KQED's Forum

The potent synthetic opioid fentanyl causes on average one death in the United States every seven minutes — more than die by car accidents, guns or suicide. Fentanyl is cheap and easy to mass produce and smuggle; when added to drugs like cocaine and heroin, it can cause people to overdose quickly, before they even realize they’ve ingested it at all. That’s all according to a new seven-part Washington Post investigation called “Cartel RX.” We’ll talk to the reporters behind the series about what’s driving fentanyl’s “catastrophic surge” in the U.S. and how experts think we can begin to turn the tide. Guests: Nick Miroff, reporter covering the Department of Homeland Security, Washington Post Scott Higham, investigative reporter, The Washington Post Sari Horwitz, investigative reporter, The Washington Post Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When people say publishing is a dying industry, Brad Johnson begs to differ. East Bay Booksellers, which Johnson owns, had its best sales in the store’s history during the past two years. So, it’s fair to say that in some pockets of the world, and particularly in Oakland, books are very much still a thing. And, as the world opened up, people are not only enjoying solitary reading time, but have returned to filling seats at literary readings and in-person book festivals. As the year comes to a close, we’ll talk to booksellers like Johnson, critics and writers about the books that we couldn’t put down. Guests: Brad Johnson, owner, East Bay Booksellers in Oakland Anita Felicelli, editor, Alta Journal‘s California Book Club; 2022-2023 fiction chair, the National Book Critics Circle board; author, "Chimerica: A Novel" and the short story collection "Love Songs for a Lost Continent" Vauhini Vara, author, "The Immortal King Rao;" former business editor, NewYorker.com; former reporter, the Wall Street Journal in San Francisco Carlos Lozada, opinion columnist, New York Times; author, “What Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era;" former nonfiction book critic, The Washington Post. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s tempting to discard a carton of milk or a loaf of bread once it’s passed its “best by” date. But that “expiration” date only means that food is no longer at its freshest – it’s still perfectly safe to eat. Every year, Americans toss millions of pounds of edible food into landfills, contributing to climate change and exacerbating food insecurity issues. We’ll talk with food waste experts about how to interpret expiration dates and make the most of the surplus in our food system. Guests: Dana Gunders, executive director, ReFED; author, "Waste Free Kitchen Handbook" Yasmin Tayag, staff writer, The Atlantic Diana Lara, executive director, Food Finders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For some committed couples, years of living in close quarters during the pandemic prompted a search for a different marital model: Living Apart Together. These couples want to stay together, just not in the same home. While the percentage of Americans who are married has declined from 2000 to 2019, the percentage of couples living apart has risen by 25%. Now, it’s estimated that nearly four million Americans are married but living in separate households. Sometimes it’s because of their jobs or other circumstances. But often, particularly for women and older couples, living apart together is a choice that allows for agency and autonomy. We’ll hear about how it works, and whether being apart is the solution for staying together. Guests: Kelly Coyne, freelance journalist, New York Times article "The Wife Left, but They're Still Together;" PhD candidate in the Department of Radio/TV/Film, Northwestern University; professor in the Department of English, Georgetown University Vicki Larson, journalist, Marin Independent Journal; author, "Not Too Old for That: How Women Are Changing the Story of Aging" and "The New 'I Do';" forthcoming book about Living Apart Together Sherrie Sims Allen, psychologist and relationship expert Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A sunset over the Bay, pregnancy news, a stroll through a flea market, and a conversation about the meaning of love. Those are some of the memories writers and editors from KQED Arts &Culture wrote about for the 2022 series called “One Beautiful Thing”. This year certainly had its hardships, including three years of living with the coronavirus pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, mass shootings, and of course, the mundane demands of life. And yet, it also held moments of beauty, resilience, and gratitude. We’ll talk about the KQED series and we want to hear from you about One Beautiful Thing you experienced in the past year. Guests: Pendarvis "Pen" Harshaw, columnist, KQED Arts & Culture; host, KQED's "Rightnowish" podcast Kristie Song, intern, KQED Arts & Culture - wrote the Fall Book Guide Gabe Meline, senior editor, KQED Arts & Culture Thea Matthews, poet, educator, and speaker of African and Indigenous Mexican descent born and raised on Ohlone land, San Francisco Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Soccer can unite a country, but in Iran women cannot even enter the national stadium. For decades they’ve been banned from attending games, and by extension, says podcast host Shima Oliaee, they’ve been banned from standing side by side as equal Iranians. We talk to Oliaee about her new podcast “Pink Card,” all about the women who’ve fought to take their stadiums back and the profound connections between soccer, feminism and freedom. Guests: Shima Oliaee, host and creator, the podcasts "Pink Card," "Dolly Parton’s America," and "The Vanishing of Harry Pace." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back when there was no TikTok, Instagram or social media, there was a concept known as “polite conversation” that defined what you could or should say in public. Now, many people feel freer to share stories about their lives. But has it gone too far? Where is the line between bringing our authentic selves into a conversation and “trauma dumping?” We’ll talk about why and how norms surrounding what’s okay to share have shifted and how to manage them. Guests: Thea Monyee, licensed marriage and family therapist; founder, MarleyAyo, a creative wellness consulting company. Michael Waters, freelance journalist, recent Atlantic article "The Decline of Etiquette and the Rise of 'Boundaries.'" Lizzie Post, a great-great-granddaughter of Emily Post; co-author, "Emily Post's Etiquette: The Centennial Edition"; co-president, The Emily Post Institute (Vermont). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 117th Congress concludes on January 3, and for lawmakers the race is on to broker deals and send bills to President Biden’s desk. This year, eyes are on the spending and defense bills, including proposals to reform the Electoral Count Act and streamline permitting for green energy projects. We’ll get the latest and analyze Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s run for House Speaker and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s party change, and we’ll hear what you think Congress should prioritize in this lame duck session. Guests: Catie Edmondson, congressional correspondent, The New York Times. Claudia Grisales, congressional correspondent, NPR. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act this week in a flashy White House Ceremony that included performances by pop stars Sam Smith and Cyndi Lauper. The president called deciding who to marry “one of the most profound decisions a person can make.” But marriage equality has had a relatively short history in America. Gay marriage was legalized less than a decade ago and has come under attack this year with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas indicating that it could be ruled unconstitutional in the future. We talk about the state of marriage equality in America and other rights the LGBTQ+ community continues to strive for. Guests: Andreana Clay, professor and chair, Department of Sociology and Sexuality Studies, San Francisco State University. Katherine Franke, professor of law and director of the Center for Gender & Sexuality Law, Columbia University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you an AFOL who builds MOCs? If that sentence made sense to you, chances are you are an Adult Fan of LEGO who likes to build My Own Creations. About 80 million children around the world receive a LEGO set each year, but among LEGO fans, adults can be the most passionate. And it is adult consumers who propelled LEGO from near bankruptcy in the early 2000s to become the most profitable toy company in the world. We’ll talk to LEGO experts and artists and hear from you: whether it's car, a rainbow or a 4,103-piece Star Wars Death Star, what’s your best LEGO creation? Guests: Christine "Tacos" Blandino, founder, Powered by Tacos, which offers Lego engineering classes for students K-8 - Blandino was also a contestant on Season 3 of LEGO Masters, a competition show that airs on Fox and Hulu. Nathan Sawaya, artist, Sawaya uses LEGO in his contemporary art pieces, which can be seen in the Art of the Brick exhibit traveling across the country Daryl Austin, freelance journalist, Austin wrote the recent Wall Street Journal article "Companies are Building Camaraderie with Legos" Annemarie Conte, editor of Wirecutter, New York Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the holiday season and, for some of us, it’s best spent lightly dusted in flour and sprinkles. We’re talking about holiday baking: gingerbread, buche de noel, rugelach, stollen, buñuelos, and piles and piles of sugar cookies. What’s your favorite holiday dessert to make, eat or give as a gift? Guests: Anna Voloshyna, chef, blogger and culinary instructor, author of "Budmo! Recipes from a Ukrainian Kitchen" Jessica Battilana, staff editor, King Arthur Baking Company, author of the cookbook "Repertoire: All The Recipes You Need" Esteban Castillo, foodblogger and author of the cookbook "Chicano Bakes: Recipes for Mexican Pan Dulce, Tamales, and My Favorite Desserts" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The newest artificial intelligence sensation, OpenAI’s language model ChatGPT, can teach physics, write in verse and even compose a convincing letter from Santa Claus. Trained on billions of written words ranging from online message boards to classic literature, ChatGPT can also hold respectably intelligent – even witty– conversations, all the while refining its accuracy and style with constant user feedback. But critics say the technology can enable cheating and amplify falsehoods. We’ll talk about the potential uses and abuses of ChatGPT. Guests: Nitasha Tiku, tech culture reporter, Washington Post Kevin Roose, technology columnist, New York Times Daniel Herman, high-school teacher and author of the Atlantic article, "The End of High-School English" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The end of the year invariably means lists upon lists of best-ofs.. “Best music” could mean songs you kept on repeat, those best-selling tracks you couldn’t avoid, or the tunes that touched your heart in ways nothing else could. For some, it was the mega-hits such as Bad Bunny’s “Titi Me Pregunto,” Harry Styles’ “As it Was” or Beyonce’s “Break My Soul.” For other listeners, it was local stars like Zyah Belle, Mistah F.A.B. or Brijean. We’ll take a beat to appreciate the music that tickled our eardrums in 2022. Guests: Nastia Voynovskaya, associate editor, KQED Arts Suzy Exposito, music reporter, Los Angeles Times Adrian Spinelli, new music columnist, San Francisco Chronicle; staff writer, Uproxx Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Parasites: they’re seen as blood suckers, freeloaders and the worst kind of groupies, writes parasitologist Scott Gardner. And though they can be dangerous, they’re also "unseen influencers," essential to food webs and in some cases even beneficial to human health. We learn about the surprising world of parasites with Gardner, whose new book is “Parasites: The Inside Story.” Guests: Scott Gardner, professor of biological sciences and Curator of Parasites, H.W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology, University of Nebraska; author, "Parasites: The Inside Story" Henry M. Wu, associate professor of medicine and infectious diseases specialist, Emory University School of Medicine; director, the Emory TravelWell Center Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Paul Austin and Tenisha Tate-Austin got an appraisal on their Marin City house that seemed unusually low, they took down art and photos that identified them as Black and asked a white friend to pose as the homeowner with a new appraiser. That appraisal came back nearly half-million dollars higher. Stories like this led ABC7 race and culture reporter Julian Glover to investigate bias in home appraisals. His one and a half year investigation found widespread undervaluing of Black and Latino people’s homes nationwide. We’ll talk to Julian Glover about his documentary, Lowballed. Guests: Julian Glover, ABC7 news anchor and race & social justice reporter, executive producer of “Our America: Lowballed" Paul Austin, Marin City homeowner featured in documentary, "Lowballed" Julia Howard-Gibson, Supervising Attorney with the Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California Dominique Curtis, licensed residential appraiser and realtor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back in 1989 the Los Angeles Times reported that karaoke, then a relatively obscure feature of the urban bar scene, was “beginning to make a big splash with Los Angeles-area yuppies.” Three decades later, karaoke is mainstream, and there’s a new Los Angeles Times project: The Ultimate Guide to Finding Your Go-To Karaoke Songs. We’ll learn more and hear what you like to perform and where, and why we love singing along to little lyrics on a neon-colored screen. Related link(s): The Ultimate Guide to Finding Your Go-To Karaoke Songs Guests: Ada Tseng, assistant editor on the Utility Journalism team, Los Angeles Times. Kiki Park, KJ (Karaoke DJ) in West LA. Hannah Glass, music analyst in rap and hip-hop, Pandora. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the pandemic, many customers began tipping more to support workers. The standard 15% tip edged up to 20% or even 30% for dining out, haircuts or food delivery. But now that prices forjust about everything are spiking, many consumers are finding that they need to pull back and some are questioning why tip jars seem to be everywhere now, even in places that are self-serve. We examine tipflation and tipping fatigue. And we want to hear from you: how do you determine who and how much to tip these days? If you work in a service job, what are your expectations for tips and how has that changed? Guests: Holona LeAnne Ochs, professor, Lehigh University; co-author, "Gratuity: A Contextual Understanding of Tipping Norms from the Perspective of Tipped Employees." Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst, Bankrate. Sara Morrison, senior reporter, Recode by Vox; author of the recent article, "Everyone wants a tip now. Do you have to give them one?" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Duke Energy said it hoped to fully restore power to North Carolina residents by Wednesday night, after shootings at two electrical substations over the weekend shuttered schools and businesses and left thousands of people in the dark. The shootings, which investigators are calling deliberate, are for Californians bringing to mind the 2013 sniper attacks on a PG&E substation near San Jose that led federal regulators to adopt new rules to protect critical facilities. We’ll look at how vulnerable our state and national power grid is to physical attack, and why. Guests: Jon Wellinghoff, CEO and founder, GridPolicy Consulting; former chair, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under President Obama. Juliette Kayyem, faculty chair of the Homeland Security and Security and Global Health Projects, Harvard Kennedy School; former assistant secretary, Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security under President Obama; author, "The Devil Never Sleeps: Learning to Live in an Age of Disasters." Dan Brekke, editor and reporter, KQED News. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2003, McSweeney’s, the San Francisco-based literary quarterly, published the first issue of a new monthly magazine called “The Believer.” The graphic-rich journal focused on elevating new writers, publishing poetry, long-form journalism and quirky stories and was nominated for a raft of magazine awards. But hard times led to its sale, and through various twists and turns, the magazine’s website was sold to a media company that tried to turn it into a less than literary clickbait factory. This story, however, has a happy ending that is a new beginning: After a successful Kickstarter campaign, McSweeney’s has bought back “The Believer.” We’ll talk to the editors about the first new issue, and what they hope for the magazine’s resurrection. Guests: Vendela Vida, founding editor, The Believer; author of six books, including "We Run the Tides," "Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name" and "The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty;" founding board member, 826 Valencia. Heidi Julavits, founding editor, The Believer; author of "The Folded Clock: A Diary," as well as four critically acclaimed novels; co-editor, New York Times bestseller "Women in Clothes;" her memoir, "Directions to Myself," is forthcoming in 2023. Daniel Gumbiner, editor, The Believer; Gumbiner's first book, "The Boatbuilder," was nominated for the National Book Award and a finalist for the California Book Awards. Ed Park, founding editor, The Believer; author, "Personal Days" and forthcoming "Same Bed Different Dreams." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There were worldwide box office hits and record-makers, like the follow-ups to “Jurassic World,” “Doctor Strange” and — of course — “Top Gun.” There were movies that quickly developed dedicated fan bases, like “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” “RRR” and “Tár.” And there are the year-enders: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” has been number one at theaters these past four weekends, and the sequel to box office history-maker “Avatar” is releasing this month. We’ll talk about the 2022 films that captured audiences and hear your favorites of the year. Guests: Kristen Meinzer, co-host of the podcast Movie Therapy with Rafer and Kristen Jackson Kim Murphy, associate news editor, Variety Dave Schilling, contributing writer, LA Times Image Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Singer and songwriter Valerie June defies genre – she can be a little country and a little rock and roll and there’s also folk, blues, soul, Appalachian and a sound that’s downright ethereal. But her music is all her own, she’s called it, "organic moonshine roots music," and it’s beautiful. She joins us to play a few songs on her banjolele and to talk about her latest album "The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers," her West Tennessee roots, her poems and her new children’s book, "Somebody to Love." Guests: Valerie June, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist; author of the new children's book "Somebody to Love" - and a recent book of poetry, "Maps for the Modern World" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent years, companies like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat have introduced plant-based hamburgers that look and feel like the real thing and plant-based chicken nuggets that pass the kid test. Now companies are looking to grow meat from real animals in labs, and the FDA has approved lab-grown meat as safe for human consumption. Although Americans consume on average 250 pounds of meat per person a year and another 20 pounds of fish or shellfish, more Americans are identifying as vegetarian or vegan. So the race is on to find alternative meats that might capture their palates and pocketbooks. We’ll talk about where alternative meats are headed and whether they’re good for us and the planet. Guests: Laura Reiley, Business of Food reporter, Washington Post David Julian McClements, Distinguished professor, Food Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; author, "Future Foods: How Modern Science is Transforming the Way We Eat" Amy Chen, COO, Upside Foods, manufacturer of cultivated meats based in Emeryville Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fans all over the globe are tuning into the World Cup, arguably the single most popular sporting event in the world. Still, this year’s tournament in Qatar has stirred backlash surrounding corruption and human rights abuses. And while America’s most beloved squads – Mexico’s El Tri and the U.S. Men – both washed out of the competition, millions of spectators remain captivated by the saga of Argentina’s Lionel Messi. Could a World Cup victory cap off his extraordinary career? We take stock of the cup so far and how fans are reacting to what’s happening on and off the field. Guests: Paul Tenorio, senior writer covering soccer, The Atlantic Sarath Ganji, foreign policy and communications expert Amelia Lopez, writer and digital content creator, FutMexNation; soccer analyst and co-host, The Mexican Soccer Show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Children's hospitals throughout California are straining under an unusually high number of patients with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common childhood respiratory infection that can in some cases cause pneumonia and other serious lung ailments. We’ll talk about what’s behind the surge in cases and how to keep young kids and other vulnerable populations safe, and we’ll assess the threat of an RSV, COVID and flu “tripledemic” in the state as winter approaches. Guests: Peter Chin-Hong, infectious disease specialist, UCSF Medical Center Erica Pan, California State Epidemiologist, California Department of Public Health John Zweifler, public health physician, Fresno County Department of Public Health Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do a retired teacher, a wetland scientist, former investigative reporter and a scout leader have in common? They are all part of the next wave of local leadership stepping in as mayors of four Bay Area cities. We’ll talk with the mayor-elects of Richmond, Martinez, Belmont and Fairfield about the perspectives they bring on housing, public transit, climate change, and other critical issues. Guests: Brianne Zorn, current city councilmember and mayor-elect, Martinez Eduardo Martinez, mayor-elect, Richmond Catherine "Cat" Moy, mayor-elect, Fairfield Julia Mates, mayor, Belmont Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

True crime. Gossip. Niche sports. Deep-dive history. The podcasts that have critics and podcasters hooked in 2022 vary. But what makes a good podcast in today’s saturated and corporate-shaped landscape? We’ll hear from a panel of podcast lovers about the shows that made them turn on episode notifications. And we want to hear from you: Whether your Spotify Wrapped called it your top podcast of 2022 or it’s what you play when you can’t sleep, we hear about your favorite podcasts this year. Guests: Wil Williams, CEO, Hughouse Productions. Ronald Young Jr. , audio producer and storyteller, Senior Producer/Owner, ohitsBigRon studios; host, "Leaving the Theater" podcast. Skye Pillsbury, author, The Squeeze newsletter which reports on the podcast industry Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Remember the playground chants, the jump rope songs, the weird little games you played as a kid that were part of your secret kid world? Scholars have a name for it: childlore. You might imagine, given all the differences between kids—country, culture, class, race, media consumption—that this childlore might be vastly different from place to place. But the strange thing is, many of the little things kids say and do, or draw in their notebooks, are remarkably similar across time and place. We’ll talk about the things kids do across cultures and how they spread and evolve. Guests: Julie Beck, senior editor, The Atlantic; author of the article, “Why Did We All Have the Same Childhood?” Rebekah Willett, professor at the Information School, University of Wisconsin at Madison Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a remarkable display of discontent not seen since the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, protesters across China have taken to the streets demanding an end to the country’s stringent zero-Covid policy. At the outset of the pandemic, China adopted a policy of quarantining and locking down its citizens to prevent the spread of Covid. But while most of the world has moved on to treat Covid as endemic, China’s president Xi Jinping, who was confirmed in October for an unprecedented third term, has stuck to its zero-Covid policy. Demonstrators argue that the policy has placed an extraordinary burden on citizens, and they are demanding not just the end to the restrictions, but also Xi’s resignation, a call that is politically sensitive in a nation where dissent is regularly quashed. We’ll talk about the protests and what impact they might have in changing China’s Covid policy and its future. Guests: Kerry Allen, China media analyst, BBC. Victor Shih, chair in China and Pacific Relations, University of California, San Diego. Nancy Qian, James J. O’Connor professor of Economics, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management; founder, Kellogg’s China Research Lab and China Econ Lab, an independent international organization that promotes research about the Chinese economy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“This brutalization of Ukraine's people is barbaric." Those were Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s words Wednesday for Russian President Vladimir Putin, a day after the United States announced a new round of aid to rebuild Ukraine’s decimated energy infrastructure. Guardian foreign correspondent Luke Harding, who’s been reporting from inside Ukraine since last December, has written what he hopes is a “first draft of history” -- a recounting of the origins and human toll of Russia’s now nine-month-old assault. His new book is “Invasion: The Inside Story of Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival.” Guests: Luke Harding, foreign correspondent, The Guardian; author, "Invasion: The inside Story of Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's Fight for Survival." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel Aston, Kelly Loving, Derrick Rump, Ashley Paugh and Raymond Green Vance. They were the five people gunned down when a shooter entered an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado last weekend and opened fire, in a terrifying massacre that also injured 22. LGBTQ advocates had been warning that a mass killing would follow the Pulse nightclub shooting six years ago, citing alarming increases in violence against transgender and non-binary people and rising anti-trans and anti-queer legislation and rhetoric. We’ll hear how LGBTQ+ communities in Colorado Springs, nationwide and here in California are responding and coping in the aftermath. Guests: Jo Yurcaba, reporter, NBC Out, the LGBTQ section of NBC News. Elizabeth Pixie, friend of Daniel Aston, who was killed in the Colorado Springs Club Q shooting. Nick Vargas, director of development and strategy, The Source LGBT+ Center in Visalia, CA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chef Tanya Holland’s new cookbook – like her family – is rooted in the people and the food of the historical migration from the South to the West. Holland, legendary for her former West Oakland soul food restaurant Brown Sugar Kitchen, weaves recipes with stories of California’s Black culinary pioneers and food industry entrepreneurs in her new cookbook, “California Soul: Recipes from a Culinary Journey West”. We talk with her about the stories that food holds and her California Soul. Guests: Tanya Holland, author, "California Soul" and "Brown Sugar Kitchen: New-Style, Down-Home Recipes from Sweet West Oakland;" host, "Tanya's Kitchen Table" on the Opra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twitter's volatile new owner Elon Musk accused Apple of censorship on Monday, claiming it had threatened to "withhold" the social media platform from its App Store. The apparent feud comes as Twitter reels from an advertiser exodus and mass layoffs that have gutted content moderation and other key teams. We take stock of Twitter in the month since Musk gained control. Guests: Mike Isaac, technology correspondent, New York Times; author, “Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber” Shira Ovide, author of the Tech Friend newsletter, The Washington Post Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The San Francisco Bay is the largest estuary in Western North America and a key link in the 4,000-mile Pacific Flyway, one of the primary migratory routes used by birds to move north and south across the continent. It’s a place where birds come to rest and refuel for their long trip, or breed and nest the next generation. But in the span of a few human generations, 90% of California’s wetlands have disappeared to development and agriculture, endangering migrating and local birds. Now drought and sea level rise are further diminishing important bird habitats. As climate change becomes a bigger threat to the Bay Area’s local and migratory birds, scientists and conservationists work to help habitats adapt to climate change to ensure bird’s futures. We’ll talk to bird and conservation experts about how the Bay Area’s bird population has changed, what it means for the environment, for us, and what can be done about it. Guests: Steven Beissinger, Professor of Conservation Biology, UC Berkeley Andrea Jones, Director of Bird Conservation, Audubon California Jenny Odell, author of "How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’ve seen a 3-year old wielding a quarter-size violin and sawing at its strings to play Mozart, chances are you witnessed a student of the Suzuki Method. Created by Japanese educator, Shinichi Suzuki, the Suzuki Method is how many young American children learn to play classical music on the violin, cello and piano, among other instruments. But the Suzuki Method isn’t just about teaching children to master Bach or a vehicle for Tiger Parents to cultivate exceptional children. Rather, it’s an approach to education that believes talent is a muscle to be developed and that all children should be measured against their own abilities. We’ll talk about Suzuki and why he believed that little children could do great things. Guests: Eri Hotta, author, Suzuki: The Man and His Dream to Teach The Children of the World Cathy Lee, Suzuki Method educator, Lee studied directly with Shinichi Suzuki, and has taught violin for over 40 years. She has also trained dozens of teachers in the Suzuki Method. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In less than a month, crypto-billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried went from industry leader to pariah. His cryptocurrency exchange FTX has filed for bankruptcy, with the filings listing more than one million creditors impacted. The formerly $32 billion dollar company is now the target of investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department; Bankman-Fried is facing public scrutiny amid allegations of fraud. We’ll talk about the allegations against Bankman-Fried, where the crypto market stands and what we can learn from this moment. Guests: Margaret O'Mara, historian of the modern United States, University of Washington Hilary Allen, professor of law, American University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the roar of wind against mountains and the slam of waves on the shore to early morning birdsong, the sounds that fill our natural world are not only beautiful, they’re at risk, writes biologist David George Haskell in his new book, “Sounds Wild and Broken.” Haskell describes a global sonic landscape that’s threatened by human-induced habitat destruction and noise pollution and warns that by smothering the earth’s many voices, we’re not only imperiling species but losing our connection to the natural world. But by paying attention to sounds both natural and human-created, we can understand what’s at stake — and mobilize to protect it. Haskell joins to share more about our world’s sonic diversity and guide us in listening to it. Guests: David George Haskell, author, “Sounds Wild and Broken: Sonic Marvels, Evolution’s Creativity and the Crisis of Sensory Extinction”; William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies, The University of the South Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California native Ada Limón is the new poet laureate of the United States. She plans on, “elevating and promoting the expansiveness of poetry.” Limón, who has published six volumes of poetry, grew up in Sonoma and now lives in Kentucky. She says that poetry lived and breathed in her community growing up and has been key to her solitude as well as her sense of connection. She steps into her new role when America needs healing and unifying from art and artists. Limón joins us to talk about her work, her love of poetry, and how she’s reimagining America’s relationship to poetry. Guests: Ada Limón, poet, 24th Poet Laureate of the United States Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a country, America is experiencing a powerful wave of anxiety. Almost 80 percent of psychologists say the number of anxiety disorders in their patients has increased since the onset of the pandemic, per a recent survey from the American Psychological Association. And according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 7 million Americans suffer from generalized anxiety disorder. The factors at play vary widely between individuals, and experts say there’s no one treatment that works for everyone. We’ll talk about the latest research on clinical anxiety and solutions for managing it, from cognitive behavioral therapy to pharmaceuticals. Guests: Stefan G. Hofmann, professor of Psychology, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University Andrea Petersen, health reporter, The Wall Street Journal; author, "On Edge: A Journey through Anxiety" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For today’s show we need you to dig into your memory and put yourself in your own shoes. Does your adult self recognize yourself as a child? Can you empathize? Are you still that person or have you changed? Do you feel integrated as a person or is your former self a stranger? In his article “Are You the Same Person You Used to Be?" Ideas editor for The New Yorker, Joshua Rothman, explores how much of our personality is set from childhood, and the varied relationships we have with our younger selves. Guests: Joshua Rothman, ideas editor, The New Yorker Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rabia Chaudry's struggles with weight and body image started when she was just a toddler: she was less than a year old when her family moved to the United States from Pakistan and adopted American penchants for snacking and junk food. As she gained weight throughout her childhood, family members teased her, questioned whether she’d ever marry and gave her the nickname “Fatty Fatty Boom Boom.” We’ll talk to Chaudry about her new memoir and how food and family have shaped her, both metaphorically and literally. Guests: Rabia Chaudry, author, "Fatty Fatty Boom Boom." Her first book was "Adnan's Story: The Search for Truth and Justice After Serial" - Chaudry is also an attorney, advocate and host of the podcast "Undisclosed." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Practicing gratitude seems straight forward: think of the good things about your life and be thankful for them. Studies show this simple practice can have major mental, emotional and physical health benefits. But gratitude is complicated in a consumer-driven society that encourages people to want more and more. In this week of giving thanks, we dive into what gratitude is and how to nurture it in a healthy way. Guests: Carvell Wallace, writer, formerly Slate's parenting advice columnist and host of Slate's podcast, Mom and Dad are Fighting - he's working on a book on childhood trauma. Emiliana Simon-Thomas, science director of the Greater Good Science Center, University of California, Berkeley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Passports promise adventure. They verify who you are and where you've been. Sometimes they can protect you. Sometimes they cannot. The first passport dates back to Biblical times, and the modern passport as we know it is an invention of the early 20th century. At its core the passport is a request for safe passage, and as author Patrick Bixby notes, “these little books have the capacity to tell stories like few other documents.” In his new book, “License to Travel,” Bixby explores the cultural history of passports and how they have helped define the boundaries of the modern world. We’ll talk to Bixby and other travel writers about passports, what they represent, and the talismanic-like power they hold. What does your passport mean to you? Guests: Patrick Bixby, author, "License to Travel: A Cultural History of the Passport;" associate professor of English, the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University Peachanan "Pete" Rojwongsuriya, founder and blogger, "Bucketlistly Blog," Rojwongsuriya has visited 85 countries; author, "Traveling the World on a Third World Passport- What It Is Like and How to Overcome It" Lale Arikoglu, articles editor, Conde Nast Traveler; podcast host, Conde Nast Traveler podcast "Women Who Travel" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when an outspoken critic of the technology industry finds herself at the helm of one of the largest messaging apps in the world? Meredith Whittaker made her name as one of the tech industry’s strongest internal critics, helping lead the worker uprising at Google, founding an institute to rethink the ethics of AI, and promoting a platform for a real progressive politics in technology. Now, she’s the president of non-profit organization Signal, which builds a messaging app of the same name known for its serious dedication to privacy. This episode, we talk with Whittaker about the current moment in tech, if privacy still matters, and what she can do to help Signal prosper, despite its Big Tech competition. Guests: Meredith Whittaker, president, the Signal Foundation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nearly 48,000 University of California graduate students, post-docs and researchers stayed off their jobs for a third day on Wednesday, in what labor leaders are calling the largest higher ed strike in U.S. history. The majority of UC graduate students spend more than a third of their income on rent, according to a union survey, and their average income is around $24,000 a year. Graduate students are striking across all 10 UC campuses, picketing and pausing their roles as graders, advisers and classroom teachers. We’ll talk about where negotiations with the university stand and hear your reactions. Guests: Holly Rusch, lead news editor, The Daily Nexus, UCSB's independent, student-run newspaper Blake Jones, California education reporter, Politico John Logan, director of Labor Studies, San Francisco State University Neal Sweeney, president, UAW5810; postdoctoral scholar in molecular biology, UC Santa Cruz Letitia Silas, executive director of systemwide labor relations, University of California Office of the President Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last year, poet and writer Clint Smith wrote the book, “How the World is Passed,” exploring how the US has failed to come to terms with the reality and legacy of slavery. Now, for an Atlantic cover story, “Monuments to the Unthinkable” he’s traveled to Germany to see how that country has grappled with memorializing its own ugly history. We talk with Smith about history, memory, and the stories a nation tells itself. Guests: Clint Smith, poet, "How the Word is Passed;" staff writer, The Atlantic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you heard the conventional narrative that parents who adopt are “saviors,” and kids who are adopted should feel unfettered gratitude? What impact does this narrative have when it comes to the complications many adoptees experience? In her recent conversation in the Atlantic with fellow adoptee Tony Hynes, writer Nicole Chung and Hynes dig into the nuances of trans-racial adoption, birth family connection and what it means to grow up hearing you were “saved.” They join us to rethink adoption narratives. Guests: Nicole Chung, author of "All You Can Ever Know" and the forthcoming "A Living Remedy;" writer of the column "I Have Notes" for The Atlantic Tony Hynes, Ph.D. candidate and training specialist in adoption; author of "The Son With Two Moms" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A shelf of clear glass jars filled with spices can be so beautiful – think vibrant turmeric cozying up next to a dark red chili powder – and also so intimidating. How to joyfully indulge in new spices without creating a global mish mash of tastes? And what exactly is a spice anyway? As part of our All You Can Eat series on Bay Area food cultures with KQED food editor Luke Tsai, we’ll talk with local spice connoisseurs about how to use spices, how to find them and how to support equity in the spice trade. Guests: Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & Culture Sana Javeri Kadri, founder and CEO, Diaspora Co. John Beaver, co-founder, Oaktown Spice Shop Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What in our lives sets us up to experience joy? And how does joy make us act and feel? Those are the the central questions poet and essayist Ross Gay explores in his new book, “Inciting Joy,” an ode to skateboarding, gardening, pick-up basketball and other practices and rituals that can make joy more available to us. We talk to Gay about the connections between joy and sorrow -- and joy and solidarity -- and why he says that joy, which gets us to love, is a practice of survival. Guests: Ross Gay, poet and essayist, "Inciting Joy," "Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude" and "The Book of Delights" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wildfires and recording-breaking heat waves continue to pose huge challenges for Pacific Gas and Electric, the state’s largest investor-owned utility. The company has undergone years of turmoil and legal trouble after its equipment sparked multiple wildfires including the 2018 Camp Fire that killed 85 people in Paradise. PG&E emerged from bankruptcy in 2020 and is now under new leadership, but how well the company can navigate safety concerns, corporate responsibility, and cost control after years of mismanagement remains uncertain. We take stock of PG&E and how the utility can move forward. 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 David Roberts, author and host of Volts, a newsletter and podcast about clean energy and politics Lily Jamali, senior reporter, Marketplace Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The red wave Republicans hoped for never materialized, but they are close to winning a majority in the House as the nation awaits results in key House races. Meanwhile in the Senate, the balance ofpower rests on a Nevada race that as of Friday is too close to call and the December Senate runoff between incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock and his challenger, Herschel Walker. We’ll talkabout what we’ve learned from the midterms and their impact in California and the next two years of the Biden presidency. Guests: Melanie Mason, national political correspondent, Los Angeles Times. Domenico Montanaro, senior political editor and correspondent, NPR. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices