KQED's Forum

The key from your first apartment. An old typewriter you used to write your thesis. Fabric buttons made by your grandmother. We all have objects, big and small, that have no real monetary value, but are precious. They tell the story of our lives or remind us of a happy or even sad time. These are the objects that constitute our own personal archive. We’ll talk to artists and writers about the things we keep, and why we keep them. And we’ll hear from you: what object have you kept for its special meaning?

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“Gentle parenting” is generally described as parenting your child without shame, blame or punishment. It has gained traction in recent years, driven in large part by social media. Fans of the approach say it’s all about treating kids with empathy and respect, a stark contrast to the power dynamics of prior generations. But what happens when those well-meaning techniques — modeled so simply in Instagram reels — don’t work with your family? New research is suggesting that gentle parenting may not be so gentle on parents, leading to overwhelm and burnout. We’ll talk with experts about the benefits and limits of gentle parenting.

Guests:

Mercedes Samudio, licensed clinician and author, "Shame-Proof Parenting: Find Your Unique Parenting Voice, Feel Empowered, and Raise Whole, Healthy Children"

Dan Peters, psychologist, parenting expert and host of the podcast “Parent Footprint with Dr. Dan"; author, "Make Your Worrier a Warrior"; co-author, "Bright, Complex Kids"

Annie Pezalla, assistant professor, Developmental Psychology and Family Studies, Macalester College. Her recent article in the Conversation is "Gentle parenting can be really hard on parents, new research suggests."

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A lot of ink has been spilled about the outflow of workers from San Francisco and the Bay Area but, according to a recent Harvard Business Review article, “In the technology world, San Francisco remains the center. It remains the sun on which the planets orbit.” Those planets include places like Portland, Seattle, and Austin, to which companies and workers decamped during the pandemic. This theory of the “meta city” offers a new way to think about our globalized economy. It also suggests that the fear that San Francisco’s best days have passed is misplaced. We’ll talk about this concept and what it might mean for the city’s economic future… and self-esteem.

Guests:

Richard Florida, professor at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto; author of "The Rise of the Creative Class" and co-author of the recent Harvard Business Review article, "The Rise of the Meta City"

Molly Turner, lecturer and expert on technology startups and cities, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley

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In a case with potentially monumental legal and political implications, the U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide if former President Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on the 2024 ballot. Late last year, the Colorado Supreme Court issued an opinion removing him from the state’s primary ballot for his effort to overturn the 2020 election and his incitement of the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol. Shortly after, Maine’s Secretary of State followed suit. The Supreme Court will hear arguments on February 8, just days before Colorado is set to mail ballots to voters. We’ll talk about the issues before the Court and we’ll hear from you: should the former president be excluded from the ballot for inciting an insurrection?

Guests:

Ian Millhiser, senior correspondent, Vox; author, "Injustices: The Supreme Court's History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted" and "The Agenda: How a Republican Supreme Court is Reshaping America."

Andrea Scoseria Katz, associate professor of law, Washington University in St. Louis

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Could 2024 be the year we start wearing computers on our faces en masse? Might scientists cure sickle cell patients and move to geothermal energy? The answer is yes, according to the MIT Technology Review. Each year, the journal publishes a list of its top 10 predictions of technologies that could make a lasting impact in the year to come. This year’s list focuses on advancements in health, green energy and computing. We’ll talk with editors and reporters from the magazine about what technological advances they expect to change our lives, and what technological promises probably won’t pan out.

Guests:

Will Douglas Heaven, senior editor for AI, MIT Technology Review

Antonio Regalado, senior editor for biomedicine, MIT Technology Review

Amy Nordrum, executive editor, MIT Technology Review

Casey Crownhart, climate reporter, MIT Technology Review

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Poll after poll finds Americans believe the economy is getting worse. Yet, indicators such as low unemployment rates, rising wages and declining inflation tell a different story. Economists agree that the country managed to avoid another recession, but why don’t we feel good about it? Prior to 2020, Americans’ feelings about the economy tracked with objective figures, but more recently perception and reality have diverged, creating a disconnect known as the “vibecession.” We’ll talk about the perception gap, how various populations experience the economy differently and what it all means for the presidential election.

Guests:

Rachel Siegel, economy reporter, The Washington Post

Christian Paz, senior politics reporter, Vox

Gilad Edelman, senior editor, The Atlantic

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If elected to a second term Donald Trump has promised to carry out “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history” in addition to other harsh approaches to immigration. President Joe Biden, who has long been criticized for continuing many Trump era immigration policies, now faces increasing pressure from both parties to step up enforcement as a record number of migrants are crossing the southern border. We talk with The Atlantic reporter Caitlin Dickerson, who won a 2023 Pulitzer Prize for her immigration reporting, about global migration pressures and the future of US policy.

Guests:

Caitlin Dickerson, staff writer, The Atlantic; winner, 2023 Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on immigration

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18 California children are suing the EPA for failing to protect them from climate change. The lawsuit is one of many efforts to hold the fossil fuel industry to account that reporter Dharna Noor highlights in her series for the Guardian US called “Big Oil Uncovered.” We’ll talk to her about the strategies oil and gas companies are using to delay or avoid action on climate change — and the people and policies who are taking them to task.

Related link(s):

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/series/big-oil-uncovered

Guests:

Dharna Noor, fossil fuels and climate reporter, The Guardian US

Ethan Elkind, director, the Climate Program at the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment at UC Berkeley School of Law; host, the Climate Break podcast

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Last year, nearly a quarter of public school students in California were considered “chronically absent” – more than double what it was before the pandemic. Factors such as parent work schedules, poverty, and lack of interest have led millions of students to miss more than 10 percent of the school year. In response, many schools are trying everything from hiring social workers to offering Uber rides and tastier food to bring more kids to the classroom. We’ll talk with experts and school administrators about chronic absenteeism and what they are doing about it.

Guests:

Carolyn Jones, K-12 education reporter, Calmatters

Gloria Corral, president and CEO, Parent Institute for Quality Education

Hedy Chang, executive director and founder, Attendance Works - a national initiative that works to curb chronic absenteeism in schools.

Chien Wu-Fernandez, associate superintendent, Hayward Unified School District

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Since China’s annexation of Tibet in the 1950s, more than 100,000 Tibetans have fled the mountainous region, known as the rooftop of the world. Most of those refugees live with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India, citizens of what’s considered the Tibetan government in exile. Journalist Amy Yee has been documenting the stories of Tibetans outside Tibet — in Dharamsala, as well as in Australia, Belgium and New York — and their efforts to preserve their culture abroad. We talk to her about the people, places and rituals she chronicles in her new book, “Far From the Rooftop of the World: Travels Among Tibetan Refugees on Four Continents.”

Guests:

Amy Yee, Bloomberg journalist and author of the new book, “Far from the Rooftop of the World: Travels among Tibetan Refugees on Four Continents”

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