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Latest Episodes:

Journalist Barbara Demick Traces Decades of Trauma From China’s One-Child Policy Jun 20, 2025

Show notes

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

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U.S. Weighs Role It Should Play in Escalating Israel-Iran Conflict Jun 20, 2025

Show notes

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

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Checking in on California’s Reparations Effort Jun 19, 2025

Show notes

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

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Stories of Resistance, Survival and Beauty from the Bay Area’s Trans Community Jun 19, 2025

Show notes

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

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Can the Left Win Back Working-Class Voters? Jun 18, 2025

Show notes

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

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Rebecca Solnit on Approaching These Times with Hope, Imagination and Perseverance Jun 18, 2025

Show notes

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"

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‘When It All Burns’ Brings Us to the Fireline Jun 17, 2025

Show notes

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"

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The Long Reach of San Francisco’s Housing Crisis Jun 17, 2025

Show notes

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

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RFK Jr. Stacks Key Federal Immunization Committee With Vaccine Skeptics Jun 16, 2025

Show notes

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. named multiple vaccine skepticsto 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

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How Trump’s Trade Deals Could Impact Jobs, Prices and Inflation Jun 16, 2025

Show notes

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

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