Shows / KQED's Forum
KQED's Forum
Forum tells remarkable and true stories about who we are and where we live. In the first hour, Alexis Madrigal convenes the diverse voices of the Bay Area, before turning to Mina Kim for the second hour to chronicle and center Californians’ experience. In an increasingly divided world, Mina and Alexis host conversations that inform, challenge and unify listeners with big ideas and different viewpoints. Want to call/submit your comments during our live Forum program Mon-Fri, 9am-11am? We'd love…
Episodes
KQED's ForumIn the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, How to Minimize Harm to Displaced Workers
When the Marathon oil refinery in Martinez closed in 2020, more than 300 unionized workers were laid off from jobs they thought they’d retire from. A study…
KQED's ForumCommemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Zoot Suit Riots
“The first uniquely American suit,” is how Clarissa Esguerra, a Los Angeles County Museum of Art curator of costume and textiles, describes the Zoot suit…
KQED's ForumForum From the Archives: Historian Peniel Joseph on America’s ‘Third Reconstruction’
After the election of President Obama in 2008, “the world looked and felt different,” writes University of Texas historian Peniel Joseph. That moment also…
KQED's ForumForum From the Archives: Chef Bryant Terry Curates a Feast of Food and Self-Discovery in ‘Black Food’
To celebrate Juneteenth we listen back on our interview with Bay Area-based chef and food justice activist Bryant Terry. He’s created “a communal shrine to the…
KQED's ForumTrans History Told Through Five Objects
One of the largest collections of transgender history sits in a small garage turned archive in Vallejo. The Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive has been open…
KQED's ForumScience Writer Jennifer Ackerman Shares “What An Owl Knows”
Owls have long fascinated humans. They appear in cave art dating back 30,000 years. They are an integral part of the Harry Potter universe. Why are we so…
KQED's ForumLive From Wood Street: What’s Next for Oakland’s Unhoused After Northern California’s Largest Encampment Closed?
Until recently Wood Street in West Oakland was the site of the largest homeless encampment in Northern California. To launch our new series on homelessness in…
KQED's ForumIs Location Sharing the New Normal?
Friends tracking friends. Parents tracking kids. Spouses tracking each other. Location sharing has become all the rage in our over-connected world. The feature…
KQED's ForumAll You Can Eat: Bay Area Hot Sauces, from Salsa to Sambal
Watery eyes, a runny nose, quick, desperate breaths: all signs of you may have shaken out, purposefully or not, a few too many dashes of hot sauce. Despite the…
KQED's ForumAshlee Vance on ‘The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach’
From low Earth orbit projects to potential moon landings, a 21st century space race is heating up. Following the lead of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, a multitude of…
KQED's ForumNPR’s Aisha Harris on ‘The Pop Culture That Shapes’ Her
Aisha Harris has long been an observer of pop culture. Today she serves as critic and co-host of NPR’s hit podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, but in the 1990s she…
KQED's ForumTrump’s Federal Indictment Makes History and Could Impact Election, National Security
On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump will be arraigned in a Florida courtroom on charges that he mishandled classified documents and attempted to obstruct…
KQED's ForumUkraine Military Begins Counter-Offensive
We discuss the Ukraine military’s long-awaited counter-offensive, signaling a new phase in its war with Russia. The push comes as the country reels from the…
KQED's ForumHow to Talk with Kids about Fatness
Diet culture permeates our society. And that’s impacting our kids. Children as young as 3 learn to associate being fat with negative traits, and anti-fat bias…
KQED's ForumFremont's Sid Sriram Fuses New Genres with Family Legacy of Traditional Indian Singing
Singer Sid Sriram was born in southern India, but his family moved to Fremont when he was just a year old. His voice and his sound are the product of his…
KQED's ForumSamantha Irby on Hollywood, Toilet Taboos and Being ‘Quietly Hostile’
Humorist Samantha Irby is known for her all-too-relatable essay collections, including 2020’s bestseller “Wow, No Thank You,” and she’s written some of the…
KQED's ForumThe History of Oakland, Told Through Its Geology
Every city sits where it does for geological reasons, be that suitable terrain, availability of water or other natural resources, good climate or beautiful…
KQED's ForumWhy More People are Getting Allergies and Why They’re Getting Worse
Allergies have intensified over the last few decades. An estimated 30 to 40 percent of the global population has some form of allergy, and experts say that…
KQED's ForumS.F. Mayor London Breed on How to Prevent an Economic “Doom Loop” … and Her New Budget
San Francisco has long been a favorite target of conservative news outlets. But a recent CNN special on the city’s drug and homelessness crises posed the…
KQED's ForumThe History, Controversy, and Promise of MDMA
Few drugs in history have generated as much controversy, or held as much promise as MDMA, writes science journalist Rachel Nuwer. Health officials once said…
KQED's ForumEfforts to Boost Native Plants in California Take Root
Some people may think palm trees are native to California, but they’re not. In fact, non-native flora abound throughout our state. A bill moving through the…
KQED's ForumState Farm and Allstate Pull out of California Homeowners Insurance Market
Citing an increased risk of natural disasters, two of California’s largest property insurers, State Farm and Allstate, are no longer selling new homeowners…
KQED's ForumWhat the Booming AI Industry Could Mean for the Bay Area
For most of its history, Santa Clara based company Nvidia has been known primarily as a designer of computer parts meant for video games. But in recent years…
KQED's ForumHaggling Your Way Through A Tricky Economy
Haggling. For some people, a transaction is not complete if it doesn’t include a request for a discount, an upgrade or something more. For others, the very…
KQED's ForumHow Musicians are Navigating Streaming Algorithms, AI and Automation
When music streaming services like Spotify or Apple Music recommend a song or an album, it can be a make-or-break moment for lesser-known artists. But it still…
KQED's ForumComedian Jamie Loftus on Why America Loves Hot Dogs
In her new book, “Raw Dog: The Naked Truth about Hot Dogs,” author and comedian Jamie Loftus dials in on why America loves the hot dog: “They’re high culture…
KQED's ForumHistorian Amy Brady Explains the American Obsession With Ice
Beginning in the 19th century, Americans harvested ice from frozen lakes and transported it to warm places, turning ice harvesting and delivery into a…
KQED's ForumPride Month Kicks Off As Companies Struggle to Navigate Conservative Backlash
In recent months, protesters targeted businesses including the Los Angeles Dodgers, retailer Target and beer maker Anheuser-Busch for celebrating the LGBTQ+…
KQED's ForumLoosening Child Labor Laws Put Kids At Risk Say Critics
Child labor violations are on the rise across the country. Yet Republicans in multiple states are working to roll back regulations for underaged workers…
KQED's ForumCensus Charts Unexpected Bay Area Demographic Shifts
More data from the 2020 Census reveals demographic changes that paint a picture of a different Bay Area today than that of a decade ago. In conjunction with…
KQED's ForumHow to Reclaim Your Life from Work and do a ‘Good Enough Job’
“What do you do?” is one of the first questions we ask when meeting new people. And that’s part of the increasingly common American belief that our jobs define…
KQED's ForumHow the True Cost of Childcare Burdens Families, Providers and the Economy
Parents of young kids in California often find that childcare is not only expensive, but also hard to secure and even more so for low-income families. The cost…
KQED's ForumForum From the Archives: Actor and Director Randall Park on Being 'Borderline Well Known'
It seems like actor and director Randall Park has been in everything. “Veep.” “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” “WandaVision.” “Aquaman.” He played an amiable version of…
KQED's ForumForum From the Archives: 'Chinese Groove' Follows Young Immigrant’s Optimistic, and Often Delusional, Search for Shangri-La in San Francisco
The buoyant protagonist of San Francisco writer Kathryn Ma’s new novel, The Chinese Groove, migrates from China, where he’s part of the outcast branch of his…
KQED's ForumIn Memoir 'Oh My Mother!' Connie Wang Shares Her OMG Moments with Mom
Connie Wang never intended to write a book about her mother. It felt almost too cliched – the first generation immigrant writing about her parent’s sacrifice…
KQED's ForumYour Favorite Bay Area Things To Do This Summer
Summer months bring longer hours to enjoy everything our region has to offer from music festivals, movie nights in a park, and picturesque hikes. What are you…
KQED's ForumConservative Political Operatives Raised $89 Million. Where Did the Money Go?
Over the last nine years, five nonprofits with names like American Veterans Honor Fund and American Police Officers Alliance — which purport to raise funds to…
- KQED's Forum
The Shakur Family and the Evolution of Black Radicalism
Earlier this month the Oakland City Council unanimously voted to rename a section of MacArthur Avenue, Tupac Shakur Way, as a reminder, the resolution reads…
KQED's ForumBias and Barriers Black Women Running for the Senate Must Overcome
Only two Black women have ever been elected to the U.S. Senate. The most recent, Kamala Harris, left to become Vice President and the Senate now has no Black…
KQED's ForumPicnicking with Samin and Luke: All You Can Eat
It’s just about summer and time to dig out the red-and-white checkered blanket for a picnic. From banh mi sandwiches at the beach or pork buns at a city park…
KQED's ForumThousands of Californians in Legal Battles over Pandemic Unemployment Benefits
“A multi-billion-dollar debacle three years in the making” is how CalMatters investigative reporter Lauren Hepler describes the current state of California’s…
KQED's ForumA Generational Approach to Combating Poverty and Homelessness
In its nearly 35 years in operation, San Francisco’s Homeless Prenatal Program, has worked with the aim of breaking the cycle of extreme poverty by helping…
KQED's ForumStephen Vladeck Sounds Alarm on Supreme Court's Abuse of 'The Shadow Docket'
The U.S. Supreme Court is known for its public docket of consequential cases, with scheduled oral arguments and lengthy decisions often released in the month…
KQED's ForumCan San Francisco Revive Struggling Union Square?
San Francisco’s Union Square is known for a lot of things: department stores and high-end boutiques, a massive and ornate Christmas tree and a Cheesecake…
KQED's Forum'I'm Thankful for Lady Gaga': Comedian Zach Zimmerman on Embracing Queerness and Atheism
Gay stand-up comedian Zach Zimmerman grew up in Virginia with Evangelical parents and attended a school that taught the Bible instead of history and expelled…
KQED's ForumFinding Yourself in the Characters from Children's Books
The children’s classic Frog & Toad has been made into a new animated series for AppleTV+. The gentle and enduring friendship between those two characters…
KQED's ForumWho Will Pay to Take California’s Defunct Oil Wells Offline?
Gas and oil production in California has been on a slow decline for decades, and more than a third of unplugged onshore oil wells are sitting idle. Those…
KQED's ForumClimate Fix: Hetch Hetchy Turns 100, Can It Meet the Challenges Brought by Climate Change?
The Hetch Hetchy reservoir was created a century ago to supply fresh water for millions of people in the Bay Area. It was created by damming the Tuolumne…
KQED's ForumRepublican Presidential Hopefuls Running on Immigration
With the end of Title 42, a law enacted during the pandemic to slow the flow of migrants seeking asylum in the U.S., the Biden Administration finds itself…
KQED's ForumDystopian Novel ‘Chain-Gang All-Stars’ Portrays Prison System Uncomfortably Similar to Our Own
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s novel ‘Chain-Gang All-Stars’ portrays an American prison system with corporate-sponsored gladiators whose fights to the death, and…
KQED's ForumDeepfakes Are Getting Better. That Could be a Problem for the 2024 Election.
Remember the Jordan Peele deepfake of President Obama from 2018? Since then, deepfake technology and other forms of AI-generated text, photos, voices and…
- KQED's Forum
How Private Welfare Companies Are Profiting Off the Poor
Millions of families in the U.S. depend on welfare to get by, but it’s far from an efficient system. The bureaucratic mechanisms designed to help people find…
- KQED's Forum
California’s Deficit is Nearly $32 Billion. How Will the State’s Budget Address It?
Governor Newsom released on Friday his May revision of the state budget, which shows a $31.5 billion deficit, nearly $10 billion higher than forecast in…
KQED's ForumDorothy Lazard Tells Her Own Oakland History
Dorothy Lazard has held the history of Oakland in her hands for years as the legendary historian and archivist at the Oakland public library. She’s now retired…
KQED's ForumEurovision Song Contest: Kitschy or Cultural?
Eurovision, the song contest that brought the world ABBA’s “Waterloo,” concludes with its big finale this Saturday. It’s been dismissed as kitschy and camp…
KQED's ForumHow Not to Become Your Parents
Are we destined to parent the way our parents parented even if we strongly object to some of the things they did? Sure, we can probably keep ourselves from…
KQED's ForumIn Transit: ‘Lithium Valley’ Could Meet Entire U.S. Demand for EV Batteries
Australia, Chile and China are the top three sources of the world’s lithium – the element essential to build the batteries that power electric vehicles. But…
KQED's ForumAG Rob Bonta Launches Civil Rights Investigation Into Antioch Police Department
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a civil rights investigation Wednesday into the Antioch Police Department after dozens of officers were caught…
KQED's ForumWhat Did We Get Right With the Pandemic?
This Thursday, the federal Covid Public Health Emergency expires, and with its end comes the cessation of federal benefits like additional hospital…
KQED's ForumBay Area’s Forgotten Histories and Oddities Abound in Bay Curious Book
Did you know that Rocky Road ice cream originated in Oakland? Or that Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera were once married in San Francisco City Hall? Or that a…