KQED's Forum

The outcomes of a number of competitive races up and down the state could determine which party controls the House of Representatives come January. We’ll talk about the congressional races in California to keep an eye on, and we’ll break down the statewide races on your ballot, from governor to controller to attorney general.Guests:Scott Shafer, senior editor for KQED’s California Politics and Government desk and co-host of Political BreakdownGuy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government DeskSeema Mehta, politics reporter, Los Angeles Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ballots have landed in mailboxes across California. Now comes the hard part: figuring out what all the ballot measures mean. Senior editor Scott Shafer and the rest of KQED’s politics team has youcovered. We’ll talk about the most interesting items on Bay Area ballots, including mayoral and DA races, a slew of local housing measures and a state proposition that taxes the rich to tackle climate change. We’re here to answer your ballot questions.Guests:Guy Marzorati, reporter and producer, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk.Marisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED - Co-host of KQED's Political Breakdown show.Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, Reporter/Producer covering politics, KQED News. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As an 11-year old kid growing up in the L.A. suburbs, writer Jonathan Abrams managed to wheedle a Tupac Shakur cassette from a sympathetic Circuit City employee. When his mom discovered the tape with its parental advisory sticker, she made him return it, but that didn’t deter Abrams’ love for hip-hop. In his new oral history of hip-hop “The Come Up,” Abrams goes back to the genre’s roots and traces its iterations, innovations, and impact on not just music, but global culture. We’ll talk to Abrams and hear from you, who’s your go to hip-hop artist and what’s on your essential hip-hop playlist?Guests:Jonathan Abrams, "The Come Up: An Oral History of the Rise of Hip-Hop," Abrams is a staff writer for the New York Times and author of "All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of the Wire" and "Boys Among Men. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cal Berkeley alum Sheng Wang never expected himself to pursue a career in comedy. But after twenty years as a comedian, practicing his material at San Francisco venues, his hour-long Netflix special “Sweet and Juicy” has propelled him into the spotlight. We’ll talk with Sheng about the road to his new found fame and we’ll check in with local comedians about the Bay Area comedy scene.Guests:Sheng Wang, comedian, writer and actor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Our lives would have been impossible without Ronald Reagan,” says Patty Rodriguez in the opening episode of the podcast series, Out of the Shadows: Children of 86. Rodriguez and co-host Erick Galindo created the series to explore the complicated legacy of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. The act, which provided amnesty and a path to legal status to millions of undocumented residents, came about because of an unlikely ally: then-President Reagan. We’ll talk about the history of the 1986 law, the millions of lives it changed and the families it brought out of the shadows.Guests:Erick Galindo, journalist, writer, podcast creator, television showrunner, producer and co-host, Out of the Shadows: Children of 86 podcast.Ana Raquel Minian Andjel, associate professor of History, Stanford University; author, "Undocumented Lives: The Untold Story of Mexican Migration." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During a raucous L.A. city council meeting yesterday, a crowd of demonstrators demanded the resignations of Nury Martinez, Kevin DeLeón, and Gil Cedillo, three council members who had been caught on tape making racist and derogatory comments about Blacks, Jews, Central Americans, and Armenians, among others. Amidst the shouting, the one moment of quiet came as council member Michael Bonin tearfully shared his outrage over racist remarks made by Martinez, the council’s Latina president, about Bonin's adopted Black son, who Martinez, using a racist slur, called a monkey in need of a “beatdown." Though Martinez resigned from her position as council president, none of the three members has offered to resign from the council. We’ll talk to political analysts about the fallout and the racial and political fault lines revealed by this scandal.Guests:Erika D. Smith, columnist, Los Angeles TimesSaul Gonzalez, co-host, The California Report at KQEDGustavo Arellano, columnist, Los Angeles Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco chef Anna Voloshyna’s new cookbook Budmo! is a celebration of Ukrainian food and a call to rescue the regional diversity of her home country’s cuisine from the cultural erasure of Soviet occupation. Voloshyna’s hometown in southern Ukraine is now on the front lines of the Russian retreat and she’s been hosting pop-ups and fundraisers for Ukraine relief. We’ll talk food-memories, recipes and about “Budmo!” a toast that means “let us be”. “Whenever I hear it, I know there will be delicious food, blazing drinks, and countless toasts,” she writes. “This word is fierce and vigorous—a perfect embodiment of Eastern European cuisine.” Forum talks with Voloshyna as part of All You Can Eat, our series on the food cultures of the Bay Area.Guests:Anna Voloshyna, chef, blogger, culinary instructor; author, Budmo! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More Californians are contributing their dollars and time to elections in states like Michigan and Arizona where the winning party will have control over reproductive rights, redistricting and potentially the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. We’ll talk to Russell Berman about what’s at stake in state races across the country, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case that could expand statehouse authority over federal elections. Berman’s recent piece for the Atlantic is “The Next Presidential Election Is Happening Right Now in the States.”Guests:Russell Berman, staff writer, The AtlanticCraig Mauger, state politics reporter, The Detroit NewsMary Jo Pitzl, state policy, politics and elections reporter, The Arizona Republic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two Bay Area scientists have won the 2022 Nobel Prize. Stanford’s Carolyn Bertozzi is one of just eight women to ever win the prize in chemistry (out of 189 total winners). The Nobel committee described her as “an inspiration for women and queer people in STEM.” John Clauser, now 79 years old, received the prize in physics for research he conducted 50 years ago on quantum entanglement - research that he says was considered irrelevant at the time, but has since provided the foundation for quantum computation and quantum communication. Bertozzi and Clauser join Forum to talk about their work and take your science questions.Guests:Dr. John Clauser, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in physicsDr. Carolyn Bertozzi, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry; professor, Stanford University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After years of struggling and fighting for every role, actor Constance Wu had a popular TV show and a starring role in the hit movie “Crazy Rich Asians.” Then one day she sent out a tweet that nearly cratered her career. The backlash that ensued became the impetus for her new book “Making A Scene,” a collection of essays in which Wu reflects on the burden and responsibility of being a women of color in an industry run largely by men, her childhood as the daughter of immigrants who were not " tiger parents” and her journey as an artist. Wu joins us to talk about what it takes to make a scene and be heard.Guests:Constance Wu, Author, "Making a Scene." Wu has starred in the films "Crazy Rich Asians" and "Hustlers." She previously starred in the series "Fresh Off the Boat." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices