KQED's Forum

About 16 million Americans – or about 1 in 20 U.S. adults – own at least one AR-15, making it the best-selling rifle in the United States. It’s also among the most lethal: ten of the 17 deadliest U.S. mass shootings in the last decade have involved AR-15s, according to “American Icon,” a new investigation by the Washington Post. We talk about why the AR-15, originally designed as a lightweight combat weapon, has risen to mass market dominance over the last two decades and why it’s remained free from congressional scrutiny.Guests:Mark Follman, national affairs editor, Mother Jones; author, "Trigger Points: Inside the Mission to Stop Mass Shootings in America"Peter Wallsten, senior national investigations editor, Washington PostSilvia Foster-Frau, multiculturalism reporter, Washington Post Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With rising inflation, downtowns that are yet to fully reopen and regional bank failures, it may seem that there is not a lot of good economic news to report right now. But according to Katherine S. Newman and Elisabeth S. Jacobs, the authors of a new book, “Moving the Needle,” there is a major economic success story in the tight labor markets of recent years which helped bring the truly disadvantaged out of poverty. Newman and Jacobs say that low unemployment has not only increased wages, it has also changed employers’ minds about hiring the formerly incarcerated, the value of a minimum wage, and the importance of flexible schedules. We’ll talk about how the policies applied during periods of low unemployment can make a difference when economic times get tough.Guests:Katherine S. Newman, provost and executive vice president, Academic Affairs, University of California; co-author, "Moving the Needle: What Tight Labor Markets Do for the Poor"Elisabeth S. Jacobs, senior fellow, Urban Institute Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population; co-author, " Moving the Needle: What Tight Labor Markets Do for the Poor." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi, spanning what is now Kings, Tulare and Kern Counties before it was drained a century ago, Tulare Lake is on the verge of returning. Swelled by recent storms, it has inundated farmland, threatened cities, forced evacuations, disrupted livelihoods and reignited long-standing water wars. With record snow in the Sierra Nevada yet to run off, there’s more water coming. We’ll talk about what the re-emergence of Tulare Lake means for the region and the state.Guests:Karla Nemeth, director, California Department of Water ResourcesLois Henry, editor and CEO, SJV Water - an independent, nonprofit news site covering water in the San Joaquin ValleyDoug Verboon, district 3 supervisor, Kings County Board of SupervisorsKayode Kadara, community leader, Allensworth - in southwest Tulare County Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Residents of Martinez woke up the morning after Thanksgiving last year to find a white powder coating their neighborhoods. About a week later, county health officials announced it was a toxic release from Martinez Refining Co. and, after another several weeks, residents were told not to eat any food grown in their soil. Now, on Wednesday, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District will present the Martinez City council with its report on where the two tons of “spent catalyst” landed. Forum talks with residents and officials about their quest to get answers and accountability, and the uneasy relationship between the area’s refineries and the neighbors who share their air.Guests:Heidi Taylor, resident of MartinezCharles Davidson, Sunflower AllianceMatt Kaufmann, deputy director, Contra Costa Health ServicesOri Tzvieli, health officer, Contra Costa County Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“In Indian Country, everybody seems to know somebody who’s gone missing or been murdered,” begins LA Times reporter Hannah Wiley’s reporting on the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in California. The Sovereign Bodies Institute reports that at least 183 indigenous women and girls have disappeared or were murdered in California, a figure it says could be many times higher owing to incomplete data. Their disappearances are part of the legacy of anti-Indigenous violence, experts say, and perpetuate cycles of generational trauma. We hear how Northern California’s Yurok Tribe is addressing the crisis and trying to achieve justice for those who have disappeared in their own community and nationwide.Guests:Hannah Wiley, politics reporter, Los Angeles TimesHonorable Abby Abinanti, chief judge, the Yurok Tribal CourtBlythe K. George, associate professor of sociology, UC Merced; member of the Yurok TribeChief Greg O'Rourke, chief of police, Yurok Tribal Police Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When he was named San Francisco Poet Laureate in 2021, Tongo Eisen Martin said, “I want to push even further into places where poetry has not yet permeated.” He’s taken poetry to youth in homeless shelters, group homes and psych wards. Using poetry as a means to bring power, beauty and truth to more people is a goal that unites several poets and poet laureates joining Forum to mark the beginning of National Poetry Month. Forum wants to celebrate your favorite contemporary poets and find out how poetry shows up in your life. Join us for a conversation with poets about poetry.Guests:Tongo Eisen-Martin , San Francisco Poet LaureateDr. Ayodele Nzinga, Artistic Director, The Lower Bottom Playaz - artist, activist and Poet Laureate of OaklandMarcelo Hernandez Castillo, poet and author of the poetry collection, "Cenzontle" and the memoir, "Children of the Land"Leticia del Toro, poet and educator - recently released the collection of poems, “All We Are Told Not to Touch”Lee Herrick , Poet Laureate of California Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As America gradually becomes a cashless society, credit card rewards programs have become increasingly popular, offering to give consumers back a portion of what they spend in the form of points to be used on flights or hotel stays, or cash back. To pay for these rewards, credit card companies have raised the fees they charge merchants for every credit card transaction, and merchants in turn pass that increased cost onto customers by raising prices. These higher prices impact all consumers, but only those with credit cards, on average wealthier than those without, enjoy the resulting benefits. We talk about this system where those without credit cards foot the bill for the rest.Guests:Chenzi Xu, assistant professor of finance, Stanford Graduate School of BusinessAaron Klein, chair and senior fellow in economic studies, Brookings Institution; former deputy assistant secretary for economic policy, the Department of Treasury (2009-2012) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Quentin is the oldest and most notorious prison in California. It’s home to the largest death row in the nation, housing infamous criminals including Charles Manson. But Governor Gavin Newsom has a new vision for the institution, renamed the “San Quentin Rehabilitation Center”. Under his plan the nearly 550 condemned inmates would move to other maximum security facilities in the state. With a proposed initial infusion of $20 million San Quentin would aim to increase its rehabilitation programming 10 fold and incorporate methods used in Scandinavian countries to normalize life, emphasize support over punishment and prepare inmates for their eventual return to society. Forum talks about the governor’s transformative vision and the challenges in making it happen.Guests:Anita Chabria, columnist, Los Angeles TimesTinisch Hollins, executive director, Californians for Safety and Justice; co-founder, SF Black Wall Street; Vice Chair, SF African-Americans Reparations Advisory CommitteeThanh Tran, policy associate, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Manhattan grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump on charges believed to be related to illegal payments his team made to porn star Stormy Daniels to stay silent about her alleged affair with the then-president. This is the first time in U.S. history a former president has been charged with a crime. We'll analyze the latest and hear your reactions.Guests:Josh Meyer, domestic security correspondent, USA TodayMike Madrid, co-founder, The Lincoln Project - a group of Republicans seeking to prevent the re-election of President Donald Trump; political consultant and partner, GrassrootsLabCongressman Adam Schiff, Democratic Congressman, representing California's 28th District, in Los Angeles County; former chair, House Intelligence Committee and member of the select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection; author, "Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Laurel Braitman’s father died, after more than a decade at battle with a rare bone cancer, she was a teenager, just finishing up high school. It wasn’t until about two decades later, when she was 36, that she found herself asking if could join a grief group for kids. She ended up volunteering as one of the grief counselors, launching a wide and varied quest to understand, and heal, from the trauma of her father’s death that she chronicles in her memoir, “What Looks Like Bravery: An Epic Journey Through Loss to Love”.Guests:Laurel Braitman, author, "What Looks Like Bravery: An Epic Journey Through Loss to Love," and NYT bestseller, "Animal Madness;" director of writing and storytelling, Stanford School of Medicine's Medicine and the Muse Program Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices