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GOP Presidential Hopefuls Join for Second Debate in Simi Valley Sep 28, 2023

Show notes

Seven candidates vying for the Republican presidential nomination take the stage on Wednesday in Simi Valley for the second debate of the 2024 campaign. They’re expected to take questions on the looming government shutdown, the economy and the war in Ukraine – and make the case to donors and supporters that they can take on Donald Trump. The former president, who’s under four indictments and leads the primary field by a wide margin, will again skip the debate and plans instead to speak to an audience of current and former autoworkers in Detroit. We’ll recap the debate and hear your reactions.

Guests:

Phillip M. Bailey, national political correspondent, USA Today

Lanhee Chen, GOP policy advisor; research fellow, the Hoover Institution; former candidate, CA State Controller; former policy director, Mitt Romney’s 2012

Scott Shafer, senior editor, KQED’s California Politics and Government desk; co-host, Political Breakdown

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Country Music Legend Steve Earle Joins Forum in Studio Sep 28, 2023

Show notes

“If Steve Earle weren’t a living, breathing person, he’d be a character in a blues song,” observed a reviewer. Earle is foremost a musician, one who started out in Nashville as a songwriter. Along the way, this self-proclaimed “hardcore troubadour,” has been married seven times, conquered drug addiction, did a stint in jail, and lost nearly everything as he fed that addiction. But in the end, the power of music won through. Today, Earle is known for his accomplished musicianship, his way with lyrics, and his outspoken politics. He’s won buckets of awards, including three Grammys, recorded 22 albums, and his song, “Copperhead Road,” has become the official state song of Tennessee. Earle is in town for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival which he will be headlining. We’ll talk to Earle about his songwriting, his music, and hear him sing some tunes.

Guests:

Steve Earle, singer, songwriter. Earle has received three Grammy awards for his folk albums. He will be appearing that Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco.

Mick Hellman, drummer for the Go to Hell Man Band, the Wreckless Strangers and Marco & the Polos; founder and managing partner, HMI Capital. Hellman's father, Warren Hellman, founded the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival.

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Barbara Kingsolver on Her Great Appalachian Novel, ‘Demon Copperhead’ Sep 27, 2023

Show notes

Barbara Kingsolver says that she’s “drawn to characters who don’t feel they have a place at the table. They’ve heard too many conversations that begin: You poor backward soul, living in the middle of nowhere.” It’s that impulse that animates her 2022 episodic novel “Demon Copperhead,” which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction this year. It’s the story of Demon, an orphan in Appalachia who’s beset by crushing poverty and neglect but whose hardships are structural, introduced to his community by the mining and pain pill industries and made worse by urban prejudice and disdain. We talk to Kingsolver about how she brought “Demon Copperhead” to life and the power of art – both her protagonist’s and her own – to give voice and change minds.

Guests:

Barbara Kingsolver, author, "Demon Copperhead," which won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Her other books include "Unsheltered," "The Poisonwood Bible," and "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle."

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Cartoonist Daniel Clowes on His Ambitious New Graphic Novel 'Monica' Sep 27, 2023

Show notes

Celebrated cartoonist Daniel Clowes is best known for his acclaimed 1997 graphic novel Ghost World— and the Oscar-nominated movie version that he co-wrote. For his latest work Monica, Clowes employs a mash-up of cartooning styles and genres, from war to romance to horror, to tell the story of the title character…and the mother who abandoned her. The Oakland-based author has said the book is in part an effort to understand and accept his own mother, who he lost while working on it. He’ll join us to talk about the book, and his career.

Guests:

Daniel Clowes, cartoonist; screenwriter - His latest graphic novel is "Monica"

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Finding ‘(More) Delights’ with Ross Gay Sep 26, 2023

Show notes

“I’ve completed another year of delights. Or maybe I should say another year of delights has completed me.” So writes poet and author Ross Gay at the end of his new book, “The Book of (More) Delights,” which once again celebrates life’s daily joys, wonders, gifts and surprises, both small and all-defining. As he did in 2019’s New York Times bestseller “The Book of Delights,” Gay unearths the profound in his quickly written daily odes, each praising friends, everyday items, natural wonders and personal joys, like that of turning around before reaching a hike’s summit. We’ll talk with Gay about the pleasure of continuing this project and hear from you: Whether it’s a coworker’s pear tree or a compliment from a friend, what’s one recent delight from your life?

Guests:

Ross Gay, poet; essayist; author, "The Book of (More) Delights" - His previous books include "Inciting Joy," "Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude" and "The Book of Delights"

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Kashmir Hill Confronts the Ugly Side of Facial Recognition Tech in ‘Your Face Belongs to Us’ Sep 26, 2023

Show notes

Everyday people share millions of photos on websites and social media networks. For decades, tech companies have been trying to figure out ways to make the faces in those photos searchable – and monetizable. While that technology has practical uses, it also raises serious privacy questions and has led to problematic cases of mistaken identity. In her book, “Your Face Belongs to Us,” New York Times tech reporter Kashmir Hill investigates the perils of facial recognition software. She chronicles the trajectory of Clearview AI, a company that prioritized speed and profits over ethics, putting millions of unsuspecting people at risk. We’ll talk with Hill about the rise of facial recognition and how to reduce its harms.

Guests:

Kashmir Hill, tech reporter, New York Times; author, "Your Face Belongs to Us"

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Utopia or Sprawl? Tech Group Pushes Plans for New Solano County City Sep 25, 2023

Show notes

For years, Solano County residents wondered who was secretly spending hundreds of millions of dollars to buy up family farms in their community. The rumors swirled: was Disney planning a new theme park? Was it some sort of Chinese government land-grab? In August, the mystery was solved: the New York Times reported that a group of tech moguls including billionaire venture capitalist Michael Moritz, philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and were making the purchases as part of a plan to build a city from scratch, on 50,000 acres of agricultural land. They’ve now gone public, under the name California Forever, and are promising to bring benefits like good paying local jobs, solar farms, and open space. But many questions remain. In this hour of Forum, we’ll talk to the group’s CEO as well as one of the local lawmakers raising concerns about the plan.

Guests:

J.K. Dineen, Bay Area housing reporter, San Francisco Chronicle

Jan Sramek, Founder and CEO, California Forever

Catherine Moy, Mayor, Fairfield

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Do Lower Rents Mean The Bay Area is Becoming More Affordable? Sep 25, 2023

Show notes

Rental rates for homes are dropping across the Bay Area. They first fell in 2020 during the pandemic and never fully recovered. Some renters are spending less on rent, but nearly half of Bay Area residents are considered rent-burdened. That leaves housing advocates and experts doubtful the region will become more affordable in a meaningful way. We’ll talk about what lower rents could mean long term and how renters can take advantage of the current market.

Guests:

Ben Metcalf, managing director, Terner Center of Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley, former director of California Department of Housing and Community Development

Shanti Singh, communications and legislative director, Tenants Together

Chris Salviati, senior housing economist, Apartment List

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Rosanna Xia on California's 'Vanishing Coastline' Sep 22, 2023

Show notes

California’s coast is vanishing, surely and no longer so slowly, writes LA Times environment reporter Rosanna Xia. By the end of the century, climate change and storm and tidal patterns could cause sea levels in California to rise by as much as seven feet, destroying coastal towns and causing billions in damages. But Xia says it’s not too late to chart a different course. We’ll talk to Xia about California communities that are managing sea level rise successfully and about strategies – like seawalls and sand replenishment – that may need to be reconsidered. And we’ll learn why Xia wants us to adopt a deeper way of thinking about our coastline, one that would reframe sea level rise as “an opportunity to mend our fractured relationship with the shore.” Xia’s new book is “California Against the Sea.”

Guests:

Rosanna Xia, staff writer, Los Angeles Times. Her new book is "California Against the Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline"

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Naomi Klein’s Doppelganger Is a Conspiracy Theorist. It’s a Problem. Sep 22, 2023

Show notes

What if you had a doppelganger – someone who you’re routinely mistaken for – but that double is someone whose politics and worldview are diametrically opposite of yours? That’s what happened to writer and intellectual Naomi Klein. At times in her career, Klein has been mistaken for writer Naomi Wolf, which was sometimes funny and sometimes annoying. But when Wolf evolved into a conspiracy theorist and a regular commentator on Steve Bannon’s podcast, the mix-up became more troubling to Klein, a climate activist and anti-capitalist. The quandary of having a double who stands for ideas that are the polar opposite of your own is the subject of Klein’s new book, “Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World.” We talk to Klein about her work…and her double.

Guests:

Naomi Klein, author and columnist with The Guardian. Klein's latest book is "Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World"

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