KQED's Forum

Wall Street breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday when President Trump backtracked and announced a 90-day pause on the sweeping tariffs he unveiled last week, dropping the duty rate to 10% for most countries. But it’s little reprieve for California farmers who export crops like almonds and pistachios to China. Trump has raised the taxes on imports from China to 125%, and further retaliatory tariffs from China are expected to follow. The California almond industry alone lost nearly $900 million from the trade war with China in Trump’s first term. We’ll check in with farmers and an economist on the ongoing turmoil’s effects on the agriculture industry, nationwide and here in California. And we’ll hear what it all could mean for your grocery prices. Guests: Marcia Brown, food and agriculture reporter, POLITICO Colin Carter, distinguished professor of agricultural and resource economics, UC Davis Joe Del Bosque, CEO, Del Bosque family Farms in the San Joaquin Valley Zach Pelka, co-founder and COO, Une Femme wines based out of Sonoma Josh Harder, U.S. representative for California's 9th Congressional District, covering San Joaquin County as well as parts of Stanislaus and Contra Costa counties Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Viet Thanh Nguyen came to the United States as a 4-year-old refugee after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. His family eventually settled in San Jose. Nguyen went on to become a Pulitzer Prize-Winning novelist and memoirist whose books center the experience of Vietnamese people. As we approach the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, we’ll reflect on the war’s lasting impact and what we have – and have not – learned from it. And we’ll talk about his new book of essays, “To Save and to Destroy: Writing as an Other,” which explores the role of artists in political discourse. Guests: Viet Thanh Nguyen, author and professor at USC. His latest book is a collection of essays, "To Save and to Destroy: Writing as an Other." His previous books include the Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Sympathizer," "The Committed," and the memoir, “A Man of Two Faces." Bryan Vo, Forum intern Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Four of California’s largest home insurers are knowingly using faulty data to set coverage limits, according to a new San Francisco Chronicle investigation. It means that wildfire survivors who thought they’d be made whole after losing their homes are discovering they can’t afford to rebuild. We talk to the reporters behind the investigation and hear how you can find out if your California home is underinsured. And we want to hear from you: Do you have a story about being underinsured? Guests: Megan Fan Munce, reporter covering California’s home insurance crisis, The San Francisco Chronicle Susie Neilson, investigative reporter, The San Francisco Chronicle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is scaling back a key part of the city’s harm reduction strategy: the free distribution of clean foil pipes and plastic straws in public settings. These supplies are typically used to smoke fentanyl or methamphetamines. We talk to addiction specialists about how this policy change might impact drug use in the city. Guests: Keith Humphreys, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Stanford School of Medicine Tyler TerMeer, CEO, San Francisco AIDS Foundation Sydney Johnson, reporter, KQED News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Tufts University PhD student from Turkey remains in detention in Louisiana after masked, plainclothes ICE officers arrested her last week, as she was walking on the street. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that the State Department has revoked at least 300 foreign students’ visas, in an effort that appears to be targeting students who have criticized Israel’s war in Gaza. That’s after the Trump administration sent 261 Venezuelan migrants to an El Salvador prison, an action that’s being challenged in federal court. “Trump has enlisted nearly every federal law-enforcement agency to help with his mass-deportation campaign, a mobilization akin to a wartime effort,” writes Atlantic immigration reporter Nick Miroff. We’ll talk with Miroff about the latest legal battles and immigration news. Guests: Nick Miroff, staff writer covering immigration, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S.-Mexico border, The Atlantic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since taking office, President Trump has taken aim at the constitutional order. By conducting mass firings of civil servants, investigating and prosecuting rivals and critics and pardoning insurrectionists, Trump has plunged the country into what political scientist Steven Levitsky argues is an authoritarianism that, unlike a full dictatorship, allows for opposition but deploys “the machinery of government to punish, harass, co-opt, or sideline their opponents—disadvantaging them in every contest, and, in so doing, entrenching themselves in power.” And this playbook has been used in countries like Hungary, El Salvador, India, Turkey and others. We talk to Levitsky and historian Anne Applebaum about the lessons other countries can teach us about recognizing authoritarianism at home. Guests: Anne Applebaum, author, "Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World"; staff writer for The Atlantic and a Pulitzer-prize winning historian. She is also a Senior Fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the SNF Agora Institute. Steven Levitsky, professor of government, Harvard; co-author of "Why Democracies Die" and "Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Department of Justice announced Thursday it will investigate “illegal DEI” in admissions at UCLA, Berkeley, Stanford and UC Irvine. Meantime, the UC system is implementing a hiring freeze in response to President Trump’s threats to slash federal funding, while international students who participated in campus protests report heightened fears of deportation. We talk about the Trump administration’s threats against California universities and the impacts on faculty and students. Guests: Jaweed Kaleem, education reporter, Los Angeles Times Michael Chwe, professor of political science, UCLA; member, UCLA Faculty Association Aditi Hariharan, president, UC Student Association; official representative of all UC undergraduate students Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a special election on April 15, Oakland voters will choose a candidate to finish the term of recalled mayor Sheng Thao. In the second of our interviews with the two frontrunners in the race, longtime East Bay Congresswoman Barbara Lee joins us to share her vision for the city and take your questions. Lee says she’s the only candidate in the Oakland Mayor’s race with the relationships and track record to unite the city and solve its toughest challenges. Guests: Barbara Lee, candidate for mayor of Oakland; U.S. congressmember representing California's 13th district from 1998-2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joan Didion famously chronicled California’s culture and mythology in works like “Slouching Towards Bethlehem” and “The White Album.” And it’s Didion’s relationship with Hollywood in particular that New York Times film critic Alissa Wilkinson explores in “We Tell Ourselves Stories,” her new analysis of the California writer. “The movies,” Wilkinson writes, “shaped us — shaped her — to believe life would follow a genre and an arc, with rising action, climax and resolution. It would make narrative sense. The reality is quite different.” We talk to Wilkinson about how Didion saw an American political landscape that was molding itself after the movies — and came to value story over substance. Guest: Alissa Wilkinson, movie critic, New York Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cooking is a basic survival skill and yet many kids reach adulthood without knowing how to prepare even a simple meal. Meanwhile, other Bay Area kids are producing professional-level dishes on shows like “Kids Baking Championship” and “Chopped Junior.” So how can children get started in the kitchen? Seasoned instructors suggest kicking off with essential skills such as chopping – and, yes kids can use knives without injuring themselves – and learning to read recipes. We’ll talk with culinary teachers, young chefs and you about the best ways to teach kids to cook. Guests: Neelam Patil, chef, educator and CEO, Bliss Belly Kitchen; science teacher at Berkeley Unified School District and founder of Green Pocket Forests founder and CEO, Culinary Artistas Aria Karayil, sixth grader at Diablo Vista Middle School and recent contestant on "Kids Baking Championship" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices