KQED Forum (2025)

14/02/2025

New Yorker writer Rachel Syme loves letters - their content, the paper they are written on, the envelopes that enclose them. For Syme, “A letter is a vessel that can gently cradle family drama that would otherwise explode at Thanksgiving dinner; it is the ideal medium for giving voice to what is difficult to say out loud, and for reconciliation, forgiveness, and clarity.” In her new book, “Syme’s Letter Writer,” she offers advice on how to develop a letter writing style, how to write about juicy gossip, and how to write your mother.

We talk to Syme, and hear from you, what’s a letter you’ve written or received that changed your life?

📸: Courtesy of Rachel Syme

13/02/2025

Did you know KQED has a Discord server?

In January, we gave our community members a photography scavenger hunt to complete, challenging them to go out into their communities and snap some pics to share.

Join our online community to see the rest of the photo submissions, participate in conversations about your favorite KQED shows and more.

13/02/2025

AT 9AM - In the midst of President Trump’s rapid fire, sweeping, and arguably illegal actions since inauguration day, resistance and protest against the president and his agenda has seemed quieter than at the beginning of his first term.

But as the administration continues to take controversial actions on federal funding immigration, and transgender rights, resistance is ramping up in congress, the courts and on the streets.

We’ll talk to Trump opponents about their strategies and what resistance could look like in this Trump term.

❓And we want to hear from you, what is missing from the Democrat’s resistance strategy?

AT 10AM - What is outrage, and what triggers it in us? When someone violates our moral sense, we might bristle with rage or thirst for retribution but UNC psychology professor Kurt Gray wants us to understand that the other side is also motivated by moral convictions, even if they don’t make sense to us right away.

We talk to Gray about how understanding the psychology of moral conflicts can help us better manage them. His new book is “Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics and How to Find Common Ground.”

❓How do you manage your outrage?

📸: vivalapenler via iStock; photos courtesy of Kurt Gray

11/02/2025

AT 9AM - During his campaign for San Francisco mayor, Daniel Lurie promised to bring progress on tough issues that have dogged the city for years including homelessness and drug addiction. He also pledged to revitalize downtown and other areas that have yet to recover from the pandemic. But he’s come into office facing major challenges with a looming budget deficit and President Trump threatening to withhold federal funds over the city’s immigration policies.

One month into office, we’ll check in on Mayor Lurie’s plans, hear what he’s excited about, and take your questions and suggestions.

AT 10AM - Journalist Nicola Slawson has been single for more than a decade, and says there’s beautiful freedom in being unattached. But, too often, single people are made to feel that there’s something wrong with them.

In her new book, “Single: Living a Complete Life on Your Own Terms,” Slawson says you don’t need to wait to fall in love for your life to start. As Valentine’s Day nears, we want to hear what you like – or miss – about being single.

📸: Beth LaBerge via KQED; Photo Courtesy of Nicola Slawson’s Team

11/02/2025

Rachel Syme joins us on Friday, February 14 at 9AM to talk about the art of letter writing. In her new book, the New Yorker writer and founder of the pen pal exchange program Penpalooza dives into how to develop a letter writing style, how to write about secrets and more.

💌 Ahead of the conversation, we’d love to hear from you! Tell us about a letter you’ve held on to or one that made you cry. Tell us about a penpal you’ve written to or what the trickiest part of writing letters is for you. During the broadcast on Friday, you can even read a short 30 second excerpt from your letter live on the air by calling in!

Tap the reminder so you don’t miss the show!

11/02/2025

AT 9AM - Between 2000 and 2020, the number of young people incarcerated in the United States declined by an astonishing 77 percent. Red states and blue states alike lock up fewer kids than in 2000 - and in most, the drops have been precipitous: more than half of states have experienced declines of 75 percent or more.

In his New York Times Magazine piece, Yale Law professor James Forman examines the reasons for the drop in incarceration and how states are responding.

We talk to Forman and California experts about what the statistics can tell us about our shifting juvenile justice system and what we’ve learned about addressing youth crime.

AT 10AM - Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought on Saturday halted new funding to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and temporarily shut down its headquarters. It’s the latest effort by Vought, a Project 2025 architect, to tear down the so-called “deep state” of bureaucrats who could object to Trump’s policies.

Vought is also fixed on expanding the powers of the executive branch in relation to the legislative branch, supporting a presidential power to claw back funds already allocated by Congress.

We’ll talk about what Vought’s tenure as OMB director will mean for the future of federal funding.

📸: fotojob via iStock; iStock

08/02/2025

AT 9AM - President Trump on Friday called for the closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development, America’s main humanitarian and development agency. The administration has already been dismantling USAID, over the last few weeks, forcing employees out and cutting off billions of dollars in foreign aid.

Under the plan, the agency is to be left with less than 600 staff out of about 10,000. Critics, like former USAID official Jeremy Konyndyk say the closure will “put millions of lives at risk” and could undermine US foreign policy.

We’ll look at what feeding USAID into the “woodchipper,” as Elon Musk has pledged, means for those who rely on its services, which include HIV treatment, disaster relief, and children’s health.

AT 10AM - President Trump’s executive orders are testing the limits of presidential power, but they are not going unchallenged. An avalanche of litigation has been filed opposing efforts to end birthright citizenship, stop federal funding, and dismantle critical government agencies.

Will the courts be able to meet this moment? We’ll hear from legal experts about how a judicial system and Supreme Court shaped by Trump may— or may not — act as a check and balance on the president.

📸: Ceri Breeze via iStock; Alexander Sikov via iStock

06/02/2025

AT 9AM - Facing a $24 million deficit, Sonoma State University has announced plans to eliminate six academic departments, lay off dozens of faculty and end intercollegiate athletics.

Sonoma State officials say the university was forced to act due to a nearly 40 percent dip in enrollment and a decline in state funding, at a time when costs to run the university are on the rise. But many students and faculty members say they were blindsided by the cuts and are calling on officials to reconsider.

We’ll check in with SSU’s interim president and others in the campus community.

❓Are you a Sonoma State student, faculty or staff member or alum? What was your reaction to the huge budget cuts?

AT 10AM - As Donald Trump makes provocative foreign policy statements and issues executive orders that are quickly walked back or challenged in court, and as Elon Musk creates upheaval in federal agencies, we look at the tactics the Trump Administration is using to consolidate power.

Atlantic staff writer David Graham has been closely following Trump’s actions and argues that “chaos versus strategy is a misleading and unhelpful binary” to understand what’s happening.

❓What have you noticed about Trump’s tactics this term, compared to last?

📸: Gina Castro/KQED; Willard via iStock

05/02/2025

AT 9AM - A 10% tariff on Chinese goods went into effect on Tuesday as China retaliated with its own set of tariffs. Earlier Donald Trump put his threatened 25% tariffs against Canada and Mexico on hold for 30 days after discussions with the countries’ leaders. Trump says he brought the two neighboring countries to their knees, but the Wall Street Journal called Trump’s tariffs “the dumbest trade war in history.”

We’ll talk to experts about tariffs, the international response to Trump’s actions, and the impact they may have on businesses and consumers.

AT 10AM - The 2025 Academy Award-nominated documentary “Porcelain War” tells the story of Ukrainian artists Slava Leontyev and Anya Stasenko as they defy the Russian invasion through their art and by aiding in the war effort. In the intricately painted porcelain figurines they create, the artists represent how their lives used to be — and their hopes for the future.

Leontyev, Stasenko and producer Paula DuPré Pesmen join us to talk about the film and the power and fragility of art in the face of war. Later in the hour, we’ll speak with former Ukraine ambassador Steven Pifer about the future of U.S. aid to Ukraine under the Trump Administration.

📸: wildpixel via iStock; Photo Courtesy of “Porcelain War’s” Team

04/02/2025

💌 During the pandemic, New Yorker writer Rachel Syme founded Penpalooza, an exchange of penpals who used letter writing to combat loneliness and isolation.

According to Syme, “A letter is a vessel that can gently cradle family drama that would otherwise explode at Thanksgiving dinner; it is the ideal medium for giving voice to what is difficult to say out loud, and for reconciliation, forgiveness, and clarity.” Hew new book, “Syme’s Letter Writer,” offers advice on how to develop a letter writing style, how to write about secrets or very juicy gossip and how to write random relatives.

🗣️ We talk to Syme, and hear from you. What’s a letter you’ve received that changed your life?

📸: g-stockstudio via iStock

04/02/2025

AT 9AM - With an unprecedented phenomenon like climate change, do we have the words or the ways to express the feelings that it creates?

In her new book, “Immemorial,” Writer Lauren Markham attempts to find the language, rituals and memorials to reckon with the grief of climate change, and a future that seems to be vanishing. We’ll talk about psychologically processing the environmental realities that we face.

AT 10AM - Three of President Trump’s most contested nominees — Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. — sat for confirmation hearings last week, facing scathing questions from Senate Democrats about their qualifications, judgment and ability to lead critical federal departments. The Senate Finance Committee is set to vote Tuesday morning on whether to put Kennedy’s nomination to lead the Health and Human Services Department to a floor vote.

We look at the status of all the nominations along with other breaking national political news.

📸: Photo courtesy of Lauren Markham; Mesut Dogan via iStock

01/02/2025

AT 9AM - Nearly seven million Americans, about one in nine people over the age of 65, live with Alzheimer’s. It’s a heartbreaking disease for those afflicted and the 11 million loved ones who are taking care of them.

But despite decades of research and countless promises of a breakthrough, there are no significant treatments to stop the cognitive decline. While mortality rates for other leading causes of death like cancer and heart disease have gone down, Alzheimer’s death rates continue to rise.

In his new book “Doctored” investigative reporter Charles Piller makes the case that a wide web of fraud, greed and negligence – from individual scientists to the FDA – has derailed the search for a cure or treatment. And, he says the scientific establishment’s belief in one hypothesis of the disease, despite the lack of progress, has shut out other promising avenues.

We’ll talk with Piller about his new book and what it reveals about Alzheimer’s research and the broader science landscape.

❓Have you or a loved one tried any treatments for Alzheimer’s?

AT 10AM - Donald Trump was once a cryptocurrency skeptic, saying as recently as 2021 that bitcoin “seems like a scam.” Today, some critics are saying the same thing about the president’s now fervent embrace of crypto, both in his business investments and policy decisions.

During the campaign, Trump promised to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet,” while taking tens of millions in donations from the industry. After the election, he and Melania Trump both touted the release of a crypto meme coin featuring their images. And last week, after making appointments and issuing executive orders aimed at boosting the industry, the president’s social media startup Trump social announced plans to expand into crypto. Now some legal experts, and even industry leaders, are voicing serious ethics concerns.

We’ll look at what Trump’s pro-crypto stance might mean for the future of digital assets, the economy, and national security.

❓What do you think about the Trump administration’s efforts to boost the cryptocurrency industry?

📸: Mike McGee; bizoo_n via iStock

31/01/2025

Rick Steves is one of the most trusted sources for Americans traveling abroad. But he once dreamed of becoming a piano teacher.

That was before he backpacked along the Hippie Trail from Istanbul to Kathmandu in 1978, a trip that made him want to help others experience life-altering travel.

We talk to him about his new book called “On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer” about a life spent away from home.

❓What would you like to ask or tell Rick Steves?

📸: Photos courtesy of Rick Steves.

31/01/2025

Hercules native August Lee Stevens dropped her debut album “Better Places” last year earning her a following and praise for her indie soul sound.

The 25-year-old singer and songwriter started classical piano when she was in elementary school and continued her study at the Oakland School of the Arts. In her senior year, she picked up singing - a decision that changed her life. She is now part of a wave of emerging musicians from the East Bay.

Stevens joins us for a special live performance, and to talk about her musical roots and journey.

❓What do you love about August Lee Stevens’ music?

📸: Janett Perez

30/01/2025

AT 9AM - Counterfeit pharmaceutical pills laced with drugs like fentanyl are a new global crisis according to a recent article in the journal Lancet. The fake prescription pills are often the same color and size as the original, making them virtually indistinguishable.

In 2023 the DEA found that 70% of counterfeit pharmaceutical pills contained a potentially deadly dose of fentanyl. And while drug overdoses among young people were down last year compared to 2023, the number of young people dying of opioid overdoses is still double what it was before the pandemic.

We’ll talk to a parent whose son died of an accidental fentanyl overdose and with addiction experts about the crisis and what can be done to prevent it.

Have you encountered counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl? Know someone who has?

AT 10AM - Imani Perry says that the color blue tells the story of her people, reflecting both oppression and resilience, sorrow and hope.

In her new book “Black in Blues,” Perry explores the significance of the color in Black American history and culture – from the indigo trade to the blues music tradition – and stitches together histories that connect the color to spirituality, community, resistance and the complexities of identity. Perry joins us.

Do you think blue tells your story? Is there a color that’s woven into the fabric of your own culture?

Shidlovski via iStock; photos courtesy of Imani Perry

29/01/2025

Hercules native August Lee Stevens dropped her debut album “Better Places” last year. The classically trained pianist picked up singing during her senior year at Oakland School of the Arts and mastered the guitar during the pandemic.

She joins us in studio on Friday, Jan. 31 to talk about her Oakland roots and her musical journey in a special live performance.

❓What do you love about August Lee Stevens’ music?

📸: Janett Perez

29/01/2025

AT 9AM - A federal judge temporarily blocked President Trump’s order to freeze federal grants and loans on Tuesday, as Medicaid and other federal funded programs experienced interruptions causing chaos and confusion.

The Trump administration’s directive could halt trillions of dollars in funds while agencies are directed to ensure federal financial assistance doesn’t conflict with administration ideology. California’s Attorney General and 22 other states have also sued to stop the freeze. We’ll talk about what could be affected by the funding order, which is halted until at least Monday, and the efforts to fight it.

AT 10AM - The Southern California wildfires have decimated neighborhoods and displaced tens of thousands of people in Los Angeles County. The fallout is exacerbating the state’s existing housing crisis, as displaced persons compete for a scarcity of rental units. And Trump Administration actions on federal disaster aid could complicate rebuilding efforts. We’ll talk about how other California communities are still dealing with homelessness and housing shortages caused by wildfire and what their recovery efforts signal for LA. And we’ll hear from LA homelessness and housing advocates about the resources they’ll need - in the short- and long-term.

📸: Anadolu via Getty Images; Apu Gomes via Getty Images

28/01/2025

On Friday, January 31 at 10AM, renowned travel writer and TV host Rick Steves joins us for a conversation about his new book “On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer.”

The book details Steve’s formative journey on the legendary Hippie Trail through selections from his journal. In the preface and postscript, Steve reflects on how the journey ignited his love for travel and made him the travel writer he is today.

We want to hear from you:

❓Do you have a favorite moment from Rick’s travel?
❓Is there a moment or experience that ignited your love for travel?
❓How do you like to document your travel?

📸: Photo courtesy of Rick Steves

KQED Forum

14/02/2025

13/02/2025

13/02/2025

11/02/2025

11/02/2025

11/02/2025

08/02/2025

06/02/2025

05/02/2025

04/02/2025

04/02/2025

01/02/2025

31/01/2025

31/01/2025

30/01/2025

29/01/2025

29/01/2025

28/01/2025

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share