KQED's Forum

It's summer in the Bay Area, which means it’s time to cozy up by the fire and read some books about tropical islands, deserts and other warm places. We’ll gather a panel of Bay Area booksellers and bookworms to discuss summer reading trends and the best books coming out this summer. They’ll take your questions on what to stick in your bag for that campervan trip, whether you’re looking to dive into a weighty historical biography or plow through a pile of pulpy fun. And we’ll want to hear your picks: what book are you recommending to all your friends this summer? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blindspotting was one of 2018’s critically acclaimed films. Penned by old friends, Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal, it took on race and gentrification in Oakland. Now, they’re back with a new television show based on the movie that’s a wild love letter to the Bay Area. We’ll talk with them both about the show and honoring the place that made them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ransomware group REvil’s sites on the dark web went down Tuesday, weeks after the group attacked meat processing company JBS and information technology firm Kaseya in a breach that compromised up to 1,500 clients. And those attacks came on the heels of DarkSide’s major strike in May against the Colonial Pipeline, forcing it to temporarily cease operations. Ransomware attacks — which encrypt online systems and hold their data for ransom — more than doubled from 2019 to 2020 in the US, according to a Washington Post analysis. We’ll look at how and why these attacks occur and the national security threat they pose. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Los Angeles County has over the last several days recorded more than 3000 new covid cases, 99 percent of which occurred among the unvaccinated, according to the county health department. The spike in cases, fueled by the rapidly spreading delta variant, mirrors that of other regions in the state and country beset by low vaccination rates. The increase also comes as California tries to adopt a cautious approach to school reopening this fall, requiring even vaccinated students and teachers to wear masks. We’ll talk about the effort to vaccinate more Americans as the delta variant takes hold and take your vaccine questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ta-Nehisi Coates, one of America’s premier thinkers on racism and systemic inequality, has taken on many roles: Atlantic staff writer, best-selling author, novelist and comic book writer. Last week, Coates made headlines for his latest move: teaching journalism at his alma mater Howard University along with Pulitzer-prize winning New York Times “1619 Project” writer Nikole Hannah-Jones. The announcement came after Hannah-Jones rejected an offer from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after a contentious and drawn-out tenure process, which Coates publicly criticized. We talk with Coates about disinformation, police brutality and the role of journalism in American democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The class of 2021 has graduated and millions of young people are now looking to start their first “real world” jobs. Some experts say the current economy is among the best for young workers in decades, now that post-shutdown hiring is ramping up and some industries confront persistent labor shortages. Still, for some workers, finding the best opportunity can be both daunting and time-consuming. We’ll hear stories of starting out in the workplace and get guidance from experts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Ifeoma Ozoma detailed the racism and sexism she faced as a Pinterest employee in a Twitter thread back in June 2020, she did so knowing she was in violation of her nondisclosure agreement. Now, Ozoma is co-sponsoring a California bill to protect workers under NDAs who say they’ve been discriminated against on the basis of race, sexual orientation, religion, disability or age. The bill would expand protections passed several years ago for workers who come forward about sex-based discrimination despite having signed an NDA. With no companies formally against the new bill, it could signal a shift in big tech, which has long been protected by NDA practices. We’ll talk about the fight over NDAs and what it could mean for workers in the tech industry and beyond. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twenty years ago, California went dark. Without enough electricity to power the state, rolling blackouts shut down businesses, PG&E filed for bankruptcy, the state’s economy contracted and then-Governor Gray Davis’ administration spiraled into crisis. Part of the blame rested with Enron Corporation, an energy company whose brokers created an artificial electricity shortage by taking power plants offline — thereby raising prices by 800% or more. Enron ultimately unravelled when whistleblowers revealed its books were cooked, but not before the company severely damaged energy markets. Two decades later, Forum asks what we’ve learned from that calamity— and whether our electricity supply is safe from market manipulation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A recent KQED report found that Kaiser Permanente, the largest health insurer in California, impeded some patients from accessing brexanolone, the first and only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat postpartum depression. The condition, affecting one in eight new mothers in California, can harm parents and children if left untreated. KQED reporter April Dembosky joins us to discuss her reporting and the challenges parents face in receiving treatment for postpartum depression. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By law, trucks weighing more than 4.5 tons are barred from driving through a portion of Interstate 580 in Oakland and San Leandro near the East Bay Hills. This 10-mile ban means most commercial trucks use Interstate 880, which runs through Black and Latinx neighborhoods and is a historically working class region. Research from the Environmental Defense Fund found that concentrations of black carbon along I-880 were approximately 80% higher than average concentrations along I-580. Why are trucks banned from this stretch of I-580, and should residents along I-880 exclusively bear the burden of truck pollution? We’ll discuss the pushback to I-580’s truck ban. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices