KQED's Forum

Nearly all of Apple’s products are assembled in China and 20% of its sales are generated there. That relationship has led Apple to compromise on its privacy protections for Chinese customers, allowing for government censorship and surveillance, according to a new New York Times investigation. Forum talks with New York Times technology reporter Jack Nicas about the investigation and the ways that A...

Federal safety authorities announced another investigation into Tesla after a fatal crash, a tweet from CEO Elon Musk sent the crypto-currency market into a tailspin and the company’s stock took a dive. Just another month of news for the CEO and company that some love to love, and many love to hate. We’ll talk about the volatility and ingenuity of Elon Musk and Telsa and where it all might be head...

The social media app TikTok has grown exponentially since its release in 2016, with over 689 million active users worldwide. Famous for its short, looping videos that feature a range of content including lip syncs, dance routines, personal storytelling and documentary-style footage, it’s become a popular place to spend hours online, especially among Gen Z. Particularly in the past year, when in-pe...

Nearly half a million Americans died from opioid abuse between 1999 and 2019 and one family’s name has become synonymous with that crisis.  The Sacklers, who own Purdue Pharma, built their wealth promoting the blockbuster addictive painkiller OxyContin. The company continues to face civil litigation for their role in helping ignite the epidemic of opioid addiction.  Journalist Patrick Radden Keefe...

Israeli air strikes continued to devastate the Gaza Strip on Monday, as violence between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas entered its second week. The air attacks have killed roughly 200 Palestinians in Gaza — including more than 50 children — and left over 1,000 injured. Over the last week, at least ten Israelis have been killed by Hamas, which began launching rockets at Israel in...

Pacific Gas and Electric Company's power lines have sparked some of California's deadliest wildfires, including the 2018 Camp Fire where the utility pleaded guilty to killing 84 people. As summer approaches, concern is growing over high risk power lines starting fires around the state. We'll discuss where the Bay Area's riskiest power lines are, and where to go for help if a power line doesn't loo...

The Fire Victim Trust in charge of compensating Camp fire survivors spent $51 million in overhead expenses in 2020. The Trust disbursed just $7 million to fire victims in that same period of time, amounting to less than 0.1% of the $13.5 billion promised. That's according to a KQED analysis of federal bankruptcy court filings, court transcripts and correspondence between staff of the Fire Victim T...

In her new book, “Mom Genes: Inside the New Science of Our Ancient Maternal Instinct,” author Abigail Tucker explores what’s behind terms such as "mom brain," “maternal instinct” and other so-called parenting myths that have some truth to them. As it turns out, having children changes parents’ brains. Tucker researched the cellular-level revamping of parental brains that led her to some startling...

For more than 10 years, Bloomberg’s Senior Executive Editor Brad Stone has covered Amazon, the company and its founder Jeff Bezos. Stone’s new book "Amazon Unbound", examines how Bezos’ creation has become one of the largest corporations on the planet. But what is the cost to workers, the environment and to Bezos himself? We’ll talk about Amazon, Bezos and how the pandemic helped solidify the fort...

The Centers for Disease Control announced Thursday that persons who are fully vaccinated that is, two weeks have passed since the final dose can eschew masks and social distancing in most settings both indoors and outdoors. Locations where masks are still required include health care, correctional and homeless facilities and public transportation, as well as places listed on local health ordinance...

On June 19, 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed and two months after the Confederacy surrendered, enslaved Americans in Texas were notified of the end of slavery. "On Juneteenth," the new memoir by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed, explores the history of that event, its legacy and its influence on her own life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

State Senator Scott Wiener’s legislation to decriminalize psychedelic drugs for personal and therapeutic use passed in the state senate’s Health Committee in April. Senate Bill 519, would also expunge criminal records for people with prior possession convictions, which Wiener hopes will remedy some of the consequences of the war on drugs. Psychedelic-assisted therapy is already used by patients an...

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared on Monday that 41 California counties are in a drought emergency. But unlike during the last major drought, the state has imposed no rules governing water waste. The last mandate, which expired in November 2017, included restrictions on, among other things, residential irrigation and car-washing. Advocates say these rules should be reinstated as the state once again ente...

At the outset of her new memoir, "The Secret to Superhuman Strength," celebrated graphic novelist Alison Bechdel muses about the origins of her obsession with exercise -- from skiing to running to martial arts to the latest 7-minute workout. For her, the fixation is a physical dependence: "I can't help myself. The sweat, the endorphins, the gear, the togs, the next new thing!" It also has deep emo...

The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show sexually transmitted diseases are at an all-time high for the sixth year in a row. In her new book, Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs, UCSF School of Medicine associate professor Dr. Ina Park says it's easier for people to have sex than to talk about it. She takes a fact-based--ofte...

A 2020 study found that for every person who dies of COVID-19, at least nine people become bereaved. With more than half a million lives lost to COVID-19 in the U.S., that means more than 5 million people are experiencing grief from the pandemic alone. In her New York Times op-ed, “The Grief Crisis is Coming,” journalist and author Allison Gilbert writes that “we must begin to address the toll” of...

The last time a California governor faced a recall in 2003, there were more than 100 candidates on the ballot. This time around, the gubernatorial recall election is also shaping up to be a circus and not just because of the bear that candidate John Cox brought to a news conference. Well talk about the candidates lining up to replace Governor Gavin Newsom in the recall election later this year, in...

Covering politics has never been easy, but since the Jan. 6 insurrection, the landscape has become particularly difficult for the press. How does the country create costs and accountability for lying and shamelessness in politics? And following four years of Donald Trump, have the rules for press coverage permanently changed? Media critic and New York University professor Jay Rosen joins us to dis...

Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled his $100-billion “California Comeback Plan” on Monday, which includes a proposal for $600 stimulus payments to a projected two-thirds of Californians, with additional $500 checks to families with children. The plan also proposes relief for rent and overdue utility bills. With a projected $75.7 billion state budget surplus, Newsom has until this Friday to submit his updat...

As more people get vaccinated and the state opens up, concerns over how to re-enter the social world are front and center. This is particularly true for babies born during the pandemic and toddlers who may have not learned usual socialization skills in the past year. We’ll talk to a pediatrician about what we should expect from kids that young, what you should and shouldn't worry about when it com...

The California Public Utilities Commission is debating potential updates to its rooftop solar program to address customer complaints about equity in billing. California’s Net Energy Metering subsidy program, which credits solar panel-owning customers when their systems generate excess electricity, has been contributing to higher electric bills across the state. The “cost-shift” element places an u...

An old wound was healed last week when former California state Assemblymember and longtime LGBTQ rights leader Tom Ammiano received his varsity letter decades after earning it on his high school track team. During an interview with KQED’s Political Breakdown, Ammiano, now 79, told his story of being denied a varsity letter because of homophobic rhetoric stating, “it’s something that still hurts, e...

Health experts say that while the Bay Area will likely end up with 80% of its population vaccinated against COVID-19, the United States is unlikely to reach herd immunity, a threshold where a high enough percentage of the population is inoculated against the coronavirus to essentially end its spread. Half of the adults in the U.S. have been inoculated with at least one dose, but daily vaccination...

More than 579,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the United States as of May 2021. Michael Lewis’ new book, “The Premonition,” argues that many would still be alive had the Centers for Disease Control and federal government responded promptly and forcefully in the pandemic’s early days. The book follows the American doctors and scientists who advocated for immediate action and charts the roadbloc...

Low-wage frontline workers have kept Californians fed and vulnerable populations cared for since the start of the pandemic. And they’ve borne a high cost for their work. A recent study out of UC Merced finds a 30% increase in deaths for essential workers in 2020. We’ll hear about people working in restaurants, grocery stores, home care and other industries who feared losing income -- or their jobs...