KQED's Forum

Distinguishing facts from unreliable or false information online is difficult for many of us. And the confusion affects all age groups, political parties and demographics, according to Stanford Professor Sam Wineburg, who writes that “if the internet is the information superhighway, then none of us were given driver’s ed manuals.” Wineburg’s new book, co-authored by Mike Caulfield, plans to fill that gap. It’s called “Verified: How To Think Straight, Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions About What To Believe Online.” We talk to Wineburg about how to spot misinformation, identify untrustworthy sources and become a more savvy internet user. Guests: Sam Wineburg, professor of education, Stanford University; author, "Verified: How To Think Straight, Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions About What To Believe Online" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former president Trump has been saying very inflammatory things in public speeches and posts lately. He’s advocated violence, praised autocratic leaders and called his political opponents “vermin” that need to be “rooted out”. We’ll analyze Trump’s recent campaign rhetoric and discuss how the press and social media platforms are handling it all. We talk with experts about what we have learned from past mistakes in covering Trump and rooting out fake news, and how we can do better. Guests: Lyna Bentahar, reporter, New York Times; co-author, article "Donald Trump’s 2024 Campaign, in His Own Menacing Words" Ian Prasad Philbrick, reporter, New York Times; co-author, article "Donald Trump’s 2024 Campaign, in His Own Menacing Words" Emily Dreyfuss, director, Shorenstein Center News Lab; co-author, "Meme Wars: the Untold Stories of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When was the last time you spent a weekend listening to a piece of music for hours on end? For gamers, that’s not an uncommon practice. Along with story, graphics, and gameplay, the music plays a vital role in the gaming experience, helping to immerse the player and provide clues on where the action is headed. But despite the sophistication of video game scores, their composers have not been appreciated within our traditional classical music institutions. Jennifer Miller Hammel, a classically trained vocalist and pianist, grew up playing video games and she’s set out to correct that by curating “Arcade,” a new streaming channel on Classical California devoted to video game music. We’ll play some of her favorite pieces and hear why there’s a new generation of classical music fans to be found among gamers. Guests: Jennifer Miller Hammel, program host, Classical California, KUSC Morning Show, The Opera Show, and Arcade Inon Zur, composer. Zur's scores include Starfield, Fallout, Dragon Age, and Syberia video game series. Website URL: www.inonzur.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Concord has joined a growing list of Bay Area cities testing guaranteed income programs. The East Bay city’s model will provide 120 families with $500 a month for a year. More than 20 similar pilot programs have sprung up in the Bay Area in the last few years after more state and local officials allocated money to fund them. That has made California a hotbed for guaranteed income experiments. Advocates say that “no-strings attached” funding puts participants on a path to financial security because they often use the money to cover basic necessities, pay off debt, and build up savings. We’ll talk about the latest guaranteed income programs, what we’ve learned from the pilots, and how state support is changing local experiments. Guests: Natalie Foster, president and co-founder, Economic Security Project; senior fellow, The Aspen Institute Future of Work Initiative Jessica Travenia, director, Richmond Rapid Response Fund. They are preparing to launch the Contra Costa chapter of the Abundant Birth Project, a guaranteed income pilot for pregnant moms. Julia Quintero, ELEVATE Concord project manager, Monument Impact. They are a nonprofit organization that is administering a guaranteed income program in Concord Amy Castro, associate professor of the School of Social Policy and Practice & co-founder and faculty director of the Center for Guaranteed Income Research, University of Pennsylvania Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, died on Friday. She was 93. A Ronald Reagan appointee who retired from the high court in 2006, O’Connor was known as a swing vote in contentious cases on abortion, religious liberty and affirmative action. She once wrote, “Rare indeed is the legal victory — in court or legislature — that is not a careful byproduct of an emerging social consensus.” We’ll talk about her influence and legacy. Guests: Melissa Murray, professor of law, NYU School of Law; co-host, the Strict Scrutiny podcast Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor and legal correspondent, Slate; host, Amicus podcast; author, "Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America". Website URL: http://www.slate.com/authors.dahlia_lithwick.html Cristina Rodriguez, professor of law, Yale Law School; former clerk for Justice O'Connor during the Supreme Court's 2002 term Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Fei-Fei Li is a literal visionary. Her groundbreaking work on ImageNet, a vast visual recognition database, helped propel artificial intelligence at a critical moment. As one of the key innovators and thinkers in AI, Li has argued for a human-centered artificial intelligence that augments people’s capabilities instead of displacing them. We talk to Li about her work, her vision for AI and her new memoir, The Worlds I See, in which she recounts her journey as a scientist and immigrant, and how those two roles inform each other. Guests: Fei-Fei Li, professor of Computer Science Department, Stanford University; author, "The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It might be the most unusual event of this campaign season: California Governor Gavin Newsom is set to face off Thursday night against Governor – and GOP presidential candidate – Ron DeSantis of Florida in a Fox News-sponsored debate. What will this clash of two rising political stars from two of the nation’s most populous states reveal about issues like abortion, immigration, homelessness and our political moment? We’ll bring you a recap and analysis of the debate, which is being held in Georgia and moderated by Fox host Sean Hannity. Guests: Melanie Mason, senior political correspondent covering California politics, Politico Joe Garofoli, senior political writer, San Francisco Chronicle Taryn Luna, staff writer covering California politics, LA Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this month, the FBI indicted a major local real estate developer for bribing three San Francisco officials to obtain permits and expedite inspections. This episode is just the latest in a series of corruption scandals that began in 2020 and brought down officials in the Department of Power and Water, the Department of Building Inspection, and the city’s public utilities commission, among others. Is there something systemic or cultural that leaves San Francisco more vulnerable to corruption by public officials? We talk to experts and hear from you. Guests: Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, reporter/producer covering politics, KQED News Jason McDaniel, associate professor of political science, San Francisco State University. He teaches urban politics and campaigns and elections. JoAnne Speers, principal, S2 Ethics Strategies. Speers is the former chief executive of the Institute for Local Government and former general counsel of League of California Cities Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beneath the surface of a coffee bean or a red pepper flake or a nutmeg seed — or any of the plants we rely on for medicine, food and drink — lie a “bevy of poisons,” writes UC Berkeley evolutionary biologist Noah Whiteman. But the chemical compounds that treat our infections, spice up our meals and calm our nerves didn’t evolve for our benefit. Instead, plants, fungi and even some small animals produce toxins to defend themselves against predators, attract pollinators and engage in battles of chemical warfare. We’ll talk about the biology and influence of “nature’s pharmacopeia” with Whiteman, whose new book is “Most Delicious Poison: The Story of Nature’s Toxins — From Spices to Vices.” Guests: Noah Whiteman, professor of Integrative Biology and Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley; director, Essig Museum of Entomology; author, “Most Delicious Poison: The Story of Nature's Toxins — from Spices to Vices” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the last several years, a cult industrial complex has emerged to capitalize on Americans’ fascination with groups such as Jonestown, the Manson Family, the Branch Davidians, and the Rajneeshpuram community in Wasco County, Ore., argues UC Berkeley professor Poulomi Saha. But in her highly sought-after class called Cults in Popular Culture, they emphasize that it’s important to look beyond the sensational examples and recognize how cult-like behavior shows up in many facets of our lives and society. We’ll talk with Saha about why some groups are labeled as cults, why people are drawn to them, and what cults reveal about spirituality and culture in America. Guests: Poulomi Saha, associate professor of English and co-director of the Program in Critical Theory, UC Berkeley. Saha teaches a course called Cults in Popular Culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California’s stray animals face a slew of challenges that might sound familiar to human residents of the state: a lack of affordable housing, prohibitive health care costs, and a shortage of service providers. Animal shelters that emptied during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic have since refilled, and placing those animals in homes can be a struggle. We speak with a veterinarian and two shelter administrators about how they’re adapting to the volume of animals – and people – in need of their services, and how community supporters can help. We’ll also hear from a journalist covering animal welfare at the national level, and from you: Have you tried to adopt, or rehome, a pet? What was your experience? Guests: Ann Dunn, director, Oakland Animal Services Cynthia Karsten, director of outreach and shelter medicine, University of California-Davis Kenny Torrella, staff writer, Vox Sarah Aguilar, director, Santa Barbara County Animal Services Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thirty years ago, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shook hands on the White House lawn and pledged to work together for peace. At that historic meeting, they signed what became known as the first Oslo Accord, ushering in an era of renewed optimism that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be resolved. Was its failure inevitable? Amid the tragedy of the current Israel-Hamas war, The New York Times magazine recently assembled a panel of experts — three Palestinian, three Israeli and one American – to discuss the Oslo peace process and why it broke down. Two of the participants in that discussion and journalist Emily Bazelon, who moderated it, join us to look back at what happened before and after the handshake and what it can tell us about the possibilities for negotiating peace. Guests: Emily Bazelon, staff writer, The New York Times Magazine; author, "Was Peace Ever Possible?" in the New York Times; co-host, Slate's political gabfest Efraim Inbar, professor of political studies, Bar-Ilan University; president, Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security Omar Dajani, former senior legal advisor, Palestine Liberation Organization's Negotiations Support Unit; professor of law, University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Proposition 8 passed 15 years ago this month, banning same-gender marriage in California. Two couples — one lesbian, one gay — sued to overturn the proposition and succeeded, with gay marriage made legal in California in 2013. The trial was videotaped, but those tapes didn’t become public until last year. That inspired KQED reporters Scott Shafer and Carlos Cabrera-Lomeli to invite those two couples to watch their testimony and reflect on how much LGBTQ rights have changed — and how far we’ve yet to go. We’ll talk with them and with plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, and we’ll hear from you: What do you remember from Prop 8? Related link(s): Inside the Trial That Overturned California’s Same-Sex Marriage Ban | KQED Guests: Carlos Cabrera-Lomeli, community engagement reporter, KQED Scott Shafer, senior editor, KQED’s California Politics and Government desk; co-host, Political Breakdown Kristin (Kris) Perry, plaintiff, Perry vs. Schwarzenegger Sandy Stier, plaintiff, Perry vs. Schwarzenegger Vaughn Walker, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from 1989 to 2011; presided over Perry v. Schwarzenegger Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With $1.6 billion in assets, the San Francisco Foundation is one of the largest community foundations in the country. The organization is now in its 75th year of using philanthropy to try to improve the lives of residents across the Bay Area by funding nonprofit programs, pushing for policy change, and training leaders. Some of the foundation’s efforts include helping hotel workers win fair wages and benefits, advocating for mixed-income public housing in San Francisco to prevent displacement, and implementing a volunteer-based policing program in Oakland’s Chinatown to combat anti-Asian hate crimes. We talk with the foundation’s CEO Fred Blackwell about their biggest successes, challenges, and goals as well as the changing role of philanthropy in a time of vast economic inequality. Guests: Fred Blackwell, CEO, San Francisco Foundation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Oxford mathematician Marcus du Sautoy loves games. He’s spent much of his career popularizing math — and for him, games are a way to “play mathematics.” But playing math might not be the first reason your nephew gives when you ask him why he loves video games, or your friend when she describes her undying love for “Risk”. There are elements of social psychology, from competition to collaboration, that also draw us toward getting the “Scrabble” board out of the closet and onto the dining room table. For many of us, games not only inform our identities — they build our sense of selves and community. “Tell me the game you play and I will tell you who you are,” writes du Sautoy in his new book, “Around the World in 80 Games”— and we want to hear from you: What’s your game? Du Sautoy joins us to hear your answers, as well as share the history and power our favorite games hold over us. Guests: Marcus du Sautoy, Simonyi professor for the public understanding of science and professor of mathematics, the University of Oxford Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The New York Times has called Rick Prelinger “one of the great, undersung historians of 20th century cinema.” But the Bay Area-based archivist isn’t known for books on Chaplin or Bergman. Instead, Rick and partner Megan Prelinger collect the film history of everyday life: home movies, industrial films, studio outtakes and other works that would otherwise be lost or forgotten. The duo may be best known for the free movies they make available through the Internet Archive digital library. And locally, they’ve gained a following for their “Lost Landscapes” film project, a compilation of historic Bay Area footage from their archives. We’ll talk to Rick and Megan about the 18th and latest installment of “Lost Landscapes”, entitled “City and Bay in Motion: Transportation and Communication.” Guests: Rick Prelinger, founder, Prelinger Archives, whose moving image holdings may be found online at archive.org; co-founder, Prelinger Library, a publicly-available collection of historical periodicals, books, print ephemera, maps and government documents Megan Prelinger, co-founder, Prelinger Library; co-director, Prelinger Archives film digitization project. Prelinger is also the author of the books Another Science Fiction: Advertising the Space Race 1957–1962 and Inside the Machine: Art and Invention in the Electronic Age Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Americans are doing a lot more of their shopping online, and thanks to generous return policies we’re also sending back more of the stuff that doesn’t fit, doesn’t work or just doesn’t look like its JPG. Many of us even regularly buy clothes in multiple sizes and colors and simply send back anything that we don’t like the look of. But very little of what we return, from bathing suits to defective barbeque grills, is repaired or resold as new. Returned inventory created 9.5 billion pounds of landfill waste last year, according to one estimate. And the shipping of returned inventory in the US, to retailers, resellers and repairers, emitted over 24 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2022. We’ll talk about the logistics of the reverse supply chain and the environmental consequences of all the stuff we buy and don’t want. Guests: Amanda Mull, staff writer, The Atlantic. She writes the column “Material World” on American consumerism Tobin Moore, co-founder and principal, Optoro, a returns technology company Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do you notice out the window from your seat on BART, or Muni, or the Golden Gate Ferry? When you ride public transit, you’re free to look around, and looking around can tell you a lot about where you live. We talk about the breathtaking vistas and hidden histories revealed to us through the windows of public transit and how what we see – or don’t see – shapes our connection to the Bay Area. Guests: Vincent Woo, filmmaker. Woo is the creator and director of "Tunnel Vision: An Unauthorized BART Ride" Liam O'Donoghue, host and producer, East Bay Yesterday Mey Lee, co-curator, Muni Raised Me exhibit - at SOMA Arts earlier this year. Sarah Katz-Hyman, editor, Muni Diaries Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brown v Board of Education, the landmark civil rights decision banning racial segregation in public schools, was supposed to give Black children greater educational opportunities. But instead, according to Columbia Teachers College professor Bettina Love, it marked the beginning of an anti-Black educational agenda, characterized by low academic expectations, excessive suspensions, surveillance and physical violence. Love grew up in the 1980s and 90s, a period when the Reagan and Bush administrations pushed ideas of “school accountability” and “school safety” that she says were used to justify punishment of Black children and that have harmed a generation. We talk to Love about her and her peers’ experiences in school as “eighties babies” and why she thinks reparations are essential to repair public education. Guests: Bettina Love, professor at Teachers College, Columbia University; author, "Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2017 students at Albany High School in the East Bay became aware of a private instagram account created by a student, and followed by just over a dozen more, containing viciously racist posts about fellow classmates. The disputes about why it happened, how to hold the creator and the followers accountable, and what to do about the anger, shame and fear caused by the posts tore through the school and the town. “Whatever you believed about Albany, about America, about teenagers, racism, sexism, social media, punishment and the public discourse on each of these topics, the story of the Instagram account could be marshaled as evidence. It was the incident that explained everything and yet also the incident that couldn’t be explained,” writes Dashka Slater. We talk to her about her five years of reporting on the story and her book, “Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed”. Guests: Dashka Slater, author, "Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed." - Her previous books include "The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whether you’re a seasoned chef or first-time cook preparing a casual dinner with friends, Thanksgiving can be a stressful time in the kitchen. Many of us are frantically checking the internet for recipes, tips, and fresh ideas on what to eat on Thursday. New York Times Cooking is aware of the stakes — they know their recipes will end up on dinner tables across the country in a few days and have been preparing for this moment since last spring. Not limited to just recipe offerings, their deep-dive videos on green beans, stuffing, and turkey also help us understand why these dishes have become mainstays over the years. They join us to give tips on how to prepare the ultimate feast and answer your last-minute questions. Guests: Eric Kim, chef and food columnist, New York Times Cooking and Food; author of cookbook, "Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home." Website URL: https://erickim.net/ Emily Weinstein, editor in chief, New York Times Cooking and Food. She also writes the popular New York Times newsletter "Five Weeknight Dishes." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco is a city of survivors. For all the talk of doom loops, the city has reinvented itself many times, and if it had an architectural mascot, it would be Ferry Building, argues San Francisco Chronicle urban design critic John King. In his new book “Portal,” King tells the story of the building that once saw 50 million ferry travelers annually and now serves as a popular destination for the food-obsessed and folks who want to take in the spectacular view. We talk to King about his book and how good urban design can revitalize a city. Guests: John King, author, "Portal: San Francisco's Ferry Building and the Revinvention of American Cities"; urban design critic, San Francisco Chronicle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People of all genders have rimmed their eyes with pigment for thousands of years. But as Zahra Hankir explains in her new book on the history of eyeliner, its use goes far beyond aesthetics. Eyeliner has also served as a vehicle for identity, self-expression, empowerment and protest. Bedouin men in the deserts of Arabia have worn it to repel the sun – and attract potential mates. Egyptian Queen Nefertiti’s celebrated beauty centered on her perfectly winged lines. In modern-day Iran, women wear eyeliner as a form of resistance against an oppressive regime. Hankir joins us to discuss “Eyeliner: A Cultural History.” Guests: Zahra Hankir, author, "Eyeliner: A Cultural History," and "Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World" - Hankir is a Lebanese-British journalist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The astronomical price of housing is the root source of so many of the Bay Area’s most pressing problems and bitter battles. A problem so big begs for big ideas. In this show we explore a couple of novel approaches to spur the creation of affordable housing by fundamentally changing the way we think of land and property ownership. We’ll talk about the new popularity of an old idea – taxing the value of land instead of the property on it – and about the growing community land trust movement. Guests: Noni Session, co-founder and executive director, East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative Lars Doucet, author, "Land Is a Big Deal: Why Rent Is Too High, Wages Too Low, and What We Can Do about It" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Explore your inner Goth with Mina's interview with co-founder of The Cure Lol Tolhurst and dive into the Hyphy movement with Pendarvis Harshaw, host of KQED's podcast series Rightnowish Presents: Hyphy Kids Got Trauma. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, Ohio voters approved Issue 1, a ballot measure to amend the state constitution to protect abortion access. The vote was the latest in a string of state-level victories for abortion rights supporters since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. But in many states, women are now living with bans and restrictions that make abortions much harder to get since the Dobbs decision. We’ll look at what the Ohio outcome could mean for the future of abortion rights around the country, and how the issue is playing out in the 2024 presidential election. Guests: Michele Goodwin, professor of constitutional law and global health policy, Georgetown Law. Her books include "Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood" Rebecca Traister, writer-at-large for New York magazine and The Cut. Her cover story “Abortion Wins Elections” appeared in the March 2023 edition of New York magazine. Her books include, Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the late 1980s, there were more than 200 lesbian bars in the U.S. Today, only a few dozen are still operating. In San Francisco, lesbians, queer women and nonbinary people are still mourning the Lexington Club — and some can remember a time when nearly every neighborhood in the city had a lesbian bar of its own. But can the decline of these places simply be chalked up to rising rents, dating apps and the LGBTQ+ community’s embrace of queer — rather than specifically lesbian — spaces? We’ll hear from three lesbian bar aficionados about what the Bay Area’s lesbian spaces, from the historic Wild Side West to the newest bar, Mother, mean to them. And we’ll hear how the history of lesbian bars and the challenges they’ve faced in trying to keep their doors open can inform their future. Guests: Alex U. Inn, Bay Area drag king; creator of the dance party Unleash! for women over 40; co-founder of the Pride Parade counterpoint known as the People’s March Carol Hill, executive director, San Francisco Beacon Initiative; “stewards” El Rio’s queer party Mango once a month Krista Burton, author, "MOBY DYKE: An Obsessive Quest to Track Down the Last Remaining Lesbian Bars in America”; creator of the popular blog Effing Dykes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Roman emperors have long provided a template for autocrats and a warning for politicians, according to acclaimed historian Mary Beard. But not all emperors were cruel, bloodthirsty and decadent. Beard’s new book “Emperor of Rome” looks at the daily practicalities of their lives, as they managed budgets and troop deployments, headed public banquets and responded to petitions from their subjects. It also examines the ordinary Romans who made the imperial system function, including soldiers, aristocrats and the enslaved. We talk to Beard about what life was like in the corridors of power of ancient Rome and take your questions. Guests: Mary Beard, classicist; scholar of Ancient Rome; author, "Emperor of Rome" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The latest season of KQED’s podcast Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America examines how Californians are grappling with the concept of home as climate change disrupts where and how people live. Extreme weather causing wildfires and flooding has already forced thousands of people from their homes. Obtaining insurance for a home has become a herculean feat for some owners. Even seemingly simple decisions about what appliances to buy for your home can drastically alter your carbon footprint, but options are not always easy or affordable. For our next episode of Climate Fix, Forum’s regular collaboration with KQED’s Science team, we’ll explore the intersection of climate and housing along with our colleagues from KQED’s housing team. Guests: Ezra David Romero, climate reporter, KQED Erin Baldassari, housing affordability reporter, KQED Danielle Venton, science reporter, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the NCAA’s decision to allow student athletes to participate in name, image and likeness deals, wealthy alumni across the country have been starting donor collectives to attract players. Many of these collectives were founded as non-profit organizations, allowing donors to claim tax write-offs, while the money gets passed on to the players. But recently, the IRS has called into question the collectives’ legality. We speak with NY Times reporter David Fahrenthold, who looked into how various collectives operate across the country and what the NCAA and IRS are doing to crack down on them. Guests: David Fahrenthold, investigative reporter, New York Times. Fahrenthold is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter that focuses on non-profits. His most recent New York Times piece with Billy Witz is titled "How Rich Donors and Loose Rules Are Transforming College Sports" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Merchant is the technology columnist for the L.A. Times. He’s also a self-professed Luddite. In his new book “Blood in the Machine” Merchant explains that Luddites, most known for destroying machinery in the 19th century, didn’t hate technology. Rather, they railed against the Big Tech elites of the day whose automated machines threatened to erase livelihoods and the government that was deaf to the workers’ concerns. Merchant says there are lessons to be learned from the Luddites, who asked to be part of the technological revolution, instead of being replaced by it. We talk to him about his book. Guests: Brian Merchant, author, "Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion against Big Tech"; technology columnist, the Los Angeles Times. He is also the author of "The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The longest strike by TV and film actors against studios in history concluded Thursday when SAG-AFTRA leadership agreed to a new contract with major studios. The deal, which will go into effect once union members approve it, includes higher wages, better streaming residuals and safeguards for AI. As actors go back to work and studios scramble to finish the season’s productions, we’ll talk about what actors won – and failed to attain. And we’ll hear how the strike impacted the people in the film industry, from studio executives to craft services vendors to actors themselves. Guests: Eric Haywood, writer, producer and director. His TV shows include "Empire" and "Law & Order: Organized Crime" Eric Goins, negotiating committee member and Atlanta local president, SAG-AFTRA Chris Candy, actor; member, SAG-AFTRA based in LA Marsalis Burton, actor and musician based in LA Wendy Lee, entertainment business reporter, LA Times. Lee covers streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two of the biggest songs to come out of the Bay Area’s hip hop scene – Too Short’s “Blow The Whistle” and E-40’s “Tell Me When To Go” – dropped in 2006. That year turned out to be a pivotal one as hyphy captured audiences nationwide with its uptempo beats, flashy fashion and distinctive dance styles. But in its place of origin, the Bay Area, people were dealing with the turmoil of displacement, economic uncertainty and friends dying in the streets. KQED’s Pendarvis Harshaw joins us to talk about the context, complexities and contradictions of the music and the era that he explored through a new Rightnowish podcast series called Hyphy Kids Got Trauma. Guests: Rich Iyala, Bay Area musician who coined the phrase, "Hyphy Kids Got Trauma" D-Ray, Oakland-based hip hop photographer Pendarvis "Pen" Harshaw, columnist, KQED Arts; host, KQED's "Rightnowish" podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California’s Employment Development Department paid out up to $30 billion in fraudulent claims during the Covid pandemic. Meanwhile, some six million Californians with legitimate claims saw their unemployment benefits delayed or improperly denied. That’s according to a new investigation by CalMatters, which found that state agencies and lawmakers were aware of red flags and security holes for years, but chose not to address them. As the fraud’s total cost – and its human toll – continue to be tallied, government agencies and private contractors point fingers at each other. We look at what caused the unprecedented failure of California’s unemployment system and how the state is proposing to fix it. Related link(s): myEDD – EDD’s new online system Bank of America’s EDD Debit Card site Find and contact your state representative Legal Aid at Work Center for Workers’ Rights State Bar of California Guests: Lauren Hepler, investigative reporter, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Starting on November 11, leaders from around the Pacific Rim descend on San Francisco for APEC, and one of the most anticipated meetings is a conversation between President Biden and China’s leader, Xi Jinping. On the heels of recent economic and diplomatic tensions, analysts believe this could be a chance to stabilize relations between two of the world’s economic superpowers. With important elections in Taiwan and the U.S. on the horizon and global conflicts in need of addressing, the agenda could cover topics from tariffs to the fentanyl crisis. We’ll talk with experts about what’s on the table for discussion. Guests: Victor Shih, director, U.C. San Diego's 21st Century China Center Colleen Cottle, deputy director, Atlantic Council's Global China Hub Evan Osnos, staff writer for The New Yorker Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The week's most compelling interviews in 30 minutes or less! Get a historical perspective on the news with history professor and author of "Democracy Awakening," Heather Cox Richardson, then dive into a range of criminal justice issues with California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many of us are familiar with the biases baked into modern technology, but these are heightened with AI, warns Dr. Joy Buolamwini, who has been called the “conscience of the A-I revolution.” A computer scientist and digital activist who holds a PhD from MIT, Dr. Buolamwini exposed how facial recognition technology failed to recognize darker skin color across a range of commonly used apps. We talk to Dr. Buolamwini about her new book “Unmasking AI,” which chronicles her efforts to bring humanity back to technology and her fight for “algorithmic justice.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lowriders defy convention: they lean, they hop, they bounce. Their paint jobs are works of art, sometimes with museum-worthy images or a melding of colors that gleam with a lustrous sheen. Lowriding, the drivers will tell you, is not just about the car, it’s about convening with the community and celebrating art and culture. But for decades, restrictive bans in California prohibited where lowriders could cruise. Last month, activists succeeded in pushing lawmakers to lift the state’s ban, which they said discriminated against and targeted Latino and Black communities. Despite the bans, lowrider culture flourished in California and devotees can now be found across the globe, from Japan to Argentina. We’ll talk with lowriders about what the change in the law means and what riding low and slow means to them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You might know The Cure’s song “A Strange Day,” defined by its spooky guitar licks, eerie drone loops and funeral march drum beats. But Lol Tolhurst, the band’s co-founder, former drummer and keyboardist, says the song is not all doom and death. Rather, it’s a shining example of Goth, which Tolhurst calls the “last true alternative outsider subculture.” Goth music inherited the anarchy of punk but substituted nihilism with a desire to fully feel, talk about and confess our emotions. And Tolhurst argues that the Cure — along with Bauhaus, the Doors and Siouxsie and the Banshees — helped pioneer its sound. We talk to Tolhurst about his new book “Goth” and the subculture’s music and aesthetics, and we’ll hear from you: Are — or were — you Goth? What does Goth mean to you? Guests: Lol Tolhurst, musician and writer; one of the co-founders of English rock band the Cure; author "Cured: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys" and the new book "Goth: A History" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The de Young museum has opened its doors and cleared walls to feature the work of Bay Area artists. On exhibit through January, the 2023 de Young Open features 883 artworks across genre and subject matter — the only submission requirement being that the creator lives in one of the nine Bay Area counties. We’ll talk with the lead curator of the exhibit, along with other independent curators and artists, about the local art scene today and what Bay Area artists are saying with their work. Guests: Timothy Anglin Burgard, distinguished senior curator and curator-in-charge of American art, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Trisha Lagaso Goldberg, artist; independent curator Alice Beasley, fiber artist. Her work is now on exhibit at The de Young Open. She was also included in the 2020 Exhibition. Callan Porter-Romero, artist based in Oakland. One of her paintings is now on exhibit at The de Young Open. She was also included in the 2020 Exhibition. Todd Hanson, artist; founder, Four Chicken Gallery in Bernal Heights Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since 2014, inmates inside California’s womens’ prisons have filed hundreds of complaints of sexual abuse carried out by guards, yet just four officers have been fired, and only four have been prosecuted. In a new investigation for The Guardian, reporter Sam Levin outlines the culture of silence and intimidation inside of California’s prison system, and why it’s often the victims who get punished. We speak with Levin about what he found and hear from Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition, an advocacy group that has been calling for an independent body to investigate the reports of abuse. Guests: Amika Mota, executive director and founding member, Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition Sam Levin, senior criminal justice reporter, the Guardian US Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friendsgiving can take many forms. Sometimes it’s a replacement for a more traditional Thanksgiving when gathering with family isn’t possible. For others, it’s a bonus holiday to honor friends who feel like family. The ritual has deep roots in the queer community where it emerged in the 1980s as a way to unite chosen families and challenge restrictive family norms. For our next installment of All You Can Eat, KQED food editor Luke Tsai joins us to talk about how to successfully pull off a Friendsgiving meal and what it means. And, we want to hear from you: What is your Friendsgiving tradition? Guests: Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & Culture Olivia Cruz Mayeda, arts reporting intern, KQED; freelance journalist John Birdsall, author; freelance food writer Kim Knox, co-owner, Kim's Louisiana Fried Turkey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last month, California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued tech giant Meta, arguing that its Instagram and Facebook platforms use psychologically manipulative features that are harming kids’ mental health. And in September, his office sued ExxonMobil and other oil giants, alleging they misled the public about the climate effects of fossil fuels. We’ll talk to Bonta about the high profile cases he’s brought on California’s behalf and about a range of criminal justice issues, including his office’s recent decision not to charge four Anaheim police officers who shot and killed the unarmed cousin of a Santa Ana City Council member. What are your questions for Attorney General Bonta? Guests: Rob Bonta, California Attorney General Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In her daily politics newsletter, “Letters from an American,” Boston College history professor Heather Cox Richardson offers her two million readers a historical perspective on the news along with a dose of common sense. She launched the newsletter during the 2019 impeachment crisis, and the strains on American democracy, laid bare by the January 6 insurrection, have been a constant theme of her work. In Richardson’s new book, “Democracy Awakening” she argues that today’s Republican politics have their roots in history, going back to the New Deal. We talk to her about her book and why everyone should be a student of history. Guests: Heather Cox Richardson, author, "Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America." Heather Cox Richardson is a professor of history at Boston College and an expert on American political and economic history. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning "How the South Won the Civil War." Her widely read newsletter, Letters from an American, synthesizes history and modern political issues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jesse David Fox works as Vulture’s comedy critic and hosts the podcast “Good One,” where each episode features comedians like John Mulaney and Sasheer Zamata spending up to two hours breaking down one joke and why it makes us laugh. But his new book, “Comedy Book,” questions whether comedy has to be funny at all. It takes us from the premiere of “Seinfeld” and “The Simpsons” in 1989, to the new relationship between politics, journalism and humor engendered by John Stewart’s “The Daily Show,” to the — sometimes politically contentious, sometimes camp — comedy landscape of today. We’ll talk with Fox about how we use comedy to make sense of the news, social media fads, identity and both personal and collective grief. Guests: Jesse David Fox, senior editor and comedy critic, Vulture; creator and host, "Good One: A Podcast about Jokes"; author, "Comedy Book" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Joe Biden is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping this month in San Francisco. They’ll be here during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, the biggest international meeting the city has hosted since 1945. Nearly 30,000 visitors are expected in the city during the conference, which officials say could bring in more than $50 million to the local economy. But some local residents are concerned about heightened security and street closures, while protesters are planning to disrupt the meeting to call attention to issues ranging from climate change to workers rights. We’ll preview APEC, which kicks off on November 11. Guests: London Breed, mayor, City and County of San Francisco Vinod Aggarwal, professor of political science & director of Berkeley APEC Study Center, U.C. Berkeley Rachael Myrow, senior editor of Silicon Valley News Desk, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forum in Focus brings you the most compelling interviews in under 30 minutes! This week, professor and novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen on his new memoir, "A Man of Two Faces. And a special performance by multi-instrumentalist and singer Kishi Bashi and a conversation about his new "songfilm" called "Omoiyari. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Acclaimed author C Pam Zhang’s latest novel, “Land of Milk and Honey,” is set after smog blocks the sun, killing 98% of commercial crops and 12% of the human population in famine. Bland mung powder is eaten by all but the very rich, who continue to eat lavishly. As the protagonist — a chef who decides to work for the rich to again taste real food — recalls, “A world was gone. Goodbye to all that, to the person I’d been, to she who’d abandoned, half-eaten, a plate of carnitas under blaze of California sun. It wasn’t grease I missed so much as the revelation of lime. Waiting on grief, I met hunger.” We’ll talk with Zhang about portraying hope in an apocalyptic novel, the interconnections between food, class, culture and climate change, and the meal she’d want to eat if it felt like the world was ending. Guests: C Pam Zhang, author of the novels, “Land of Milk and Honey" and “How Much of These Hills Is Gold." Zhang was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award, long-listed for the 2020 Booker Prize and named a National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" Honoree Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Roller culture in the bay area has lived many lives – from the roller discos of the 1970s, to the inline skate competitions of the 2000s and a quad-skating revival fueled by TikTok and the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s tangled up with other cultural movements, including the Bay Area’s underground music scene. And improvised roller parties – from Golden Gate Park to Panther Skate Plaza – are building on a legacy of Black and Latino communities originally excluded from formal skate spaces. We’ll talk with San Francisco’s “godfather of skate,” a roller dance teacher with five decades of skating experience and a former professional rollerblader. Guests: Azikiwee Anderson, former professional inline skater; co-founder, I Match Your Trick Association; owner, Rize Up bakery David Miles Jr., owner, Church of 8 Wheels Richard Humphrey, teaches roller dance classes; former Golden Roller Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Manuel Muñoz is the son of immigrant farm laborers from California’s Central Valley whose four works of fiction center the lives of Mexican-American communities in the region. Patrick Makuakane is a native Hawaiian and San Francisco-based kumu hula, or master teacher, who created a unique form of hula that blends traditional movements with contemporary music. They’re among five Californians who have been awarded the MacArthur Fellowship this year. We talk to them about what the award means to them and their communities and how themes of love, class, sexuality and identity suffuse their art. Guests: Patrick Makuakane, A kumu hula, or master hula teacher; director of Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wakiu, a San Francisco-based dance company blending modern music and themes with traditional Hula Movements. Manuel Munoz, fiction writer and creative writing professor, University of Arizona. He writes about California's Central Valley where he was born and raised. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices