KQED's Forum

Musician Nina Simone once said "an artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times." We're now seeing a reflection of our times -- the fight against racism and inequality -- in works of art on city streets and storefronts across California, as artists paint murals or graffiti remembering George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and declaring "Black Lives Matter." Artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh knows the power street art can have in bolstering a social movement. Her international street art campaign "Stop Telling Women to Smile," now a book of the same name, reflected her own experiences with street harassment and became a way to empower other women. We'll talk to Fazlalizadeh about her work, which includes recent murals supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, and the role of street art in protests.

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QAnon, the online conspiracy group that traffics in baseless theories about a Satan-worshipping deep state, counts among its defenders Republican congressional candidates, far right media personalities and former and current Trump administration officials. It’s also stolen the minds of countless ordinary Americans who have come to believe in its apocalyptic, convoluted narratives. We’ll talk about what attracts people to QAnon and similar cult-like communities, and what friends and family members can do to help loved ones emerge from the rabbit hole.

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For Bay Area food banks, securing funding and supplies is increasingly difficult during the pandemic.  The challenges come as the need for food assistance is rising.  Long lines have become common at food banks, and Second Harvest Food Bank in Silicon Valley is seeing a 100 percent increase in the number of people calling its food connection hotline, many for the first time. As the economic impact of the virus on families and individuals grows, we’ll hear how Bay Area food banks are coping.

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With less than 90 days to the November election, concerns are mounting that the Trump Administration is actively undermining the  U.S. Postal Service. Although the USPS is the country’s most popular government agency, President  Trump recently dismissed it as a “joke” and questioned its ability to deliver mail-in ballots on time. Trump’s newly appointed Postmaster General, who was also a major Trump campaign donor, has limited overtime work, and extra mail delivery, moves that postal workers say have created mail backlogs. In response,  Benjamin Jealous, the President of the People For the American Way, is spearheading a campaign to defend the Postal Service. We’ll talk to Jealous about what can be done to ensure that Americans can have confidence in the mail service.

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Since former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe published “A Citizen’s Guide to Beating Donald Trump” back in early March, there have been major developments regarding the 2020 election. Former Vice President Joe Biden became the Democratic nominee, the coronavirus pandemic escalated and the economy fell into a deep recession. Most recent polls have Trump trailing in the general election, and one poll from Berkeley IGS this week has Biden leading by 39 percentage points among California voters. But many questions are still to be answered, including who Biden will pick as his running mate, what an election looks like in a pandemic and which strategies each party should take in order to win votes. Plouffe joins Forum to talk about the book, answer those questions and discuss the latest political news.

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As school districts around the country issue pandemic education plans, there’s widespread concern among teachers about safety, equity and how to make the most of online learning. We’ll talk about a new NPR/Ipsos teacher survey, and we’ll hear how one local teachers’ union is handling its members’ concerns about education in the time of Covid.

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On August 5, thousands of nurses across the country staged protests to highlight the lack of personal protective equipment and other challenges they continue to face as front line workers in this pandemic. According to media reports, in California, 100 health care workers have been killed by Covid-19 and medical workers account for 20% of all infections in some states. Nurses are demanding that more be done to protect them. We'll hear about what how nurses are coping and what they need for a safer work environment.

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The Census Bureau is ending its population count a month early, though nearly 40 percent of the country has yet to fill out the forms. Census Bureau director Steven Dillingham announced yesterday that all counting efforts will wrap up by Sept. 30, cutting short a four-month extension during the pandemic. We’ll talk about what ending the count early could mean for California’s historically undercounted communities and the redrawing of political districts.

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The coronavirus pandemic has many people feeling isolated in their homes, detached from loved ones, and anxious about their livelihoods. All of that is taking a major toll on mental health. The U.S. suicide rate rose after the 2008 recession, and experts warn that vulnerable individuals are more at risk of suicide during periods of crisis.  We’ll talk about how to address anxiety and depression, when to seek help, and what services are available for individuals and families struggling to cope.

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Renters across California could be in danger of losing their homes in the coming weeks. Eviction moratoriums that have helped millions of renters are close to expiring even as the coronavirus pandemic is keeping many unemployed. State lawmakers are weighing proposals to prevent a mass wave of evictions, but face a budget deficit and other constraints.  Meanwhile, relief from the federal government appears unlikely. We discuss the state’s looming eviction crisis.

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