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 ForumLizzie Stark Celebrates the Egg in Its Multitudes
The egg, writes Lizzie Stark, is a "universe in a shell." It’s an ingenious piece of tech that contains everything a developing embryo needs, and it’s a symbol…
KQED's ForumBay Area Starbucks Workers Join Nationwide Push to Unionize
Last week, workers at the Starbucks at Embarcadero Cove in Oakland were among the latest in the Bay Area to try forming a union at their store. They join…
KQED's ForumJournalist and Musician Ari Shapiro Recounts 'A Life Spent Listening'
Ari Shapiro has been the host of NPR's "All Things Considered" since 2015 and has reported from all over the world, including Iraq, Ukraine and Israel. His…
KQED's ForumHow To Become a Poverty Abolitionist
The statistics on poverty in the U.S. are shocking and shameful: one in 9 Americans lives in poverty and one in 18 lives in “deep” poverty, defined in 2020 as…
KQED's ForumPooja Lakshmin Says ‘Real Self Care’ Goes Far Beyond Meditation Apps
Meditation apps, expensive spa retreats and other staples of the self-care industry claim to offer relief from the ongoing stress of work and family…
KQED's ForumHow Asking ‘What If?’ For One Year Transformed Alisha Fernandez Miranda’s Life
When people refer to “the one that got away,” they are usually talking about a romantic partner. For Alisha Fernandez Miranda, that phrase applied to a list of…
KQED's ForumAffordable California-Branded Insulin to Enter National Market
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Saturday a 10-year partnership with nonprofit drug company Civica Rx to manufacture the state’s own supply of…
KQED's ForumBay Area Water District Managers on Contending with Drought and Deluge
It might be hard to visualize at the moment, but not long ago we were in a severe water emergency. Marin county asked for 40% cuts in usage and planned for an…
KQED's ForumCalFresh Pandemic Benefits End Next Month. What Does that Mean for Hunger in California?
More than 5 million Californians use the state program CalFresh to pay for their groceries. But come April, CalFresh users will see a drop of at least $95 each…
KQED's ForumEarly Treatment Is Crucial for Psychosis – Why Is It So Hard to Get?
Each year in the United States, roughly 100,000 young adults experience a psychotic episode including hearing voices or hallucinations. Treating those episodes…
KQED's ForumStrong Winds, Rain Cause Major Damage Across the Bay Area
If you felt like your house might blow away yesterday, you aren't alone. The storm that battered the Bay Area Tuesday was stronger and more destructive than…
KQED's ForumShadi Hamid on Political News: Sometimes It’s ‘Better Not to Know’
Is there a case for ignoring the news sometimes—or even most of the time? That’s the question Shadi Hamid urges us to consider in his recent essay for The…
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'Age of Easy Money' Explores Federal Reserve’s Monetary Experiment and Its Impact on the Economy
The new PBS Frontline documentary, “Age of Easy Money” traces how the Federal Reserve’s unprecedented monetary experiment has both helped and hurt the American…
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Environmentalists Challenge Biden’s Approval of Massive Alaskan Oil Drilling Project
President Biden approved on Monday ConocoPhillips’ controversial Willow project in Alaska, one of the largest oil developments ever proposed on federal land…
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Lessons from Pajaro: How to Better Support Vulnerable Communities as Climate Change Intensifies
During last week’s atmospheric river storm, a levee broke on the Pajaro River, turning the town of Pajaro - inhabited mostly by Latino farmworkers - into a…
KQED's ForumNita Farahany Advocates 'Cognitive Liberty' as Neurotechnology Evolves
Hackers who could install brain spyware into the apps and devices we’re using. Advertisers that could interface with our minds to know the products we crave…
KQED's ForumExploring the Stories of Mixed-Race Californians
More than 2 million Californians identified as more than one race in the 2020 Census. KQED’s California Report Magazine has launched a series to capture the…
KQED's ForumBiden May Revive Family Detention Policies to Handle Migration, Asylum Issues
On the campaign trail, President Joe Biden promised a more compassionate approach to immigration that would roll back Trump administration policies. But the…
KQED's ForumDemand for Office Space has Plummeted. What Does That Mean for San Francisco and the Bay Area?
San Francisco’s once-redhot office market has waned since the pandemic. Less than half of the workers who used to fill downtown office towers are working in…
KQED's ForumCentury of Black Filmmakers Celebrated in The New Black Film Canon
The Black Film Canon, published in 2016 by Slate, accumulated the 50 best films by Black filmmakers, including movies like “Do The Right Thing” and the 1920…
KQED's ForumAll You Can Eat: The Bay Area’s Hip-Hop Food Hustles
The Bay Area has a storied hip hop legacy. We’ve also got a legendary food scene. Maybe it’s natural that these two core components of the Bay Area would find…
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Why Qualified Immunity Makes Police 'Untouchable'
Qualified immunity, writes UCLA law professor Joanna Schwartz, "has come to represent all that is wrong with police accountability." It’s the Supreme…
KQED's ForumSilicon Valley Bank Failure Roils Tech and Finance Industries
After experiencing a classic bank run with depositors withdrawing $42 billion in one day, Silicon Valley Bank was shut down by federal regulators on Friday…
KQED's ForumPlant-Based Milks Go Mainstream
Soy, almond, oat and other plant-based milk alternatives have skyrocketed in popularity over the last few decades. And now new draft guidance from the FDA…
KQED's ForumRemembering Legendary Disability Rights Activist Judy Heumann
Judith Heumann, known as the mother of the disability rights movement, died this month at the age of 75. Heumann’s activism and leadership in Berkeley’s…
KQED's ForumMore Severe Winter Storms Slam California
Communities throughout California are bracing for another round of severe storms this week. An atmospheric river is poised to dump several inches of rain…
KQED's ForumJenny Odell Saves Time, and Herself, by Living Beyond the Clock
What if time isn’t money? What if time is actually rocks and beans? And what if time is not running out? Jenny Odell, author of “How to Do Nothing,” ponders…
KQED's ForumHow Has Fox News Affected Your Life?
Fox News Chairman Rupert Murdoch did not believe that Dominion Voting Systems stole the 2020 presidential election from Donald Trump, according to testimony…
KQED's ForumA New High Seas Treaty Aims to Protect Oceans that Cover Half the Earth
After two decades of trying, the United Nations has finalized a treaty to protect the high seas – that part of the ocean which covers nearly half the earth’s…
KQED's Forum‘Born Extraordinary’ Helps Parents Teach Kids to Flaunt Their Differences
Meg Zucker was born with one finger on each hand, shortened arms and one toe on each foot, a result of a hereditary condition called ectrodactyly. With the…
KQED's ForumIn Search of Love and Liberation with Writer Carvell Wallace
Oakland based writer Carvell Wallace has written searchingly and compassionately about Mr. Rogers, Michael B Jordan, abortion rights, race, parenting…
KQED's ForumHow Old Are You in Your Head?
Atlantic staff writer Jennifer Senior is 53 in real life, but she says that in her head she’s "suspended at 36." That was the age she was secure professionally…
KQED's ForumEnrollment Grows Despite Housing Crunch at California Colleges and Universities
UC Berkeley plans to keep fighting to build a dorm for more than 1,000 students on People’s Park, a university-owned site that is known as a haven for unhoused…
KQED's ForumNaming the ‘Just Deportees’ of the Central Valley Plane Crash, 75 Years Later
Seventy-five years ago, a plane crashed outside of Coalinga in California’s Central Valley. Twenty-eight of the 32 passengers killed were migrant workers in…
KQED's ForumThe Boomers Created America As We Know It, Who Will We Be When They’re Gone?
Americans love to talk about our generational differences. Gen Xers complain about Millennials, Millennials can’t relate to Gen Z and on and on. But those…
KQED's ForumActor 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 ForumMexican-American Winemakers Are Reshaping California’s Wine Industry
Mexican Americans make up the majority of the labor force sustaining California’s wine industry. And, yet, they only make up about 1 percent of the roughly…
KQED's ForumMehdi Hasan Wants You to ‘Win Every Argument’
Mehdi Hasan says he has been arguing all his life, and he’s made a career of it as a formidable interviewer known for challenging presidents and prime…
KQED's ForumHow to Wrap Our Heads Around These New Shockingly Fluent Chatbots
The latest generation of chatbots, powered by their ingestion of huge chunks of writing from the internet, have continued to wow and frighten. ChatGPT and an…
KQED's ForumInvestigation: Migrant Children Routinely Employed in Violation of U.S. Labor Laws
Across the U.S., migrant children are employed in violation of child labor laws, in under-the-table operations and in global corporations alike, according to a…
KQED's ForumPreserving Your Family Recipes with the Authors Behind ‘The Woks of Life,’ a Chinese American Cookbook
“Food was a life raft that connected our families to where we came from, “ writes Judy Leung in the new cookbook, “The Woks of Life.” Her daughters, Sarah and…
KQED's ForumHow to Help Teens Navigate Their Complicated, Intense 'Emotional Lives'
Being a teenager has always been hard, writes clinical psychologist and adolescent mental health expert Lisa Damour. But coming of age amid a global pandemic…
KQED's ForumDoes Palo Alto Represent Everything That Is Wrong about Capitalism?
“Palo Alto is nice,” begins Malcolm Harris in his new book, aptly named “Palo Alto.” But according to Harris, Palo Alto, where he grew up, is also a microcosm…
KQED's ForumA Texas Federal Court Could Block Access to a Key Abortion Drug Nationally
More than half of all abortions in the United States are performed with medication, according to the Guttmacher Institute. But a federal court case in Texas…
KQED's ForumHow Immigrant Writers Are Shaping New Genre of Undocumented Literature
The public discourse about undocumented immigrants often lacks humanity and complexity according to writers Reyna Grande and Rafael Agustin, who have written…
KQED's ForumSupreme Court Considers Upending Legal Liability Rules for Online Platforms
The Supreme Court this week held oral arguments in a pair of cases that have tech companies, First Amendment advocates and digital rights-watchers on edge. On…
KQED's ForumThe Radical Act of Leisure Celebrated in “Resting Our Eyes” Art Exhibit
Relaxing might not seem like a radical act, but it is for Black women, according to the curators of “Resting Our Eyes,” a new exhibit at the Institute of…
KQED's ForumThe War in Ukraine: One Year Later
On February 24, 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine, setting in motion a brutal, bloody war that has left tens of thousands of people dead and millions forcibly…
KQED's ForumClimate Fix: How The Bay Area is Preparing for Sea Level Rise
Scientists have warned for decades that due to climate change water levels are rising throughout the Bay Area. The first place excess water will show up is…
KQED's ForumIn Transit: California Looks to Green Its Trucking Industry
Trucks are by far the largest source of air pollution from vehicles in California, generating about 80% of carcinogenic diesel soot and 70% of smog-causing…
KQED's ForumIt’s Me. Hi. I’m the Imposter, It’s Me.
In the 1970s, two female professors at Oberlin College coined the phrase “imposter phenomenon” to capture that feeling of intense self doubt and fear of being…
KQED's ForumCalifornia Senator Dianne Feinstein is Retiring. What Will You Remember Her For?
Dianne Feinstein, the longest-serving woman in the U.S. Senate, has announced she's not seeking re-election in 2024. Many Californians hail her accomplishments…
KQED's ForumOne Hospital Closed. How Many More Will Follow?
Long before the pandemic, hospitals and their services were under strain. But throughout the state, some hospitals are now at risk of closing for good, which…
KQED's ForumForum From The Archives: ‘Life on Delay’ Examines Life with a Stutter
In January 2020, Atlantic senior editor John Hendrickson wrote an article about Joe Biden’s stutter. Like Biden, Hendrickson has a stutter. And while…
KQED's ForumForum From The Archives: To the Moon, Stars and Beyond with Musician Valerie June
Singer and songwriter Valerie June defies genre – she can be a little country and a little rock and roll and there’s also folk, blues, soul, Appalachian and a…
KQED's ForumFor Love Or For Money: How to Make Life’s Biggest Decisions
Many of life’s very biggest decisions – should I quit my job? Should we move in together? Is it time to get pregnant? Divorce? Retire? – are at the crossroads…
KQED's ForumWhat Can We Learn From the Earthquake in Turkey and Syria?
Every Californian knows that the Big One, that catastrophic magnitude earthquake, is coming. Earthquakes like those in Turkey and Syria, and Mexico City before…
KQED's ForumGeorge McCalman Paints the Famous and Unsung in ‘Illustrated Black History’
“Black history,” writes award-winning artist and graphic designer George McCalman, “tends to mean the ten people who are lauded every Black History Month of…
KQED's ForumWhy Are There So Many Vacant Storefronts and What Can We Do About it?
Empty storefronts have peppered neighborhoods across San Francisco and the Bay for decades. One stretch of Mission Street, from 19th to 30th streets, has more…
KQED's ForumNow an Outlier, California Weighs Mandatory Dyslexia Screening
California is one of only 10 states that don’t require public elementary schools to screen for dyslexia. But research shows that detection of dylexia's early…