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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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After the death of a beloved colleague known for his optimism, Stanford psychology professor Jamil Zaki began reflecting on his own cynicism. He discovered that cultural stereotypes casting cynics as smarter and more worldly are wrong. Instead, cynicism undermines relationships and confines our vision of the future. We’ll talk to Zaki about how to quiet our inner cynic to appreciate a humanity he says is “far more beautiful and complex than a cynic imagines.” His new book is “Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness.”
Guests:
Jamil Zaki, professor of psychology, Stanford University; director, Stanford Social Neuroscience Laboratory; author of “Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness”
Neuroscientist and musician Daniel Levitin says we can trace beliefs about music’s power to heal mind, body and spirit back 20,000 years, to the Upper Paleolithic era. But only recently have we had good science to explain how music affects us and how we can use it therapeutically. Not only to relax, uplift and bring us together, but as part of treatment of trauma, depression, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and more. Alexis Madrigal talked onstage with Levitin in collaboration with LitQuake, San Francisco’s literary festival, running through October 26th. We listen back on their conversation and to Levitin’s live musical performance.
Guests:
Daniel Levitin, neuroscientist, musician and author, "I Heard There Was a Secret Chord," "The Organized Mind," "The World in Six Songs" and "This is Your Brain on Music. He is also Dean of Social Sciences at the Minerva Schools in San Francisco.
One problem with 2016 polling data indicating that Hillary Clinton would win the presidency was the oversampling of people with college and graduate degrees. Today’s Democrats tend to value credentials and degrees, while Republicans tend to champion skeptics who distrust institutions like universities. That’s according to political scientist David Hopkins, who says that the “diploma divide” is a main reason our country is so polarized. We’ll talk to Hopkins about our education divide and its political impacts. His new book, with co-author Matt Grossman, is “Polarized by Degrees.”
Looking back at the year in tech in 2024, generative artificial intelligence dominated headlines, became part of our daily lives and pumped up the Bay Area’s job market. On social media, Elon Musk steered the platform X to the right, and worked to elect Donald Trump. Meanwhile, users experimented with other social media platforms, which are increasingly marketing machines for online retailers. We talk about the biggest tech news and trends that shaped our region and the world.
Much has been written about Ronald Reagan, but historian Max Boot’s new biography, which draws on new archival sources and interviews with nearly a hundred people who knew Reagan best, is being hailed as definitive. Boot says Reagan was possessed of “myriad contradictions and inconsistencies:” a skeptic of government who presided over vast spending increases; a gun rights advocate who supported tough gun laws; a man of strong convictions but little intellectual depth. We talk to Boot about why he did not want to write either a “hagiography or a hit job” of the former president and California governor, and both the contrasts and connections he sees between Reagan and Donald Trump. Boot’s new book is “Reagan: His Life and Legend.” What policy, event or moment do you most associate with Ronald Reagan?
Guest:
Max Boot, senior fellow for national security studies, Council on Foreign Relations - columnist, Washington Post; author, "Reagan: His Life and Legend"
A new year holds promise for a new you. But writer Oliver Burkeman says you shouldn’t strive for perfection. Instead, in his latest book, “Meditations for Mortals,” Burkeman encourages readers to embrace imperfection, let some goals slide, and do less. His approach has been called “liberating and humane.” We talk to Burkeman about how to thrive and despite our mortal failings.
Guests:
Oliver Burkeman, author, "Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts".; Burkeman is the author of the best selling book "Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals"
Have you ever reread something you wrote years earlier and cringed? Or maybe you were surprised by the depth, heart and complexity of what your younger self put to the page. Ann Patchett had both experiences recently when she reread her award-winning 2001 book “Bel Canto.” She’s now reissued the novel with her own handwritten margin notes — both complimentary and critical. We’ll talk to Patchett about what she loves about the original and what she would change, and what it’s like to edit your own work decades later. Patchett’s new book is “Bel Canto: The Annotated Edition.”
Guests:
Ann Patchett, author, "Bel Canto: The Annotated Edition"
LaRussell is known for a lot of things. His prolific music drops. His backyard concerts from his hometown, the “itty bitty city near the Bay,” Vallejo. And, for making a name in the world of hip hop on his own – no record deal needed. LaRussell is one of the Bay Area’s hottest musicians not just because of his talent and artistry, but also his business savvy. He is the founder of Good Compenny, a collective of independent artists. LaRussell joins us in studio for a special musical performance and to talk about growing up in Vallejo, what it means to “leave empty” and how he’s forged a career on his own terms.
Guests:
LaRussell, artist and founder, Good Compenny - an organization that promotes rising Bay Area artists.
Michael Prince, violin, Good Compenny
Simon Ajero, piano, Good Compenny
Anthropologist Jason De León has spent a career documenting the stories of migrants making their way across the Sonoran Desert at the Southern US border. But in his new book, “Soldiers And Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling,” De León turns his gaze towards the smugglers. For nearly seven years, he embedded with a group of smugglers moving migrants across Central America and Mexico, following them as they led people north. We’ll talk to him about his book, what he learned from this rare look into this side of the billion-dollar industry and what can be done to address the global migration crisis.
Guest:
Jason De León, author, “Soldiers And Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling"; director, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology; professor of anthropology and Chicana, Chicano, and Central American Studies, UCLA
Are we alone? Really, though, in a cosmic sense. 40 years ago the pioneering radio astronomer Jill Tarter co-founded a Bay Area non profit to support humanity searching for life beyond ourselves. We celebrate the SETI – as in, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence – Institute’s anniversary and all their contributions to science which, sadly, do not yet include finding aliens. What do you hope SETI finds in its next 40 years?
Guests:
Bill Diamond, president and CEO, SETI Institute
Wael Farah, radio astronomer and project scientist on The Allen Telescope Array, SETI Institute
Nathalie Cabrol, astrobiologist and planetary geologist; director of Science, the Carl Sagan Center for Research at the SETI Institute
Simon Steel, astronomer, director of Education and Public Outreach, SETI Institute
“The time to fight, with all our ingenuity and tenacity, and love and fury, is now.” That sounds like a rallying cry for democrats after their profound election defeat last week. But it’s in fact an environmental call to action from Katherine Rundell, whose new book “Vanishing Treasures” celebrates some of the earth’s most imperiled and unusual creatures. We’ll talk to Rundell about wombats that carry their young in upside-down pouches and excrete cube-shaped poop; the American wood frog that freezes itself solid to get through winter; the golden mole that’s evolved to be iridescent. What extraordinary creatures would you like to pay tribute to?
Guest:
Katherine Rundell, author, "Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures", Her previous books include "Impossible Creatures" and "Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Aren't So Old and Wise"
For 45 years, the Bay Area's vocal ensemble Kitka has entranced audiences with their complex harmonies, breathtaking vocal techniques and vast repertoire of traditional songs from Eastern Europe and Eurasia. The 10 members of Kitka join us in studio to share songs from their Wintersongs concerts, featuring music from the country of Georgia.
Guests:
Shira Cion, executive director, Kitka Women's Vocal Ensemble
Members of the ensemble: Kelly Atkins, Kristine Barrett, Stacey Barnett, Charlotte Finegold, Erin Lashnits Herman, Janet Kutulas, Maclovia Quintana, Katya Schoenberg, Talia Young-Skeen
A squirrel in the street. Actors running in movies. A misplaced cup of tea. Naps. These topics are but a few that Atlantic staff writer James Parker has honored with an ode. To Parker, an ode isn’t just untempered praise — a healthy dose of complaining is essential. We talk to Parker about his favorite odes and why he thinks composing them can help us appreciate our everyday surroundings, from the annoying to the mundane to the beautiful. His new book is “Get Me Through the Next Five Minutes: Odes to Being Alive.” We want to hear from you: Have you ever written an ode? To whom or what?
Guest:
James Parker, staff writer, The Atlantic; author, "Get Me Through The Next 5 Minutes: Odes to Being Alive"
Novelist Richard Powers has a way of making us see the world, and our place in it, in entirely new ways. His 2019 Pulitzer Prize Winning novel Overstory attuned readers to the power and mystery of trees. In his new novel, Playground, he focuses his awe and concern on marine life, the oceans and the perils we’ve inflicted on them. We talk to Powers about his epic story of friendship, colonialism and the looming power of AI.
Guest:
Richard Powers, author, His new novel is "Playground." His previous books include "The Overstory" which won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and "The Echo Maker" which won the 2006 National Book Award for Fiction.
The past year, more than any other, “demonstrated how podcasts as a whole bleed into the real world and play a huge role in American culture, for better or worse,” Vulture podcast critic Nicholas Quah recently wrote. It used to be, if a presidential nominee wanted to make news, they would go on TV. In 2024, it was all about podcasts…shows like Joe Rogan and Call Her Daddy. The industry is still reeling from the widespread cutbacks and cancellations in recent years. But the art and innovation of podcasts is alive and well, making it hard sometimes to pick your next listen. We'll talk with Quah and other critics about the best podcasts of the year and hear your picks.
Guests:
Wil Williams, CEO, Hughouse Productions
Nicholas Quah, critic, Vulture - where he covers podcasts, television, and pop culture
Ronald Young Jr., senior producer and owner, ohitsBigRon studios; host of the podcasts "Weight for It" (which was named one of the best podcasts of 2023 by the New York Times) and Pop Culture Debate Club from Lemonada and the BBC.
About ten years ago, two of journalist Lissa Soep’s closest friends died around the same time. In her grieving, she found consolation in the philosophy of a 20th century Russian literary theorist, Mikhail Bakhtin, and his theory of “double voicing” – the idea that our speech is “filled to overflowing with other people’s words." Her friends had not disappeared, instead, they’d slipped into her own language, and that of the people around her. We talk to Soep about great friendships, the mysterious power of language to sustain conversations even with those who have died and her book, “Other People’s Words."
Guests:
Lissa Soep, author, "Other People's Words: Friendship, Loss and the Conversations that Never End." She is also senior editor for audio at Vox Media
Oakland-based musical artist Esotérica Tropical performs a live in-studio concert, playing songs off her new self-titled debut album. Her music is a fusion of Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba rhythms and electronic flourishes, all accompanied by her harp. The artist calls the songs on the album love letters to her native Puerto Rico, offering “a powerful ode to healing and resistance.”
Guests:
Esotérica Tropical, Afro-Puerto Rican musical artist
The fastest moving human-built object ever, the Parker Solar Probe, will enter the sun’s atmosphere on December 24th. It’s the closest any artificial object will have gotten to the sun. We’ll talk with astronomer Andrew Fraknoi about what the solar probe hopes to learn and other exciting developments in astronomy, such as the discovery of the hungriest black hole yet found – it consumes the mass of our sun daily. And as we approach the shortest day of the year, we’ll contemplate how the ancients celebrated the winter solstice, and why we can thank a planet that crashed into Earth for our seasons.
Guests:
Andrew Fraknoi, astronomer and professor, Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco and the OLLI Program at SF State; lead author of the most popular introductory astronomy textbook in North America; Website URL: www.fraknoi.com
For New York Times cooking columnist Eric Kim, the holidays are a time to embrace traditional dishes but have fun with the framework – like deviled eggs with seaweed or baked potatoes with caramelized kimchi. They’re also an occasion, he says, to get together with friends and make huge batches of “foldy” foods like dumplings and empanadas. We’ll talk to Kim and New York Times editor-in-chief for cooking and food Emily Weinstein about what they have cooking this holiday and hear about your go-to dishes for the season.
Guests:
Eric Kim, food and cooking columnist, The New York Times; author, "Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home"
Emily Weinstein, editor-in-chief, New York Times Cooking and Food; author, "Easy Weeknight Dinners: 100 Fast, Flavor-Packed Meals for People Who Still Want Something Good to Eat
As the year ends, Forum looks back at some of our – and your – favorite books from 2024. What was the book you just couldn’t put down or that you’re still thinking about months later? Among this year’s top sellers were “James” by Percival Everett, a retelling of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” as well as “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire that inspired a blockbuster musical and movie. Book critics and book lovers join us to talk about their favorites and what titles you might want to put on your to-read list.
Guests:
Brad Johnson, owner, East Bay Booksellers in Oakland
Anita Felicelli, editor, Alta Journal‘s California Book Club; Her most recent book is the short story collection "How We Know Our Time Travelers." She is also author of "Chimerica: A Novel" and the short story collection "Love Songs for a Lost Continent."
Ugur Dursu, arts engagement producer and reporter, KQED
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sanity at last
很好，希望播报新闻语速稍微慢一点😄