KQED's Forum

Stanford University distanced itself from Trump administration task force member and Hoover Institution senior fellow Dr. Scott Atlas on Monday after Atlas tweeted that Michigan residents should "rise up" over new coronavirus restrictions. In a written statement, Stanford said his views were “inconsistent with the university’s approach” and emphasized the use of masks, social distancing and follow...

The Pentagon announced Tuesday that it will continue to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, leaving 2500 in each nation by January 15. The move drew bipartisan rebukes from lawmakers and some top military commanders, who say the troop reduction is premature and could further destabilize Afghanistan in particular. The announcement comes as President Trump continues to install loyalists...

A recurring theme of post-election punditry was that President Trump gained ground among groups like Latino and Black men, a fact that surprised some observers. But what about the role of white voters? They delivered the White House to Trump in 2016 and despite four years that included an impeachment trial, a raging pandemic, and economic recession, white voters came out even more strongly for him...

Biotechnology company Moderna announced Monday that its coronavirus vaccine candidate appears to be 94.5% effective against the disease. The news comes one week after Pfizer announced that its vaccine was more than 90% effective in a clinical trial. As California rolls back reopening plans amid a spike in cases, we’ll discuss next steps for the new vaccines and what we know about safety and long-t...

San Francisco has recorded more than 460 drug overdose deaths from January to August of this year, compared to 441 in all of 2019, according to the city's Medical Examiner's Office. The fatalities are chiefly attributable to fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid that drug experts say only recently became widely available in San Francisco. We'll talk about what can be done to prevent more overdose...

In the weeks leading up to the presidential election, Twitter and Facebook drew praise from political misinformation watchdogs for attaching warning labels to misleading posts and banning accounts associated with QAnon and other extremist groups. But those moves may have breathed life into so-called "free speech" platforms like Parler, where some prominent Trump supporters have migrated. We'll tal...

Wildfire survivors eligible for compensation from PG&E for the 2017 wine country fires and the 2018 Camp Fire will begin getting emergency payments of up to $25,000 by November 23rd. That’s according to an announcement earlier this month by the PG&E Fire Victim Trust. The coronavirus pandemic has compounded the financial devastation for families suffering injury or property loss from the fires. We...

Forum reviews, analyzes and answers your questions about the latest in national political news. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The majority of California voters may label themselves liberal or progressive, but some of the results of statewide propositions in last week’s election may suggest otherwise. The initiative to repeal a ban on affirmative action failed. California voted to restore voting rights to former felons, but against other criminal justice reforms, like doing away with cash bail. And the effort to hike taxe...

As coronavirus cases spike across California, Bay Area school districts continue to weigh when and how to reopen. San Jose Unified School District recently announced plans to open classrooms in January; Oakland Unified has yet to set a date. But what impact is remote learning having on the education and mental health of students? We’ll discuss the effects of remote learning on K-12 students and th...

Coronavirus cases reached their highest level with nearly 140,000 cases nationwide reported on Tuesday. Much of the surge is concentrated in the Midwest, but the West Coast is also seeing an uptick. The number of infections has steadily risen nationwide since September and will likely keep climbing as cold weather forces people indoors and Americans travel for the holidays. Meanwhile, uncertainty...

The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District will vote Friday whether or not to raise the Golden Gate Bridge toll by $2. With car traffic, along with bus and ferry ridership, way down because of the pandemic, the agency is facing a $48 million deficit. Officials say federal emergency funds being used to pay employees will run out at the end of this month. We’ll get the details. Lear...

President Trump’s refusal to concede the presidential race, his unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, and his replacement of Pentagon officials with loyalists is drawing comparisons to actions by authoritarian leaders. We’ll talk with political scientists and former ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, about threats to American democracy and a peaceful transfer of power. And we’ll discuss the...

After reporting increases in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, San Francisco and Contra Costa counties announced Tuesday that they will roll back some activities, like indoor dining . Meanwhile, health officials across the Bay Area have issued guidelines for travel and gatherings during the upcoming holiday season. We’ll hear about the new restrictions, recommendations for the holiday season...

When Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is sworn in, in addition to being the first woman and first woman of color, she will become the second Californian in history -- and first California Democrat -- to serve as vice president. Gov. Newsom, who is now responsible for picking who will replace Harris in the senate, said Harris' new role will be "profoundly significant for the state." We’ll talk ab...

President Trump's refusal to concede President-elect Biden's electoral college victory stretched into a third day Tuesday, as his campaign pursues a long-shot legal strategy to challenge the results. The President's intransigence, which is complicating the Biden team's effort to carry out an orderly transition, has so far drawn the support of Senator Mitch McConnell and other Republican leaders. M...

Moms 4 Housing founder and longtime racial and social justice advocate Carroll Fife became Oakland's newest councilmember-elect on Monday. Upsetting two-term District 3 incumbent Lynette Gibson McElhaney, Fife campaigned on platforms of police reform, environmental justice and the animating concept that housing is a human right. We'll talk to Fife about her vision for Oakland and the progressive p...

Early tests show that a coronavirus vaccine from drug makers Pfizer and BioNTech could be 90 percent effective at preventing COVID-19, a disease that has now infected more than 10 million Americans and killed more than a million. While those results look promising, experts say the production and distribution of the vaccine -- which needs to be kept at negative 80 degrees Celsius -- will be complic...

On Tuesday, for the third time in eight years, the Supreme Court will again hear a constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act. The Republican state officials bringing the case argue that Congress’s elimination of a penalty for failure to comply with the Act’s insurance mandate renders the entire law unconstitutional. The hearing takes place before the most conservative bench the Supreme C...

As President Trump continues to refuse to concede, we'll discuss what to look for as he enters his lame-duck period. We'll also talk about the role of Republicans in Congress who are largely refusing to acknowledge President-elect Joe Biden's victory thus far. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a 30-year-old first-time senator from Delaware, Joe Biden had high hopes that he would end up in the White House.  Over the course of more than three decades in the senate and two terms as vice president, Biden’s career was marked by his moderate political positions, personal tragedy and some controversy, including his support for a 1994 tough-on-crime bill.  We talk with New Yorker journalist...

We'll talk with East Bay Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee about Oakland native Kamala Harris' historic election as the first female vice president, as well as the first Black person and first Asian American to hold the office. We'll also discuss Lee's own re-election this week, and her priorities for her next term. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the race for the presidency, early this morning Georgia and Pennsylvania moved into Joe Biden’s column, where he holds a very small margin. With Biden’s lead in the presidential election growing, we’ll get the latest on vote counting and preview what a Biden administration might look like in a deeply divided country. We’ll also examine Kamala Harris’ historic run as the first woman of color on...

As the ballot count continues, we’ll bring you the latest on the presidential race as well as other state and national election results. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California voters have approved Proposition 22, the most expensive ballot measure in state history, that will set new labor regulations for a group of delivery and ride-hailing app companies. The measure garnered national attention as a harbinger of how the tech industry could influence labor laws. After the state legislature passed a law last year requiring more workers to be classified as employ...