KQED's Forum

Getting a good night’s sleep is important for restoring our bodies and minds after a long day. But sometimes the stress of the world follows us into dreamland. Getting lost, missing a final exam, losing teeth - these are among the many common iterations of stress dreams. We’ll talk with dream and sleep experts about why we have stressful dreams and how to deal with them. Guests: Kelly Bulkeley, dream researcher and director, Sleep and Dream Database. Aric Prather, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UCSF. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Escoffery’s debut book, “If I Survive You,” presents a series of connected stories about an immigrant family from Jamaica trying to acclimate to life in America. The characters tackle racism, belonging, natural disasters and generational divides. A native of Miami now based in Oakland, Escoffery joins us to talk about storytelling and his decades-long journey to publishing a book. Guests: Jonathan Escoffery, author, his debut short story collection, "If I Survive You," was released in September of 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chief Justice of California Tani Cantil-Sakauye is stepping down in January after serving a 12-year term on the state's high court. Nominated by former republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, she was the first non-white person and the second woman to lead the court. She joins us to reflect on her time on the bench, the future of the California judiciary and her newly announced next role as president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California. Guests: Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Chief Justice of California Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It seems that everyone wants a happy ending, and nothing delivers that better than a romance novel. The Harlequin romance bodice rippers of old have evolved. Today’s romance novels feature diverse protagonists – including men. They offer more real-to-life scenarios, and often mash into other genres like science fiction. In the last five years, booksellers have seen a 740% increase in the sales of LGBTQ romance novels, with 850,000 books sold last year. We’ll talk about the rise of the romance novel and hear from you…what’s your favorite? Guests: Jasmine Guillory, novelist and writer, "Drunk on Love" — Her work has appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Bon Appetit, and Time. Mia Sosa, novelist, "The Wedding Crasher" and "The Worst Best Man" Olivia Waite, novelist, "The Hellion's Waltz" and "The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows;" romance novel reviewer, the New York Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sally Yates, who as acting attorney general refused to defend the travel ban on Muslim-majority countries. Reproductive rights attorney Brigitte Amiri, who represented teen migrants denied abortions. These are among the women lawyers Dahlia Lithwick profiles in her new book “Lady Justice” -- the ones who she says fought the racism, sexism, transphobia and xenophobia that took root and flourished during the Trump presidency. We’ll talk to Lithwick about how women are harnessing the law to advance civil rights, even as the Supreme Court and state legislatures work to curtail them. Guests: Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor, Slate; host of podcast Amicus; writer of "Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chef and author Illyanna Maisonet, a former food columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, made a name for herself by reimagining Puerto Rican cuisine. Her debut cookbook, “Diasporican: A Puerto Rican Cookbook.” chronicles Maisonet’s experience as a Puerto Rican living in Sacramento and how this region’s cultures have informed her cooking. Maisonet joins us to talk about her book as part of our next installment of All You Can Eat, our regular segment about the food cultures of the Bay Area with KQED food editor Luke Tsai. Guests: Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Illyanna Maisonet, chef and author, her debut cookbook, "Diasporican: A Puerto Rican Cookbook” comes out in October 2022. Jose 'Cheo' Ortiz, chef and restaurant owner, La Perla Restaurant, Oakland - Authentic Puerto Rican cuisine Jacqueline Roman, chef and owner, El Coqui Puerto Rican Cuisine in Santa Rosa Lourdes “Lulu” Marquez Nau, chef and owner, Casa Borinqueña in Oakland Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Come 2027, Californians will have a new post-death option: to become human compost. A law signed by Governor Newsom this month made California the fifth state to legalize “natural organic reduction,” which lets human bodies decompose into a cubic yard of soil. While green burials — the process of wrapping the deceased in a shroud and placing them in the ground — are already legal, composting doesn’t require a dedicated portion of land. And though it’s more expensive than cremation, it’s also less carbon-intensive. We’ll talk about the new law and hear whether you’d want to become human compost. Guests: Courtney Applewhite, doctoral candidate studying environmental disposition ("eco-funerals"), UC Santa Barbara Cristina Garcia, assembly member, representing California's 58th Assembly District Katrina Spade, founder and CEO, Recompose Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The death of the 22-year old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, for a supposed violation of the country’s strict dress code, has sparked protests across Iran and around the world. As Iranian citizens protest in call for justice and women's rights reform, many have gotten arrested, injured and even killed. We'll talk with Iranians here in the U.S. about the reactions to Amini's death and the status of women's rights in Iran. Guests: Persis Karim, Iranian-American poet and essayist; director for the Center of Iranian Diaspora Studies, San Francisco State University Shaghayegh Cyrous, artist Hoda Katebi, writer, community organizer and creative educator Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Points, badges, progress bars and leaderboards: they’re among the games designed to make dull activities fun -- and to make us more productive at the gym, in school or at work. But to video game developer Adrian Hon, gamification has become the twenty-first century’s most advanced form of behavioral control, coercing our decisions and justifying corporate and government surveillance. We’ll talk to Hon about his new book “You’ve Been Played.” Guests: Adrian Hon, game developer and author, "You've Been Played: How Corporations, Governments and Schools Use Games to Control Us All." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three historic BIPOC-focused media outlets are celebrating anniversaries this fall - India Currents turns 35, Willie Ratliff, the publisher of San Francisco Bayview National Black Newspaper turns 90, and the Mission’s El Tecolote turns 52. These outlets may be small (compared to the mainstream media) but they are mighty. We’ll find out how their communities sustained their local media through the pandemic, and how the outlets sustained their communities in turn. Thriving together through difficult times. Guests: Vandana Kumar, Editor-in-chief, publisher and co-founder, India Currents. Nube Brown, Editor-in-chief, San Francisco Bayview National Black Newspaper. Alexis Terrazas, Editor-in-chief, El Tecolote. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The California condor is not one of nature’s cutest birds, but it is probably one of its most compelling. The largest bird in North America, the condor has a wingspan measuring nine and a half feet. It can fly at speeds up to 50 miles per hour, glide at 15,000 feet in the air without flapping, and can cover 150 miles a day. The condor once flew freely across the west, but by 1982, only 23 condors remained in existence worldwide, and by 1987, all living condors were in captive breeding programs. The success of those programs has allowed the reintroduction of the condor to the wild, and this year, the condor was reintroduced to Northern California in partnership with the federal government and partners like the Yurok Tribe. We’ll talk to experts about reintroducing a species to the wild, and hear from you: What comes to mind when you think of the California condor? Guests: Tiana Wiliams-Claussen, Director, Yurok Tribe Wildlife Department. Joe Burnett, Senior Wildlife Biologist and California Condor Recovery Program Manager, Ventana Wildlife Society. Ashleigh Blackford, California Condor Coordinator & At-Risk Species Coordinator, U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the goal of helping San Francisco’s under-resourced students develop their voices as writers, the nonprofit 826 Valencia — founded at that exact address in San Francisco’s Mission District — turned 20 this year. There are now nine 826 chapters nationwide, and in San Francisco more than 5,600 students are served by the program in the back of its pirate store flagship, in its Tenderloin and Mission Bay centers and in eleven public schools across the city. Nearly 3 thousand students have been published in its writing collections and podcasts, proudly calling themselves published authors. We’ll hear some works by 826’s youth authors and talk with the founders and current team about the importance of celebrating — and publishing — youth voices. Related link(s): "Truth Of The Fenced Castle" by Tiarri More 826 Valencia Podcasts Guests: Dave Eggers, co-founder, 826 Valencia Nínive Calegari , co-founder, 826 Valencia Bita Nazarian, executive director, 826 Valencia Bianca Catalan, alumnus and Board Member, 826 Valencia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In one of her undergraduate history seminars, Harvard professor Drew Gilpin Faust recently discovered that the majority of her students could not read cursive. To them, it was like a foreign language. This is not surprising as cursive was not part of the Common Core educational standards introduced in 2010, though half of the nation’s states, including California, now include cursive in their curriculum. Some argue that computers have made the need for handwriting obsolete. But research suggests that handwriting, and cursive in particular, helps children read better and retain knowledge. What is lost when we cannot write or read in cursive? We’ll talk to experts on handwriting, and we’ll hear from you: Is cursive relevant anymore and how’s your handwriting? Guests: Drew Gilpin Faust, Arthur Kingsley University professor in History Organization, Harvard University - Faust is the former president of Harvard University; recent article for the Atlantic is titled, "Gen Z Never Learned to Read Cursive" Robert Wiley, assistant professor, Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Greensboro Virginia Berninger, professor emeritus, University of Washington College of Education Sandra Gutierrez, associate DIY Editor, Popular Science; recent article, "Wait, It's Not to Late to Get Good Handwriting" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jann Wenner started Rolling Stone magazine in San Francisco at the tender age of 21 – placing himself smack in the middle of 1967’s wild and groundbreaking music scene. We’ll talk with Wenner about San Francisco rock and roll, the legacy of Rolling Stone magazine and his new memoir, “Like a Rolling Stone”. Guests: Jann Wenner, founder, Rolling Stone Magazine; author of the memoir, "Like a Rolling Stone" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why do some people with mental illnesses recover while others with the same diagnosis don’t? According to New Yorker staff writer Rachel Aviv, the answer in part lies in the gap between people’s actual experiences and the language of contemporary psychiatry that names and defines their conditions. In her new book “Strangers to Ourselves” Aviv writes about people who she says “have come up against the limits of psychiatric ways of understanding themselves” -- a woman who stopped taking her meds because she didn’t know who she was without them, a man subject to years of failed psychoanalysis, and Aviv herself, who at age six was hospitalized for refusing to eat. We’ll talk to Aviv about her discoveries. Guests: Rachel Aviv, writer of "Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Biden says he aims to end hunger and food insecurity in the United States by 2030. Next week the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health will consider the policy changes needed to reach that goal. The last conference on hunger and health was in 1969 during the Nixon administration, and it led to many of the nation’s major health policies like child nutrition assistance and food stamps. We’ll talk about what hunger and food insecurity looks like in the U.S. now, and what it would take to ensure no Americans go hungry. Guests: Ahori Pathak, director of policy, Poverty to Prosperity Program at Center for American Progress Kassandra Martinchek, research associate, Urban Institute Dariush Mozaffarian, cardiologist and professor of nutrition, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University; co-chair of the Task Force on Hunger, Nutrition and health - an independent task force working to help inform the White House Conference Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ukraine surprised both Russia and the world last week with sharp counter offensives in the northeast that have retaken land occupied by Russian troops. Ukrainian forces liberating these areas have discovered not only hastily abandoned Russian outposts, but also further signs of war crimes: outside the town of Izium, a mass grave containing over 400 bodies, primarily civilians, some bearing evidence of torture, is in the process of being exhumed. As winter approaches, both sides of the war hope to make decisive progress and the United States on Friday pledged an additional $600 million to assist Ukraine. We’ll talk about where the war stands. Guests: Franklin Foer, staff writer, the Atlantic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Traveling on BART allows riders to move between Oakland to San Francisco in seven minutes – a modern convenience some people take for granted. The iconic light-rail system that makes it possible turns 50 this year. BART has grown from a dozen stations in 1972 to 50 connected by 131 miles of tracks. The milestone comes at a time when ridership hovers around 40 percent of pre-pandemic levels bringing major financial challenges. And, the current system still falls short of the original vision drawn up in the late 50s. We talk about how BART arrived at its current station and where the system plans to take us in the decades to come. Guests: Dan Brekke, editor and reporter, KQED News Robert Powers, general manager, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) Lateefah Simon, BART Board member; president of Akonadi Foundation; co-chair of Governor Newsom's police reform task force Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The tech startup Sanas transforms accented English to a white, midwestern American voice. Sanas contends that this technology can help overseas call center workers who are dealing with racist harassment. But those who have studied call centers and the "white voice" say this only puts a filter over the very problems the technology aims to remedy. We'll talk with experts about intolerance for accented speech, the challenges facing international call center workers and what it means to “sound white. Related link(s): - Sanas, the buzzy Bay Area startup that wants to make the world sound whiter Guests: Sharath Keshava Narayana, Co-Founder & COO, Sanas Joshua Bote, assistant news editor, SFGATE Winifred Poster, adjunct faculty in International Affairs, Washington University St. Louis; author, “Borders in Service: Enactments of Nationhood in Transnational Call Centres” Tom McEnaney, associate professor of Comparative Literature and of Spanish and Portuguese, UC Berkeley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Workers across the country keep talking about “quiet quitting” – the idea that employees should fulfill their job duties in the time they are paid to work – nothing more or less. It sounds logical, but quiet quitting has stirred a lot of feelings and debate this summer. Workplace experts can’t seem to agree on what it is or if it’s even real. In a recent article, Derek Thompson of The Atlantic argues that quiet quitting is not new or novel. Meanwhile, Boston Globe writer Beth Teitell says quiet quitting should extend to other facets of life beyond jobs. We’ll dive into the concept of quiet quitting and what it means to you. Guests: Mr. Derek Thompson, staff writer and the author of the Work in Progress newsletter, The Atlantic Magazine; author of the recent article, "Quiet Quitting Is a Fake Trend" Beth Teitell, staff writer, The Boston Globe; author of the recent article, "Our obsession with ‘quiet quitting’ doesn’t seem to be going away" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fog is an indelible part of the magic and culture of San Francisco, providing inspiration for poets and artists and a sometimes-welcome buffer against summer heat. But a new New York Times story by John Branch warns that fog’s future is uncertain, imperiled by a changing climate. Branch joins us to talk about his reporting on the city's famous fog and its elusive future. Guests: John Branch, reporter, the New York Times. Diane Frank, author, editor, "Fog and Light: San Francisco Through the Eyes of the Poets Who Live Here." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1950s, San Francisco’s Fillmore district was known as the Harlem of the West. It was famous for its jazz music, its artists and its writers and it served as a cultural hot spot for San Francisco. Writer Margaret Wilkerson Sexton captures the neighborhood’s zeitgeist in her new novel “On the Rooftop,” which tells the story of a single mother and her three daughters trying to make it in music. The Fillmore that Sexton’s characters occupy is a vibrant Black community in danger of being erased by an encroaching displacement campaign. We’ll talk to Sexton about her book and what made the Fillmore “Bop City.” Guests: Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, author, "On the Rooftop" - also author of "A Kind of Freedom" and "The Revisioners." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed California’s FAST Recovery Act on Labor Day, authorizing the creation of a council aimed to set minimum labor standards in fast food franchises. The council, composed of workers, franchise owners, corporate representatives and state officials, would also have the power to raise the minimum wage for fast food employees to $22. Of the 550,000 fast food workers in the state, most earn near minimum wage: $15 statewide for businesses with 26 or more employees, and higher in certain cities like San Francisco, where it’s $16.32. Advocates of the legislation say it would also create better redress for wage theft and health and safety hazards. Critics have filed a referendum to block the law and turn it into a ballot measure. We’ll talk about how the FAST Recovery Act could affect California’s economy and its fast food workers. Guests: Ken Jacobs, chair, Center for Labor Research and Education at UC Berkeley. Farida Jhabvala Romero, labor correspondent, KQED. Christopher Thornberg, director, Center for Economic Forecasting and Development, UC Riverside School of Business; founding partner, Beacon Economics. Crystal Orozco, worker, McDonald’s in Sacramento. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, California struggled under one of the worst heat waves in written history. Several cities across the state, including San Jose and Redwood City, shot through record-breaking temperatures. With the heat and demand for air conditioning, the state's energy grid almost couldn’t hold. But thanks to a text telling us: “Power interruptions may occur unless you take action,” residents and businesses turned off lights, unplugged devices and kept the power humming. But as heat waves are projected to become more frequent, more intense, and longer-lasting under climate change, can California’s power grid handle it? We’ll be talking about how California’s power grid works, how it's adapting and how it performed during the heat wave. Guests: Alexandra (Sascha) von Meier, independent consultant, she was Director of Electric Grid Research at the California Institute for Energy and Environment for a decade retired professor UC Berkeley electrical engineering. Duncan Callaway, associate professor of Energy and Resources, UC Berkeley; faculty scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Ivan Penn, energy correspondent, New York Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CNN is a cable news network in flux. Earlier this month, John Harwood, its White House correspondent, announced his departure one day after he stated on air that, “The Republican Party right now is led by a dishonest demagogue. Many, many Republicans are rallying behind his lies about the 2020 election.” The network also recently fired Brian Stelter, a frequent critic of Trump and Fox News. The changes at CNN have caused speculation that these moves may be influenced by cable mogul, John Malone, one of its major investors, who has praised Fox News and openly expressed a hope that CNN would “evolve back to the kind of journalism that it started with, and actually have journalists, which would be unique and refreshing.” But where is the middle ground when some politicians routinely attack the truth as lies and push misinformation as truth? We’ll talk to media critic Jay Rosen about the future of journalism in a post-Trump era. Guests: Jay Rosen, press critic and editor, PressThink.org; professor of journalism, New York University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Americans hear about surveillance in China, it is usually through a dystopian lens. There is good reason for that—in the west of the country, the Uighur minority has been persecuted with unprecedented technological force. In a new book, “Surveillance State: Inside China's Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control” veteran Wall Street Journal reporters Josh Chin and Liza Lin aim to expand that lens, to “help people grasp state surveillance in its totality.” They ask how the Chinese government’s deployment of AI-powered tools of social control can actually be alluring and useful to everyday people, even as it is nightmarish to those caught in its algorithmic teeth. Guests: Josh Chin, deputy bureau chief in China, The Wall Street Journal Liza Lin, data use and privacy journalist, The Wall Street Journal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did beavers get a publicist? Mother Jones magazine asked that question last week after a spate of national news stories appeared celebrating the rodents’ role in protecting the environment. Long considered a nuisance, the furry dam-builders are finally being recognized for improving stream quality, mitigating wildfire and floods and fighting climate change, among other contributions. The state of California is even hiring a team of environmental scientists to work on “nature-based restoration solutions involving beavers.” We’ll talk about efforts to restore habitat for the beaver, which Governor Newsom has called an “untapped, creative climate-solving hero.” Guests: Emily Fairfax, assistant professor of environmental science and resource management, California State University Channel Islands Ben Goldfarb, journalist and author, "Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter" Chad Dibble, deputy director, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Frankie Myers, vice-chair, Yurok Tribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California legalized recreational cannabis in 2016 promising to create the “largest legal weed market in the world,” according to a recent story in the Los Angeles Times. Legalization promised to generate millions of new tax dollars and lure marijuana farmers and sellers away from the black market. That didn’t happen as planned. Instead, illegal cannabis farming has exploded. We’ll dig into the L.A. Times investigation that examines the violence, deaths, and environmental damage from the illegal grows and why the law legalizing pot has fallen so short. Guests: Paige St. John, investigative reporter, Los Angeles Times; author of the recent article, "The reality of legal weed in California: Huge illegal grows, violence, worker exploitation and deaths" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the election of President Obama in 2008, “the world looked and felt different,” writes University of Texas historian Peniel Joseph. That moment also marked the beginning of what Joseph calls America’s Third Reconstruction, a period of racial progress marked by the Black Lives Matter protests and the social justice movements they inspired. But the Third Reconstruction, like the 19th and 20th century versions that preceded it, has also been beset by white backlash and violent retrenchment. We’ll talk to Joseph about what he thinks we’ve achieved in this period and how far we need to go to achieve racial justice. Guests: Peniel Joseph, professor of history and founding director, Center for the Study of Race and Democracy - University of Texas at Austin; author, "The Third Reconstruction: America’s Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When he was 9, poet Javier Zamora traveled 3,000 miles by bus, boat and on foot, without family or friends, from El Salvador to the United States. The trip was supposed to take two weeks. It tooknine. Along the way, Zamora was embraced by fellow migrants and folded into a makeshift family. With them, Zamora encountered corrupt police officers and was robbed of the little money he had. He scrambled over mountains and under barbed wire fences that laced the desert border, all so he could be reunited with his parents who lived in Marin and who he had not seen in years. Thousandsof immigrants, including children, have experienced similar journeys, but few have described them as eloquently as Zamora. We’ll talk to Zamora about those nine weeks to the border, which he recounts in his new memoir “Solito,” and his experience as an immigrant growing up in San Rafael. Guests: Javier Zamora, Author of the memoir "Solito," Zamora has been a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University and a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. He is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. His debut poetry collection, which focuses on the impact of war and immigration on his family, is titled "Unaccompanied." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dressing for extreme heat is not as simple as wearing as little as possible. That’s especially true when you have to go to work, court, or a wedding: and especially if gender norms dictate that you need to wear pants or a suit. And many of the new fabrics optimized for cooling aren’t climate — or cost — friendly, as New York Times climate adaptation reporter Christopher Flavelle found when hetried out two dozen shirts, pants and suits designed for heat. We’ll talk about why choosing an outfit in our warming climate is surprisingly complicated. Guests: Christopher Flavelle, climate adaptation reporter, New York Times. Konrad Rykaczewski, associate professor, School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, and Senior Global Futures Scientist, Arizona State University. Sarah Everts, associate professor and chair in digital science journalism, Carleton University - author, “The Joy of Sweat: The Strange Science of Perspiration.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After pandemic closures and slowdowns the Bay Area is facing a fall packed with exciting events. From Lear at CalShakes to the Bernice Bing collection at the Asian Art Museum to the return of Oakland hometown hero Kehlani, we’ll talk with KQED’s art reporters about their best picks for the coming season and their new Fall Arts Preview. Guests: Gabe Meline, senior editor, KQED Arts & Culture Sarah Hotchkiss, Senior Associate Editor, KQED Arts & Culture David John Chávez, theatre critic, author of the theater portion of KQED’s fall arts preview Kristie Song, KQED Arts Intern, author of the fall book guide Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“The Constitution is too fundamentally antidemocratic a document to serve democratic purposes reliably,” argues legal scholar and cultural critic Jedediah Purdy. In his new book, “Two Cheers for Politics: Why Democracy Is Flawed, Frightening, and Our Best Hope,” Purdy argues that the Constitution is standing in the way of democracy and suggests that we need to amend it. Purdy also urges us to not give up on politics, which he views as “not optional,” if we are to keep working on the experiment of democracy. We’ll talk about the Constitution, reforming politics, and other ways Purdy believes we can create a more perfect union. Guests: Jedediah Purdy, professor, Duke Law School; author, "Two Cheers for Politics: Why Democracy is Flawed, Frightening and Our Best Hope" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As private equity companies have increasingly bought up nursing homes across the country, many are experiencing an alarming trend: higher death rates for patients. Stanford medical student turned journalist Yasmine Rafiei dug deep into what happened at one such facility, St. Joseph’s Home for the Aged in Richmond, Virginia, in a recent article in The New Yorker. Her article details how the experience and quality of life changed for residents as the new owners cut costs. She joins us to talk about her investigation. Guests: Charlene Harrington, professor emerita, School of Nursing at UCSF Medical School Yasmin Rafiei, reporter in residence, the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California, Berkeley; medical student, Stanford University on leave; author, recent New Yorker article, “When Private Equity Takes Over a Nursing Home” Sponsored Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California’s new Secretary for Environmental Protection, Yana Garcia, is no stranger to community-based and indigenous-led environmental justice. As CalEPA’s Deputy Secretary for Environmental Justice, Tribal Affairs and Border Relations, Garcia centered collaborations with Mexican community and environmental justice organizations, informed by her own experiences growing up in Oakland, California, and Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico. The first Latina Secretary of CalEPA, Garcia joins us to share how she plans to steer the agency on climate change, air and water quality and environmental justice. Guests: Yana Garcia, Secretary for Environmental Protection, CalEPA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For centuries, America has lured millions of immigrants here with dreams of rising from rags to riches in a short amount of time. But the authors of “Streets of Gold: America’s Untold Story of Immigrant Success,” say that story is mostly a myth. The authors, Stanford professor Ran Abramitzky and Princeton professor Leah Boustan bust other popular opinions about immigration, such as the idea that immigrants “take all the jobs,” “refuse to assimilate,” and pose all kinds of threats to the “American way of life.” Abramitzky and Boustan spent years combing through data that painted different narratives than most Americans are used to hearing. They will join us to bust myths about immigrants and share what the research really says about immigration, past and present. Guests: Leah Boustan, professor of economics and director of the Industrial Relations Section, Princeton University Ran Abramitzky, professor of economics and Senior Associate Dean for the Social Sciences, Stanford University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved last week the use of reformulated COVID-19 boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech for people ages 12 years and older and from Moderna for those 18 and older. The boosters are bivalent, meaning that they’re designed to protect against both the original virus strain as well as the more transmissible and immune-evading Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5. In a statement Saturday, the California Department of Public Health said that the state is preparing to offer doses “as supplies arrive within the next few days.” We’ll talk about the new booster, explore the science of immune response and take your questions. Guests: Dr. Grace Lee, associate chief medical officer for practice innovation and pediatric infectious diseases physician, Stanford Children’s Health; member, U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP); member, COVID-19 Vaccines Workgroup Mehul Suthar, associate professor of pediatrics and member of the Vaccine Center, Emory University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to research, before the pandemic, half of California’s third graders did not read at grade level, and the state’s fourth graders lagged behind the national average in reading. Additionally, in 800 schools around the state, 75% of the students failed to read at grade level. Despite these dire numbers, the state lacks a comprehensive approach to literacy instruction, and in 2017, California became the first state to be sued for denying children the civil right to literacy. But the solutions to these problems are not simple. Controversy exists over how to teach reading and in recent years, a push to implement evidence-based reading instruction has caused schools around the country to re-evaluate their approach. We talk to experts about the science of reading and California’s approach to teaching kids to read. Guests: Kareem Weaver, co-founder, Fulcrum, a non-profit focused on improving reading outcomes for students. Weaver is also a member of the Oakland NAACP Education Committee, a senior fellow for the National Council on Teacher Quality, and an award-winning teacher and administrator in Oakland. Emily Hanford, senior producer and correspondent, American Public Media. Hanford is the creator of the podcast "Hard Words," which focuses on why children aren't being taught to read. She is working on "Sold a Story," a new podcast about the missteps in teaching children how to read. John Fensterwald, editor-at-large, EdSource, an independent not-for-profit research and reporting organization 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. Haskell joins to share more about our world’s sonic diversity and guide us in listening to it. Guests: David George Haskell, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies, University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee; author of the book, “Sounds Wild and Broken: Sonic Marvels, Evolution’s Creativity and the Crisis of Sensory Extinction” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In some parts of the country, barbecue is a fighting word. It launches hot debates on vinegar versus tomato-based sauce and the right ways to rub, spice and smoke. KQED Food editor Luke Tsai has a different take. His new series, BBQ in the Bay, highlights the region’s unique barbecue cultures from various traditions of cooking food outdoors over an open flame and how it brings communities together. As part of Forum’s regular segment on food cultures of the Bay Area, called All You Can Eat, we’ll dish on Mongolian barbecue, lechon, barbacoa, barbecue oysters, brisket and much more. Guests: Pendarvis "Pen" Harshaw , columnist, KQED Arts; host, KQED's "Rightnowish" podcast Luke Tsai , food editor, KQED Ray Castro, dentist in East Bay; Amateur barbecue competitor Rocky Rivera, emcee and writer; part of KQED's BBQ in the Bay series Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California state lawmakers were up until the early morning hours Thursday, casting votes on the remaining bills of the legislative session. Measures to combat climate change, protect abortion rights and expand affordable housing are among the hundreds of bills now headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has until September 30 to sign or veto them. We'll talk with political reporters about what passed, what failed and what’s ahead. Guests: Guy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk Alexei Koseff, reporter, CalMatters Lara Korte, state politics reporter, Politico; co-author, Politico's California Playbook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bay Area native Emma Chamberlain was a kid who used to complain about the DMV on Youtube a few years ago and now is one of Gen Z’s top fashion influencers who works with global brands. She has advice on what to wear this summer, what coffee to buy – her line, of course – and you can follow her exploits during Paris Fashion week. But is Emma Chamberlain a celebrity or an influencer or a content creator or… all three? Gen Z, born between roughly 1997 to 2012, has a different relationship with social media than older cohorts since it’s been with them most of their lives. We’ll discuss influencers such as Chamberlain and how Gen Z has reshaped what it means to be a social media star. Guests: Madison Semarjian, founder, Mada, an app for styling and buying clothing Moises Mendez II, culture reporter, Time Magazine Steffi Cao, social news reporter, BuzzFeed Greisy Hernandez, mental health and wellness advocate and social media personality Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s hot outside and getting hotter. Excessive heat warnings are in effect this week for Southern and Central California, with temperatures as high as 112 degrees in the San Fernando and San Joaquin Valleys and 115 degrees in the Inland Empire expected by Labor Day. And temperatures in Northern California are expected to be up to 20 degrees warmer than normal through Tuesday. We’ll talk about who’s most at risk, how to stay cool and how California’s state and local officials are thinking about mitigating the effects of heat and record temperatures induced by climate change. Guests: David Lawrence, meteorologist and Emergency Response Specialist, National Weather Service V. Kelly Turner, co-director, Luskin Center for Innovation; associate professor of Urban Planning and Geography, UCLA Dr. Gina Solomon, director of the Achieving Resilient Communities project, Public Health Institute; clinical professor of Medicine, University of California San Francisco Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, representing California's 56th State Assembly District; lead sponsor, Assembly Bills 2238 and 2243 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There have always been plenty of sad songs to help us wallow in the loss of romantic love, but during the pandemic, and through these last several difficult years, more musicians have been processing other kinds of grief through their music. We’ll talk with Bay Area musicians grappling with the death of parents, siblings and children through their music. Others have taken on the deep sadness of the pandemic, gun violence and living with systemic racism. We’ll talk about the music of grief and we’ll hear from listeners: what song helps you mourn? Guests: Nastia Voynovskaya, associate editor, KQED Arts Rexx Life Raj , rapper, musician, most recent album is "The Blue Hour" Karega Bailey, musician, Sol Development Felicia Gangloff-Bailey, musician, SOL Development Samora Pinderhughes, musician, most recent album is "Grief" Brijean Murphy, musician, her band, Brijean's new EP, "Angelo," released in August Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By 2035, California plans to phase out sales of new gas-powered cars. The new regulations announced last week by the California Air Resource Board formalize Governor Gavin Newsom’s 2020 executive order which proposed banning the sale of cars that run on fossil fuels. Environmentalists have hailed this move as a much-needed step to address climate change. We’ll talk about what it means for the world’s fifth largest economy and the state that invented car culture to go electric, and we’ll hear from you: are you ready to get an electric car or will you be hanging on to your gas-powered car as long as you can? Guests: Russ Mitchell, Automotive Editor, Los Angeles Times. He is based in Berkeley and covers the automotive industry. Ethan Elkind, director of the Climate Program at the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment, UC Berkeley School of Law; host of the podcast, Climate Break Margo Oge, Former director, US EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality; Author of "Driving the Future: Combating Climate Change with Cleaner, Smarter Cars" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

QAnon, the far right conspiracy movement, hasn’t dominated the headlines lately, but is still an active force in politics. Even locally, members of a QAnon group harassed Los Gatos town council members and shut down a meeting last year. We talk with the creators and hosts of ViceTV’s documentary series “QAnon: The Search for Q.” Now in its second season, the series looks into how the viral movement continues leading people down a path of misinformation, anti-democratic ideologies and violence. We’ll talk about the evolution of the QAnon movement and the danger posed by its followers. Guests: Bayan Joonam, film producer, creator and host, "QAnon: The Search for Q" for ViceTV Marley Clements, documentary filmmaker, host and creator of "QAnon: The Search For Q" for ViceTV Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tinder — the world’s most downloaded dating app — turns 10 in September. Many see the app as having transformed online dating from a last resort for older people to a young person’s game: according to Tinder, more than half of its members are between the ages of 18 and 25. More than 75 billion matches have taken place on the app — and we want to hear if you were part of any of them. How was your relationship with the app kindled — or extinguished — and what have you learned from the times you swiped right? Guests: Jesús G. Smith, assistant professor of Ethnic Studies, Lawrence University Emily Witt, staff writer, The New Yorker; author, "Future Sex: A New Kind of Free Love" Alina Liu, clinical psychologist in San Francisco Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When writer Britt Young, who was born without most of her left forearm, got an expensive, high tech myoelectric prosthetic four years ago she was so excited she threw an “arm party”. But the prosthetic was heavy and hard to use and she hardly ever put it on again. In an article in IEEE Spectrum, Young says the media and the tech world have been seduced by whiz-bang prosthetic technology at the expense of what most disabled people really need: access, reliability and affordability. “We are caught in a bionic-hand arms race” she writes “It’s time to ask who prostheses are really for, and what we hope they will actually accomplish.” Guests: Britt H Young, writer, "The Bionic-Hand Arms Race" in IEEE; PhD candidate in Geography, UC Berkeley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“It’s hard to say exactly when PG&E Corporation began to fall,” writes Wall Street Journal energy reporter Katherine Blunt. But the deep decline of the state’s largest utility was hardly more apparent than in the aftermath of the 2018 Camp Fire, the blaze ignited by PG&E’s deteriorated equipment that killed 85 people and destroyed the Northern California town of Paradise. Blunt’s new book “California Burning” explains how the Camp Fire exposed the utility’s systemic problems — including chronic mismanagement and criminal neglect of its infrastructure — and why PG&E’s failures are not just a California story, but a cautionary tale for the entire nation’s power grid. Guests: Katherine Blunt, energy reporter, Wall Street Journal; author, "California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric—And What It Means for America’s Power Grid" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Big changes are planned for San Francisco’s beloved Castro Theater, which celebrated its 100th birthday this year. Live music promoter Another Planet Entertainment, which now manages the storied venue, wants to restore and renovate it. That includes replacing the orchestra style seats with removable ones allowing for standing room concerts. But more than five thousand fans of the theater have signed a petition opposing the renovation. We’ll talk about the future of the Castro Theater and we want to hear from you. Share one of your favorite memories from the Castro Theater. Guests: Gabe Meline, senior editor, KQED Arts & Culture. Peter Pastreich, executive director, Castro Theatre Conservancy - a nonprofit committed to the preservation of the Castro Theatre, and to the preservation of the kind of programming that has served its community and San Francisco for the last 100 years. Gregg Perloff, CEO, Another Planet Entretainment Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices