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Backlash Against Critical Race Theory Gains Steam Amid Reckoning on Racism Jun 22, 2021

Show notes

Critical race theory has come under fire from some conservatives, elected leaders, parents and educators. The concept evolved decades ago from legal scholarship seeking to understand how racial bias plays a role in U.S. laws and institutions. Efforts to dismantle critical race theory are now gaining traction more than a year into what many people consider a national reckoning with racism. More than twenty states have introduced or passed legislation that would ban schools from teaching about racism or “divisive concepts.” We talk about what critical race theory is and why it is stirring backlash now.

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National Youth Poet Laureate Alexandra Huynh Captures Identity, Climate Change and the Importance of Youth Voices Jun 22, 2021

Show notes

Sacramento-based poet Alexandra Huynh says that poetry is a way both to acknowledge our reality and imagine a better world. Huynh, who was appointed the 2021 National Youth Poet Laureate last month, interweaves stories and images of fire in California, floods in Vietnam and the global impact of a single footprint. We’ll talk about her work, which addresses social injustice, the global effects of climate change and her Vietnamese American identity, and the importance of youth voices in poetry.

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Imagining a Not So Grim Post-Apocalyptic Future with Writers Kim Stanley Robinson and Annalee Newitz Jun 22, 2021

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Confronting the reality of climate change is often a terrifying and paralyzing activity. But, in the right hands, the story of our warming planet can be a tale of human ingenuity, resilience, and adaptability. Humans, for better or worse, find ways to adapt to almost anything, even the collapse of civilizations. Forum brings together two legendary local science fiction writers, Kim Stanley Robinson and Annalee Newitz, to get their incisive perspectives on the question of the long-term fate of humanity. We’ll talk about the future of the climate, past civilizations of the earth and the audacity of imagining that human beings might find ways to thrive later this century.

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Suzanne Simard on the Intelligence of the Forest Jun 21, 2021

Show notes

Decades ago, when forest ecologist Suzanne Simard set out to understand why forests tended to heal themselves when left to their own devices, she uncovered early evidence that trees communicate with each other, lending mutual aid during times of duress. Over the years her research deepened and expanded, marked by discoveries that trees relay information through cryptic underground fungal networks and that old trees, known as mother trees, can discern which seedlings are their own and transmit food and water to them. We’ll talk to Simard about her work, and the intertwined story of her family, all chronicled in her new book “Finding the Mother Tree.”

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Our New Co-Host Checks in With Local Creators and Change Makers About What Makes the Bay Special Jun 21, 2021

Show notes

The Bay Area has recently been presented more as a bundle of problems than the generative, fascinating place that it’s been for decades. What are creators in the Bay Area thinking about the future of our cities? How might it change to be a better place for more of our residents? And what could Forum’s role be in building this community? These are some of the questions that Alexis Madrigal, Forum’s new host for the show’s first hour, will be asking of his guests. Spotlighting figures whose work on issues of economic justice, climate, design, and culture are driving innovation in the region, we’ll also be hearing from our Bay Area audience about what you want to hear. To begin, Forum co-host Mina Kim will turn the tables and interview Alexis about how he sees the Bay. What are your questions for Forum’s newest moderator? How should we cover the Bay Area? Who — or what — makes the it special to you? And what are the questions that intrigue and confound you about this region we call home?

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Lack of Meaningful Roles for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders — Both On- and Off-Screen — Signal Need for Change in Hollywood Jun 18, 2021

Show notes

Of the 1,300 top Hollywood films of 2007 to 2019, just 44 featured Asian American and Pacific Islander lead actors, and of those only six were women. That’s according to a new USC Annenberg study that found a dearth of AAPI representation both behind and in front of the camera — as well as abundant on-screen stereotypical depictions that exoticize, hypersexualize or emasculate Asian characters. We’ll talk about the study and hear from actors, writers, directors and producers about their experiences of anti-Asian bias and stereotyping in Hollywood and what needs to change.

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Bay Area Communities Celebrate as Juneteenth Becomes Federally Recognized Holiday Jun 18, 2021

Show notes

Calling it “one of the greatest honors” he would have as president, on Thursday, Joe Biden signed new legislation to make June 19 a federal holiday. Known as Juneteenth, the holiday commemorates June 19th, 1865, the day when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas first learned that the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been signed two years earlier, had ended slavery. We talk about Juneteenth and the significance of it being recognized as a federal holiday. How do you plan to celebrate?

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Video Highlights Growing Frustration Over Shoplifting in San Francisco Jun 18, 2021

Show notes

Earlier this week, a video surfaced showing a man filling a bag with items in a San Francisco Walgreens then exiting the store on his bike with the stolen goods as onlookers and a security guard filmed him. This is the latest evidence of a problem that retailers say is driving them out of the city. Now, some in the retail and grocery industries are demanding a focus on solving these types of crimes and harsher penalties for theft. We discuss the scale of organized retail crime in San Francisco, what communities it’s targeting, and what can be done about it.

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‘Preventable’ Lays Bare Disasters of Early Federal Covid Response Jun 17, 2021

Show notes

Former Obama Administration official Andy Slavitt was one of the few outside health experts regularly talking to the Trump White House during the pandemic's first year, bearing witness to what he calls "missed opportunities, willful neglect, and indifference and denial from our president." During that time, as Covid-19 deaths skyrocketed, Slavitt began publicly documenting what he saw, and those observations form the basis of his new book "Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response." We'll talk to Slavitt about what could and should have been done to prevent such massive loss of life, and what governments still need to do to effectively contain the coronavirus.

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New Sound Exhibit Guides Walks Through Golden Gate Park With The Kronos Quartet Jun 17, 2021

Show notes

As the lockdown ends, Bay Area arts exhibits and shows are re-emerging. Through a free app Kronos Quartet and Composer Ellen Reid present a curated, GPS-based experience that encourages reflection and exploration of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. How does it work, and why Golden Gate Park? We’ll speak with the team behind this new interactive experience.

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