KQED's Forum

Like many major U.S. cities, Oakland has seen an increase in gun violence during the pandemic. Last year, Oakland Police Department investigated 134 homicides, the most since 2012. And shootings increased by 21 percent. We’ll talk with Oakland’s Chief of Violence Prevention Guillermo Cespedes about the spike and his community-based strategies for reducing homicides in the city.

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The demand for no and low-alcohol wine, beer and spirits skyrocketed during the pandemic, with brands seeing a 315% surge in sales over the last year alone, according to Nielsen data. It's no longer just a market for those abstaining from alcohol, either -- 78% of people buying these offerings also buy alcohol. Experts point to wellness trends, particularly among younger demographics, and those looking to moderate their drinking habits. And suppliers are keeping up, with numerous new brands emerging and big legacy brands like Budweiser and Heineken adding non-alcoholic drinks to their slates. We'll talk to wine and spirits writer Kate Dingwall about this booming market and where it's headed. Have you hopped on the non-alcoholic spirits train? Tell us what you're drinking and enjoying!

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“How did conservative values that Republicans claimed to cherish, like small government, fiscal responsibility, and morality in public service, get completely eroded as an unshakable faith in Donald Trump grew to define the party?” That’s the question driving New York Times national politics reporter Jeremy W. Peters’s new book "Insurgency: How Republicans Lost Their Party and Got Everything They Ever Wanted.” In it, Peters outlines key points and events in recent history that fueled conservatives’ “revolution from within,” like the “Ground Zero Mosque” controversy that bolstered Trump’s image as a politician and an overlooked New Hampshire senate race in 2014 that would inform the playbook for GOP anti-immigration policy. He also interviewed former President Donald Trump for the book. We’ll talk to Peters about “Insurgency” and about his reporting on former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s loss Tuesday in the defamation lawsuit she brought against the New York Times.

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In 1942, at age three, John Tateishi was imprisoned with his family at Manzanar, one of ten U.S. government camps used to incarcerate Japanese Americans during World War II. Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that year, gave the U.S. military the ability to designate areas "from which any or all persons may be excluded." Tateishi later went on to lead the fight for reparations for Japanese Americans forced into the camps. As part of our ongoing coverage of the 80th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, we’ll talk with Tateishi about his family’s experience and his book “Redress: The Inside Story of the Successful Campaign for Japanese American Reparations”.

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San Franciscans voted Tuesday in the contentious recall election of three members of the San Francisco Board of Education — Alison Collins, Gabriela López and Faauuga Moliga — with more than 70% of votes in favor of ousting all three. Outraged parents called for the election in the midst of the pandemic saying the board failed to prioritize a return to in-person classes. This expensive recall, funded by some of San Francisco's wealthiest venture capitalists, could reshape the future of the San Francisco Unified School District. We’ll talk with KQED education reporter Vanessa Rancaño and politics reporter Guy Marzorati about the election.

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Remote work is hard on everyone, but imagine starting your career on Zoom. For two pandemic years, Gen Z has been entering the workforce with limited opportunities for in-person training, mentorship or workplace community. But some young workers say they like the informality and flexibility associated with remote work. We’ll hear from young employees about what it’s like to onboard in a pandemic and get tips on how to make that transition easier.

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When Ruth Sasaki was asked in 2018 to edit and contribute to the "Topaz Stories" that remember Japanese-American experiences during internment, she was so happy to apply her skills as a short story writer to help document and preserve a piece of history that impacted her own family. A third-generation San Franciscan, Sasaki's mother's family, the Takahashis, were interned at Topaz and Tanforan camps. Sasaki joins us as part of Forum's First Person Series to talk about "Topaz Stories" and reflect on the 80th anniversary of Japanese internment in the U.S.

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Wild pigs have been marauding through 56 out of California’s 58 counties leaving destruction in their wake. Pigs in the Bay Area have trampled vineyards, gouged out golf courses, rototilled baseball fields and wreaked havoc on farms. A new bill introduced by a Napa state senator would allow property owners to kill the pigs without getting a permit first. It’s a baby step compared to Texas where you can rent a gunner seat in a chopper to shoot the hogs from the air, but it’s a sign of growing frustration in a normally animal tolerant state. We’ll talk about the trouble these pigs are causing, why they’re here and what can be done about it.

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“I’ve never really liked my personality, and other people don’t like it either,” writes Atlantic writer Olga Khazan. In her latest article, “I Gave Myself Three Months to Change My Personality,” Khazan tries out meditation, a gratitude journal and improv classes among other exercises to achieve her goal of becoming more agreeable. We’ll talk to Khazan about how it went and what social science says about just how malleable our personalities are.

Guests:

Olga Khazan, staff writer, The Atlantic, author of Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World.

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