KQED's Forum

Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin has been sounding the alarm about creeping authoritarianism, warning of military forces on U.S. streets and extrajudicial killings on the high seas. Now, following a military raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, those warnings feel newly urgent. Slotkin joins us to discuss what the Maduro operation reveals about presidential power, and what Congressional oversight mechanisms are available. Furthermore, President Trump says the U.S. will now control Venezuela’s massive oil reserves — over 300 billion barrels of crude oil. Later in the hour, we talk about why the U.S. might keep Venezuela’s existing government in place, the real challenges of extracting Venezuela’s oil resources and how Trump’s use of the Monroe Doctrine is reshaping global politics.

Guests:

Elissa Slotkin, U.S. Senator representing Michigan; member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services

Antonia Juhasz, investigative journalist covering energy and the environment for Rolling Stone and other outlets. She is the author of several books on the industry, including "The Tyranny of Oil."

Kevin Whitaker, former U.S. ambassador to Colombia and deputy chief of mission in Venezuela. He is senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a non-partisan think tank.

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A blackout that left one-third of San Francisco customers without power – some up to three days – was one of six outages that plagued PG&E throughout the holidays. Disabled Waymos blocked streets. The Nutcracker was cancelled. Restaurants and businesses were closed. Customers and politicians are demanding answers and calling for the end of PG&E’s monopoly. We’ll talk about the blackout and what it can tell us about the reliability of  our power sources and Waymo’s vulnerabilities, and we’ll  hear how it affected you.

Guests:

Joe Eskenazi, managing editor and columnist, Mission Local

Jeffrey Tumlin, former Director of Transportation, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA)

Brad Templeton, entrepreneur, writer; Templeton is the chairman emeritus of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and previously worked at Waymo

Bilal Mahmood, supervisor, District 5, Board of Supervisors San Francisco

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January 7 marks one year since the Palisades and Eaton fires ignited in Los Angeles County. MS NOW senior political reporter Jacob Soboroff reported on the fires, an assignment he pursued because he grew up in Pacific Palisades, despite the emotional challenges of the task. As he writes in his new book, “Firestorm,” “What are you supposed to say when the entire community you were born and raised in is wiped off the map, literally burning to the ground before your eyes?” Soboroff joins us to share how he found the words, where recovery stands in LA and why we’re now in “America’s New Age of Disaster.”

Guests:

Jacob Soboroff, senior political and national reporter, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC); author, "Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America's New Age of Disaster" and "Separated: Inside An American Tragedy"

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In today’s world, it seems there’s a remedy for every modern ailment. Anxiety. Diabetes. Heart disease. There’s a pill for that! But what do the drugs we take to make us better really do? And where do they fit in the big picture of the disease business? In the new podcast, Drug Story, journalist Thomas Goetz digs into modern medicine, examining some of the most prescribed drugs one diagnosis and side effect at a time.  

Guests:

Thomas Goetz, journalist, author and entrepreneur. Host of the podcast 'Drug Story'

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“Plastic is everywhere” writes former EPA official Judith Enck, “wrapped around our food, stitched into our clothes, even coursing through our veins.” Enck says we need to drastically reduce our dependency on plastic to save our oceans, our air and ourselves. We talk to her about why it’s so hard to regulate plastic – and the individual ways we can free ourselves from its “synthetic embrace.” Each American uses about five hundred pounds of plastic a year. Enck’s new book is “The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late.” Have you tried to cut plastic out of your life?

Guests:

Judith Enck, president, Beyond Plastics; served as a regional administrator with the EPA during the Obama Administration

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In a press conference on Saturday after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was captured, President Trump said the U.S. would “run” Venezuela until a proper transition was in place. Trump said “he’s not afraid of boots on the ground,” and that the U.S. will sell seized Venezuelan oil, but the U.S. plan and next steps are far from clear. We’ll talk about Maduro’s capture and what it means for the U.S. and Venezuela.

Guests:

David Sanger, White House and National Security Correspondent, New York Times - His most recent book is "New Cold Wars: China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion and America’s Struggle to Save the West"

Elizabeth Dickinson, Deputy Director of Latin America, International Crisis Group

John Garamendi, U.S. Representative for California's 8th congressional district, former California Lt Governor

Lateefah Simon, U.S. representative for California's 12th congressional district

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Wikipedia, the crowdsourced encyclopedia, is one of the world’s most visited websites, with 11 billion page views each month. Its founder, Jimmy Wales, credits its success to one thing — trust — which he sees at odds with our increasing loss of faith in institutions and in each other. In his new book, he lays out what he calls a “blueprint for building things that last” in volatile times. We’ll talk to Wales about the site’s history and why right wing figures like Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson are attacking it. The book is “The Seven Rules of Trust.” Has Wikipedia earned your trust?

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Sonoma native and former U.S. poet laureate Ada Limón’s collection of new and selected poetry contemplates her relationship to nature, the role of art in an unruly world, and our connection to one another. Her hope is to create “some strange idiosyncratic song, an imperfect echo, to nature and humanity so they will know how much they are loved.” We listen back to our conversation with Limón about her new collection, “Startlement.”

Guests:

Ada Limón, poet

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Rabbi Angela Buchdahl leads the largest synagogue in New York City. But she says she’s never been so afraid to talk about Israel. That’s because she thinks that compassion for people suffering on either side of the war in Gaza has come to be seen as disloyal and even threatening – a zero sum empathy calculus that also applies to ideological battles fought in our country every day. Buchdahl is the first Asian American to be ordained a rabbi, a journey she describes in her new memoir “Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi’s Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging.” We talk to her about why knowing what it feels like to be an outsider has helped her enable connection among people with disparate views and what happens when we become incapable of empathy.

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Singing along with the crowd at a concert. Cheering together at a sports game. Laughing with the audience at a funny moment in a movie. Even getting work done in a busy cafe or library. These are moments when you might experience what has been called collective effervescence, a feeling of social unity that comes from a shared moment. As the year draws to a close, we want to celebrate the uniquely human moments that people share together. Tell us about a recent moment of collective effervescence that you’ve experienced.

Guests:

Shira Gabriel, psychology professor, University at Buffalo

DJ D Sharp, official DJ for the Golden State Warriors

Zoe Ellis, director of music ministries, GLIDE memorial church

Bryan Steele, communications director, Golden Gate Triathalon Club

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