Kqeds Forum

Scientists who study and keep the public informed about wildfires, hurricanes, avalanches and climate change are reeling from the Trump administration’s mass firings at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which includes the National Weather Service. We talk to climate scientist Daniel Swain about the essential work NOAA does in California and nationwide and the impacts of the firings on public safety and mission-critical scientific research. Tell us: Are you affected by the NOAA layoffs? Guests: Daniel Swain, climate scientist, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources & UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability Heather Welch, terminated research biologist at NOAA Fisheries who worked on the NOAA Climate, Ecosystems and Fisheries Initiative in Monterey, California Kayla Ann Besong, terminated duty scientist for NOAA’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu, HI

The average American student is “less than halfway to a full academic recovery” from the effects of the Covid pandemic. That’s according to a 2024 report by the Center on Reinventing Public Education. Studies show that lockdown also took a toll on kids’ mental health, as well as social and emotional skills. And like other Covid impacts, these challenges often hit students of color the hardest. In the first of our series of shows examining the effects of the pandemic as we reach five years since lockdown, we’ll look at how children, adolescents and young adults are faring. Guests: Petra Steinbuchel, medical director, Mental Health and Child Development at Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland Robin Lake, executive director, Center on Reinventing Public Education Aria Rani Sindledecker, junior at Mountain View High School; youth mental health advocate Emily Zavala, mental health and wellness coordinator, East Side Union High School District in San Jose

In 2013, Patrick Hutchison bought a derelict shack in the Cascades not far from his home in Seattle. Within a few years, the weekend renovation project would become an all-consuming DIY effort. He documents his turbulent journey from copywriter to carpenter in his recent book “Cabin: Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman.” We talk to him about what he learned from transforming a “leaky, moss-covered box in the woods” into a special place. Guest: Patrick Hutchison, writer and carpenter

No band may better reflect the multicultural, gender-expansive exuberance of the Bay Area dream than Sly and the Family Stone. A new documentary “Sly Lives (aka The Burden of Black Genius)” explores the life and context of Vallejo’s brilliant, charismatic and troubled bandleader. We talk with the film’s creators and participants about the gifts Sly gave the world and the tolls it took on him. Guests: Joel Selvin, San Francisco-based music journalist and author, his latest book is "Words and Demons" Joseph Patel, Producer of the documentary Sly Lives. He also produced Summer of Soul, which won an academy award for best documentary feature

The federal agency overseeing Voice of America has placed its chief national correspondent on a paid “excused absence” while it investigates his alleged bias against Donald Trump. The White House continues to bar the Associated Press from presidential events and maintains that it can handpick its press pool. Meanwhile, Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos — who donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund — says the paper’s opinion section will now focus on free markets and personal liberties. The announcement led to the resignation of Post opinions editor David Shipley and triggered over 75,000 digital subscription cancellations. We look at the Trump Administration’s moves to muzzle the press and their potential impact. Guests: David Folkenflik, media correspondent, NPR News Ann Telnaes, Pulitzer-prize winning editorial cartoonist, formerly with The Washington Post; writer, the Substack “Open Windows”

Linkedin co-founder Reid Hoffman is bullish on the ability of AI to improve our society and our selves. In his new book, “SuperAgency: What Could Possibly Go Right With Our AI Future?” Hoffman, a longtime booster and investor in AI, and co-author Greg Beato, counter fears that autonomous AI will dehumanize us and make us subject to an Orwellian compliance. Rather, they argue, AI gives humans more agency. “Just as cars gave individual users new superpowers of physical mobility in the 20th century, AI gives individual users new superpowers of cognitive mobility in the 21st century.” We talk with Hoffman and Beato about our AI future and the role of tech titans in the Trump era. Guests: Reid Hoffman, co-founder and former executive chairman, LinkedIn; co-author of "Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future" Greg Beato, co-author, "Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future"

Gossip can be “juicy, strange, funny and utterly banal” and we love to hear it, whether we identify as gossips or not. Kelsey McKinney, host and creator of the podcast Normal Gossip, has perfected the art of relaying other people’s business, and she thinks that gossip has been unfairly maligned. In her book “You Didn’t Hear This From Me,” McKinney reflects on the multitude of petty and profound ways we use gossip: to entertain, admonish, bond and teach communal values – even to protect one another from harm. Whether you love, hate, or elevate gossip to an art form, we want to hear from you: How do you share and use gossip in your life? Guests: Kelsey McKinney, author, "You Didn’t Hear This From Me: (Mostly) True Notes on Gossip"; host and creator of the podcast Normal Gossip

Donald Trump takes the stage on Tuesday night, addressing Congress to make the case for his agenda, after a whirlwind six weeks in office. This week, Trump has levied tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China, which set the stock market plunging. He also halted funding of Ukraine’s war effort following a public berating of Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky. And his DOGE-cuts of various agencies, including the IRS and the Department of Defense continue. We’ll digest the news with a panel of experts. Guests: Marisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED; co-host, KQED's Political Breakdown Annie Lowrey, staff writer, The Atlantic Aaron David Miller, senior fellow for the American Statecraft Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; former negotiator and advisor, on Middle Eastern issues to Republican and Democratic secretaries of state.

Anger and frustration over Elon Musk’s DOGE and its drastic, legally questionable cuts to the federal workforce have sparked protests outside Tesla dealerships around the country, leaving some Tesla owners feeling less than great about their cars. If you have a Tesla, are you thinking of getting rid of it? We’ll talk about whether Elon Musk and the Trump Administration in general are affecting what you’re buying – or swearing off. Guests: Clara Jeffery, editor in chief, Mother Jones Frances Dinkelspiel, journalist, co-founder of Cityside Journalism Initiative Matthew Hiller, owner and designer, Mad Puffer Stickers

Last week, President Trump fired 6,700 IRS employees, while the chronically underfunded agency, is in the midst of tax season. In a New York Times guest essay, seven former IRS commissioners, who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, decried the cuts, which constitute 7% of the agency’s work force, as bad policy that would make the agency less efficient and effective. We talk to tax experts and former IRS commissioner Daniel Werfel, who oversaw efforts to overhaul the agency during the Biden administration, about the impact of these cuts to the agency and to the federal budget and Trump’s policy towards the IRS. Guests: Vanessa Williamson, senior fellow, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center; she is the author of "Read My Lips: Why Americans Are Proud to Pay Taxes'; she is also a senior fellow in the Governance Studies department at Brookings Daniel Werfel, former IRS commissioner, Werfel served as the 50th Commissioner of the IRS from March 2023 to January 2025

Have you ever felt so creatively connected to someone that it’s like you share the same brain? That’s how acclaimed writers Tommy Orange and Kaveh Akbar describe their relationship. They’re best friends who wrote their recent novels “Wandering Stars” and “Martyr” by sending each other “cheernotes” in which they “waved [their] pom poms with genuine excitement at what the other’d just wrought from the ether,” as Akbar puts it. The two are embarking on a Bay Area driving tour to celebrate their friendship and art, and they join us on Forum. Guests: Tommy Orange, novelist, his books include "Wandering Stars" and "There There," which was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize. Kaveh Akbar, poet and novelist, his books include "Martyr!," a National Book Award finalist

Former San Francisco Chronicle reporter Kevin Fagan spent more than three decades reporting on everything from wildfires to serial killers but he has been especially dogged in his coverage of the city’s seemingly intractable homelessness problem. His new book, “The Lost and the Found,” draws on his extensive, immersive reporting to tell the stories of two homeless people – how they ended up on the streets of San Francisco and how they left. We talk with Fagan about his detailed portrait of what it is like to survive without shelter and why it’s so difficult to resolve an issue that has long plagued our region. Guests: Kevin Fagan, author of “The Lost and The Found;" longtime, award-winning journalist and former reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle specializing in homelessness and serial killers.

You might know filmmaker, actor and comedian Robert Townsend for his roles in “The Meteor Man” and the Emmy award-winning TV show “The Bear.” Or for writing and directing classics like “Hollywood Shuffle” and “The Five Heartbeats.” Townsend has paved the way for generations of Black actors and filmmakers, and in his one-man stage show, “Living the Shuffle,” he opens up about personal challenges, the role Shakespeare played in his life and being mentored by Sidney Poitier. What has Robert Townsend’s work meant to you? Guest: Robert Townsend, actor, director, writer, and filmmaker

San Francisco author Brittany Newell’s novel “Soft Core” explores the city’s underbelly — while making its tech bros minor characters. With pinpoint descriptions of the sweat on a west-bound Muni in October, the ceiling of the sometimes-cool, sometimes-not Makeout Room and the vinyl seats of the now-shuttered Silver Crest Diner, Newell writes of the city as lived by her protagonist, a stripper and dominatrix. And she pushes back on the negative narratives of the city she loves, drawing from San Francisco’s rich history of sex and love to argue the city’s not dead — and not just for the very rich. She joins us to share her San Francisco and to hear yours. Guest: Brittany Newell, writer and performer living in San Francisco, author of the new novel, “Soft Core”

At the moment New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles are the cities where music making happens. But San Francisco hopes to add itself to that list. To that end, last month, Mayor Daniel Lurie announced San Francisco Music Week — which coincides with the Noise Pop Festival and includes live performances, workshops, and talks from industry insiders about how to reinvigorate the local music scene. We’ll talk to music makers and shakers about how the city can support live music and how the music scene could help revive the city’s economy. Guests: Nastia Voynovskaya, editor and reporter, KQED Arts Jordan Kurland, co-owner and producer, Noise Pop Industries, which organizes the Noise Pop Festival; co-founder and partner, Brilliant Corner Artists Management Laline St. Juste, musician, producer and solo artist, sings with the band The Seshen; founder, 7000 Coils, the independent record label P-Lo Paolo Rodriguez, musician and producer, His latest album is "For the Soil" Tina Davis, president, Empire, an independent re

The United States has reached a preliminary deal with Ukraine to share in revenue from the country’s mineral assets, but so far it is not offering security guarantees against Russia in return. It’s a reflection of the Trump Administration’s Russia-first policy, according to retired army lieutenant colonel and Trump impeachment whistleblower Alexander Vindman. We talk to Vindman about his new book “The Folly of Realism: How the West Deceived Itself About Russia and Betrayed Ukraine.” Guests: Alexander Vindman, author, His new book is "The Folly of Realism: How the West Deceived Itself About Russia and Betrayed Ukraine"; lieutenant colonel, United States Army (Retired); former director for European Affairs; U.S. National Security Council

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a host of lawsuits against the Trump administration, as Governor Gavin Newsom tries to stay in Trump’s good graces to safeguard federal disaster aid. It could be a good cop-bad cop strategy from the state, says KQED’s politics team, who join us to talk about how the Trump administration is shaping state politics. We’ll also look at who might be eyeing the governorship to replace termed-out Newsom — and whether former vice president Kamala Harris could enter the race. Guests: Guy Marzorati, correspondent, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk Marisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED; co-host, KQED's Political Breakdown Scott Shafer, senior editor, KQED’s California Politics and Government Desk; co-host, Political Breakdown

Thousands of government employees have lost their jobs as part of the Trump’s Administration’s purge of the federal workforce, led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Many workers have also been sent emails demanding they justify their jobs, or face termination. We’ll look at how federal workers in the Bay Area and beyond are coping with the chaos and uncertainty, how some are fighting back, and what the purge could mean for government services. Guests: Max Stier, CEO and president, Partnership for Public Service - a nonprofit group that promotes best practices in government. Courtney Rozen, federal workforce reporter, Bloomberg Law Mark Smith, president, National Federation of Federal Employees Local 1

The Federal Aviation Administration recently began firing hundreds of workers, raising concerns over airline safety. The latest cuts come in the wake of several recent plane crashes, including a January 27 midair collision between an Army helicopter and American Airlines plane in Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people. The Trump administration says that nobody with a “critical safety” position has been terminated, but union officials and former workers say some were in safety-related roles. We’ll look at what it all means for the state of aviation safety and the future of flying. Guests: Mark DeSaulnier, United States Congressman, Representing 10th district of California (the East Bay); author of the “Safe Landings Act (2024)” Todd Yeary, former air traffic controller Bill McGee, Senior Fellow for Aviation and Travel, American Economic Liberties Project Lori Aratani, Reporter focusing on transportation issues, including airports, airlines, and the nation's railroad and subway systems, The Washington Post

On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to root out anti-Christian bias and embrace his “beautiful Christians.” A particular form of Christianity – Christian Nationalism – is informing the Trump coalition. Trump has appointed avowed Christian nationalists like head of OMB Russell Vought and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has said the country is in a “spiritual battle.” In a podcast, Hegseth said, “Our American Crusade is not about literal swords, and our fight is not with guns. Yet.” We talk with experts about the agenda and influence of the Christian nationalist movement. Guests: Sarah McCammon, National Political Correspondent for NPR and co-host of the NPR Politics Podcast, McCammon is the author of "The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church" Katherine Stewart, journalist and author, Stewart is the author of "Money, Lies and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy" and "Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism