KQED's Forum

Legendary Arhoolie Records founder Chris Strachwitz transversed the United States and Mexico for decades recording traditional roots music and unknown artists. The El Cerrito-based producer, who died last year, was known for his ear for music, but he also had an eye for capturing images. More than 150 of those photos documenting his travels and recording sessions are collected in a new book, “Arhoolie Records Down Home Music: The Stories and Photographs of Chris Strachwitz.” Co-author and veteran music journalist Joel Selvin joins us to talk about Strachwitz’s art and legacy.

Guests:

Joel Selvin, San Francisco-based music journalist and author. His latest book is "Arhoolie Records: Down Home Music"

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Humanitarian conditions in Gaza have become increasingly desperate as Israeli forces intensified bombardments in the southern part of the region this week, now leaving most of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents displaced, thousands dead and electricity, food and water in short supply. Two months after Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel, we take stock of the war that’s ensued, its devastating impact on civilians and what a path toward a peaceful settlement could look like.

Guests:

Steve Coll, staff writer, The New Yorker; former dean, Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. His books include "Ghost Wars," which won a Pulitzer Prize.

Adam Goldman, reporter covering national security, New York Times

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When you get to the part of the ballot that asks you to vote for a local judge, have you ever thought, “am I qualified to make this decision?” While federal court trial and appellate judges are appointed and enjoy lifetime tenures, state court judges often have to run for election or re-election, and most voters have scant information on the candidates. In California, you can run to be a judge if you have been a lawyer for ten years, no trial experience necessary. And while we expect judges to be neutral, can they be when they have to run for office and take campaign donations? In our next installment of our “Doing Democracy” series, we look at what it means when judges have to stand for election.

Guests:

Michael S Kang, professor, Northwestern School of Law. Kang is the co-author of "Free to Judge: The Power of Campaign Money in Judicial Elections." He served on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States

Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell, retired judge, Superior Court of California. She is the author of "Her Honor: My Life on the Bench...What Works, What's Broken and How to Change It"

Teresa Johnson, incoming president, Bar Association of San Francisco. Johnson is a partner at the law firm Arnold & Porter

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Distinguishing facts from unreliable or false information online is difficult for many of us. And the confusion affects all age groups, political parties and demographics, according to Stanford Professor Sam Wineburg, who writes that “if the internet is the information superhighway, then none of us were given driver’s ed manuals.” Wineburg’s new book, co-authored by Mike Caulfield, plans to fill that gap. It’s called “Verified: How To Think Straight, Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions About What To Believe Online.” We talk to Wineburg about how to spot misinformation, identify untrustworthy sources and become a more savvy internet user.

Guests:

Sam Wineburg, professor of education, Stanford University; author, "Verified: How To Think Straight, Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions About What To Believe Online"

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Former president Trump has been saying very inflammatory things in public speeches and posts lately. He’s advocated violence, praised autocratic leaders and called his political opponents “vermin” that need to be “rooted out”. We’ll analyze Trump’s recent campaign rhetoric and discuss how the press and social media platforms are handling it all. We talk with experts about what we have learned from past mistakes in covering Trump and rooting out fake news, and how we can do better.

Guests:

Lyna Bentahar, reporter, New York Times; co-author, article "Donald Trump’s 2024 Campaign, in His Own Menacing Words"

Ian Prasad Philbrick, reporter, New York Times; co-author, article "Donald Trump’s 2024 Campaign, in His Own Menacing Words"

Emily Dreyfuss, director, Shorenstein Center News Lab; co-author, "Meme Wars: the Untold Stories of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America."

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When was the last time you spent a weekend listening to a piece of music for hours on end? For gamers, that’s not an uncommon practice. Along with story, graphics, and gameplay, the music plays a vital role in the gaming experience, helping to immerse the player and provide clues on where the action is headed. But despite the sophistication of video game scores, their composers have not been appreciated within our traditional classical music institutions. Jennifer Miller Hammel, a classically trained vocalist and pianist, grew up playing video games and she’s set out to correct that by curating “Arcade,” a new streaming channel on Classical California devoted to video game music. We’ll play some of her favorite pieces and hear why there’s a new generation of classical music fans to be found among gamers.

Guests:

Jennifer Miller Hammel, program host, Classical California, KUSC Morning Show, The Opera Show, and Arcade

Inon Zur, composer. Zur's scores include Starfield, Fallout, Dragon Age, and Syberia video game series. Website URL: www.inonzur.com

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Concord has joined a growing list of Bay Area cities testing guaranteed income programs. The East Bay city’s model will provide 120 families with $500 a month for a year. More than 20 similar pilot programs have sprung up in the Bay Area in the last few years after more state and local officials allocated money to fund them. That has made California a hotbed for guaranteed income experiments. Advocates say that “no-strings attached” funding puts participants on a path to financial security because they often use the money to cover basic necessities, pay off debt, and build up savings. We’ll talk about the latest guaranteed income programs, what we’ve learned from the pilots, and how state support is changing local experiments.

Guests:

Natalie Foster, president and co-founder, Economic Security Project; senior fellow, The Aspen Institute Future of Work Initiative

Jessica Travenia, director, Richmond Rapid Response Fund. They are preparing to launch the Contra Costa chapter of the Abundant Birth Project, a guaranteed income pilot for pregnant moms.

Julia Quintero, ELEVATE Concord project manager, Monument Impact. They are a nonprofit organization that is administering a guaranteed income program in Concord

Amy Castro, associate professor of the School of Social Policy and Practice & co-founder and faculty director of the Center for Guaranteed Income Research, University of Pennsylvania

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Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, died on Friday. She was 93. A Ronald Reagan appointee who retired from the high court in 2006, O’Connor was known as a swing vote in contentious cases on abortion, religious liberty and affirmative action. She once wrote, “Rare indeed is the legal victory — in court or legislature — that is not a careful byproduct of an emerging social consensus.” We’ll talk about her influence and legacy.

Guests:

Melissa Murray, professor of law, NYU School of Law; co-host, the Strict Scrutiny podcast

Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor and legal correspondent, Slate; host, Amicus podcast; author, "Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America". Website URL: http://www.slate.com/authors.dahlia_lithwick.html

Cristina Rodriguez, professor of law, Yale Law School; former clerk for Justice O'Connor during the Supreme Court's 2002 term

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Dr. Fei-Fei Li is a literal visionary. Her groundbreaking work on ImageNet, a vast visual recognition database, helped propel artificial intelligence at a critical moment. As one of the key innovators and thinkers in AI, Li has argued for a human-centered artificial intelligence that augments people’s capabilities instead of displacing them. We talk to Li about her work, her vision for AI and her new memoir, The Worlds I See, in which she recounts her journey as a scientist and immigrant, and how those two roles inform each other.

Guests:

Fei-Fei Li, professor of Computer Science Department, Stanford University; author, "The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI"

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It might be the most unusual event of this campaign season: California Governor Gavin Newsom is set to face off Thursday night against Governor – and GOP presidential candidate – Ron DeSantis of Florida in a Fox News-sponsored debate. What will this clash of two rising political stars from two of the nation’s most populous states reveal about issues like abortion, immigration, homelessness and our political moment? We’ll bring you a recap and analysis of the debate, which is being held in Georgia and moderated by Fox host Sean Hannity.

Guests:

Melanie Mason, senior political correspondent covering California politics, Politico

Joe Garofoli, senior political writer, San Francisco Chronicle

Taryn Luna, staff writer covering California politics, LA Times

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