KQED's Forum

The latest stars of TikTok and social media are not just influencers, they are presidential candidates. The campaigns of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have rapid response digital teams that are jumping on every meme, dance, and remix, some which feature the candidates. But are these efforts reaching new voters? Or is the “For You Page” just solidifying people’s world views, but to music? We’ll talk to social media experts and hear from you: what’s your favorite – or most hated – political meme in this election cycle and how has it influenced your vote?

Guests:

Sapna Maheshwari, business reporter covering TikTok and emerging media, New York Times

Morgan Sung, host, "Close All Tabs" podcast available on KQED's "Political Breakdown" feed

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What happens if fascism takes root in the United States? Actors Edie Falco and Tony Shalhoub have teamed up to voice a new radio play called “It Happened Here 2024.” The play, adapted by Richard Dresser from his own novel, imagines an authoritarian country in 2039 where elections are a thing of the past and the rule of law has collapsed. We’ll talk to the actors and the playwright about the connections they see between their “audio documentary from the future” and the current political climate.

Guests:

Edie Falco, actor, known for her roles on "The Sopranos" and "Nurse Jackie"

Tony Shalhoub, actor, known for his roles on "Monk" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"

Richard Dresser, playwright, screenwriter and novelist, His new radio play is "It Happened Here 2024"

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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.

Guest:

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.

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It’s been nearly twenty years since 23andMe, the consumer health company was founded. Since then, other companies have emerged, and in exchange for a tube of spit, a puff of breath, or a drop of blood, consumers can now not only find their ancestry and long-lost relatives, but learn what to eat that day or discover food sensitivities and propensity for diseases. But are these tests effective and what are the pitfalls of using a company you found on Instagram to test whether you’re likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s or cancer? And when those companies cease to exist, as troubled 23andMe might, what happens to all that health data? It’s one thing to share your email address or mobile number, and an entirely different proposition to share your genome. We’ll talk to experts about the world of consumer DNA-testing and how to protect yourself and your genome.

Guests:

Kristen V. Brown, staff writer, Atlantic Magazine

Hank Greely, law professor; founding director, Center for Law and the Biosciences, Stanford University

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“Living Dummy.” “The Haunted Mask.” “Welcome to Dead House.” For ’90s kids, R.L. Stine, author of the “Goosebumps” series, is synonymous with spooky. The series has sold over 400 million copies globally in 35 languages, making it the second-best-selling book series in history (after a decidedly less scary boy wizard). And after being adapted for TV, film and a new Disney+ series, “Goosebumps” has found its audience among generations of kids looking for frights. We’ll talk about how to tell scary — but not too scary — stories for kids, and why we love horror at any age.

Guests:

R.L. Stine, author, wrote more than 350 books including the series “Goosebumps” and “Fear Street,” and of the nonfiction works “There's Something Strange About My Brain: Writing Horror For Kids” and “It Came From Ohio!: My Life As a Writer”

Caroline Smith, producer, KQED

Mark Nieto, producer, KQED

Blanca Torres, producer and reporter, KQED

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In the final weeks before election day, candidates are scrambling to win over groups of voters who could tip the results. American voters have shifted significantly in recent decades with changes in the racial and ethnic composition of the electorate and their education level. In California, more than 2 million Latinos and more than 750,000 people of Asian descent became eligible to vote between 2012 and 2022. Meanwhile, white voters declined by more than 1 million. In other parts of the country, there are now more voters with college degrees than without. Those shifts could have major implications for elections. We’ll talk about voter trends at the local, state and national level and what it could all mean.

Guests:

Mindy Romero, founder and director, Center for Inclusive Democracy

Jason McDaniel, associate professor of political science, San Francisco State University

Jocelyn Kiley, senior associate director of research, Pew Research Center

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As the Greenland ice sheet melts, more freshwater is pouring into the oceans and that’s triggering feedback loops that could mean disastrous coastal sea level rise and drought. New Yorker staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert reported from the summit of the Greenland ice sheet for her new piece, “When the Arctic Melts.” “If we cross the tipping point for the Greenland ice sheet,” she writes, “we may not even notice. And yet the world as we know it will be gone.” Kolbert joins us.

Guests:

Elizabeth Kolbert, staff writer, The New Yorker

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Native to California, coyotes are common in urban green spaces up and down the state. Once eradicated from San Francisco, they’ve made a comeback in the city, with sightings on the rise and reports of pet attacks, including an incident involving a 5-year-old child. We’ll talk about best practices to keep you and your pets safe and learn about the essential role coyotes play in California’s ecosystem. Have you had a recent encounter with a coyote?

Guests:

Tali Caspi, urban ecologist, PhD Candidate at UC Davis

Christopher J Schell, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at UC Berkeley

Christine Wilkinson, conservation scientist, carnivore ecologist, research associate at California Academy of Sciences - manages www.bayareacoyote. org

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Measure J in Sonoma County wants to ban “factory farms” and force major poultry and dairy farms to downsize or shut down by limiting the number of animals a single farm can raise. The issue has been hotly contested in Sonoma, a major producer of milk, eggs, beef and poultry for the region and state. The measure specifically targets “concentrated animal feeding operations,” known as CAFOs, which backers claim are inhumane and detrimental to the environment. But opponents say the measure does nothing to improve animal welfare and would instead drive humane and ecologically-friendly farms out of business. We’ll talk about Measure J and how it could impact farming in Sonoma County and beyond.

Guests:

Mike Weber, farmer, Weber Family Farms - a poultry farm in Petaluma

Cassie King, spokesperson, Direct Action Everywhere Bay Area - a group that advocates for animal rights and is part of the Coalition to End Factory Farming, the group that started Measure J in Sonoma

Phil Barber, reporter, Santa Rosa Press Democrat

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The Middle East crisis and Russia’s war in Ukraine are among the critical foreign policy issues the next U.S. president will have to confront on day one. The stakes are high, after hundreds of defense and national security officials from both parties in an open letter last month called Donald Trump “unfit” for office. We look at how a Harris administration would compare to a Trump administration on foreign policy.

Guests:

Jen Kirby, foreign and national security reporter

Fred Kaplan, national security columnist, Slate; author, “The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War" and the novel "A Capital Calamity"

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