KQED's Forum

In his magazine profiles and podcasts, Oakland writer Carvell Wallace has a gift for examining people and the times we live in with clarity and wisdom. With his new memoir “Another Word for Love,” Wallace extends his compassionate gaze to his own story, tracing a childhood peppered with homelessness and abuse, through to his quest for healing, pleasure and the divine. "It is is not enough to be hurt and to know that you have been hurt," he writes. "The price of being alive, of being in love, is that you are required to heal.”

Guest:

Carvell Wallace, author, "Another Word for Love: A Memoir"; 2023 recipient of the American Mosaic Journalism Prize; host, "Closer Than They Appear" and "Finding Fred"

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President Biden and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump take the stage in Atlanta on Thursday for the first presidential debate of the election cycle. The debate, hosted by CNN, takes place as the parties are deeply divided on major policy issues and as polls show low voter approval ratings for both candidates. We’ll recap the debate and hear your reactions.

Guests:

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

Adam Nagourney, national political reporter, New York Times

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

Ro Khanna, U.S. Congressman for California's 17th Congressional District (Silicon Valley)

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Almost everything we eat – bananas, sushi, lettuce, beef – is part of the “cold chain,” a vast network of refrigerated warehouses, shipping containers, display cases and finally, our own refrigerators that underpin our global food system. We’ve only been able to create cold when we want it for about 150 years, but in that time, refrigeration “has changed our height, our health, and our family dynamics; it has shaped our kitchens, ports and cities; and it has reconfigured global economics and politics,” writes food and science writer Nicola Twilley in her new book, Frostbite. We’ll talk to her about how the whole system works, what it might look like in the future and why exactly your chopped salad comes in that weird little bag.

Guests:

Nicola Twilley, author, Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves; cohost, podcast Gastropod - and frequent contributor to the New Yorker

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On Friday, the court, in a 6-3 opinion authored by Justice Gorsuch, announced that “camping ban” laws that restrict unhoused people from sleeping on public property do not constitute “cruel and unusual punishment” and are therefore not prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. These laws had been challenged by cities, including San Francisco. We’ll talk about the opinion and what happens next.

Guests:

Rory Little, professor of constitutional law, UC School of Law, San Francisco - former federal prosecutor and criminal defense attorney

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In 1969 California became the first state to adopt no-fault divorce – allowing people to end their marriages without proving spousal wrongdoing. Other states quickly followed suit. For a half-century, couples haven’t had to endure protracted legal battles for every split, nor do they need to allege adultery or force their children to go to court, just to get a divorce. Now, some conservative activists – following their attacks on reproductive rights and IVF – are denouncing no-fault divorce, saying it makes splitting up families too easy. Advocates for no-fault say the data show that restricting divorce leads to increased death and injury within families, especially for women and people experiencing domestic violence. We’ll talk about the threats to no-fault divorce and analyze the history and future of divorce, in California and nationwide.

Guests:

Joanna Grossman, Chair in Women and the Law, Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law; visiting professor, Stanford Law School

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Though one of its most famous attractions is Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco and the Bay Area’s thriving fishing industry is not what it once was. A shortened season for Dungeness crab, a canceled salmon season (the second cancellation in a row), and climate change are taking a toll on fisheries. We talk to people who make their living catching and selling fish and hear how they are surviving and adapting to this new reality.

Guests:

Kirk Lombard, fisherman and sea forager - Lombard operates the Sea Forager CSF which brings local seafood to consumers directly. He is also the author of "The Sea Forager's Guide to the Northern California Coast."

Melissa Mahoney, executive director, Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust - a nonprofit focused on supporting and strengthening fisheries in Monterey, Moss Landing and Santa Cruz

Sarah Bates, captain, Fishing Vessel Bounty

Eleza Jaeger, owner and operator of the vessel "The Gatherer II," which fishes for halibut and operates charters

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When New Yorker staff writer Emily Nussbaum began working on her book about the origins of reality TV, she says that the deeper she looked “the darker things got.” She found reality stars whose lives were wrecked and “methods of production so ugly they’re hard to look at.” But she says reality TV has also elevated the struggles of ordinary people, taken on historically forbidden subjects like queerness and divorce and pioneered new filmmaking techniques. We talk to Nussbaum about her new book “Cue The Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV,” which she calls her attempt “to describe the reality genre through the voices of the people who built it.”

Guests:

Emily Nussbaum, author, "Cue the Sun! The Invention of Reality TV"; staff writer, The New Yorker

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Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao spoke publicly on Monday for the first time since the FBI raided her home last week. Thao, who faces a recall election in November, said she does not plan to step down or be “threatened out of this office.” Since coming into office in January of 2023, the mayor has dealt with a flood of criticism for her handling of property crime, homicide rates, police staffing levels, and a major budget deficit. We’ll talk about what the FBI raid could mean, the various controversies the mayor is facing, and why she’s being asked to resign.

Guests:

Darwin BondGraham, news editor, Oaklandside

Annelise Finney, reporter, KQED

Dan Lindheim, policy scholar and urban affairs expert, UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy; former City Administrator of Oakland under Mayor Ron Dellums

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Project 2025, the sweeping right-wing agenda drafted by the Heritage Foundation, calls for expanding presidential powers, eliminating federal agencies and programs and implementing substantial tax cuts. Created by close allies of former President Trump, it mirrors much of his campaign rhetoric. Meanwhile, Democrats are using it as a call to action. We examine the specifics of Project 2025 and how closely it aligns with Trump’s agenda.

Guests:

Philip Bump, national columnist, the Washington Post

Nicholas Wu, congressional reporter, Politico

Michael Hirsh, senior correspondent, Foreign Policy; author, "Inside the Next Republican Revolution" a Politico article on Project 2025

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Michael Andor Broudeur is a classical music critic for the Washington Post and he’s also a self-described “meathead” with an relentless desire to make his body bigger. In his book “Swole: The Making of Man and the Meaning of Muscle” Broudeur grapples with the contradictions and complexities of male body image and masculinity. He embraces the gay male gym culture he’s a part of but writes that it would be silly “to try and distance the symbol of the buff male bod from its long and wide lineage of unsavory cultural signifiers. As a mascot for classical beauty, the meathead must also embody white supremacy, hetero-patriarchy, and a vast panoply of nationalisms.” We’ll talk with Brodeur about how weight training has shifted his perspective on what it means to be a man.

Guests:

Michael Andor Brodeur, author, "Swole: The Making of Men and the Meaning of Muscle"; classical music critic, the Washington Post

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