KQED's Forum

Jonathan Escoffery’s debut book, “If I Survive You,” presents a series of connected stories about an immigrant family from Jamaica trying to acclimate to life in America. The characters tackle racism, belonging, natural disasters and generational divides. A native of Miami now based in Oakland, Escoffery joins us to talk about storytelling and his decades-long journey to publishing a book.This segment originally aired Sept. 30Guests:Jonathan Escoffery, author, his debut short story collection, "If I Survive You," was released in September of 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What in our lives sets us up to experience joy? And how does joy make us act and feel? Those are the the central questions poet and essayist Ross Gay explores in his new book, “Inciting Joy,” an ode to skateboarding, gardening, pick-up basketball and other practices and rituals that can make joy more available to us. We talk to Gay about the connections between joy and sorrow -- and joy and solidarity -- and why he says that joy, which gets us to love, is a practice of survival.This segment originally aired Nov. 14Guests:Ross Gay, poet and essayist, "Inciting Joy," "Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude" and "The Book of Delights" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Acclaimed poet and novelist Erika L. Sanchez’s memoir, “Crying in the Bathroom,” presents a series of poignant essays about growing up in Chicago in a working-class Mexican neighborhood, her rise to literary fame and her struggles with mental illness. Her book details many moments when she was successfully achieving her dreams and, simultaneously, considering ending her life. Sanchez is also author of the poetry collection, “Lessons on Expulsion,” and the young adult novel, “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter,” that is being adapted into a movie. She joins us to talk about making it as a Mexican-American writer, sex and shame, Buddhism, and crying in the bathroom. This segment originally aired Jul. 19Guests:Erika L. Sanchez, poet, novelist, essayist and professor at DePaul University. Her new memoir is "Crying the Bathroom." Her other books include the poetry collection, "Lessons on Expulsion," the young adult novel, "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Come 2027, Californians will have a new post-death option: to become human compost. A law signed by Governor Newsom this month made California the fifth state to legalize “natural organic reduction,” which lets human bodies decompose into a cubic yard of soil. While green burials — the process of wrapping the deceased in a shroud and placing them in the ground — are already legal, composting doesn’t require a dedicated portion of land. And though it’s more expensive than cremation, it’s also less carbon-intensive. We’ll talk about the new law and hear whether you’d want to become human compost.This segment originally aired Sept. 27Guests:Courtney Applewhite, doctoral candidate studying environmental disposition ("eco-funerals"), UC Santa BarbaraCristina Garcia, assembly member, representing California's 58th Assembly DistrictKatrina Spade, founder and CEO, Recompose Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When New Yorker writer Hua Hsu was growing up in Cupertino in the 1990s as the only child of Taiwanese immigrants, he created mixtapes and zines – homemade Xerox pastiches of writing, photos and collages – as a “way to find a tribe.” Hsu’s search for his people eventually led him to UC Berkeley where he, a lover of esoteric and undiscovered bands, forged an unlikely friendship with Ken, a Japanese-American frat boy whose love of the Dave Matthews Band, initially repelled Hsu. That friendship and Ken’s murder are at the heart of Hsu’s new memoir “Stay True,” which documents the profound and the mundane moments of a 90s kid seeking to forge his identity.This segment originally aired Nov. 3Guests:Hua Hsu, author, "Stay True;" staff writer, the New Yorker; professor of Literature, Bard College Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There were worldwide box office hits and record-makers, like the follow-ups to “Jurassic World,” “Doctor Strange” and — of course — “Top Gun.” There were movies that quickly developed dedicated fan bases, like “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” “RRR” and “Tár.” And there are the year-enders: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” has been number one at theaters these past four weekends, and the sequel to box office history-maker “Avatar” is releasing this month. We’ll talk about the 2022 films that captured audiences and hear your favorites of the year.This segment originally aired Dec. 7Guests:Kristen Meinzer, co-host of the podcast Movie Therapy with Rafer and KristenJackson Kim Murphy, associate news editor, VarietyDave Schilling, contributing writer, LA Times ImageThis segment originally aired Dec. 7 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In her new memoir, “The Man Who Could Move Clouds,” Ingrid Rojas Contreras tells the story of a journey she took with her mother to her native Colombia to exhume her grandfather’s remains. She intricately weaves family histories involving her curandero grandfather, her mother who could appear in two places at once and her own magical inheritance sparked by a bout of amnesia. Rojas Contreras, who now calls the Bay Area home, joins us to talk about infusing magic into story telling and how memory is both a burden and a treasure.This segment originally aired Aug. 8. Guests:Ingrid Rojas Contreras, author, "The Man Who Could Move Clouds"This segment originally aired Aug. 8.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bumblebees can’t see red, but they can detect the ultraviolet hue, invisible to humans, at the center of a sunflower. A fly can taste an apple just by landing on it, and a rattlesnake can perceive the infrared radiation emanating from warm-blooded prey. Those are just some of the extraordinary animal senses that science journalist Ed Yong celebrates in his new book “An Immense World.” We’ll talk to Yong about what he learned and hear how humans can limit behaviors that endanger the sensory environments of other species.This segment originally aired Jun. 22Guests:Ed Yong, science writer, The Atlantic; author, "An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When he was 9, poet Javier Zamora traveled 3,000 miles by bus, boat and on foot, without family or friends, from El Salvador to the United States. The trip was supposed to take two weeks. It took nine. Along the way, Zamora was embraced by fellow migrants and folded into a makeshift family. With them, Zamora encountered corrupt police officers and was robbed of the little money he had. He scrambled over mountains and under barbed wire fences that laced the desert border, all so he could be reunited with his parents who lived in Marin and who he had not seen in years. Thousands of immigrants, including children, have experienced similar journeys, but few have described them as eloquently as Zamora. We’ll talk to Zamora about those nine weeks to the border, which he recounts in his new memoir “Solito,” and his experience as an immigrant growing up in San Rafael.This segment originally aired Sept. 12. Guests:Javier Zamora, Author of the memoir "Solito," Zamora has been a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University and a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. He is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. His debut poetry collection, which focuses on the impact of war and immigration on his family, is titled "Unaccompanied." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The holidays can bring joy but also immense stress, as we host complicated family gatherings or worry about affording gifts or long for loved ones who have passed. But stress doesn’t have to dampen the spirit of the season. UCSF psychiatry professor Elissa Epel has studied stress, its effects and how to turn a stressful life into one of regenerative joy. We’ll talk with Epel about her new book “The Stress Prescription” and get tips on managing stress, especially during the holidays.Guests:Elissa Epel, professor and vice chair, Department of Psychiatry, UCSF; author, "The Stress Prescription." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices