KQED's Forum

A good breakup song can offer you catharsis and a good, long cry. They can help you mediate the feelings caused by a long lost love, a messy goodbye, or a person you never, ever, ever want to get back together with. (Thank you, Taylor Swift). But a breakup song doesn’t have to be about a relationship — it can be about a job you’re leaving behind, a city you’re moving away from, or a friendship that has run its course. And sometimes, even when you’re feeling just fine, cranking up that emo breakup song in your car and singing the lyrics at the top of your lungs can be the exact thing you need. We’re talking about breakup songs, and we want to hear from you: What breakup song got you through a tough time? Guests: Brontez Purnell, writer, musician and author of "100 Boyfriends." His recent piece for the New York Times Magazine is titled, "I've Listened to This Breakup Song a Million Times" Courtney E. Smith, creator and co-host of the podcast "Songs My Ex Ruined" Asal Ehsanipour, audio producer and writer. Ehsanipour produced the Foretold podcast for the L.A. Times. She is a former KQED reporter and producer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

COVID cases nationwide and in California are increasing at summer’s end. The state’s positivity rate from PCR tests is almost 12% as of mid-August, and wastewater data indicate that the new omicron subvariant, EG.5, is on the rise. But reported case rates are still far below peaks from last winter; UCSF’s Dr. Peter Chin-Hong told the San Francisco Chronicle, “people should not be worried but should not tune out.” We’ll learn more with Dr. Chin-Hong and hear about the new fall booster and the latest research into long COVID and take your COVID questions. Guests: Dr. Peter Chin-Hong M.D., infectious disease specialist, UCSF Medical Center Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bay Area is home to a thriving video game industry, but many local kids, especially those of color, don’t see career opportunities in it. Several years ago, Damon Packwood founded Gameheads to help college students develop the skills and expertise to create their own video games and land jobs in the field. Participants in the Oakland-based program have built games that reflect their own interests and experiences including a game on Oakland sideshows and one on the slave trade in Cuba. We’ll talk with Packwood and David Brancaccio, host of the Marketplace morning report which has launched a series, “Skin in the Game,” that explores career, economics, and equity issues through the lens of video games. Guests: Damon Packwood, founder and executive director, Gameheads - an Oakland-based video game training program for young people David Brancaccio, host and senior editor, Marketplace Morning Report Camila Garcia Frausto, student, Gameheads; fourth year student and film studies major at UC Berkeley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Southern California Democrat Adam Schiff has served in the U.S. Congress since 2001, and he’s now running to succeed Dianne Feinstein in the Senate. A former federal prosecutor, Schiff chaired the House Intelligence Committee during the Trump administration and led the former president’s first impeachment trial and the Russian election interference investigation that gave rise to it. He was also a member of the House committee that investigated the January 6 insurrection. We’ll talk to Schiff about why he wants to represent California in the Senate and hear about his positions on the economy, the climate, the war in Ukraine and more. Guests: Congressman Adam Schiff, democratic congressman, representing California's 30th District in Burbank; former chair, House Intelligence Committee; member, the select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection; author, "Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As pandemic-era eviction moratoriums have ended, Bay Area counties are seeing a surge of eviction cases coming to court. Some tenants owe tens of thousands of dollars after not paying rent, in some cases, for years. In Alameda County, evictions ballooned to more than 500 per month starting in May. And, a single judge is charged with reviewing all of those cases. We’ll talk about how eviction cases are overwhelming county courts, and what lessons we can take from how the moratoriums played out. Guests: Natalie Orenstein, reporter, Oaklandside Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plastics are everywhere, but L.A. Times environment reporter Susanne Rust thought she was doing a pretty good job avoiding them. That was until she spent a week recording her daily plastic interactions. She found plastics in her phone. Her car. Her swimming equipment. There was almost nothing that Rust encountered that didn’t have plastic in it. Not all the applications of plastic were negative – plastic can make cars and planes lighter and therefore more fuel efficient. But the result of her week-long experiment were sobering nonetheless. We’ll talk to Rust, hear about plastic alternatives, and hear from you about how you navigate a world filled with plastic. Sunday brought record summer rainfall to much of Southern California, as Tropical Storm Hilary left a trail of flash floods, debris flows, school cancellations, and power outages across the region. Hilary’s approach triggered the first-ever tropical storm watch issued for the state, and was the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years. Though severe in some areas, Hilary was not as destructive as some experts had feared, with no reports of U.S. fatalities or significant injuries as of Monday. We’ll look at the science behind the storm, the role of climate change, and what it reveals about the future of extreme weather in California. Guests: Susanne Rust, investigative reporter specializing in environmental issues, LA Times Judith Enck, president, Beyond Plastics - Enck served as a regional administrator with the EPA during the Obama Administration Diana Crofts-Pelayo, assistant director of crisis communications, California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services [Cal OES] Daniel Swain, climate scientist, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA; author, "Extreme Weather Page-A-Day Calendar 2024: A Year of Fire Tornadoes, Atmospheric Rivers, and Other Wild Weather Events" 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," and "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

There are only eight bear species remaining on the planet — six of which are endangered. Environmental journalist Gloria Dickie, author of the new book “Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future,” set out to profile all eight while questioning how humans’ complex relationship with bears has and continues to inform our interactions with them. “Charismatic and unloved alike, these eight bears are all that remain of a family that has been our steadfast companion since time immemorial, shaping our cultures, our geographies, and our stories,” she writes. We’ll talk about how humans can learn to better co-exist with bears and why she says we need to do more to protect them. Guests: Gloria Dickie, environmental journalist; author, "Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future” Sarinah Simons, human-bear management specialist, California State Parks; host, the “Earth to Humans” podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In July, members of the Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin purchased 26 acres of land, part of what was once the tribe’s territory. The fundraising effort to buy the plot, priced at $1.3 million, is just the latest successful Land Back campaign in California, a movement to return stolen land to indigenous control. The deal signaled a momentous return for a community displaced from their land over a century ago but it also evoked conflicted feelings about having to buy back land that was never willingly relinquished. We’ll talk to members of California tribes about recent Land Back successes and the growing momentum around this movement. Guests: Joe Sanchez, elder, Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin Katie Keliiaa, assistant professor of History, University of California Santa Cruz Michelle Vassel, tribal administrator, Wiyot Tribe Inés Ixierda, creative director, Sogorea Te' Land Trust Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The deep sea is nature’s motherboard, according to author and aquatic explorer Susan Casey. It absorbs heat, buffers excess carbon, drives our climate and regulates the earth’s geochemistry. It’s also home to mountains taller than the Swiss Alps and populated by a cast of “marvelous weirdos:” creatures that have two mouths or three hearts, or transparent heads or eyes in the middle of their backs. And it’s almost completely unknown to us: 80% of the sea floor has never been mapped in any detail. Casey joins us to talk about some of the wonders of the deep sea – and the ecological threats it faces. Her book is “The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean.” Guests: Susan Casey, author, "The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean." Her previous books include “The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean,” and “The Devil’s Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America’s Great White Sharks.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Antioch and Pittsburg police officers were arrested Thursday morning in a series of FBI raids, after an 18-month investigation into an alleged criminal network. 10 law enforcement personnel were named across four indictments on charges including civil rights violations, falsification of records and wire fraud. The Antioch Police department has also been the subject of a civil rights investigation launched by California Attorney General Rob Bonta after dozens of officers were caught sending and receiving racist, homophobic, and violent text messages bragging about using force against the city’s residents. We’ll check in on the latest news. Guests: Nate Gartrell, East Bay Courts Reporter, Bay Area News Group Hash browns as toast. Baking a block of feta with tomatoes and pasta in one dish. Putting cottage cheese in everything. These are just some ideas from cooking videos that have proliferated over social media. But has their popularity made us better cooks? We’ll meet food content creators who have millions of followers and viral videos, and talk to a food journalist about learning to cook with TikTok. Plus, we’ll hear from you: what’s a dish you learned about on social media and tried with success…or failure? Guests: Alicia Kennedy, food and culture writer; Kennedy wrote the Vox piece "The Biggest Names in Food Are Just Regular People on TikTok." She is also the author of "No Meat Required" and has a popular food newsletter on Substack. Joanne Molinaro, food content creator and author of "The Korean Vegan Kitchen." Molinaro has created multiple viral videos on TikTok as "The Korean Vegan," where she has three million followers Darlene Schrijver, food content creator. Schrijver, who is based in Rohnert Park, is the creator behind "Salad Lab" which has 2.7 million followers on TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You wouldn’t think that the month in which you’re born has much to do with your medical outcomes. In fact, kids who have summer birthdays are more likely to get the flu than kids born later in the year, and kids diagnosed with ADHD and born in August are prescribed an average of 120 more days of medication than kids born in September. These anomalies are just some of the many hidden forces that “can send two otherwise-similar people down very different paths of care, by chance alone,” according to Harvard Medical School doctors Anupam Jena and Christopher Worsham. We learn why chance events influence how we experience the healthcare system and how we can begin to correct for them. Jena and Worsham’s new book is “Random Acts of Medicine: The Hidden Forces That Sway Doctors, Impact Patients, and Shape Our Health.” Guests: Anupam B. Jena, professor, Harvard Medical School; co-author, "Random Acts of Medicine"; host, Freakonomics, M.D. podcast Christopher Worsham, pulmonary and critical care physician, Massachusetts General Hospital; researcher, Harvard Medical School; co-author, "Random Acts of Medicine" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Public schools across California are rolling out new state math guidelines after years of development, revision, and controversy. State education leaders approved the guidelines this summer and say the framework focuses on instilling “big ideas” in students beyond basic math skills. The new framework aims to improve math test scores at a time when only about a third of students meet state proficiency standards and help more Black and Latinx students excel in math. Critics say the guidelines could hold back more advanced high school students and put too much emphasis on bringing social justice into math lessons among other critiques. As kids head back to classrooms, we’ll talk about what’s in the new framework and take your questions. Guests: Linda Darling-Hammond, president, California State Board of Education; president, Learning Policy Institute Kyndall Brown, PhD, executive director, California Mathematics Project Statewide Office at UCLA Brian Conrad, professor of mathematics; director of undergraduate studies in math, Stanford University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California has not been spared from the national teacher shortage. The state Department of Education reported more than 10,000 teacher vacancies during the 2021-2022 school year, and Los Angeles Unified School District has 450 teacher openings for this new school year. But shortages are particularly acute in rural communities: Alturas Elementary School, in northern California’s Modoc County, is missing a quarter of its necessary teaching staff. From retention to credentialing requirements to logistically impossible state mandates, the problems plaguing Modoc are common among rural districts. We’ll talk about the problems California’s rural school districts are facing in the new school year and hear potential solutions. Related link(s): ‘No one is coming to our rescue’: Inside rural California’s alarming teacher shortage Low-income students are more likely to be in classrooms with underqualified teachers Guests: Hailey Branson-Potts, staff writer, Los Angeles Times - who reported the piece, "‘No one is coming to our rescue’: Inside rural California’s alarming teacher shortage" Lisa Pruitt, professor, UC Davis School of Law - whose work focuses on rural communities Tom O'Malley, superintendent, Modoc Joint Unified School District in Alturas, CA Laurel Rulison, kindergarten teacher, Alturas Elementary in Modoc County Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Artificial intelligence is being put to work across various fields in the hopes that it can solve some of our most pressing problems. Among them: a growing demand for mental health services and a shortage of providers. Researchers say the technology has the potential to vastly improve patient access, lighten therapist workloads and combat disparities in quality of care but warn of the risks of deploying AI too soon, with vulnerable patients left to bear the brunt of early mistakes. Others question whether AI belongs anywhere near a therapist’s couch. We’ll talk to psychologists and researchers about how AI might transform the mental health industry and how to avoid the worst imagined outcomes. Guests: Jodi Halpern, professor of bioethics and chancellor's chair, University of California, Berkeley Lloyd Minor, dean, Stanford University School of Medicine Mainul Mondal, founder and CEO, Ellipsis Health Betsy Stade, clinical psychologist and postdoctoral researcher, Stanford Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To ease crushing urban traffic, London, Stockholm and Singapore all use congestion pricing, charging drivers to use busy roads in city centers or in certain zones at particular times of day. Congestion pricing has yet to be adopted in any U.S. city, but Los Angeles is taking a hard look at the concept. LA Metro will soon release a study examining which parts of the city could benefit most from congestion pricing, the environmental and public health benefits it could bring and who could qualify for carve-outs. We’ll talk with LA Metro about their study, which will be open for public comment once released. And we’ll hear from Ethan Elkind, our partner for our recurring series “In Transit,” about what LA’s proposal could mean for the rest of the state. Guests: Ethan Elkind, director of the Climate Program at the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment, UC Berkeley School of Law; podcast host, Climate Break Mark Vallianatos, executive officer in the Office of Strategic Innovation, LA Metro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Women start roughly two out of five businesses in America, but have mostly been shut out of the venture capital ecosphere. Companies funded solely by women snapped up just 2.1 percent of venture capital funding in the United States in 2022. According to research firm Pitchbook, the percentage hasn’t budged much in the past 15 years despite women creating more startups, incubators and venture funds. Women founders say there are still major disparities in how venture capitalists evaluate companies based on gender. We’ll talk about what this trend means for entrepreneurs and the economy. Guests: Lata Setty, first founding limited partner and limited partner advisory committee, How Women Invest Catherine Berman, Co-Founder & CEO, CNote, a fintech company that helps corporations and foundations invest capital into underserved communities at scale Jeremy Owens, technology editor and San Francisco bureau chief, MarketWatch Maura O'Neill, distinguished teaching fellow, entrepreneurship and innovation, Haas School of Business, University Of California, Berkeley, founder, The Decade Project, an organization dedicated to making business ownership reflect the race, gender and ethnicity of the United States Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Mourning her absence was breathtaking in a literal sense; it took the wind out of me,” writes Sara Bader about the grief she felt with the death of her best friend. She was not talking about a person; she was writing about her cat, Snowflake, a constant and faithful companion. Pets are like our family, so when one dies the loss can feel immeasurable. But often, society places little value on that grief: “It’s just an animal. Why don’t you get another?” Yet, the death of a faithful, longtime companion, whether dog, cat, bird or other creature, great or small, can leave a void that is hard to fill. We’ll talk about grieving our pets and how to help them across the rainbow bridge. Guests: Sara Bader, author, "The Book of Pet Love and Loss" Jennifer Scarlett, DVM and CEO, San Francisco SPCA; veterinarian Jill Goodfriend, registered nurse and licensed clinical social worker - Goodfriend leads Berkeley Humane's pet loss support group and specializes in pet loss and grief in her practice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A group of scientists is racing to sequence genes from every plant, animal, and fungus on Earth for a global database of DNA. The organizers of the global Earth BioGenome Project call it a ‘moonshot for biology’ which would provide a treasure trove of information on evolutionary biology, the development of medicines, the conservation of species and more. We talk with scientists about their race against time to collect genes while tens of thousands of species are threatened with extinction and what they hope will come of it. Guests: Harris Lewin, chair, the Earth BioGenome Project Executive Committee; distinguished professor Emeritus of Evolution and Ecology, the University of California, Davis Brad Shaffer, director, UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science; distinguished professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Sadye Paez, chair of the justice, equity, diversity and inclusion committee, the Earth BioGenome Project; collaborator on the Vertebrae Genome Project, the The Rockefeller University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At least 53 people are dead after wildfires whipped through neighborhoods in Maui, destroying the historic town of Lahaina and prompting the evacuation of thousands of residents and visitors. As of Thursday thousands of people were without power and cell service. We talk about the situation on the ground, what it will take to rebuild and how to help those affected. Guests: Marcel Honore, staff writer, Honolulu Civil Beat Michelle Ka'uhane, senior vice president and chief impact officer, Hawai'i Community Foundation Clay Trauernicht, extension specialist in ecosystems and fire in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawai'i at Manoa Kahele Dukelow, professor of Hawaiian studies and administrator, University of Hawai'i, Maui College Christin Bourland, resident of West Maui Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Starting in 2020, the newsletter Blackbird Spy Plane has served readers what’s billed as “unbeatable recon” on style and culture. Journalist Jonah Weiner and design scout Erin Wylie have amassed a cult following for their takes on everything from why you should “Tuck All Tops” to what “Democratizing” fashion really means. The duo provides recommendations on apparel, housewares and even art that celebrates beauty, singularity and unapologetic swagger. We talk with the creators about the newsletter, whether there is a Bay Area style, and how to create your own fashion mindset. Guests: Jonah Weiner, co-founder, "Blackbird Spyplane," a newsletter about Bay Area style and culture Erin Wylie, design scout; co-founder, "Blackbird Spyplane" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 82 million Americans listen to AM radio monthly, and most do so in their cars, according to recent Nielsen data. But many automakers have been phasing out the AM band in electric vehicles, citing interference with the cars’ batteries. That’s sparked bipartisan pushback, as AM radio is both dominated by conservative talk shows and home to non-English-language and local content that can’t be found on the FM band. We’ll talk with some of California’s AM stations about the communities they serve and we’ll hear from you: What do you tune in to AM radio for? Or, if you have an EV that can’t access AM radio: Do you miss it? Guests: Katie Thornton, freelance print and audio journalist; host of the Peabody-winning podcast series “The Divided Dial,” made with WNYC’s “On the Media” about how the right came to dominate U-S talk radio. She also wrote the recent Guardian piece, “New electric cars won’t have AM radio. Rightwingers claim political sabotage” Lilia Galindo, host and producer of the radio talk show “Cafe Con Leche” on KUTY Hermosa 1470 AM Irene Tsan Fong, operations director, In-Language Radio, which represents stations including the 24-hour Bay Area Cantonese-language station KVTO-AM 1400 (93.7 FM San Francisco) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For many of us, the internet has two faces. It can be a place where we’re bombarded by disinformation and polarized viewpoints, subjected to rage and frustration. But it can also be where people with different interests, ideas, and life experiences come together to find common ground. Share jokes. Build things together. This hopeful version of the internet is the focus of a new digital community that Forum’s creating on the platform Discord. We’ll talk about what our new community is, what we hope it will become, how to escape social media’s nasty decline, and how to foster conversations on the internet that aren’t awful. Guests: Eli Pariser, author, "The Filter Bubble: What the internet is hiding from you;" founder, New Public Marina Gorbis, executive director, Institute for the Future Grace Ling, founder, Design Buddies, Discord community Francesca Fenzi, digital community manager, KQED's Forum Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last year, UCLA and USC announced their coming departure from the historic college sports conference of the West Coast: the Pac-12. Last week, the Pac-12 further disintegrated, with Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah all announcing that they are moving to other conferences. TV money drove this consolidation, and it has left Cal and Stanford fans, alumni and athletes wondering about their schools’ future. We talk about the history of the conference and what comes next for California’s college sports. Guests: Joel Anderson, staff writer, Slate - where he also hosts the Slow Burn and Hang Up and Listen podcasts. Former reporter on sports, culture, and politics for ESPN and BuzzFeed News. Marisa Ingemi, sports writer, San Francisco Chronicle Ray Ratto, staff writer, The Defector - Former sportswriter and columnist, San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Berkeley landmark coffee shop and diner Au Coquelet closed recently, joining other iconic East Bay cafe closures, including Berkeley’s iconic Caffe Mediterraneum. In a somber comic remembering coffee shops we’ve lost, graphic novelist Briana Loewinsohn reminisces that, “[w]hat I covet most are the big, spacious cafes where you could sit for hours and work or do nothing — or a little of both.” In this edition of our ongoing series, “All You Can Eat,” we talk about what makes a great cafe, their role as crucial, low-barrier community meeting spaces and hear about your most beloved Bay Area coffee. Related link(s) “Please, Don’t Forget Me: Cafes We Have Lost,” a comic strip by Briana Loewinsohn Guests: Henri Boulanger, barista trainer, Red Rock Coffee Creighton Davis, co-founder, Kinfolx Briana Loewinsohn, graphic novelist; high school art teacher; author of "Please, Don't Forget Me: Cafes We Have Lost" - a comic about now-shuttered cafes in the East Bay Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & Culture Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Public pools serve as community gathering spaces, havens from the heat and safe and affordable places for people to learn to swim. But public pools in the United States have become increasingly rare over the past century. That’s limited the ability of people of color and those without access to country clubs or backyard pools to learn safely. And it may also be one reason why only 56% of U.S. residents can demonstrate basic swimming skills, according to an American Red Cross poll. We look at the history of public pools in the U.S. and here in California, what’s behind their decline and the racial disparities in drowning rates that persist. Guests: Laurie Davies, California assembly memeber, represents parts of Orange and San Diego Counties Jennifer Lopez, founder, Echo Aquatics - an organization that offers adult and child swim lessons and water sport coaching Heather McGhee, author, "The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together" - former president, Demos, a public policy think tank; board chair, Color of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization Patt Morrison, columnist, The Los Angeles Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The crack epidemic of the 1980s and 90s had a devastating and lasting effect on black communities and the criminal justice system. But Donovan X Ramsey writes that those who survived the era will hardly ever talk about it and when they do it’s, “like a trauma long accepted in hushed voices, with thousand yard stares.” In his book, When Crack Was King, Ramsey is on a quest to understand the crack era through portraits of a user, a kid of an addict, a dealer, and a politician pushing for treating the epidemic as a public health problem. We talk to Ramsey about his book, the myths that permeate our flawed understanding of the crack era and the resilience of communities that lived through it. Guests: Donovan X. Ramsey, author, "When Crack Was King" - Ramsey is a former senior reporter with the LA Times. He is currently a senior editor with the Marshall Project. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“It is remarkable,” writes the Atlantic’s Jennifer Senior, “how many Americans have relations who were, at some point during the past century, sequestered from public view… warehoused, disappeared, roughly shorn from the family tree.” Senior’s aunt Adele was institutionalized as a toddler in the 1950s, and it wasn’t until 40 years later that Senior’s mother — Adele’s sister — saw her again. We talk to Jennifer Senior about her new essay “The Ones We Sent Away.” Guests: Jennifer Senior, staff writer, The Atlantic - author of the September cover story "The Ones We Sent Away" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A perfect recipe of summer weather, climate-warmed waters and excess nutrient pollution has brought the red tide back to the San Francisco Bay shoreline. The same algae bloom that caused a massive fish die-off in Oakland’s Lake Merritt last summer has appeared again, stretching from Emeryville to Richardson Bay. Is this our new normal? We’ll talk with experts about the algae that’s taking over the Bay and what’s being done about it. Guests: Ezra David Romero, climate reporter, KQED Jonathan Rosenfield Ph.D., science director, San Francisco Baykeeper Eileen White, executive director, Water Board San Francisco Bay Region Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democrat Barbara Lee has represented Oakland and the East Bay in Congress since 1998, and she’s now running to replace U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is not seeking another term. Well known as the sole member of Congress to vote against giving the president unlimited war powers after 9/11, Lee is co-chair of the House Policy and Steering Committee and serves on the Budget Committee and the Appropriations Committee. As a member of the California state legislature, Lee drafted California’s first Violence Against Women Act and the California Schools Hate Crimes Reduction Act. We’ll talk to Lee about why she wants to represent California in the Senate and hear about her positions on the environment, the war in Ukraine, the economy and more. Guests: Barbara Lee, U.S. congressmember representing California's 13th district 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 featured at SOMA Arts earlier this year. Working on another "Muni Raised Me" exhibition for later this year. Sarah Katz-Hyman, editor, Muni Diaries Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pop-up whose Instagram you DM the moment orders reopen. The chef who makes the best dish you’ve ever tasted on a compostable plate. The baker whose vegan desserts have the perfect level of sweetness. California’s pop-up scene flourished in the pandemic, and a new state law eases restrictions for chefs who operate out of their home kitchens. We’ll talk to pop-up entrepreneurs across the state about their culinary creations — and about the challenges of running a pop-up itself, from finding venues to marketing and permitting. And we’ll hear about your favorite pop-up bakers, chefs and coffee-makers — and what you recommend ordering from them. Guests: Adhiti Bandlamudi, Silicon Valley reporter, KQED; runs the new popup Badam Babe Anand Upender, creator, Bay Area pop-up York Street Coffee and the pop-up dinner series "Just Some Folks" Rashida Holmes, chef-owner, Bridgetown Roti, a Caribbean American food pop-up based in LA Vandor Hill, owner, Whack Donuts, a vegan donut pop-up in the Bay Area Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Savanah Leaf’s debut feature-length film “Earth Mama” follows Gia, a pregnant 24-year-old single mother of two who is struggling to get her kids back from the foster care system and weighing whether to keep her baby. Set and filmed in Oakland, the film explores Black motherhood, community, and the challenges of escaping cycles of trauma and poverty. Leaf based the film on her short documentary, “The Heart Still Hums,” which also focuses on the stories of young mothers trying to keep their children. We talk with Leaf about capturing the Bay Area’s essence in the film and the personal experiences that inspired it. Guests: Savanah Leaf, director, "Earth Mama." Leaf is also the director of the documentary short, "The Heart Still Hums." She was nominated for a Grammy for her music video "This Land" for Gary Clark, Jr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apps like Duolingo offer the tantalizing promise that learning a language will be easy. And fun! And fast! The playfulness of the apps turns language learning into a game to be mastered; on social media, you will find people flexing their streaks on the app. But do these apps work, and if not, what do we get out of it? We talk about learning a language with an app and hear whether an app has helped you gain some new words, phrases or conversation skills in a new language. Guests: Maria Carreira, executive director, American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese - Carreira was formerly a professor of Spanish at CSU Long Beach and the co-founder and co-director of the National Heritage Language Resource Center at UCLA. Joshua Hartshorne, assistant professor, psychology, Boston College - Hartshorne directs the Language Learning Lab at Boston College Andrew Moseman, writer, Moseman's latest piece for Slate is titled "What Do We Even Want from Duolingo?" Moseman is a former editor of "Popular Mechanics" and has written for The Atlantic, Fortune, Scientific American and Esquire Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on four counts related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. We check in with KQED senior politics editor Scott Shafer about the importance of Trump’s third indictment, what it means for the 2024 election and how California’s Republican party is responding. Then, we talk to Lydia Kiesling, a former resident of the Bay Area, about her new book, “Mobility." Bunny Glenn, the protagonist in Kiesling’s novel, voted for Barack Obama, believes in the science of climate change and, as the daughter of a diplomat was steeped in the effects of environmental devastation and resource wars. She also works in the oil industry. And it’s this ethical compromise, and all the little compromises people make every day, that center Kiesling’s novel. Inspired by the oil power grabs in former Soviet states, and drawn from her own childhood as the daughter of a Foreign Service officer, “Mobility” captures the rootlessness of a young woman struggling to find her place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the last year, Americans in mental health crisis have been able to call or text the number 988 to receive immediate counseling, emotional support and community resources. The formerly 10-digit hotline re-launched with the idea that more lives could be saved with a number that’s easier to remember. And in its first year, 988 saw a 35% jump in service, receiving more than 5 million calls, chats and texts. Advocates say there’s still room to grow: according to the latest federal data, more than 12.3 million adults in the U.S. seriously considered suicide in 2021. We’ll talk about the successes and challenges of 988, one year in. Related link(s): Answering the Call: A Special Series On America’s New Mental Health Crisis Line (Tradeoffs) Guests: Dan Gorenstein, host and executive editor, “Tradeoffs,” a nonprofit health policy news organization Keris Jän Myrick, California mental health advocate based in L.A.; vice president of partnerships, Inseparable [a mental health advocacy organization]; podcast host, "Unapologetically Black Unicorns" Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Driverless vehicles from autonomous ride services Cruise and Waymo can already be found all over San Francisco, and they may soon become much more common if a state commission grants them permission to expand operations. Some local officials argue the technology isn’t ready, pointing to recent examples of automated cars that stopped on roads, obstructing traffic or emergency responders. Others say the whole idea of self-driving cars is flawed. We’ll talk about the upcoming vote and where the robotaxi industry is headed. Guests: Annabel Chang, head of state policy and government relations, Waymo Dan Chatman, associate professor and chair, Department of City and Regional Planning, UC Berkeley Dylan Fabris, community and policy manager, San Francisco Transit Riders Kevin Truong, staff writer, The San Francisco Standard Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Federal prosecutors added new charges against Donald Trump stemming from his willful mishandling of classified documents, alleging in a superseding indictment on Thursday that the former president sought to delete incriminating surveillance video at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Meanwhile, the country remains on “indictment watch,” as USA Today’s Josh Meyer reports, while Special Counsel Jack Smith weighs charges against Trump for attempting to overthrow the 2020 election. We examine the current and potential charges against Trump and their political impact. Guests: Josh Meyer, domestic security correspondent, USA Today Rory Little, professor of constitutional law, UC School of Law, San Francisco; former federal prosecutor and criminal defense attorney Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The month of July is on track to be the hottest month on record for planet Earth. Three continents are blistering under heat domes. In parts of California, temperatures have gone well above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Los Angeles Times reporter Hayley Smith experienced this firsthand during a reporting trip to Death Valley, where in one day she experienced 128 degrees — which only cooled to 116 degrees at night. California Governor Newsom set up efforts to educate the public about heat events; President Biden announced plans to help communities adapt. But will this be enough? As part of our “Climate Fix” series with the KQED Science team, we’ll talk about how our future is heating up and what can be done to cool our planet. Guests: Danielle Venton, science reporter, KQED News Jeff Goodell, author, "The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on A Scorched Planet," "Big Coal," and "The Water Will Come;" Guggenheim Fellow; regular commentator on energy and climate issues, CNN, MSNBC, and other outlets Hayley Smith, reporter focusing on extreme weather, Los Angeles Times Karen A. McKinnon, assistant professor, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Department of Statistics - McKinnon studies large-scale climate variability and change, with a particular focus on connections to high-impact weather events. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since Mattel launched Barbie into the world in 1959, the doll has been adored for her ability to show girls they can do anything and loathed for her abnormal body proportions. Now, in the first live action film featuring Barbie, she’s on center stage. In the film Barbie is forced to leave her home of ‘Barbieland’—prompting an adventure in the real world and discovering along the way that perfection is found within. Materialism, gender norms, beauty ideals, race, feminism and the patriarchy are all themes in director Greta Gerwig’s $145 million film. Are we all good with Barbie now? What’s the impact and legacy of Barbie on culture today? Guests: Rae Alexandra, staff writer, KQED Arts & Culture; creator and author, "Rebel Girls from Bay Area History" series Nadra Nittle, education reporter, The 19th Antonia Cereijido, executive producer, LAist Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Major League Baseball has implemented a handful of controversial new changes this season that have shaken up America’s favorite pastime. But despite the initial debates over pitch clocks and shifting regulations, both experts and fans generally agree that the rules have made the game more enjoyable with a faster pace and more action. We’ll talk with baseball reporters about the changes and we’ll hear from you: have the new rules improved the game? Guests: Kyle Glaser, senior writer, Baseball America Jessica Kleinschmidt, multimedia broadcaster, Oakland A's Guy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, the FDA approved the country’s first-ever daily hormonal contraceptive pill for sale without a prescription. The approval is a major milestone for reproductive care, as state lawmakers ban or limit abortion access throughout the country. The over-the-counter contraceptive, called Opill, has been around for decades, and now Perrigo, the pill’s manufacturer, says it will make the pill “accessible and affordable to women and people of all ages.” We’ll look at the science, the politics and the early history of the pill, and we’ll hear from you: has the pill changed your life? Guests: Pam Belluck, health and science reporter, New York Times Pratima Gupta, assistant professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, UCSD Health Margaret Marsh, historian of medicine and University Professor, Rutgers University. She's the author, with gynecologist Wanda Ronner, of several books on the history of reproductive medicine and technology, including "The Fertility Doctor: John Rock and the Reproductive Revolution." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plagued by years of abuse allegations, the California Department of Juvenile Justice and the youth facilities it ran, were shut down earlier this summer. Criminal justice reform advocates considered the closures a victory, but now have other concerns. They contend most relocated youth are being moved into juvenile hall facilities that were not designed for long-term detentions and that lack adequate rehabilitation programs and resources. County probation chiefs have also raised concerns that kids who left for state facilities with no history of drug problems or gang affiliations are returning to their home counties with both, raising questions about the conditions within the waning days of state facilities. We talk to experts about those allegations, the stories shared by children coming out of state care, and the future of juvenile justice in California. Guests: Dan Macallair, executive director and co-founder, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice Marlon Yarber, chief probation officer, Sacramento County Israel Salazar Villa, deputy director, California Alliance for Youth and Community Justice Jason Okonofua, assistant professor, Psychology Department, University of California Berkeley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From coastal beaches to the High Sierra, from redwood forests to desert sand dunes, California’s state park system has nearly three hundred sites available to explore and enjoy. These protected areas offer low-cost ways to scratch that itch for adventure, learn about California’s history and appreciate the state’s natural heritage. We’ll get recommendations from outdoor enthusiasts about where to go and what to do, and we’ll hear from you: what’s your favorite California state park? Guests: Brad Day, publisher, Weekendsherpa.com - A free weekly e-mail about accessible outdoor adventures in the Bay Area Chelsee Lowe, travel and family writer Jose Gonzalez, founder, Latino Outdoors - a community organization that encourages Latinos to go outdoors Joe Connors, supervising ranger, Wilder Ranch State Park Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bay Area may not have an official sandwich, but “our local sandwiches have an unparalleled layering of textures that can’t be found anywhere else,” writes Rocky Rivera in a recent essay for KQED. People here love deli meat on Dutch crunch bread or sourdough and don’t skip the avocados! Italian delis such as Little Luca in South San Francisco and Molinari in North Beach have cult followings. Customers line up around the block for Bakesale Betty’s fried chicken sandwich. So, what does it take to elevate a sandwich from just tasty to satisfyingly iconic? For our next installment of All You Can Eat, our regular series about Bay Area food cultures with KQED’s Luke Tsai, we bite into our favorite local sandos and why we love them. Guests: Saint Boney, owner and chef, The Saint Sandwich Shop Cesar Hernandez, associate restaurant critic, San Francisco Chronicle Albert Ok, owner, Ok's Deli in Oakland Rocky Rivera, emcee and writer, part of KQED's "Frisco Foodies" series Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & Culture Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been a sweltering July for large swaths of California, and that means air conditioners have been running on high in households lucky enough to have them. But the energy air conditioners consume and the refrigerants they rely on pose serious threats to the climate. We learn about air conditioning tech and look at California’s efforts to make them greener. And we’ll hear from you: if you have air conditioning, do you have tips for using it efficiently? Or if you don’t have AC, or if you try to avoid using it, how do you keep cool? Guests: Ian McGavisk, senior fellow, RMI; author of the Global Cooling Status and Opportunities Report, UNEP Ari Plachta, climate reporter, Sacramento Bee Aanchal Kohli, climate policymaker, California Air Resources Board Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following a months-long investigation into his published research, Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced his plan to resign from his post. While investigators did not find that Tessier-Lavigne falsified data himself, they say he failed to respond appropriately when he was made aware of the problems. We’ll be joined Theo Baker, “The Stanford Daily” student reporter who first broke this story, and other experts about why this cost Tessier-Lavigne his job and what this means for Stanford. Guests: Theo Baker, investigations editor, The Stanford Daily Lisa Krieger, research reporter, San Jose Mercury News Jonathan Wosen, west coast biotech and life sciences reporter, STAT News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Black women convene, writes licensed clinical psychologist Joy Harden Bradford, there is a “cadence and rhythm to our gatherings… a natural sisterhood that breeds openness.” That observation underlies Bradford’s approach to group therapy, which she says sparks breakthroughs and healing that often don’t happen as quickly in individual sessions. We talk to Bradford about what makes for a successful therapeutic community, and why elements like humor, intuitiveness and rhythm generate healing of Black women’s spaces. Bradford’s new book is “Sisterhood Heals: The Transformative Power of Healing in Community.” Guests: Joy Harden Bradford, licensed psychologist; host and founder Therapy for Black Girls; author, "Sisterhood Heals: The Transformative Power of Healing in Community" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The hushed thrum of the womb. The warble of the last living species of a now-extinct bird. The fury and thrust of a jet engine in flight. These are some of the sounds that populate filmmaker Sam Green’s immersive documentary “32 Sounds.” The movie is not just a collection of sounds, but rather a meditation on the strange power that sound has on us, whether it is voices, music, the natural world or sounds that we are trying to tune out. Watching the movie, even on a tiny screen, can be a full-body experience in which you’re encouraged by Green, who narrates the film, to feel the sound. We’ll talk to Green and his Oscar-winning sound designer, Mark Mangini, about how sound can literally move us. 32 Sounds will be screened at the Exploratorium on July 27, at the Smith Rafael Film Center July 28-30, the San Francisco Roxie Theater, July 29 and Berkeley’s Rialto Theater, July 30. Guests: Sam Green, filmmaker; his film,"32 Sounds" will be screened at the Exploratorium on July 27, at the Smith Rafael Film Center July 28-30, the San Francisco Roxie Theater, July 29 and Berkeley’s Rialto Theater, July 30. Mark Mangini, sound designer, "32 Sounds" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Writer Andrew Leland has been going blind since he was a teenager, which is when he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. Now in his forties, he reflects that “the most painful part so far has been the not-knowing” when he will completely lose his sight. But his encroaching blindness has also been a portal to creativity and intellectual exploration. As someone who still has his sight, Leland wonders if he is a citizen in “the country of the blind” and if so, what does that mean? We talk to Leland about his new memoir “The Country of the Blind.” Guests: Andrew Leland, author, "The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight." Leland is an editor at "The Believer" and, from 2013 to 2019, he hosted and produced the podcast "The Organist" for KCRW in Los Angeles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices