KQED's Forum

PG&E is hiking their rates, with an expected monthly bill increase of $34.50 per household. The increase will fund projects to mitigate wildfires, including burying power lines. The discussion explores alternative options and questions the necessity of the new work. The podcast also delves into PG&E's history, mismanagement, and the impact of rate hikes on senior citizens. It proposes alternatives to recovering wildfire mitigation costs and discusses the need to set a cap on future rate increases.

Manjula Martin reflects on living with wildfire in her debut memoir 'The Last Fire Season'. She discusses the constant state of alarm caused by wildfires in California, as well as the challenges of capturing these experiences. The podcast also explores the interconnection between extreme rain and extreme fire, finding solace in gardening, and the power of community in the face of climate change and wildfires.

Every year KQED food editor Luke Tsai publishes a list of his favorite dishes that he tried that year, in part to inspire the rest of us to up our culinary game. In 2023, his list included Korean-style sourdough toast from Rize Up Bakery, braised oxtails from Haitian restaurant T’Chaka, and the mezze brunch board from Palestinian restaurant Lulu. For this installment of All You Can Eat, our regular series exploring the Bay Area’s food cultures, we’ll talk with Luke and other Bay Area food writers about their best dishes from 2023 and recommendations for what you should eat in the new year. And, we want to hear from you: Is there a new dish that you ate in a restaurant or cooked that you can’t stop thinking about or telling your friends to try? And what is the meal you want to try in 2024?Guests:Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts & CultureElena Kadvany, food writer, San Francisco ChronicleLauren Saria, editor, Eater SF Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Time flies. Time is money. Time waits for no one. There is no shortage of aphorisms about time because we are consumed by the minutes, hours, days and years that constitute a life. We want to use time efficiently; we want to get the most out of it; we feel guilty wasting it. But maybe we should reclaim our relationship with time. That’s what co-hosts Becca Rashid and Ian Bogost argue for in the latest season of the Atlantic’s popular “How To” podcast series. In “How to Keep Time,” Rashid and Bogost examine whether hacks to be more productive work, how to optimize “free” time and why we struggle to comfortably do nothing. Set your clock and join us.Guests:Becca Rashid, co-host and producer, the Atlantic Magazine podcast "How to Keep Time"Ian Bogost, co-host, the Atlantic Magazine podcast "How to Keep Time." Bogost is a contributing editor at the Atlantic and a professor in arts and sciences at Washington University in St. Louis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Our experience as humans make it challenging to grasp the conditions that occur inside the planet,” writes scientist Dr. Sabine Stanley. “There’s just nothing like it in our everyday experience.” Stanley has dedicated her career to uncovering the mysterious inner workings of Earth and other planets in our solar system. Below a planet’s surface can be a swirling world of wonder from magnetism, rotation, and volcanos. Stanley explores what makes planets tick in her new book What’s Hidden Inside Planets. We talk to Stanley.Guests:Dr. Sabine Stanley, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Planetary Physics; fellow, Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute at Johns Hopkins University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I am searching for the soul-family from whom I descend.” That’s how former U.S. poet laureate Tracy K. Smith describes the impulse animating her latest book “To Free the Captives,” a chronicle of her endeavors to learn more about her father’s ancestors and the challenges they faced in the deep south of the early 20th century, born as they were “into a nation intent upon their diminishment and inured to their dying.” We talk to Smith about the histories she unearthed and what they reveal to her about herself, her family and a nation.Guests:Tracy K. Smith, poet; professor of English and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University. Her latest book is "To Free the Captives: A Plea for the American Soul." She served as the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2017 to 2019. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You may think that winter is a time when a garden lies fallow, earth upturned and waiting for spring. But there is a lot to do in a winter garden, particularly in our California climate. There is fertilizing, pruning, and even nurturing seedlings for spring. At this moment, when the days are shorter and the world feels darker, tending a garden can settle our mind and also remind us about the promise of regeneration. We’ll talk about the wonders of the winter garden, and hear from you: what’s happening in your garden right now?Guests:Tess Taylor, poet and gardener, Taylor edited the poetry anthology, "Leaning Toward Light: Poems for Gardens & the Hands that Tend Them"Flora Grubb, co-owner, Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and Grubb & Nadler NurseriesMaya Blow, founder and owner, Soul Flower Farm based in El Sobrante Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For almost as long as there’s been a New York Times Book Review — that is, since 1896 — their book editors have named the annual standouts of the many, many, many books they read. And for the past two decades, they’ve named the 10 Best Books of the year, recognizing some of the most inventive and well-crafted works of fiction and nonfiction. 2023’s standouts include a dystopian satire, a “journey through the deep state” and an account of one house and its inhabitants over 300 years. Editor Gilbert Cruz joins us to share the 10 best, why they’re worth a read — and the year-long process that goes into selecting them. And we’ll hear from you: What was your favorite book released this year?Guests:Gilbert Cruz, editor, The New York Times Book Review Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every day, first responders in the Bay Area are straining to help people struggling with addiction. Firefighters and paramedics respond to emergency calls for people acting erratically or overdosing on drugs. Nurses administer care when they arrive at hospitals. Then, a network of social workers and counselors try to intervene with services. Many of those workers see their jobs as crucial, but also psychologically draining and frustrating as the crisis becomes even more dire. San Francisco officials are already predicting that 2023 will set a record for the highest number of drug overdose deaths. We’ll talk with frontline workers about their experiences and how they see the region’s addiction crisis.Guests:Audrey Fisher, registered nurse, psychiatric emergency services, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma CenterBrittany Banis Buckley, stabilization supervisor for the Opiate Treatment Outpatient Program, San Francisco General HospitalSam Gebler, firefighter and paramedic. He serves as vice president of San Francisco Fire Fighters Local 798.Claudia Mendez, behavioral health clinician, San Francisco Department of Public Health Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the war between Russia and Ukraine drags on without any clear momentum on either side, Republicans in Congress are balking at more U.S. aid to defeat Putin, while the Biden Administration pursues a deal that would include tougher border enforcement. We’ll discuss the standoff over Ukraine funding in Congress and get the latest on what’s happening on the battlefield as winter arrives.Guests:Steven Pifer, affiliate, Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University; former ambassador to Ukraine and senior director, National Security Council in the Clinton administrationJoan Greve, senior political reporter, The GuardianNanette Barragán, democratic congresswoman, represents California's 44th congressional district in Los Angeles County; chair, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices