Kqeds Forum

Since Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the election in 2020, laws have been passed to protect our election results. But there has also been a concerted “election integrity” movement that has put election officials distrustful of the system in charge of local and county offices. And in California, only a third of congressional Republican incumbents have pledged to certify the results in November. We discuss how resilient our election system is, and whether we are now better protected from, or more vulnerable to, attacks on our democracy. Guests: Jim Rutenberg, reporter, The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine 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." Jessica Marsden, director of impact programs and counsel [leading teams focused on protecting free and fair elections], Protect Democracy

You see them on stage every night – the musicians whose names are buried in the liner notes and driven by passion rather than by rockstar-dom. Franz Nicolay calls them “band people,” and for his new book, he interviewed over 60 of these session musicians, backup singers, and instrumentalists. They share stories about the realities of band life and what Nicolay considers a unique collaboration that exists somewhere between a family, a romance, a small business and a gang. His book is called “Band People: Life and Work In Popular Music.” Who are some of your favorite unsung musicians? Guests: Franz Nicolay, musician and writer Jason Narducy, musician; has performed in Bob Mould Band, Superchunk, Sunny Day Real Estate, Split Single, and Verböten

The latest stars of TikTok and social media are not just influencers, they are presidential candidates. The campaigns of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have rapid response digital teams that are jumping on every meme, dance, and remix, some which feature the candidates. But are these efforts reaching new voters? Or is the “For You Page” just solidifying people’s world views, but to music? We’ll talk to social media experts and hear from you: what’s your favorite – or most hated – political meme in this election cycle and how has it influenced your vote? Guests: Sapna Maheshwari, business reporter covering TikTok and emerging media, New York Times Morgan Sung, host, "Close All Tabs" podcast available on KQED's "Political Breakdown" feed

What happens if fascism takes root in the United States? Actors Edie Falco and Tony Shalhoub have teamed up to voice a new radio play called “It Happened Here 2024.” The play, adapted by Richard Dresser from his own novel, imagines an authoritarian country in 2039 where elections are a thing of the past and the rule of law has collapsed. We’ll talk to the actors and the playwright about the connections they see between their “audio documentary from the future” and the current political climate. Guests: Edie Falco, actor, known for her roles on "The Sopranos" and "Nurse Jackie" Tony Shalhoub, actor, known for his roles on "Monk" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" Richard Dresser, playwright, screenwriter and novelist, His new radio play is "It Happened Here 2024"

Neuroscientist and musician Daniel Levitin says we can trace beliefs about music’s power to heal mind, body and spirit back 20,000 years, to the Upper Paleolithic era. But only recently have we had good science to explain how music affects us and how we can use it therapeutically. Not only to relax, uplift and bring us together, but as part of treatment of trauma, depression, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and more. Alexis Madrigal talked onstage with Levitin in collaboration with LitQuake, San Francisco’s literary festival, running through October 26th. We listen back on their conversation and to Levitin’s live musical performance. Guest: Daniel Levitin, neuroscientist, musician and author, "I Heard There Was a Secret Chord," "The Organized Mind," "The World in Six Songs" and "This is Your Brain on Music. He is also Dean of Social Sciences at the Minerva Schools in San Francisco.

It’s been nearly twenty years since 23andMe, the consumer health company was founded. Since then, other companies have emerged, and in exchange for a tube of spit, a puff of breath, or a drop of blood, consumers can now not only find their ancestry and long-lost relatives, but learn what to eat that day or discover food sensitivities and propensity for diseases. But are these tests effective and what are the pitfalls of using a company you found on Instagram to test whether you’re likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s or cancer? And when those companies cease to exist, as troubled 23andMe might, what happens to all that health data? It’s one thing to share your email address or mobile number, and an entirely different proposition to share your genome. We’ll talk to experts about the world of consumer DNA-testing and how to protect yourself and your genome. Guests: Kristen V. Brown, staff writer, Atlantic Magazine Hank Greely, law professor; founding director, Center for Law and the Biosciences, Stanford Univer

“Living Dummy.” “The Haunted Mask.” “Welcome to Dead House.” For ’90s kids, R.L. Stine, author of the “Goosebumps” series, is synonymous with spooky. The series has sold over 400 million copies globally in 35 languages, making it the second-best-selling book series in history (after a decidedly less scary boy wizard). And after being adapted for TV, film and a new Disney+ series, “Goosebumps” has found its audience among generations of kids looking for frights. We’ll talk about how to tell scary — but not too scary — stories for kids, and why we love horror at any age. Guests: R.L. Stine, author, wrote more than 350 books including the series “Goosebumps” and “Fear Street,” and of the nonfiction works “There's Something Strange About My Brain: Writing Horror For Kids” and “It Came From Ohio!: My Life As a Writer” Caroline Smith, producer, KQED Mark Nieto, producer, KQED Blanca Torres, producer and reporter, KQED

In the final weeks before election day, candidates are scrambling to win over groups of voters who could tip the results. American voters have shifted significantly in recent decades with changes in the racial and ethnic composition of the electorate and their education level. In California, more than 2 million Latinos and more than 750,000 people of Asian descent became eligible to vote between 2012 and 2022. Meanwhile, white voters declined by more than 1 million. In other parts of the country, there are now more voters with college degrees than without. Those shifts could have major implications for elections. We’ll talk about voter trends at the local, state and national level and what it could all mean. Guests: Mindy Romero, founder and director, Center for Inclusive Democracy Jason McDaniel, associate professor of political science, San Francisco State University Jocelyn Kiley, senior associate director of research, Pew Research Center

As the Greenland ice sheet melts, more freshwater is pouring into the oceans and that’s triggering feedback loops that could mean disastrous coastal sea level rise and drought. New Yorker staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert reported from the summit of the Greenland ice sheet for her new piece, “When the Arctic Melts.” “If we cross the tipping point for the Greenland ice sheet,” she writes, “we may not even notice. And yet the world as we know it will be gone.” Kolbert joins us. Guests: Elizabeth Kolbert, staff writer, The New Yorker

Native to California, coyotes are common in urban green spaces up and down the state. Once eradicated from San Francisco, they’ve made a comeback in the city, with sightings on the rise and reports of pet attacks, including an incident involving a 5-year-old child. We’ll talk about best practices to keep you and your pets safe and learn about the essential role coyotes play in California’s ecosystem. Have you had a recent encounter with a coyote? Guests: Tali Caspi, urban ecologist, PhD Candidate at UC Davis Christopher J Schell, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at UC Berkeley Christine Wilkinson, conservation scientist, carnivore ecologist, research associate at California Academy of Sciences - manages www.bayareacoyote. org

Measure J in Sonoma County wants to ban “factory farms” and force major poultry and dairy farms to downsize or shut down by limiting the number of animals a single farm can raise. The issue has been hotly contested in Sonoma, a major producer of milk, eggs, beef and poultry for the region and state. The measure specifically targets “concentrated animal feeding operations,” known as CAFOs, which backers claim are inhumane and detrimental to the environment. But opponents say the measure does nothing to improve animal welfare and would instead drive humane and ecologically-friendly farms out of business. We’ll talk about Measure J and how it could impact farming in Sonoma County and beyond. Guests: Mike Weber, farmer, Weber Family Farms - a poultry farm in Petaluma Cassie King, spokesperson, Direct Action Everywhere Bay Area - a group that advocates for animal rights and is part of the Coalition to End Factory Farming, the group that started Measure J in Sonoma Phil Barber, reporter, Santa Rosa Press Democrat

The Middle East crisis and Russia’s war in Ukraine are among the critical foreign policy issues the next U.S. president will have to confront on day one. The stakes are high, after hundreds of defense and national security officials from both parties in an open letter last month called Donald Trump “unfit” for office. We look at how a Harris administration would compare to a Trump administration on foreign policy. Guests: Jen Kirby, foreign and national security reporter Fred Kaplan, national security columnist, Slate; author, “The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War" and the novel "A Capital Calamity"

In the first mayoral recall vote in Oakland in more than a century, voters will decide in the November election whether mayor Sheng Thao should be removed from office. After two years as mayor, Thao is contending with a historic budget deficit, widespread public safety concerns, large homeless encampments and the loss of the city’s last major professional sports team. All this in the shadow of an FBI raid on her home earlier this year. Mayor Thao joins us to talk about her approach to the city’s challenges and why voters should let her finish out her term. Guests: Sheng Thao, mayor of Oakland

When ChatGPT launched advanced voice mode last month – inserting accents and ‘umms’, even taking breaths – some users called it surreal. Humans have been trying to make synthesized voices sound more natural for nearly a century. We talk about why and look at the history and evolution of synthesized voices, from robots of film like HAL and C3PO to digital assistants like Alexa. Guests: Kyle Orland, senior gaming editor, Ars Technica Sarah A Bell, associate professor of digital media, Michigan Technological University; author, “Vox ex Machina: A Cultural History of Talking Machines"

Parks are meant for everyone, but they don’t always feel that way. A lack of transportation, paths that are not easily navigated, or elements that are not responsive to a community’s wants or needs can make a park unwelcoming. But park planners today are trying to change that by bringing residents, neighbors, and stakeholders into the planning process. Case in point: San Francisco’s newest park India Basin, located in Bayview-Hunters Point. The park, which opens this Saturday, relied heavily on a community input process that resulted in designs responsive to the people it serves. We’ll talk to park experts about efforts to make urban landscapes more inclusive and rooted in the history of their communities. Guests: Philip Ginsburg, general manager, San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department Jacqueline Bryant, executive director, A. Randolph Institute San Francisco, nonprofit based in Bayview-Hunters Point, advocating for underserved communities Mr. Michael Boland, former chief park officer, The Presidio Tr

Thirty percent of all employees working in the professional services industries with an active PTO policy took sick leave in the first 10 months of 2023 — up 42% from 2019. That’s according to new research from the HR platform Gusto, which also found that workers aged 25 to 34 are the most likely of all groups to take sick days. We’ll look at why Gen Z and young millennials are less likely to work while under the weather and more likely to take mental health days – and whether older generations might have something to learn from them. Guests: Emily Stewart, senior correspondent, Business Insider Malissa Clark, associate professor of industrial-organizational psychology, University of Georgia Adam Leibow, editor, Calling in Sick Magazine

The economy is the top issue influencing voters’ choice for president in this election, according to a recent Gallup poll. But “the economy” can mean many things to voters. In his campaign, Donald Trump has promised to lower taxes, remove regulations and raise tariffs while Kamala Harris wants to make housing more affordable, increase the corporate tax rate, and regulate grocery prices. We’ll talk about how Americans are experiencing our economy and analyze the candidates’ economic policy proposals. Guests: Peter Coy, economics writer, opinion, The New York Times Kathryn Anne Edwards, a labor economist, independent policy consultant, and contributor, Bloomberg Opinion Casey Mulligan, economics professor, University of Chicago

Vice President Kamala Harris is in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin this week as part of a battleground state campaign blitz to turn out the vote and to marshal support from independent and undecided voters. KQED’s Marisa Lagos was embedded with the Harris campaign on a recent stop in Arizona. We talk to her and other political reporters about the strategies informing the candidates’ ground game as this consequential presidential race enters its final stretch. Guests: Marisa Lagos, correspondent, KQED - co-host of KQED's Political Breakdown Theodoric Meyer, national political reporter and co-author, Early Brief newsletter, Washington Post Mara Liasson, national political correspondent, NPR

The Oakland school district is looking for ways to fund lead contamination cleanup, after tests earlier this year revealed that at least 30 schools have dangerous lead levels in the drinking water. The district has been under fire from students, teachers and parents for taking months to release the results of its testing. We’ll talk about why Oakland, in the schools and beyond, has such high rates of lead poisoning, how the school district has handled it and what needs to be done to fix it. Guests: Alex Bledsoe, activist filmmaker producing OAKLEAD, a documentary about the history of lead poisoning in Oakland Kelly Hardy, senior managing director of health and research, Children Now, a California-based org focused on improving child well-being Mike Hutchinson, vice president, Oakland School Board

Starting next fall, public and private universities in California will no longer be allowed to consider an applicant’s relationship to alumni or donors in admissions decisions. Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill last month banning the practice, known as legacy admissions. “The California Dream shouldn’t be accessible to just a lucky few, which is why we’re opening the door to higher education wide enough for everyone, fairly,” Newsom said in a statement. We’ll examine what the California ban on legacy admissions could mean for students and for colleges across the country. Guests: Nanette Asimov , Higher Education Reporter, San Francisco Chronicle Jessie Ryan, President, The Campaign for College Opportunity, a non-profit policy and research organization that advocates for Californians to attend and succeed in college. Phil Ting, Assembly member representing California's 19th district encompassing parts of San Francisco and San Mateo counties Catharine Hill, managing director of the nonprofit Ithaka S+R and a