Roundup: The Controversial Weedkiller Sprayed Throughout California Forests

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 29 April 2026

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Supreme Court this week heard a case about Roundup, a weedkiller widely used in agriculture — and that tens of thousands claim has caused their cancer. Now a new investigation from Mother Jones reveals that Roundup is used across California by the US Forest Service and Cal Fire. While Bayer, Roundup’s parent company, claims the chemical’s safety is backed up by extensive research, the investigation calls into question data behind these claims. We look at what’s known about the health impacts of Roundup, how it’s used for fire recovery and why it’s causing a rift in Trump world. Guests: Nate Halverson, senior reporter and producer, The Center for Investigative Reporting who reported on Roundup for Reveal and Mother Jones Patrick Thomas, reporter, The Wall Street Journal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for a Key QBD podcast comes from Xfinity.
0:03.5	Thanks to the Xfinity five-year price guarantee,
0:06.2	your guaranteed five years of reliable Wi-Fi with our best equipment,
0:10.4	no annual contracts, and no fees.
0:13.0	Plus, get online in minutes with same-day Wi-Fi.
0:16.2	Lock in your price and unlock the possibilities.
0:19.1	Xfinity, imagine that.
0:23.2	Restrictions apply, select plans only.
0:29.3	You know, every day on Up First, NPR's Golden Globe-nominated morning news podcast, we bring you three essential stories. At the heart of each story, our questions, what really happened, what really
0:35.5	mattered, what happens next. At NPR, we stand for your right to be curious and to follow the facts.
0:42.3	Follow up first wherever you get your podcasts and start your day knowing what matters and why.
0:48.9	From KQED.
0:51.8	Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim. The safety of glyphosate, better known by its brand name Roundup,
0:58.3	has been debated for decades, even as multiple lawsuits have alleged that Weakiller causes cancer,
1:03.6	with several ending in settlements, and after Roundup removed glyphosate from its residential
1:08.1	consumer versions. Now Roundup's parent company, Bayer,
1:12.0	wants the Supreme Court's help in a case heard Monday that could ultimately dismiss tens of
1:16.7	thousands of lawsuits against it for causing non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other illnesses.
1:22.1	It's amid all of this that we learn this week that Roundup is being sprayed on California's
1:27.4	forestland.
1:28.7	Thanks to an investigation by Nate Halverson, a reporter and producer at the Center for Investigative
1:34.0	Reporting, who covered this for Reveal and Mother Jones. And Nate joins me now. Welcome to Forum.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.