KQED's Forum

While the concept of spectators packing an arena to watch competitive video gaming at a college level may be perplexing to more traditional sports fans, the popularity of collegiate esports is growing in the Bay Area. in the Bay Area. In 2018 the streaming platform Twitch, which hosts esports competitions, moved their headquarters to San Francisco. In 2021, San Jose State University’s Bay Area Vandals competed in the biggest international Valorant tournament and the Chase Center is hosting the League of Legends Championship Finals in November. Clubs and teams are now commonplace at colleges across the country. We’ll dive into the world of college esports and discuss what’s drawing students and Universities to esports programs.

Guests:

Luke Winkie, freelance writer

Johanna Brewer, assistant professor of computer science at Smith College and director of research, AnyKey

Kirk Robles, associate director of business development for student affairs at U.C. Berkeley

Ryan Winter, president of Gaming Gators at San Francisco State University

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

For New Yorker staff writer Hua Hsu, they’re cardboard cutouts that decorated his parents’ wedding, “each the size of a 45-r.p.m. single: an orange Snoopy and two Woodstocks, one white and one light blue.” For artist Ari Bird, it’s a tree pompom that her grandfather painted gold and gave to her as a child. Whether it's a portrait, a wedding dress, an album or a Snoopy cutout, the objects we inherit speak to who our families are, who we were, and what we value. We want to hear from you: what’s a family heirloom passed down to you — or that you hope to pass down to future generations? What makes it valuable?

Guests:

Hua Hsu, staff writer, New Yorker magazine; professor of Literature, Bard College; author, forthcoming memoir "Stay True"

Ari Bird, visual artist based in Oakland and San Diego

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

After seeing yet another ‘30 under 30’ and ‘40 under 40’ list celebrating the achievements of young people, San Francisco geriatric doctor Anna Chodos decided it was time people started hearing about the remarkable achievement of living into old age. She started the 80 over 80 project to share the stories and experiences of San Franciscans over the age of 80. Forum talks with Chodos and participants about their rich and rewarding lives, their experiences during the pandemic, and aging in a society that fears getting old.

Guests:

Margaret Graf, founder, Senior Power - for seniors in the Sunset

Judy Goddess, founder and reporter, sfseniorbeat.com

Annie White, facilitator, Network for Elders - an organization in the Bayview supporting older adults

Anna Chodos, geriatrician and medical director of outpatient geriatrics services, San Francisco Health Network; associate professor, UCSF in Geriatrics

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

A study published in the journal Nature this week documented yet more symptoms – including hair loss and sexual dysfunction – associated with long covid, a syndrome the CDC reports afflicts roughly a fifth of people who contract Covid-19. The Nature study also found that long covid sufferers are more likely to be young, members of ethnic minority groups, and economically disadvantaged. We’ll talk about the latest long covid science and hear from long haulers about how they have adjusted to life with a chronic illness.

Guests:

Eric Topol, professor of molecular medicine and executive vice president, Scripps Research Institute

Angela Meriquez Vázquez, long COVID patient and President of Body Politic

Paige Morrisey, 25-year-old COVID long-hauler

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

The sizzler, a popular dish in Mumbai, is an over-the-top melange of pasta, paneer, grilled onions and peppers, samosas, cabbage and shredded Mexican cheese – all piled on a sizzling hot platter. It was inspired, so the story goes, by a visit to a Sizzler chain restaurant in California in the 1960s, and it has returned to California in some South Bay restaurants. But as any child of immigrants knows, cultural food mashups don’t have to be flashy. For KQED reporter Adhiti Bandlamudi, whose article tracked down the history of the Sizzler, it was grilled paneer tacos. For San Francisco Chronicle food critic Soliel Ho, it was Ho’s grandmother’s jasmine rice with maggi seasoning, topped with turkey cold cuts. Ho calls it “assimilation food”: “food that’s made to close the gap between homes: a critical need when one lives in exile.” As part of our ongoing segment on Bay Area food cultures, we’ll talk about all kinds of food mashups, from that Indian Sizzler to hot cheetos in a burrito to putting a splash of fish sauce in the mac and cheese.

Guests:

Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED

Soleil Ho, restaurant critic, San Francisco Chronicle

Adhiti Bandlamudi, Silicon Valley Reporter, KQED

Alan Chazaro, food reporter, KQED

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

“Pregnant people,” a phrase to include those who can bear children, but don’t identify as women, has been used more often in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade. Some feminists have pushed back against the term and other gender-inclusive language like “birthing people” and “people who menstruate,” saying that these terms obfuscate gender-specific violence against women and reduce people to their body parts. Others have pushed back to that pushback, saying that the explicit inclusion of trans and nonbinary people only strengthens the fight for gender equity. We’ll talk about why the term evokes such strong emotions, and hear your thoughts, with powerhouse feminist thinkers Judith Butler and Roxane Gay.

Guests:

Susan Davis, senior editor, Forum

Judith Butler, Maxine Elliot Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature, UC Berkeley

Roxane Gay, author, "Difficult Women," "Hunger," and "Bad Feminist;" editor, the new anthology "The Selected Works of Audre Lorde"

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

Millions of renters could face evictions now that rental relief programs and bans on evictions have expired, or will soon. Those government programs targeted people who lost income during the pandemic, but many Californians have yet to recover financially and owe thousands in back rent. Even under existing programs, more than 135,000 households in California, nearly a third of the total, had their rent relief applications rejected, according to CalMatters. All of that along with rents creeping back up to pre-pandemic levels, could make way for a wave of new evictions. We’ll talk about vulnerable tenants and what local, state and federal agencies could do to help.

Guests:

Erin Baldassari, housing affordability reporter, KQED; co-host, "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America" podcast

Manuela Tobias, housing reporter, CalMatters

Bonnie Bertram, producer and writer, Retro Report; partnered with Frontline, documentary "Facing Eviction" debuts on July 26.

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

By his own account, journalist and author Alec Wilkinson was a terrible math student -- and passed his high school math classes only by cheating. But at age 65, he decided he’d try again to learn the subject that had left him feeling abused and aggrieved. His joyful and humbling quest is the subject of his new memoir "A Divine Language.” We'll talk to him about what he learned and we'll hear from you: have you tried to master a subject later in life?

Guests:

Alec Wilkinson, author, "A Divine Language: Learning Algebra, Geometry, and Calculus at the Edge of Old Age" - He's also a contributing writer for the New Yorker; his previous books include "The Ice Balloon," "The Protest Singer" and "The Happiest Man in the World."

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

Thanks to a series of recalls, resignations and re-shuffles, San Francisco has a new district attorney, new school board members, and a new city attorney, all of whom were appointed by Mayor London Breed. Now that the mayor has a team in place that is mostly of her choosing, what will she do to confront the city’s considerable challenges? Is the city in for a major course change? We’ll talk about San Francisco’s post-recall politics with a roundtable of reporters.

Guests:

Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, Reporter/Producer, KQED News.

Scott Shafer, senior editor for KQED’s California Politics and Government desk and co-host of Political Breakdown.

Annie Gaus, editor, SF Standard

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

Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti” has topped the Billboard albums chart for five weeks this summer, with his Latin trap and reggaetón beats on heavy rotation at beach days and house parties alike. The latest releases of Drake and Beyoncé are signaling for some a revival of house music, its uptempo beats symbolizing joy amidst struggle. And after 27 years, Netflix and TikTok returned Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” to the charts —winning fans not yet born at its release. This summer’s most popular music is eclectic, but there just may be a unifying energy to it all. We’ll discuss the sounds of Summer 2022 and hear your song of the summer.

Guests:

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

Kelefa Sanneh, author, Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres - staff writer, The New Yorker; former music critic, The New York Times.

Reanna Cruz, producer, Switched on Pop.

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