KQED's Forum

After a decade of Vision Zero, the effort that aimed to end traffic fatalities and severe injuries, San Francisco saw a drastic decrease in 2025 traffic deaths. To replace the expiring initiative, the city passed the Street Safety Act. However, a spate of recent traffic fatalities in San Francisco has residents on edge, and as pedestrians made up six of the seven victims, some activists say the city isn’t moving fast enough. We talk about what can be done to reduce pedestrian deaths and injuries and check in on San Francisco’s progress.

Guests:

Jodie Medeiros, executive director, Walk SF

David Zipper, contributing writer, Bloomberg; co-host, "Look Both Ways with David & Wes" podcast

Viktoriya Wise, director, Streets Division, SFMTA

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New Jersey Senator Cory Booker said this weekend that Democrats have “failed to meet this moment” and that his party needed “generational renewal.” The comments come a year after the Democrat set a Senate record, holding the floor for 25 hours and five minutes as he offered thundering criticism of the Trump administration. Now, in his new book, ‘Stand,’ Booker urges the country to rise to this moment. To make his point, he highlights the stories of ten Americans, some famous and others less well-known, who also met moments of crisis with steadfastness, strength and optimism. “Our democracy is not a spectator sport,” writes Booker. “It demands participation.”

Guests:

Cory Booker, U.S. Senator from New Jersey; he was previously the Mayor of Newark from 2006-2013; his new book is "Stand"

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National Geographic Explorer and documentary filmmaker Ariel Waldman challenges our sense of scale in her new PBS series “Life Unearthed” which explores Earth’s ecosystems– from microscopic life in the alien terrains of Antarctica to the sweeping American Prairies. We talk with Waldman about the series and what life in the seemingly barren environments of Antarctica reveal about resilient creatures, climate change, and even the possibilities of life beyond Earth.

Guests:

Ariel Waldman, documentary filmmaker; Antarctic researcher; explorer, National Geographic

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Is emphasizing the cold, hard facts of climate change – the acres lost to sea level rise, the percentage increase of global warming – actually the right approach for getting people to act? “If we want climate progress in energy, transportation and agriculture, we need progress in pop culture, media and sports,” writes longtime energy and climate reporter Sammy Roth. Roth and climate media advocates argue that seeing electric vehicles in movies like “Barbie,” induction stoves on HGTV or a whole team protesting an oil company in “Ted Lasso” show how climate conscious realities can easily exist — and inspire viewers to advocate and take action. We’ll talk about why storytelling in film, TV and advertising has such a powerful sway over us, and take stock of the landscape of climate change depictions on your screens.

Guests:

Sammy Roth, author, Climate-Colored Goggles: a newsletter about climate & culture

Tamara Toles O'Laughlin, national climate strategist; founder, Climate Critical [a Black-led climate collective]; board member, Good Energy [an organization focused on Hollywood climate storytelling]

Jessica Kutz, lead climate reporter, The 19th

John Marshall, founder and CEO, Potential Energy Coalition [a nonprofit marketing firm that works to increase public action on climate change]

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Education funding for California’s public schools is one of the largest parts of the state budget. Yet districts across the state, and here in the Bay Area, are struggling to stay afloat. Santa Rosa’s school district is considering laying off hundreds of teachers and closing a quarter of its campuses in response to a severe financial crisis and Oakland schools, just a year after emerging from more than 20 years under state receivership, are also facing possible financial insolvency. Declining enrollment, resistance to school closures, and pressure to raise staff salaries are just a few of the many factors contributing to the strain. We’ll examine what’s driving these challenges, what it’ll take to stabilize the system, and what this all means for Bay Area communities.

Guests:

Katie DeBenedetti, reporter, KQED

Iwunze Ugo, research fellow, Public Policy Institute of California; focuses on education from preschool through grade 12 and further on into postsecondary institutions

Adriana Gutierrez, education and child welfare reporter, The Press Democrat

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A Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube negligent in a landmark case about social media addiction. Lawyers suing the tech giants argued that features like infinite scroll and algorithmic recommendations increased the risk of anxiety and depression in young users. We’ll look at the history of the case, and hear how it could mark a new strategy for advocates trying to reform major social media companies.

Guests:

Jeff Horwitz, reporter covering tech, Reuter's Enterprise Team

Jasmine Mithani, data and technology reporter, the 19th

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As the war in Iran continues into its fifth week, the Pentagon is contemplating sending an additional 10,000 ground troops to the Middle East. This escalation would add to the roughly 5,000 Marines and at least 2,000 paratroopers from the elite 82nd Airborne Division that have already been ordered to the region. Meanwhile, President Trump has pressed pause on his threat to strike Iranian energy infrastructure offering a ten-day reprieve, and on Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the U.S. could achieve its objectives without using ground troops. We talk about the latest on the Iran War and the fast pivoting American strategy.

Guests:

Mona Yacoubian, director and senior advisor, Middle East Program, Center for Strategic & International Studies

Lt. Col. Jahara Matisek, command pilot and research fellow, U.S. Naval War College

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150 years ago this month, Alexander Graham Bell placed history’s first telephone call. And even though phones have changed — from a black metal cone mounted on a wooden base to today’s all-encompassing smartphones — they’ve remained a steady presence in our lives. What’s the first type of phone you used: a rotary, cordless or the iPhone? How does your relationship with the phone differ from that of your parents or grandparents? We’ll discuss what looking back on how we used the phone can teach us about restoring connection and meaning in our lives.

Guests:

Izzie Ramirez, freelance writer and editor

Heather Kelly, technology reporter

Emily Dreyfuss, culture editor, The San Francisco Standard; co-host, "Pacific Standard Time" podcast; co-author, "Meme Wars: the Untold Stories of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America"

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The poodle might be the most crossbred dog in modern times. There’s the labradoodle, goldendoodle and bernedoodle. And also cavapoos, cockapoos and maltipoos. What began as a match between a labrador and poodle to create a seeing eye dog that shed less has now become a billion dollar industry. While dog breeds go in and out of fashion, the doodle seems here to stay even while shelters are urging Americans to adopt, not design dogs.

Guests:

John Seabrook, staff writer, The New Yorker - his most recent piece is "How Doodles Became the Dog Du Jour"

Danika Bannasch, associate dean of research and professor, UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine

Laurie Routhier, CEO, Muttville - a senior dog rescue

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“When we give a scented flower, bring blooms to a grave, or dab perfume onto our skin, we are not enacting arbitrary, merely symbolic rituals. Rather, we invoke the relationships with flowering plants from which the ecology of the planet is made, and which created and sustain human life.” So writes acclaimed biologist David George Haskell, whose new book “How Flowers Made Our World” paints flowers as revolutionaries that have determined the evolution of all life on earth — and who need our help to weather climate change. He joins us and we hear from you: What role do flowers play in your life?

Guests:

David George Haskell, acclaimed biologist; author, "How Flowers Made Our World: The Story of Nature's Revolutionaries," "Sounds Wild and Broken" and "The Songs of Trees"

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