KQED's Forum

Since he was last on Forum about year ago, Bay Area-based naturalist Michael Ellis has been to Botswana, Bhutan, Belize and Burning Man, among many other diverse destinations. We'll get his tips for educational excursions in Northern California and abroad.

Mexico's likely president-elect Enrique Pena Nieto has promised there will be no return to the past with his Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which until 2000 had governed Mexico for 71 years. What do you think will be the new president's biggest challenges?

Samuel Zemurray was a poor Jewish immigrant, selling freckled bananas out of a boxcar before amassing a fortune in the banana trade. His rags-to-riches story is unveiled in a new biography by Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone Magazine contributing editor Rich Cohen. Cohen joins us to discuss Zemurray's life in relation to American capitalism, foreign relations in Latin America and beyond.

Today, the California state Legislature is scheduled to vote on a package of bills to protect homeowners at risk of foreclosure. The legislation is backed by the attorney general, but faces criticism by the California Bankers Association and others who say it will "encourage frivolous litigation." The action comes as a new report finds 11 percent of borrowers in the state at risk of foreclosure.

The California Shakespeare Theater's production "Spunk" adapts three stories by Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston. Cal Shakes takes a raucous, blues-infused look at love, revenge, jealousy and the fine art of the hustle set in an outdoor amphitheater against a backdrop of rolling East Bay hills.

We talk with long-time Bay Area resident and former Stanford University creative writing professor Nancy Packer. Her new short story collection "Old Ladies: Stories" revolves around older women of all sorts: a cleaning woman, an artist, a widow and a happily married woman.

A day after the Supreme Court's ruling on health reform, we look at how the coming changes in the health care industry will affect consumers. California has already taken great strides in implementing the Affordable Care Act's reforms. For example, the state has a health benefit exchange and the nation's biggest pre-existing coverage insurance plan. But with nearly 20 percent of the state's population uninsured, there are big challenges ahead.

After consulting at the Los Angeles Zoo on a monkey with heart failure, Dr. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz discovered that animals experience many of the same health problems as humans -- from obesity and breast cancer to substance abuse and depression. She collaborated with science writer Kathryn Bowers to learn more. What can animals teach us about our health?

With the U.S. presidential election approaching and all eyes on the continued economic crisis, Michael Lind joins us to discuss his new book, "Land of Promise: An Economic History of the United States." He explores how technology and innovation throughout America's history of growth have shaped the current economic climate.

It seems like the entire nation was holding its breath for today's Supreme Court ruling on health care. In a 5-4 decision, the Court upheld the individual insurance requirement at the heart of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. The ruling will have implications for doctors, patients, politicians, legal scholars and states -- including California. After many months of intense speculation, we dig into the ruling.

California Latinos are not getting the mental health services they need, according to a UC Davis study out this week. The report finds that the stigma of mental illness prevents many Latinos from seeking help, and that there are too few health providers fluent in patients' native languages and cultures. We'll discuss the report and its proposed solutions.

The Stockton City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday night on whether to declare bankruptcy. The city faces a $26 million shortfall even after making $90 million in cuts, including cutting a quarter of the police and nearly a third of the fire department. What would a bankruptcy filing mean for the city?

Journalist Nancy Mullane takes up the question of whether murderers can be redeemed in her book, "Life After Murder." Mullane follows the lives of five men convicted of murder who served long sentences in San Quentin prison and were then released.

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the so-called "show me your papers" provision of Arizona's immigration law, but struck down the rest. Could the ruling impact how California law enforcement deals with undocumented immigrants? And with both presidential candidates vying for Latino voters this fall, how could the decision influence immigration policy in an election year?