KQED's Forum

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Saturday a 10-year partnership with nonprofit drug company Civica Rx to manufacture the state’s own supply of insulin. Part of the state’s new CalRx program, the move is only the first step in California’s ambitious plan to produce more affordable generic prescription drugs — like overdose reversal medication naloxone — and make them available on the national market. We’ll talk about CalRx and how it could help address the nation’s drug affordability crisis.Guests:Angela Hart, senior correspondent covering health care politics and policy in California and the West, Kaiser Health News and California HealthlineKevin Wren, patient advocate and volunteer, California #insulin4allRobin Feldman, professor of law and Director of the Center for Innovation, UC Law; author of “Drugs, Money, and Secret Handshakes: The Unstoppable Growth of Prescription Drug Prices” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It might be hard to visualize at the moment, but not long ago we were in a severe water emergency. Marin county asked for 40% cuts in usage and planned for an emergency pipeline to bring in water from the East Bay over the Richmond bridge. Now, many reservoirs are overflowing and water managers are releasing water to avoid floods when the massive Sierra snowpack melts. Forum talks with water managers from three Bay Area districts about how their systems are handling the whiplash. How much of this water are they able to store? How does moving from too dry to too wet change the way they manage their systems? And what are they asking of customers? As we look toward a future of more extreme weather, we talk about how the Bay Area’s waterworks will have to adjust.Guests:Aaron Baker, chief operating officer, Water Utility Division, Valley WaterBen Horenstein, general manager, Marin Municipal Water DistrictMike Tognolini, director of water and natural resources, East Bay Municipal Utility District Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 5 million Californians use the state program CalFresh to pay for their groceries. But come April, CalFresh users will see a drop of at least $95 each month with the end of CalFresh’s pandemic fund program. Recipients of these funds report that the extra money gave them the cushion to stop choosing from between going hungry and paying bills. Indeed, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, over 1.1 million Californians were kept out of poverty in 2021 because of these pandemic benefits. Now that they are coming to an end, participants in the program and advocates worry about how people will cope. We’ll talk about what the change in CalFresh funding means for hunger and poverty in the state and where to find additional food support and benefits.Related link:CalFresh resource guideGuests:Becky Silva, director of government relations, California Association of Food BanksCarly Severn, senior engagement editor, KQED NewsCaroline Danielson, senior research fellow, Public Policy Institute of CA - co-author of the yearly California Poverty Measure ReportJeanne Kuang, reporter, CalMattersTom McSpedden, 69-year-old Citrus Heights resident with Type II diabetes who receives CalFresh benefits Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Each year in the United States, roughly 100,000 young adults experience a psychotic episode including hearing voices or hallucinations. Treating those episodes early on can prevent some of the worst outcomes of mental illness such as homelessness or not being able to hold down a job. The National Institute of Mental Health has outlined what experts call a “gold standard” for early treatment of psychosis, but access to that care is often unavailable or not covered by insurance. We talk about why it’s so hard for psychosis patients to receive the care they need and what we can do about it.Guests:Adriana Furuzawa, early psychosis division director, Felton InstituteTara Niendam, vice chair for research and executive director, UC Davis Early Psychosis ProgramsMike Krechevsky, family support specialist, Felton Institute Early Psychosis - Mike's son had psychosis and went through an early intervention program.April Dembosky, health correspondent, KQED News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you felt like your house might blow away yesterday, you aren't alone. The storm that battered the Bay Area Tuesday was stronger and more destructive than weather services forecasted. Blisteringly high winds toppled trees and tore down power lines. Rain, which was also heavier than anticipated, soaked waterlogged soil, causing floods that have closed down roads. Thousands remain without power. We'll talk with meteorologist Gerry Diaz about where this latest storm came from and why it was so ferocious.Guests:Gerry Díaz, newsroom meteorologist, San Francisco Chronicle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is there a case for ignoring the news sometimes—or even most of the time? That’s the question Shadi Hamid urges us to consider in his recent essay for The Atlantic "You’re Better Off Not Knowing." Hamid explores research suggesting a negative correlation between personal well-being and political awareness and argues that unless you need to follow politics for a living, "it’s unclear what the news—good or bad—actually does for you, beyond making you aware of things you have no real control over." We talk to Hamid about the downsides of information addiction and hear how you engage in current events and avoid overwhelm.Guests:Shadi Hamid, senior fellow, Brookings - His recent essay for the Atlantic is called "You’re Better Off Not Knowing." His latest book is "The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new PBS Frontline documentary, “Age of Easy Money” traces how the Federal Reserve’s unprecedented monetary experiment has both helped and hurt the American economy. Beginning in 2008, the Federal Reserve stepped in to prop up a banking system on the verge of collapse. In the decade that followed, with low interest rates and massive infusions of cash into the system, the Fed enabled a bull stock market and bubbles in the housing, financial and technology markets. But now, three years after its efforts to keep the economy afloat during the pandemic, it seems the party may be over. Inflation and rising interest rates have rattled the market, and experts believe a historic course correction may be imminent. We’ll talk about the documentary, the consequences of Federal Reserve policy, and take your questions.Guests:James Jacoby, director, producer, correspondent; Frontline - Jacoby's latest film is "Age of Easy Money." Jacoby has won an Emmy award for his previous film "Amazon Empire," and a Peabody award for his film "The Facebook Dilemma"Anya Bourg, producer, Frontline - Bourg is a producer and writer on the new Frontline documentary "Age of Easy Money." She has previously worked on "The Facebook Dilemma" and prior to joining Frontline, spent a decade at "60 Minutes" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Biden approved on Monday ConocoPhillips’ controversial Willow project in Alaska, one of the largest oil developments ever proposed on federal land. The White House says it lacked legal latitude to cancel the project and simultaneously proposed rules that would limit other oil and gas leases in the region. But indigenous groups and climate activists say the project’s environmental and public health toll will be immense and irreversible and have sued to stop it. We’ll talk about the controversy and where the Biden administration’s environmental and energy goals stand.Guests:Tim Puko, climate correspondent covering politics and policy, The Washington PostJennifer Layke, global director of energy, World Resources InstituteJohn Leshy, professor of law, UC College of the Law, San Francisco; Interior Department’s solicitor under President Bill ClintonYessenia Funes, climate director, Atmos - a climate and culture magazine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During last week’s atmospheric river storm, a levee broke on the Pajaro River, turning the town of Pajaro - inhabited mostly by Latino farmworkers - into a lake. As the LA Times reported, officials knew for decades that the levee was unstable, but delayed fixing it because of “benefit-cost ratios.” We’ll talk with community representatives and water management experts about what Pajaro residents are facing now, and how decisions are made that determine which communities are protected. As climate change brings more extreme weather events and flooding, we discuss what changes need to be made to protect vulnerable communities through the coming decades.Related link(s):For more on how you can help those affected by flooding in PajaroGuests:Luis Alejo, Monterey County SupervisorBarbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director, Restore the DeltaMark Strudley, executive director, Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hackers who could install brain spyware into the apps and devices we’re using. Advertisers that could interface with our minds to know the products we crave, even before we do. It won’t all happen tomorrow, but Duke law professor Nita Farahany says we’re rapidly heading toward a world in which scientists, governments and corporations can peer into our brains and minds. We learn about the neurotechnology that calls to mind scenes from the “Minority Report” and hear why Farahany thinks we need to establish and protect our cognitive liberty. Her new book is “The Battle for Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology.”Guests:Nita Farahany, professor of law and philosophy, Duke University; author, "The Battle For Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices