KQED's Perspectives

Putting the perception of others over our own values can often lead us down a slippery slope. At a young age, Teiji Futamase learned a valuable lesson in trusting your instincts and the importance of family. What would you do if your loved one needed your support — but you let peer pressure get the best of you? I remember a sunny warm day in second grade when I learned a lesson I’d never forget. L...

Joe Epstein says 'near-sourcing' is one answer to the badly broken supply chain.

Li Miao Lovett remembers how the Civil Rights Movement helped to diversify America.

Michael Ellis celebrates pomegranates, a healthy fruit with a special place in ancient mythology.

When my parents generously offered to give me their 20-year- old Acura sedan, my first thought was: Me, a car-free, transit-riding, e-bike loving San Francisco resident, take possession of a fossil-fuel-burning, climate-change machine? But in an impulsive act of quarantine indulgence, I accepted their offer. I named the white car Casper, after the friendly ghost. And while I still prefer to travel...

It is the beginning of a new year which means that friends, even my very best friends, who should know by now how much I distaste making resolutions, are sending me emails with titles like this: “Resolutions For a Life Worth Living: Attainable Aspirations Inspired by Great Humans of the Past (including Seneca, Baldwin, Whitman, Le Guin and more…).” Or this more benign email from my sister: “The Bi...

Paul Staley says the marketplace of ideas isn't the emporium of free thought it's cracked up to be.

Christine Schoefer sees intricate beauty in the common vegetables on her kitchen counter.

Chinese Americans like Charles Feng must confront the the persistent questioning of their American-ness.

Engaging other journalists of color has helped YR Media's Shaylyn Martos find her career path, and much more.

Gillian Reynolds has learned that being exceptionally unexceptional at everything she tries can be pretty exceptional.

Harsh times have Larry Lee yearning for a strong dose of the humility and kindness of Mr. Rogers.

Pete Gavin's new job delivering medications has him feeling connected to others.

Everywhere he looks, Richard Swerdlow sees ex-Christmas trees dumped on the sidewalk.

The world is full of busy, buzzing doers. But Lane Parker calmly weights when might be the right time to do most anything.

When he was down and out, a friend helped him feed his kids, even though she didn’t have to. It was a kindness Lloyd Jones has never stopped repaying.

Ellen Greenblatt considers the profound personal loss of the people behind the statistics.

Marcy Fraser was an AIDS nurse throughout that plague. Now she reaches out to all nurses on the frontlines of a new scourge.

On Christmas morning, millions of gifts will be unwrapped. But Heidi Swillinger has had her small but favorite gift for many years.

Sandhya Acharya says that when life gives you rain, its best to play in a lake, if you just know how.

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau looks at how we remember the animals we have loved.

Thomas Plante says a recent surgeon general report is raising the alarm about the state of youth mental health.

With cheerful moments in short supply, Evan Ho finds respite in a middle school concert.

Growing up, Jaime Flores didn't have the places to play with his peers that others take for granted.

High school senior Ellie Lauter discovers the key to reconnect with her declining grandmother—music.