KQED's Forum

Major League Baseball has implemented a handful of controversial new changes this season that have shaken up America’s favorite pastime. But despite the initial debates over pitch clocks and shifting regulations, both experts and fans generally agree that the rules have made the game more enjoyable with a faster pace and more action. We’ll talk with baseball reporters about the changes and we’ll hear from you: have the new rules improved the game?Guests:Kyle Glaser, senior writer, Baseball AmericaJessica Kleinschmidt, multimedia broadcaster, Oakland A'sGuy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, the FDA approved the country’s first-ever daily hormonal contraceptive pill for sale without a prescription. The approval is a major milestone for reproductive care, as state lawmakers ban or limit abortion access throughout the country. The over-the-counter contraceptive, called Opill, has been around for decades, and now Perrigo, the pill’s manufacturer, says it will make the pill “accessible and affordable to women and people of all ages.” We’ll look at the science, the politics and the early history of the pill, and we’ll hear from you: has the pill changed your life?Guests:Pam Belluck, health and science reporter, New York TimesPratima Gupta, assistant professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, UCSD HealthMargaret Marsh, historian of medicine and University Professor, Rutgers University. She's the author, with gynecologist Wanda Ronner, of several books on the history of reproductive medicine and technology, including "The Fertility Doctor: John Rock and the Reproductive Revolution." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plagued by years of abuse allegations, the California Department of Juvenile Justice and the youth facilities it ran, were shut down earlier this summer. Criminal justice reform advocates considered the closures a victory, but now have other concerns. They contend most relocated youth are being moved into juvenile hall facilities that were not designed for long-term detentions and that lack adequate rehabilitation programs and resources. County probation chiefs have also raised concerns that kids who left for state facilities with no history of drug problems or gang affiliations are returning to their home counties with both, raising questions about the conditions within the waning days of state facilities. We talk to experts about those allegations, the stories shared by children coming out of state care, and the future of juvenile justice in California.Guests:Dan Macallair, executive director and co-founder, Center on Juvenile and Criminal JusticeMarlon Yarber, chief probation officer, Sacramento CountyIsrael Salazar Villa, deputy director, California Alliance for Youth and Community JusticeJason Okonofua, assistant professor, Psychology Department, University of California Berkeley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From coastal beaches to the High Sierra, from redwood forests to desert sand dunes, California’s state park system has nearly three hundred sites available to explore and enjoy. These protected areas offer low-cost ways to scratch that itch for adventure, learn about California’s history and appreciate the state’s natural heritage. We’ll get recommendations from outdoor enthusiasts about where to go and what to do, and we’ll hear from you: what’s your favorite California state park?Guests:Brad Day, publisher, Weekendsherpa.com - A free weekly e-mail about accessible outdoor adventures in the Bay AreaChelsee Lowe, travel and family writerJose Gonzalez, founder, Latino Outdoors - a community organization that encourages Latinos to go outdoorsJoe Connors, supervising ranger, Wilder Ranch State Park Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bay Area may not have an official sandwich, but “our local sandwiches have an unparalleled layering of textures that can’t be found anywhere else,” writes Rocky Rivera in a recent essay for KQED. People here love deli meat on Dutch crunch bread or sourdough and don’t skip the avocados! Italian delis such as Little Luca in South San Francisco and Molinari in North Beach have cult followings. Customers line up around the block for Bakesale Betty’s fried chicken sandwich. So, what does it take to elevate a sandwich from just tasty to satisfyingly iconic? For our next installment of All You Can Eat, our regular series about Bay Area food cultures with KQED’s Luke Tsai, we bite into our favorite local sandos and why we love them.Guests:Saint Boney, owner and chef, The Saint Sandwich ShopCesar Hernandez, associate restaurant critic, San Francisco ChronicleAlbert Ok, owner, Ok's Deli in OaklandRocky Rivera, emcee and writer, part of KQED's "Frisco Foodies" seriesLuke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & Culture Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been a sweltering July for large swaths of California, and that means air conditioners have been running on high in households lucky enough to have them. But the energy air conditioners consume and the refrigerants they rely on pose serious threats to the climate. We learn about air conditioning tech and look at California’s efforts to make them greener. And we’ll hear from you: if you have air conditioning, do you have tips for using it efficiently? Or if you don’t have AC, or if you try to avoid using it, how do you keep cool?Guests:Ian McGavisk, senior fellow, RMI; author of the Global Cooling Status and Opportunities Report, UNEPAri Plachta, climate reporter, Sacramento BeeAanchal Kohli, climate policymaker, California Air Resources Board Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following a months-long investigation into his published research, Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced his plan to resign from his post. While investigators did not find that Tessier-Lavigne falsified data himself, they say he failed to respond appropriately when he was made aware of the problems. We’ll be joined Theo Baker, “The Stanford Daily” student reporter who first broke this story, and other experts about why this cost Tessier-Lavigne his job and what this means for Stanford.Guests:Theo Baker, investigations editor, The Stanford DailyLisa Krieger, research reporter, San Jose Mercury NewsJonathan Wosen, west coast biotech and life sciences reporter, STAT News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Black women convene, writes licensed clinical psychologist Joy Harden Bradford, there is a “cadence and rhythm to our gatherings… a natural sisterhood that breeds openness.” That observation underlies Bradford’s approach to group therapy, which she says sparks breakthroughs and healing that often don’t happen as quickly in individual sessions. We talk to Bradford about what makes for a successful therapeutic community, and why elements like humor, intuitiveness and rhythm generate healing of Black women’s spaces. Bradford’s new book is “Sisterhood Heals: The Transformative Power of Healing in Community.”Guests:Joy Harden Bradford, licensed psychologist; host and founder Therapy for Black Girls; author, "Sisterhood Heals: The Transformative Power of Healing in Community" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The hushed thrum of the womb. The warble of the last living species of a now-extinct bird. The fury and thrust of a jet engine in flight. These are some of the sounds that populate filmmaker Sam Green’s immersive documentary “32 Sounds.” The movie is not just a collection of sounds, but rather a meditation on the strange power that sound has on us, whether it is voices, music, the natural world or sounds that we are trying to tune out. Watching the movie, even on a tiny screen, can be a full-body experience in which you’re encouraged by Green, who narrates the film, to feel the sound. We’ll talk to Green and his Oscar-winning sound designer, Mark Mangini, about how sound can literally move us.32 Sounds will be screened at the Exploratorium on July 27, at the Smith Rafael Film Center July 28-30, the San Francisco Roxie Theater, July 29 and Berkeley’s Rialto Theater, July 30.Guests:Sam Green, filmmaker; his film,"32 Sounds" will be screened at the Exploratorium on July 27, at the Smith Rafael Film Center July 28-30, the San Francisco Roxie Theater, July 29 and Berkeley’s Rialto Theater, July 30.Mark Mangini, sound designer, "32 Sounds" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Writer Andrew Leland has been going blind since he was a teenager, which is when he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. Now in his forties, he reflects that “the most painful part so far has been the not-knowing” when he will completely lose his sight. But his encroaching blindness has also been a portal to creativity and intellectual exploration. As someone who still has his sight, Leland wonders if he is a citizen in “the country of the blind” and if so, what does that mean? We talk to Leland about his new memoir “The Country of the Blind.”Guests:Andrew Leland, author, "The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight." Leland is an editor at "The Believer" and, from 2013 to 2019, he hosted and produced the podcast "The Organist" for KCRW in Los Angeles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices