KQED's Forum

When New York Times critic Amanda Hess was told her baby had a rare genetic condition, her first instinct was to “Google [her] way out of it.” But instead of comfort, she found anxiety – a feeling that would come to define her journey into parenthood. We talk to Hess about how technology, including fertility apps and high-end gadgets, are reshaping parenthood. Her new book is “Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age.”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We take a look back at our favorite books of 2025. This year's best seller lists and critic choices were scattered with no clear big hits but there were still many excellent titles, says Traci Thomas, host of The Stacks podcast. We'll hear from critics, local authors and our bookworm listeners about what's worth reading in the new year. What was your best read of 2025?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bay Area native and acclaimed director of “Crazy Rich Asians” and “In the Heights,” Jon M. Chu now brings one of Broadway’s most beloved musicals to the big screen with the conclusion of his box office-smashing two-part adaptation of “Wicked.” He joined Mina Kim onstage in San Francisco for a KQED Live event where he reflected on his Bay Area roots, his rise through Hollywood and the beauty of reimagining stories that feel larger than life. We listen to that conversation from December 3rd.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ICE raids. Tariffs. National Guard deployment. Ukraine. Venezuela. The longest federal shutdown in history. There was no shortage of major news headlines in 2025. We’ll try to make sense of  the biggest stories of the past year with a panel of journalists, and look at what 2026 might hold.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fred Armisen, the comedian, actor and musician known for “Portlandia,” “Documentary Now!” and “SNL,” has a new album out called “100 Sound Effects.” There’s a jacket zipping, glass shattering, the “ooh” of receiving room service and even the sound we make when “Walking into a Video Room at an Art Museum and then Walking Out Quickly,” as the effect is titled. We’ll talk with Armisen about recording the sounds of the everyday, and we want to hear from you: What’s a sound you’d record in your life or would want preserved in a sound effect library decades from now?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beyond just a wardrobe staple, jeans are often key parts of signature looks and core memories. Levi Strauss, the San Francisco company that brought jeans to the masses, has reopened its history museum, The Vault, with an exhibit called “Amped” that celebrates iconic denim looks worn by musicians including Kurt Cobain, Beyoncé, Britney Spears and Freddie Mercury. We listen back to our conversation about the exhibit and hear stories of your favorite pair of jeans. Tell us about the jeans that made you feel brave, the ones covered in patches that you refused to retire or maybe the pair that you were wearing when you met your first love.

Guests:

Gregory Climer, chair, fashion design program at California College of the Arts

Audrey Kalman, created a denim archive for her master's degree from the University of Oregon

Tracey Panek, Levi Strauss and Co. historian

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The dog, writes poet Billy Collins, moves through the world unencumbered, with “nothing but her brown coat and her modest blue collar.” In a new collection called “Dog Show,” the former U.S. Poet Laureate turns his gaze toward the quiet wisdom of our canine friends — their reminders to slow down, pay attention and let the ordinary become radiant. We talk to Collins about dogs, poetry and why it’s a good idea to get close to both in hard times. Has a dog changed the way you see the world?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For many, poetry is a balm. But for others, poetry feels inaccessible and hard to understand. In her latest book, “Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times” former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith aims to make poetry less intimidating. We listen back to our conversation with Smith about how to read poems, how to “listen at the widest possible angle” and how to use poetry to connect to one another across our differences.

Guests:

Tracy K. Smith, former U.S. Poet Laureate; professor of English and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University - Smith's latest book is "Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times"

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In groundbreaking experiments with mice, Boston University neuroscientist Steve Ramirez has succeeded in turning memories on and off, even implanting new ones. He says that someday we’ll be able to do the same in humans. But should we? We talk to Ramirez about the ethical dilemma and the personal experience that caused him to consider erasing his own memory. His new book is “How to Change a Memory: One Neuroscientist’s Quest to Alter the Past.”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you ask someone with aphantasia to visualize an apple, a tree, or the house they grew up in, their mind draws a blank. Literally. The inability to conjure up mental images was discovered in the 1880s but only recently has been given a name and become the subject of more serious study. Aphantasia is found in approximately one percent of the population and can also affect the ability to recall sounds, touch and the sensation of movement. Some aphantasics experience their condition as a loss, while others say the freedom from being bound by visual memory allows them to live fully in the present. We listen back to our conversation about aphantasia and what it tells us about how our brains perceive and remember.

Guests:

Larissa MacFarquhar, staff writer for The New Yorker, her most recent article is titled "Some People Can’t See Mental Images. The Consequences Are Profound"

Tom Ebeyer, founder, Aphantasia Network

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices