Kqeds Forum

President Trump’s recently passed megabill allocates $75 billion in extra funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, tripling its budget and making ICE the largest law enforcement agency in the country. Historian and journalist Garrett Graff has covered law enforcement and democracy for the last 20 years and says it’s hard not to see the funding increase as “turbo-charging an increasingly lawless regime of immigration enforcement.” We talk to him about the implications of a radically expanded ICE. Guests: Garrett Graff, journalist and historian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You’ve probably been to a national or state park in California. But have you ever hiked in BLM land?  15% of California –  15 million acres – is  public land operated by the federal Bureau of Land Management. This is land that no one wanted: not beautiful enough to be deemed a national park and too remote to be developed. As such, they are under threat of being exploited for their resources or sold off, which Republicans have threatened to do. In his new book, “The Enduring Wild: A Journey into California’s Public Lands,” Josh Jackson shines a light on the beauty of these “common grounds” that belong to all of us and the perils that they face. Guests: Josh Jackson, author, "The Enduring Wild: A Journey into California's Public Lands" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We need to make “Much Ado About Keanu” Reeves. That’s according to pop culture writer Sezín Devi Koehler’s new book about the wildly popular – if sometimes underestimated – Hollywood star. Besides acting in eighty films over his 40-year career, from “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” to “The Matrix,” Reeves’ roles have challenged stereotypes of masculinity, provided representation of Asian American and native Hawaiian communities— and he’s known for stepping aside to let his costars shine. We’ll talk about what makes Reeves’ career “most excellent.” What’s your favorite Keanu role? Guests: Carly Severn, senior editor of audience news, KQED Sezín Devi Koehler, pop culture writer; author, "Much Ado About Keanu: A Critical Reeves Theory" Angelica Jade Bastién, critic covering film and pop culture, New York Magazine's Vulture Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A bill to claw back $1.1 billion in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds public radio and television, will be voted on by the House on Thursday evening. The legislation has already passed the Senate, on a largely partisan vote. We’ll talk to the president of KQED and representatives from other public radio and television outlets about the impacts these cuts will have on their mission to provide free public programming to their communities. Guests: Michael Isip, president and CEO, KQED David Folkenflik, media correspondent, NPR News Brian Duggan, general manager, KUNR and KNCC Kate Riley, president and CEO, America's Public Television Stations Andre de Channes, general manager and director of operations, KZYX Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a spate of lawsuits against the Trump administration, including challenges to mass terminations of federal employees, the sharing of Medicaid data with immigration authorities and the federal government’s takeover of the California National Guard. His office is also involved in lawsuits related to public health funding cuts and stalled clean energy projects. We’ll talk to the state’s top prosecutor about what’s at stake in the cases and what it’s been like to fight a president he says has an “endless desire to seize more power.” Guests: Rob Bonta, California Attorney General Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Ukrainian town of Irpin made international headlines at the outset of Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion when local reservists repelled Russian forces advancing toward Kyiv. But the toll was severe for the town Ukraine has now designated a “hero city.” Hundreds of civilians were killed during Russia’s month-long occupation of Irpin, and thousands of buildings were destroyed. Among those was the main campus building of the State Tax University. Now a Bay Area organization is helping to rebuild the university, bringing design and construction ideas that it hopes will be a model for other sites. We’ll talk about the project and the multilayered challenges Ukraine faces as it seeks to rebuild while still at war. The reporting for this episode was supported by the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Women on the Ground: Reporting from Ukraine’s Unseen Frontlines Initiative in partnership with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Guests: Zhanna Bezpiatchuk, reporter, BBC Ukraine Margie O'Driscoll, executi

The Bay Area is getting increasingly older at a faster rate than other parts of the country, making it the third oldest region in the U.S. Some neighborhoods in Berkeley have a median age of 60. What will it take for our infrastructures to be well set up for our aging population? We talk through the latest data, hear from aging experts and learn from local organizations who have been meeting the ‘silver tsunami’ head on. Guests: Stacy Torres, assistant professor of social behavioral sciences, UCSF Danielle Echeverria, data reporter, San Francisco Chronicle Shakirah Simley, executive director, Booker T. Washington Community Center Diane Wong, executive director, J-Sei Community Center Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“You can tell what a culture values by who it labels a genius—and also what it is prepared to tolerate. The Renaissance had its great artists. The Romantics lionized androgynous, tubercular poets. Today we are in thrall to tech innovators and brilliant jerks in Silicon Valley.” So writes Atlantic staff writer Helen Lewis in her new book, “The Genius Myth: A Curious History of a Dangerous Idea.” Lewis analyzes how the “genius” label is disproportionately applied to white men, often acting as an excuse for antisocial behavior. She joins us to share why she thinks we could all be more honest about the role history and collaboration play in any individual’s accomplishments—and the good that comes from allowing fewer lone wolves to make decisions on our collective behalf. Guests: Helen Lewis, staff writer, The Atlantic - author, "The Genius Myth: A Curious History of a Dangerous Idea" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adolescence has always been turbulent, but what happens when you mix in early puberty, digital information overload and a world that feels increasingly unsteady? Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Matt Richtel says we’re living through a radical shift in how we come of age. In his new book “How We Grow Up,” Richtel draws on neuroscience and conversations with youth and their families to explore what’s behind a rising adolescent mental health crisis — and why it’s not just about the phones. He joins us. Guests: Matt Richtel, health and science reporter, New York Times; author, "How We Grow Up: Understanding Adolescence" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first six months of his second term, President Trump has done a lot of what he said he would do, from proposing sweeping tariffs to gutting federal agencies and their workers to deporting thousands of immigrants. And Americans now await the effects of Republicans’ massive bill cutting taxes and expanding immigration enforcement while slashing popular programs. We check in on Trump’s ambitions and the ways Congress and the courts are expanding, or checking, his presidential power. Guests: Philip Bump, national columnist, Washington Post; author of "The Aftermath: The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power in America" Claudia Grisales, congressional correspondent, NPR David Graham, staff writer, The Atlantic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Water conservation is a constant challenge for Californians, but according to the New York Times’s Michael Kimmelman, there’s one city that’s doing it right: Los Angeles. Kimmelman found that L.A. has consumed less water in total since 1990 even as the city gained millions of residents. We talk with Kimmelman and California water officials about the strategies L.A. is using and what other states can learn from its example. Guests: Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic, New York Times Liz Crosson, chief sustainability, resiliency and innovation officer, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Mark Gold, board member of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; adjunct professor at UCLA’s Institute for the Environment and Sustainability; former director of Water Scarcity Solutions for the Natural Resources Defense Council Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To be a modern consumer is to experience poor customer service at some point in your life. The kind of service that has you in a fever dream of pressing “1” for “representative,” getting your call dropped, calling back again, and then asking to speak to a manager who can’t solve your problem. Experts call this kind of service “sludge,” an administrative morass meant to deter, not help, consumers. And for some businesses, it’s a feature not a bug. We’ll talk to journalist Chris Colin about the practice and hear from you: what’s your sludge story? Guests: Chris Colin, journalist, The Atlantic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist E. Jean Carroll has won two multimillion-dollar judgments against President Trump for sexual abuse and defamation. Her new memoir, “Not My Type: One Woman vs. a President,” is a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to sue a U.S. President: the toll it took, and how support and some dark humor helped carry her through. We talk to Carroll about her experiences and hear reflections from MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin about the significance of Carroll’s victory against a president who has otherwise avoided legal consequences for his actions. Guests: E. Jean Carroll, journalist; author of the long-running advice column "Ask E. Jean"; author, "Not My Type: One Woman vs. a President" Lisa Rubin, legal correspondent, MSNBC; host of MSNBC's "Can They Do That?" on Youtube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The flooding in Central Texas over the Fourth of July holiday has claimed more than 100 lives and caused widespread destruction across six counties. Search and rescue efforts are ongoing, with teams from across the country — including California — joining the response. We get on-the-ground updates, hear how rescue operations are going and as extreme weather events become more common, we look at whether this could happen in California. Guests: Hayley Smith, reporter focusing on extreme weather, Los Angeles Times Lucio E Vasquez, breaking news reporter, Texas Newsroom Greg Porter, senior newsroom meteorologist, San Francisco Chronicle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the Library of Congress’s new National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Bay Area children’s author Mac Barnett wants to reframe how we think about picture books. With his platform, “Behold the Picture Book,” he’s championing the vital role picture books play in engaging readers of all ages and why we love them. What’s the picture book you love reading over and over and over? Guests: Mac Barnett, author of the children's books "Circle," "Square" and "Triangle" which have been made into a new animated series "Shape Island" on AppleTV+; his books have won Caldecott honors and E.B. White Read Aloud Awards Aida Salazar, children's book author, her picture books include "Jovita Wore Pants" and "In the Spirit of a Dream" Laura G. Lee, children's book author and illustrator, her picture books are "Soy Sauce!" and "Cat Eyes" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump on Friday signed into law a massive tax and spending package: the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which delivers sweeping tax breaks for the wealthy while slashing social safety net programs. It cuts nearly $30 billion in Medicaid funding to California, defunds wildfire prevention and, according to Governor Gavin Newsom’s office, puts hundreds of thousands of jobs in the state at risk. The legislation also directs at least $170 billion to immigration detention and border security. Meanwhile, deficit watchers worry about its fiscal impacts. We’ll break down what this bill means for healthcare, immigration, education and everyday Californians like you. Guests: Jessica Roy, personal finance columnist, San Francisco Chronicle David Lightman, chief congressional correspondent, McClatchy Andrea Castillo, staff writer covering immigration, LA Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Caregiving is the most universal of human acts. But also one of the most invisible. While caring for a child, parent or loved one can be meaningful, and life defining, it can also be exhausting and life breaking. Drawing on her groundbreaking research on baby’s brains, UC Berkeley psychologist and philosopher Alison Gopnik is leading a multidisciplinary project to better understand the social science of caregiving with hopes of translating those insights into practical policies. Gopnik and policymaker Anne-Marie Slaughter join us to talk about how rethinking our approach to caregiving and how we support care providers, could lead to a better, more functional society. Guests: Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy, UC Berkeley; author, "The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us About the Relationship Between Parents and Children" Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America, a non-profit think tank; author of "Unfinished Business:

Atlantic staff writer and Pulitzer Prize finalist Elizabeth Bruenig has attended five death row executions over the past half-decade. “What I witnessed,” she writes in her new cover story, “has not changed my conviction that capital punishment must end. But in sometimes-unexpected ways, it has changed my understanding of why.” We talk to Bruenig about what she saw and what she learned about mercy, forgiveness and redemption. Her article is called “Witness.” Guests: Elizabeth Bruenig, staff writer, The Atlantic - whose recent article is "Inside America’s Death Chambers" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When a scrappy San Francisco literary journal launched in 1985 to champion West Coast writers, the dream was to make a lasting imprint. Now, 40 years later, we celebrate Zyzzyza’s anniversary with editor Oscar Villalon and writers Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) and Ingrid Rojas Contreras. We’ll talk about the literary journal’s vision, its stellar roster of writers and poets, and what makes the West Coast literary scene special. Guests: Oscar Villalon, editor, Zyzzyva Magazine - San Francisco based literary journal Daniel Handler, author of the children's book series "A Series of Unfortunate Events" under the pen name "Lemony Snicket" - contributor, "The End of the Golden Gate" Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Bay Area-based writer, author of the novel “Fruit of the Drunken Tree” and the memoir “The Man Who Could Move Clouds” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices