KQED's Forum

Amid the Bay Area’s dire need for more housing, California Forever has set out a bold vision for a new city in east Solano County on 17,500 acres of mostly farmland. But the company, backed by various Silicon Valley billionaires, has so far struggled to garner enough local support. In July, California Forever scrapped plans to ask for voter approval for the project on this November’s ballot, but said it plans to try again in 2026. Many county officials and nearby residents oppose the project, while others want more information about how it would impact their communities. We’ll talk about the state of California Forever’s plans and what could happen next.Guests:Adhiti Bandlamud, housing reporter, KQEDJ.K. Dineen, Bay Area housing reporter, San Francisco ChronicleJan Sramek, founder and CEO, California ForeverMarc Weiss, chairman and CEO, Global Urban Development - a nonprofit organization focused on sustainable economic growth and urban development strategies. He is also a visiting professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley 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.”Guests:Caitlin Dickerson, staff writer, The Atlantic - 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

If you are a fan of kimchee like your grandmother made or are looking for the freshest curry leaf, you’re probably well acquainted with stores like H Mart, Patel Brothers, and 99 Ranch. These outlets go beyond the international food sections that you’ll find in conventional chains like Safeway and Whole Foods. Instead they offer aisle upon aisle of products that signify home to the Asian diaspora in the United States. And as these stores expand in size and volume, they are redefining American palates. We’ll explore what chains like these these mean to their customers, the impact they are having on mom and pop stores, and how they are changing how we eat and cook.Guests:Priya Krishna, Reporter and video host, New York Times -Krishna wrote the recent New York Times article "Don't Call It an 'Ethnic' Grocery Store." She covers the intersection of food and broader cultural issues for the paper and hosts the video series "On the Job." Krishna is also the author of the cookbook, "Indian-ish"Margot Seeto, Dumpling columnist, SF GATELuke Tsai, Food editor, KQED Arts and Culture Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More adults are now relying on their parents for financial support, career advice and emotional regulation well into their 30s — challenging the notion that a parent is only responsible for their child until age 18. One poll found that about 45% of adults under 30 are living with their parents — “the most common living arrangement for that age group for the first time since just after the Great Depression,” writes Atlantic staff writer Faith Hill. In the past this may have been considered a “failure to launch,” but as families reckon with changing economic realities and delayed maturity milestones, they report benefits from their increased closeness compared with prior generations.” Is your relationship with your adult child, or children, different from the one you had with your parents?Guests:Faith Hill, staff writer, The Atlantic - author of the article "The New Age of Endless Parenting"Kelly Nguyen, licensed psychotherapist, She has a private practice in San Francisco where she sees adult individuals and couples. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the A’s wrap up their final season in Oakland, the future of the Coliseum – the team’s home for 56 years– may finally be coming into focus. The African American Sports and Entertainment Group (AASEG), a local Black-led development company, is set to purchase the site from the A’s and the City of Oakland for over two hundred million dollars. The final signing of those deals, supporters say, will help Oakland balance a tight budget and provide economic opportunities for East Oakland. AASEG plans to fill the complex with housing, sports, entertainment, and retail projects. We’ll talk with one of the developers and others about what’s next for the site.Guests:Casey Pratt, Chief of Communications, Oakland Mayor Sheng ThaoDan Moore, Bay Area-based freelance writer, his work has appeared in The Atlantic, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Ringer, where he's a contributor. He's also a nominee for the 2024 Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting.Ray Bobbitt, Founder and Managing Member, African American Sports and Entertainment GroupDavid Peters, Founder, West Oakland Cultural Action Network. Oakland native and lifelong Oakland A’s fan. -Founder, Black Liberation Walking Tour. Peters is a 3rd generation West Oakland resident and lifelong Oakland A's fan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feminist scholar Roxane Gay has no fondness for guns, no interest in gun culture and rarely thinks about guns unless, as she says, “the news cycle demands it.” But she’s a gun owner, having bought one after she and her family became targets of online death threats. “When I aim and pull the trigger and absorb the recoil,” Gay writes in a new essay, “I try to shoot straight and true. I revel in how capable I feel, what a welcome departure it is to be an active participant in my life instead of passively seething at all the things I cannot control.” We talk to Gay about feminism, race and gun ownership, and why more Black women are buying guns. Her new essay is called “Stand Your Ground: A Black Feminist Reckoning with America’s Gun Problem.”Guests:Roxane Gay, scholar and author. Her new essay is "Stand Your Ground: A Black Feminist Reckoning with America’s Gun Problem." Her books include "Difficult Women;" "Hunger" and "Bad Feminist" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the debate about immigration, the voices of immigrants are often left out of the conversation. For his new book, “We Are Home,” veteran journalist Ray Suarez collected a series of oral histories from people who have recently arrived in America. He centers immigrants like Samir, who was born in Kenya of Yemini descent and moved to suburban Maryland as a teenager and Nelson Castillo, a successful immigration attorney who never wanted to leave his native El Salvador. With this book, Suarez hopes that people will “listen to this person’s story of how they got here, how they got over, and how much they love their country today.” Suarez joins us to talk about not only why people immigrate, but who they are.Guests:Ray Suarez, journalist; author of "We Are Home: Becoming American in the 21st Century, An Oral History" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tina. Aretha. Serena and Venus. In one word you know who these women are. And that word is DIVA. In her new book “American Diva,” Deborah Paredez argues we need to take a fresh look at what it means to be a diva. She traces the evolution of the word, using the stories of powerhouse female performers, musicians and athletes to examine how we can reclaim and celebrate the divas we know and love. Indeed, Paredez says that it’s divas — whether famous or family, like her own Tia Lucia — who embolden us to live out loud. We talk to Paredez and hear from you: Who’s the diva in your life? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1990s, Eugene Rodriguez wanted to help his teenage students learn Son Jarocho, a regional folk music style from Mexico. So he organized a weeks-long road trip from the Bay Area to Veracruz where that genre of music originates. That is one of the memorable experiences Rodriguez has had as founder of Los Cenzontles, a music group and nonprofit organization based in San Pablo. Hundreds of East Bay young people, mostly of Mexican descent, have come through the organization’s music, dance, and art classes that center traditional folk music from Mexico. Rodriguez chronicles his work celebrating folk music and using it to empower young people in his new memoir, “Bird of Four Hundred Voices: A Mexican American Memoir of Music and Belonging.” We’ll talk with Rodriguez, who will join us in studio with other musicians from Los Cenzontles for a live performance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California's home insurance market is grappling with a crisis as insurers cancel policies amidst rising disaster risks. The state's FAIR plan is overwhelmed, with a surge in enrollments. Regulators are proposing reforms to encourage insurers back into high-risk areas by adjusting rates. Personal stories highlight the confusion and rising costs homeowners are facing, even in less fire-prone regions. The discussions also touch on equity issues for low-income families and the need for comprehensive solutions to stabilize the market.