KQED's Forum

Scott Eden, investigative reporter and author of A Killing in Cannabis, recounts a Silicon Valley entrepreneur’s move into legalized marijuana and the violent fallout. He explores how taxes, regulation, legacy growers and limited retail kept the black market thriving. The conversation traces tangled business choices, crime, and potential policy fixes in California’s cannabis landscape.

Kelli English, National Park Service program manager who supervised Betty at Rosie the Riveter, and Bob Reid, musician-activist and Betty’s son, share memories. They recount Betty’s decades of reinvention, her late-career role as a park ranger, wartime and civil rights experiences, her musical life and recordings, and the family and public responses to her long legacy.

Sina Toossi, policy fellow who amplifies marginalized Iranian voices. Arash Azizi, Atlantic writer and author on Iranian society. They discuss recent airstrikes and Iran’s interim leadership. They examine how Iranians at home and abroad are reacting. They unpack military tactics, regional fallout, and the limits of outside intervention.

Susie Nadler, a school librarian and debut YA author of Lies We Tell About the Stars, and René Peña-Govea, a teacher-librarian and debut novelist of Estela, Undrowning, talk about crafting San Francisco as setting and character. They discuss housing insecurity, elite school pressure, earthquake aftermath, poetic voice, censorship, and why YA matters to young readers.

Beth Pratt, wildlife advocate for California who pushes nonlethal coexistence and funding. Paul Rowan, Sierra Valley ranch manager dealing with livestock losses and push for stronger local management. Kaggie Orrick, UC Berkeley wolf scientist studying behavior and habitat. They discuss wolves recolonizing California, on-the-ground impacts for ranchers, deterrence and compensation struggles, and debates over removal versus coexistence.

People who ski in the Sierra Nevada backcountry say there’s no better way to experience the wonder of the mountains in winter. But the avalanche that killed nine backcountry skiers near Lake Tahoe last month has highlighted the dangers inherent in the sport. Those hazards include masses of snow racing down steep slopes — and a human tendency to sometimes underestimate risk. We talk about what can be done to address the dangers and heighten awareness for the growing number of people looking to explore the wilderness in winter. Guests: Sarah Wright, outdoors engagement reporter, KQED Sara Boilen, clinical psychologist; backcountry skier; co-host, "The Avalanche Hour" podcast Ethan Greene, director, Colorado Avalanche Information Center Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Haney, California assemblymember pushing a tax on private detention operators. Wendy Fry, CalMatters reporter covering detention conditions and local resistance. Ahilan Arulanantham, UCLA law professor and immigration litigator tracking legal challenges. They discuss ICE buying warehouses for mass detention, California rules and local pushback, proposed corporate taxes, court rulings expanding detention, and rising concerns about medical care and oversight.

Neale Mahoney, a Stanford economist who analyzes housing and policy, and Erin Baldassari, a KQED housing affordability editor, explore Bay Area survival tactics. They discuss soaring housing costs, pandemic price spikes, rent rules and policy trade-offs. Conversations cover multi‑gen living, side hustles, long commutes, and the limits of single fixes for childcare, health care and housing.

Helen Zoe Veit, a food historian who wrote Picky, traces how American childhood tastes narrowed over time. Dr. Erik Fernandez y Garcia, a pediatrician at UC Davis, offers clinical perspective on feeding and when to seek help. They discuss historical eating habits, the rise of processed kid foods and marketing, early feeding techniques, social pressures, and signs that warrant medical evaluation.

Savala Nolan, author and director at Berkeley Law’s Henderson Center for Social Justice, examines race, gender, and the body in her new book. She discusses reclaiming marginalized stories through memoir and law. She reflects on leaving prescribed womanhood, dating and emotional labor, parenting choices that build autonomy, and confronting racism and masculinity.