KQED's Forum

When E.T. walked across the screen and into the hearts of moviegoers everywhere, that lovable space alien who wanted to “phone home” needed a sound for its walk. Foley artists, the sound magicians who add special effects to movies, decided to use a bag of jello in a damp T-shirt. Indeed, a Foley artist is nothing but ingenious. Snappers, clackers, ka-chunkers, sha-shonkers and things that go “ronk” are just a few things you might find in their toolbox, along with celery — good for broken bones — or paperclips on gloves to imitate a cat walking down the hall. We’ll learn about these tricks of the trade from some of the world’s best Foley artists at Skywalker Sound in Marin.

Guests:

Anna Wiener, contributing writer, The New Yorker - She is the author of the memoir "Uncanny Valley." Her most recent piece for the New Yorker is titled "Noisemakers."

Shelley Roden, Foley artist, Skywalker Sound - Roden has worked as a Foley artist for over 25 years, and has worked on "Black Panther," "Top Gun: Maverick," "Soul," "Turning Red," and hundreds of other films.

Scott Curtis, Foley Mixer, Curtis has mixed sound for a variety of movies including "Titanic," "Team America" and "Black Panther."

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“Where else can we go when this country turns on us?” That’s the question author Wajahat Ali wrestles with in his recent column for the Daily Beast, “Is It Time for Me to Leave America?” Ali, who is Muslim and U.S.-born, says it feels reckless not to have at least an exit plan if you’re a person of color in the United States in this political and cultural climate. He also says that in his heart, he knows he will stay. We’ll talk with Ali and others who’ve contemplated emigrating about what’s prompting them to leave and what’s keeping them home.

Guests:

Wajahat Ali, author, "Go Back to Where You Came From;" columnist, the Daily Beast; co-host, Democracy-ish

Areyon Jolivette, Los Angeles-based writer

Bridget R. McCurtis, DEI and leadership strategist, living in St. Kitts

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A nursery of stars. Galaxies 13 billion light years away. The Carina Nebula. These are some of the spectacular images captured by the James Webb Telescope from its vantage point one million miles away from earth. As the telescope’s detail-saturated pictures were beamed across the world on Tuesday, they were met with awed silence as well as whoops of joy from scientists, some whose entire careers have been dedicated to the telescope. One of the most complicated spacecraft ever launched, the the telescope, which boasts a sun shield the size of a tennis court, will beam back images and data for the next 20 years. We’ll talk to scientists who helped design the James Webb Telescope and find out what we can expect to see next.

Guests:

Marcia Rieke, Regents' professor of Astronomy and astronomer, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona - Dr. Rieke is the principal investigator for the NIRCam on the James Webb Space Telescope.

Tom Greene, astrophysicist, Space Science and Astrobiology Division at NASA Ames Research Center - Dr. Greene works on the NIRCam and MIRI science instruments on the James Webb Telescope.

Marina Koren, staff writer, The Atlantic - Koren covers space for the magazine.

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The day that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Gov. Gavin Newsom affirmed that California would be a sanctuary for those seeking abortion care and signed legislation protecting doctors and patients from liability imposed by states banning the procedure. About 10,000 more out-of-state residents will come to California annually to seek abortion care, according to a new UCLA report. But about 40 percent of California counties don’t have a single abortion provider. We’ll look at California’s “access deserts” and the realities of abortion access in the state, for Californians and out-of-state abortion-seekers alike.

Guests:

Lauren Hepler, housing and retail reporter, San Francisco Chronicle

Fabiola Carrión, director, Reproductive and Sexual Health, National Health Law Program

Michelle Rivera, program manager, Act For Women and Girls

Jon Dunn, President/CEO, Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties

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The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol held another hearing Tuesday revealing more details about how former President Trump repeatedly tried to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election despite many aides and advisors counseling him to stop. Another key focus was on the right-wing extremist groups including the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers that helped organize the insurrection in coordination with Trump and his advisors. We discuss the latest news from the Jan. 6 committee hearing and dive into the rise of violent extremist groups.

Guests:

Claudia Grisales, congressional reporter on NPR's Washington desk

Kali Holloway, columnist, The Nation

Lindsay Schubiner, director of Western States Center's Momentum Program

A.C. Thompson, reporter, ProPublica and FRONTLINE correspondent. His investigation into the assault on the U.S. Capitol is featured in an updated version of the Frontline documentary "American Insurrection."

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Covid 19 cases are on the rise again as various Omicron subvariants spread. Epidemiologists warn that people may not have as much immunity to new variants compared with previous strains of the virus. It can be hard to keep track of changing guidelines such as when to wear a mask or schedule vaccine boosters. Evaluating the risk for summer travel can be confusing. We take your questions about new Covid 19 variants and discuss the latest news, research, and where we are in the pandemic.

Guests:

Dr. Bob Wachter, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

Dr. Yvonne (Bonnie) Maldonado, professor of Pediatrics and of Epidemiology and Population Health Chief, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases Stanford University School of Medicine

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Nearly 80 percent of Southern California’s doughnut shops are estimated to be owned by Cambodian immigrants. Many of those owners, who struggled over hot fryers at shops open 24hours a day, seven days a week, hoped that their own children would move away from the doughnut business and join the ranks of white-collar professionals. But a generation of “doughnut kids” are opting to continue family traditions and run the shops they grew up in. They are modernizing the business while learning how to be the boss. We'll talk about doughnuts and the experience of continuing a family business’ legacy.

Guests:

Cathy Chaplin, senior reporter and editor, Eater LA, - author of "Food Lovers' Guide to Los Angeles." She is the author of the article "The Future of LA’s Cambodian-Owned Doughnut Shops Is in the Hands of the Next Generation."

Dorothy Chow, vice-president, B & H Bakery Distributors.

Danette Kuoch, co-owner and operator, California Donuts - Kuoch is a second-generation doughnut shop owner and created the Snickers doughnut.

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Stockton is the most diverse city in America. It was also one of the hardest hit by post-industrial decline, the Great Recession and foreclosures, leading it to bankruptcy in 2012. In her book, “The Fight to Save The Town: Reimagining Discarded America,” Stanford law professor Michelle Wilde Anderson took a close look at Stockton and three other cities with widespread poverty and gutted local governments — cities that have been written off as “dying.” But in each of the towns, Anderson profiles ways residents have fought back and found new ways to address systemic issues like violence, community trauma, loss of home ownership and starved shared resources. Forum talks with Anderson about what it takes to make “discarded” cities a place residents want to stay and fight for.

Guests:

Michelle Wilde Anderson, professor of Law, Stanford University; author, "The Fight to Save the Town: Reimagining Discarded America"

Jasmine Dellafosse, community organizer, Gathering for Justice

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Whether it was streaming our favorite songs, tuning into a live DJ set online or picking up an instrument, music helped many of us navigate this difficult year. In August, we asked listeners to share the songs getting you through 2020 and we've been playing some of them on air each week. This hour, as the year comes to a close, we'll play more of the songs you said kept you going in 2020 and talk with NPR's music correspondent Ann Powers about the meaning of music in a year like this one.

This segment originally aired on 12/30/20.

Guests:

Ann Powers, music critic and correspondent, NPR

Ariana Proehl, producer and fill-in host, Forum

Derreck Johnson, designer, Slate; event producer and promoter

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There’s a dream of the Bay Area as a place of liberation: queer liberation, Black liberation, trans liberation, liberation for all. It’s a reputation that has pulled young people to the Bay Area for decades. But when Corey Antonio Rose moved to San Francisco from Jacksonville Florida in 2021 and searched for places that would embrace a young, gay Black man like himself, he was disappointed. In a series for the KQED podcast RightNowish, he looked at the history of those spaces in the Bay Area and the role of anti-blackness in the Bay Area’s queer community. We’ll talk with Rose about whether the Bay Area fails to live up to its reputation as a queer haven and how to find spaces that foster community and belonging.

Guests:

Corey Antonio Rose, producer and host of "Searching for a Kiki," a three-part series on the KQED podcast Rightnowish, KQED.

Victoria Kirby York, deputy executive director, National Black Justice Coalition - a civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black LGBTQ+ people and co-sponsor of the Lavender Book, a directory of safe spaces.

Don Romesburg, professor, Sonoma State University - whose expertise includes sexuality and gender in U.S. history, childhood and adolescence, transgender studies, race and sexuality, and queer performance and popular culture.

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