Kqeds Forum

National Guard troops arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday as part of the Trump administration’s response to clashes between federal immigration officials and protesters following ICE raids of local businesses. Governor Gavin Newsom opposed the deployment, posting on social media Sunday that “Trump is trying to manufacture a crisis in LA County — deploying troops not for order, but to create chaos.” We’ll check in with local reporters and a legal expert about what’s happening on the ground in LA and how ICE sweeps are affecting immigrant communities in California. Guests: Saul Gonzalez, co-host, The California Report, KQED Ahilan Arulanantham, faculty co-director, Center for Immigration Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law - former Legal Director ACLU of Southern California Gustavo Solis, investigative border reporter, KPBS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California has been a leader in rooftop solar adoption for years thanks to incentives and compensation programs. But  policies from utilities and state lawmakers are removing incentives and making it more expensive for residents to have  solar on their homes. Supporters of the changes say the new policies will reduce everyone’s electric bills, but solar advocates say cutting back on rooftop solar will make it harder for California to meet its renewable energy goals. We talk with experts about the future of rooftop solar in California and what this moment means for renewable energy. Guests: Sammy Roth, climate columnist, LA Times Mohit Chha, senior analyst, NRDC Bernadette Del Chiaro, senior vice president for California, Environmental Working Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oakland based art-pop band Tune-Yards is widely loved for their complex and funky rhythms, layers of sound, thrillingly dynamic vocals, and thought provoking lyrics. The duo, Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner, have just released a new album, “Better Dreaming,” praised by critics as highly danceable and jubilant while, as always, grappling with the state of the world. Merrill Garbus joins us in the studio for a new album listening party and to demonstrate how she creates her powerhouse sound. Guests: Merrill Garbus, singer, musician, Tune-Yards - newest album is "Better Dreaming" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The prevailing narrative about Apple in China over the last two decades is that the Cupertino company took advantage of low wages and weak labor laws to ship out close to half a billion devices per year. Journalist Patrick McGee says that narrative isn’t wrong, but it misses “the biggest piece of the puzzle: that Beijing allowed Apple’s activities so that China could exploit Apple and become a tech powerhouse in its own right.” We talk to McGee about his new book “Apple in China” and the threats the company faces from AI and the Trump administration. Guests: Patrick McGee, San Francisco correspondent, Financial Times - author, "Apple in China: The Capture of the World's Greatest Company" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NPR’s Rhaina Cohen has taken a close look at friend-powered parenting, joining shared households to see how neighbor-and-friend alliances can break the isolation of modern parenthood. We’ll talk about the challenges of communal living and what parents gain—emotionally, practically, even financially—when they raise their kids with their friends. Cohen’s recent piece for the Atlantic is “A Grand Experiment in Parenthood and Friendship.” Would you raise your kids with your best pals? Guests: Rhaina Cohen, producer and editor for the NPR Documentary podcast Embedded; author of the Atlantic piece, "A Grand Experiment in Parenthood and Friendship" Phil Levin, founder, Live Near Friends Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the first AIDS LifeCycle ride rolled down the California coastline in 1994, AIDS was the leading cause of death for people aged 25 to 44. Today, HIV is no longer a death sentence and can be treated, though not cured. This weekend, the ride, which has raised $300 million for research, crosses the finish line for the last time. We take this moment to look back on the strides made in AIDS/HIV research and advocacy and explore the impact federal funding cuts to healthcare will have on stopping the spread of AIDS in the U.S. and around the world. Guests: Jeff Sheehy, long-time AIDS activist and first openly HIV+ member of SF Board of Supervisors; former board member, California Institute of Regenerative Medicine Monica Gandhi, infectious disease expert; professor of medicine, UCSF Jennifer Kates, senior vice president and director of Global Health & HIV Policy, KFF Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“We’re in a protein craze, and it’s hard to ignore,” writes New York Times health reporter Alice Callahan. Social media feeds are inundated with claims about protein – encouraging protein-maxxing diets that contain many times the federal recommendations, and pushing supplements, artificial protein sources and lots of red meat. We’ll talk with Callahan and nutritionists about how to evaluate your own protein needs — and the risks of the online protein obsession. Guests: Alice Callahan, nutrition reporter, The New York Times Christopher Gardner, nutrition scientist and professor of medicine, Stanford Prevention Research Center Stuart Phillips, professor of kinesiology and nutrition researcher, McMaster University in Ontario, Canada Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Celebrated nature writer Robert Macfarlane has written about mountains, trails, and the old ways of humans on Earth. His new book lays out its premise in the title: “Is a River Alive?” He seeks answers to the question in a cloud forest in Ecuador, a dying ecosystem in Chennai, and a powerful river in Canada. We talk to Macfarlane about what rights nature should have and we hear from you. Do you feel a living presence in wild spaces? Guests: Robert Macfarlane, nature writer; author, "Is a River Alive?"; Previous books include "Underland: A Deep Time Journey" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For decades, multi-level marketing (or MLM) companies like Amway and Mary Kay have made the promise that people could become their own bosses, earn extra income and work flexible hours under the umbrella of a globally recognized brand. But in reality, the success rates for people working in multi-level marketing “are closer to those of gamblers in a casino.” That’s according to Bridget Read, author of the new book “Little Bosses Everywhere.” We talk to Read about the rise of the MLM model and why she says it helped fuel the modern conservative movement. Guests: Bridget Read, features writer, New York Magazine - author of the book “Little Bosses Everywhere: How the Pyramid Scheme Shaped America Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When new apartment and office buildings are built, Bay Area cities often require developers to include retail space on the ground floor. The goal s to create vibrant neighborhoods by encouraging foot traffic and what urban planners call street “activation.” And yet, many of these spaces are vacant all over the region from downtown San Francisco to Concord. We’ll talk about the challenges of filling up ground-floor retail, and if we should be changing the way we design buildings and neighborhoods. Guests: Sujata Srivastava, chief policy officer, SPUR - a nonprofit public policy organization in the San Francisco Bay Area Alex Sagues, commercial real estate broker specializing in retail; senior vice president, CRBE Dr. Daniel G. Chatman, professor and chair of the department of city and regional planning in the college of environmental design, UC Berkeley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s new book, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” has generated massive coverage – and pushback – since its release in May. Some Democrats say it’s not time to focus on the past, amid the turmoil of the current administration. But Tapper and Thompson say that, “journalism about Biden does not excuse or normalize any actions and statements by anyone else, including the forty-fifth and now forty-seventh president.” We’ll talk with the authors about the controversy, the alleged “cover-up” of Biden’s decline and why they say a reckoning is needed for the future of the Democratic party. Guests: Jake Tapper, anchor and chief Washington correspondent, CNN; co-author, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again" Alex Thompson, national political correspondent, Axios; co-author, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Ru

President Trump’s  budget bill rolls back clean energy initiatives, reduces Medicaid benefits, alters student loan rules, and extends tax cuts to the wealthiest, among other initiatives. It passed in the House by a bare margin, but Republican senator Ron Johnson has called the bill “divorced from reality,” indicating that it may face headwinds in the Senate. We talk with reporters about what’s in the 1000-plus page bill and its political implications. Guests: Russell Berman, staff writer, The Atlantic Claudia Grisales, congressional correspondent, NPR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We remember George Floyd, five years after his murder by a Minneapolis police officer. In the days and months after Floyd’s death, millions of Americans took to the streets to protest racism and police violence, ushering in a new era of racial reckoning. Robert Samuels, co-author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography “His Name is George Floyd,” wonders however if “the backlash feels more enduring that the reckoning itself.”  We’ll talk about who George Floyd was and where the struggle for racial justice is headed. Guests: Robert Samuels, national political enterprise reporter, The Washington Post - co-author, "His Name is George Floyd: One Man's Life and them Struggle for Racial Justice" Clyde McGrady, national correspondent covering race, The New York Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York has the pizza slice, Philly has its cheesesteak, and Chicago its hot dog. In the Bay Area, our iconic and passionately argued-over staple has long been the Mission-style burrito. Its origins are obscure, but one thing agreed on is that those enormous, foil-wrapped burritos are a culinary anchor that were perfected in San Francisco decades ago. But, just because it’s a classic doesn’t mean Bay Area burritos haven’t evolved or are not pushing into new frontiers. We’ll talk about the legacy of Mission-style burritos and the people putting a new spin on them. And we want to hear from you: What is your burrito spot and what do you order? Guests: Cesar Hernandez, associate restaurant critic, The San Francisco Chronicle Dominica Rice-Cisneros, chef and owner, Bombera - Mexican restaurant in Oakland Ricardo Lopez, owner, La Vaca Birria - Mexican restaurant in San Francisco's Mission District Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trump administration’s budget and staffing cuts to national parks could mean longer lines, closed visitor centers and fewer search and rescue workers this summer, according to former parks staff and advocates. The cuts are also compromising scientific research and environmental protection, creating what the National Parks Conservation Association calls “a façade of a national park experience.” In California, Yosemite scientists have had to pick up bathroom cleaning shifts; decades-long endangered species studies in the Channel Islands are at risk. Are you planning a visit? We’ll share what you should know before you go. Guests: Russell Galipeau, executive council member, Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks; former superintendent, Channel Islands National Park Ashley Harrell, National Parks Bureau Chief, SFGATE Neal Desai, Pacific Region director, National Parks Conservation Association Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chinese American literary pioneer Maxine Hong Kingston revolutionized storytelling with her groundbreaking 1976 book ‘The Woman Warrior,’ which blended reality and myth to capture the immigrant experience. As part of our Bay Area Legends series, we talk with Kingston – who grew up working in her parent’s Stockton laundry business and was an integral part of Berkeley’s counterculture movement – about her genre-defying work. And we check in with contemporary authors about Kingston’s lasting influence on their craft and the evolution of immigrant narratives in American literature. Guests: Vanessa Hua, author, Forbidden City; Hua's previous books include “A River of Stars”; former columnist, San Francisco Chronicle Aimee Phan, author, "The Reeducation of Cherry Truong"; associate professor of writing and literature, California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, novelist, short story writer and poet; Her most recent novel "Independence" won the American Book Award in 2024. Max

More than half of Californians think Gov. Gavin Newsom is more focused on winning the presidency than governing the state, according to a poll this month from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies. The results come as Newsom proposes controversial healthcare cuts to close a projected $12 billion budget shortfall and navigates a hostile Trump administration. We get your thoughts on how Newsom is leading California. Guests: Guy Marzorati, correspondent, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk Marisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED; co-host, KQED's Political Breakdown Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Retailers are now facing a lot of headwinds, including tariffs and a drop in consumer confidence. But for Target, once affectionately known by customers as Tar-jay, a consumer boycott in response to the company’s decision to drop some DEI initiatives has been an added drag. In its most recent earnings call, the retailer reported a 3.8% drop in sales and lowered its earnings targets for the year. Consumers have long channeled their buying power to express political beliefs, whether it’s selling their Teslas, avoiding a certain retailer, or goods from a particular country. We look at the power of the consumer boycott, and why this one seems to be working. Guests: Amanda Mull, columnist, Bloomberg; Wrote the column “Buying Power” on American consumerism. Alex Ossola, host/producer, Wall Street Journal; Ossola's most recent podcast is called "Boycotting Target". Americus Reed II, professor of marketing, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm

Perhaps you’ve been following Alison Bechdel’s work since her comic strip “Dykes to Watch Out For,” which invented the now ubiquitous Bechdel test (does a movie have two women who speak to each other about something other than a man?). Maybe you came to know her through her graphic memoir “Fun Home,” which was adapted into a Tony-award winning musical. Her latest comic novel, “Spent,” is a work of autofiction that grapples with and parodies Bechdel’s own popularity. We’ll talk with Bechdel about being famous in a world on fire— and the funny side of it, too. Guests: Alison Bechdel, graphic novelist and cartoonist, author of "Spent: A Comic Novel." Her previous books include "The Secret to Superhuman Strength" and "Fun Home," which was adapted into a Tony Award-winning musical. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It has been a tough month for Bay Area transit. BART had two major meltdowns this month, stranding and frustrating commuters, all while the agency plans to raise fares. System wide, Bay Area transit agencies continue to struggle with funding challenges and luring back riders after the pandemic fundamentally altered our region’s commute patterns. And now, major cuts in state and federal funding are on the horizon. We’ll talk about how different transit agencies are bracing for cuts, the federal government’s check on California’s shift toward electric vehicles, and the critical ways our transportation system has changed. Guests: Dan Brekke, editor and reporter, KQED News Ted Lamm, associate director for the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, UC Berkeley Law School Laura Tolkoff, transportation policy director, SPUR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices