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 ForumEast Palo Alto Faces Rising Seas, Displacement
Some East Palo Alto residents--who came to California after fleeing sea level rise in their Pacific Island homes--are finding they may soon be climate refugees…
KQED's ForumW. Kamau Bell’s ‘United Shades of America’ Tackles Headlines with Humor
As a comedian and the Emmy-winning host of CNN’s “United Shades of America,” W. Kamau Bell addresses the racial inequities of American life with bracing and…
KQED's ForumCalifornia Braces for Another Bad Wildfire Season
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency for Sonoma and Mendocino counties on Wednesday as California’s record-dry conditions continue. Fuel moisture…
KQED's ForumHow to Exercise Your Right to Film the Police
The anguishing cell phone video of George Floyd's murder, captured by teenager Darnella Frazier, lay at the heart of the prosecution's case against the former…
KQED's ForumFact Checking Netflix’s Controversial ‘Seaspiracy’: Is It as Bad as They Claim?
Filmmaker Ali Tabrizi is making big waves with his recent Netflix film “Seaspiracy” which looks at the damage caused by the seafood industry from overfishing…
KQED's ForumHow the Pandemic Rattled Students’ College Dreams for Fall
May 1 is approaching, the deadline for the hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors who applied to college to commit to their chosen schools…
KQED's ForumThe Search to Understand Vaccine Hesitancy and Change Minds
More than half of American adults have now had at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, but around 20% say they are still reluctant to to get the vaccine. To…
KQED's ForumSusan Page on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ‘Lessons of Power’
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, now in her second term as Speaker, made history in 2007 as the first woman to hold the position. She also made headlines Tuesday…
KQED's ForumChina’s ‘Wolf Warrior’ Diplomats and the Future of U.S.-China Relations
Chinese President Xi Jinping will take part in a virtual climate change summit hosted by President Joe Biden on Thursday, Earth Day. It’s a bright spot in a…
KQED's ForumNation Reacts to Guilty Verdict in George Floyd Killing
After three weeks of often wrenching testimony, a Minneapolis jury on Tuesday found police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter Tuesday in…
KQED's ForumCould Chauvin Guilty Verdict Spur Police Departments To Reform?
Supporters of police reform are expressing relief at the guilty verdicts on all counts in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin Tuesday…
KQED's ForumUltramarathon Man Dean Karnazes on Achieving a ‘Runner’s High’
Dean Karnazes once ran 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. That was in 2006, not long after his memoir “Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night…
KQED's ForumWhat are NFTs (and Why Should We Care)?
The non-fungible token (NFT) craze, which took off in 2020, appears to continue unabated. NFTs are digital “certificates of authenticity” that attach to…
KQED's ForumFinancial Crisis at City College San Francisco Clouds Future for Students and Faculty
A fiscal management team issued a dire warning earlier this month about the finances of City College San Francisco, the city’s two-year community college which…
KQED's ForumNPR’s Founding Mothers: Shattering Glass Ceilings in the 1970s
Even after the Civil Rights Act in 1964 banned employment discrimination, women in the workplace still found it nearly impossible to get the kind of jobs they…
KQED's ForumFor Asian Americans Bearing Racism’s Psychological Toll, Mental Health Experts Have Advice
Asian American mental health care providers in California are seeing an increase in demand for services in the wake of surging anti-Asian hate incidents, and…
KQED's ForumFilmmaker Kevin Epps and Dr. Kim Rhoads on Getting Underserved Communities Vaccinated
To help fight disparate testing and vaccination rates within the Black community, organizers realized they would need grassroots activism. That’s when Dr. Kim…
KQED's ForumCalifornia Increases Wildfire Budget, But Will It Be Enough?
California is adding $536 million to the budget for wildfire prevention. The money will go toward efforts including forest and vegetation management and the…
KQED's ForumBeyond Bullet Wounds: How Gun Violence Hurts Kids
In heated debates about gun laws and gun violence, one group of victims is often overlooked: children. Each year in America, thousands of children are killed…
KQED's ForumDating, Love and Sex in a Post-Pandemic World
Now that California is reopening, how will dating change? After a year of social distancing, many of us are longing for emotional and physical intimacy, while…
KQED's ForumMore California Cities Experiment with Sanctioned Homeless Camps
Last year, in response to concerns about the spread of COVID-19 among unhoused people, officials in Santa Rosa created a sanctioned encampment in the parking…
KQED's ForumHow to Avoid Getting Trapped in ‘High Conflict’
Whether it’s tribal in nature -- or a nasty divorce-- many Americans feel trapped in repetitive conflicts that can seem irresolvable, with no end in sight…
KQED's ForumCalifornia to Expand Vaccine Eligibility As Federal Officials Hit Pause on Johnson & Johnson Supply
California is pausing the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine following a recommendation to do so from federal health officials who reported…
KQED's ForumOrange County Teacher Suspended After Protesting at the Capitol
Kristine Hostetter was a popular fourth grade teacher at an Orange County elementary school, when she marched on the Capitol on January 6th, but did not enter…
KQED's ForumCapitol Assault, Rise of Extremism Examined in Frontline's "American Insurrection"
The new Frontline documentary "American Insurrection" investigates the rise of right-wing extremism and the assault on the U.S. Capitol. Forum talks with…
KQED's ForumCalifornia Street Vendors See Sales Drop, Violence Rise Amid Pandemic
Last month, 45-year-old Lorenzo Perez was shot in broad daylight in Fresno while selling food from a bicycle cart. His death illustrated the many risks street…
KQED's ForumThe Psychological, Historical and Personal Reasons ‘Why We Swim’
To live deliberately as a swimmer means you are a seeker; a chaser of the oceans blue corduroy, a follower of river veins, journalist Bonnie Tsui writes in her…
KQED's ForumWhat's the Future of Union Organizing After the Amazon Vote?
Last week, Amazon workers at an Alabama warehouse voted down a call to unionize, and that decision has organized labor scrambling. Though a majority of…
KQED's ForumShould the Supreme Court Expand? A Bipartisan Commission Tackles the Question.
President Biden on Friday ordered a 36-member bipartisan commission to study proposals to expand the size of the U.S. Supreme Court and set term limits for…
KQED's ForumWhy We're 'Hooked' on Junk Food
Research has found that we crave and consume more M&M’s when they’re multi-colored than when they’re just one color. In his new book “Hooked,” Pulitzer…
KQED's ForumWho Wins and Loses in Amazon's America
In his new book, “Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America,” journalist Alec MacGillis tracks how the labor and business practices of Amazon, the…
KQED's Forum‘Sidelined’: Julie DiCaro on Women in the World of Sports
After a decade as a lawyer, Julie DiCaro thought she had landed a dream job as a sports radio host. But the work environment quickly turned toxic, one where…
KQED's ForumAfter a Year of Virtual Learning, How Do Students Best Move Forward?
As students prepare to return to classrooms, schools are looking to tutoring, extended school days and reimagined standards to address gaps caused by distance…
KQED's ForumCombating Gender-Based Violence with ‘Not One More Girl’
Many young women depend on the Bay Area Rapid Transit system as their primary mode of transportation... But young women and girls riding BART say they have…
KQED's ForumOptimism in a Time of Pandemic
Americans are the least worried about contracting COVID-19 than they have ever been since the start of the pandemic, according to a new Gallup poll. Factors…
KQED's ForumJennifer De Leon Dissects 'White Space' Through Essays on Culture, Race and Writing
In her book of essays, “White Space,” writer Jennifer De Leon explores how she became a writer — a journey inextricably linked to her parents’ migration from…
KQED's ForumCalifornia To Reopen Fully on June 15
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that almost all businesses in the state may reopen on June 15 at or near full capacity, provided vaccine…
KQED's ForumNatalie Baszile on the Decline and Future of Black Farmers
A century ago, nearly one million Black farmers worked the land across the United States. Today, there are around 45,000 Black farmers. Investigations into the…
KQED's ForumHow the Pandemic Made Addressing California's Housing Shortage More Difficult
During the pandemic, California home buyers gobbled up single-family homes in exurbs and suburbs while low-income earners struggled to make rent. The median…
KQED's ForumCan Therapy Apps Live up to the Hype?
Therapists have been in high demand during the pandemic, after shifting services online. But with no licensed psychologists in 33 percent of counties…
KQED's ForumShankar Vedantam On The Upside of Lying
Can self-deception be beneficial? That’s one of the questions animating Shankar Vedantam’s new book “Useful Delusions,” which argues that holding false beliefs…
KQED's ForumThere’s Big Money in Music Streaming, But Not for Many Artists
Recording artists protested outside Spotify offices around the world last month as part of an ongoing movement to demand better pay. The streaming site’s…
KQED's ForumVaccine Misinformation Abounds on Facebook
Under pressure from lawmakers and public health officials, Facebook has recently ramped up efforts to combat Covid-19 vaccine misinformation on its site by…
KQED's ForumMore Than 5,700 Californians in County Jails Held For Longer Than a Year While Awaiting Conviction or Sentence
At least 5,796 people presently detained in California county jails have waited more than one year for a conviction or sentence. At least 1,300 of these…
KQED's ForumWriter Anne Lamott on Facing 'Existential Exhaustion’ with 'Revival and Courage'
As the pandemic creeps into its second year and as fires, droughts and floods continually remind us that the climate is changing, writer Anne Lamott notes that…
KQED's ForumBiden Announces $2 Trillion Infrastructure Plan That Takes on Climate Change
President Joe Biden unveiled his $2 trillion infrastructure plan on Wednesday. Called the “American Jobs Plan,” the massive measure would rebuild aging roads…
KQED's ForumAssemblymember Rob Bonta on his California Attorney General Nomination
Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Assemblymember Rob Bonta last week to be the next state attorney general. If confirmed, Bonta will finish the term of newly…
KQED's ForumMoving Beyond Boys and Girls Sections To Gender Neutral Retail
A bill working its way through the state legislature would require companies with 500 or more employees to have gender neutral sections for children’s clothing…
KQED's ForumBenefits and Pitfalls of Vaccine Passports
As more and more people get vaccinated, attention is turning to how to protect the vulnerable, while letting the vaccinated get back to things like the movie…
KQED's ForumHow to Move the Conversation Forward on Gun Violence and Save Lives
After two mass shootings in less than a week left 18 people dead in Colorado and Georgia, and amid a dramatic rise in community and domestic gun violence…
KQED's ForumSenator Tammy Duckworth on Her New Memoir 'Every Day Is A Gift'
Senator Tammy Duckworth lost both legs when the Blackhawk helicopter she was co-piloting was shot down in Iraq 16 years ago. In her new memoir, "Every Day Is A…
KQED's ForumWhy the Gender Wage Gap Persists
In the past quarter century, the gap between what men and women are paid, has narrowed by only 8 cents. Women nationally now earn about 82 cents for every…
KQED's ForumHow the #FreeBritney Movement May Impact California's Conservatorship Laws
Following increased backlash regarding the conservatorship of pop star Britney Spears, three bills aiming to reform conservatorship are now proposed in the…
KQED's ForumCalifornia’s Board of Education Adopts Ethnic Studies Curriculum After Contentious Debate
The California State Board of Education approved an ethnic studies curriculum for K-12 after years of tumultuous debate. Some critics say the curriculum falls…
KQED's ForumKorean Adoptees Use DNA to Find Families
Once known as the “land of orphans,” South Korea has placed nearly 200,000 children in foreign adoptions since the 1950’s. Until 1995, it was the world leader…
KQED's ForumAnimated Netflix Series 'City of Ghosts' Uncovers Stories of Los Angeles
The new animated Netflix series “City of Ghosts” follows a group of kid detectives who solve problems and learn about the history of Los Angeles by…
KQED's ForumState Senator Richard Pan Combats Vaccine Disinformation
On Thursday, Governor Newsom announced that eligibility for the Covid-19 vaccine would open on April 1 to those aged 50 and up, and to those aged 16 and up on…
KQED's ForumAs Pandemic Restrictions Loosen, Restaurants Find a New Groove
As Bay Area counties continue to loosen coronavirus restrictions, restaurants are expanding their services. We’ll hear from restaurateurs, including Oakland…
KQED's ForumParenting Challenges After a Year of No School
Helping with online homework, lack of playdates, fighting for computer time or even alone time; it has been a tough year of pandemic parenting. And for…
KQED's ForumCalifornia Water Agencies Warn of Looming Drought
State and federal officials are warning farmers and cities to prepare for potential water shortages as the state’s dry conditions reach worrisome levels. We…