KQED's Forum

More Californians are contributing their dollars and time to elections in states like Michigan and Arizona where the winning party will have control over reproductive rights, redistricting and potentially the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. We’ll talk to Russell Berman about what’s at stake in state races across the country, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case that could expand statehouse authority over federal elections. Berman’s recent piece for the Atlantic is “The Next Presidential Election Is Happening Right Now in the States.”Guests:Russell Berman, staff writer, The AtlanticCraig Mauger, state politics reporter, The Detroit NewsMary Jo Pitzl, state policy, politics and elections reporter, The Arizona Republic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two Bay Area scientists have won the 2022 Nobel Prize. Stanford’s Carolyn Bertozzi is one of just eight women to ever win the prize in chemistry (out of 189 total winners). The Nobel committee described her as “an inspiration for women and queer people in STEM.” John Clauser, now 79 years old, received the prize in physics for research he conducted 50 years ago on quantum entanglement - research that he says was considered irrelevant at the time, but has since provided the foundation for quantum computation and quantum communication. Bertozzi and Clauser join Forum to talk about their work and take your science questions.Guests:Dr. John Clauser, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in physicsDr. Carolyn Bertozzi, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry; professor, Stanford University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After years of struggling and fighting for every role, actor Constance Wu had a popular TV show and a starring role in the hit movie “Crazy Rich Asians.” Then one day she sent out a tweet that nearly cratered her career. The backlash that ensued became the impetus for her new book “Making A Scene,” a collection of essays in which Wu reflects on the burden and responsibility of being a women of color in an industry run largely by men, her childhood as the daughter of immigrants who were not " tiger parents” and her journey as an artist. Wu joins us to talk about what it takes to make a scene and be heard.Guests:Constance Wu, Author, "Making a Scene." Wu has starred in the films "Crazy Rich Asians" and "Hustlers." She previously starred in the series "Fresh Off the Boat." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For thousands of years and hundreds of generations, the Ohlone people have lived on the land that is now known as the East Bay. They were forcibly removed from their land with the arrival of Europeans beginning in the 18th Century. To begin to address the historic harms of the city’s founding, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and tribal Chairperson Corrina Gould started a conversation in 2018 that has grown into a partnership between the City of Oakland and the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust. With final city council approval in November, the trust will be given the rights to a section of Joaquin Miller park known as Sequoia Point, and Oakland will become the first city in California to use municipal property as reparations for land stolen from Native American territories. On this Indigenous Peoples day, we’ll talk to Corrina Gould and Mayor Schaaf about what this means for the Native community in the Bay and how it can serve as precedent for other cities. Related articles:Rematriate the Land Fund - The Sogorea Te Land TrustGuests:Corrina Gould, Director, Sogorea Te’ Land Trust; spokeswoman and Tribal Chair of the Confederated Villages of Lisjan/Ohlone; Co-Founder and Lead Organizer, Indian People Organizing for Change.Libby Schaaf, Mayor, Oakland Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In San Francisco, more than half of people experiencing homelessness are unsheltered. In contrast, just three percent of Boston’s unhoused people are living on the streets. With another winter coming on, what steps might California take? What can we learn from Massachusetts?Guests:Darrell Steinberg, Mayor, SacramentoErin Baldassari, housing affordability reporter, KQEDLyndia Downie, president and executive director, Pine Street Inn - a homeless services provider in Boston, MAJennifer Friedenbach, Executive Director, Coalition on Homelessness Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Craft beer has a long history in California with breweries such as Anchor Steam that started in San Francisco in the mid-1800s and still brews there today. But lately, the industry has exploded. In the past decade the number of craft breweries in California has tripled to 1,100 – and growing. It’s a competitive landscape out there for small, independent beer makers. We’ll talk about what is driving the growth of craft beer in California, why IPAs still dominate beer lists and hear your picks for your favorite local brews.Guests:Barry Braden, co-founder and owner, Fieldwork BrewingEric Ortega, craft beer specialist and taproom coordinator, Almanac Beer CompanyHerlinda Heras, artisan beverage expert and co-host of Brew HaHa, a craft beer show, KSRO in Sonoma Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans last month to mobilize more troops to wage his campaign against Ukraine, the reality of the war is setting in for ordinary Russians, according to the Washington Post’s Mary Ilyushina, who’s reporting near the region. Hundreds of thousands of Russians have fled to neighboring countries to avoid the draft, and anti-war protests are mounting. We’ll look at how the mobilization is changing how Russians perceive the war and their government.Guests:Michael Kimmage, professor and history department chair, Catholic University of America; co-author, "What Mobilization Means for Russia: The End of Putin's Bargain with the People"Mary Ilyushina, Russia reporter, Washington Post Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many California lawmakers agree that the lack of unaffordable housing is a huge challenge, but for years they have not agreed on how to fix the problem. This year, the Legislature passed more than 40 laws that promise to boost housing construction. One law allows developers to turn empty strip malls and office buildings into housing. Other laws reduce parking requirements for new housing developments and make it easier for school districts to build teacher housing. Advocates say that though the laws are mostly incremental tweaks to existing policies, they could add up to big changes in the long run. We’ll take a look at this year’s new housing laws and what they could mean for you.Guests:David Garcia, policy director, Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC BerkeleyBuffy Wicks, member, California State Assembly - She represents California’s 15th Assembly District, which includes all or portions of the cities of Oakland, Richmond, Berkeley, Emeryville, Albany, El Cerrito, San Pablo, Pinole, El Sobrante, Hercules, Kensington, and Piedmont.Alfred Twu, architect; housing activist; commissioner, Berkeley Planning and Landmarks commissions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stretching 2,600 miles from Mexico to Canada, the Pacific Crest Trail winds through the Mojave Desert, up to the Sierras and along the Cascades. Backpackers who have hit the trail rave about its beauty and many include “thru hiking” the entirety of the trail on their bucket lists. But what has always been a difficult journey is now getting even harder due to climate change. We’ll talk about how extreme weather, drought and wildfires have impacted the trail, known as the PCT, from beginning to end. Have you hiked the PCT? What was your journey like?Guests:Rowan Moore Gerety, Reporter, Gerety's recent piece for the New York Times is titled "Heat, Water, Fire: How Climate Change Is Transforming the Pacific Crest Trail."Jazmin Ortega, Pacific Crest Trail Thru Hiker, Ortega thru hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in 2019. Her trail name is Flamethrower.Scott Wilkinson, Content Development Director, Pacific Crest Trail Association, a nonprofit focused on protecting and preserving thePacific Crest National Scenic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many of the Bay Area’s industrial sites are situated on the waterfront, right next to communities of color. As climate change causes groundwater levels to rise, toxic chemicals buried there threaten to release into the neighborhoods, exacerbating a decades-long pattern of environmental and economic injustice. Now some community advocates are calling for reparations in the form of climate justice, asking for money and services to repair the harms caused by the decision to allow toxic industries in their communities. Forum talks about the threat of toxic flooding and what can be done to prevent it.Guests:Kristina Hill, director, Institute for Urban and Regional Development, College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley.Ezra David Romero, climate reporter, KQEDMargaret Gordon, co-director, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices