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Loosening Child Labor Laws Put Kids At Risk Say Critics May 31, 2023

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Child labor violations are on the rise across the country. Yet Republicans in multiple states are working to roll back regulations for underaged workers, including lowering age limits, removing restrictions for dangerous work and extending allowable work hours, including on school nights. Critics say the new laws endanger children, depress wages and make it harder for regulatory officials to catch bad actors. California may have stronger regulations by comparison, but we’ll explore the limits of the state’s oversight and the conditions that push so many children into the workforce.

Guests:

Jacob Bogage, business and technology reporter, The Washington Post

Hernan Hernandez, executive director, The California Farmworker Foundation

Elizabeth Strater, director of strategic campaigns, United Farm Workers

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Census Charts Unexpected Bay Area Demographic Shifts May 31, 2023

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More data from the 2020 Census reveals demographic changes that paint a picture of a different Bay Area today than that of a decade ago. In conjunction with migration out of the area during the pandemic, the region’s population is getting older and homeownership rates are dropping. Racial demographics throughout the nine counties are also shifting, but maybe not in the way you’d expect. We’ll talk about these evolving population trends and what they could mean for the local economy and the housing crisis.

Guests:

Harriet Blair Rowan, data reporter, Bay Area News Group

Hans Johnson, demographer and senior fellow, Public Policy Institute of California

Ethan Varian, housing reporter, Bay Area News Group

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How to Reclaim Your Life from Work and do a ‘Good Enough Job’ May 30, 2023

Show notes

“What do you do?” is one of the first questions we ask when meeting new people. And that’s part of the increasingly common American belief that our jobs define who we are. Journalist Simone Stolzoff is a recovering “workist” himself who interviewed more than 100 people — from corporate lawyers in Manhattan to fast-food workers in California — about the role that work plays in their self-identities. Stolzoff joins us to explain why thinking about our jobs as “good enough” can help us separate what we do when on the clock from who we are. His new book is “The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work.”

Guests:

Simone Stolzoff, independent journalist, designer and consultant, author of “The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work”

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How the True Cost of Childcare Burdens Families, Providers and the Economy May 30, 2023

Show notes

Parents of young kids in California often find that childcare is not only expensive, but also hard to secure and even more so for low-income families. The cost of childcare eats up between 8 and 19 percent of family household income, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. While high costs and lack of availability have been problems for decades, the pandemic made it worse. Numerous childcare centers across California closed permanently in the past few years, even though demand has remained constant. We’ll talk about why childcare is so expensive and efforts at the state level to bring down the costs for families and improve working conditions for providers.

Guests:

Daisy Nguyen, early childhood education and care reporter, KQED

Deo Agustin, founder and owner, Mind Builder Center - a licensed in-home childcare center in San Jose

Anna Powell , senior research and policy associate, Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, University of California, Berkeley

Monique Limón, Senator, California State Senate - She represents the 19th Senate district that includes the Santa Barbara County and half of Ventura County

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Forum From the Archives: Actor and Director Randall Park on Being 'Borderline Well Known' May 29, 2023

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It seems like actor and director Randall Park has been in everything. “Veep.” “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” “WandaVision.” “Aquaman.” He played an amiable version of the North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un in the movie “The Interview.” He starred and co-wrote the Netflix hit movie “Always Be My Maybe” with Ali Wong. And his single scene in “The Office” playing the Asian version of lead character Jim is a viral favorite. But Park’s breakthrough role didn’t come until he was 40 when he booked the hit ABC series “Fresh Off the Boat.” And that success came after many years living at home with his parents and hustling for guest roles and small parts anywhere he could find them. We’ll talk to Park about his career, his directorial debut, “Shortcomings,” and what it means to find success in a fickle industry like show biz.

Guests:

Randall Park, actor and director, debut directorial feature "Shortcomings," actor in "Always Be My Maybe" and the ABC series "Fresh Off the Boat"

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Forum From the Archives: 'Chinese Groove' Follows Young Immigrant’s Optimistic, and Often Delusional, Search for Shangri-La in San Francisco May 29, 2023

Show notes

The buoyant protagonist of San Francisco writer Kathryn Ma’s new novel, The Chinese Groove, migrates from China, where he’s part of the outcast branch of his family, to San Francisco, where he is sure his distant relatives will welcome and nurture him and shepherd him along his path. Forum talks to Ma about the comedy of errors that follow, San Francisco through a new immigrant’s eyes and her character’s faith in the “groove,” the kindness and generosity expected from fellow countrymen.

Guests:

Kathryn Ma, author, "The Chinese Groove" and "The Year She Left Us" and "All That Work and Still No Boys."

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In Memoir 'Oh My Mother!' Connie Wang Shares Her OMG Moments with Mom May 26, 2023

Show notes

Connie Wang never intended to write a book about her mother. It felt almost too cliched – the first generation immigrant writing about her parent’s sacrifice. But her mother, with her rejection of the trope that she should be a model minority, her belief that the perfect dinner is two creme brulees, and her intense devotion to the movie “Magic Mike XXL,” made her an irresistible topic for Wang. In her new memoir, “Oh My Mother!” Wang recounts her travels with her mother to Vegas, Versailles and Disney World. The book is also about coming to terms with her mother’s defiant and often hilarious journey as an accidental immigrant who never meant to stay long in America. We talk to Wang about her book.

Guests:

Connie Wang, journalist; author, "Oh My Mother! A Memoir in Nine Adventures"; former executive editor, Refinery29

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Your Favorite Bay Area Things To Do This Summer May 26, 2023

Show notes

Summer months bring longer hours to enjoy everything our region has to offer from music festivals, movie nights in a park, and picturesque hikes. What are you most excited about doing this summer in the Bay? Is there a free concert series in a city park, a bike ride through wine country, a favorite swap meet or beach that you’re looking forward to? We’ll talk about some of the great concerts, festivals and events coming up in the Bay Area this summer. And, we want to hear from you. What is your favorite Bay Area summer tradition?

Guests:

Gabe Meline, senior editor, KQED Arts & Culture

Johnny Hayes, founder, AKA Johnny Funcheap; co-founder, RushTix

Azucena Rasilla, arts and community reporter, Oaklandside

Pete Crooks, senior writer and editor, Diablo Magazine

Lance Gardner, events producer, KQED

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Conservative Political Operatives Raised $89 Million. Where Did the Money Go? May 25, 2023

Show notes

Over the last nine years, five nonprofits with names like American Veterans Honor Fund and American Police Officers Alliance — which purport to raise funds to build political support for police, firefighters and veterans — have become some of the nation’s biggest sources of robocalls. That’s according to a new New York Times investigation which found that of the $89 million the nonprofits received, virtually all went back to fundraising and paying the groups’ operatives. We’ll hear about the scheme and how lax oversight and gaps in the federal campaign finance system may have enabled it.

Guests:

David Fahrenthold, investigative reporter, New York Times. Fahrenthold focuses on nonprofits, and his most recent New York Times piece is titled "How to Raise $89 Million in Small Donations, and Make It Disappear." He previously reported for the Washington Post where he won a Pulitzer Prize in 2017 for his political campaign coverage and investigative reporting on Donald Trump's claims of donations to charities.

Ellen Aprill, law professor emerita, Loyola Law School. Aprill is an expert in nonprofit and tax-exempt organization law.

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The Shakur Family and the Evolution of Black Radicalism May 25, 2023

Show notes

Earlier this month the Oakland City Council unanimously voted to rename a section of MacArthur Avenue, Tupac Shakur Way, as a reminder, the resolution reads, of rap icon’s contributions “as an awakening tool towards changes in society.” But the Shakur family’s radical legacy far predates Tupac. In his new book, “Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created” Santi Elijah Holley’s details the history of the Black liberation movement through generations of the Shakur family. We talk with Holley about the Shakur family, the evolution of the Black liberation movement and its lasting impact on the country.

Guests:

Santi Elijah Holley, journalist and essayist writing on the intersection of culture, music, race, religion, and politics; author, "AN AMERIKAN FAMILY: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created"

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