KQED's Forum

In most of the country, tipped workers, such as restaurant servers and bartenders, earn a minimum wage of less than $5 an hour -- in 17 states they earn just $2.13. Advocates with One Fair Wage, a campaign to raise the federal minimum wage for tipped workers, say the over-reliance on tips to meet the most basic needs makes workers more vulnerable to sexual harassment and abuse. We’ll talk with One Fair Wage’s president and with the director of the documentary, “Waging Change”, which tells the stories of tip workers, the movement to raise their pay and the industry forces that fight higher wages. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Communities in the Bay Area are reeling from a recent spate of violent attacks against elderly Asian Americans that left one 84-year old San Francisco resident dead and several others injured. The attacks are part of growing number of hate incidents targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders statewide, according Stop AAPI Hate, which recorded more than 1200 self-reported instances of assault and harassment in California between March and December of last year. We’ll talk about how anti-Asian violence is affecting individuals and communities and what can be done to stop it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week Santa Clara and Alameda counties became the first in the state to record the coronavirus variant found in South Africa. The news came as the region begins opening mass vaccination sites to speed immunizations before further mutations make the virus harder to manage. In this hour, we hear about the latest research on new variants and vaccine efficacy against them, and we get an update on coronavirus numbers as the region continues to see a slowing of cases and deaths.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anna Malaika Tubbs's new book, "The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation," has been described as "a literary declaration that Black women know best how to survive in this broken world while actively mending it for everyone." Tubbs weaves a historical tapestry of the stories of Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin, and argues that by understanding the full extent of their lives throughout the Jim Crow era, we gain a fuller picture of American history and the pivotal role of black women in shaping it. We speak to Tubbs about her latest book and the key, but often marginalized, role of black women in history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Michael Krasny took over as Forum host in 1993 he assured listeners that he would preserve the program’s commitment to news and politics but promised to open up “new vistas in the arts …and the life of the mind." Since then, he’s become a beloved Bay Area institution, covering the biggest stories of the past three decades and interviewing everyone from world leaders to Hollywood stars to community activists. For his last show, Michael will share memories and reflections on his distinguished career with NPR's Ron Elving, and he especially wants to hear from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist James Fallows says the Biden Administration is facing harder decisions than most new administrations because, he writes, “In addition to looking forward, to all the problems they are now supposed to solve, they must look backward, to reckoning with what Donald Trump and his enablers have done.” On the first day of President Trump’s impeachment trial, we’ll talk with The Atlantic writer about how Biden should triage the multiple crises on his hands. And we’ll get his assessment of the administration’s early policy moves and impeachment.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Seize it. Migrate. Move.” This is the crux of journalist and New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow’s newest book, “The Devil you Know: A Black Power Manifesto.” He argues that the Great Migration of Blacks from the rural South to Northern urban centers did not deliver on improved social and economic conditions, and that the fastest way to fight systemic anti-Black racism is for Blacks to migrate to the South, where they can more easily consolidate their political power. Blow has taken his advice to heart and moved from New York to Atlanta. We’ll hear from Blow about his book and learn how a reverse migration could move progressive policies, like reparations and criminal justice reform, forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A year into the coronavirus pandemic, the once novel idea of working from home has begun to feel permanent -- at least for some workers. Some experts predict the old 9-to-5 paradigm is over as workers and employers devise more flexible arrangements. While there are many perks, more remote work can mean less social interaction and collapsed boundaries between work and home life. It can also threaten the vitality of urban centers. We talk about how working from home has already begun to reshape communities, family dynamics and how employees relate to their jobs and each other.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Food journalist and author Mark Bittman explores the history of humankind’s relationship to food in his latest book, "Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal,” and argues that the development of agriculture has shaped today's public health, climate change and social justice crises. Bittman believes that agriculture requires a cultural and political reckoning with how it has "driven exploitation and injustice, slavery and war” to tackle the damage it’s caused. Bittman joins us now to talk about his latest book and how to transform our agricultural systems to reclaim a healthy, just future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bay Area based journalist and author Isabel Allende’s books--translated into 42 languages-- have resonated across cultures and countries around the world. Her forthcoming book, “The Soul of a Woman,” is a memoir of her feminism, which she embraced at a very early age as she witnessed her single mother struggle to look after three children. Isabel first appeared on Forum in 1995 and she joins Michael Krasny now, as he heads into retirement, to speak about her newest work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices