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
Patricia Lockwood on How Illness Can Give You ‘Another You’
When writer Patricia Lockwood fell ill with Covid in March 2020, she says she felt insane for months, experiencing “Brian fog” (not brain fog) and what she…
- KQED's Forum
How Are You Managing Giftflation this Holiday Shopping Season?
Giftflation is here. Prices for go-to gifts such as boxes of chocolates or the latest iPhone will be higher this year than last thanks to rising tariffs and…
- KQED's Forum
Congress Scrambles to Address Healthcare Funding Before Year End
With just weeks before enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies expire for 22 million Americans, Congress faces mounting pressure to act on healthcare funding…
- KQED's Forum
What Trump’s ‘Pause’ on Asylum Decisions Means for the Bay Area’s Afghan Community and Beyond
The Trump administration has paused all asylum immigration decisions, affecting more than a million people, following a shooting of two National Guard members…
- KQED's Forum
Simon Winchester Charts History and Future of the Wind in 'The Breath of the Gods'
Journalist and author Simon Winchester says that wind is “a universal….It lifts seeds and supports birds and insects. It warms and it chills. It builds and…
- KQED's Forum
Bay Area Startups Want to Make Genetically Engineered Babies. What Could Go Wrong?
In the U.S., it’s illegal to edit genes in human embryos with the intention of creating a genetically engineered baby. But according to the Wall Street…
- KQED's Forum
Fred Armisen on Recording the Sounds of the Everyday
Fred Armisen, the comedian, actor and musician known for “Portlandia,” “Documentary Now!” and “SNL,” has a new album out called “100 Sound Effects.” There’s a…
- KQED's Forum
Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power and the Downfall of a Bay Area Wellness Cult
In 2011, Nicole Daedone took to the stage at a San Francisco TedTalk to discuss her biggest business venture: the female orgasm. The founder of OneTaste, a…
- KQED's Forum
‘Nerd Reich’ Author Gil Duran on the Tech Authoritarian Movement
Journalist Gil Duran’s newsletter “The Nerd Reich” documents the latest developments in anti-democracy extremism within Silicon Valley. These extreme views…
- KQED's Forum
Most People Dread Jury Duty, But Some Never Get the Chance to Serve
If you’ve watched any legal drama on TV, you know that criminal defendants are entitled to a jury of peers. But does our court system fulfill that promise?…
- KQED's Forum
Forum from the Archives: What’s Your Favorite Children’s Book?
There’s the picture book you wanted your parent or caregiver to read to you over and over. There’s the one with musical rhymes you love performing for your…
- KQED's Forum
Forum from the Archives: Samin Nosrat on Nourishing Food, Community and All the ‘Good Things’
Even after the tremendous success of her cookbook, “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” and the Netflix series it inspired, Samin Nosrat found that she was lonely and…
- KQED's Forum
Forum from the Archives: Life Goes On While Systems Fray — How Do We Make Sense of the Dissonance?
Crises unfold around us daily: gun violence, devastating foreign wars and U.S. democratic norms shattering. And still, we cook dinner and go to work. For those…
- KQED's Forum
Forum from the Archives: Julian Brave NoiseCat Weaves Memoir with Indigenous Myth and History
Julian Brave NoiseCat’s paternal family traces their origins to the Coyote, a trickster from native mythology who helped create the world. The story of Coyote…
- KQED's Forum
Forum from the Archives: Can We Really Live On Mars?
Mars is inhospitable to human life with its cosmic radiation, atmosphere of carbon dioxide and nights as cold as 200 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. But as…
- KQED's Forum
ACLU’s National Legal Director Cecillia Wang on Taking Trump to Court
The ACLU is not new to the work of challenging presidents. During the first Trump administration, the ACLU successfully challenged Trump’s Muslim ban, border…
- KQED's Forum
Forum From the Archives: What Does Costco Mean to You?
Costco, the bulk grocery chain known for consistency, devoted employees and discounts, has 145 million members worldwide. New Yorker staff writer Molly Fischer…
- KQED's Forum
Trans Kids Talk With Those Who Love and Support Them in ‘Love You for You’ Series
Transgender and nonbinary kids have been in the news a lot lately, but usually they’re not telling their own stories. The California Report Magazine has been…
- KQED's Forum
New Levi’s Exhibit Proves Iconic Jeans Never Fade
Beyond just a wardrobe staple, jeans are often key parts of signature looks and core memories. Levi Strauss, the San Francisco company that brought jeans to…
- KQED's Forum
Your Spiciest Thanksgiving Hot Takes with NYT Cooking
New York Times Cooking columnist Eric Kim says he’s perfected the Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole (hint: big marshmallows, but halved). Recipe developer…
- KQED's Forum
The Art of Audiobooks with Julia Whelan
What’s your favorite audiobook? Chances are, it’s one with a great narrator. Audiobook performers can make, or break, the experience for listeners. But what…
- KQED's Forum
The 'Great Flattening': White Collar Workers Hit by Historic Wave of Layoffs
In the last year, tens of thousands of white collar workers have been laid off from companies ranging from Salesforce to GM to Target. Last month, Amazon…
- KQED's Forum
How is Climate Advocacy Weathering Trump?
The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP30, is underway in Brazil. While California Governor Gavin Newsom made an appearance, the U.S…
- KQED's Forum
Remembering Legendary Football Coach John Beam, As Oakland Reels From Two Campus Shootings
Two campus shootings last week rocked Oakland. On Wednesday, a 15-year-old Skyline High School student was injured in a shooting by two minors on campus. On…
- KQED's Forum
Why ICE Agents Mask Themselves
As the Trump administration’s deportation campaign has ramped up, so too have the number of federal officers and agents wearing masks. That’s according to…
- KQED's Forum
Former Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith Urges Us to 'Fear Less'
For many, poetry is a balm. But for others, poetry feels inaccessible and hard to understand. In her latest book, “Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times” former…
- KQED's Forum
What Has a Dog Shown You?
The dog, writes poet Billy Collins, moves through the world unencumbered, with “nothing but her brown coat and her modest blue collar.” In a new collection…
- KQED's Forum
Remembering Disability Activist Alice Wong
Pioneering disability justice activist Alice Wong died in San Francisco on Friday at the age of 51. We listen back to our January interview with Alice, as part…
- KQED's Forum
When Is It OK to Ghost?
“Ghosting” has become an almost inevitable part of modern life – not just on dating sites, but among friends, family and even professional colleagues. But…
- KQED's Forum
Nite Yun's 'My Cambodia: A Khmer Cookbook' Celebrates Her Culinary Heritage
Growing up in Stockton’s Khmer refugee community, Nite Yun knew some about her family’s history and heritage, but it was only after she visited Cambodia for…
- KQED's Forum
Veterans’ PTSD and Moral Injury Centered in Documentary ‘Healing a Soldier's Heart’
During the Civil War, “Soldier’s Heart” was the name given to the symptoms we now associate with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. While the condition…
- KQED's Forum
Waymos – Both Popular and Polarizing – Expand to San Jose and Bay Area Highways
When Waymo robotaxis first rolled out onto San Francisco streets in 2021, people were skeptical. But less than five years later, Waymos are popular – a new…
- KQED's Forum
Michael McFaul on the Threat of Autocracy at Home and Abroad
Michael McFaul witnessed Russia’s slide into autocracy under Vladimir Putin. Now, the former ambassador to Russia warns the U.S. is also at risk. In his new…
- KQED's Forum
Living Without a Mind's Eye and the Ability to Visualize
If you ask someone with aphantasia to visualize an apple, a tree, or the house they grew up in, their mind draws a blank. Literally. The inability to conjure…
- KQED's Forum
CalRx to Offer Cheap Insulin, and Other Prescription Drugs Could Be Next
Starting in January, Californians will be able to buy discounted insulin from the state. That’s thanks to CalRx, the state-run drug label created in 2020 that…
- KQED's Forum
Mamdani’s NYC Victory Mobilized People Often Forgotten in Politics. What Would That Look Like Here?
In Zohran Mamdani’s victory speech after being elected New York City’s new mayor, he thanked those often forgotten by the politics of the city, the “Yemeni…
- KQED's Forum
Click. Scroll. Surrender. Tim Wu Warns Against The Rise of Big Data in 'The Age of Extraction'
Our digital lives are increasingly dominated by a handful of powerful tech platforms. Once promising prosperity and democracy, the internet has instead allowed…
- KQED's Forum
Our Roads are Full of Potholes. Why Are They So Hard to Fix?
The pothole is the bane of any commuter’s day. In Oakland, the city has paid over $35 million in the last 10 years in pothole litigation. And according to a…
- KQED's Forum
Forum From the Archives: PRXZM Live on Forum
California synth-pop duo PRXZM joins us in studio for a live musical performance. Classically trained musicians Nick Ortega and Emma Maidenberg host a weekly…
- KQED's Forum
Salman Rushdie on Writing at “The Eleventh Hour”
Salman Rushdie is one of the most consequential living writers – artistically, culturally and politically. “The 11th Hour” is his latest collection of short…
- KQED's Forum
Government Shutdown Stretches to Record 36 Days
We’re now in the longest shutdown in U.S. history after lawmakers on Tuesday again failed to advance a deal to extend health care subsidies and re-open the…
- KQED's Forum
What RFK Jr.’s Support for Psychedelic Therapy Means for Its Future
This summer, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said he’d like to see psychedelic therapies for depression, trauma and other…
- KQED's Forum
Post-Election Analysis: California's Proposition 50
We look at how California voted on Proposition 50, which would temporarily redraw the state’s congressional districts to favor Democratic candidates. Governor…
- KQED's Forum
If We Are in an AI Bubble, What Happens if it Pops?
“AI may not simply be 'a bubble,' or even an enormous bubble. It may be the ultimate bubble,” writes tech journalist Brian Merchant. In the first half of the…
- KQED's Forum
Conspiracy Theory Expert Experiences Eaton Fire Disinformation Firsthand
Journalist Mike Rothschild has for the last decade studied and written about the rise and spread of conspiracy theories, hoaxes and scams. But after he lost…
- KQED's Forum
Is The Student Loan Safety Net Unraveling?
More than 350,000 Californians are now behind on their student loan payments – the highest delinquency rate for any type of debt in over two decades, according…
- KQED's Forum
Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales on How to Build Trust
Wikipedia, the crowdsourced encyclopedia, is one of the world’s most visited websites, with 11 billion page views each month. Its founder, Jimmy Wales, credits…
- KQED's Forum
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan Takes Your Questions
As mayor of San Jose, Matt Mahan has touted his business credentials and his common sense approach to handling issues like homelessness and crime. In 2024…
- KQED's Forum
David Sanger on President Trump's Erratic Foreign Policy
Minutes before his high-stakes meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping on Thursday, President Trump took to social media to say the U.S. would resume nuclear…
- KQED's Forum
How Día de Los Muertos Continues to Evolve
Orange marigolds, sugar skulls, skeleton face paint, and altars lined with photos and candles have become familiar elements for commemorating Day of the Dead…
- KQED's Forum
What Does Costco Mean to You?
Costco, the bulk grocery chain known for consistency, devoted employees and discounts, has 145 million members worldwide. New Yorker staff writer Molly Fischer…
- KQED's Forum
‘Check, Please!,’ the Bay Area’s Longest Running Dinner Party, Turns 20
For 20 years, the Emmy- and James Beard-award winning show “Check, Please! Bay Area” has brought together local diners to kibbitz about their favorite…
- KQED's Forum
Voting Rights Under Scrutiny as Redistricting Wars Escalate
Next week, California voters will decide whether to approve Proposition 50, which would temporarily redraw Congressional district maps to favor Democrats in…
- KQED's Forum
No End in Sight for Federal Shutdown. What Does It Mean for the Bay Area?
As the federal government shutdown extends to its fifth week, its impacts have become more widespread. Over one million federal workers are either on furlough…
- KQED's Forum
Joyce Vance on Why We Can’t Give up on Our Democracy
Joyce Vance was a federal prosecutor for 25 years, resigning on the eve of Donald Trump’s first inauguration. Now, she’s a law professor, a legal analyst for…
- KQED's Forum
In Search of Home Part 4: Strategies For Building Permanent Homes for the Unhoused
One of the main drivers of homelessness in the Bay Area is simply a lack of affordable housing for people with the very lowest incomes. In Part 4 of our series…
- KQED's Forum
When Everyone’s a Critic, Who Should You Trust?
Have you watched a movie review on YouTube or an album takedown on TikTok? Cultural criticism is available for free everywhere which might explain why…
- KQED's Forum
Trump Ramps Up Military Strikes and Troops Near Venezuela, Amid Questions About Goals and Legality // California Condors Alight in the East Bay After 100 Year Absence
The Pentagon announced Friday that the military is sending an aircraft carrier to South America. It’s the latest in the escalating show of force against…
- KQED's Forum
What’s Your Favorite Children’s Book?
There’s the picture book you wanted your parent or caregiver to read to you over and over. There’s the one with musical rhymes you love performing for your…
- KQED's Forum
You Can Buy a Burrito on Installment. But Should You?
While indulging in online retail therapy, you’ve probably seen an option at checkout to buy now, pay later. Companies like Afterpay, Affirm, and Klarna let…