KQED's Forum

For decades, experts classified people as having “normal” or “abnormal” brains depending on certain traits. Conditions such as autism, synesthesia, and sensory processing disorder are considered “abnormal.” Several years ago, Jenara Nerenberg, a Harvard and Berkeley-educated writer, entrepreneur, and mother, realized that type of binary thinking is flawed and miscategorizes many people, especially women. She went on to found The Neurodiversity Project, an organization that supports the neurodivergent community, and to write “Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed For You.” In her new book, Nerenberg presents a new way to understand neurodiversity and how it presents differently in women. She also challenges widely accepted misperceptions of neurodivergent traits. We talk with Nerenberg about her new book, The Neurodiversity Project, and her most recent venture, The Interracial Project.

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

The killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery have led to renewed calls for racial equality and justice across the U.S. They have also reinforced numerous fears that many parents have about raising black children -- fears that their child could be killed while jogging or sleeping in their home or otherwise “living while black.” In this hour of Forum, we’ll talk about the distinct challenges of raising black children in America. And we want to hear from you: Are you the parent of a black child? What’s been your experience?

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

Even as California businesses are starting to reopen, economists warn that the worst could be yet to come as far as unemployment. The extra $600 per week unemployment benefit will be ending soon and prospects for hiring are bleak as employers continue shedding workers. In May, the monthly jobless rate dropped to 13.3 percent from 14.7 percent, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report released last Friday. But a temporary drop may not signal that the economy is on the upswing just yet, economists said. Also, policy makers are looking at how to reverse the more severe unemployment rates among Blacks and other minority groups. In this hour of Forum, we discuss unemployment and what could lie ahead for workers.

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

Protesters rallying against police brutality across the country are also calling to “defund police.” One idea is to divert money from police departments into social services that can prevent crime and address its causes. Proponents say cities need to radically overhaul their systems of policing after years of failed reform efforts. The mayors of San Francisco and Los Angeles say they support the idea. We dive into the concept of defunding police and overhauling law enforcement in America.

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

Outdoor dining. Daycare Centers. Movie Theaters. Every day, officials are announcing new areas of the economy that can start opening for business. But at the same time, likely in part because testing is much more readily available, coronavirus cases are rising sharply in some communities. Coming up on Forum, we’ll take your questions on reopening the Bay Area and the latest science on Covid-19. And we’ll look at the World Health Organization’s muddled message this week on transmission of the virus by people without symptoms.

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

California schools will look very different this fall. Under new guidelines released Monday by California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, schools may require masks, temperature checks, social distancing, staggered schedules, outdoor classes and continued remote learning. The state did not issue mandates, however, leaving individual districts to decide their own procedures. Forum dives into the challenges schools, teachers, students and parents will face in reopening schools safely during a pandemic.

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

Rev. William Barber believes that the country “will not be the same after this pandemic and after this season of mass non-violent protest. We cannot be the same.” And Barber — who revived and co-chairs the Poor People’s Campaign, one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s last projects — is working to ensure transformative change is made in the U.S through a “Moral Agenda” that advances pro-labor, anti-poverty and anti-racist policies. Rev. Barber joins Forum to talk about the protests against police violence, his campaign to fight poverty and his new book “We Are Called to Be a Movement.”

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

In their new book, “Surviving Autocracy,” journalist Masha Gessen suggests that President Trump was “the first major party nominee who ran not for president but for autocrat.” It’s this political mindset that Gessen warns can become lethal as Trump is responding to crises like the coronavirus pandemic and nationwide protests against racism and police brutality. Gessen joins the program to discuss their book, how they think Trump has transformed the presidency and the role of “moral aspiration” in moving forward.

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

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George Will left the Republican Party in 2016 to protest the nomination of Donald Trump as the GOP’s presidential candidate. In a recent column, Will goes a step further, calling for the defeat of President Trump and the Republican Senate majority in November. The long-time conservative thought leader joins us to talk about the presidential election and why he’s denouncing Trump now more than ever.

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

Demonstrators marched across the Golden Gate Bridge on Saturday, filling the whole length of the span and closing it to cars. The was just one of the many actions across the Bay Area over the weekend held to protest police violence. We talk with KQED's Queena Kim about the weekend's demonstrations and other recent news.   We'll also check in with Derrick Sanderlin, who trains San Jose police on how to avoid bias --  and who was seriously injured by a rubber bullet at a recent protest.

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