Podcast
KQED's Forum
Hosted by KQED · EN
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 Alexis host conversations that inform, challenge and unify listeners with big ideas and different viewpoints.
Want to call/submit your comments during our live Forum program Mon-Fri, 9am-11am? We'd love to hear from you! Please dial 866.SF.FORUM or (866) 733-6786 or email forum@kqed.org, tweet, or post on Facebook.
206episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Have We Reached the End of Reading?
Yesterday00:54:47Tap to summarizeReading used to be the main way Americans got information, but most of us now turn to our phones, the internet, social media or television for news and entertainment. The share of Americans reading an article daily has plunged by about 40 percent, and according to the National Endowment for the Arts, fewer than half of all adults read a book in 2022. In a new article from The Atlantic, staff writer Rose Horowitch considers the consequences of our shortened attention spans and asks whether the age of reading will ultimately prove a short anomaly in human history. She joins us to talk about the “end of reading.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Investigation Shows SFPD Closes Rape Cases at Half the National Rate
Yesterday00:54:45Tap to summarizeIn 2025 only 14 percent of rape cases in San Francisco were closed, according to an ongoing investigation from the SF Standard. That’s half the national rate. While the procedures for administering and processing rape kit tests has improved greatly in San Francisco over the past decade, cuts to the special victims unit and other factors have resulted in fewer investigations into alleged rapists, leaving victims waiting as their cases sit inactive. We talk about the challenges of investigating rape cases, where the SFPD is falling short and whether the new scrutiny could lead to reforms inside the police department. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Inside Silicon Valley's Race to Build a Home Robot
4d ago00:54:43Tap to summarizeWhen investigative journalist Stephen Witt visited Silicon Valley’s 1X Technologies to meet a new home robot named Neo, he discovered a device full of contradictions: It was elegantly designed, but often struggled to complete even the simplest of tasks, taking longer than a minute to retrieve a bottle of water. Despite its limitations, more than 10,000 people have placed deposits for the $20,000 android, and Neo is just one of a dozen humanoid robots scheduled for release in the next year. We talk to Witt about the appeal – and challenges – of home robots and how quickly the technology is actually advancing. Guest: Stephen Witt, investigative journalist; author Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →A Woman Finds Healing and Beauty by Walking Every Street in Santa Cruz County
4d ago00:54:46Tap to summarizeAngelica Glass started taking long walks as a way to exercise and to relieve the stress from her decades as a social worker trying to help families struggling with poverty. She set a goal to walk every street in Santa Cruz County. While trekking the nearly three thousand miles over severalyears, she found herself gently working through the grief of her own childhood of abuse and neglect, while absorbing the beauty and community of her county. We talk with Glass about her book, “Scavenging Beauty: A Memoir in Walks.” Guest: Angelica Glass, author, “Scavenging Beauty: A Memoir in Walks.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Why Everyone Should Take a Sabbatical
4d ago00:54:44Tap to summarizeAmericans are notoriously bad at taking time off from work. Once entering the workforce, we expect to be devoutly productive for decades on end, awarded with an extended break only upon retirement. In his new book, “Big Time Off: The Transformative Power of Sabbaticals and How to Take One,” Harvard Business School’s DJ DiDonna urges us to step away from our desks to take an extended break from work – something that for many feels culturally, personally or financially impossible. He argues that taking a break from work can lead to powerful self-transformation by making time for the things we often ignore: learning, rest, play, relationships and reflection. Is there a future where we can all step away from our productivity and into the world? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Historian Stephanie Coontz on the Myth of Traditional Marriage
4d ago00:54:52Tap to summarizePolls find growing ambivalence in young adults’ views towards marriage — even as society continues to grant greater privileges and respect to married people. This comes as the right pushes for a return to “traditional marriage” — an idea which historian Stephanie Coontz says isn’t actually based in history, as expectations of marriage, monogamy, gender roles and even the title “Mrs.” have drastically changed over time and across cultures. We’ll talk with Coontz about how socioeconomic factors have shaped expectations and laws around gender roles, marriage and love and about her new book, “For Better and Worse: The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →How CDC Cuts Have Slowed the Cyclospora Response
6d ago00:54:49Tap to summarizeFederal health officials are eying iceberg lettuce distributed by California-based Taylor Farms as a potential source of the major cyclosporiasis outbreak in the United States. Health authorities tracking 4,173 confirmed and 7,400 likely cases of the infection, which can cause severe diarrhea, cramping and fatigue that lasts up to a month. We talk with food safety and health experts on what it will take to trace and contain the cyclospora outbreak. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →With FEMA Cuts, Is There a New Disaster Relief Economy?
6d ago00:54:50Tap to summarizeThe mandate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency has long been to help states and local governments meet the needs of communities after disaster strikes. But since the Trump Administration took office, the agency has been threatened with closure and has suffered massive budget and staff cuts, essentially crippling its ability to respond to catastrophic events. As natural disasters intensify as a result of climate change, who will step in to help our region recover if a huge wildfire or earthquake happens here? We discuss the impacts of a weakened FEMA, the growth of a private disaster relief industry, and talk through what it would take for FEMA to turn things around as an agency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Iran Conflict Raises Prospect of Forever War
1w ago00:54:46Tap to summarizeMore than four months after President Trump predicted a short war with Iran, the conflict is intensifying and broadening. The ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran has collapsed, leaving passage through the Strait of Hormuz restricted and the two nations on a war footing: the United States has carried out days of sustained airstrikes while Iran targets American allies in the Gulf. To many analysts, it’s raising the specter of a forever war. We talk about where U.S. policy goes from here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →How the U.S. Auto Industry Is Losing the EV Race
1w ago00:54:47Tap to summarizeThere was a time when U.S. automakers dominated the global car industry with their products and innovations. But when it comes to electric vehicles, which accounted for a quarter of global auto sales in 2025, the U.S. is barely a player. China now builds roughly three-quarters of the world’s EVs; the United States about five percent. We’ll talk about how the widening technology gap and lukewarm federal support for clean vehicles threatens the entire U.S. auto industry with obsolescence, and what California is doing about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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