KQED's Forum

The coronavirus pandemic magnified many existing issues facing seniors in society, including loneliness and isolation. Social distancing meant our parents and grandparents could no longer go to places of worship, senior centers, restaurants, or visit with family. Many seniors faced lockdowns in assisted living facilities or nursing homes, or were isolated in their own homes. Looking back at this past year, Rachael Myrow talks about the difficulties seniors faced and lessons to be learned from them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the early aughts, when singer-songwriter Miko Marks was looking to launch her music career in Nashville, the mecca of country music, she was told by one of the major labels that she was too “innovative” and that she wouldn’t sell records as a Black woman artist. Today, following last year’s protests for racial justice, and after one of country’s biggest stars was captured on camera using a racial slur, the country music industry is having a reckoning. We’ll talk to the Bay Area-based Marks about how she’s forged her art and identity as a Black woman in the white- and male-dominated country music industry. We’ll also talk about and hear some songs from her new album “Our Country.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Biden formed a task force last month to speed the reunification of migrant children separated from their parents under the last administration’s “zero tolerance” policy. Advocates for the children have been pressing officials to act with urgency and offer the families a path to citizenship and other resources. Roughly 1,000 children are thought to remain separated, and the parents of about 500 have yet to be located. We’ll talk about the status of reunification efforts, and we’ll also talk about how the Biden Administration is responding to a dramatic increase in the number of unaccompanied minors crossing the southern border. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The just approved American Rescue Plan includes $1.7 billion for struggling public Bay Area transit agencies. The pandemic has forced agencies such as BART and Muni to cut service. The new funds help avoid further service cuts and massive layoffs. We’ll hear how the agencies are likely to use the funds, and whether they’ll be enough to reverse a massive ridership and budgetary crisis in the region's public transit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the pandemic began a year ago, we've checked in with a number of public health officials throughout the region. Now we head to the North Bay to talk with Napa and Sonoma County officials about current coronavirus restrictions, reopening, the rate of infection and the pace of vaccinations. We'll hear what makes the North Bay's experience of the pandemic unique – from bedroom communities to farm workers – plus managing the pandemic amid the pressures of a tourism-oriented economy and the threat of wildfire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The House of Representatives passed the $1.9 trillion COVID-relief bill Wednesday and now billions of dollars are set to flow to California in direct payments to individuals, and for things like housing aid and child care assistance. President Biden will sign the bill, called the American Rescue Plan Act, into law on Friday. The plan’s much awaited $1,400 stimulus checks, for a segment of the population, could start hitting bank accounts within one to two weeks. The package also extends the existing $300 weekly unemployment benefit until September. We’ll talk about how the plan will impact Californians and how it might boost the state’s own $7.6 billion stimulus package that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law last month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New CDC guidelines allow fully vaccinated people to gather indoors without masks or social distancing. But what if not everyone in that group is vaccinated? As more Californians get vaccines, and as Covid rates decline, we’ll discuss how social distancing protocols and the necessity for wearing masks should change. And we’ll talk about the latest best practices for personal protective equipment and hear from you. Have you changed your mask-wearing habits lately? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Native Olympia oysters were once abundant in the San Francisco Bay. But overharvesting and increasing sediment from the Gold Rush mining era had all but wiped them out by the 1860’s when they were a popular and cheap food. We’ll talk about how hard working oysters help clean waterways and provide important habitat for other sea life, and what efforts are underway to bring them back. And we’ll hear about why Olympia oysters were prized by indigenous peoples and miners alike. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Governor Gavin Newsom delivers his third State of the State address Tuesday night, not from Sacramento, but from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. This comes as Newsom has been on the road, touring vaccination sites, businesses and public schools, in what feels very much like a campaign. The Governor is facing pressure from people who want coronavirus vaccinations, from parents who want their kids back in school and from businesses that want to reopen. And there's a recall effort led by disgruntled Republicans in this very blue state. We discuss the state of the state speech. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Google’s HR department advised employees who filed complaints about racial discrimination to get counseling or take medical leave -- suggestions irrelevant to their complaints, according to a news report from NBC News. Google drew backlash for what some workers consider a toxic and racist company culture because of events such as the firing of Timnit Gebru, April Curley and others who pushed for greater social equity within Google. We talk about how Google has responded to internal complaints of discrimination and what’s happening within its company culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices