KQED's Forum

Public media outlets say they will fight President Trump’s executive order directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to end its financial support for NPR and PBS. Public media leaders and executives question the order’s legality and say a loss of federal funding endangers the broader network of public media programming. We look at the potential impact on stations in rural communities in California, where those outlets are often the only source of news and emergency warnings. Join us.

Guests:

David Folkenflik, media correspondent, NPR News

Dina Polkinghorne, interim general manager, KZYX / Mendocino County Public Broadcasting

Connie Leyva, executive director, KVCR in the Inland Empire

Michael Isip, president and chief executive officer, KQED

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In his new book “Sex is a Spectrum: The Biological Limits of the Binary,” Princeton biological anthropologist Agustin Fuentes makes the case that among animals, including humans, sex variation and reproductive biology is far more complex and fluid than we think. We discuss why many of the assumptions about male and female differences are more cultural than biological, and what intersex earthworms and fish that switch sexes can teach us about gender and sex.

Guests:

Agustín Fuentes, anthropologist, Princeton University; his latest book is called "Sex is a Spectrum"

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Tariffs on many of China’s imports into the United States now stand at 145%; most U.S. imports into China face tariffs of 125%. While President Trump and senior U.S. officials insist a trade deal is within reach, China’s Commerce Ministry has stated that it will not engage in talks until U.S. tariffs are lifted. With Trump’s trade war threatening to derail the critical relationship, and China casting itself as a stable counterpart to Washington’s unpredictability, we talk with Harvard Professor Rana Mitter about what’s at stake, and how we got here.

Guests:

Rana Mitter, S.T. Lee Chair in U.S.-Asia Relations, Harvard Kennedy School

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Last month, Oil Giant Valero announced it would “restructure, or cease operations” at its Benicia refinery by the end of April 2026, as California transitions away from fossil fuels. The news left city officials, workers and residents scrambling to figure out what to do next. Valero is the city’s largest employer and a significant taxpayer, but also a source of pollution.  We talk about the possible closure and what it means for our region.

Guests:

Julie Small, criminal justice reporter, KQED

Severin Borenstein, professor at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and a faculty director of The Energy Institute at Haas

Josh Sonnenfeld, senior California strategist, BlueGreen Alliance

Steve Young, mayor, Benicia

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Laila Lalami’s new novel, “The Dream Hotel,” imagines a dystopian future where even our dreams are under surveillance. AI tools can scan our dreams to determine whether we’re likely to commit a crime, then we’re sent away to so-called “retention centers” to be monitored in the name of “safety.” Mina sat down with Lalami in April at Night of Ideas in San Francisco to talk about the timeliness and inspiration behind her story about a Los Angeles mother, caught in a web of government surveillance, detainment without charges and AI tools. We’ll hear that conversation.

Guest:

Laila Lalami, author of the new novel, "The Dream Hotel;" she’s the author of five other books including "The Moor’s Account" and "The Other Americans"

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For seasoned and beginner bakers alike, there are always new techniques to learn when it comes to baking that perfect chocolate chip cookie or pie crust. Cookbook author and recipe developer Jessica Battilana shares what common mistakes bakers make, her key tips and tricks for successful baking, and why baking is bringing much-needed joy for so many people right now.

Jessica Battilana, co-author, "Rintaro: Japanese Food from an Izakaya in California." Battilana is also a staff editor at King Arthur Baking. Her new podcast is "Things Bakers Know."

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Why do California drivers often get to keep a valid license, even after they kill someone on the road? A new CalMatters investigation studied tens of thousands of DMV driver reports and found that nearly 40 percent of the drivers charged with vehicular manslaughter since 2019 are able to drive on the road today. Nearly 400 of those drivers have caused other collisions since their first fatal crash. We’ll talk to the reporter behind the investigation and a road safety expert about the DMV protocols and state policies at play. And want to hear from you: When should someone lose their driver’s license?

Guests:

Robert Lewis, reporter, CalMatters; author, CalMatters investigation "License to Kill"

Leah Shahum, founder and executive director, Vision Zero Network; former executive director, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

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For the past several weeks a 45-foot tall wire sculpture of a nude woman has loomed over San Francisco’s Embarcadero Plaza. “R-Evolution,” which first appeared at Burning Man in 2015, has gotten a very mixed reception, sparking controversy in the city over who public art is for and who gets a say. We’ll talk about how public art gets selected, how it illuminates the different relationships people have with shared urban spaces, and why private funding is complicating it all.

Guests:

Sarah Hotchkiss, senior associate editor, KQED Arts and Culture

Cheryl Derricotte, artist

Lynne Baer, public art advisor

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On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese forces captured South Vietnam’s capital of Saigon, ending the Vietnam War. With 50 years now passed, those who left Vietnam — and subsequent generations — are reflecting on how the war and the ensuing exodus have influenced their identities and heritage. Three writers from across the Vietnamese diaspora write about the war and its lasting impacts on refugees and future generations in a new issue of the literary magazine McSweeney’s, titled “The Make Believers.” They join us to share what the anniversary means for them, and we’ll hear what it means to you.

Guests:

Thi Bui, author, illustrated memoir "The Best We Could Do"

Doan Bui, writer and journalist

Isabelle Thuy Pelaud, executive director, Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network

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Donald Trump has given Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency far-reaching authority to fire federal workers without cause and gain access to the confidential information of millions of Americans. The effect has been a wide-scale bulldozing of the federal government. In looking back on the first 100 days of the second Trump administration, we talk with reporters from Wired magazine, who have broken some of the biggest stories on what DOGE is doing, about what is going on and why.

Guests:

Makena Kelly, politics reporter, WIRED

Zoë Schiffer, director of business and industry, WIRED; She oversees coverage of business and Silicon Valley. author, "Extremely Hardcore: Inside Elon Musk’s Twitter."

Vittoria Elliott, platforms and power reporter, Wired Magazine

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