KQED's Forum

Riding a bike instead of taking a car is good for your health and for the planet. But in car-centric California, most people still rely on vehicles for daily trips like commuting to work. For cyclists in the state, that means getting around can be risky, especially when they’re asked to share a road with two-ton metal boxes that are often moving very fast. So what would it take to make cycling safer in California, and how can we improve the state’s biking infrastructure to encourage more riders? We explore those questions as part of Forum’s ongoing series “In Transit.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the most prized objects in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum is a life-size wooden tiger automaton that bellows and roars as it chomps into the neck of a very unfortunate British soldier. Crafted in the late 18th century in Mysore, India, this fascinating creation is at the center of Tania James’ new novel of historical fiction “Loot.” The story follows Abbas, a 17-year old, the tiger’s creator, as he travels from India to Europe and encounters a Dickensian cast of characters from noblemen to foes and friends that are all part of this epic quest. As reviewers note, the novel offers a “wry awareness of the distorting function of racism and colonialism.” We talk to James about her book.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Decades of cognitive science research has shown that children need to be taught to sound out words in order to read. But school districts across the country often ignore or sideline that research in early grades, according to education reporter Emily Hanford, who says that’s one reason that more than 60% of U.S. fourth graders aren’t proficient readers. Hanford’s six-part podcast “Sold a Story,” released late last year by American Public Media, is being cited in newly proposed legislation across the U.S. aimed to address the problem. We talk to Hanford about what’s wrong with the way we teach kids to read and what can be done to improve literacy in California and nationwide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new exhibit at the Bedford gallery in Walnut Creek challenges our assumptions about what it means to see. “Sight Unseen” features the work of 13 blind photographers from around the world who use photography in very different ways. In describing his process Pete Eckert of Sacramento writes, “vision is so strong that it masks other senses, other abilities… I feel light so strongly that it allows me to see the bones of my skeleton as pulsating energy.” Scottish artist Rosita McKenzie said, “I sense the light on my face. I hear the rustle of the wind in the trees or smell the fragrance of the flowers in the air, and I think: I’ve really got to take this.” We’ll talk with the curator and featured artists from “Sight Unseen” about how sight-impaired people reveal the world as they see it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than a decade ago, historian Jean Pfaelzer was shown a photograph of a young Chinese woman, displayed for sale in a caged brothel in San Francisco in the 1870s. The image made Pfaelzer question her own assumptions about California’s claim to have entered the union as a free state and about the force and effect of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery at the end of the Civil War. Pfaelzer traveled the state for seven years excavating accounts of Black, Indigenous, Asian and immigrant enslavement, concluding that “the story of California is a history of 250 years of uninterrupted human bondage.” We’ll talk to Pfaelzer about her new book “California, A Slate State” and how we might reckon with a history that’s far darker than many Californians realize.Guests:Jean Pfaelzer, historian; author, "California, a Slave State" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pandemic took a big toll on movie theaters nationwide, and the Bay Area continues to see closures of beloved theaters, like the Embarcadero Center Cinema in San Francisco and the Regal UA Berkeley 7. But there have also been success stories, with many local cinemas fighting to keep their doors open and the movies rolling. We’ll check in with some of the people running those theaters about how their audiences have changed since the pandemic, the new things theaters are doing to bring people in and the role local theaters play in our communities.Guests:Adam Bergeron, co-owner, Cinema SF, which operates The Balboa, The Vogue, and the 4 Star theaters in San FranciscoLex Sloan, executive director, Roxie Theater in San FranciscoJ. Moses Ceaser, general manager, The New Parkway Theater in OaklandEllie Mednick, executive director, the Lark Theater in Larkspur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does it matter if life exists on another planet? To UC Irvine astrobiologist Aomawa Shields it matters in the same way that a mountain matters and screams to be climbed: not knowing is unbearable. Shields has devoted her career to studying the climate and habitability of exoplanets to further the search for extraterrestrial life. She’s also one of very few Black women in a field dominated by white men and a classically trained actor. We talk to her about her journey as a scientist and an artist and her new book “Life on Other Planets: A Memoir of Finding My Place in the Universe.”Guests:Dr. Aomawa Shields, Clare Boothe Luce associate professor of physics and astronomy, UC Irvine; author, "Life on Other Planets: A Memoir of Finding My Place in the Universe" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s a common belief about homeless people in California: they move here from other places because of the state’s tolerance, mild weather, and generous services. But according to a recent UCSF study, at least ninety percent of those experiencing homelessness lived in California before losing their housing and 75% are in the same county they used to live in. In the largest study of its kind in nearly three decades, researchers talked to thousands of participants about their experiences to find out what factors pushed them over the edge into homelessness. The real story, researchers found, has more to do with the state’s poverty, inequality, and high housing costs. As part of our ongoing series about homelessness in the Bay Area we’ll dig into the findings with the study’s author and formerly homeless Californians who advised on the project.Guests:Margot Kushel, director, UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, and principal investigator of the study; professor of medicine, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital the Director of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable PopulationsJesica Gianola, Lived Expertise Advisory Board representative, UCSF Benioff Homeless and Housing InitiativeRobynne Rose-Haymer, Lived Expertise Advisory Board representative, UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Being laid off is brutal. It can knock people off career trajectories, destabilize people’s sense of their worth, and cause problems in their personal relationships. This year, the Bay Area has seen more than 15,000 layoffs in tech alone. So, our team here at KQED has gone out to collect the best advice on what to do when you’re laid off. How do you protect your mental health? What’s your next step in getting new work? Should you stay in your field or do something else? How do you talk to your partner or family about what’s happened? We’ll hear your stories and share the best advice that we’ve been able to find.Guests:Horst Govin, career coach, Job Hunt BootcampCarly Severn, senior editor of audience news, KQEDCarlos Cabrera-Lomeli, community engagement reporter, KQEDIoanna Angelakis, marriage and family therapist based in San Francisco Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 70 percent of Californians say they’re happy living in the Golden State, but four in 10 are considering leaving. That’s according to a new survey called the California Community Poll, which found that economic anxiety and dissatisfaction with the state’s legislative priorities are among the top reasons people set their sights on moving. We’ll talk about what the poll says about our state’s varied, competing ideologies and how they map onto age, race and income. And we’ll hear from you: Why you stay, why you’d go, and what you want to see changed to make it easier for you to stick around.Guests:Dan Schnur, professor, Annenberg School of Communications at USC and UC Berkeley; helped direct the June 2023 California Community PollHelen Torres, CEO, Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE)Nancy Yap, executive director, Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment (CAUSE) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices