KQED's Forum

150 years ago this month, Alexander Graham Bell placed history’s first telephone call. And even though phones have changed — from a black metal cone mounted on a wooden base to today’s all-encompassing smartphones — they’ve remained a steady presence in our lives. What’s the first type of phone you used: a rotary, cordless or the iPhone? How does your relationship with the phone differ from that o...

The poodle might be the most crossbred dog in modern times. There’s the labradoodle, goldendoodle and bernedoodle. And also cavapoos, cockapoos and maltipoos. What began as a match between a labrador and poodle to create a seeing eye dog that shed less has now become a billion dollar industry. While dog breeds go in and out of fashion, the doodle seems here to stay even while shelters are urging A...

“When we give a scented flower, bring blooms to a grave, or dab perfume onto our skin, we are not enacting arbitrary, merely symbolic rituals. Rather, we invoke the relationships with flowering plants from which the ecology of the planet is made, and which created and sustain human life.” So writes acclaimed biologist David George Haskell, whose new book “How Flowers Made Our World” paints flowers...

Cars have become dramatically more expensive in the United States in recent years, with the average price hitting a record of $50,000 in 2025. But now the market faces both higher sticker prices and a surge in gas prices stemming from the war in Iran. In the past, U.S. consumers have relied on relatively affordable fuel to justify buying large cars such as SUVs and trucks. In fact, most U.S.-based...

With the war in Iran creating major economic uncertainty, some economists are forecasting that a recession could arrive this year. The economy had already been showing signs of weakness, including layoffs in Big Tech and enduring inflation concerns, and now surging oil prices are rocking U.S. markets. How bad might an economic downturn be in 2026? And are we prepared for a recession? Guests: Talmo...

In 2022, the conflict in Ukraine unleashed the first TikTok war. Now, four years later with the war in Iran, AI and a souped up social media are documenting and often distorting how we view that conflict. The Trump administration is keen to ‘gameify’ war with social media clips ripped from video games and action movies, and nations on all sides of the war are pushing out disinformation that is mak...

The United States continues to ramp up its military presence near Iran, newly deploying three San Diego-based warships to the Middle East along with some 2500 Camp Pendleton Marines. Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, who served multiple tours in Iraq and commanded US Army Europe, is a critic of the U.S-Israel war on Iran, saying that it unnecessarily puts lives at risk, lacks any coherent...

San Francisco’s government has long been shaped by a tension between efficiency and public oversight. After voters approved Prop E in 2024, a new Commission Streamlining Task Force was created and it recently recommended cutting and merging many of the city’s roughly 150 boards and commissions—potentially reducing them by more than 40 percent. But the proposals, which critics say would limit the p...

An intense mid-March heat wave was the death knell for operations at some California ski parks. Several Tahoe resorts waved the white flag and are closing operations a month early, while smaller, lower-elevation ski parks shuttered operations even earlier. If this becomes a longer trend, can resorts withstand an on-again, off-again winter in future seasons?  Guests: Bryan Allegretto, California Fo...

President Trump has said he supports “legal” immigration, but his administration has dismantled or limited pathways for immigrants to attain legal status. Visa programs including the diversity lottery are on hiatus. Citizenship ceremonies have been canceled. Wait times for green card approvals are stretching longer. We’ll talk about the Trump Administration’s moves to limit immigration and what pa...

California will rename Cesar Chavez Day after the New York Times reported Wednesday that the labor icon had sexually abused, assaulted and raped girls and women, including his longtime collaborator Dolores Huerta. The Times’ yearslong investigation, which was corroborated by more than 60 interviews and hundreds of farmworker union records, broke decades of silence by Chavez’s victims, who said the...

When mealtimes come, more and more people instinctively reach for their phones and open up an app. Many customers now want restaurant food, often delivered contactless to their door step, without the actual restaurant experience. In a report last year, the National Restaurant Association found that nearly three out of four restaurant orders were for delivery or takeout. This shift has fundamentall...

Gas prices are spiking worldwide as the war in Iran and the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz cause major disruptions to the transport of about a fifth of the world’s oil. In an attempt to improve access and reduce prices, many countries are tapping into oil reserves, and the U.S. has even lifted some sanctions on Russian exports. But costs remain high, especially in California, where drivers p...

“Privacy is a check on power,” writes Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation in her book, “Privacy’s Defender: My Thirty-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance.” Since the San Francisco based non-profit began in 1990 to advocate for open access to a then fledgling internet, EFF has been at the center of battles over individual rights and privacy from corporations and...

With the spring travel season upon us, the cheapest airline tickets are becoming even more restrictive, as the nation’s top airlines chip away at what’s included in a “Basic Economy” fare. These tickets can severely limit travel perks like choosing your own seat, carrying-on a bag, or making changes to your flight. At the same time, rising fuel prices are making air travel more expensive and the g...

Women’s history often goes unwritten and unspoken. But KQED’s Rae Alexandra sets the record straight in her new book, ‘Unsung Heroines: 35 Women Who Changed the Bay Area.” From Delilah Beasley, a trailblazing columnist for the Oakland Tribune who inspired generations of black female journalists to Bertha Wright, a nurse, who in 1913 founded what we now know as Benioff Children’s Hospital, Alexandr...

Historian Ibram X. Kendi says that in order to understand the rise of authoritarianism, we need to understand great replacement theory. It’s the racist idea that “powerful elites are enabling peoples of color to steal the lives, livelihoods, cultures and electoral power and freedoms of white people,” Kendi writes in his new book, “Chain of Ideas: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age.” We talk to t...

Despite a spike during the pandemic, violent crime in the Bay Area and the United States has been on the decline for most of the last 30 years. Now, data from last year shows the nation’s homicide rate is at its lowest level since reliable record-keeping began in the late 1950s. But what’s not so clear is just why crime has dropped so sharply. We’ll explore the possible reasons for what some are c...

Reform California, the conservative group behind a proposal to require voters to show identification at the polls, say they’ve gathered enough signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot. Supporters of the initiative, which would require a government-issued photo ID each time a voter casts a ballot in person or by mail, say it’s necessary to combat fraud. But critics say voter fraud...

It’s about to get very hot. A prolonged heat wave is hitting Western states with Bay Area temperatures expected to get 20 to 30 degrees above average, likely shattering temperature records for March. And that’s after what has already been the warmest winter on record for most of the West. We’ll talk with climate scientist Daniel Swain about this unusual ‘heat dome’ and what it could mean for our a...

The 98th Academy Awards will honor casting directors for the first time in the ceremony’s history. It’s the first new category in 25 years. We’ll speak with casting directors on the Academy Board of Governors about the joys and challenges of their work — and what it actually entails — before the inaugural “Achievement in Casting” Oscar is handed out on Sunday. Guests: Davia Nelson, radio producer,...

There was a period of time about  five years ago that came to be known as the Great Resignation, when workers quit their jobs en masse. The pandemic forced many people to reconsider different aspects of life, especially work. Many workers took that time as an opportunity to reinvent themselves or chase a dream they had long neglected. So, what happened to those who took a big risk? We’ll talk with...

The World Cup may be three months away, but it’s already making news. Iran, which was scheduled to play its first match in Los Angeles, announced Wednesday that it will not participate in the tournament — the first time that’s happened since 1950. And the Iran news is likely just the first geopolitical shakeup of the 2026 World Cup. With the United States, Mexico and Canada sharing hosting duties,...

When the Supreme Court invalidated a tranche of Trump’s tariffs last month, businesses around the country and world began clamoring for a refund. To date, 2,000 lawsuits from businesses seeking refunds have been filed, and reports estimate that the administration may owe $175 billion in refunds to the 300,000 entities that were slapped with the now-illegal tax. We talk about how local businesses a...

Since President Trump’s return to office, his net worth has nearly doubled to an estimated $7 billion. He’s used his office to promote his family’s cryptocurrency businesses, pardoned investors and allies, accepted lavish personal gifts and tipped off oil executives before raiding Venezuela. “The Trump family’s staggering indifference to blurring the lines between politics and corporate interest o...