UpFront – July 21, 2025
UpFront delivers a mix of local, state, and international coverage through challenging interviews, civil debates, breaking updates, and in-depth discussions with authors.
Upcoming Episode
UpFront
7:00 AM PACIFIC TIME: Mondays - Fridays
UpFront delivers a mix of local, state, and international coverage through challenging interviews, civil debates, breaking updates, and in-depth discussions with authors. UpFront PM is the afternoon edition of UpFront. Pitch us at upfront@kpfa.org.
Theme Music: Turn It Up by Digital Primitives, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
Trump’s Big Bill Increases US Military Budget by $150billion; Plus, Law Enforcement Funding Sees Boost in New San Francisco Budget
00:08 — Bill Hartung is Senior Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He is the author of “Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex.” 00:33 — Tim Redmond has been a political and investigative reporter in San Francisco for more than 40 years. He is the founder … Continued
Senate Approves $9 Billion Cuts to Public Media Funding; Plus, Waste Workers Strike Against Republic Services Continues; And, Dual Proposals for Funding Bay Area Public Transit
00:08 — Mike Janssen is Digital Editor at Current, an independent service of the American University School of Communication, providing news and reports on public media 00:20 — Jose Zepeda, is a rank-and-file member of the Teamsters Local 439 Republic Negotiating Committee 00:33 — Laurel Paget-Seekins is Senior Policy Advocate for Transportation Justice at Public … Continued
Conflicting Signals in Two Consecutive Labor Reports; Plus, Niki Fortunato Bas on Measure W and Local Impact of Federal Funding Cuts
00:08 — J.W. Mason, associate professor of economics at John Jay College, and a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. 00:33 — Nikki Fortunato Bas is Supervisor of Alameda County District 5.
What Does Trump’s Budget Bill Mean for the Transfer to Clean Energy; Plus, ICE Immigration Raids in Los Angeles and Proceedings in San Francisco Immigration Courts
00:08 — Jeff St. John is the director of news at Canary Media, a nonprofit newsroom covering the transition to clean energy and solutions to the climate crisis. 00:33 — Jonah Valdez is a reporter for The Intercept covering politics, human rights and protest movements. 00:45 — Margaret Kadifa is a reporter for Mission Local.
Russia’s War in Ukraine; Plus, Corona Calls
00:08 — John Feffer is Director of Foreign Policy in Focus. 00:33 — Dr. John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health.
Emily Bender and Alex Hanna on The AI Con
00:08 Emily M. Bender is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Washington, Alex Hanna is Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR); they’ve co-authored the book The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want
Annalee Newitz on Psychological Warfare and the American Mind
00:08 — Annalee Newitz is a San Francisco based journalist and author. They write for New Scientist and co-host the podcast Our Opinions Are Correct. Their latest book is “Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind.”
Netanyahu Visits the White House; Plus, Medicare Drug Price Negotiation and Education Hit Hard by Budget Bill
00:08 — Joel Beinin Professor of Middle East History, Emeritus at Stanford University. 00:33 — Juliette Cubanski is deputy director of the Program on Medicare Policy at KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research, polling and news organization. 00:45 — Zaidee Stavely is education and immigration reporter at EdSource and hosts the weekly Education Beat podcast.
Economic Fallout from Trump’s Big Budget Bill and New Tariffs; Plus, San Francisco Budget Vote
00:08 — Dean Baker is a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. 00:33 — Tim Redmond is the founder and editor of 48hills.org.
Russia’s War in Ukraine; Plus, Corona Calls
00:08 — John Feffer is Director of Foreign Policy in Focus. 00:33 — Dr. John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health.