KQED's Forum

A fragile ceasefire is in effect between Israel and Iran, just days after the United States intervened in the war by striking Iranian nuclear sites. President Trump is claiming credit, but journalist and Middle East politics expert Robin Wright writes, “the outcome of this war may be shaped more by Iran’s culture and politics than by the military prowess of its opponents.” We look at Iran’s and Israel’s end games and the implications here of U.S. involvement. Guests: Robin Wright, contributing writer, New Yorker; author, "Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East," among other books; Her most recent piece for the magazine is "Can Ayatollah Khamenei, and Iran’s Theocracy, Survive This War?" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Local media is dying according to headlines. But that is not the case in the Bay Area. Last year the New York Times reported that San Francisco alone had 27 media outlets for its 800,000 residents. And now, four new publications can join that list: Coyote, the Bay Area Current, the Oakland Review of Books and the Approach, all helmed by local writers, reporters and authors. We’ll talk to these media entrepreneurs about what they hope their publications will add to the conversation, and hear from you: What stories do you want local media to tell? Guests: Lauren Markham, writer, reporter, and founder of "The Approach," a new Bay Area publication; Markham is also the author of "Immemorial, "A Map of Future Ruins: On Borders and Belonging" and "The Far Away Brothers: Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life". Soleil Ho, founder, "Coyote" an independent, online newsroom focusing on investigative reporting, arts and culture, and opinion pieces Aaron Bady, founder, "Orb," a new Oakland Bay Area publication Justin Gilmore, member, editorial board, The Bay Area Current, which covers working-class life and culture across the Bay Area. Gilmore is an assistant professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s young workers are rethinking what makes a good job. A new Resume Builder survey finds that more than a third of Gen Z college grads are working in or plan to enter the trades or other skilled blue-collar jobs. Many say they’re seeking relief from rising student debt, and practical roles less affected by AI, including electrical work, plumbing, welding, veterinary care and EMT roles. We talk to workforce experts and members of Gen Z about the forces driving this shift, and what it means to build a future-proof career with your hands. Guests: Amanda Hoover, senior correspondent, Business Insider Iowayna Peña, director of workforce development, San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development Lisa Countryman-Quiroz, CEO, Jewish Vocational Service Francisco Serrano, former educator turned tradesperson; graduate of CityBuild Academy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trump Administration has targeted Southern California for its harshest crackdown on immigrants. For the past few weeks, federal agents have raided restaurant kitchens and Home Depot parking lots and roughed up U.S. citizens, sparking anger and protests across the country. In Northern California, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have arrested immigrants who show up for immigration court hearings. We’ll talk about how the administration has so far carried out its plans to deport millions of people and whether our region might experience the kind of widespread raids that have been conducted in Southern California. Guests: Tyche Hendricks, senior editor covering immigration, KQED Jean Guerrero, journalist and contributing writer, New York Times Opinion - she is author of "Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda" and "Crux: A Cross-Border Memoir" Catherine Seitz, legal director, Immigration Institute of the Bay Area Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“As much as I love my mother, I’ve often found myself regarding her with feelings that are somewhat closer to the opposite of love,” writes political analyst Molly Jong-Fast. The mother of which she writes is feminist icon Erica Jong, whose 1973 debut novel “Fear of Flying,” jetted Jong to a level of fame that she spent the rest of her life grasping on to. In 2023, her mother’s declining health and diagnosis for dementia forced Jong-Fast to reconcile her feelings about her mother: Was Jong a good mother? Probably not. Was Jong-Fast a good daughter? She herself is not sure. We talk to Jong-Fast about her book, “How To Lose Your Mother: A Daughter’s Memoir.” Guests: Molly Jong-Fast, author, "How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter's Memoir"; host of the podcast "Fast Politics"; special correspondent, Vanity Fair Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the war between Israel and Iran continues, members of the Iranian diaspora in the Bay Area are closely watching as people in Iran are being asked to evacuate amidst travel bans, fuel shortages and internet blackouts. The United States is home to the largest Iranian diaspora outside of Iran, with over fifty percent of that population living in California. We talk with Iranian community members and leaders in the Bay Area about how these latest events fit in the larger context of the nation’s history, what it all means for the people in Iran, and how members of the diaspora are navigating the situation from afar. Guests: Persis Karim, poet, essayist and Director for the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies, San Francisco State University Hasti Jafari, playwright, educator Nahid Siamdoust, journalist; professor of Middle Eastern Studies, University of Texas Arman Mahmoudi, community organizer, BayArea4Iran Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nearly a decade after the end of China’s one-child policy, families are still reeling from its traumas. In multiple cases, officials in China forcibly took children away from their families and placed them up for adoption, fulfilling a lucrative overseas demand for baby girls. In her new book “Daughters of the Bamboo Grove,” journalist Barbara Demick tells the story of one girl named Fangfang, rechristened Esther, who was taken away from her twin sister and family and adopted by a white Christian couple in Texas. We talk to Demick about Fangfang’s story and how it illuminates the one-child policy’s lasting impacts on adoptees and their families in China and abroad. Guests: Barbara Demick, author, "Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins" - former Beijing Bureau Chief, Los Angeles Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump announced on Thursday that in the next two weeks, he would make a decision about the role the U.S. will take in the escalating Israel-Iran conflict. As Israel and Iran traded fire for a seventh day, fissures emerged among Republicans about whether military action is warranted, while some Democrats are urging passage of a bill that would require Trump to get congressional approval before committing American troops and resources. We’ll talk to experts about the escalating conflict. Guests: Trita Parsi, co-founder and executive vice president, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft; former president of the National Iranian American Council - his books include "Treacherous Alliance - the Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran and the US" and two other books on US-Iran-Israel relations Robin Wright, contributing writer, New Yorker - her most recent piece for the magazine is "What is Israel's Endgame with Iran?" Wright is also the author of "Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East," among other books Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two years after the state’s landmark report on reparations for Black residents, where does the effort stand? The California Legislative Black Caucus has put forth bills to address equity issues like unjust property seizures or to help obtain professional licenses, but few bills have cleared the legislature or made it past Governor Newsom’s desk. We look at what progress has been made since the report’s release, and if lawmakers still have the political will to act. Guests: Marcus Anthony Hunter, professor of sociology & African American Studies, UCLA Isaac G. Bryan, member, California State Assembly, 55th District; vice chair, California Legislative Black Caucus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law on Wednesday that bans gender-affirming medical care for minors. For many transgender people, the ruling is yet another setback in a long line of attacks on their rights that stretches back through most of human history. And yet, transgender people have created a rich legacy throughout, especially in the Bay Area. Two new projects highlight their stories. One is a KQED series profiling important trans artists and activists from the 1890s-2000s. Another is a new book, “So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color”. We’ll talk to their creators and an expert in gender law about the court’s decision and what lessons we can take from trans history. Guests: Nastia Voynovskaya, editor and reporter, KQED Arts Caro De Robertis, author, "So Many Stars: an Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two Spirit People of Color"; They are also the author of the novels "The Palace of Eros," "The President and the Frog," "Cantoras," "The Gods of Tango," "Perla" and "The Invisible Mountain." Donna Personna, San Francisco resident and trans rights activist Suzanne Goldberg, professor and director of the Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic, Columbia Law School Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Working-class voters don’t just vote for their policy preferences — they vote for the party that feels like “their people.” Increasingly, that’s not the left. In “Outclassed,” UC Law professor emerita Joan Williams argues that America’s widening “diploma divide” is fueling the far right — and that liberals often play into the dynamic without realizing it. To protect democracy and build a durable, multi-racial coalition, Williams says, the left must bridge this cultural and class divide. We’ll talk to her about what’s driving the rift — and how to start closing it. Guests: Joan C. Williams, distinguished professor of law (emerita) and founding director of the Equality Action Center, UC Law San Francisco; author, "Outclassed: How the Left Lost the Working Class" and "White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In her new book of essays, “No Straight Road Takes You There,” writer and activist Rebecca Solnit urges us to not give in to feelings of doom and complacency in threatening political times, but instead to imagine a radically better future. “The most important territory to take is in the imagination,” she writes. “Once you create a new idea of what is possible and acceptable, the seeds are planted; once it becomes what the majority believes, you’ve created the conditions in which winning happens.” We talk to Solnit about her essays and the importance of persevering, even when it doesn’t feel good. Guests: Rebecca Solnit, writer, historian and activist; author, "No Straight Road Takes You There" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For California firefighters battling wildland flames, the work is up close, unrelenting and fueled by a climate growing hotter and drier by the year. Anthropologist and former Los Padres Hotshot Jordan Thomas pulls readers straight into this world in his new book “When it All Burns,” chronicling six months on the frontlines of California’s megafires. We talk with Thomas about what it is like to battle uncontainable destruction and the deeper roots of the crisis. Guests: Jordan Thomas, anthropologist and former wildland firefighter; author, “When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scratch at a problem for San Francisco, and you’ll find an issue that underlies almost all of them: the city’s intractable housing crisis. A new documentary “Fault Lines,” on Apple TV follows three storylines connected to the lack of housing. There is a homeless family’s attempts to get into a permanent home, a Sunset neighborhood’s fight over an affordable housing project and the ugly competing campaigns for a ballot measure. We talk with the film’s director and an expert in the city’s housing troubles about how San Francisco got into the crisis, what we might be able do about it, and what the rest of the country can learn from our troubles. Guests: Nate Houghteling, executive producer, "Fault Lines" documentary, available on Apple TV. Co-founder of Portal A production company Annie Fryman, director of special projects, SPUR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. named multiple vaccine skeptics to the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices last week, after purging the original members of the panel. The move comes after HHS released a report on children’s health questioning the safety of vaccines, while also taking aim at processed food and environmental toxins. We’ll take stock of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda and its public health implications. Guests: Katherine Wu, staff writer, The Atlantic Lauren Weber, Health and Science Accountability Reporter, The Washington Post Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After months of sparring over tariffs, the Trump Administration says it has reached a deal with China on trade negotiations, but many businesses and consumers are still feeling uncertain about the economy. The deal imposes 55% tariffs on most Chinese imports, down from President Trump’s earlier 145% tariffs that would have made it prohibitively expensive for many U.S. businesses to import goods from China, our second-largest trading partner. The back-and-forth trade policies have left businesses ranging from souvenir shop owners in Chinatown to big box stores unsure how to plan for the future. We’ll talk about what the current tariff deals look like and what they could mean for jobs, prices and inflation. Guests: Kevin Truong, business editor, The San Francisco Standard Sid Malladi, CEO and founder, Nuvo David Goldman, executive editor, CNN Business Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re joined in studio for a live performance by the Jahari Stampley Family Trio. Stampley, an award-winning jazz pianist who is known for melding genres like funk, gospel and rock, calls his forthcoming album “What A Time” a sonic reflection of “the quiet stillness of late-night thoughts, the joy of a spontaneous jam, the fire of resistance, and the calm of resolution.” We talk to Stampley about his work, his influences and what it’s like to be in musical conversation with his mom ahead of their appearance at the San Francisco Jazz Festival. Guests: Jahari Stampley, piano D-Erania Stampley, bass, saxophone, synthesizer Ofri Nahemya, drums Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a food writer and cook himself, John Birdsall often wondered whether there was such a thing as “queer food.” Was it rainbow cupcakes? Quiche? Unicorn frappucinos? In his new book, “What is Queer Food?: How We Served a Revolution” Birdsall examines the complex story of how, through times of fear and persecution, queer people used food to express joy and build community. Guests: John Birdsall, author "What is Queer Food?: How We Started a Revolution" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ostensibly to quell anti-ICE protests, President Trump this week mobilized 700 Marines and another 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles. That’s on top of the 2,000 troops he sent over the weekend. The Atlantic’s David Graham calls the deployment a “gesture of authoritarianism.” We’ll talk to Graham and former Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Juliette Kayyem about Trump’s intensifying efforts to assert executive power, the strategies at play and what the implications could be for our democracy. Guests: Juliette Kayyem, faculty chair of the Homeland Security Project, Harvard Kennedy School; senior national security analyst, CNN David Graham, staff writer, The Atlantic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the days since President Trump sent the National Guard and Marines to quell protests in Los Angeles, demonstrations against ICE raids have been held across the Bay Area and nationwide. This weekend’s “No Kings” protests, timed to the day of President Trump’s military parade, are expected to draw large crowds across the country. We take this moment to look back at times when protests have been successful instigators of change, and times when protests may have hurt a movement. What does it mean to have a successful protest? Who is the audience and how are they persuaded? And what should demonstrators know in this modern age of surveillance about the risks of hitting the streets and safeguards that can be taken. Guests: Omar Wasow, assistant professor of political science, UC Berkeley Andrew Couts, senior editor overseeing cybersecurity, privacy, policy, national security and surveillance coverage, WIRED Valeria Ochoa, community organizer, Faith in Action East Bay - one of the organizers of Oakland's Tuesday night interfaith vigil to protest ICE raids Liliana Soroceanu, organizer, Indivisible SF - one of the organizers of San Francisco's No Kings protest Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices