Kqeds Forum

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.