Kqeds Forum

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.