KQED's Forum

On a visit to her grandmother’s house, journalist Maya Lin Sugarman unexpectedly discovered a trove of screenplays written by her uncle Galen. She was shocked to learn that one of the screenplays was turned into a gangster movie starring Rob Lowe, and even more shocked to learn that it was based on Galen’s real life experiences as a young gang member in Oakland’s Chinatown. Maya’s podcast “Magnificent Jerk” explores the shadows of family history, spotlights a slice of the Bay Area’s past that few seem to want to discuss, and searches for understanding in the gaps between fact and fiction. We talk with Maya about her uncle’s wild screenplay and what she learned trying to excavate buried secrets.

Guests:

Maya Lin Sugarman, journalist, host and executive producer of the podcast “Magnificent Jerk”

William Gee Wong, journalist; author of “Sons of Chinatown: A memoir rooted in China and America”

Brian Wong, Oakland Chinatown resident; friend of Galen Yuen

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wearing blue vests labeled “Press,” journalists in Gaza risk their lives to document and publicize a war that’s killed more than 28,000 people. At least 85 journalists are among the dead – 78 of whom were Palestinian. Because Israel and Egypt have denied foreign journalists entry into Gaza, the burden of on-the-ground reporting falls predominantly to Palestinian journalists, who work amid airstrikes, intermittent cell and internet service and an abiding fear for the safety of their loved ones. In December, the Committee to Protect Journalists labeled the post-Oct. 7 conflict deadlier for media workers than any full year of conflict, anywhere, since it began keeping track in 1992. We’ll speak with journalists from Gaza about what it means to report, amid trauma and loss, a story they’re part of.

Guests:

Rushdi Abualouf, Gaza correspondent reporting from Istanbul, BBC

Mai Yaghi, correspondent based in Gaza, AFP

Adel Zaanoun, bureau chief in Gaza, AFP

Youmna ElSayed, English Correspondent in Gaza now speaking from Egypt, Al Jazeera

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco resident Kristin Urquiza has spent the past two years advocating for a national Covid memorial for the million-plus people who died from the disease, including her father. She co-founded Marked By Covid to push for a memorial that will not only speak to our grief, but also encapsulate the conditions and decisions that led to so many deaths. Urquiza shared her journey with the podcast 99 Percent Invisible for a recent episode called, “Don’t Forget to Remember.” We’ll talk about what it means to memorialize our collective traumas and what a Covid memorial should say.

Guests:

Chris Colin, Bay Area-based journalist - his recent story, "Don't Forget to Remember," appeared on the podcast, 99 Percent Invisible

Kristin Urquiza, co-founder, Marked by Covid - daughter of Mark Urquiza, who died from Covid June 30, 2020

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Governor Gavin Newsom pledged this month to veto a bill that would ban tackle football for children under 12. Sponsored by Sacramento assemblymember Kevin McCarty, the bill was designed to protect children from the potentially debilitating long-term effects of repeated head injury. But even as evidence of its potential harm mounts, youth football culture in California is deeply ingrained, with the state producing talented players and successful teams year after year. Advocates for youth tackle football say that it fosters community and camaraderie, and provides access to education and upward mobility. We’ll look at the culture – and future – of youth tackle football in California.

Guests:

Kate Wolffe, health care reporter, Cap Radio

Albert Samaha, investigative reporter, Washington Post; author, "Concepcion: Conquest, Colonialism, and an Immigrant Family’s Fate" and "Never Ran, Never Will: Boyhood and Football in a Changing American Inner City"

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bonnie Ora Sherk began her career as a landscape painter, but then realized she wanted to be in the landscape herself. From the nucleus of that idea, her 1970 installation “Portable Park,” a popup farm complete with sod, trees, and farm animals situated under a San Francisco freeway overpass, was born. As she observed, “Freeways are beautiful, but they need to be softened. Why use them just for cars?” Sherk, who died in 2021, spent her career transforming “dead spaces” into lived experiences like gardens, farms, and trails, all meant to engage audiences by showing them the wonders of the overlooked world around them. Today she is considered the godmother of urban reinvention, gardens, and the parklet. We’ll talk about a new retrospective of her work with curators and artists who have been inspired by her.

Guests:

Tere Almaguer, environmental justice organizer, Poder - Almaguer works with Hummingbird Farms, a seven-acre urban farm in San Francisco

Frank Smigiel, director of arts programming and partnerships, Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture; former curator, SF MOMA - Smigiel helped bring the Bonnie Ora Sherk retrospective to Fort Mason

Tanya Zimbardo, curator, "Bonnie Ora Sherk: Life Frames Since 1970"

John Bela, urbanist; artist - Bela has created a garden space in conjunction with the Bonnie Ora Sherk retrospective at Fort Mason. Bela is also a partner at Urban Field Studio, a Bay Area urban design collective

Rae Alexandra, staff writer, KQED Arts & Culture; creator and author, "Rebel Girls from Bay Area History" series

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2002, California became the first state to pass its own voting rights act with the aim of increasing minority representation at the local level. But as a recent San Francisco Chronicle investigation found, the California Voting Rights Act has produced mixed results— and the state does not track its outcomes. In some localities, the law has led to better community representation and more people of color sitting on city councils and school boards. But in others, it had no effect — and even caused more no-contest or canceled elections. And the financial penalties it allows for have hurt cash-strapped smaller municipalities — without necessarily changing the demographics of elected officials. We’ll talk about the three-part investigative series into how the California Voting Rights Act changed community elections and local governments — and its unintended effects.

Guests:

Jason Fagone, narrative writer, San Francisco Chronicle

Daniel Lempres, criminal justice reporter, San Francisco Chronicle

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalism in America was a highly profitable business for more than a century until the internet – and other factors – disrupted the traditional business model resulting in decades of declining advertising and subscription revenue. Last week, the Los Angeles Times cut about 20 percent of its staff, adding to a growing list of news organizations making cuts in the past few months: The Washington Post, Business Insider, Sports Illustrated and NBC News. Meanwhile, hedge funds and private equity firms buying up newspapers has also changed the industry – a trend Bay Area filmmaker Rick Goldsmith examines in his new documentary, “Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink.” We’ll talk about the demise of local newspapers, efforts to revive the news business, and what it means for democracy.

Guests:

Rick Goldsmith, documentary filmmaker; director, "Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink" (2023), "Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press" (1996) and "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers" (2009)

Julie Reynolds, freelance journalist; producer, Gray Area - a podcast about justice and redemption; part-time associate editor, The Imprint

S. Mitra Kalita, CEO, URL Media - a network of Black and Brown community news outlets that share content and revenue; publisher, Epicenter-NYC; veteran journalist; media executive; prolific commentator and author

Ramona Giwargis, co-founder and CEO, San Jose Spotlight

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Russia invaded Ukraine nearly two years ago, President Volodymyr Zelensky knew that the Russian military would be hard to defeat – not only because of its strength but because for years “the Kremlin had waged its war through propaganda, seeking to convince anyone who speaks the Russian language that Ukraine does not exist.” That’s according to Time Magazine senior correspondent Simon Shuster, who says that Zelensky’s former life as an entertainer made him both acutely aware of the power of persuasion and effective at winning support for Ukraine from abroad. We talk to Shuster about Zelensky’s rise from stage actor to wartime leader and how his art informed his politics. Shuster’s new book, based on years of reporting and interviews with Zelensky and his inner circle, is “The Showman: Inside the Invasion That Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky.”

Guests:

Simon Shuster, senior correspondent, TIME; author, "The Showman: Inside the Invasion That Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky"

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nearly 1.5 million homes have been destroyed in Russia’s war on Ukraine, and rebuilding the country could cost more than $400 billion, according to the United Nations. Despite the ongoing fighting, Ukrainian leaders say they urgently need to start rebuilding homes, factories, and other structures, so that the millions of Ukrainians who fled the war – and who are key to redeveloping the country – can return. To that end, a delegation of Ukrainian officials and leaders are visiting the Bay Area to seek local expertise and support for their efforts. We’ll talk to several of them about their experiences since the Russian invasion and the financial and logistical challenges they face.

Guests:

Margie O'Driscoll, executive director, Center for Innovation - a San Francisco-based non-profit

Andrii Lakshtanov, construction professional, Hilti Ukraine; leader, Dobrobat

Konstiantyn Demenkov, chief advisor for reconstruction, the city council of Kharkiv

Volodymyr Kreidenko, member of Ukraine's parliament

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California regulators approved new rules last month to enable water suppliers to treat wastewater and redistribute it as drinking water. The state says that the new standards, which took years to craft, are the most advanced in the nation for treating wastewater and will add millions of gallons of additional drinking water to state supplies. But hurdles, including stigmas that surround what’s known as “direct potable reuse,” persist. We talk about California’s new approach to wastewater recycling and its potential to address shortages and ensure a consistent water supply in the face of increasing demand and climate challenges.

Guests:

Heather Cooley, director of research, Pacific Institute

Sean Bothwell, executive director, California Coastkeeper Alliance

Darrin Polhemus, deputy director of the division of drinking water, California State Water Resources Control Board

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices