KQED's Forum

With huge layoffs in sectors like tech and media dominating the headlines, it’s easy to think that jobs are becoming scarce and that the “Great Resignation” is over. But in fact, some economists say it’s workers, not employers, who still hold the power — especially as Baby Boomers retire. We’ll check in on California’s labor market across different industries and hear your experiences finding a job in today’s economy.Guests:Aki Ito, senior correspondent covering the workplace and the economy, InsiderSarah Bohn, vice president of Research and Senior Fellow, Public Policy Institute of California Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Martinus Evans began training for marathons, it took “delusional self belief” to keep running. He was over 350 pounds. As a kid, he failed the one-mile physical fitness test. And as a Black man, he didn’t see a lot of people like him training. Even though Evans finished his first marathon at the back of the pack, he says it didn’t bother him one bit. He’s used that mindset to complete eight marathons and to launch a career as a running coach for people of all sizes and skills. In his running club, you can’t ask about weight and you don’t obsess about speed. Evans offers this and other advice in his new book “Slow AF Run Club: The Ultimate Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Run.” He joins us and we hear from you: Are you a runner who doesn’t fit the mold?Guests:Martinus Evans, author, "Slow AF Run Club: The Ultimate Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Run" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sixteen-year-old environmental activist Greta Thunberg transfixed the world in 2019 when she condemned global leaders for their inaction on climate change. She’s one of thousands of teen girls who’ve agitated for social change in the past centuries, from Claudette Colvin who refused to give up her seat on a segregated Alabama bus to Mabel Ping-Hua Lee who led a march for women’s suffrage. In a new history, writer and editor Mattie Kahn explores how girls have contributed to social and political movements, the qualities they bring to their activism and the dangers they’ve faced in their fights for the greater good. Kahn’s book is “Young and Restless: The Girls Who Sparked America’s Revolutions.”Guests:Mattie Kahn, author, "Young and Restless: The Girls Who Sparked America's Revolutions." Kahn is the former culture director at Glamour, where she covered women’s issues and politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this month, amid a sharp rise in book bans across the country, Governor Gavin Newsom called on educators to preserve students’ access to books, including those that “reflect the diverse experiences and perspectives of Californians.” Individual book bans in U.S. classrooms and school libraries increased by 28 percent during the first half of this school year compared to the prior six months, according to a report by the free speech group PEN America. The increase is partly due to newly-enacted state laws, and the bans “continue to target stories by and about people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals,” according to PEN. While rare in California, book battles are percolating in Temecula and Huntington Beach. We talk about the impact of book bans on free expression and students’ access to literature and diverse perspectivesGuests:Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Director, American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom - and executive director of the Freedom to Read FoundationJaea Rivera, officer, Vandegrift High School Banned Book Club - in Austin, Texas.George M. Johnson, award-winning author of "All Boys Aren't Blue" and "We Are Not Broken"Jeff Horseman, Riverside County government and regional politics reporter, Southern California News Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nursing is a vocation as old as humankind, once practiced by men and women. But for many the word “nurse” conjures up an image of Florence Nightingale or a woman in a starched white uniform and funny cap who defers to the doctor. In her new book, “Taking Care,”journalist Sarah DiGregorio challenges these myths: “If you imagine that nursing arose only in relatively recent times, as a profession dedicated to assisting physicians within hospitals,” writes DiGregorio, “you have it backward. Nursing came first.” Her book explores how chauvinism, racism, cultural norms and misogyny have inflected the profession and crucial role that nurses play in providing safe, caring and cutting edge medical care. We’ll talk to DiGregorio about her book and hear from you: How have nurses affected your life? Guests:Sarah DiGregorio , Journalist and Author, "Taking Care: The Story of Nursing and Its Power to Change Our World". DiGregorio is also the author of "Early: An Intimate History of Premature Birth and What It Teaches Us About Being Human" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the Marathon oil refinery in Martinez closed in 2020, more than 300 unionized workers were laid off from jobs they thought they’d retire from. A study from UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education followed many of those workers and found roughly one in four were still out of work a year later, and most of those who had found new jobs took sizable pay cuts. As we make the necessary transition away from fossil fuels, Forum discusses what kind of jobs will be lost, and gained, in the green economy and what can be done to minimize harm to the workers whose jobs will be erased and to the communities who depend on their industries.Guests:Virginia Parks , professor at the Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy at the University of California, IrvineJohn Gioia, member, Contra Costa County Board of SupervisorsTracy Scott, president, United Steelworkers Local 5James Feldermann, former head operator, Marathon Martinez refineryJessie Hammerling , co-director, The Green Economy Program at the UC Berkeley Labor Center Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“The first uniquely American suit,” is how Clarissa Esguerra, a Los Angeles County Museum of Art curator of costume and textiles, describes the Zoot suit. Known for its wide-legged pants and long coats, the Zoot suit became infamous in June 1943. That was when servicemen, police officers and white civilians attacked the young Mexican, Filipino and Black Americans who donned the suits in what became known as the Zoot Suit Riots. To commemorate the riots’ 80th anniversary this month, the L.A. Times put together a multimedia project tracing the suits’ legacy and status today as a symbol of Chicano pride — while noting the paper’s own culpability in anti-Mexican American sentiment at the time. We’ll speak with the reporters and editor who authored the project and hear your reflections.Guests:Gustavo Arellano, columnist, Los Angeles TimesSteve Padilla, editor of the showcase feature Column One, The Los Angeles Times - and oversaw the LA Times' Zoot Suit Riots 80th Anniversary PackageElizabeth Escobedo, associate professor of history, University of Denver - and author, "From Coveralls to Zoot Suits: The Lives of Mexican American Women on the World War II Home Front" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the election of President Obama in 2008, “the world looked and felt different,” writes University of Texas historian Peniel Joseph. That moment also marked the beginning of what Joseph calls America’s Third Reconstruction, a period of racial progress marked by the Black Lives Matter protests and the social justice movements they inspired. But the Third Reconstruction, like the 19th and 20th century versions that preceded it, has also been beset by white backlash and violent retrenchment. We’ll talk to Joseph about what he thinks we’ve achieved in this period and how far we need to go to achieve racial justice.Guests:Peniel Joseph, professor of history and founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, University of Texas at Austin; author, "The Third Reconstruction: America’s Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To celebrate Juneteenth we listen back on our interview with Bay Area-based chef and food justice activist Bryant Terry. He’s created “a communal shrine to the shared culinary histories of the African diaspora,” as he writes in the introduction to “Black Food.” Bringing together a number of contributors who share recipes, stories and artwork — plus Terry’s signature playlists to go with the recipes — “Black Food” aims to be a feast not just for your tastebuds, but your eyes, ears and spirit, too. Terry, who’s also the chef-in-residence at the Museum of the African Diaspora, says this is his last cookbook, but just the beginning of a bigger vision to publish more writers of color under his new publishing imprint 4 Color Books. Terry joins us to talk about “Black Food” and what else he’s got cooking — both in and out of the kitchen.Guests:Bryant Terry, author, "Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora," "Afro-Vegan," and "Vegetable Kingdom;" chef-in-residence, San Francisco's Museum of the African Diaspora Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the largest collections of transgender history sits in a small garage turned archive in Vallejo. The Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive has been open to the public since 2018. With Pride month underway, we’ll explore a few key objects from the collection, talk about what they teach us about trans history, and discuss what the history of the transgender community in the Bay Area can tell us about the current moment.Guests:Susan Stryker, incoming faculty in gender and sexuality studies, University of Southern California - Her new book is "Transgender History: The Roots of Today's Revolution." She won an Emmy for the documentary film, "Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria."Ms. Bob Davis, founder & director, Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive in Vallejo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices