KQED's Forum

Bay Area native and acclaimed director of “Crazy Rich Asians” and “In the Heights,” Jon M. Chu now brings one of Broadway’s most beloved musicals to the big screen with the conclusion of his box office-smashing two-part adaptation of “Wicked.” He joined Mina Kim onstage in San Francisco for a KQED Live event where he reflected on his Bay Area roots, his rise through Hollywood and the beauty of rei...

ICE raids. Tariffs. National Guard deployment. Ukraine. Venezuela. The longest federal shutdown in history. There was no shortage of major news headlines in 2025. We’ll try to make sense of  the biggest stories of the past year with a panel of journalists, and look at what 2026 might hold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 jacket zipping, glass shattering, the “ooh” of receiving room service and even the sound we make when “Walking into a Video Room at an Art Museum and then Walking Out Quickly,” as the effect is titled. We’ll talk with Armisen about recording...

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 the masses, has reopened its history museum, The Vault, with an exhibit called “Amped” that celebrates iconic denim looks worn by musicians including Kurt Cobain, Beyoncé, Britney Spears and Freddie Mercury. We listen back to our conversation...

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 called “Dog Show,” the former U.S. Poet Laureate turns his gaze toward the quiet wisdom of our canine friends — their reminders to slow down, pay attention and let the ordinary become radiant. We talk to Collins about dogs, poetry and why it’s...

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 U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith aims to make poetry less intimidating. We listen back to our conversation with Smith about how to read poems, how to “listen at the widest possible angle” and how to use poetry to connect to one another acro...

In groundbreaking experiments with mice, Boston University neuroscientist Steve Ramirez has succeeded in turning memories on and off, even implanting new ones. He says that someday we’ll be able to do the same in humans. But should we? We talk to Ramirez about the ethical dilemma and the personal experience that caused him to consider erasing his own memory. His new book is “How to Change a Memory...

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 up mental images was discovered in the 1880s but only recently has been given a name and become the subject of more serious study. Aphantasia is found in approximately one percent of the population and can also affect the ability to recall so...

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 goes into their work? Julia Whelan has been dubbed “the Adele of audiobooks” and has narrated over 700 audiobooks – including Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl,” Tara Westover’s “Educated” and Ottessa Moshfegh’s “My Year of Rest and Relaxation.” She...

To be a modern consumer is to experience poor customer service at some point in your life. The kind of service that has you in a fever dream of pressing “1” for “representative,” getting your call dropped, calling back again, and then asking to speak to a manager who can’t solve your problem. Experts call this kind of service “sludge,” an administrative morass meant to deter, not help, consumers....

The current Trump administration has deported roughly 8,000 people to places most have never even visited, in a process known as third-country removal. Critics say this violates U.S. law, depriving people seeking asylum of their due process rights. We hear from a Russian whistleblower and asylum seeker who was en route to California when he was deported… to Costa Rica. Plus, we’ll hear from lawyer...

After a year of political, economic and societal turmoil, we sit down with KQED’s Arts team to talk about their annual series, One Beautiful Thing. The series gathers reflections on singular experiences and practices from the past year that served as a balm, nourishment or enlightenment. This year’s picks include handwriting letters, supporting a struggling artist and taking a solo trip to follow...

Data centers are the server farms that power the internet. California has the third-most data centers of any state: over 320 sites, with more construction slated for next year. But energy experts are sounding alarms about their impacts on electric grids, water and climate; impacts that are worsening with the explosion of AI. We’ll talk about what data center growth means for the environment — and...

The president calling female reporters “piggy”, “stupid” and “ugly.” Claims that liberal feminism has ruined the workplace. The manosphere. Despite the #MeToo movement, protests featuring pussy hats, and political and cultural efforts to call the patriarchy to account, misogyny feels like it’s going strong in 2025. But why? We gather a panel of thinkers and leaders to talk about how misogyny has b...

From hotels to fast food restaurants, more companies are luring consumers to sign up for loyalty programs in exchange for points, discounts and other deals. But according to two former FTC officials, loyalty programs have devolved into “data-harvesting machines” that track what we buy and even how much we’re willing to pay. And the financial benefits tend to fall far short of the initial promise....

In recent contract negotiations, Kaiser Permanente therapists asked for language to specify that artificial intelligence would not “replace” humans in mental health care, but the employer has so far refused. Kaiser already uses AI technology in mental health care to take notes and create summaries, but Kaiser therapists worry further use of the technology could usurp their jobs. We talk about the...

From Hollywood to Rockefeller Plaza, news of a potential sale of Warner Bros Discovery has sent shockwaves through the film industry. And the current bidding war between streaming giant Netflix and film studio Paramount has all the hallmarks of an HBO prestige drama – from antitrust lawsuits to a hostile takeover bid – with implications for all of American media. We unpack it all with NPR’s critic...

2025 was supposed to be crypto’s year. President Trump began his term by announcing a strategic Bitcoin reserve and promised to back the market for the currencies. But Bitcoin is down nearly 30% from its all time high and crypto companies and investors have been hammered in the market. All this while Trump’s crypto czar, David Sacks, operates under accusations of conflicts of interest, and the Tru...

Suicide is a leading cause of death in the U.S. for kids aged 10 to 18. And autistic youth are more likely to think about and die from suicide, and at earlier ages, than their neurotypical peers. Conventional mental health interventions are not designed to address the needs of autistic people — and can even worsen their distress, especially among those with elevated cognitive language and daily li...

There have been more than 150 small earthquakes in San Ramon in the past month. In one rattling day alone there were at least 19 of magnitude 2.0 or higher. Do all these little earthquakes mean the big one is coming soon? Or maybe that the big one is not coming soon? Seismologists say it means neither. But we’re bringing together earthquake scientists to answer all your questions and tell us the l...

Diane Keaton. Jane Goodall. Belva Davis. Ozzy Osbourne. Brian Wilson. Sly Stone. David Lynch. We lost cultural luminaries, larger-than-life personalities and loved ones in 2025. We’ll celebrate their legacies and hear how they changed lives and communities for the better. And we want to hear from you: Who did you mourn this year — and what did they give you? Guests: Chloe Veltman, correspondent, N...

We’ll look back at KQED’s Best Bay Area Albums of 2025 with our music writers. This year’s list of favorites includes local musicians putting out original hip-hop, punk, salsa, spiritual jazz and rock. We’ll hear live in studio performances from musicians that made the list – Oakland hip-hop artist Jamel Griot and instrumental band Arts and Crafts – and we’ll  talk about the local musicians toppin...

The White House says it’s submitting plans this month for its 90,000 square-foot gold-studded ballroom which will be bigger than the White House while Democrats call for inquiries into the funding of the project. Meanwhile, the Oval Office gleams with gold adornments, and an executive order decrees classical architecture for all federal buildings. Design historians say Trump is reshaping America’s...

The killing of Alberto Rangel, a 51-year-old social worker at San Francisco General Hospital, has left colleagues grieving and questioning whether his death could have been prevented. Rangel was stabbed by a patient who authorities say had made multiple threats for weeks. Incidents of workplace violence in healthcare facilities have been on the rise for more than a decade nationwide, prompting hos...

Lawmakers are demanding that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth release video of the September strike that killed two survivors of a U.S. attack on their boat in the Caribbean. That strike, which the Pentagon says targeted drug traffickers, has prompted war crime accusations. But since then, the U.S. has launched more than 20 strikes in the region, killing more than 80 people. We talk about the impact...