KQED's Forum

Leah Garchik recalls being chided throughout her career by readers of her San Francisco Chronicle column for being too positive and too optimistic. A recent column responded to that criticism by enumerating things she hates, including raisins, large groups of bicycle riders and VIP sections. Garchik, who recently retired as columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, joins us to talk about her 47 years at the paper and her observations –both positive and negative--about the city by the Bay.

A federal appeals court in New Orleans heard arguments Tuesday in Texas v. U.S., a major challenge to the Affordable Care Act brought by 20 Republican state officials. Last December, a lower court agreed with the Texas coalition that the ACA's individual mandate is unconstitutional, and as a result struck down the entire law. We'll talk about the hearing and what's at stake in the case.

Deadly "superbugs," or microbes that can resist antibiotics, are on the rise and killing hundreds of thousands of people annually. Pharmaceutical companies, however, are typically slow to invest in the search for new drugs for financial reasons. That's according to infectious-disease doctor Matt McCarthy, who chronicles this conflict in his new book, "Superbugs: The Race to Stop an Epidemic." We'll talk with Dr. McCarthy about the future of these "superbugs" and his clinical trial testing a new antibiotic to fight them.

An invasive fungus that has killed millions of bats on the East Coast, has been found in California. Government biologists announced last week that the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome was detected on several bats near Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California. Forum talks about the spread of the deadly bat disease and efforts to stop it. We'll also discuss the important ecological role of a healthy bat population.

Iran's atomic energy agency acknowledged Monday that it has surpassed uranium enrichment limits set by the 2015 nuclear deal. The announcement came a day after the United States, which withdrew from the deal last year, warned of "further sanctions and isolation." This is Iran's second major breach of the nuclear agreement; on July 1 it exceeded the deal's uranium stockpile cap. Meanwhile, tensions with the U.S. remain high following Iran's downing of an unmanned U.S. drone last month. We'll discuss what Iran's actions mean for regional and global security, and how the U.S. should respond.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission.  Presidential historian and Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley joins us to talk about his latest book, “American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race."  We'll also hear from producer Robert Stone about the upcoming PBS documentary series “Chasing the Moon," a political and social exploration of how humans got to the moon.

Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones joins us for the latest on the earthquakes that hit Southern California. We'll also discuss the helpfulness of the earthquake early warning systems.

Another day, another story about political polarization. Yet, a study published last month shows that Americans' political beliefs are more nuanced and less extreme than their political opponents believe. For example, Republicans think that half of Democrats would say that "police are bad people" when in reality only 15 percent hold that view. The survey, conducted by a nonpartisan initiative called More in Common, urges both Democrats and Republicans to get out of their silos and talk to people with differing views.

In an attempt to get students to pay more attention to schoolwork and the non-virtual world, San Mateo High School will be locking up cellphones for the full school day beginning next year. Officials in other schools that have adopted the policy say phone-free kids are more attentive in class and less socially isolated, but some students complain the policy is too strict and penalizes those who use their devices responsibly. This segment is part of KQED’s "Youth Takeover,” a week featuring stories developed and produced with high school students from across the Bay Area.

The future of humanity rests in the hands of just nine companies, according to futurist Amy Webb. In her new book, "The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity," Webb explores the evolution of artificial intelligence as it seeps into our everyday lives through smart appliances, transforming our homes into "data generation machines" for large corporations. Webb argues that AI should be regulated instead of allowing a few companies, market forces and geopolitics to shape our future. What regulations would you like to see for artificial intelligence?