KQED's Forum

A landmark Stanford Law School study of women incarcerated in California prisons finds the vast majority of those convicted of killing their partner experienced domestic abuse. We’ll talk with journalist and author Rachel Louise Snyder — who partnered with Stanford for the study — about the stories she heard, and why laws governing self-defense fail victims of intimate partner violence. Snyder’s new opinion piece in the New York Times is “When Do Women Have the Right to Kill in Self-Defense?”Guests:Rachel Louise Snyder, professor of literature and journalism, American University - contributing Opinion writer, The New York Times; author, “No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us" and “Women We Buried, Women We Burned: A Memoir"Debbie Mukamal, executive director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center, Stanford Law School Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you go to a medical appointment or get admitted into the hospital, your doctor may be using ChatGPT to save time. Artificial intelligence is already helping medical professionals organize treatment plans, diagnose diseases, and discover new drugs. In the future, it could do even more. We’ll talk to doctors and experts about how AI is being used and its potential and pitfalls in healthcare.Guests:Dr. Bryant Lin, physician and professor, Stanford School of Medicine - He is also a primary care doctor with Stanford Internal Medicine<br />Ilana Yurkiewicz, physician and professor at Stanford, author of "Fragmented: A Doctor's Quest to Piece Together American Health Care"Dr. Jonathan Chen, physician and professor, Stanford School of MedicineAdam Yala, professor of Computational Precision Health, UC Berkeley and UCSF Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump continues to cast doubt, without basis, on the fairness of the 2024 presidential election and has so far refused to say whether he will accept the certified results. Meanwhile, in Georgia, the Republican-controlled Elections Commission recently approved new rules allowing counties to delay certification of election results. All that’s had election integrity watchers warning that Trump and his allies are laying the groundwork to challenge the presidential election results if he loses. We look at efforts underway in key swing states to protect the electoral process from attempts to undermine it.Guests:Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Arizona-based Democracy reporter, The Washington PostJessica Marsden, director of impact programs and counsel [leading teams focused on protecting free and fair elections], Protect DemocracyAdrian Fontes, Secretary of State, Arizona Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In her acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination, Kamala Harris used “the Bay” when talking about where she grew up, rather than name-check Berkeley and its counterculture reputation. And she doesn’t always jump at the chance to call-out progressive San Francisco, where she first made her name in politics. But those omissions don’t seem to be dimming the local pride and excitement over the Oakland-born candidate’s historic nomination. We’ll look back at Harris’ Bay Area background and how it shaped her career, ideas and political identity.Guests:Lateefah Simon, BART Board member, Longtime friend and mentee of Kamala HarrisDebbie Mesloh, former advisor and communications director, for Kamala HarrisCarole Porter, childhood friend of Kamala HarrisMarisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED - co-host of KQED's Political BreakdownStacey Johnson-Batiste, childhood friend of Kamala Harris, and author of "Friends from the Beginning: The Berkeley Village That Raised Kamala and Me" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are nearly 100,000 fewer private sector tech jobs in California than two years ago, according to a July report from the state Legislative Analyst’s Office. We talk about what’s behind the trend and who’s been most affected by layoffs. And we’ll hear from you: whether you’re a veteran software engineer or new to the field, are you struggling to find a job in tech?Guests:Aki Ito, chief correspondent, Business InsiderSarah Bohn, Vice President and Director of the Economic Policy Center, Public Policy Institute of CaliforniaVivek Agarwal, Executive Coach, Coachieve - lecturer at San Jose State UniversityKyle Elliott, Tech Career and Interview coach, CaffeinatedKyle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The donut shop. The local diner. The vacant lot where kids gather to play. These are the kinds of unassuming places that can foster a sense of belonging, according to author, scholar and visual artist Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani, In her new book, “The Cities We Need: Essential Stories of Everyday Places,” she argues that these often overlooked places do the essential work of forming communities. She spotlights residents making acute observations about the ordinary wonders in places such as Oakland’s Mosswood neighborhood. We talk about the book, and hear from you: Where would you take someone on a guided tour of your neighborhood? Email us at forum@kqed.org  or leave a voicemail at 415-553-3300. Guests:Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani, author, "The Cities We Need:Essential Stories of Everyday Places", Bendiner-Viani is the co-founder of Buscada, an interdisciplinary art, design and social research studio. She is also the author of "Contested City: Art and Public History as Mediation at New York's Seward Park Urban Renewal Area."Marty Price, longtime resident of Oakland. Born and raised in Oakland and served as vice principal of Oakland Technical High School. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Ann Powers began to draft her expansive new biography of Laurel Canyon music legend Joni Mitchell, she says that “certain subjects emerged: childhood as an imaginary terrain where singer-songwriters could express their ideals and idiosyncrasies; sadness as a complicated form of women’s liberation; side roads and retreats as the secret sources of an artist’s strengths. And traveling, always traveling.” Powers’ book charts Mitchell’s influences, collaborators and milieu, weaving in reflections on the broader politics and trends of each decade during Mitchell’s career. It grapples with the sexism of Laurel Canyon’s heyday and Mitchell being labeled a “confessional” artist, as well as Mitchell’s own complicated relationship with feminism and with being the only woman at the table. We talk to Powers about Joni Mitchell’s life and art and hear how Mitchell has affected you. Powers’ new book is “Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell.”Guests:Ann Powers, music critic and correspondent, NPR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Andor Broudeur is a classical music critic for the Washington Post and he’s also a self-described “meathead” with an relentless desire to make his body bigger. In his book “Swole: The Making of Man and the Meaning of Muscle” Broudeur grapples with the contradictions and complexities of male body image and masculinity. He embraces the gay male gym culture he’s a part of but writes that it would be silly “to try and distance the symbol of the buff male bod from its long and wide lineage of unsavory cultural signifiers. As a mascot for classical beauty, the meathead must also embody white supremacy, hetero-patriarchy, and a vast panoply of nationalisms.” We listen back to our June conversation with Brodeur about how weight training has shifted his perspective on what it means to be a man.Guests:Michael Andor Brodeur, author, "Swole: The Making of Men and the Meaning of Muscle"; classical music critic, The Washington Post Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Darién Gap, the perilous mountain region connecting Central and South America, was thought for centuries to be all but impossible to cross. But now, hundreds of thousands of migrants are doing just that to reach the U.S. Pulitzer Prize-winning immigration reporter Caitlin Dickerson took three trips to the Darién Gap over five months, following groups of migrants on their 70-mile trek from northern Colombia into southern Panama. They risked hunger, thirst, drowning, disease, violence, sexual assault and death. We talk to Dickerson about what she witnessed and what she calls the “flawed logic” of U.S. immigration policy – “that by making migration harder, we can limit the number of people who attempt it.” Her new article in the Atlantic is “Seventy Miles in the Darién Gap.”Guest:Caitlin Dickerson, staff writer, The Atlantic; Dickerson won a 2023 Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on immigration; her new article is "“Seventy Miles in the Darién Gap.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The son who traveled 2,500 miles to save his parents’ dog. The stranger who picked up the tab for a girl who was trying to buy a prom dress at Goodwill. The airport janitor who stopped to feed and comfort a stranded passenger. These are some of the small and big acts of kindness website Upworthy compiled into a new book, “Good People: Stories from the Best of Humanity.” We’ll talk to the editors and hear from you: What is a memorable act of kindness you have received or given?Guests:Lucia Knell, co-author, "Good People: Stories From the Best of Humanity "; Knell is the vice president of the media company Upworthy. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Glamour and Vogue, among other publications.Gabriel Reilich, co-author, "Good People: Stories from the Best of Humanity"; Reilich is the head of content and innovation at the media companies Good and Upworthy. He developed the Upworthy Instagram account which now has five million+ followers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices