About Michael Krasny
Michael Krasny, PhD, has been in broadcast journalism since 1983. He was with ABC in both radio and television and migrated to public broadcasting in 1993. He has been Professor of English at San Francisco State University and also taught at Stanford, the University of San Francisco and the University of California, San Francisco as well as in the Fulbright International Institutes. A veteran interviewer for the nationally broadcast City Arts and Lectures, he is the author of a number of books, including Off Mike: A Memoir of Talk Radio and Literary Life (Stanford University Press); Spiritual Envy (New World); Sound Ideas (with M.E. Sokolik/ McGraw-Hill); and Let There Be Laughter: A Treasury of Great Jewish Humor and What It All Means (Harper-Collins) as well as the twenty-four lecture series in DVD, audio and book, “Short Story Masterpieces” (The Teaching Company). He has interviewed many of the world’s leading political, cultural, literary, science and technology figures, as well as major figures from the world of entertainment. He is the recipient of many awards and honors including the S.Y. Agnon Medal for Intellectual Achievement; The Eugene Block Award for Human Rights Journalism; the James Madison Freedom of Information Award; the Excellence in Journalism Award from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association; Career Achievement Award from the Society of Professional Journalists and an award from the Radio and Television News Directors Association. He holds a B.A. (cum laude) and M.A. from Ohio University and a PhD from the University of Wisconsin.

About KQED Forum
Forum is a live public affairs program broadcast in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout Northern California on KQED Public Radio, one of the most-listened-to public radio stations in the nation. This award-winning program presents balanced discussions of local, state, national, and world issues as well as in-depth interviews with leading fig