KQED's Forum

The egg, writes Lizzie Stark, is a "universe in a shell." It’s an ingenious piece of tech that contains everything a developing embryo needs, and it’s a symbol of the cosmos in creation myths across cultures. It’s been a tool of political protests, the target of wildlife poachers and the center of a Gold Rush-era territorial war on the Farallon Islands. It’s also inspired painters, conceptual artists and countless cooks. We talk to Stark about her new ode to the ovoid “Egg: A Dozen Ovatures.”

Guests:

Lizzie Stark, author, "Egg: A Dozen Ovatures"

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Last week, workers at the Starbucks at Embarcadero Cove in Oakland were among the latest in the Bay Area to try forming a union at their store. They join workers at close to 300 Starbucks locations nationwide who have petitioned or voted to form unions since December of 2021 when a store in Buffalo New York successfully formed Starbucks Workers United. Workers in San Francisco, Berkeley, Mill Valley and Oakland Starbucks have attempted to form unions with varying degrees of success. Starbucks, with more than 3,000 stores nationwide, has refused to negotiate contracts with unionized stores and has closed some of the branches where workers voted to unionize. The organizing efforts are part of a wave of unionization in various industries across the country. We’ll talk about what Starbucks workers are hoping to achieve and how the company has reacted to unionization.

Guests:

Harley Shaiken, professor specializing in labor issues, UC Berkeley

Renata Geraldo, journalist covering Starbucks, The Seattle Times

Naomi Martinez, works at a Starbucks in Phoenix that voted to unionize in May of 2022

Greg Zajac, works at the Starbucks store at 18th and Castro, San Francisco

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Ari Shapiro has been the host of NPR's "All Things Considered" since 2015 and has reported from all over the world, including Iraq, Ukraine and Israel. His journalism has won him many accolades, including two Edward R. Murrow awards – one for his reporting on Breonna Taylor and another for his coverage of asylum policies on the US-Mexico border. On top of that, he’s a singer and member of the band Pink Martini. We’ll talk to Shapiro about how his life and work intertwine and explore his new memoir "The Best Strangers in the World: Stories from a Life Spent Listening."

Guests:

Ari Shapiro, host, NPR's All Things Considered; author, "The Best Strangers in the World: Stories From a Life Spent Listening"

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The statistics on poverty in the U.S. are shocking and shameful: one in 9 Americans lives in poverty and one in 18 lives in “deep” poverty, defined in 2020 as annual income below roughly $13,000 for a family of four. More than a million public schoolchildren are homeless; more than 2 million Americans live in homes without running water or toilets. In his new book, "Poverty, by America", Matthew Desmond, who won a Pulitzer for his searing book on eviction, strives to figure out why there is so much poverty in the richest nation in the world — and what can be done to eliminate it. The responsibility, he writes, is all of ours: beyond policies and political movements, “it will also require that each of us, in our own way, become poverty abolitionists, unwinding ourselves from our neighbors’ deprivation and refusing to live as unwitting enemies of the poor.” Desmond joins Forum to tell us how.

Related link:

• The Eviction Lab

Guests:

Matthew Desmond, professor of sociology and director of The Eviction Lab, Princeton University; author, "Poverty, by America," and Pulitzer Prize winner "Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City"

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Meditation apps, expensive spa retreats and other staples of the self-care industry claim to offer relief from the ongoing stress of work and family obligations so many of us feel. But they fall short, according to psychiatrist and women’s mental health specialist Dr. Pooja Lakshmin, because they do nothing to address underlying causes. In her new book “Real Self Care,” Lakshmin says that authentic self-care lies in agency, which she says means setting boundaries and choosing our paths forward — so we can help others have the agency to choose theirs. We’ll talk about what meaningful self-care actually looks like, how to take actionable steps and how to challenge systemic barriers to wellness.

Guests:

Dr. Pooja Lakshmin, psychiatrist; author, "Real Self-Care: A Transformative Program for Redefining Wellness (Crystals, Cleanses, and Bubble Baths Not Included)"

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When people refer to “the one that got away,” they are usually talking about a romantic partner. For Alisha Fernandez Miranda, that phrase applied to a list of jobs and dreams she never pursued. As she reached her late 30s she found herself feeling stuck, burnt out and unhappy even though she seemingly had it all –a thriving family, CEO position, and lots of activities she loved. She gave herself a year to put her existing life on hold and try out new careers through a series of internships. She chronicled her experience in her new book, "My What If Year." She joins us to talk about giving yourself permission to explore and what happens when you risk blowing up your life.

Guests:

Alisha Fernandez Miranda, author, "My What If Year"

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California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Saturday a 10-year partnership with nonprofit drug company Civica Rx to manufacture the state’s own supply of insulin. Part of the state’s new CalRx program, the move is only the first step in California’s ambitious plan to produce more affordable generic prescription drugs — like overdose reversal medication naloxone — and make them available on the national market. We’ll talk about CalRx and how it could help address the nation’s drug affordability crisis.

Guests:

Angela Hart, senior correspondent covering health care politics and policy in California and the West, Kaiser Health News and California Healthline

Kevin Wren, patient advocate and volunteer, California #insulin4all

Robin Feldman, professor of law and Director of the Center for Innovation, UC Law; author of “Drugs, Money, and Secret Handshakes: The Unstoppable Growth of Prescription Drug Prices”

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It might be hard to visualize at the moment, but not long ago we were in a severe water emergency. Marin county asked for 40% cuts in usage and planned for an emergency pipeline to bring in water from the East Bay over the Richmond bridge. Now, many reservoirs are overflowing and water managers are releasing water to avoid floods when the massive Sierra snowpack melts. Forum talks with water managers from three Bay Area districts about how their systems are handling the whiplash. How much of this water are they able to store? How does moving from too dry to too wet change the way they manage their systems? And what are they asking of customers? As we look toward a future of more extreme weather, we talk about how the Bay Area’s waterworks will have to adjust.

Guests:

Aaron Baker, chief operating officer, Water Utility Division, Valley Water

Ben Horenstein, general manager, Marin Municipal Water District

Mike Tognolini, director of water and natural resources, East Bay Municipal Utility District

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More than 5 million Californians use the state program CalFresh to pay for their groceries. But come April, CalFresh users will see a drop of at least $95 each month with the end of CalFresh’s pandemic fund program. Recipients of these funds report that the extra money gave them the cushion to stop choosing from between going hungry and paying bills. Indeed, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, over 1.1 million Californians were kept out of poverty in 2021 because of these pandemic benefits. Now that they are coming to an end, participants in the program and advocates worry about how people will cope. We’ll talk about what the change in CalFresh funding means for hunger and poverty in the state and where to find additional food support and benefits.

Related link:

• CalFresh resource guide

Guests:

Becky Silva, director of government relations, California Association of Food Banks

Carly Severn, senior engagement editor, KQED News

Caroline Danielson, senior research fellow, Public Policy Institute of CA - co-author of the yearly California Poverty Measure Report

Jeanne Kuang, reporter, CalMatters

Tom McSpedden, 69-year-old Citrus Heights resident with Type II diabetes who receives CalFresh benefits

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Each year in the United States, roughly 100,000 young adults experience a psychotic episode including hearing voices or hallucinations. Treating those episodes early on can prevent some of the worst outcomes of mental illness such as homelessness or not being able to hold down a job. The National Institute of Mental Health has outlined what experts call a “gold standard” for early treatment of psychosis, but access to that care is often unavailable or not covered by insurance. We talk about why it’s so hard for psychosis patients to receive the care they need and what we can do about it.

Guests:

Adriana Furuzawa, early psychosis division director, Felton Institute

Tara Niendam, vice chair for research and executive director, UC Davis Early Psychosis Programs

Mike Krechevsky, family support specialist, Felton Institute Early Psychosis - Mike's son had psychosis and went through an early intervention program.

April Dembosky, health correspondent, KQED News

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