KQED's Forum

California’s neighbors, Arizona and Nevada, stand out as pivotal swing states in this year’s presidential election, each with a large bloc of independent voters. Arizona’s shifting demographics and growing urban centers like Phoenix and Tucson, and Nevada’s blend of urban and rural populations, particularly in Clark County, make both states critical battlegrounds for both parties. We take a look at the key issues influencing voters in each state and examine the factors that might determine who secures those crucial electoral votes.

Guests:

Andy Crosby, assistant professor in the School of Public Policy, UC Riverside

Thom Reilly, professor, Arizona State University; co-director, Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy

Jessica Hill, reporter, Las Vegas Review Journal

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Ukraine has brought the war to Russia. Its incursion on Aug. 6 into the Kursk region marks the largest invasion of Russia since World War II. It also marks a shift in strategy for Ukraine and carries significant risks. We’ll talk about what Ukraine’s incursion signals at this point in the war – and how Moscow and the US are responding – two and a half years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Guests:

Illia Ponomarenko, journalist and author, "I Will Show You How It Was: The Story of Wartime Kyiv”; former defense and security reporter, The Kyiv Post; co-founder, The Kyiv Independent. He has covered the war in eastern Ukraine since the conflict's beginning, as well as Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine since 2022

Michael McFaul, director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University - and former U.S ambassador to Russia

Greg Myre, national security correspondent, NPR

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Novelist and Atlantic staff writer Xochitl Gonzalez joins us to talk about her recent essay, a personal history about growing up with a mother who was largely absent from her life. Her mother, Andrea Gonzalez, joined the Socialist Workers Party as a young woman from Brooklyn, and devoted decades of her life to the cause and running for various political offices including vice president of the United States. As a child Gonzalez admired her mother, “My mother hadn’t ditched me; she was working to save the world from the ravages of capitalism,” she writes in her piece. We’ll talk with Gonzalez about coming to terms with her absent mother and what happens when a parent chooses political activism over their child.

Guest:

Xochitl Gonzalez, staff writer, The Atlantic; novelist, “To Save The World, My Mother Abandoned Me”

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California set an ambitious goal of making transitional kindergarten universal by fall of 2025. TK was originally created for kids born in the fall who were too young to enroll in kindergarten. Now, state leaders want to make it accessible to any 4-year-old. That means adding a whole new grade to all of the state’s elementary schools within a five year period that started in 2021. The rollout has come with a plethora of challenges from a shortage of classroom space to a lack of qualified teachers to logistical headaches for parents. We’ll look at how California’s $2.7 billion expansion of TK is going.

Guests:

Elly Yu, senior reporter, LAist

Daisy Nguyen, early childhood education and care reporter, KQED

Hanna Melnick, senior policy advisor and director of early learning policy, Learning Policy Institute

Blanca Torres, producer and reporter, KQED

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On Thursday night the Bay Area’s own Kamala Harris will accept the nomination as the Democratic party’s presidential candidate after days of full throated embraces of her candidacy at the Democratic National Convention. KQED’s politics team joins us from the convention in Chicago to analyze notable moments from the convention and whether the party is embracing, or distancing itself, from Harris’ California roots and legacy.

Guests:

Marisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED; co-host of KQED's Political Breakdown

Scott Shafer, senior editor, KQED’s California Politics and Government; co-host, Political Breakdown

Guy Marzorati, correspondent, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk

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The Paralympic Games open in Paris next week, showcasing the talent of elite athletes in 22 adaptive sports. Some, like Boccia and Goalball, are unique to the Paralympics while others, like sitting volleyball and wheelchair fencing, parallel Olympic events – with a twist. We’ll check in with members of Team USA, learn more about the athletes and events to watch, and hear about efforts to expand adaptive sports in California as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 games. And we hear from you: Are you a para-athlete? Tell us what you love about your sport.

Guests:

David Wharton, sports reporter, Los Angeles Times - Covering 2024 Olympics and Paralympics in Paris for The Los Angeles Times

Kelly Crowley, former Paralympic athlete and medalist, She won gold medals in the women's swimming freestyle and medley relays in Greece in 2004, and bronze medals in cycling in 2012. She has coached swimming for nearly two decades and has also worked for tech companies on digital accessibility projects.

Michael Garafola, coordinator, UCLA Adaptive and Instructional Programs; Garafola is a competitive Wheelchair Athlete, and has competed with the LA Clippers wheelchair basketball, LA Rams wheelchair football and wheelchair tennis teams.

Justin Phongsavanh, Paralympic javelin thrower competing in the Paris 2024 Games

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What can we learn from professional risk-takers—poker players, hedge fund managers, crypto true believers and blue-chip art collectors— about how to navigate the uncertainty of the twenty first century? Nate Silver, the founder of FiveThirtyEight, seeks to answer that question in his new book “On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything.” In Silver’s world view, risk takers are adept with details and planning, they are not motivated by money, they practice conscientious contrarianism, and they are all around us. We talk to Silver about his book, his poker playing and what the polls tell us about the November elections.

Guests:

Nate Silver, author, "On the Edge:" The Art of Risking Everything", Silver founded the website FiveThirtyEight, and is also the author of the bestselling book, "The Signal and the Noise." His newsletter is titled "Silver Bulletin"

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Stand-up comic and mathematician Matt Parker loves triangles, and he wants everyone to appreciate them. Triangles help us calculate distances, the angle of an NBA 3-pointer and a winning billiards shot. They help us plan cities, cut sandwiches optimally and tell us the angle of impact of the asteroid that wiped out Earth’s dinosaurs. “Triangles are everything,” writes Parker, “and everything is triangles.” We talk to Parker about the function –and beauty – of the triangle and his new book “Love Triangle: How Trigonometry Shapes the World.”

Guests:

Matt Parker, stand-up comedian, mathematician and YouTuber; author, "Love Triangle: How Trigonometry Shapes the World"

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Vice President Kamala Harris has released a set of proposals she says will make housing more affordable if she’s elected president in November. Her ideas include tax incentives to encourage more home construction, down payment assistance for homebuyers, and rules to make it harder for corporate investors to buy up single family houses. We’ll examine the plan and how much of a role the country’s housing crisis could play in this fall’s election.

Guests:

Mike Madrid, Republican strategist; co-founder, The Lincoln Project. His new book is "The Latino Century: How America's Largest Minority is Transforming Democracy."

Erin Baldassari, senior editor of housing affordability, KQED

Yonah Freemark, principal research associate, Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute

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The 2024 Democratic National Convention kicks off on Monday, capping a warp speed nomination process for Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz. We’ll preview the four-day event in Chicago, where democrats are expected to try to build on momentum that’s brought record contributions and favorable poll numbers. What do you want to hear from the democratic party?

Guests:

Marisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED; co-host of KQED's Political Breakdown

Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor and legal correspondent, Slate; host, Amicus podcast; author, "Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America"

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