KQED's Forum

California Governor Gavin Newsom will be sworn into his second term on Friday, following a march to mark California's commitment to democracy on the anniversary of the U.S. Capitol insurrection. We'll look at the issues and events that defined Newsom's first term and how his administration plans to deal with challenges ahead, including gas prices, housing issues and a revenue shortfall. And we'll...

We make them. We break them. We vow to restart. At least after one more cookie… They’re our new year’s resolutions. For some, they are an inspiration to live a better, more intentional life. For others, they are a list of broken promises. Why do we annually go through this exercise? And what does science tell us about how we can change our habits? We’ll talk all things resolutions, and hear from y...

The U.S. birthrate is at its lowest since the 1970s, and that’s because more American millennials and Gen Z are deciding not to have kids than previous generations. Health journalist Jordan Davidson sought to find out why, and she interviewed more than 300 people about the factors they considered in deciding whether or not to become parents. They cited concerns ranging from the economy and environ...

Food banks and meal delivery programs are straining to meet the needs of Bay Area residents as costs rise and support dwindles. In Alameda County, an estimated one in four residents deal with food insecurity compared with 1 in five before the pandemic. We’ll talk about hunger in the Bay Area and the challenges faced by food assistance programs. Guests: Regi Young, executive director, Alameda Count...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve the experimental dementia drug Lecanemab as soon as this week, a move embraced by Alzheimer's disease researchers after trials showed it slowed the progression of the disease in some patients with mild cognitive impairment. The new potential therapy is also raising hopes that it could help those who are symptom-free but have brain change...

Last week’s record setting rains downed trees, flooded streets, and damaged numerous homes and businesses. Now our region is bracing for another massive storm that promises to re-drench the state’s coastal areas and dump even more heaps of snow on the Sierra Nevada. The National Weather Service issued a warning on Monday that this is “truly a brutal system that we are looking at and needs to be ta...

Gender inequality discussions tend to center the disadvantages women face. But as women make gains in education and in the workplace, policymakers need to pay attention to a gender gap that’s widening in the opposite direction, writes Brookings senior fellow Richard Reeves. Boys and men are struggling in school, the labor market and at home, with little guidance on what it means to be a good man i...

On a stretch of lonely highway, the only people you might see are the long haul truckers whose 18-wheel semis form the backbone of the American economy. In trucking, the hours are long, but it’s a profession that has long offered those with a hankering for the open road a chance at independence and autonomy. But according to author Karen Levy, today, more truckers find themselves subject to data s...

True crime. Gossip. Niche sports. Deep-dive history. The podcasts that have critics and podcasters hooked in 2022 vary. But what makes a good podcast in today’s saturated and corporate-shaped landscape? We’ll hear from a panel of podcast lovers about the shows that made them turn on episode notifications. And we want to hear from you: Whether your Spotify Wrapped called it your top podcast of 2022...

Jonathan Escoffery’s debut book, “If I Survive You,” presents a series of connected stories about an immigrant family from Jamaica trying to acclimate to life in America. The characters tackle racism, belonging, natural disasters and generational divides. A native of Miami now based in Oakland, Escoffery joins us to talk about storytelling and his decades-long journey to publishing a book. This se...

What in our lives sets us up to experience joy? And how does joy make us act and feel? Those are the the central questions poet and essayist Ross Gay explores in his new book, “Inciting Joy,” an ode to skateboarding, gardening, pick-up basketball and other practices and rituals that can make joy more available to us. We talk to Gay about the connections between joy and sorrow -- and joy and solida...

Acclaimed poet and novelist Erika L. Sanchez’s memoir, “Crying in the Bathroom,” presents a series of poignant essays about growing up in Chicago in a working-class Mexican neighborhood, her rise to literary fame and her struggles with mental illness. Her book details many moments when she was successfully achieving her dreams and, simultaneously, considering ending her life. Sanchez is also autho...

Come 2027, Californians will have a new post-death option: to become human compost. A law signed by Governor Newsom this month made California the fifth state to legalize “natural organic reduction,” which lets human bodies decompose into a cubic yard of soil. While green burials — the process of wrapping the deceased in a shroud and placing them in the ground — are already legal, composting doesn...

When New Yorker writer Hua Hsu was growing up in Cupertino in the 1990s as the only child of Taiwanese immigrants, he created mixtapes and zines – homemade Xerox pastiches of writing, photos and collages – as a “way to find a tribe.” Hsu’s search for his people eventually led him to UC Berkeley where he, a lover of esoteric and undiscovered bands, forged an unlikely friendship with Ken, a Japanese...

There were worldwide box office hits and record-makers, like the follow-ups to “Jurassic World,” “Doctor Strange” and — of course — “Top Gun.” There were movies that quickly developed dedicated fan bases, like “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” “RRR” and “Tár.” And there are the year-enders: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” has been number one at theaters these past four weekends, and the sequel...

In her new memoir, “The Man Who Could Move Clouds,” Ingrid Rojas Contreras tells the story of a journey she took with her mother to her native Colombia to exhume her grandfather’s remains. She intricately weaves family histories involving her curandero grandfather, her mother who could appear in two places at once and her own magical inheritance sparked by a bout of amnesia. Rojas Contreras, who n...

Bumblebees can’t see red, but they can detect the ultraviolet hue, invisible to humans, at the center of a sunflower. A fly can taste an apple just by landing on it, and a rattlesnake can perceive the infrared radiation emanating from warm-blooded prey. Those are just some of the extraordinary animal senses that science journalist Ed Yong celebrates in his new book “An Immense World.” We’ll talk t...

When he was 9, poet Javier Zamora traveled 3,000 miles by bus, boat and on foot, without family or friends, from El Salvador to the United States. The trip was supposed to take two weeks. It took nine. Along the way, Zamora was embraced by fellow migrants and folded into a makeshift family. With them, Zamora encountered corrupt police officers and was robbed of the little money he had. He scramble...

The holidays can bring joy but also immense stress, as we host complicated family gatherings or worry about affording gifts or long for loved ones who have passed. But stress doesn’t have to dampen the spirit of the season. UCSF psychiatry professor Elissa Epel has studied stress, its effects and how to turn a stressful life into one of regenerative joy. We’ll talk with Epel about her new book “Th...

Earlier this week, the Jan. 6 congressional committee concluded its tenth and final hearing by voting unanimously in favor of issuing criminal referrals for former President Donald Trump. “Ours is not a system of justice where foot soldiers go to jail and the masterminds and the ringleaders get a free pass,” declared Democrat Jamie Raskin as he outlined the committee’s conclusions that Trump had v...

The potent synthetic opioid fentanyl causes on average one death in the United States every seven minutes — more than die by car accidents, guns or suicide. Fentanyl is cheap and easy to mass produce and smuggle; when added to drugs like cocaine and heroin, it can cause people to overdose quickly, before they even realize they’ve ingested it at all. That’s all according to a new seven-part Washing...

When people say publishing is a dying industry, Brad Johnson begs to differ. East Bay Booksellers, which Johnson owns, had its best sales in the store’s history during the past two years. So, it’s fair to say that in some pockets of the world, and particularly in Oakland, books are very much still a thing. And, as the world opened up, people are not only enjoying solitary reading time, but have re...

It’s tempting to discard a carton of milk or a loaf of bread once it’s passed its “best by” date. But that “expiration” date only means that food is no longer at its freshest – it’s still perfectly safe to eat. Every year, Americans toss millions of pounds of edible food into landfills, contributing to climate change and exacerbating food insecurity issues. We’ll talk with food waste experts about...

For some committed couples, years of living in close quarters during the pandemic prompted a search for a different marital model: Living Apart Together. These couples want to stay together, just not in the same home. While the percentage of Americans who are married has declined from 2000 to 2019, the percentage of couples living apart has risen by 25%. Now, it’s estimated that nearly four millio...

A sunset over the Bay, pregnancy news, a stroll through a flea market, and a conversation about the meaning of love. Those are some of the memories writers and editors from KQED Arts &Culture wrote about for the 2022 series called “One Beautiful Thing”. This year certainly had its hardships, including three years of living with the coronavirus pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, mass shootings...