KQED's Forum

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 for a second time.   More than half of the city is vulnerable to flood, with seas predicted to rise by 2 feet by the year 2050 and possibly 7 feet by 2100.  We’ll talk about KQED’s series “Fighting to Stay: Climate Solutions in East Palo Al...

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 deft humor. Bell does not shy away from calling it like he sees it, and he’s seen a lot. With its sixth season debuting on May 2, the show will  tackle policing the police, racial wealth gaps and the lack of diversity in STEM, among other topi...

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency for Sonoma and Mendocino counties on Wednesday as California’s record-dry conditions continue. Fuel moisture levels are some of the lowest the state has seen, paving the way for increased fire risk and more intense fires when they occur. Earlier this month, Newsom unveiled a $536 million plan to help prevent future fires. We get an expert’s analysis o...

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 police officer convicted of his killing. Bystander videos can provide important counter-narratives to official accounts, and the very act of filming law enforcement officers can sometimes de-escalate violent confrontations. But once widely c...

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, to pollution, to human rights abuses, to exacerbating climate change. The documentary implores viewers to stop eating fish altogether to save the seas. But critics say while “Seaspiracy” sheds a light on some serious issues, like harmful pla...

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. But for many, this year's admissions cycle was punishing. The COVID-19 pandemic closed high schools to in-person learning, cancelled standardized tests and pushed campus tours online. Many students gave up on the idea of college, especially th...

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 persuade the hesitant, health officials are turning to influencers on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter, and partnering with social media like never before to message younger, more diverse audiences and hard-to-reach communities. Well talk about...

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 when her comments following Derek Chauvin’s conviction drew immediate backlash, with some contrasting her remarks with those of the youngest generation of congressional Democrats. In her new biography, “Madam Speaker,” journalist Susan Page lo...

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 deteriorating U.S.-China relationship, and comes as tensions rise over human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region and as China doubles down on a more aggressive style of diplomacy. We’ll hear about the roots of China’s so-called “wolf warr...

After three weeks of often wrenching testimony, a Minneapolis jury on Tuesday found police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter Tuesday in the death of George Floyd. We want to hear how you are processing the jury’s decision, and what you think it means for broader efforts to achieve racial justice and police accountability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a...

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.  They say it’s a big first step toward holding law enforcement accountable for use of excessive force. But how are the verdicts being interpreted by police officers, chiefs and unions, some of whom have resisted or blocked efforts to reform...

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 Runner” became a national bestseller. His new book, "A Runner’s High: My Life in Motion," charts Karnazes’ return to the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run in his mid-50s. Once named one of the most influential people in the world by Time Magaz...

The non-fungible token (NFT) craze, which took off in 2020, appears to continue unabated. NFTs are digital “certificates of authenticity” that attach to creations like songs, photos and sports clips, and they can command hefty prices. An NFT of digital artist Beeple’s work brought in $69 million at auction last month, and other NFTs are being sold for similarly eyebrow-raising sums.  And demand is...

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 offers free tuition to all city residents. The devastating report concluded that the college could not meet its obligations to students, faculty and staff and remain solvent without making drastic changes. In March, noting it faced a $33 mi...

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 really wanted and were qualified for. When National Public Radio launched 50 years ago, four women found their way into a world previously closed to them — broadcast journalism. They became icons — using their voices to fight sexism in the w...

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 the killings last month of six Asian women in the Atlanta area. The requests are notable for a community that’s been least likely of all racial groups to seek out mental health services. We take a deeper look at the heavy emotional and psycho...

To help fight disparate testing and vaccination rates within the Black community, organizers realized they would need grassroots activism. That’s when Dr. Kim Rhoads, an epidemiologist at UCSF, turned to filmmaker Kevin Epps, who directed the documentaries “Straight Outta Hunters Point” and “The Black Rock” and is a trusted Bay Area community member. Working with Umoja Health, a partnership that i...

California is adding $536 million to the budget for wildfire prevention. The money will go toward efforts including forest and vegetation management and the retrofitting and fireproofing of homes. As the state enters a second year of drought following 2020’s record number of acres burned, some experts are raising concerns that the state isn’t going far enough to avoid a crisis. We'll hear about ef...

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 or injured after finding unsecured guns in their homes. Millions of kids endure psychological wounds after losing loved ones to gun violence or from the mere threat of school shootings. In his new book, “Children Under Fire: An American Crisi...

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 others are suffering from FODA: fear of dating again. What are the rules, if any, around post-pandemic dating and intimacy? Are Zoom dates here to stay? And will you require proof of vaccination to swipe right? Well hear your stories and get...

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 lot of a local community center. Those living at the site reported feeling safer and having better access to services, and neighborhood residents who initially opposed the idea came to view the program positively. Elsewhere in the state, San...

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. Investigative journalist Amanda Ripley spent four years studying these types of high conflict situations, discovering tools to defuse their potency and learning how to recognize what kind of problems are solvable. Ripley joins us to talk about...

California is pausing the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine following a recommendation to do so from federal health officials who reported extremely rare blood clot complications in six patients. Meanwhile, California plans to expand vaccine eligibility to everyone 16 and older on Thursday. So far, roughly 40 percent of Californians have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine...

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 the building. When she returned home, the school district suspended her, a move that outraged some families but which others supported. We’ll talk with the New York Times reporter who has brought national attention to Hostetter’s suspension...

The new Frontline documentary "American Insurrection" investigates the rise of right-wing extremism and the assault on the U.S. Capitol. Forum talks with ProPublica reporter and Frontline correspondent A.C. Thompson about how extremist groups and individuals became emboldened and radicalized. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices