KQED's Forum - TopPodcast.com

Latest Episodes:

Pediatric RSV Cases Stressing California Hospitals Dec 05, 2022

Show notes

Children's hospitals throughout California are straining under an unusually high number of patients with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common childhood respiratory infection that can in some cases cause pneumonia and other serious lung ailments. We’ll talk about what’s behind the surge in cases and how to keep young kids and other vulnerable populations safe, and we’ll assess the threat of an RSV, COVID and flu “tripledemic” in the state as winter approaches.

Guests:

Peter Chin-Hong, infectious disease specialist, UCSF Medical Center

Erica Pan, California State Epidemiologist, California Department of Public Health

John Zweifler, public health physician, Fresno County Department of Public Health

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Get to Know Four New Bay Area Mayors Dec 05, 2022

Show notes

What do a retired teacher, a wetland scientist, former investigative reporter and a scout leader have in common? They are all part of the next wave of local leadership stepping in as mayors of four Bay Area cities. We’ll talk with the mayor-elects of Richmond, Martinez, Belmont and Fairfield about the perspectives they bring on housing, public transit, climate change, and other critical issues.

Guests:

Brianne Zorn, current city councilmember and mayor-elect, Martinez

Eduardo Martinez, mayor-elect, Richmond

Catherine "Cat" Moy, mayor-elect, Fairfield

Julia Mates, mayor, Belmont

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What’s Your Podcast of the Year? Dec 02, 2022

Show notes

True crime. Gossip. Niche sports. Deep-dive history. The podcasts that have critics and podcasters hooked in 2022 vary. But what makes a good podcast in today’s saturated and corporate-shaped landscape? We’ll hear from a panel of podcast lovers about the shows that made them turn on episode notifications. And we want to hear from you: Whether your Spotify Wrapped called it your top podcast of 2022 or it’s what you play when you can’t sleep, we hear about your favorite podcasts this year.

Guests:

Wil Williams, CEO, Hughouse Productions.

Ronald Young Jr. , audio producer and storyteller, Senior Producer/Owner, ohitsBigRon studios; host, "Leaving the Theater" podcast.

Skye Pillsbury, author, The Squeeze newsletter which reports on the podcast industry

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Why Children Across the Globe Sing 'Jingle Bells, Batman Smells' Dec 02, 2022

Show notes

Remember the playground chants, the jump rope songs, the weird little games you played as a kid that were part of your secret kid world? Scholars have a name for it: childlore. You might imagine, given all the differences between kids—country, culture, class, race, media consumption—that this childlore might be vastly different from place to place. But the strange thing is, many of the little things kids say and do, or draw in their notebooks, are remarkably similar across time and place. We’ll talk about the things kids do across cultures and how they spread and evolve.

Guests:

Julie Beck, senior editor, The Atlantic; author of the article, “Why Did We All Have the Same Childhood?”

Rebekah Willett, professor at the Information School, University of Wisconsin at Madison

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Protests in China Over Its Zero Covid Policy Expose Widespread Discontent with Government Dec 01, 2022

Show notes

In a remarkable display of discontent not seen since the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, protesters across China have taken to the streets demanding an end to the country’s stringent zero-Covid policy. At the outset of the pandemic, China adopted a policy of quarantining and locking down its citizens to prevent the spread of Covid. But while most of the world has moved on to treat Covid as endemic, China’s president Xi Jinping, who was confirmed in October for an unprecedented third term, has stuck to its zero-Covid policy. Demonstrators argue that the policy has placed an extraordinary burden on citizens, and they are demanding not just the end to the restrictions, but also Xi’s resignation, a call that is politically sensitive in a nation where dissent is regularly quashed. We’ll talk about the protests and what impact they might have in changing China’s Covid policy and its future.

Guests:

Kerry Allen, China media analyst, BBC.

Victor Shih, chair in China and Pacific Relations, University of California, San Diego.

Nancy Qian, James J. O’Connor professor of Economics, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management; founder, Kellogg’s China Research Lab and China Econ Lab, an independent international organization that promotes research about the Chinese economy.

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‘Invasion’ Charts History of Russia’s Ongoing Bloody War in Ukraine Dec 01, 2022

Show notes

“This brutalization of Ukraine's people is barbaric." Those were Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s words Wednesday for Russian President Vladimir Putin, a day after the United States announced a new round of aid to rebuild Ukraine’s decimated energy infrastructure. Guardian foreign correspondent Luke Harding, who’s been reporting from inside Ukraine since last December, has written what he hopes is a “first draft of history” -- a recounting of the origins and human toll of Russia’s now nine-month-old assault. His new book is “Invasion: The Inside Story of Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival.”

Guests:

Luke Harding, foreign correspondent, The Guardian; author, "Invasion: The inside Story of Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's Fight for Survival."

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For LGBTQ+ People, Colorado’s Club Q Mass Shooting Came as Little Surprise Nov 30, 2022

Show notes

Daniel Aston, Kelly Loving, Derrick Rump, Ashley Paugh and Raymond Green Vance. They were the five people gunned down when a shooter entered an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado last weekend and opened fire, in a terrifying massacre that also injured 22. LGBTQ advocates had been warning that a mass killing would follow the Pulse nightclub shooting six years ago, citing alarming increases in violence against transgender and non-binary people and rising anti-trans and anti-queer legislation and rhetoric. We’ll hear how LGBTQ+ communities in Colorado Springs, nationwide and here in California are responding and coping in the aftermath.

Guests:

Jo Yurcaba, reporter, NBC Out, the LGBTQ section of NBC News.

Elizabeth Pixie, friend of Daniel Aston, who was killed in the Colorado Springs Club Q shooting.

Nick Vargas, director of development and strategy, The Source LGBT+ Center in Visalia, CA.

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Tanya Holland’s 'California Soul' Celebrates the Food and Stories of the Great Migration Nov 30, 2022

Show notes

Chef Tanya Holland’s new cookbook – like her family – is rooted in the people and the food of the historical migration from the South to the West. Holland, legendary for her former West Oakland soul food restaurant Brown Sugar Kitchen, weaves recipes with stories of California’s Black culinary pioneers and food industry entrepreneurs in her new cookbook, “California Soul: Recipes from a Culinary Journey West”. We talk with her about the stories that food holds and her California Soul.

Guests:

Tanya Holland, author, "California Soul" and "Brown Sugar Kitchen: New-Style, Down-Home Recipes from Sweet West Oakland;" host, "Tanya's Kitchen Table" on the Opra.

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Is Twitter Breaking? Nov 29, 2022

Show notes

Twitter's volatile new owner Elon Musk accused Apple of censorship on Monday, claiming it had threatened to "withhold" the social media platform from its App Store. The apparent feud comes as Twitter reels from an advertiser exodus and mass layoffs that have gutted content moderation and other key teams. We take stock of Twitter in the month since Musk gained control.

Guests:

Mike Isaac, technology correspondent, New York Times; author, “Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber”

Shira Ovide, author of the Tech Friend newsletter, The Washington Post

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How the Climate Crisis is Changing the Bay Area Bird Population Nov 29, 2022

Show notes

The San Francisco Bay is the largest estuary in Western North America and a key link in the 4,000-mile Pacific Flyway, one of the primary migratory routes used by birds to move north and south across the continent. It’s a place where birds come to rest and refuel for their long trip, or breed and nest the next generation. But in the span of a few human generations, 90% of California’s wetlands have disappeared to development and agriculture, endangering migrating and local birds. Now drought and sea level rise are further diminishing important bird habitats. As climate change becomes a bigger threat to the Bay Area’s local and migratory birds, scientists and conservationists work to help habitats adapt to climate change to ensure bird’s futures. We’ll talk to bird and conservation experts about how the Bay Area’s bird population has changed, what it means for the environment, for us, and what can be done about it.

Guests:

Steven Beissinger, Professor of Conservation Biology, UC Berkeley

Andrea Jones, Director of Bird Conservation, Audubon California

Jenny Odell, author of "How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy"

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