Kqeds Forum

Connie Chung was the first Asian person to anchor a national network news program in the US and the first woman to co-anchor the CBS Evening News. For decades she covered major national stories from Watergate to the Oklahoma City bombing and interviewed presidents and foreign leaders. She also came up in newsrooms of the 1970s and 80s that were beset by rampant sexism. We talk to Chung about what she calls her “glorious highs and deep lows in the news business” and why, until recently, she struggled to believe she’d found success. Chung’s new memoir is “Connie.” Guests: Connie Chung, broadcast journalist; author, "Connie: A Memoir"

Born in Berkeley and the son of academics, Aaron Peskin was in the same elementary school class as Vice President Kamala Harris. But while Harris might be viewed as a moderate, Peskin proudly points to his progressive politics as a reason he should be the next mayor of San Francisco. A 30-year resident of Telegraph Hill, Peskin has been elected as a supervisor five times and currently serves as president of the Board. On the campaign trail, he highlights his detailed knowledge of how city government runs which he says makes him the best candidate for the job of mayor. As part of our series of interviews with the major candidates in San Francisco’s mayor race, we talk to Peskin about his campaign and his hopes for the city’s future. Guests: Aaron Peskin, president, San Francisco Board of Supervisors

More Americans – especially Gen-Z and millennials – say they value dining alone at restaurants, according to new data from Open Table. And research shows that doing solo activities is good for us – it recharges us and improves our creativity. With concern about loneliness and isolation on the rise, we talk about healthy alone-ness. What are some of your favorite activities to do alone? Guests: Rebecca Ratner, dean's professor of marketing, University of Maryland Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & Culture Thuy-Vy Nguyen, associate professor in psychology, Durham University; founder of the Solitude Lab; co-author of “Solitude: The Science and Power of Being Alone”

Most of us have been there: Frantically Googling health information late at night, worried about a mysterious ache or rash. But when does health anxiety cross the line and become a problem on its own? Journalist Caroline Crampton tackles that question in her book, “A Body Made of Glass,” which looks at the cultural history of hypochondria, from ancient Egypt to TikTok. She joins Forum to talk about her research and her own experience with chronic health anxiety after recovering from a rare form of cancer. Guests: Caroline Crampton, writer and podcaster, Her new book is "A Body Made of Glass: A Cultural History of Hypochondria."

Americans are snacking more than ever before, a recent report found 95 percent of American adults eat at least a snack a day. It wasn’t always that way. Atlantic writer Ellen Cushing writes that until recently, “There were no elaborate treats after soccer practice, or snack trays on strollers, or tubes of yogurt. Energy bars were for athletes, not accountants. National parks did not have vending machines.” Snacks have become so ubiquitous and easy that some have abandoned main, sit-down meals all together. We’ll talk to experts about the dominance of snacking and how these in between meals impact our health. And we want to hear from you, how much do you snack? Guests: Ellen Cushing, staff writer, The Atlantic; author of recent article "Snacks Took Over American Life" Maya Feller, registered dietitian nutritionist; author of "Eating from Our Roots: 80+ Healthy Home-Cooked Favorites from Cultures Around the World"; host of Slate's Well, Now Podcast

Inspectors general have been called the most powerful public officials you’ve never heard of. They work inside federal agencies, exposing corruption and ferreting out waste, fraud and abuse. But they’re also vulnerable to removal at the whim of the president. Glenn Fine was the inspector general of the Department of Justice in the Clinton, Bush and Obama Administrations. He was also the acting inspector general of the Department of Defense from 2016 until 2020, when he was replaced by former President Trump as part of a series of firings that the Washington Post called a “slow-motion Friday night massacre.” We talk to Fine about the role inspectors general play in holding the federal government to account and why he thinks they need more protection. Fine’s new book is “Watchdogs.” Guests: Glenn Fine, inspector general, Department of Justice (2000-2011); acting inspector general, Department of Defense (2016-2020) - author, "Inspectors General and the Battle for Honest and Accountable Government"

Mayor London Breed is a lifelong resident of San Francisco, and her tenure as mayor has tracked the boom/bust cycle of the city. When she came to office in 2018, the city was enjoying a robust economy. In 2020, the pandemic emptied out downtown and put San Francisco on shaky footing from which it is still recovering. In her run for re-election, Breed contends that with another term she can lead San Francisco back to firmer ground. In the first of our interviews with the five major candidates in the San Francisco mayor’s race, we talk to Breed about her record, her campaign, and her hopes for the city. Guests: London Breed, Mayor, City and County of San Francisco

Latino voters in the U.S. overwhelmingly support Democratic causes and candidates. But in recent years, polls show that Latinos have been shifting to the right — and some even to the far right. In her new book “Defectors,” journalist Paola Ramos reveals the “quiet radicalization of Latinos [that] is taking place across the nation in plain sight.” Ramos traveled the country to talk to a range of right-leaning Latinos, including white supremacists and border vigilantes. She joins us to talk about the book, the importance of not viewing any community as a monolith, and what her reporting portends for the future of American politics. Guests: Paola Ramos, journalist and author. Her new book is "Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America." She is a contributor for Telemundo News and MSNBC, where she is the host of “Field Report.”

The day many Bay Area baseball fans have dreaded for years is finally upon us: Thursday will be the final A’s game at the Oakland Coliseum. The team has had a historic 57-season run at the stadium leaving fans with decades of memories along with buckets of tears and rage. Next spring, they plan to play in a temporary home in Sacramento and eventually end up in Las Vegas. Team owners have talked about moving the A’s for nearly two decades and have disinvested in players and yet, many A’s fans stayed loyal. So, how are they feeling as the final goodbye looms? What will they miss most? Who will stick with the team after they move? We talk about the future of the A’s and what they have meant to Oakland and to you. Guests: Melissa Lockard, senior editor and staff writer, The Athletic; founder, the Oakland Clubhouse; a lifelong A's fan Pendarvis "Pen" Harshaw, columnist, KQED Arts & Culture Andy Dolich, sports consultant for the Oakland A's from 1980 to 1994; co-author, "Goodbye, Oakland: Winning, Wanderlust, and a

We take a deep dive into Proposition 36 on California’s November ballot. The measure would impose harsher penalties on some theft and drug possession offenses by rolling back Proposition 47, approved by voters in 2014. More than 70% of likely voters say they support Prop 36, according to a new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California. We’ll look at why and hear from both sides of the campaign. Guests: Darrell Steinberg, mayor, Sacramento Jeff Reisig, district attorney of Yolo County Marisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED; co-host of KQED's Political Breakdown

The 2020 elections brought in a wave of progressive politicians from mayors to district attorneys. But many of those leaders were subjected to recalls or even ousted from office. In a piece for the New York Times, columnist Nicholas Kristof, who recently ran for governor of Oregon, offered this rejoinder to critics of liberals running cities struggling with rising crime and homelessness: “[T]he problem isn’t with liberalism. It’s with West Coast liberalism.” According to Kristof, in governance, progressives were valuing intentions over outcomes. As San Francisco prepares to elect its next mayor, and as Oakland decides whether to recall theirs, we launch a new Forum series examining progressive politics in our region. To kick off this series, we talk to experts about the state of progressive politics and hear from you: How do you feel about progressivism? What has it done right? What has it done wrong? Guests: Alicia John-Baptiste, president and CEO, SPUR Jessica Trounstine, centennial chair and professor of p

Lots of movies are filmed in Los Angeles, but only a relative few give a leading role to the city itself. Yet a new series at Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive “considers a selection of films that foreground the history, architecture, and neighborhoods of Los Angeles.” The series includes mainstream picks like “Chinatown” and “La La Land”, but also under the radar gems like “Killer of Sheep,” a milestone in Black indie film, and the landmark Asian Pacific American feature “Hito Hata: Raise the Banner.” We’ll talk with film critics about those movies and more…and we want to hear from you…what’s your most essential LA movie? Guests: Elvis Mitchell, culture critic and historian; host of KCRW's The Treatment, an inside look at the creators of popular culture; director of the 2022 Netflix documentary "Is That Black Enough for You?!? Amy Nicholson, LA-based film critic; host of the podcast "Unspooled" May Hong HaDuong, director, UCLA Film & Television Archive; Film and Television Archive - which collaborated wit

On the surface, a ritual is simply an act that carries a special meaning. It can be as ordinary as saying a blessing before a meal or as elaborate as a three-day Indian wedding. Underneath the surface, rituals can be very powerful and add deep meaning to our lives. They may or may not be rooted in spirituality, but they have to be special. But our increasingly secular modern world is full of distractions that often pull people away from traditions and rites. We’ll talk about how rituals add meaning to our lives, how to practice them and we’ll hear from you, what are the rituals you have stuck with? Guests: Dr. Vanessa Calderón, physician, professional coach and resiliency expert. She also hosts "The Empowered Brain" podcast Ezra Bookman, a ritual designer, artist; facilitator and founder of Ritualist, a creative studio specializing in secular rituals

More Americans in 2024 are taking on a ‘no-buy challenge,’ according to the Associated Press. They’re pledging for at least a year to purchase only essential items to curb impulse spending, reduce credit card debt or become more environmentally conscious. We hear from someone who’s taken on the challenge and the impact it’s had on her, and we explore why we’re tempted to overspend in the first place. Have you attempted a ‘no buy challenge?’ Guests: Adriana Morga, reporter covering financial literacy and personal finance, Associated Press Aparna Labroo, professor of marketing and consumer psychologist, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University; co-editor of the Journal of Consumer Psychology Elysia Berman, creative director and content creator, @elysiaberman on TikTok

California’s public schools will be required to restrict cell phone use on campuses by 2026, under a bill awaiting Governor Newsom’s signature. Many Bay Area schools have already banned, or limited, the use of phones during the school day. We’ll check in with teachers, administrators and students about what’s working, what’s not and whether limiting phones has helped kids concentrate in class. Guests: Diego Ochoa, superintendent, San Mateo-Foster City School District Maximus Simmons, junior at Oakland High School and a student director on the Oakland Unified School Board, Oakland High School Hasmig Minassian, 9th grade ethnic studies teacher, Berkeley High School Nico Fischer, junior, Santa Clara High School Yvonne Shiu, principal, San Mateo High School

Thanks to cooler weather, firefighters are making progress this week on three major Southern California wildfires. But the Airport, Line and Bridge fires have already burned through more than 100,000 acres, destroyed dozens of homes, and forced thousands to evacuate. And experts say California’s fire season could get worse before it gets better. We’ll get updates on the fires and hear about the latest research on the health effects of wildfire smoke, and what you can do to protect yourself. Guests: Madison Aument, reporter, KVCR Nick Shuler, Deputy Director, CALFIRE Amy MacPherson, Information Officer, California Air Resources Board Joan Casey, Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington

After California made it illegal for pet stores to sell puppies in 2019, a vast underground market developed supplied by breeders in the Midwest that ship truckloads of puppies here. A new Los Angeles Times investigation found that often those puppies had been born in mass breeding facilities where they were neglected and not given adequate medical care. Families, who paid thousands of dollars for pets they were told were bred locally, often ended up with sick animals. Over the course of 14 months, the Times investigated how these unscrupulous puppy supply chains operate, the lack of protections for dogs, and why abusive breeders and brokers face few consequences. We’ll talk with the reporters about their investigation and how you can avoid getting duped by unscrupulous sellers. Guests: Melody Gutierrez, investigative reporter, Los Angeles Times Alene Tchekmedyian, investigative reporter, Los Angeles Times Melanie Sadek, president, Valley Humane Society

A tight race is on for control of the House of Representatives this fall, and California voters could play a pivotal role in the outcome. Republicans are seeking to defend seats in highly competitive races in the Central Valley and the Inland Empire while Democrats are focusing on protecting the seat held by Representative Katie Porter in Orange County. We preview the congressional races and hear what contests you’re keeping an eye on. Guests: Scott Shafer, senior editor, KQED’s California Politics and Government; co-host, Political Breakdown Catie Edmondson, congressional correspondent, The New York Times Laura J Nelson, staff writer covering politics and campaign finances, LA Times

Marine biologist and climate activist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, like the rest of us, has heard plenty of terrifying warnings about the dangers of failing to act on climate change. What she’s heard less is a question she says is not asked enough about our climate crisis: What if we get it right? That question is the title of her new book of interviews with innovators in the climate movement about what the world could be “if we charge ahead with the array of climate solutions we have at our fingertips.” We talk with Johnson about that future world and how we can get there. Guests: Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, marine biologist, co-founder of think tank Urban Ocean Lab, author, What if we Get it Right? Visions of Climate Futures - co creator of the Blue New Deal, a road map for including the ocean in climate policy

Do you have a TV show you hate-watch? As streaming platforms and their algorithms collect more data on the types of shows we like to watch, they feed us shows that are so close to something we’ve loved in the past, but something about them is off. What starts as an earnest TV show tune-in becomes a show you can’t stop complaining about at happy hour. As New York Times film critic Alissa Wilkinson writes, “you can only hate-watch a show that you theoretically should have loved.” We’ll talk with Wilkinson about how a hate-watch is different from a guilty pleasure, why we participate in this weird cultural phenomenon, and we hear from you: What are you hate-watching? Guests: Alissa Wilkinson, movie critic, New York Times