KQED's Forum

Kristine Hostetter was a popular fourth grade teacher at an Orange County elementary school, when she marched on the Capitol on January 6th, but did not enter the building. When she returned home, the school district suspended her, a move that outraged some families but which others supported. We’ll talk with the New York Times reporter who has brought national attention to Hostetter’s suspension and the ongoing fallout. What are the limits of free speech in the workplace? How would you react if your child’s teacher had marched on the Capitol? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new Frontline documentary "American Insurrection" investigates the rise of right-wing extremism and the assault on the U.S. Capitol. Forum talks with ProPublica reporter and Frontline correspondent A.C. Thompson about how extremist groups and individuals became emboldened and radicalized. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last month, 45-year-old Lorenzo Perez was shot in broad daylight in Fresno while selling food from a bicycle cart. His death illustrated the many risks street vendors take to sell their goods. Advocates say street vendors, ubiquitous in California’s Latino neighborhoods, are seen as easy targets. Vendors continue to face decreased sales and increased risk of thefts and assaults as the pandemic stretches on. We talk about the risks street vendors face and how to best help. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To live deliberately as a swimmer means you are a seeker; a chaser of the oceans blue corduroy, a follower of river veins, journalist Bonnie Tsui writes in her book, Why We Swim. A lifelong swimmer whose parents met at a pool, Tsui interweaves her personal love of the sport with scientific research on the psychology and physicality of swimming. She shares stories of long-distance swimmers and breaks down the reasons we swim: for survival, well-being, community, competition and flow. We want to hear from you: why do you swim? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, Amazon workers at an Alabama warehouse voted down a call to unionize, and that decision has organized labor scrambling. Though a majority of Americans say they are in favor of unions, creating new ones is not easy. Key to the movement’s future is a sweeping piece of pro-union legislation, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which passed the House and faces uncertain prospects in the Senate.We’ll examine the future of organized labor and discuss how rising inequality is shifting the conversation around unions.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Biden on Friday ordered a 36-member bipartisan commission to study proposals to expand the size of the U.S. Supreme Court and set term limits for justices. Biden first proposed establishing the commission on the 2020 campaign trail, as the Court's rightward shift during the Trump Administration became a rallying cry for Democrats. We'll talk about the potential ramifications of a Supreme Court overhaul. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Research has found that we crave and consume more M&M’s when they’re multi-colored than when they’re just one color. In his new book “Hooked,” Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Michael Moss explains how multinational food companies use illusions of variety and fancy packaging to manipulate our predisposed preferences. Moss argues that we should think and talk about our relationship with processed foods the way we do with tobacco, drugs and other addictions. He joins us to talk about food addiction and the extent “Big Food” is culpable in the 40% rate of obesity among American adults. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his new book, “Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America,” journalist Alec MacGillis tracks how the labor and business practices of Amazon, the nation’s second-largest private employer, can damage communities and workers. MacGillis utilizes Amazon as an example of much broader problems in American society including income inequality, geographic wealth concentrations and consumer expectations for low prices. The book’s release comes ahead of a closely watched effort in Alabama to establish the first union at an Amazon warehouse in the United States. We talk with MacGillis about how Amazon reshapes — and exemplifies — America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a decade as a lawyer, Julie DiCaro thought she had landed a dream job as a sports radio host. But the work environment quickly turned toxic, one where she felt she constantly had to prove herself as a woman. In her book, Sidelined: Sports, Culture, and Being a Woman in America, DiCaro lays bare the treatment of women on and off the sports field from sexism to internet trolls to pervasive misogyny. We talk with DiCaro about the enduring inequality for women in sports and the actions the industry can take to change it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As students prepare to return to classrooms, schools are looking to tutoring, extended school days and reimagined standards to address gaps caused by distance learning. Students from low-income families and English learners were among those least able to consistently log in to virtual school over the past year. President Biden’s latest Covid relief bill includes funds set aside for learning loss, and in March, California Gov. Gavin Newsom allocated $4.6 billion for summer school and additional instruction time. Yet some are critical of the concept of “learning loss,” claiming deficit mindsets negate all that students did learn over the past year and fail to prioritize students’ socio-emotional well-being. We’ll talk about the best approaches for schools, teachers, parents and students moving back to in-person education after a year online. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices