KQED's Forum

Oakland teachers went on strike Thursday morning for the third time in just over a year. The teachers, who earn some of the lowest salaries in the region, are asking for a 23% raise, more school psychologists and smaller special education classes among other demands. We’ll talk about what the strike means for Oakland teachers, parents and its 34 thousand public school students. And we’ll discuss the challenges facing public schools across the state as many districts struggle with enrollment declines, teacher shortages and the end of pandemic funding. Guests: Jill Tucker, K-12 education reporter, San Francisco Chronicle Erin Baldassari, housing affordability reporter, KQED Lakisha Young, founder and executive director, The Oakland Reach Mike Hutchinson, president, Oakland Board of Education Samia Khattab, school librarian, Franklin Elementary Pecolia Manigo, parent of two children in Oakland public schools and co-executive director, Bay Area Parent Leadership Action Network and former school board candidate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 10,000 television and screenwriters are on strike after months-long contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down late Monday. The Writers Guild of America is seeking higher compensation and residuals for its members, as well as minimum staffing requirements for TV writers and rules restricting the use of artificial intelligence in script production. We’ll talk about the impacts of the strike and the labor conditions for writers that led to it. Guests: Alissa Wilkinson, senior culture writer and critic, Vox Anousha Sakoui, entertainment industry writer, Los Angeles Times Betsy Thomas, television writer and producer; secretary-treasurer, Writers Guild of America West Eric Haywood, writer, producer and director. His TV shows include "Empire" and "Law & Order: Organized Crime" Sal Gentile, writer and producer, "Late Night with Seth Meyers" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Actor and singer Billy Porter has a shelf of awards, including a Tony, Grammy, and Emmy, earned for playing a variety of roles including “Pray Tell,” the imposing ballroom emcee in the FX series “Pose.” Porter also has plans to take on the role of writer and intellectual James Baldwin in a forthcoming biopic. But on his new tour Porter says he didn’t want to play a character, “I’m coming home as myself.” Porter joins us in studio to talk about his “Black Mona Lisa” tour and his long and varied career as a musical, fashion and pop icon. Guests: Billy Porter, actor and singer. Porter starred in the FX series, "Pose" for which he won an Emmy. He won a Tony and Grammy award for his performance in the musical "Kinky Boots." Porter is currently touring on his "Black Mona Lisa Tour" and will appear on May 5 at the Golden Gate Theatre Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does your cat’s cry for food sound different from its meow for attention? How come Mr. Whiskers is “making biscuits” on your belly? Evolution may provide clues as to why, writes biologist Jonathan Losos. Losos made his career studying lizards, but he’d pet cats every chance he got. And his new book, “The Cat’s Meow,” applies an evolutionary lens to the domesticated pet, exploring why they — yes — meow, but also trill, howl, growl, hiss, snarl, purr and chirp. It also looks at where outdoor cats like to prowl and whether our cats are really that different from lions and tigers. Losos joins us to share more about our feline friends. Guests: Jonathan Losos, distinguished professor of biology, Washington University in St. Louis - and author, "The Cat's Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Durian is a pungent, rank smelling fruit common in Singapore that is hard to harvest and cut open. And yet, it’s inspired scores of devotees, including food writer Jennifer Wong, who writes, “For those of us who hail durian as our king of fruits, the smell elicits an undeniable longing — for both the fruit itself and the cultural remembrance it represents.” Whether it’s stinky tofu, roasted grasshoppers or chicken feet, many cultures embrace foods that might come off as unappetizing at first sniff. So, how do some seemingly unusual ingredients become delicacies? In our latest All You Can Eat segment with KQED Food Editor Luke Tsai, we dive into funky foods that we aren’t supposed to love – but do so unabashedly. Guests: Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & Culture Javier Cabral, Editor, L.A. Taco - independent local news and culture site, and Associate producer for the Taco Chronicles on Netflix Jennifer Wong, author of the article "A Bay Area Love Letter to Durian," published on KQED Arts and Culture Monica Martinez, Founder and CEO,Don Bugito - a San Francisco company that makes protein snacks from edible insects Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Journalism is not a crime,” declared President Biden on Saturday at the White House Correspondents’ dinner. In his remarks, Biden demanded the immediate release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been wrongfully imprisoned in Russia since March 29. The Russian government arrested Gershkovich for espionage, a charge that both the Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government have flatly denied. As of 2021, more Americans are being or have been held hostage by hostile governments than terrorist or militant organizations. We’ll talk about the perils facing journalists around the world. Guests: Joel Simon, executive director, Journalism Protection Initiative at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, City University of New York; former director, the Committee to Protect Journalists Michael Kimmage, professor and history department chair, Catholic University of America; his recent article for the Wall Street Journal is titled "Putin's Rogue State" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Facing takeover by the federal government, First Republic Bank, the Bay Area’s largest regional bank, was sold off to JP Morgan Chase this weekend. Over the course of four decades, First Republic, with its aspirational marketing and reputation for customer service, became a key brand in the Bay Area business and philanthropy communities. First Republic was among the 20th largest banks in the country in 2022 and employed about 7,000 workers, close to half which were based in the Bay Area. The bank’s failure follows Silicon Valley Bank’s dramatic demise and also comes at a time when multiple large employers in the region are announcing major layoffs. We’ll talk about what the bank’s failure means for our local economy and whether we need brick and mortar banks. Guests: Mark Calvey, senior reporter covering banking and finance, San Francisco Business Times Rachel Louise Ensign, reporter, The Wall Street Journal - Ensign covers millionaires and billionaires and the financial systems that serve them. Jeremy Owens, technology editor and San Francisco bureau chief, MarketWatch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Writer Nicole Chung’s first memoir, “All You Can Ever Know,” chronicled her search for her birth family. Her second, “A Living Remedy,” documents her final years with her adopted parents and the health care costs that burdened them until their deaths. “Sickness and grief throw wealthy and poor families alike into upheaval,” she writes, “but they do not transcend the gulfs between us, as some claim—if anything, they often magnify them.” Chung joins us to share her story, one about grief, race, class and their interconnections. Guests: Nicole Chung, author, "A Living Remedy," and "All You Can Ever Know"; contributor, The Atlantic, Time, and Slate, and writes for many other publications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A winter of unusually heavy rain and snow elevated California’s mountain snowpack to levels not seen in years. But now that temperatures are rising, the state is bracing for “The Big Melt” that could cause massive flooding. Close to a third of the state’s water supply comes from the snowpack that accumulates in the winter and melts in the summer. California’s water infrastructure was designed to capture and store snowmelt and prevent floods, but with climate change intensifying water levels to extreme highs and lows, the system is pushed to its limits. We’ll talk about how prepared the Golden State is for an influx of water and what communities can expect. Guests: Dr. Noah Diffenbaugh, senior fellow, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment - where his research focuses on climate and earth system dynamics. Hayley Smith, reporter focusing on extreme weather, Los Angeles Times Nicholas Pinter, chair in applied geosciences, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California Davis; associate director, Center for Watershed Sciences, University of California Davis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

About a third of Californians live in areas where there is a shortage of primary care providers, according to the California Healthcare Foundation. The shortage is particularly acute in rural areas and in the rapidly growing Inland Empire, which has only about 40 primary care physicians per 100,000 people. For patients, a short supply of doctors can mean months-long waits for appointments and more trips to urgent care for chronic conditions. And for in-demand providers, burnout looms. We’ll learn about plans to address the shortage and hear about your experiences finding a primary care professional. Guests: Arturo Bustamante, professor of health policy and management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health Timothy Collins, incoming CEO, UC Riverside Health Sunita Mutha, general internist providing primary care; professor of medicine and director, Healthforce Center at UCSF Nate McLaughlin, family medicine doctor; program director, Family Medicine Program, Riverside University Health Services/UC Riverside Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The percentage of Black-owned farms in the U.S. has dropped from a peak of 14% in the 1920s to just 2% today. In California, less than 1% of land is owned by Indigenous people. As part of KQED’s Youth Takeover week Marin Academy junior Finn Does brings together a panel of local Indigenous, Black, and queer farmers who all purchased farmland during the pandemic to help their communities connect and thrive in relationship to the earth. Forum talks about the BIPOC land stewardship movement and nurturing ancestral roots. Guests: Pandora Thomas, Afro-Indigenous land steward and founder, EARTHseed Farm in Sebastopol, CA. Thomas played a leading role in founding the Black Permaculture Network, a platform where Afro-Indigenous people share practices. Nikola Alexandre, co-founder and stewardship lead, Shelterwood Collective in Sonoma County, CA Maya Harjo, farmer, Heron Shadow, a farm for Indigenous refuge and learning in Sonoma, CA, operated by the Cultural Conservancy, a Native-led SF organization Myles Lennon, environmental anthropologist; dean’s assistant professor of environment & society and anthropology, Brown University; board secretary, Shelterwood Collective Finn Does, junior, Marin Academy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The work she loved often kept NPR co-host Mary Louise Kelly from going to her kids’ soccer games or other events. Whether it was because she was anchoring “All Things Considered” or in the field reporting from North Korea, Iraq or Ukraine, sometimes Kelly could not be on the sidelines. She kept saying she’d do better next year. And then she realized her oldest son was headed to college, and there were no more next years. So, she vowed to show up, whenever she could. We’ll talk to Kelly about her new memoir, “It. Goes. So. Fast.: The Year of No Do-Overs” and explore what it means to be both a good reporter and a good parent. Guests: Mary Louise Kelly, co-host, NPR's "All Things Considered." Kelly's new memoir is titled "It. Goes. So. Fast.: The Year of No Do-Overs." Kelly is also a former National Security Correspondent for NPR. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

South Asian American representation in television and movies is on the rise. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe debuting its first South Asian superhero in 2021 and “Never Have I Ever” winning big at the People’s Choice Awards, Hollywood has begun to cast South Asians for big roles and tell authentic South Asian stories. But representation behind-the-scenes is just as important as it is in front of the camera: writers, directors and producers are the ones who determine who to cast and how to portray characters on-screen. As part of KQED’s annual Youth Takeover week, Santa Clara High junior Khadeejah Khan and Monte Vista High junior Mahi Jariwala talk with South Asians working in the industry about their careers and what good representation looks like. Guests: Khadeejah Khan, junior, Santa Clara High School; member, KQED's Youth Advisory Board Mahi Jariwala, junior, Monte Vista High School; member, KQED's Youth Advisory Board Jasmine Baten, research fellow, UCLA Center for Scholars & Storytellers Vali Chandrasekaran, writer, "Modern Family" and "30 Rock" Raj Raghavan, head of talent, Color Creative Richa Moorjani, actress, "Never Have I Ever" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new movie ‘How to Blow up a Pipeline’ is a heist thriller about a group of young, mainly Gen Z, climate activists who decide to detonate a Texas pipeline in protest against Big Oil. They strive to risk no lives besides their own and for minimal environmental impact. But the questions remain: is this a valid form of protest? Are they eco-terrorists or activists? As climate change becomes more urgent and systemic solutions remain bogged down, viewers are left wondering what the limits are of effective action. We’ll hear from the filmmakers and from you: Are you an activist? What line do you refuse to cross? Guests: Dan Garber, film editor, "How to Blow Up a Pipeline" Jordan Sjol, co-screenwriter and executive producer, "How to Blow Up a Pipeline" Ariela Barer , co-screenwriter, producer and actor, "How to Blow Up a Pipeline" Forrest Goodluck, actor, "How to Blow Up a Pipeline" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seven months ago 22 year old Mahsa Amini died in custody after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for an “improper hijab.” Her death prompted uproar and sparked a movement that extended throughout Iran and over social media. As part of KQED’s annual Youth Takeover week, Saratoga High sophomore Ryan Heshmati brings together a panel of Iranian women to discuss the viability of the movement in Iran in the face of the regime’s brutal crackdown against protesters and to discuss their own activism in the Bay Area. Guests: Ryan Heshmati, Saratoga High School sophomore Shideh, young Iranian immigrant who recently came to the United States for education Persis Karim, poet, essayist and Director for the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies, San Francisco State University Pantea Karimi, Iranian-American artist and teacher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“What ought we to do about great art made by bad men?” That’s the question that undergirds Claire Dederer’s new book “Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma,” which explores whether and how we can love the works of people who’ve committed morally reprehensible acts. Dededer calls her book “an autobiography of the audience” — an effort to make sense of the complicated emotions we feel when engaging with the art of someone we loathe. We talk to Dederer about what it means — and whether it’s possible — to separate the art from the artist. Guests: Claire Dederer, author, "Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cybersecurity underpins our digital lives, and is relevant for all ages – including teens. According to the CDC, teens spend between 7.5 to 9 hours a day on their screens and being mindful of cybersecurity best practices is critical. As part of KQED’s annual Youth Takeover week, Cupertino High senior Rajvi Khanjan Shroff, founder of Project Cyber, a youth-run cybersecurity organization, joins us with a panel of experts she’s brought together to discuss what tips and tricks you can use to protect your devices and digital accounts to become cybersecure. Guests: Sheera Frenkel, technology reporter based in San Francisco, The New York Times; co-author of "An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination" Rinki Sethi, vice president and Chief Information Security Officer, Bill.com Rajvi Khanjan Shroff, high school senior, Cupertino High School; founder, Project Cyber - a cybersecurity organization Riju Parakh, associate director, Global Cybersecurity and Managed Services Methodology Development for Ernst and Young Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that “the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.” But less than a year later, the Supreme Court found itself needing to weigh in on medication abortion access. It decided on Friday to preserve access to mifepristone, a gold standard abortion drug, while lower courts sort out challenges to the FDA’s approval of the drug. We’ll examine where medication abortion access currently stands and what its future could look like. Guests: Shefali Luthra, health reporter covering the intersection of gender and health care, The 19th - an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy Mary Ziegler, professor of law, UC Davis; author, "Dollars for Life: The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Fall of the Republican Establishment" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For decades, a dedicated, but shrinking, contingent of Oakland A’s fans piled into the Coliseum season after season, banging on drums and sporting their green and gold gear with pride. They did so despite the looming possibility that the team would depart. Now that team owners struck a deal to build a stadium in Las Vegas, scores of Oakland A’s fans are feeling stunned, dejected and hurt. The Vegas proposal comes after numerous failed attempts to find a new home in the Bay Area. We’ll talk about how fans are coping and what could happen next in the A’s long and complicated stadium saga. Related articles: The A’s Are A Poison Pill, by Ray Ratto Guests: Ann Killion, sports columnist, San Francisco Chronicle David Peters, member, Howard Terminal Community Benefits Agreement Steering Committee; founder, Black Liberation Walking Tour; 3rd generation West Oakland resident and lifelong Oakland A's fan Melissa Lockard, senior editor and staff writer, The Athletic; founder, the Oakland Clubhouse - a blog that covered Oakland A's prospects; lifelong A's fan Bryan Johansen, co-owner, Last Dive Bar - small business that makes Coliseum-inspired merchandise and puts on events to rally support to keep the A's in Oakland Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Weddings have gone from celebrating the “Big Day” to the “Big Year,” says journalist Annie Atherton. There’s the proposal party, the engagement party, the bachelor and/or bachelorette parties and even, a will-you-be-my-bridesmaid party. It’s all turned into wedding sprawl observes Atherton. While multi-day weddings are common in many cultures, the numerosity of events stretched over a year or more, feels new. Social media and consumerism play some role in the supersizing of weddings. But how can you separate the idea of the wedding you think you’re supposed to have from the one you really want? We’ll talk about how couples, families and guests are handling the modern wedding, and what to do about saying “I do.” Guests: Annie Midori Atherton, freelance writer and author of the recent Atlantic Magazine piece "The Uncontrollable Rise of Wedding Sprawl" Chanda Daniels, wedding planner, A Monique Affair and Chanda Daniels Planning and Design Cele Otnes, professor emerita of business administration, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign - Otnes studies rituals and consumer culture Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the Sony Walkman arrived in 1979 it not only changed the way we experience audio, it also changed the way we experience the world. Suddenly listening was a private experience and everyone with headphones on was experiencing their surroundings with a different soundtrack. Radiolab senior producer Simon Adler created a five part series for the podcast and a new live performance about the transformations spawned by that easy access to audio through the cassette tape and Walkman. We talk with Adler about the impact of the cassette tape across the globe – from opening communist China’s ears to rock and roll through our exported plastic trash to delivering hypnotic self help messages straight to listeners’ souls. What’s a cassette tape that changed your life? Guests: Simon Adler, senior producer, Radiolab Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For 26 years, the Open Library of the San Francisco-based Internet Archive has been preserving millions of books and lending them out freely online. Last month, a federal judge sided with a group of book publishing giants – Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, and Wiley – that sued the nonprofit archive for “mass copyright infringement.” Publishers argued, and the court agreed, that the Open Library provided a way for libraries to avoid paying ebook licensing fees that generate substantial revenue for publishers. Internet Archive, whose mission is to provide “universal access to all knowledge,” said it will appeal the ruling. We’ll talk about the dispute and explore how the lawsuit could set the stage for what book lending looks like in an increasingly digital era. Guests: Brewster Kahle, digital librarian; founder, Internet Archive Sydney Johnson, reporter, KQED News Tyler Ochoa, professor, Santa Clara University School of Law Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I’ve lived nearly all my life with two incompatible ideas in my head,” writes philosophy professor Clancy Martin. “I wish I were dead and I’m glad my suicides failed.” Martin’s new book, “How Not To Kill Yourself,” combines memoir with research to take readers into the mind of a suicidal person. We talk to Martin about what to do if you or a loved one are considering suicide and why it’s important that we push against the stigma that attaches to those who contemplate ending their lives. If you or someone you know is in crisis, you can call or text the national suicide hotline at 988. Guests: Clancy Martin, philosophy professor, University of Missouri, Kansas City; author, “How Not To Kill Yourself: A Portrait of the Suicidal Mind” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Twitter isn’t dead. But it’s getting there,” writes Vox tech reporter Shirin Ghaffary in her new piece describing the chaotic six months since tech billionaire Elon Musk took over the social media platform. NPR and PBS left Twitter last week after Musk misleadingly labeled it “government-funded media,” and more public news organizations, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, followed suit this week. The departures come on top of rising hate speech on the site, major software glitches and new data showing that worldwide Twitter usage is down since Musk took charge. We look at Twitter’s trajectory and hear from you: is Twitter still relevant? Guests: Bobby Allyn, business reporter covering Silicon Valley, NPR Shirin Ghaffary, tech reporter, Vox Shannon McGregor, assistant professor at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The ethics scandal surrounding Justice Clarence Thomas continues to deepen. According to Pro Publica, in the last 20 years, Thomas and his wife have enjoyed numerous luxury vacations and gifts paid for by billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow. And it now appears that Thomas has been reporting rental income from a defunct company. Thomas’ ethics issues are not limited to the acceptance of gifts; his wife Ginni’s political activism and efforts to overturn the 2020 election have also raised questions about Thomas’ ability to hear cases that might touch on those issues. The questions surrounding Thomas come at a time when the public’s faith in the Court is at an all time low. We’ll talk with experts about ethics and the Supreme Court. Guests: Emily Bazelon, staff writer, The New York Times Magazine - She's also a Truman Capote Fellow for Creative Writing and Law at Yale Law School and co-host of Slate's political gabfest. Scott Cummings, Robert Henigson Professor of Legal Ethics, UCLA School of Law - Cummings is the founding faculty director of the UCLA Program on Legal Ethics and the Profession Alex Padilla, U.S. Senator Josh Kaplan, Reporter, Pro Publica - Kaplan is a member of the investigative team that broke the story about gifts and luxury trips taken Justice Clarence Thomas and paid for by a billionaire Republican donor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know that bees have thoughts, memories and personalities? They can count to four, play soccer and feel pain, according to Stephen Buchmann, a pollination ecologist who has studied bees for more than four decades, ever since he was a high school student in Placentia, California. We talk to Buchmann about the internal lives of bees and why the stress they feel may be one reason they’re dying off at alarming rates. Buchman’s new book is “What a Bee Knows.” Guests: Stephen Buchmann, pollination ecologist specializing in bees and an adjunct professor in the departments of Entomology and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona - He is also the author of “What a Bee Knows: Exploring the Thoughts, Memories and Personalities of Bees” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Salmon need cold water to hatch and grow strong enough to embark on migrations that stretch hundreds of miles from their places of birth. In California, dams constructed along various rivers have disrupted traditional salmon runs and are one reason the species has been in decline for decades. And, as climate change makes everything hotter, including the rivers, salmon spawning sites are at risk. This year, the situation became especially dire with numbers reaching near-record lows. In response, the Pacific Fishery Management Council made the drastic decision to cancel the salmon fishing season for 2023. But salmon advocates say that stopping the fishing season won’t fix state water management policies that have favored agriculture over fish habitats. For our next installment of Climate Fix, our monthly series examining global warming and solutions, we’ll talk about how climate change, severe weather and human behavior are exacerbating the challenges California salmon face. Guests: John McManus, Golden State Salmon Association Danielle Venton, science reporter, KQED News Jonathan Rosenfield Ph.D., senior scientist, San Francisco Baykeeper Kasil Willie, staff attorney, Save California Salmon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Katie Porter ran for Congress in 2018 she was “acutely aware” of her shortcomings – that she was a Democrat in Republican Orange County, that she’d never parachuted into combat and even that she hated apple pie. But above all, as she explains in her new memoir, she was far from rich, which came to set her apart from her colleagues in the House where “the privilege of wealth divides ruthlessly.” That perspective, along with her experience as a consumer protection attorney and a single mom of three, has informed how she legislates and the priorities she’s set as she campaigns for a Senate seat. We talk to Rep. Porter about her political and personal lives and her memoir “I Swear: Politics Is Messier Than My Minivan.” Guests: Katie Porter, U.S. representative, 45th district in Orange County; author, "I Swear: Politics is Messier Than My Minivan" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California’s energy future is going to require electricity – a lot more of it. With the push to electrify transportation like cars and trucks and a climate characterized by hotter summers and colder winters, experts say California needs to triple the capacity of the grid by 2050. For the next 10 years alone, California will require 40 billion watts of energy, and to power this new future, the state needs to upgrade old transmission lines and construct new ones. But this is no easy task: Building new lines can take years, even decades – time that the state does not have if it wants to meet its clean energy goals. We’ll talk about what California is doing to build out the infrastructure to keep the lights on and get more electric cars on the road. Guests: Michael Wara, policy director for the Sustainability Accelerator at the Doerr School of Sustainability, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program and senior research scholar at the Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University Nadia Lopez, environmental reporter, Cal Matters Neil Millar, vice president of Infrastructure and Operations Planning, Cal ISO Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This weekend, the NBA Playoffs begin — and this year, for the first time, all four of California’s teams will be playing. The frenzy starts in Northern California on Saturday night, when the Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors start their series. And come Sunday, eyes are on Los Angeles as the Lakers face the Memphis Grizzlies and the Clippers go up against the Phoenix Suns. We’ll talk to sports writers about this history-making postseason, how it came to be and what they’re watching for as the teams battle it out in the coming weeks. We’ll also hear from you: Who’s your team? And what are your predictions heading into the playoffs? Guests: Janie McCauley, sportswriter covering the Golden State Warriors, Associated Press Jeff Zillgitt, NBA reporter, USA TODAY Sports Jordan White, freelance sports writer covering the Sacramento Kings Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Until recently, a persistent narrative about women in hip-hop was that only one can succeed at any given time. But, that wasn’t how the Bay Area rolled, especially in the 1990s as the region’s hip-hop scene flourished. In the early decades of Bay Area rap, artists including Conscious Daughters, Suga T and Mystic established themselves as legends. They also built what they call a sisterhood: They recorded songs together. They showed up for each other’s shows. And they helped their fellow female artists succeed in a cutthroat industry. We’ll talk with women who pioneered Bay Area rap and how they continue to influence the genre today. Guests: Nastia Voynovskaya, associate editor, KQED Arts Carla “CMG” Green, one half of The Conscious Daughters, an American female hip hop duo from the Bay Area "SUGA-T" Tenina Stevens, rapper and singer from Vallejo, California. She is a founding member of The Click, a rap group that also includes her brothers E-40 and D-Shot and her cousin B-Legit. She is also an actress, speaker, business owner and nonprofit executive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jury selection begins on Thursday in Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News, more than two years after Dominion filed its $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit arguing that Fox knowingly broadcast false information about its voting machines and software. In a pretrial ruling, the Delaware Superior Court judge overseeing the case determined that it was “crystal clear” that Fox’s statements about Dominion were false. Nevertheless, misinformation about the voting machines has already taken hold in California: Shasta County has canceled its contract with Dominion and plans to hand-count future elections. We look at the law and politics of the Dominion case and its impact in the state. Guests: Jeremy W. Peters, reporter covering the media and its intersection with politics, culture and law, The New York Times; author, "Insurgency: How Republicans Lost Their Party and Got Everything They Ever Wanted" Roman Battaglia, reporter, Jefferson Public Radio Jessica Levinson, professor of law, Loyola Law School; host, the podcast “Passing Judgment” Tommy Gong, deputy county clerk-recorder, Contra Costa County Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeanne Manford was an elementary school teacher and hardly an activist. But she had a gay son, Morty, who she loved fiercely. In 1972, the two of them walked together in a New York City gay pride parade, and Manford held a sign that read “Parents of Gays: Unite In Support for Our Children.” It was a revolutionary act. At that time same-sex attraction was classified as a mental illness, and “homosexual acts” were illegal in 49 states. But Manford insisted on publicly loving and accepting her son, and with her husband Jules and son, she founded an organization inviting other parents to do the same. That organization, Parents, Family, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays or PFLAG celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. We look at the impact these families’ activism has had and we hear from you. What does it mean to support those you love? What does it take? Guests: Kathryn Schulz, staff writer, New Yorker. Schulz's most recent piece for the New Yorker, "How One Mother’s Love for Her Gay Son Started a Revolution," chronicles the founding of PFLAG. Schulz is also the author of "Lost & Found: A Memoir" Avril Swan, granddaughter of PFLAG founder Jeanne Manford. Swan is a physician and practices in San Francisco Lilith Rose, former executive director and current program director, San Francisco PFLAG chapter Susan Thronson, board president, PFLAG National Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2018, six children — Ciera, Abigail, Jeremiah, Devonte, Hannah and Markis — were murdered by their adoptive parents, Jennifer and Sarah Hart, who also committed suicide when they drove their family off of a cliff in Mendocino. The Harts were white; their adopted children were Black and mixed race. Much of the news coverage focused on the Harts, their motivations and history. But a new book by journalist Roxanna Asgarian traces the murdered children’s stories through the perspectives of their birth families. We’ll hear those stories along with the failures of the foster and adoptive systems they expose from Asgarian, whose book is titled “We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America.” Guests: Roxanna Asgarian, law and courts reporter, The Texas Tribune; author, “We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ramen shops have popped up all over the Bay Area dishing out bowls of the classic Japanese comfort food. But members of the Japanese diaspora have long been disappointed by the offerings here. The broth is a little thin. The noodles can be a bit meh. Many wonder why their favorite dish to cure a hangover isn’t as good as what they can get standing at the bar of a ramen shop located on the platform of a Tokyo train station. The desire for a better bowl of ramen has propelled a handful of Bay Area residents to try their hand at improving on the dish by making a better noodle or changing up the recipe for the broth. In our latest edition of All You Can Eat, our series on Bay Area food cultures with KQED food editor Luke Tsai, we’ll talk about innovations in ramen and where you can find the best slurp around. What’s your favorite ramen restaurant? Guests: Clint Tan, founder and owner, Noodle in a Haystack Luke Tsai , food editor, KQED Arts & Culture Shotaro Uchida, founder and owner, Iseya Craft Noodle Kayoko Akabori, founder and owner, Umami Mart Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I experience your wounds as if they were my own,” reads the last line of Clint Smith’s poem “Nociception.” Directed to a child, it explains that just as a sea creature that loses an appendage feels discomfort across its entire body, so does a parent whose child is in pain. The poem is part of Smith’s new collection “Above Ground,” which also celebrates the joy, wonder and even occasional absurdity of being a parent. We talk to Smith about his poetry and what he calls the “simultaneity of the human experience:” our capacity to hold fear and anxiety alongside joy and awe. Guests: Clint Smith, poet and staff writer, The Atlantic - His new collection of poetry is "Above Ground." His previous books include "How the Word is Passed." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Life expectancy rates in the United States have been falling for some time even though the country has one of the highest standards of living on the planet. According to a recent column in the Financial Times, what’s really mind blowing is how those declines compare with other industrialized nations like Britain. The average American can expect to live to age 65 – a life expectancy similar to the poorest people in England. One key difference: more Americans are dying young due in part to rising opioid use, car accidents, and gun violence. We’ll talk about why Americans fare so much worse than people in other developed countries and what can be done to help more people live longer. Guests: Dr. Tony Iton, senior vice president of Healthy Communities, The California Endowment - lecturer, Health Policy & Management, UC Berkeley School of Public Health; former director, Alameda County Public Health Department John Burn-Murdoch, columnist, Financial Times Jessica Y. Ho, associate professor of Sociology and Demography, The Pennsylvania State University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mobility is “the harmonious convergence of all the elements that allow you to move freely and effortlessly through space and life,” write San Francisco CrossFit cofounders Juliet and Kelly Starrett. But our desk-bound, screen-dominated modern life constrains mobility, leaving our joints stiff, our muscles achy and our minds on edge. Being able to move the way we want, how and when we want, can’t be achieved by just working out or stretching, they argue. Beyond exercise and pilates, mobility requires an awareness of our bodies, their ranges of motion, and how to maximize that range to move easily and painlessly today and decades from now. Juliet and Kelly Starrett join us to talk about their new book and why all bodies are “Built to Move.” Guests: Kelly Starrett, co-founder, The Ready State and San Francisco CrossFit; author, "BUILT TO MOVE: The Ten Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully" Juliet Starrett, CEO and co-founder, The Ready State; co-founder, San Francisco CrossFit; author, "BUILT TO MOVE: The Ten Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California has been pummeled by storms in recent months, but the benefit of that never-ending rain cloud is all the makings for a beautiful Bay Area spring. Rivers are gushing, wildflowers are blooming, mushrooms are sprouting and waterfalls are tumbling in places they haven’t been seen in years, We’ll talk to a panel of nature-lovers about what to look for and the best places to see the glories of spring. Guests: Radhika Thekkath, president, Santa Clara Valley chapter of the California Native Plant Society Tracy Salcedo, outdoor guide author, has written multiple books about hiking in California, including “Hiking Waterfalls Northern California: A Guide to the Region's Best Waterfall Hikes.” Brad Day, publisher, Weekendsherpa.com - A free weekly e-mail about accessible outdoor adventures in the Bay Area. J.R. Blair, amateur mycologist and retired lecturer in Biology at San Francisco State University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2024 presidential election is more than 18 months away. Yet it started months ago: not with Donald Trump’s announcement that he’s running again, but behind the scenes with the leaderships of the Republican and Democratic National Committees fighting it out amongst themselves for power and primacy. That’s the focus of the newest season of the New York Times’ podcast, “The Run-Up.” Host Astead Herndon joins to talk about how party leadership is gearing up for the next election and what’s at stake. And we’ll hear from you: Does your political party and its leadership represent your views? Guests: Astead Herndon, national political reporter, New York Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For as long as rock climbing has existed, women have been pushing the limits on the wall. And they’ve done so without being properly recognized. But in the last decades, female climbing spaces have become more commonplace, helping climbers reach their full potential and demonstrating that climbing, unlike most popular sports, allows both women and men to perform at the same levels. Forum talks with female climbers about the gender neutrality of the sport, its physical and mental demands, and how more female climbers are closing the gender gap. Guests: Cloe Coscoy, climber, USA National Team Jessie Conrad, lead route setter, Bridges Climbing Gym Emily Taylor, founder and director, TayloredFit Solutions and Brown Girls Climbing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

About 16 million Americans – or about 1 in 20 U.S. adults – own at least one AR-15, making it the best-selling rifle in the United States. It’s also among the most lethal: ten of the 17 deadliest U.S. mass shootings in the last decade have involved AR-15s, according to “American Icon,” a new investigation by the Washington Post. We talk about why the AR-15, originally designed as a lightweight combat weapon, has risen to mass market dominance over the last two decades and why it’s remained free from congressional scrutiny. Guests: Mark Follman, national affairs editor, Mother Jones; author, "Trigger Points: Inside the Mission to Stop Mass Shootings in America" Peter Wallsten, senior national investigations editor, Washington Post Silvia Foster-Frau, multiculturalism reporter, Washington Post Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With rising inflation, downtowns that are yet to fully reopen and regional bank failures, it may seem that there is not a lot of good economic news to report right now. But according to Katherine S. Newman and Elisabeth S. Jacobs, the authors of a new book, “Moving the Needle,” there is a major economic success story in the tight labor markets of recent years which helped bring the truly disadvantaged out of poverty. Newman and Jacobs say that low unemployment has not only increased wages, it has also changed employers’ minds about hiring the formerly incarcerated, the value of a minimum wage, and the importance of flexible schedules. We’ll talk about how the policies applied during periods of low unemployment can make a difference when economic times get tough. Guests: Katherine S. Newman, provost and executive vice president, Academic Affairs, University of California; co-author, "Moving the Needle: What Tight Labor Markets Do for the Poor" Elisabeth S. Jacobs, senior fellow, Urban Institute Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population; co-author, " Moving the Needle: What Tight Labor Markets Do for the Poor." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi, spanning what is now Kings, Tulare and Kern Counties before it was drained a century ago, Tulare Lake is on the verge of returning. Swelled by recent storms, it has inundated farmland, threatened cities, forced evacuations, disrupted livelihoods and reignited long-standing water wars. With record snow in the Sierra Nevada yet to run off, there’s more water coming. We’ll talk about what the re-emergence of Tulare Lake means for the region and the state. Guests: Karla Nemeth, director, California Department of Water Resources Lois Henry, editor and CEO, SJV Water - an independent, nonprofit news site covering water in the San Joaquin Valley Doug Verboon, district 3 supervisor, Kings County Board of Supervisors Kayode Kadara, community leader, Allensworth - in southwest Tulare County Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Residents of Martinez woke up the morning after Thanksgiving last year to find a white powder coating their neighborhoods. About a week later, county health officials announced it was a toxic release from Martinez Refining Co. and, after another several weeks, residents were told not to eat any food grown in their soil. Now, on Wednesday, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District will present the Martinez City council with its report on where the two tons of “spent catalyst” landed. Forum talks with residents and officials about their quest to get answers and accountability, and the uneasy relationship between the area’s refineries and the neighbors who share their air. Guests: Heidi Taylor, resident of Martinez Charles Davidson, Sunflower Alliance Matt Kaufmann, deputy director, Contra Costa Health Services Ori Tzvieli, health officer, Contra Costa County Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“In Indian Country, everybody seems to know somebody who’s gone missing or been murdered,” begins LA Times reporter Hannah Wiley’s reporting on the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in California. The Sovereign Bodies Institute reports that at least 183 indigenous women and girls have disappeared or were murdered in California, a figure it says could be many times higher owing to incomplete data. Their disappearances are part of the legacy of anti-Indigenous violence, experts say, and perpetuate cycles of generational trauma. We hear how Northern California’s Yurok Tribe is addressing the crisis and trying to achieve justice for those who have disappeared in their own community and nationwide. Guests: Hannah Wiley, politics reporter, Los Angeles Times Honorable Abby Abinanti, chief judge, the Yurok Tribal Court Blythe K. George, associate professor of sociology, UC Merced; member of the Yurok Tribe Chief Greg O'Rourke, chief of police, Yurok Tribal Police Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When he was named San Francisco Poet Laureate in 2021, Tongo Eisen Martin said, “I want to push even further into places where poetry has not yet permeated.” He’s taken poetry to youth in homeless shelters, group homes and psych wards. Using poetry as a means to bring power, beauty and truth to more people is a goal that unites several poets and poet laureates joining Forum to mark the beginning of National Poetry Month. Forum wants to celebrate your favorite contemporary poets and find out how poetry shows up in your life. Join us for a conversation with poets about poetry. Guests: Tongo Eisen-Martin , San Francisco Poet Laureate Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, Artistic Director, The Lower Bottom Playaz - artist, activist and Poet Laureate of Oakland Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, poet and author of the poetry collection, "Cenzontle" and the memoir, "Children of the Land" Leticia del Toro, poet and educator - recently released the collection of poems, “All We Are Told Not to Touch” Lee Herrick , Poet Laureate of California Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As America gradually becomes a cashless society, credit card rewards programs have become increasingly popular, offering to give consumers back a portion of what they spend in the form of points to be used on flights or hotel stays, or cash back. To pay for these rewards, credit card companies have raised the fees they charge merchants for every credit card transaction, and merchants in turn pass that increased cost onto customers by raising prices. These higher prices impact all consumers, but only those with credit cards, on average wealthier than those without, enjoy the resulting benefits. We talk about this system where those without credit cards foot the bill for the rest. Guests: Chenzi Xu, assistant professor of finance, Stanford Graduate School of Business Aaron Klein, chair and senior fellow in economic studies, Brookings Institution; former deputy assistant secretary for economic policy, the Department of Treasury (2009-2012) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Quentin is the oldest and most notorious prison in California. It’s home to the largest death row in the nation, housing infamous criminals including Charles Manson. But Governor Gavin Newsom has a new vision for the institution, renamed the “San Quentin Rehabilitation Center”. Under his plan the nearly 550 condemned inmates would move to other maximum security facilities in the state. With a proposed initial infusion of $20 million San Quentin would aim to increase its rehabilitation programming 10 fold and incorporate methods used in Scandinavian countries to normalize life, emphasize support over punishment and prepare inmates for their eventual return to society. Forum talks about the governor’s transformative vision and the challenges in making it happen. Guests: Anita Chabria, columnist, Los Angeles Times Tinisch Hollins, executive director, Californians for Safety and Justice; co-founder, SF Black Wall Street; Vice Chair, SF African-Americans Reparations Advisory Committee Thanh Tran, policy associate, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Manhattan grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump on charges believed to be related to illegal payments his team made to porn star Stormy Daniels to stay silent about her alleged affair with the then-president. This is the first time in U.S. history a former president has been charged with a crime. We'll analyze the latest and hear your reactions. Guests: Josh Meyer, domestic security correspondent, USA Today Mike Madrid, co-founder, The Lincoln Project - a group of Republicans seeking to prevent the re-election of President Donald Trump; political consultant and partner, GrassrootsLab Congressman Adam Schiff, Democratic Congressman, representing California's 28th District, in Los Angeles County; former chair, House Intelligence Committee and member of 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