KQED's Forum

Office buildings in downtown San Francisco sit empty or nearly empty as thousands of workers continue working from home. Back in 2019, San Francisco had one of the tightest office real estate markets in the country with about 5% vacancy and record-setting rental rates. Now, vacancy has plummeted to 24% and rental rates have fallen by 13% since the end of 2019, according to commercial brokerage firm CBRE. But, it’s not just cubicles that are deserted – so are the sidewalks and many of the cafes, stores and small businesses that catered to the office crowd. The trend is prompting some developers, landlords and policymakers to consider turning some office towers into much needed housing, but similar efforts have proven difficult in the past. We’ll talk about how to reimagine and pump new life into San Francisco’s downtown business districts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Californians went to the polls on Tuesday to vote in the state’s primary, predicted low voter turnout seemed to be the top headline statewide. While every registered voter was mailed a ballot, only 16% of them had been returned by Tuesday. This lackluster turnout stands in contrast to the energy behind some of the hotly contested races, like the mayor’s campaign in Los Angeles and the effort to recall San Francisco’s progressive district attorney. And while a recent poll by the Public Policy Institute placed the economy, inflation and housing at the top of Californian’s concerns, political observers note that this primary seems to be a referendum on pandemic crime rates. We’ll analyze the results, and talk about what message voters are sending about state politics and what these results portend for the November midterms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Voters cast ballots in consequential races across the Bay Area on Tuesday. San Franciscans decided whether to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin, a campaign followed in national media as a referendum on progressive criminal justice reform. San Jose’s mayoral primary brought in historic amounts of campaign spending. We’ll look at the impact of California’s new redistricting maps on congressional elections, discuss the possible reasons for low voter turnout and analyze election results from around the Bay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California – and specifically Lincoln Park in San Francisco – is at least in theory the ultimate destination for the band of travelers and seekers that populate Amor Towles’s latest novel, “The Lincoln Highway.” But their journey becomes defined by detours, reversals and recalibrations – in much the same way that Towles describes how he composes his novels. “While I’m writing chapters,” he says, “I’m also adapting to surprises that surface from the work.” We’ll talk to Towles about the themes that unite his novels and his own odyssey as a writer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tens of millions of Mexicans immigrated to the U.S. to give their children better lives, but now some of those children are choosing to pack up and make their own lives in Mexico. The pandemic has fueled a major uptick in Americans looking to move abroad including a growing number of people moving to countries where their families originated from, especially Mexico. Many of those expatriates desire not just to live abroad, but also to reconnect with their ancestral homeland and heritage. But it’s a move that’s often fraught with challenges and complex questions about identity. We talk with Americans of Mexican descent now living in Mexico and why they decided to migrate in reverse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California voters head to the polls Tuesday to narrow the candidate fields in multiple state and local elections, from mayors’ races in San Jose and Los Angeles to statewide contests for governor, attorney general and state controller. In what some political observers consider to be referendums on pandemic crime rates, voters will also weigh in on candidates for Los Angeles sheriff and decide whether to recall San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin. We’ll hear about the potential repercussions for November, the biggest races, and your thoughts and questions ahead of election day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Golden State Warriors are back in the NBA finals this year, facing serious competition from a tough Boston Celtics squad. We’ll talk about their season, the return of key players to the court, the future of the franchise and how they’re looking in the finals with reporters who’ve been following the Warriors all season long. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oklahoma last week became the first state to ban almost all abortions from the moment of conception, and at least 20 more are poised to outlaw or severely restrict the procedure if, as widely expected, the Supreme Court overrules Roe v. Wade this month. How did we get to this point? That’s the question legal historian Mary Ziegler seeks to untangle in her new book “Dollars for Life: The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Fall of the Republican Establishment.” We’ll talk to Ziegler about the ebb and flow of U.S. popular sentiment about abortion and the ways extremist abortion foes joined forces with -- and ultimately co-opted -- the GOP. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fantastic Negrito is one of the most original and successful performers to emerge from the Bay Area over the last decade. A musician, a storyteller and a carrier of our region’s Black musical traditions, he began performing on the streets of Oakland. Now he’s won 3 Grammys and he’s got a new album coming out today. Alexis, Mina Kim and some lucky KQED Live fans, got to hear a preview of that album a few months back, and we’re excited to finally be able to share Fantastic Negrito’s electric performance with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As teachers process the horror of the Uvalde shootings, they’re also managing concerns about safety in their own workplaces and supporting and protecting students worried about gun violence. And that’s all on top of two years working under the stresses of the pandemic. We’ll talk to teachers across California about how they’re coping in the wake of Uvalde — inside the classroom and out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices