KQED's Forum

“I’ve spent my whole life trying to belong, to show people that I’m not like ‘them,’ not a Black person living in poverty, not a Black person with an addiction.” So writes Atlantic senior editor Jenisha Watts in the magazine’s October cover story, “I Never Called Her Momma: My Childhood in a Crack House.” When Watts began her career in journalism, she hid her roots while further developing her love for words and storytelling. She’s telling her own story now for the first time. We’ll talk with Watts about her family, the transformative power of Black literature and what it means to write about — and share — the trauma we’re used to keeping private.

Guests:

Jenisha Watts, senior editor, The Atlantic

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Homes in California produce about 8 percent of the state’s total greenhouse gas emissions. As the Golden State looks to significantly cut down emissions, one strategy is to electrify homes by, for example, replacing a gas stove with an electric one or installing a heat pump instead of gas-powered cooling and heating systems. Congress recently approved funding for tax rebates to encourage more people to recharge their dwellings. These electrification strategies could also have a major impact nationwide given that homes produce 20 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. For our next installment of Climate Fix, Forum’s monthly collaboration with KQED’s Science team, we’ll talk about electrification as a growing strategy for addressing climate change.

Guests:

Laura Klivans, climate reporter, KQED

Sam Calisch, chief scientist, Channing Street Copper - a Berkeley-based company that makes induction stoves. He is also a founding staffer and advisor to Rewiring America and is known as Mr. Heat Pump, a persona who educates people about heat pumps

Mark Hall, CEO and founder, Revalue.io - a company that helps homeowners transition to clean energy sources for their homes

Alejandra Mejia Cunningham, senior building decarbonization advocate, Natural Resources Defense Council

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In their bestselling 2022 book on the Trump presidency, “The Divider” journalists Peter Baker and Susan Glasser wrote that the January 6 insurrection “was the inexorable culmination of a sustained four-year war on the institutions and traditions of American democracy.” That was then. In a new afterword to the book, they write that Trump has now “shunned any remaining voices of restraint within his own party”. With the former president leading the pack for the GOP nomination, Glasser and Baker join us to talk about their book and to help us answer the question: What would a second Trump term look like?

Guests:

Susan Glasser, staff writer, The New Yorker; co-author, "The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021"

Peter Baker, Chief White House Correspondent, The New York Times; co-author, "The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021"

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San Francisco is one of eight counties that will be piloting California’s new CARE Courts program ahead of a statewide rollout next year. Beginning next month, people with schizophrenia or psychosis can be referred to the new court and, if they meet certain criteria, receive a court-ordered care plan that can include mental health treatment, housing and medication. Critics warn that the system could violate the civil liberties of people with disabilities and lead to harmful coercive care, but proponents say the measure will assist unhoused people living with severe, untreated mental illness by getting them the attention they need. We’ll get into the details and the debate.

Guests:

Susan Talamantes-Eggman, state Senator representing California's 5th District; co-author of SB 1338, the legislation which established CARE court in California

Rafael Mandelman, represents District 8 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors

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

Tal Klement, Deputy Public Defender in the Mental Health Unit, San Francisco Public Defender's Office

Eric Harris, director of public policy, Disability Rights California

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“I don’t have any hope,” said one Oakland resident attending a town hall this past weekend on the city’s rising crime rate. According to the city’s police department, violent crime is up by 17% over last year and as of August, 68 people had been murdered in Oakland. Indeed, since 2019, car break-ins are up over 40%, vehicle thefts have more than doubled, and reported robberies are up by 30%. And while East Oakland has borne the brunt of criminal activity, no part of the city is immune. We’ll talk to Mayor Sheng Thao, interim Oakland police chief Darren Allison, and chief Kentrell Killens, interim head of the city’s violence prevention program. And we’ll hear from you. What are your questions for the mayor and her team?

Guests:

Sheng Thao, mayor, Oakland

Darren Allison, interim police chief, Oakland Police Department

Kentrell Killens, interim chief of violence prevention, Department of Violence Prevention for the City of Oakland

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It was more than 60 years ago that a 26-year old Jane Goodall entered the Gombe Stream National Forest in Tanzania with a notebook and pen and observed a chimpanzee she’d named David Graybeard use a twig to coax termites up from their nest. The discovery, along with others she made about how chimps play with toys and care for each other, erased for her the divide thought to separate humans from the animal kingdom. Her scientific work has also led her to a lifetime devoted to animal conservation, redefined to include the needs of local people and the environment. Goodall, along with two international conservation champions she’s inspired, join us to talk about the future of the movement.

Guests:

Jane Goodall, ethologist and conservationist. She's co-founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, which is devoted to the protection of great apes and their habitats. Her books include of "In the Shadow of Man" and "The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior."

Jean-Gael "JG" Collomb, chief executive officer, Wildlife Conservation Network, which connects philanthropists with a global network of field-based conservation leaders

Jeneria Lekilelei, Samburu warrior; director of community conservation, Ewaso Lions

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“Name your environmental ill—dams, poaching, megafires—and consider that roads kill more creatures with less fanfare, than any of them.” That’s according to conservation journalist Ben Goldfarb, who says that the problem’s only getting worse as traffic increases. Roads have also forced animals to evolve, adapt and change their migration habits. Goldfarb’s new book “Crossings” examines the impact of our planet’s 40 million miles of roads on the natural world and how, through the study of road ecology, we can find ways to minimize noise and habitat destruction and engineer a system with bridges for bears, tunnels for turtles and other accommodations for our fellow creatures.

Guests:

Ben Goldfarb, conservation journalist; author, "Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet." He also wrote the book "Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter."

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Point Reyes may be known for its cows and lighthouse, but locals also want it to become a destination for darkness. Residents have petitioned to certify part of Marin County as a Dark Sky Reserve. But, persuading some people to dim their lights has turned out to be a challenge. Those efforts are just one part of an international movement to reduce light pollution and preserve dark skies. While the invention of the lightbulb – less than 150 years ago – changed the course of human history, excessive use of artificial light has become a nuisance that disrupts the wellbeing of humans, wildlife, and the planet. We’ll talk about light pollution, stargazing and the benefits of darker skies.

Guests:

Josh Riedel, author of the novel "Please Report Your Bug Here" and the recent article "Saving the Night Sky," which was published in Esquire magazine

John Barentine, astronomer and founder, Dark Sky Consulting, LLC; former director of public policy, International Dark Sky Association

Peggy Day, Point Reyes Station resident and dark-sky advocate; cofounder, DarkSky West Marin

Don Jolley, astronomy teacher and storyteller, DarkSky West Marin

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Google spends more than $10 billion per year to maintain its monopoly control over internet search, a U.S. government lawyer alleged in a Washington, D.C. courtroom on Tuesday. In what is being called the most important antitrust trial in nearly 25 years, the U.S. Department of Justice is accusing Google of harming consumers and stifling competition by cutting deals with smartphone makers to be their default search engine. Google, which controls about 90 percent of the U.S. search engine market, said in court on Tuesday that dissatisfied users can simply switch web browsers “with a few easy clicks.” We’ll preview the rest of the trial and examine what is at stake for tech companies and consumers.

Guests:

Sheelah Kolhatkar, staff writer, The New Yorker - where she writes about Wall Street, Silicon Valley, economics, and politics

Bill Baer, visiting fellow governance studies, Brookings Institution; former director, the Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission; former assistant attorney general, the Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice

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Summer may be over, but the Bay Area’s hottest days may still be ahead. To manage the heat (and let’s be honest, the fog), two scoops of your favorite local ice cream could come in handy. For our latest installment of “All You Can Eat,” KQED’s Alan Chazaro and Luke Tsai join Forum to talk about the Bay Area’s best cold desserts. We’ll discuss decades-old mainstays like Its-It and Mitchell’s, talk to business owners making cold confections infused with strong cultural influences, and hear from you: What’s a unique and tasty ice cream or cold dessert that you’ve encountered in the Bay Area?

Guests:

Stephanie De La Cruz, owner, De La Creamery

Priti Narayanan, co-owner, Koolfi Creamery and Cafe

Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & Culture

Alan Chazaro, food reporter, KQED; poet; educator

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