KQED's Forum

In heated debates about gun laws and gun violence, one group of victims is often overlooked: children. Each year in America, thousands of children are killed or injured after finding unsecured guns in their homes. Millions of kids endure psychological wounds after losing loved ones to gun violence or from the mere threat of school shootings. In his new book, “Children Under Fire: An American Crisis,” Washington Post reporter John Woodrow Cox tells the story of those children. We talk with...

Now that California is reopening, how will dating change? After a year of social distancing, many of us are longing for emotional and physical intimacy, while others are suffering from FODA: fear of dating again. What are the rules, if any, around post-pandemic dating and intimacy? Are Zoom dates here to stay? And will you require proof of vaccination to swipe right? Well hear your stories and get advice about how to approach dating, love and sex in a post-pandemic world.

Last year, in response to concerns about the spread of COVID-19 among unhoused people, officials in Santa Rosa created a sanctioned encampment in the parking lot of a local community center. Those living at the site reported feeling safer and having better access to services, and neighborhood residents who initially opposed the idea came to view the program positively. Elsewhere in the state, San Francisco set up “Safe Sleeping Sites” last May, and Sacramento recently created two “Safe...

Whether it’s tribal in nature -- or a nasty divorce-- many Americans feel trapped in repetitive conflicts that can seem irresolvable, with no end in sight. Investigative journalist Amanda Ripley spent four years studying these types of high conflict situations, discovering tools to defuse their potency and learning how to recognize what kind of problems are solvable. Ripley joins us to talk about how to resolve our deepest divisions and her new book, “High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped, and...

California is pausing the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine following a recommendation to do so from federal health officials who reported extremely rare blood clot complications in six patients. Meanwhile, California plans to expand vaccine eligibility to everyone 16 and older on Thursday. So far, roughly 40 percent of Californians have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and more than one in five are fully vaccinated, but experts say the state has a ways to go....

Kristine Hostetter was a popular fourth grade teacher at an Orange County elementary school, when she marched on the Capitol on January 6th, but did not enter the building. When she returned home, the school district suspended her, a move that outraged some families but which others supported. We’ll talk with the New York Times reporter who has brought national attention to Hostetter’s suspension and the ongoing fallout. What are the limits of free speech in the workplace? How would you...

The new Frontline documentary "American Insurrection" investigates the rise of right-wing extremism and the assault on the U.S. Capitol. Forum talks with ProPublica reporter and Frontline correspondent A.C. Thompson about how extremist groups and individuals became emboldened and radicalized.

Last month, 45-year-old Lorenzo Perez was shot in broad daylight in Fresno while selling food from a bicycle cart. His death illustrated the many risks street vendors take to sell their goods. Advocates say street vendors, ubiquitous in California’s Latino neighborhoods, are seen as easy targets. Vendors continue to face decreased sales and increased risk of thefts and assaults as the pandemic stretches on. We talk about the risks street vendors face and how to best help.

To live deliberately as a swimmer means you are a seeker; a chaser of the oceans blue corduroy, a follower of river veins, journalist Bonnie Tsui writes in her book, Why We Swim. A lifelong swimmer whose parents met at a pool, Tsui interweaves her personal love of the sport with scientific research on the psychology and physicality of swimming. She shares stories of long-distance swimmers and breaks down the reasons we swim: for survival, well-being, community, competition and flow. We want...

Last week, Amazon workers at an Alabama warehouse voted down a call to unionize, and that decision has organized labor scrambling. Though a majority of Americans say they are in favor of unions, creating new ones is not easy. Key to the movement’s future is a sweeping piece of pro-union legislation, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which passed the House and faces uncertain prospects in the Senate.We’ll examine the future of organized labor and discuss how rising inequality is...

President Biden on Friday ordered a 36-member bipartisan commission to study proposals to expand the size of the U.S. Supreme Court and set term limits for justices. Biden first proposed establishing the commission on the 2020 campaign trail, as the Court's rightward shift during the Trump Administration became a rallying cry for Democrats. We'll talk about the potential ramifications of a Supreme Court overhaul.

Research has found that we crave and consume more M&M’s when they’re multi-colored than when they’re just one color. In his new book “Hooked,” Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Michael Moss explains how multinational food companies use illusions of variety and fancy packaging to manipulate our predisposed preferences. Moss argues that we should think and talk about our relationship with processed foods the way we do with tobacco, drugs and other addictions. He joins us to talk...

In his new book, “Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America,” journalist Alec MacGillis tracks how the labor and business practices of Amazon, the nation’s second-largest private employer, can damage communities and workers. MacGillis utilizes Amazon as an example of much broader problems in American society including income inequality, geographic wealth concentrations and consumer expectations for low prices. The book’s release comes ahead of a closely watched effort in Alabama...

After a decade as a lawyer, Julie DiCaro thought she had landed a dream job as a sports radio host. But the work environment quickly turned toxic, one where she felt she constantly had to prove herself as a woman. In her book, Sidelined: Sports, Culture, and Being a Woman in America, DiCaro lays bare the treatment of women on and off the sports field from sexism to internet trolls to pervasive misogyny. We talk with DiCaro about the enduring inequality for women in sports and the actions the...

As students prepare to return to classrooms, schools are looking to tutoring, extended school days and reimagined standards to address gaps caused by distance learning. Students from low-income families and English learners were among those least able to consistently log in to virtual school over the past year. President Biden’s latest Covid relief bill includes funds set aside for learning loss, and in March, California Gov. Gavin Newsom allocated $4.6 billion for summer school and...

Many young women depend on the Bay Area Rapid Transit system as their primary mode of transportation... But young women and girls riding BART say they have experienced harassment from catcalling to stalking and unwelcome sexual advances… forcing many to spend large amounts of money on ridesharing options like Uber and Lyft. In 2018, the violent murder of Nia Wilson on the MacArthur station in Oakland brought awareness to racially charged attacks on public transit. We hear about a new...

Americans are the least worried about contracting COVID-19 than they have ever been since the start of the pandemic, according to a new Gallup poll. Factors contributing to the optimism include the drop in cases in most states and improvements in vaccine rollout. Now, California Governor Newsom has promised a full reopening by mid-June if the state can keep hospitalizations low. We want to hear from listeners: How are you adjusting mentally or changing your behavior as re-opening becomes...

In her book of essays, “White Space,” writer Jennifer De Leon explores how she became a writer — a journey inextricably linked to her parents’ migration from Guatemala to the United States. Throughout her life, De Leon carved a place for herself in spaces that felt unfamiliar: in the private college where she didn’t feel wealthy or white enough; in Guatemala where she immersed herself in a culture and language locals expected her to already know. This is De Leon’s second book release during...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that almost all businesses in the state may reopen on June 15 at or near full capacity, provided vaccine supplies are stable, hospitalization rates remain low and certain large-scale indoor events implement vaccine or testing requirements. The statewide mask mandate will also stay in place. We'll discuss the public health implications of the reopening plan, and we'll also talk about the status of vaccine rollout efforts globally as new...

A century ago, nearly one million Black farmers worked the land across the United States. Today, there are around 45,000 Black farmers. Investigations into the United States Department of Agriculture found that starting in the 1950s, illegal and discriminatory loan programs resulted in enormous wealth transfers from Black to white farmers, and are at the root of this decline. In her new book "We Are Each Other's Harvest," Natalie Baszile, author of novel "Queen Sugar," looks at what...