KQED's Forum

“There’s nothing wrong with me because of the color of my skin.” Award-winning scholar and author Ibram X. Kendi wants us to imagine a world where all kids of color could be taught to internalize that antiracist idea and develop their sense of self through it. We'll talk to Kendi about how we as caregivers can help them do that and why we need to work to build an antiracist society that can protect all children. Kendi’s new book is “How to Raise an Antiracist.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fireworks may be in your future this holiday, but there are other reasons to gaze skyward in July. We’ll talk about meteor showers and other celestial events you can catch, hear about the Mars Perseverance rover’s latest adventures and get updates on the James Hubble telescope, expected to release its first images this month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

America's national anthem “The Star Spangled Banner” was written by a white lawyer who owned slaves but fought for Black freedom in court. That contradiction captures the controversy embedded in the song. It is a song that can inspire patriotic fervor and ignite passionate protest. It is also notoriously hard to sing. We talk to Mark Clague about the anthem and his new book about it, "O Say Can You Hear." As we go into this Fourth of July weekend, during a time when the nation is roiled by the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the congressional hearings on the insurrection at the Capitol, we hear from you about what patriotism means to you now. And what song speaks to your vision for America? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This year’s ground shifting Supreme Court term comes to a close on Thursday. This term, the Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, expanded religious rights and struck down gun regulation. In the process, it has positioned its jurisprudence to rely heavily on historical precedents from colonial times to guide its decisions. With confidence in the Supreme Court at an all-time low, many Americans believe that the justices are out of step with the majority of the country. What will that mean for the Court’s future? We’ll talk to a panel of experts about the term’s most significant rulings and look at what might be on the docket for next year’s term when Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson joins the Court.Guests:Rory Little, professor; UC-Hastings College of the Law; former attorney with the U.S. Department of JusticeMargaret Russell, professor of Constitutional Law; Santa Clara University School of Law Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In some parts of the country, barbecue is a fighting word. It launches hot debates on vinegar versus tomato-based sauce and the right ways to rub, spice and smoke. KQED Food editor Luke Tsai has a different take. His new series, BBQ in the Bay, highlights the region’s unique barbecue cultures from various traditions of cooking food outdoors over an open flame and how it brings communities together. As part of Forum’s regular segment on food cultures of the Bay Area, called All You Can Eat, we’ll dish on Mongolian barbecue, lechon, barbacoa, barbecue oysters, brisket and much more.Guests:Luke Tsai, food editor, KQEDPendarvis "Pen" Harshaw, columnist, KQED Arts; host, KQED's "Rightnowish" podcastRay Castro, dentist in East Bay; amateur barbecue competitorRocky Rivera, emcee; writer; part of KQED's BBQ in the Bay series Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Food and Drug Administration’s vaccines advisory committee decided Tuesday to recommend that covid vaccines be reformulated to better protect against the highly transmissible omicron variant. The vote comes as reported coronavirus cases top 10 million in California – a figure widely considered an undercount. We’ll discuss what the vote means, as well as the latest on covid subvariants, boosters and long covid, with UCSF’s Dr. Peter Chin-Hong.Guests:Dr. Peter Chin-Hong M.D., infectious disease specialist, UCSF Medical Center Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former President Donald Trump tried to wrestle control of a vehicle so he could join the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2020. That was just one of several major revelations from Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former chief of staff Mark Meadows, during Tuesday’s testimony before the House committee investigating the attack. Hutchinson also testified that Trump called to lift security during his rally despite knowing that many people were heavily armed, threw his lunch at a wall over a news article about former Attorney General William Barr, and endorsed a violent attack on Vice President Mike Pence. Former Trump staffers and aides have testified before the committee, giving the nation a fuller account of what happened on Jan. 6 and how Trump behaved. We discuss the latest news from the committee hearings and what these revelations mean for Americans.Guests:Nicholas Wu, reporter covering Congress, PoliticoAimee Allison, founder, She the People - an organization elevating the political voice of women of colorAnkush Khardori, lawyer based in Washington, D.C; contributing writer, New York magazine's Intelligencer; contributing editor, Politico magazine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A recent Los Angeles Times report examined seven affordable housing projects in Northern California in which the cost of development surpassed $1 million per unit. Part of the reason for the exorbitant cost of building is skyrocketing construction prices with rising material and labor costs exacerbated by the pandemic and supply chain shortages. But, as the L.A. Times points out, local and state requirements add a sizable amount to the total expense. For nonprofit developers who build subsidized housing, that means fewer units for more money. As California looks for ways to alleviate the housing crisis, we discuss why affordable housing is becoming more unaffordable and strategies to bring down the price tag.Guests:Liam Dillon, statewide housing affordability and neighborhood change reporter, Los Angeles TimesHeather Hood, vice president, Northern California, Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.Tim Grayson, California State assembly member, district 14 (encompasses portions of Contra Costa and Solano Counties)Ben Metcalf, managing director, Terner Center of Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley; former director, California Department of Housing and Community Development Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former President Trump repeatedly tried to persuade top Justice Department officials to act on baseless fraud allegations in the days after the 2020 election, former acting deputy attorney general Richard Donoghue testified on Thursday. As the January 6 committee hearings pause before resuming in July, we'll analyze the information presented so far and talk about what's next for the DOJ's investigation into Trump’s attempt to interfere in the 2020 election. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Ben Tarnoff thinks the internet is broken:It is rife with misinformation and vitriolic hate speech. It potentially invades privacy rights. In the United States, it costs way too much to access compared with prices in other countries. And, it’s no surprise that it doesn’t work for consumers, Tarnoff says, because the internet was built by companies focused on power and profit. In his new book, “Internet for the People: The Fight for Our Digital Future,” Tarnoff offers a vision for a better internet that centers on public ownership of internet service providers and companies. We’ll talk to Tarnoff about his hopes for a more utopian internet.Guests:Ben Tarnoff, author, "Internet for the People: The Fight for Our Digital Future"; founding editor, Logic magazine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices