KQED's Forum

Regional Ballot Measure is a $14 Billion Bet on Bay Area Transit

Years after the pandemic emptied trains and buses, Bay Area transit agencies still face anemic ridership and rising costs. A new regional transit measure that voters put

The Speaker: How Nancy Pelosi Changed the Face of Power

Rep. Nancy Pelosi will retire following the 2026 midterm elections, bringing to end her almost 40-year career in Congress. In a new five-part podcast series, “The Speaker

Bay Area's Largest 200 Public Companies Reflect the Region's Changing Economy

When the San Francisco Chronicle last published its list of the Bay Area’s 200 largest public companies 17 years ago, oil behemoth Chevron ranked no. 1. The company has s

Ke Huy Quan’s Hollywood Comeback

Actor Ke Huy Quan’s family fled post-war Vietnam and lived in a Hong Kong refugee camp before his unlikely turn as an iconic 1980s child star. He stumbled into a casting

Authors Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor on How to Resist ‘End Times Fascism’

Authors Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor say that not only is fascism here, but this 21st century version wants apocalyptic collapse. In their new book “End Times Fascism,” K

The Whistleblowers Who Exposed a ‘No-Kill’ Shelter

When animal advocates in Humboldt County unearthed dog carcasses on the property of Miranda’s Rescue, they exposed an alleged cruelty and fraud operation that has shocked

A Changing Mission District and Intergenerational Friendship Center Tomas Moniz’s Novel ‘The King of Aloe Vera’

In Tomas Moniz’s new novel “The King of Aloe Vera,” seventy-five-year-old Rey has one month left in his longtime Mission District home when he befriends Q, a young woman

What the Lindsay Clancy Case Teaches Us About Postpartum Psychosis

In the Massachusetts trial of Lindsay Clancy, one detail was not disputed in court: Clancy admitted to killing her three young children before attempting suicide in Janua

“The Oldest Person In the World” Documentary Explores What It Means to Live and Age

Last month, Ethel Caterham turned 117 in England making her the world’s oldest person. In his new documentary “The Oldest Person In the World,” director Sam Green takes v

'Changing Gender' in a Time of Backlash

Since returning to office, President Trump has moved to restrict gender-affirming care, bar transgender and nonbinary people from the military and roll back other LGBTQ n

Most Humans Can See 10 Million Colors. Cal Scientists Found One More.

What if you could create a color, one that no one had ever seen before? That’s what a team of UC Berkeley scientists set out to do, and in the process they found a new gr

How to Parse Escalating Warnings About AI

Tech leaders, including the CEOs of Anthropic and OpenAI, are calling for a slowdown of the development of generative artificial intelligence. This comes after an Anthrop

Teen Overdose Confirms Arrival of Deadly Opioid in San Francisco

A 16-year-old boy from San Francisco died in April from the city’s first confirmed overdose involving cychlorphine . The synthetic opioid is considered much more potent t

Have You Navigated a ‘Quiet Divorce?’

Some marriages don’t end with a blowup or betrayal. Instead, partners slowly become emotionally disconnected – more like roommates than lovers. It’s a phenomenon that’s b

Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio on Why Feeling is the Key to Consciousness

In his new book, “Natural Intelligence and the Logic of Consciousness,” pioneering neuroscientist Antonio Damasio synthesizes his decades of research in neurobiology and

Orville Schell’s 30-Year Secret: Exposing China’s Secret Prisons

In 1991, China scholar and journalist Orville Schell teamed up with CBS News’ 60 Minutes for a perilous undercover investigation into China’s laogai—a vast network of for

Economists Make the Case For and Against California’s Billionaire Tax

California voters will decide this fall whether the state should impose a one-time 5 percent tax on billionaires, with much of the revenue going toward health care amid f

Legendary Musician Joan Baez Joins Us in Studio

Joan Baez’s iconic voice has matured over the decades, but the way she’s used it has remained consistent. As a rising folk music star in the 1960s, she performed at the M

25 Years Later, 9/11 is Shifting From a Memory Into a History Lesson

It’s been 25 years since the United States experienced the deadliest terrorist attack in our history on Sept. 11, 2001. The attacks profoundly changed our nation from how

After Fleeing Taliban, Four Women Rebuild in the U.S.

When the Taliban retook Afghanistan five years ago, the New York Times evacuated more than 120 Afghan journalists, translators and other employees and family members. In