KQED's Forum

California is adding $536 million to the budget for wildfire prevention. The money will go toward efforts including forest and vegetation management and the retrofitting and fireproofing of homes. As the state enters a second year of drought following 2020’s record number of acres burned, some experts are raising concerns that the state isn’t going far enough to avoid a crisis. We'll hear about efforts underway to prevent another catastrophic wildfire season.

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In heated debates about gun laws and gun violence, one group of victims is often overlooked: children. Each year in America, thousands of children are killed or injured after finding unsecured guns in their homes. Millions of kids endure psychological wounds after losing loved ones to gun violence or from the mere threat of school shootings. In his new book, “Children Under Fire: An American Crisis,” Washington Post reporter John Woodrow Cox tells the story of those children. We talk with Cox about strategies that could save lives and protect kids from life-altering trauma.

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Now that California is reopening, how will dating change? After a year of social distancing, many of us are longing for emotional and physical intimacy, while others are suffering from FODA: fear of dating again. What are the rules, if any, around post-pandemic dating and intimacy? Are Zoom dates here to stay? And will you require proof of vaccination to swipe right? Well hear your stories and get advice about how to approach dating, love and sex in a post-pandemic world.

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Last year, in response to concerns about the spread of COVID-19 among unhoused people, officials in Santa Rosa created a sanctioned encampment in the parking lot of a local community center. Those living at the site reported feeling safer and having better access to services, and neighborhood residents who initially opposed the idea came to view the program positively. Elsewhere in the state, San Francisco set up “Safe Sleeping Sites” last May, and Sacramento recently created two “Safe Ground” sites, with one being for people living in cars and RVs. The idea is being floated in Los Angeles, as well, after police and protestors clashed over the clearing of an encampment at Echo Park last month. We’ll talk about Santa Rosa’s experiment in addressing homelessness and how other cities in California are implementing or thinking about sanctioned encampments.

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Whether it’s tribal in nature -- or a nasty divorce-- many Americans feel trapped in repetitive conflicts that can seem irresolvable, with no end in sight. Investigative journalist Amanda Ripley spent four years studying these types of high conflict situations, discovering tools to defuse their potency and learning how to recognize what kind of problems are solvable. Ripley joins us to talk about how to resolve our deepest divisions and her new book, “High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped, and How We Get Out.”

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California is pausing the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine following a recommendation to do so from federal health officials who reported extremely rare blood clot complications in six patients. Meanwhile, California plans to expand vaccine eligibility to everyone 16 and older on Thursday. So far, roughly 40 percent of Californians have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and more than one in five are fully vaccinated, but experts say the state has a ways to go. We’ll hear the latest developments about the J&J vaccine and talk about what we can expect as the state prepares to open up eligibility.

For more information about booking a vaccine appointment, check out KQED's guide to vaccines. 

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Kristine Hostetter was a popular fourth grade teacher at an Orange County elementary school, when she marched on the Capitol on January 6th, but did not enter the building. When she returned home, the school district suspended her, a move that outraged some families but which others supported. We’ll talk with the New York Times reporter who has brought national attention to Hostetter’s suspension and the ongoing fallout. What are the limits of free speech in the workplace? How would you react if your child’s teacher had marched on the Capitol?

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The new Frontline documentary "American Insurrection" investigates the rise of right-wing extremism and the assault on the U.S. Capitol. Forum talks with ProPublica reporter and Frontline correspondent A.C. Thompson about how extremist groups and individuals became emboldened and radicalized.

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Last month, 45-year-old Lorenzo Perez was shot in broad daylight in Fresno while selling food from a bicycle cart. His death illustrated the many risks street vendors take to sell their goods. Advocates say street vendors, ubiquitous in California’s Latino neighborhoods, are seen as easy targets. Vendors continue to face decreased sales and increased risk of thefts and assaults as the pandemic stretches on. We talk about the risks street vendors face and how to best help.

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To live deliberately as a swimmer means you are a seeker; a chaser of the oceans blue corduroy, a follower of river veins, journalist Bonnie Tsui writes in her book, Why We Swim. A lifelong swimmer whose parents met at a pool, Tsui interweaves her personal love of the sport with scientific research on the psychology and physicality of swimming. She shares stories of long-distance swimmers and breaks down the reasons we swim: for survival, well-being, community, competition and flow. We want to hear from you: why do you swim?

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