KQED's Forum

Ten years ago the Occupy Movement dominated local and national news as encampments of protesters nationwide brought conversations about income inequality and the gross disparities between the top 1% of wealth holders and the bottom 99% into the mainstream. We’ll look back at two of the nation’s most visible and active occupy movements, in Oakland and in New York, and assess their legacy in politics, policies, activism and on the cities they took place in, after the tents came down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can't actually revisit your elementary school years. But, writes Jude Stewart, your nose can transport you there with a mere whiff of dry chalk, wet wool or the stale waft of cafeteria lunch. We'll talk to Stewart about why we smell, how we smell and the power of our olfactory sense to shape our perceptions of the people and world around us. Her new book is "Revelations in Air: A Guidebook to Smell." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Thomas Nast’s cartoons exposing corruption in late 19th century New York City politics, to the Peanuts comic strip in the 1950’s, to graphic memoirs like Persepolis, Columbia University American studies professor Jeremy Dauber traces the evolution of the art form in his new book “American Comics: A History”. Dauber joins us to discuss why cartoons, comic strips, and graphic novels have captured the American imagination and what they can reveal about the changing politics and culture of the country. And we’ll talk with a contemporary Bay Area cartoonist about what is gained from using illustrations to tell stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When everything from fast fashion brands to uber rides make green claims, it’s easy to feel that eco-friendly consumer products are plentiful. But in many cases, the claims are misleading and minimize businesses’ harmful environmental practices. We’ll talk about what terms like “sustainably sourced” actually mean, the tactics behind greenwashing and how to identify truly sustainable products. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the youngest generation that will feel the most severe effects of climate change, and youth activists are raising alarms both at home and at the COP26 climate summit, which ends this week. Delegates released a draft agreement Wednesday acknowledging the need to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, but the pact is short on concrete commitments. That’s raising concerns among youth activists, who are widely skeptical that world leaders are committed to cutting carbon emissions aggressively enough. We’ll talk with some California youth involved in climate organizing and education to get their thoughts about the summit and what comes after. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I write about people who do extraordinary things,” observed the pioneering science fiction writer Octavia Butler, “it just turned out that it was called science fiction.” This month Forum’s book club discusses Butler’s 1993 novel “Parable of the Sower. In it, fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina navigates a California in the early 2020’s that has been beset by climate change, grotesque income inequality, and violence. Sound familiar? Butler has been lauded as prescient and prophetic, but she called herself merely observant and able to imagine what the world could be like if no one bothered to change. We’ll talk about the book, Octavia Butler’s legacy, and what speculative fiction can teach us about our own current reality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress passed a massive $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan last week. We'll learn more about what that means for California, which is expected to receive about $45.5 billion from the legislation. In other news across the state: the California Redistricting Commission is expected to release draft maps on Wednesday; Newsom spoke out Tuesday following a slew of "Where's Newsom" headlines after he went 11 days without a public appearance; and the recall effort against San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin will be on the ballot in June. We'll dig into the stories behind the headlines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The most recent count of Oakland’s homeless population in 2019 found 4071 unhoused people, an alarming 47% increase from two years prior.  In recent reporting, San Francisco Chronicle reporters put faces on those numbers, spending five months shadowing four Oaklanders who lost everything and are now unhoused in the communities they grew up in. Reporter Kevin Fagan will join us to share what he and his colleagues learned about how Leonard "Pumpkin" Ambrose, Delbra Taylor, Derrick Soo, and Gwyn Teninty became homeless after the age of fifty. And we’ll talk with experts about the role healthcare, low wages, and lack of affordable housing play in Oakland’s growing crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Sam Quinones was researching America's opiate epidemic for his award-winning 2015 book "Dreamland," he watched a troubling phenomenon emerge. As pain-pill prescribing fell, drug traffickers with unfettered access to the world's chemical markets began to fill the void with dangerous synthetic drugs. Opiate addicts began to switch to fentanyl and particularly potent forms of methamphetamine, ultimately driving overdose deaths to record levels in 2020. Quinones joins us to talk about the devastating impact of the synthetic drug era, as told in his new book "The Least of Us," and how communities are trying to recover. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bay Area-based chef and food justice activist Bryant Terry is back with another cookbook -- but this time it’s not just his recipes. 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 taste buds, 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices