KQED's Forum

This November, Californians will vote on Proposition 40, a measure that would impose a one-time 5% tax on those whose net worth exceeded $1 billion at the beginning of 2026. While advocates argue it is time for the ultrawealthy to pay a larger share of taxes, opponents argue that Prop. 40 could drive billionaires out of the state and decrease future tax revenue. In this hour we’ll speak with KQED’s political correspondents about Prop. 40 — and the efforts to nullify it through propositions 41 and 42. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For more than five decades, renowned nutritionist, molecular biologist and food activist Marion Nestle has worked to expose the connections between Americans’ health and the powerful agendas shaping what we eat. Her newest book, co-authored with Dr. Lisa Sutherland, “Sugar Coated: Unboxing the Hidden Forces Shaping America’s Favorite Breakfast Food” examines the politics of our morning meal. We talk with Nestle about the shifts in attitudes and regulations of what we eat — from soda taxes to the MAHA movement — and about what she believes it will take to build a healthier food system for all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amid the news of Tennessee’s botched execution of Christa Pike and the Pentagon saying it will live-stream its execution of an army psychiatrist convicted of a mass shooting, Gov. Gavin Newsom is said to be considering commuting the sentences of the 563 people currently on death row in California. The state is home to a quarter of all American prisoners awaiting the death penalty, though a moratorium on executions has been in place since 2019. We’ll talk about what factors Newsom is weighing and hear how commuting death penalty sentences could affect Newsom’s national political profile and the broader conversation about capital punishment in the United States. Guests: Natasha Minsker, facilitator, California Anti Death Penalty Coalition Maurice Chammah, staff writer, The Marshall Project Alexa Hansen, founder, Victim Advocate Angels Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oakland is home to dozens of houses of worship, and the “Oakland Faith Project,” aims to document these spaces and their leaders at a time when many are turning away from religion. Photographer and documentarian Nicolò Sertorio’s website includes stark black and white photography and interviews with religious leaders who represent various walks of life, identity and beliefs. We’ll talk with Sertorio, project partners and some of Oakland’s religious leaders about “de-churching” in the Bay Area and the future of organized religion. Guests: Nicolò Sertorio, founder, artist and photographer, Oakland Faith Project James Campbell, Edgar E Robinson professor in United States History, Stanford University; partner, Oakland Faith Project Jacqueline Mates-Muchin, senior rabbi, Temple Sinai Sundiata Rashid, imam, Lighthouse Mosque; Muslim Chaplain, University of San Francisco Michael Wallace, pastor, Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Much like her acclaimed novel “Pachinko,” author Min Jin Lee’s new book, “American Hagwon,” is a multi-generational story that spans decades and continents. This one, set in South Korea, Australia and Southern California, focuses on education — and the sacrifices families make for their children to succeed in a fast-changing and increasingly competitive global economy. We’ll talk to Lee about what her novel has to say about diaspora, education and how we prepare for an uncertain future. Guest: Min Jin Lee, author of the new novel “American Hagwon,” as well as the books “Pachinko” and “Free Food for Millionaires” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fraternities and sororities – but mostly fraternities – have faced decades of scandal nationwide: hazing deaths, binge drinking, sexual assault, among other problems. Colleges respond with suspensions, alcohol bans and reforms, yet problems keep resurfacing like the recent allegation of a gang rape by fraternity members at Cornell. Members and alumni argue that frats and sororities offer friendship and connection that are vital in an age of loneliness. But others contend colleges should just ban Greek life. Guests: Doug Belkin, higher education and national reporter, The Wall Street Journal Jana Mathews, English professor, Rollins College, author, “The Benefits of Friends: Inside the Complicated World of Sororities and Fraternities” Max Marshall, author, “Among the Bros: A Fraternity Crime Story” Nicholas Syrett, chair and professor, Gender & Women’s Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison; author, “The Company He Keeps: A History of White College Fraternities” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…

Youth sports once gave opportunities for all kids to play, but the rise of club teams — which come with higher costs and are often backed by private equity — are pricing out many participants. California families spend some $2,000 dollars a year for just one child to play a club sport, and nearly 60 percent of families nationwide say the costs have caused financial strain. What will it take to keep lower income kids on the field? We hear from reporters covering the issue across California, and a youth sports advocate who helped with the passage of California’s Youth Sports for All Act. Guests: Katie DeBenedetti, reporter, KQED Alexander Nguyen, multimedia producer, KPBS Tom Bùi, coach at City Heights Soccer League in San Diego Renata Simril, ceo and president of the LA84 Foundation, president of the Play Equity Fund Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his new book, “Blockers: Rebels in the Deep State” author Michael Lewis profiles seven civil servants who tried to stop Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, as it took a chainsaw to the inner workings of the federal government. As Musk slashed departments and jobs claiming he could cut 2 trillion of the almost 7 trillion dollars of federal spending, Lewis found dedicated federal employees struggling to protect their work. We’ll talk to the Berkeley based author about the IRS employee who kept sensitive tax data from being exposed, the security guard who blocked DOGE from entering a federal building and taking over the US Institute of Peace and other acts of workplace resistance. Guest: Michael Lewis, author, most recent book is “Blockers: Rebels in the Deep State”, other books include “Moneyball” and “The Big Short” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Californians in this fall’s election will consider Proposition 39, which asks whether voters should be required to show ID when they cast a ballot. Supporters argue the rules are common-sense safeguards essential for restoring public confidence in elections, while opponents contend they pose identity theft risks and disproportionately disenfranchise low-income, minority, and young voters. We’ll unpack the cases for and against Prop 39 with KQED’s Guy Marzorati and Marisa Lagos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco’s Other Minds Festival turns 30 this weekend, with four days of music from world renowned experimental composers. There will be improvisation, chord repetition, electronic manipulation, 18th century Armenian music — and a grand piano surrounded by teddy bears. We’ll talk with co-founder and retiring executive and artistic director Charles Amirkhanian and with musicians about why the Bay Area is such a rich site for avant-garde music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which requires most proposed public and private development projects to go through a thorough environmental impact review process, has long been blamed for slowing or stopping the development of new construction in the state. This November, Californians will vote on Proposition 45, which attempts to streamline CEQA review for certain “essential” projects. We’ll look at how changes could impact housing, data centers and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some of the Bay Area’s biggest political battles this fall are happening between fellow Democrats in hotly contested races for Congress. There’s a fierce fight for retiring former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s seat in San Francisco. In Napa, where redistricting has shaken up the district, a multimillionaire is courting votes from Republicans and progressives to unseat an establishment fellow Democrat. And in Sacramento, younger progressive challengers are taking on longtime incumbents, raising a bigger question about what Democratic voters value right now: a new generation of leadership, or the experience that comes with years in office? KQED’s politics team joins us to break down the races, the candidates and what to watch heading into Election Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Historian Miriam Pawel says the University of California system is unique in its commitment to being “an engine of social, intellectual, and economic mobility.” But even with record-high applications this year, it’s facing profound challenges, like federal funding cuts and fierce debates over whether it should reinstate the SAT. We’ll talk with Pawel about how the history of the UC is the history of California – and how the futures of both are intertwined. Her new book is “California Dreams: The Making and Remaking of the University of California.” Guest: Miriam Pawel, journalist and author, California Dreams: The Making and Remaking of the University of California and The Browns of California: The Family Dynasty That Transformed a State and Shaped a Nation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AGI or “artificial general intelligence” has been both the holy grail of machine learning researchers, and also the source of their biggest fears. Whereas AI refers to task-specific responses like finding a recipe, summarizing a contract, or explaining how a car works, AGI can write its own recipe, draft a contract autonomously, and drive the car. In his new book, “The AGI Chronicles,” journalist Kevin Roose goes inside the race to create super intelligent machines, detailing the feuds, defections and breakthroughs fueling the trillion-dollar effort. He also highlights the exhilarating and troubling questions its creators are grappling with: Does the tech have a conscience? And might it obliterate humanity? Guest: Kevin Roose, author, The AGI Chronicles: The Inside Story of the Race to Create an Artificial Superintelligence; former columnist, the New York Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Republican candidate for governor Steve Hilton says California needs a dramatic break from years of Democratic party rule. He wants to slash income taxes, build new cities, overhaul homelessness policy, expand energy production and rethink California’s approach to immigration and regulation. Polls show him well behind Democrat Xavier Becerra, but is he shifting the boundaries of political debate in the state? We talk with Steve Hilton about his case for a California reset. Guests: Steve Hilton, California’s Republican candidate for governor Marisa Lagos, KQED political correspondent and Political Breakdown co-host Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Aliksandria Prout was released from the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla in 2022, she set out to bring the correctional officer who abused her to justice. Her story — along with many other survivors of prison abuse — is detailed in a new series from KQED’s Snap Studios called “We Are Jane Doe.” The three-part series chronicles a two-year investigation by reporters Madi Bolaños and Anna Sussman into sexual abuse and retaliation at one of the largest women’s prisons on earth. We’ll talk with Prout about her experience as “Jane Doe Number One” in the high profile case against Gregory Rodriguez — and hear from Bolaños and Sussman about how the prison system has enabled this kind of abuse to go unchecked. Guests: Madi Bolaños, host, producer, “We Are Jane Doe” and co-host The California Report, KQED Anna Sussman, producer, “We Are Jane Doe” and senior producer and managing editor, Snap Judgment. Aliksandria Prout was formerly incarcerated at Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla,…

In his second term, President Trump has aggressively targeted immigrant communities away from the border, and tens of thousands of immigrant parents are being detained and deported without their children. More than 200,000 children—most of them American citizens—have been separated from their parents, and many have been left behind with temporary caregivers. Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Caitlin Dickerson’s latest investigation for The Atlantic, “The Babies Left Behind in America,” documents the policy changes that have allowed ICE to prioritize deportation quotas over child welfare. We speak with Dickerson about the hidden toll of this domestic separation crisis and what it means for families across the country. Guests: Caitlin Dickerson, staff writer, The Atlantic, 2023 Pulitzer Prize recipient for her reporting on immigration, author of new article “The Babies Left Behind in America.” Kelly Kribs, co-director, Technical Assistance Program, The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights Learn more…

After 23 years, the Oakland Police Department has been released from federal oversight. The federal monitoring, the longest in U.S. history, traces back to the “Riders” scandal: In 2003, a group of Oakland police officers were accused of planting evidence, falsifying reports and beating suspects. Civil rights attorneys sued the city on behalf of 119 plaintiffs and Oakland settled that lawsuit by agreeing to a list of 51 reforms designed to prevent future police abuses of power. Over two decades, more scandals emerged that prevented the end of the monitoring but now OPD says that this past is well behind them. We’ll talk about the impact of the federal oversight on policing in Oakland and the outlook for police accountability, public safety and the OPD as the department regains its independence Guests: Darwin BondGraham, news editor, Oaklandside, co-author of “The Riders Come Out at Night: Brutality, Corruption and Cover-up in Oakland” John Burris, civil rights attorney Barbara Lee, mayor of Oakland, served…

What we choose to post (or not post) to social media — the moments we highlight, the wording of our captions — tells a story about who we are. Those stories, says author Kathryn Jezer-Morton, then shape key parts of our offline lives, like the milestones we value and who we maintain relationships with. Jezer-Morton joins us to talk about her new book: “The Story of Your Life: How Social Media Shapes the Way We Experience Everything.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Opposition to data centers could play a role in who gets elected in November, especially in local races. Hundreds of new data centers have been popping up across the country, sparking backlash from residents who are worried about everything from water usage to machines destroying the economy. We’ll talk about the intensifying opposition to data centers and AI and how the issue could play out in the upcoming election. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the race to be California’s next governor, Democrat and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra has maintained a sizable lead despite keeping a low public profile. Meanwhile, Republican Steve Hilton has been pressing his case as an outsider who will cut taxes and support the working class. Ahead of their debate on CNN on Wednesday evening, we’ll look at why enthusiasm for the Democratic front-runner is lagging. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the crowd in Ballhalla roared, the Golden State Valkyries crushed the Dallas Wings in game 1 of their playoff series Sunday night. Led by coach Natalie Nakase, the team features veteran stars like forwards Gabby Williams and Kayla Thornton but it might be the passionate fan base that sets the team apart. Though only in their second year in the WNBA, the Valkyries have drawn sellout crowds ready to “put their V’s up.” But as the playoffs unfold, the WNBA’s record growth collides with old problems: pay disputes, online harassment and the misogyny that still shadows women’s sports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Extreme academic workloads and relentless achievement culture are driving a youth mental health crisis in classrooms nationwide — especially among students trying to get into top colleges. That’s according to Stuart Slavin, a pediatrician who researches how to improve student mental health and the author of “The Success Trap.” We’ll hear from Slavin, a former school administrator and a high school journalist about how to escape “The Success Trap” and how parents can help their kids navigate this pressure. Guests: Stuart Slavin, author, The Success Trap: How the Pressure to Stand Out Is Fueling Anxiety, Depression, and Burnout in Teens—And the Fundamental Fix They Deserve; pediatrician, medical educator, researcher Ananya Kota, student journalist, Los Altos High School – published an article in May in student paper detailing the pressures students face Chris Funk, former superintendent, Dublin Unified School District – initiated policy limiting the number of AP/honors courses students can take yearly Learn…

Oakland-based comedian, filmmaker, author and activist W. Kamau Bell is best known for his award-winning series “United Shades of America,” “1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed,” and “We Need To Talk About Cosby.” His touring stand-up set — coming to Stanford’s Memorial Auditorium on Oct. 1 — as well as his Substack and new podcast are all titled with the same question: “Who’s with Me?” Bell says the question “is an invitation to connect, a call to action, and a reassuring pat on the shoulder in these increasingly hectic times.” As part of our Bay Area Legends series, we’ll talk with Bell about forming community and celebrating Oakland. Guest: W. Kamau Bell, comedian, filmmaker, author and activist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked tens of thousands of pages of internal documents that were published in a 2021 Wall Street Journal exposé, now the basis of the forthcoming film “The Social Reckoning.” The documents revealed that the tech giant knew its engagement-driven algorithms accelerated political polarization, increased teenage mental health issues and incited ethnic violence abroad, and Haugen argued that Mark Zuckerberg routinely prioritized user growth and corporate profits over public safety. In her memoir “The Power of One: How I Found the Strength to Tell the Truth and Why I Blew the Whistle on Facebook,” Haugen details the personal and professional cost of exposing Meta and going public. Guest: Frances Haugen, data scientist and author of “The Power of One: How I Found the Strength to Tell the Truth and Why I Blew the Whistle on Facebook” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Diesel prices are now well above $8 a gallon in California – higher than they’ve ever been and 63 percent more than a year ago. While most consumers don’t purchase diesel, most of the goods we buy rely on it for transportation. Diesel powers tractors that work farms, trucks that transport the food to a manufacturing facility and trains that distribute products across the country. The steep rise in diesel prices is already putting pressure on businesses and the economy as a whole. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is talking about banning diesel exports as a way to increase domestic supply and lower prices. We’ll talk about why diesel prices have skyrocketed, how that will affect consumers and what could happen next. Guests: Severin Borenstein, Professor at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and a faculty director of The Energy Institute at Haas; member, Board of Governors of the California Independent System Operator Kyle Cameron, president, Cameron and Co. Trucking, Inc. Shaun Crook, co-owner and vice…

Why did President Biden stay the course in Gaza even as some of his own advisers pushed for change? In his new book, “Crossing the Red Line,” journalist Akbar Shahid Ahmed reconstructs the decisions behind U.S. support for Israel’s war in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas. We talk to him about President Biden’s reluctance to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his abandoned “red line” over Israel’s invasion of Rafah and the legacy of those decisions today. Guest: Akbar Shahid Ahmed, diplomatic correspondent, The Washington Sun, author, “Crossing the Red Line: Biden, His Advisors, and Israel’s War in Gaza” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tasha Malan describes herself as a “chill bay area guy.” The musician and content creator posts hyper-niche San Francisco TikToks and Instagram reels: showing off her Mission district lifestyle, impersonating Mayor Lurie and reading poetry dedicated to Redwood City. Malan soundtracks many of these videos with her own songs, which recall early aughts pop and R&B. She joins us to perform acoustic versions of her forthcoming debut album and to talk about why she says the Bay Area not only has an unparalleled local music scene, it’s “leading the pop renaissance.” Guests: Tasha Malan, musician and content creator, their new single, “Sagitaria,” drops next month Christian Tumalan, Pianist & Co-Founder & Co-Director, Pacific Mambo Orchestra Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the White House ballroom to the Kennedy Center to a proposed triumphal arch along the Potomac, President Trump has taken a special interest in creating physical markers of his legacy. We’ll look at how he’s largely escaped oversight, including by designating these projects as central to national security. Why are monuments such a priority for Trump, and what does this tell us about the growing reach of executive power? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Years after the pandemic emptied trains and buses, Bay Area transit agencies still face anemic ridership and rising costs. A new regional transit measure that voters put on the November ballot aims to shift the tides. It would add a 0.5% sales tax in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties and 1% in San Francisco, to raise an estimated $14 billion over 14 years. Supporters hope it will fund BART, Muni, Caltrain, SamTrans, VTA and AC Transit and better connect the systems, while critics call it a regressive tax that hits lower-income residents hardest. We’ll talk about how we got here and the future of public transit with – or without – these funds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rep. Nancy Pelosi will retire following the 2026 midterm elections, bringing to end her almost 40-year career in Congress. In a new five-part podcast series, “The Speaker,” KQED’s Scott Shafer embarked on an ambitious reporting project to capture the story of the first woman Speaker of the House. Shafer traces how Pelosi rose from unlikely Congressional candidate to one of the most powerful women in American politics. Shafer and Pelosi biographer Susan Page joins us to talk about Pelosi’s political legacy and where the Democratic Party goes from here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the San Francisco Chronicle last published its list of the Bay Area’s 200 largest public companies 17 years ago, oil behemoth Chevron ranked no. 1. The company has since left for Houston and now Apple Inc. has seized the top spot. Tech companies now make up 21 of the top 25 companies, with AI and social media companies like Nvidia and Meta joining veterans like Intel and Hewlett Packard in the top 10. This concentration of heavy hitters helped make the Bay Area the largest regional economy in the country, but experts warn our reliance on tech could be a disadvantage in the long term. We’ll dig into how the Bay Area’s business landscape has shifted and what it could mean for jobs and our regional economy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Actor Ke Huy Quan’s family fled post-war Vietnam and lived in a Hong Kong refugee camp before his unlikely turn as an iconic 1980s child star. He stumbled into a casting call for “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” at 12 years old, then rolled right into “The Goonies.” But as he transitioned into adulthood, roles started drying up. After decades of rejection, Quan made an Oscar-winning comeback in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” In his new memoir, “Never Say Die,” Quan shares his forty-year journey of perseverance and self-discovery. Guests: Ke Huy Quan, Academy Award-winning actor; author, “Never Say Die” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Authors Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor say that not only is fascism here, but this 21st century version wants apocalyptic collapse. In their new book “End Times Fascism,” Klein and Taylor examine how politicians, religious prophets and Silicon Valley billionaires are trying to wipe out flora and fauna, undermine human solidarity and block our ability to imagine a future on Earth. But they also say that it’s not too late for us to fight this “end times fascism” — for the sake of our world. Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor join us on Forum. Guests: Naomi Klein, columnist; The Guardian; documentary filmmaker; associate professor of geography and codirector of the Centre for Climate Justic, University of British Columbia; author, “Doppelganger,” “No Logo,” “The Shock Doctrine” among others; co-author, “End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World” Astra Taylor, writer, activist, and documentarian; cofounder, Debt Collective, a debtors’ union that came out of the Occupy Movement; co-author, “End Times Fascism:…

When animal advocates in Humboldt County unearthed dog carcasses on the property of Miranda’s Rescue, they exposed an alleged cruelty and fraud operation that has shocked animal welfare groups across the state. A sprawling multi-agency investigation has since revealed mass graves, dozens of canine skulls and records for hundreds of unaccounted-for dogs transferred from municipal shelters to a sanctuary that marketed itself as a “no-kill” refuge. We’ll look at the latest findings in the investigation, explore why prior warnings were overlooked and discuss what it will take to reform California’s strained animal rescue system. Guests: Sukey Lewis, criminal justice reporter, KQED; host and reporter; “On Our Watch”; co-founder, the California Reporting Project Jennifer Raymond, founder of Humboldt Spay/Neuter Clinic; founder of Humboldt Critters without Litters Jenna Moore, animal advocate; whistleblower who kicked off the Miranda’s Rescue investigation Shannon Miranda, owner, Miranda’s Rescue Learn more about…

In Tomas Moniz’s new novel “The King of Aloe Vera,” seventy-five-year-old Rey has one month left in his longtime Mission District home when he befriends Q, a young woman on probation who is about to lose her housing. The novel unspools as a love letter to the Mission District of San Francisco and its longtime residents—housed and unhoused alike— as they find themselves in a neighborhood that’s changing in so many ways. We’ll talk with Moniz about the Mission and Latinos, housing activism, and intergenerational friendship. Guest: Tomas Moniz, author, “King of Aloe Vera” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the Massachusetts trial of Lindsay Clancy, one detail was not disputed in court: Clancy admitted to killing her three young children before attempting suicide in January 2023. But over the multi-week trial, Clancy’s defense argued she could not be held criminally responsible by reason of insanity, attributing her actions to postpartum psychosis. This case left a jury split and the public divided as it highlights major questions about insanity pleas, mental health care and similar cases involving postpartum psychosis. We’ll explore the complicated issue, and look at how it plays out here in California. Guests: April Dembosky, health correspondent, KQED News Dr. Nirmaljit Dhami, perinatal psychiatrist, El Camino Hospital, medical director of the Inpatient Perinatal Psychiatry Unit Michelle Oberman, Professor of Law, Santa Clara University School of Law, Author of Mothers Who Kill Their Children Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last month, Ethel Caterham turned 117 in England making her the world’s oldest person. In his new documentary “The Oldest Person In the World,” director Sam Green takes viewers through his decade-long journey across the globe to meet people like Caterham as they were bestowed with the “oldest living person” title. As humans are living longer and longer, the film explores our fascination with the “oldest person” and what it means to keep living well beyond the average lifespan. We’ll talk with Green about the people he met, the celebrity surrounding them, and his own personal journey that forced him to grapple with aging and longevity. Guests: Sam Green, filmmaker of “The Oldest Person in the World”, directed “32 Sounds,” The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller,” and “The Weather Underground,” among other documentaries Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since returning to office, President Trump has moved to restrict gender-affirming care, bar transgender and nonbinary people from the military and roll back other LGBTQ nondiscrimination policies. It’s a sweeping attack that pioneering transgender historian Susan Stryker says the trans rights movement was not prepared for. We talk to Stryker about what this moment means for transgender people and for everyone’s freedom to define themselves. Her new book is “Changing Gender: The History and Future of a Concept”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if you could create a color, one that no one had ever seen before? That’s what a team of UC Berkeley scientists set out to do, and in the process they found a new green — one so intense a camera could not capture it and a printer could not replicate it. How they did it and how their discovery may change what we know about color science and how the eye works are the subjects of a New Yorker article by Rivka Galchen, “What Would It Mean to See a New Color?” We talk to Austin Roorda and Ren Ng, the scientists behind the work, and Galchen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tech leaders, including the CEOs of Anthropic and OpenAI, are calling for a slowdown of the development of generative artificial intelligence. This comes after an Anthropic researcher resigned over concerns that AI’s rapid development threatened human existence, and nearly 1,400 AI workers signed an open letter calling for government oversight of their industry. We’ll talk about where this tech — and its regulation — stands, and unpack the latest AI developments shaking up Silicon Valley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A 16-year-old boy from San Francisco died in April from the city’s first confirmed overdose involving cychlorphine . The synthetic opioid is considered much more potent than fentanyl, which is already more potent than heroin and other opiates. It has killed dozens of people across the country since 2024. This week, San Francisco police announced they had arrested four suspects accused of supplying the deadly pills in the overdose case. We’ll talk about San Francisco’s response so far, -and what the arrival of this deadly drug means for a city that has struggled with more than 4,000 drug overdose deaths since 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some marriages don’t end with a blowup or betrayal. Instead, partners slowly become emotionally disconnected – more like roommates than lovers. It’s a phenomenon that’s been dubbed a “quiet divorce.” We talk with psychologists Thema Bryant and Eli Finkel about why relationships quietly come undone, how to rebuild connection and when it may be time to let go. Guests: Eli Finkel, professor of psychology, Northwestern University; host, “Love Factually” podcast; author, “The All-or-Nothing Marriage: How the Bes Marriages Work” Dr. Thema Bryant, psychologist and author, “Matters of the Heart” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his new book, “Natural Intelligence and the Logic of Consciousness,” pioneering neuroscientist Antonio Damasio synthesizes his decades of research in neurobiology and philosophy of mind into a central idea: we are conscious because we feel. “It is traditionally said that we are able to feel our feelings because we are conscious,” he writes, but instead, “we must be able to feel in order to become conscious.” We talk to Damasio about his lifetime of research into the mind and his thoughts on the possibility of conscious AI. Guests: Antonio Damasio, psychology, philosophy and neurology professor and director of the Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California; author, “Natural Intelligence and the Logic of Consciousness” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1991, China scholar and journalist Orville Schell teamed up with CBS News’ 60 Minutes for a perilous undercover investigation into China’s laogai—a vast network of forced labor camps secretly exporting goods into American markets. Fearing severe retaliation against his family and friends in China, Schell shelved his written account for three decades. In his new book, “Inside China’s Secret Prisons: An Undercover Exposé and Its Lasting Legacy,” Schell reveals how that clandestine operation played out and shares why forced labor persists in China today. Guest: Orville Schell, director of the Center on US-China Relations at the Asia Society and author of the new book “Inside China’s Secret Prisons: An Undercover Exposé and Its Lasting Legacy” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California voters will decide this fall whether the state should impose a one-time 5 percent tax on billionaires, with much of the revenue going toward health care amid federal funding cuts. Supporters say Proposition 40 could raise tens of billions of dollars while also helping to address the growing wealth inequality in the state. Opponents argue the tax could drive billionaires out of California, shrinking the state’s income tax base and ultimately costing more than it raises. We talk to two leading economists: Gabriel Zucman, who helped develop the measure, and Joshua Rauh, one of its most vocal critics, about whether the billionaire tax would help California’s economy – or hurt it. Guest: Gabriel Zucman, professor of economics, UC Berkeley; Paris School of Economics – author of “We Need to Tax Billionaires”; helped develop Prop 40 Joshua Rauh, economist and professor, Stanford Graduate School of Business – senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, research associate at the National Bureau of Economic…

Joan Baez’s iconic voice has matured over the decades, but the way she’s used it has remained consistent. As a rising folk music star in the 1960s, she performed at the March on Washington alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and founded the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence in California’s Carmel Valley. Now, she’s outspoken about the Trump administration. A musician, poet, author and activist, Baez is known for being idiosyncratic: Her latest act? Joining a circus in Alameda. We speak with Baez about the evolution of her voice and what she sees as artists’ role in activism. Guests: Joan Baez, legendary singer, activist, author and cultural icon. Her honors include eight gold albums, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a Kennedy Center Honor, as well as numerous awards for her civil rights work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been 25 years since the United States experienced the deadliest terrorist attack in our history on Sept. 11, 2001. The attacks profoundly changed our nation from how we view ourselves and treat first responders to how we balance national security and personal privacy. For many Americans, the attacks fractured our nation and created a stark before-and-after. But now, a quarter of a century later, close to a third of people in the U.S. were born after the twin towers fell, or were too young to retain any memories of it. Sept. 11 is morphing from a memory into history. We’ll talk about how the attacks reshaped our national psyche, identity and sense of security within our own borders and what we want younger generations to know about it. Guests: Wajahat Ali, author, “Go Back to Where You Came From”, columnist for the Daily Beast, co-host of the podcast Democracy-ish, writes The Left Hook substack. Michael Mark Cohen, American and African American studies professor, UC Berkeley, teaches the course, History…

When the Taliban retook Afghanistan five years ago, the New York Times evacuated more than 120 Afghan journalists, translators and other employees and family members. In a new book,journalists Rebecca Blumenstein and Diana Kapp follow four young women from the group who must rebuild their lives in America, navigating college, work, language and faith. We’ll talk with the authors and one of the young women profiled about what freedom means after escape — and what the U.S. owes the Afghans it left behind. Guests: Diana Kapp, journalist and co-author, "The Last Free Women: A Daring Escape from Afghanistan and Coming of Age in America" Rebecca Blumenstein, president-editorial, NBC News; co-author "The Last Free Women: A Daring Escape from Afghanistan and Coming of Age in America" Mursal Rahim, fled Afghanistan in 2021 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Acclaimed poet and essayist Claudia Rankine’s new book, “Triage,” follows the turbulent, decades long friendship between a Black woman and a nonbinary Palestinian who meet in college and invent a ritual of collapsing to the ground whenever they see each other. Over time, that act of collapse comes to hold new meaning as they reckon with wounded histories, political violence and the strain of loving someone who can also unsettle you. Blending memoir, criticism, essay and visual art, “Triage” is Rankine’s first book after her celebrated American trilogy and some of her most personal writing yet. Rankine joins us to talk about friendship, grieving, and what it means to keep acting – and relating – in a time of relentless personal and global loss. Guests: Claudia Rankine, poet, playwright and author, her new book is "Triage", professor of Creative Writing at NYU; a MacArthur "Genius" grant recipient Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices