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
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
Poet Kevin Young Explores History and Loss in His Newest Collection, "Night Watch"
New Yorker magazine poetry editor Kevin Young has called poetry “the most efficient mode of time travel.” In his new volume of poems “Night Watch,” Young, a…
- KQED's Forum
Leading Climate and Vaccine Scientists on How to Fight Antiscience
Climatologist Michael Mann and vaccine expert Peter Hotez say we’re in an “antiscience superstorm.” It’s a movement that has upended federal health agencies…
- KQED's Forum
The Uncertain Future of Bay Area Transit
For the second time in just four months, BART had a systemwide outage on Friday, stranding morning commuters for hours and bringing Bay Bridge traffic to a…
- KQED's Forum
Would Your Relationship Survive a Shipwreck?
After a whale struck Maurice and Maralyn Bailey’s boat in 1972, the British couple found themselves stranded on a tiny rubber raft in the Pacific Ocean. In a…
- KQED's Forum
Trump Cuts to SNAP Program Threaten to Increase Hunger Locally, Nationwide
Every month, 5.5 million Californians rely on Cal Fresh, the state’s version of food stamps. But Trump’s $186 billion in cuts to SNAP, the nation’s primary…
- KQED's Forum
Your AI Chatbot Is Designed to Keep You Talking, But At What Cost?
Millions of people are having deeply personal conversations with AI chatbots, but how safe are these interactions? We’re joined by two technology reporters who…
- KQED's Forum
Robert Reich Retired from Teaching but Continues to Educate on Inequality, Corporate Power and Democracy in America
Political economist, educator, author, and former labor secretary, Robert Reich, has spent decades examining inequality as a way to make sense of the world…
- KQED's Forum
What Will It Take to Complete California’s High Speed Rail?
California’s long-delayed high speed rail project is finally ready to start laying tracks in the Central Valley next year. But the Trump administration has…
- KQED's Forum
Ask Your Mayor: Oakland’s Barbara Lee
After decades spent representing the East Bay in Congress, Barbara Lee was inaugurated as Oakland’s new mayor three months ago. She’s now at the helm of a city…
- KQED's Forum
Forum From the Archives: What Has a Wild Animal Taught You?
When political advisor Chloe Dalton found an injured newborn hare near her home in the countryside, she decided to nurse it back to health. The two quickly…
- KQED's Forum
How Aunties Power Our World
What does it mean to be an “auntie”? Studies have shown that aunties — whether they are a family member, a chosen maternal figure or a parent’s friend — play a…
- KQED's Forum
Forum from the Archives: California at the Center of New Legal Battles Over Abortion
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, California has aspired to be a national haven for abortion rights. But the reality is more complicated…
- KQED's Forum
Why Some Bay Area Malls Are Thriving While Others Are Dying
The fast-evolving retail landscape has zapped the life out of once bustling shopping centers throughout the Bay Area. And yet, many of the region’s legacy…
- KQED's Forum
Forum from the Archives: As Medicaid Cuts Loom, California Health Clinics Face Uncertain Future
The Republican spending bill signed into law by President Trump last month slashes an estimated $150 billion in federal Medicaid funding to California over the…
- KQED's Forum
San Francisco Voters Decide, Once Again, Whether to Recall an Elected Official
Voters in the Sunset district of San Francisco are casting ballots on whether to recall their supervisor Joel Engardio. Engardio, a vocal champion of the…
- KQED's Forum
Forum from the Archives: Why We Need Shade in a Warming World
In Los Angeles County—famous for its sunshine—just 20% of urbanized areas are shaded at noon. That’s creating a serious health hazard for people who work…
- KQED's Forum
Three Bay Area College and University Presidents Reflect on Their Mounting Challenges
As a new crop of students start school this fall, Bay Area colleges and universities are navigating headwinds ranging from funding cuts to a shrinking student…
- KQED's Forum
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
Oakland's Fairyland Turns 75, But Remains Ageless
On September 1, 1950, Oakland’s Fairyland opened its gates to 15,000 visitors who paid between 9 and 14 cents to explore this storybook adventure land. The…
- KQED's Forum
Remembering Hurricane Katrina With Clint Smith, 20 Years After the Storm
In October 2005, about six weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck, New Orleans-born writer Clint Smith returned to his devastated home to find haunting remnants…
- KQED's Forum
What Should A Remodel of Fisherman’s Wharf Look Like?
Before the COVID pandemic hit, San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf averaged over 15 million visitors each year. While the waterfront is still one of the most…
- KQED's Forum
Newsom Charges Ahead with Redistricting Plan, Prompting Republican Lawsuit
California Republican lawmakers are suing to block Governor Gavin Newsom’s redistricting plan from the November ballot, as President Trump vows his own lawsuit…
- KQED's Forum
Should the U.S. Government Own Shares of Private Companies?
In a highly unusual move, the Trump Administration announced the government will take a 10 percent equity stake in computer chipmaker Intel. The new…
- KQED's Forum
How to Survive Even the Most Awkward Roommate Conflicts
Roommate relationships are increasingly common, with a record-high 6.8 million households in America reporting that they share space with roommates and…
- KQED's Forum
Single Fathers Are a Growing, But Often Invisible, Demographic
When we talk about households led by single parents, we often think about mothers. But a rising number of families are led by single fathers: men who are…
- KQED's Forum
Why Are Firefighters Battling Wildfires Without Masks?
Imagine approaching a wildfire with nothing but a bandana to protect you. That’s how U.S. Forest Service firefighters typically battle blazes – with no masks…
- KQED's Forum
Tech Layoffs and Higher Than Average Unemployment: A Close Look at the Bay Area’s Job Market
California now has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 5.5%. While the Bay Area’s rate is a bit lower than the state’s, it is still higher than the…
- KQED's Forum
Are We in An Analog Revival?
Remember owning your movies and music on tape, CD or DVD? Physical media is having a moment again as frustration mounts with streaming platforms that can…
- KQED's Forum
Pay for College Athletes Kicks Off New Era of College Sports
This weekend kicks off the start of the college football season and for the first time ever, players coming on the field can expect a payment from their…
- KQED's Forum
Leading Pediatric Group Splits with CDC Over Vaccine Recommendations
The American Academy of Pediatrics is breaking with the CDC for the first time in decades by continuing to recommend Covid-19 shots for infants and young…
- KQED's Forum
The Mundane and the Meaningful Moments Found in the Notes App of Your Phone
The notes app on your phone can be a repository of the quotidian aspects of life – a grocery list or reminder about a doctor’s appointment. But these notes can…
- KQED's Forum
Inside the Democrats’ Campaign Spam Machine
“Democracy is doomed unless you give $15 RIGHT NOW.” Sound familiar? Those alarmist texts flooding your phone are part of a Democratic fundraising machine…
- KQED's Forum
Exploited Robots and a Commitment to Community Populate 2060’s San Francisco in Annalee Newitz’s ‘Automatic Noodle’
As both a science journalist and a sci-fi writer, Annalee Newitz thinks a lot about what our technology-saturated future might hold for us. Newitz’s new…
- KQED's Forum
California at the Center of New Legal Battles Over Abortion
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, California has aspired to be a national haven for abortion rights. But the reality is more complicated…
- KQED's Forum
Will New CEQA Reforms Bring More Housing to California?
California is the most expensive state in the country to buy a house for a host of reasons, including a lack of inventory and high costs of building. One…
- KQED's Forum
Trump and Putin Meet in Alaska as Russia Continues to Attack Ukraine
Can the U.S. help bring an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine? President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday to…
- KQED's Forum
What New CEQA Reforms Aimed at Streamlining Housing Production Mean for the Environment
California has long prided itself on being a leader on environmental issues. Innovative laws like a carbon cap and trade program to limit greenhouse gas…
- KQED's Forum
Love It or Hate It, the Presidential Fitness Test Is Making a Comeback
Remember the flexed arm hang? The mile run? The Presidential Fitness Test – a battery of physical challenges that has prompted both dread and pride in students…
- KQED's Forum
Is Your Perfectionism a Problem?
On the surface, being a perfectionist may not seem so bad. What’s wrong with wanting straight A’s or an impeccable home or conflict-free relationships? But…
- KQED's Forum
UCLA Faces $1 Billion Fine in Trump Administration’s Latest Battle with Higher Education
A federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to restore more than $80 million in grants it withheld from UCLA. The ruling comes…
- KQED's Forum
Trump’s Tariff Policy Raising Prices of Coffee, Clothing and More
For months, economists have predicted that Trump’s tariff policy would crash the economy. While that has not yet happened, leading economic indicators, like…
- KQED's Forum
AI Reshapes the Economy and Roils Geopolitics, Even as GPT-5 Fizzles
Big Tech’s spending on AI infrastructure, like data centers, is so enormous that it’s reshaping the U.S. economy on a scale likened to the building of the…
- KQED's Forum
As Medicaid Cuts Loom, California Health Clinics Face Uncertain Future
The Republican spending bill signed into law by President Trump last month slashes an estimated $150 billion in federal Medicaid funding to California over the…
- KQED's Forum
California Governor’s Race Shifts as Harris, Kounalakis Say They’re Not Running
What’s happened since former Vice President Kamala Harris said she’s not running to replace Gavin Newsom as California’s next governor? Lieutenant Governor…
- KQED's Forum
What Does Donald Trump’s Use of the National Guard Mean for our Democracy?
In the past, a U.S. president deployed the National Guard on domestic soil to enforce laws or quash protests once every few decades in extremely rare…
- KQED's Forum
Why We Need Shade in a Warming World
In Los Angeles County — famous for its sunshine — just 20% of urbanized areas are shaded at noon. That’s creating a serious health hazard for people who work…
- KQED's Forum
Shoshana Walter’s ‘Rehab’ Finds Corruption, Profiteering and Dismal Rates of Recovery In America’s Drug Treatment System
Nearly eight years ago, journalist Shoshana Walter followed a lead on a drug and alcohol rehab program that put patients to work at a chicken plant. What she…
- KQED's Forum
Why Is Gen Z Having Less Sex?
Gen Z is having less sex, and journalist Carter Sherman has spent the last several years interviewing more than 100 teens and 20-somethings about why. Sherman…
- KQED's Forum
Fed Up With the Apps, Daters Turn to Old School Set Ups
Dating is going old school. More than a decade after apps like Tinder, Hinge and Bumble transformed dating, many singles are signing off and asking their…
- KQED's Forum
Starvation in Gaza Persists Despite Increased Aid Deliveries
The latest reporting from Gaza describes a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions. Children are starving; families face impossible choices between…
- KQED's Forum
California Considers More Drilling and Other Concessions to Big Oil as Refineries Plan to Close
California has long gone head-to-head with big oil, leading many of the efforts to curb climate damage caused at the hands of the fossil fuel industry –…
- KQED's Forum
Is the American Media Caving to Trump?
Is legacy media self-censoring under the Trump Administration? The canceling of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and the multi-million dollar payouts from…
- KQED's Forum
Why Americans Flock to Mexico’s “Molar City” for Dental Care
New Yorker staff writer Burkhard Bilger doesn’t have great teeth. According to Bilger, his “gaptoothed grin” makes him look like he came from a bar fight or a…
- KQED's Forum
California Leaders Eye Special Election to Counter Texas Redistricting Plans
California Democrats have long criticized gerrymandering, the practice of drawing district maps to influence election outcomes. But as Texas Republicans have…
- KQED's Forum
Trump EPA Makes Major Moves to Repeal Climate Regulation
In 2008, the Obama administration compiled a massive report with the goal of answering one big question: Is climate change a danger to human health in America?…
- KQED's Forum
Democrats Have Lost Diverse Voters. Can They Get Them Back?
Democrats long assumed they could count on voters of color to support their candidates and causes, and for many years they did. But last year’s presidential…
- KQED's Forum
Dr. Elias Zerhouni Reminds Us Why 'Disease Knows No Politics'
Dr. Elias Zerhouni’s journey began in Algeria, where he taught himself mathematics as bombs fell outside his window. With two suitcases and a few hundred…
- KQED's Forum
Forum from the Archives: Jahari Stampley Family Trio Performs Live
We’re joined in studio for a live performance by the Jahari Stampley Family Trio. Stampley, an award-winning jazz pianist who is known for melding genres like…
- KQED's Forum
Grateful Dead Keeps on Truckin’ for Its 60th Anniversary
The Grateful Dead is showing a touch of grey as the band turns 60, and San Francisco is pulling out the stops to celebrate: tie-dye buses, banners across the…