KQED's Forum

Australian standup comedian Hannah Gadsby took the world by storm with their 2018 show Nanette, which paired punchlines with personal revelations about sexuality, art and gender-based violence. Since then, Gadsby has married, been diagnosed as autistic, and grappled with fame – all subjects of their subsequent standup performances. In June, Gadsby brings their latest show, Woof!, to the Bay Area. We talk with them about their unique brand of feel-good comedy, the searing social commentary that made them famous, and why “woof!” is the only sane reaction to our present reality.Guests:Hannah Gadsby, comedian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When OpenAI released ChatGPT in 2022, schools and universities were quick to ban the use of the generative artificial intelligence chatbot. Teachers have reported students using the service to cheat and turn in plagiarized and inaccurate essays. But Sal Khan, the founder and CEO of Khan Academy, says generative AI can be a force for good in education. Khan Academy now has an educational AI chatbot, Khanmigo, which can guide students while still promoting critical thinking. Khan says developments like these could allow for every student to have a personal AI tutor and every teacher an AI teaching assistant. And Khan thinks incorporating AI in the classroom can allow for exciting new learning opportunities — with the right programming and guardrails. His new book is “Brave New Words.”Guests:Sal Khan, founder and CEO, Khan Academy - an education non-profit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every other January, hundreds of volunteers hit the stress across the Bay Area and attempt to count the number of unhoused people and families. The point-in-time count offers a snapshot into the scope of homelessness in different communities, but most experts agree the methodology is often inaccurate and flawed. The preliminary data for this year’s count is finally out and reveals jumps and declines in different cities across the Bay Area. We’ll talk to experts to demystify the counting process, understand this year’s numbers and discuss how data collection could be improved.Guests:Sydney Johnson, reporter, KQED NewsElester Hubbard, outreach supervisor, San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team (SFHOT)Paul Boden, executive director, Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP)Dr. Margot Kushel, professor of medicine, UCSF; director, UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing InitiativeChristin Evans, vice chair, San Francisco's Homelessness Oversight Commission; owner, Booksmith; co-owner, the Alembic bar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California’s $55 billion wine industry is experiencing a downturn for the first time in decades. Wine consumption peaked in 2021 and has fallen each year, dropping 8.7% in 2023 according to one industry report. With bottles sitting on store shelves, cases piling up in winemakers’ warehouses and farmers unable to sell their crops, the ripple effects of the drop in wine-buying are felt throughout the industry. In California’s Central Valley, certain grape growers are diversifying, swapping grapes for other crops; others are demolishing their vineyards and transitioning to solar farms. Financially strained growers, unable to pursue either option, are left with having to allow their crops to wither on the vine. But is this just a short-term market correction or is California’s wine industry in serious trouble? We look at the potential factors underlying the downturn and explore the impact on Californians.Guests:Esther Mobley, senior wine critic, San Francisco ChronicleAmanda Mccrossin, wine content creatorRyan Woodhouse, domestic wine buyer, K&L Wine MerchantsStuart Spencer, executive director, Lodi Winegrape Commission; owner and winemaker, St. Amant Winery Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2010 bioethicist Carl Elliott published an extensive article detailing the red flags in a drug study that resulted in the death of one of the human subjects. But instead of the outrage and oversight he expected, the university defended its researchers and Elliott was ostracized by his colleagues. In his new book “The Occasional Human Sacrifice” Elliot shares his experience and those of other whistleblowers in the medical research world. We’ll talk with Elliot about why medical institutions make such formidable enemies, and why the people who revealed some of the biggest medical research scandals refused to stay silent.Guests:Carl Elliott, professor of philosophy, University of Minnesota; author, "The Occasional Human Sacrifice" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What it means to be American and who gets to claim that identity are questions that animate Rachel Khong’s newest novel “Real Americans.” The book follows three generations of a Chinese American family, and grapples with not just race, but class and genetic identity. Khong is a former editor of the food magazine “Lucky Peach” and the founder of The Ruby, a work and event space in the Mission for women and nonbinary writers. We talk to Khong about her book and work.Guests:Rachel Khong, author, "Real Americans" - Khong is also the author of "Goodbye, Vitamin," which won the 2017 California Book Award for First Fiction. She founded The Ruby, a work space in San Francisco's Mission district for women and nonbinary writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Craig Foster may be best known for “My Octopus Teacher,” the Oscar-winning documentary about his tender relationship with a wild female octopus who inhabited the kelp forests off the coast of South Africa. He’s now written a new book called “Amphibious Soul,” which invites us along on his underwater excursions and shows us how, through techniques like tracking, we can connect with creatures and our wild selves. Is there a wild animal or place that you’ve built a connection with?Guests:Craig Foster, author, "Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World," natural history filmmaker, creator, "My Octopus Teacher," co-founder, Sea Change Project Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The gig economy, as it has been known, was built around a controversial idea — that an Uber driver, for instance, did not work for Uber. These apps, instead, were merely making a market for workers, which a user could access to hire someone. Many labor leaders rejected this idea, and it has led to fights in the legislature, courts and over Proposition 22 in 2020, when voters handed the gig economy a huge win. The constitutionality of Prop. 22 is now before the California State Supreme Court, and we’ll go over the arguments, which the court heard this week, and discuss how gig workers have fared since it became law.Guests:Levi Sumagaysay, economy reporter, CalMattersKen Jacobs , co-chair, Center for Labor Research and Education at UC BerkeleyJohn Mejia, rideshare driver and member of California Gig Workers UnionDavid Lewis, dasher, DoordashMolly Weedn, spokesperson, Protect App-Based Drivers & Services coalition Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“It’s difficult to think of a public health crisis more inevitable than the impending end of Roe v. Wade,” writes journalist Shefali Luthra, “and yet, on June 24, 2022, the country was profoundly unprepared.” Luthra argues that we’re now in the midst of that public health crisis, as millions of Americans seeking abortions face overwhelming obstacles to care, and as abortion providers reach a “breaking point to attempt to meet demand.” Luthra’s new book “Undue Burden” chronicles what she calls the human stories of abortion access — the patients with medically complex pregnancies who spend life savings on out-of-state care, the doctors who work under fear of legal reprisal and the lawmakers who struggle to respond. We talk to Luthra about the personal and systemic impacts of the loss of the constitutional right to abortion, nearly two years after Dobbs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’re looking for a great meal after midnight, you’re unlikely to find a wealth of options in downtown San Francisco. But expand your search to the Bay Area’s suburban communities, and you’ll find a late-night dining scene that’s brimming with hot pot restaurants, noodle shops, taco carts, and 24-hour casino buffets. Nocturnal noms are the subject of a new collaborative series from KQED’s food editor Luke Tsai and illustrator Thien Pham, called “Midnight Diners.” On the next edition of All You Can Eat, we’ll talk about the local restaurants that keep us fed when we’re staying up late and whether the Bay Area deserves its early-to-bed reputation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices