KQED's Forum

While it may seem too early to draw conclusions from a global crisis still in process, journalist Fareed Zakaria is seizing the moment. In his latest book, “Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World,” the CNN host outlines how the coronavirus pandemic will have lasting impacts that could take years to unfold. He examines the prospective political, social, technological and economic consequences of act...

Julián Castro is one of just a few Latino politicians with a national presence. The former Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development was the only Latino to compete for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. Though his bid failed, Castro is still hitting the campaign trail. He’s working to increase voting rates and on turning Texas blue. Castro joins us to talk about hou...

Protesters around the country have demanded the defunding of police because of excessive force used all too often in situations that critics say could be dealt with nonviolently. Now San Francisco is launching the country’s largest experiment in reform by taking most psychiatric , behavioral and substance abuse crisis calls out of the hands of police. Instead, unarmed mobile teams -- made up of a...

On Thursday, President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden take the stage in Nashville for the second and final presidential debate of the 2020 election. They will participate under new ground rules announced by the Commission on Presidential Debates, where each candidate’s microphone will be muted for portions of the debate. The candidates will face questions on topics including the...

Three years after the Trump administration began separating migrant parents from their children at the U.S.-Mexico border, lawyers tasked with reuniting the families say they still haven’t been able to find the parents of 545 children. Amidst an uproar over the “zero-tolerance” policy, a federal judge in 2018 ordered the Trump administration to locate parents and children who had been separated. W...

Sen. Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday he had a “serious talk” with California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, following last week’s confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Schumer refused to defend the former San Francisco mayor, amid calls from liberal groups for her to step down as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Some on the left have criticized Feinstein for be...

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley now helps feed about 500,000 people every month -- double what it served before the pandemic. Across the Bay Area, food banks are struggling to keep up with increased demand for food and volunteers. The core Bay Area has lost close to 350,000 jobs during the past year as of September, according to the state Economic Development Department, which has led many more p...

In an interview for a documentary released Wednesday, Pope Francis said he favors civil unions for same-sex couples, a step toward more inclusion for LGBTQ people in the Catholic church. We’ll talk to Jesuit priest and LGBTQ advocate Father James Martin about the significance of the Pope’s comments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 33 million Americans have already voted as of Tuesday -- roughly 70% of total 2016 early voting. On Monday, the Supreme Court denied a request by Pennsylvania Republicans to shorten the deadlines for mail-in ballots in the state. We’ll get the national picture on voting from NPR’s Miles Parks and hear how voting systems are handling the record turnout. Then, president and founder of the...

Facing a pandemic-induced plunge in ridership and ticket sales, Caltrain is asking voters in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties for a lifeline this November.  If approved by a two-thirds majority, Measure RR would impose a one-eighth cent sales tax increase to fund Caltrain’s operations, maintenance and capital projects. Caltrain says that the tax would generate about $100 million a...

Advocates of expanding rent control in California are back with this year with Proposition 21 two years after voters turned down a similar ballot measure. Prop. 21 would allow cities to put limits on how much landlords can annually increase rents. The measure would also allow cities to include single-family homes under control provisions, which are currently exempt. In 2019, the state legislature...

Asian Americans are the fastest growing voting bloc in the country according to Pew Research data. A recent Asian American Voter Survey shows they have strong enthusiasm for this year’s election. Yet, outreach to Asian American voters remains low. The same survey reported that 58 percent of Asian Americans say they received no contact from either Democrats or Republicans this election cycle. In ad...

Back in 2019, the city of Mountain View approved a controversial ban of oversized vehicles on narrow streets, citing traffic and safety concerns. Advocates, led by former Mountain View mayor Lenny Siegel, responded by amassing enough signatures for a referendum on this November ballot. Measure C seeks to uphold the city’s limit on where and how long oversized vehicles can park. Proponents of the m...

The Oakland City Council is set to vote Tuesday on a plan to clear homeless camps in "high sensitivity areas" near schools, businesses, residences and parks. The policy would also set health and safety standards for encampments. City officials say the policy appropriately balances the needs and rights of the unsheltered with those of their neighbors. But advocates for the unhoused say the rules of...

No matter which party prevails in November, the next president will inherit an economy in shambles, with the latest jobs report showing nearly 900,000 weekly unemployment claims - the highest number since August. President Trump has been vague about his economic plan, but vows to cut taxes for the middle class, impose tariffs on companies that move abroad and to repeal Obamacare. Joe Biden, on the...

Two Democrats are competing for the Silicon Valley-based state senate seat vacated by Jim Beall, who termed out this year.  On the ballot are Dave Cortese, a Santa Clara County supervisor, and Ann Ravel, an attorney and former member of the Federal Election Commission under President Barack Obama. We'll hear the candidates' positions on the economy, housing, education and the state's COVID-19 resp...

Women dropped out of the U.S. workforce at a rate eight times higher than men last month, according to CNN. Meanwhile, a recent report from McKinsey and Lean.org found that one in four women are considering downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce due to Covid-19. Women in service industries have seen their jobs disappear, while those who are able to work from home are struggling to sho...

Public schools in San Francisco and Alameda county remain closed for in- person learning while some school districts in Marin and Santa Clara county have opened to students. We’ll discuss why counties and school districts with similar rates of Covid are adopting different approaches to reopening and we’ll look at the challenges facing Bay Area schools as they plan to reopen.  And we want to hear f...

The California Republican Party said on Wednesday that it will continue to use unauthorized vote-by-mail drop boxes, despite a cease-and-desist letter from California Secretary of State Alex Padilla and Attorney General Xavier Becerra. The unofficial boxes have been found in districts with closely contested congressional races, and have been widely criticized by state Democrats as an attempt to co...

Proposition 19 on California’s November ballot would amend the state’s property tax structure in multiple ways. First, it would allow homeowners who are either age 55 and older, severely disabled or lost their home to wildfire to take their existing property tax rates with them when they move multiple times. Second, it would partly clamp down on what’s known as the Lebowski Loophole, which allows...

In 2018, state lawmakers passed the California Consumer Privacy Act, a landmark bill aimed at  protecting consumers and their digital data. The law took effect earlier this year and allows consumers to tell companies not to sell their personal information, among other protections. Now, Proposition 24 wants to take protections even further than those outlined in the existing law. But consumer advoc...

California's Proposition 23 on this November’s ballot would require outpatient kidney dialysis clinics to have a licensed physician on site during operating hours and to report certain medical data to government officials, among other rules. Supporters, including the Service Employees International Union, say the rules are needed to keep patients safe. But opponents say that clinics already supply...

In three days of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, Democratic senators focused on portraying Barrett as an extreme conservative and Republicans touted her credentials. Barrett, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and former law professor, spoke with ease about the constitution, case precedent and her originalist legal philosophy. She avoided qu...

A measure that could shape the future of the gig economy is on the California ballot. Proposition 22 would allow app-based transportation and delivery companies such as Uber, Lyft and Instacart,to classify drivers as contractors. A no vote would mean companies would have to treat drivers as employees with minimum wages and benefits such as sick time, unemployment insurance, and healthcare as requi...

Police killings of Black people have sparked nationwide calls this year for more independent oversight of police departments. In the Bay Area alone, at least five ballot measures seek to strengthen or expand the power of police commissions, independent investigations and other oversight. KQED reporter Alex Emslie joins us to review what’s being proposed, including the creation of a new agency to i...