KQED's Forum

Back in 1989 the Los Angeles Times reported that karaoke, then a relatively obscure feature of the urban bar scene, was “beginning to make a big splash with Los Angeles-area yuppies.” Three decades later, karaoke is mainstream, and there’s a new Los Angeles Times project: The Ultimate Guide to Finding Your Go-To Karaoke Songs. We’ll learn more and hear what you like to perform and where, and why we love singing along to little lyrics on a neon-colored screen.

Related link(s):

The Ultimate Guide to Finding Your Go-To Karaoke Songs

Guests:

Ada Tseng, assistant editor on the Utility Journalism team, Los Angeles Times.

Kiki Park, KJ (Karaoke DJ) in West LA.

Hannah Glass, music analyst in rap and hip-hop, Pandora.

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During the pandemic, many customers began tipping more to support workers. The standard 15% tip edged up to 20% or even 30% for dining out, haircuts or food delivery. But now that prices forjust about everything are spiking, many consumers are finding that they need to pull back and some are questioning why tip jars seem to be everywhere now, even in places that are self-serve. We examine tipflation and tipping fatigue. And we want to hear from you: how do you determine who and how much to tip these days? If you work in a service job, what are your expectations for tips and how has that changed?

Guests:

Holona LeAnne Ochs, professor, Lehigh University; co-author, "Gratuity: A Contextual Understanding of Tipping Norms from the Perspective of Tipped Employees."

Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst, Bankrate.

Sara Morrison, senior reporter, Recode by Vox; author of the recent article, "Everyone wants a tip now. Do you have to give them one?"

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Duke Energy said it hoped to fully restore power to North Carolina residents by Wednesday night, after shootings at two electrical substations over the weekend shuttered schools and businesses and left thousands of people in the dark. The shootings, which investigators are calling deliberate, are for Californians bringing to mind the 2013 sniper attacks on a PG&E substation near San Jose that led federal regulators to adopt new rules to protect critical facilities. We’ll look at how vulnerable our state and national power grid is to physical attack, and why.

Guests:

Jon Wellinghoff, CEO and founder, GridPolicy Consulting; former chair, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under President Obama.

Juliette Kayyem, faculty chair of the Homeland Security and Security and Global Health Projects, Harvard Kennedy School; former assistant secretary, Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security under President Obama; author, "The Devil Never Sleeps: Learning to Live in an Age of Disasters."

Dan Brekke, editor and reporter, KQED News.

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In 2003, McSweeney’s, the San Francisco-based literary quarterly, published the first issue of a new monthly magazine called “The Believer.” The graphic-rich journal focused on elevating new writers, publishing poetry, long-form journalism and quirky stories and was nominated for a raft of magazine awards. But hard times led to its sale, and through various twists and turns, the magazine’s website was sold to a media company that tried to turn it into a less than literary clickbait factory. This story, however, has a happy ending that is a new beginning: After a successful Kickstarter campaign, McSweeney’s has bought back “The Believer.” We’ll talk to the editors about the first new issue, and what they hope for the magazine’s resurrection.

Guests:

Vendela Vida, founding editor, The Believer; author of six books, including "We Run the Tides," "Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name" and "The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty;" founding board member, 826 Valencia.

Heidi Julavits, founding editor, The Believer; author of "The Folded Clock: A Diary," as well as four critically acclaimed novels; co-editor, New York Times bestseller "Women in Clothes;" her memoir, "Directions to Myself," is forthcoming in 2023.

Daniel Gumbiner, editor, The Believer; Gumbiner's first book, "The Boatbuilder," was nominated for the National Book Award and a finalist for the California Book Awards.

Ed Park, founding editor, The Believer; author, "Personal Days" and forthcoming "Same Bed Different Dreams."

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There were worldwide box office hits and record-makers, like the follow-ups to “Jurassic World,” “Doctor Strange” and — of course — “Top Gun.” There were movies that quickly developed dedicated fan bases, like “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” “RRR” and “Tár.” And there are the year-enders: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” has been number one at theaters these past four weekends, and the sequel to box office history-maker “Avatar” is releasing this month. We’ll talk about the 2022 films that captured audiences and hear your favorites of the year.

Guests:

Kristen Meinzer, co-host of the podcast Movie Therapy with Rafer and Kristen

Jackson Kim Murphy, associate news editor, Variety

Dave Schilling, contributing writer, LA Times Image

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Singer and songwriter Valerie June defies genre – she can be a little country and a little rock and roll and there’s also folk, blues, soul, Appalachian and a sound that’s downright ethereal. But her music is all her own, she’s called it, "organic moonshine roots music," and it’s beautiful. She joins us to play a few songs on her banjolele and to talk about her latest album "The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers," her West Tennessee roots, her poems and her new children’s book, "Somebody to Love."

Guests:

Valerie June, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist; author of the new children's book "Somebody to Love" - and a recent book of poetry, "Maps for the Modern World"

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In recent years, companies like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat have introduced plant-based hamburgers that look and feel like the real thing and plant-based chicken nuggets that pass the kid test. Now companies are looking to grow meat from real animals in labs, and the FDA has approved lab-grown meat as safe for human consumption. Although Americans consume on average 250 pounds of meat per person a year and another 20 pounds of fish or shellfish, more Americans are identifying as vegetarian or vegan. So the race is on to find alternative meats that might capture their palates and pocketbooks. We’ll talk about where alternative meats are headed and whether they’re good for us and the planet.

Guests:

Laura Reiley, Business of Food reporter, Washington Post

David Julian McClements, Distinguished professor, Food Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; author, "Future Foods: How Modern Science is Transforming the Way We Eat"

Amy Chen, COO, Upside Foods, manufacturer of cultivated meats based in Emeryville

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Fans all over the globe are tuning into the World Cup, arguably the single most popular sporting event in the world. Still, this year’s tournament in Qatar has stirred backlash surrounding corruption and human rights abuses. And while America’s most beloved squads – Mexico’s El Tri and the U.S. Men – both washed out of the competition, millions of spectators remain captivated by the saga of Argentina’s Lionel Messi. Could a World Cup victory cap off his extraordinary career? We take stock of the cup so far and how fans are reacting to what’s happening on and off the field.

Guests:

Paul Tenorio, senior writer covering soccer, The Atlantic

Sarath Ganji, foreign policy and communications expert

Amelia Lopez, writer and digital content creator, FutMexNation; soccer analyst and co-host, The Mexican Soccer Show

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Children's hospitals throughout California are straining under an unusually high number of patients with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common childhood respiratory infection that can in some cases cause pneumonia and other serious lung ailments. We’ll talk about what’s behind the surge in cases and how to keep young kids and other vulnerable populations safe, and we’ll assess the threat of an RSV, COVID and flu “tripledemic” in the state as winter approaches.

Guests:

Peter Chin-Hong, infectious disease specialist, UCSF Medical Center

Erica Pan, California State Epidemiologist, California Department of Public Health

John Zweifler, public health physician, Fresno County Department of Public Health

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What do a retired teacher, a wetland scientist, former investigative reporter and a scout leader have in common? They are all part of the next wave of local leadership stepping in as mayors of four Bay Area cities. We’ll talk with the mayor-elects of Richmond, Martinez, Belmont and Fairfield about the perspectives they bring on housing, public transit, climate change, and other critical issues.

Guests:

Brianne Zorn, current city councilmember and mayor-elect, Martinez

Eduardo Martinez, mayor-elect, Richmond

Catherine "Cat" Moy, mayor-elect, Fairfield

Julia Mates, mayor, Belmont

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