Kqeds Forum

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.