KQED's Forum

Amid a spike in coronavirus cases and calls by President Trump to reopen schools this fall, school districts across California are contemplating the best course of action for next year. San Jose's Alum Rock Union and East Side Union High school districts already announced that a majority of their schools will continue online learning. And while other options include a staggered or hybrid schedule,...

Throughout California, statues of controversial historical figures such as Junipero Serra and Christopher Columbus are being removed. This follows a trend across the nation to demolish what some consider symbols of racism, oppression, and injustice. Indigenous leaders have fought for decades against celebrating Serra and Columbus, who they see as having committed genocide against Native Americans....

Stanford Graduate School of Business professor and social psychologist Brian Lowery studies the psychology of racial privilege.  Undergirding his work is the notion that although many people support the ideal of a fair and just society, they sometimes end up unconsciously reinforcing extant inequality.  In a Washington Post opinion piece last month, Lowery describes some of the racism he has exper...

In a 7-2 opinion issued this morning, the Supreme Court ruled that President Trump must turn over his financial records and tax returns to a New York state grand jury investigating his business dealings. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said that “the public has a right to ‘every man’s evidence’” and that “since the earliest days of the Republic, ‘every man’ has included the Pr...

Dr. Erica Pan has been appointed the new California State Epidemiologist.  She joins us to talk about her experience leading Alameda County’s coronavirus response--including clashes with Elon Musk over the opening of the Fremont Tesla factory and being targeted on social media for shelter in place mandates--and about her vision for the new job. And we’ll ask her about California counties on the co...

In a 7 to 2 vote, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in favor of two California churches arguing they should not have to face employment discrimination lawsuits brought by former teachers. The ruling makes it so that religious schools are exempt from most employment discrimination claims, expanding religious freedom. The Supreme Court on Wednesday also cleared the way for the Trump administratio...

The Trump administration officially informed the United Nations on Tuesday that the United States is withdrawing from the World Health Organization, effective July 6, 2021. President Trump first announced that he planned to halt funding to the W.H.O. back in April, criticizing its "China-centric" response to the coronavirus pandemic. The withdrawal comes as the United States nears 3 million report...

Emerging evidence shows that drug overdose deaths are surging from increased substance abuse driven by feelings of isolation, anxiety and depression during the coronavirus pandemic. Fatal drug overdoses were already ticking upward in 2019, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- a trend the pandemic is accelerating. And more challenging, many treatment...

The Oakland Zoo announced last week that it may have to shut down permanently unless it's allowed to open its doors to visitors soon. The zoo, which has remained closed since mid-March owing to coronavirus concerns, is spending $2.5 million a month to care for the animals and maintain the facility, and it's quickly burning through its reserves. We'll talk to Oakland Zoo CEO Joel Parrott about the...

Last month, when many Fox News hosts were putting a positive spin on President Trump’s low-turnout Tulsa rally, Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace didn’t mince words. “The arena was empty,” he told a Trump aide, adding that the campaign looked “silly” for not owning up to the crowd size. Moments like these have earned Wallace the ire of Trump, but the anchor also takes heat for his association w...

In a state where more than a quarter of residents are foreign-born, many low-income and undocumented immigrants have dealt with heavy burdens during the coronavirus pandemic. The biggest challenges involve high infection rates, loss of income, and feeling forced to continue working in high-risk environments. Many programs designed to give financial assistance to undocumented workers are running dr...

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that states are free to punish presidential electors who don’t support the winner of the popular vote. It also upheld almost the entirety of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which bans robocalls to cell phones. Those rulings come after the court issued some unexpected decisions recently in cases involving undocumented immigrants who arrived as child...

With official July 4 fireworks cancelled this year due to coronavirus, amateur displays illuminated the skies around the Bay Area Saturday night. But the illegal displays led to noise complaints -- and are being blamed for at least 100 blazes around the region. Emergency officials even took to social media to warn of fire risks. And it’s not just independence day:  fireworks have been a familiar s...

During this time of civil unrest in America, many people are calling for dismantling racism. Much of the conversation frames the conflict as between a black minority and a white majority. The current uprising is sparking conversations about how other groups of color can show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Part of that work, experts say, involves confronting division and anti blac...

On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered a speech titled "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" -- calling attention to the hypocrisy of the Declaration of Independence and its claim that "all men are created equal.” Today, amid protests against racism and a growing Black Lives Matter movement, equality is still a goal in progress. And the promises of "life, liberty and the pursuit of hap...

As coronavirus cases continue rising in California, colleges and universities across the state are assessing how best to operate for the fall semester. Some are completely transitioning to remote learning. Others are looking to combine both online and in-person classes. These changes have left students with some difficult choices: Continue school under these conditions or withdraw for the semester...

Over the weekend, the San Jose Police Department placed four of its police officers on administrative leave for posting racist and anti-Muslim comments in a private Facebook group. This latest scandal comes days after San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo issued a nine-point plan aimed at reforming, but not defunding, the city’s police department. Given these recent developments, critics of the police are s...

A new China-imposed "anti-protest" law has already led to arrests in Hong Kong and has residents on edge over further erosion of freedom in the semiautonomous territory.  We'll hear about the new law, why it has activists worried, and why China is dismissing those concerns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three months into shelter-in-place restrictions, California had contained the spread of the coronavirus. Now heading into July, infection rates and hospitalizations have ticked up to more than 225,000 cases statewide -- nearly doubling in just one month. Experts say Memorial Day weekend marks a turning point when more people resumed going to work, socializing and patronizing businesses. Health pro...

Santa Clara County released guidelines Tuesday for reopening schools for in-person classes, but county school officials say districts should have a remote learning backup plan in case coronavirus conditions worsen.   As schools grapple with whether to fully reopen during the pandemic, pediatricians this week weighed in with a strong recommendation for having students physically present in schools....

More than 6 million workers have filed for unemployment in California since the pandemic began. California’s unemployment agency, the EDD, has  awarded $24 billion in benefits since mid-March, but many applicants have experienced long waiting periods and some have received no benefits at all. Last week, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle criticized the EDD, calling for an audit of the agency a...

Several social media platforms have removed hate speech and calls to violence from their platforms in recent weeks. Reddit made headlines this week for eliminating a channel dedicated to President Donald Trump among about 2,000 others that the site said violated its rules against hate speech. Meanwhile, Facebook has come under sharp criticism for not removing hateful posts from Trump and has lost...

In his work and life, writer James Baldwin often balanced between feelings of despair and faith that the U.S. could be better and become a truly multiracial democracy. It was Baldwin's ability to balance faith and despair as well as love and rage that fascinated Princeton University professor of African American Studies Eddie Glaude Jr. and prompted his new book, "Begin Again: James Baldwin's Amer...

Why do some people embrace masks and practice meticulous social distancing while others rebel against public health mandates? Psychologists are studying what drives behavior in the pandemic, and they're also looking at how information overload can influence how people react to the crisis. In this hour, psychologists Ellen Peters and Jay Van Bavel join us to lay out how social and behavioral scienc...

In a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana abortion law Monday, effectively saving the right to choose in the state. The law, which was enacted in 2014, required doctors to have active admitting privileges at a hospital near the facility where they provide abortions. Chief Justice John Roberts voted with the four-member liberal wing, opposing the votes of both Trump-appointed justice...