KQED's Forum

From Hollywood to Rockefeller Plaza, news of a potential sale of Warner Bros Discovery has sent shockwaves through the film industry. And the current bidding war between streaming giant Netflix and film studio Paramount has all the hallmarks of an HBO prestige drama – from antitrust lawsuits to a hostile takeover bid – with implications for all of American media. We unpack it all with NPR’s critic-at-large and a legal expert. What are your questions, or concerns, about a potential Warner Bros merger?

Guests:

Eric Deggans, critic-at-large, National Public Radio (NPR)

Rebecca Haw Allensworth, associate dean for research and professor of law, Vanderbilt Law School

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2025 was supposed to be crypto’s year. President Trump began his term by announcing a strategic Bitcoin reserve and promised to back the market for the currencies. But Bitcoin is down nearly 30% from its all time high and crypto companies and investors have been hammered in the market. All this while Trump’s crypto czar, David Sacks, operates under accusations of conflicts of interest, and the Trump family continues to enrich itself with crypto-related enterprises. We talk about the year in crypto.

Guests:

David Yaffe-Bellany, reporter, New York Times - who covers cryptocurrencies and fintech

Vicky Huang, reporter, Wall Street Journal - who covers the cryptocurrency industry

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Suicide is a leading cause of death in the U.S. for kids aged 10 to 18. And autistic youth are more likely to think about and die from suicide, and at earlier ages, than their neurotypical peers. Conventional mental health interventions are not designed to address the needs of autistic people — and can even worsen their distress, especially among those with elevated cognitive language and daily living abilities. But promising new mental health research could change the tide. We’ll learn more about advances in suicide prevention in autistic and neurodivergent people.

Guests:

Neal and Samara Tricarico, parents of Anthony "Ant" Tricarico; founders, the Endurant Movement: a nonprofit dedicated to autism, youth suicide and mental health

Corinne Purtill, science and health reporter, Los Angeles Times

Jessica Schwartzman, director, Training and Research to Empower NeuroDiversity Lab, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; assistant professor of pediatrics, USC’s Keck School of Medicine

Lisa Morgan, founder of the Autism and Suicide Prevention Workgroup

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There have been more than 150 small earthquakes in San Ramon in the past month. In one rattling day alone there were at least 19 of magnitude 2.0 or higher. Do all these little earthquakes mean the big one is coming soon? Or maybe that the big one is not coming soon? Seismologists say it means neither. But we’re bringing together earthquake scientists to answer all your questions and tell us the latest in the science of quakes.

Guests:

Richard Allen, director, Berkeley Seismology Lab

Annemarie Baltay, research geophysicist with the Earthquake Hazards Program, USGS

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Diane Keaton. Jane Goodall. Belva Davis. Ozzy Osbourne. Brian Wilson. Sly Stone. David Lynch. We lost cultural luminaries, larger-than-life personalities and loved ones in 2025. We’ll celebrate their legacies and hear how they changed lives and communities for the better. And we want to hear from you: Who did you mourn this year — and what did they give you?

Guests:

Chloe Veltman, correspondent, NPR's Culture Desk

Meaghan Mitchell, arts and culture journalist; her piece of KQED Arts is," Belva Davis Showed Me I Belong in Journalism"

Dave Schilling, contributing writer, LA Times Image - author, "Horror's New Wave: 15 Years of Blumhouse"

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We’ll look back at KQED’s Best Bay Area Albums of 2025 with our music writers. This year’s list of favorites includes local musicians putting out original hip-hop, punk, salsa, spiritual jazz and rock. We’ll hear live in studio performances from musicians that made the list – Oakland hip-hop artist Jamel Griot and instrumental band Arts and Crafts – and we’ll  talk about the local musicians topping your playlists.

Guests:

Nastia Voynovskaya, editor and reporter, KQED Arts

Pendarvis "Pen" Harshaw, columnist, KQED Arts

Jamel Griot, hip hop and soul artist

Jeff Klein, drummer, Arts and Crafts

Noam Teyssier, guitarist, Arts and Crafts

Nadia Aquil, bassist, Arts and Crafts

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The White House says it’s submitting plans this month for its 90,000 square-foot gold-studded ballroom which will be bigger than the White House while Democrats call for inquiries into the funding of the project. Meanwhile, the Oval Office gleams with gold adornments, and an executive order decrees classical architecture for all federal buildings. Design historians say Trump is reshaping America’s visual identity in his own image, breaking with centuries of presidential restraint. We take a look at what’s driving the makeover, and we want to hear from you: How do you interpret Trump’s visual choices?

Guests:

Naftali Bendavid, senior national political correspondent, The Washington Post

Jessica Winegar, professor, Northwestern University

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The killing of Alberto Rangel, a 51-year-old social worker at San Francisco General Hospital, has left colleagues grieving and questioning whether his death could have been prevented. Rangel was stabbed by a patient who authorities say had made multiple threats for weeks. Incidents of workplace violence in healthcare facilities have been on the rise for more than a decade nationwide, prompting hospitals and medical offices to adopt stricter safety protocols. But are they working? We’ll talk about workplace violence against health care workers and what employers are doing – and failing to do – to protect them.

Guests:

Annie Vainshtein, reporter, San Francisco Chronicle

Dani Golomb, psychiatrist; Golomb was attacked by a patient in 2020 during her medical residency at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco

Dan Russell, president, University Professional and Technical Employees

Al'ai Alvarez, clinical professor of emergency medicine, Stanford University

Cammie Chaumont Menendez, research epidemiologist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

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Lawmakers are demanding that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth release video of the September strike that killed two survivors of a U.S. attack on their boat in the Caribbean. That strike, which the Pentagon says targeted drug traffickers, has prompted war crime accusations. But since then, the U.S. has launched more than 20 strikes in the region, killing more than 80 people. We talk about the impact and legality of the attacks along with other controversies at the Pentagon — and the political implications for Hegseth.

Guests:

Julian Barnes, intelligence and national security reporter, New York Times

Tess Bridgeman, co-editor-in-chief, Just Security - former special assistant to the President and deputy legal adviser to the National Security Council under President Obama

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The National Institutes of Health have historically funded scientists to find cures for diseases and protect public health. NIH funding has led to the discovery of immune therapies for cancer, antiviral treatments and prevention of HIV, and ground-breaking research into memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease. After a year of funding cuts and freezes that have rocked the medical research field to its core, we catch up with leading researchers at the University of California to talk about the impact this has had on their work and our ability to fight humanity’s most puzzling illnesses.

Guests:

Monica Gandhi, infectious disease expert and professor of medicine at University of California San Francisco - she is the director of the UCSF Gladstone Center for AIDS Research and the medical director of the San Francisco General Hospital HIV Clinic, Ward 86

Pamela Munster, professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco; co-director, Center for BRCA Research, Medical Oncology; distinguished professor in Hereditary Cancer Research

Megan Molteni, science writer, STAT News

Joel Spencer, associate professor of Bioengineering, University of California Merced - his lab uses funding from NIH to study the thymus, with implications for cancer treatment and healthy aging

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