Kqeds Forum

Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki says she learned some of her most effective communication strategies “the hard way.” These techniques were absorbed, refined and stress-tested on her rise to one of the most powerful communication roles in the nation. And as she writes in her new book, they’re “applicable to a wide range of life experiences, whether you’re a parent talking to a teacher about your preschooler, a friend trying to encourage a coworker to take a risk, or a young female staffer trying to convince the most powerful man in the world what he might want to include in his State of the Union address.” We talk to Psaki about how to achieve common understanding and about the importance of knowing your audience, especially in our politically divided nation. Her new book is called “Say More: Lessons from Work, the White House, and the World.” Guests: Jen Psaki, host, "Inside With Psaki" on MSNBC; former White House press secretary under President Biden; White House communications director under

As the newly named Brazil bureau chief for the New York Times, Ernesto Londoño had hit a journalistic zenith. Yet, he had never been more depressed. Contemplating suicide and eager for a way out of his sadness, Londoño signed up for an Amazonian ayahuasca retreat. He was initially skeptical of the drug’s ability to alter his mental health trajectory, but ultimately that experience ended up changing Londoño’s life. That story centers his new book, “Trippy,” which also looks at the promise and peril of medicinal psychedelics. Guests: Ernesto Londoño, author, "Trippy: The Peril and Promise of Medicinal Psychedelics"; national correspondent, the New York Times; Londoño has reported from Iraq and Afghanistan

A New York state jury on Thursday found former President Donald Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records. Those falsified records were to cover up a hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. After being the first former U.S. president to stand trial for felony charges, Trump is now the first president to be found guilty in criminal court. His sentencing date is set for July 11 — days before the Republican National Convention. We’ll talk about the verdict, the sentencing and the expected appeals ahead. And we’ll break down the political repercussions within California and the nation. Guests: Shanlon Wu, criminal defense attorney; CNN legal analyst; former federal prosecutor who also served as counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno Melissa Murray, professor of law, NYU School of Law - co-host of the Strict Scrutiny podcast Andrea Bernstein, covered five Trump trials in New York for NPR, and the author of "American Oligarchs: the Kushners,

A New York jury found Donald Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, making him the first current or former president in US history to become a convicted felon. It’s earth shaking news and still, the presidential race, with Trump in it, continues on. We’ll talk about what happens next, how the politics might shake out and we’ll hear from listeners and process all of our reactions. Guests: Marisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED - Co-host of KQED's Political Breakdown show Scott Shafer, senior editor, KQED’s California Politics and Government desk; co-host, Political Breakdown David Graham, staff writer, The Atlantic

A recent New York Times investigation reveals how violent radical elements in Israel’s settler movement in the West Bank have been allowed to operate with impunity for decades. The report, based in part on accounts by Israeli officials, examines a two-tier system of justice where the authorities systematically ignored or enabled settler violence against Palestinians. Today, leaders of this extremist fringe have gained powerful positions within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. We’ll talk with the report’s co-author, Mark Mazzetti, about the rise of Israeli extremism and what it means for the current war and U.S.-Israel relations. Guests: Mark Mazzetti, investigative reporter focusing on national security, New York Times; co-author, the May 16 cover story "The Unpunished: How Extremists Took Over Israel"

Australian standup comedian Hannah Gadsby took the world by storm with their 2018 show Nanette, which paired punchlines with personal revelations about sexuality, art and gender-based violence. Since then, Gadsby has married, been diagnosed as autistic, and grappled with fame – all subjects of their subsequent standup performances. In June, Gadsby brings their latest show, Woof!, to the Bay Area. We talk with them about their unique brand of feel-good comedy, the searing social commentary that made them famous, and why “woof!” is the only sane reaction to our present reality. Guests: Hannah Gadsby, comedian

When OpenAI released ChatGPT in 2022, schools and universities were quick to ban the use of the generative artificial intelligence chatbot. Teachers have reported students using the service to cheat and turn in plagiarized and inaccurate essays. But Sal Khan, the founder and CEO of Khan Academy, says generative AI can be a force for good in education. Khan Academy now has an educational AI chatbot, Khanmigo, which can guide students while still promoting critical thinking. Khan says developments like these could allow for every student to have a personal AI tutor and every teacher an AI teaching assistant. And Khan thinks incorporating AI in the classroom can allow for exciting new learning opportunities — with the right programming and guardrails. His new book is “Brave New Words.” Guests: Sal Khan, founder and CEO, Khan Academy - an education non-profit

Every other January, hundreds of volunteers hit the stress across the Bay Area and attempt to count the number of unhoused people and families. The point-in-time count offers a snapshot into the scope of homelessness in different communities, but most experts agree the methodology is often inaccurate and flawed. The preliminary data for this year’s count is finally out and reveals jumps and declines in different cities across the Bay Area. We’ll talk to experts to demystify the counting process, understand this year’s numbers and discuss how data collection could be improved. Guests: Sydney Johnson, reporter, KQED News Elester Hubbard, outreach supervisor, San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team (SFHOT) Paul Boden, executive director, Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) Dr. Margot Kushel, professor of medicine, UCSF; director, UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative Christin Evans, vice chair, San Francisco's Homelessness Oversight Commission; owner, Booksmith; co-owner, the Alembic bar

California’s $55 billion wine industry is experiencing a downturn for the first time in decades. Wine consumption peaked in 2021 and has fallen each year, dropping 8.7% in 2023 according to one industry report. With bottles sitting on store shelves, cases piling up in winemakers’ warehouses and farmers unable to sell their crops, the ripple effects of the drop in wine-buying are felt throughout the industry. In California’s Central Valley, certain grape growers are diversifying, swapping grapes for other crops; others are demolishing their vineyards and transitioning to solar farms. Financially strained growers, unable to pursue either option, are left with having to allow their crops to wither on the vine. But is this just a short-term market correction or is California’s wine industry in serious trouble? We look at the potential factors underlying the downturn and explore the impact on Californians. Guests: Esther Mobley, senior wine critic, San Francisco Chronicle Amanda Mccrossin, wine content creator

In 2010 bioethicist Carl Elliott published an extensive article detailing the red flags in a drug study that resulted in the death of one of the human subjects. But instead of the outrage and oversight he expected, the university defended its researchers and Elliott was ostracized by his colleagues. In his new book “The Occasional Human Sacrifice” Elliot shares his experience and those of other whistleblowers in the medical research world. We’ll talk with Elliot about why medical institutions make such formidable enemies, and why the people who revealed some of the biggest medical research scandals refused to stay silent. Guests: Carl Elliott, professor of philosophy, University of Minnesota; author, "The Occasional Human Sacrifice"

In Miranda July’s new novel, “All Fours,” a 45-year-old artist embarks on a solo roadtrip to New York from her Los Angeles home. She makes it as far as Monrovia, a small town a half-hour from L.A., and waits out the rest of her trip in a motel room while pursuing an infatuation with a Hertz rental car employee. The novel, which shares similarities with July’s own life, explores themes of marital ennui, the fear of sexual irrelevance and the contours of the female midlife crisis. July grew up in Oakland and is known for her performance art, her films “Me and You and Everyone We Know” and “Kajillionaire,” and her fiction “No One Belongs Here More Than You” and “The First Bad Man.” We talk to her about her new novel and why she describes it as “closer to the bone.” Guests: Miranda July, actor, screenwriter, director and author - She’s known for her films “Me and You and Everyone We Know” and “Kajillionaire,” and her fiction includes “No One Belongs Here More Than You” and “The First Bad Man”. Her new novel is

What it means to be American and who gets to claim that identity are questions that animate Rachel Khong’s newest novel “Real Americans.” The book follows three generations of a Chinese American family, and grapples with not just race, but class and genetic identity. Khong is a former editor of the food magazine “Lucky Peach” and the founder of The Ruby, a work and event space in the Mission for women and nonbinary writers. We talk to Khong about her book and work. Guests: Rachel Khong, author, "Real Americans" - Khong is also the author of "Goodbye, Vitamin," which won the 2017 California Book Award for First Fiction. She founded The Ruby, a work space in San Francisco's Mission district for women and nonbinary writers.

Craig Foster may be best known for “My Octopus Teacher,” the Oscar-winning documentary about his tender relationship with a wild female octopus who inhabited the kelp forests off the coast of South Africa. He’s now written a new book called “Amphibious Soul,” which invites us along on his underwater excursions and shows us how, through techniques like tracking, we can connect with creatures and our wild selves. Is there a wild animal or place that you’ve built a connection with? Guests: Craig Foster, author, "Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World," natural history filmmaker, creator, "My Octopus Teacher," co-founder, Sea Change Project

The gig economy, as it has been known, was built around a controversial idea — that an Uber driver, for instance, did not work for Uber. These apps, instead, were merely making a market for workers, which a user could access to hire someone. Many labor leaders rejected this idea, and it has led to fights in the legislature, courts and over Proposition 22 in 2020, when voters handed the gig economy a huge win. The constitutionality of Prop. 22 is now before the California State Supreme Court, and we’ll go over the arguments, which the court heard this week, and discuss how gig workers have fared since it became law. Guests: Levi Sumagaysay, economy reporter, CalMatters Ken Jacobs , co-chair, Center for Labor Research and Education at UC Berkeley John Mejia, rideshare driver and member of California Gig Workers Union David Lewis, dasher, Doordash Molly Weedn, spokesperson, Protect App-Based Drivers & Services coalition

“It’s difficult to think of a public health crisis more inevitable than the impending end of Roe v. Wade,” writes journalist Shefali Luthra, “and yet, on June 24, 2022, the country was profoundly unprepared.” Luthra argues that we’re now in the midst of that public health crisis, as millions of Americans seeking abortions face overwhelming obstacles to care, and as abortion providers reach a “breaking point to attempt to meet demand.” Luthra’s new book “Undue Burden” chronicles what she calls the human stories of abortion access — the patients with medically complex pregnancies who spend life savings on out-of-state care, the doctors who work under fear of legal reprisal and the lawmakers who struggle to respond. We talk to Luthra about the personal and systemic impacts of the loss of the constitutional right to abortion, nearly two years after Dobbs.

If you’re looking for a great meal after midnight, you’re unlikely to find a wealth of options in downtown San Francisco. But expand your search to the Bay Area’s suburban communities, and you’ll find a late-night dining scene that’s brimming with hot pot restaurants, noodle shops, taco carts, and 24-hour casino buffets. Nocturnal noms are the subject of a new collaborative series from KQED’s food editor Luke Tsai and illustrator Thien Pham, called “Midnight Diners.” On the next edition of All You Can Eat, we’ll talk about the local restaurants that keep us fed when we’re staying up late and whether the Bay Area deserves its early-to-bed reputation.

Longtime New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has reported from war zones and humanitarian crises and has examined our own nation’s struggles with poverty, addiction and homelessness. And yet, in his new memoir, “Chasing Hope,” Kristof calls himself an optimist. Journalism, he says, is an act of hope in itself. We talk to Kristof about what he’s learned about the power of storytelling to make people care about issues near and far. Guests: Nicholas Kristof, columnist, New York Times; his new memoir is "Chasing Hope: A Reporter's Life"

Governor Gavin Newsom is calling for swifter reforms to California’s beleaguered home insurance market as homeowners across the state continue to lose coverage or face rate hikes. A growing number of insurance companies have stopped writing new policies in the state, citing increased climate-related risks and higher costs. Meanwhile, the state’s fire coverage of last resort, the FAIR plan, is overwhelmed and facing its own financial crisis. Newsom said this month he is drafting legislation that would speed up how quickly insurance companies can increase rates, a change insurers say they need to do business in the state. We’ll get the latest on the home insurance crisis and take your questions. Guests: Danielle Venton, science reporter, KQED News Amy Bach, executive director and cofounder, United Policyholders - a San Francisco-based nonprofit that advocates for insurance consumers Karl Susman, president and principal agent, Susman Insurance Services, Inc. Michael Soller, deputy insurance commissioner for

Humanitarian aid groups are reporting “unprecedented” levels of starvation for over 2 million people in Gaza, after nearly eight months of Israeli military bombardment and blockades. Another 5 million people are estimated to face “acute” food shortage in Haiti between March and June, and according to the United Nations, the threat of famine looms for 18 million people in east Africa as Sudan enters its second year of civil war. These hunger crises could have long-lasting effects; according to biologist and early development specialist Tessa Roseboom, the impacts of near starvation are likely to be experienced by generations to come. Her research focuses on people who were born during or shortly after the Dutch “Hunger Winter,” a result of German blockades in the final months of World War II. We speak with Roseboom about her research and its implications for people experiencing starvation in current conflicts around the world. Guests: Abby Maxman, president and CEO, Oxfam America Dr. Tessa Roseboom, profess

During the Trump Administration, scenes of children separated from parents and placed in chain link cells that looked like cages caused a national outcry. But the policy of immigration detention in the U.S. is far from new. With historical roots in slavery and the treatment of indigenous people, it has been used on Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, migrants from civil wars in Central America and immigrants from around the world since the policy was codified in 1891. In her new book, “In the Shadow of Liberty,” Stanford professor Ana Raquel Minian traces the nation’s detention policy by focusing on individual stories of immigrants past and present. We talk to Minian about why she believes immigrant detention doesn’t make us safer and her recommendations for a different path forward. Guests: Ana Raquel Minian, associate professor of history, Stanford University; author, "In the Shadow of Liberty" and "Undocumented Lives: The Untold Story of Mexican Migration"