KQED's Forum

As private equity companies have increasingly bought up nursing homes across the country, many are experiencing an alarming trend: higher death rates for patients. Stanford medical student turned journalist Yasmine Rafiei dug deep into what happened at one such facility, St. Joseph’s Home for the Aged in Richmond, Virginia, in a recent article in The New Yorker. Her article details how the experience and quality of life changed for residents as the new owners cut costs. She joins us to talk about her investigation.

Guests:

Charlene Harrington, professor emerita, School of Nursing at UCSF Medical School

Yasmin Rafiei, reporter in residence, the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California, Berkeley; medical student, Stanford University on leave; author, recent New Yorker article, “When Private Equity Takes Over a Nursing Home”

Sponsored

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

California’s new Secretary for Environmental Protection, Yana Garcia, is no stranger to community-based and indigenous-led environmental justice. As CalEPA’s Deputy Secretary for Environmental Justice, Tribal Affairs and Border Relations, Garcia centered collaborations with Mexican community and environmental justice organizations, informed by her own experiences growing up in Oakland, California, and Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico. The first Latina Secretary of CalEPA, Garcia joins us to share how she plans to steer the agency on climate change, air and water quality and environmental justice.

Guests:

Yana Garcia, Secretary for Environmental Protection, CalEPA

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

For centuries, America has lured millions of immigrants here with dreams of rising from rags to riches in a short amount of time. But the authors of “Streets of Gold: America’s Untold Story of Immigrant Success,” say that story is mostly a myth. The authors, Stanford professor Ran Abramitzky and Princeton professor Leah Boustan bust other popular opinions about immigration, such as the idea that immigrants “take all the jobs,” “refuse to assimilate,” and pose all kinds of threats to the “American way of life.” Abramitzky and Boustan spent years combing through data that painted different narratives than most Americans are used to hearing. They will join us to bust myths about immigrants and share what the research really says about immigration, past and present.

Guests:

Leah Boustan, professor of economics and director of the Industrial Relations Section, Princeton University

Ran Abramitzky, professor of economics and Senior Associate Dean for the Social Sciences, Stanford University

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

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved last week the use of reformulated COVID-19 boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech for people ages 12 years and older and from Moderna for those 18 and older. The boosters are bivalent, meaning that they’re designed to protect against both the original virus strain as well as the more transmissible and immune-evading Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5. In a statement Saturday, the California Department of Public Health said that the state is preparing to offer doses “as supplies arrive within the next few days.” We’ll talk about the new booster, explore the science of immune response and take your questions.

Guests:

Dr. Grace Lee, associate chief medical officer for practice innovation and pediatric infectious diseases physician, Stanford Children’s Health; member, U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP); member, COVID-19 Vaccines Workgroup

Mehul Suthar, associate professor of pediatrics and member of the Vaccine Center, Emory University

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

According to research, before the pandemic, half of California’s third graders did not read at grade level, and the state’s fourth graders lagged behind the national average in reading. Additionally, in 800 schools around the state, 75% of the students failed to read at grade level. Despite these dire numbers, the state lacks a comprehensive approach to literacy instruction, and in 2017, California became the first state to be sued for denying children the civil right to literacy. But the solutions to these problems are not simple. Controversy exists over how to teach reading and in recent years, a push to implement evidence-based reading instruction has caused schools around the country to re-evaluate their approach. We talk to experts about the science of reading and California’s approach to teaching kids to read.

Guests:

Kareem Weaver, co-founder, Fulcrum, a non-profit focused on improving reading outcomes for students. Weaver is also a member of the Oakland NAACP Education Committee, a senior fellow for the National Council on Teacher Quality, and an award-winning teacher and administrator in Oakland.

Emily Hanford, senior producer and correspondent, American Public Media. Hanford is the creator of the podcast "Hard Words," which focuses on why children aren't being taught to read. She is working on "Sold a Story," a new podcast about the missteps in teaching children how to read.

John Fensterwald, editor-at-large, EdSource, an independent not-for-profit research and reporting organization

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

From the roar of wind against mountains and the slam of waves on the shore to early morning birdsong, the sounds that fill our natural world are not only beautiful, they’re at risk, writes biologist David George Haskell in his new book, “Sounds Wild and Broken.” Haskell describes a global sonic landscape that’s threatened by human-induced habitat destruction and noise pollution and warns that by smothering the earth’s many voices, we’re not only imperiling species but losing our connection to the natural world. Haskell joins to share more about our world’s sonic diversity and guide us in listening to it.

Guests:

David George Haskell, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies, University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee; author of the book, “Sounds Wild and Broken: Sonic Marvels, Evolution’s Creativity and the Crisis of Sensory Extinction”

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

In some parts of the country, barbecue is a fighting word. It launches hot debates on vinegar versus tomato-based sauce and the right ways to rub, spice and smoke. KQED Food editor Luke Tsai has a different take. His new series, BBQ in the Bay, highlights the region’s unique barbecue cultures from various traditions of cooking food outdoors over an open flame and how it brings communities together. As part of Forum’s regular segment on food cultures of the Bay Area, called All You Can Eat, we’ll dish on Mongolian barbecue, lechon, barbacoa, barbecue oysters, brisket and much more.

Guests:

Pendarvis "Pen" Harshaw , columnist, KQED Arts; host, KQED's "Rightnowish" podcast

Luke Tsai , food editor, KQED

Ray Castro, dentist in East Bay; Amateur barbecue competitor

Rocky Rivera, emcee and writer; part of KQED's BBQ in the Bay series

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

California state lawmakers were up until the early morning hours Thursday, casting votes on the remaining bills of the legislative session. Measures to combat climate change, protect abortion rights and expand affordable housing are among the hundreds of bills now headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has until September 30 to sign or veto them. We'll talk with political reporters about what passed, what failed and what’s ahead.

Guests:

Guy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk

Alexei Koseff, reporter, CalMatters

Lara Korte, state politics reporter, Politico; co-author, Politico's California Playbook

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

Bay Area native Emma Chamberlain was a kid who used to complain about the DMV on Youtube a few years ago and now is one of Gen Z’s top fashion influencers who works with global brands. She has advice on what to wear this summer, what coffee to buy – her line, of course – and you can follow her exploits during Paris Fashion week. But is Emma Chamberlain a celebrity or an influencer or a content creator or… all three? Gen Z, born between roughly 1997 to 2012, has a different relationship with social media than older cohorts since it’s been with them most of their lives. We’ll discuss influencers such as Chamberlain and how Gen Z has reshaped what it means to be a social media star.

Guests:

Madison Semarjian, founder, Mada, an app for styling and buying clothing

Moises Mendez II, culture reporter, Time Magazine

Steffi Cao, social news reporter, BuzzFeed

Greisy Hernandez, mental health and wellness advocate and social media personality

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

It’s hot outside and getting hotter. Excessive heat warnings are in effect this week for Southern and Central California, with temperatures as high as 112 degrees in the San Fernando and San Joaquin Valleys and 115 degrees in the Inland Empire expected by Labor Day. And temperatures in Northern California are expected to be up to 20 degrees warmer than normal through Tuesday. We’ll talk about who’s most at risk, how to stay cool and how California’s state and local officials are thinking about mitigating the effects of heat and record temperatures induced by climate change.

Guests:

David Lawrence, meteorologist and Emergency Response Specialist, National Weather Service

V. Kelly Turner, co-director, Luskin Center for Innovation; associate professor of Urban Planning and Geography, UCLA

Dr. Gina Solomon, director of the Achieving Resilient Communities project, Public Health Institute; clinical professor of Medicine, University of California San Francisco

Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, representing California's 56th State Assembly District; lead sponsor, Assembly Bills 2238 and 2243

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