KQED's Forum - TopPodcast.com

Latest Episodes:

September Book Club: 'How Much of These Hills Is Gold' by C. Pam Zhang Sep 29, 2021

Show notes

Forum Book Club returns with "How Much of These Hills Is Gold," the debut novel from C. Pam Zhang. Longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, the book has been praised for its "arresting," "lyrical," and "ravishingly written" style. It follows the quest of two Chinese-American orphans, Sam and Lucy, to bury their father, a failed gold prospector. In this tender coming-of-age story, Zhang asks "what makes a home a home?" and in placing a Chinese family at its center, a group that history has not just forgotten, but in some instances, erased, the novel reshapes the American western. We'll talk to Zhang and a panel of fellow writers about the book.

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System Challenges Ever Present for Central American Asylum Seekers Sep 29, 2021

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In the latest installment of Forum's series on asylum seeking in the U.S., we'll take a look at what challenges Central American refugee communities in the Bay Area face. Many struggle to have their cases and stories heard. We'll also check in on the Central American Minors initiative allowing Central American migrant children to enter the country legally, which the Biden administration revived earlier this month. Community advocates Esmeralda Mendoza of East Bay Sanctuary Covenant and Vanessa Velasco of CARECEN SF join us.

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Bay Area Counties Consider Desalination as Drought Deepens Sep 29, 2021

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Marin County officials are considering desalination plants to help weather a drought that is expected to deplete water resources as early as next summer. Newark has desalinated brackish water from the groundwater basin beneath Alameda Creek since 2003. And Antioch is launching its own desalination project. But critics say the environmental and economic costs of the technology are too high. We’ll hear which Bay Area counties are looking to desalination for drought mitigation and discuss the pros and cons of the technology.

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Paul Offit on the Fraught History of Medical Innovation Sep 28, 2021

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Pfizer and BioNTech announced Tuesday that they submitted data to the FDA showing that their COVID vaccine is safe and effective for children ages 5 -11 We'll talk about when we can expect the agency to act -- and best practices for parents of young kids in the meantime -- with Paul Offit, a pediatrician and member of the FDA Covid Vaccine Advisory Panel. We'll also talk to Offit about his new book "You Bet Your Life," a history of medical innovations from the earliest antibiotics to the first blood transfusions, and the profound risks that accompanied them.

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Bay Area Housing Costs Temper an Otherwise Warm Welcome for Afghan Asylum Seekers Sep 28, 2021

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The Bay Area has been home to a vibrant Afghan community for decades. California lawmakers have been showing unified support in welcoming Afghan asylum seekers to the Bay Area, proposing legislation and holding a string of town halls in support of resettlement efforts. Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August, KQED reports that local service provider Jewish Family & Community Services resettled 77 Afghans in the East Bay -- which is typically the number of people they resettle over six months. But a warm welcome doesn't solve a major issue at hand: the Bay Area's and California's housing affordability crisis. We'll speak with Harris Mojadedi, a local community organizer and member of the Afghan Coalition, about the status of resettlement efforts here in the Bay Area and what Bay Area residents can do to help.

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Palo Alto Brings Car Traffic Back to Streets Closed During the Pandemic Sep 28, 2021

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Palo Alto officials next month plan to reopen University Avenue and some other streets that had been closed to car traffic during the pandemic. Some retailers say turning streets into outdoor dining areas has hurt their businesses by reducing parking spaces and covering up storefronts. Meanwhile many restaurant owners, especially those who invested in furniture and parklets, want to keep streets closed to continue serving customers outside. Various cities are facing similar dilemmas about whether to reopen streets and effective ways to support businesses. We’ll talk about how cities and residents are rethinking uses for public roadways and spaces.

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Decades of Legal Limbo Can Await Patients Leaving California Psychiatric Hospitals Sep 27, 2021

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California's conditional release program, known as CONREP, is supposed to enable patients leaving state psychiatric hospitals to transition to an independent life and avoid violent relapses. But a new investigation by The Marshall Project and the Los Angeles Times found that CONREP can put former patients in a decades-long legal limbo during which the state dictates where they live, whether they can work and whom they can see -- even requiring permission for activities like creative writing or joining a book group. Those in CONREP are disproportionately people of color. We'll talk to Marshall Project staff writer Christie Thompson about what she uncovered.

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South LA Hip Hop Artist and Entrepreneur Nipsey Hussle was “The King of Crenshaw” Sep 27, 2021

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The ESPN 30 for 30 podcast, “The King of Crenshaw,” examines the life and legacy of hip hop artist, entrepreneur and son of South Los Angeles Nipsey Hussle told through the lens of his close relationships with professional basketball players. Hosted by Justin Tinsley, a senior writer for ESPN’s The Undefeated, the four-part series explores black male friendship, grief, resilience -- and the responsibility that comes with “making it out” of a poor neighborhood and giving back. Hussle was not only famous for his music, but also for the way he used his fame to contribute to his South L.A. neighborhood, mapping out a vision for land ownership and community empowerment before he was tragically murdered in 2019 at 33 years old. It was that spirit and dedication that influenced fellow entertainers and NBA athletes who come from similar backgrounds. Tinsley joins us to discuss “The King of Crenshaw.”

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The History and Evolution of U.S. Asylum Decisions Sep 27, 2021

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Images of border patrol agents on horses forcibly beating back Haitian asylum seekers at the Mexican border have been igniting outrage. It’s just the latest refugee crisis that critics say the U.S. has handled poorly. This week on Forum we’ll talk with members of the Bay Area’s Haitian, Afghan, and Central American communities to discuss conditions in their countries and the struggle to gain refugee status. First, to launch the series, we look at the origins of international asylum policy, which was established after the US rejected Jews fleeing the Holocaust. We’ll discuss how the U.S asylum rules have morphed over the decades and how we’ve made decisions about who should be let in and why.

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Haiti’s UNESCO Ambassador Claude-Alix Bertrand on the Border Crisis Sep 27, 2021

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Haiti is grappling with an unprecedented environmental crisis after a recent hurricane and earthquake. A political crisis following the assassination of the Haitian president has left the Haitian people with a crashing economy, and violence. After the U.S. began deporting some of the approximately 13,000 Haitian migrants to have arrived at the Mexican border, the U.S. special envoy for Haiti resigned in protest, citing the “inhumane” treatment of Haitian migrants at the border as well as the decision to deport them as they flee political and environmental devastation. We speak with Bay Area resident Claude-Alix Bertrand, Haiti’s ambassador to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, to get his thoughts on the Haitian migration crisis.

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