KQED's Forum

Oakland teachers went on strike Thursday morning for the third time in just over a year. The teachers, who earn some of the lowest salaries in the region, are asking for a 23% raise, more school psychologists and smaller special education classes among other demands. We’ll talk about what the strike means for Oakland teachers, parents and its 34 thousand public school students. And we’ll discuss the challenges facing public schools across the state as many districts struggle with enrollment declines, teacher shortages and the end of pandemic funding.Guests:Jill Tucker, K-12 education reporter, San Francisco ChronicleErin Baldassari, housing affordability reporter, KQEDLakisha Young, founder and executive director, The Oakland ReachMike Hutchinson, president, Oakland Board of EducationSamia Khattab, school librarian, Franklin ElementaryPecolia Manigo, parent of two children in Oakland public schools and co-executive director, Bay Area Parent Leadership Action Network and former school board candidate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 10,000 television and screenwriters are on strike after months-long contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down late Monday. The Writers Guild of America is seeking higher compensation and residuals for its members, as well as minimum staffing requirements for TV writers and rules restricting the use of artificial intelligence in script production. We’ll talk about the impacts of the strike and the labor conditions for writers that led to it.Guests:Alissa Wilkinson, senior culture writer and critic, VoxAnousha Sakoui, entertainment industry writer, Los Angeles TimesBetsy Thomas, television writer and producer; secretary-treasurer, Writers Guild of America WestEric Haywood, writer, producer and director. His TV shows include "Empire" and "Law & Order: Organized Crime"Sal Gentile, writer and producer, "Late Night with Seth Meyers" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Actor and singer Billy Porter has a shelf of awards, including a Tony, Grammy, and Emmy, earned for playing a variety of roles including “Pray Tell,” the imposing ballroom emcee in the FX series “Pose.” Porter also has plans to take on the role of writer and intellectual James Baldwin in a forthcoming biopic. But on his new tour Porter says he didn’t want to play a character, “I’m coming home as myself.” Porter joins us in studio to talk about his “Black Mona Lisa” tour and his long and varied career as a musical, fashion and pop icon.Guests:Billy Porter, actor and singer. Porter starred in the FX series, "Pose" for which he won an Emmy. He won a Tony and Grammy award for his performance in the musical "Kinky Boots." Porter is currently touring on his "Black Mona Lisa Tour" and will appear on May 5 at the Golden Gate Theatre Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does your cat’s cry for food sound different from its meow for attention? How come Mr. Whiskers is “making biscuits” on your belly? Evolution may provide clues as to why, writes biologist Jonathan Losos. Losos made his career studying lizards, but he’d pet cats every chance he got. And his new book, “The Cat’s Meow,” applies an evolutionary lens to the domesticated pet, exploring why they — yes — meow, but also trill, howl, growl, hiss, snarl, purr and chirp. It also looks at where outdoor cats like to prowl and whether our cats are really that different from lions and tigers. Losos joins us to share more about our feline friends.Guests:Jonathan Losos, distinguished professor of biology, Washington University in St. Louis - and author, "The Cat's Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Durian is a pungent, rank smelling fruit common in Singapore that is hard to harvest and cut open. And yet, it’s inspired scores of devotees, including food writer Jennifer Wong, who writes, “For those of us who hail durian as our king of fruits, the smell elicits an undeniable longing — for both the fruit itself and the cultural remembrance it represents.” Whether it’s stinky tofu, roasted grasshoppers or chicken feet, many cultures embrace foods that might come off as unappetizing at first sniff. So, how do some seemingly unusual ingredients become delicacies? In our latest All You Can Eat segment with KQED Food Editor Luke Tsai, we dive into funky foods that we aren’t supposed to love – but do so unabashedly.Guests:Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & CultureJavier Cabral, Editor, L.A. Taco - independent local news and culture site, and Associate producer for the Taco Chronicles on NetflixJennifer Wong, author of the article "A Bay Area Love Letter to Durian," published on KQED Arts and CultureMonica Martinez, Founder and CEO,Don Bugito - a San Francisco company that makes protein snacks from edible insects Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Journalism is not a crime,” declared President Biden on Saturday at the White House Correspondents’ dinner. In his remarks, Biden demanded the immediate release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been wrongfully imprisoned in Russia since March 29. The Russian government arrested Gershkovich for espionage, a charge that both the Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government have flatly denied. As of 2021, more Americans are being or have been held hostage by hostile governments than terrorist or militant organizations. We’ll talk about the perils facing journalists around the world.Guests:Joel Simon, executive director, Journalism Protection Initiative at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, City University of New York; former director, the Committee to Protect JournalistsMichael Kimmage, professor and history department chair, Catholic University of America; his recent article for the Wall Street Journal is titled "Putin's Rogue State" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Facing takeover by the federal government, First Republic Bank, the Bay Area’s largest regional bank, was sold off to JP Morgan Chase this weekend. Over the course of four decades, First Republic, with its aspirational marketing and reputation for customer service, became a key brand in the Bay Area business and philanthropy communities. First Republic was among the 20th largest banks in the country in 2022 and employed about 7,000 workers, close to half which were based in the Bay Area. The bank’s failure follows Silicon Valley Bank’s dramatic demise and also comes at a time when multiple large employers in the region are announcing major layoffs. We’ll talk about what the bank’s failure means for our local economy and whether we need brick and mortar banks.Guests:Mark Calvey, senior reporter covering banking and finance, San Francisco Business TimesRachel Louise Ensign, reporter, The Wall Street Journal - Ensign covers millionaires and billionaires and the financial systems that serve them.Jeremy Owens, technology editor and San Francisco bureau chief, MarketWatch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Writer Nicole Chung’s first memoir, “All You Can Ever Know,” chronicled her search for her birth family. Her second, “A Living Remedy,” documents her final years with her adopted parents and the health care costs that burdened them until their deaths. “Sickness and grief throw wealthy and poor families alike into upheaval,” she writes, “but they do not transcend the gulfs between us, as some claim—if anything, they often magnify them.” Chung joins us to share her story, one about grief, race, class and their interconnections.Guests:Nicole Chung, author, "A Living Remedy," and "All You Can Ever Know"; contributor, The Atlantic, Time, and Slate, and writes for many other publications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A winter of unusually heavy rain and snow elevated California’s mountain snowpack to levels not seen in years. But now that temperatures are rising, the state is bracing for “The Big Melt” that could cause massive flooding. Close to a third of the state’s water supply comes from the snowpack that accumulates in the winter and melts in the summer. California’s water infrastructure was designed to capture and store snowmelt and prevent floods, but with climate change intensifying water levels to extreme highs and lows, the system is pushed to its limits. We’ll talk about how prepared the Golden State is for an influx of water and what communities can expect.Guests:Dr. Noah Diffenbaugh, senior fellow, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment - where his research focuses on climate and earth system dynamics.Hayley Smith, reporter focusing on extreme weather, Los Angeles TimesNicholas Pinter, chair in applied geosciences, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California Davis; associate director, Center for Watershed Sciences, University of California Davis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

About a third of Californians live in areas where there is a shortage of primary care providers, according to the California Healthcare Foundation. The shortage is particularly acute in rural areas and in the rapidly growing Inland Empire, which has only about 40 primary care physicians per 100,000 people. For patients, a short supply of doctors can mean months-long waits for appointments and more trips to urgent care for chronic conditions. And for in-demand providers, burnout looms. We’ll learn about plans to address the shortage and hear about your experiences finding a primary care professional.Guests:Arturo Bustamante, professor of health policy and management, UCLA Fielding School of Public HealthTimothy Collins, incoming CEO, UC Riverside HealthSunita Mutha, general internist providing primary care; professor of medicine and director, Healthforce Center at UCSFNate McLaughlin, family medicine doctor; program director, Family Medicine Program, Riverside University Health Services/UC Riverside Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices