Recently appointed BART general manager Robert Powers' duties go beyond the 400,000 Bay Area commuters BART transports each day. His priorities include the new train cars that are supposed to replace the agency's "legacy" fleet, reducing fare evasions and increasing security while respecting civil liberties. Powers joins us to share his vision for BART.

New Chief Robert Powers on the Future of BART

Forum tells remarkable and true stories about who we are and where we live. In the first hour, Alexis Madrigal convenes the diverse voices of the Bay Area, before turning to Mina Kim for the second hour to chronicle and center Californians’ experience. In an increasingly divided world, Mina and Alexis host conversations that inform, challenge and unify listeners with big ideas and different viewpoints.

Want to call/submit your comments during our live Forum program Mon-Fri, 9am-11am? We'd love to hear from you! Please dial 866.SF.FORUM or (866) 733-6786 or email forum@kqed.org, tweet, or post on Facebook.

News

Politics

News Commentary

To USC professor Todd Boyd, hip hop has so permeated American life that what was once a musical subculture now informs entertainment, fashion, sports and politics. In his recent book, “Rapper’s Deluxe: How Hip Hop Made The World,” Professor Boyd – also known as the Notorious PhD – traces the genre over the last 50 years from its humble beginnings in the Bronx, to its west coast ascent in the 1990s and through to the election of President Obama and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. We talk to Boyd and hear from you. What’s a defining moment of hip hop for you?

Guests:

Dr. Todd Boyd, professor of cinema and media studies, USC; author, "Rapper's Deluxe: How Hip Hop Made the World"

‘The Notorious PhD’ on How Hip Hop Made America

This November San Francisco voters will get to decide whether to give London Breed another four years as mayor. Polls show voters are dissatisfied with how Breed has handled crime and homelessness, and her political weakness has invited several strong challengers into the race, from the political left, right and middle. Board of Supervisors’ President Aaron Peskin, Supervisor Asha Safaí, philanthropist Daniel Lurie and venture capitalist Mark Farrell are all making a run for the job, among others. We’ll talk about the candidates, San Francisco’s shifting politics and how the city’s ranked choice voting system could affect the dynamics of the race.

Guests:

Heather Knight, San Francisco bureau chief, New York Times - formerly a San Francisco Chronicle reporter since 1999.

Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, reporter and producer covering politics, KQED News

Former San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim, California chair, Working Families Party - a progressive advocacy organization

San Francisco Voters Face a Crowded and Contentious Mayor’s Race

Microsoft developer Andres Freund inadvertently discovered one of the largest internet hacks in history while conducting routine maintenance on his computer. Noticing his computer was a bit slow, he discovered a ‘backdoor’ that could have potentially given the hackers access to millions of computers and servers used by banks, hospitals and governments around the world. The hack, which likely took years to plan and execute, has been called a ‘nightmare scenario’ by cyber security experts, who say that evidence points to state actors. We’ll break down what happened and who is likely behind it.

Guests:

Alex Stamos, Chief Trust Officer, SentinelOne; computer science lecturer, Stanford University

Kevin Roose, technology columnist, New York Times; co-host of the podcast Hard Fork

Who Is Responsible For One of the Largest Internet Hacks Ever?

There was a time when being a DJ meant hauling heavy crates of vinyl LPs, sound equipment and lights from one gig to the next. Now with a computer and a portable speaker, you can make any gathering a party. But just because you can make a playlist doesn’t mean you are a real DJ. To actually spin records and put together memorable sets requires skill, practice and talent. We’ll talk to the founder of a DJ school and DJs from around the Bay about what it takes to be a DJ, who in the words of Rihanna, can “pon de replay.”

Guests:

Nastia Voynovskaya, editor and reporter, KQED Arts

Juan "Wonway Posibul" Amador, DJ and MC - Grammy-nominated DJ Wonway Posibul hosts a daily music show on KALW 91.7 FM that airs from 8-9 PM.

Lamont Bransford-Young, DJ and founder of Fingersnaps Media Arts, a DJ school - Bransford-Young hosts "The Fingersnaps Salon" on KPOO.

Victoria "Kiki" Fajardo, DJ - DJ Xulaquiles grew up in the East Bay and began her DJ career at 14.

So You Want to Be a DJ?

Polls this month suggest that between 9 and 12 percent of Americans support independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. But it’s unclear whether in a general election he and his California-based running mate Nicole Shanahan would draw more votes away from President Biden or Donald Trump. Kennedy, who’s gained political visibility as an anti-vaccine activist and anti-institutionalist, is petitioning to appear on the November ballot in all 50 states; at this point only Utah has confirmed his place. We talk about the impact of RFK’s candidacy and who’s likely to vote for him.

Guests:

Mike Madrid, Republican strategist; co-founder, The Lincoln Project. His forthcoming book is "The Latino Century: How America's Largest Minority is Transforming Democracy." 

Michelle Goldberg, op-ed columnist, New York Times. Her books include “Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism" and "The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power and the Future of the World."

New Chief Robert Powers on the Future of BART

Download our free app to listen on your phone