KQED's Forum - TopPodcast.com

Latest Episodes:

Why Is Gen Z Having Less Sex? Aug 08, 2025

Show notes

Gen Z is having less sex, and journalist Carter Sherman has spent the last several years interviewing more than 100 teens and 20-somethings about why. Sherman found it’s not because they’re uninterested or don’t have progressive views about sex. Instead, anxieties about the overturning of Roe v. Wade among other attacks on reproductive freedom, coming of age during an isolating pandemic and poor sex education have led many to abstain. Sherman’s new book is “The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation’s Fight Over Its Future.”

Guests:

Carter Sherman, reproductive health and justice reporter, Guardian US; author, “The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation’s Fight Over Its Future"

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

Fed Up With the Apps, Daters Turn to Old School Set Ups Aug 08, 2025

Show notes

Dating is going old school. More than a decade after apps like Tinder, Hinge and Bumble transformed dating, many singles are signing off and asking their friends, families and colleagues to set them up. It’s the kind of news that will make grandmothers everywhere rejoice. Being set up might seem quaint, but for most of modern dating, people met their spouses through friends and family. And with the popularity of shows like Netflix’s “Indian Matchmaking,” there is a rising interest in relying on personal interventions to find your person. We talk about getting set up and how to play matchmaker, and we hear from you: Did you find true love on a blind date or set up?

Guests:

Allie Volpe, correspondent, Vox. Volpe's most recent piece on dating is titled "Most Couples Used to Meet This Way. What Happened?"

Frankie Bashan, clinical psychologist; founder, Little Gay Book, a matchmaking and relationship service based in Oakland

Lauren Magboo, founder, The Used Date Party

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

Starvation in Gaza Persists Despite Increased Aid Deliveries Aug 07, 2025

Show notes

The latest reporting from Gaza describes a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions. Children are starving; families face impossible choices between food and safety. Hospitals cannot function and medical staff are too weak to help patients. We talk to aid workers and journalists reporting from both sides of Israel’s near-total blockade of supplies going into Gaza about what they’re witnessing and what it will take to save lives.

Guests:

Bel Trew, chief international correspondent, The Independent

Youmna ElSayed, Gaza correspondent reporting from Egypt, Al Jazeera

Tjada D'Oyen McKenna, chief executive officer, Mercy Corps

Maram Husaid, digital correspondent in Gaza, Al Jazeera

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

California Considers More Drilling and Other Concessions to Big Oil as Refineries Plan to Close Aug 07, 2025

Show notes

California has long gone head-to-head with big oil, leading many of the efforts to curb climate damage caused at the hands of the fossil fuel industry – including spearheading lawsuits against oil companies and pushing fracking bans. But faced with the closure of two state refineries, and rising gas prices, Governor Gavin Newsom has made some major concessions on oil to not only keep the refineries open, but to draft a bill for more drilling in Kern county. We’ll talk about California’s changing relationship with the oil industry, the state’s efforts to phase out fossil fuels, and what’s going to happen to gas prices in the meantime.

Guests:

Severin Borenstein, professor at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business; faculty director of The Energy Institute at Haas; member, Board of Governors of the California Independent System Operator

Lori Wilson, California State Assemblywoman, District 11

Alex Nieves, California transportation reporter, POLITICO

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

Is the American Media Caving to Trump? Aug 06, 2025

Show notes

Is legacy media self-censoring under the Trump Administration? The canceling of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and the multi-million dollar payouts from the parent companies of CBS and ABC to settle defamation lawsuits are all causes for concern, according to media analyst and Guardian US columnist Margaret Sullivan, who worries hard news reporting could become a thing of the past. We talk with Sullivan about how major media outlets are responding to Trump’s intensifying attacks and how it could hasten a march to autocracy.

Guests:

Margaret Sullivan, columnist writing about media, politics and culture, Guardian US

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

Why Americans Flock to Mexico’s “Molar City” for Dental Care Aug 06, 2025

Show notes

New Yorker staff writer Burkhard Bilger doesn’t have great teeth. According to Bilger, his “gaptoothed grin” makes him look like he came from a bar fight or a remake of “Deliverance.” Given his lousy dental insurance, a friend recommended that Bilger head to Mexico’s “Molar City,” Los Algodones, a place that has the highest per capita concentration of dentists in the world, to get his teeth fixed. Medical tourism is nothing new, but few think of going abroad for their teeth. Yet most Americans have inadequate dental insurance and the system is geared to abandon you just when you need it the most. We talk to Bilger and dental professionals about why dental care does not get the respect, or coverage, that it deserves.

Guests:

Burkhard Bilger, journalist and staff writer, New Yorker Magazine; Bilger is the author of "Fatherland" and "Noodling Flatheads" - his most recent piece for the New Yorker was titled "Word of Mouth: A Pilgrimage to Mexico's Molar City"

Dr. Lisa Simon, physician, dentist and health researcher; Dr. Simon is also an assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School

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

California Leaders Eye Special Election to Counter Texas Redistricting Plans Aug 05, 2025

Show notes

California Democrats have long criticized gerrymandering, the practice of drawing district maps to influence election outcomes. But as Texas Republicans have unveiled district maps intended to favor conservatives in the 2026 midterms, California lawmakers are sketching new plans of their own. Governor Gavin Newsom has announced plans to seek a special election in November, asking California voters to approve new districts that might lend Democrats an edge in the national election – temporarily sidelining California’s independent districting commission. We’ll talk with political reporters about what’s at stake in this redistricting fight.

Guests:

Laurel Rosenhall, California Politics Editor, LA Times

Alexei Koseff, Capitol reporter, CalMatters

Erin Covey, U.S. House of Representatives editor, The Cook Political Report

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

Trump EPA Makes Major Moves to Repeal Climate Regulation Aug 05, 2025

Show notes

In 2008, the Obama administration compiled a massive report with the goal of answering one big question: Is climate change a danger to human health in America? Comprised of some of the most comprehensive scientific findings of all time, the Endangerment Finding concluded that it was, which allowed the government to regulate climate change—including putting restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions. Now, the Trump administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have ruled to rescind the Endangerment Finding, in turn stripping climate regulations. It’s just the latest in Trump’s attack on climate science and regulations including the firing of hundreds of scientists, and the erasure of critical climate reports and data. We talk with climate reporters and scientists about what’s at stake. And what’s coming next.

Guests:

Molly Taft, journalist and climate reporter, WIRED

Kristen Sissner, executive director, Berkeley Earth

Shaye Wolf, climate science director at the Center for Biological Diversity

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

Democrats Have Lost Diverse Voters. Can They Get Them Back? Aug 04, 2025

Show notes

Democrats long assumed they could count on voters of color to support their candidates and causes, and for many years they did. But last year’s presidential election was a wake up call for Democrats as Donald Trump gained significant support from Black, Latino and Asian American voters, especially men. In studying the racially and ethnically diverse voter coalition that brought Barack Obama to power, Yale professor Daniel Martinez HoSang, has found discontent and collapsing support for Democrats. This shift comes at a critical time for the left as they scramble to make headway before the 2026 midterms. We’ll talk to HoSang and Republican political strategist Mike Madrid about how the left lost these voters and whether it’s too late to regain their support.

Guests:

Daniel Martinez HoSang, professor of American Studies, Yale University

Mike Madrid, political strategist; co-founder, The Lincoln Project; author, "The Latino Century: How America's Largest Minority is Transforming Democracy"

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

Dr. Elias Zerhouni Reminds Us Why 'Disease Knows No Politics' Aug 04, 2025

Show notes

Dr. Elias Zerhouni’s journey began in Algeria, where he taught himself mathematics as bombs fell outside his window. With two suitcases and a few hundred dollars, his family eventually immigrated to the United States. Driven by an unshakable belief in science and service, Zerhouni rose through the ranks of medical research to become director of the National Institutes of Health under President George W. Bush. In his new memoir, “Disease Knows No Politics,” he reflects on his personal journey and the fierce political battles he faced while leading the NIH. He joins us to discuss the vital contributions of immigrants to American innovation and the urgent need to safeguard science from partisanship.

Guests:

Dr. Elias Zerhouni, former director, National Institute of Health; professor emeritus, Johns Hopkins University

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