KQED's Forum

Most everyone recognizes Prince's masterpiece "Purple Rain," the Grammy Award-winning album engineered by Susan Rogers. But do you know why you love this record? In her new book "This is What It Sounds Like," Rogers explains that we all have a unique "listener profile," determined by how we respond to seven musical elements, such as lyrics, melody and timbre. Rogers joins us to explain what the music we love says about us.Guests:Susan Rogers, cognitive neuroscientist and a professor, Berklee College of Music; multiplatinum record producer; sound engineer for Prince’s; recipient of the Music Producer’s Guild Outstanding Contribution to U.K. Music award. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two Berkeley High School students were shot and killed at an Oakland birthday party on Saturday. On Wednesday six adults were shot at an Oakland school. The week before, two men were killed near their mosque after attending services, and in a shooting outside of city hall during a city council meeting, one man was killed, one injured. Forum talks with Oakland’s mayor, chief of police, and the city’s chief of violence prevention about what explains the surge in violent crime and what can be done about it.Guests:Libby Schaaf, Oakland mayorLeRonne Armstrong, police chief, Oakland Police DepartmentGuillermo Cespedes, chief of Violence Prevention, City of Oakland Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many small California towns that were devastated by recent wildfires are determined to rebuild, such as Greenville, which is the community at the focus of the Los Angeles Times series "Rebuild,Reburn." But as climate change intensifies wildfires -- and political extremism -- the state is facing a dilemma as resources dwindle. How long will it be sustainable to send aid to rebuild towns that face continual danger from wildfires? We'll talk with journalists who investigated the unrest growing in rural towns and what people on both sides have to say.Guests:Erika D. Smith, columnist, Los Angeles Times.Anita Chabria, columnist, Los Angeles Times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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