KQED's Forum

We meet Stanford chemical engineer William Tarpeh, who was recently awarded a 2025 MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship. Tarpeh’s work involves developing systems to extract nitrogen from waste streams to be used in fertilizer, cleaners and industrial chemical production. We talk to him about the environmental and public health benefits of his projects in Kenya and elsewhere, the role that California has played in his academic career and his plans for the fellowship.

Guests:

William Tarpeh, assistant professor of chemical engineering, Stanford University

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A group of American investors, including Silicon Valley allies of President Trump, is expected to take control of TikTok’s U.S. operations from Chinese parent company ByteDance, according to the White House. The video sharing platform has come under heavy bipartisan criticism as a national security risk. We’ll talk to Forbes investigative reporter Emily Baker-White about the proposed deal and what it could mean for TikTok’s millions of users. Baker-White’s new book is “Every Screen On The Planet: The War Over TikTok.”

Guests:

Emily Baker-White, investigative reporter and senior writer, Forbes

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According to San Francisco workers, the hustle culture of the pre-pandemic days has returned in the form of long working days and weekends at the office. So called “996 work”, which originates from China’s tech scene, is a work schedule that starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 9 p.m., six days a week. The hustle isn’t new to Silicon Valley, but the hyper-competitive AI tech race and the fact that some employers are making 996 mandatory for its staff, or using it as a recruitment filter, could lead to uncharted territory. We talk about the origins of 996, the grind culture of Silicon Valley, and whether or not this trend is going to stick.

Guests:

Carolyn Chen, associate professor of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley and co-director, Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion. Author, "Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley"

Lora Kelley, Journalist and writer covering tech and work

Ara Kharazian , economist at Ramp, a tech company focused on financial automation

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The deadline is approaching for Governor Newsom to sign — or veto — any remaining bills passed last month by California’s legislature. He’s recently approved laws that crack down on illegal street vending, bar ICE officers from wearing masks and enhance data privacy. Some of the measures pending include a proposal for more transit-oriented development and a reparations package. We’ll talk about what Newsom’s positions on the bills could signal about his priorities for California and what the new laws mean for you.

Guests:

Guy Marzorati, correspondent, KQED's California Politics and Government Desk

Jeanne Kuang, Capitol reporter, CalMatters

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Alice Waters has changed the way the country thinks about the importance of fresh, organic produce in the more than fifty years since she founded her restaurant, Chez Panisse, and in the three decades since launching the Edible Schoolyard Project in Berkeley. Now, as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. extolls the importance of healthy food for kids while the administration slashes funding for the programs that provide it, we talk with Alice Waters about how to improve food for children and about her new book, “A School Lunch Revolution: A Cookbook.”

Guests:

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The scope of presidential power is front and center as the Supreme Court begins a new term. Cases on the docket will test Trump’s agenda, including his ability to levy tariffs and his attempts to fire Federal Reserve members. Also at stake are the survival of the Voting Rights Act, as well as a state’s authority to ban conversion therapy, and the rights of transgender athletes.  We talk about how the conservative-leaning Roberts court might rule, and what role the Court will play in supporting or stopping Trump’s efforts to shape the country.

Guests:

Olatunde C. Johnson, professor of law, Columbia Law School; she served on President Biden's Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court

Mark Joseph Stern, senior writer, Slate; co-host of the "Amicus" podcast

Melissa Murray, professor of law, NYU School of Law; co-host of the "Strict Scrutiny" podcast

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Amidst funding cuts, massive layoffs, editorial differences and Donald Trump’s ongoing attacks on media, more and more journalists and creators are leaving traditional media platforms and going independent. They’re turning to newsletters, Substack channels, Youtube and more, to keep doing the work they’ve been doing – but without institutional guardrails. As stalwart publications like The Washington Post are seeing a major exodus of reporters and as Paramount Skylark purchases The Free Press and hires its co-founder Bari Weiss as the new editor-in-chief of CBS news, we check in with independent journalists about the shifting landscape of the media.

Guests:

Brian Merchant, tech journalist; writes Blood in the Machine newsletter; author, "Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion against Big Tech"

Alicia Kennedy, food and culture writer; founder, From The Desk of Alicia Kennedy; author, "No Meat Required: The Cultural History and Culinary Future of Plant-Based Eating"

Nick Valencia, journalist; former CNN correspondent; founder, Nick Valencia News

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Preventing the next deadly pandemic, because it’s only a matter of time.  Senior Science magazine correspondent Jon Cohen has travelled Vietnam and the Amazon rainforest to learn what scientists are doing to keep the most dangerous pathogens at bay, and why we need to avoid what he calls cycles of panic and neglect — a rush of  resources and interest when a virus bursts on the scene followed by inattention. Cohen’s new book is “Planning Miracles.”

Guests:

Jon Cohen, senior correspondent, Science magazine; author, “Planning Miracles: How to Prevent Future Pandemics"

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AI video creation software is advancing rapidly and some of its output is very alarming. OpenAI’s Sora, currently the most downloaded app in the App Store, allows users to create incredibly realistic deepfake videos with minimal effort. One viral example? A fake video of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shoplifting in a department store. With technology this convincing, how can we trust what we see online? And what kind of destabilizing impact could this have on our society?

Guests:

Max Read, journalist, screenwriter, editor, former editor at Gawker and Select All

Alice Marwick, director of research, Data & Society

Jason Koebler, co-founder, 404 Media

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What makes us vulnerable to charlatans? A new book by journalist Quico Toro takes a close look at charismatic manipulators from literal snake oil peddlers to crypto scammer Sam Bankman-Fried. We talk to Toro about how charlatans exploit our need for certainty, belonging and leadership — and why the tricks are old, but thanks to viral amplification on social media, the scale is new. Toro’s book, co-written with Moisés Naim, is “Charlatans: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Hucksters Bamboozle the Media, the Markets, and the Masses.”

Guests:

Francisco Toro, author, "Charlatans: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Hucksters "Bamboozle the Media, the Markets, and the Masses" - he's also director of climate repair at the Anthropocene Institute

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