KQED's Forum

A bill seeking to cover every Californian with state-financed health insurance faced a Monday deadline to make it out of the state assembly. But just before it was set for a vote, Assembly Bill 1400 was withdrawn by its author, Democrat Ash Kalra. The bill would have made California the only state in the nation with a single-payer health care system if enacted. But some legislators balked at the cost of the system, known as CalCare, which had been estimated at between $314 billion and $391 billion per year. We’ll discuss the bill’s fate— and the future of single-payer healthcare in the state – with KQED’s April Dembosky. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the film “The Lost Daughter” directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, actor Olivia Colman plays Leda, a middle-aged college professor who encounters a young mother and her daughter while on vacation, prompting memories from Leda’s past, when she left her husband and two young daughters for three years. This story, adapted from Elena Ferrante’s 2006 novel of the same name, conjured feelings of relief for Los Angeles-based author Amina Cain – not because the main character once abandoned her children, but because a different kind of story about motherhood was being told. In an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, Cain, who has never wanted children, writes: “It’s rare to see a film or read a novel that depicts ambivalence around motherhood, even rarer one that rejects that life completely, which I deeply appreciate about ‘The Lost Daughter.’ I’m hungry for these stories.” We talk to Cain about why ambivalence towards motherhood still feels socially taboo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An increasing portion of human life is structured by powerful and opaque technological systems. Getting a loan, parole hearings, resume sorting, the political ads that appear on your device: Across fields, machine learning systems are trying to sort you into statistical buckets. Worse, NBC technology correspondent Jacob Ward argues, the data that artificial intelligence systems use to predict what we’ll do next mostly show “the ancient instincts… the tribalism, the anthropomorphism, the gut feelings,” because targeting those parts of us is the most profitable way for companies to use AI. Ward joins us to talk about his new book, “The Loop: How Technology is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new study from researchers at Stanford University finds that on an annual basis, the methane leaking from residential gas ovens in the U.S. has the same negative effect on the climate as 500,000 gas-powered cars. These findings come as climate activists and legislators nationwide increase efforts to ban natural gas hookups in new building construction. In California, although 60 percent of homes use gas stoves, compared to the national average of one-third, dozens of cities and counties have implemented or promoted legislation to phase out the use of natural gas in new builds. We’ll talk with the study’s lead researcher and discuss what this means for consumers and the industry. Guests:Rob Jackson, professor of Earth System Science, Stanford University; senior fellow, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and the Precourt Institute for EnergyKatherine Blunt , energy reporter, Wall Street Journal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Voters in Shasta County will decide on Tuesday whether to recall Leonard Moty, a Republican county supervisor and former police chief from Redding. The recall effort in this heavily Republican region, where Donald Trump won 65% of the vote in 2020, is led not by Democrats, but by a far right militia group who say Moty doesn't support their pro-gun and anti-mask values aggressively enough. We'll talk to KQED's Scott Shafer about his look into the political fight in Shasta County and what it could signal about the future of the Republican party in California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Private equity investment in healthcare has exploded in recent years, with companies trying to squeeze maximum profits out of doctor’s offices, hospitals and more. A recent U.C. Berkeley study found the value of private equity healthcare deals nearly tripled in the last decade. Some industry experts say it has hampered the ability of providers to respond to the pandemic. We’ll look at how private investors are reshaping healthcare, and why critics say it is putting patients at risk.Guests:Richard Scheffler, professor of health economics, UC Berkeley; member, Healthy California for All CommissionGretchen Morgenson, senior financial reporter, NBC News InvestigationsMitchell Li, practicing emergency physician; co-founder, Take Medicine Back, an advocacy group which seeks to remove private equity from healthcare Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rejection is normal and happens to all of us, but it still never feels good to get that email or call from an admissions officer or potential employer saying you weren’t “the one.” In a recent article for The Atlantic titled “A Toast to All the Rejects,” NPR producer Rhaina Cohen writes about the power of turning one’s rejections into a celebration with friends or colleagues. Cohen’s article was inspired by a graduate student lab at UC Irvine led by social sciences professor Barbara Sarnecka where they created a group spreadsheet to collect everyone’s rejections from jobs, academic journals or grants. When they reached 100 rejections as a group, they threw a party. “Instead of shying away from rejection, they’re asking us to run straight toward it—and to do so together,” writes Cohen. We explore the idea of reframing – and even celebrating – rejection. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Northern and Southern California are going to battle on Sunday when the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams face off for this year’s National Football Conference championship and a bid for the Super Bowl. We'll talk about the all-California matchup and hear your fan predictions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Isabel Allende’s new novel, “Violeta,” opens in the midst of a pandemic, under quarantine conditions. Only it’s 1920 and the Spanish flu. Violeta has just been born; she spends her early life in the virus-induced social bubble that we’ve all come to know. Inspired by Allende’s own mother, Violeta is born into elite, but falls into a rural social stratum after the Great Depression. It’s a saga about family secrets, exiles and resilience, as well as a reflection on the century when the world became technologically modern and socially fractured. We’ll talk with Allende about the novel, her mother and writing through — and about — a pandemic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After nearly three decades on the Supreme Court, Justice Stephen Breyer said on Tuesday that he will retire by the end of the current term. Justice Breyer, one of the Court's three liberal members, will step down as the Court considers major cases involving abortion and gun rights. Breyer’s retirement offers President Biden, who vowed during the campaign to nominate a Black woman justice, his first opportunity to shape the Court. It also comes at a time when the non-partisan nature of the Court has come under question. We'll talk about Breyer’s legacy, who might succeed him and the future direction of the Court. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices