KQED's Forum

Journalist Jonathan Weber has had a front row seat to San Francisco’s many rises and falls as the nation’s tech capital since the early 1990s. His new book, “City on the Edge” offers a sweeping history of the tech industry in San Francisco, chronicling its unprecedented successes as well as its devastating consequences. Drawing on 200 interviews with mayors, CEOs, political leaders, activists, entrepreneurs, and artists, Weber tells the story of a war waged for the heart of San Francisco that has had an impact far beyond the city’s famed Golden Gates.

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

We tend to focus on how climate change affects coral reefs, sea turtles and polar bears on melting ice. But we rarely focus on how climate change is affecting microbes — the bacteria, fungi and viruses we can only see with microscopes — which outnumber all other life on earth. So says science writer Shayla Love, who warns that a warming planet might be making those microorganisms mutate in a concerning and even deadly way. And that melting ice may even unleash new, unfamiliar microbes. We talk with Love about her New Yorker article, “Our Warming Planet Is a Petri Dish for New and Deadly Microbes.”

Guests:

Shayla Love, science writer; her recent New Yorker article is “Our Warming Planet Is a Petri Dish for New and Deadly Microbes”

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

Cigarettes are cool again…especially with GenZ. Despite decades of anti-smoking campaigns, you’re likely to see more young people smoking in films, at bars, on street corners, and in social media feeds. Researchers tie the trend to Y2K nostalgia, soft nihilism, and a turn away from “clean girl” wellness culture. Actual youth smoking rates are still at historic lows, but we’ll explore how glamorization complicates the public health conversation around nicotine.

Guests:

Pamela Ling, professor of medicine, UCSF; Ling studies the tobacco industry marketing strategies targeting young adults, women and other high risk populations

Kevin Truong, business editor, The San Francisco Standard; Truong co-wrote the piece "They Know It Kills You. Gen Z is Smoking Cigarettes Anyway"

Degen Pener, journalist; Pener wrote the piece "Cigarettes Get a Sequel: Hollywood's 'Cool' Habit Is Back"

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

It’s no longer news that Hollywood studios are using artificial intelligence in editing, animation, visual effects and more. But last week “Dreams of Violets,” a new film about protests in Iran, became the first fully AI-generated live-action feature to screen at Tribeca and is a project that journalist Steven Zeitchik says the industry is watching nervously. We talk about the rapidly growing use of A.I. in filmmaking and the impacts that’s having on audiences, industry professionals and an artform built on human storytelling.

Guests:

Steven Zeitchik, senior editor for technology and politics, Hollywood Reporter; author, "Mind and Iron," a humanist newsletter about our AI future

Peter Murrieta, executive producer, showrunner and writer; secretary-treasurer, Writers Guild of America West

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

Oakland filmmaker, rapper and activist Boots Riley’s new film ‘I Love Boosters’ is a surreal crime comedy that follows three women who shoplift clothes to make ends meet. Like all of his work, there’s radical pro-worker politics, indictments of industry, and funk-filled absurdism. We’ll talk to Riley about his distinctive storytelling and how it centers his hometown.

Guests:

Boots Riley, writer and director, "I Love Boosters;" his previous films include "Sorry to Bother You"

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

After decades of decline, many church leaders believe that religious life is on the upswing as some younger Americans flock to Christianity — including Vice President JD Vance, whose new book on his Catholic conversion drops this week. But the fuller picture is more complicated. Coming up, we’ll talk to religion reporters and a church leader about what may be driving this shift, and what its lasting impacts could be.

Guests:

Michael O'Loughlin, executive editor, National Catholic Reporter; O'Loughlin has covered the Catholic church for both the Boston Globe and Crux; author, "Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear"

Lauren Jackson, deputy editorial director for newsletters and the host of “Believing," The New York Times

Ryan Burge, professor of practice at the John C. Danforth Center, Washington University; author, “Graphs about Religion”

Danté Stewart, author, “Shoutin’ in the Fire: An American Epistle;” an ordained minister at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Augusta, Ga.

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

In writer and poet Ben Lerner’s latest novel, “Transcription,” an unnamed narrator travels to interview his elderly mentor. But shortly after checking into his hotel, the narrator knocks his phone into water, ruining the only recording device he brought. What unfolds is an exploration of all of the mundane and profound ways technology intersects with our lives. There’s the bad: the mental offloading and trust we place in our smartphones and the uncanny valley of glitchy Zoom calls. But there’s also the good: how it can sometimes be easier to express ourselves through phone calls rather than in-person, or how ASMR videos can actually benefit some children. We’ll talk with Lerner about novels’ long history of documenting human relationships with technology, and his own expanding definition of fiction.

Guests:

Ben Lerner, author, “Leaving the Atocha Station,” “10:04,” and “The Topeka School,” which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; his latest novel is “Transcription.”

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

Former Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland won the New Mexico Democratic gubernatorial primary this month, and if she wins this November, she would become the first female Native American governor in U.S. history. Haaland was already the first Native American cabinet secretary, which she describes in her new memoir as a uniquely profound experience: “Unlike any previous interior secretary, I had inherited trauma caused by the very institution I led. But I had also inherited the courage, perseverance, and love of community that had been passed down to me since my Pueblo ancestors’ first footsteps on the desert earth.” We’ll talk with Haaland about her reflections on the eve of America’s 250th as a civil servant, and why she still defends the Democratic Party. Her new memoir is “A Voice Like Mine.”

Guests:

Deb Haaland, former United States Secretary of the Interior under President Biden; Democratic nominee for governor, New Mexico; author of the new memoir, "A Voice Like Mine"

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

Levi’s Stadium will be the site of a series of World Cup matches beginning June 13. Switzerland, Algeria, Qatar, Jordan and Australia are some of the teams that will be appearing in match ups. Though the FIFA extravaganza has had a bumpy rollout with complaints about high ticket prices and tourists opting not to come to the U.S. for matches, local expat communities are ready to cheer their home teams on. We’ll talk to hometown fans about their hopes and dreams for their teams and their lives in America.

Guests:

Erich Sonnberger, realtor, Intero Real Estate Services in Menlo Park; president, United Swiss Societies of Northern California

Dr. Nasser "Nas" Mohamed, physician and founder, Osra Medical; LGBTQ activist and the 2023 Grand Marshal for the SF Pride Parade

Salvador Rodriguez, journalist; his Substack "The 2026 Dispatch" is focused on the World Cup

Mounir Bhaloul, co-founder and co-owner, KAYMA, an Algerian restaurant

Melissa Zajic, executive director, Australian American Chamber of Commerce

Charlie Marji, president, Jordanian American Association of San Francisco

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

What’s in a face? For the ancient Greeks, the shape and features of a person’s face revealed their character, virtue and intelligence. Though these attitudes are outdated, they linger today as our faces are scrutinized in selfies and social media. In her new book, “The Face,” historian Fay Bound-Alberti shares the history and science of how we see and make sense of one another’s faces—while she struggles to recognize the faces of others. She’ll share why the human face has influenced politics, culture and our obsession with beauty and perfection.

Guests:

Fay Bound-Alberti, professor of modern history, King's College London; author, "The Face: A Cultural History"

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