KQED's Forum

Beginning December 18, Delta Airlines will ban emotional support animals on flights longer than eight hours, citing an 84 percent increase in sanitation and biting incidents from 2016 to 2017. The new rule also bans all service animals under four months of age on flights of any length. We'll talk about laws and guidelines for the use of service animals in public spaces and we want to hear from you: What do you think of Delta's ban?

Christmas Eve will likely be the last time the Raiders play football in Oakland. The team ended talks to play its next season at the Oakland Coliseum after the city filed a federal lawsuit against the Raiders, the NFL and all other teams in the league. Oakland asserts that the Raiders' planned move to Las Vegas breaks antitrust laws and caused the city hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. We'll discuss the suit and how Raiders fans are reacting.

Back in 1978, 65 percent of Californians voted for Proposition 13, which capped residential and commercial property tax increases at two percent annually. That change, along with the proposition's mandate that future tax increases pass with a 2/3 vote, have reshaped California's economy and politics. Forty years on, we'll discuss the legislation's history, impact, and the ongoing efforts to reform it.

On Wednesday a New York federal judged sentenced Michael Cohen to three years in prison for violating campaign finance laws by enabling hush money payments to a Playboy model who alleged having an affair with then-candidate Trump. The president responded on Twitter that he did nothing wrong and never directed Cohen to break the law. Meanwhile, Russian operative Maria Butina pled guilty Thursday to violating laws governing foreign agents. We'll discuss the latest developments in the Russia investigation.

British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a no-confidence vote brought by her fellow Conservative Party lawmakers on Wednesday over her handling of Brexit. But the way forward for Brexit remains murky. After the vote, which she won 200-117, May pledged to “to get on with the job of delivering Brexit." We'll discuss the latest developments over the UK's withdrawal from the European Union.

The Oakland-based vocal ensemble, Kitka, is nearing it's 4th decade of wowing audiences with beautiful, intricate harmonies and distinctive vocal techniques. The all-female group focuses mostly on the music of Eastern Europe, singing in nearly a dozen languages. Kitka joins Forum for a live, in-studio performance and a conversation about their latest projects including a new album and their Wintersongs concert series.

Scrutiny of big tech firms continued Tuesday as Google CEO Sundar Pichai faced questions over alleged censorship of conservatives at a House Judiciary Committee hearing. We'll discuss Pichai's testimony, ongoing concerns about Google and privacy, and the company's plans to launch a censored search engine in China.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the Senate will vote on a long-anticipated, bipartisanship criminal justice bill. If passed, the bill, also known as the First Step Act, would strengthen rehabilitation efforts, soften mandatory minimum sentences, and allow for reforms made by the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 to apply retroactively. The bill only impacts the federal system, which according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons accounts for approximately 180 million prisoners nationwide. Forum takes a closer at the changes outlined in this bill and what it could mean for the future of the country's prisons.

From President Trump's proposed wall to the most recent migrant caravan in Tijuana, the US-Mexico border has become a politically contentious area. However, for firefighters and EMTs working in border communities, the region is often a site of binational cooperation. Harvard anthropologist Ieva Jusionyte embedded with American and Mexican first responders to learn how Trump's immigration policy and environmental emergencies are changing border security. Jusionyte joins Forum with Chief Mario Novoa of Arizona’s Douglas Fire Department to discuss conflicting views of safety on the U.S.-Mexico border and her new book, “Threshold,” based on her ethnographic research.

Mental health workers at Kaiser Permanente facilities throughout California started a week-long strike on Monday. The National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) is advocating for better pay and benefits for employees, who include psychologists, therapists, psychiatric nurses and social workers. Kaiser says it has added more than 500 staff and invested $175 million in mental health after being fined by state regulators in 2013 for not providing adequate mental health care to its members. But NUHW says compensation for its members lags behind that of other Kaiser employees and that the high demand for mental health services requires those workers to keep onerous hours. We'll check in on the strike, the union's demands and how they relate to patient care.

By most accounts, the Bay Area economy is humming along. Yet, to even the casual observer, empty storefronts have a strong presence on Bay Area streets, even in desirable neighborhoods. Among the causes, experts say, is the rise in online shopping and landlords holding out for tenants who will pay higher rents. Another culprit is the cost and hassle of doing business in San Francisco, according to Mayor London Breed. She announced a plan Monday to streamline regulations in the hopes of filling vacant stores. Forum looks at the state of retail in the Bay Area and what can be done to keep our neighborhoods hustling and bustling.

Tom Barbash’s new novel “The Dakota Winters” takes readers inside New York City’s famed Dakota apartments through the eyes of a young man returning home. The novel creates a portrait of New York in 1980 — and the people who made it unique, including the Dakota’s most famous resident, John Lennon — and follows a family saga of a son negotiating his relationship with his father. Barbash joins us in studio to discuss the novel, and how his childhood in the Upper West Side influences his writing.

Austin Smith draws together the abstract and the intimate in his new book of poetry “Flyover Country.” The collection explores what rural life, violence and belonging mean in today’s world through subjects as diverse as barn cats, drone strikes and the house where Anne Frank hid. Smith joins Forum to discuss how his childhood in the Midwest informs his creative process, and the issues he hopes to spotlight in his writing.

Forum reviews, analyzes and answers your questions about the latest news from Washington.

"Dear Evan Hansen" took Broadway by storm last year, winning 7 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The show explores themes such as teenage depression, suicide and the struggle to find authentic connection in the age of social media. "Dear Evan Hansen" opened in San Francisco this week. We'll talk with two of the actors about why the show resonates with audiences of all ages