KQED's Forum

It’s been two years this month since fighting broke out between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces, leading to a devastating civil war that’s so far killed more than 150,000 people and displaced 13 million while causing the world’s worst famine in decades. The New York Times was the first Western outlet to report from the center of the Sudanese capital since the war erupted. We talk to chief Africa correspondent Declan Walsh about where the war stands and the humanitarian impact.

Guests:

Declan Walsh, chief Africa correspondent, The New York Times - based in Nairobi, Kenya

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After six long years, The San Francisco Chronicle has revived its annual Top 100 Restaurants list. Critics MacKenzie Chung Fegan and Cesar Hernandez join us to share their picks, their process, and their personal food obsessions. We’ll take a tour of the restaurants that made this year’s list, and dish about what makes a restaurant truly “top” – from Michelin-worthy tasting menus to perfectly grilled fish tacos. What Bay Area restaurant would you rank #1?

Guests:

MacKenzie Chung Fegan, restaurant critic, The San Francisco Chronicle

Cesar Hernandez, associate restaurant critic, The San Francisco Chronicle

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Clinicians and scientists are sounding alarms as the Trump administration slashes budgets at federal health agencies, including the NIH, which is the largest funder of cancer research in the world. We talk about the costs of the cuts, which researchers say could set back progress on treatments and cures by decades and jeopardize patients with advanced forms of cancer who rely on experimental clinical trials.

Guests:

Angus Chen, cancer reporter, STAT News

Dr. Adil Daud, oncologist and melanoma specialist, UCSF

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The global economy and U.S. markets have been reeling since President Trump announced a sweeping package of tariffs on Wednesday. China retaliated late Friday with a matching tariff, further nosediving the stock market and escalating the trade war. Economists predict the expansive tariffs will raise prices and impact jobs, and potentially lead to a recession and upend the global economy. We’ll talk to experts about why markets are reacting the way they are, and what it might mean for the future of the global economy.

Guests:

Stephanie Flanders, senior executive editor, Bloomberg; head of Bloomberg Economics

Lori Wallach, director, Rethink Trade program at American Economic Liberties Project; senior advisor; Citizens Trade Campaign

Kyle Handley, associate professor of economics, School of Global Policy and Strategy, UC San Diego; director, Center for Commerce and Diplomacy

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Has someone you love ever been enmeshed in online conspiracy theories? Podcast host Zach Mack’s father fell deep into a rabbit hole and wagered Mack $10,000 that 10 of his far-fetched political and apocalyptic beliefs would come true within the year. Mack created a podcast about the experience called “Alternate Realities,” which New York Magazine has already named one of the best of the year. We talk to Mack about what he learned from the bet and what it was like trying to disentangle his father from the conspiracy theories he embraced. And we’ll hear from UCSF clinical psychiatrist Dr. Joseph Pierre about how to talk with loved ones in the grips of conspiratorial thinking.

Guests:

Zach Mack, producer of the podcast, "Alternate Realities"

Dr. Joe Pierre, health sciences clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UCSF; he is the author of “False: How Mistrust, Disinformation, and Motivated Reasoning Make Us Believe Things That Aren't True"

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“Oakland in ‘87 was hella wild.” So begins the new movie “Freaky Tales,” which establishes its bonafides by having rap legend Too $hort as its narrator. Told in four chapters, the film weaves together punks, rappers, Nazis, and the Warriors, with clutch cameos from local legends. We’ll talk to its director and some of the people whose wild stories inspired the movie. Prepare yourself, we’re popping in the cassette tape and readying the time machine.

Guests:

Gabe Meline, senior editor, KQED Arts and Culture

Tamra Goins, talent agent, Innovative Artists; Goins performed as Entice in the rap duo Dangerzone, which is featured in the movie "Freaky Tales"

Too $hort, Oakland-based West Coast rap legend, producer and founder of OG records; Too $hort is the narrator and executive producer of the movie "Freaky Tales," a love letter to late 1980s Oakland

Ryan Fleck, filmmaker and co-director of the movie "Freaky Tales," Fleck and his co-director Anna Boden's credits include "Captain Marvel," "Half Nelson," "Sugar" and "It's Kind of a Funny Story," among other films; Fleck grew up in Berkeley

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Willkie Farr & Gallagher, the law firm that employs former second gentleman Doug Emhoff, is among the latest to cut a deal with the Trump administration, agreeing to provide $100 million in free legal services to causes the President supports. In executive orders Trump has targeted several high profile firms he considers hostile to him, and the capitulation by some firms has constitutional law experts alarmed. We talk about the implications for democracy and the First Amendment, and we’ll hear from one San Francisco firm that’s fighting back.



Guests:

Raymond Brescia, professor, Albany Law School; author, "Lawyer Nation: The Past, Present, and Future of the American Legal Profession"

Laurie Carr Mims, managing partner, Keker Van Nest & Peters

Jessica Silver-Greenberg, investigative reporter, The New York Times

Rachel Cohen, former associate, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

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Three California poet laureates, Fresno’s Joseph Rios, El Cerrito’s Tess Taylor and San Francisco’s former poet laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin, received $50,000 from the Academy of American Poetry to fund literary projects in their cities. Their projects include new poetry curriculums, multi-generational workshops, and creating local anthologies. In addition to finding the next generation of poets, the laureates see their mission as creating spaces for people to reflect, connect and build empathy. We talk with them about why we need poetry now and how the artform serves civic life.

Guests:

Tongo Eisen-Martin, former San Francisco Poet Laureate

Tess Taylor, El Cerrito Poet Laureate, edited the poetry anthology, "Leaning Toward Light: Poems for Gardens and; the Hands that Tend Them"

Joseph Rios, Fresno Poet Laureate, author, "Shadowboxing: poems and impersonations"

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A group of Silicon Valley billionaires is causing chaos in the federal government by shuttering agencies, firing workers en masse and flouting legal and political norms. According to journalist Gil Duran, the chaos is carefully orchestrated, as figures like Elon Musk, David Sacks and Peter Thiel follow a playbook conceived by far right thinkers on how to take down institutions and seize power. We talk to Duran about what these tech elites – a group he calls “The Nerd Reich” – are reading, thinking and saying.

Guests:

Gil Duran, journalist, produces a newsletter covering the tech industry, "The Nerd Reich"

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Journalist and writer Omar El Akkad has won acclaim for his novels “American War” and “What Strange Paradise,” and he’s now published his first non-fiction book which takes a searing look at the war in Gaza. “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This,” is a rebuke of Western institutions including governments, universities, and the media for failing to denounce Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza. El Akkad, born in Egypt, examines the political systems, beliefs, and prejudices that he says Americans have used to shield themselves from confronting atrocities.

Guests:

Omar El Akkad, journalist and author, His latest book is, "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This." He is also author of the novels, "American War" and "What Strange Paradise."

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