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by KQED
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.
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 2 weeks ago54 min
The Key Congressional Races that Could Shape the Final Years of Trump
Next week’s midterm election will decide which party controls Congress for the second half of President Trump’s term. And in the wake of California’s redistricting in favor of Democratic candidates, the state could play an outsized role in shaping the outcome of the midterms. We’ll dig into key races here in California and across the nation, and how issues like inflation and Trump’s approval rating could influence the outcome. Guests: Erin Covey, editor covering the U.S. House of Representatives, The Cook Political Report Guy Marzorati, correspondent, KQED’s California Politics and Government Desk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 2 weeks ago54 min
Decoding School Board Races on Your Ballot
Voters across the Bay Area will weigh in on more than 100 school board races in next Tuesday’s election. As many school districts face declining enrollment, tight budgets and difficult decisions about the role of technology in classrooms, the make-up of school boards is critical. But voters often have very little information about the candidates, what they stand for or who supports them. This year, to address that void, KQED sent questionnaires to close to 400 school board candidates to better understand their positions. We’ll talk about the issues facing school boards, how to make an informed vote and the key races in San Francisco, Oakland and beyond. Guest: Jill Tucker, K-12 Education Reporter, San Francisco Chronicle Molly Gibbs, education reporter, The Mercury News and East Bay Times Katie DeBenedetti, reporter, KQED Ashley McBride, education equity reporter, The Oaklandside Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 2 weeks ago54 min
‘The Vanishing Family’ Examines the Toll of Dementia Across Generations
Would you want to know if you carried a gene that would cause dementia, even if there was no cure? And how would that knowledge change the way you lived? These are questions facing one family in which a rare brain disease known as frontotemporal dementia (FTD) has passed from one generation to the next. Journalist Robert Kolker, who spent years following their story, exposes the hard choices families face, what dementia reveals about personality and identity, and what FTD research is uncovering about how our brains work. We talk to Kolker about his new book “The Vanishing Family.” How has dementia affected your family? Guest: Robert Kolker, author of “The Vanishing Family: Love, Fate and the Quest to End Dementia” and a contributor to the New York Times Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 2 weeks ago54 min
How Should Schools Adapt to AI?
Artificial intelligence has long entered the classroom and is rapidly changing how students learn and teachers teach. Some schools are embracing AI and personalized learning tools, while others are pulling back on technology in the classroom. Meanwhile, students are increasingly turning to chatbots to help with assignments, raising concerns about what happens to critical thinking, reading, and writing skills when AI does the work for them. Can schools harness the benefits of AI without compromising students’ learning? We’ll talk with educators and researchers about how AI is reshaping the classroom, what it means for students’ development, and how schools and parents are navigating this new era of education. Guests: Daniel Herman, humanities teacher, Maybeck High School; wrote about teaching English in the age of ChatGPT for The Atlantic Jeremy Roschelle, executive director of learning sciences research, Digital Promise Kip Glazer, principal, Mountain View High School MacKenzie Price, co-founder, Alpha Schools Tom Wadbrook, director of technology, Prospect Sierra School Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 2 weeks ago54 min
What’s Behind Surging Energy Costs?
Soaring energy prices are the leading factor behind rising inflation across the United States, where consumer prices are up 3.7 percent over last year. In California, where energy costs have become an issue in the governor’s race, electricity prices are surging to a rate of about double the national average. We’ll look at what’s driving the rise here in California and across the U.S., and hear about how policy solutions could help bring prices under control. Guests: Mike O'Boyle, senior director of policy and strategy, Energy Innovation Meredith Fowlie, professor, UC Berkeley, faculty director, Energy Institute at Haas, co-director, Environment and Energy Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 2 weeks ago54 min
Pulitzer and Tony-winning ‘Liberation’ Grapples with 1970s Feminism at Berkeley Rep
Fresh off its Broadway run, “Liberation,” which won this year’s Tony Award for best play andPulitzer Prize for drama, opens its West Coast premiere at Berkeley Rep. The play features amodern-day narrator trying to imagine her mother’s 1970s consciousness-raising group. Forplaywright Bess Wohl, her research involved asking a question to her mother: “Do you regrethaving me?” Wohl and director, Whitney White, join us to discuss the play and its depiction offeminism across generational lines. Guests: Bess Wohl, Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning playwright of “Liberation” Whitney White, Tony Award-nominated director of “Liberation” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 2 weeks ago54 min
Six Flags Roller Coaster Deaths, and the Warning Signs Missed
Last week, a man on the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia died when he was ejected from the ride — a death that follows a pattern of apparent safety incidents on Six Flags roller coasters nationwide. A recent CNN investigation into Six Flags Magic Mountain, located just north of Los Angeles in Valencia, exposed serious safety concerns surrounding X2, one of the park’s most popular roller coasters. Over its nearly two-decade run, the ride has been linked to more than a dozen severe hospitalizations and two deaths, including riders who suffered severe brain hemorrhages. Six Flags officials have since closed the coaster — plus 10 others related to the subsequent Goliath incident. We’ll speak with a CNN reporter who broke the X2 story, and look at why apparently dangerous rides weren’t shut down sooner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 2 weeks ago54 min
Bracing for the Coming Wave of Legal Challenges to Midterm Voting
Twelve days from the midterms, election officials and teams of lawyers are preparing for what has become a depressingly familiar American tradition: challenges to voting. The Trump administration has been focused on voter integrity, including filing suits to take purported noncitizens off voter rolls, and attempting to collect sensitive voter data from states. Meanwhile, legal teams are gearing up for challenges to election results. We’ll talk to experts and hear your concerns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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About 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 Alexis host conversations that inform, challenge and unify listeners with big ideas and different viewpoints.
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