Kqeds Forum

Remember former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty in August to running a years-long tax evasion scheme? He’s set to testify in the tax fraud trial of the Trump Organization that begins in New York on Monday, the first time Trump’s businesses have faced criminal proceedings. That’s just one in an array of civil and criminal cases and investigations involving the former president and his associates and businesses. We’ll take stock of Trump’s legal liabilities and look at what we can expect next from prosecutors. Guests: Jennifer Taub, professor of law, Western New England School of Law; author, "Big Dirty Money: The Shocking Injustice and Unseen Cost of White Collar Crime." Luke Broadwater, congressional reporter, New York Times.

If you browse the self-help aisles or click on a TED Talk, you will rarely be given the advice that “it’s OK to be mediocre.” You’re more likely to be told how to achieve excellence, how to rise above the fray to distinguish yourself and how, if you get good enough at your hobby, you can make it a side hustle. But maybe it’s best if we embrace the joy of being average in our pursuits, and just do what we like even if we are not good at it. We’ll talk about the freedom of stinking at things, and finding pleasure in the process, rather than obsessing over the product and result. And we’ll hear from you: What’s something that you’re perfectly happy to be bad at? Guests: Rachel Feintzeig, columnist, Wall Street Journal - She wrote the article "Go Ahead. Let Yourself Be Bad at Something." Brigid Schulte, author, "Overwhelmed: How to Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time"; director, Better Life Lab at New America, a public policy nonprofit. Thea Monyee, licensed marriage and family therapist, Founder - Mar

Since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, removing Americans’ constitutional right to an abortion, a dozen states have enacted near-total bans on the procedure and more are expected to do so in the coming months. That’s causing many candidates in California and across the nation to emphasize their support for reproductive rights, and Pew Research Center polling shows the issue is important to a majority of voters across both parties. We’ll talk about the role abortion is playing in the midterms here and in key states, and we want to hear from you: Is abortion driving your vote? Guests: Joe Garofoli, senior political writer, San Francisco Chronicle; host, the podcast “It’s All Political on Fifth and Mission” Maya Prabhu, state government reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Lauren Rankin , writer, speaker, and activist; author, "Bodies on the Line: At the Front Lines of the Fight to Protect Abortion in America" Melanie Mason, national political correspondent, Los Angeles Times

Nearly 44% of Californians rent their homes, but the vast majority of state legislators don’t. In the state assembly, only three out of 80 members are solely renters: Matt Haney, D-San Francisco; Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles; and Alex Lee, D-San Jose. The lawmakers say the imbalance between assembly members who are renters and those who are homeowners leads to fewer laws that address tenant needs. We’ll talk to Haney, Lee and Bryan about a caucus they are launching in the state assembly to advocate for tenants’ rights amid California’s ongoing housing crisis. Guests: Matt Haney, member, California State Assembly - represents the eastern portion of San Francisco. Isaac Bryan, member, California State Assembly - he represents much of South Central Los Angeles. Alex Lee, member, California State Assembly - he represents Santa Clara, Milpitas, Fremont, Newark and a small portion of western San Jose. He is the youngest state Asian American, first openly bisexual, and first Gen Z legislator state legislator in Calif

On this November’s ballot, voters will decide on whether to legalize sports betting and whether to tax the rich to subsidize electric cars. Proposition 26 would legalize sports betting in Indian casinos and horse tracks and is opposed by gaming businesses. Proposition 27 would allow online betting and is generally opposed by gaming tribes. Together supporters and opponents of the two propositions have spent over $500 million on their campaigns, and polls predict that both will fail. Proposition 30 proposes a tax on personal income over two million dollars with 80% of the proceeds going to subsidize electric cars and charging stations and the remaining going to wildfire safety. We’ll talk about the three measures with our KQED Politics team and take your questions. Guests: Guy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk Kevin Stark, Reporter, KQED Science Maanvi Singh, West Coast reporter, Guardian

The pandemic shutdowns forced millions of small businesses across the country to close up shop or barely hang on. Journalist Gary Rivlin spent months following a group of small business owners struggling to survive the pandemic in his new book, “Saving Main Street: Small Business in the Time of COVID-19.” His book chronicles the personal and financial risks the owners had to take amid a contentious presidential election, confusing government aid programs and contradictory safety guidelines. Rivlin joins us to talk about how the pandemic forever changed how small businesses operate and how they are faring now. Guests: Gary Rivlin, Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and author, "Saving Main Street Small Business in the Tine of COVID-19"

On March 16, 2021, eight people were killed by a gunman in Atlanta, GA — the majority of whom were Asian women. The murders galvanized a political and social movement, according to Titi Yu, director of the new PBS documentary “Rising Against Asian Hate: One Day in March.” We’ll hear from family members of victims of anti-Asian violence about their attempts to bring justice to their loved ones, and the difficulties advocates and legislators face in attempting to prosecute acts of anti-Asian violence as hate crimes. Guests: Robert Peterson, son of Yong Ae Yue, who was killed in the Atlanta spa shootings on March 16, 2021 Titi Yu, director, "Rising Against Asian Hate" Monthanus Ratanapakdee, daughter of Vicha Ratanapakdee who was fatally assaulted in San Francisco on January 28, 2021 Charles Jung, executive director, California Asian Pacific American Bar Association (Cal-APABA)

San Jose voters will decide on several key races this election including selecting the mayor, several city council members and the county sheriff. In the mayoral race, county supervisor Cindy Chavez and city council member Matt Mahan are competing to lead the nation’s 10th largest city. At the county level, voters will select a replacement for Sheriff Laurie Smith, who is not running for reelection amid grand jury allegations of misconduct and an ongoing investigation into cases of abuse at county jails. As part of KQED’s politics team’s takeover of Forum this week, we’ll talk about the candidates and the issues dominating the races – including housing, homelessness and crime – and we’ll take your election questions. Guests: Garrick Percival, professor and department chair, Department of Political Science, San Jose State University Guy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk Alex Shoor, executive director and co-founder, Catalyze SV, a nonprofit focused on creating sus

The outcomes of a number of competitive races up and down the state could determine which party controls the House of Representatives come January. We’ll talk about the congressional races in California to keep an eye on, and we’ll break down the statewide races on your ballot, from governor to controller to attorney general. Guests: Scott Shafer, senior editor for KQED’s California Politics and Government desk and co-host of Political Breakdown Guy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk Seema Mehta, politics reporter, Los Angeles Times

Ballots have landed in mailboxes across California. Now comes the hard part: figuring out what all the ballot measures mean. Senior editor Scott Shafer and the rest of KQED’s politics team has youcovered. We’ll talk about the most interesting items on Bay Area ballots, including mayoral and DA races, a slew of local housing measures and a state proposition that taxes the rich to tackle climate change. We’re here to answer your ballot questions. Guests: Guy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk. Marisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED - Co-host of KQED's Political Breakdown show. Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, Reporter/Producer covering politics, KQED News.

As an 11-year old kid growing up in the L.A. suburbs, writer Jonathan Abrams managed to wheedle a Tupac Shakur cassette from a sympathetic Circuit City employee. When his mom discovered the tape with its parental advisory sticker, she made him return it, but that didn’t deter Abrams’ love for hip-hop. In his new oral history of hip-hop “The Come Up,” Abrams goes back to the genre’s roots and traces its iterations, innovations, and impact on not just music, but global culture. We’ll talk to Abrams and hear from you, who’s your go to hip-hop artist and what’s on your essential hip-hop playlist? Guests: Jonathan Abrams, "The Come Up: An Oral History of the Rise of Hip-Hop," Abrams is a staff writer for the New York Times and author of "All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of the Wire" and "Boys Among Men.

Cal Berkeley alum Sheng Wang never expected himself to pursue a career in comedy. But after twenty years as a comedian, practicing his material at San Francisco venues, his hour-long Netflix special “Sweet and Juicy” has propelled him into the spotlight. We’ll talk with Sheng about the road to his new found fame and we’ll check in with local comedians about the Bay Area comedy scene. Guests: Sheng Wang, comedian, writer and actor.

“Our lives would have been impossible without Ronald Reagan,” says Patty Rodriguez in the opening episode of the podcast series, Out of the Shadows: Children of 86. Rodriguez and co-host Erick Galindo created the series to explore the complicated legacy of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. The act, which provided amnesty and a path to legal status to millions of undocumented residents, came about because of an unlikely ally: then-President Reagan. We’ll talk about the history of the 1986 law, the millions of lives it changed and the families it brought out of the shadows. Guests: Erick Galindo, journalist, writer, podcast creator, television showrunner, producer and co-host, Out of the Shadows: Children of 86 podcast. Ana Raquel Minian Andjel, associate professor of History, Stanford University; author, "Undocumented Lives: The Untold Story of Mexican Migration."

During a raucous L.A. city council meeting yesterday, a crowd of demonstrators demanded the resignations of Nury Martinez, Kevin DeLeón, and Gil Cedillo, three council members who had been caught on tape making racist and derogatory comments about Blacks, Jews, Central Americans, and Armenians, among others. Amidst the shouting, the one moment of quiet came as council member Michael Bonin tearfully shared his outrage over racist remarks made by Martinez, the council’s Latina president, about Bonin's adopted Black son, who Martinez, using a racist slur, called a monkey in need of a “beatdown." Though Martinez resigned from her position as council president, none of the three members has offered to resign from the council. We’ll talk to political analysts about the fallout and the racial and political fault lines revealed by this scandal. Guests: Erika D. Smith, columnist, Los Angeles Times Saul Gonzalez, co-host, The California Report at KQED Gustavo Arellano, columnist, Los Angeles Times

San Francisco chef Anna Voloshyna’s new cookbook Budmo! is a celebration of Ukrainian food and a call to rescue the regional diversity of her home country’s cuisine from the cultural erasure of Soviet occupation. Voloshyna’s hometown in southern Ukraine is now on the front lines of the Russian retreat and she’s been hosting pop-ups and fundraisers for Ukraine relief. We’ll talk food-memories, recipes and about “Budmo!” a toast that means “let us be”. “Whenever I hear it, I know there will be delicious food, blazing drinks, and countless toasts,” she writes. “This word is fierce and vigorous—a perfect embodiment of Eastern European cuisine.” Forum talks with Voloshyna as part of All You Can Eat, our series on the food cultures of the Bay Area. Guests: Anna Voloshyna, chef, blogger, culinary instructor; author, Budmo!

More Californians are contributing their dollars and time to elections in states like Michigan and Arizona where the winning party will have control over reproductive rights, redistricting and potentially the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. We’ll talk to Russell Berman about what’s at stake in state races across the country, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case that could expand statehouse authority over federal elections. Berman’s recent piece for the Atlantic is “The Next Presidential Election Is Happening Right Now in the States.” Guests: Russell Berman, staff writer, The Atlantic Craig Mauger, state politics reporter, The Detroit News Mary Jo Pitzl, state policy, politics and elections reporter, The Arizona Republic

Two Bay Area scientists have won the 2022 Nobel Prize. Stanford’s Carolyn Bertozzi is one of just eight women to ever win the prize in chemistry (out of 189 total winners). The Nobel committee described her as “an inspiration for women and queer people in STEM.” John Clauser, now 79 years old, received the prize in physics for research he conducted 50 years ago on quantum entanglement - research that he says was considered irrelevant at the time, but has since provided the foundation for quantum computation and quantum communication. Bertozzi and Clauser join Forum to talk about their work and take your science questions. Guests: Dr. John Clauser, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in physics Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry; professor, Stanford University

After years of struggling and fighting for every role, actor Constance Wu had a popular TV show and a starring role in the hit movie “Crazy Rich Asians.” Then one day she sent out a tweet that nearly cratered her career. The backlash that ensued became the impetus for her new book “Making A Scene,” a collection of essays in which Wu reflects on the burden and responsibility of being a women of color in an industry run largely by men, her childhood as the daughter of immigrants who were not " tiger parents” and her journey as an artist. Wu joins us to talk about what it takes to make a scene and be heard. Guests: Constance Wu, Author, "Making a Scene." Wu has starred in the films "Crazy Rich Asians" and "Hustlers." She previously starred in the series "Fresh Off the Boat."

For thousands of years and hundreds of generations, the Ohlone people have lived on the land that is now known as the East Bay. They were forcibly removed from their land with the arrival of Europeans beginning in the 18th Century.  To begin to address the historic harms of the city’s founding, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and tribal Chairperson Corrina Gould started a conversation in 2018 that has grown into a partnership between the City of Oakland and the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust. With final city council approval in November, the trust will be given the rights to a section of Joaquin Miller park known as Sequoia Point, and Oakland will become the first city in California to use municipal property as reparations for land stolen from Native American territories. On this Indigenous Peoples day, we’ll talk to Corrina Gould and Mayor Schaaf about what this means for the Native community in the Bay and how it can serve as precedent for other cities.   Related articles: Rematriate the Land Fund - The Sogorea Te Land

In San Francisco, more than half of people experiencing homelessness are unsheltered. In contrast, just three percent of Boston’s unhoused people are living on the streets. With another winter coming on, what steps might California take? What can we learn from Massachusetts? Guests: Darrell Steinberg, Mayor, Sacramento Erin Baldassari, housing affordability reporter, KQED Lyndia Downie, president and executive director, Pine Street Inn - a homeless services provider in Boston, MA Jennifer Friedenbach, Executive Director, Coalition on Homelessness