KQED's Forum

In 2017, illustrator Wendy McNaughton completed an artist-in-residency at the Zen Hospice Guest House in San Francisco. She got to know families, caregivers, staff, and the dying. What emerged is her new book, “How To Say Goodbye.” Drawn-from-life illustrations are paired with gentle advice on how to let someone go. “The person dying is in charge,” reflects MacNaughton, and her book offers simple...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is considering whether to sign a bill that would change some of the language you see on the referendum portion of your 2024 ballot. AB 421 would ask voters whether they want to “keep the law” or “overturn the law” and eliminate “Yes” or “No” choices. It would also require the top three sponsors of a referendum to appear on the Secretary of State’s voter information gui...

For decades, it seems, people have been complaining that Burning Man has sold out, lost touch with its original values, or simply jumped the shark. The annual images of hedonism and drugs and glamping tech billionaires has made the week-long celebration in the Nevada desert an easy target. And social media mockery of the festival came to a head this week when attendees got stuck in the mud after a...

Amid the climate crisis, growing isolation and increasing economic disparities, many of us feel trapped in a doom loop — one where it feels more natural to imagine a dystopian future than a utopian one. But envisioning ways the world could be better can be an antidote to despair, say proponents of utopian thinking. “Depending on what is going on in the world, humanity has always looked to utopias...

As we march toward another long frenzied election season, we at Forum have launched a new series, Doing Democracy, to step away from the fray and consider what democracy means, how it’s practiced, and other ways it could be done. For our first show, we’ll dive into the Us@250 project, which is urging us to approach the coming semiquincentennial – that’s the 250th anniversary of the signing of the...

For a conventional candidate, facing a criminal indictment might preclude a run for public office. But for Donald Trump, at least up until now, litigation, both criminal and civil, has done little to change his political aspirations or his base’s support. But are the cases filed in D.C. and Georgia, which allege interference with the 2020 election and an attempt to subvert the election’s outcome,...

Fremont is home to the largest Afghan population in the United States, with over 66,000 people of Afghan descent in the city according to 2019 census figures. That number has likely grown since the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country as tens of thousands fled Taliban rule. In his new feature film ‘Fremont,’ director Babak Jalali tells the story of a refugee and former translator for the U.S...

An estimated 172,000 people are homeless in California, according to a study this year by UCSF, and the most visible symbols of the state’s homelessness crisis are its tent encampments. Citing public health and safety issues, cities across the state are increasingly “sweeping” encampments on city sidewalks, forcing campers to move their tents and belongings to other areas if they refuse offers of...

California is the first state in the country to use federal funding for a controversial approach to reducing drug addiction: paying people to stop using. The state has been testing the strategy, known as the recovery incentives program, in San Francisco and a few other counties, for two years and is now rolling it out more broadly. The program specifically targets people who abuse meth and cocaine...

In a national survey conducted by journalist Jennifer Wallace, a vast majority of parents responded that getting their child into a selective college was the “most important ingredient for later-life happiness.” In fact, more than 80% of parents believe that their parenting is judged by the metric of their children’s academic success. This mindset is at the core of the toxic achievement culture wh...

Keeping a written account of your thoughts, feelings and observations can be a powerful habit – a source of healing, growth, and even creativity. We explore the art and practice of journaling, from stream-of-consciousness writing to gratitude lists to revisiting your most cringe-worthy teenage poetry. We’ll talk with an author, a comedian, and a therapist about the many ways we can document our li...

“Our national mythos,” writes historian Blair LM Kelley, “leaves little room for Black workers, or to glean any lessons from their history.” Kelley’s latest book “Black Folk” offers a corrective, focusing on the lives of Black working people after the Southern Emancipation, the challenges they faced bringing their skills to bear and the networks of resistance they formed. Kelley’s book is also per...

Bernie Krause has spent more than 50 years capturing the sounds of nature and examining how animals make harmonious ecosystem soundscapes. His art installation, The Great Animal Orchestra, combining Krause’s audio recordings with stunning visuals representing the frequencies of animal sounds is on display at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. The exhibition features rich soundscapes of dozens of...

The tap water in Southern and Central California’s urban areas are among the U.S. regions most exposed to PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” according to a recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey. Almost half the tap water in the United States contains one or more PFAS, high levels of which are linked to health issues like infertility and cancer, the study found. It’s raising questions ab...

Faced with more than 500 lawsuits stemming from clergy sexual abuse, the San Francisco Catholic diocese last week said it had no choice but to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone wrote, “the bankruptcy process is the best way to provide a compassionate and equitable solution” for abuse survivors. But victims say the bankruptcy is just a ploy to depr...

Every wildfire has at least two stories, according to writers Justin Angle and Nick Mott. One story is about the devastation exacted on humans, their lives and property. The other story, sometimes at odds with the first, is about fire’s positive impacts on ecosystems. Fire is “something we need to suppress and control,” they write, “yet it’s a natural force we need more of.” Angle and Mott’s new b...

Cristina García’s new novel, “Vanishing Maps,” is a sequel to her widely acclaimed debut, “Dreaming in Cuban,” published 30 years ago. The novels follow the del Pinos, a Cuban family disconnected by political allegiances, borders, and immigration. In “Vanishing Maps” the family has scattered beyond Cuba and New York to distant corners of Berlin, Los Angeles, and Moscow. The younger generations are...

Americans are doing a lot more of their shopping online, and thanks to generous return policies we’re also sending back more of the stuff that doesn’t fit, doesn’t work or just doesn’t look like its JPG. Many of us even regularly buy clothes in multiple sizes and colors and simply send back anything that we don’t like the look of. But very little of what we return, from bathing suits to defective...

Researchers at UCSF have developed a digital avatar to convey the words and facial expressions of a woman with severe paralysis by transmitting her brain activity. They published their results a week after scientists at UC Berkeley announced that they successfully recreated music by recording the brain waves of patients while they listened to songs. We’ll talk with researchers on both projects abo...

For many Californians, developing meaningful relationships with people significantly older or younger than them can be difficult. We live in age-segregated environments that make it challenging to encounter – much less connect with – people in different phases of life. Yet, experts have found that an exchange of perspectives and experiences across generational divides can decrease the health risks...

A good breakup song can offer you catharsis and a good, long cry. They can help you mediate the feelings caused by a long lost love, a messy goodbye, or a person you never, ever, ever want to get back together with. (Thank you, Taylor Swift). But a breakup song doesn’t have to be about a relationship — it can be about a job you’re leaving behind, a city you’re moving away from, or a friendship tha...

COVID cases nationwide and in California are increasing at summer’s end. The state’s positivity rate from PCR tests is almost 12% as of mid-August, and wastewater data indicate that the new omicron subvariant, EG.5, is on the rise. But reported case rates are still far below peaks from last winter; UCSF’s Dr. Peter Chin-Hong told the San Francisco Chronicle, “people should not be worried but shoul...

The Bay Area is home to a thriving video game industry, but many local kids, especially those of color, don’t see career opportunities in it. Several years ago, Damon Packwood founded Gameheads to help college students develop the skills and expertise to create their own video games and land jobs in the field. Participants in the Oakland-based program have built games that reflect their own intere...

Southern California Democrat Adam Schiff has served in the U.S. Congress since 2001, and he’s now running to succeed Dianne Feinstein in the Senate. A former federal prosecutor, Schiff chaired the House Intelligence Committee during the Trump administration and led the former president’s first impeachment trial and the Russian election interference investigation that gave rise to it. He was also a...

As pandemic-era eviction moratoriums have ended, Bay Area counties are seeing a surge of eviction cases coming to court. Some tenants owe tens of thousands of dollars after not paying rent, in some cases, for years. In Alameda County, evictions ballooned to more than 500 per month starting in May. And, a single judge is charged with reviewing all of those cases. We’ll talk about how eviction cases...