shows and films made available for nostalgia viewing on streaming services prompted some rude awakenings about content we thought we loved. We’ll reflect on the ways our awareness as viewers may have shifted and consider the TV shows and films that don’t quite stack up to today’s social norms. We’ll also discuss the movies and shows that have stood the test of time and why. Is there an old TV show or film that lost its charm for you upon re-watching?

Memories of last summer’s rolling blackouts and predictions for a hot, dry summer have Californians wondering whether there is enough energy to keep the lights as air conditioners and other energy demands tax the grid. And more supply concerns loom. In three years the state is planning to decommission the Diablo Nuclear Energy plant, which supplies 6% of the state’s electricity, and is still in the process of identifying how it will replace the supply. We’ll talk this hour about the electrical grid, whether it's ready for the summer, and plans for the future.

Early Wednesday morning, an employee of the Valley Transit Authority opened fire at the rail yard in San Jose, killing 9 co-workers before he shot and killed himself. We’ll talk with local officials about the victims, the VTA employee who gunned them down and what is known so far about the circumstances of the horrific mass shooting.

California courts approved more than 1,200 gun violence restraining orders last year under the state’s “red flag” law, according to data from the state attorney general. The law allows local authorities — at the request of family, teachers or co-workers — to temporarily remove firearms from those deemed a threat to themselves or others. Red flag laws made headlines earlier this year in the wake of the mass shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, when it emerged that the perpetrator’s mother attempted to invoke Indiana’s red flag law months prior. We’ll talk about how red flag laws work and they're used in California.

One of the Bay Area’s largest hospitals counted zero COVID patients last week, the CDC is advising the vaccinated to remove their masks, and more than 40% of Californians are now fully vaccinated. After a year with so much loss and isolation, many of us are feeling the joy of newfound freedom and reconnection. We’ll talk about overdue reunions with loved ones and other post-vaccination freedoms and we’ll want to hear from you. What is bringing you joy?

The 980 freeway, a two-mile span that bisects Oakland, has been called a “freeway without a future.” Its critics want to see the highway replaced and turned into a multi-lane boulevard with open spaces so that historically black West Oakland can be reconnected to downtown. With an infrastructure bill on the table in Washington, advocates say now is the time for this project. We’ll talk about the plan, its cost and what it will take to make a reality.

Following the murder of her father George Floyd at the hands of police, Floyd's youngest daughter, Gianna, then six, observed, "My daddy changed the world." On this one-year anniversary of Floyd's death, we hear reflections from historian Elizabeth Hinton, whose new book "America on Fire" traces the brutal police practices that engendered Black community protests from the 1960s to the present. We also talk to writer Zak Cheney-Rice, who observes that as major police reforms stall, the nation is "reckoning with a reckoning."

Climate change is here. From stifling heat to that eerie day last September when our skies were painted orange, the symptoms of the Bay Area’s changing climate are hard to escape. We’ll look at three of the major ways climate change is affecting the Bay Area -- heat, wildfire smoke and rising seas -- and what we can expect in the near future. We’ll take your questions on the Bay Area’s changing environment, and what policy makers, and individuals, can do to address the crisis.

Tens of thousands of people who contracted COVID-19 report ongoing symptoms of chronic coughing, lung damage and cognitive decline. Researchers are in the early stages of analyzing these conditions known as “long haul COVID” or “long COVID.” Still, many people have struggled to receive treatment for their symptoms or even recognition of their illness from their doctors. We talk with doctors and patients who are now organizing to seek more research, medical care, and support.

Facial recognition software has become a common part of American life. It’s used by government employment agencies to verify an applicant’s identity, by landlords to monitor tenants, and by police in their investigations, which has resulted in some wrongful arrests. Indeed, studies show that facial recognition algorithms are often inaccurate when it comes to identifying women and people with dark skin tones. Privacy advocates concerned by how law enforcement has used surveillance technology cheered Amazon’s recent decision to extend a moratorium on police use of its facial recognition software, though Amazon gave no reason why it was doing so. We’ll talk to Bay Area experts about how facial recognition technology is being used, why it needs to be closely monitored, and what cities, states and the federal government are doing, or not doing, to regulate its use.

“Familects help us feel like family. Private in-group language fosters intimacy and establishes identity,” writes linguist Kathryn Hymes in her recent Atlantic piece, "Why We Speak More Weirdly at Home.” The in-group language of a ‘familect’ — comprising terms, phrases, inside jokes, gaffes and gestures — binds a family together. During the pandemic, with so many people spending extended time together in close quarters, these private lexicons took off as people innovated and riffed on language. We’ll talk with Hymes about the phenomenon and we’ll create a listener dictionary of the terms from your ‘familect.’

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced this week that her office has opened a criminal investigation of the Trump Organization, in a joint effort with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. The investigation centers on whether the Trump Organization illegally overstated the values of its properties to secure favorable loans and tax benefits. We'll talk about what's at stake for the former president and his business associates.

Cuing off the difficult times we are living in, authors Rachel Levin and Tara Duggan have a new, and hilarious, cookbook that encourages readers to put their feelings into making food. Whether you want to pound out your anger on a pork loin to make their “Hammered Schnitzel” or cry over sliced onions for some “Sad French Onion Soup,” “Steamed: A Catharsis Cookbook” has a recipe for you. What’s the dish that you make when you’re “anxiety cooking” -- which, according to the authors, is “stress-eating's more productive cousin”?

Some members of the Bay Area’s indigenous community say their history is being erased, and are calling for ancestral land of the Coast Miwok, including parts of the Point Reyes National Seashore, to revert to the communities that first roamed there. It’s a conversation that is beginning to take hold nationally. The cover story in this month’s "The Atlantic" argues that more than 60 national parks should be returned to the stewardship of Native tribes. We’ll explore the untold history and legacy of local public lands.

The Los Angeles Times published an article titled “The man who didn’t invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos” on Sunday that ignited backlash from fans of both the snack and self-proclaimed inventor, Richard Montañez. Some consider the article an unjustified attack on Montañez, who created a brand of his own with his story of rising from factory floor worker to executive at snack maker Frito-Lay. The exposé asserts that the spicy chips were developed by a separate division at Frito-Lay and that a central part of Montañez’s claim to fame simply isn’t true. The story comes on the heels of Montañez releasing his second memoir in June and the production of a biopic on him directed by Eva Longoria. We talk about the fallout from the article and the broader question of how Latinos are portrayed and represented in the media and corporate world.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced this week that it would review a Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Legal observers say the move could signal the Court’s willingness to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to an abortion before a fetus is viable -- which generally occurs at 24 weeks. We’ll talk about the history of the case and how the Court’s 6-3 conservative majority might rule.

Nearly all of Apple’s products are assembled in China and 20% of its sales are generated there. That relationship has led Apple to compromise on its privacy protections for Chinese customers, allowing for government censorship and surveillance, according to a new New York Times investigation. Forum talks with New York Times technology reporter Jack Nicas about the investigation and the ways that Apple shifted its ideals and customer commitments to meet China’s escalating demands.

Federal safety authorities announced another investigation into Tesla after a fatal crash, a tweet from CEO Elon Musk sent the crypto-currency market into a tailspin and the company’s stock took a dive. Just another month of news for the CEO and company that some love to love, and many love to hate. We’ll talk about the volatility and ingenuity of Elon Musk and Telsa and where it all might be headed.

The social media app TikTok has grown exponentially since its release in 2016, with over 689 million active users worldwide. Famous for its short, looping videos that feature a range of content including lip syncs, dance routines, personal storytelling and documentary-style footage, it’s become a popular place to spend hours online, especially among Gen Z. Particularly in the past year, when in-person interaction was limited due to the pandemic, many people found community on TikTok and used it as a way to de-stress or express their creativity. We’ll talk about TikTok’s appeal and hear from popular creators Nick Cho and Taylor Cassidy about the communities they’ve found and built on the app.

Nearly half a million Americans died from opioid abuse between 1999 and 2019 and one family’s name has become synonymous with that crisis. The Sacklers, who own Purdue Pharma, built their wealth promoting the blockbuster addictive painkiller OxyContin. The company continues to face civil litigation for their role in helping ignite the epidemic of opioid addiction. Journalist Patrick Radden Keefe joins us to talk about his new book “Empire of Pain”, which chronicles the history of the Sackler family and critically examines corporate ethics in the pharmaceutical industry.

Israeli air strikes continued to devastate the Gaza Strip on Monday, as violence between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas entered its second week. The air attacks have killed roughly 200 Palestinians in Gaza — including more than 50 children — and left over 1,000 injured. Over the last week, at least ten Israelis have been killed by Hamas, which began launching rockets at Israel in retaliation for its decision to barricade a Muslim sacred site during Ramadan, and against mounting tensions over the threatened eviction of six Palestinian families from East Jerusalem. We'll talk about why the violence has erupted now and the prospects for a ceasefire.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company's power lines have sparked some of California's deadliest wildfires, including the 2018 Camp Fire where the utility pleaded guilty to killing 84 people. As summer approaches, concern is growing over high risk power lines starting fires around the state. We'll discuss where the Bay Area's riskiest power lines are, and where to go for help if a power line doesn't look right. If you have concerns about power lines in your neighborhood, email pictures to fires@kqed.org.

The Fire Victim Trust in charge of compensating Camp fire survivors spent $51 million in overhead expenses in 2020. The Trust disbursed just $7 million to fire victims in that same period of time, amounting to less than 0.1% of the $13.5 billion promised. That's according to a KQED analysis of federal bankruptcy court filings, court transcripts and correspondence between staff of the Fire Victim Trust and the victims themselves. We'll hear about the investigation and get an update on why so many fire survivors have yet to receive their settlement.

In her new book, “Mom Genes: Inside the New Science of Our Ancient Maternal Instinct,” author Abigail Tucker explores what’s behind terms such as "mom brain," “maternal instinct” and other so-called parenting myths that have some truth to them. As it turns out, having children changes parents’ brains. Tucker researched the cellular-level revamping of parental brains that led her to some startling conclusions about how we perceive motherhood and raise children. We talk with Tucker about what parenting does to our brains and how that relates to the pandemic.

For more than 10 years, Bloomberg’s Senior Executive Editor Brad Stone has covered Amazon, the company and its founder Jeff Bezos. Stone’s new book "Amazon Unbound", examines how Bezos’ creation has become one of the largest corporations on the planet. But what is the cost to workers, the environment and to Bezos himself? We’ll talk about Amazon, Bezos and how the pandemic helped solidify the fortune of the richest man in the world.

The Centers for Disease Control announced Thursday that persons who are fully vaccinated that is, two weeks have passed since the final dose can eschew masks and social distancing in most settings both indoors and outdoors. Locations where masks are still required include health care, correctional and homeless facilities and public transportation, as well as places listed on local health ordinances. As of Wednesday, a third of the U.S. is fully vaccinated. More than 46% of Americans have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine and that number is expected to rise now that 12- to 15-year-olds can get vaccinated. Well talk about the CDCs announcement, the science behind it and what it means for reopening plans.

On June 19, 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed and two months after the Confederacy surrendered, enslaved Americans in Texas were notified of the end of slavery. "On Juneteenth," the new memoir by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed, explores the history of that event, its legacy and its influence on her own life.

State Senator Scott Wiener’s legislation to decriminalize psychedelic drugs for personal and therapeutic use passed in the state senate’s Health Committee in April. Senate Bill 519, would also expunge criminal records for people with prior possession convictions, which Wiener hopes will remedy some of the consequences of the war on drugs. Psychedelic-assisted therapy is already used by patients and doctors to treat mental health disorders such as depression and PTSD. While many veterans and drug advocacy groups support the bill, opponents say that if it passes in the senate, the legislation will cause an increase in the number of psychedelic drugs sold and recreationally used.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared on Monday that 41 California counties are in a drought emergency. But unlike during the last major drought, the state has imposed no rules governing water waste. The last mandate, which expired in November 2017, included restrictions on, among other things, residential irrigation and car-washing. Advocates say these rules should be reinstated as the state once again enters a drought, claiming they not only save water but encourage eco-friendly mindsets. But others believe that water-use mandates should instead be enacted on the local level. We want to hear from you: should California reimpose water-waste rules for this drought? If so, which limitations should it prioritize?

At the outset of her new memoir, "The Secret to Superhuman Strength," celebrated graphic novelist Alison Bechdel muses about the origins of her obsession with exercise -- from skiing to running to martial arts to the latest 7-minute workout. For her, the fixation is a physical dependence: "I can't help myself. The sweat, the endorphins, the gear, the togs, the next new thing!" It also has deep emotional and spiritual roots, furthering her quest to get out of her head and transcend her ego. We'll talk to Bechdel about her lifelong fitness odyssey.

The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show sexually transmitted diseases are at an all-time high for the sixth year in a row. In her new book, Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs, UCSF School of Medicine associate professor Dr. Ina Park says it's easier for people to have sex than to talk about it. She takes a fact-based--often humorous--look at sexually transmitted diseases, from gonorrhea to herpes to HIV. We talk with Park about sex, STDs and take your questions.

A 2020 study found that for every person who dies of COVID-19, at least nine people become bereaved. With more than half a million lives lost to COVID-19 in the U.S., that means more than 5 million people are experiencing grief from the pandemic alone. In her New York Times op-ed, “The Grief Crisis is Coming,” journalist and author Allison Gilbert writes that “we must begin to address the toll” of this grief and its impact on public health. We’ll talk to Gilbert and bereavement researcher Dr. Toni Miles about the rippling effects of grief on this scale and how to address it.

The last time a California governor faced a recall in 2003, there were more than 100 candidates on the ballot. This time around, the gubernatorial recall election is also shaping up to be a circus and not just because of the bear that candidate John Cox brought to a news conference. Well talk about the candidates lining up to replace Governor Gavin Newsom in the recall election later this year, including former San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer,

Covering politics has never been easy, but since the Jan. 6 insurrection, the landscape has become particularly difficult for the press. How does the country create costs and accountability for lying and shamelessness in politics? And following four years of Donald Trump, have the rules for press coverage permanently changed? Media critic and New York University professor Jay Rosen joins us to discuss how the press should respond when one party is actively supporting the “Big Lie” -- the false claim that the November 2020 election was stolen.

Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled his $100-billion “California Comeback Plan” on Monday, which includes a proposal for $600 stimulus payments to a projected two-thirds of Californians, with additional $500 checks to families with children. The plan also proposes relief for rent and overdue utility bills. With a projected $75.7 billion state budget surplus, Newsom has until this Friday to submit his updated budget proposal. On Sunday, the governor announced a plan to increase funding for child and home care. We’ll talk about his budget plan’s potential impacts both economically and politically ahead of the upcoming gubernatorial recall election.

As more people get vaccinated and the state opens up, concerns over how to re-enter the social world are front and center. This is particularly true for babies born during the pandemic and toddlers who may have not learned usual socialization skills in the past year. We’ll talk to a pediatrician about what we should expect from kids that young, what you should and shouldn't worry about when it comes to your child’s social behavior and whether some kids are more at risk from lack of socialization opportunities.

The California Public Utilities Commission is debating potential updates to its rooftop solar program to address customer complaints about equity in billing. California’s Net Energy Metering subsidy program, which credits solar panel-owning customers when their systems generate excess electricity, has been contributing to higher electric bills across the state. The “cost-shift” element places an unfair financial burden on customers without solar panels, shifting the ongoing costs for overall maintenance of the state’s electric grid to them. Advocates for reform want customers with solar panels to pay their fair share of system maintenance, while others worry a rule change would decrease incentives to go solar, impacting the state’s clean energy efforts. We’ll discuss the ways California’s solar rules could be reformed and what potential changes could mean for solar energy in the state.

An old wound was healed last week when former California state Assemblymember and longtime LGBTQ rights leader Tom Ammiano received his varsity letter decades after earning it on his high school track team. During an interview with KQED’s Political Breakdown, Ammiano, now 79, told his story of being denied a varsity letter because of homophobic rhetoric stating, “it’s something that still hurts, even a hundred years later.” A longtime listener was struck by the conversation and reached out to Immaculate Conception High School in New Jersey directly. The president and director of the school had a letter custom-made. His story went viral and since then, Ammiano has gained national recognition for his work in civil rights, education and politics.

Health experts say that while the Bay Area will likely end up with 80% of its population vaccinated against COVID-19, the United States is unlikely to reach herd immunity, a threshold where a high enough percentage of the population is inoculated against the coronavirus to essentially end its spread. Half of the adults in the U.S. have been inoculated with at least one dose, but daily vaccination rates have been dropping. We’ll talk about what this means for the future of the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 579,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the United States as of May 2021. Michael Lewis’ new book, “The Premonition,” argues that many would still be alive had the Centers for Disease Control and federal government responded promptly and forcefully in the pandemic’s early days. The book follows the American doctors and scientists who advocated for immediate action and charts the roadblocks they faced, including bureaucratic red tape, for-profit health care and partisan politics. Lewis, known for his books “Moneyball” and “The Big Short,” joins us to discuss where our public health systems went wrong.

Low-wage frontline workers have kept Californians fed and vulnerable populations cared for since the start of the pandemic. And they’ve borne a high cost for their work. A recent study out of UC Merced finds a 30% increase in deaths for essential workers in 2020. We’ll hear about people working in restaurants, grocery stores, home care and other industries who feared losing income -- or their jobs --if they took time off to recover from COVID-19. And as the state moves toward a full reopening next month, we’ll look at lessons learned during the pandemic on how we can better protect and support low-wage frontline workers.

At age 14, Ian Manuel was sentenced to life without parole for shooting and injuring a woman. Manuel spent 18 years in solitary confinement, living in a windowless room 10 feet by seven feet wide. He was released in 2016 following the efforts of Equal Justice Initiative's Bryan Stevenson, and with the support of his victim, who advocated for his early release. Manuel captures his experiences in his new book My Time Will Come: A Memoir of Crime, Punishment, Hope, and Redemption. We'll talk to him about his advocacy work and how the justice system can be improved.

As the Biden administration passes the 100-day mark, observers on the left have been pleasantly surprised that the presidents policies are more progressive than promised on the campaign trail. Biden has pushed big government programs to maximize vaccination access, rebuild infrastructure and invest in education. But some progressives would still like to see him push for specific policies his administration hasnt yet addressed, like Medicare for All and free tuition at four-year colleges. Well discuss how progressives are looking at the current administration, and how California, the state that voted for Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Democratic Primary, grades Bidens performance so far.

President Joe Biden promised a more humane and welcoming approach to asylum seekers, yet many Trump administration policies that limited people's ability to ask for asylum remain. We get an update on the humanitarian crisis for thousands of migrants and asylum seekers who are still waiting at the US-Mexico border and talk about the Biden's Administration handling of the issue so far.

American Indian and Alaska Native women are up to ten times more likely to be murdered than the national average. And too often, according to the U.S. Interior Department, "murders and missing persons cases in Indian country go unsolved and unaddressed, leaving families and communities devastated." Journalist Connie Walker has covered cases of missing and murdered indigenous women deeply, most recently as the host of the podcast "Stolen" which investigates the 2018 disappearance of 23-year old Jermain Charlo near the Flathead Reservation in Montana. Walker joins us to talk about what she learned and what it means to be indigenous in America.

In January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared India “saved humanity from a big disaster by containing corona effectively.” But this week, recorded Covid-19 cases in India surpassed the 20 million mark, and experts warn that the worst is yet to come. Hospital beds and oxygen devices remain in short supply and crematoriums in Delhi are overwhelmed. Critics contend that the Modi administration’s decision to open up the country and disregard Covid-19 as an ongoing threat left the country vulnerable to what is now the world’s worst outbreak of the disease. We’ll look at how India got to this point and what lessons can be learned from this humanitarian crisis.

When the COVID-19 pandemic came into full force in 2020, the American job market was hit hard. With many losing their existing jobs, and young Millennials and Gen Z entering a shaky job market, working multiple jobs became a financial necessity. Census data shows that the number of Americans juggling multiple jobs is steadily rising. E-commerce websites like Etsy had a 42 percent growth in new sellers compared to previous years. We discuss the increase of side gigs and how some young people have had to jungle their full time jobs with side hustles, monetizing creative hobbies like cooking and jewelry making to earn extra income. Have you had to come up with a pandemic side hustle?

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a committee on Tuesday to study how the city could provide reparations for its Black residents. The 15 member African American Reparations Advisory Committee will take two years to come up with a plan for compensating those whose ancestors were enslaved or discriminated against by Jim Crow laws. Forum will discuss what reparations could look like for San Francisco, who could get them and what it will take to make it happen.

As the host of NPR’s podcast “Death, Sex & Money,” Anna Sale is not afraid to talk about those difficult topics (and more) with complete strangers. But as she notes in her new book, “Let’s Talk About Hard Things,” sometimes it’s easier to talk to a bartender or a podcast host “because it’s downright terrifying to discuss the things that are the most important to us with the people who are most important to us.” Yet, that is exactly what we should do, argues Sale, because talking -- and listening -- will help us connect with the world around us. We’ll talk with Sale about how to approach difficult conversations, especially as some of us look to reconnect coming out of this pandemic.

Imagine if your company announced that it was piloting a shorter work week. You’d work 32 hours for 40 hours of pay, and it would be up to you to get your work done in less time. With those free hours, maybe you could take a day off each week, or start the workday at 11, after exercising or taking your child to school. The French have tried working fewer hours. Some Spanish companies plan to pilot a 32 hour week, with financial help from the Spanish government. But could this be something adopted by U.S. companies, where working long hours is often expected? We discuss the idea of a shorter work week, what might change for employees and if it would be bad for business.

More than a half-century ago, “Sesame Street” debuted on TV screens. Explicitly designed to close the learning gap for kids from low-income families by teaching the alphabet, numbers and other preschool basics, the show also tackled social-emotional skills, like dealing with grief and conflict. In her new documentary “Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street,” director Marilyn Agrelo uncovers the show’s radical origin story, using interviews and archival footage to trace the show’s first decade on air. We’ll talk with Agrelo about the enduring legacy of “Sesame Street.”

The Armenian Genocide, the Ottoman Empire’s executions, deportations and forced removals of an estimated 1.5 million Armenian citizens during World War I, was officially recognized by President Biden on April 24. The move drew praise from human rights advocates around the world and especially in California, home to the largest Armenian diaspora population in the United States. In the century since the killings took place, some world leaders, including Turkey, have refused to label the atrocity as a genocide. We'll talk about the significance of Biden's move and its potential effects on U.S.-Turkey relations.

Shock G, the co-founder of the band Digital Underground, also known as Humpty Hump, passed away on April 22nd and was laid to rest in Tampa this past Saturday. The 90’s were a special time for Bay Area hip hop and Shock G is known to be one of the architects. He is responsible for hit songs like, “The Humpty Dance”, “Doowhatchulike” and “Same Song.” He was also a gatekeeper for discovering new talent -- the most famous being Tupac -- and produced his breakthrough single, “I Get Around.” In addition to that, he produced and collaborated with Dr. Dre, Prince and the Luniz, to name a few. As his fans, friends and family mourn his death, we examine Shock G’s contributions to the Bay Area.

A new investigation by Reveal, from the Center for Investigative Reporting, analyzed more than 5 million paycheck protection program loans, finding stark inequity in the rate of lending in majority Asian, Black, or Latinx areas compared with majority White neighborhoods. We get the details.

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Forum asked listeners to submit recordings of their original poems for a chance to be featured on air. Every Friday in April, we’ve heard some of these poems, representing a range of themes like family, love, nature and self-reflection. To close out the month, we’ll play more listener poems and talk about the power of poetry. Tell us: what do you love about poetry?

H Mart is a supermarket chain specializing in Asian foods. It’s also where Michelle Zauner begins her new memoir, writing, “you’ll likely find me… sobbing near the dry goods, asking myself, Am I even Korean anymore if there’s no one left to call and ask which brand of seaweed we used to buy?” “Crying in H Mart” analyzes Zauner’s relationship with her late mother and their shared Korean heritage through meticulously described meals — like the soybean paste stew doenjang jjigae and chonggak (“ponytail” radish) kimchi —and the contexts in which they were eaten. We’ll talk with Zauner about processing her grief in both her memoir and music as the artist Japanese Breakfast, as well as her art’s evolution in anticipation of her upcoming album, Jubilee.

When the pandemic hit, those of us who could started living much of our lives online – work, school and socializing. The meetings, the classes, the concerts, the chats with friends, the book clubs and ALL that streaming. Now, as we begin to emerge from the lock downs, we take a look at our relationship with the internet, for better and for worse. How has the internet been helpful to you this past year? How has it changed your relationships with other people? Do you think you’ve used it too much, and will maybe back off, now that things are opening up? We want to hear about the pandemic, the internet and you.

California will lose one of its 53 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after new census data showed that the state's population rose by only 6.1 percent since 2010. Overall, the U.S. population grew by 7.4 percent -- the smallest gain since the 1930s. We'll talk about what the loss of a seat means for California politically and what's next as the state prepares to redraw its legislative districts.

Legislation aimed to establish a federal response to hate crimes against Asian Americans overwhelmingly passed in the Senate last week. One of its sponsors, Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, was the first Asian American woman elected to the Senate. Hirono is the only serving U.S. senator who is an immigrant, and her new memoir, "Heart of Fire: An Immigrant Daughter's Story, interweaves her life story with the policies shed later champion. Well talk with Sen. Hirono about where her bill stands, the specific pandemic challenges of Hawaii and President Biden's immigration policy.

The state of California will send “life-saving oxygen equipment” to India, which is dealing with a deadly surge in COVID-19 cases. Doctors in India have been making pleas on social media as many hospitals run out of oxygen, and as the country marks a grim milestone of more than one million coronavirus cases in just a few days. We talk with California Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis about India’s coronavirus crisis, California’s efforts to help and what it will take to make a dent in the problem.

One in five people who menstruate in the U.S. struggle with their periods every month due to lack of access to hygienic menstrual products, according to a 2019 study on the “State of the Period”. This issue, known as period poverty, has resulted in other discouraging statistics -- one in four teens in the U.S. say they have missed school because of poor access to menstrual products. In California, menstrual products are now tax-free through the end of 2023, and legislators and many young activists are working to make free menstrual products available in schools and public agencies. Meanwhile, countries like Scotland and New Zealand have made tampons and pads free. In this student-produced segment for KQED’s annual Youth Takeover week, we look at the latest efforts to address period poverty and the overall stigma surrounding menstruation.

KQED’s speaker series “¿Dónde Esta Mi Gente?” spotlights writers who explore and extol their Latinx roots in their work. Its next installment will feature the voices of Afro-Latinx writers from across the U.S. The free virtual event will take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 28. We’ll talk with one of the curators of “¿Dónde Esta Mi Gente?” about the role of literature during a pandemic, the need to highlight Latinx voices and celebrating Black joy.

The new podcast series “La Brega” explores the often misunderstood relationship between Puerto Rico and the U.S. mainland. The term “la brega” has many meanings to residents of the island, from survival to struggle to hustle. It speaks to the issues Puerto Ricans have faced in being part of the United States for more than a century, including feeling neglected by their government. We’ll talk with the producers of “La Brega” about the urgency of documenting Puerto Rico’s contemporary challenges.

Some East Palo Alto residents--who came to California after fleeing sea level rise in their Pacific Island homes--are finding they may soon be climate refugees for a second time. More than half of the city is vulnerable to flood, with seas predicted to rise by 2 feet by the year 2050 and possibly 7 feet by 2100. We’ll talk about KQED’s series “Fighting to Stay: Climate Solutions in East Palo Alto”

As a comedian and the Emmy-winning host of CNN’s “United Shades of America,” W. Kamau Bell addresses the racial inequities of American life with bracing and deft humor. Bell does not shy away from calling it like he sees it, and he’s seen a lot. With its sixth season debuting on May 2, the show will tackle policing the police, racial wealth gaps and the lack of diversity in STEM, among other topics. We’ll talk with Bell about protest, police killings and creating television during a pandemic.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency for Sonoma and Mendocino counties on Wednesday as California’s record-dry conditions continue. Fuel moisture levels are some of the lowest the state has seen, paving the way for increased fire risk and more intense fires when they occur. Earlier this month, Newsom unveiled a $536 million plan to help prevent future fires. We get an expert’s analysis on what to expect this fire season and what the state could and should do to prepare for it.

The anguishing cell phone video of George Floyd's murder, captured by teenager Darnella Frazier, lay at the heart of the prosecution's case against the former police officer convicted of his killing. Bystander videos can provide important counter-narratives to official accounts, and the very act of filming law enforcement officers can sometimes de-escalate violent confrontations. But once widely circulated, videos documenting police misconduct can be deeply disturbing to communities already traumatized by violence. We'll talk about how to film police encounters safely, effectively and ethically.

Filmmaker Ali Tabrizi is making big waves with his recent Netflix film “Seaspiracy” which looks at the damage caused by the seafood industry from overfishing, to pollution, to human rights abuses, to exacerbating climate change. The documentary implores viewers to stop eating fish altogether to save the seas. But critics say while “Seaspiracy” sheds a light on some serious issues, like harmful plastics and the illegal fishing underworld, it does more harm than good by making links where there aren’t any and regularly exaggerating, including claiming there is no such thing as sustainable fishing. We’ll talk to experts about the controversial documentary, the state of our seas and what tangible actions can make a difference in the fight to save our oceans and protect local fisheries.

May 1 is approaching, the deadline for the hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors who applied to college to commit to their chosen schools. But for many, this year's admissions cycle was punishing. The COVID-19 pandemic closed high schools to in-person learning, cancelled standardized tests and pushed campus tours online. Many students gave up on the idea of college, especially those with newfound home responsibilities or financial pressures. At the same time, application volumes ballooned at some of the most popular schools, like UC Berkeley and Harvard, making admissions increasingly competitive. We talk about the changing landscape of college admissions and the experiences of this year’s high school seniors.

More than half of American adults have now had at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, but around 20% say they are still reluctant to to get the vaccine. To persuade the hesitant, health officials are turning to influencers on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter, and partnering with social media like never before to message younger, more diverse audiences and hard-to-reach communities. Well talk about vaccine influencers, what explains the high rates of vaccine hesitancy and the science of changing peoples' minds.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, now in her second term as Speaker, made history in 2007 as the first woman to hold the position. She also made headlines Tuesday when her comments following Derek Chauvin’s conviction drew immediate backlash, with some contrasting her remarks with those of the youngest generation of congressional Democrats. In her new biography, “Madam Speaker,” journalist Susan Page looks at Pelosi’s climb to power and what Pelosi represents — and has to say — about the future of the Democratic party. We’ll talk to Page, who is Washington Bureau chief at USA Today, about the book and other national politics news, including where the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act currently stands.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will take part in a virtual climate change summit hosted by President Joe Biden on Thursday, Earth Day. It’s a bright spot in a deteriorating U.S.-China relationship, and comes as tensions rise over human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region and as China doubles down on a more aggressive style of diplomacy. We’ll hear about the roots of China’s so-called “wolf warrior” foreign relations offensive and discuss the future of relations between the two countries on climate change, human rights, and more.

After three weeks of often wrenching testimony, a Minneapolis jury on Tuesday found police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter Tuesday in the death of George Floyd. We want to hear how you are processing the jury’s decision, and what you think it means for broader efforts to achieve racial justice and police accountability.

Supporters of police reform are expressing relief at the guilty verdicts on all counts in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin Tuesday. They say it’s a big first step toward holding law enforcement accountable for use of excessive force. But how are the verdicts being interpreted by police officers, chiefs and unions, some of whom have resisted or blocked efforts to reform law enforcement? We’ll talk with San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott – whose union supports certain reforms – and police department critics, to hear their take on the verdicts and what they may mean for real change.

Dean Karnazes once ran 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. That was in 2006, not long after his memoir “Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner” became a national bestseller. His new book, "A Runner’s High: My Life in Motion," charts Karnazes’ return to the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run in his mid-50s. Once named one of the most influential people in the world by Time Magazine and a winner of the Badwater Ultramarathon and 4 Deserts Ultramarathon Series, Karnazes has a unique insight into the power and physicality of running. The “Ultramarathon Man” joins us to discuss what it means to achieve a runner’s high.

The non-fungible token (NFT) craze, which took off in 2020, appears to continue unabated. NFTs are digital “certificates of authenticity” that attach to creations like songs, photos and sports clips, and they can command hefty prices. An NFT of digital artist Beeple’s work brought in $69 million at auction last month, and other NFTs are being sold for similarly eyebrow-raising sums. And demand is showing no sign of declining despite what law professor Jonathan Zittrain in a recent Atlantic piece calls “their abstraction, their seemingly arbitrary valuation, and...the paltriness of the privileges they convey to their owners.” We talk to Zittrain about the future of NFTs.

A fiscal management team issued a dire warning earlier this month about the finances of City College San Francisco, the city’s two-year community college which offers free tuition to all city residents. The devastating report concluded that the college could not meet its obligations to students, faculty and staff and remain solvent without making drastic changes. In March, noting it faced a $33 million budget shortfall for the upcoming academic year, City College announced that it would cut 163 full-time faculty and 34 administrative positions. As students and faculty rally to save classes and programs, the administration says its hands are tied by the financial problems caused by decreased enrollment and revenues. We talk about the future of City College.

Even after the Civil Rights Act in 1964 banned employment discrimination, women in the workplace still found it nearly impossible to get the kind of jobs they really wanted and were qualified for. When National Public Radio launched 50 years ago, four women found their way into a world previously closed to them — broadcast journalism. They became icons — using their voices to fight sexism in the workplace and cover decades of news. We examine the amazing careers of “Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie” with Lisa Napoli, author of “The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR”.

Asian American mental health care providers in California are seeing an increase in demand for services in the wake of surging anti-Asian hate incidents, and the killings last month of six Asian women in the Atlanta area. The requests are notable for a community that’s been least likely of all racial groups to seek out mental health services. We take a deeper look at the heavy emotional and psychological toll of anti-Asian racism and what can be done to remove barriers to care.

To help fight disparate testing and vaccination rates within the Black community, organizers realized they would need grassroots activism. That’s when Dr. Kim Rhoads, an epidemiologist at UCSF, turned to filmmaker Kevin Epps, who directed the documentaries “Straight Outta Hunters Point” and “The Black Rock” and is a trusted Bay Area community member. Working with Umoja Health, a partnership that includes a dozen community organizations, UCSF and the Alameda County Health department, Rhoads and Epps have been able to help reach residents at higher rates than other sites aimed at underserved communities. We’ll talk to them both about their work and the importance of community activism.

California is adding $536 million to the budget for wildfire prevention. The money will go toward efforts including forest and vegetation management and the retrofitting and fireproofing of homes. As the state enters a second year of drought following 2020’s record number of acres burned, some experts are raising concerns that the state isn’t going far enough to avoid a crisis. We'll hear about efforts underway to prevent another catastrophic wildfire season.

In heated debates about gun laws and gun violence, one group of victims is often overlooked: children. Each year in America, thousands of children are killed or injured after finding unsecured guns in their homes. Millions of kids endure psychological wounds after losing loved ones to gun violence or from the mere threat of school shootings. In his new book, “Children Under Fire: An American Crisis,” Washington Post reporter John Woodrow Cox tells the story of those children. We talk with Cox about strategies that could save lives and protect kids from life-altering trauma.

Now that California is reopening, how will dating change? After a year of social distancing, many of us are longing for emotional and physical intimacy, while others are suffering from FODA: fear of dating again. What are the rules, if any, around post-pandemic dating and intimacy? Are Zoom dates here to stay? And will you require proof of vaccination to swipe right? Well hear your stories and get advice about how to approach dating, love and sex in a post-pandemic world.

Last year, in response to concerns about the spread of COVID-19 among unhoused people, officials in Santa Rosa created a sanctioned encampment in the parking lot of a local community center. Those living at the site reported feeling safer and having better access to services, and neighborhood residents who initially opposed the idea came to view the program positively. Elsewhere in the state, San Francisco set up “Safe Sleeping Sites” last May, and Sacramento recently created two “Safe Ground” sites, with one being for people living in cars and RVs. The idea is being floated in Los Angeles, as well, after police and protestors clashed over the clearing of an encampment at Echo Park last month. We’ll talk about Santa Rosa’s experiment in addressing homelessness and how other cities in California are implementing or thinking about sanctioned encampments.

Whether it’s tribal in nature -- or a nasty divorce-- many Americans feel trapped in repetitive conflicts that can seem irresolvable, with no end in sight. Investigative journalist Amanda Ripley spent four years studying these types of high conflict situations, discovering tools to defuse their potency and learning how to recognize what kind of problems are solvable. Ripley joins us to talk about how to resolve our deepest divisions and her new book, “High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped, and How We Get Out.”

California is pausing the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine following a recommendation to do so from federal health officials who reported extremely rare blood clot complications in six patients. Meanwhile, California plans to expand vaccine eligibility to everyone 16 and older on Thursday. So far, roughly 40 percent of Californians have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and more than one in five are fully vaccinated, but experts say the state has a ways to go. We’ll hear the latest developments about the J&J vaccine and talk about what we can expect as the state prepares to open up eligibility. For more information about booking a vaccine appointment, check out KQED's guide to vaccines.

Kristine Hostetter was a popular fourth grade teacher at an Orange County elementary school, when she marched on the Capitol on January 6th, but did not enter the building. When she returned home, the school district suspended her, a move that outraged some families but which others supported. We’ll talk with the New York Times reporter who has brought national attention to Hostetter’s suspension and the ongoing fallout. What are the limits of free speech in the workplace? How would you react if your child’s teacher had marched on the Capitol?

The new Frontline documentary "American Insurrection" investigates the rise of right-wing extremism and the assault on the U.S. Capitol. Forum talks with ProPublica reporter and Frontline correspondent A.C. Thompson about how extremist groups and individuals became emboldened and radicalized.

Last month, 45-year-old Lorenzo Perez was shot in broad daylight in Fresno while selling food from a bicycle cart. His death illustrated the many risks street vendors take to sell their goods. Advocates say street vendors, ubiquitous in California’s Latino neighborhoods, are seen as easy targets. Vendors continue to face decreased sales and increased risk of thefts and assaults as the pandemic stretches on. We talk about the risks street vendors face and how to best help.

To live deliberately as a swimmer means you are a seeker; a chaser of the oceans blue corduroy, a follower of river veins, journalist Bonnie Tsui writes in her book, Why We Swim. A lifelong swimmer whose parents met at a pool, Tsui interweaves her personal love of the sport with scientific research on the psychology and physicality of swimming. She shares stories of long-distance swimmers and breaks down the reasons we swim: for survival, well-being, community, competition and flow. We want to hear from you: why do you swim?

Last week, Amazon workers at an Alabama warehouse voted down a call to unionize, and that decision has organized labor scrambling. Though a majority of Americans say they are in favor of unions, creating new ones is not easy. Key to the movement’s future is a sweeping piece of pro-union legislation, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which passed the House and faces uncertain prospects in the Senate.We’ll examine the future of organized labor and discuss how rising inequality is shifting the conversation around unions.

President Biden on Friday ordered a 36-member bipartisan commission to study proposals to expand the size of the U.S. Supreme Court and set term limits for justices. Biden first proposed establishing the commission on the 2020 campaign trail, as the Court's rightward shift during the Trump Administration became a rallying cry for Democrats. We'll talk about the potential ramifications of a Supreme Court overhaul.

Research has found that we crave and consume more M&M’s when they’re multi-colored than when they’re just one color. In his new book “Hooked,” Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Michael Moss explains how multinational food companies use illusions of variety and fancy packaging to manipulate our predisposed preferences. Moss argues that we should think and talk about our relationship with processed foods the way we do with tobacco, drugs and other addictions. He joins us to talk about food addiction and the extent “Big Food” is culpable in the 40% rate of obesity among American adults.

In his new book, “Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America,” journalist Alec MacGillis tracks how the labor and business practices of Amazon, the nation’s second-largest private employer, can damage communities and workers. MacGillis utilizes Amazon as an example of much broader problems in American society including income inequality, geographic wealth concentrations and consumer expectations for low prices. The book’s release comes ahead of a closely watched effort in Alabama to establish the first union at an Amazon warehouse in the United States. We talk with MacGillis about how Amazon reshapes — and exemplifies — America.

After a decade as a lawyer, Julie DiCaro thought she had landed a dream job as a sports radio host. But the work environment quickly turned toxic, one where she felt she constantly had to prove herself as a woman. In her book, Sidelined: Sports, Culture, and Being a Woman in America, DiCaro lays bare the treatment of women on and off the sports field from sexism to internet trolls to pervasive misogyny. We talk with DiCaro about the enduring inequality for women in sports and the actions the industry can take to change it.

As students prepare to return to classrooms, schools are looking to tutoring, extended school days and reimagined standards to address gaps caused by distance learning. Students from low-income families and English learners were among those least able to consistently log in to virtual school over the past year. President Biden’s latest Covid relief bill includes funds set aside for learning loss, and in March, California Gov. Gavin Newsom allocated $4.6 billion for summer school and additional instruction time. Yet some are critical of the concept of “learning loss,” claiming deficit mindsets negate all that students did learn over the past year and fail to prioritize students’ socio-emotional well-being. We’ll talk about the best approaches for schools, teachers, parents and students moving back to in-person education after a year online.

Many young women depend on the Bay Area Rapid Transit system as their primary mode of transportation... But young women and girls riding BART say they have experienced harassment from catcalling to stalking and unwelcome sexual advances… forcing many to spend large amounts of money on ridesharing options like Uber and Lyft. In 2018, the violent murder of Nia Wilson on the MacArthur station in Oakland brought awareness to racially charged attacks on public transit. We hear about a new community led partnership to combat gender-based violence and harassment on BART.

Americans are the least worried about contracting COVID-19 than they have ever been since the start of the pandemic, according to a new Gallup poll. Factors contributing to the optimism include the drop in cases in most states and improvements in vaccine rollout. Now, California Governor Newsom has promised a full reopening by mid-June if the state can keep hospitalizations low. We want to hear from listeners: How are you adjusting mentally or changing your behavior as re-opening becomes imminent? How has your vaccination status affected your outlook?

In her book of essays, “White Space,” writer Jennifer De Leon explores how she became a writer — a journey inextricably linked to her parents’ migration from Guatemala to the United States. Throughout her life, De Leon carved a place for herself in spaces that felt unfamiliar: in the private college where she didn’t feel wealthy or white enough; in Guatemala where she immersed herself in a culture and language locals expected her to already know. This is De Leon’s second book release during the pandemic — her young adult novel, “Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From,” came out last May. De Leon joins to talk about her Central American roots, her parents’ reservations about her career and writing in mostly white spaces.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that almost all businesses in the state may reopen on June 15 at or near full capacity, provided vaccine supplies are stable, hospitalization rates remain low and certain large-scale indoor events implement vaccine or testing requirements. The statewide mask mandate will also stay in place. We'll discuss the public health implications of the reopening plan, and we'll also talk about the status of vaccine rollout efforts globally as new coronavirus variants raise alarms among public health officials worldwide.

A century ago, nearly one million Black farmers worked the land across the United States. Today, there are around 45,000 Black farmers. Investigations into the United States Department of Agriculture found that starting in the 1950s, illegal and discriminatory loan programs resulted in enormous wealth transfers from Black to white farmers, and are at the root of this decline. In her new book "We Are Each Other's Harvest," Natalie Baszile, author of novel "Queen Sugar," looks at what happened. Through essays, poems, photographs and personal stories, she documents the rich agricultural history of African Americans. We'll talk with Bay Area based Baszile about the book, some of the farmers she's met and what's in the American Rescue Plan to help reverse the trend.

During the pandemic, California home buyers gobbled up single-family homes in exurbs and suburbs while low-income earners struggled to make rent. The median home price in California rose roughly 20 percent during the past year to about $700,000, according to the California Association of Realtors. At the same time, rents plummeted in many of the state’s biggest cities — especially in high-end luxury towers. But those drops do little to help millions of renters in California barely managing to keep roofs over their heads. Part of the problem is that, based on some estimates, California faces a shortage of roughly 3 million homes. We examine how these trends could make California’s long-time housing shortage worse and what policies are on the horizon to address the problem.

Therapists have been in high demand during the pandemic, after shifting services online. But with no licensed psychologists in 33 percent of counties nationwide, the demand can be bigger than the supply. That has set the stage for growing interest in services offering mental-health care on a smartphone. Startups offering digital behavioral health were able to raise $1.8 billion in funding in 2020, compared to $609 million the year before. We’ll hear about therapy apps, and whether they can live up to their promises.

Can self-deception be beneficial? That’s one of the questions animating Shankar Vedantam’s new book “Useful Delusions,” which argues that holding false beliefs is not necessarily a sign of pathology or ignorance. We’ll talk to the Hidden Brain podcast host about the lies we tell ourselves — and each other — and the role some forms of deception play in sustaining relationships and advancing mental well-being.

Recording artists protested outside Spotify offices around the world last month as part of an ongoing movement to demand better pay. The streaming site’s payout rates have been decreasing over time, with artists today making approximately .0038 cents per stream. The Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) wants the Swedish streaming company to pay one cent per stream. We break down how artists can make money today using online platforms and hear from some artists about why they say it’s not a living wage.

Under pressure from lawmakers and public health officials, Facebook has recently ramped up efforts to combat Covid-19 vaccine misinformation on its site by banning anti-vaxxers and marking misleading posts as false. But according to Bloomberg tech reporter Sarah Frier, those measures are doomed to fall short because the company's platform by design favors sensationalism over scientific nuance. We'll talk about the impact of covid vaccine misinformation on social media sites and what more can be done to control it.

At least 5,796 people presently detained in California county jails have waited more than one year for a conviction or sentence. At least 1,300 of these inmates have been incarcerated for three or more years, with more than 300 waiting for more than five years. And the backlog has worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 44,241 people in total mostly people of color currently awaiting convictions or sentences in California county jails. That's all according to a new report from CalMatters, which spoke with incarcerated persons, crime victims and impacted family members. We'll speak with CalMatters' Robert Lewis about his report.

As the pandemic creeps into its second year and as fires, droughts and floods continually remind us that the climate is changing, writer Anne Lamott notes that existential exhaustion is everywhere we look these days. In her new book, Dusk, Night, Dawn Lamott asks, where on earth do we start to get our world and joy and hope and our faith in life itself back? Lamott's approach is both spiritual and funny, embracing darkness and light and our worst flaws to move toward human connection, kindness. And we'll want to hear from you: What has been bringing you hope and joy?

President Joe Biden unveiled his $2 trillion infrastructure plan on Wednesday. Called the “American Jobs Plan,” the massive measure would rebuild aging roads, bridges and airports, while addressing climate change and racial inequities. It also includes funds to expand high-speed broadband internet across the country. California is poised to receive the biggest portion of federal funds if passed. Scott Shafer discusses what’s in the plan, how California would benefit and its prospects for passage in Congress with Vox reporter Ella Nilsen and Ethan Elkind, director of the climate program at UC Berkeley.

Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Assemblymember Rob Bonta last week to be the next state attorney general. If confirmed, Bonta will finish the term of newly confirmed U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. Bonta would be the first attorney general of Filipino descent in California. He currently represents California’s 18th district, which includes Oakland, Alameda and San Leandro. Scott Shafer talks with him about his nomination and what his priorities would be as attorney general.

A bill working its way through the state legislature would require companies with 500 or more employees to have gender neutral sections for children’s clothing and toys or face a fine. According to bill co-author Assemblymember Evan Low, the idea behind AB 1084 is to get away from children having to go to the boys’ section to buy a superhero t-shirt or the girls’ section to buy a doll. KQED’s Katie Orr will discuss the bill and hear from people who say this is long overdue, like low. She will also talk to critics who think this is government overreach. And we want to hear from you: what do you think about retail moving beyond labeling sections as boys or girls?

As more and more people get vaccinated, attention is turning to how to protect the vulnerable, while letting the vaccinated get back to things like the movie theater or travel. One emerging idea — that has already been adopted by some countries — is a vaccine passport. It would allow more freedom of movement to those vaccinated or with immunity from previous infection. Critics say passports are unreliable without long-term data on the duration of immunity. Some fear they will unfairly leave vulnerable and low income communities behind. KQED's Katie Orr breaks down the pros and cons of vaccine passports.

After two mass shootings in less than a week left 18 people dead in Colorado and Georgia, and amid a dramatic rise in community and domestic gun violence, Americans are again debating how to prevent future attacks. While history suggests that federal legislation has little chance of moving forward, some new laws are being adopted at the state level along with community-based approaches to prevent shootings. KQED's Scott Shafer talks about realistic solutions to reduce gun violence and the politics of this complex issue.

Senator Tammy Duckworth lost both legs when the Blackhawk helicopter she was co-piloting was shot down in Iraq 16 years ago. In her new memoir, "Every Day Is A Gift," Duckworth recounts how her challenging childhood prepared her to deal with these devastating injuries as well as a life in politics. She's the first senator to give birth while in office and the first Asian-American senator from Illinois. We'll talk to her about her life, her work and what her political future holds. And we'll also hear about what's next on the Democrats' legislative agenda.

In the past quarter century, the gap between what men and women are paid, has narrowed by only 8 cents. Women nationally now earn about 82 cents for every dollar a man earns and wage discrimination is even worse for women of color. We'll talk with Francesca Donner, gender director for the New York Times, about why the wage gap continues to exist and what can be done to change it.

Following increased backlash regarding the conservatorship of pop star Britney Spears, three bills aiming to reform conservatorship are now proposed in the California Legislature. Spears’ conservatorship, which began in 2008, has been strongly criticized by the #FreeBritney movement and participants in the recent New York Times documentary “Framing Britney Spears.” Conservatorships occur when an adult is deemed unable to care for themself or manage their finances and a judge appoints a person or organization to make decisions on their behalf. Under the proposed laws, there would be more requirements for conservators and protections for conservatees. We’ll talk about conservatorship under California law and take your questions.

The California State Board of Education approved an ethnic studies curriculum for K-12 after years of tumultuous debate. Some critics say the curriculum falls short of the true intent of ethnic studies as an academic discipline. Meanwhile, other opponents of the early drafts of the curriculum were concerned about presenting students with too critical a view of capitalism and white supremacy. In the end, the board of education adopted the curriculum in a way that provides teachers and districts flexibility in how they will teach ethnic studies. We examine the guidelines and the pushback, and hear about a proposal to make ethnic studies a high school graduation requirement in California.

Once known as the “land of orphans,” South Korea has placed nearly 200,000 children in foreign adoptions since the 1950’s. Until 1995, it was the world leader in sending children for adoption in the United States. Frustrated by incomplete and sometimes falsified records, many of those adoptees are now turning to DNA technology to find their birth families -- a process that is sometimes seamless, but more often fraught with challenges. We talk about the legacy of Korea’s adoption policies and speak with some adoptees about their efforts to connect with their families.

The new animated Netflix series “City of Ghosts” follows a group of kid detectives who solve problems and learn about the history of Los Angeles by communicating with its ghosts. Calling themselves the “Ghost Club,” the children visit different neighborhoods, uncovering the multicultural stories that shaped them. The show was created and executive produced by Elizabeth Ito, an Emmy Award-winning animator and native of Los Angeles, and has struck a chord with kids and adults alike with its charming, documentary-like style. Ito joins us to talk about the series.

On Thursday, Governor Newsom announced that eligibility for the Covid-19 vaccine would open on April 1 to those aged 50 and up, and to those aged 16 and up on April 15. State Senator Richard Pan, who is also a pediatrician, has been laser focused on getting Californians vaccinated. We’ll talk to Pan about what this expansion in eligibility will mean for herd immunity, how to combat anti-vaccine proponents, and what lies ahead for the state’s battle against Covid-19.

As Bay Area counties continue to loosen coronavirus restrictions, restaurants are expanding their services. We’ll hear from restaurateurs, including Oakland chef Tanya Holland, about how they’ve fared during the past year, and get their thoughts on welcoming patrons back. How has the pandemic changed the restaurant business, and have there been any silver linings? We want to hear from you: Are you eating out? What have you missed most, and are there any dining changes you want to keep?

Helping with online homework, lack of playdates, fighting for computer time or even alone time; it has been a tough year of pandemic parenting. And for essential worker parents, there has been the added worry of accidentally bringing the virus home. We’ll get advice from experts and tips for coping after a year of no school. And as a return to normal begins with many schools reconvening, we want to hear from you about the highs and lows of home life with kids after a year of pandemic stress.

State and federal officials are warning farmers and cities to prepare for potential water shortages as the state’s dry conditions reach worrisome levels. We discuss the latest.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf announced Tuesday that the city is launching a guaranteed income pilot program this spring for 600 residents, one of the largest programs in the U.S. to date. Shortly following Oakland’s announcement, Marin’s board of supervisors voted unanimously to launch its own pilot program for 125 low-income residents over two years. Earlier this month, a study of Stockton’s now completed experiment with guaranteed income found that there were measurable improvements to the well being, job prospects and financial stability of the participants. Critics of a universal basic income policy, however, are wary of the cost to scale these kinds of programs and fund them with public dollars. Stockton’s program was and Oakland’s program will be privately funded. We’ll take up the conversation on guaranteed income programs.

In the past year, since the pandemic began, the statewide homicide rate has increased 30%. At the same time, law enforcement officials have reduced jail populations because of the COVID-19 infection risk. That’s exacerbating friction between reform minded district attorneys and law enforcement in the state. Critics have launched recall efforts against the progressive district attorneys in Los Angeles and San Francisco. We’ll talk with San Francisco’s District Attorney, Chesa Boudin, and Vern Pierson, President of the California District Attorney Association, about their conflicting views about how to best address crime and criminal justice, and the impact the pandemic is having on the state’s crime rates.

The San Francisco Unified School District is having a difficult year. They're contending with falling enrollment, a school naming controversy, a retiring Superintendent and bringing kids back to school in mid-April. There is also an existing recall effort against Board Vice President Alison Collins, given new momentum after recent revelations of old tweets condemned as Anti-Asian. Marisa Lagos talks about the state of the SFUSD and what it all means for parents and students with Heather Knight, reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle, KQED’s Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, and the SF Examiner’s Ida Mojadad.

The murders of eight people in and around Atlanta last week have left Americans reeling from yet another mass killing. In an essay she penned for Vanity Fair, author R.O. Kwon wrote, “I am not spending any more of my limited time alive defending the humanity of marginalized people... This long, hard week, I have felt especially pulled toward the company of fellow Asian women.” The murders have many people questioning not only how women and Asian Americans are regarded in America, but also why so much of the focus has been on the shooter and not the victims. Mina Kim examines the intersection of misogyny and racism and the aftermath of the shootings with author R.O. Kwon, WABE reporter Emil Moffatt, and The New York Time’s Juliana Kim..

Just two months after Georgia voters handed Democrats a majority in the U.S. Senate, state lawmakers there are proposing laws that would curtail weekend voting hours and impose ID requirements for absentee ballots, among other restrictions that critics say disproportionately affect Black voters. Attempts to restrict voting are not limited to Georgia. The Brennan Center for Justice reports that as of February 2021, lawmakers in 43 different states have introduced over 250 bills to restrict voting. Meanwhile in Congress, the House, with its Democratic majority, recently passed the For the People Act, a historic voter protection bill, that along with the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, faces an uncertain future in the Senate. Mina Kim talks with Nse Ufot, Dale Ho, and Eliza Sweren-Becker about why legislators are trying to make it harder to vote, and what is being done on the ground to combat these restrictive measures.

The recall effort against California Governor Gavin Newsom passed a few major hurdles last week, with supporters turning in more than enough signatures, and Newsom embarking on a media blitz acknowledging the likelihood of a recall election in the fall, and vowing to win it. Criticism of the governor revolves around economic hardship in the state after the long-term COVID-19 restrictions, and the slow pace of school re-openings. Marisa Lagos gives the latest on the recall effort, Newsom’s response, and other California political news with LA Times Reporter John Myers and Politico’s Carla Marinucci.

This past year, the pandemic pushed millions to move back in with family members at levels not seen since the Great Depression. This was especially true for Gen Z and Millennials. For many cultures across the globe and within the United States, multigenerational households are the norm. In the U.S., however, moving in with your parents as an adult carries a stigma and is often considered a “failure to launch” or an undesirable last resort. Ariana Proehl talks with Fiza Pirani and Sarah Todd about what’s been good, bad and surprising about moving back home during the pandemic. And we want to hear from you: did you move home due to impacts of the pandemic? Did you have family move in with you? What has that been like?

Mills College, an Oakland institution since 1852, announced Wednesday that it will end its role as a degree granting college. No more students will be admitted, and the last degrees are likely to be awarded no later than 2023. Alexis Madrigal talks to Elizabeth Hillman, president of Mills College, about how declining enrollment, budget deficits, and the COVID-19 pandemic played into the decision and what's next for the school. And if you went to Mills, we want to hear from you. What's your reaction to the end of the college's 169-year run?

When schools closed about a year ago, graphic journalist Wendy MacNaughton started an online show for kids called DrawTogether. MacNaughton knows art is an important way to process feelings and emotions, and she wanted to help parents get kids to do art using screens to get kids off screens and draw. Alex Madrigal talks with MacNaughton about how art can help kids of all ages, and we want to hear from you. What are some of the things you’ve done to encourage your kids to be creative during the pandemic?

The number of unaccompanied children crossing the U.S. southern border has increased dramatically in recent weeks, overwhelming immigration authorities as well as organizations that house and care for them. The situation is a test for President Joe Biden, who promised a more humane response to immigration than the previous administration. Meanwhile, Republicans such as California Representative Kevin McCarthy criticized the president’s approach as akin to opening the border, a claim many experts refute. Mina Kim talks with Neha Desai, Nick Miroff, and Dianne Solis about the latest news from the border and the political shifts influencing policy.

Over the past year of on-and-off shelter in place restrictions, so many of us discovered--and in some cases, rediscovered--places that helped us get through those times. A park we had never known about. A room in our home that was rarely used. A path we had walked passed many times before but never traveled upon. What was your pandemic place? Alexis Madrigal talks with journalists Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley, co-authors of the forthcoming book, “Until Proven Safe” which examines quarantines from medieval Venice to outer space to reveal new ideas about quarantine.

Deb Haaland was confirmed as Secretary of the Interior for the Biden administration Monday, making her the first Native American cabinet secretary in U.S. history. Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo and a 35th-generation resident of New Mexico, will oversee the management of federal land and natural resources, as well as the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Under President Trump, the Department of the Interior rolled back a number of environmental protections and ceded vast amounts of land to commercial exploitation. President Biden has already reversed or paused a number of Trump’s policies and Haaland, who has voiced opposition to fossil fuel drilling and pipelines in the past, says she’ll be “fierce for all of us, our planet, and all of our protected land” in her new role. Mina Kim talks about Haaland’s historic confirmation, its cultural significance and the agenda in front of her with Gregory Cajete, professor of Native American Studies and Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Studies and Joel Clement, senior fellow at the Arctic Initiative.

Mina Kim talks about the Atlanta killings with Cynthia Choi of Stop AAPI Hate and sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen.

For people who lived through the AIDS pandemic, Covid-19 felt familiar: a little understood virus was causing a public health crisis, just as HIV had done forty years earlier. In fact, leading HIV researchers like Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx ended up on the frontlines of Covid. What other lessons did AIDS teach us, and what can we learn from survivors of the AIDS generation about living with Covid-19 for the long term? Alexis Madrigal talks to a panel of experts and HIV survivors, Dr. Diane Havlir and Jeff Sheehy, to get their thoughts.

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, many people looked to the film “Contagion” as a manual for what lay ahead. The movie became a touchstone, and its stars were even enlisted to do a public service announcement about Covid. Now, a year later, the screenwriter of that movie, Scott Burns, along with UCLA epidemiologist Anne Rimoin, join us to talk about what the film got right and what unfolded in real life that they could never have predicted.

For more than a decade, Americans have been having fewer children. Now, the coronavirus pandemic has intensified the decline. Researchers expect births in the United States to drop by 3.6 percent this year bringing them to their lowest point since 1969. Many people who were considering becoming pregnant last year changed their minds and unplanned pregnancies also likely fell. Mina Kim discuss what is driving down birth rates and what we can expect after the pandemic recedes with senior reporter at Vox, Anna North, associate professor of economics and gender studies Eliana Dockterman, and author of the article, "Women Are Deciding Not to Have Babies Because of the Pandemic. That’s Bad for All of Us" Samhita Mukhopadhyay.

One year ago Tuesday, the sun rose, people were out and about, but because of the coronavirus --then still called the “novel coronavirus” --the Bay Area was on the cusp of the first stay-at-home order in the nation. Public health officers from 6 counties and the City of Berkeley held a press conference, telling millions of people they would need to stay mostly at home for three weeks to stop the spread of COVID-19, then with fewer than 300 known cases across the 7 jurisdictions. Most people probably had no idea that they were in for a year of lockdowns, restrictions, uncertainty and deaths. Alexis Madrigal reflects with Dr. Seema Yasmin and KQED’s Lesley McClurg back on the day it started a year ago, and the seismic changes that followed.

It's sometimes hard to know whether to laugh or cry when we think of our pre-pandemic selves, completely oblivious to the public health crisis that would claim more than 2.6 million lives globally and rain down chaos everywhere. We've asked listeners to share the advice they'd give to their blissfully ignorant past selves, and responses have ranged from the philosophical ("things are going to get stranger") to the practical ("get ready for some picnics! Lots and lots of picnics!"). Mina Kim talks to comedian and actor Adrienne Bankert and national correspondent Teresa Puente about what pandemic life has taught us about ourselves.

The coronavirus pandemic magnified many existing issues facing seniors in society, including loneliness and isolation. Social distancing meant our parents and grandparents could no longer go to places of worship, senior centers, restaurants, or visit with family. Many seniors faced lockdowns in assisted living facilities or nursing homes, or were isolated in their own homes. Looking back at this past year, Rachael Myrow talks about the difficulties seniors faced and lessons to be learned from them.

In the early aughts, when singer-songwriter Miko Marks was looking to launch her music career in Nashville, the mecca of country music, she was told by one of the major labels that she was too “innovative” and that she wouldn’t sell records as a Black woman artist. Today, following last year’s protests for racial justice, and after one of country’s biggest stars was captured on camera using a racial slur, the country music industry is having a reckoning. We’ll talk to the Bay Area-based Marks about how she’s forged her art and identity as a Black woman in the white- and male-dominated country music industry. We’ll also talk about and hear some songs from her new album “Our Country.”

President Biden formed a task force last month to speed the reunification of migrant children separated from their parents under the last administration’s “zero tolerance” policy. Advocates for the children have been pressing officials to act with urgency and offer the families a path to citizenship and other resources. Roughly 1,000 children are thought to remain separated, and the parents of about 500 have yet to be located. We’ll talk about the status of reunification efforts, and we’ll also talk about how the Biden Administration is responding to a dramatic increase in the number of unaccompanied minors crossing the southern border.

The just approved American Rescue Plan includes $1.7 billion for struggling public Bay Area transit agencies. The pandemic has forced agencies such as BART and Muni to cut service. The new funds help avoid further service cuts and massive layoffs. We’ll hear how the agencies are likely to use the funds, and whether they’ll be enough to reverse a massive ridership and budgetary crisis in the region's public transit.

Since the pandemic began a year ago, we've checked in with a number of public health officials throughout the region. Now we head to the North Bay to talk with Napa and Sonoma County officials about current coronavirus restrictions, reopening, the rate of infection and the pace of vaccinations. We'll hear what makes the North Bay's experience of the pandemic unique – from bedroom communities to farm workers – plus managing the pandemic amid the pressures of a tourism-oriented economy and the threat of wildfire.

The House of Representatives passed the $1.9 trillion COVID-relief bill Wednesday and now billions of dollars are set to flow to California in direct payments to individuals, and for things like housing aid and child care assistance. President Biden will sign the bill, called the American Rescue Plan Act, into law on Friday. The plan’s much awaited $1,400 stimulus checks, for a segment of the population, could start hitting bank accounts within one to two weeks. The package also extends the existing $300 weekly unemployment benefit until September. We’ll talk about how the plan will impact Californians and how it might boost the state’s own $7.6 billion stimulus package that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law last month.

New CDC guidelines allow fully vaccinated people to gather indoors without masks or social distancing. But what if not everyone in that group is vaccinated? As more Californians get vaccines, and as Covid rates decline, we’ll discuss how social distancing protocols and the necessity for wearing masks should change. And we’ll talk about the latest best practices for personal protective equipment and hear from you. Have you changed your mask-wearing habits lately?

Native Olympia oysters were once abundant in the San Francisco Bay. But overharvesting and increasing sediment from the Gold Rush mining era had all but wiped them out by the 1860’s when they were a popular and cheap food. We’ll talk about how hard working oysters help clean waterways and provide important habitat for other sea life, and what efforts are underway to bring them back. And we’ll hear about why Olympia oysters were prized by indigenous peoples and miners alike.

English and Spanish are the most commonly spoken languages in the U.S., and some people see Spanglish -- a hybrid of the two -- as the future. Latinx youth are embracing Spanglish in ways previous generations were told was unacceptable, freely using un poquito de eso and a little bit of that in conversation. We talk about the origins of Spanglish, how people are using it today and why it’s growing.

Governor Gavin Newsom delivers his third State of the State address Tuesday night, not from Sacramento, but from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. This comes as Newsom has been on the road, touring vaccination sites, businesses and public schools, in what feels very much like a campaign. The Governor is facing pressure from people who want coronavirus vaccinations, from parents who want their kids back in school and from businesses that want to reopen. And there's a recall effort led by disgruntled Republicans in this very blue state. We discuss the state of the state speech.

Google’s HR department advised employees who filed complaints about racial discrimination to get counseling or take medical leave -- suggestions irrelevant to their complaints, according to a news report from NBC News. Google drew backlash for what some workers consider a toxic and racist company culture because of events such as the firing of Timnit Gebru, April Curley and others who pushed for greater social equity within Google. We talk about how Google has responded to internal complaints of discrimination and what’s happening within its company culture.

As the House of Representatives prepares to pass President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion covid relief package, we talk with Oakland Congresswoman Barbara Lee about the stimulus bill and what it could mean for the Bay Area. We’ll also check in with Lee about legislation addressing voting rights, justice in policing and her call for the country to take a deep look at systemic racism by establishing a U.S. Commission on Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation.

In California, vaccine eligibility now extends to those 65 and over, health care providers, long term care residents and workers in sectors like agriculture and childcare. And officials plan to expand eligibility to more Californians in the coming weeks. But for children under 16, for whom no vaccine has yet been authorized, the wait for a shot will likely extend until at least the end of the year. We’ll talk about the status of national pediatric vaccine trials and what health officials need to greenlight a vaccine for kids. We’ll also talk about new CDC guidance for those who are fully vaccinated

Springtime planting season is here. To new gardeners, the abundance of plant choices can seem overwhelming. Do you plant a flower garden or try your hand at vegetables… and in a drought, how do you identify water-wise or drought-tolerant plants? In this hour, we talk with a panel of green-thumbed experts to hear how a novice gardener can start growing, and what are some sure-fire veggies or varieties for beginners. And we want to hear your gardening questions, especially if you’re planning your first planter box or garden or troubleshooting last season’s mistakes.

In 2020, the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center documented 2,808 hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, with 700 of those reports in the Bay Area. In Los Angeles, the police commission reported a 114% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020. The troubling rise in anti-Asian violence has taken many by surprise. But for those inside the Asian American community, the crimes feel both familiar and horribly inevitable following the rhetoric of the previous White House administration. Political and media underrepresentation — and misconceptions of Asian Americans as a monolithic group — obscure a history of violence against Asian American communities. We’ll discuss that history and the current community activism metabolizing this moment as well as what lies ahead.

Renowned poet June Jordan viewed poetry as a way of “taking control of the language of your life” and as “a foundation for true community.” Jordan, who started the Poetry for the People program at the University of California Berkeley, thoughtof poetry as a way to speak truth. We check in with four poets -- Jasmine Mans, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Aja Monet and Solmaz Sharif -- about making art during a challenging time, and what poems are sustaining their spirits. And, we want to hear from you, what are the first few lines of your favorite poem and what poets are you reading these days?

It’s been a year of loungewear, little make-up, and comfortable shoes, at least for those of us fortunate enough to work from home. And for some people, those style choices might become permanent, reflecting new positions on consumerism and fast fashion. But for others, the chance to return to society in trendy outfits can’t come soon enough. We’ll talk about how the pandemic has shaped our attitudes toward fashion, and we want to hear from you: tell us about the clothing that’s gotten you through, the styles you’ll stick with (or not) and whether you’re rethinking the importance of outward appearances.

In her new book “ Liner Notes for the Revolution” cultural critic Daphne Brooks explores the Black women artists that were major influences on American music. Brooks uncovers the racial politics at play in the recording studio, on stage, and in the reviews of everything from blues to rock and roll. Yale University African American studies professor Daphne Brooks joins us to share her take on the legacy and enduring appeal of the Black female musician.

The coronavirus pandemic is taking a major toll on the mental health of children and teenagers, who experts say are reporting increased levels of anxiety and major depression. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that mental health-related visits to emergency rooms jumped by 24 percent for children ages 5 to 11 and 31 percent for youth ages 12 to 17 years old from April to October in 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. Experts say increased isolation, families facing financial hardships, as well as fears about the pandemic itself are fueling the trends. We talk about how the pandemic has exacerbated existing mental health problems and created new ones for young people. For more mental health resources, visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Valley Children's Healthcare list of resources. If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (en español: 1-888-628-9454; deaf and hard of hearing: dial 711, then 1-800-273-8255) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.)

California school districts will receive $2 billion to open public schools through second grade by April 1st. That’s according to an agreement reached by Governor Newsom and Democratic legislators on Monday. The thorny issue of school re-openings has plagued the state for nearly a year, with school boards, teachers unions, and parents at odds over when and how to do it safely. We’ll break down the proposed deal, which will be voted on by the state legislature on Thursday, and hear why the issue is so fraught politically.

Mina Kim is no stranger to KQED listeners. An award-winning reporter and anchor, she took over Forum’s daily 10 AM hour in July after hosting on Fridays for many years. But did you know that she’s from Newfoundland, taught first grade in New Jersey, trained doctors and surgeons to be leaders, and was an avid runner before chasing after three kids? With Mina at the helm, Forum’s second hour is now statewide, and covers the most important state and national stories through a lens of race, justice, and equity. Ariana Proehl talks to Mina about her career and her vision for the future of the show.

With 60 votes required to override a filibuster, even the Democrats’ narrow Senate majority doesn’t guarantee that President Biden’s legislation will pass. The modern filibuster, where senators delay or block a bill just by signaling their intent to filibuster, is enough to kill a bill. The Senate rules have been tweaked over the past decade, but that’s not enough to escape the filibuster’s role in history -- it became a tool to uphold slavery and block civil rights laws. Amid calls to #EndtheFilibuster and reform the Senate rules, we’ll take a step back and talk about the Senate’s role in upholding minority rule.

In a historic change, California’s youth prisons will stop taking in new offenders in July. In 2023, all state juvenile detention facilities will close and responsibility for youth offenders will shift to counties. The state’s youth lockups have long been plagued by scandals and allegations of mistreatment. The move to smaller, local facilities is intended to provide a less punitive approach and increase rehabilitation and access to services. But some advocates for youth offenders worry conditions will get worse when counties take control. As counties formulate their plans ahead of the closures, we’ll talk about what juvenile justice may look like in California’s near future.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Monday that the Biden Administration will seek to reunite hundreds of migrant children with their families -- either in the United States or in their country of origin -- who were separated under Trump-era zero tolerance policies. The pledge comes as officials undertake a massive overhaul of the nation’s border policies, including the elimination of Trump’s Migrant Protection Protocols, which required asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their claims were processed. We’ll talk about what the policy shifts mean and how immigration officials plan to handle what Mayorkas calls a “stressful challenge” at the border.

Writer and cultural critic Rebecca Carroll grew up in an idyllic New England town where no one wanted to talk about race or even see it. She's Black. Her parents were white. Adopted as a baby, Carroll never met another Black person in real life until she was 6. Her new memoir, “Surviving the White Gaze”, recounts episodes from her childhood and adolescence in which the people who love her most failed to see her for who she is. We'll talk with Rebecca Carroll about her book and about the experience of interracial adoption.

The New York Times Opinion’s weekly podcast “The Argument” -- a place for “Strongly-held opinions. Open-minded debates. Only occasional yelling” -- has a new host in politics journalist Jane Coaston. Coaston, who previously reported for Vox and has covered conservatism and the American right for years, writes “things on the program might get awkward, and that’s the whole point.” For her debut episode, Coaston and guests debate a contentious issue: whether the Senate should get rid of the filibuster. We’ll talk to Coaston about the show and the meaning of a productive argument in an era of political tribalism and widespread disinformation. We’ll also get her take on the latest politics news.

Many found having a pet to be a lifesaver during the pandemic. As pet adoptions skyrocketed, dogs, cats and other pets became hard to find. One animal adoption agency recorded a 900% increase in requests to foster a dog in the early days of the pandemic. And on the other end of the spectrum, the American Humane Society estimates that up to 10 million pets may be surrendered because of the economic strain on owners during the pandemic. With owners staying home 24/7, it seemed like a perfect world for our pets. But was it? And now that the world is slowly reopening, what will life be like for the pets we leave at home? We’ll examine the pandemic’s impact on our pets.

During a time of stress and great suffering -- such as a global pandemic -- experiencing joy may seem impossible, and even naive or callous. Experts argue, however, that joy is essential even during hard times, even when it feels like the world is on fire or in the face of longstanding problems such as systemic racism. For many people, the pandemic has redefined joy and how they experience it such as spending more time at home with family. We examine the role of joy during times of crisis.

It's been almost a year since Mayor London Breed has been on Forum. But what a year it's been. She and San Francisco's public health leadership were credited with implementing a shutdown that slowed the progress of the pandemic here. But eventually the virus caught up with us, and measures to control it have decimated small businesses especially downtown, the tourism and restaurant industries, and the city's budget. We'll talk to Mayor Breed about crime, homelessness, and other challenges facing the city.

Reports continue to surface this week of vaccine line-jumpers -- people who, knowingly or not, take advantage of loopholes that enable them to get a coveted COVID shot ahead of those who need one more urgently. In the Bay Area and in Los Angeles, vaccine access codes meant for vulnerable communities of color circulated by text message to some ineligible Californians, who used them at mass vaccination sites. Separately, “vaccine chasers” are gathering at some pharmacies and clinics in hopes of receiving a dose that would otherwise be thrown away. It’s all raising questions about the ethics and effectiveness of current state and national vaccine distribution systems. We’ll talk about what more can be done to promote equitable vaccine allocation.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, a poet, writer, publisher and founder of City Lights Books, died on Monday at the age of 101. "I really believe that art is capable of the total transformation of the world, and of life itself,” Ferlinghetti once said, and his multifaceted career bore that out. As a poet, Ferlinghetti offered what one critic called, a “plain-spoken, often wry critique of American culture.” As a publisher, Ferlinghetti nurtured the Beat movement, publishing writers like Allen Ginsberg, whose poem “Howl,” defined a generation. And as the founder of City Lights Books, he created a haven for the literary minded. His North Beach bookstore remains a well-loved and revered San Francisco institution. We’ll talk about Ferlinghetti’s life and legacy.

With the installation of a new police chief: Leronne Armstrong, the city of Oakland is hoping to end the musical chairs game at the top of the police department. Armstrong is an insider, a 22-year veteran of the department, born and bred in West Oakland, and a proud alumnus of McClymonds High School. The city is facing a spike in homicide rates, a rash of crime against seniors and businesses in Chinatown, and court-ordered department reforms overseen by a federal consent decree that's been in place for 18 years. We’ll ask him how he plans to build trust in the city’s diverse neighborhoods, the role of mental health crisis teams, and looming budget cuts.

Youth who age out of the foster care system often lose access to housing and services and are at increased risk of homelessness, food insecurity and incarceration. The pandemic has caused even greater instability, with 55% of transitioning foster youth citing food insecurity as a result of COVID-19 in a national study. A new bill in the California legislature aims to establish a safety net to youth leaving foster care by providing them with direct cash assistance on a monthly basis for three years after they leave the system. We’ll hear about the bill and the challenges youth face in transitioning out of foster care.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo spoke earlier this week at a state senate hearing in support of reforming the California Environmental Quality Act. He says changing these regulations will lead to more affordable housing, transit and jobs. We'll talk with Liccardo about CEQA reforms, San Jose's housing goals, the urgency of reopening schools, and removing regulatory barriers in order to create jobs. And we want to hear from you: which specific need of San Jose's should the Mayor prioritize?

On Tuesday, Senate confirmation hearings for the Health and Human Services Secretary nominee, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, begin in Washington. Accused of being "famously partisan" by Mitch McConnell, Becerra faces intense Republican opposition for his stances on abortion and Medicare for All. Democrats remain largely in favor of his appointment, citing his long legislative tenure and experience crafting progressive health policy, including the Affordable Care Act. We’ll talk about the state of Becerra's nomination and what his confirmation could mean for California and the nation.

For the last two years, David Anderson has served as the top federal prosecutor in the Bay Area. During his tenure, he’s seen a side of the Bay Area that few people see. He’s led major criminal investigations into drug trafficking, pandemic-related fraud, and a wide-ranging corruption scandal involving San Francisco’s Department of Public Works. Anderson announced his resignation last month. We’ll talk to him about his time in office and the work that lies ahead for the Department of Justice.

Facebook cannot keep itself out of the headlines. On Monday, the social media company reached a deal to restore the news content it had banned from its Australian domain last week. This removal was in response to a proposed Australian law which would require social media sites and search engines to pay publishers for their content. And back in the U.S., in an ongoing 2018 class action lawsuit that alleges Facebook misrepresented its advertising data, documents were unsealed last week that plaintiffs claim demonstrate internal knowledge of this alleged misrepresentation. We’ll review all this news and analyze what’s ahead for Facebook as Mark Zuckerberg prepares to testify next month before Congress — his fourth appearance since last July.

The California Department of Public Health on Friday released updated guidelines for organized youth and adult sports. Outdoor high and moderate contact sports such as football and water polo may resume in counties with low coronavirus infection rates, which includes the entire Bay Area. In this hour, Scott Shafer talks to Dr. Nirav Pandya and Joe Bates about the updated guidelines and what safety measures will be taken

Over six years after a state audit found that college campuses in California lacked transparency in how they handled cases of sexual assault, big gaps in services and support persist. The audit largely targeted San Diego State University, UCLA, UC Berkeley and Chico State University and recommended yearly training of university employees. Rachael Myrow talks to KPCC reporter Adolfo Guzman-Lopez about what campuses are doing better and where they are still falling short when it comes to addressing sexual violence. We'll also hear how COVID-19 is impacting students who may experience sexual violence and their ability to seek support.

Singing can lift our spirits, and according to medical experts, because of the way COVID is spread, singing can also kill you. Its a dire, and unexpected, dichotomy and one that singers have grappled with during the pandemic. Rachael Myrow talks to KQED's Chloe Veltman and some Bay Area singers who are finding safe ways to bring live singing to audiences, big and small.

More than 30 California legislators sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom this week, urging him to allow museums to reopen indoors in the state. Nationwide more than 70% of museums are open in some capacity, according to the American Alliance of Museums, but, except for a short period starting in October, museums in California have remained closed throughout the pandemic. We'el talk with a panel of Bay Area museum directors about how they are surviving and adapting in the covid era.

Atmospheric warming, catastrophic sea level rise and mass extinction are just some of the monumental harms humans have inflicted on the planet. Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Elizabeth Kolbert points out that while it might be prudent to scale back our polluting activities, we've become so numerous, and the damage so extensive, that we may need to do more. In her new book, “Under a White Sky,” Kolbert looks at some of the interventions -- such as geoengineering and gene editing -- that scientists say can reverse the environmental harms we've caused. We'll talk to Kolbert about what she learned during her reporting and whether the answer to the problem of our control of nature is, in fact, more control.

Many see Silicon Valley Congressman Ro Khanna as a rising star in the Democratic party. He co-chaired Bernie Sanders’ national campaign, and is a big advocate for progressive causes like raising the minimum wage and Medicare for All. Congressman Khanna joins KQED's Scott Schafer to discuss the recent turmoil in Washington, including the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, and what’s ahead for 2021.

Amidst mounting pressure from parents, health experts and politicians in the Bay Area to reopen schools for in-person learning, the Berkeley Unified School District this week announced a plan to vaccinate all teachers and start getting most students back into class in mid April. On Wednesday, San Francisco's superintendent of schools said the district is gearing up to reopen but didn't offer specifics. We'll get the latest on the status of school openings across the region.

In the 1950s and 60s, when some towns faced integrating their “whites only” public pools, they drained the pools instead so nobody could use them. Economic and social policy expert Heather McGhee says this zero-sum thinking has impacted the U.S. economy and the public for the worse--and racism is at the root of it. For her new book, "The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Us and How We Can Prosper Together," McGhee journeyed across the country, including to California, documenting the stories of Americans who struggle with meeting their basic needs as a consequence of the “drained-pool politics” that keeps the country divided and vastly unequal. We'll talk to McGhee about what she uncovered in writing the book and her proposed plans for charting a more equitable path forward.

California agencies serving the homeless do not keep track of where billions of dollars are going, fail to follow federal guidelines and are so fragmented that they lose opportunities to people into stable housing. That’s according to a report by the state auditor’s office earlier this month on how state and regional housing agencies are handling the homelessness crisis. We’ll hear about the report and how the state could do a lot better in serving its 150,000 unhoused residents.

Katherine Seligman's debut novel, "At the Edge of the Haight" tells the story of Maddy, a young homeless woman living in San Francisco who is caught up in a murder mystery. As a journalist and a long-time resident of Haight-Ashbury, Seligman has witnessed the dehumanizing effects of homelessness up close. Her book, which is the winner of the PEN/Bellwether prize, has been praised as a work that "makes alive and visible the lives of people we often walk past, sometimes as quickly as we can." Seligman joins us to talk about her new novel, her transition from reporter to fiction writer, and what it takes to tell the stories of people who often feel invisible.

Latinos in California have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic with a disproportionately high number of infections and deaths -- a situation that state officials have been well aware of since last year. As the state rolls out the COVID-19 vaccine, Latino advocates, leaders and healthcare providers say officials have not made Latinos -- the state’s largest demographic group -- enough of a priority. One of the biggest problems with doling out the vaccine is simply limited supplies, but critics also point to how and where vaccines are distributed. We look at the challenges Latinos and other vulnerable Californians face in accessing vaccines.

In a recent column, Mission Local reporter Joe Eskenazi uses a job listing to explore what's not working at San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection. The managerial job was only posted for a week at first, and required only a high school diploma or "equivalent work experience" -- code for an internal hire. He describes nepotism and corruption running rampant, with city workers marking up plans by hand, because the department operates as if computers didn't exist.

In most of the country, tipped workers, such as restaurant servers and bartenders, earn a minimum wage of less than $5 an hour -- in 17 states they earn just $2.13. Advocates with One Fair Wage, a campaign to raise the federal minimum wage for tipped workers, say the over-reliance on tips to meet the most basic needs makes workers more vulnerable to sexual harassment and abuse. We’ll talk with One Fair Wage’s president and with the director of the documentary, “Waging Change”, which tells the stories of tip workers, the movement to raise their pay and the industry forces that fight higher wages.

Communities in the Bay Area are reeling from a recent spate of violent attacks against elderly Asian Americans that left one 84-year old San Francisco resident dead and several others injured. The attacks are part of growing number of hate incidents targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders statewide, according Stop AAPI Hate, which recorded more than 1200 self-reported instances of assault and harassment in California between March and December of last year. We’ll talk about how anti-Asian violence is affecting individuals and communities and what can be done to stop it.

Last week Santa Clara and Alameda counties became the first in the state to record the coronavirus variant found in South Africa. The news came as the region begins opening mass vaccination sites to speed immunizations before further mutations make the virus harder to manage. In this hour, we hear about the latest research on new variants and vaccine efficacy against them, and we get an update on coronavirus numbers as the region continues to see a slowing of cases and deaths.

Anna Malaika Tubbs's new book, "The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation," has been described as "a literary declaration that Black women know best how to survive in this broken world while actively mending it for everyone." Tubbs weaves a historical tapestry of the stories of Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin, and argues that by understanding the full extent of their lives throughout the Jim Crow era, we gain a fuller picture of American history and the pivotal role of black women in shaping it. We speak to Tubbs about her latest book and the key, but often marginalized, role of black women in history.

When Michael Krasny took over as Forum host in 1993 he assured listeners that he would preserve the program’s commitment to news and politics but promised to open up “new vistas in the arts …and the life of the mind." Since then, he’s become a beloved Bay Area institution, covering the biggest stories of the past three decades and interviewing everyone from world leaders to Hollywood stars to community activists. For his last show, Michael will share memories and reflections on his distinguished career with NPR's Ron Elving, and he especially wants to hear from you.

Journalist James Fallows says the Biden Administration is facing harder decisions than most new administrations because, he writes, “In addition to looking forward, to all the problems they are now supposed to solve, they must look backward, to reckoning with what Donald Trump and his enablers have done.” On the first day of President Trump’s impeachment trial, we’ll talk with The Atlantic writer about how Biden should triage the multiple crises on his hands. And we’ll get his assessment of the administration’s early policy moves and impeachment.

“Seize it. Migrate. Move.” This is the crux of journalist and New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow’s newest book, “The Devil you Know: A Black Power Manifesto.” He argues that the Great Migration of Blacks from the rural South to Northern urban centers did not deliver on improved social and economic conditions, and that the fastest way to fight systemic anti-Black racism is for Blacks to migrate to the South, where they can more easily consolidate their political power. Blow has taken his advice to heart and moved from New York to Atlanta. We’ll hear from Blow about his book and learn how a reverse migration could move progressive policies, like reparations and criminal justice reform, forward.

A year into the coronavirus pandemic, the once novel idea of working from home has begun to feel permanent -- at least for some workers. Some experts predict the old 9-to-5 paradigm is over as workers and employers devise more flexible arrangements. While there are many perks, more remote work can mean less social interaction and collapsed boundaries between work and home life. It can also threaten the vitality of urban centers. We talk about how working from home has already begun to reshape communities, family dynamics and how employees relate to their jobs and each other.

Food journalist and author Mark Bittman explores the history of humankind’s relationship to food in his latest book, "Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal,” and argues that the development of agriculture has shaped today's public health, climate change and social justice crises. Bittman believes that agriculture requires a cultural and political reckoning with how it has "driven exploitation and injustice, slavery and war” to tackle the damage it’s caused. Bittman joins us now to talk about his latest book and how to transform our agricultural systems to reclaim a healthy, just future.

Bay Area based journalist and author Isabel Allende’s books--translated into 42 languages-- have resonated across cultures and countries around the world. Her forthcoming book, “The Soul of a Woman,” is a memoir of her feminism, which she embraced at a very early age as she witnessed her single mother struggle to look after three children. Isabel first appeared on Forum in 1995 and she joins Michael Krasny now, as he heads into retirement, to speak about her newest work.

Many of us have spent a lot of time with our televisions during the pandemic. So when the Golden Globe nominations were announced this week with notable snubs (I May Destroy You) and surprises (Emily in Paris), they're before a public that is probably more informed than ever about the shows and streaming movies theyre judging. . Well talk with critics about their recommendations and we want to hear from you. What have you been watching?

Historian Michael Beschloss argues that the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6 was a terrorist attack that must be treated with the same gravity as Sept. 11. The event, “put our leaders and our democracy in danger. We had a close call and must never forget,” he wrote on Twitter. Beschloss, the author of “Presidents of War'' and nine other books, is a commentator for the PBS NewsHour and the NBC News presidential historian. We speak to him about the upcoming impeachment trial of former President Trump, and President Joe Biden’s first 100 days.

Shirley Weber made history when she was sworn in as California's first Black Secretary of State last week. One of her priorities is to bolster voter registration by making vote-by-mail permanent. She previously spent eight years in the California Assembly representing a district that includes part of San Diego and surrounding communities. While in Sacramento, she pushed progressive policy including an effort to reverse California’s ban on affirmative action and restrict the use of lethal force by police. Weber joins us to speak about her new role as Secretary of State.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from Bakersfield, on Wednesday condemned the comments of an extremist Georgia congresswoman, but declined to take any action against her. Democrats have called for removing Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from House committees for claiming the Parkland, Fl. school shooting was staged, spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and encouraging violence against Democratic officials. On Thursday, the House of Representatives is set to take a full-floor vote on whether to strip her of her committees. We’ll look at what was behind McCarthy’s refusal to sanction Greene and what it means for the identity and future of the Republican party.

Last month, former California governor Jerry Brown co-signed a letter urging President Biden to prioritize holding nuclear disarmament talks with Russia. Brown joins us to discuss his post retirement work on nuclear weapons and climate change and his hopes for renewed action on these issues during the Biden presidency. The state’s longest-serving governor will also weigh in on Governor Newsom’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the state’s wildfire problem and how California has changed during his decades in government.

Performer and teacher Rhodessa Jones has said that she’s not interested in art for art’s sake. “It has to be about social change,” she said, “It has to be able to save lives.” Now in her 70’s Jones has been bringing a passion for social justice to her work for decades. She created the Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women more than 30 years ago and has continued to work in prisons and on reentry projects and, recently, she performed in a play that took on climate change. We talk to Jones about her ever evolving artistic career and activism.

The Coronavirus pandemic continues to shake up the housing market in California. While thousands of renters have been able to stay in their homes thanks to statewide eviction moratoriums, many are accumulating crushing debt. And, despite the moratorium, landlords continue to evict tenants. Meanwhile, apartment rents fell in many cities as home sales boomed in 2020. The part of the market catering to more affluent renters and buyers remains strong, but low-income workers continue to struggle to afford or find housing. We talk about the forces shaping the housing market and how to help those hit hardest by the pandemic.

Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas teach a popular class at Stanford Business School entitled, “Humor: Serious Business”. Their mission, they say, is to make sure that the next generation of leaders don’t launch into the world “without a healthy dose of humanity, humility and intellectual perspective that only humor can bring.” They argue we need more human connection in the workplace, not just “professionalism”, especially in a time when in-person meetings have been replaced by Zoom. Aaker and Bagdonas join us to talk about how to bring more laughs to work and life, and their new book, Humor, Seriously: Why Humor is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life (And How Anyone Can Harness It. Even You.)

Early on in the pandemic, Southern California drew praise for its aggressive social distancing policies that helped contain the spread of the coronavirus. But now the region is the American epicenter for COVID-19 and what Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano calls a cautionary tale for the dangers of lifting restrictions too quickly. He says the reasons for the backslide are in large part structural: the disease is "tailor-made" for Latino and other tight-knit communities who tend to work on the front lines and live in multigenerational households. But Arellano also blames those he calls "pandejos" -- who, like "covidiots," willfully ignore public health advice. We'll talk to Arellano about his recent story for The Atlantic, called "The Pandejo Movement Destroyed California’s Pandemic Progress."

The Republican-led effort to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom is gaining traction as some members of Newsom's base are starting to question his leadership. Newsom was the first governor to issue a statewide stay-at-home order at the start of the pandemic, but the progress from that head start was lost following the state's summer reopening, which many say happened too fast. Now as California's vaccine distribution lags -- 5.8% of Californians have received the first dose of a vaccine compared to 6.8% nationally -- the spotlight on Newsom is intensifying. We'll discuss the latest developments in the effort to recall Gov. Newsom.

The pandemic has been tough on Oakland. Just one month into the new year the city has seen 13 homicides and a recent spate of car-jackings and robberies. The city has also made deep budget cuts to offset a $62 million shortfall from declines in tax revenue and police overtime pay. We'll talk with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf about housing, homelessness, the economy, and what the city can do to help its citizens in these hard times.

The California Department of Public Health announced an updated COVID-19 vaccine delivery plan this week as the state faces growing criticism over a slow coronavirus vaccine rollout. But the plan, which prioritizes age over risk of infection, is receiving backlash from people with disabilities who may be immunocompromised and don’t yet meet the current age requirement. Currently, those 65 and older are eligible to be vaccinated, in addition to select groups of essential workers. Even eligible seniors, though, report long waits in the cold and trouble navigating appointment systems. Meanwhile, another coronavirus variant, different from the one originating in the U.K., is spreading across California. We'll talk about the latest coronavirus news impacting Californians.

In a report released Thursday, the California state auditor finds the Employment Development Department (EDD) has failed to fix a fraud problem that the agency itself admitted could reach $30 billion. And another audit earlier this week found that inefficiency at the EDD continues to result in delays to benefits, and that the department has failed to correct the ongoing issues. We talk with EDD spokesperson Loree Levy about the agency’s fraud problem and its delays and missteps in processing legitimate claims. And we’ll take your unemployment benefits questions.

After the deadly insurrection of January 6, Twitter and other social media companies permanently banned Donald Trump from their platforms for inciting the violent mob that overran the U.S. Capitol. Facebook indefinitely suspended the ex-President’s account, and its oversight board is considering whether to make that suspension permanent. But the bans raise complicated questions about whether powerful tech companies should have the unchecked ability to remove people from their platforms, and under what circumstances. We’ll talk about the law and politics of deplatforming.

Songwriter Michael Koppy says we’ve all been happily singing along to abysmal lyrics without noticing. In his book “Words and Music Into the Future” -- which he calls a treatise and a manifesto -- he excoriates the lyrics of even our most beloved songwriters, like Bob Dylan and John Lennon. How much attention do you pay to the lyrics of your favorite songs? We want to hear from you. What are the worst -- and the best -- song lyrics in popular music?

On Wednesday, a Californian died from COVID-19 every two minutes. The level of loss is taking a toll on families and larger communities collectively grieving the more than 38,000 deaths -- many of which were preventable. The numbers don’t tell the whole story, however, of families waiting weeks to bury or cremate loved ones. Or households in which multiple family members died from COVID-19. Or communities afraid of losing their culture when elders pass away. We talk about how some are coping with the grief and trauma of losing loved ones to the coronavirus pandemic.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday is set to sign a group of executive actions to fight climate change, on issues ranging from fracking to green jobs. But will they go far enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? California Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Jared Blumenfeld and Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot join us to share their reaction to Biden’s plan. They’ll also discuss how California--as it struggles with wildfire, drought and other challenges-- can serve as a model for national action on climate change. And we’ll hear what California itself is doing to meet clean energy targets.

What happens to a society that tells generation after generation of white men that they deserve power? That's the question author Ijeoma Oluo poses in her new book, "Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America." A follow-up to her bestselling book "So You Want to Talk About Race," Oluo continues her examination of race in America with a wide-ranging cultural history of white male identity and power that she argues has devastating consequences on women, people of color and white men themselves. We talk to Oluo about the book and what’s needed to dismantle the constructs that perpetuate white male supremacy.

With Governor Newsom easing lockdown orders Monday, many parents and students are hoping that school reopenings may soon follow. Last month, Newsom offered $2 billion in grants to schools that begin to open to in- person instruction by mid-February, but some school districts say the plan doesn’t give them the support and guidance they need to safely open. And teacher’s unions say they want to see lower COVID rates before going back to the classroom. Meanwhile, many private schools and public schools in wealthy districts have been operating in person for months, continuing to widen disparities exacerbated by the pandemic. Forum talks about how and when Bay Area public schools could reopen.

Santa Cruz County ordered the evacuation of nearly 5000 residents Monday ahead of torrential storms predicted to unleash flooding and mudslides beginning on Tuesday. Forecasters say that the weather system, known as an atmospheric river, could bring up to ten feet of snow to the Sierra Nevada by the end of the week and extreme winds and rain throughout the state. We'll talk about the dangers the weather system poses, especially to areas affected by recent wildfires, and we'll look at the impact it may have on the state's water supply.

According to climate reports released this month, the hottest years on record all occurred in the last seven years with 2020 becoming another record-making year for global temperatures. From historic wildfires in California, Australia and the Amazonian rainforest to a record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season last year, the impacts of this warming are being felt across the globe. Slowing temperature rise in coming years will require radical action, according to the United Nations, with one goal calling for decreasing fossil fuel production by six percent per year through 2030. Climate scientist Zeke Hausfather says an upside is that energy producers have succeeded in making clean alternatives cheaper, which could boost more ambitious climate policy to mitigate the ongoing climate crisis. We'll talk with Hausfather about the latest climate news and its impact on Californians.

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to deliver an article of impeachment against former president Donald Trump to the Senate on Monday. This clears the way for a Senate trial, which will decide whether or not to convict Trump of inciting an insurrection at the Capitol. We get the latest on impeachment proceedings and catch up with President Biden’s most recent executive orders.

The California Department of Public Health announced Monday that the state will lift the stay at home order, allowing reopening of outdoor dining and other services. The news comes as Governor Newsom faces criticism over its lack of transparency on key coronavirus data, including how it calculates the ICU projections that had been used as benchmarks for shutting down. We get the latest.

Millions of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. would have a path to citizenship in eight years or less, under the sweeping reform bill President Biden submitted to Congress this week. Biden also issued orders preserving the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, halting border wall construction and ending the travel ban that targeted Muslim countries. We'll review the Biden Administration's immigration plan and talk about its potential effects on California.

The ban on outdoor dining is “arbitrary, irrational, and unfair” according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by a coalition of Bay Area restaurants and wineries. The suit says that there is no scientific evidence to support the spread of COVID-19 in outdoor settings, and it warns that businesses will continue to close unless the ban is reversed. The state says the ban is necessary to save lives and prevent hospitals from reaching capacity. We’ll hear from the coalition, and check in on the latest science on outdoor transmission of the virus.

George Saunders is one of the most celebrated fiction writers today but his new book looks back to examine great stories of the past. "A Swim in the Pond in the Rain" is a close look at seven classic 19th century Russian short stories that grew out of a class he's long taught on Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy and Gogol as a creative writing teacher. Saunders approaches the work with a writer's curiosity. "The focus of my artistic life has been trying to learn to write emotionally moving stories that a reader feels compelled to finish," he writes. If a story drew us in, kept us reading, made us feel respected, how did it do that? We talk to Saunders about reading, writing and great literature.

As COVID-19 continues to spread and mutate nearly a year into the pandemic, many people struggle with assessing the risk of day-to-day activities amid a sluggish vaccine rollout. The numbers in California -- more than 3 million cases and more than 35,000 deaths -- while rising, are beginning to level out. At the same time, California Gov. Gavin Newsom promised that the state would vaccinate 1 million people in 10 days, but delayed data collection makes it unclear if the state met that goal. During his inaugural speech on Wednesday, President Joe Biden said, “We must set aside the politics and finally face this pandemic as one nation,” signaling significant policy change toward a more aggressive response from the federal government. We talk about California’s current challenges containing the virus and what state and national leadership can do to curb the spread and mounting deaths.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn into office Wednesday with an inaugural message of unity. The new administration faces extreme challenges, from far right radicals and the pandemic to a failing economy and foreign cyber attacks. President Biden got right to work, signing 17 executive orders, many aimed at rolling back Trump policies. We’ll talk about the inauguration and calls for unity, and what it means for California, that so many state politicians are now in prominent national positions.

President Biden's proposed plan to halt the spread of the coronavirus includes federal oversight of vaccination via community vaccination centers and hiring 100,000 public health workers to help out. Epidemiologist and sociologist Nicholas Christakis joins us to assess the plan. We’ll also get Christakis’ thoughts on how and when we might get back to normal and his book "Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live".

The inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday featured an optimistic address from President Biden and a stirring poem read by Los Angeles poet Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. Many young people, some who voted for the first time to elect Biden, are looking for the new administration to tackle challenges such as climate change, immigration reform and the coronavirus pandemic. As part of Forum’s post-inauguration coverage, we’ll hear young people's reflections on Inauguration Day and their hopes for the next four years. We'll also hear national reporting from YR Media, a national network of young journalists and artists, on what issues youth want the Biden-Harris administration to prioritize.

“The past has its own terrible inevitability. But it is never too late to change the future.” That’s according to historian Heather Cox Richardson, who observes that the political, racial and economic divisions in the country evoke the crises faced by the nation on the brink of the Civil War. And now as we prepare for a transition of power to President-elect Joe Biden and the nation’s first female vice-president, Kamala Harris, what can history tell us about the tumultuous moment we are living in?

Throughout the presidency of Donald Trump, many media outlets across the United States were reluctant to label him a liar or a racist, even when his actions merited those terms, or to cover White supremacy as more than a fringe movement. Now, in the wake of the deadly pro-Trump insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, news organizations are grappling with the consequences of their whitewashed political coverage and failure to call out the president’s lies more aggressively. We’ll talk about how journalists are reckoning with how they shape and deliver the news, and what should change moving forward.

Preparations and security measures continue in Washington, D.C., for Wednesday’s inauguration, and the investigation into the insurrection at the Capitol continues. And as the nation looks to a transition in leadership, on Thursday, President elect Biden introduced an almost $2 trillion economic relief package. We'll discuss the latest political developments.

Our news this month is flooded with images of white supremacists storming the U.S. Capitol and of a confederate flag being hoisted through its halls. This after months of reporting on police killings of people of color, and the racial disparities in COVID deaths. And adults are not the only ones seeing these images and hearing these stories; they're seeping through to our kids too. Should we be shielding them from stories of racial violence? How much should we protect them? How much should we expose them? We know we should be having hard conversations with our kids. But how? On this Martin Luther King Day we'll discuss how to talk to kids about race.

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." But what would he say about this particular bend – four years of President Trump culminating in a violent insurrection? Emory University professor Audra Gillespie, who has written about the legacy of the civil rights movement in American politics, joins us to reflect on how Dr. King might respond to the current political moment and the pandemic, which have exposed glaring inequities in our society.

Faced with one of the slowest vaccination rollouts in the nation, California Governor Newsom announced Wednesday that Covid-19 vaccines would be available to seniors 65 years and older. While many welcomed news of an expanded eligibility group, local governments and health officials struggled to keep up with demand, and across the state, Californians are asking why it is so hard to get information about how to get vaccinated. Meanwhile, as the Bay Area remains in lockdown, hopeful signs of a turnaround emerged on Wednesday as Sacramento and its surrounding counties entered the purple tier with outdoor dining, hair salons and hotels reopening. Will the next few months of the pandemic be as bumpy as the first few weeks of 2021 have been? When can people expect to be vaccinated? We’ll talk about what lies ahead as California pushes to accelerate immunizations.

Several Capitol police officers have been suspended, and at least a dozen are under investigation for possible complicity in the deadly siege of the U.S. Capitol last week. The actions of the officers -- including one who posed for a selfie with insurrectionists and another who appeared to direct the mob around the building -- have exposed anew the force's troubled history of discrimination against Black officers, who've lodged hundreds civil rights lawsuits against the force in the last two decades. We'll talk about the role of racism in igniting, and sustaining, the insurrection. And we'll also get an update on how state and federal authorities are responding to threats of extremist violence ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration next week.

Rancor and division were on full display Wednesday as the U.S. House of Representatives debated and then voted to impeach President Trump for inciting his supporters to storm the nation’s Capitol last week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has excluded the possibility of an impeachment trial before the inauguration. We get the latest on the historic impeachment and what happens next.

A majority in the House impeached President Trump on Wednesday for inciting the deadly insurrection at the Capitol last week, while many Republican lawmakers continued to say they oppose impeachment in the name of "unity." And on Monday, President-elect Joe Biden's team announced that the theme for Inauguration Day will be "America United," echoing his campaign and post-election messaging calling for unity and healing. What does the idea of “unity” mean, though, amid such long-standing, deep divisions and continued threats of more insurrections? We’ll take a critical look at these calls for unity and hear from listeners about what you think is necessary, at this point, to unify the country.

The day before last week’s assault on the U.S. Capitol by violent insurrectionists, an angry, pro-Trump, anti-mask crowd threatened violence at a Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting. West Coast states voted solidly for Joe Biden, but California, Oregon and Washington have plenty of extremist groups promoting anti government rhetoric and ideas. We'll examine the history and ideology of those groups and the role they played in last week’s deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol.

House Democrats introduced an article of impeachment Monday charging President Trump with "incitement of insurrection" for his role in last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol. The insurrection "was a direct attack on our democracy," wrote Congresswoman Katie Porter, who represents California's 45th district in Orange County and is a member of the House Financial Services Committee and the House Oversight and Reform Committee. She amassed a national profile over the past year by directing tough questions to Trump administration officials and corporate executives in congressional hearings. We'll talk with Rep. Porter about the impeachment effort as well as her fight for equity in COVID-19 testing and vaccines.

Support for the second impeachment of President Donald Trump grew among House Democrats Friday, following Wednesday's violent pro-Trump insurrection that left five people dead at the U.S. Capitol. We'll discuss the latest developments.

California announced plans last week to administer the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine to a million people in the course of only ten days. The decision came as the state continues to see a surge in cases, and as it faces criticism over a slow vaccine rollout for health care workers and nursing home residents. We'll get the details on the vaccination push.

QAnon conspiracists, white nationalists, business professionals and Proud Boys militants. Those are some of the perpetrators of the deadly pro-Trump insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week that law enforcement officials have identified and begun to charge with federal crimes. We’ll talk about what we know about the insurrectionists, what they were planning and why some investigators say the violence could have been far worse. And we’ll look at some of the raid’s historical antecedents, and its racist roots.

The siege of the U.S Capitol by Pro-Trump extremists on Wednesday has many grappling with questions of accountability and justice. Democratic leaders Thursday demanded that President Trump be removed from office. Several White House officials have resigned, but what will be the punishment for members of Congress who supported Trump’s attempt to steal the election? Lawmakers are also calling for congressional hearings on the failure of law enforcement to protect what should have been one of America’s most secure buildings. We’ll discuss the aftermath of Wednesday's violence and who should be held accountable.

More than one million California state unemployment claims--approximately 1 in 7-- were suspended this week in an attempt to avoid more fraudulent payouts. The California Employment Development Department has lost up to $4 billion on fraudulent claims since the pandemic started. We break down the latest problems besetting the state’s EDD, as a record number of Californians await much-needed financial relief.

On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump’s Cabinet to use the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office. Pelosi said if not, the Democrats could seek to impeach the president a second time. This comes after the president tried to tamper with election results in Georgia and incited a riot at the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead. Experts say taking either path would be challenging for Democrats. We explain the various scenarios for forcing a president out of office and what it means for Trump’s limited time in the White House.

On Thursday, Facebook announced it banned President Donald Trump from posting on its platform and on Instagram for at least the next two weeks. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the risks of allowing Trump to post "are simply too great" after the president posted a video calling violent insurrectionists "very special" as they rioted on Capitol Hill. Many see the bans as too little, too late, after years of allowing Trump to spread lies, conspiracy theories and disinformation online that fueled a base of extremist supporters. In her piece “Trump’s Internet is Celebrating” for The Atlantic, Kaitlyn Tiffany writes that the insurrectionists, known as the #StopTheSteal movement online, did exactly what they’d promised to do for months and are gleeful over yesterday’s riots. We’ll talk to Tiffany about how Trump’s attempted coup was born online and where social media companies go from here.

Violent extremists loyal to President Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol Wednesday in an attempt to prevent Congress from confirming electoral votes for president-elect Joe Biden. The mob smashed windows, clashed with police and four people are dead. In response, Trump called on the rioters to go home but at the same time reiterated false claims that the election was stolen. Many across the country are reeling in the aftermath of a stunning attack on this country's democratic process. We get the latest on the riots.

After violent supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, many Americans are dismayed at the chaos and lawlessness that has unfolded. Some observers questioned the lax response from police, as well as galling discrepancies between the treatment of Black Lives Matter protesters and the pro-Trump mob. And the incident is sparking calls for a second impeachment of Trump, who invited the rioters to Washington D.C. In this statewide call-in special, we'll talk about the political and legal fallout from Wednesday's violence.

All eyes are on two U.S. Senate runoff elections in Georgia, the outcomes of which will determine which political party gains control of the Senate. Pastor and democrat Raphael Warnock is projected to have won over Republican Kelly Loeffler. The race between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican David Perdue is still too close to call. Meanwhile, in a joint session of Congress overseen by vice president Mike Pence, US lawmakers gather this morning to confirm Joe Biden's victory. We get the latest.

With Democrat Raphael Warnock’s victory in one of Georgia’s two Senate runoffs Tuesday, he becomes the first Black U.S . senator in his state’s history. If Democrat Jon Ossoff’s lead holds in the other runoff, President-elect Joe Biden begins his term on January 20th with Democrats in control of Congress. We'll get the latest and talk about what a shift in the senate's balance of power could mean for California.

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin filed manslaughter charges on Monday against Troy McAlister, a parolee accused of killing two pedestrians on New Years Eve while driving drunk. The case sparked intense criticism of Boudin, including a recall effort, for failing to charge McAlister with a new crime despite repeated arrests in recent months. The controversy caps the progressive district attorney’s first year in office. We’ll talk with Boudin about the case and what his office achieved last year, including ending cash bail, filing the first ever homicide charges in San Francisco against a police officer and reducing the city’s jail population by 40% to prevent a COVID 19 outbreak.

Despite President Donald Trump’s resounding loss in California during his bid for re-election last November, many Republican leaders in the state are supporting his efforts to overturn the results of the national election. Rep. Mike Garcia, who represents California’s 25th district north of Los Angeles, said Monday he joined a group of House Republicans who oppose certifying the election for President-elect Joe Biden. Another is Rep. Devin Nunes of Fresno, to whom Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Monday. Political observers say Trump’s efforts are futile, improper and possibly illegal, but many in his party are sticking with him. We discuss the Californian leaders who support Trump and what it means for the Republican Party in California, a state where Democrats dominate.

President Donald Trump on Saturday pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" enough votes to reverse his November election loss in Georgia, according to an audio recording obtained by the Washington Post. The recording is another example of the president’s "assault on American democracy," a senior adviser for President-elect Joe Biden said. We'll talk with USF political scientist James Taylor about Trump's latest scandal, which comes two days before the special election in Georgia that will decide control of the U.S. Senate. We'll also discuss Rep. Nancy Pelosi's re-election as House Speaker on Sunday.

Lockdowns have been the blunt force instrument used to contain the coronavirus, and a recent study from UCSF proves that early on in the pandemic, shutdowns worked to curtail deaths in some, but not all populations. In particular, the study notes that Blacks, Latinos and those without a high school degree experienced a higher number of deaths per capita, even with a lockdown in place. While researchers are learning that shutdowns can work, what can be done to address the disparities experienced by high-risk communities? We'll talk about the study and what it means for crafting future policy responses.

About one fifth of adults in the U.S are taking care of a family member or friend who needs help. The unpaid work of caring for loved ones who are aging, sick or disabled is often rewarding but it can also be exhausting, stressful and it can take a toll on the caregiver’s mental health. These strains have only increased during the pandemic when many services, like adult daycares, that used to provide a respite for caregivers, are closed. We’ll talk about caregiving during the pandemic, and how to get support.

After following the notoriously bad relationship between baseball icons Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent as well as the meteoric path of the Giants, Bay Area based sports writer Joan Ryan grew curious about team chemistry and how it affects performance. She spent ten years probing sociology, neuroscience and psychology to answer questions about whether team chemistry was real. And if so, what is it exactly? And how do you measure it? Ryan joins us to talk about the importance of sports during the pandemic, how our relationships with friends, colleagues, and family are affected by team dynamics, and her new book, “Intangibles: Unlocking the Science and Soul of Team Chemistry”. (originally aired Aug. 14, 2020)

When the pandemic is in the rear window and we can go out safely and breathe within 6 feet of friends and strangers, what are the first things you’re going to do? We want to hear your post-pandemic fantasy. Is it a crowded dance floor? A trip around the globe? Or just simply dropping your kid off at school? And, what will you miss from this time? Is there anything from your pandemic lifestyle that you hope to hold on to, even after the world opens up again? We’ll open the phones to hear from you.

We'll listen back to Michael Krasny's 2002 conversation with famed poet, author and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, who died in 2014. They talked about "A Song Flung Up to Heaven", the sixth book in her series of autobiographies which started with "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” (originally aired May 8, 2002)

Michael Krasny talks with author Louise Erdrich about her National Book Award-winning novel “The Round House.” Set on an Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota, the book deals with the aftermath of a brutal rape and a son’s quest for justice. It is part of a trilogy which includes “The Plague of Doves” and “LaRose.” (originally aired Oct. 18., 2012)

In his new book “Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America," sociologist and cultural critic Michael Eric Dyson looks at the history of systemic racism in the U.S. and how it led to this year’s unrest and protests for racial justice. Written as letters to Black victims of systemic racism and police brutality, including Eric Garner and Breonna Taylor, Dyson traces the genealogy of anti-blackness from slavery to the present. We’ll talk to Dyson about the book and why he remains hopeful in the fight for racial and social justice. (originally broadcast on 12/8/20.)

Against the backdrop of 6,000 licensed childcare facilities closing during the pandemic and a projected loss of up to 85,000 childcare spaces, Governor Newsom earlier this month unveiled a sweeping masterplan to improve early childhood care and learning. The 107-page document presents a 10-year blueprint for expanding access to child care and improving the quality of California’s early childhood programs for low income students under the age of 6. Advocates say Covid has made the need for childhood care and learning even more urgent. We'll hear about the plan and check in with a childcare provider about how it's going.

Kaiser Permanente announced this week that it will postpone elective procedures into January over concerns that COVID-19 hospitalizations may continue to grow over the holidays. The news comes as San Mateo County’s ICU beds fill and the county works to secure more beds for the sick. We get an update on Bay Area hospital capacity and hear why reported numbers can be confusing.

Whether it was streaming our favorite songs, tuning into a live DJ set online or picking up an instrument, music helped many of us navigate this difficult year. In August, we asked listeners to share the songs getting you through 2020 and we've been playing some of them on air each week. This hour, as the year comes to a close, we'll play more of the songs you said kept you going in 2020 and talk with NPR's music correspondent Ann Powers about the meaning of music in a year like this one.

The power of the president is typically kept in check by other branches of government and historical political norms, but the past four years have revealed alarming fissures in the system. In the book, "After Trump: Reconstructing the Presidency," law professors Bob Bauer and Jack Goldsmith argue that the presidency of Donald Trump has revealed the executive branch's vulnerability to abuse by a president and a lack of accountability that necessitate further reform of presidential powers. In this hour, we'll hear from Bauer and Goldsmith about how Trump and previous presidents have overstepped their powers and what reforms could be viable during the next administration.

It’s been a tumultuous year for parents. Some of us wrestle with remote learning, others with how to spend all day, every day, with their kids. Some scramble to find childcare while away at work, others hustle to keep kids fed after losing jobs to the pandemic. Through it all are the everyday challenges, and joys, of raising kids. What has parenting during the pandemic looked like for you? We want to hear your parenting wins and flops and how you've coped through it all.

The one-term presidency of Donald Trump is less than two weeks away from wrapping up. In his last few weeks in office, he has vetoed a defense spending bill, delayed finalizing a contentious stimulus bill, and still won’t concede last November’s election. Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic continues spreading at alarming high rates and taking the lives of Americans. We talk with Washington, D.C. journalists Ron Elving of NPR and Kimberly Atkins of The Boston Globe on the latest national political news.

Following the winter holidays, California could see a coronavirus surge on top of a surge. Projections vary wildly. It all depends on whether we heed the travel warnings and stay-at-home orders. The state passed 2 million cases on Wednesday. Now hospitals and their employees are bracing for the worst. Meanwhile, we place our hopes in the vaccines. We’ll start by hearing from a registered nurse and researcher who participated in one of the vaccine trials.

In his most recent book, "The Splendid and the Vile," author Erik Larson portrays Winston Churchill — and the family members and advisors around him — during his first year as prime minister of the United Kingdom. Larson, a bestselling nonfiction writer and author of "Devil in the White City," joins us to talk about Churchill’s leadership, from his taking office on the day Germany invaded Holland and Belgium to the way he’s remembered today.

Following her critically-acclaimed debut novel "Homegoing," novelist Yaa Gyasi returns with “Transcendent Kingdom.” The story follows Gifty, a doctoral candidate in neuroscience at Stanford University. After losing her brother to a heroin overdose and while caring for her suicidal mother, she is determined to find a scientific reason for suffering. But even as Gifty embarks on her scientific quest, she finds herself longing for the faith of her childhood to help reckon with her family’s pain. Like Gyasi, the character Gifty comes from an immigrant family from Ghana and grew up in an evangelical household in Alabama. We'll talk to Gyasi, who spent time in California as an undergraduate at Stanford, about the book and the desire to understand human pain and suffering. (Originally broadcast 9/18/20)

Author Lysley Tenorio’s new novel “The Son of Good Fortune,” depicts the coming-of-age story of Excel, a young undocumented person living in the United States who was born during a flight between the Philippines and San Francisco. The novel explores Excel’s life “in hiding” and his struggle to avoid calling attention to himself even as he forms relationships, leaves home for the first time and attempts to survive on his own. The book is a follow up to Tenorio’s 2012 story collection, “Monstress.” Tenorio, who lives in San Francisco, was born in the Philippines and teaches at Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga. Tenorio joins us to discuss his writing and latest book. (Originally broadcast Sept. 1, 2020)

According to Dr. Larry Brilliant, CEO of Pandefense and an epidemiologist who helped eradicate smallpox, we are living through "the best of times and the worst of times." While the vaccine, which was discovered, developed and produced within a year’s time, gives hope that the pandemic will end, experts predict the U.S. death toll will continue to rise through the winter unless more steps are taken to put in public health policies on a nationwide basis. We listen back to Michael Krasny's recent interview with Larry Brilliant about the vaccine, its rollout and what we can expect in the months ahead.

The coronavirus-induced recession has exacerbated income inequality in California and will only worsen unless political leaders take action, according to a new report from the Public Policy Institute of California. The pandemic is essentially pushing millions of Californians who were already living in poverty or paycheck to paycheck to the brink of financial disaster. We’ll listen back to Mina Kim's Dec. 9 interview with PPIC's Sarah Bohn about the report and the economic consequences of the pandemic.

Have you ever wondered about those colorful squiggly lines you see painted on California's city sidewalks? They’re actually color-coded utility markings that represent an underground world of sewer pipes, electric cables and telecommunication lines. They're also an example of what Roman Mars calls the “boring stuff” of urban design -- the unnoticed elements that he says are just as essential as skyscrapers, bridges and parks. Mars is the host of the design and architecture podcast 99% Invisible and the author of the new book “The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design." He joins us to talk about why we should celebrate the overlooked and ordinary parts of our built urban environment.

Alex Padilla joins us to discuss his new appointment as the first Latino to serve as California U.S. Senator. California Gov. Gavin Newsom selected Padilla, who serves as Secretary of State, to take over the seat vacated by Kamala Harris, vice president-elect of the United States.

So far this month, two Bay Area tech heavyweights, Oracle Corp. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, said they would move their headquarters to Texas. The news set off fears that the Bay Area and California are losing their allure to big employers and could spell future economic distress. While companies have routinely moved out of the Bay Area, some experts say this time is different -- in a troubling way. Other experts say that while the moves are noteworthy, they won’t derail the Bay Area’s economy or tech industry in the long term. We discuss the state of the Bay Area exodus and the region’s economy.

It's been a year, and we want to know what's helped you through it. Whether you've gotten lost in the outdoors, discovered a new passion or re-ignited a friendship online, tell us how you've managed the chaos, stress and uncertainty of 2020.

The pandemic is complicating the already stressful lives of California’s foster children. Surveys show that most lack technical support or internet access, which has made transitioning to online classes challenging. On top of that, stay-at-home orders have made it harder to visit with biological parents and siblings. In this hour, we’ll hear how the pandemic is affecting foster youth and how state and local services are responding. In this hour, we’ll hear how the pandemic is affecting foster youth and how state and local services are responding.

A recall effort against Governor Gavin Newsom is gaining momentum. The campaign started long before photos surfaced of Newsom dining at an exclusive Napa restaurant with lobbyist friends. The Republicans behind the recall effort are also upset by Newsom's endorsement of a bill to compel companies to classify independent contractors as employees, and by his decisions to grant inmates early parole, and give undocumented immigrants Covid relief funds. We'll discuss the recall effort and if it stands a chance with voters.

The number of COVID-19 patients filling hospital intensive care units continues ticking up across California. Hospitals in hard hit areas such as Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley had no remaining ICU beds available as of Sunday. We talk with Los Angeles Times healthcare reporter Soumya Karlamangla about how hospitals are handling the recent surge in coronavirus patients.

Congressional leaders have reached an agreement on a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package, and vaccination efforts are underway across the country--both of which might relieve a California besieged by surging COVID-19 cases and severe ICU shortages. We check in with Los Angeles Congressman Adam Schiff about how Southern California is handling COVID-19 cases and the potential impacts of the relief bill on Californians. We'll also hear about the government's response to the recent cyberattack on federal agencies thought to be Russian-led.

During his tenure as mayor of Stockton, Michael Tubbs drew national attention for championing a guaranteed income policy and launching a pilot program to test it out. But he lost his bid for a second term this year, amid criticism that he failed to fix the city's persistent problems with poverty and homelessness. Tubbs says says a four-year misinformation campaign contributed to his defeat. We'll talk to Tubbs about what's next and what he's learned.

In his new book, “The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food,” acclaimed chef Marcus Samuelsson highlights Black chefs and recipes that he says have been underrated and overlooked for far too long. When Americans think of Black cuisine, they think soul food, he said, but that is only one of numerous traditions. Samuelsson, a regular on Food Network and PBS, operates over a dozen restaurants in the United States and abroad. We’ll discuss the book, Black cooking and hear his thoughts on the dire state of the restaurant industry amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Congressional leaders and the White House on Thursday appeared to inch closer to finalizing a $900 billion coronavirus relief package, but several sticking points remain. Among them: Republicans want to restrict the power of the Federal Reserve to bail out businesses while Democrats are demanding more help for states. We’ll hear the latest on the negotiations. We’ll also get an update on President-elect Joe Biden’s latest cabinet appointments including his historic pick of Native American Rep. Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary.

The Lake Tahoe region has been changed by the pandemic. With many people fleeing cities and moving to the mountains or into their second homes, schools and grocery stores are crowded. Many mountain resorts are requiring reservations for lift tickets as a public health precaution. Will there be room for holiday skiers? Even some business owners are saying visitors should wait until the surge is over to make plans to head to Tahoe and, under the stay-at-home order, hotels are supposed to cancel reservations for leisure travel. We'll talk about the precautions on the mountain, the boom in backcountry skiing, Tahoe's red-hot housing market and what it all means for the region.

Filipino Americans make up about four percent of the nation's nursing workforce but account for more than 30 percent of its COVID-related deaths, according to data compiled by National Nurses United. In California, as in other states, Filipino American nurses are more likely to work in ICUs and bedside settings, which in part explains the staggering disparity. But other factors are at work too, including a legacy of discrimination against migrant nurses. We'll talk about the outsized toll the pandemic is taking on the state's Filipino American nurses and what we can do to address it.

Animator Frank E. Abney III, who worked on blockbuster films including Pixar's "Coco" and "Toy Story 4," makes his directorial debut with the new animated short film "Canvas" on Netflix. A meditation on grief, love and family, "Canvas" tells the story of a grandfather struggling to feel inspired after experiencing the death of a loved one. Abney, a Bay Area native now based in Los Angeles, was influenced by losses in his own life when writing the film, including losing his father when he was five years old. Abney joins us to talk about the film and his career.

Many of us have taken to the hills this past year, hiking and walking to cope with the pandemic. Others have gone to the birds, observing birds and wildlife outside our windows for the first time. There's more to see: elephant seals courting, gray whales migrating, a rainbow of mushrooms and flights of sand hill cranes. We'll talk with naturalist Michael Ellis of Footloose Forays about where to go and what to look for while staying close to home. Call in with your questions about animal behavior and species in your local parks or your backyard.

Twenty-five years after her death, Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez enjoys rare staying power among generations of fans who love her music, fashion and performances. A new hit Netflix series about her rise to stardom builds on that legacy. Selena grew up singing Tejano music with her family band, Selena y Los Dinos, and was a platinum-selling artist when she was murdered in 1995 at the age of 23. Today, Selena’s level of fame, influence and commercial success is still rare for other American-born Latinas in music and entertainment to achieve. We discuss why Selena remains so relevant and her evolving role as a Mexican-American icon.

Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a $500 million grants program for nonprofits, small businesses and cultural institutions in an attempt to alleviate COVID-19’s impact on California’s arts industry. Still, the pandemic’s toll on the state’s large and small arts institutions has been devastating, as venues and theaters have closed, ticket revenue has vanished and funding sources have become scarcer. But a number of organizations are finding new and creative ways to survive. We’ll talk with the leaders of some Bay Area arts organizations about the pandemic’s impacts, how they’ve adapted and what’s ahead.

When shelter-in-place began in March, we watched as TV hosts filmed shows from home, unstyled and in casual clothes, and later followed the NBA into its bubble. And we turned to the internet even more for connection and entertainment, spurring a unique “Quarantine Culture” according E. Alex Jung, senior writer at New York Magazine. It’s a culture where, as Jung wrote, "the internet became more internet — an ever-thickening soup of private derangements and niche dramas." Whether it was comedian Sarah Cooper lip-synching Trump’s speeches for the app TikTok, building a virtual world in games like “Animal Crossing” or enjoying the otherwise unlikely opportunity to see your favorite artists perform a show from home — “we were all extremely online,” Jung said. We talk with Jung about the year in “Quarantine Culture” and the forms of entertainment we enjoyed — or made ourselves — on the internet.

Despite the welcome arrival of the coronavirus vaccine, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned on Tuesday that the state is "not at the finish line." California faces a worsening shortage of ICU beds, with only 5.7 percent capacity currently remaining statewide, he said. We'll check in with Los Angeles Times reporter Rong-Gong Lin about how hospitals are coping with the virus surge, particularly in hard-hit Southern California. We'll also talk with him about the widespread flouting of lockdown rules in some parts of the state, which health officials say is impeding the battle against the virus.

On Monday, the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine were administered to healthcare workers in California and several other states. That same day, the death toll from Covid-19 surpassed 300,000 people. According to Dr. Larry Brilliant, CEO of Pandefense and an epidemiologist who helped eradicate smallpox, we are living through "the best of times and the worst of times." While the vaccine, which was discovered, developed and produced within a year’s time, gives hope that the pandemic will end, experts predict the U.S. death toll will continue to rise unless more steps are taken to put in public health policies on a nationwide basis. We talk to Larry Brilliant about the vaccine, its rollout and what we can expect in the months ahead.

The coronavirus pandemic has plunged millions of Californians into unemployment and economic uncertainty. Some have seen years-long careers put on hold as shutdown orders have crushed business at hair salons, bars and events. Others are choosing between staying home to help their kids with remote school or going to work to pay the bills. And many are looking at money, budgets and work in a whole new way. In this hour, we’ll hear some personal stories of surviving lost jobs, reduced income and other financial challenges.

Trailblazing California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is said to be suffering from significant memory lapses that impede her ability to do her job, according to an article published in the New Yorker this week. Jane Mayer, who interviewed a number of staffers on the condition of anonymity, reported that Feinstein is prone to forgetting whether she’s been briefed on a topic and even what she’s just said. Feinstein told CNN on Friday that she feels capable of carrying out her duties but did not commit to serving out her full term, which expires in 2025. We’ll talk about what Mayer’s story brought to light and what may be next for the senator.

As the winter solstice approaches, nights grow long, and you're stuck at home because of the pandemic, it's a good time to curl up with a book. New York Times Book Review editor Pamela Paul joins us to share her favorite books of 2020. We'll also hear from some local authors to get their picks, and open the phone lines for listener recommendations for a great read.

When the pandemic is in the rear window and we can go out safely and breathe within 6 feet of friends and strangers, what are the first things you’re going to do? We want to hear your post-pandemic fantasy. Is it a crowded dance floor? A trip around the globe? Or just simply dropping your kid off at school? And, what will you miss from this time? Is there anything from your pandemic lifestyle that you hope to hold on to, even after the world opens up again? We’ll open the phones to hear from you.

The federal government and 46 states filed sweeping antitrust lawsuits against Facebook on Wednesday, alleging that the social media company is illegally maintaining a monopoly that crushes competition and harms users. The lawsuits, filed in Washington, D.C., seek remedies that could require Facebook to sell off WhatsApp and Instagram. We'll talk about the complaints and what's at stake for the Menlo Park-based social networking giant.

President Donald Trump’s lawsuits to contest the election results, riddled with errors and bogus claims, have consistently failed in the courts. Even so, more than 100 House Republicans on Thursday signed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit by Texas’ attorney general seeking to overturn the results in four swing states. We talk with New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg about the dangers of Trump’s efforts, including threats against election officials by his supporters.

In a recent piece for medical journal The Lancet, professor of medicine Dr. Kimberly Manning shares her experience of being a Black enrollee in a COVID-19 vaccine trial. A graduate of Tuskegee University, Manning also writes about the historical roots of mistrust between African Americans and the U.S. healthcare system, in part due to the horrific Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment on Black men from 1932 to 1972. While the majority of Americans now say they would get the vaccine, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center, Black Americans are the least inclined to get vaccinated compared to other racial groups. As the COVID-19 vaccine nears FDA approval in the U.S., we talk to Manning about the challenges of building trust with different communities. We'll also learn more about the findings of the Pew report on whether people intend to get the vaccine and what factors inform their thinking.

The West Wing. The Social Network. A Few Good Men. Those are just a few of the iconic series and films created and/or written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter, director, producer and playwright Aaron Sorkin. His latest film is The Trial of the Chicago 7 which is now available on Netflix. And he is being honored this week by SFFILM, presenter of the San Francisco International Film Festival, with its Kanbar Award, which acknowledges "the critical importance that storytelling plays in the creation of outstanding films." We talk to Sorkin about his career. But first, we check in with SFFILM executive director Anne Lai about its annual awards, and the state of cinema.

The coronavirus-induced recession has exacerbated income inequality in California and will only worsen unless political leaders take action, according to a new report from the Public Policy Institute of California. The pandemic is essentially pushing millions of Californians who were already living in poverty or paycheck to paycheck to the brink of financial disaster. After months of shutdowns and stay-at-home orders, many Californians face the end of unemployment benefits, about one in eight households are behind on rent or mortgage payments and any federal stimulus or economic relief remains uncertain. Public policy professor and former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich joins us to talk about this growing problem and how to address it. We’ll also hear more about the PPIC report and the economic consequences of the pandemic.

California launches a new coronavirus notification app on Thursday in a bid to help slow the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the state. The CA Notify app will send smartphone notifications to users who have been exposed to someone who tested positive to the coronavirus. Officials say it will help curb the spread of COVID-19, but only if a large number of people opt in. We’ll hear how the app works, and how it deals with data collection and privacy.

President-elect Joe Biden announced an ambitious plan Tuesday to vaccinate 50 million Americans against the coronavirus in his first 100 days of office. The announcement came as the FDA reported that Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective, paving the way for U.S. approval as soon as this week. Meanwhile, British citizens began receiving their first doses. We'll talk about the latest COVID-19 vaccine developments.

Former San Francisco Chronicle and Santa Rosa Press Democrat sportswriter Lowell Cohn’s career spans four decades. In his new memoir “Gloves Off” he revisits some of the most memorable moments, from his relationship with legendary 49ers coach Bill Walsh to the rise of Warriors phenomenon Steph Curry. We talk with Cohn about his career, the book, and how sportswriting has changed in the last 40 years.

In his new book “Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America," sociologist and cultural critic Michael Eric Dyson looks at the history of systemic racism in the U.S. and how it led to this year’s unrest and protests for racial justice. Written as letters to Black victims of systemic racism and police brutality, including Eric Garner and Breonna Taylor, Dyson traces the genealogy of anti-blackness from slavery to the present. We’ll talk to Dyson about the book and why he remains hopeful in the fight for racial and social justice.

As the Bay Area heads again into shutdown and Covid-19 cases surge, essential workers continue to struggle with the mental health toll of being on the front line. This is where the Frontline Workers Counseling Project comes in. Founded at the start of the pandemic, the project offers free mental health counseling to essential workers, from doctors and nurses to firefighters and postal delivery workers. We’ll talk with the project's co-founder and one of its therapists.

As of Friday, more than 9000 Californians are hospitalized with a confirmed case of COVID-19 -- a state record more than 90 percent higher than two weeks ago, according to state public health data. The surge comes as California grapples with a third wave of infections, and for healthcare workers who treat very sick COVID patients, it's taking a particularly hard toll. We'll hear from a panel of medical professionals about their experiences and reflections on the frontlines of COVID care in California.

On Friday, five Bay Area counties and the city of Berkeley announced that they would impose stay-at-home orders immediately, and would not wait for the state to enact its own order. As of Monday morning, residents of San Francisco, Santa Clara, Contra Costa and Alameda counties and Berkeley will be under the stay-at-home order, and Marin County's restrictions will go into place Tuesday at noon. The orders stay in effect until January 4th, 2021. We'll talk about what these orders will and won't allow, what it means for the holidays, and the public response.

One of the most powerful voices in the debate over whether and when to reopen schools during the pandemic has been teachers unions. Unions have argued that school districts shouldn’t rush to reopen because they say it endangers the health and safety of teachers. But that stance has angered many parents and public officials as data mounts on the toll of remote learning on kids’ physical and mental health. We talk to E. Toby Boyd, president of the state's largest teachers union, the California Teachers Association, about what the recent surge in COVID-19 cases may mean for reopening Bay Area schools and about the frustration expressed by many over the power of teachers unions to keep classrooms shuttered.

What does it mean to be Black and alive right now? That’s the question co-editors Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham explore in their new book, “Black Futures,” a multimedia anthology which they call an “archive of collective memory and exuberant testimony.” The 500-plus-page, non-linear book consists of submissions from artists, essayists, activists and more, navigating a range of themes including justice, ownership, legacy and joy. Kimberly Drew, a writer and art curator, and New York Times Magazine staff writer Jenna Wortham join us to talk about their book and the beauty and power of Black culture.

On Thursday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a regional stay-at-home order to curb rising Covid-19 infections. The order divides the state into five regions and will go into effect when ICU bed capacity in a region drops below 15%. While no region currently meets that threshold, experts predict that most of California will be impacted soon. Under the order, essential businesses and schools may remain open, but indoor dining at restaurants, bars, hair salons, among other businesses will be closed for at least three weeks.

Federal student loan relief is set to expire at the end of the year, burdening many -- who are already struggling amid the pandemic -- with another monthly payment to consider. President-elect Biden has committed to cancelling $10,000 in student debt for all borrowers. Other Democratic leaders, such as Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren, are calling for up to $50,000 in forgiveness. Critics say loan cancellation is regressive, since those with college degrees typically earn more, and that it doesn’t address the underlying issues with student debt. We’ll discuss what will happen if federal student loan relief expires, growing demands for student debt cancellation, and how student loans have burdened people of color particularly heavily.

As many as 22% of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency personnel could be laid off over the next year as the transit agency faces a massive budget shortfall of $68 million this fiscal year and a projected $168 million deficit next year. The agency, which operates Muni and the city's taxis and street parking has been hard hit by sharp declines in fare revenue and parking fees. We'll hear about the massive budget crisis and what it may mean for the agency's essential workers.

San Francisco’s City Administrator took a leave of absence Wednesday after federal prosecutors charged her husband, former San Francisco Public Utilities Commission chief Harlan Kelley with accepting bribes earlier this week. Naomi Kelly is the fifth city department head to step down since federal authorities launched a wide ranging corruption investigation. We’ll discuss the scandal and the criticisms lobbed at mayor London Breed for attending a party at the French Laundry restaurant in Napa as COVID-19 cases surge.

As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surge across California and much of the nation, Gov. Gavin Newsom is considering a second stay-at-home order on top of the nightly curfew for nearly all of the state’s residents. If projections hold, the state’s intensive care units could be overloaded by mid-December and hospitals could be dangerously full by Christmas. The sobering projections come as the state is set to receive 327,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine this month, but questions remain about who gets the vaccine first, and when.

In his most recent book "The Splendid and the Vile," author Erik Larson portrays Winston Churchill — and the family members and advisors around him — during his first year as prime minister of the United Kingdom. Larson, a bestselling nonfiction writer and author of "Devil in the White City," joins us to talk about Churchill’s leadership, from his taking office on the day Germany invaded Holland and Belgium to the way he’s remembered today.

COVID-19 cases are rising again in California's state prisons with over 3,600 active cases reported as of Sunday. Early releases, done to ease crowding, have slowed and prisons remain overcrowded systemwide. Positive cases among prison staff are also of concern and some staff are failing to comply with personal protective equipment protocols. Meanwhile, county jails continue to struggle with a backlog of inmates awaiting transfers to state prisons. This latest surge prompted California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials to again stop transfers as of last Thursday. After coming under fire for the poor handling of previous outbreaks, critics now say CDCR has been too slow to learn from past mistakes. We'll discuss the latest news.

As pandemic-induced remote work frees up some employees to live anywhere they have Internet access, vacancy rates are rising in parts of California. That's putting some renters in the driver's seat in pricey coastal cities like San Francisco -- where rents have dropped nearly 22% since January -- and Los Angeles. But rents in traditionally more affordable inland and suburban areas are increasing, prompting concerns about gentrification and displacement, especially as so many Californians remain unemployed during the pandemic. We'll talk about the state of California's rental market.

The last few weeks have brought welcome news of promising vaccines, and at least a faint light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. But for many of the Bay Area’s struggling music venues, the end of restrictions might not come soon enough. Those clubs and theaters say they desperately need government help -- or will go out of business permanently. We’ll check in on the local music scene and find out about efforts to help venues and artists.

Nearly 20 years ago George Gascón was the assistant chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. This month he was elected as the city’s new district attorney overcoming fierce opposition from law enforcement groups. Gascón, the former district attorney and police chief of San Francisco, campaigned on a platform of criminal justice reform, including a promise to stop prosecuting children as adults, not seeking the death penalty and possibly reopening investigations into fatal shootings by police officers. We’ll talk to Gascón about his ideas for reform and his close election, defeating LA’s first Black district attorney partly by galvanizing the support of Black Lives Matter activists.

In a recent tweet, Dr. Bob Wachter, chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, wrote that in “about 3 weeks we’re going to have real vaccine doses and real people who want their shots.” Officials will have to make difficult decisions and provide clear guidance on who should be the first to receive a coronavirus vaccine. “Folks need to be able to trust the process,” Wachter tweeted. We’ll be covering vaccine distribution in detail in the coming days and weeks. But right now, we have a few minutes with Bob Wachter to give us a preview of how UCSF -- and the Bay Area -- could handle early shipments of a vaccine.

Before the election, Silicon Valley congressman Ro Khanna criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for refusing to take up President Trump’s $1.8 trillion coronavirus relief deal. He’s a firm believer in universal sick leave and guaranteed safety protections now more than ever. He joins us to talk about what Congress should do immediately to provide pandemic relief. And, we’ll hear his take on president-elect Joe Biden’s political appointments.

Many of us take money for granted as a certainty, but what exactly is money? Jacob Goldstein, co-host of NPR’s Planet Money podcast, explores that question in his book, “Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing.” Goldstein argues that monetary systems depend on a collective belief that an object, such as a piece of metal or paper, is worth a given amount. The history of money stretches back centuries and continues to evolve in surprising ways. We’ll talk with Goldstein about the origin of money as a fictional concept that nonetheless shapes our lives.

K-12 education has gone online, prompting no shortage of complaints from parents and kids alike. But as teachers get better at engaging students with screens, some educators and technologists see an opportunity to customize instruction and let kids work at their own pace. We'll hear from one of online learning’s early innovators: Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy. The non-profit site became a key resource for teachers during the pandemic shutdown. What advice does he have for distance learning, part two?

In this hour, we’re going to focus on elementary age children and organized outdoor play during the pandemic. California’s stay at home order and pandemic guidance saw schools close and effectively suspended youth sports back in March. In late July, state health officials began allowing training, conditioning and physical education under specific circumstances. More recently, some schools have returned to in-person learning, complete with PE and recess. What are we learning about how to do outdoor organized play safely, and how can we apply it to activities at home to keep kids healthy? We’ll hear from experts who have some ideas and answers for us.

The new Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit” follows a chess prodigy named Beth who takes on the male-dominated world of chess in the 1960s. We’ll hear how the series is sparking renewed interest in the game to the point of making chess sets a best-selling holiday gift this year. Chess, a type of board game that evolved centuries ago and has been played in its current form since the 1500s, is known for requiring intellectual skill and maneuvering. We’ll discuss efforts to make professional chess, which has historically excluded women and people of color, more inclusive.

General Services Administration chief Emily Murphy informed President-elect Joe Biden Monday that she would release the post-election funds and resources necessary for his transition to the presidency. The news came just after Michigan certified its election results, allocating its 16 electoral votes to Biden and ending Trump's multi-pronged campaign to overturn the results based on false claims of voter fraud. Despite those developments, Trump has still refused to concede, tweeting Monday that he'd "keep up the good fight." We'll talk about the effect these last few weeks of political uncertainty have had on the nation and its institutions.

Four years ago, Lisa Lucas became the first African American to lead the National Book Foundation, the organization that runs the National Book Awards and promotes reading and writing. Lucas will move into a new job in January as senior vice president at Penguin Random House. As she wraps up her current role, she has called on the book industry to take more risks, publish and advocate for more writers of color, and in general, “do better.” She joined the foundation after serving as publisher of arts magazine Guernica and director of education at the Tribeca Film Institute. We’ll talk with her about her career, diversity in the publishing industry and her holiday book picks.

In a long-awaited move, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin filed charges against a police officer who fatally shot a man in 2017 after a car chase. The shooting happened nearly three years ago, well before Boudin took office, but has been seen as a pivotal case for Boudin, who campaigned on a promise to hold police accountable for brutality and killings. Boudin’s office said the charges against former San Francisco Police Department Officer Chris Samayoa are the first homicide prosecution against a law enforcement officer in the city’s history. We talk with Boudin about the case and his broader vision for police accountability.

California has seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases since the end of October, as well as an increase in hospitalizations. The state coronavirus test positivity rate is now above five percent, yet that's relatively low when compared to much of the rest of the country. While California hospitals still have capacity, other parts of the nation are already strained, some overwhelmed, by this latest surge. We'll talk to Ed Yong, science writer for the Atlantic, about preparations hospitals are making and what front line workers face.

California’s unemployment agency has been under scrutiny ever since claims surged as the pandemic took a toll on jobs. Criticism has revolved around outdated technology, claims backlogs and a revamped customer help center still unable to accommodate all the calls. Most recently, the Employment Development Department sent out 38 million pieces of mail containing social security numbers, putting claimants at risk of identity theft. We’ll hear what a new state audit of the EDD found and get the latest on the agency’s struggles to support unemployed Californians.

Businesses across the country are struggling because of the pandemic, but Asian American establishments face particular challenges. In addition to steep drops in revenue and little help from the government , racism and xenophobia are also taking a toll. Now that the pandemic has stretched on for almost a year, some owners are scrambling to survive as consumers spend less at restaurants, nail salons, and dry cleaners. In the Bay Area, a “Save our Chinatowns” campaign is urging people to support Asian-owned businesses. We’ll look at how the pandemic is affecting California’s Asian-American businesses and find out about efforts to support them.

As coronavirus cases surge in the state, Governor Gavin Newsom has issued a curfew for most of the state and many counties are reinstating restrictions that were only recently lifted. Add to that the winter cold and rains, which make it harder to gather outside, and the coming holidays which remind us of more festive times. It’s leaving many of us with severe cases of pandemic fatigue. We’ll talk about what we’re experiencing and ways to alleviate it.

Governor Gavin Newsom this week announced a dramatic rollback of reopening plans--including a curfew in a majority of the state’s counties. But the governor himself is under fire for attending a birthday party for a friend-- and powerful lobbyist -- at the exclusive French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley. Among the other attendees were top officials from the California Medical Association, Politico reported on Thursday. Meanwhile more details are emerging about a recent trip by a group of California officials to a conference in Maui, which is also raising eyebrows.

With coronavirus case numbers rising in California and across the country, public officials are telling families to stay home and avoid gathering for Thanksgiving. Many families are now reworking their usual game plans -- whether that means holding a virtual gathering, ordering takeout or abandoning typical Thanksgiving rules to cook something you might not normally cook. This hour, we’ll hear how you’re reimagining your holiday traditions and get expert tips on ways to have a safe, fulfilling holiday.

Programs that temporarily house elderly and vulnerable homeless people in hotel rooms during the pandemic got a boost earlier this week when Governor Newsom announced an additional $62 million in funding. But finding permanent housing for these individuals remains challenging. San Francisco plans to begin shutting down the first seven of 29 shelter-in-place hotels by Dec. 21, and concern is growing over where up to 500 individuals will go as the cold and rain sets in. Other counties, such as Marin, have already moved nearly everyone out of their hotels. Meanwhile Bay Area suburbs like Novato and Milpitas are pushing back against plans to convert hotels into permanent supportive housing. We’ll get an update on programs to help the homeless during the pandemic and what’s being done to ensure permanent solutions to the housing crisis.

The coronavirus pandemic has jolted many industries and Hollywood is no exception. With only a few weeks of material left to shoot, the blockbuster “Jurassic World: Dominion” halted production after a few positive coronavirus tests. Movie theaters nationwide are hurting from restrictive measures on indoor viewings. Even media conglomerates such as Disney have suffered financial losses. But there is hope your favorite TV shows and much-anticipated movies may be out soon. We’ll look at how movies and shows are still getting made and what the movie industry might look like after the pandemic.

Stanford University distanced itself from Trump administration task force member and Hoover Institution senior fellow Dr. Scott Atlas on Monday after Atlas tweeted that Michigan residents should "rise up" over new coronavirus restrictions. In a written statement, Stanford said his views were “inconsistent with the university’s approach” and emphasized the use of masks, social distancing and following public health guidelines. In September, a large group of Stanford colleagues signed a letter criticizing Atlas for undermining public health by misrepresenting the science on how to tackle the pandemic. We hear about the controversies and how they tie into long-standing tensions between university faculty and the free-market leaning Hoover Institution.

The Pentagon announced Tuesday that it will continue to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, leaving 2500 in each nation by January 15. The move drew bipartisan rebukes from lawmakers and some top military commanders, who say the troop reduction is premature and could further destabilize Afghanistan in particular. The announcement comes as President Trump continues to install loyalists at the Pentagon and a week after he fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper. We'll talk about what's behind the drawdown in Iraq and Afghanistan and other foreign policy news.

A recurring theme of post-election punditry was that President Trump gained ground among groups like Latino and Black men, a fact that surprised some observers. But what about the role of white voters? They delivered the White House to Trump in 2016 and despite four years that included an impeachment trial, a raging pandemic, and economic recession, white voters came out even more strongly for him again this year. We’ll look at what’s behind the steady support for Trump among white voters, why he may have increased backing among white women, and what it means for the future of U.S. politics.

Biotechnology company Moderna announced Monday that its coronavirus vaccine candidate appears to be 94.5% effective against the disease. The news comes one week after Pfizer announced that its vaccine was more than 90% effective in a clinical trial. As California rolls back reopening plans amid a spike in cases, we’ll discuss next steps for the new vaccines and what we know about safety and long-term effectiveness.

San Francisco has recorded more than 460 drug overdose deaths from January to August of this year, compared to 441 in all of 2019, according to the city's Medical Examiner's Office. The fatalities are chiefly attributable to fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid that drug experts say only recently became widely available in San Francisco. We'll talk about what can be done to prevent more overdose deaths, and why the pandemic is complicating some efforts to provide people the treatment they need.

In the weeks leading up to the presidential election, Twitter and Facebook drew praise from political misinformation watchdogs for attaching warning labels to misleading posts and banning accounts associated with QAnon and other extremist groups. But those moves may have breathed life into so-called "free speech" platforms like Parler, where some prominent Trump supporters have migrated. We'll talk about the rising popularity of conservative social networks and their implications for our already deeply fractured national political discourse.

Wildfire survivors eligible for compensation from PG&E for the 2017 wine country fires and the 2018 Camp Fire will begin getting emergency payments of up to $25,000 by November 23rd. That’s according to an announcement earlier this month by the PG&E Fire Victim Trust. The coronavirus pandemic has compounded the financial devastation for families suffering injury or property loss from the fires. We’ll get the latest on the long-running efforts of fire victims to receive compensation.

Forum reviews, analyzes and answers your questions about the latest in national political news.

The majority of California voters may label themselves liberal or progressive, but some of the results of statewide propositions in last week’s election may suggest otherwise. The initiative to repeal a ban on affirmative action failed. California voted to restore voting rights to former felons, but against other criminal justice reforms, like doing away with cash bail. And the effort to hike taxes on commercial properties to fund schools failed. Meanwhile, Californians chose mostly Democratic candidates while voting overwhelmingly to send Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris to the White House. They also sent more Democrats to Sacramento, which will solidify their supermajority in the California Legislature. We’ll discuss the results of the California ballot measures and what they say about where the state stands politically in 2020.

As coronavirus cases spike across California, Bay Area school districts continue to weigh when and how to reopen. San Jose Unified School District recently announced plans to open classrooms in January; Oakland Unified has yet to set a date. But what impact is remote learning having on the education and mental health of students? We’ll discuss the effects of remote learning on K-12 students and the inequities deepening these concerns and we’ll want to hear from you: how are your children doing with distance learning?

Coronavirus cases reached their highest level with nearly 140,000 cases nationwide reported on Tuesday. Much of the surge is concentrated in the Midwest, but the West Coast is also seeing an uptick. The number of infections has steadily risen nationwide since September and will likely keep climbing as cold weather forces people indoors and Americans travel for the holidays. Meanwhile, uncertainty looms over what will happen with President Donald Trump still in office and President-elect Joe Biden setting up a response that may come too late for many Americans. We talk about why the U.S. has struggled to contain the coronavirus and what measures California is taking to prevent a winter surge.

The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District will vote Friday whether or not to raise the Golden Gate Bridge toll by $2. With car traffic, along with bus and ferry ridership, way down because of the pandemic, the agency is facing a $48 million deficit. Officials say federal emergency funds being used to pay employees will run out at the end of this month. We’ll get the details.

President Trump’s refusal to concede the presidential race, his unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, and his replacement of Pentagon officials with loyalists is drawing comparisons to actions by authoritarian leaders. We’ll talk with political scientists and former ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, about threats to American democracy and a peaceful transfer of power. And we’ll discuss the challenges president-elect Biden is likely to face in rebuilding world alliances and addressing threats from Russia and China.

After reporting increases in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, San Francisco and Contra Costa counties announced Tuesday that they will roll back some activities, like indoor dining . Meanwhile, health officials across the Bay Area have issued guidelines for travel and gatherings during the upcoming holiday season. We’ll hear about the new restrictions, recommendations for the holiday season, and the latest COVID-19 data from across the region.

When Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is sworn in, in addition to being the first woman and first woman of color, she will become the second Californian in history -- and first California Democrat -- to serve as vice president. Gov. Newsom, who is now responsible for picking who will replace Harris in the senate, said Harris' new role will be "profoundly significant for the state." We’ll talk about what influence Harris' California roots and politics could have in the Biden administration. Plus: we consider who might take over Harris’ senate seat and the Californians being eyed for roles in the new administration.

President Trump's refusal to concede President-elect Biden's electoral college victory stretched into a third day Tuesday, as his campaign pursues a long-shot legal strategy to challenge the results. The President's intransigence, which is complicating the Biden team's effort to carry out an orderly transition, has so far drawn the support of Senator Mitch McConnell and other Republican leaders. Meanwhile, Trump continues to remove senior officials at the Department of Defense, a day after he fired Secretary Mark Esper. We'll talk about the latest developments.

On Tuesday, for the third time in eight years, the Supreme Court will again hear a constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act. The Republican state officials bringing the case argue that Congress’s elimination of a penalty for failure to comply with the Act’s insurance mandate renders the entire law unconstitutional. The hearing takes place before the most conservative bench the Supreme Court has seen in decades and amid a raging pandemic that has left millions jobless and without health insurance. We’ll talk about what’s at stake.

Early tests show that a coronavirus vaccine from drug makers Pfizer and BioNTech could be 90 percent effective at preventing COVID-19, a disease that has now infected more than 10 million Americans and killed more than a million. While those results look promising, experts say the production and distribution of the vaccine -- which needs to be kept at negative 80 degrees Celsius -- will be complicated to say the least. Other challenges include convincing enough Americans to take the vaccine amid a climate of distrust and misinformation. Meanwhile, other drug makers are also pushing to bring vaccines to the market. We’ll talk about the status of a coronavirus vaccine.

Moms 4 Housing founder and longtime racial and social justice advocate Carroll Fife became Oakland's newest councilmember-elect on Monday. Upsetting two-term District 3 incumbent Lynette Gibson McElhaney, Fife campaigned on platforms of police reform, environmental justice and the animating concept that housing is a human right. We'll talk to Fife about her vision for Oakland and the progressive political movement she's building.

As President Trump continues to refuse to concede, we'll discuss what to look for as he enters his lame-duck period. We'll also talk about the role of Republicans in Congress who are largely refusing to acknowledge President-elect Joe Biden's victory thus far.

As a 30-year-old first-time senator from Delaware, Joe Biden had high hopes that he would end up in the White House. Over the course of more than three decades in the senate and two terms as vice president, Biden’s career was marked by his moderate political positions, personal tragedy and some controversy, including his support for a 1994 tough-on-crime bill. We talk with New Yorker journalist Evan Osnos about his new biography of president-elect Joe Biden and hear how Biden’s life and career experiences might help him mend a divided country.

We'll talk with East Bay Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee about Oakland native Kamala Harris' historic election as the first female vice president, as well as the first Black person and first Asian American to hold the office. We'll also discuss Lee's own re-election this week, and her priorities for her next term.

In the race for the presidency, early this morning Georgia and Pennsylvania moved into Joe Biden’s column, where he holds a very small margin. With Biden’s lead in the presidential election growing, we’ll get the latest on vote counting and preview what a Biden administration might look like in a deeply divided country. We’ll also examine Kamala Harris’ historic run as the first woman of color on a major presidential ticket. Plus: how young voters and people of color helped boost the Biden/Harris campaign.

As the ballot count continues, we’ll bring you the latest on the presidential race as well as other state and national election results.

California voters have approved Proposition 22, the most expensive ballot measure in state history, that will set new labor regulations for a group of delivery and ride-hailing app companies. The measure garnered national attention as a harbinger of how the tech industry could influence labor laws. After the state legislature passed a law last year requiring more workers to be classified as employees instead of contractors, tech executives said they wanted a “third way” of categorizing drivers. But, critics of the proposition say that the deep-pocketed companies effectively did an end-run around state law. We dive into the significance of Prop. 22 in California and beyond.

Forum brings you continued analysis of state and national election results.

Pulitzer prize-winning historian Jon Meacham shed light on the current climate of partisanship and division in his book “The Soul of America”, where he examined pivotal moments in U.S history from the Civil War through Jim Crow to show how -- in Abraham Lincoln’s words -- the “better angels of our nature” usually win. Meacham, whose newest book is “His Truth is Marching on: John Lewis and the Power of Hope”, joins us to bring historical context to this moment.

Joe Biden’s lead over Donald Trump in the US presidential race grew on Wednesday, with wins announced in Wisconsin and Michigan. President Trump’s campaign says it will sue to halt vote counting in Michigan and Pennsylvania, claiming that its observers have not been given “meaningful” access to review the ballot counting process. There have been no official reports of ballot fraud or irregularities either of those states. We get the latest news on the presidential election.

Forum brings you continued analysis of state and national election results.

America woke up to an undecided presidential election with states including Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin still counting millions of ballots. Even so, President Trump falsely and recklessly claimed victory, while challenger Joe Biden called for the votes to be counted. Meanwhile, Republicans appeared to retain control of the US senate, while Democrats kept the House. In California, Proposition 22, which would create new regulations for delivery app drivers, emerged victorious after the most expensive statewide ballot measure campaign. Other Propositions, including 16 to overturn the state’s ban on affirmative action and 15 to raise tax rates on commercial properties were trailing.

Americans are highly engaged in this year’s presidential election, and they are not alone. The campaign has riveted people across the globe. Just like at home, President Donald Trump has garnered plenty of critics abroad for his xenophobia, denial of climate change and mistreatment of immigrants, but also some ardent supporters. During the past four years, Trump made a point of talking tough against China, cozying up with Russia, and trying to forge deals in the Middle East. At the same time, he has renounced the World Health Organization and the Paris Agreement on climate. We talk about what the next four years could mean for America’s reputation overseas regardless of who wins the election.

On Election Day, we check in with Kim Alexander of the California Voter Foundation about how voting is going around the state and take your last-minute questions. We want to hear from you: what do the polls look like in your area?

KQED is partnering with ProPublica to report on issues voters face at the polls. If you are experiencing long lines, problems with voting machines, or voter intimidation, text the word VOTE to 81380.

We're in the final stretch of the election, and while most of the attention is on Trump vs. Biden, Democrats and Republicans are also locked in an intense battle for control of Congress. Led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrats took the House in 2018 and are expected to retain control of that chamber. And although the GOP controls the Senate, it is struggling to keep its slim majority. We’ll discuss some of the key races in California and across the country, and what to look for as returns start coming in.

As Americans draw political battle lines over everything from mask-wearing to immigration policy to post-election ballot-counting, it can feel as if the nation’s never been so ideologically divided. But historians say that Americans have always been deeply split on major policy issues -- it’s just that those splits haven’t fallen along partisan lines as sharply as they do today. We’ll look at past instances of U.S. electoral and political strife to help understand and address today’s disunity.

California is experiencing a record number of early votes with over 9 million ballots cast as of Friday. Secretary of State Alex Padilla is encouraging voters to keep it up as high turnout and COVID-19 safety protocols will likely lead to longer lines on Election Day. We'll check in with Sec. Padilla about early voting, how to make sure your ballot gets counted and what to expect when voting in person this year.

After election ballots are cast, the spotlight turns to the Electoral College with its 538 electors. Unlike most elections in the U.S., the presidency is decided not directly by voters, but by members of the Electoral College, who are assigned based on the results of the popular vote in each state. In this hour, we break down the role of the Electoral College and hear why there’s ongoing debate over its relevance.

Is the presidential election keeping you up at night? Straining your relationships? Maybe even giving you panic attacks? You’re not alone. An American Psychological Association survey found that nearly 70% of adults in the U.S. are finding the election a significant source of stress. That’s a dramatic jump since 2016, and it’s worse for Democrats than Republicans. What are you doing to calm your nerves? And what will you do if the election doesn’t go your way? We’ll get tips on how to manage these times.

President Donald Trump has made restricting immigration a central component of his administration and campaign messaging. On the other side, former Vice President Joe Biden has promised to reverse some of Trump’s policies, such as family separation, setting up a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and to establish a “fair and humane” immigration system. With the election approaching next week, we’ll discuss each candidates’ policy positions on one of the nation’s most divisive issues.

San Francisco has moved very cautiously thus far in the coronavirus pandemic, recently distinguishing itself for being the first California city to reach the “minimal” spread tier on the state’s coded system. And while the Bay Area is reporting the first significant uptick in cases since August, regional numbers are far lower than a growing national outbreak. San Francisco Department of Public Health Director Grant Colfax joins us to discuss his strategy for weathering the upcoming holiday season in a pandemic that’s taking a heavy toll on the city’s economy and shows no sign of slowing down.

Dia de los Muertos, the annual Latin American tradition of honoring the dead, will take on a special significance this year, in which the pandemic has created a collective sense of grief. While coronavirus has impacted everyone, Latinos have disproportionately felt the brunt of the pandemic both in terms of deaths and economic hardship. Dia de los Muertos is, in essence, a time of confronting death and remembering loved ones who have passed. In a society that prefers to neglect feelings of grief, cultural and spiritual expert Lara Medina says the tradition provides lessons in how to heal, cope and understand death. With Dia de los Muertos approaching next week, Medina joins us to talk about what the tradition can teach us in a year so heavily marked by loss.

Every election cycle includes “Get Out the Vote” campaigns, but the 2020 election is seeing extraordinary levels of voter enthusiasm, engagement and messaging -- even amidst the pandemic. Research shows that the U.S. lags behind most other democratic countries when it comes to voter turnout. This year, however, states across the country are shattering early voting records, signaling the potential for historic turnout. We’ll talk about the strategies and push to get out the vote in 2020.

Families across California will finally be permitted to visit loved ones in nursing homes, after months of being unable to have in-person visits. Updated guidelines released Friday allow indoor visits in California’s 46 counties currently in red, orange and yellow tiers; it also only applies to long-term care facilities, like nursing homes, but not to assisted or independent living communities. We’ll hear about the new guidance and how the state is keeping elder care facilities safe during the pandemic.

New York City, an international travel hub and region with 19 million people, was particularly vulnerable to a fast-spreading pandemic like coronavirus. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s new book “American Crisis” takes stock of what his state and its largest city have been through, details the shortfalls of the federal response, and offers a blueprint for future outbreaks.

Major recent polls suggest that former Vice President Joe Biden will defeat President Donald Trump by a decisive margin in next week's election. A simulation by FiveThirtyEight shows Biden winning 88 times in 100, and a model from The Economist puts Biden’s chances of winning the electoral college at 95%. But for the obsessive poll watchers who in 2016 were shocked by Trump's win, today's numbers are fraught. We'll talk about how election polls are constructed, how to interpret them and how methodologies have changed since 2016.

Published two decades ago, political scientist Robert Putnam’s bestselling book “Bowling Alone” struck a nerve with its stark warning about loosening social and political cohesion in America. In their new book “The Upswing”, Putnam and co-author Shaylyn Romney Garrett offer solutions for improving civic life in a country beset by COVID-19 and a divisive election. Putnam and Garrett join Forum to talk about the book and share lessons from history about how the U.S. can recover solidarity and a collective national identity.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told CNN Sunday that the U.S. is “not going to control the pandemic,” because “it is a contagious virus just like the flu.” But thinking of COVID-19 like the flu and employing a flu-pandemic playbook is not an effective response, according to sociologist Zeynep Tufekci. In her latest piece for The Atlantic, Tufekci highlights a factor she says is key to this pandemic: COVID-19 is an "overdispersed" virus, which means it tends to spread in clusters. When dealing with overdispersion, she writes "identifying transmission events (someone infected someone else) is more important than identifying infected individuals." Tufekci outlines how countries like South Korea and Japan have used aggressive contact-tracing approaches that include backwards tracing to the original contact, as well as clamping down on potential super-spreader events, to slow the spread. That's in stark contrast to the U.S., where the federal response has been the idea of creating "herd immunity" and where the White House itself became the source of a super-spreader event earlier this month. Tufekci, who the New York Times has called "perhaps the only good amateur epidemiologist,” joins us to talk about the rising cases across the country, prospects for getting the pandemic under control and feelings of "pandemic fatigue."

California prison officials frequently fail to enforce mask requirements for prison staff and inmates to stop the spread of coronavirus. That's according to a report issued Monday by the California Office of the Inspector General, which noted that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has reported that 69 incarcerated persons and 10 staff members have died of COVID-19 as of Oct. 7. We'll review the report and also discuss last week's state court order that San Quentin State Prison reduce its inmate population by half to combat the spread of the virus.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo joins us to discuss how his city is faring as the coronavirus pandemic wears on. Last week, the city unveiled the first of three emergency housing projects with 78 rooms to provide shelter for homeless people. Meanwhile, the city emerged as an economic bright spot in September by adding 9,000 jobs, but close to half of the city’s downtown storefronts remain shuttered. Coronavirus cases in Santa Clara County have steadily declined since peaking in late July. About 58 percent of confirmed cases are among Latinos even though that group only makes up 26 percent of the county’s residents. We talk with Liccardo about ongoing efforts to suppress coronavirus, tackle homelessness and rebuild the local economy.

New reports of foreign election interference emerged this week when national security officials announced that Iran and Russia obtained voter registration data that could be used to threaten voters and sow discord ahead of the November election. In an advisory Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security further called out Iranian actors for spoofing legitimate media sites to spread misinformation about voter suppression and ballot fraud. But according to The New York Times, security experts say that Russia remains the more dangerous threat to the integrity of the 2020 election. We'll talk to New York Times national security correspondent David Sanger about foreign attempts to influence this November's vote.

In her new podcast and radio show “Our Body Politic,” journalist Farai Chideya reports on how women of color experience the major political events of today and how they’re impacting those very issues. The show also explores how we might collectively rebuild America in ways that nourish women of color and their communities. Chideya, who has covered the past six presidential elections for outlets including CNN, NPR and FiveThirtyEight, joins us to talk about her new show.

While it may seem too early to draw conclusions from a global crisis still in process, journalist Fareed Zakaria is seizing the moment. In his latest book, “Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World,” the CNN host outlines how the coronavirus pandemic will have lasting impacts that could take years to unfold. He examines the prospective political, social, technological and economic consequences of actions governments are taking now. On his weekly show, “Fareed Zakaria GPS” for CNN Worldwide, Zakaria has focused on international and domestic affairs for 12 years running. He also writes columns for the Washington Post and serves as a contributing editor for The Atlantic. Zakaria joins us to discuss his new book as well as international news.

Julián Castro is one of just a few Latino politicians with a national presence. The former Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development was the only Latino to compete for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. Though his bid failed, Castro is still hitting the campaign trail. He’s working to increase voting rates and on turning Texas blue. Castro joins us to talk about housing policy, immigration reform and the latest political news including the final presidential debate.

Protesters around the country have demanded the defunding of police because of excessive force used all too often in situations that critics say could be dealt with nonviolently. Now San Francisco is launching the country’s largest experiment in reform by taking most psychiatric , behavioral and substance abuse crisis calls out of the hands of police. Instead, unarmed mobile teams -- made up of a paramedic, a mental health professional and a peer advocate -- will respond to the calls. We’ll talk about San Francisco’s program, which will be phased in next month, and similar efforts around the country.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden take the stage in Nashville for the second and final presidential debate of the 2020 election. They will participate under new ground rules announced by the Commission on Presidential Debates, where each candidate’s microphone will be muted for portions of the debate. The candidates will face questions on topics including the fight against COVID-19, race in America, climate change and national security. We'll recap the debate and hear your reactions.

Three years after the Trump administration began separating migrant parents from their children at the U.S.-Mexico border, lawyers tasked with reuniting the families say they still haven’t been able to find the parents of 545 children. Amidst an uproar over the “zero-tolerance” policy, a federal judge in 2018 ordered the Trump administration to locate parents and children who had been separated. We’ll talk about the continuing effects of Trump’s policy and how the global pandemic is hampering efforts to reunite families.

Sen. Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday he had a “serious talk” with California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, following last week’s confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Schumer refused to defend the former San Francisco mayor, amid calls from liberal groups for her to step down as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Some on the left have criticized Feinstein for being too accommodating during last week’s controversial hearing, which concluded with her praising Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham and hugging him without a mask. We’ll talk with KQED politics correspondent Marisa Lagos about the controversy.

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley now helps feed about 500,000 people every month -- double what it served before the pandemic. Across the Bay Area, food banks are struggling to keep up with increased demand for food and volunteers. The core Bay Area has lost close to 350,000 jobs during the past year as of September, according to the state Economic Development Department, which has led many more people to rely on food banks. We’ll talk about how food banks are responding in this time of crisis and how you can help.

In an interview for a documentary released Wednesday, Pope Francis said he favors civil unions for same-sex couples, a step toward more inclusion for LGBTQ people in the Catholic church. We’ll talk to Jesuit priest and LGBTQ advocate Father James Martin about the significance of the Pope’s comments.

More than 33 million Americans have already voted as of Tuesday -- roughly 70% of total 2016 early voting. On Monday, the Supreme Court denied a request by Pennsylvania Republicans to shorten the deadlines for mail-in ballots in the state. We’ll get the national picture on voting from NPR’s Miles Parks and hear how voting systems are handling the record turnout. Then, president and founder of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation Kim Alexander joins Forum to take your questions on voting. We’ll cover topics like locating and using official ballot drop boxes, voting in-person after applying to vote by mail and correcting a mistake on your ballot.

Facing a pandemic-induced plunge in ridership and ticket sales, Caltrain is asking voters in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties for a lifeline this November. If approved by a two-thirds majority, Measure RR would impose a one-eighth cent sales tax increase to fund Caltrain’s operations, maintenance and capital projects. Caltrain says that the tax would generate about $100 million annually. We’ll break down Measure RR and what’s at stake for the beleaguered commuter railroad.

Advocates of expanding rent control in California are back with this year with Proposition 21 two years after voters turned down a similar ballot measure. Prop. 21 would allow cities to put limits on how much landlords can annually increase rents. The measure would also allow cities to include single-family homes under control provisions, which are currently exempt. In 2019, the state legislature established a statewide rent cap of 5 percent plus inflation on buildings that are at least 15 years old. We look at both sides of the debate on Prop. 21 and what it would do compared with existing laws.

Asian Americans are the fastest growing voting bloc in the country according to Pew Research data. A recent Asian American Voter Survey shows they have strong enthusiasm for this year’s election. Yet, outreach to Asian American voters remains low. The same survey reported that 58 percent of Asian Americans say they received no contact from either Democrats or Republicans this election cycle. In addition to low outreach efforts, a lack of bilingual voting information can discourage turnout for Asian American voters who have limited English proficiency -- especially this year with the increase in mail-in voting. We’ll look at efforts to turn out Asian American voters.

Back in 2019, the city of Mountain View approved a controversial ban of oversized vehicles on narrow streets, citing traffic and safety concerns. Advocates, led by former Mountain View mayor Lenny Siegel, responded by amassing enough signatures for a referendum on this November ballot. Measure C seeks to uphold the city’s limit on where and how long oversized vehicles can park. Proponents of the measure say they're concerned about parking issues and waste hazards. Opponents say the measure does nothing to address the issue of homelessness in the heart of Silicon Valley and the sweeping language of the ordinance puts a blanket ban on RVs. We'll break down the arguments for and against Measure C.

The Oakland City Council is set to vote Tuesday on a plan to clear homeless camps in "high sensitivity areas" near schools, businesses, residences and parks. The policy would also set health and safety standards for encampments. City officials say the policy appropriately balances the needs and rights of the unsheltered with those of their neighbors. But advocates for the unhoused say the rules offer no path to permanent housing and would simply push the homeless out of sight into areas with no schools, grocery stores or other essential services. We'll discuss the proposal and its potential impacts if approved.

No matter which party prevails in November, the next president will inherit an economy in shambles, with the latest jobs report showing nearly 900,000 weekly unemployment claims - the highest number since August. President Trump has been vague about his economic plan, but vows to cut taxes for the middle class, impose tariffs on companies that move abroad and to repeal Obamacare. Joe Biden, on the other hand, has proposed raising taxes on those earning more than $400,000 per year, making four-year public colleges and universities tuition-free for families making less than $125,000 per year and a $2 trillion plan to combat climate change. Jim Tankersley, tax and economics reporter for The New York Times, joins Forum to discuss the candidates’ economic plans, where we stand with COVID relief, and the latest updates on Trump’s taxes.

Two Democrats are competing for the Silicon Valley-based state senate seat vacated by Jim Beall, who termed out this year. On the ballot are Dave Cortese, a Santa Clara County supervisor, and Ann Ravel, an attorney and former member of the Federal Election Commission under President Barack Obama. We'll hear the candidates' positions on the economy, housing, education and the state's COVID-19 response, and we’ll take your questions.

Women dropped out of the U.S. workforce at a rate eight times higher than men last month, according to CNN. Meanwhile, a recent report from McKinsey and Lean.org found that one in four women are considering downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce due to Covid-19. Women in service industries have seen their jobs disappear, while those who are able to work from home are struggling to shoulder more responsibilities. Many of the pressures women already face in the workforce such as the gender pay gap, barriers to advancement and lack of flexibility have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Some experts warn that the pandemic could wipe out hard-won progress women have made in leadership and wages over past years. The crisis could, however, usher in new policies, standards and support systems for women across industries and income levels. We’ll talk with experts about how working women are faring during the pandemic and how to address the challenges.

Public schools in San Francisco and Alameda county remain closed for in- person learning while some school districts in Marin and Santa Clara county have opened to students. We’ll discuss why counties and school districts with similar rates of Covid are adopting different approaches to reopening and we’ll look at the challenges facing Bay Area schools as they plan to reopen. And we want to hear from parents, students and teachers. How do you feel about how your school district has handled the pandemic? Are you comfortable with returning to school? If not, what would you like to see before you or your child heads back?

The California Republican Party said on Wednesday that it will continue to use unauthorized vote-by-mail drop boxes, despite a cease-and-desist letter from California Secretary of State Alex Padilla and Attorney General Xavier Becerra. The unofficial boxes have been found in districts with closely contested congressional races, and have been widely criticized by state Democrats as an attempt to confuse voters. Republicans argue the boxes are a form of “ballot harvesting,” which allows voters to designate someone else to collect and return their ballot under state law. We’ll talk with KQED politics and government editor Scott Shafer for an update on the situation. We’ll also talk with him about the Trump administration’s decision, announced Friday, to reject California’s request for wildfire disaster relief.

Proposition 19 on California’s November ballot would amend the state’s property tax structure in multiple ways. First, it would allow homeowners who are either age 55 and older, severely disabled or lost their home to wildfire to take their existing property tax rates with them when they move multiple times. Second, it would partly clamp down on what’s known as the Lebowski Loophole, which allows people who inherit homes from their parents to keep the existing tax rate. The measure would also direct some funding to wildfire prevention efforts. We break down Prop. 19.

In 2018, state lawmakers passed the California Consumer Privacy Act, a landmark bill aimed at protecting consumers and their digital data. The law took effect earlier this year and allows consumers to tell companies not to sell their personal information, among other protections. Now, Proposition 24 wants to take protections even further than those outlined in the existing law. But consumer advocates are divided on the measure. While all are in favor of protecting consumer privacy, there’s disagreement over the best strategy. We'll take up the debate and unpack what a "yes" or "no" vote would mean.

California's Proposition 23 on this November’s ballot would require outpatient kidney dialysis clinics to have a licensed physician on site during operating hours and to report certain medical data to government officials, among other rules. Supporters, including the Service Employees International Union, say the rules are needed to keep patients safe. But opponents say that clinics already supply relevant data to health officials and that keeping a doctor on duty is unnecessary and would be so costly that some clinics might have to close. We'll analyze the arguments for and against Proposition 23.

In three days of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, Democratic senators focused on portraying Barrett as an extreme conservative and Republicans touted her credentials. Barrett, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and former law professor, spoke with ease about the constitution, case precedent and her originalist legal philosophy. She avoided questions about her legal views on issues that may face the Supreme Court such as abortion rights, the legality of the affordable care act and whether she would recuse herself from deciding conflicts around the 2020 election. We’ll discuss the confirmation hearings and the Supreme Court’s decision this week allowing the Trump Administration to stop the 2020 census count early.

A measure that could shape the future of the gig economy is on the California ballot. Proposition 22 would allow app-based transportation and delivery companies such as Uber, Lyft and Instacart,to classify drivers as contractors. A no vote would mean companies would have to treat drivers as employees with minimum wages and benefits such as sick time, unemployment insurance, and healthcare as required by California state law. Gig workers are divided over the choice between flexibility and stability. Companies supporting Prop 22 have contributed close to $185 million dollars, helping make it the most expensive ballot proposition in California history. We examine both sides of the debate.

Police killings of Black people have sparked nationwide calls this year for more independent oversight of police departments. In the Bay Area alone, at least five ballot measures seek to strengthen or expand the power of police commissions, independent investigations and other oversight. KQED reporter Alex Emslie joins us to review what’s being proposed, including the creation of a new agency to investigate the San Francisco sheriff’s department, and a Sonoma County effort to compel the sheriff to cooperate with independent investigations and audits.

Senate confirmation hearings on Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett begin on Monday, over Democrats' strenuous objection that the winner of the November election should pick the nominee. Meanwhile, House leaders have resumed negotiations with the White House over an economic stimulus bill, after President Trump abruptly pulled out of talks earlier this week. At the same time, the White House coronavirus outbreak continues to widen, and President Trump continues his steroid regimen following his hospitalization for COVID-19. We'll discuss the latest news from Washington, DC with veteran journalists Peter Baker and Susan Glasser.

If you're a prisoner or parolee in California, you are currently barred from voting. A 'yes' vote on state proposition 17 would mean amending the state's constitution to allow people on parole to vote. People serving time in state prison would still be prohibited from casting a ballot. We'll hear about the arguments for and against Prop 17 and learn about California's history on this issue.

Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris take the stage Wednesday evening in Salt Lake City for the 2020 election's only vice presidential debate. Stakes are high for Pence after a majority of voters heavily criticized President Trump's performance last week against Joe Biden. The debate comes just days after President Trump's hospitalization for COVID-19, raising concerns that Pence could have been exposed to the virus and prompting extra safety protocols on stage. We'll review the candidates’ performances and hear your takes.

Forum breaks down California’s Proposition 15, which would require that some commercial properties be reassessed every three years at market value. The measure would raise property taxes on many of the state’s largest businesses, with the money going to schools and local government. We’ll hear from both sides of the debate and take your questions on the biggest property tax change in California since prop 13 passed in 1978.

Latinos make up about 32 million eligible voters nationwide. That could mean they could have significant sway this year in the presidential race in swing states like Arizona, Florida, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. At the same time, campaigns and political parties often fail to engage Latino voters and turnout remains in question in a year when the coronavirus pandemic has complicated voting and campaigns. We talk about what is changing in 2020 and how Latinos can flex more political power.

Forum hears from both sides of the debate over California’s Proposition 20, which would roll back sentencing and parole changes approved by voters in 2014 and 2016. If approved, Proposition 20 would re-categorize some non-violent crimes as felonies, restrict some parole considerations and require DNA collection for certain misdemeanors. Backed by law enforcement, proponents say that the earlier reforms threaten public safety. Opponents say state prisons are overcrowded and argue that Proposition 20 would adversely affect communities of color. We’ll get the details and take your questions.

As daily new coronavirus cases continue to decline across the state, the Bay Area is slowly but surely getting back in business. Some public elementary schools in Alameda and Marin counties are re-opening for in-person learning, reduced-capacity indoor dining is now allowed in San Francisco, and indoor nail and hair salons are open throughout the region. We'll talk about the Bay Area's progress and the challenges that lie ahead.

Have you ever wondered about those colorful squiggly lines you see painted on California's city sidewalks? They’re actually color-coded utility markings that represent an underground world of sewer pipes, electric cables and telecommunication lines. They're also an example of what Roman Mars calls the “boring stuff” of urban design -- the unnoticed elements that he says are just as essential as skyscrapers, bridges and parks. Mars is the host of the design and architecture podcast “99% Invisible” and the author of the new book “The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design." He joins us to talk about why we should celebrate the overlooked and ordinary parts of our built urban environment.

Senate Republican leaders affirmed on Monday that hearings on the Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett will go forward, beginning on October 12. That schedule is drawing sharp rebukes from Democrats who say it's unsafe to hold hearings amid a growing COVID-19 outbreak in the White House and just days after three GOP senators -- including two members of the Judiciary Committee -- tested positive for the virus. We'll talk about the latest developments in the battle over Coney Barrett’s confirmation.

Some young voters who recently turned 18 will be casting their ballot for the first time this November. But some of those voters were not able to vote in the primary election because they were not of age yet. Proposition 18 aims to change that. The initiative could open up the polls for more than 200,000 California voters who are 17 at the time of the primaries, but turn 18 by the general election. Supporters say the measure could spur more civic engagement among young people -- a group that traditionally posts low voter turnout. But opponents argue that 17 year-olds are not equipped to make decisions on complex issues like taxes, for example. In local measures, voters in Oakland will be asked to decide if 16 year-olds can vote in school board elections while in San Francisco, Prop. G would allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in city elections. We take a look at the debate on young voters.

Wildfires across the state have burned more than 4 million acres this year, more than doubling the previous record. In Napa and Sonoma counties, firefighters have made good progress in containing the Glass Fire, which has burned more than 65,000 acres and destroyed over 1,000 buildings as of Monday. Still, Cal Fire says high temperatures in the coming days could change the fire's status. We'll get the latest update from KQED's Dan Brekke.

This November, California voters will weigh in on a controversial topic: affirmative action. Proposition 16 would overturn an existing law that prohibits the consideration of race and gender in public education, hiring and contracting. Both sides of the Prop. 16 debate center their arguments on the question of discrimination. Supporters say that unless state agencies look at race and gender, they cannot rectify long standing disparities while opponents say affirmative action enables discrimination. We dive into Prop. 16.

We'll discuss the medical and political implications of President Trump's coronavirus diagnosis, and the White House's controversial handling of the crisis.

Back in 2004, California voters approved funds, and a new agency, to focus on stem cell research. Today, that pot of money is almost empty. Proposition 14 on the November ballot would authorize a $5.5 billion bond to continue to fund stem cell research in the state. We’ll get details on the proposition and hear from its proponents and detractors.

We’ll get the latest on President Trump's health and the White House's handling of his coronavirus diagnosis with New York Times Washington correspondent Michael Schmidt, author of the new book “Donald Trump v. The United States."

Proposition 25 on the November ballot seeks to end the cash bail system in California and replace it with one based on risk assessment. If passed, it would make California the first state in the nation to completely eliminate commercial bail. Prop 25 stems from Senate Bill 10, which was signed into law in 2018 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown and would have ended cash bail effective last October. Instead, a coalition against the legislation collected enough signatures to put the issue up for a vote. Proponents of Prop 25 say this would make the process more fair, where a defendant’s freedom isn’t dependent on their economic status. Those opposed say ending cash bail burdens police departments with ensuring defendants appear in court and takes away a person’s choice to secure release from jail through bail. Forum takes up the debate.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19 after White House adviser Hope Hicks was confirmed to have the virus. The president’s physician said the couple are both “well at this time.” President Trump has been criticized for downplaying the severity of the virus in the early stages and belittling mask wearing and social distancing. We'll discuss how this might affect the election.

President Donald Trump is experiencing “mild symptoms” after he and first lady Melania Trump both tested positive for the coronavirus. The president's results came just a few hours after the news last night that top aide Hope Hicks tested positive for COVID-19. In this hour of Forum we’re going to talk about the medical, political and and other implications of this bombshell news.

One of the biggest challenges facing the election this year is simply the process. For the first time ever, all California voters will receive a ballot in the mail. Some voters are concerned their vote may not be counted. On top of that, voters are hungry for trustworthy information about candidates and issues. We take your questions about voting this year with Kim Alexander, president and founder of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation.

Countless hurdles throughout the pandemic. A legal fight. Now an uncertain end date. If you’re as confused as we are about the status of the 2020 Census, NPR’s census expert Hansi Lo Wang is here to help make sense of what is going on.

California State University system’s new chancellor, Joseph Castro, will take over an organization beset with challenges from the pandemic, including a nearly 300 million dollar budget cut and mostly no in person instruction for the entire school year. Despite that, Castro says “I think we’re going to be stronger after COVID than we were before.” Castro will be the first Californian and the first Mexican-American to head up the CSU system in which 43% of the nearly half a million students are Latino. When Castro starts on the job in January, for the first time in state history, all three of California’s public higher education systems will be led by people of color.

We'll get the latest on the Glass Fire in Napa and Sonoma counties which burned more than 48,000 acres on Wednesday. Firefighters have slowed the growth rate of the wildfire but they are expecting to face higher temperatures and windy conditions in the coming days. More than 80 homes have been destroyed and over 20,000 structures are threatened by the fire which is just 2 percent contained.

Young voters have a track record of low turnout in elections, but according to a recent Harvard Youth Poll, 63% of Americans age 18-29 say they will “definitely be voting” this year. We'll talk to young voters and those voting for the first time this year about the election, the candidates and the state of U.S. politics. And you don’t have to be of voting age to care about the key issues facing this country -- we'll also hear from middle school and high school students who shared what issues matter most to them in KQED Education's "Let's Talk About Election 2020" youth media challenge.

Former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump take the stage Tuesday evening for the first of three presidential debates ahead of the November election. Moderated by Fox News's Chris Wallace, Tuesday's debate will focus on six topics: the candidates' records, the Supreme Court, COVID-19, the economy, race and violence in U.S. cities and the integrity of the election. We'll review the candidates’ performances and hear your reactions.

After several months of protests across the country demanding racial justice and police reform, longtime civil rights leader Al Sharpton has released a new book, Rise Up: Confronting a Country at the Crossroads. The book is a call to action at a time when Sharpton says America is ready for true change. Sharpton calls on Americans to go beyond addressing racial justice and also make strides for the LGBTQ community, women, immigrants, poor people, and the environment. We talk with Sharpton about his decades fighting injustice and what work still needs to be done.

Thousands of Northern California residents awoke to flames on Monday, as dry conditions and high winds caused multiple fires to explode in size overnight. The Glass Fire - after merging with the Boysen Fire in St. Helena and Shady Fire near Santa Rosa - scorched an estimated 11,000 acres in Napa and Sonoma wine country. Tens of thousands have been forced to evacuate as of Monday afternoon. We'll get an update on the wildfires and evacuations and we want to hear from you: if you live in the affected regions or you've been evacuated, share your experiences.

Many of us take money for granted as a certainty, but what exactly is money? Jacob Goldstein, co-host of NPR’s Planet Money podcast, explores that question in his book, “Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing.” Goldstein argues that monetary systems depend on a collective belief that an object, such as a piece of metal or paper, is worth a given amount. The history of money stretches back centuries and continues to evolve in surprising ways. We’ll talk with Goldstein about the origin of money as a fictional concept that nonetheless shapes our lives.

President Trump nominated federal appeals court judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday. The conservative jurist is known for her skepticism of the Affordable Care Act, abortion rights and deference to pre-existing legal precedents. One day before the first presidential debate, we'll look at what her nomination could mean for the November election. We'll also discuss the political implications of Sunday's revelations by the New York Times that the president paid just $750 in federal taxes in 2016 and 2017 — and nothing in 10 of the past 15 years.

We'll get an update on the wildfires in Napa and Sonoma County and check in on Bay Area air quality with KQED's Dan Brekke and Alice Woelfle.

President Donald Trump said he will name his nominee to succeed Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday -- a little more than a week after the death of the trailblazing feminist jurist. One of the top contenders is Amy Coney Barrett, whose conservative jurisprudence calls into question the future of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that affirmed a woman's right to choose an abortion. We'll talk about the likelihood that a conservative majority would overturn Roe and what that would mean for women across the country, particularly those who live in states that already limit abortion access.

In an effort to wean California off carbon emissions, Governor Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order to ban sales of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035. The state's Air Resources Board will work out the details. It's a big move, but environmentalists say it's not big enough to slow climate change. We'll hear from energy experts about what else will have to change to accommodate all those electric and battery powered cars on the road. And how the market might be different next time you head out to kick some tires.

Journalist and author Maria Hinojosa was, as she put, “the first Latina in every newsroom I ever worked in." In her new memoir, “Once I Was You,” the longtime host of NPR’s Latino USA tells the story of her life as an immigrant, storyteller and advocate, as well as her challenging rise in broadcast journalism. Hinojosa details her struggles with anxiety, managing family and career, and becoming a media entrepreneur. She also provides a window into the historical events that shaped her life and stories she reported on such as the Salvadoran refugees she befriended in college who were displaced by U.S. interventions in Central America. For decades, she has covered immigrants, the immigration system and the policies behind how America treats its most vulnerable residents. We’ll talk to Hinojosa about the book and the latest news.

This week, the United States marked a grim milestone: more than 200,000 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic. Against this backdrop, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar moved to bar the national health agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, from signing off on any new rules without his consent. Azar's sweeping declaration, called by some as a "power grab," would affect regulation of the nation’s foods, medicines, medical devices and other products, including vaccines. That’s according to a September 15th memo, obtained by the New York Times. We'll talk about the federal response to the pandemic and how the nation is faring in its fight against COVID-19.

Protesters across the Bay Area and nationwide continue to hold rallies today after a Kentucky grand jury declined yesterday to charge Louisville police in the murder of Breonna Taylor, who was shot in her home six months ago during a botched drug raid on a neighboring apartment. The grand jury brought criminal charges against only one of the three police officers involved in the raid for recklessing firing into the other apartment. We’ll talk about why the police avoided homicide charges and what’s next as advocates continue to fight for justice for Breonna Taylor.

The climate crisis isn’t just an environmental one — it is also a crisis of leadership. That's according to Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine Wilkinson, co-editors of the new anthology “All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis.” Johnson, a marine biologist and policy expert, and Wilkinson, author of "Drawdown," add that "we need feminine and feminist climate leadership, which is wide open to people of any gender." They feature examples of such leadership in their book, which presents the insights and expertise of diverse women leading on climate in the U.S. Johnson and Wilkinson join us to talk about the climate crisis, its multiplying threats and the women leaders addressing them.

There are 330 million people in the United States. Vox co-founder and economics journalist Matt Yglesias makes the case for adding 670 million more in his new book, "One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger." With an increased population size, the U.S. could maintain its status as a world superpower, increase its wealth and improve its population’s standards of living, Yglesias argues. We'll talk about how his argument relates to current domestic policies on climate change, immigration and family benefits.

Is prison necessary? That’s a central question in the work of longtime prison abolitionist and well-known prison scholar, Ruth Wilson Gilmore. A co-founder of activist organization Critical Resistance, Gilmore’s seminal book “Golden Gulag” analyzed California’s role in propelling both the prison building boom and tough-on-crime sentencing in the U.S. Today, criminal justice reform is under a brighter spotlight, as calls to defund the police have increased and as jails and prisons became hotspots for COVID-19 with effects rippling through surrounding communities. Gilmore joins us to share her thoughts on the movement to defund police and the case for abolishing prisons.

In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, San Francisco-based artist George McCalman says that just as he was processing his own grief and anger, he found himself deluged with calls and emails from white acquaintances. Some of the messages expressed concern, but too many were clueless and empty, reflecting what he calls "an echo chamber of fragility." For his latest project, McCalman collected the phases that triggered him the most -- such as "Here if you ever want to talk" or "For your selfcare" -- and created paintings to reveal the "garish truth" that underlay them. We’ll talk to McCalman about his show, called “Tell Me Three Things I Can Do/Return To Sender.”

Facing a massive backlog of 600,000 cases, California’s Employment Development Department says it will not accept new unemployment claims until October 5 as it works to restructure its website to process claims more efficiently. The temporary “pause” comes after a state government report called on EDD to address a number of problems with its claims processing, such as outdated technology and inefficient fraud detection. We’ll discuss the report and how EDD plans to tackle these issues.

In a nation already sharply divided along partisan lines, the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Republican plans to quickly confirm her successor has ignited new political fires. In this hour of Forum, we'll look at how this epic confirmation battle could shape the outcome of an election already upended by the pandemic and concerns about the U.S. Postal Service’s integrity with a political appointee of President Trump in charge. We’ll discuss the political landmines for both Republicans and Democrats so close to a pivotal election.

Thousands of people gathered in San Francisco and at vigils across the country over the weekend in honor of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Friday at age 87. “I think a lot of us felt like, ‘Well, as long as RBG is there, we’re gonna be good, we’re gonna be good’,” San Francisco resident Shawn Rosenmoss told KQED News at the vigil. “Now I’m a little lost, which is why I’m here.” In this hour of Forum, we'll look back at the life and legal legacy of Ginsburg, a champion of gender equality and the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court.

Across California, county public health departments have issued guidelines banning parades, block parties and haunted houses. “A different type of Halloween” must happen this year, state health secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said Tuesday. Last week, Los Angeles County banned trick-or-treating, then revised its language to instead discourage the activity. This week, San Francisco County similarly discouraged going door-to-door for candy while encouraging alternatives such as virtual activities and home decorating. We'll discuss the latest news on COVID-19 safety as Halloween approaches.

Following her critically-acclaimed debut novel "Homegoing," novelist Yaa Gyasi returns with “Transcendent Kingdom.” The story follows Gifty, a doctoral candidate in neuroscience at Stanford University. After losing her brother to a heroin overdose and while caring for her suicidal mother, she is determined to find a scientific reason for suffering. But even as Gifty embarks on her scientific quest, she finds herself longing for the faith of her childhood to help reckon with her family’s pain. Like Gyasi, the character Gifty comes from an immigrant family from Ghana and grew up in an evangelical household in Alabama. We'll talk to Gyasi, who spent time in California as an undergraduate at Stanford, about the book and the desire to understand human pain and suffering.

How would you describe the past six months in six words? SMITH Magazine founding editor Larry Smith posed that question to followers of his Six-Word Memoir project, receiving answers that included, "I want my senior year back," "Social distancing myself from the fridge" and "Dear first grandchild: see you soon." Smith will join us to talk some of the most memorable responses. We want to hear from you: what's your own six-word pandemic memoir?

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed an agreement at the White House this week to normalize relations with Israel, signaling a diplomatic shift in the Middle East and a new alliance against Iran. President Donald Trump lauded the deal as historic. But the agreement -- between countries already at peace with each other -- could further isolate the Palestinians, who immediately condemned the pact. How significant is the deal? We’ll talk with policy experts about the deal and other recent news from the region.

What will happen if both Donald Trump and Joe Biden claim victory in November? Unfortunately, according to scholars Larry Diamond and Ned Foley, American election laws "provide a shockingly inadequate guide" for resolving such a deadlock. We'll talk to Diamond and Foley about what could trigger a contested election, the limitations of the laws and constitutional provisions that govern electoral college disputes and the steps we can take to forestall what they call a "disaster scenario."

After President Trump claimed last month that mail-in ballots will lead to a "rigged" election, journalism professor and media critic Jay Rosen wrote that the president now posed "an active threat to American democracy". But the media, he says, is still failing to convey the urgency of that threat. Instead, reporters too often amplify the president's dubious claims and normalize his conduct. Rosen joins Forum to lay out the shortcomings of traditional campaign coverage in the Trump era, and how news outlets should respond.

Distance learning poses huge challenges for students of every age group, but it’s especially difficult for the youngest students. Children in preschool and early elementary grades rely on interacting with teachers and other kids to learn basic skills and lessons – something that is difficult to replicate over a computer screen. School districts are also struggling to meet the needs of low-income families, special needs students and English language learners, which make up a significant portion of California’s children. Thousands of parents are withholding their kids from kindergarten -- online or in person. We’ll talk with experts about the best approaches for families to support young kids with distance learning.

Get caught without a mask in Berkeley and you could be fined $100. That's after the city council passed an ordinance last night that allows code enforcement officers to hand out tickets to mask scofflaws. Many cities and counties have similar ordinances. But Berkeley has a close eye on parks, restaurants, parties, and especially college students. There's been an uptick in coronavirus cases as Cal students returned to campus.

Evidence is emerging that the nine-county Bay Area is making significant strides against the coronavirus pandemic. New cases have fallen by more than 60% since mid August, and hospitalizations are down by 35% from their peak, according to state health data compiled by the San Francisco Chronicle. We'll talk about what's contributed to the declines, how progress differs by county and whether we can expect the positive trends to continue.

In the introduction to a new anthology of the work of Black lesbian writer and activist Audre Lorde, Roxane Gay writes that Lorde "is an exemplar of public intellectualism who is as relevant in this century as she was in the last.” Gay, an author whose best-selling books include "Bad Feminist" and "Hunger," edited the new anthology titled, "The Selected Works of Audre Lorde." The book features a mix of Lorde's groundbreaking poetry and prose on topics of race, queer identity, feminism and justice. With her selections, Gay aims to highlight the "grace, power, and fierce intelligence" of Lorde's writing and the ways it helped make the experiences of Black women more visible. We'll talk to Gay about the work and legacy of Audre Lorde.

Wildfires seem to be getting bigger, more frequent and more dangerous. Experts say that won't change this season or next, unless the state and federal governments spend billions of dollars more on thinning forests and making California communities more resilient to fire. That would mean a big shift for foresters and firefighters who've spent the past century working to preserve timber and beating back the flames. But people who study fire say that shift in thinking is long overdue. We'll talk about what it would take to rework how California manages wildfires and forests.

Recent data from LinkedIn show a surge in companies recruiting and hiring for positions such as “chief of diversity." As employees feel more emboldened to speak out about their work environments amid ongoing calls to end racism, companies are intensifying efforts focused on diversity and inclusion. We'll learn more about the trend and hear from experts on what it means for inclusion and equity in the workplace. And we want to hear from you: how is your workplace approaching issues of diversity and inclusion?

After months of sheltering in place -- and as health experts characterize air travel as relatively low-risk -- more Americans are contemplating taking to the skies again. We'll talk about how to stay safe on an airplane and how to evaluate and manage risks associated with renting a car, using a ride-hailing service or staying in a motel. And we want to hear from you: what are your thoughts on pandemic air travel this fall?

The Bay Area has been suffering some of the worst air quality in the world in recent days. We'll get the latest on the air, how to protect yourself, and when the region might get some relief.

In the new Frontline documentary “Policing the Police 2020,” historian and journalist Jelani Cobb returns as a correspondent, taking viewers inside a U.S. police department. The current wave of protests against police brutality and calls to defund the police prompted the update to Frontline’s 2016 documentary, “Policing the Police,” which focused on reform efforts at the Newark, N.J. police department. In the 2020 sequel, premiering Sept. 15 on PBS, Cobb revisits the Newark police department to illustrate the broader challenges the nation faces in eradicating police brutality, improving public safety and establishing a more just society. In this hour, we’ll talk to Cobb about the film and whether America can change for the better.

Since California first issued safety guidelines for schools back in August, health officials have given the green light to dozens of Bay Area elementary schools to reopen classrooms. But the approvals don’t necessarily mean kids will be learning in person immediately. Debate over safety protocols, feedback from teachers and parents and possible lawsuits all have the potential to slow reopening. We'll hear about the guidelines and which Bay Area K-6 schools are approved to reopen. And we'll talk with parents, teachers, and school administrators about next steps for getting children back in the classroom.

“These phrases— white fragility, white defensiveness, white appropriation— have a habit of standing in for the complicated mess of a true conversation." That's according to poet, playwright and MacArthur "genius" grant recipient Claudia Rankine in her new book, "Just Us: An American Conversation." Recounting conversations with strangers, friends and herself about race and privilege in the U.S., Rankine explores what might happen if we reject politeness for riskier, more meaningful interactions. Rankine joins us to talk about the book, the nation's current reckoning with racism and navigating a divided nation.

Across California, wildfires continue ravaging the landscape, filling skies with smoke and prompting thousands of people to evacuate their homes. Cal Fire is battling at least a dozen blazes including the Creek Fire near Fresno that has burned more than 163,138 acres and is 0% contained. The Bear Fire flared to more than 254,000 acres from Tuesday to Wednesday just east of Paradise, a small city that was decimated by wildfire in 2018. We get an update on the active fires and hear how nearby residents are faring.

National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins told Congress Wednesday that no safety standards will be compromised as the government evaluates the three COVID-19 vaccines that have advanced to Phase 3 clinical trials. His remarks came a day after a group of pharmaceutical companies made a similar safety pledge and after Astra-Zeneca halted its vaccine study when a participant became seriously ill. The reassurances follow recent statements by President Trump that a vaccine would be available before Election Day, a claim that health experts widely dispute. We'll talk about the status of COVID-19 vaccine research.

President Donald Trump told journalist Bob Woodward that he knew early on that the coronavirus was “deadly stuff” but did not share that information with the public, saying he did not want to cause panic. Woodward recorded the interviews for his upcoming book “Rage”. “I wanted to always play it down,” Trump told Woodward. We’ll talk about the president’s remarks and other revelations from Woodward’s book with NPR’s Ron Elving.

Bay Area residents woke to ominous orange skies Wednesday, brought on by multiple wildfires across Northern California. As a layer of heavy smoke all but blocked the sun, and as ash covered sidewalks, cars and houses, many are raising concerns about the health effects of going outside. We talk with a meteorologist and air quality expert about how long the darkened skies will last and the status of the region’s air quality.

While there is a perception that Latinos tend to vote for Democrats, a significant percentage, especially in places such as California's Central Valley, Texas and Florida, side with the Republican Party. In a time when President Donald Trump has demonized and targeted Latinos, he nonetheless has garnered support of some Latino voters. In his latest book, “The Hispanic Republican: The Shaping of an American Political Identity, from Nixon to Trump,” historian and political commentator Geraldo Cadava, chronicles the history of Latinos organizing to support conservative candidates and causes. Cadava, who teaches at Northwestern University, joins us to discuss his book and how Hispanic Republicans could hold sway during the upcoming election.

Among the Bay Area workers who have the luxury of working from home, some are eyeing an exit from a region known for its excessive cost of living and susceptibility to wildfires and earthquakes. And they’re contemplating an exodus even as rents have fallen throughout much of the Bay Area since the start of the pandemic. A recent survey from e-commerce site Fast found that of those Californians who are able to work from anywhere, 43% are thinking of leaving the state. We’ll talk about the trend and hear what effect the recent disasters are having on the regional housing market. And we want to hear from you: Are you thinking of packing up and moving? If so, why and where are you headed?

In a New York Times piece, "Breonna Taylor's Life Was Changing. Then the Police Came to Her Door," correspondent Rukmini Callimachi uncovers details about the story of Breonna Taylor, the young woman in Kentucky who was killed by police during a drug raid on her home earlier this year. Drawing from various interviews, documents and recordings, Callimachi weaves together how an ex-boyfriend’s run-ins with the law and police mishandling of the raid ultimately led to Taylor’s tragic death just as her life was changing for the better. Only one of the three officers involved in the fatal shooting of Taylor has been fired and none have been arrested even as calls for "Justice for Breonna Taylor" continue in the streets and on social media. Callimachi joins us to shed more light on the life and death of Breonna Taylor.

Wildfires have now burned a record 2 million acres in California this year. Meanwhile, as the extreme heat continues, PG&E is starting power shutoffs for many of its customers. We'll get the latest on the fires burning across the state.

To CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter, President Trump’s ongoing, mutually-reinforcing alliance with Fox News gained permanent traction in January 2017. That was when Trump, enraged over CNN’s coverage of his sparse inauguration crowd, found refuge in sympathetic reporting from Fox News. Stelter says from that point on, the network became Trump’s “humiliation-free zone” and his chief source of information. As detailed in Stelter’s new book “Hoax,” it also marked the start of an alliance in which Trump and Fox worked together to cast the rest of American media as “fake.” Stelter joins us to talk about what he uncovered about the evolution and impact of the Trump-Fox partnership.

A close friendship can be one of the most fulfilling, and most challenging, relationships of our lives. In their book “Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close,” writers and longtime friends Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman share their honest and humorous account of what it really takes to maintain a meaningful bond -- from moments of being totally in sync to painful disagreements and everything in between. We'll talk to Sow and Friedman about the lessons they've learned together and hear your stories of big friendships that transcend life phases.

After a spate of bad luck led her to question the nature of chance, journalist Maria Konnikova began learning about poker. Konnikova -- who holds a doctorate in psychology--was curious about how the game hones players’ ability to distinguish between what is within and outside of our control. Under the tutelage of an expert, she became a professional player and entered the World Series of Poker, a competition with a $10,000 entry fee. The experience shaped her new book, “The Biggest Bluff.” Konnikova joins us to talk about the book, her year-long journey from novice to professional poker player, and what poker can teach us about the role of skill and chance in our lives.

In his latest column for the New York Times, opinion writer Farhad Manjoo delves into his fears of a second term for President Donald Trump. But even if Trump loses, he asks, have the president and the Republican Party damaged American democracy beyond repair? Trump has repeatedly lied throughout his presidency, but, Manjoo writes, “It’s not the lies themselves that worry me most, but the fact that millions of people might accept them. Can America endure such mendacity? When you don’t have social trust, when you don’t have a shared view of reality, do you even have a country?” We’ll talk with Manjoo about his panic about America’s post-election future.

The Oakland Athletics, who stand at the top of their division, will take the field for the first time on Friday after a positive coronavirus case caused the team to postpone a series in Seattle. Off the field, the team has also been making news. They sat out a game last week in protest of institutional racism and have joined other Bay Area sports teams in supporting Prop 16, which would repeal a ban on affirmative action in California’s public sector. We’ll talk with Oakland Athletics president Dave Kaval about playing baseball in the age of coronavirus and what he sees as the team’s role in the community during these turbulent times. But first, we check in with LA Times sports reporter Bill Shaikin about how the California teams are faring so far during this unconventional season.

At the outset of his new memoir "Unforgetting," San Francisco-based journalist and author Roberto Lovato says that epic history is best understood as a "stitching together of intimate histories." It was the search for his own family's intimate history that took Lovato from his native California to El Salvador, where his parents were born and where war, gang violence and mass migration have laid siege to the populace for decades. Lovato joins us to share what he learned about his family and the lives of other Central American immigrants shaped by humanitarian crises.

Facing strong opposition from law enforcement groups, a measure that would have allowed California to remove police officers who commit serious misconduct failed to pass the state legislature earlier this week. It was just one of several major police accountability measures that failed to gather enough votes by the last day of the legislative session. We'll hear why the bills failed, and what that says about prospects for police reform in California.

In his new book, “White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity,” author Robert P. Jones examines how Christian religious organizations have promoted and enabled racism in America. While Christians proclaim a message of love and salvation, Jones argues that Christian denominations have historically rationalized anti-black policies and beliefs such as slavery and Jim Crow laws. The book also looks at how President Donald Trump garnered support from White evangelicals by using “law and order” rhetoric and exploiting racist tropes. Jones serves as CEO and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute, a non-profit research organization. We’ll talk with Jones about how his new book relates to the current reckoning on institutional racism.

The Russian group that interfered in the 2016 election is again targeting Americans with misinformation online. That's according to Facebook and Twitter, who say the FBI warned both companies that the Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency set up fake user accounts and a website made to look like a left-wing news site. The disinformation campaign, which Facebook and Twitter have taken down, was aimed at pushing voters away from Democratic candidate Joe Biden in support of President Trump. We'll check in on efforts to prevent misinformation on social media and foreign interference in the 2020 election.

This week, the EPA finalized its plan to ease federal rules governing the disposal of contaminated waste from coal-fired power plants. The rollback is the latest in a long series of Trump administration actions that have weakened or nullified major Obama-era environmental initiatives that tightened vehicle emissions standards, protected federal lands from fossil fuel drilling and set ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets. We’ll talk about Trump’s environmental record and its impact.

On Monday, indoor shopping malls, hair salons and barber shops opened with reduced capacity in many areas of California under a new four-tiered framework released by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The majority of the state’s counties are currently in “Tier 1” with the most restrictions for reopening. Reaction to the new plan has been mixed, with some thinking it moves too slowly and others fearing it moves too quickly. The plan is also facing criticism by some local officials and business owners who cite inconsistencies in the way the rules are applied. We'll talk about the state’s new tiered, color-coded system for reopening businesses and schools and hear how California's second largest county, San Diego, is handling its “Tier 2” reopening.

K-12 education has gone online, prompting no shortage of complaints from parents and kids alike. But as teachers get better at engaging students with screens, some educators and technologists see an opportunity to customize instruction and let kids work at their own pace. We'll hear from one of online learning’s early innovators: Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy. The non-profit site became a key resource for teachers during the pandemic shutdown. What advice does he have for distance learning, part two?

Author Lysley Tenorio’s new novel, “The Son of Good Fortune,” depicts the coming-of-age story of Excel, a young undocumented person living in the United States who was born during a flight between the Philippines and San Francisco. The novel explores Excel’s life “in hiding” and his struggle to avoid calling attention to himself even as he forms relationships, leaves home for the first time and attempts to survive on his own. The book is a follow up to Tenorio’s 2012 story collection, “Monstress.” Tenorio, who lives in San Francisco, was born in the Philippines and teaches at Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga. Tenorio joins us to discuss his writing and latest book.

In an address Monday, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said President Trump is "stoking violence in our cities," a charge echoed by state and local officials who say the White House is encouraging armed, right-wing militia groups to show up at demonstrations and threaten protesters. The accusations follow the killing of two Black Lives Matter protesters by 17-year old right-wing vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse, whom Wisconsin prosecutors charged with murder Thursday. We'll talk about the rise of violent militias at protests.

For most of 2020, the coronavirus pandemic laid siege to California with the state now counting more than 700,000 confirmed cases. But statistics, while staggering, sometimes overshadow the real people dealing with physical and mental consequences from the virus. Some have had mild or no symptoms, but nonetheless dealt with anxiety, stress and fear from the infection. Others have faced recurring issues long after the virus is inactive in their bodies. In this hour, we’ll hear the stories of coronavirus survivors.

Aug. 29 marks 50 years since the National Chicano Moratorium Against the Vietnam War took place in the streets of East Los Angeles. Targeting the war's disproportionate Chicano mortality rate, the protest was the largest gathering of Mexican American demonstrators up to that point, with more than 20,000 people taking part. But conflict between sheriff's deputies and protesters turned the day violent, culminating in hundreds of arrests and three deaths, including that of pioneer Latino journalist Ruben Salazar. We’ll talk about a new project from the Los Angeles Times exploring the Moratorium's legacy.

On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a tentative eviction moratorium deal between lawmakers and advocacy groups for landlords and tenants. The deal comes as the state legislature prepares to wrap up its session on Monday. Landlords are praising the agreement as a sensible approach that isn’t a giveaway to renters. But tenant groups have criticized the bill, saying it leaves too many Californians vulnerable to eviction. We'll get the details on Assembly Bill 3088.

We’ll get an update on the northern California wildfires and Bay Area air quality.

2020 has been a tough year so far and we’re all figuring out how to feel all the different feelings that come up in these unprecedented times. One way people cope with stress and uncertainty is with music. So Forum is launching a special series that will feature a different song every Friday that's "getting you through" feelings of anxiety or grief, or a track that's helping you escape and keep your spirits up. To kick things off, we'll hear some of the songs KQED staff are turning to and we want to hear from you: what’s the music or song that’s getting you through these days?

New CDC guidelines for asymptomatic coronavirus testing caused an uproar this week. The advice was that people who’ve been exposed to the coronavirus but don’t have symptoms shouldn’t get tested. But then, in an unusual clarification, the CDC walked that back. Meanwhile, the FDA gave “emergency use authorization” to a rapid antigen test that costs only $5. Also this week, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a deal with a diagnostics lab to more than double test processing capacity in California. We’ll explain what these developments mean and which could help open schools and bring our economy back to life.

We’ll recap the week in politics, including President Trump’s acceptance speech last night at the Republican National Convention, and the continuing racial justice protests.

With the 2020 election just over two months away, it’s time to start thinking about the logistics of voting. To make voting easier and safer during the pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill back in May to mail every active registered voter a ballot. But many voters have concerns, such as questions about signature requirements and how to cast a ballot if you’re experiencing homelessness or displacement and don’t have a mailing address. These issues are compounded by the pressure put on the already-struggling U.S. Postal Service to handle an expected record number of mail-in ballots. We’ll answer your questions on how to vote this November.

On Wednesday, players for the Milwaukee Bucks declined to take the court for game 5 of their playoff series with the Orlando Magic, to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin. The Bucks' action started a ripple effect, where all of Wednesday's games were canceled and more of the league's players, like LeBron James and others, spoke out against police brutality. Wednesday also marked four years since former NFL player Colin Kaepernick first took a knee in protest against racial inequality and police brutality. We'll discuss the latest news and what impact the NBA player strike could have on the greater movement to end racism in the U.S.

As protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake continue in Wisconsin, the state's Democratic governor Tony Evers, called up an additional 500 National Guard troops Wednesday. Earlier that day, officials arrested a 17-year-old gunman accused of killing two people and injuring another during Tuesday nights protests. Meanwhile the NBA postponed three playoff games after the Milwaukee Bucks refused to take the floor in solidarity with the protests. We'll get an update on the protests and the investigation into Blake shooting, which left him partially paralyzed.

We’ll get an update on the Bay Area wildfires. Then--everything you want to know about wildfire, but are afraid to ask. What does "containment" mean? How big is an acre? What kinds of vegetation are likely to burn? Which is worse - when flames "back down" or "lay down"? We'll talk to firefighters and others who can translate these terms for the rest of us. We’ll also hear what it’s like getting up close to the fires and how best to protect your home from wildfire.

Trump advisor Kimberly Guilfoyle threw blows at her home state during the Republican National Convention on Monday, saying Democrats turned California into “a land of discarded heroin needles in parks, riots in streets and blackouts in homes.” KQED politics reporter Guy Marzorati will recap what has happened and preview what’s to come during the remainder of the convention. Later in the hour, we’ll talk with award-winning investigative journalist Jean Guerrero about her new book, “Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump and the White Nationalist Agenda.” Guerrero details how Stephen Miller rose to the rank of speechwriter and senior adviser to President Trump by pushing divisive policies like the Muslim ban and family separation.

Wednesday marks the start of classes at the University of California, Berkeley. Like other colleges and universities across the country, the school is trying to adapt to the coronavirus pandemic while also facing a $340 million budget deficit. At the same, the nation is grappling with demands for social justice and racial equity -- struggles Berkeley has long wrestled with. “I don’t know of any time more difficult in my lived life as this one,” said UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ earlier this month during an address to the campus community. In this hour, we talk with Christ about how the university is responding to the pandemic, student needs, and financial challenges.

A wide swath of stressors -- the coronavirus pandemic, economic recession, wildfires, upcoming election, remote learning, and racism, to name a few -- are putting a major strain on people’s mental health. Any one of those situations can be enough to trigger depression, anxiety and stress, let alone dealing with several at once. The cumulative toll is impacting the mental, physical, and emotional state of millions of Californians. In this hour, we talk with experts about how to cope with the current surge of troubles many are experiencing.

As wildfires rage across the Bay Area, many of those who can help are offering their support through donations. But relief organizations like American Red Cross say they don't want physical items like used clothes or canned goods because they take extensive resources to examine and sort. Instead, many organizations prefer monetary donations. We talk to KQED reporter Lakshmi Sarah and Jennifer Adrio, CEO of American Red Cross Northern California Coastal Region, about how to best help those affected by wildfires.

Record-breaking heat, dry vegetation, and lightning each played a role in sparking wildfires that have burnt more than one million acres across California. But to what extent were these factors caused by climate change? UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain, along with a team of researchers, published a study earlier this year that found that the “number of days with extreme fire weather during the autumn season has more than doubled since the late 1970s.” The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, calls climate change a key driver of the shift toward longer fire seasons. In this segment, we talk with Swain about the link between climate change and the risk of wildfires in California.

We’ll get the latest on the wildfires raging throughout northern California and discuss the firefighter shortage.

At a virtual event this week that was termed an "unconventional convention” due to the pandemic, the Democratic Party nominated former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris for the 2020 Democratic ticket. In a historic speech Wednesday night, Sen. Harris became the first Black woman to accept the nomination for vice president of the United States with a major party. Former President Barack Obama also made history Wednesday when he delivered a forceful condemnation of his successor, President Trump. We’ll recap this year’s Democratic National Convention, including Gov. Newsom’s withdrawal from Thursday’s program because of California’s wildfire emergency. And we want to hear from you: have you been tuning in to the convention? What moments stand out to you most?

Californians fatigued from wrestling with the coronavirus pandemic, economic downturn and months of sheltering in place are now dealing with another disaster that feels out of our control: wildfires. Poor air quality and fears of catching the virus are compounding to produce more stress, anxiety, and feelings of hopelessness. In this segment, we’ll hear from experts about how to deal with this double dose of disaster.

As three major fire complexes continue to scorch more than 300,000 acres across northern California, we’ll get an update on containment and evacuations. We'll also hear about a new collaboration between the state emergency authority and Google that provides wildfire mapping in Google search results. And we'll talk with state officials about where to go for accurate, up-to-date information about fires, evacuations and road closures.

In a standoff with California courts, ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft have threatened to shut down operations in the state if forced to reclassify their drivers as employees, as mandated by new law AB 5. Both companies have appealed a state judge’s order to reclassify their drivers, but without a stay of the ruling, they must comply with state law by Friday at midnight. Internally, both companies are reportedly exploring franchise-like business models, similar to what Uber already does in Germany and Spain, as an alternative way to continue operating in the state. The companies are also eyeing the November election where Proposition 22, which would exempt Uber and Lyft from California’s new employee classifications, will be on the ballot. We'll discuss what's at stake and we want to hear from you: how would you be affected if ride-hailing services shut down in California?

We get the latest on the wildfires spreading through northern and central California and hear from health experts about how best to protect yourself from smoke and particulates.

Wildfires raging across northern California forced thousands to flee their homes Wednesday morning. The most urgent situation unfolded in Vacaville, where a group of fires called the LNU Lightning Complex more than doubled in size overnight and destroyed over 50 homes and threatened nearly 2,000 more. Along with hot temperatures and low humidity, the fires are in part due to a “historic lightning siege,” which, according to Cal Fire chief Jeremy Rahn, included about 10,849 lightening strikes and caused over 367 fires across the state. Smoke from the fires has resulted in poor air quality across the Bay Area bringing the air quality index in San Francisco and Oakland to levels considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. We’ll get the latest on the region’s wildfires.

While rotating power outages were averted on Monday, by Tuesday afternoon the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state's power grid, had again declared a "Stage 2" emergency and said outages were "imminent." California ISO later canceled that emergency and praised consumers for conserving energy that helped avoid another outage. The continuing heat wave sparked two nights of rolling blackouts over the weekend, which Gov. Newsom called "unacceptable and unbefitting of the nation’s largest and most innovative state." Newsom called for an investigation into why California ISO imposed the outages. We'll get the latest news on what’s happening with the state’s energy supply. And we want to hear from you: have you been impacted by the power outages?

On Tuesday, the Senate Intelligence Committee released its final report detailing its three-year investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff, who led President Trump's impeachment trial, says that the bipartisan report "affirms what we have all known for years" about Trump's vast network of contacts among Russian operatives and makes clear that his campaign's engagement with the Russians was a major counterintelligence threat. We'll talk to Congressman Schiff about the committee's report, and we'll get his take on the federal coronavirus response, including lawmakers' proposals for a new COVID-19 relief bill.

In the wake of the 2018 Camp Fire that decimated the Northern California city of Paradise, PG&E officials framed such devastating blazes as a relatively new phenomenon exacerbated by climate change. A Frontline/KQED investigation found that in reality, PG&E was well aware of the threat and resisted implementing safety protocols to prevent wildfires for more than a decade. The investigation uncovered repeated pushback against regulations that perhaps could have saved lives. Also at fault is the California Public Utilities Commission, which was too overwhelmed and under-resourced to properly regulate PG&E. We discuss the investigation as we head into yet another wildfire season

On Tuesday, U.S. Postal Service postmaster general Louis DeJoy announced that he would suspend until after the November election operational reforms and initiatives “to avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail.” Meanwhile, California and at least 20 other states will sue the Trump administration over those reforms--which include removal of mailboxes, sorting equipment and the elimination of staff overtime--in order to protect against service delays. The moves come amid ongoing accusations by Democrats that the Trump Administration is refusing to fund the cash-strapped agency to subvert mail-in voting this fall. We’ll get the latest.

The right to vote is a fundamental part of democracy -- a right, however, that hasn't always been afforded or guaranteed to all in the United States. August 18 marks the 100th anniversary of the day Congress passed the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. It was a hard-fought victory, but still only a starting place for Black women and other women of color. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 later sought to make access to the vote more fair and complete for all, but a key part of the law was struck down in 2013 and legislation to restore it remains in limbo as voter suppression efforts grow. This hour we'll talk to Carol Anderson, historian and author of "One Person, No Vote," about the state of voting rights and the significance of women's suffrage, then and now.

Students with disabilities in California will be able to receive face-to-face instruction at schools this fall. Gov. Gavin Newsom and State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond made the announcement Friday and acknowledged that some students with special needs are unable to adjust to distance learning. Families and students with learning disabilities and autism as well as students in foster care struggled when schools shut down last spring. We’ll hear about the unique challenges of remote learning for students with disabilities and what solutions are in the works.

In June 2018, NBC News and MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff became one of the first journalists allowed entry into Casa Padre, a Texas facility holding more than 1,400 migrant boys who’d been separated from their families at the Mexican border. The horror he experienced reporting on that facility formed the basis of his new book “Separated: Inside An American Tragedy,” which documents the Trump Administration’s zero-tolerance family separation policy during 2017 and 2018. We’ll talk about the political forces behind the policy, how it ended and why Soboroff considers it “one of the most shameful chapters in modern American history.”

A new KQED investigation finds that more than a third of senior care facilities are at heightened risk for wildfires. Many aren't ready for emergencies. That risk will continue to grow as California’s population ages. Officials estimate that, a decade from now, there will be 8.6 million residents over age 65, increasing the demand for home health and long-term care services. The coronavirus pandemic makes it even harder for facilities to prepare for wildfire emergencies -- efforts many say were insufficient. We’ll hear about KQED’s investigation.

Why comedy, and why now? That's the question that media and social change scholar Caty Borum Chattoo poses at the outset of her book, "A Comedian and An Activist Walk Into a Bar: The Serious Role of Comedy in Social Justice." In it she and co-author Lauren Feldman explore how comedy -- by laying bare freighted issues like racism, sexism and inequality -- can help us work toward bridging divides and achieving social change. We'll talk about how comedy helps us make sense of a world turned chaotic by the pandemic and a deeply divisive government, and we want to hear from you: which comedians do you turn to these days, and why?

After following the notoriously bad relationship between baseball icons Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent as well as the meteoric path of the Giants, Bay Area based sports writer Joan Ryan grew curious about team chemistry and how it affects performance. She spent ten years probing sociology, neuroscience and psychology to answer questions about whether team chemistry was real. And if so, what is it exactly? And how do you measure it? Ryan joins us to talk about the importance of sports during the pandemic, how our interactions affect our performance on non-athletic teams -- as friends, colleagues, and family, and her new book, “Intangibles: Unlocking the Science and Soul of Team Chemistry”.

As President Trump counters calls to defund the police and end systemic racism with demands for “law and order,” many Americans feel the country is deeply divided and broken. Community leader and lawyer Zach Norris attributes this division, as well as issues like mass incarceration and economic inequality, to a “framework of fear” that has grown between fellow Americans. In his new book, “‘We Keep Us Safe: Building Secure, Just, and Inclusive Communities,” Norris outlines a path for America to move from an “us vs. them” mentality towards a “culture of care”. Zach Norris joins Forum to discuss the book, address the systemic issues raising his concern, and to outline his vision for public safety.

By now, people are becoming used to seeing social media posts and articles about their favorite businesses closing for good. Thousands of beloved Bay Area enterprises from restaurants and boutiques to independent movie theaters and corner stores have shut down during the coronavirus pandemic. Some owners thought they could ride out shelter-in-place orders, but no longer see a viable future or couldn’t afford carrying costs. The end of a business often spells the end of a dream, a community, years of hard work, and livelihoods of owners and workers. We’ll hear the stories of Bay Area business owners and how this wave of closures could reshape the region’s economy.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, more than 97,000 Americans aged 18 and younger tested positive for Covid-19 in the last two weeks of July, representing a 40% increase in total pediatric cases in the U.S. Infected children are usually asymptomatic or have only minor symptoms, but the CDC reports that a small percentage may become severely ill. The CDC also reports that hospitalization rates among Black and Latinx children are, respectively, nearly eight times and five times the rates of white children. We'll discuss the CDC's findings and how best to keep kids -- and those around them -- safe.

In a long awaited decision, democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has selected California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate. Harris will be the first woman of color to appear on a major party's presidential ticket. A Bay Area native, Harris drew on her childhood experience of being bused across Berkeley for school as part of a pointed attack against then-rival Joe Biden during her presidential bid last year. Forum will talk about what her record as a senator, prosecutor and as California’s attorney general will bring to the Democratic ticket, the politics of the pick and what it could mean for California.

In the next 50 years, more than a million climate migrants could come to the United States from Central America if nothing is done to curb carbon emissions. That’s according to a new model that predicts where refugees from regions decimated by decreased crop productivity, water shortages and rising sea levels may move. The model, developed by ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine, finds that climate change will likely cause “the greatest wave of global migration the world has seen.” Forum talks with ProPublica environmental reporter Abrahm Lustgarten about future climate migration and the experiences of those who have already left their homes because of the changes caused by a warming planet.

By the 2070s, climate change will reduce snowpack and increase extreme rainfall in the Sierra Nevada and California’s reservoirs will likely be overwhelmed. That’s according to a new study by UCLA climate scientists, who predict that run-off during so-called atmospheric rivers will increase by nearly 50 percent, leading to widespread flooding across the state. We’ll talk about the impact of climate change on Sierra weather patterns and what it all means for the state’s water supply.

In her new book, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson presents an examination of what she sees as America’s often disguised, but very real, caste system. The book compares America’s system with those in India and Nazi Germany, and delves into how America betrays its ideals of meritocracy by instead cultivating an insidious hierarchy based on race. “Caste” is a much anticipated follow up to Wilkerson’s 2011 book “The Warmth of Other Suns,” which detailed the decades-long migration of black people from the South to other regions of the country. Wilkerson joins Forum to discuss her new book and how America’s past relates to its future.

A close friendship can be one of the most fulfilling, and most challenging, relationships of our lives. In their book “Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close,” writers and longtime friends Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman share their honest and humorous account of what it really takes to maintain a meaningful bond -- from moments of being totally in sync to painful disagreements and everything in between. We'll talk to Sow and Friedman about the lessons they've learned together and hear your stories of big friendships that transcend life phases.

In his new book "The Madman Theory," CNN anchor and Chief National Security correspondent Jim Sciutto highlights how President Trump’s unpredictable behavior--including threats to meet North Korea with “fire and fury” and to pull the U.S. out of NATO and NAFTA--have unnerved enemies and allies alike. Sciutto discusses how Trump’s volatility has led advisers to hesitate in giving the President military options because they feared he could start a war. We'll talk to Sciutto about the lasting imprint Trump has left on the world after four years in office, and get his take on how that will shape America’s place in the world.

Musician Nina Simone once said "an artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times." We're now seeing a reflection of our times -- the fight against racism and inequality -- in works of art on city streets and storefronts across California, as artists paint murals or graffiti remembering George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and declaring "Black Lives Matter." Artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh knows the power street art can have in bolstering a social movement. Her international street art campaign "Stop Telling Women to Smile," now a book of the same name, reflected her own experiences with street harassment and became a way to empower other women. We'll talk to Fazlalizadeh about her work, which includes recent murals supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, and the role of street art in protests.

QAnon, the online conspiracy group that traffics in baseless theories about a Satan-worshipping deep state, counts among its defenders Republican congressional candidates, far right media personalities and former and current Trump administration officials. It’s also stolen the minds of countless ordinary Americans who have come to believe in its apocalyptic, convoluted narratives. We’ll talk about what attracts people to QAnon and similar cult-like communities, and what friends and family members can do to help loved ones emerge from the rabbit hole.

For Bay Area food banks, securing funding and supplies is increasingly difficult during the pandemic. The challenges come as the need for food assistance is rising. Long lines have become common at food banks, and Second Harvest Food Bank in Silicon Valley is seeing a 100 percent increase in the number of people calling its food connection hotline, many for the first time. As the economic impact of the virus on families and individuals grows, we’ll hear how Bay Area food banks are coping.

With less than 90 days to the November election, concerns are mounting that the Trump Administration is actively undermining the U.S. Postal Service. Although the USPS is the country’s most popular government agency, President Trump recently dismissed it as a “joke” and questioned its ability to deliver mail-in ballots on time. Trump’s newly appointed Postmaster General, who was also a major Trump campaign donor, has limited overtime work, and extra mail delivery, moves that postal workers say have created mail backlogs. In response, Benjamin Jealous, the President of the People For the American Way, is spearheading a campaign to defend the Postal Service. We’ll talk to Jealous about what can be done to ensure that Americans can have confidence in the mail service.

Since former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe published “A Citizen’s Guide to Beating Donald Trump” back in early March, there have been major developments regarding the 2020 election. Former Vice President Joe Biden became the Democratic nominee, the coronavirus pandemic escalated and the economy fell into a deep recession. Most recent polls have Trump trailing in the general election, and one poll from Berkeley IGS this week has Biden leading by 39 percentage points among California voters. But many questions are still to be answered, including who Biden will pick as his running mate, what an election looks like in a pandemic and which strategies each party should take in order to win votes. Plouffe joins Forum to talk about the book, answer those questions and discuss the latest political news.

As school districts around the country issue pandemic education plans, there’s widespread concern among teachers about safety, equity and how to make the most of online learning. We’ll talk about a new NPR/Ipsos teacher survey, and we’ll hear how one local teachers’ union is handling its members’ concerns about education in the time of Covid.

On August 5, thousands of nurses across the country staged protests to highlight the lack of personal protective equipment and other challenges they continue to face as front line workers in this pandemic. According to media reports, in California, 100 health care workers have been killed by Covid-19 and medical workers account for 20% of all infections in some states. Nurses are demanding that more be done to protect them. We'll hear about what how nurses are coping and what they need for a safer work environment.

The Census Bureau is ending its population count a month early, though nearly 40 percent of the country has yet to fill out the forms. Census Bureau director Steven Dillingham announced yesterday that all counting efforts will wrap up by Sept. 30, cutting short a four-month extension during the pandemic. We’ll talk about what ending the count early could mean for California’s historically undercounted communities and the redrawing of political districts.

The coronavirus pandemic has many people feeling isolated in their homes, detached from loved ones, and anxious about their livelihoods. All of that is taking a major toll on mental health. The U.S. suicide rate rose after the 2008 recession, and experts warn that vulnerable individuals are more at risk of suicide during periods of crisis. We’ll talk about how to address anxiety and depression, when to seek help, and what services are available for individuals and families struggling to cope.

Renters across California could be in danger of losing their homes in the coming weeks. Eviction moratoriums that have helped millions of renters are close to expiring even as the coronavirus pandemic is keeping many unemployed. State lawmakers are weighing proposals to prevent a mass wave of evictions, but face a budget deficit and other constraints. Meanwhile, relief from the federal government appears unlikely. We discuss the state’s looming eviction crisis.

In the month of July, California experienced its worst surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths leading Gov. Newsom to impose a re-shutdown of businesses in more than 30 counties. As of today, California leads the nation with over 500,000 confirmed cases. But at his daily presser Monday, Newsom indicated that the state’s situation is improving with both new COVID-19 cases and coronavirus-related hospitalizations down in the last week. He also emphasized the virus’s disproportionate impact on the state’s Latino and Central Valley populations and reaffirmed his commitment to allocating state and federal resources to those communities where cases continue to grow. We'll talk about the steps California's taking to contain the pandemic, address testing backlogs and support communities disproportionately harmed by the virus.

While Abraham Lincoln tends to get most of the credit for winning the Civil War, historian Fergus Bordewich reminds us not to forget about the role Congress played in the Union’s victory. In his new book, “Congress at War,” Bordewich follows four influential members of Congress as they navigate one of the most dynamic and consequential times in American history. Bordewich joins Forum to discuss the challenge of governing a divided nation and how the 36th United States Congress helped hold the union together.

In March 2019, news broke of a massive college admissions bribery scandal. Among the accused were prominent business people, well-known actors, sports coaches, and four of California’s top universities. At the heart of the conspiracy was con man Rick Singer, an author of self-help books and purported college counselor, who masterminded rigging SAT and ACT tests, faking athletic profiles and bribing coaches. Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz -- Wall Street Journal reporters who broke major developments in the story -- detail the rise and fall of Rick Singer’s elaborate operation in their new book, “UNACCEPTABLE: Privilege, Deceit & the Making of the College Admissions Scandal.” In this hour, we talk with Korn and Levitz about the book and take your questions about the college admissions scandal.

First, South Bay Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, chair of the House health subcommittee, joins us to discuss the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. Then, we check in with KQED's Scott Shafer and Anita Kumar of Politico on the latest national political news.

In mid-March, California became the first state to enact widespread shelter-in-place orders -- seen as a bold action to prevent the kind of spike in coronavirus cases New York was reporting at the time. Today, California has the most cases of COVID-19 in the country, surpassing New York with over 485,000 confirmed cases. Public health experts say California's early shelter-in-place orders effectively slowed the spread, but a combination of impatience with those orders, unreliable federal leadership and Gov. Newsom’s decision to re-open the economy has created a more challenging battle against the virus. We'll discuss the latest news on how California is handling the pandemic, including what's happening in the Central Valley, a new hot spot for coronavirus.

After more than four months of limited activity and isolation, Californians have been itching to socialize. Even as cases rise in the state, many have become emboldened to gather in the safest place they can -- outdoors. But how safe is it? Public health officials across the state have been warning against the large gatherings that are increasingly popping up at public parks and beaches. We’ll get the latest on what we know about outdoor transmission of COVID-19 and the safest ways to see friends and family.

The end of July spells the end of an additional $600 per week benefit for many unemployed Americans in the midst of a pandemic-induced recession. As Congress debates if and how to extend the supplemental cash, California lawmakers are drafting a plan to make up those funds if the federal money dries up. We discuss what’s in the works to help the close to 7 million unemployed Californians, where the recession is headed, and how lawmakers are responding.

An investigative report by Open Vallejo, a recently launched independent news site, has found that a secret clique in the Vallejo Police Department bends back points of their badges to commemorate each time they kill in the line of duty. These revelations came as a shock at a time when the nation is focused on issues of police brutality and less than two weeks after the California Department of Justice announced an investigation into Vallejo Police for destroying evidence in the killing of Sean Monterrosa. We talk with Geoffrey King, founder and editor of Open Vallejo, about the report.

In her new book of essays, "Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning," poet Cathy Park Hong weaves memoir with cultural criticism to explore topics of racial identity, shame, politics and capitalism. Hong describes “minor feelings” as "emotions built from the sediments of everyday racial experience and the irritant of having one’s perception of reality constantly questioned or dismissed.” It’s a feeling that’s particularly acute during the pandemic, which she says has “unmasked” a vicious anti-Asian racism. We'll talk to Hong about the book, Asian American identity and anti-Asian racism.

Tech giant Google said Monday it would delay bringing workers back to the office until summer 2021. The company’s decision reflects a massive change that started in March when millions of white collar employees shifted to working from home. Some employers were pleasantly surprised at how productive their workers could be without the office setting. Freedom from commutes and strict working schedules has been a boon to many workers who now have more time to cook, exercise, and sleep. Still, some workers may find it harder to thrive from behind a computer screen. We talk to experts about the shift to working from home and whether it’s a sustainable model for the long term.

The chief executives of Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon are scheduled to testify on Wednesday before a House subcommittee investigating anti-trust violations. The hearings are part of a year-long probe into whether the nation’s biggest tech companies have used unfair practices to stifle competition and create monopolies. It is the first time that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will testify before congress, joining Apple’s Tim Cook, Facebooks’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai. We’ll preview the hearing and discuss the growing, bi-partian concerns about the growth and practices of major tech companies.

More federal officers are reportedly headed to Portland as protests there continue to gain momentum. So far the Trump administration’s response has led to civil rights lawsuits and proposed legislation in Congress to limit the role of federal law enforcement in U.S. cities, as protestors have been injured by tear gas, rubber bullets and other acts of force. Activists remain resolute and say the protests, which now exceed 60 days, will continue until their demands, like defunding the police, are met. Reporters for Oregon Public Broadcasting join us to discuss the latest news.

In a recent interview, Fox News host Chris Wallace asked President Donald Trump if he'd accept the Nov. 3 election results. Refusing to say yes or no, Trump responded that he'd "have to see." That hedge is exactly what constitutional law expert Lawrence Douglas is worried about. In his new book, "Will He Go: President Trump and the Looming Election Meltdown in 2020," Douglas explains why he's concerned about a close or contested election and the potential consequences if President Trump rejects electoral defeat. We’ll talk to Douglas about his book.

Falling enrollment, anxiety about health risks, and confusing guidelines from public health officials have all contributed to a crisis in California’s child care facilities. That’s according to a recent report out of UC Berkeley that surveyed preschools and in-home daycare services on how they’re navigating the pandemic. We’ll discuss the report, why the child care industry is in financial trouble, and hear what needs to be done about it.

It was almost like a typical weekend of baseball in July: the Oakland A's and the San Francisco Giants both faced off against their L.A.-based rivals, the Angels and Dodgers. But things at the ballparks were anything but normal. The "fans" in the seats were really cardboard cutouts and the crowd noise on TV was piped-in. And with baseball underway, the NBA starts its own modified season on Thursday. Still, some lower-tier teams - like our own Golden State Warriors - will sit out the remainder of the season. We'll talk sports with San Francisco Chronicle columnist Ann Killion.

Last week on Forum, during a segment about the disproportionately high coronavirus infection rates among Latinos in California, we heard from 10-year- old Maggie. She called on behalf of her Spanish-speaking parents to ask whether her parents could get COVID-19 more than once. It was a moment that resonated with Adriana Morga, a digital producer for KQED en Español, who tweeted after the show "that was the epitome of what immigrant children have to do in order to get information to their parents." The tweet soon went viral, with people sharing their own experiences translating for family members. Morga featured some of those responses in a recent article and asked for others to submit their stories. We'll hear some of them and talk to Morga about the importance of equal access to information.

Twitter announced this week that it’s removing or restricting more than 150,000 accounts associated with QAnon -- an extremist, far right internet community that perpetuates conspiracy theories about pedophilic, Satan-worshipping elites seeking to take over the country. The FBI designated QAnon as a domestic terrorist threat last year, but President Trump has retweeted accounts associated with QAnon and has supported Republican candidates who openly espouse it. We’ll explore what QAnon is and where it came from, and we’ll talk about the impact of Twitter’s ban.

During the past few months, many common rituals for dealing with grief and loss have been completely disrupted. Family members can no longer hold the hand of a dying loved one in the hospital. Funerals and memorials have migrated online depriving mourners the chance to give a hug or offer sympathy in person. On top of that, many people are also feeling a deep sense of loss over other aspects of our lives -- jobs, social outings, hobbies, vacations, routines -- that are now gone because of the pandemic. We talk with experts about how to take a new approach to grief and loss amid the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 80 percent of California children are in districts that Governor Gavin Newsom says must use remote-only learning when schools return. That's prompted some parents to search for tutors or teachers to come to their homes - sometimes in pandemic pods with several families - to oversee distance learning. But these are options only available to those who can afford them, and it's raising concerns about further exacerbating rampant inequalities in public education. We'll talk about the rush for private teachers and the questions it raises about equity.

President Trump announced Wednesday that he's sending hundreds of federal law enforcement officers to Chicago and Albuquerque to drive down violent crime. The move comes amid ongoing tensions in Portland, Oregon, where unidentifiable federal agents have sprayed tear gas in crowds and beaten civilians protesting police violence. Attorney General William Barr said Wednesday that the new federal deployments, which are part of the administration's "Operation Legend," will focus on crime fighting, not protecting federal property. We'll discuss the latest.

The Marin County Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance on Tuesday allowing government employees and police officers to penalize businesses and individuals who do not comply with COVID-19 health orders. The penalties run from $25 to $10,000, and include violations like refusal to wear a mask. We'll talk with county officials and local businesses about the order.

It was reported on Monday that the University of Oxford developed a coronavirus vaccine that appears safe and triggers an immune response. Another study from King’s College London from the previous week, however, seems to show that immunity to COVID-19 may only last a few months. And the science of developing a vaccine is only one of many hurdles. Once a vaccine is deemed safe and effective, there are many unanswered questions about how to manufacture and fairly distribute it. In this hour, we talk with a panel of experts about where we are in developing a coronavirus vaccine and how a vaccine should be distributed.

After a spate of bad luck led her to question the nature of chance, journalist Maria Konnikova began learning about poker. Konnikova -- who holds a doctorate in psychology--was curious about how the game hones players’ ability to distinguish between what is within and outside of our control. Under the tutelage of an expert, she became a professional player and entered the World Series of Poker, a competition with a $10,000 entry fee. The experience shaped her new book, “The Biggest Bluff.” Konnikova joins us to talk about the book, her year-long journey from novice to professional poker player, and what poker can teach us about the role of skill and chance in our lives.

The Republican party has increasingly relied on incendiary appeals from the social right to win over voters, while advancing policies that cater less to the average voter and more to wealthy donors. That’s according to political scientists Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson. In their fourth book together, "Let Them Eat Tweets: How the Right Rules in an Age of Extreme Inequality," they break down the GOP’s strategy of acquiring populist voters through fear-mongering and race-baiting. And now, during the Trump administration, the authors write that “the ‘dog whistle’ invoking racialized themes has given way to the bullhorn.” Hacker and Pierson join us to discuss their latest book and why the GOP continues to advance unpopular policies -- and stall popular ones in the Senate -- even in an election year.

Caltrain, the light-rail system that runs from San Francisco to Silicon Valley, faces dire financial straits after a 98% drop in ridership during the coronavirus pandemic and now, a dispute over a key future funding source. Caltrain officials are pushing to put a 0.125 percent sales tax measure on San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara county ballots this November. But the fate of that measure is uncertain after two San Francisco Supervisors blocked that board from voting to put it on the ballot. We look at the future of Caltrain as officials warn of a possible shutdown.

California’s Attorney General announced an investigation into the Vallejo police department after reports that evidence in the police shooting of Sean Monterrosa was destroyed. 22 year old Monterrosa was kneeling when an officer fired shots through the windshield of the police truck, killing him. Vallejo police last week confirmed that the police windshield was later destroyed. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has joined Vallejo city officials in calling for the FBI to investigate. Forum discusses the case and the troubled Vallejo police department which has shot more people per capita than neighboring cities.

This election year, Black voters in key swing states hold significant power heading into November, as they were crucial for Democrats' "Blue Wave" in 2018. In her new book "Say It Louder! Black Voters, White Narratives, and Saving Our Democracy," political analyst Tiffany Cross looks at the significant role Black Americans have played in shaping U.S. democracy. Cross, who previously covered Capitol Hill for BET and CNN, also highlights the policies and efforts to subvert and suppress the Black vote throughout history -- efforts that continue today. We'll talk to Cross about the state of the electorate ahead of the 2020 election and the latest national politics news.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that all public and private schools in counties on the state's Covid-19 watchlist must operate remotely this fall. More than 30 counties are on the list, including most counties in the Bay Area. We'll discuss how districts are planning for remote instruction and what it will take for schools to resume in-person learning safely. And we want to hear from you: what questions or concerns do you have about remote instruction in your district? If your kids are learning from home, how have you adapted?

As COVID-19 testing facilities across the state face ongoing backlogs, California public health officials adopted new guidance this week to help counties decide who should get test results fastest. Those hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms may see test results within a day, but other Californians -- especially those who aren't symptomatic or aren't essential workers -- may continue to experience wait times of a week or longer. We'll talk when and how you should get tested and about the public health impact of slow test turnaround times. And we want to hear from you: If you've been tested, what was the experience like?

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo recently released a nine-point proposal to revamp the city’s embattled police department. He says the plan will “reform, not defund the police” while “squarely addressing nationwide outrage over racial injustice and police brutality”. But critics of Liccardo’s plan are calling for more significant and swift changes to the department that was recently marred in a scandal involving racist behavior by officers. Liccardo joins us to talk about police reform and other issues facing the city, including shutdown orders that are dealing a financial blow to many households and businesses.

The Berkeley City Council approved a motion this week on the issue of police reform, bringing some of the most radical changes to policing in the state. A proposal by Councilmember Rigel Robinson will create “BerkDot,” a new Department of Transportation with unarmed officials who will conduct parking and traffic enforcement. The motion also includes a pledge to cut the police budget by 50 percent and to develop a Specialized Care Unit - a “network of crisis responders” for calls concerning homelessness and mental health. In this segment, we’ll talk with Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín about the motion.

As California and many other states struggle to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases, science journalist Ed Yong says we’re now more vulnerable to additional disasters, including a possible second pandemic. In his new article in The Atlantic, Yong says diminishing resources, strained international relations and demoralized experts have America on it’s heels. We’ll talk to Yong about what he’s learned during months of reporting on the pandemic and what he thinks the US should be doing now to control it.

“Any forthcoming federal pandemic relief bill must include funds to support teachers, so that under-served children don't fall behind”, argues Silicon Valley congressman Ro Khanna in a recent opinion piece. We'll talk with Khanna about what strategies he thinks K-12 schools should take this fall. We'll also get his thoughts, as a former national co-chair of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns, on the direction the democratic party should take, as he heads up California's delegation at the Democratic National Convention next month.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Monday that California is officially backtracking into more restrictive shelter-in-place orders as coronavirus infections continue to rise across the state. Many people and businesses are confused about the shifting policies and what activities are permitted. We open the phone lines to hear from listeners about how they are coping.

As newsrooms across the country confront issues of race and diversity, award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien says it’s a welcome “MeToo” moment for journalists of color to speak out. O'Brien detailed her own experiences in a recent op-ed for the New York Times including being called the "affirmative-action hire" by colleagues at her first job. Today, after years working at major news outlets such as NBC and CNN, she's the chief executive of her own production company and regularly uses her Twitter feed to call out poor journalism in headlines and interviews. We’ll talk to O’Brien about how newsrooms should address racism in hiring and news coverage and get her take on the state of journalism in the Trump era.

A new biography about Senator Joseph McCarthy taps into recently-released transcripts of closed-door congressional hearings to shed light on the senator’s life and his 1950’s anti-communist crusade. Journalist and author Larry Tye joins us to talk about the book, “Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy”, and to describe the parallels he sees between McCarthy and President Trump.

Across California, Latinos have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. They make up about 39 percent of the state’s population, but account for 55 percent of reported infections. Community leaders are calling for more resources to help reduce the spread and risks for Latinos, many of whom have to work outside the home. The pandemic has been especially burdensome for undocumented people and low-income workers -- a significant component of the Latino population. We look at what can be done to blunt the sharp rise in case counts.

As the United States grapples with civil unrest, many people are questioning how we arrived in this situation and how the nation can change for the better. In his new book, “American Poison: How Racial Hostility Destroyed Our Promise,” New York times economics reporter Eduardo Porter presents a comprehensive examination of how discrimination based on race has hurt not just members of marginalized groups, but the nation as a whole. While the U.S. has gutted education systems, healthcare programs, and assistance for the poor, he writes, the nation instead diverted resources to incarcerating people. Porter, who has previously served as economics columnist and editorial writer for the New York Times, joins us to discuss his new book and how it relates to current debate over dismantling systemic racism.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and state public education leaders announced on Thursday that they’re suing the Trump administration over a new rule requiring foreign college students to leave the U.S. if their classes are online-only when they resume in the fall. California, which is home to the largest population of international students in the country, follows Harvard and M.I.T., who filed a joint suit and asked for an emergency order to stop the new policy. California’s public college systems are now reviewing their ability to offer some in-person classes to protect international students who could be deported or barred from re-entering the country under the new rule, which is raising health and safety concerns. We’ll hear from Attorney General Becerra, as well as from students who could be affected, and discuss the implications of the policy.

President Donald Trump on Friday commuted the sentence of his longtime friend and political advisor Roger Stone, who had been convicted of lying to Congress and witness tampering. The next day, former special counsel Robert Mueller defended his investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign and wrote that Stone was "prosecuted and convicted because he committed federal crimes." We'll discuss Trump's move and other national political news with KQED's Marisa Lagos.

Governor Newsom announced Friday that the state will release 8,000 people incarcerated in the state's prison system, including 700 in high-risk prisons like San Quentin and Folsom. The move came as Bay Area lawmakers and activists called on Governor Newsom to step in to reduce the prison population at San Quentin, where there have been more than 1300 cases of coronavirus and at least seven COVID-related deaths. We’ll get the latest on the situation.

Close to 2 million unemployment claims filed since the shelter in place orders were issued have not yet been paid out, according to a San Jose Mercury News analysis. And while a new report from the U.S. Labor Department finds first-time jobless claims by Californians have dropped for two consecutive weeks, the continued economic shut-down could cause more workers to lose jobs. The state unemployment agency says it is updating technology and hiring thousands of staff to deal with the deluge of claims. Loree Levy of the California Employment Development Department joins us to answer your questions about the backlog and how to file claims.

Author Karla Cornejo Villavicencio joins us to discuss her new memoir, “The Undocumented Americans.” Villavicencio arrived in America when she was five and is one of the first undocumented students to graduate from Harvard. After the election of President Trump in 2016, she began writing about her own experience as well as those of other undocumented immigrants in New York, Miami, Cleveland, Michigan and Connecticut through a series of reported essays. Now a doctoral student at Yale, Villavicencio’s work insists on breaking conventional and sanitized narratives of immigrants in her book, which she calls a punk rock memoir.

Amid a spike in coronavirus cases and calls by President Trump to reopen schools this fall, school districts across California are contemplating the best course of action for next year. San Jose's Alum Rock Union and East Side Union High school districts already announced that a majority of their schools will continue online learning. And while other options include a staggered or hybrid schedule, most school districts are monitoring the pandemic and county health guidelines before making an official announcement. We'll discuss what schools around the Bay Area and the state are planning to do this fall.

Throughout California, statues of controversial historical figures such as Junipero Serra and Christopher Columbus are being removed. This follows a trend across the nation to demolish what some consider symbols of racism, oppression, and injustice. Indigenous leaders have fought for decades against celebrating Serra and Columbus, who they see as having committed genocide against Native Americans. Others argue that destroying statues and monuments could silence some parts of history instead of expanding our knowledge of it. In this hour, we’ll dive into the debate over toppling statues and monuments as well as who we memorialize and why.

Stanford Graduate School of Business professor and social psychologist Brian Lowery studies the psychology of racial privilege. Undergirding his work is the notion that although many people support the ideal of a fair and just society, they sometimes end up unconsciously reinforcing extant inequality. In a Washington Post opinion piece last month, Lowery describes some of the racism he has experienced and calls upon white Americans to engage in a proactive way to address inequality. Lowery joins us to discuss his research and why he thinks “the time for talk has passed”.

In a 7-2 opinion issued this morning, the Supreme Court ruled that President Trump must turn over his financial records and tax returns to a New York state grand jury investigating his business dealings. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said that “the public has a right to ‘every man’s evidence’” and that “since the earliest days of the Republic, ‘every man’ has included the President of the United States.” In a separate case, the court ruled -- again in a 7-2 opinion with Chief Justice Roberts writing for the majority -- that President Trump can -- for now -- block release of his tax and financial records to Congressional committees. In this segment we’ll talk about the legal and real-world implications of these cases with Andrea Bernstein, Co-host of Trump, Inc., and University of Texas law professor Steve Vladeck.

Dr. Erica Pan has been appointed the new California State Epidemiologist. She joins us to talk about her experience leading Alameda County’s coronavirus response--including clashes with Elon Musk over the opening of the Fremont Tesla factory and being targeted on social media for shelter in place mandates--and about her vision for the new job. And we’ll ask her about California counties on the coronavirus watch list, recent COVID-related deaths among San Quentin prisoners, and emerging evidence of greater airborne spread of coronavirus.

In a 7 to 2 vote, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in favor of two California churches arguing they should not have to face employment discrimination lawsuits brought by former teachers. The ruling makes it so that religious schools are exempt from most employment discrimination claims, expanding religious freedom. The Supreme Court on Wednesday also cleared the way for the Trump administration to expand exemptions for employers who have religious or moral objections to complying with Obamacare's contraceptive mandate. We talk with David Levine, professor at UC Hastings College of the Law, about these rulings and other Supreme Court decisions expected to come.

The Trump administration officially informed the United Nations on Tuesday that the United States is withdrawing from the World Health Organization, effective July 6, 2021. President Trump first announced that he planned to halt funding to the W.H.O. back in April, criticizing its "China-centric" response to the coronavirus pandemic. The withdrawal comes as the United States nears 3 million reported coronavirus cases and almost 540,000 COVID-related deaths worldwide. We'll discuss what led to the U.S's decision as well as the financial and global public health implications of the withdrawal.

Emerging evidence shows that drug overdose deaths are surging from increased substance abuse driven by feelings of isolation, anxiety and depression during the coronavirus pandemic. Fatal drug overdoses were already ticking upward in 2019, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- a trend the pandemic is accelerating. And more challenging, many treatment programs have been scaled back as the federal government puts some funding for non-COVID-related work on hold indefinitely. We'll discuss the growing concern over this epidemic within the pandemic and what can be done to address it.

The Oakland Zoo announced last week that it may have to shut down permanently unless it's allowed to open its doors to visitors soon. The zoo, which has remained closed since mid-March owing to coronavirus concerns, is spending $2.5 million a month to care for the animals and maintain the facility, and it's quickly burning through its reserves. We'll talk to Oakland Zoo CEO Joel Parrott about the future of the zoo and how other zoos across the state are coping with the pandemic.

Last month, when many Fox News hosts were putting a positive spin on President Trump’s low-turnout Tulsa rally, Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace didn’t mince words. “The arena was empty,” he told a Trump aide, adding that the campaign looked “silly” for not owning up to the crowd size. Moments like these have earned Wallace the ire of Trump, but the anchor also takes heat for his association with the controversial conservative network. Wallace joins Forum to talk about the latest headlines and his new book “Countdown 1945."

In a state where more than a quarter of residents are foreign-born, many low-income and undocumented immigrants have dealt with heavy burdens during the coronavirus pandemic. The biggest challenges involve high infection rates, loss of income, and feeling forced to continue working in high-risk environments. Many programs designed to give financial assistance to undocumented workers are running dry as the pandemic persists. Meanwhile, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that processes immigration applications, plans to furlough more than two-thirds of its staff in coming months due to budget cuts. That move could significantly delay citizenship and green card applications as well as asylum cases. We discuss how low-income and undocumented immigrants in California are faring during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that states are free to punish presidential electors who don’t support the winner of the popular vote. It also upheld almost the entirety of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which bans robocalls to cell phones. Those rulings come after the court issued some unexpected decisions recently in cases involving undocumented immigrants who arrived as children, LGBTQ workers, and abortion rights in Louisiana. More rulings are still to come, including a decision on whether President Trump is required to release his tax returns to house democrats and a New York grand jury. We discuss the cases with Jessica Levinson, professor of law at Loyola Law School and host of the new podcast, “Passing Judgment."

With official July 4 fireworks cancelled this year due to coronavirus, amateur displays illuminated the skies around the Bay Area Saturday night. But the illegal displays led to noise complaints -- and are being blamed for at least 100 blazes around the region. Emergency officials even took to social media to warn of fire risks. And it’s not just independence day: fireworks have been a familiar sound in many cities in recent weeks. We'll talk about the prevalence and impact of fireworks displays around the region.

During this time of civil unrest in America, many people are calling for dismantling racism. Much of the conversation frames the conflict as between a black minority and a white majority. The current uprising is sparking conversations about how other groups of color can show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Part of that work, experts say, involves confronting division and anti blackness much more broadly. In this hour, we explore what cross-racial solidarity means in America.

On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered a speech titled "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" -- calling attention to the hypocrisy of the Declaration of Independence and its claim that "all men are created equal.” Today, amid protests against racism and a growing Black Lives Matter movement, equality is still a goal in progress. And the promises of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" ring differently, and perhaps more profoundly, in an ongoing pandemic that continues to claim both lives and livelihoods. Still, America and its ideals persist. This hour, we’ll talk to author Casey Gerald about Douglass’ speech and the current challenges we face as a nation, and hear what the Fourth of July means to you.

As coronavirus cases continue rising in California, colleges and universities across the state are assessing how best to operate for the fall semester. Some are completely transitioning to remote learning. Others are looking to combine both online and in-person classes. These changes have left students with some difficult choices: Continue school under these conditions or withdraw for the semester? Return to campus or stay home? In this hour, well hear from students, schools, and health officials about what college campuses could look like this fall.

Over the weekend, the San Jose Police Department placed four of its police officers on administrative leave for posting racist and anti-Muslim comments in a private Facebook group. This latest scandal comes days after San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo issued a nine-point plan aimed at reforming, but not defunding, the city’s police department. Given these recent developments, critics of the police are saying that Liccardo’s plan does not go far enough to address systemic racism. We’ll talk about this latest incident, the efforts to reform the department and what the next steps are.

A new China-imposed "anti-protest" law has already led to arrests in Hong Kong and has residents on edge over further erosion of freedom in the semiautonomous territory. We'll hear about the new law, why it has activists worried, and why China is dismissing those concerns.

Three months into shelter-in-place restrictions, California had contained the spread of the coronavirus. Now heading into July, infection rates and hospitalizations have ticked up to more than 225,000 cases statewide -- nearly doubling in just one month. Experts say Memorial Day weekend marks a turning point when more people resumed going to work, socializing and patronizing businesses. Health professionals expected some of the recent surge as more tests became available. Still, some of the increase happened because people are engaging in more high-risk activities and not taking sufficient precautions such as wearing masks. We discuss what is driving the current surge of coronavirus cases in California and how to regain control of the pandemic.

Santa Clara County released guidelines Tuesday for reopening schools for in-person classes, but county school officials say districts should have a remote learning backup plan in case coronavirus conditions worsen. As schools grapple with whether to fully reopen during the pandemic, pediatricians this week weighed in with a strong recommendation for having students physically present in schools. The American Academy of Pediatrics says continuing remote learning will increase social isolation, cause further learning loss and exacerbate inequalities. Forum will discuss the conditions for schools to reopen and we want to hear from you. Are you a student, parent or teacher? Are you ready for the schools to reopen?

More than 6 million workers have filed for unemployment in California since the pandemic began. California’s unemployment agency, the EDD, has awarded $24 billion in benefits since mid-March, but many applicants have experienced long waiting periods and some have received no benefits at all. Last week, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle criticized the EDD, calling for an audit of the agency and for Gov. Gavin Newsom to intervene. We’ll discuss how California is handling the record number of unemployment claims and we’ll take your questions on unemployment benefits.

Several social media platforms have removed hate speech and calls to violence from their platforms in recent weeks. Reddit made headlines this week for eliminating a channel dedicated to President Donald Trump among about 2,000 others that the site said violated its rules against hate speech. Meanwhile, Facebook has come under sharp criticism for not removing hateful posts from Trump and has lost several major advertisers. Starbucks Corp. said Sunday it would halt all social media ad spending to stop the spread of hate speech. We discuss the role of hate speech on social media and the responsibility of platforms to police it.

In his work and life, writer James Baldwin often balanced between feelings of despair and faith that the U.S. could be better and become a truly multiracial democracy. It was Baldwin's ability to balance faith and despair as well as love and rage that fascinated Princeton University professor of African American Studies Eddie Glaude Jr. and prompted his new book, "Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own." We'll discuss the book, Baldwin, and the current "moral reckoning" Glaude sees upon us.

Why do some people embrace masks and practice meticulous social distancing while others rebel against public health mandates? Psychologists are studying what drives behavior in the pandemic, and they're also looking at how information overload can influence how people react to the crisis. In this hour, psychologists Ellen Peters and Jay Van Bavel join us to lay out how social and behavioral science can help explain how people respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and how that information can help guide public policy messaging around containment.

In a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana abortion law Monday, effectively saving the right to choose in the state. The law, which was enacted in 2014, required doctors to have active admitting privileges at a hospital near the facility where they provide abortions. Chief Justice John Roberts voted with the four-member liberal wing, opposing the votes of both Trump-appointed justices. We'll discuss the details of the case and explore what this ruling means for the future of abortion laws across the country.

Yesterday, President Donald Trump retweeted a video that included one of his supporters yelling “white power” in response to protesters. Trump thanked the "great people" in the video. The president later deleted the tweet and the White House said he had not heard the racist chant in the video, which depicted arguments among residents of The Villages, a predominantly white and conservative Florida retirement community. Some critics said the president was trying to distract attention from another growing scandal: an intelligence report that concluded Russia had paid a bounty to the Taliban to kill American troops serving in Afghanistan. We’ll talk about those two stories and more with GOP political consultant Mike Madrid.

In early April, Governor Newsom launched Project Roomkey, a temporary program designed to protect vulnerable homeless populations from Covid-19 by housing them in empty hotel rooms. The state has since placed more than 10,000 homeless residents in rooms, and officials are considering ways to make the program permanent. But long-term funding for Project Roomkey is uncertain, and some local communities are resisting. We'll assess the program and its future.

The United States has reported more positive coronavirus cases in the past week than at any other time since the pandemic began. In their new article " A Devastating New Stage of the Pandemic”, Atlantic staff writers Alexis Madrigal and Robinson Meyer report on what’s happening with the “second surge” that is now buffeting places like Arizona and Texas. Madrigal joins us to talk about his analysis, why the White House explanation that more testing is the reason for the uptick in cases is insufficient, and what needs to be done to quell the surge.

The state Department of Public Health reported this week that 75 patients and staff at a nursing home in Concord were infected with coronavirus resulting in at least 14 deaths. Nursing homes throughout the state have experienced outbreaks and yet, many facilities are still not conducting widespread or consistent testing for the virus. As outbreaks continue popping up, advocates warn that precautions are inadequate. We discuss the spread of coronavirus in nursing homes and what challenges facilities face amid the pandemic.

Pride marks its 50th anniversary this weekend, and although the events are virtual, the celebrations continue. We'll reflect on Pride's history and talk about the programs, discussions and performances on offer this week in the Bay Area and beyond. And as protests sparked by George Floyd's killing continue, we'll explore how the fights for racial justice and LGBTQ+ rights inform and support each other.

California reported 7,149 new confirmed coronavirus cases Tuesday, shattering its single-day record. Santa Clara County reported the highest number of cases in the past two months. Experts say that some of the rise in cases can be attributed to an increase in testing, but they warn that testing alone is not responsible for the surge. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last week mandated Californians wear masks in public places, is also urging residents to use precautions like hand-washing and social distancing, and he warned that the state could reinstate more stringent restrictions. We’ll hear from experts about what is causing the spike and what we should do to prevent further spread.

Former national security advisor Michael Flynn -- who twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI -- had his case dismissed on Wednesday by a federal appeals court. The same day, Senate Democrats blocked debate on a Republican-proposed police reform bill, arguing it didn’t go far enough in addressing racial inequality. This comes as the federal government struggles to contain the coronavirus and the 2020 election season intensifies. In this hour, we talk with Robert Costa, national political reporter at The Washington Post and host of PBS’ Washington Week about the latest national political news.

Many Black medical workers are now finding themselves on the front lines of two epidemics -- Covid 19 and systemic racism. We’ll talk with a panel of African American medical professionals at different levels of their careers who are writing and reflecting on their roles during this time. “My brown skin is protected by blue scrubs, by a hospital ID that says “Stanford,” and “MEDICAL STUDENT” in big blue letters,” writes Dasha Savage, “ The black gunshot wound patients I meet in the trauma bay don’t have that luxury.” We’ll talk with Savage and participants in Stanford's Writing Medicine program about race, the medical system and how they are processing the events of today.

San Quentin is home to a growing number of coronavirus cases following a botched transfer of inmates from a men's prison in Chino, which was previously reported as having the deadliest outbreak in California's prisons. San Quentin now has 337 cases of coronavirus as of Monday evening -- a jump from zero reported cases prior to the transfer in late May. To lawmakers and prisoner advocates, the outbreak at San Quentin was entirely preventable and the result of poor planning by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The department says while some inmates tested positive upon arrival to San Quentin, they had been tested and medically evaluated prior to the transfer.

President Trump Monday suspended a number of immigration visa programs affecting tech workers and students, among others. The White House says the move will help get Americans back to work, as the economy continues to reel from 40 million virus-related job losses. But critics say freezing the visas is an election-year political move that will hurt US businesses, particularly in Silicon Valley. We’ll get the details.

After seven years as president of the University of California, Janet Napolitano is stepping down in August. The first woman to serve as UC's president, Napolitano oversaw increased enrollment systemwide, implemented initiatives addressing the climate crisis and Title IX and, last month, led a decision to drop the ACT/SAT requirement in admissions. Napolitano also notably weathered a 2017 audit scandal and sued the Trump administration when it first rescinded DACA -- the program she created while serving as Obama's secretary of Homeland Security. We'll talk to Napolitano about her tenure and get her thoughts on the future of the UC system as it continues to navigate the pandemic.

On Wednesday, the Oakland Unified School District board will consider a resolution that calls for dismantling the district’s dedicated police department. One group, the Black Organizing Project, has advocated for nearly a decade to shift resources from police officers to social workers, therapists or counselors. Studies show that Black and Latino students are disproportionately disciplined more harshly than other students, which advocates say is an extension of racism and criminalization of people of color. Meanwhile, police officials say that even if the district eliminates its department, Oakland schools will still need police to respond when students are victims of crime and abuse. We dive into the debate over school policing.

"Defund the police" may be a new rallying cry, but according to Harvard historian Khalil Gibran Muhammad, black reformers, scholars and activists have been calling out systemic racism in law enforcement for at least 100 years. We'll talk to Muhammad about historical attempts to root out the use of excessive force, racial profiling and other unconstitutional policing practices as well as the laws, policies and attitudes that have stood in the way of reform. We'll also discuss whether we, as a nation, are ready to accept an alternate vision of policing that does not, as he writes in his book "The Condemnation of Blackness," protect white lives at the expense of black ones.

In his new book, “Which Country Has the World’s Best Health Care?”, bioethicist Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel profiles and compares eleven countries’ health care systems to figure out which one works best. When considering health care reforms in the U.S., Emanuel believes they should emphasize primary care and is in favor of calls for universal coverage. Emanuel, who is a member of Joe Biden’s coronavirus task force, has also been critical of President Trump’s handling of the pandemic. In this hour, we’ll talk to Emanuel about the book and get his take on the latest coronavirus news.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted this week to ask the state to provide the city with more latitude in moving up dates for reopening things like bars, indoor dining, and hair salons. San Francisco is one of only six counties in the state that had not yet sought this flexibility around reopening. The move comes at a time when officials are working to strike a balance between keeping residents safe and COVID-19 hospitalizations manageable while gradually reopening the economy. More than 243,000 Californians filed for unemployment last week, and while many San Franciscans are struggling to stay afloat, the pandemic has also exposed long-term economic inequities. In this hour, we talk with San Francisco health and economy officials about how they balance those concerns.

To commemorate Juneteenth, the celebration of emancipation from slavery, nearly 40 Bay Area theaters and others nationwide are collaborating on a project to bring a thought-provoking play about race into people’s homes. As part of The Juneteenth Theater Justice Project, staged readings of playwright Vincent Terrell Durham’s play, “Polar Bears, Black Boys and Prairie Fringed Orchids”, will be live streamed from theaters around the country on Zoom on June 19th. We’ll talk with the playwright and the project leader about the play and what a celebration of freedom means in a time of heightened attention to systemic racism.

On Thursday, a Butte County judge imposed a $3.5 million fine on PG&E for causing the 2018 Camp Fire -- the deadliest wildfire in California's history that claimed 84 lives. The ruling came after PG&E CEO Bill Johnson entered 84 individual guilty pleas for those deaths on Tuesday. Dozens spoke during the court proceeding recounting the horrifying deaths of loved ones who perished in the blaze. While PG&E, the state's largest utility, was held responsible, no executives were charged or face jail time. Critics say the fine and punishment is too lenient given that PG&E has been linked to a number of disasters since 2015. We’ll dive into PG&E's criminal case and the company's bankruptcy proceedings.

The Supreme Court of the United States issued a 5-4 ruling today upholding the legality of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The program allows immigrants who arrived in the country as children -- but don’t have permanent legal status or a path to legal status -- to receive protection from deportation and permission to work. For the past eight years, around 800,000 people have participated in DACA, working in what are now deemed essential jobs: helping feed the nation, caring for coronavirus patients, and serving in the military. The Obama-era program had been in limbo since 2017, when President Donald Trump announced he was ending the program and called it illegal. The program, which some studies suggest was hugely popular with Americans, can now remain in place. We discuss the decision and what could happen next for immigration reform.

Social justice educator Robin DiAngelo's book, “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism”, is one of a number of books on race topping bestseller lists as many people seek to educate themselves amid protests against racism and racist policing. In the book, she invites white people to examine their role in upholding systemic racism and to confront the defensiveness or "fragility" she says they can exhibit when challenged on their ideas about race. We'll talk to DiAngelo about her book, the ongoing protests and her thoughts on what white people can do to address racism.

As tributes to the Confederacy continue to fall in cities across the country, the city of Fort Bragg in Northern California, named for a Confederate general, is considering a name change. Those in favor of the change say the name is offensive and celebrates a racist history. Opponents argue that history is important, good or bad, and shouldn't be erased. Efforts to rename Fort Bragg gained little traction in the past, but the city council plans to hear public comment on the issue next week. We discuss the debate around Fort Bragg and other controversies surrounding historic names.

Federal authorities on Tuesday charged an Air Force sergeant with murdering a federal officer during an anti-police brutality protest in Oakland in late May. The FBI says Steven Carrillo is linked with the extremist "Boogaloo" movement which believes in inciting a second civil war to overthrow the government. Carrillo has also been charged with 19 felony counts for a violent ambush on police earlier this month in the Santa Cruz mountains that left a sheriff’s deputy dead. We’ll discuss the cases and the extremist ideology of Boogaloo.

In the absence of clear direction from the federal government on coronavirus, state and local officials were forced to chart their own course in handling the crisis. A new report by Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting examines the early decisions that were made in two states: California and Florida. We'll talk with two reporters on the piece, KQED's Marisa Lagos and Caiti Switalski of WLRN in Miami.

Representative Jackie Speier recently introduced legislation to protect whistleblowers who expose fraud, waste, or abuse in the federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Speier joins us to talk about her new legislation, the lack of progress in fighting sexual assault in the military, and how the Black Lives Matter protests can spur lasting change in America.

On Monday, the University of California Board of Regents unanimously voted to endorse a state measure to repeal Prop. 209, a nearly 25-year-old law that bans consideration of race in government contracts, public sector hiring, and college admissions. The measure passed the California Assembly and if ratified by the state Senate, will show up on the November ballot. Proponents argue that barring state agencies and institutions from considering race and gender has hindered equal representation and reinforced systemic advantages for white-owned businesses and white students. We discuss the prospects for restoring affirmative action in California at a time when prejudice and institutional racism in America are top of mind.

Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs made headlines in early 2019 when the city began giving $500 each month to 125 randomly selected individuals. The mayor has said that the trial program--which was recently extended through next year-- is an important tool to help residents overcome poverty and disastrous events. As San Joaquin County sees the highest number of hospitalizations since the pandemic began, we'll hear how Stockton is faring. We'll also get the mayor’s thoughts on how to combat police brutality.

The California state prison system now counts 15 inmates who have died of coronavirus-related causes as of Friday. Overall, more than 2,440 inmates in state prisons have tested positive for the virus, despite efforts to test prison staff and release inmates early. Those figures do not count local and federal prison populations in the state, which have also experienced coronavirus outbreaks. Meanwhile, some inmates have reported lack of access to safety equipment and healthcare. We discuss how coronavirus has spread in California prisons and how measures to prevent the illness are falling short.

In a 6-3 decision today the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that gay and transgender workers are protected under the Civil Rights Act. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion in the ruling over a section of the Civil Rights Act that bars employment discrimination against race, religion, national origin and sex. At question was the definition of “sex” -- and whether it applied to millions of gay and transgender workers. We'll discuss the historic ruling.

Alameda County has expanded its shelter-in-place order to allow “social bubbles”. That lets up to 12 people from different households get together and socialize, though still at a distance and outside. But, you can only belong to one bubble and choosing who you agree to isolate with can be awkward. We’ll talk about the new rule and the challenges of navigating who to bring in and who to leave out of your bubble. We want to hear from you. How are you socializing during social distancing?

While George Floyd's name continues to be chanted at protests sweeping the nation, Breonna Taylor, another victim of police violence, has gotten less attention. Taylor was a 26-year old emergency medical technician living in Louisville, Kentucky when she was shot eight times and killed by police who raided her home on March 13. While the viral video of Floyd being killed helped fuel public outrage and media coverage, this isn't the first time a black woman victim has been under-acknowledged in the public's eye. It's this kind of disproportionate attention that sparked the "Say Her Name" campaign in 2015 to remind people that black women and girls are also victims of police violence. We'll talk about Breonna Taylor's case and the intersection of gender and race discrimination black women can face not only in life, but in death.

For decades, experts classified people as having “normal” or “abnormal” brains depending on certain traits. Conditions such as autism, synesthesia, and sensory processing disorder are considered “abnormal.” Several years ago, Jenara Nerenberg, a Harvard and Berkeley-educated writer, entrepreneur, and mother, realized that type of binary thinking is flawed and miscategorizes many people, especially women. She went on to found The Neurodiversity Project, an organization that supports the neurodivergent community, and to write “Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed For You.” In her new book, Nerenberg presents a new way to understand neurodiversity and how it presents differently in women. She also challenges widely accepted misperceptions of neurodivergent traits. We talk with Nerenberg about her new book, The Neurodiversity Project, and her most recent venture, The Interracial Project.

The killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery have led to renewed calls for racial equality and justice across the U.S. They have also reinforced numerous fears that many parents have about raising black children -- fears that their child could be killed while jogging or sleeping in their home or otherwise “living while black.” In this hour of Forum, we’ll talk about the distinct challenges of raising black children in America. And we want to hear from you: Are you the parent of a black child? What’s been your experience?

Even as California businesses are starting to reopen, economists warn that the worst could be yet to come as far as unemployment. The extra $600 per week unemployment benefit will be ending soon and prospects for hiring are bleak as employers continue shedding workers. In May, the monthly jobless rate dropped to 13.3 percent from 14.7 percent, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report released last Friday. But a temporary drop may not signal that the economy is on the upswing just yet, economists said. Also, policy makers are looking at how to reverse the more severe unemployment rates among Blacks and other minority groups. In this hour of Forum, we discuss unemployment and what could lie ahead for workers.

Protesters rallying against police brutality across the country are also calling to “defund police.” One idea is to divert money from police departments into social services that can prevent crime and address its causes. Proponents say cities need to radically overhaul their systems of policing after years of failed reform efforts. The mayors of San Francisco and Los Angeles say they support the idea. We dive into the concept of defunding police and overhauling law enforcement in America.

Outdoor dining. Daycare Centers. Movie Theaters. Every day, officials are announcing new areas of the economy that can start opening for business. But at the same time, likely in part because testing is much more readily available, coronavirus cases are rising sharply in some communities. Coming up on Forum, we’ll take your questions on reopening the Bay Area and the latest science on Covid-19. And we’ll look at the World Health Organization’s muddled message this week on transmission of the virus by people without symptoms.

California schools will look very different this fall. Under new guidelines released Monday by California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, schools may require masks, temperature checks, social distancing, staggered schedules, outdoor classes and continued remote learning. The state did not issue mandates, however, leaving individual districts to decide their own procedures. Forum dives into the challenges schools, teachers, students and parents will face in reopening schools safely during a pandemic.

Rev. William Barber believes that the country “will not be the same after this pandemic and after this season of mass non-violent protest. We cannot be the same.” And Barber — who revived and co-chairs the Poor People’s Campaign, one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s last projects — is working to ensure transformative change is made in the U.S through a “Moral Agenda” that advances pro-labor, anti-poverty and anti-racist policies. Rev. Barber joins Forum to talk about the protests against police violence, his campaign to fight poverty and his new book “We Are Called to Be a Movement.”

In their new book, “Surviving Autocracy,” journalist Masha Gessen suggests that President Trump was “the first major party nominee who ran not for president but for autocrat.” It’s this political mindset that Gessen warns can become lethal as Trump is responding to crises like the coronavirus pandemic and nationwide protests against racism and police brutality. Gessen joins the program to discuss their book, how they think Trump has transformed the presidency and the role of “moral aspiration” in moving forward.

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George Will left the Republican Party in 2016 to protest the nomination of Donald Trump as the GOP’s presidential candidate. In a recent column, Will goes a step further, calling for the defeat of President Trump and the Republican Senate majority in November. The long-time conservative thought leader joins us to talk about the presidential election and why he’s denouncing Trump now more than ever.

Demonstrators marched across the Golden Gate Bridge on Saturday, filling the whole length of the span and closing it to cars. The was just one of the many actions across the Bay Area over the weekend held to protest police violence. We talk with KQED's Queena Kim about the weekend's demonstrations and other recent news. We'll also check in with Derrick Sanderlin, who trains San Jose police on how to avoid bias -- and who was seriously injured by a rubber bullet at a recent protest.

During this time of civil unrest in America, many people are calling for dismantling racism. Much of the conversation frames the conflict as between a black minority and a white majority. The current uprising is sparking conversations about how other groups of color can show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Part of that work, experts say, involves confronting division and anti blackness much more broadly. In this hour, we explore what cross-racial solidarity means in America.

As protests continue across the country, many companies and public figures have released statements on social media to speak out against racism and police brutality and express solidarity with protestors -- to a mixed response. Some of those statements don’t necessarily align with corporate policies or previous behavior. Critics are labeling these acts “performative allyship” and calling on companies to take action by donating to anti-racism causes instead. We’ll look at the idea of “solidarity” on social media and in our consumer culture.

Bakari Sellers says the most important day of his life happened before he was even born; February 8 1968 when highway patrolmen opened fire on students protesting segregation in South Carolina, killing 3 and wounding 28, including Seller's father. Sellers, who became the youngest person to be elected to the South Carolina legislature, writes about how the trauma of the incident permeated his childhood in his memoir, "My Vanishing Country." Now a lawyer and CNN political analyst, Sellers joins us to talk about the effects of systemic racism and what the killing of George Floyd by police, more than a half a century after his father's shooting, tells us about the state of America.

Journalists covering nationwide protests against the police killing of George Floyd have been shot with rubber bullets, tear gassed, assaulted and arrested by police. Advocates for journalists say there has been an unprecedented amount of violence against reporters and photographers this week, which they say is threatening the rights of a free press. Forum discusses attacks on the news media and whether President Trump’s frequent criticisms have helped erode trust in the media and endanger reporters.

Cities around California have set curfews in the wake of protests over the killing of George Floyd. Officials in favor of a curfew argue that it helps maintain public safety. But civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have criticized these measures for lacking clarity and scope as well as violating first amendment rights. San Francisco--which had been operating under an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew-- changed tack on Wednesday, with Mayor London Breed tweeting that the city will lift the curfew and “continue to facilitate any and all peaceful demonstrations.” In this hour, we talk about how effective, practical, and constitutional curfews really are.