Kqeds Forum

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."