KQED's Forum

After the death of Kim Jong Il, many experts thought the reign of his untried and inexperienced son would be short-lived. Washington Post Beijing bureau chief Anna Fifield says that almost eight years into Kim Jong Un's tenure as North Korea's "Supreme Leader," it is clear that he knows how to maintain power. Fifield's new book, "The Great Successor," details Kim's rise from a mediocre grade school student in Switzerland to a calculating dictator adept at removing rivals. Fifield joins Forum to talk about the book, and how life is changing for North Koreans.

In a series of tweets Monday, Parkland High School graduate Kyle Kashuv announced that Harvard rescinded his offer of admission over newly discovered racist texts and comments Kashuv made when he was 16. Kashuv, a pro-gun conservative, says he made the comments before the deadly Parkland shootings and now disavows them. We'll talk about Harvard's decision.

When NPR reporter Frank Langfitt returned to China in 2011, he says he struggled with how "to penetrate an authoritarian nation where people are leery of talking with foreign journalists." His solution: offer free taxi rides to locals in exchange for conversation. Langfitt joins Forum to talk about his new book, "The Shanghai Free Taxi: Journeys with the Hustlers and Rebels of the New China," and what he learned from his passengers about Chinese censorship, the impact of the election of Donald Trump on the country, John Denver, prostitution and more.

For years, American consumers believed that when they were putting out their recyclables on the curb, they were doing their part to help the environment. Much of this waste ended up in China, but after the country said last year that it would no longer accept plastic and other incoming waste, cities have scrambled to find a new way to dispose of the materials. How are Bay Area cities dealing with the problem of plastic and what legislation is in the works to address the problems?

Since her election last June, San Francisco Mayor London Breed has pushed for investment in affordable housing, more workforce development and new policies to help the city's homeless into shelter and mental health care. Mayor Breed, who is the city's first African-American woman to hold the post, joins Forum to reflect on her first year in office and talk about her vision for San Francisco.

Journalist Jim Acosta is known for taking on the White House, prompting President Trump to call him a "rude, terrible person" and "fake news." The CNN Chief White House correspondent joins Forum to talk about the role of the press in the Trump era, and his new book, "The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America."

Iran has quadrupled production of low enriched uranium and will exceed the limit it is allowed to stockpile in just 10 days, according to a spokesman for the Iranian atomic agency. The country says it is doing so because the U.S. has reneged on its commitment to lift sanctions, leaving it unable to export excess uranium. Sanctions against Iran were removed as part of the historic nuclear deal signed by then President Barack Obama in 2015, but reinstated by President Trump in May of last year. The news is the latest blow in the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

This week’s hot weather and red flag warnings reminded us all that fire season is once again upon us. When homes burn down, fire victims often want to rebuild as quickly as possible. But in light of climate change and more frequent and deadly wildfires, is it time to stop building in areas at high risk for fire? This hour we examine the idea of so-called “managed retreat," backing away from rebuilding in areas prone to destruction.

You might know him as the fashion maven on the Netflix phenomenon, Queer Eye, but Tan France wants you to know a lot more than that. In his new book, “Naturally Tan,” France opens up about his life before the hit show, including what it was like to grow up gay in a traditional Muslim Pakistani family, how he continues to deal with racial profiling and how he met and married his “Mormon cowboy” husband. Tan France joins Forum in studio to talk about his memoir.

Hong Kong is considering new legislation that would extradite residents to mainland China for trial for any one of 37 crimes. The bill has sparked mass demonstrations by pro-democracy defenders who say it will be used by an increasingly repressive government to punish political dissidents. More protests are planned for this weekend. We'll hear the latest developments on this issue.