KQED's Forum

“You don’t just smell an aroma; you fall into it,” writes artisan perfumer Mandy Aftel. And entering her exquisite small museum, the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents, tucked into a backyard in Berkeley, is to fall into an ancient, mysterious world. Amid centuries-old books, bottles and curios are natural fragrances that come from the secretions of civets and the bowels of sperm whales, as well as from resins, rare flowers, roots and so much more. We talk to Aftel about her collection, the art of building a fragrance, and her new book, “The Museum of Scent: Exploring the Curious and Wondrous World of Fragrance”.

Guests:

Mandy Aftel, artisan perfumer and founder, Aftelier Perfumes and the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents in Berkeley; author, "The Museum of Scent: Exploring the Curious and Wondrous World of Fragrance"

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As winter rains descend, mushrooms are blooming across California — in oak and conifer forests, along riverbanks and even in your own garden. You can forage for “the winter trio:” yellow-footed chanterelles, black trumpets and hedgehogs. And you may even come across our new state mushroom, the massive (and delicious) California golden chanterelle. We’ll talk about how to identify California’s mushrooms, where to find them and how to forage ethically.

Guests:

Jess Starwood, author, "Mushroom Wanderland: A Forager's Guide to Finding, Identifying and Using More Than 25 Wild Fungi"; founder, The Wild Path School

Gordon Walker, PhD biochemist, mushroom educator and fermentation consultant; host, Fascinated By Fungi podcast

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Millennial writer Kyle Chayka longs for the good old days of the Internet, when online forums and MP3 piracy helped him define his own personal sense of style and taste. You had to work at it: Wake up early to catch that anime you wanted to watch and record on a VHS tape, find the MySpace page devoted to your favorite show, search out the music magazine featuring cool bands. But today, he observes, the algorithm has flattened culture by constantly feeding us media that it thinks we will like because a lot of other people like it too. According to Chayka, we’re now living in “Filterworld,” which is the title of his new book. We talk to Chayka about how we can reclaim our technological and cultural autonomy and find ourselves.

Guests:

Kyle Chayka, author, "Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture"; staff writer, The New Yorker

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In most of the world, “salvage” is a hopeful word, writes journalist Patricia Evangelista. But in Philippine English, to salvage is also to execute a suspected criminal without trial. The salvages of suspected drug users and dealers encouraged by former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte are the subject of Evangelista’s new book “Some People Need Killing,” which draws its title from the words of a vigilante she interviewed. According to human rights organizations, more than 30,000 people were extrajudicially executed in the Philippines for alleged narcotics offenses by the time Duterte left office in 2022. Evangelista interviewed the families of victims, and we talk to her about the impact Duterte’s terrifying war on drugs had on them and on the country.

Guest:

Patricia Evangelista, journalist; author, “Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country”

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The U.S. expanded its bombing campaign of Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen this week, as the group continues to attack ships in the Red Sea. But Yemen is just one of the Middle East flashpoints raising concerns about a wider conflict in the region spreading from the Israel-Gaza war. Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah at the Israel-Lebanon border is also ramping up. Meanwhile, violence has spilled over into Iraq, Iran and Syria. We’ll talk with two Middle East experts about the risks of a broader war in the region, the role the U.S is playing in the conflicts and prospects for peace.

Guests:

Robin Wright, joint fellow, U.S. Institute of Peace and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; contributing writer, the New Yorker; author, "How Ten Middle East Conflicts Are Converging Into One Big War"

Firas Maksad, senior fellow, Middle East Institute; adjunct professor, the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs

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The top four candidates for Dianne Feinstein’s senate seat face off in a televised debate on Monday evening. Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee and Republican Steve Garvey will take on topics such as homelessness and housing, criminal justice, immigration and U.S. involvement in conflicts overseas. How will Lee and Porter take on the front runner Schiff? Or does Garvey have a chance at flipping the seat? We’ll recap the debate and hear your reactions.

Guests:

Melanie Mason, senior political correspondent, Politico; host of Monday's debate

Scott Shafer, senior editor, KQED’s California Politics and Government desk; co-host, Political Breakdown

Yue Stella Yu, politics reporter, CalMatters

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Building homes in factories can save money and time – so why has prefabricated housing struggled to gain traction in the U.S.? Scandinavian countries use it for more than 40% of their housing production, whereas in the U.S. it’s less than 4%, according to a 2023 report from consulting firm McKinsey. The Bay Area has produced some big winners and losers in the prefab space. In the past decade alone, several startups launched amid fanfare only to shutter and fail to deliver housing at scale. But, other developers and manufacturers are making a dent in the housing market. Vallejo-based Factory OS has delivered close to 3,000 homes in the last five years and can now build up to 1,000 units per year. We’ll talk about why prefabricated housing remains a promising, but challenging piece of the housing production pie.

Guests:

Nick Gomez, principal; director of modular design and construction, AO Architects

Rick Holliday, co-founder, Holliday Development and Factory OS; co-founder, Eden Housing; co-founder, BRIDGE Housing

Dave Dauphinais, associate partner, McKinsey & Co.

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“Ethical non-monogamy isn’t new… and it isn’t exactly mainstream, but it isn’t so fringe either (or reserved for those who live in the Bay Area).” That’s according to New York Magazine, which released a cover issue on polyamory this month. Those who regularly date or love multiple people at once say it’s liberating and fosters intimacy and connection. But even its most passionate advocates say polyamory can be emotionally and logistically exhausting, requiring extensive and frequent communication among partners. And the relationship style can carry stigma — prompting complicated decisions about whether and how to talk to friends, family or coworkers about it. We’ll talk about polyamory and its increasing prevalence in popular culture and dating apps, and hear your experiences.

Guests:

Allison P. Davis, features writer, New York Magazine. Her reported story, "What Does a Polycule Actually Look Like?" anchors New York Magazine's cover story, "A Practical Guide to Modern Polyamory"

Christopher Gleason, author, “American Poly: A History”; academic director, Georgia Coalition for Higher Education in Prison; part-time Assistant Professor, Kennesaw State University

Josephine Chiang, film and TV actor based in NYC

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Are “Zynfluencers” the new Joe Camel? Joe was the cartoon mascot used by R.J. Reynolds to sell cigarettes in the 1990s, until the government cracked down on marketing tobacco to youth. Today, according to journalist Emily Dreyfuss, social media influencers are using their platforms to push addictive and harmful products like Zyn, a nicotine pouch, to young people. In a recent New York Times piece, Dreyfuss writes that influencer marketing to kids “falls into a legal and technical canyon so vast that the next generation is being lost in it.” We’ll talk to Dreyfuss about the power of influencers and what parents need to know.

Guests:

Emily Dreyfuss, director, Shorenstein Center News Lab; co-author, "Meme Wars: The Untold Stories of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America"

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In 1976, in the Central Valley town of Chowchilla, 26 children and their school bus driver were kidnapped by three masked men and held captive for twenty-eight hours until they managed to free themselves and escape. Although no one was physically harmed, the incident took a severe emotional toll on the children and would go on to influence how we address childhood trauma. A new CNN documentary takes a fresh look at the event, getting first hand accounts from the survivors and recreating the harrowing ordeal. We’ll speak with the film’s director and one of the survivors about the impact of the kidnapping and its aftermath.

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