KQED's Forum

Rants by rap artist Kanye West put antisemitism front and center over the weekend as a hate group amplified West’s remarks on banners hung from a Southern California freeway overpass. According to the Anti-Defamation League, a record number of antisemitic incidents were reported from 2019 to 2020. Corporations from Adidas to Facebook plus celebrities and politicians have come out strongly against antisemitism. We’ll talk about the roots of antisemitism and why some Jewish Americans struggle to speak out against antisemitism in the context of the country’s current tensions.

Guests:

Dov Waxman, professor of Political Science, UCLA; director, UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies and the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Chair of Israel Studies at UCLA

Emily Tamkin, author, "Bad Jews: A History of American Jewish Politics and Identities;" senior US editor, The New Statesmen

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Wednesday, by actual Congressional decree, is Public Radio Music Day. We’re celebrating by listening to some of our favorite live music performances from Forum and from the KQED Live series, which hosts performances, discussions, food experiences and live storytelling in our beautiful KQED building. We’ll listen back to Mexican musician Silvana Estrada – who was in town earlier this year for the San Jose Jazz Festival – and local musicians Fantastic Negrito, Salami Rose Joe Louis and La Doña.

Guests:

Fantastic Negrito, Grammy Award winning Oakland-based musician

Silvana Estrada, Mexican musician, singer and songwriter

Salami Rose Joe Louis, Bay Area based musician, composer, producer and planetary scientist

La Doña, San Francisco native musician, activist and educator

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2022 MacArthur fellow Martha Gonzalez describes herself as an ‘artivista’ – at once an artist and an activist. The frontwoman of the East Los Angeles band Quetzal, Gonzalez focuses on the ways communities of color use music and creative expression as political tools toward social justice. From community fandango workshops to recording projects between women in L.A. and Veracruz, Mexico, Gonzalez makes music a conduit for conversation centering communities and their challenges. We’ll talk with Gonzalez about how her music practice and her activism influence each other.

Guests:

Martha Gonzalez, Associate Professor in the Intercollegiate Department of Chicana/o Latina/o Studies, Scripps/Claremont College; 2022 MacArthur ‘genius grant’ recipient; singer/songwriter/percussionist, the East Los Angeles band Quetzal.

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In 2021, Khristian Rabut bought a gas station along Interstate 205 in Tracy. Instead of just offering customers the usual gas station fare, he and his wife Marie added a Filipino-themed ice cream shop and bakery. “It’s an unexpected but deliciously welcome surprise,” wrote KQED food writer Alan Chazaro about the gas station-creamery-bakery. He and KQED food editor Luke Tsai share a love of unusual places that serve up amazing dishes. In our next installment of All You Can Eat, our regular segment about Bay Area food cultures, we’ll discuss hidden food treasures. And we want to hear from you, what are some unlikely places where you found exceptional food?

Guests:

Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED

Alan Chazaro, food reporter, KQED; poet and educator

Susana Guerrero, food reporter, SFGATE

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Citing dramatically reduced Covid-related hospitalizations and deaths, Governor Gavin Newsom announced this week that he's lifting California's Covid-19 state of emergency at the end of February. But as uptake of the new bivalent booster remains low, there may be reason for caution as winter approaches. That's according to UCSF's Dr. Bob Wachter, who joins us to answer your questions about case rates, subvariants, vaccines and more.

Guests:

Dr. Robert "Bob" Wachter, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.

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You’ve heard the stories and seen the headlines – life-saving drugs can be so expensive, people have to choose between them and buying food or paying rent. Oakland’s Priti Krishtel is working on a solution to this terrifying problem – she wants to reform the patent system. Pharmaceutical companies hold patents on their products, creating an ongoing monopoly that prevents competitors from bringing cheaper medications to the market to drive prices down. We’ll talk with Krishtel, who was recently awarded a MacArthur grant, about how she got into health justice and how she plans to update the patent system to bring equity to the medical system and save lives.

Guests:

Priti Krishtel, health justice lawyer and co-founder and co-executive director

Organization: I-MAK. - a non-profit building a more just and equitable medicines system. She is also a 2022 MacArthur fellow.

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Remember former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty in August to running a years-long tax evasion scheme? He’s set to testify in the tax fraud trial of the Trump Organization that begins in New York on Monday, the first time Trump’s businesses have faced criminal proceedings. That’s just one in an array of civil and criminal cases and investigations involving the former president and his associates and businesses. We’ll take stock of Trump’s legal liabilities and look at what we can expect next from prosecutors.

Guests:

Jennifer Taub, professor of law, Western New England School of Law; author, "Big Dirty Money: The Shocking Injustice and Unseen Cost of White Collar Crime."

Luke Broadwater, congressional reporter, New York Times.

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If you browse the self-help aisles or click on a TED Talk, you will rarely be given the advice that “it’s OK to be mediocre.” You’re more likely to be told how to achieve excellence, how to rise above the fray to distinguish yourself and how, if you get good enough at your hobby, you can make it a side hustle. But maybe it’s best if we embrace the joy of being average in our pursuits, and just do what we like even if we are not good at it. We’ll talk about the freedom of stinking at things, and finding pleasure in the process, rather than obsessing over the product and result. And we’ll hear from you: What’s something that you’re perfectly happy to be bad at?

Guests:

Rachel Feintzeig, columnist, Wall Street Journal - She wrote the article "Go Ahead. Let Yourself Be Bad at Something."

Brigid Schulte, author, "Overwhelmed: How to Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time"; director, Better Life Lab at New America, a public policy nonprofit.

Thea Monyee, licensed marriage and family therapist, Founder - MarleyAyo, a creative wellness consulting company.

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Since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, removing Americans’ constitutional right to an abortion, a dozen states have enacted near-total bans on the procedure and more are expected to do so in the coming months. That’s causing many candidates in California and across the nation to emphasize their support for reproductive rights, and Pew Research Center polling shows the issue is important to a majority of voters across both parties. We’ll talk about the role abortion is playing in the midterms here and in key states, and we want to hear from you: Is abortion driving your vote?

Guests:

Joe Garofoli, senior political writer, San Francisco Chronicle; host, the podcast “It’s All Political on Fifth and Mission”

Maya Prabhu, state government reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Lauren Rankin , writer, speaker, and activist; author, "Bodies on the Line: At the Front Lines of the Fight to Protect Abortion in America"

Melanie Mason, national political correspondent, Los Angeles Times

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Nearly 44% of Californians rent their homes, but the vast majority of state legislators don’t. In the state assembly, only three out of 80 members are solely renters: Matt Haney, D-San Francisco; Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles; and Alex Lee, D-San Jose. The lawmakers say the imbalance between assembly members who are renters and those who are homeowners leads to fewer laws that address tenant needs. We’ll talk to Haney, Lee and Bryan about a caucus they are launching in the state assembly to advocate for tenants’ rights amid California’s ongoing housing crisis.

Guests:

Matt Haney, member, California State Assembly - represents the eastern portion of San Francisco.

Isaac Bryan, member, California State Assembly - he represents much of South Central Los Angeles.

Alex Lee, member, California State Assembly - he represents Santa Clara, Milpitas, Fremont, Newark and a small portion of western San Jose. He is the youngest state Asian American, first openly bisexual, and first Gen Z legislator state legislator in California history.

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