Are We in a New Gold Rush?

“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

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Are We in a New Gold Rush? is an episode from KQED's Forum by KQED.

This episode is 54:51 long.

This episode was published on May 29, 2026.

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