
About this episode
“Gold is having a moment,” writes New Yorker staff writer Jennifer Wilson. Earlier this year, it traded as high as $5,500 an ounce as an unstable economic outlook has central banks and investors buying gold to hedge their bets. Gold has been embraced by the far right, reality TV, and hobbyists and full-time prospectors headed up to the foothills where the California Gold Rush began. Wilson explores all these angles in her latest piece “How Americans Caught Gold Fever Again.” We talk to Wilson and experts – and a gold prospector – about the legacy and future of this precious metal.
Guests:
Jennifer Wilson, staff writer, The New Yorker - her recent article is "How Americans Caught Gold Fever Again"
Albert Fausel, owner, Placerville Hardware; part-time gold prospector
Quinn Slobodian, professor of international history, Boston University
Brian Wallace, executive officer, Indigenous Futures Society
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Get every episode summarized
Each time KQED's Forum publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from KQED's Forum

Can Anyone Solve America’s $40 Trillion Debt Problem?
KQED's Forum
Sep 3, 202654:45completed

In Daniel Mason’s Comic Novel ‘Country People,’ California Collides with New Eng...
KQED's Forum
Sep 3, 202654:48completed

Rozina Ali Traces Islamophobia’s Long Shadow
KQED's Forum
Sep 2, 202654:50completed

Can the Trump Administration Allow Private Development in Yosemite?
KQED's Forum
Sep 2, 202654:48pending