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.
162episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
What Our Faces Reveal About Us
Yesterday00:52:11Tap to summarizeWhat’s in a face? For the ancient Greeks, the shape and features of a person’s face revealed their character, virtue and intelligence. Though these attitudes are outdated, they linger today as our faces are scrutinized in selfies and social media. In her new book, “The Face,” historian Fay Bound-Alberti shares the history and science of how we see and make sense of one another’s faces—while she struggles to recognize the faces of others. She’ll share why the human face has influenced politics, culture and our obsession with beauty and perfection. Guests: Fay Bound-Alberti, professor of modern history, King's College London; author, "The Face: A Cultural History" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →What AI's Huge IPOs Will Mean for Housing Affordability in the Bay Area
Yesterday00:54:50Tap to summarizeTwo of the world’s leading artificial intelligence companies, Anthropic and OpenAI, are based in San Francisco — and both are preparing public stock offerings that will bestow a huge financial windfall on their employees. In a region where even many affluent residents are already priced out of the housing market, the expected influx of wealth could make it even harder for many to find an affordable home. We look at the likely impact of the coming IPOs and how they’ll affect housing affordability and other aspects of life in the Bay Area. Guests: Enrico Moretti, professor of economics, UC Berkeley; author, "The New Geography of Jobs" Gerrit De Vynck, technology reporter, The Washington Post Kami Rieck, contributing writer, The New York Times Mike Simonsen, chief economist, Compass real estate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Ben Rhodes on the Speeches That Shaped America
2d ago00:54:45Tap to summarizeWhat does it mean to be American? That’s the question that animates Ben Rhodes’s new book “All We Say: The Battle for American Identity.” Drawing on 15 speeches spanning more than two centuries, the former Obama speechwriter and national security adviser looks at how they shaped and reflected competing visions over race, democracy, belonging and power. We talk to Rhodes about the speeches he chose and what they say about American identity today. Guests: Ben Rhodes, author, "All We Say: The Battle for American Identity;" deputy national security advisor and speechwriter under President Obama Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Trump Administration Shovels $75 million into Controversial Oakland Coal Terminal
2d ago00:54:49Tap to summarizeThe Trump administration said it will allocate $75 million dollars to fund a new coal terminal on the waterfront in West Oakland. Developer Phil Tagami has been working on building a shipping terminal on city-owned land for more than a decade. The coal export plan has faced major community opposition and a slew of lawsuits, which have since been resolved. With the legal challenges out of the way and federal funding, the developers now plan to start construction next year. We talk about the Trump administration’s larger strategy to boost the coal industry, community opposition to the project and what a coal terminal means for the environment and climate change. Guests: Darwin BondGraham, news editor, Oaklandside Maxine Joselow, climate reporter, The New York Times Jill Tauber, vice president of litigation for climate and energy, Earthjustice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Can College Survive Artificial Intelligence?
3d ago00:54:46Tap to summarizeArtificial intelligence is rapidly changing the American workplace, and virtually every week brings a new report that entry-level white-collar jobs could be replaced by chatbots. Facing an uncertain future, 1 in 4 college students no longer believe their degree is worth the time and money. The New Yorker’s Jay Caspian Kang has been reporting on how A.I. is reshaping higher education, and he joins us to talk about whether the four-year college can survive A.I. Guests: Jay Caspian Kang, staff writer, The New Yorker; author, "The Loneliest Americans" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Pulitzer Prize Winner Andrew Sean Greer on His Latest Novel ‘Villa Coco’
3d ago00:54:49Tap to summarizeBefore Andrew Sean Greer won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for his novel “Less,” he was the executive director for a writer’s foundation based in Italy and sponsored by a baronessa. It was a job he has compared to “running a bed-and-breakfast for maniacs.” That experience informs his latest comic novel “Villa Coco,” which centers a young man adrift and yes, a baronessa. We talk to Greer, who lives half the year in San Francisco and the other half in Italy. Guests: Andrew Sean Greer, author, "Villa Coco"; Greer won the Pulitzer Prize for his book, "Less"; author, "Less is Lost," "The Story of a Marriage," "The Confessions of Max Tivoli" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →‘Liar's Kingdom:’ Andrew Weissmann on Democracy and Deception
4d ago00:54:45Tap to summarizeFormer federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann spent years inside some of the country’s most consequential investigations, from the Justice Department’s fraud unit to Robert Mueller’s election interference investigation. In his new book “Liar’s Kingdom,” Weissman argues the U.S. needs new laws to stem the corrosive effects of political deception. We talk with Weissmann about his case for reform and how we can make our democratic institutions more resilient. We’ll also talk to him about efforts to stop the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund and recent upheavals at the Department of Justice. Guests: Andrew Weissmann, professor, NYU Law School; former federal prosecutor and general counsel to the FBI; author, "Liar's Kingdom: How to Stop Trump's Deceit and Save America" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Zinzi Clemmons on the Complicated Notion of ‘Freedom’
4d ago00:54:46Tap to summarizeIn her new essay collection, “Freedom,” novelist and UC Davis creative writing director Zinzi Clemmons examines what freedom means in “a world buckling from the consequences of centuries of interlocking injustices.” She grapples with the complicated legacies of Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama and the #MeToo Movement — and explains why she’s no longer an Afropessimist. Clemmons joins us to talk about what it means to consider freedom today for Black Americans, women and oppressed people around the world. Guests: Zinzi Clemmons, director of creative writing, UC Davis; author of the novel “What We Lose” and the new essay collection “Freedom" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Waymo’s Growing Pains
1w ago00:54:47Tap to summarizeSelf-driving car companies like Waymo say their autonomous vehicles are dramatically safer than human drivers. But a new CNN investigation found that when things do go wrong, they tend to go wrong in decidedly un-human ways: being incapable of responding to instructions from first responders, driving through crime scenes, and even attempting to traverse entirely flooded streets. As Waymo expands into new markets nationwide, we’ll examine these safety issues — and hear why a lot of passengers love self-driving cars anyway. Guests: Yahya Abou-Ghazala, reporter and producer, CNN's investigative unit Rya Jetha, senior reporter covering physical AI and robotics, Business Insider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →A History of LGBTQ Music from 1969-2000
1w ago00:54:48Tap to summarizeIn his new book “Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music 1969-2000” music critic Barry Walters looks at how music produced and performed by gay and straight musicians has been embraced, celebrated, and defined by queer culture. As he notes, queer musicians “have made an art of saying what can’t be overtly said” and their LGBTQ listeners “have learned to hear what others can’t.” Walters traces the influence of rockers, pop stars, country crooners, R&B artists and disco queens from David Bowie to Sylvster, the Village People to the Petshop Boys, Grace Jones to k.d. lang. We talk to Walters and hear from you: What’s a song that helped define queer culture for you? Guests: Barry Walters, author, "Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music, 1969–2000" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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