KQED's Forum

At a United Nations water conference in March, amid increasing global water conflicts and climate crises, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres sounded an urgent alarm. “All of humanity’s hopes for the future depend, in some way, on charting a new course to sustainably manage and conserve water,” he said. But what would a new course look like? Renowned water expert and scientist Peter Gleick seeks to answer that question in his latest book “The Three Ages of Water”. The book explores the complex relationship between humans and water throughout history, from ancient civilizations to the modern, scientific “Second Age of Water” when we “learned to manipulate the natural hydrologic cycle” but also did great harm to the planet. We’ll talk with Gleick about his call for a revolutionary “Third Age” of responsible water stewardship.

Guests:

Peter Gleick, senior fellow and co-founder, Pacific Institute; author, "The Three Ages of Water"

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

The Supreme Court radically changed the country in just three days last June when it eliminated Americans’ constitutional right to an abortion and weakened popular gun laws. That’s according to Brennan Center for Justice president Michael Waldman, who says the Court is poised to do so again this term by employing its own extreme version of originalism. We’ll talk to Waldman about major cases on voting and affirmative action and the political forces that empower the Court’s hard right faction. Waldman’s new book is “The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America.”

Guests:

Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice, NYU School of Law; author, "The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America"

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

“School’s out for the summer!” is a rallying cry for students everywhere. But for working parents, summer poses a whole set of challenges, starting with – who is going to watch the kids during the day? For many, summer camps are the answer. Camps offer the promise of exploration, adventure, and a chance to make new friends and acquire new skills. And if you have a specific hobby or interest – needlework, videography, chess – there is likely a camp for you. But getting a spot in a camp, managing the constellation of choices and conflicting schedules, and, especially, paying for a summer’s worth of camps can present major problems for families. Why is summer camp such a mess? Why aren’t there more affordable options for childcare when school is out? And how can you hack summer to find a spot for your child if you didn’t sign up for one in January? We’ll talk summer camp and hear from you: What’s your child doing this summer?

Guests:

Lydia Kiesling, journalist and author. Kiesling's most recent piece for Bloomberg is "How Summer Camp Became Such a Hot Mess for Parents"

Eduardo Caballero, co-founder and executive director, EDMO, a summer camp in the Bay Area

Jessica Calarco, expert on inequalities in education and family life; associate professor of sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

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

With huge layoffs in sectors like tech and media dominating the headlines, it’s easy to think that jobs are becoming scarce and that the “Great Resignation” is over. But in fact, some economists say it’s workers, not employers, who still hold the power — especially as Baby Boomers retire. We’ll check in on California’s labor market across different industries and hear your experiences finding a job in today’s economy.

Guests:

Aki Ito, senior correspondent covering the workplace and the economy, Insider

Sarah Bohn, vice president of Research and Senior Fellow, Public Policy Institute of California

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

When Martinus Evans began training for marathons, it took “delusional self belief” to keep running. He was over 350 pounds. As a kid, he failed the one-mile physical fitness test. And as a Black man, he didn’t see a lot of people like him training. Even though Evans finished his first marathon at the back of the pack, he says it didn’t bother him one bit. He’s used that mindset to complete eight marathons and to launch a career as a running coach for people of all sizes and skills. In his running club, you can’t ask about weight and you don’t obsess about speed. Evans offers this and other advice in his new book “Slow AF Run Club: The Ultimate Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Run.” He joins us and we hear from you: Are you a runner who doesn’t fit the mold?

Guests:

Martinus Evans, author, "Slow AF Run Club: The Ultimate Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Run"

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

Sixteen-year-old environmental activist Greta Thunberg transfixed the world in 2019 when she condemned global leaders for their inaction on climate change. She’s one of thousands of teen girls who’ve agitated for social change in the past centuries, from Claudette Colvin who refused to give up her seat on a segregated Alabama bus to Mabel Ping-Hua Lee who led a march for women’s suffrage. In a new history, writer and editor Mattie Kahn explores how girls have contributed to social and political movements, the qualities they bring to their activism and the dangers they’ve faced in their fights for the greater good. Kahn’s book is “Young and Restless: The Girls Who Sparked America’s Revolutions.”

Guests:

Mattie Kahn, author, "Young and Restless: The Girls Who Sparked America's Revolutions." Kahn is the former culture director at Glamour, where she covered women’s issues and politics.

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

Earlier this month, amid a sharp rise in book bans across the country, Governor Gavin Newsom called on educators to preserve students’ access to books, including those that “reflect the diverse experiences and perspectives of Californians.” Individual book bans in U.S. classrooms and school libraries increased by 28 percent during the first half of this school year compared to the prior six months, according to a report by the free speech group PEN America. The increase is partly due to newly-enacted state laws, and the bans “continue to target stories by and about people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals,” according to PEN. While rare in California, book battles are percolating in Temecula and Huntington Beach. We talk about the impact of book bans on free expression and students’ access to literature and diverse perspectives

Guests:

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Director, American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom - and executive director of the Freedom to Read Foundation

Jaea Rivera, officer, Vandegrift High School Banned Book Club - in Austin, Texas.

George M. Johnson, award-winning author of "All Boys Aren't Blue" and "We Are Not Broken"

Jeff Horseman, Riverside County government and regional politics reporter, Southern California News Group

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

Nursing is a vocation as old as humankind, once practiced by men and women. But for many the word “nurse” conjures up an image of Florence Nightingale or a woman in a starched white uniform and funny cap who defers to the doctor. In her new book, “Taking Care,”journalist Sarah DiGregorio challenges these myths: “If you imagine that nursing arose only in relatively recent times, as a profession dedicated to assisting physicians within hospitals,” writes DiGregorio, “you have it backward. Nursing came first.” Her book explores how chauvinism, racism, cultural norms and misogyny have inflected the profession and crucial role that nurses play in providing safe, caring and cutting edge medical care. We’ll talk to DiGregorio about her book and hear from you: How have nurses affected your life? 

Guests:

Sarah DiGregorio , Journalist and Author, "Taking Care: The Story of Nursing and Its Power to Change Our World". DiGregorio is also the author of "Early: An Intimate History of Premature Birth and What It Teaches Us About Being Human"

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

When the Marathon oil refinery in Martinez closed in 2020, more than 300 unionized workers were laid off from jobs they thought they’d retire from. A study from UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education followed many of those workers and found roughly one in four were still out of work a year later, and most of those who had found new jobs took sizable pay cuts. As we make the necessary transition away from fossil fuels, Forum discusses what kind of jobs will be lost, and gained, in the green economy and what can be done to minimize harm to the workers whose jobs will be erased and to the communities who depend on their industries.

Guests:

Virginia Parks , professor at the Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy at the University of California, Irvine

John Gioia, member, Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors

Tracy Scott, president, United Steelworkers Local 5

James Feldermann, former head operator, Marathon Martinez refinery

Jessie Hammerling , co-director, The Green Economy Program at the UC Berkeley Labor Center

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

“The first uniquely American suit,” is how Clarissa Esguerra, a Los Angeles County Museum of Art curator of costume and textiles, describes the Zoot suit. Known for its wide-legged pants and long coats, the Zoot suit became infamous in June 1943. That was when servicemen, police officers and white civilians attacked the young Mexican, Filipino and Black Americans who donned the suits in what became known as the Zoot Suit Riots. To commemorate the riots’ 80th anniversary this month, the L.A. Times put together a multimedia project tracing the suits’ legacy and status today as a symbol of Chicano pride — while noting the paper’s own culpability in anti-Mexican American sentiment at the time. We’ll speak with the reporters and editor who authored the project and hear your reflections.

Guests:

Gustavo Arellano, columnist, Los Angeles Times

Steve Padilla, editor of the showcase feature Column One, The Los Angeles Times - and oversaw the LA Times' Zoot Suit Riots 80th Anniversary Package

Elizabeth Escobedo, associate professor of history, University of Denver - and author, "From Coveralls to Zoot Suits: The Lives of Mexican American Women on the World War II Home Front"

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