KQED's Forum

Covid 19 cases are on the rise again as various Omicron subvariants spread. Epidemiologists warn that people may not have as much immunity to new variants compared with previous strains of the virus. It can be hard to keep track of changing guidelines such as when to wear a mask or schedule vaccine boosters. Evaluating the risk for summer travel can be confusing. We take your questions about new Covid 19 variants and discuss the latest news, research, and where we are in the pandemic.Guests:Dr. Bob Wachter, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine, University of California, San FranciscoDr. Yvonne (Bonnie) Maldonado, professor of Pediatrics and of Epidemiology and Population Health Chief, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases Stanford University School of Medicine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nearly 80 percent of Southern California’s doughnut shops are estimated to be owned by Cambodian immigrants. Many of those owners, who struggled over hot fryers at shops open 24hours a day, seven days a week, hoped that their own children would move away from the doughnut business and join the ranks of white-collar professionals. But a generation of “doughnut kids” are opting to continue family traditions and run the shops they grew up in. They are modernizing the business while learning how to be the boss. We'll talk about doughnuts and the experience of continuing a family business’ legacy.Guests:Cathy Chaplin, senior reporter and editor, Eater LA, - author of "Food Lovers' Guide to Los Angeles." She is the author of the article "The Future of LA’s Cambodian-Owned Doughnut Shops Is in the Hands of the Next Generation."Dorothy Chow, vice-president, B & H Bakery Distributors.Danette Kuoch, co-owner and operator, California Donuts - Kuoch is a second-generation doughnut shop owner and created the Snickers doughnut. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stockton is the most diverse city in America. It was also one of the hardest hit by post-industrial decline, the Great Recession and foreclosures, leading it to bankruptcy in 2012. In her book, “The Fight to Save The Town: Reimagining Discarded America,” Stanford law professor Michelle Wilde Anderson took a close look at Stockton and three other cities with widespread poverty and gutted local governments — cities that have been written off as “dying.” But in each of the towns, Anderson profiles ways residents have fought back and found new ways to address systemic issues like violence, community trauma, loss of home ownership and starved shared resources. Forum talks with Anderson about what it takes to make “discarded” cities a place residents want to stay and fight for.Guests:Michelle Wilde Anderson, professor of Law, Stanford University; author, "The Fight to Save the Town: Reimagining Discarded America"Jasmine Dellafosse, community organizer, Gathering for Justice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s a dream of the Bay Area as a place of liberation: queer liberation, Black liberation, trans liberation, liberation for all. It’s a reputation that has pulled young people to the Bay Area for decades. But when Corey Antonio Rose moved to San Francisco from Jacksonville Florida in 2021 and searched for places that would embrace a young, gay Black man like himself, he was disappointed. In a series for the KQED podcast RightNowish, he looked at the history of those spaces in the Bay Area and the role of anti-blackness in the Bay Area’s queer community. We’ll talk with Rose about whether the Bay Area fails to live up to its reputation as a queer haven and how to find spaces that foster community and belonging.Guests:Corey Antonio Rose, producer and host of "Searching for a Kiki," a three-part series on the KQED podcast Rightnowish, KQED.Victoria Kirby York, deputy executive director, National Black Justice Coalition - a civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black LGBTQ+ people and co-sponsor of the Lavender Book, a directory of safe spaces.Don Romesburg, professor, Sonoma State University - whose expertise includes sexuality and gender in U.S. history, childhood and adolescence, transgender studies, race and sexuality, and queer performance and popular culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Veterinarians are nearly three times more likely than the general public to die by suicide, and one in six has contemplated taking their life, according to recent studies. The industry has never been under more stress: During the pandemic, pet ownership in the United States rose by 70% and the demand for veterinary assistance has risen exponentially. But many veterinarians are leaving the profession because of intense workloads, crushing student debt, hostile pet owners, and the trauma of euthanizing animals they’ve cared for from cradle to grave. We’ll talk about the mental health challenges veterinarians and vet techs are facing, and what can be done.This segment originally aired on March 8, 2022.Guests:Dr. Susan Cohen, social worker, Dr. Cohen runs support groups for veterinarians and animal welfare workers; former director of counseling, the Animal Medical Center in New York CityDr. Melanie Goble, founding board member, Not One More Vet -- a nonprofit organization devoted to helping the veterinarian medical community with mental health issue; practicing veterinarianJennifer Scarlett, president, San Francisco SPCA; veterinarianDr. Cherese Sullivan, president, Multicultural Veterinary Medical Association; practices general veterinary medicine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Though it was expected, the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has sent shock waves throughout the country. Legislatures in more than two dozen states have already or are preparing to severely restrict or eliminate abortion access. Some providers immediately halted services as soon as the Court’s decision came out while other providers are now scrambling to care for an influx of people seeking care. And patients, some as young as ten years old, are crossing state lines for emergency abortions. We examine the landscape of reproductive rights post-Roe and answer your questions about the impact of the Supreme Court's ruling.Guests:Margot Sanger-Katz, health care correspondent, The New York TimesElizabeth Nash, principal policy associate, State Issues, Guttmacher Institute, research and policy organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) worldwideMike DeBonis, congressional reporter, Washington Post Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From celebrities like Harry Styles and the members of boy band BTS to social media beauty influencers like Patrick Starrr and Kenneth Senegal, more and more men and nonbinary folk are publicly embracing makeup in their daily lives. And as author and journalist David Yi argues in their new book, the male beauty influencers of today have ancient cultural precedents. “Pretty Boys” traces male beauty figures throughout history, from Ramses the Great to ‘80s glam rockers to drag culture newly entering the mainstream. We’ll hear about how beauty influencers, both past and present, have explored gender through makeup.This segment originally aired June 11, 2021Guests:Kenneth Senegal, Beauty Entertainment influencerDavid Yi, founder and editor, Very Good Light -- a men's beauty publication; author, "Pretty Boys: Legendary Icons Who Redefined Beauty and How to Glow Up, Too" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Judging from the recent Supreme Court decisions allowing prayer during high school sports, the use of public funds for religious schools and the overturning of the federal right to an abortion, one might conclude that practicing religion is on the rise in the U.S. But, nearly 30% of Americans are not affiliated with a religious institution, a rapid decline in recent decades. People are now questioning how the erosion of the separation of church and state might affect religious beliefs and personal relationships with religious institutions. Are you religious? How are you affected by the recent court decisions on the religious cases? We’ll dive into how religion influences politics and policy and how religion plays a role in your life.Guests:Carolyn Chen, associate professor of Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley; co-director, Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion; author, "Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley"Barbara Perry, presidential studies director, University of Virginia's Miller Center Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pain is a "hallmark of consciousness among all beings," writes physician Haider Warraich in his new book "The Song of Our Scars." Pain, he explains, is also gendered, racial and above all so personal that it's the one thing truly our own. Like an estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide, Warraich himself lives with chronic pain, brought on by a devastating back injury. We'll talk to Warraich about the biology of pain and how we experience what he calls our most complicated sensation.Guests:Haider Warraich, author, "The Song of Our Scars: The Untold Story of Pain." He's also a physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the VA Boston Healthcare System and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chores are well… a chore. And for many households, the lockdown only intensified domestic tension over tasks like cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping. We’ll talk to experts about how to make chores more manageable and equitable, how to share the load with children, roommates and spouses, and how to make the drudgery of keeping everything in order feel more like a delight.Guests:Eve Rodsky, author, "Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do (and More Life to Live)," which has been adapted into a documentary to be released in select theaters and on demand on Friday, July 8.Allie Volpe, senior reporter, Vox Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices