KQED's Forum

During a San Francisco Giants home game this month dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community, four pitchers drew attention for their protest of the team’s themed rainbow uniform. One player opted out of wearing the uniform entirely, while three others doctored their hats with a bible verse that has been used by some Christian groups to “reclaim” the rainbow. Major League Baseball issued a warning to those players that writing of any kind on uniforms goes against league rules. That, in turn, led to the Department of Justice opening a civil rights investigation into whether the MLB is discriminating against the players’ religious rights. Amidst it all, many San Francisco Giants fans have felt betrayed by a team that has long stood by its hometown LGBTQ community. We’ll talk about the controversy, its fallout and how you’re responding. Guests: Ann Killion, sports columnist, San Francisco Chronicle Alex Simon, sports editor, SFGate Bradford William Davis, reporter and cultural critic, sports newsletter [eyeblack] Andrea Fernandes, vice president of marketing, Golden State Valkyries Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As part of negotiations over terms of the ceasefire memorandum between Iran and the U.S., the Trump Administration on Monday temporarily lifted all oil sanctions on Iran, a significant reversal of longstanding American policy. Critics in the president’s own party have sharply criticized the deal which includes a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran, a ceasefire and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Over the weekend, fighting in Lebanon and threats from Trump to “hit Iran very hard again” threatened the fragile detente. Will the peace hold? We’ll talk to experts about the deal with Iran and its implications. Guests: David Sanger, White House and National Security Correspondent, The New York Times; his most recent book is "New Cold Wars: China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion and America’s Struggle to Defend the West" Jonathan Lemire, staff writer, The Atlantic; Lemire serves as the co-host of the MSNOW show "Morning Joe" Alan Eyre, distinguished diplomatic fellow, Middle East Institute; Eyre was a senior diplomat and Iran expert for the U.S. government, and served as a key member of the U.S. negotiating team for the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Communities across the Bay Area, including Gilroy, Oakley and Pittsburg, are pushing back on new data centers in their cities. Data centers, which house the computing equipment and servers that power the internet, have been around for decades, but opposition to them has exploded as tech companies pour hundreds of billions of dollars into building thousands of new centers nationwide. Residents worry the facilities will suck up scarce water and electricity and pollute the environment to power the riches of AI investors. We’ll talk about the data center boom and how it’s playing out in the Bay Area. Guests: Molly Taft, senior climate reporter, WIRED Jonathan Koomey, researcher and scientist, Koomey Analytics; author, "Cold Cash, Cool Climate: Science-Based Advice for Ecological Entrepreneurs" Hema Sivanandam, East Contra Costa reporter, Bay Area News Group Britt Smith, Gilroy resident; activist and co-founder, Stop Gilroy Data Center Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Yorker magazine poetry editor Kevin Young has called poetry "the most efficient mode of time travel." In his new volume of poems "Night Watch,” Young, a literary hyphenate who edits, writes and teaches, takes readers on a journey of loss and re-emergence. From his cycle of poems about a conjoined pair of twins born into slavery and kidnapped to a carnival freak show to his meditations on grief set to the phases of the moon, Young’s spare and incisive language provides the reader passage through history and memory. On this Juneteenth holiday we listen back on our conversation with Young about his collection and what it means to be a poet today. Guests: Kevin Young, poet and author; Young's latest poetry collection is "Night Watch"; Young has been the poetry editor for the New Yorker since 2017 and from 2021 to 2025 served as the director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist Jonathan Weber has had a front row seat to San Francisco’s many rises and falls as the nation’s tech capital since the early 1990s. His new book, “City on the Edge” offers a sweeping history of the tech industry in San Francisco, chronicling its unprecedented successes as well as its devastating consequences. Drawing on 200 interviews with mayors, CEOs, political leaders, activists, entrepreneurs, and artists, Weber tells the story of a war waged for the heart of San Francisco that has had an impact far beyond the city’s famed Golden Gates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cigarettes are cool again…especially with GenZ. Despite decades of anti-smoking campaigns, you’re likely to see more young people smoking in films, at bars, on street corners, and in social media feeds. Researchers tie the trend to Y2K nostalgia, soft nihilism, and a turn away from “clean girl” wellness culture. Actual youth smoking rates are still at historic lows, but we’ll explore how glamorization complicates the public health conversation around nicotine. Guests: Pamela Ling, professor of medicine, UCSF; Ling studies the tobacco industry marketing strategies targeting young adults, women and other high risk populations Kevin Truong, business editor, The San Francisco Standard; Truong co-wrote the piece "They Know It Kills You. Gen Z is Smoking Cigarettes Anyway" Degen Pener, journalist; Pener wrote the piece "Cigarettes Get a Sequel: Hollywood's 'Cool' Habit Is Back" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oakland filmmaker, rapper and activist Boots Riley’s new film ‘I Love Boosters’ is a surreal crime comedy that follows three women who shoplift clothes to make ends meet. Like all of his work, there’s radical pro-worker politics, indictments of industry, and funk-filled absurdism. We’ll talk to Riley about his distinctive storytelling and how it centers his hometown. Guests: Boots Riley, writer and director, "I Love Boosters;" his previous films include "Sorry to Bother You" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In writer and poet Ben Lerner’s latest novel, “Transcription,” an unnamed narrator travels to interview his elderly mentor. But shortly after checking into his hotel, the narrator knocks his phone into water, ruining the only recording device he brought. What unfolds is an exploration of all of the mundane and profound ways technology intersects with our lives. There’s the bad: the mental offloading and trust we place in our smartphones and the uncanny valley of glitchy Zoom calls. But there’s also the good: how it can sometimes be easier to express ourselves through phone calls rather than in-person, or how ASMR videos can actually benefit some children. We’ll talk with Lerner about novels’ long history of documenting human relationships with technology, and his own expanding definition of fiction. Guests: Ben Lerner, author, “Leaving the Atocha Station,” “10:04,” and “The Topeka School,” which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; his latest novel is “Transcription.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices