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How to Avoid Omicron— and COVID Fatalism Jan 17, 2022

Show notes

The highly transmissible omicron variant has resulted in a surge in COVID-19 cases across the United States, filling hospitals and contributing to worker shortages across industries. The good news is that vaccines appear to dramatically decrease the risk of serious illness. But doctors and public health experts say that even the vaccinated should continue to mask and practice social distancing – and should under no circumstances actively attempt to contract COVID. We’ll discuss the personal and community-based reasons why you don’t want to contract omicron with Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo.

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Stanley Nelson on the Art of the Documentary and His Latest Film, 'Attica' Jan 17, 2022

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When Stanley Nelson was growing up in 1950s New York, the award-winning documentary filmmaker had no idea he wanted to enter the profession because, he recalls, film wasn't a career option for African Americans at all. Nelson has gone on to direct and produce scores of documentaries over a decades-long career, shedding light on both familiar and underappreciated corners of the American experience. We'll talk to him about his latest film, "Attica," which was recently shortlisted for an Academy Award, and hear why he avoids re-enactments, how he gets his subjects to open up to him and what draws him to stories of institutions and movements that are greater than any one individual.

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Remembering Maya Angelou’s Groundbreaking 1968 KQED TV Series, ‘Blacks, Blues! Black!’ Jan 17, 2022

Show notes

The U.S. Mint has issued a new quarter featuring writer Maya Angelou with her arms aloft, in front of a rising sun. It’s the first time a Black woman has been featured on a U.S. quarter. In light of the honor, we look back at a remarkable television series that Maya Angelou created for KQED in 1968. The groundbreaking series, ‘Blacks, Blues, Black!’ celebrated the culture and history of Africa and the influence of Black culture on American society. We’ll listen back to clips from the show and talk about the Bay Area’s Black community in the late 60s and the intersection of culture and activism.

Guests:

Cheryl Fabio, filmmaker, directed and produced "Evolutionary Blues," a documentary about West Oakland's music and community

Dorothy Tsuruta, professor of Africana Studies, specializing in literature, San Francisco State University

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Dorothy Lazard, Recently Retired Head Librarian of the Oakland History Center, on Shining a Light on a City's Untold Stories Jan 17, 2022

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Dorothy Lazard, who retired as head librarian of the Oakland History Center last month, has her own fan club, composed of grateful readers, patrons, journalists, professors, and writers. Her devoted following is the result of 21 years spent at the Oakland Public Library, the last dozen at the History Center where she meticulously and thoughtfully shed light on the untold stories of Oakland, its people and its history. We talk to Lazard about what it means to hold a city’s history and what she plans on doing next.

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Reparations Task Force Sheds Light on History of Slavery in California Jan 14, 2022

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Conversations about the history of slavery are often confined to the North and the South, with the West viewed as a free “promised land.” But California passed laws, like the Fugitive Slave Act of 1852, that reinforced the institution of slavery, and otherwise allowed coerced, unpaid labor in the state. And the laws impacted more than just Black people, too. Historian Stacey L. Smith writes in her book “Freedom’s Frontier” that “ diverse forms of American Indian servitude, sexual trafficking in bound women, and contract labor involving Latin Americans, Asians, and Pacific Islanders all kept the slavery question alive in California during the 1850s.” This history has been brought to the fore in recent weeks as the state’s Reparations Task Force continues to hear testimony about the impacts of slavery on African Americans. We take a closer look at this part of California’s past and why it matters.

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Puzzle Me This: Why Are Puzzles More Popular Than Ever? Jan 14, 2022

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As the world around us has become more chaotic, puzzles have provided a moment of respite. The 9 x 9 grid of a Sudoku, the verticals and horizontals of a crossword, the comforting circle of the New York Times’ Spelling Bee all offer solvers a beginning and an end; they are places where problems have solutions. We talk to puzzle constructors, puzzle solvers, and puzzle lovers about why puzzles of all kinds – from jigsaws to anagrams to Wordle – have been such a joy lately. And we’ll have a special puzzle for you to solve, too.

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Small Central Valley Town Sets Big Example for Electric Vehicle Use Jan 13, 2022

Show notes

Ridesharing has long been a part of farmworker communities, before companies like Uber and Lyft came along. So when faced with a lack of transportation options in his small town of Huron in the Central Valley, Mayor Rey Leon took inspiration from farmworkers to launch the Green Raiteros -- a ridesharing program that provides free transportation to residents using a fleet of all electric vehicles. Most community members use the service for necessary medical appointments that are miles away. In addition to filling a community need, LA Times reporter Evan Halper – who covered Leon and Green Raiteros in a recent story – says the program "has put Huron on the map as perhaps the greenest migrant farmworker community in the country." Leon and Halper join us to talk about the program and the example it sets for greater state and federal efforts to go electric.

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False Positives the Norm for Some Prenatal Screening Tests Jan 13, 2022

Show notes

Modern prenatal blood tests that screen for a range of fetal abnormalities are billed by their Silicon Valley creators as reliable and accurate, designed to bring peace of mind to anxious parents. But a New York Times investigation has found that positive results on those tests are inaccurate roughly 85 percent of the time. We'll talk to Times investigative journalist Sarah Kliff about what she uncovered.

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Oakland’s Amy Schneider Is A Fan Favorite and the First Woman to Win A Million Dollars on Jeopardy Jan 13, 2022

Show notes

Clue: She’s an Oakland engineer, the first woman to win a million dollars on Jeopardy, the first transgender contestant to qualify for the show’s Tournament of Champions, and she’s currently on a 30-game winning streak. Answer: Who is Amy Schneider? Schneider joins Forum to talk about her run on Jeopardy, the key to her success, and how going down the rabbit hole of curiosity can make you a Jeopardy champion and a better person.

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The New Mega Real Estate Projects Promising to Transform Bay Area Neighborhoods Jan 13, 2022

Show notes

Expect a lot of construction in the coming year around the Bay Area as developers move forward on various massive real estate projects - the kind of developments that take years to plan and construct and can transform a pocket of a city with new housing, office space, retail and outdoor areas. In San Francisco alone, work could start on about 3,000 units. On Treasure Island, the first few hundred homes of 8,000 planned housing units will come to the market this year, roughly two decades after the project started. In San Francisco’s Dogpatch, the Potrero Power Station is one of a handful of large-scale developments redefining the formerly isolated neighborhood. In Oakland, hundreds of new residents have already moved into Brooklyn Basin, a revamped former industrial area turned waterfront community that will include parks and retail along with housing. We take a look at some of the megaprojects in progress in the Bay Area, why they are so hard to build and what they mean for the region’s housing crisis.

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