KQED's Forum

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.Guests:Kristen Meinzer, co-host of the podcast Movie Therapy with Rafer and KristenJackson Kim Murphy, associate news editor, VarietyDave Schilling, contributing writer, LA Times Image Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Singer and songwriter Valerie June defies genre – she can be a little country and a little rock and roll and there’s also folk, blues, soul, Appalachian and a sound that’s downright ethereal. But her music is all her own, she’s called it, "organic moonshine roots music," and it’s beautiful. She joins us to play a few songs on her banjolele and to talk about her latest album "The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers," her West Tennessee roots, her poems and her new children’s book, "Somebody to Love."Guests:Valerie June, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist; author of the new children's book "Somebody to Love" - and a recent book of poetry, "Maps for the Modern World" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent years, companies like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat have introduced plant-based hamburgers that look and feel like the real thing and plant-based chicken nuggets that pass the kid test. Now companies are looking to grow meat from real animals in labs, and the FDA has approved lab-grown meat as safe for human consumption. Although Americans consume on average 250 pounds of meat per person a year and another 20 pounds of fish or shellfish, more Americans are identifying as vegetarian or vegan. So the race is on to find alternative meats that might capture their palates and pocketbooks. We’ll talk about where alternative meats are headed and whether they’re good for us and the planet.Guests:Laura Reiley, Business of Food reporter, Washington PostDavid Julian McClements, Distinguished professor, Food Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; author, "Future Foods: How Modern Science is Transforming the Way We Eat"Amy Chen, COO, Upside Foods, manufacturer of cultivated meats based in Emeryville Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fans all over the globe are tuning into the World Cup, arguably the single most popular sporting event in the world. Still, this year’s tournament in Qatar has stirred backlash surrounding corruption and human rights abuses. And while America’s most beloved squads – Mexico’s El Tri and the U.S. Men – both washed out of the competition, millions of spectators remain captivated by the saga of Argentina’s Lionel Messi. Could a World Cup victory cap off his extraordinary career? We take stock of the cup so far and how fans are reacting to what’s happening on and off the field.Guests:Paul Tenorio, senior writer covering soccer, The AtlanticSarath Ganji, foreign policy and communications expertAmelia Lopez, writer and digital content creator, FutMexNation; soccer analyst and co-host, The Mexican Soccer Show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Children's hospitals throughout California are straining under an unusually high number of patients with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common childhood respiratory infection that can in some cases cause pneumonia and other serious lung ailments. We’ll talk about what’s behind the surge in cases and how to keep young kids and other vulnerable populations safe, and we’ll assess the threat of an RSV, COVID and flu “tripledemic” in the state as winter approaches.Guests:Peter Chin-Hong, infectious disease specialist, UCSF Medical CenterErica Pan, California State Epidemiologist, California Department of Public HealthJohn Zweifler, public health physician, Fresno County Department of Public Health Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do a retired teacher, a wetland scientist, former investigative reporter and a scout leader have in common? They are all part of the next wave of local leadership stepping in as mayors of four Bay Area cities. We’ll talk with the mayor-elects of Richmond, Martinez, Belmont and Fairfield about the perspectives they bring on housing, public transit, climate change, and other critical issues.Guests:Brianne Zorn, current city councilmember and mayor-elect, MartinezEduardo Martinez, mayor-elect, RichmondCatherine "Cat" Moy, mayor-elect, FairfieldJulia Mates, mayor, Belmont Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

True crime. Gossip. Niche sports. Deep-dive history. The podcasts that have critics and podcasters hooked in 2022 vary. But what makes a good podcast in today’s saturated and corporate-shaped landscape? We’ll hear from a panel of podcast lovers about the shows that made them turn on episode notifications. And we want to hear from you: Whether your Spotify Wrapped called it your top podcast of 2022 or it’s what you play when you can’t sleep, we hear about your favorite podcasts this year.Guests:Wil Williams, CEO, Hughouse Productions.Ronald Young Jr. , audio producer and storyteller, Senior Producer/Owner, ohitsBigRon studios; host, "Leaving the Theater" podcast.Skye Pillsbury, author, The Squeeze newsletter which reports on the podcast industry Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Remember the playground chants, the jump rope songs, the weird little games you played as a kid that were part of your secret kid world? Scholars have a name for it: childlore. You might imagine, given all the differences between kids—country, culture, class, race, media consumption—that this childlore might be vastly different from place to place. But the strange thing is, many of the little things kids say and do, or draw in their notebooks, are remarkably similar across time and place. We’ll talk about the things kids do across cultures and how they spread and evolve.Guests:Julie Beck, senior editor, The Atlantic; author of the article, “Why Did We All Have the Same Childhood?”Rebekah Willett, professor at the Information School, University of Wisconsin at Madison Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a remarkable display of discontent not seen since the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, protesters across China have taken to the streets demanding an end to the country’s stringent zero-Covid policy. At the outset of the pandemic, China adopted a policy of quarantining and locking down its citizens to prevent the spread of Covid. But while most of the world has moved on to treat Covid as endemic, China’s president Xi Jinping, who was confirmed in October for an unprecedented third term, has stuck to its zero-Covid policy. Demonstrators argue that the policy has placed an extraordinary burden on citizens, and they are demanding not just the end to the restrictions, but also Xi’s resignation, a call that is politically sensitive in a nation where dissent is regularly quashed. We’ll talk about the protests and what impact they might have in changing China’s Covid policy and its future.Guests:Kerry Allen, China media analyst, BBC.Victor Shih, chair in China and Pacific Relations, University of California, San Diego.Nancy Qian, James J. O’Connor professor of Economics, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management; founder, Kellogg’s China Research Lab and China Econ Lab, an independent international organization that promotes research about the Chinese economy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“This brutalization of Ukraine's people is barbaric." Those were Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s words Wednesday for Russian President Vladimir Putin, a day after the United States announced a new round of aid to rebuild Ukraine’s decimated energy infrastructure. Guardian foreign correspondent Luke Harding, who’s been reporting from inside Ukraine since last December, has written what he hopes is a “first draft of history” -- a recounting of the origins and human toll of Russia’s now nine-month-old assault. His new book is “Invasion: The Inside Story of Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival.”Guests:Luke Harding, foreign correspondent, The Guardian; author, "Invasion: The inside Story of Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's Fight for Survival." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices