KQED's Forum
Kanaal Besonderhede
KQED's Forum
Forum tells remarkable and true stories about who we are and where we live. In the first hour, Alexis Madrigal convenes the diverse voices of the Bay Area, before turning to Mina Kim for the second hour to chronicle and center Californians’ experience. In an increasingly divided world, Mina and Alex...
Onlangse Episodes
3367 episodes
What Have We Learned From 10 Years of Medical Aid in Dying in CA?
California’s End of Life Option Act, which allows people with certain terminal illnesses and a life expectancy of less than six months to receive medi...
Dave Eggers Centers Artists in New Novel ‘Contrapposto’ and His Initiative to Preserve the Bay’s Art Scene
Writer Dave Eggers, who’s been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, draws inspiration for the first time from his own art sc...
Unpacking the 2026 California Primary
California voters cast their ballots in key races across the state on Tuesday, with the race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom drawing a massive field of c...
911 ... Please Hold
Oakland’s 911 system is perennially understaffed, frequently leading to long wait times for callers facing life and death emergencies or trying to rep...
Why Pope Leo Wants to ‘Disarm’ A.I.
Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical letter focuses on safeguarding humanity amid the rise of artificial intelligence. In the letter, which is essentially...
High School Grads on Navigating a Changing World
Graduating from high school marks a time when young people will, many for the first time, have to make their own decisions about their future. It’s a...
The Trump Administration Turns Its Sights On Legal Immigrants
Since his reelection, President Trump has been fixated on illegal immigration in the US, but now the President is taking on immigrants who are here le...
What the Massive Medicaid Cuts Mean for Your Health Care
An estimated one in three Californians are insured by Medi-Cal, the state version of Medicaid. But as the federal government cuts billions in funding...
The Stanford Pipeline That Turns College Students Into Silicon Valley Elites
Theo Baker arrived at Stanford as an eager freshman planning to study computer science and maybe write occasionally for the student paper. But his rep...
Are We in a New Gold Rush?
“Gold is having a moment,” writes New Yorker staff writer Jennifer Wilson. Earlier this year, it traded as high as $5,500 an ounce as an unstable econ...
What the Colorado River Drought Means for California
The Colorado River basin and its two largest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, are facing record-low water levels, and the seven states that rely...
After a Year as Oakland's Mayor, Barbara Lee Looks to 'Finish the Job'
Barbara Lee was elected mayor of Oakland last year with the city reeling from a political scandal, mired deep in fiscal crisis and scarred by years of...
What Communities Lose When America Abandons the 'Common Good'
America used to value things — youth sports, local businesses and accessible healthcare, for example — simply because they were good for communities....
California's Primary is June 2. Do You Know What's on Your Ballot?
You may be among the nearly two million voters who have already cast their votes for California’s primary election next week. But if you’re procrastin...
Ahead of America’s 250th, a ‘Declaration of Interdependence'
The United States turns 250 this summer, but for many Americans feeling burned out by partisan politics it may feel hard to imagine wanting to celebra...
Facing Headwinds, Bay Area Museums Adapt
Great museums can drive tourism, and the Bay Area has no shortage of world class institutions. But museums everywhere are facing rising costs, declini...
Forum from the Archives: What Does It Take to Be a ‘Good Woman’?
“All my life I have tried to be a good woman,” writes Savala Nolan. Being “good” meant not rocking the boat. It meant following the rules and fitting...
Forum From The Archives: When The World Expects Hate, A Palestinian and An Israeli Choose Peace
Aziz Abu Sarah, who is Palestinian, and Maoz Inon, who is Israeli, have both lost family to the conflict in the Middle East. They are also both peaceb...
Inside Trump's Pardon Economy
Presidents have traditionally waited until their final months in office to give clemency, but just over a year into his second term, President Trump h...
This Year’s College Grads Have A Tricky Road Ahead
The college graduates in the Class of 2026 have not had an easy path. Part of their high school years were spent in Covid lockdown. And now, they are...
Still Undecided in California Governor's Primary? Here's Where the Race Stands
As the June 2nd primary approaches, many California voters remain undecided about their pick for California’s next governor. This year’s race is espec...
Bay Area Director Yoav Potash on the Enduring Weight of the Holocaust in Poland
The award-winning documentary by Bay Area director Yoav Potash, “Among Neighbors,” sheds light on the history of antisemitism in Poland, where both du...
How San Diego is Responding After Mosque Shooting
Two teenage gunmen killed three people, and later themselves, in an attack Monday at the Islamic Center of San Diego, the city’s largest mosque. Autho...
DACA’s Future Uncertain as Delays Disrupt Lives, Raise Fears of Deportation
Since it was created back in 2012, DACA has allowed unauthorized immigrants who arrived in the US during childhood to go to school and work without fe...
What Hantavirus Teaches Us About the State of Outbreak Response
The recent hantavirus outbreak, which killed three people and sickened close to a dozen more, is largely under control, with many passengers now quara...
The Child of Revolutionaries, Running From the FBI
Even as a young child, Zayd Ayers Dohrn knew that the FBI was after his family. His parents Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers had been living as fugitiv...
A Family Divided By Cuba’s Revolution
On May 13th, Cuba ran out of oil, crippling public services for nearly 10 million people. It’s a result of a months-long oil blockade initiated by the...
Can the Federal Reserve Retain Its Independence in the Trump Era?
The Federal Reserve Board begins this week with a new chair, Trump appointee Kevin Warsh. The Fed is a nonpartisan government body tasked with setting...
How to Get Better at Accepting – Even Appreciating – Uncertainty
Though our lives are filled with uncertainty, we’re less tolerant of it than ever, says journalist Simone Stolzoff, author of the new book “How to Not...
La Doña Presents Her New Album, 'Corrientes' Live in Studio
Singer, songwriter and San Francisco native Cecilia Peña-Govea – better known as La Doña – joins us in studio with her band for a special live perform...
A 'Monster' El Niño Is Brewing in the Pacific
An El Niño is starting to form in the tropical Pacific Ocean, and some forecasters say it could be a “monster,” the most powerful in 150 years. The we...
How Plastic Took Over the World – And How Big Oil is Betting on It
As the world moves away from fossil fuels, oil and gas companies are betting on plastic to keep profits rolling in. In her new book, “Plastic Inc.,” i...
The Hidden World of Forced Arbitration
Forced arbitration clauses are buried in everything from product warranties to bank loans to employment contracts, often requiring consumers and worke...
Republicans Are Winning the Redistricting War
Both Democrats and Republicans have turned to redistricting to improve their chances in this fall’s midterm elections. But a recent court case strikin...
The `Blood Populism’ Driving Political Violence in America
A 2025 study found political violence is shifting from a primarily right-wing phenomenon to one now more common on the left (fueled partly by a signif...
Project Homekey Is CA’s Ambitious Plan to House Homeless People. Is it Working?
California launched Project Homekey after the pandemic to quickly create new housing and get homeless people off the streets. Over the last few years...
U.S.-Iran Ceasefire Tested as Tensions Rise in Persian Gulf
Tensions remain high in the Persian Gulf as the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire late last week, calling into question whether an already fragile ceasefir...
Mac Barnett on How Kids Can Teach Us to Be Better Readers
Mac Barnett is a bestselling children’s book author and, since last year, the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. He has a new small b...
How Did You Find Your Life’s Work?
How can we find and start our life’s work? That’s the question Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Jodi Kantor tried to answer for Columbia University’s s...
Tracy Clark-Flory’s “My Mother’s Daughter” Tells the Story of Finding Her Long-Lost Sister
When she was 16, journalist Tracy Clark-Flory found out that she had a long-lost sister. Her mother shared that as a teenager, she had given up a chil...