KQED's Forum

More than 25% of Americans identify as having no religious affiliation and that number is on the rise according to Pew Research. While atheists –also called freethinkers, humanists or secularists –are defined by their lack of religious faith, many are still seeking community to ponder life’s existential questions. For those wanting the fellowship and soul searching found in churches, synagogues and mosques without the religion, there are groups like Atheist United which offers an adventure program bringing together atheists to revel in the awe and wonder of nature. We talk to atheists about how they seek community.

Guests:

Evan Clark, executive director, Atheists United

David Diskin, president, California Freethought Day; co-founder, Sacramento chapter of Sunday Assembly

Samantha McGuire, national field director, American Atheists, Inc.

Arlene Rios, founder, Secular Latinos of San Gabriel Valley

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In a recent piece for the New Yorker called “The Year of Ozempic,” journalist and physician Dhruv Khullar writes that “we may look back on new weight-loss drugs as some of the greatest advances in the annals of chronic disease.” But the drugs don’t work for everyone, and there are ongoing questions about side effects, costs and availability. We’ll talk with Khullar about his piece and check in with UCSF weight loss doctor Diana Thiara about what we’ve learned about drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy over the past year.

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Before you open your next electricity bill, you might want to brace yourself. PG&E is hiking their rates starting this month, and this one is historic. Bills for the average household are expected to jump $34.50 a month and there could be more rate hikes on the horizon. The increase will fund projects addressing wildfire mitigation, especially an unprecedented attempt to bury power lines in high-risk areas. After the new rate hike, PG&E rates will have doubled over the last 10 years. Is all the new work necessary? Is sticking ratepayers with the bill the only option? We’ll talk with energy and utility experts about what this move means for PG&E and for the rest of us.

Guests:

Katherine Blunt, energy reporter, Wall Street Journal. Her recent book is "California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric—And What It Means for America’s Power Grid."

Meredith Fowlie, professor, UC Berkeley Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics; faculty director at the Energy Institute at Haas

Mark Toney, executive director, The Utility Reform Network

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When Manjula Martin fled her West Sonoma home in the summer of 2020 with wildfire raging around her, she realized her go bag was packed for an apocalypse, not a sleepover. She had flashlights, but no toothbrush. Books, but no shampoo. In her debut memoir, “The Last Fire Season,” Martin reflects on how Californians are simultaneously preparing for the end of the world, while also going about their day-to-day lives. “I had little capacity to navigate the everyday experience of living inside a slow decline,” she writes. We talk to Martin about living life in the Pyrocene, the age of fire.

Guests:

Dhruv Khullar, contributing writer, The New Yorker; practicing physician, Weill Cornell Medicine; assistant professor, Weill Cornell Medical College.

Diana Thiara, medical director, UCSF Weight Loss Management Program

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Every year KQED food editor Luke Tsai publishes a list of his favorite dishes that he tried that year, in part to inspire the rest of us to up our culinary game. In 2023, his list included Korean-style sourdough toast from Rize Up Bakery, braised oxtails from Haitian restaurant T’Chaka, and the mezze brunch board from Palestinian restaurant Lulu. For this installment of All You Can Eat, our regular series exploring the Bay Area’s food cultures, we’ll talk with Luke and other Bay Area food writers about their best dishes from 2023 and recommendations for what you should eat in the new year. And, we want to hear from you: Is there a new dish that you ate in a restaurant or cooked that you can’t stop thinking about or telling your friends to try? And what is the meal you want to try in 2024?

Guests:

Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & Culture

Elena Kadvany, food writer, San Francisco Chronicle

Lauren Saria, editor, Eater SF

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Time flies. Time is money. Time waits for no one. There is no shortage of aphorisms about time because we are consumed by the minutes, hours, days and years that constitute a life. We want to use time efficiently; we want to get the most out of it; we feel guilty wasting it. But maybe we should reclaim our relationship with time. That’s what co-hosts Becca Rashid and Ian Bogost argue for in the latest season of the Atlantic’s popular “How To” podcast series. In “How to Keep Time,” Rashid and Bogost examine whether hacks to be more productive work, how to optimize “free” time and why we struggle to comfortably do nothing. Set your clock and join us.

Guests:

Becca Rashid, co-host and producer, the Atlantic Magazine podcast "How to Keep Time"

Ian Bogost, co-host, the Atlantic Magazine podcast "How to Keep Time." Bogost is a contributing editor at the Atlantic and a professor in arts and sciences at Washington University in St. Louis

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“Our experience as humans make it challenging to grasp the conditions that occur inside the planet,” writes scientist Dr. Sabine Stanley. “There’s just nothing like it in our everyday experience.” Stanley has dedicated her career to uncovering the mysterious inner workings of Earth and other planets in our solar system. Below a planet’s surface can be a swirling world of wonder from magnetism, rotation, and volcanos. Stanley explores what makes planets tick in her new book What’s Hidden Inside Planets. We talk to Stanley.

Guests:

Dr. Sabine Stanley, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Planetary Physics; fellow, Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute at Johns Hopkins University

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“I am searching for the soul-family from whom I descend.” That’s how former U.S. poet laureate Tracy K. Smith describes the impulse animating her latest book “To Free the Captives,” a chronicle of her endeavors to learn more about her father’s ancestors and the challenges they faced in the deep south of the early 20th century, born as they were “into a nation intent upon their diminishment and inured to their dying.” We talk to Smith about the histories she unearthed and what they reveal to her about herself, her family and a nation.

Guests:

Tracy K. Smith, poet; professor of English and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University. Her latest book is "To Free the Captives: A Plea for the American Soul." She served as the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2017 to 2019.

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You may think that winter is a time when a garden lies fallow, earth upturned and waiting for spring. But there is a lot to do in a winter garden, particularly in our California climate. There is fertilizing, pruning, and even nurturing seedlings for spring. At this moment, when the days are shorter and the world feels darker, tending a garden can settle our mind and also remind us about the promise of regeneration. We’ll talk about the wonders of the winter garden, and hear from you: what’s happening in your garden right now?

Guests:

Tess Taylor, poet and gardener, Taylor edited the poetry anthology, "Leaning Toward Light: Poems for Gardens & the Hands that Tend Them"

Flora Grubb, co-owner, Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and Grubb & Nadler Nurseries

Maya Blow, founder and owner, Soul Flower Farm based in El Sobrante

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For almost as long as there’s been a New York Times Book Review — that is, since 1896 — their book editors have named the annual standouts of the many, many, many books they read. And for the past two decades, they’ve named the 10 Best Books of the year, recognizing some of the most inventive and well-crafted works of fiction and nonfiction. 2023’s standouts include a dystopian satire, a “journey through the deep state” and an account of one house and its inhabitants over 300 years. Editor Gilbert Cruz joins us to share the 10 best, why they’re worth a read — and the year-long process that goes into selecting them. And we’ll hear from you: What was your favorite book released this year?

Guests:

Gilbert Cruz, editor, The New York Times Book Review

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