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 Forum
Firefighters Make Good Progress On Glass Fire Containment But Say Coming Heat Wave is a Concern
Wildfires across the state have burned more than 4 million acres this year, more than doubling the previous record. In Napa and Sonoma counties, firefighters…
- KQED's Forum
Election 2020: Prop. 16 Seeks to Overturn California’s Ban on Affirmative Action
This November, California voters will weigh in on a controversial topic: affirmative action. Proposition 16 would overturn an existing law that prohibits the…
- KQED's Forum
Trump Under Fire for Risky Behavior After COVID-19 Diagnosis
We'll discuss the medical and political implications of President Trump's coronavirus diagnosis, and the White House's controversial handling of the crisis…
- KQED's Forum
Election 2020: Proposition 14 Would Authorize $5.5 Billion for Stem Cell Research
Back in 2004, California voters approved funds, and a new agency, to focus on stem cell research. Today, that pot of money is almost empty. Proposition 14 on…
- KQED's Forum
Pulitzer Prize-winning Reporter Michael Schmidt on President Trump, COVID-19 and the Election
We’ll get the latest on President Trump's health and the White House's handling of his coronavirus diagnosis with New York Times Washington correspondent…
- KQED's Forum
Election 2020: Proposition 25 Seeks to End Cash Bail System
Proposition 25 on the November ballot seeks to end the cash bail system in California and replace it with one based on risk assessment. If passed, it would…
- KQED's Forum
President Trump’s Coronavirus and the Election
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19 after White House adviser Hope Hicks was confirmed to have the virus. The…
- KQED's Forum
President Trump Tests Positive for Coronavirus
President Donald Trump is experiencing “mild symptoms” after he and first lady Melania Trump both tested positive for the coronavirus. The president's results…
- KQED's Forum
Election 2020: Your Voting Questions Answered
One of the biggest challenges facing the election this year is simply the process. For the first time ever, all California voters will receive a ballot in the…
- KQED's Forum
What’s Going on With the 2020 Census? Good Question
Countless hurdles throughout the pandemic. A legal fight. Now an uncertain end date. If you’re as confused as we are about the status of the 2020 Census, NPR’s…
- KQED's Forum
CSU’s New Chancellor is the First Californian, Person of Color to Lead the University System
California State University system’s new chancellor, Joseph Castro, will take over an organization beset with challenges from the pandemic, including a nearly…
- KQED's Forum
Firefighters Brace for Heat, Wind in Battle Against Glass Fire
We'll get the latest on the Glass Fire in Napa and Sonoma counties which burned more than 48,000 acres on Wednesday. Firefighters have slowed the growth rate…
- KQED's Forum
Young Voters on Election 2020
Young voters have a track record of low turnout in elections, but according to a recent Harvard Youth Poll, 63% of Americans age 18-29 say they will…
- KQED's Forum
Biden and Trump Square Off in First Presidential Debate
Former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump take the stage Tuesday evening for the first of three presidential debates ahead of the November…
- KQED's Forum
Al Sharpton’s New Book Calls On America to “Rise Up”
After several months of protests across the country demanding racial justice and police reform, longtime civil rights leader Al Sharpton has released a new…
- KQED's Forum
Wildfires Sweep through Wine Country, Forcing Thousands to Evacuate
Thousands of Northern California residents awoke to flames on Monday, as dry conditions and high winds caused multiple fires to explode in size overnight. The…
- KQED's Forum
What’s In Your Wallet? Fiction, Says Author Jacob Goldstein
Many of us take money for granted as a certainty, but what exactly is money? Jacob Goldstein, co-host of NPR’s Planet Money podcast, explores that question in…
- KQED's Forum
Election 2020: Barrett Nominated, New York Times Gets Trump Tax Returns
President Trump nominated federal appeals court judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday. The conservative jurist is known for her…
- KQED's Forum
Fast-Growing North Bay Fires Force Evacuations
We'll get an update on the wildfires in Napa and Sonoma County and check in on Bay Area air quality with KQED's Dan Brekke and Alice Woelfle. Learn more about…
- KQED's Forum
Roe v. Wade Under Threat As Conservative Nominee All But Assured Seat on Supreme Court
President Donald Trump said he will name his nominee to succeed Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday -- a little more than a week after the…
- KQED's Forum
Time is Running Out for the Combustion Engine in California
In an effort to wean California off carbon emissions, Governor Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order to ban sales of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035. The…
- KQED's Forum
Maria Hinojosa’s New Memoir, ‘Once I Was You’ Tackles Immigration, Identity and How to Thrive in Journalism
Journalist and author Maria Hinojosa was, as she put, “the first Latina in every newsroom I ever worked in." In her new memoir, “Once I Was You,” the longtime…
- KQED's Forum
With 200,000 Coronavirus Deaths, Federal Response Under Intensified Criticism
This week, the United States marked a grim milestone: more than 200,000 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic. Against this backdrop, Department of Health and…
- KQED's Forum
Anger and Disbelief Follow Kentucky Grand Jury’s Decision in Breonna Taylor Killing
Protesters across the Bay Area and nationwide continue to hold rallies today after a Kentucky grand jury declined yesterday to charge Louisville police in the…
- KQED's Forum
Women’s Leadership on Climate Gets Spotlight in Anthology ‘All We Can Save’
The climate crisis isn’t just an environmental one — it is also a crisis of leadership. That's according to Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine Wilkinson…
- KQED's Forum
Matthew Yglesias on the Case for “One Billion Americans”
There are 330 million people in the United States. Vox co-founder and economics journalist Matt Yglesias makes the case for adding 670 million more in his new…
- KQED's Forum
Prison Scholar and Activist Ruth Wilson Gilmore on the Case for Abolition
Is prison necessary? That’s a central question in the work of longtime prison abolitionist and well-known prison scholar, Ruth Wilson Gilmore. A co-founder of…
- KQED's Forum
Artist George McCalman Lays Bare White Racial Apathy in ‘Return to Sender’
In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, San Francisco-based artist George McCalman says that just as he was processing his own grief and anger, he…
- KQED's Forum
California Hits Pause on New Unemployment Applications as EDD Restructures
Facing a massive backlog of 600,000 cases, California’s Employment Development Department says it will not accept new unemployment claims until October 5 as it…
- KQED's Forum
Political Battle Heats up Over Ginsburg’s Replacement
In a nation already sharply divided along partisan lines, the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Republican plans to quickly confirm her successor has…
- KQED's Forum
Remembering Trailblazing Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Thousands of people gathered in San Francisco and at vigils across the country over the weekend in honor of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who…
- KQED's Forum
California Discourages Trick-or-Treating this Halloween
Across California, county public health departments have issued guidelines banning parades, block parties and haunted houses. “A different type of Halloween”…
- KQED's Forum
A Quest to Understand Suffering in Yaa Gyasi’s Novel ‘Transcendent Kingdom’
Following her critically-acclaimed debut novel "Homegoing," novelist Yaa Gyasi returns with “Transcendent Kingdom.” The story follows Gifty, a doctoral…
- KQED's Forum
Your Six-Word Pandemic Memoirs
How would you describe the past six months in six words? SMITH Magazine founding editor Larry Smith posed that question to followers of his Six-Word Memoir…
- KQED's Forum
What Trump’s Middle East Deal Means for the Region
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed an agreement at the White House this week to normalize relations with Israel, signaling a diplomatic shift in the…
- KQED's Forum
Larry Diamond and Ned Foley Explain the ‘Terrifying Inadequacy’ of U.S. Election Law
What will happen if both Donald Trump and Joe Biden claim victory in November? Unfortunately, according to scholars Larry Diamond and Ned Foley, American…
- KQED's Forum
Jay Rosen on How the Media Should Cover Trump and the 2020 Election
After President Trump claimed last month that mail-in ballots will lead to a "rigged" election, journalism professor and media critic Jay Rosen wrote that the…
- KQED's Forum
Families with Young Students Struggle with Distance Learning
Distance learning poses huge challenges for students of every age group, but it’s especially difficult for the youngest students. Children in preschool and…
- KQED's Forum
No Mask? Pay $100. Berkeley Approves Fine for Not Complying With Mask Order
Get caught without a mask in Berkeley and you could be fined $100. That's after the city council passed an ordinance last night that allows code enforcement…
- KQED's Forum
Bay Area Reports Decline In COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations
Evidence is emerging that the nine-county Bay Area is making significant strides against the coronavirus pandemic. New cases have fallen by more than 60% since…
- KQED's Forum
Writer Roxane Gay on the Significance of Audre Lorde
In the introduction to a new anthology of the work of Black lesbian writer and activist Audre Lorde, Roxane Gay writes that Lorde "is an exemplar of public…
- KQED's Forum
How To Keep California’s Forests Healthy and Reduce Fires
Wildfires seem to be getting bigger, more frequent and more dangerous. Experts say that won't change this season or next, unless the state and federal…
- KQED's Forum
Roles Like ‘Chief of Diversity’ See Spike in Interest, Hires
Recent data from LinkedIn show a surge in companies recruiting and hiring for positions such as “chief of diversity." As employees feel more emboldened to…
- KQED's Forum
Is it Finally OK to Fly? Travelers Assess Pandemic Risks
After months of sheltering in place -- and as health experts characterize air travel as relatively low-risk -- more Americans are contemplating taking to the…
- KQED's Forum
How Bad Is the Air, And When Might it Improve?
The Bay Area has been suffering some of the worst air quality in the world in recent days. We'll get the latest on the air, how to protect yourself, and when…
- KQED's Forum
Historian and Journalist Jelani Cobb on New Frontline Documentary ‘Policing the Police 2020′
In the new Frontline documentary “Policing the Police 2020,” historian and journalist Jelani Cobb returns as a correspondent, taking viewers inside a U.S…
- KQED's Forum
Dozens of Bay Area Elementary Schools Approved for In-Person Instruction
Since California first issued safety guidelines for schools back in August, health officials have given the green light to dozens of Bay Area elementary…
- KQED's Forum
Poet Claudia Rankine’s Book ‘Just Us’ Seeks Out ‘True Conversation’ About Race
“These phrases— white fragility, white defensiveness, white appropriation— have a habit of standing in for the complicated mess of a true conversation." That's…
- KQED's Forum
Wildfires Continue Scorching Across California
Across California, wildfires continue ravaging the landscape, filling skies with smoke and prompting thousands of people to evacuate their homes. Cal Fire is…
- KQED's Forum
NIH Asssures Lawmakers Future COVID-19 Vaccine Will Be Safe
National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins told Congress Wednesday that no safety standards will be compromised as the government evaluates the…
- KQED's Forum
Woodward: Trump Knew Virus Was Deadly But Wanted To ‘Play it Down’
President Donald Trump told journalist Bob Woodward that he knew early on that the coronavirus was “deadly stuff” but did not share that information with the…
- KQED's Forum
Bay Area Residents Alarmed as Wildfire Smoke Blocks Sun
Bay Area residents woke to ominous orange skies Wednesday, brought on by multiple wildfires across Northern California. As a layer of heavy smoke all but…
- KQED's Forum
How Latino Conservatives Could Influence the 2020 Election
While there is a perception that Latinos tend to vote for Democrats, a significant percentage, especially in places such as California's Central Valley, Texas…
- KQED's Forum
Even as Rents Fall, Some Bay Area Residents Consider Leaving
Among the Bay Area workers who have the luxury of working from home, some are eyeing an exit from a region known for its excessive cost of living and…
- KQED's Forum
How Breonna Taylor Landed in the Middle of a Deadly Drug Raid
In a New York Times piece, "Breonna Taylor's Life Was Changing. Then the Police Came to Her Door," correspondent Rukmini Callimachi uncovers details about the…
- KQED's Forum
California Wildfire Update
Wildfires have now burned a record 2 million acres in California this year. Meanwhile, as the extreme heat continues, PG&E is starting power shutoffs for many…
- KQED's Forum
Brian Stelter Explores White House’s ‘Unprecedented Alliance’ With Fox News in ‘Hoax’
To CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter, President Trump’s ongoing, mutually-reinforcing alliance with Fox News gained permanent traction in January…
- KQED's Forum
Rebroadcast: Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman on How to Sustain ‘Big Friendship’
A close friendship can be one of the most fulfilling, and most challenging, relationships of our lives. In their book “Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other…
- KQED's Forum
Rebroadcast: Learning to Deal with Uncertainty… Through Poker
After a spate of bad luck led her to question the nature of chance, journalist Maria Konnikova began learning about poker. Konnikova -- who holds a doctorate…
- KQED's Forum
New York Times’ Farhad Manjoo on Election 2020 and Why He’s “Doomsday Prepping”
In his latest column for the New York Times, opinion writer Farhad Manjoo delves into his fears of a second term for President Donald Trump. But even if Trump…