KQED's Forum

Bay Area native and acclaimed director of “Crazy Rich Asians” and “In the Heights,” Jon M. Chu now brings one of Broadway’s most beloved musicals to the big screen with the conclusion of his box office-smashing two-part adaptation of “Wicked.” He joined Mina Kim onstage in San Francisco for a KQED Live event where he r

ICE raids. Tariffs. National Guard deployment. Ukraine. Venezuela. The longest federal shutdown in history. There was no shortage of major news headlines in 2025. We’ll try to make sense of  the biggest stories of the past year with a panel of journalists, and look at what 2026 might hold. Learn more about your ad choi

Fred Armisen, the comedian, actor and musician known for “Portlandia,” “Documentary Now!” and “SNL,” has a new album out called “100 Sound Effects.” There’s a jacket zipping, glass shattering, the “ooh” of receiving room service and even the sound we make when “Walking into a Video Room at an Art Museum and then Walkin

Beyond just a wardrobe staple, jeans are often key parts of signature looks and core memories. Levi Strauss, the San Francisco company that brought jeans to the masses, has reopened its history museum, The Vault, with an exhibit called “Amped” that celebrates iconic denim looks worn by musicians including Kurt Cobain,

The dog, writes poet Billy Collins, moves through the world unencumbered, with “nothing but her brown coat and her modest blue collar.” In a new collection called “Dog Show,” the former U.S. Poet Laureate turns his gaze toward the quiet wisdom of our canine friends — their reminders to slow down, pay attention and let

For many, poetry is a balm. But for others, poetry feels inaccessible and hard to understand. In her latest book, “Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times” former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith aims to make poetry less intimidating. We listen back to our conversation with Smith about how to read poems, how to “listen at