KQED's Forum

The maternal mortality rate for Black mothers is nearly three times that of white mothers nationwide. These numbers are leading many African-American families to seek the services of doulas, care which has been shown to improve birth outcomes. To mark World Doula Week, we’ll talk with Black doulas about their work, the costs of racism in American healthcare, and about why some are wary of the state of California's efforts to regulate the profession. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During her three days of Senate confirmation hearings this week, Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has fielded a range of questions about her judicial philosophy, her experience as a public defender and what some observers say are not-so-subtle racist attempts to cast her as a radical. If confirmed, Judge Jackson would be the first Black woman to sit on the high court. We’ll talk about the hearing and what lies ahead in the confirmation process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Russia and Ukraine supply nearly one-quarter of the world’s wheat which feeds billions of people around the world. The war in Ukraine has not only cut off supply to wheat and other important exports like sunflower oil, barley and fertilizer, it has also raised the price of those products. Wheat prices are now 21% higher than last month. For regions like the Middle East and Africa, which rely on Ukrainian crops, the increase in cost and decrease in supply means many could go hungry. We’ll look at the important role Ukraine plays in the global food supply chain, the impacts the war is having on it, and what is being done to prevent a deepening global hunger crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Confirmation hearings begin on Monday for President Biden’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. The first Black woman to be nominated to the high court, Jackson is expected to face questions about her judicial philosophy and her views on issues facing the Court including abortion, voting rights and affirmative action. Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has stated that there is “no question” that Jackson, who has previously been confirmed by the Senate as an appellate judge, is qualified for the position. Nevertheless, the Harvard-trained Jackson has faced GOP attacks on topics as disparate as her record on crime to her LSAT score, criticisms which her supporters have noted seem rooted in racism. We’ll look at what to expect during the confirmation hearings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cow cheese. Goat cheese. Vegan cheese? From dairy farming and cheesemaking to tours and tastings, there are a world of old traditions and new family businesses making Northern California one of the most magical cheese-scapes on earth. In this recording of a recent Forum Live event at KQED's San Francisco headquarters, we talk about some of California's yummiest cheeses with the people who know them best. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sandhya Acharya has a window into the COVID-era lives of her child and his classmates through their art. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From closed schools to missed moments like graduation or visiting with family, children have borne an unusually heavy burden during the pandemic. Children were among the last to get vaccinated. They were unable to go to school in person. They have lost caregivers and loved ones. On the educational front, studies report that across the country, early reading skills are at a new low. And kids of all ages are more stressed than ever. But while the pandemic has been hard on children, there have also been lessons learned about grace, kindness and how to do better by kids. We’ll look at the price children have paid in the pandemic, and what parents and others can do to support them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bay Area heads to the Big Dance! The University of San Francisco men’s basketball team makes its first NCAA tournament appearance in 24 years. Saint Mary’s College men’s team is in the mix too, following up on its 2019 bid. And on the women’s side, Stanford University's team will seek to defend its title as the reigning NCAA champions. We’ll talk to former Stanford basketball star Kiana Williams, who helped the team take last year's trophy, about winning in 2021 and the team's road to a championship this year. Then, we'll talk with college reporters about their school’s NCAA tournament bids and hear what teams are making your Final Four brackets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, a Texas judge temporarily blocked a directive from Governor Greg Abbott calling for child abuse investigations of parents who seek gender-affirming medical care for their transgender children. But Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton plans to appeal, and more states are considering similar laws: Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bill prohibits instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity before fourth grade, and the Human Rights Campaign is tracking nearly 300 pieces of legislation it characterizes as anti-LGBTQ+. We want to hear from you: How have recent anti-LGBTQ+ bills affected you? How have you approached talking to your kids about gender and sexuality?Guests:Cathryn Oakley, State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel, Human Rights CampaignDr. Jack Turban, chief fellow in child and adolescent psychiatry, Stanford University School of MedicineJo Yurcaba, reporter, NBC Out, the LGBTQ section of NBC NewsLizette Trujillo, member, Human Rights Campaign’s Parents for Transgender Equality National Council Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Writer Azar Nafisi says totalitarian regimes pay “too much attention to poets and writers, harassing, jailing and even killing them,” but in America the problem is too little attention, silencing them through “indifference and negligence.” Nafisi’s new book, “Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times,” is written as a series of letters to her late father discussing the writers she turns to when grappling with oppression and injustice, including Salman Rushdie, Plato, Zora Neale Hurston, Ray Bradbury and Margaret Atwood. “I am not talking about literature of resistance but literature as resistance,” she writes, the ways “literature and art resist seats of power – not only that of kings and tyrants, but the tyrant within us as well.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices