KQED's Forum

Senator Tammy Duckworth lost both legs when the Blackhawk helicopter she was co-piloting was shot down in Iraq 16 years ago. In her new memoir, "Every Day Is A Gift," Duckworth recounts how her challenging childhood prepared her to deal with these devastating injuries as well as a life in politics. She's the first senator to give birth while in office and the first Asian-American senator from Illi...

In the past quarter century, the gap between what men and women are paid, has narrowed by only 8 cents. Women nationally now earn about 82 cents for every dollar a man earns and wage discrimination is even worse for women of color. We'll talk with Francesca Donner, gender director for the New York Times, about why the wage gap continues to exist and what can be done to change it. Learn more about...

Following increased backlash regarding the conservatorship of pop star Britney Spears, three bills aiming to reform conservatorship are now proposed in the California Legislature. Spears’ conservatorship, which began in 2008, has been strongly criticized by the #FreeBritney movement and participants in the recent New York Times documentary “Framing Britney Spears.” Conservatorships occur when an a...

The California State Board of Education approved an ethnic studies curriculum for K-12 after years of tumultuous debate. Some critics say the curriculum falls short of the true intent of ethnic studies as an academic discipline. Meanwhile, other opponents of the early drafts of the curriculum were concerned about presenting students with too critical a view of capitalism and white supremacy. In th...

Once known as the “land of orphans,” South Korea has placed nearly 200,000 children in foreign adoptions since the 1950’s. Until 1995, it was the world leader in sending children for adoption in the United States. Frustrated by incomplete and sometimes falsified records, many of those adoptees are now turning to DNA technology to find their birth families -- a process that is sometimes seamless, b...

The new animated Netflix series “City of Ghosts” follows a group of kid detectives who solve problems and learn about the history of Los Angeles by communicating with its ghosts. Calling themselves the “Ghost Club,” the children visit different neighborhoods, uncovering the multicultural stories that shaped them. The show was created and executive produced by Elizabeth Ito, an Emmy Award-winning a...

On Thursday, Governor Newsom announced that eligibility for the Covid-19 vaccine would open on April 1 to those aged 50 and up, and to those aged 16 and up on April 15. State Senator Richard Pan, who is also a pediatrician, has been laser focused on getting Californians vaccinated. We’ll talk to Pan about what this expansion in eligibility will mean for herd immunity, how to combat anti-vaccine pr...

As Bay Area counties continue to loosen coronavirus restrictions, restaurants are expanding their services. We’ll hear from restaurateurs, including Oakland chef Tanya Holland, about how they’ve fared during the past year, and get their thoughts on welcoming patrons back. How has the pandemic changed the restaurant business, and have there been any silver linings? We want to hear from you: Are you...

Helping with online homework, lack of playdates, fighting for computer time or even alone time; it has been a tough year of pandemic parenting. And for essential worker parents, there has been the added worry of accidentally bringing the virus home. We’ll get advice from experts and tips for coping after a year of no school. And as a return to normal begins with many schools reconvening, we want t...

State and federal officials are warning farmers and cities to prepare for potential water shortages as the state’s dry conditions reach worrisome levels. We discuss the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf announced Tuesday that the city is launching a guaranteed income pilot program this spring for 600 residents, one of the largest programs in the U.S. to date. Shortly following Oakland’s announcement, Marin’s board of supervisors voted unanimously to launch its own pilot program for 125 low-income residents over two years. Earlier this month, a study of Stockton’s now co...

In the past year, since the pandemic began, the statewide homicide rate has increased 30%. At the same time, law enforcement officials have reduced jail populations because of the COVID-19 infection risk. That’s exacerbating friction between reform minded district attorneys and law enforcement in the state. Critics have launched recall efforts against the progressive district attorneys in Los Ange...

The San Francisco Unified School District is having a difficult year. They're contending with falling enrollment, a school naming controversy, a retiring Superintendent and bringing kids back to school in mid-April. There is also an existing recall effort against Board Vice President Alison Collins, given new momentum after recent revelations of old tweets condemned as Anti-Asian. Marisa Lagos tal...

The murders of eight people in and around Atlanta last week have left Americans reeling from yet another mass killing. In an essay she penned for Vanity Fair, author R.O. Kwon wrote, “I am not spending any more of my limited time alive defending the humanity of marginalized people... This long, hard week, I have felt especially pulled toward the company of fellow Asian women.” The murders have man...

Just two months after Georgia voters handed Democrats a majority in the U.S. Senate, state lawmakers there are proposing laws that would curtail weekend voting hours and impose ID requirements for absentee ballots, among other restrictions that critics say disproportionately affect Black voters. Attempts to restrict voting are not limited to Georgia. The Brennan Center for Justice reports that as...

The recall effort against California Governor Gavin Newsom passed a few major hurdles last week, with supporters turning in more than enough signatures, and Newsom embarking on a media blitz acknowledging the likelihood of a recall election in the fall, and vowing to win it. Criticism of the governor revolves around economic hardship in the state after the long-term COVID-19 restrictions, and the...

This past year, the pandemic pushed millions to move back in with family members at levels not seen since the Great Depression. This was especially true for Gen Z and Millennials. For many cultures across the globe and within the United States, multigenerational households are the norm. In the U.S., however, moving in with your parents as an adult carries a stigma and is often considered a “failur...

Mills College, an Oakland institution since 1852, announced Wednesday that it will end its role as a degree granting college. No more students will be admitted, and the last degrees are likely to be awarded no later than 2023. Alexis Madrigal talks to Elizabeth Hillman, president of Mills College, about how declining enrollment, budget deficits, and the COVID-19 pandemic played into the decision a...

When schools closed about a year ago, graphic journalist Wendy MacNaughton started an online show for kids called DrawTogether. MacNaughton knows art is an important way to process feelings and emotions, and she wanted to help parents get kids to do art using screens to get kids off screens and draw. Alex Madrigal talks with MacNaughton about how art can help kids of all ages, and we want to hear...

The number of unaccompanied children crossing the U.S. southern border has increased dramatically in recent weeks, overwhelming immigration authorities as well as organizations that house and care for them. The situation is a test for President Joe Biden, who promised a more humane response to immigration than the previous administration. Meanwhile, Republicans such as California Representative Ke...

Over the past year of on-and-off shelter in place restrictions, so many of us discovered--and in some cases, rediscovered--places that helped us get through those times. A park we had never known about. A room in our home that was rarely used. A path we had walked passed many times before but never traveled upon. What was your pandemic place? Alexis Madrigal talks with journalists Geoff Manaugh an...

Deb Haaland was confirmed as Secretary of the Interior for the Biden administration Monday, making her the first Native American cabinet secretary in U.S. history. Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo and a 35th-generation resident of New Mexico, will oversee the management of federal land and natural resources, as well as the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Under President Trump, the Department of th...

Mina Kim talks about the Atlanta killings with Cynthia Choi of Stop AAPI Hate and sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For people who lived through the AIDS pandemic, Covid-19 felt familiar: a little understood virus was causing a public health crisis, just as HIV had done forty years earlier. In fact, leading HIV researchers like Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx ended up on the frontlines of Covid. What other lessons did AIDS teach us, and what can we learn from survivors of the AIDS generation about living...

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, many people looked to the film “Contagion” as a manual for what lay ahead. The movie became a touchstone, and its stars were even enlisted to do a public service announcement about Covid. Now, a year later, the screenwriter of that movie, Scott Burns, along with UCLA epidemiologist Anne Rimoin, join us to talk about what the film got right and what unf...