KQED's Forum

A now widely used metric for women's representation in film, the Bechdel Test was first proposed in a 1985 comic by cartoonist Alison Bechdel. To pass, a movie must have at least two women on screen who talk to each other about something other than a man. Drawing from the test and all of its implications, comedians Caitlin Durante and Jamie Loftus' podcast "The Bechdel Cast" dedicates itself to humorously analyzing the cinematic representation of women by picking apart classic and cult-favorite films alike. Durante and Loftus will be at SF Sketchfest next week, and they join us to talk about their podcast and the current status of women in film.

After repeatedly digging through friends and family's closets for traditional attire for the elaborate multiple-day festivities of Indian American weddings, Arian Agrawal and Sarina Siddhanti decided it was time to create an online rental company of their own. The co-founders of the San Francisco-based Riya Collective now have a SoMa neighborhood showroom and ship high-end designs nationwide. As part of Forum's First Person series, which profiles local change-makers who make the Bay Area unique, Agrawal and Siddhanti join us to discuss the rental clothing boom and how they educate first-time guests at Indian American weddings on proper styles, colors and contexts.

In a recent opinion piece, Stanford professor and former Russia ambassador Michael McFaul warns that the Senate impeachment trial could be distorted by a new flood of disinformation. We'll talk to him about how the public and politicians can guard against disinformation tactics perpetrated by the Kremlin and others. We'll also get an update on the latest impeachment news ahead of Tuesday, when arguments will begin regarding whether President Trump should be removed from office over charges brought by the House of Representatives.

The San Francisco 49ers will take on the Green Bay Packers for the NFC Championship on Sunday, a remarkable turnaround from their only four-win season last year. We’ll hear how this year's team was able to pull off one of the best records in the league this season and preview the game with Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Fremont, California, is only the largest U.S. city of many named after 19th century political figure John Frémont. An explorer known as " The Pathfinder," Frémont is credited with coining the name "Golden Gate" for the port of the San Francisco Bay. And through his wife Jessie's work publicizing his expeditions, Frémont gained political traction, becoming the first Republican nominee for president in 1856. John and Jessie Frémont significantly impacted an America in the midst of Western expansion, writes NPR Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep in his new book "Imperfect Union." Inskeep joins Forum to talk about his book. And we'll also get his take on impeachment, the presidential campaign, and covering the Trump administration.

Judge Douglas Ginsburg has spent his career analyzing, teaching and ruling on constitutional law. Known for a short-lived nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Ginsburg is now the host of a new PBS series. "A More or Less Perfect Union" explores the Constitution's creation and the tensions over its core protections that shaped U.S. history. Judge Ginsburg joins Forum to preview the series and give his take on the constitutional questions of the current impeachment process.

The 2010s were the warmest decade on record and 2019 was the second-warmest year, according to new studies from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The records, which go back to 1880, showed that 2019 was only slightly less hot than 2016. The scientists behind these reports stated that this warming trend is the result of human activity, including carbon dioxide emissions and the burning of fossil fuels. We'll talk to a climate expert about what this means.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Friday his goal of ending the euthanasia of adoptable or treatable animals in California shelters. The announcement came during the governor's overview of the proposed $220-billion state budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, which calls for a one-time general fund allocation of $50 million to the Koret Shelter Medicine Program at UC Davis to develop a grant program for animal shelters, particularly those that are under-resourced. We'll talk about what it would mean for California to become a "no-kill" state.

This month, former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy became the president and chief executive officer of Natural Resources Defense Council. Serving as the 13th Administrator of the EPA under President Barack Obama, McCarthy led initiatives focused on limiting air pollution and greenhouse gases and helped set national standards for power plants' carbon emissions. We'll talk with McCarthy about her new role and the state of environmental policy under the Trump administration.

The bushfires raging in Australia have burned more than 25 million acres of land, taken the lives of at least 29 people and killed an estimated 1 billion animals. On Friday, the Australian government urged nearly a quarter of a million people to evacuate their homes. These reports of wildfires, evacuations and loss are all too familiar to many Californians, as New York Times San Francisco bureau chief Thomas Fuller notes in his recent story. Fuller, who's covered the wildfires in California, flew to Australia to report on the devastating fires. He joins Forum from Sydney to share some of his observations.