KQED's Forum

Anger and frustration over Elon Musk’s DOGE and its drastic, legally questionable cuts to the federal workforce have sparked protests outside Tesla dealerships around the country, leaving some Tesla owners feeling less than great about their cars. If you have a Tesla, are you thinking of getting rid of it? We’ll talk about whether Elon Musk and the Trump Administration in general are affecting what you’re buying – or swearing off.

Guests:

Clara Jeffery, editor in chief, Mother Jones

Frances Dinkelspiel, journalist, co-founder of Cityside Journalism Initiative

Matthew Hiller, owner and designer, Mad Puffer Stickers

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Last week, President Trump fired 6,700 IRS employees, while the chronically underfunded agency, is in the midst of tax season. In a New York Times guest essay, seven former IRS commissioners, who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, decried the cuts, which constitute 7% of the agency’s work force, as bad policy that would make the agency less efficient and effective. We talk to tax experts and former IRS commissioner Daniel Werfel, who oversaw efforts to overhaul the agency during the Biden administration, about the impact of these cuts to the agency and to the federal budget and Trump’s policy towards the IRS.

Guests:

Vanessa Williamson, senior fellow, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center; she is the author of "Read My Lips: Why Americans Are Proud to Pay Taxes'; she is also a senior fellow in the Governance Studies department at Brookings

Daniel Werfel, former IRS commissioner, Werfel served as the 50th Commissioner of the IRS from March 2023 to January 2025

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Have you ever felt so creatively connected to someone that it’s like you share the same brain? That’s how acclaimed writers Tommy Orange and Kaveh Akbar describe their relationship. They’re best friends who wrote their recent novels “Wandering Stars” and “Martyr” by sending each other “cheernotes” in which they “waved [their] pom poms with genuine excitement at what the other’d just wrought from the ether,” as Akbar puts it. The two are embarking on a Bay Area driving tour to celebrate their friendship and art, and they join us on Forum.

Guests:

Tommy Orange, novelist, his books include "Wandering Stars" and "There There," which was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize.

Kaveh Akbar, poet and novelist, his books include "Martyr!," a National Book Award finalist

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Former San Francisco Chronicle reporter Kevin Fagan spent more than three decades reporting on everything from wildfires to serial killers but he has been especially dogged in his coverage of the city’s seemingly intractable homelessness problem. His new book, “The Lost and the Found,” draws on his extensive, immersive reporting to tell the stories of two homeless people – how they ended up on the streets of San Francisco and how they left. We talk with Fagan about his detailed portrait of what it is like to survive without shelter and why it’s so difficult to resolve an issue that has long plagued our region.

Guests:

Kevin Fagan, author of “The Lost and The Found;" longtime, award-winning journalist and former reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle specializing in homelessness and serial killers.

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You might know filmmaker, actor and comedian Robert Townsend for his roles in “The Meteor Man” and the Emmy award-winning TV show “The Bear.” Or for writing and directing classics like “Hollywood Shuffle” and “The Five Heartbeats.” Townsend has paved the way for generations of Black actors and filmmakers, and in his one-man stage show, “Living the Shuffle,” he opens up about personal challenges, the role Shakespeare played in his life and being mentored by Sidney Poitier. What has Robert Townsend’s work meant to you?

Guest:

Robert Townsend, actor, director, writer, and filmmaker

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San Francisco author Brittany Newell’s novel “Soft Core” explores the city’s underbelly — while making its tech bros minor characters. With pinpoint descriptions of the sweat on a west-bound Muni in October, the ceiling of the sometimes-cool, sometimes-not Makeout Room and the vinyl seats of the now-shuttered Silver Crest Diner, Newell writes of the city as lived by her protagonist, a stripper and dominatrix. And she pushes back on the negative narratives of the city she loves, drawing from San Francisco’s rich history of sex and love to argue the city’s not dead — and not just for the very rich. She joins us to share her San Francisco and to hear yours.

Guest:

Brittany Newell, writer and performer living in San Francisco, author of the new novel, “Soft Core”

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At the moment New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles are the cities where music making happens. But San Francisco hopes to add itself to that list. To that end, last month, Mayor Daniel Lurie announced San Francisco Music Week — which coincides with the Noise Pop Festival and includes live performances, workshops, and talks from industry insiders about how to reinvigorate the local music scene. We’ll talk to music makers and shakers about how the city can support live music and how the music scene could help revive the city’s economy.

Guests:

Nastia Voynovskaya, editor and reporter, KQED Arts

Jordan Kurland, co-owner and producer, Noise Pop Industries, which organizes the Noise Pop Festival; co-founder and partner, Brilliant Corner Artists Management

Laline St. Juste, musician, producer and solo artist, sings with the band The Seshen; founder, 7000 Coils, the independent record label

P-Lo Paolo Rodriguez, musician and producer, His latest album is "For the Soil"

Tina Davis, president, Empire, an independent record label based in San Francisco

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The United States has reached a preliminary deal with Ukraine to share in revenue from the country’s mineral assets, but so far it is not offering security guarantees against Russia in return. It’s a reflection of the Trump Administration’s Russia-first policy, according to retired army lieutenant colonel and Trump impeachment whistleblower Alexander Vindman. We talk to Vindman about his new book “The Folly of Realism: How the West Deceived Itself About Russia and Betrayed Ukraine.”

Guests:

Alexander Vindman, author, His new book is "The Folly of Realism: How the West Deceived Itself About Russia and Betrayed Ukraine"; lieutenant colonel, United States Army (Retired); former director for European Affairs; U.S. National Security Council

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California Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a host of lawsuits against the Trump administration, as Governor Gavin Newsom tries to stay in Trump’s good graces to safeguard federal disaster aid. It could be a good cop-bad cop strategy from the state, says KQED’s politics team, who join us to talk about how the Trump administration is shaping state politics. We’ll also look at who might be eyeing the governorship to replace termed-out Newsom — and whether former vice president Kamala Harris could enter the race.

Guests:

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

Marisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED; co-host, KQED's Political Breakdown

Scott Shafer, senior editor, KQED’s California Politics and Government Desk; co-host, Political Breakdown

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Thousands of government employees have lost their jobs as part of the Trump’s Administration’s purge of the federal workforce, led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Many workers have also been sent emails demanding they justify their jobs, or face termination. We’ll look at how federal workers in the Bay Area and beyond are coping with the chaos and uncertainty, how some are fighting back, and what the purge could mean for government services.

Guests:

Max Stier, CEO and president, Partnership for Public Service - a nonprofit group that promotes best practices in government.

Courtney Rozen, federal workforce reporter, Bloomberg Law

Mark Smith, president, National Federation of Federal Employees Local 1

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