KQED's Forum

Americans are doing a lot more of their shopping online, and thanks to generous return policies we’re also sending back more of the stuff that doesn’t fit, doesn’t work or just doesn’t look like its JPG. Many of us even regularly buy clothes in multiple sizes and colors and simply send back anything that we don’t like the look of. But very little of what we return, from bathing suits to defective barbeque grills, is repaired or resold as new. Returned inventory created 9.5 billion pounds of landfill waste last year, according to one estimate. And the shipping of returned inventory in the US, to retailers, resellers and repairers, emitted over 24 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2022. We’ll talk about the logistics of the reverse supply chain and the environmental consequences of all the stuff we buy and don’t want.

Guests:

Amanda Mull, staff writer, The Atlantic - who writes the column “Material World” on American consumerism

Tobin Moore, co-founder and principal, Optoro - a returns technology company

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Researchers at UCSF have developed a digital avatar to convey the words and facial expressions of a woman with severe paralysis by transmitting her brain activity. They published their results a week after scientists at UC Berkeley announced that they successfully recreated music by recording the brain waves of patients while they listened to songs. We’ll talk with researchers on both projects about the rapidly developing advances in our ability to decode signals in the human brain and the promise of neuroprosthetics to help people regain the ability to speak.

Guests:

Robert Knight, professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, UC Berkeley

Alex Silva, MD-PhD student of Medicine and Bioengineering, University of California San Francisco

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For many Californians, developing meaningful relationships with people significantly older or younger than them can be difficult. We live in age-segregated environments that make it challenging to encounter – much less connect with – people in different phases of life. Yet, experts have found that an exchange of perspectives and experiences across generational divides can decrease the health risks of loneliness and social isolation for older adults – and boost life satisfaction and learning in both directions. We’ll explore how we can form cross-generational friendships that enrich our lives and rethink a society that segregates members by age.

Guests:

Kathleen Toohill, writer and friend of Sukari Addison

Sukari Addison, octogenarian and friend of Kathleen Toohill

Laura Newberry, reporter and writer of the "Group Therapy" weekly newsletter, Los Angeles Times

Sylvia Vargas, director of community engagement programs, Openhouse SF, which is a non-profit organization serving older LGBTQ adults

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A good breakup song can offer you catharsis and a good, long cry. They can help you mediate the feelings caused by a long lost love, a messy goodbye, or a person you never, ever, ever want to get back together with. (Thank you, Taylor Swift). But a breakup song doesn’t have to be about a relationship — it can be about a job you’re leaving behind, a city you’re moving away from, or a friendship that has run its course. And sometimes, even when you’re feeling just fine, cranking up that emo breakup song in your car and singing the lyrics at the top of your lungs can be the exact thing you need. We’re talking about breakup songs, and we want to hear from you: What breakup song got you through a tough time?

Guests:

Brontez Purnell, writer, musician and author of "100 Boyfriends." His recent piece for the New York Times Magazine is titled, "I've Listened to This Breakup Song a Million Times"

Courtney E. Smith, creator and co-host of the podcast "Songs My Ex Ruined"

Asal Ehsanipour, audio producer and writer. Ehsanipour produced the Foretold podcast for the L.A. Times. She is a former KQED reporter and producer.

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COVID cases nationwide and in California are increasing at summer’s end. The state’s positivity rate from PCR tests is almost 12% as of mid-August, and wastewater data indicate that the new omicron subvariant, EG.5, is on the rise. But reported case rates are still far below peaks from last winter; UCSF’s Dr. Peter Chin-Hong told the San Francisco Chronicle, “people should not be worried but should not tune out.” We’ll learn more with Dr. Chin-Hong and hear about the new fall booster and the latest research into long COVID and take your COVID questions.

Guests:

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong M.D., infectious disease specialist, UCSF Medical Center

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The Bay Area is home to a thriving video game industry, but many local kids, especially those of color, don’t see career opportunities in it. Several years ago, Damon Packwood founded Gameheads to help college students develop the skills and expertise to create their own video games and land jobs in the field. Participants in the Oakland-based program have built games that reflect their own interests and experiences including a game on Oakland sideshows and one on the slave trade in Cuba. We’ll talk with Packwood and David Brancaccio, host of the Marketplace morning report which has launched a series, “Skin in the Game,” that explores career, economics, and equity issues through the lens of video games.

Guests:

Damon Packwood, founder and executive director, Gameheads - an Oakland-based video game training program for young people

David Brancaccio, host and senior editor, Marketplace Morning Report

Camila Garcia Frausto, student, Gameheads; fourth year student and film studies major at UC Berkeley

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Southern California Democrat Adam Schiff has served in the U.S. Congress since 2001, and he’s now running to succeed Dianne Feinstein in the Senate. A former federal prosecutor, Schiff chaired the House Intelligence Committee during the Trump administration and led the former president’s first impeachment trial and the Russian election interference investigation that gave rise to it. He was also a member of the House committee that investigated the January 6 insurrection. We’ll talk to Schiff about why he wants to represent California in the Senate and hear about his positions on the economy, the climate, the war in Ukraine and more.

Guests:

Congressman Adam Schiff, democratic congressman, representing California's 30th District in Burbank; former chair, House Intelligence Committee; member, the select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection; author, "Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could"

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As pandemic-era eviction moratoriums have ended, Bay Area counties are seeing a surge of eviction cases coming to court. Some tenants owe tens of thousands of dollars after not paying rent, in some cases, for years. In Alameda County, evictions ballooned to more than 500 per month starting in May. And, a single judge is charged with reviewing all of those cases. We’ll talk about how eviction cases are overwhelming county courts, and what lessons we can take from how the moratoriums played out.

Guests:

Natalie Orenstein, reporter, Oaklandside

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Plastics are everywhere, but L.A. Times environment reporter Susanne Rust thought she was doing a pretty good job avoiding them. That was until she spent a week recording her daily plastic interactions. She found plastics in her phone. Her car. Her swimming equipment. There was almost nothing that Rust encountered that didn’t have plastic in it. Not all the applications of plastic were negative – plastic can make cars and planes lighter and therefore more fuel efficient. But the result of her week-long experiment were sobering nonetheless. We’ll talk to Rust, hear about plastic alternatives, and hear from you about how you navigate a world filled with plastic.

Sunday brought record summer rainfall to much of Southern California, as Tropical Storm Hilary left a trail of flash floods, debris flows, school cancellations, and power outages across the region. Hilary’s approach triggered the first-ever tropical storm watch issued for the state, and was the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years. Though severe in some areas, Hilary was not as destructive as some experts had feared, with no reports of U.S. fatalities or significant injuries as of Monday. We’ll look at the science behind the storm, the role of climate change, and what it reveals about the future of extreme weather in California.

Guests:

Susanne Rust, investigative reporter specializing in environmental issues, LA Times

Judith Enck, president, Beyond Plastics - Enck served as a regional administrator with the EPA during the Obama Administration

Diana Crofts-Pelayo, assistant director of crisis communications, California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services [Cal OES]

Daniel Swain, climate scientist, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA; author, "Extreme Weather Page-A-Day Calendar 2024: A Year of Fire Tornadoes, Atmospheric Rivers, and Other Wild Weather Events"

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In 2017 students at Albany High School in the East Bay became aware of a private instagram account created by a student, and followed by just over a dozen more, containing viciously racist posts about fellow classmates. The disputes about why it happened, how to hold the creator and the followers accountable, and what to do about the anger, shame and fear caused by the posts tore through the school and the town. “Whatever you believed about Albany, about America, about teenagers, racism, sexism, social media, punishment and the public discourse on each of these topics, the story of the Instagram account could be marshaled as evidence. It was the incident that explained everything and yet also the incident that couldn’t be explained,” writes Dashka Slater. We talk to her about her five years of reporting on the story and her book, “Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed.”

Guests:

Dashka Slater, author, "Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed," and "The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives"

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