KQED's Forum

Julia Morgan is best known as the architect of opulent, eccentric Hearst Castle, but she designed roughly 700 buildings in her 50-year career. From her first commission, the El Campanil bell tower at Mill’s college, to the Arts and Crafts Asilomar and the Gothic and Moorish Berkeley City Club, the Oakland-raised architect created many of California’s most distinctive and disparate buildings in a time when architecture was an almost exclusively male field. We’ll talk with Victoria Kastner, author of “Julia Morgan: An Intimate Biography of the Trailblazing Architect” and we’ll hear from listeners: What’s your favorite Julia Morgan building?Guests:Victoria Kastner, author, "Julia Morgan: An Intimate Biography of the Trailblazing Architect." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Getting a good night’s sleep is important for restoring our bodies and minds after a long day. But sometimes the stress of the world follows us into dreamland. Getting lost, missing a final exam, losing teeth - these are among the many common iterations of stress dreams. We’ll talk with dream and sleep experts about why we have stressful dreams and how to deal with them.Guests:Kelly Bulkeley, dream researcher and director, Sleep and Dream Database.Aric Prather, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UCSF. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.Guests: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

Chief Justice of California Tani Cantil-Sakauye is stepping down in January after serving a 12-year term on the state's high court. Nominated by former republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, she was the first non-white person and the second woman to lead the court. She joins us to reflect on her time on the bench, the future of the California judiciary and her newly announced next role as president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California.Guests:Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Chief Justice of California Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It seems that everyone wants a happy ending, and nothing delivers that better than a romance novel. The Harlequin romance bodice rippers of old have evolved. Today’s romance novels feature diverse protagonists – including men. They offer more real-to-life scenarios, and often mash into other genres like science fiction. In the last five years, booksellers have seen a 740% increase in the sales of LGBTQ romance novels, with 850,000 books sold last year. We’ll talk about the rise of the romance novel and hear from you…what’s your favorite?Guests:Jasmine Guillory, novelist and writer, "Drunk on Love" — Her work has appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Bon Appetit, and Time.Mia Sosa, novelist, "The Wedding Crasher" and "The Worst Best Man"Olivia Waite, novelist, "The Hellion's Waltz" and "The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows;" romance novel reviewer, the New York Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sally Yates, who as acting attorney general refused to defend the travel ban on Muslim-majority countries. Reproductive rights attorney Brigitte Amiri, who represented teen migrants denied abortions. These are among the women lawyers Dahlia Lithwick profiles in her new book “Lady Justice” -- the ones who she says fought the racism, sexism, transphobia and xenophobia that took root and flourished during the Trump presidency. We’ll talk to Lithwick about how women are harnessing the law to advance civil rights, even as the Supreme Court and state legislatures work to curtail them.Guests:Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor, Slate; host of podcast Amicus; writer of "Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chef and author Illyanna Maisonet, a former food columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, made a name for herself by reimagining Puerto Rican cuisine. Her debut cookbook, “Diasporican: A Puerto Rican Cookbook.” chronicles Maisonet’s experience as a Puerto Rican living in Sacramento and how this region’s cultures have informed her cooking. Maisonet joins us to talk about her book as part of our next installment of All You Can Eat, our regular segment about the food cultures of the Bay Area with KQED food editor Luke Tsai.Guests:Luke Tsai, food editor, KQEDIllyanna Maisonet, chef and author, her debut cookbook, "Diasporican: A Puerto Rican Cookbook” comes out in October 2022.Jose 'Cheo' Ortiz, chef and restaurant owner, La Perla Restaurant, Oakland - Authentic Puerto Rican cuisineJacqueline Roman, chef and owner, El Coqui Puerto Rican Cuisine in Santa RosaLourdes “Lulu” Marquez Nau, chef and owner, Casa Borinqueña in Oakland 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.Guests: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

The death of the 22-year old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, for a supposed violation of the country’s strict dress code, has sparked protests across Iran and around the world. As Iranian citizens protest in call for justice and women's rights reform, many have gotten arrested, injured and even killed. We'll talk with Iranians here in the U.S. about the reactions to Amini's death and the status of women's rights in Iran.Guests:Persis Karim, Iranian-American poet and essayist; director for the Center of Iranian Diaspora Studies, San Francisco State UniversityShaghayegh Cyrous, artistHoda Katebi, writer, community organizer and creative educator Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Points, badges, progress bars and leaderboards: they’re among the games designed to make dull activities fun -- and to make us more productive at the gym, in school or at work. But to video game developer Adrian Hon, gamification has become the twenty-first century’s most advanced form of behavioral control, coercing our decisions and justifying corporate and government surveillance. We’ll talk to Hon about his new book “You’ve Been Played.”Guests:Adrian Hon, game developer and author, "You've Been Played: How Corporations, Governments and Schools Use Games to Control Us All." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices