KQED's Forum

Some fans of the indie-rock band Geese have been feeling betrayed after learning that TikToks that looked like they were made by fans were actually created by a PR firm. But is this just what artists have to do to make it in our hyper-saturated music world? And when major record companies have long been accused of payola, is this even new? We talk about how TikTok and Spotify algorithms work, and whether we can ever discover music without marketing having its thumb on the scale.

Guests:

Glenn McDonald, former "data alchemist" at Spotify; founder, music microgenre catalog Every Noise at Once

Darren Hemmings, author, industry insider newsletter Network Notes; founder and managing director, UK marketing agency Motive Unknown

Bobby Davin, senior vice president of A&R and label partnerships, Stem Distribution

Hiroki Tanaka, former lead guitarist, Canadian experimental prog group Yamantaka // Sonic Titan; just released the solo album ISAN (遺産)

Olivia Jones, associate music analyst, MIDiA Research

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“The Idiot,” a new podcast from Serial and New York Times opinion columnist M. Gessen, shares the story of Gessen’s own cousin, Allen, who went to prison for trying to have his ex-wife killed. The podcast asks how we reckon with personal beliefs about justice and punishment when applied to our own family: Gessen, a critic of the prison system, was shocked to find themself rooting for the prosecution during Allen’s trial. It also explores Gessen’s own complicated feelings about maintaining a relationship with Allen and their family’s range of responses to his crime. Gessen joins us, and we hear from you: Has a relative’s actions made you confront hard truths about yourself, your family and your strongest beliefs?

Guests:

M. Gessen, opinion columnist, New York Times; host, reporter and writer, “The Idiot,” from The New York Times and Serial Productions; they are the author of 11 books, including "The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia," which won the National Book Award in 2017

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The Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration has many people feeling  self-conscious about speaking Spanish in public or being recognized as Latino. Last year’s Supreme Court ruling allowing immigration enforcement agents to question anyone based on their appearance and speech gave more fuel to the administration crackdown that has disproportionately targeted Latino communities.  Now, many U.S. citizens keep their passports on them and question whether they are presenting as “American” enough. We examine the cultural, psychological and societal impacts of Trump’s immigration policies and how Latinos in the Bay Area are responding.

Guests:

Dr. Belinda Hernandez Arriaga, executive director and founder, ALAS (Ayudando Latinos A Soñar); licensed clinical social worker

Tomás Jiménez, Joan B. Ford sociology professor and director of the Institute for Advancing Just Societies, Stanford University; his books include "States of Belonging: Immigration Policies, Attitudes, and Inclusion" and "The Other Side of Assimilation: How Immigrants Are Changing American Life"

Hector, student, John F. Kennedy High School in Richmond, CA

Carmelita Reyes, principal, Rusdale Continuation High School in Oakland

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The San Francisco AI firm Anthropic has developed a new model that it says is too powerful to be released to the public. Called Mythos, Anthropic says it’s in a “different league” when it comes to identifying and exploiting cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and in the wrong hands could enable bad actors to unleash powerful cyberattacks. Anthropic is alerting governments and releasing a limited version called Claude Mythos Preview to about 40 tech companies (including some of its AI competitors) to find and fix their own security vulnerabilities. We look at how this next generation of AI could reshape digital security and policy.

Guests:

Alex Stamos, chief product officer, Corridor; computer science lecturer, Stanford University

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Going to graduate school has never been cheap. But sweeping new changes to the federal loan system – which will now have caps on how much you can borrow – may make it even harder. What do these changes mean for aspiring nurses, teachers, doctors and lawyers — and could they reshape who gets to pursue advanced degrees in America? We’ll talk about student loans, and look at the broader landscape, from income-driven repayment overhauls to the future of public service forgiveness.

Guests:

Aissa Canchola Bañez, policy director, Protect Borrowers, an advocacy group focused on policy solutions for debt issues facing consumers

Jordan Matsudaira, professor at the School of Public Affairs, American University; Matsudaira served as Deputy Undersecretary and Chief Economist at the Department of Education during the Biden Administration

Eileen Fry-Bowers, dean of the School of Nursing and Health Professions, University of San Francisco

Jessica Blake, policy reporter, Inside Higher Ed

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Psychiatrist Suzan Song has for decades worked with people who have experienced extreme traumas, like being trafficked or recruited as child soldiers. She says she became drawn to those who were able not just to survive, but thrive and flourish – even without access to traditional Western talk therapy. We talk to Song about where she thinks true healing comes from,  and how we can apply that to more ordinary suffering, like a breakup or an unexpected loss. Song’s new book is “Why We Suffer and How We Heal.”

Guests:

Suzan Song, psychiatrist and global mental health expert; author, "Why We Suffer and How We Heal"

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California’s record-setting heatwave in March caused snow to melt and vegetation to dry out earlier than normal this year. Those conditions could provide lots of fuel for wildfires and hasten the start of fire season. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has gutted the U.S. Forest Service, which manages close to 60 percent of our state’s forest areas, and plans to close six research centers in California. We’ll dig into how those factors could influence wildfires this year and how you can prepare.

Guests:

Craig Clements, professor of meteorology, director of the Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center at San Jose State University

Marianne Lavelle, Washington, D.C. bureau chief, Inside Climate News

Adrienne Freeman, assistant director for communications for fire and aviation management, US. Forest Service

Brent Pascua, battalion chief, Cal Fire

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The 2026 WNBA season tips off next month. It’s expected to see historic viewership and attendance, after last season’s record-breaking run as the most-watched regular season in the history of the league. But even though this is the WNBA’s historic 30th season, women have been playing basketball since long before 1996. Sports journalists Jordan Robinson and Emma Baccellieri set out to profile the female trailblazers who changed basketball history, like Denise Long Rife, the first woman drafted by an NBA team when she was recruited to the San Francisco Warriors in 1969, and Ora Washington, who in the 1930s became a star on her YMCA’s all-Black basketball team after already winning “almost every tennis trophy available to a Black woman in pre-war America.” We’ll celebrate the players and coaches who made women’s basketball into the phenomenon it is today, and get a preview for the upcoming season, with Robinson and Baccellieri. Their new book is “Court Queens: Celebrate the Players, Teams, and History of Women’s Basketball.”

Guests:

Jordan Robinson, sports journalist; co-author, "Court Queens: Celebrate the Players, Teams, and History of Women’s Basketball"

Emma Baccellieri, staff writer, Sports Illustrated; co-author, "Court Queens: Celebrate the Players, Teams, and History of Women’s Basketball"

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Grammy-nominated bassist and composer Melvin Gibbs contends that all music genres popular in the U.S. — pop, country, rock, dance, hip-hop and Latin — “either are, or are based on, or created using, forms of Black music.” In his new book “How Black Music Took Over the World,” Gibbs set out to trace the “rhythmic genealogy” of music from Africa through the Americas. And he unpacks why traditional Western notations and interpretations of music — even when well-intended — misunderstand the sense of time and kinesthetics fundamental to truly understanding how Black music works. Gibbs joins us with his bass to demonstrate the long reach of the African diaspora, and to ask who gets the credit for the music the whole world loves.

Guests:

Melvin Gibbs, Grammy-nominated composer and musician; author, “How Black Music Took Over The World”

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After almost two decades as Prime Minister, Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orbán was defeated by Péter Magyar, leader of the center-right Tisza party. In the final days of the campaign, President Trump sent Vice President JD Vance to Budapest to campaign for Orbán, but voters weren’t swayed. Could Orbán’s defeat be a sign that President Trump’s brand of right-wing populism is losing its appeal?

Guests:

Zack Beauchamp, senior correspondent, Vox; author, "The Reactionary Spirit"

Lucan Way, distinguished professor of democracy, University of Toronto

Frank Langfitt, national correspondent, NPR

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