KQED's Forum

In San Francisco, people who are extremely drunk on the streets are locked in jail and released once they sober up. But a new plan, supported by the mayor, could force them to stay in jail or choose mandatory treatment for up to six months. Chronic offenders are often homeless. Critics worry it's a short-term solution to a complex problem, and that it violates offenders' rights. What's the best way to deal with drunk people on city streets?

Many shoppers are willing to shell out more money for organic produce because they believe it is healthier -- but a new report casts doubt on that. The Stanford University study challenges whether organic foods are more nutritious than conventional foods grown with pesticides. We discuss the benefits of organic foods and the impact of ingesting trace amounts of pesticides. Do you buy organic? Will this new study change the way you eat?

Seyed Mousavian once served as a high-ranking foreign policy official and nuclear negotiator in the Iranian government. In 2007, he was arrested and charged with espionage by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Still, Mousavian -- now a visiting scholar at Princeton -- continues to defend Iran's nuclear program. He joins us to discuss U.S.-Iranian relations and his new memoir.

Mary Lamia joins us to discuss her new book on emotions, a kind of interior roadmap for teens and young adults. In this guide to the emotions, Lamia hopes to help her young audience find effective ways to utilize their emotions and understand their turbulent inner worlds.

Now that the Republican National Convention has wrapped up, all eyes turn this week to Charlotte, North Carolina, where the Democratic National Convention will officially kick off today. Former President Bill Clinton will give the nominating address to President Obama on the last night of the convention.

In celebration of Labor Day, we listen to the music of laborers. We'll hear songs from coal miners, field hands, longshormen, textile workers and other trades, and we'll talk with two folk singers about the history behind some of the great labor songs.

We listen back to our 2005 interview with celebrated poet, essayist and feminist Adrienne Rich. Rich died this past March.

In the early 1970s, acclaimed environmental historian Philip Fradkin traveled around the state with his six-year-old son Alex to research his first book, "California, the Golden Coast." More than 40 years later, they revisited many of those locations for a new collaboration, "The Left Coast: California on the Edge," a book which mixes history with geography, personal experiences and Alex's photographs. The father-son duo joined us in the studio in August of 2011. Philip Fradkin died in July.

Jen Pahlka founded Code for America, a Bay Area non-profit working to reshape the way government works through the use of technology and public service. She joins us in the studio as part of our "First Person" series on the leaders, innovators and other compelling characters that make the Bay Area unique.

A state bill overhauling teacher evaluations, which was set to be voted on by the Legislature today, has been withdrawn. AB-5 would have made test scores optional in assessing teachers. We'll discuss the controversy the bill has stirred up in Sacramento, and the broader issue of teacher evaluations.

As we are increasingly inundated with information from websites like Twitter and Facebook, it's become more and more difficult to filter out what's important. In his new book, "Net Smart: How to Thrive Online," Howard Rheingold guides the way with tips on how to use social networks and "crap detection" to figure out what's relevant.

Ira Glass says he never expected to be famous, but as the host of the public radio show "This American Life," he has more than 1.8 million listeners weekly. And now he has a movie he co-wrote and produced opening this weekend called "Sleepwalk With Me," based on a "This American Life" radio story. We talk to Ira Glass about making movies and the evolution of "This American Life."

Gov. Jerry Brown has reached a deal with lawmakers on a pension reform package. Changes include requiring new hires to pay 50 percent of their pension costs as well as an increase in the retirement age. The full California Legislature will vote on the measure on Friday, Aug 31.

Crime rates in San Jose jumped into the double digits this year. In one week alone in August, the city saw five people shot and wounded and seven murders. Police say about half those were gang-related. Officials are blaming the jump on department cuts and fewer police. We talk with San Jose's police chief and the head of the gang prevention task force about the violence in San Jose and what can be done about it.

Over a century ago, circumcision was promoted as a way to discourage masturbation, and it was thought of as clean and hygienic. This week, the American Academy of Pediatrics announced updated circumcision guidelines which suggest that its health benefits outweigh the risks. U.S. circumcision rates for newborn boys have fallen to about 55 percent from a high of close to 80 percent in the '70s.