KQED's Forum

On Wednesday, coronavirus deaths in the United States surpassed 100,000. According to California Congressman Adam Schiff, as the pandemic spreads, so too does harmful misinformation about treatment, transmissibility and cures. Schiff joins us to talk about his effort to push Twitter and YouTube to notify users when they've engaged with misleading COVID-19 posts. And we'll also hear from him about the Senate Judiciary Committee's inquiry into the Mueller investigation and other political news.

SpaceX called off a rocket launch for NASA on Wednesday that would’ve been the first time astronauts launched into space from US soil since 2011 and the first time ever that a privately developed spacecraft took humans into Earth's orbit. The mission would have taken NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken to the International Space Station, but it was called off 17 minutes before liftoff because of weather conditions. The launch is now slated for this Saturday. In this hour, we’ll discuss where SpaceX stands with regard to the launch and what the mission means for the future of space exploration.

As meatpacking plants become coronavirus hotspots and large producers dump milk and destroy crops, the nation's industrial food chain is buckling. That's according to journalist and author Michael Pollan, who says in a recent article that the pandemic is exposing glaring and longstanding deficiencies in the way the U.S. produces and distributes food. We'll talk to him about why he thinks it's time to de-industrialize our food system and re-imagine the American diet.

Many of us working from home during the pandemic are crouching over laptops on the couch, slumped over a too short table or sitting cross-legged on the floor typing while also trying to entertain a child. It's all taking a toll on our backs and necks. Forum gets tips on easy ways to improve the ergonomics of working at home and suggestions on stretches and exercises to counteract the contortions of working in odd spaces.

In his new book "Trumpocalypse," erstwhile neoconservative David Frum explores what he sees as the failures of conservatism, from the Iraq war to the financial crisis to the Trump presidency.  A former speechwriter for President George W. Bush,  Frum joins us to talk about his book and how to reimagine a United States and a conservative party without Donald Trump.

With the weather warming up, kids wrapping up the school year, and people feeling confined after more than two months of sheltering in place, millions of Californians are eager to hit the road, but are feeling conflicted. On one hand, popular destinations such as beaches and national parks are open for visitors. On the other hand, health officials warn that the coronavirus pandemic is not over and people should stay home as much as possible. We discuss how coronavirus will impact this year’s travel season and how to stay safe if you do venture out.

While fears grow that Latin America may become the next hotspot for COVID-19, experts are searching for answers as to what policy responses work best -- why some countries are able to stop the spread and why some are struggling to contain the virus. Comparisons are difficult, however, because countries have varying healthcare systems and can even count coronavirus deaths differently. In this hour, we talk with experts about what measures governments around the world have taken and how those measures may have influenced the fatalities and economic damage caused by COVID-19.

In her latest novel, “The Resisters,” Gish Jen creates a futuristic world where machines use artificial intelligence to control, track, and predict human behavior. In it, a baseball prodigy navigates a society that puts people in strict categories and functions. Machines do most of the jobs, which turns employment into a luxury. Those with jobs live on high ground that has not been flooded while the jobless live on 3-D printed houseboats. Jen joins us to discuss how she crafted a distant -- or perhaps not too distant -- future where humans automated humanity for convenience but which becomes a nightmare.

Historian Alexis Coe noticed one day that the dozens of biographies written about George Washington were all written by men and repeated the same myths around wooden teeth and a cherry tree wooden teeth.She decided to tell a more nuanced story that not only reexamines the original sources, but also looks at the women in his life, who are also misconceived in the historical record. The quest to uncover the real George Washington resulted in Coe's latest book, "You Never Forget Your First." We talk to Coe about the book, how she makes history interesting, and why Washington's truths matter today.

As chair of the Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases at the National Academy of Sciences, Harvey Fineberg has been involved in crafting the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic.  But that doesn’t mean the government always takes his advice.  He’s a staunch advocate of mask-wearing, and he says there is no clinical evidence that hydroxychloroqine is effective against coronavirus, despite President Trump’s support of the drug.  Fineberg, a former president of the Institute of Medicine and current head of the Palo Alto-based Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, joins us to talk about the federal response to the pandemic.