KQED's Forum

Bumblebees can’t see red, but they can detect the ultraviolet hue, invisible to humans, at the center of a sunflower. A fly can taste an apple just by landing on it, and a rattlesnake can perceive the infrared radiation emanating from warm-blooded prey. Those are just some of the extraordinary animal senses that science journalist Ed Yong celebrates in his new book “An Immense World.” We’ll talk to Yong about what he learned and hear how humans can limit behaviors that endanger the sensory environments of other species.

Guests:

Ed Yong, science writer, The Atlantic; author, "An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us"

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

There’s the family that you’re born with, and then there’s the family that you choose. The concept of chosen family took hold several decades ago in the LGBTQ+ community often out of necessity when people were rejected by their biological families and developed familial relationships with new loved ones. Experts define chosen family as people who you are not tied to by blood or law, but who you treat as family. Your chosen family is there for you not because they’re related, but because you relate to them. We discuss chosen families, how they are formed and what they mean to people.

Guests:

Nayeema Raza, documentary filmmaker and senior editor, New York Times Opinion. She's also the author of the article "My Father’s Last Gift to Me Came After His Death."

Dawn O. Braithwaite, professor emeritus of communication, Department of Communication Studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Baruch Porras-Hernandez, writer, performer, organizer, host, curator, stand up comedian, and author of the chapbooks “I Miss You, Delicate” and “Lovers of the Deep Fried Circle” and co-organizar of KQED's ¿Dónde Esta Mi Gente? Literary Series

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

Learning a new language is easier said than done, and English in particular is a tricky one to master. It is a language that has absorbed influences from other languages and is still constantly evolving, with rules that seem like they’re never followed. On the internet, resources abound, but English language learners, particularly those who immigrate as adults, still face barriers to fluency. We talk with experts about the process of learning English, the social stigma that comes with not speaking fluently, and how technology is changing the way we learn. And we want to hear from you - have you had to learn English as a second language? What was your experience like?

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

Thursday’s hearing on the Jan. 6 insurrection highlighted the effort to convince then-Vice President Mike Pence to stop the certification of the 2020 election. The committee presented evidence of the potential criminal liability of lawyer John Eastman, the architect of that plan, who asked Rudy Giuliani for a presidential pardon following the insurrection. We’ll analyze that and other takeaways from the hearing and talk to California Congressman Adam Schiff, who will lead Tuesday’s hearing.

Guests:

Ron Elving, senior editor and correspondent on the Washington Desk, NPR News

Ankush Khardori, former federal prosecutor based in Washington, D.C.; contributing writer, New York magazine's Intelligencer; contributing editor, Politico magazine

Rep. Adam Schiff, Democratic Congressman representing California's 28th District in Los Angeles County; chair, House Intelligence Committee; member, Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol

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

As the United States observes its second Juneteenth as a federal holiday, we’ll look to its history here in California and the role the Bay Area played in the movement that led to its federal recognition. We’ll talk about what this recognition means in the push for Black American reparations and policy changes and hear about the growth of Bay Area Juneteenth festivals and celebrations in recent years.

Guests:

James Taylor, professor of Political Science, University of San Francisco; member, Reparations Task Force, San Francisco

Orlando Williams, board member, Berkeley Juneteenth Festival

Barbara Krauthamer, dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts and professor of History, University of Massachusetts Amherst

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

Unlikely. That’s what Golden State Warriors Coach Steve Kerr called this championship. After two years of battling injuries and tough losses, the Dubs won their fourth NBA title in eight years Thursday, beating the Celtics in Boston. We hear your reactions to Golden State’s victory.

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

Geoffrey Fowler recalls that when he first began reporting on consumer tech innovations two decades ago, the worst you might say about a product was that it was too expensive or too hard to use. But today, the tech we've come to depend on can steal our data, spy on our kids, send us down rabbit holes and feed us misinformation. Fowler joins us to talk about his new Washington Post series "We the Users," which identifies the tech products and services that fail us and how to fix them.

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

Reem Assil, owner of San Francisco and Oakland’s Reem’s Kitchen, began her career as a chef with a thirst for activism, often advocating for social justice and sustainability at work. As the opening chef of Dyafa, an Arab fine-dining restaurant in Oakland, Assil began to reimagine power dynamics in the kitchen which she boldly reflected on in her Eater article, “Don’t Call Me Chef.”  Assil joins Forum to talk about her new book, “Arabiyya: Recipes from the Life of an Arab in Diaspora,” in which she weaves personal essays on food, family, identity, hospitality, activism and political struggles amid recipes influenced by Arab flavors.

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

For decades, award-winning health journalist Linda Villarosa says she “long understood that something about being Black has led to the documented poor health of Black Americans.” And that “something” was not race per se or poverty or lack of access to education, information, or healthcare. According to Villarosa, poor health outcomes are directly tied to racism itself. In her latest book, “Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation,” Villarosa draws a direct line from centuries of discrimination and ongoing bias to the the health of the Black community. She debunks myths that continue to persist and offers a path forward to addressing racism that exists in our healthcare system. We talk to Villarosa about her book and answer your questions.

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

Norman Mineta, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Transportation, Congressmember and San Jose mayor, will be laid to rest in San Jose on Wednesday. Mineta was born in San Jose in 1931. During the Second World War, at the age of 10, he was imprisoned with his family in a Japanese internment camp in Wyoming. As a U.S. Representative, Mineta worked to provide reparations for interned Japanese Americans, co-sponsoring the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. As the Secretary of Transportation on Sept. 11, 2001, Mineta fought against appeals to intern Muslim Americans and later founded the Transportation Security Administration. We'll discuss Mineta’s legacy and celebrate his life.

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