KCBS Radio In Depth: Recent Episodes
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If you haven't been to Disneyland in a few years you may be in for a surprise when you go to buy tickets.For more, KCBS Radio News anchor Holly Quan spoke with Gavin Doyle founder of Mickey Visit a Disney news and planning resource.
In this series of episodes of Audacy Conversations, Audacy's Dennis Foley speaks with a series of experts about the history of the United States. We first hear from University of Pennsylvania history of education professor Jonathan Zimmerman about how American history is taught across the country, regional variances, and how well we all understand our history. Then, we speak with University of Pennsylvania history professor Emma Hart about the very beginning of what would become the United States: the North American colonies, how they interacted with each other, and why 13 of them declared their independence. In part three, we speak with University of California, Berkeley professor Brian DeLay about the country after its independence, its expansion, and the eventual Civil War. In part four, we speak with Northwestern University professor Kate Masur about the social challenges that existed and persisted after the Civil War into the early 1900s, the political elements that fought for power during this period, and the battle for equality. In part five, we explore modern American history with Northwestern University professor Kevin Boyle, exploring the post-World War II dynamics, events, and policies that lead us to the country we have today. (Image: Christine_Kohler/Getty Images)
Jobs, all the nitty gritty, but not boring - We dive into nostalgia with the best summer job you ever had, romance with how jobs factor into your future loves, and with the question ... Where have all the skilled workers gone?
Horrific allegations by multiple women against iconic civil rights leader Cesar Chavez have raised questions about his legacy. Experts weigh in on how to react to the news, why it took thirty years after his death to hear them. And one wonders, "can we hold the dark with the light?" when it comes to his legacy?
The highest strength tornado ever for this time of year struck Michigan this week, as hail, tornadoes, floods and more battered Texas and Illinois, too. Here's the latest on that, plus prices skyrocketing at the pump, where we stand with the war in Iran, proposals for a 'billionaire tax,' and more.
A new story, and trends we can all see, show that Gen Z is changing the world of alcohol, plus another study shows Americans have a very dim view of each other's morality, and GLP1s may change lifestyles across the spectrum.
Why is China beating the U.S. in electric vehicle production and innovation? Here's why. Plus, a professor discusses preparing students for an AI future and we learn about the country's biggest owl festival, where everyone is urged to come on down and 'have a hoot.'
The Supreme Court made a momentous decision about transgender care in California, plus here's how pets can improve your quality of life and why so many of us are headed out on spring break.
The Challenger exploded 40 years ago this week. Here's how it changed space travel forever. Plus, an expert discusses when humans will be on Mars, and Chad Hartman discusses most iconic TV moments, including The Challenger.
AI consumption of water and power for data centers is sending some communities into a frenzy. Here's more on that, plus what the CEO of SalesForce says about the 'evils' of AI.
This week marks the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump's second term. So, how's he doing, and what's going on with Greenland? Catch up on the latest, plus discover what's driving the deep freeze across the country.
Donald Trump visited Detroit this week to highlight the auto industry and ended up embroiled in a sideshow when he gave an automaker the finger and told him to F off when he heckled him about Jeffrey Epstein. Here's more on the auto industry, Trump, California's new play to promote EVs, and the new jobs report that will dictate whether people can buy a car at all.
What's it like to lose everythign in a wildfire? A KNX reporter knows first-hand, and draws us into her heartbreaking story as KCBS reports on insurance company moves to remove coverage in some states and WWL reports on Chevron fighting a $74 million payout for alleged destruction of wetlands.
A 37 year-old old mother is dead. That part we know. But lots of questions remain about the ICE shooting of a Minneapolis woman, a U.S. citizen, on a public street in broad daylight. Here's analysis from Audacy stations around the country and on-the-ground reporting from the WCCO at the scene.
Today marks the fifth anniversary of Jan. 6, and here's the latest on how to occasion is being marked. Plus, an independent Hilton Hotel refused reservations from ICE in Minneapolis as agents swarm Minneapolis on the heels of a federal funding fraud tied to Somali immigrants.
2025 was a year of extremes in terms of weather patterns and natural disasters, from deadly floods in Texas, to Canadian wildfire smoke blanketing the Midwest and California's record-setting wildfires. Plus, it marked the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Here's the year in natural disasters.
The latest jobs reports paints a dark picture of the US economy, but that's playing into the problems? Experts and analysts weigh in. Have you heard of performative job postings? they're a thing.
Four were killed at a child's birthday party in Stockton, Calif., shoppers ran for their lives when someone opened fire at Valley Fair Mall in California, and two National Guard members were killed by an ambush just blocks from the White House. Internationally, violence against Venezuela continues while questions are raised about their legality.
The United States reportedly killed survivors of a bombing i the waters surrounding Venezuela, which experts say is straight-up murder. So, will -- or should -- Pete Hegseth or someone else be held accountable? Plus, the latest on whether Trump will order a land war.
Investors are worried an AI bubble is about to burst, so we're wondering what that would mean for the U.S. Plus, AI data centers are fueling double-digit energy cost increases, a new study shows we don't trust its medical advice, and yet an AI song is racing up the music charts. Get the full lowdown here from WCCO, WWJ, KCBS and more.
Today On Deadline is talking about in with the new and out with the old as crypto comes into focus, specifically Trump's $3 billion holding that he started after winning the presidency. As for the old, pennies ended this week, which has many retailers wondering how to handle spending -- do we round up now or round down? Also, we forecast travel for Thanksgiving now that the government approved its budget.
Target, Amazon, Starbucks, UPS and more announced mass layoffs recently, which has some ready to declare a recession is imminent. But what's really going on in the U.S. economy? Here's analysis and reporting from economists, professors and hiring managers.
The burglary at the Louvre reads like a script from the Pink Panther while a Mafia-tied sports gambling and illegal poker ring snared high-profile people from the NBA. Is this real life? Get the latest on both cases, plus analysis of what's going on with today's young people that makes sports gaming so alluring.
A new hurricane seemed to strike at regular intervals the last couple of falls ... but then they disappeared in 2025. What happened and what's next? Experts break it down. Plus, winter is coming and here's how to prepare.
No Kings rallies are set to take over US cities this weekend amid a swirling mix of political hot topics: Hamas hasn't released hostage bodies, which Trump says could make him 'green light' Israel to start bombing again. John Bolton was indicted. Oh, and the government is shut down and some experts say it could become the longest shutdown in history.
President Donald Trump didn't win the Nobel Peace Prize for the Israel-Hamas ceasefire announced this week, but many are wondering if his work securing the agreement will win him something else: a new legacy. Learn more on the deal and reaction to it from Jason DeRusha and Chad Hartman at WCCO in Minneapolis; KCBS Radio in the Bay Area and WWJ Newsradio in Detroit.
A former Marine decorated his truck with American flags and drove it into a small-town church yesterday in Michigan, setting the building ablaze and opening fire, killing at least four. Here's the latest.
Social media was rife with nasty comments in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination and millionaire late night host Jimmy Kimmel made international headlines for what he said. But what about regular people who did the same? Hear from a Minnesota professor who is being targeted by a state lawmaker over what he wrote. Here's the latest on free speech, late night TV, and the responsibilities of free speech.
Jimmy Kimmel is off the air after intense pressure from President Donald Trump on his parent company. Some say it was a business decision while others see a clear violation of the First Amendment. Today, experts weigh in on on what it means and who could be next.
We're weeks away from another government shutdown and a Louisiana senator says it's about 50/50 if it'll happen. So, how did we get here and how do we get out of it? Part of the discussion focuses on Social Security and our trillions of dollars in debt -- neither of which is set to be handled in this budget whether it passes or not.
Charlie Kirk was a flashpoint, a man with a giant platform who introduced young people across the United States to politics. And he was shot in the throat while speaking on a Utah campus. Here are views on what happened and where we go from here from Audacy's newsrooms across the country.
September is National Preparedness Month and a time for you and your loved ones to make sure you know what to do in a time of disaster.And a trend that seems to continue: young adults delaying or not hitting major life milestones. KCBS Radio news reporter Dennis Foley has all this and more on this edition of the In Depth report.
Many health professionals are steaming mad about what's going on in the Trump Administration where vaccines are concerned as new guidelines are confusing, at best, and leave people wondering what to do. There's so much turmoil and conflicting information that CVS is requiring prescriptions for some vaccines in some states.
Donald Trump has been busy lately, but is he really working himself to death? Here's more on reaction to that, plus his plans for Chicago and why he dropped Kamala Harris' Secret Service protection.
Washington DC is amidst its longest stretch without murders in recent history under federal intervention ordered by Donald Trump as he wonders aloud if San Francisco, Chicago and other big cities will be next, and many raise questions over his firing of a member of the Federal Reserve.
Hear from kids who got away, a father who ran in alongside first responders, and Minnesota's top political leaders as we grapple with something all-too familiar: a school shooting. Get the latest on the perpetrator, and insight into what -- if anything -- may finally change.
Stay out of the water is the latest warning along the East Coast as Hurricane Erin bears down. Here's the latest on that storm, plus insight into New Orleans' ongoing recovery 20 years after Katrina and what the cuts to FEMA mean for what could be a wild weather season.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are meeting today in Alaska to talk about the possibility of peace in Russia's war against Ukraine. One analyst says the word 'no' is Trump's most powerful weapon ... But will he use it? Also, CBS' Major Garrett has tips on what to watch for in the meeting.
Here are the facts, darn facts and opinions about President Donald Trump ordering the National Guard into Washington D.C., a move some believe underscores his totalitarian tendencies and others believe is a much-needed security measure for a key place in America.
As student athletes prepare to return to the field for a new school year, they’re doing so in a turbulent new landscape for college sports; the ability to make money through deals continues to have a big impact on their college careers. KCBS news reporter Mike Dewald explores these issues on the latest In Depth.
Jeffrey Epstein associate, partner and pimp Ghislaine Maxwell sat down for two days with the Justice Department as the mystery deepens about Epstein's so-called client list, and then she was mysteriously transferred to a low-security federal prison camp. What did she say, and what's about to happen next?
Redistricting, not a word that sounds all that sexy until you find out what it means for everything from Medicaid payments to tax rates. President Donald Trump pushes for Texas to gain five seats for the GOP, and here's what that would mean for the rest of us.
Time is ticking on the summer travel season. We talk with Hotel Council of San Francisco president Alex Bastian about how this season has gone for San Francisco and with CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg about some ideas for a last minute or exciting trip before it gets too late.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum visited San Francisco this week to see Alcatraz for themselves as the White House assesses whether to turn it back into a federal prison.
NASCAR heads back to Sonoma Raceway this weekend. KCBS' Mike DeWald spoke to several drivers -- including a couple with Northern California ties -- about what they expect from this weekend's race and what growing up in the region has meant for them and their careers.
The WNBA and the Golden State Valykries have been hot tickets in the sports world. We discuss the league's continued expansion and the value of the Valkyries in the team's first full season.
President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Iran ... and then more bombs were dropped. On Deadline takes a look at the latest, plus how MAGA reacted to US intervention, the latest on the budget battle and the Golden Gate Bridge tries to get un-woke. On Deadline is produced by Lauren Barry and Christy Strawser.
Iran hit a U.S. military bases in Qatar in an obvious retaliation to this weekend's bombing of Iran nuclear sites by the United States. So, how many more retaliations should we expect, and how else will this conflict in the Middle East affect Americans? On Deadline is produced by Lauren Barry and Christy Strawser.
President Donald Trump abruptly left the G7 Summit for the situation room amidst the back and forth strikes between Iran and Israel.CBS business analyst Jill Schlisenger said the G7 is a moment where countries try to seal some deals on trade, and it ended with lots of uncertainty on many fronts including Trump’s ever-changig tariff landscape and the sudden emergence of another Middle East conflict. That conflict could start to create inflation and impact oil prices. On Deadline is hosted and produced by Lauren Barry and produced by Christy Strawser
The fight between Donald Trump and Gavin Newsom is about the rights of the federal government versus state’s rights. But on another level, the fuel fanning this conflagration is a long-simmering debate … It’s a debate about immigration with dividing lines falling along whether mass deportations are a goal, if birthright citizenship should be overturned … and whether people who came here years ago and are productive members of American society should get a path to citizenship. On Deadline is hosted and produced by Lauren Barry and produced by Christy Strawser.
Just when the feud between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk began to lower to a simmer, Trump bared arms and egos with another man. California Governor Gavin Newsom. Here's a look at the latest from experts, pundits on both sides of the aisle, and people on the scene. On Deadline is hosted and produced by Lauren Barry and produced by Christy Strawser.
After 30 years and 16,350 miles, this Sunday marks the last California AIDS Lifecycle Ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It's been called "life changing" with over 300 million dollars raised in the last 30 years. But it's become too expensive to put on and not enough people are riding in a fundraiser that's become an historic staple in the Bay Area.In this multipart series, KCBS reporter Holly Quan reports on the legacy of the AIDS/LIFECYCLE Ride and the community surrounding it.
Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form prostate cancer.To break down the diagnosis, KCBS Radio anchor Alisa Clancy spoke with Dr. Sandy Srinvas, Professor of Oncology specializing in urology at Stanford Medicine.
Excitement is building at the San Francisco Zoo as preparations continue for the arrival of two giant pandas later this year. As KCBS Radio news reporter Matt Bigler reports, zoo officials remain optimistic the beloved black-and-white bears will make their way to their new home, despite the ongoing trade war with China.
Tariffs have rocked the financial market with never-before-seen volatility, with the S&P 500 losing over $5 trillion in just three weeks.For more on these effects, listen to this episode of the In Depth report, hosted by KCBS reporter Matt Bigler.
After the devastating Southern California wildfires, many homeowners in the Bay Area are wondering how to be prepared for a disaster. For instance, ensuring that items within five feet outside of homes are made from noncombustible materials reduces the risk of the home igniting. This episode of the In Depth report is hosted by KCBS reporter Matt Bigler, who spoke with Battalion Chief Todd Lando, a wildfire mitigation specialist for the Central Marin Fire Department.
As daylight savings time arrives, we examine how people lived before universally-recognized time and how counting time began. This version of the In Depth report is hosted by KRLD Radio news anchors Kristin Diaz and David Rancken.
Members of the non-profit organization Fire Safe Marin give more tips on how to prepare yourself and your home for a wildfire in the Bay Area. This episode of In Depth is hosted by KCBS Radio news anchor Alisa Clancy.
Members of the non-profit organization Fire Safe Marin give tips on how to prepare yourself and your home for a wildfire in the Bay Area. This episode of In Depth is hosted by KCBS Radio news anchor Alisa Clancy.
If the rising demand for therapists is any indication, people are taking their mental health more seriously these days.This episode of In Depth is hosted by KCBS Radio news anchors Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart, who hosted a panel on the state of mental health in the Bay Area at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek. Reising and Burkhart spoke with four panelists: Juan Acosta is a youth mental health advocate, LGBTQ+ activist, content creator, and public speaker. Amanda Lai is a high-school student, a competitive fencer, and a student representative for Mind Out Loud, a youth-led mental health movement.Nicole Stelter is the director of behavioral health at Blue Shield California and the clinician specializing in occupational behavioral therapy. Lesley Garcia is the director of programs at the Contra Costa Crisis Center, a Walnut-Creek-based nonprofit providing free mental health services to community members in need.
When we think about how the climate crisis is affecting California, we look at the wildfires and heatwaves--but climate change is being felt in our streams and rivers as well.
Americans have voted to send Former President Donald Trump back to the White House. He defeated the Bay Area’s own Vice President Kamala Harris and will be serving a second term as President in January. KCBS Radio news anchors Margie Shafer and Eric Thomas spoke with Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and KCBS Insider Phil Matier about how Trump got re-elected.KCBS Political Reporter Doug Sovern sat down with newly-elected US Senator Adam Schiff to discuss his ascension to the Senate.This, and more, on this edition of In Depth.
In this edition of In Depth, Audacy’s Liz Hernandez from 94.7 The Wave in Los Angeles spoke with American Foundation for Suicide Prevention expert Vic Armstrong about mental health and suicide prevention in the Hispanic community.
Infrastructure is essential to our everyday lives. When infrastructure works, it often goes unnoticed or is taken for granted. When it fails, all hell can break loose. Three years ago, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was signed into law. It was hailed as a once-in-a-generation investment, but has the bipartisan law delivered on its promise?Mike DeNardo from KYW Newsradio in Philadelphia has more in this In Depth report.
AI is turning up everywhere and somehow, it’s finding its way into everything we own and use on a daily basis. But what is it, and why are so many people worried it’s going to take over? Ben Bajarin, CEO of Creative Strategies, answers those questions and more in this In Depth conversation with KCBS Radio reporter David Welch.
For those in the know, it’s been a long road from where it began to where women’s professional basketball is today. The WNBA got its start in 1997, but it wasn’t the first women’s league.The women’s professional basketball league formed in 1978 with franchises across the country, even a team in San Francisco—the Pioneers. And at the same time the W was getting its start, the American Basketball League was working to get more women on the court, too. While the WBL and ABL didn’t last, their formation spoke of a craving to see women’s basketball teams compete and to see more women hoop. And now, the WNBA, almost 30 years later, is not only surviving—it’s thriving, reaching a golden hour of popularity, global attention, and the kind of popularity it's been seeking all along.KCBS reporters Mary Hughes and Holly Quan take a deep dive into the rise of women’s basketball on this edition of In Depth.
While many in the Democratic Party, and Base, are still coming to terms with Kamala Harris' loss in the election, California Governor Gavin Newsom is going on offense. He seems determined to forge a future for himself and the party. Will his particular blend of California politics prove palatable for a broader audience? For more on this, KCBS Reporter Mary Hughes spoke with Sonoma State Political Science Professor David McCuan, on this edition of In Depth.David McCuan
Artificial intelligence has been one of the most common buzzwords of late. But is it a tool to make life better, or something to fear? KCBS Radio report Matt Bigler spoke with tech analyst Ben Bajarin to answer these questions and more, on this episode of In Depth.
San Francisco is known for a lot of things - the Golden Gate Bridge, Karl the Fog, the Giants - but it’s also known as a haven for the foodie, from a square slice of pizza from Golden Boy Pizza to a mission style burrito from La Taqueria and about a million other delights in between. The food scene in the city by the bay is definitely elite, but has it always been that way? And in these post-pandemic times, has that scene changed for the better - or for the worse?We’ll dive into those questions and more with Trevor Felch, food, travel, and drinks writer. You might recognize his name from food and wine reviews in the Nob Hill Gazette or from several Fodor's Guidebooks to San Francisco and other parts of the Bay Area. He’s also the author of ‘San Francisco Cocktails’ and of ‘City Eats San Francisco’ which came out earlier this year.
KCBS Radio's Matt Bigler was part of a conversation at San Jose State University about AI — in part two of this special two-part episode of KCBS Radio in Depth.
KCBS Radio's Matt Bigler was part of a conversation at San Jose State University about AI — in part one of this special two-part episode of KCBS Radio In Depth.
On this episode of In Depth, Audacy's I'm Listening initiative turns to Chief Medical Officer for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Dr. Christine Moutier and former Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams, for a conversation about teenagers, their families, and mental health.
San Francisco is known for a lot of things - the Golden Gate Bridge, Karl the Fog, the Giants - but it’s also known as a haven for the foodie. From a square slice of pizza from Golden Boy Pizza to a mission style burrito from La Taqueria and about a million other delights in between - the food scene in the city by the bay is definitely elite. But has it always been that way? And in these post-pandemic times, has that scene changed for the better or the worse?We’ll dive into those questions and more with Trevor Felch - food, travel, and drinks writer. You might recognize his name from food and wine reviews in the Nob Hill Gazette or from several Fodor's Guidebooks to San Francisco and other parts of the Bay Area. He’s also the author of ‘San Francisco Cocktails’ and of ‘City Eats San Francisco’ which came out earlier this year.
We are drawing ever closer to November and to when America will decide who will be the next president. According to most polls - at least so far - Vice President Kamala Harris holds a narrow lead over former President Donald Trump. But here in California, especially among Latino voters, support seems to be tipping a bit more blue.A recent statewide survey has found that Harris has a strong lead over Trump among California’s Latino communities - 60% choosing Harris, 28% with Trump. But this poll looked at so much more when it comes to what Latino voters are concerned about this election season. To help us delve deeper into all this, KCBS Radio's Mary Hughes is joined by Christian Arana, vice president of civic power and policy at the Latino Community Foundation, which conducted the poll. The LCF is the nation’s largest Latino surveying organization, working to invest in Latino-led organizations and to increase political participation of Latinos in California.
Research shows that climate change isn’t just something that’s negatively affecting the planet, it’s having a deep impact on our mental health as well.
Every new wildfire, every flash flood, every heatwave brings on another level of eco-anxiety in many people. A survey conducted by UNDP, Oxford University and GeoPoll, found that 56% of respondents think at least once a week about the problems caused by the climate situation and these feelings can be even stronger in younger people.
Of course, it can feel overwhelming to see all that our environment is going through and wonder what can be done - or to have experienced an extreme weather event first-hand, to carry trauma from that and not know how to heal from it. It’s a big conversation and so we’re turning to Jennifer Silverstein, a licensed clinical social worker in Sonoma County, who is working to build resilient communities, especially for the youngest and most vulnerable members, that can face unfolding ecological crises.
One thing you learn as a Californian is that fire season - at least for the last 10 years or so - can be during almost any season. We’ve seen fires grow hotter, bigger - and spread even faster, with seemingly more frequency, too. However, evolving right along with these blazes is CalFire.
KCBS has looked at wildfires from many angles and now we are turning to the agency that takes them on - by land, by air, and everywhere in between, and are joined by Joe Tyler, director and fire chief at CalFire.
KCBS Radio made a return to the city of its birth recently, with the opening of the South Bay Bureau within the Pacific Hotel Museum at History Park in San Jose.
There are deep roots in San Jose when it comes to radio broadcasting, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the myriad of histories, stories, and communities that many in the city are working to preserve - and carry far into the future.
Now, if you want to delve into the past of San Jose, there’s no better place to start that journey then at History San Jose and there’s no better guide than Bill Schroh, president and CEO of History San Jose.
We'll also get some insights from Cate Mills, curator of the research library and archives at History San Jose.
And, of course, a big part of understanding and appreciating the history of a place is being able to connect with those that came before and to take what is learned to help the here and now. That’s a big part of what Lisa Buchannan, president of San Jose’s Women’s Club, is working towards.
Back in 2017, three black trans women founded the Compton’s Transgender Cultural District in San Francisco - now more commonly known as The Transgender District. Its original name pulls upon the history of the first documented uprising of transgender and queer people in the country, the Compton’s Cafeteria Riots of 1966.
Of course, the history of trans people in the Bay Area - in particular in San Francisco - runs deep, so much so that in 2021, advocates within the Transgender District got the month of August to be recognized as Transgender History Month in the city and county of San Francisco. Then California took that a step further last year, when the state assembly voted in favor of making Transgender History Month a statewide designation.
The first full state recognized Transgender History Month is the August we are in right now.
The legacy of trans people is what Andrea Horne is focused on and she’s this week’s guest on In Depth. Horne is a former actress, model, jazz singer - and she’s been a fixture in the trans community of San Francisco for over 40 years, working to support the black and brown transgender women in the Tenderloin.
Horne is also a keeper of stories, of the histories of trans women of color that might otherwise be lost. Now, she’s turning her research into a book titled, "How Black Trans Women Changed the World."
The news hit on the first day of August of the largest prisoner swap between the United States and Russia since the Cold War. It was a deal involving 24 people - including journalists, political dissidents, suspected spies, among others - and after months of negotiations with other European countries who released Russians in their custody as part of the exchange.
KCBS In Depth host Mary Hughes is joined this week by KCBS Radio’s Mike DeWald and they are going to delve deeper into what may have been going on behind the scenes to make this prisoner swap happen, what this means for U.S. and Russia relations going forward, and if another trade of this magnitude could happen again.
To help with all this, we’re speaking with Larry Pfeiffer, former senior director of the White House Situation Room, former chief of staff to Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Michael Hayden and now, director of the Michael Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy, and International Security.
The news hit on the first day of August of the largest prisoner swap between the United States and Russia since the Cold War, a deal involving over 20 people - including journalists, political dissidents, suspected spies, among others - and after months of negotiations with other European countries who released Russians in their custody as part of the exchange.
We’re going to delve deeper into what may have been going on behind the scenes to make this prisoner swap happen, what this means for U.S. and Russia relations going forward, and if another trade of this magnitude could happen again.
KCBS In Depth Host Mary Hughes and KCBS Radio’s Mike DeWald are speaking with Larry Pfeiffer on all this. Larry is a former senior director of the White House Situation Room and former chief of staff to Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Michael Hayden. He's now the director of the Michael Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy, and International Security.
When we think about how the climate crisis is affecting California, we look at the wildfires, we look at the heatwaves, but climate change is being felt in our streams, creeks, and rivers as well.
California’s freshwater ecosystems are one of the beating hearts of the state, keeping everything from flora to fauna in good stead. A recent report shines a light on the dangers that these ecosystems are facing and what needs to be done to save them.
To help us dig into this topic, we're joined by Dr. Ted Sommer - research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, retired lead scientist for the California Department of Water Resources, and lead author of the report.
With President Biden stepping away from the presidential race and Vice President Kamala Harris now being the Democrats' choice - which has given the democratic party a much needed shot of energy - what does this mean for former President Trump’s campaign going forward?
And are both parties struggling to appeal to one of the biggest voting demographics in California, as well as in the country?
We’re covering a lot of ground on this In Depth and to help with this we're joined by Mike Madrid - Republican political consultant, co-founder of The Lincoln Project, and author of The Latino Century: How America’s Largest Minority Is Transforming Democracy.
The decision by President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race was a historic one, which will have sweeping implications for the country and the world.
For in depth analysis, KCBS Radio anchor Bryan Goebel was joined by Dr. David McCuan, the chair of the Political Science department at Sonoma State University; Dr. McCuan specializes in American politics and International Relations.
‘Everyone Watches Women’s Sports’
Those are the words on a shirt that you might have seen celebrities wearing when courtside at a WNBA game or while cheering during a goal made at a NWSL match. And it does seem to be true, that everyone has their eyes on women’s sports. The hope, of course, is that this will help to grow the leagues, the interest, the investment, so that the future of women’s sports will never be in doubt.
And there are people right here in the Bay Area that are taking that declaration to heart - The Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative has been doing the good work of supporting young women in the sports world for years, by engaging with the community, with the coaches and the teachers, and by encouraging girls to take up space on the field or the court. BAWSI is supported in part by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the nation's largest community foundation. SVCF donated $3.1 billion dollars to local nonprofits in 2023, and has supported BAWSI for over 15 years.
To talk more on what is affectionately called BAWSI, I’m joined by Dana Weintraub, Co-CEO of the Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative, and Brisa Rojas, a BAWSI alum and board member.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has released the 2023 Hate Crimes in California report. The report highlights a whole range of data, looking at hate crimes and hate-related events as reported to law enforcement - and at what communities are being most affected.
And the findings aren’t too good for those in the LGBTQ+ community. While overall hate crimes saw a slight decline from 2022 to 2023 hate incidents, such as slurs being used, handing out hate material in public places continue to rise, up 86% from 2022.
So, what does this mean for the LGBTQ+ community in California? Are things getting worse and why?
To take a closer look at all this, we're joined by Dr. Ilan Meyer, Distinguished Senior Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. The institute conducts independent research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy, ensuring that facts—not stereotypes—inform laws, policies, and judicial decisions that affect the LGBTQ+ community.
On this episode of In Depth, Audacy’s David O’Leary turns the focus onto what it means to be there for your community in times of mental health struggles. He is joined by the Vice President of health equity and engagement for the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, Victor Armstrong, and by Michell Clark, father, husband, author and podcaster in the mental health space.
On this episode of In Depth, we turn to Audacy’s I’m Listening:Talk Away the Dark - a limited series where conversations cover grief, loss, and suicide.
Audacy’s Corey Crockett is turning the focus onto mental health within the LGBTQIA+ community. Corey is joined by Chief medical officer with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Dr. Christine Yu Moutier and Bradley Balandis, longtime American Foundation for Suicide Prevention volunteer.
This week, we’re turning the focus onto California’s youth and mental health. We'll look at the conversations that young people are having, the care they are shaping, and at the work going on behind the scenes to ensure that mental health wellness is available for all.
Starting with Never A Bother - that’s the name of a campaign in California. It’s part of the state’s Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative and was created by the California Department of Public Health’s Office of Suicide Prevention and more than 400 youth and young adults across California. The purpose of this campaign? To reach young people who are struggling and who need support when it comes to their mental health and well-being.
To tell us more about Never A Bother, we hear from Dr. Sohil Sud, Director of the California Health and Human Services Agency’s Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, and Angela Soto Cerros, a member of the Youth Advisory Board.
Then we hear from Joy Alafia, Executive Director of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, who is one of the many supporters of Assembly Bill 665, which goes into effect July 1st. The goal here is to make mental health care more inclusive for all youth, regardless of income, and ensure they receive the support they need.
KCBS's Mary Hughes here... As I was growing up, baseball wasn’t really my game. I’ve always been more of a basketball person. But there are players that are so talented, so stunning in what they have done and accomplished, whose reach is so far beyond the sport that they play that their name is as known to the uninitiated as it is to the seasoned fan.
Willie Mays is one of those names, one of the players, and that’s become even more evident this week as we mourn the loss of the Say Hey Kid - who passed away at the age of 93 on June 18th.
Now, we could spend an entire In Depth episode talking about the highlights of Mays’s career. But I’d like to speak not just about what Mays made happen on the field, but about the life that he led and of who he was beyond the bat and the glove.
To help me on this journey, we're joined by KCBS Radio’s own Morning Sports Anchor, Steven Langford, and former KCBS Radio Morning Sports anchor, Steve Bitker.
We’ve all probably become a little numb to hearing it being said, but with every summer now comes the oppressive, sometimes unbearable heat.
We’re feeling the start of it this year, with a few days of sweltering temperatures around the Bay Area, some places hitting into the triple digits. And while this heat wave is a short-lived one, many are bracing for the next one, and the next, and the next.
So, what will the warmer months hold for us in California and around the rest of the western United States this year? And will the weather extremes we see become more frequent and worse as time goes by?
To help us understand the here and now - and what may come - we turn to Daniel Swain, Climate Scientist at the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA and with the National Center for Atmospheric Research
It’s been a tumultuous time for Californians and their electric bills. Since the start of this year alone, PG&E customers have seen one rate hike after another. Now, a fixed fee is being brought into the mix, leaving many wondering: how did we get here and is there any way to make sure California’s energy systems stay up and running, while also keeping the cost to the customer affordable?
We’re going to get one perspective on all this with Loretta Lynch, former president of the California Public Utilities Commission and attorney in San Francisco.
KCBS did reach out to the CPUC and PG&E with an invitation to be a part of this conversation and both entities declined, though PG&E did send information on price increases, which you’ll hear some of during the conversation and at the end of this program.
Project Roomkey, Governor Gavin Newsom’s initiative that turned hotel and motel rooms across the state into temporary shelters for the homeless during the height of the covid pandemic, is the subject of a recent independent evaluation.
The goal of this report is to figure out if Project Roomkey was successful in providing the protection and services it promised. What did it get right, what did it get wrong, and is there a way to take the lessons learned and apply them to today?
We’re going to start our conversation by taking a closer look at the findings of this evaluation with Nichole Fiore, principal associate with the research firm Abt Global and co-author of the report.
Then for another perspective, we turn to Sarah Hunter, Director at the RAND Center on Housing and Homelessness and Senior Behavioral Scientist at the RAND Corporation.
You can check out the Project Roomkey evaluation at Abt Global’s website, just type in Project Roomkey in the search bar.
We are continuing KCBS’s State of San Francisco conversation this week and seeking to answer the question of what will it take to ensure that San Francisco thrives in the years to come?
Is it workers returning to offices? Does the city need more financial investment? Or should the focus be on building – or, in some cases, rebuilding – the communities and partnerships within the city by the bay?
As with last time, KCBS Political Reporter Doug Sovern is our host and he is joined by a panel of guests who are striving to find the answers: Tanis Crosby, executive director of the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank; Laurie Thomas, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association; Larry Baer, president, CEO and part owner of the San Francisco Giants; Brandon Schneider, president and COO of the Golden State Warriors; and Alex Bastian, president and CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco.
It’s a question that’s been pondered ever since we emerged from the covid pandemic: what is the state of San Francisco?
Some say that San Francisco has been spiraling into a ‘doom loop’ ever since the pandemic passed as once thriving businesses and hotspots are now languishing. Others say that San Francisco might be down, but can never be considered out, that there is a future to still be excited for and that those who love the city by the bay will find a way to build back better, stronger.
So, where do things stand today and what will tomorrow bring for San Francisco?
As part of KCBS’s deep dive into the status of the world around us, we have the State of San Francisco Conversation, Part One. KCBS Political Reporter Doug Sovern is our host and he is joined by a panel of guests to delve into these questions: Tanis Crosby, executive director of the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank; Laurie Thomas, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association; Larry Baer, president, CEO and part owner of the San Francisco Giants; Brandon Schneider, president and COO of the Golden State Warriors; and Alex Bastian, president and CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco.
Last week, KCBS Radio looked at the state of the environment. We touched on how cities are responding to the rising tides and the extreme effects of climate change. We looked at the change in how we get around the Bay Area - EVs, bikes, and more - and how young people are stepping up to take on climate justice.
And we found out that one of the Bay Area’s most beloved places - the San Francisco Zoo - is focused on all the environmental changes that the world is undergoing as well.
We heard the first part of the Conservation Conversation on the last week's In Depth. Now we have the conclusion of that conversation, with KCBS’s Eric Thomas and Nikki Meduro speaking with Eric Kruzmen, vice president of wellness and conservation at the San Francisco Zoo. They are also joined by Shelby Hasbun, manager of environmental services at the zoo.
KCBS Radio has been taking a closer look at the state of the environment in the Bay Area - from extreme weather and rising sea levels to what people are doing to try and make the world around us better.
But how is the San Francisco Zoo faring with all these environmental changes? What are their conservation efforts looking like these days? And is the San Francisco Zoo ready for when pandas from China arrive?
To answer these questions, KCBS’s Eric Thomas and Nikki Meduro took their mics to the San Francisco Zoo and spoke with Eric Kruzmen, vice president of wellness and conservation at the zoo.
This is part one of a Conservation Conversation.
The housing crisis is widespread in California and it has become especially dire for college students, as rents go ever higher and competition increases for whatever apartments are available.
A 2022 UCLA survey found that student homelessness ranges from anywhere 5 to 20% across California’s colleges and universities, meaning that potentially hundreds of thousands of students are unhoused.
So, what’s being done to solve this problem?
We’ll start our conversation with Zennon Ulyate-Crow, third year student at UC Santa Cruz and founder and co-chair of the Student Homes Coalition - a student-led collective of higher education advocacy organizations and youth activists fighting for abundant, accessible, and affordable student housing.
And then we'll turn to Su-Jin Jez, CEO of California Competes, a nonpartisan policy and research organization focused on identifying solutions to the state’s challenges at the intersection of higher education, equity, and the economy.
It’s a part of the passing of wintertime and moving into spring: you open up the windows or you step outside, and you hear them - birds singing.
And perhaps you hear the sounds of the male western tanager, a songbird that migrates thousands of miles once the seasons begin to change, heading to the Mountain West for springtime.
But maybe you’ve noticed, over the past few years, that spring seems to be arriving earlier than normal - flowers blooming, insects coming to life, sometimes months ahead of time.
Birds are noticing these changes and researchers are, too.
A recent study has looked at the effects of climate change on the seasons and found that by the time many migrating birds reach their destination, the food sources they search for have already bloomed or flown away.
And so the consequences of spring starting sooner - for the western tanager and for many other migrating birds - could be drastic.
To help us take a closer look at what we’re seeing in the world of migrating birds and how climate change is altering their world, I’m joined by Morgan Tingley, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA.
Every place carries a history, from forests and wildlife to the eventuality of roads, buildings, and all the communities of people who lay claim to a space and call it home.
For those who have called - and continue to call - Bayview-Hunters Point in southeast San Francisco home, that history comes with a heavy burden. A burden steeped in abandonment, in racial and economic injustice, and in toxicity that is embedded in the ground and moving through the air.
A new book looks at that history, but also at the activism for environmental justice that black Bayview-Hunters point residents have been seeking for years.
For more, we're speaking with Lindsey Dillon, assistant professor of sociology at UC Santa Cruz and author of 'Toxic City: Redevelopment and Environmental Justice in San Francisco' which will be released on April 9th.
On this episode of In Depth, we turn to Audacy’s I’m Listening: Talk Away the Dark, a limited series where conversations cover grief, loss, and suicide.
Audacy’s David Glover will be speaking about men and mental health with Victor Armstrong, vice president of health equity and engagement for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Steve Sipel, longtime AFSP volunteer and advocate. Then David will talk about mental well-being and the military with Alex Silva, AFSP expert and veteran; Dan Miller, Wounded Warrior project guest and marine corps veteran; and Dr. Aaron Fletcher, Wounded Warrior project clinical expert.
A recent New York Times article did a deep dive into where the shift to electric vehicles is the strongest and it probably comes as no surprise to KCBS listeners that California - and in particular, the Bay Area - is the primary force behind seeing more EVs on the road.
Data shows that electric cars, trucks and S.U.V.s made up almost 40 percent of new auto registrations in the San Jose area last year and about 34 percent in San Francisco.
But with a ban on new gas-powered vehicle sales in California happening in 2035, how ready is the state for a full on EV revolution?
We’ll start our conversation with James Bushnell, professor in the department of economics at UC Davis. Before joining UC Davis, he spent 15 years as the Research Director of the University of California Energy Institute at Berkeley. He has also advised the California Air Resources Board on emissions trading and other climate policies.
And we'll also turn to Carleen Cullen, founder and executive director of Cool the Earth, as well as Ride and Drive Clean - a collaborative campaign to rapidly accelerate the switch to zero-emission vehicles. She’s based in Marin County.
Over three decades ago, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was created… This act requires institutions that receive federal funding… such as museums and universities… to return human remains, sacred objects, and other items of cultural significance to federally recognized tribes…
However… even now, in 2024… the struggle continues when it comes to the return of ancestral remains and revered belongings. This slowness in repatriation can be found across the country… and here in the Bay Area as well…
So… why is it taking so long to comply with these rules?
For a broader look at all this, we’re going to start the conversation off with Logan Jaffe, newsletter reporter at Pro Publica… she worked on the news organization’s Repatriation Project
And then we turn to Kerri Malloy… assistant professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies at San Jose State University… He is an enrolled member of the Yurok tribe and is of Karuk descent…
How much do any of us know about our family’s past? If we dig deep enough, far enough… what might be unearthed?
For Randy Quarterman… and for Sarah Eisner… living thousands of miles apart… one in Savannah, Georgia… the other in Silicon Valley… who seemingly had separate existences… what was discovered was an intimate history that binds them together…
A history that is both personal… and national… a history of enslavement in the United States…
But what would happen if two people took on this painful past… and worked together to make things right in the present?
To answer that question and more… I’m joined by Randy Quarterman, fifth generation descendant of Zeike Quarterman… and Sarah Eisner, fifth generation descendant of George Adam Keller… They are the founders of the Quarterman Keller Foundation… and the Reparations Project… They are also both a part of the documentary ‘The Cost of Inheritance’
It’s been a few weeks since the bipartisan $118 billion border and national security bill stalled out in the Senate… Most of the GOP opposed the bill… saying that legislation wasn’t going to do enough to address needs at the U.S Mexico border… there were some Democrats who voted to block the bill as well…
With this bill now standing still… the possibility of huge changes to U.S. immigration policy seem to be out of reach…
To take a closer look at where things went wrong with this bill… and at the state of immigration reform… we’re speaking with Bill Hing, professor of law and migration studies at the University of San Francisco… and author of Humanizing Immigration: How To Transform Our Racist and Unjust System…
After almost two years of data gathering, the National Center for Transgender Equality recently released the largest-ever survey on the experiences of those in the trans community… looking at everything from satisfaction and support… to the spaces where discrimination and fear are still being felt…
So… what is the state of things for the transgender person in America? And is life any better - or worse - in the Bay Area?
We’re going to take a broad view with Mike White… who works with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, one of the primary funders of the U.S. Transgender Survey 2022...
And for a look closer to home, we'll speak with Honey Mahogony… chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party, district director for Assemblymember Matt Haney… and co-owner of the Stud bar in San Francisco…
A recent report from Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies found that over 650,000 people reported experiencing homelessness in America in January of 2023, up nearly 50% from 2015…
Even if the numbers are staggering, hearing this probably isn’t a huge shock… Here in California, the housing crisis has long been an issue… with rents going higher and higher… and not enough affordable options to go around… there’s even been an exodus of people leaving the state, hoping to find solid ground on which to have a place to call home…
So, what’s being done about this crisis? Where do we stand on a state level - and on a local one?
We're going to turn first to Chris Martin… policy director for Housing California, a statewide advocacy nonprofit focused on the production and preservation of affordable housing and addressing homelessness…
To see how the state works with local governments… and vice versa… we turn to Sarah Karlinsky, Research Director at SPUR… the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association, a nonprofit public policy organization…
Perhaps you’ve noticed this when you listen to or watch the news, or as you check various sources online but 2024 already feels like a pivotal year for politics…
There’s a presidential election looming which, at this point, appears very reminiscent of 2020 with a possible rematch between President Joe Biden… and former president Donald Trump…
Here in California, we have the race for the late Dianne Feinstein’s senate seat… where who wins… and who loses… could set the tone for years to come...
We’re going to take a look at the political landscape… in the golden state… and beyond… and even into the future... with David McCuan, professor of political science at Sonoma State University…
January 22nd will mark the 51st anniversary of Roe vs Wade… where the Supreme Court issued a 7–2 decision in favor of "Jane Roe" in 1973... saying that women in the United States had a fundamental right to choose whether to have abortions without excessive government restriction…
But all that changed in 2022… with the overturning of Roe vs Wade… declaring that the constitutional right to abortion, upheld for nearly a half century, no longer exists…
Now, the conversation about reproductive rights is being had on all levels… federally, in every state… and on the political stage as well...
2024 could be a determining year for where the abortion… and anti-abortion… movements will go next… and to help us take a closer look at those possible paths… both legally and politically… we turn to MARY ZIEGLER, Martin Luther King Jr Professor of law at UC Davis… and author of several books on the social movement struggles around reproduction, autonomy, and the law…
In 2022… a report by the Stanford Lancet Commission stated that “the opioid crisis stands out as one of the most devastating public health disasters of the 21st century in the United States and Canada…”
Not much has occurred since then to shift that belief… the opioid crisis, involving fentanyl in particular, continues to dominate our conversations… The end of 2023 saw over 750 drug overdose deaths in San Francisco alone, with fentanyl making up more than 81% of those deaths…
So, how did we get here…? How did fentanyl take over the drug market and become so devastating to so many?
For a closer look at all this… KCBS's Mary Hughes is joined by Sam Quinones… freelance journalist and author of books about the opioid epidemic… His most recent book is The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth…
Being a sports fan and being a woman is not always the easiest road to walk. Although there have been countless teams to pull for, and an endless parade of superstars to be in awe of, for a lot of women that meant watching men, and only men play.
Now that doesn't mean that women were not involved in sports. In the world of college basketball, women took to the court for the first intercollegiate women's basketball game, right here in the bay area. Stanford vs UC Berkeley in 1896, and around that same time in 1895, the British Lady’s Football Club played their first match in London.
So the fact is, women have always been in the sports universe, but compared to their male counterparts, they've always been more in the shadows. But there has been progress along the way with more eyes turning to women's pro sports teams, and that turns us to 2023. A year that has shown that the appetite for womens sports is growing, and in particular, growing here in the Bay Area.
For more on this, KBS Radio’s Mary Hughes spoke with Rita Liberti, Professor of sport history in the department of kinesthesiologyat Cal State East Bay.
This week’s In Depth is a continuation of Audacy’s I’m Listening programming… which is working to inspire more conversations about mental health…
This time, the conversation is centered on veterans and mental well-being…
Audacy’s David O’Leary will start things off with Brigadier General Jack Hammond… who is speaking on behalf of the Homebase Program, a national nonprofit focused on healing the trauma that war veterans face…
Then he'll be joined by Wounded Warrior’s Dr. Erin Fletcher… and Tonya Oxendine, US Army veteran…
As we near the end of 2023… we find abortion rights at the forefront of the news…
Of course, these aren’t necessarily new conversations being had… the ongoing battle between those in support of abortion and reproductive rights… and those against… have been happening for a long, long time…
But with the overturning of Roe versus Wade in 2022… and more recently, challenges to abortion bans in states like Texas and Arizona… the landscape of abortion access is once more in focus… with many questioning what the future will hold…
So, is it possible to find answers by looking back? Back to a time when underground forms of healthcare had to step in for legal care… back to a time when community members were the ones turned to for reproductive help… back to a time where a women’s clinic in Oakland became the nexus of health, well-being, and of groundbreaking ‘deep care’...
We are going on a bit of a history journey… and speaking with Angela Hume.. author of Deep Care: The Radical Activists Who Provided Abortions, Defied the Law, and Fought to Keep Clinics Open… feminist historian, critic, poet… you also teach writing at UC Berkeley…
For the past few years, many of our conversations about transit in the Bay Area have been about how the various agencies are struggling… with funding shortfalls, lower ridership, and the possibility of massive service cuts as fiscal cliffs loom…
Now, it’s no secret that the COVID pandemic played a huge role in pushing transit agencies to the brink… but the aftereffects presented a question to us all – what will it take to ensure that transit in the Bay Area survives?
That’s a big question, of course, and a financial lifeline… to the tune of around 747 million dollars… is planned to be split up among several agencies… but the real saving grace will be getting more people on those buses and trains…
So… in these tough times that seem to keep on going… are we seeing any improvement? Is a recovery to pre-pandemic numbers still possible?
For the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency… the answer just might be yes…
To give us an update on all things SFMTA, we're joined by Jeff Tumlin… director of transportation with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency…
There might not be a more important… and sometimes complicated… conversation to be had in the Bay Area then the one about homelessness…
It’s a crisis that every county is facing… and many are trying to find a solution that works for everyone…
The city of San Jose recently pushed to speed up the building of 200 tiny homes to be put on a VTA-owned lot… to help provide shelter for those who are unhoused…
But in the meantime… the number of people who are homeless seems to continue to grow… and that’s being felt especially in East San Jose… and for a specific group of people – high school students.
So… what’s behind this increase in students being homeless in East San Jose… and what’s being done to help them?
For a closer look at this… we’re going to start our conversation off with Sergio Diaz-Luna… director of communications with the East Side Union High School District…
Next... some of the support that unhoused students in East San Jose receive comes from the East Side Education Foundation… and so we’ll turn to Carlos Singh…who is the executive director of the foundation… and a lecturer at San Jose State…
There are many places and activities that are considered iconic aspects of the Bay Area... wine tastings in Napa and Sonoma counties… the Winchester House in San Jose… driving across the Golden Gate Bridge…
But, for those who call San Francisco home, one building stands out among all the rest... and that's the Ferry Building…
It's history is long and large…it's seen millions of people come and go…a stately sentry, standing guard as times changed, as the city itself changed… But the ferry building itself, even over a hundred years later, remains a constant…
So, why is that?
To help us delve into the story of the Ferry Building, from when it was built in the late 1890s to how it is faring today, we speak with John King -- urban design critic at the San Francisco Chronicle and author of 'Portal: San Francisco’s Ferry Building and the Reinvention of American Cities.'
Over the past decade… our conversations about mental health… about how we process trauma, grief, and isolation… have evolved… Now, these are conversations we have more regularly – at home, at our workplaces, among friends…
Traditionally, when we think of all of this… we are probably applying it to adults… but trauma – of any kind – can happen to anyone… and the mental health struggles that can occur aren’t just limited to those 20-something and up…
So, if you’re a kid… and you need a safe space to grieve, to share, to heal… where do you go?
Well, there is a place tailor-made for younger people, a place that can give them support when dealing with loss… and it’s called Comfort Zone Camp…
Guests: Lynne Hughes, founder and CEO of Comfort Zone Camp
October is National Children's Health Month and on this episode of In Depth, we'll be hearing conversations with Audacy's David O'Leary, as well as guest speakers from the American Foundation for Suicided Prevention.
"There is, one knows not what sweet mystery about this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath..." That's a quote form Moby Dick, but it could probably be the backstory for many who once left the land for the vastness of the ocean.
Of course not all who took to the seas returned from them, and in those instances, what's left behind are the broken and battered remnants of another time. There's a long history of ship wreaks in the San Francisco Bay Area. So all this past week, those relics of the past were brought into focus with ship wreak week in San Francisco.
For a more of the background of the genesis of shipwreck week, KCBS Radio's Mary Hughes spoke with Nicole Meldahl, executive director of the Western Neighborhoods Project, and James Delgado senior vice president of Search Inc., and former director of NOAA's Maritime Heritage Program.
In the last episode of In Depth, we heard parts of KCBS's I'm Listening special. we turned out focus to mental health, suicide prevention, and the ways in which people can fine hope and healing.
Now were going to hear the second part of the I'm Listening hour. KCBS radio's Mary Hughes spoke with Eleanor Sosa Pace, Chief officer of residential injustice programs at Momentum for Health in Santa Clara county, and Chuck Ingolia, President and CEO of the National council for mental wellbeing.
All this week on KCBS, we've put the focus on mental health as part of Audacy's I'm Listening. Bringing to light conversations about mental health struggles that many of us face and breaking down the stigma that comes with those challenges because talk saves lives.
For more KCBS Radio's Mary Hughes spoke with Kim Arman, Co-Chair of this years American Foundation for Suicided Prevention in the South Bay, And Thomas Kingery program direction of the Avenidas Rainbow Collective
Just recently, an institutions of the Bay Area's LGBTQ+ world announced that it will be making a comeback. The Stud, an iconic queer bar in San Francisco, with an over 50 year long history, closed up shop in 2020 during the pandemic shutdown. Many feared that the venue itself would stay closed. But the collective who runs the bar have found a new location and are in the mist of raising funds now.
This news has opened up a sense of hope for the queer spaces here in the Bay area, and beyond, wont just fade away. So why are queer spaces, and in particular queer bars, so important to hang on to?
To answer this question and more, KCBS Radio's Mary Hughes spoke with Greggor Mattson, Professor and chair of sociology at Oberlin College and Conservatory, and author of 'Who Needs Gay Bars?'
We're seeing a rise in overdose deaths in the Bay Area this year, and a lot of them are caused by fentanyl. This is a crisis that goes beyond California though, it's being been all over the country. Everyone from local to national leaders are committed to bringing this fentanyl epidemic to an end. The Biden administration announced on international overdose awareness day that its providing $450 million dollars in new funding to tackle this issue.
But why has fentanyl taken over the drug landscape? what makes it so deadly, and what more can be done to combat its hold in our world? To help us take a closer look at this fentanyl crisis, KCBS Radio's Mary Hughes spoke with Dr. Chelsea Shover, assistant professor at the UCLA school of medicine and co-author of a 2020 study on fentanyl's spread to the West Coast.
According to scientists with the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, this past July was the hottest the earth has experienced in 174 years. If you took the chance to be outside, or you couldn't avoid it during that month, you probably felt it: overwhelming stifling and impressive heat. Those spikes in temperature are becoming all to common, lasting longer that before, happening in months that they didn't used to. And we've definitely noticed these changes as we crank up the air conditioning, but how often do any of us think about heat and its long-lasting and sometimes devastating effect on the world?
For more on this, KCBS Radio's Mary Hughes spoke with Jeff Goodell, a Bay Area native and best selling author who has tackled the topic of climate change for years.
On August 8th, 2023, fires began to spark in Maui, which then turned into deadly blazes. Spurred on by strong winds from hurricane Dora and weeks of dry conditions, a nightmare scenario has played out on the Island, with entire neighborhoods in Lahaina reduced to ash and a death toll of over 100 people so far. But while the devastation is immense and difficult to wrap out heads around, there's also stories of strength and community coming together that we are hearing from the Island.
For more, KCBS Radio's Mary Hughes spoke with KCBS Radio's Jennifer Hodges, who has been reporting from Maui, and Dr. Mia Livaudais, Professor of Public Health at Cal State East Bay. Livaudais grew up in Hawaii and is working from the Bay Area to organize help for the residents of Maui.
Two of the biggest unions in San Jose, which represent over 4,000 workers, have reached a stalemate with the city and voted yes for a three day strike. While both sides have met again for renegotiations, if an agreement isn't met soon, on of the largest planed strikes in recent history will happen on August 15th, 2023.
Of course this isn't the only battel being waged between city workers and the city they serve, a one day strike just occurred in Los Angeles with over 7,000 city workers taking to the street. The demand for higher wages, better working conditions, and more respect is a call that seems to be coming from all sides, from the public to the private sector.
But will this increase in strikes, and for some in unionizing in the first place, end up giving workers what they're looking for? And can cities and employers employers realistically meet the demands?
For more, KCBS Radio's Mary Hughes spoke with Enrique Lopezlira, director of the Low-Wage Work program at the UC Berkeley Labor Center, and Michael LeRoy Professor of Labor and Employment Relations.
On this edition of In Depth, KCBS Radio's Mary Hughes takes a closer look into what it is like to be a district attorney in the Bay Area. She s joined by Mike Dewald, KCBS Reporter, who had an opportunity to talk to both DA Pamela Price and DA Brooke Jenkins. Both Jenkins and Price have faced heavy criticism on how they deal with crime in their community.
Guests:
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins
Hosts:
Mary Hughes
Mike Dewald
Diversity, equity, and inclusion. These are terms that have become very familiar to all of us in almost every aspect of our lives, from the workplace to our political conversations and beyond.
And those words are part of our sports world as well. As more and more athletes, coaches, and organizations speak out over the injustices being faced, both on the court or field, and off. But even with changes happening slowly but surely, how fare have we actually come when looking at equality in sports?
Guests:
Dr. Akilah R. Carter-Francique, Former executive director of the institute for the study of sports society and social change at San Jose Sate University, Co-Founder of Francique Sport and education Foundation, and currently the Dean for the School of Education, Health and Human Services at benedict college
Host:
Mary Hughes
In this episode of In Depth, we are brining you two extended interviews from our Ask an Expert segment. First up, on the last day of the U.S. Supreme Court's term, the Justices releases two major decisions. The court sided with the Colorado web designer who did not want to serve LGBTQ+ customers. The Supreme Court also overturned president Biden's student loan forgiveness program. Both decisions were 6-3 rulings, spilt by the 6 conservative justices and 3 liberal justices.
In our second segment, we'll be focusing on what many of you will be doing this weekend for the fourth of July holiday, taking to the friendly and sometimes not so friendly skies. Tis week saw a combination of heavy summer storms and industry staffing shortages that walloped flights nationwide.
Guests:
- Laurie Levenson, Loyola Law Professor and former federal prosecutor
- Henry Harteveldt, travel industry analyst with Atmosphere Research Group
Hosts:
- Holly Quan
- Margie Shafer
- Eric Thomas
This weekend is the one year anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs versus Jackson Women’s Health Organization. It overturned the abortion protections created in Roe v. Wade. Abortion is still legal here in California. And last November voters approved with a two-thirds majority a ballot measure that put the right in the state constitution. But that doesn't mean all Californians support it. Access to abortions varies dramatically from big coastal cities and more rural parts of the state. This week on KCBS In Depth, we’re taking a closer look at the current state of abortion in the Golden State. Host: Raquel Maria Dillon.
In many ways it has gotten genuinely easier to talk about mental health struggles in recent years: The message is out there now that it’s ok to not feel ok. It’s normal to struggle, and it’s also normal to need a little (or perhaps even a lot) of help from time to time.
But easier does not mean easy, and on this edition of KCBS In Depth, we'll be pushing on the bounds of that comfort zone to ask one of the most difficult questions of all: Why it is that many people struggle with an urge to end their own life.
Helping us explore that challenging question is someone who knows its contours all too well: Clancy Martin, a philosophy professor at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. He just wrote a new book in which he gives a vivid account of his own lifelong struggle with suicide, which has included multiple attempts. It's called, “How Not To Kill Yourself: A Portrait of the Suicidal Mind.”
Special note: If you or someone you know is having a tough time, you can find support by calling or texting the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Host: Keith Menconi
When it comes to solving the homelessness crisis, should we focus most on long term fixes or the immediate crisis on our streets? It’s a question that is riling up cities throughout California, including San Jose, which is right now facing a funding dilemma over whether to spend scarce resources on affordable housing or new shelter space.
Admittedly, it is a somewhat wonky policy debate, but at the same time, it touches on the central question of the homelessness crisis: that is, how we can help people get out of homelessness, and stay out for good. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we look for answers.
Guests:
- Jennifer Loving, CEO, Destination: Home
- Andrea Urton, CEO, HomeFirst
- Matt Mahan, mayor, San Jose
Host: Keith Menconi
A picture is worth a thousand words, unless of course that picture happens to be a deepfake generated out of thin air by AI. On this week’s KCBS In Depth program, we consider the far reaching impact of this emerging technology and its potential for abuse.
Guests:
- Hany Farid, a UC Berkeley professor with a joint appointment in electrical engineering & computer sciences and the School of Information; he studies deepfakes and how to detect them
- Corynne McSherry, who is the legal director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Host: Keith Menconi
We’re more than three years out now from the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and it’s fair to say that we have made some progress in taming this disease: A combination of vaccines, treatments and natural immunity have combined together to drive down the daily death rate to a fraction of what it was during the Omicron surge.
But when it comes to long Covid, answers have been much harder to find. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we check in with experts and advocates about what support is out there, and why they're growing frustrated with the pace of research into this bewildering ailment.
Guests:
- Jim Jackson, neuropsychologist, Vanderbilt University | author, "Clearing the Fog: From Surviving to Thriving with Long Covid―A Practical Guide"
- Charlie McCone, a patient advocate who has been living with long Covid since March of 2020
Host: Keith Menconi
Earlier this month, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a warning about a new epidemic facing Americans, an epidemic of loneliness and isolation.
So if loneliness is an epidemic, what’s the cure? On this edition of KCBS In Depth we hear advice from one author that is simple but not necessarily easy to follow: hang out more.
Guests:
- Sheila Liming, professor who teaches writing and literature, Champlain College | author, “Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time”
- Jamie Snedden, cofounder, Groundfloor
Host: Keith Menconi
Nearly 50 years ago a Korean American immigrant named Chol Soo Lee was convicted of a murder in San Francisco’s Chinatown that he did not commit. Lee spent ten years in prison after that arrest, and very possibly might have spent his whole life there if it were not for the dogged advocacy of Asian American activists who saw in his case a grave injustice born of racism and indifference.
By the time of Lee's death in 2014, this movement had largely been forgotten, but a new documentary film is reviving the memories. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we revisit a seminal moment in the history of Asian American identity with the directors behind the film, "Free Chol Soo Lee."
Guests:
- Julie Ha, co-director, "Free Chol Soo Lee"
- Eugene Yi, co-director, "Free Chol Soo Lee"
- Gail Whang, former member, Bay Area Chol Soo Lee Defense Committee
Host: Keith Menconi
Special note: The film is available to stream on the PBS YouTube channel until May 23rd and the PBS App until July 22nd.
Earlier this past week, California began the deployment of CHP officers to San Francisco in an effort to help clamp down on drug trafficking. The hope is that with more boots on the ground -- and additional assistance from California National Guard members as well -- San Francisco will begin to get a handle on the open air drug markets that have overrun portions of the city.
But the move is also drawing fierce push back from those who say a law enforcement crackdown is no way to address what is fundamentally a public health crisis. So on this edition of KCBS In Depth, we’ll hear from both sides as San Francisco and the entire state search for answers in the face of this spiraling epidemic of drug addiction.
Guests:
Sophia Bollag, California politics reporter, San Francisco Chronicle
Brooke Jenkins, district attorney, San Francisco
Dr. Daniel Ciccarone, professor of addiction medicine, UC San Francisco
Host: Keith Menconi
Fans of the Oakland A’s are still trying to make sense of the bombshell announcement earlier this month that the team has entered an agreement to purchase land for a new ballpark in Las Vegas.
So why can’t Oakland seem to keep its sports teams? Well, it turns out that there is a long tangled history to that question going back decades, but luckily two Bay Area sports insiders have just written a book laying it all out. That book is “Goodbye, Oakland: Winning, Wanderlust and a Sports Town’s Fight For Survival.”
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we discuss the past, present and future of sports in Oakland with one of the book’s co-authors, Andy Dolich, a sports business consultant who worked in the A’s front office for over a decade and then went on to serve in executive roles for the Warriors and the 49ers.
Hosts: Keith Menconi, Holly Quan
So just what happens if people don’t come back to downtown? It’s a question that’s been asked with increasing urgency in recent weeks, especially in San Francisco, where the term “doom loop” has now been added to everyone’s vocabulary list.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we check in with local urban planning advocates and economists to get some perspective on how the Bay Area’s civic centers could be reshaped by the work-from-home revolution.
Guests:
- Jeff Bellisario, executive director, Bay Area Council Economic Institute
- Alicia John-Baptiste, CEO, SPUR
- Ted Egan, chief economist, San Francisco
Host: Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we take on the case for the four-day workweek, that is the idea that not only workers, but also many employers would be better off if we all got an extra day to ourselves: a day to recharge our batteries, tend to the trouble spots in our lives and return to work that much more energized and productive. But there’s also plenty of skeptics who say that while the four-day workweek may work for some, it’s just not a practical way to run an economy.
Guests:
- Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, global programs and research manager, 4 Day Week Global | author, "Shorter: Work Better, Smarter and Less – Here’s How"
- Matthew Bidwell, professor of management, Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania
Host:Keith Menconi
What a difference a year makes: One year ago, California’s reservoirs were depleted, its snowpack was down to only 14 percent of average and more than 90 percent of the state faced severe drought. But then came December and a series of storms fueled by atmospheric rivers that have completely changed the state's water outlook, at least in the short term.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we try to get a handle on how this all happened, what it says about California’s water future and what lingering water woes we might still be facing.
Guests:
- Jeanine Jones, interstate resources manager, California Department of Water Resources
- Alexander Gershunov, climate scientist, UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography
- Heather Cooley, director of research, Pacific Institute
Host: Keith Menconi
Even with all the life hacks and productivity boosts in the world, a lot of us simply feel like we’re falling further and further behind in the race of life. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we speak with Oakland-based artist Jenny O'Dell, who is asking the question, whose idea was it to make this into a race in the first place? And who’s actually profiting from all this rushing around? Her conclusion: That we need to fundamentally rethink our relationship with the clock.
Guest: Jenny O’Dell, author, "Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock"
Host: Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss the latest advances in AI technology, including the release of a major update to ChatGPT, an already shockingly advanced AI-powered chatbot.
With so much changing so fast, we hear from two leading journalists covering artificial intelligence to try to get a better handle on where the AI revolution might be leading us.
Guests:
- Kevin Roose, tech columnist, The New York Times | author, "Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation"
- Sigal Samuel, senior reporter, Vox’s Future Perfect | she just wrote an article for the site called “The case for slowing down AI”
Host: Keith Menconi
Environmental advocates, local leaders and the aviation industry itself all say the country's general aviation fleet needs to make the transition to cleaner-burning gas, but how to make that happen? And how fast to go? Those are questions that are sparking heated debate, including here in the Bay Area.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss the leading role that Santa Clara County has taken in this work, and also hear why some within the industry have been critical of the county’s approach, warning that moving too fast could make the skies less safe.
Guests:
- Ariel Wittenberg, public health reporter, E&E News
- Mark Baker, president, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
- Cindy Chavez, supervisor, Santa Clara County
Host: Keith Menconi
With the 95th Academy Awards just a week away, we reflect on more than nine decades of Oscars ceremonies and the pivotal Oscars moments that have shaped the course of Hollywood history.
Guest: Michael Schulman, staff writer, The New Yorker | author, “Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears.”
Host: Keith Menconi
In just a few days, California and a number of Bay Area counties are set to drop their Covid health emergencies. After three years in the pandemic fight, we check in with local health experts to get some perspective on what's gone right, what's gone wrong and what lessons we should take going forward.
Guests:
- Dr. John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases, UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health
- Dr. Monica Gandhi, infectious disease physician, UC San Francisco
- Dr. Sara Cody, health officer, Santa Clara County | director, Santa Clara County Public Health Department
Host: Keith Menconi
About one month from now the Bay Area Air Quality Management District is set to vote on a set of new rules that would aim to phase out gas furnaces and water heaters and replace them with all-electric appliances.
It’s an effort to stamp out some of the biggest sources of pollution from Bay Area cities, but this transition comes with a price tag and many residents are worried about how they’re going to be able to afford it. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we check in with two local experts about how residents can navigate these changes.
Guests:
- Lucas Davis, professor studying energy markets, UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business
- Panama Bartholomy, executive director, Building Decarbonization Coalition
Host: Keith Menconi
More resources:
The Climate Center based out of Santa Rosa is set to hold a webinar on March 15th on how to address the challenges of electrifying California’s homes and buildings. It's called, "Building Electrification – Stories from the Home Front."
Additional information on home electrification available at The Switch Is On: https://switchison.org/
During this time of partisan gridlock there actually does seem to be one thing both political camps can agree on: big tech needs to make some changes. In fact, when President Biden made a call for wide ranging reforms of the tech sector during this week's State of the Union, he won a rare bipartisan standing ovation for the comments.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we run through some of the proposals that are on the table and consider what this reform push might actually add up to.
Guests:
- David Greene, civil liberties director, Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Eric Goldman, law professor, Santa Clara University
- Jim Steyer, CEO, Common Sense Media
Host: Keith Menconi
At the beginning of this year Oakland’s police department seemed to be on track to finally exit two decades of federal court oversight, but then its police chief was placed on leave amid a scandal over officer discipline.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak with independent criminal justice reporter Ali Winston about where the reform process stands now.
Guest:Ali Winston, investigative journalist | co-author, "The Riders Come Out at Night: Brutality, Corruption, and Cover-up in Oakland”
Host:Keith Menconi
It has been a week of mourning after a string of mass shootings struck three California communities in the span of just a few days. On this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak with some of those who are helping to rally the community response to these tragedies. Then in the second half of the program, we also discuss gun control in California, and hear why even as calls for further reform grow louder the legal challenges are also getting steeper.
Guests:
- Deborah Penrose, mayor, Half Moon Bay
- Cynthia Choi, co-executive director, Chinese for Affirmative Action | co-founder, Stop AAPI Hate
- Adam Winkler, constitutional law professor, UCLA
- Dr. Amy Barnhorst, associate director, Violence Prevention Research Program at UC Davis
Host: Keith Menconi
Is seems California is rethinking a key piece of its decades-old compact with car culture: minimum parking requirements. Those are zoning requirements that force developers to include a certain number of parking spots in new constructions, and they're facing pushback in a lot of places all at once.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we consider why so many have soured on parking requirements and what this shift will mean for our changing cityscapes in the decades ahead.
Guests:
- Michael Manville, urban planning professor, UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs
- Alex Shoor, co-founder and executive director, Catalyze SV
Host: Keith Menconi
Hoping to improve your sleep habits in 2023? On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we check in with a local sleep scientist to get some advice on how to make that happen.
Host:Aric Prather, professor of psychiatry, UC San Francisco | author, "The Sleep Prescription: Seven Days to Unlocking Your Best Rest”
Guest: Keith Menconi
2020 and 2021 were two years that upended daily life in the Bay Area as we faced pandemic risks, choking wildfire smoke and a spike in violent crime.
Well, now that we’re closing out 2022 we have the chance on this edition of KCBS In Depth to ask the question: how will this year be remembered?
Guest: KCBS Insider Phil Matier
Hosts: Keith Menconi, Patti Reising
At this point we’ve been talking about the opioid epidemic and its tragic toll for years now, but more recently the risks from this crisis have begun to take on a new form as fentanyl-laced pills slip into the illicit drug market in greater numbers and make their way into the hands of teens and young adults. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we speak with some of those who are responding to the youth fentanyl overdose crisis in the Bay Area.
Guests:
- Geralyn Maul-Vasquez, who lost her son to an accidental fentanyl overdose
- Dr. Veronika Mesheriakova, director, UCSF's Youth Outpatient Substance Use Program
- Mary Ann Dewan, superintendent of schools, Santa Clara County Office of Education
- Avery Kalafatas, founder, Project 1 Life
Host: Keith Menconi
It’s not every day that you get to witness a genuine scientific breakthrough, but on Tuesday that’s exactly what the scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory had to share with the world with their announcement that they had ignited a fusion reaction that produced more energy than it took to create. This milestone, decades in the making, brings us one step closer to harnessing a potentially limitless source of clean energy. So on this edition of KCBS In Depth, we’ll hear from one of the scientists who helped get us here about how he and his colleagues managed to pull it off.
Guests:
- Arthur Pak, among the scientists involved in the ignition experiment
- Umair Irfan, correspondent, Vox
Host: Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we take a closer look at the science of the immune system to help understand why viral infections like flu and RSV are surging this year after two relatively mild winter seasons.
Guests:
- Dr. Michael Rose, physician specializing in internal medicine and pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
- Dr. Keren Landman, senior reporter covering public health and infectious diseases, Vox
Host: Keith Menconi
The spectacular collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange has sent shockwaves through the finance sector, leaving investors scrambling to recover their deposits and sending other crypto firms into chaos with one major lender going bust just this past Monday.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, as the fallout continues to spread across the crypto world and the calls for greater regulation grow louder, we consider where the industry could be headed next.
Guest:Daniel Roberts, editor-in-chief, Decrypt
Host: Keith Menconi
Now that its first mission has achieved lift off, we take a closer look at the Artemis program, NASA’s effort to bring astronauts back to the lunar surface within the next few years.
Guests:
- Tariq Malik, editor in chief, Space.com
- Andrew Fraknoi, emeritus chair, Foothill College’s Astronomy Department
Host: Keith Menconi
Twitter’s mass layoff of employees has gotten a lot of headlines, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tech sector job cuts. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss why parts of the industry seems to be struggling, and what this could all mean for the broader economy.
Guests:
- Patrick Kallerman, vice president of research, the Bay Area Council Economic Institute
- Michael Bernick, employment attorney, Duane Morris | former director, California's Employment Development Department
Host: Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we get ready for the midterm elections by checking in on a few of the most important races that the KCBS news team will be tracking come election night. And then in the second half of the program, we take a step back from the horse race to discuss why it is that the threat of political violence seems to be growing this election cycle.
Guests:
- Doug Sovern, political reporter, KCBS Radio
- Robert Pape, professor of political science, University of Chicago | director, Chicago Project on Security and Threats
Host: Keith Menconi
Earlier this month the US imposed sweeping new import controls that aim to slow China’s development of high end semiconductors. It’s a dramatic escalation in the race between the global superpowers for chip supremacy, and it could have far reaching consequences for both the global economy and the balance of power across the Pacific.
Now these might sound like overstuffed claims for a dust up over computer chips, but today's guest argues that the humble transistor has become the world's most critical technology with the power to reshape industries and world events. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we lay out that case.
Guest:Chris Miller, professor of history, Tufts University | author, "Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology"
Host: Keith Menconi
Earlier this week Governor Newsom announced that he is getting ready to drop the state's Covid state of emergency. And last month President Biden went so far as to declare that the pandemic is "over." But of course, the risks from this virus are still very much with us. So as we enter the holiday season, how careful is careful enough?
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we get the take from one of the Bay Area's leading Covid experts, Dr. Robert Wachter, the chair of UC San Francisco’s Department of Medicine.
Host: Keith Menconi
When Covid-19 struck some referred to it as “the great equalizer.” After all, every one of us humans can catch a virus. But over the past two and a half years it’s become more than clear that there is nothing equal about how this infection has spread.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss those who have borne the brunt of this pandemic: The people who didn’t get to work from home, who lived in cramped communal apartments, or who couldn’t get time off to get a vaccine. Our guest for this episode calls this group the "viral underclass," and he’s written a new book that explores the many ways that our Covid policy has let them down.
Guest: Steven Thrasher, journalism professor, Northwestern University | author, "The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide"
Host:Keith Menconi
October 19th: Steven Thrasher will make an appearance at Book Passage at the SF Ferry Building this Wednesday at 5 p.m. He'll be in conversation with Piper Kerman, author of Orange Is the New Black. Learn more at BookPassage.com
When this year comes to a close the mayors of two of the Bay Area’s largest cities -- Oakland and San Jose -- will be terming out of office. On this edition of KCBS In Depth we discuss the elections that will decide who is going to replace them.
Guests:
- Sarah Ravani, reporter covering Oakland and the East Bay, San Francisco Chronicle
- Jana Kadah, reporter covering San Jose City Hall, San José Spotlight
Host: Keith Menconi
This week on KCBS In Depth, we'll be switching up our format to present an hour of special programing featuring stories of mental health crisis and community resilience from right here in the Bay Area. It originally aired on September 21st, 2022 as part of the national I'm Listening campaign to promote awareness about suicide prevention and end stigma through conversation.
We'll be returning to our standard format on October 8th.
Hosts: Keith Menconi, Melissa Culross
The recent history of Pacific Gas and Electric has been riddled with foreseeable disasters and preventable tragedies. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss how it is that PG&E's reputation has become synonymous with negligence and calamity, and we also consider the company’s latest efforts to turn things around.
Guest:Katherine Blunt, energy reporter, The Wall Street Journal | author, “California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric — and What It Means for America's Power Grid”
Host: Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss the fallout from this record setting heat wave and also hear why some worry that even after all the recent heat disasters, we’re still not taking the dangers of extreme heat seriously enough.
Guests:
- Daniel Kammen, professor of Energy, UC Berkeley | advisor, US Agency for International Development
- Kurt Shickman, director of Extreme Heat Initiatives, Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center
Host: Keith Menconi
The consequences of the nation’s mental health crisis are plain to see: without adequate treatment and without safe places to find support more and more people suffering from mental illness are ending up on the street or in jail. But despite everything that is going wrong, our guest on this edition of KCBS In Depth says that this is actually a moment to be hopeful.
Guest: Dr. Thomas Insel, former head of the National Institute of Mental Health | author, “Healing: Our Path From Mental Illness to Mental Health”
Host: Keith Menconi
It’s been a goal of progressive advocates for years: creating so-called safe injection sites, where addicted drug users can find a safe space and clean needles as well as treatment in the case of an overdose. Supporters say these facilities save lives, but when a bill to legalize safe injection pilot programs came before Governor Newsom to sign, he vetoed it, citing concern over unintended consequences.
All the same, as we discuss on this edition of KCBS In Depth, that veto may not be the end of the story.
Guests:
- Laura Thomas, director of HIV and harm reduction policy, San Francisco AIDS Foundation
- Meryl Kornfield, staff writer, The Washington Post
Host: Keith Menconi
Over the past two decades the opioid epidemic is believed to have claimed the lives of half-a-million Americans. It’s a crisis that has been fueled by a seemingly limitless supply of pain pills that were manufactured, distributed and sold by legitimate businesses, some of them among the largest in the country.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak with two Washington Post investigative reporters about the great lengths the opioid industry went to to make sure that business as usual could continue even as overdose deaths began to skyrocket.
Guests: Sari Horwitz and Scott Higham, the authors of “American Cartel: Inside the Battle to Bring Down the Opioid Industry”
Host: Keith Menconi
These days, dissatisfaction with the internet is widespread, driven by an array of concerns from rampant hate speech to ubiquitous tracking and data harvesting. So far, most of the solutions that have been put forward involve either new regulations or schemes to break up internet monopolies, but writer Ben Tarnoff says that none of those fixes get at what is in his view the actual root of the problem: that is, that the internet that we have today is made for businesses and not people.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss his new book, "Internet for the People: The Fight for our Digital Future," which lays out his case for taking the internet out of the hands of private enterprise and creating instead an internet that's run by public institutions.
Guest: Ben Tarnoff, co-founder, Logic Magazine | author, "Internet for the People: The Fight for our Digital Future"
Host: Keith Menconi
Facing growing calls to take more aggressive action to contain the monkeypox outbreak, the federal government this week declared a public health emergency, but advocates say this move should have come much sooner.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we check in with those on the front line of this growing health crisis to hear why they are disappointed with the government's response so far, and we also discuss what they'd like to see come next.
Guest:
- Dr. Monica Gandhi, infectious disease physician, UC San Francisco
- Tyler TerMeer, CEO, San Francisco AIDS Foundation
Hosts: Keith Menconi, Kathy Novak
On this edition of KCBS In Depth that first broadcast earlier this year we take a grand tour of the global supply chain with Wall Street Journal technology columnist Christopher Mims. In his new book, "Arriving Today," he explains what keeps this finely tuned global system of container trucks, ships and warehouses running, and why so often over the past two years it's fallen short.
Host: Keith Menconi
The Jan. 6 House committee completed its eighth and final scheduled hearing this past Thursday evening, adding fresh revelations about the attack on the Capitol that followed the 2020 election. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we reflect on what those hearings have turned up and also discuss what the fallout might be.
Guests: Zoe Lofgren, member, US Congress | member, House Jan. 6 committee Jamil Jaffer, law professor, George Mason University | founder and executive director, the university's National Security Institute
Host:Keith Menconi
Starting this weekend there is a new three digit emergency number to call, and this one is specifically tailored for people experiencing a mental health crisis. It’s 988, and punching in those three digits will now put callers in touch with trained counselors ready to offer support and also referrals to local resources.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, as part of Audacy’s national I’m Listening campaign to promote awareness around mental health topics, we discuss how 988 calls will work and why mental health advocates are hopeful that this new number could mark a major shift in the nation's approach to emergency response.
Guest: Dr. Christine Moutier, chief medical officer, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Host: Riggs
When it comes to long Covid we are woefully short on answers to even basic questions like what causes it, how it can be treated and who’s most at risk.
So on this edition of KCBS In Depth, we check in with some experts on the disease to hear from them what we do know so far and also what it’s going to take to get a handle on this growing public health emergency.
Guests: Dr. Michael Peluso, assistant professor of medicine, UC San Francisco Lisa McCorkell, co-founder, Patient-Led Research Collaborative
Hosts:Keith Menconi, Holly Quan
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we speak with the Google engineer who believes that an artificially intelligent language system developed by his company has become sentient. Meantime, his claims have spotlighted a broader conversation about the ethics of emerging AI technology, and we also discuss why many experts are raising concerns about the misuse of AI in everything from home appliances to automated surveillance.
Guests: Blake Lemoine, engineer, Google Khari Johnson, senior writer covering artificial intelligence, WIRED
Host: Keith Menconi
The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling this past Friday put an end to nearly fifty years of federal protections for abortion rights in the US, and already many states are getting ready to impose full abortion bans. That alone represents a monumental shift in American life, but the full consequences of the court's decision are likely to be even more far reaching.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss what changes are likely to come in a post-Roe America.
Guests: Dr. Jennifer Kerns, professor of obstetrics and gynecology, director of the Complex Family Planning Fellowship, UC San Francisco Rory Little, law professor, UC Hastings College of the Law Shannon Minter, legal director, National Center for Lesbian Rights
Host: Keith Menconi
World renowned swim coach Teri McKeever has an impressive list of accomplishments to her name: as the longtime head coach of the women's team at UC Berkeley, she’s led the Cal Bears to four NCAA national championships, and even coached several US Olympic swim teams. But new allegations of bullying and abuse are casting her career in a different light, and also sparking a conversation about when tough coaching goes too far.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we pick up on that conversation and consider where to draw the line in coaching.
Guests: Jessica Chin, professor of sports sociology, San Jose State University Jason Sacks, president, Positive Coaching Alliance
Hosts:Keith Menconi, Holly Quan
Chesa Boudin came into office at the beginning of 2020 amid a wave of new progressive prosecutors, who had run on promises of major reform. But over the past two years as anger about San Francisco’s crime problem has grown, many residents have soured on his leadership, and the anti-Boudin backlash culminated this past week in a successful recall vote.
Of course though Boudin is just one leader in the much larger movement for criminal justice reform, so on this edition of KCBS In Depth, we’re going to consider where that movement could be headed next.
Guests: Hadar Aviram, law professor, UC Hastings College of the Law Nima Rahimi, recall supporter | executive board member, California Democratic Party Cristine Soto DeBerry, executive director, Prosecutors Alliance of California
Host: Keith Menconi
Today, Stanford is considered one of the top research universities in the world, but in 1905 after one of its co-founders, Jane Stanford, died, its future hung in the balance. To protect it, a group of powerful people spun a web of deception, obscuring the true cause of Jane Stanford’s death, and quashing a police investigation before it could reveal uncomfortable truths.
Among those who have been working to untangle the mystery of this century-old cold case, historian Richard White, who has written about what he's found in his new book, "Who Killed Jane Stanford?" On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss his findings and what they say about Stanford University's founding myths.
Guest: Richard White, professor emeritus of American history, Stanford University | author, "Who Killed Jane Stanford? A Gilded Age Tale of Murder, Deceit, Spirits, and the Birth of a University"
Host: Keith Menconi
This past week, the horrors of gun violence have been thrust into the public consciousness once again as San Jose marks one year since the VTA railyard shooting, and the entire country confronts the painful images coming out of Uvalde, Texas in the wake of Tuesday's mass shooting.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we consider the trauma that these mass shootings have left behind, and also discuss what steps can be taken to chart a path towards healing.
Guests: Sue Cronin, director of critical incident stress management training and education, Bill Wilson Center Janet Childs, founder, The Centre for Living with Dying Katherine Nguyen Williams, child and adolescent psychologist | professor of psychiatry, UC San Diego
Host:Keith Menconi
Bay Area health officials are warning of rising Covid case counts, but still have yet to order new restrictions. So, facing this new wave of infections without new mandates in place, what precautions should average residents be keeping front of mind, and how careful is careful enough?
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we check in with two Bay Area health experts to get their take.
Guests: Dr. Marm Kilpatrick, infectious disease expert, UC Santa Cruz’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Dr. Monica Gandhi, infectious disease physician, UC San Francisco
Host: Keith Menconi
When the pandemic began ridership across the Bay Area’s public transit system plummeted as offices shuttered and downtown life came to a screeching halt. More than two years later, riders have been slow to return, and now many local agencies are facing a fast-approaching fiscal cliff.
So, running out of funds and time, how can Bay Area transit win riders back?
Guests: Jeffrey Tumlin, director of transportation, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Therese McMillan, executive director, Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Host:Keith Menconi
This week’s bombshell Supreme Court leak, revealing that a majority of justices are contemplating overturning Roe v. Wade, has sent shockwaves throughout the country. Here in California, though, supporters of abortion rights have been anticipating something like this for some time, and they’ve been getting ready.
On this edition of KCB In Depth we discuss what the end of Roe could mean for the state.
Guests: Lara Korte, co-author, POLITICO California playbook Jessica Pinckney, executive director, Access Reproductive Justice Dr. Mai Fleming, family medicine physician, UC San Francisco’s Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health
Host: Keith Menconi
With Elon Musk now poised to become the sole owner of Twitter, he's promising to take a much more hands off approach to content moderation. It's a promise that has cheered many critics of Twitter who have long accused the social media giant of unfair censorship and political bias, but it's also alarmed the experts and advocates who have spent the last several years pushing the site to take a more active role in policing misinformation, abuse and hate speech. On this edition of KCBS In Depth we wade into that debate and consider what it takes to safeguard free speech in the digital age.
Guests: Imran Ahmed, CEO, Center for Countering Digital Hate David Greene, civil liberties director, Electronic Frontier Foundation David Rand, professor of management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Host: Keith Menconi
For decades the man who came to be known as the Golden State Killer eluded capture, but then in 2018 investigators using cutting edge genetic techniques finally managed to track him down and put him away. You’ve probably heard the story, but one thing that didn’t make it into the papers: the terrible toll that this case has taken on those who solved it.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak with Paul Holes, a former cold case investigator who played a key role in identifying the Golden State Killer. He reflects on the investigation, the trauma left behind by this and other cases, and also discusses his new memoir, “Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases."
Host:Keith Menconi
Month after month, year after year mass shootings continue to take place in America, traumatizing communities all across the country and fueling the bitter, seemingly intractable debate over gun control. But amid the horror and the hopelessness, largely hidden from public view, teams of people within law enforcement and mental health circles have been quietly working for decades now to develop new methods to identify possible shooters and to intervene before an attack ever takes place.
How far could this work really go toward stemming the tide of violence? It’s a question taken on by journalist Mark Follman in his new book, "Trigger Points: Inside the Mission to Stop Mass Shootings in America." He joins this edition of KCBS In Depth to lay out what he's found.
Host:Keith Menconi
As a lackluster rainy season comes to a close for California, we take stock of the state's precarious water situation and hear why the impacts of this drought are turning out to be more far reaching than many realize.
Guests: Andrew Schwartz, manager and lead scientist, U.C. Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab Kurtis Alexander, enterprise reporter, San Francisco Chronicle
Host:Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we examine the student housing crisis facing Berkeley as well as other college towns throughout California, a crisis that is pushing many low-income students to the financial brink as enrollment growth continues to outpace new housing, and the cost of living soars ever higher.
Guests: Frances Dinkelspiel, reporter and cofounder, Berkeleyside Mikhail Zinshteyn, higher-education reporter, Calmatters
Host:Keith Menconi
As the Whitehouse warns that key Covid programs will need to ramp down due to a lack of funding, on this edition of KCBS In Depth, we consider the potential impact on our ability to respond if cases begin to surge once again.
Guests: Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security Dr. Monica Gandhi, infectious disease physician, UC San Francisco
Host: Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss why many companies have decided to continue giving employees a remote work option, even as the Covid risks fade. And in the second half, we also consider why -- during this moment of widespread workplace change -- some people are rethinking their relationship with work entirely.
Guests: Nick Bloom, professor of economics, Stanford University Jonathan Malesic, author, "The End of Burnout: Why Work Drains Us and How to Build Better Lives"
Host:Keith Menconi
In the wake of Governor Newsom's state of the state address delivered on Tuesday, on this edition of KCBS In Depth, we check in on the current shape of California politics.
Guests: Lara Korte, reporter covering California politics, The Sacramento Bee Severin Borenstein, professor of energy, business and economics, UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business Scott Wilson, senior national correspondent covering California and the West, The Washington Post
Host:Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we hear from a number of Bay Area residents suffering from long-term illnesses that put them at heightened risk from Covid-19 to discuss what’s on their minds as pandemic restrictions are dropped.
Guests: Lindsay Ryan, an internal medicine and HIV doctor in San Francisco Dipti Barot, a primary care physician in the East Bay, who recently wrote an opinion piece for the San Francisco Chronicle titled, "Lifting the California mask mandate basically says chronically ill and disabled lives don’t matter"
Special thanks:Support for Families of Children with Disabilities and Coastal Kids Home Care
Host:Keith Menconi
Just a few short days ago the possibility of a full scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia remained unthinkable to many, but then it happened, leaving us to come to terms with a suddenly-changed world.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we consider the far reaching impacts of the first major war to break out between European nations in decades.
Guests: Catarina Buchatskiy, student organizer Donald Jensen, director for Russia and Europe at the U.S. Institute of Peace Joe Cirincione, distinguished fellow, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft Jason Brooks, business reporter, KCBS Radio | host, The Crisis Next Door podcast
Host:Keith Menconi
Just about everyone has heard the allegation against Bill Cosby of drugging and sexual abuse: We’ve been reporting on them for years now, along with the court cases that have followed. But comedian and filmmaker W. Kamau Bell says the conversation we’ve been having so far about Cosby is still incomplete.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we dig into Bell’s new documentary series called “We Need to Talk About Cosby” that shines a light not only on the details of the dozens of rape allegations against Cosby but also the widespread culture of complicity that many say made such abuse possible.
Hosts:Melissa Culross, Keith Menconi
Two years into this pandemic, and the economic recovery is now well underway, but not everyone is sharing in the gains. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we hear from local experts and advocates about why the need for food and rental support have remained so high for so long.
Guests: Lydia Bustamante, associate director, Sacred Heart Community Service Erin Stanton, director of family assistance, Sacred Heart Community Service Michael Bernick, employment attorney, Duane Morris | former director, California's Employment Development Department Robert Reich, professor, UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy | former secretary of labor for the Clinton Administration
Host: Keith Menconi
In recent weeks a group of Bay Area doctors released an open letter to the governor and state health officials calling for a faster wind down of pandemic restrictions, especially in the classroom. On this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak with one of the letter's authors and also hear from another local health expert who is warning against letting our guard down too soon.
Guests: Dr. Jeanne Noble, professor of emergency medicine, UC San Francisco | director of Covid response, UCSF Emergency Department Dr. John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases and vaccinology, UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health
Host:Keith Menconi
This pandemic has been difficult on just about everyone, but it’s taken a special toll on frontline healthcare workers, and now after two years facing down one Covid surge after another many are reaching a crisis point.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we hear directly from healthcare workers about the challenges of practicing medicine during this time of pandemic.
Guests: Cathy Kennedy, president, California Nurses Association Pat Patton, system chief nurse executive, UCSF Health Dr. Christina Mangurian, professor of psychiatry, UC San Francisco | director, UCSF Cope Wellbeing Program
Host:Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we take a grand tour of the global supply chain with Wall Street Journal technology columnist Christopher Mims. In his new book, "Arriving Today," he explains what keeps this finally tuned global system of container trucks, ships and warehouses running, and why so often over the past two years it's fallen short.
Host: Keith Menconi
Nearly two years into this pandemic now, and it kind of feels like we’ve seen it all -- from surprising surges to wildcard variants. But if life under Covid has taught us one thing, it’s to expect the unexpected.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we check in with a local infectious disease expert who says that even at this late stage in the pandemic, it still makes sense to be careful (despite the suggestions by some that it might be better to get infected intentionally). And then a bit later on in the program we also discuss why predicting the course of this health crisis has been so difficult.
Guests: Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, professor of medicine, infectious disease expert, UC San Francisco Andrew Pekosz, professor of microbiology, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Host: Keith Menconi
The Bay Area is facing yet another surge of Covid-19 infections, and while the Omicron variant is turning out to be milder than those that have come before, it’s spreading so quickly and so widely that virtually no aspect of daily life has been left untouched. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we check in with some of the people who have been marshalling the response to this surge and its wide ranging impacts.
Guests: Dr. Luke Day, chief medical officer, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital Vincent Matthews, superintendent, San Francisco Unified School District Dr. Matt Willis, public health officer, Marin County
Host:Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we take a look back at some of the biggest stories and trends out of Bay Area news over this past year to try to get a better handle on where we might be headed in 2022.
Guests: Dr. John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases and vaccinology, UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health Scott Stephens, professor of fire science, UC Berkeley Anne Marks, executive director, Youth ALIVE!
Host:Keith Menconi
Last May the murder of George Floyd tipped off a wave of national protests that reenergized the criminal justice reform movement and launched the “defund the police” slogan right to the center of the national conversation. But now a year-and-a-half later amid a wave of worsening violent crime Bay Area leaders are beginning to strike a different tone as they signal support for stepped up law enforcement resources.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we dig into the Bay Area’s crime trends to try to find out what’s driving them and what this could all mean for the future of reform.
Guests: Jonathan Simon, professor, UC Berkeley School of Law Cat Brooks, co-founder, Anti Police-Terror Project | executive director, Justice Teams Network Loren Taylor, Oakland City Council member
Host: Keith Menconi
With climate change gathering force the Sierra Nevada and other California mountain ranges could be facing a nearly snowless future in only a few decades. That's the jarring prediction laid out in a recent study led by researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we check in with the authors to hear how they reached this unnerving conclusion and what could be done to prepare.
Guests: Erica Siirila-Woodburn, research scientist, Energy Geosciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Alan Rhoades, hydroclimate researcher, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Host:Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we consider the global effort to get the vaccine out to people in developing nations as warnings mount that this work isn’t moving fast enough.
Guests: Carmen Paun, global health reporter, Politico Michael Nyenhuis, president and CEO, UNICEF USA
Host:Keith Menconi
We live in a world of constant convenience, where just about any material need can be met with a simple click of a button or a swipe on a phone screen. But what if this relentless pursuit of momentary pleasures is actually becoming the source of some of our greatest pains?
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we speak with Dr. Anna Lembke, the medical director of Stanford Addiction Medicine. Her new book is "Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence," in which she turns to brain science and the science of addiction to explore the root cause of both pleasure and pain and why it is that this time of instant gratification seems to have thrown our dopamine systems so out of whack.
Host: Keith Menconi
We’re now entering our second holiday season amid a global pandemic, but while Covid-19 is still very much with us, an awful lot has changed over the past twelve months. So on this edition of KCBS In Depth we discuss what we all need to know this year to keep our holiday tables Covid safe. Then later on in the program we also consider another important Covid safety measure that health officials are urging just about everybody to take now: getting the booster shot.
Guest: Dr. Robert Wachter, chair, Department of Medicine at UC San Francisco Dr. Marm Kilpatrick, infectious diseases researcher, UC Santa Cruz’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Host:Keith Menconi
Since the pandemic began California has been ramping up its efforts to address its homelessness crisis, and there’s been no shortage of new programs and grand pronouncements. But while a lot is changing -- and a lot more people are getting help -- thousands upon thousands remain on the street desperate for a home.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we check in on one place where the pace of change on the homelessness front has been particularly fast recently: Santa Clara County.
Guests: Consuelo Hernandez, director, Santa Clara County’s Office of Supportive Housing Jennifer Loving, CEO, Destination: Home Richard Scott, homeless advocate | board member, Grace Solutions
Host:Keith Menconi
The whole world is watching as leaders from all over the globe meet in Glasgow for a two-week global summit on climate change. Of course though it just wouldn’t be a climate summit without a sizable delegation from California, and sure enough, the Golden State is indeed well represented this go round. So on this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss what California is bringing to the international climate table and what new inspiration it might take back home once the summit wraps up.
Guests: Ken Alex, director, Project Climate at UC Berkeley | advisor on climate and environment under former Gov. Jerry Brown Daniel Kammen, professor of Energy, UC Berkeley | advisor, US Agency for International Development Ellie Cohen, CEO, The Climate Center
Host:Keith Menconi
LaDoris Cordell has racked up quite a few firsts in her decades-spanning legal career: In 1982 she became the first black woman judge to serve on any court in Northern California. Then six years later after a successful election bid she became the first black superior court judge in Santa Clara County’s history.
But these firsts are more than mere historical footnotes: As Cordell recounts in her newly released memoir, the background and life experience that she brought to the bench equipped her to spot failings in the criminal justice system that many others had left unaddressed. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss that memoir -- "Her Honor: My Life on the Bench...What Works, What's Broken, and How to Change It" -- and we also consider what reform work is still left to be done.
Host:Keith Menconi
It’s a whole new phase in the vaccine rollout with the federal government now poised to approve Covid-19 shots for younger children aged between five and 11 in the coming weeks. But even as the White House prepares to get those shots distributed, vaccine skepticism and resistance to vaccine mandates remains fierce. On this edition of KCBS In Depth we hear a response to the opposition, and also dig into what the science has to say about the Pfizer vaccine’s safety and efficacy when it comes to younger children.
Guest: Dr. Jenna Holmen, pediatric infectious disease specialist, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Richard Pan, state senator representing Sacramento
Host: Keith Menconi
We’re living through an age of dramatic advancements in medical technology, but as prominent vaccine expert Paul Offit points out, the history of medical innovation is often marked by tragic missteps, the costs of which are measured out in human lives. He joins this edition of KCBS In Depth to discuss his new book unpacking that history, "You Bet Your Life: From Blood Transfusions to Mass Vaccination, the Long and Risky History of Medical Innovation." We discuss the many risks of new medical technology, and also why he believes such innovations are still bets worth taking.
Guest: Paul Offit, professor of vaccinology and pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine | member, FDA Covid Vaccine Advisory Panel
Host:Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak with David Julius, a professor of physiology at UC San Francisco, who got the news earlier this week that his work, examining the molecular basis of heat and touch, has earned this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
The key discoveries he helped uncover more than two decades ago set off a flurry of further research, aiming to find better treatments for pain. But it turns out the story of touch has more than its share of twists and turns.
Host:Keith Menconi
Last week on KCBS In Depth, we brought you stories of mental health struggle and resilience from here in the Bay Area. On this edition, we go beyond the stories of these mental health experts and advocates, and ask instead for for their advice.
Guests: Narges Zohoury Dillon, executive director, Crisis Support Services of Alameda County Sue Cronin, director of critical incident stress management training and education, Bill Wilson Center Jonathan Horowitz, clinical psychologist, director, San Francisco Stress and Anxiety Center
Host:Keith Menconi
On this special edition of KCBS In Depth, as part of the national I’m Listening campaign promoting awareness about suicide prevention and mental health, we bring you stories of crisis and resilience in the Bay Area.
Guests: Narges Zohoury Dillon, executive director, Crisis Support Services of Alameda County John Courtney, president, Amalgamated Transit Union Local #265 Sue Cronin, director of critical incident stress management training and education, Bill Wilson Center Members of San Francisco's Street Crisis Response Team Lt. Jonathan Baxter, spokesman, San Francisco Fire Department Martin Lee, creator, The Other Ones Sherry Wang, professor of counseling psychology, Santa Clara University Satsuki Ina, psychotherapist specializing in racism trauma, cofounder, Tsuru for Solidarity Jonathan Horowitz, clinical psychologist, director, San Francisco Stress and Anxiety Center
Hosts: Keith Menconi, Jenna Lane, Kathy Novak
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, with so many Californians right now asking what exactly that whole recall election added up to, we’re going to take on the case for recall reform.
Guests: Raphael Sonenshein, executive director, Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs, California State University, Los Angeles Joshua Spivak, senior fellow, Hugh L. Carey Institute for Government Reform, Wagner College | author, Recall Elections: From Alexander Hamilton to Gavin Newsom
Host: Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, twenty years on from the September 11th terrorist attacks, we consider what lasting impacts the national tragedy has left behind here in the Bay Area.
Guests: Lt. Jonathan Baxter, spokesman, San Francisco Fire Department Joe Alioto Veronese, executive director, National First Responders Fund Shirin Sinnar, professor of law, Stanford Law School
Host:Keith Menconi
It’s a recall effort that many political watchers never expected to get much traction, but here we are just over a week away from election day, and Governor Newsom -- while leading in the polls -- still finds himself caught in a pitched battle for his political life.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we check in on the latest developments in California’s recall election and also take a broader look at what this political upheaval will mean for the state going forward.
Guests: Doug Sovern, political reporter, KCBS | host, The State of California Dan Schnur, California political strategist | professor, UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies
Host:Keith Menconi
Almost three years after the Camp Fire nearly leveled the town of Paradise, claiming at least 85 lives, we revisit the disaster through the reporting of Lizzie Johnson, an enterprise reporter for the Washington Post. She spent the past several years piecing together the many stories of tragedy and triumph that have emerged from that devastating day, and wrote about what she turned up in her new book, "Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire."
Host: Keith Menconi
In the wake of the collapse of the Afghan government, we discuss how local aid groups in the Bay Area are rallying support to help those attempting to flee Taliban rule. And then in the second half of the program, we also hear why the upheaval in Afghanistan is posing a major challenge to Silicon Valley tech companies.
Guests: Aisha Wahab, a member of the Hayward City Council and an Afghan American Emily Birnbaum, a tech lobbying and influence reporter for Politico
Host:Keith Menconi
New revelations about the Delta variant of Covid-19 have been coming in fast and furious in recent weeks, forcing health officials to reexamine our approach to this pandemic. With so much changing so quickly, on this edition of KCBS In Depth, we take a step back and check in on the latest in Covid-19 science.
Guest:Marm Kilpatrick, who studies infectious diseases at UC Santa Cruz’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Host:Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we examine the crisis behind California's wildfires. That is: climate change, which has supercharged fire disasters by warming the state up, drying it out, and priming it to burn.
Guest: Patrick Brown, professor of meteorology and climate science, San Jose State University's Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center
Host: Keith Menconi
Already this year fast spreading wildfires have burned up hundreds of thousands of acres in California, sending smoke plumes clear across the country, but with the landscape parched and the state primed to burn, this could just be a taste of what’s in store.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss how the state is getting ready as peak fire season approaches. Then in the second half we also consider a related danger threatening lives this summer: extreme heat.
Guests: Chris Dicus, professor of wildland fire and fuels management, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Kristie Ebi, professor of global health, University of Washington's Center for Health and the Global Environment
Host: Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we dig into the latest Covid numbers to get a sense of the new risks posed by the recent spike in cases. Then in the second half of the program we also consider what’s ahead for the largest group of people who can’t yet be vaccinated: children under the age of 12.
Guests: Dr. Monica Gandhi, infectious disease physician and professor of medicine, UC San Francisco Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, professor of pediatrics and epidemiology, Stanford University School of Medicine
Host:Keith Menconi
We’re all used to hearing about Red America and Blue America, but what if the country’s real political divide is actually split along a four way fracture? On this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak with journalist and author George Packer about his new book, “Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal,” which seeks to map out the lines of political division that run through the nation as a first step toward patching it all back together.
Host:Keith Menconi
In 1966 California became one of the first states in the country to outlaw LSD, now more than 50 years later the Golden State is rethinking its stance on psychedelics amid a new legislative push that could one day soon decriminalize a range of psychoactive compounds.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we consider the high hopes behind this drug reform effort, and also discuss the backlash from those who worry about its potential dangers.
Guests: Scott Wiener, California state senator John Lovell, legislative counsel, California Narcotics Officers' Association Jennifer Mitchell, professor of neurology and psychiatry, UC San Francisco
Host:Keith Menconi
The Bay Area is a region defined by its diversity, and yet a recent report from UC Berkeley researchers has found that many neighborhoods seem to actually be growing more segregated with time.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we dig into that report and try to find out how it could be that more than 50 years after the passage of the federal Fair Housing Act the trend toward segregation still continues.
Guests: Stephen Menendian, assistant director, UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute Louis Hansen, housing reporter, Mercury News
Host:Keith Menconi
Meat grown in a lab, produce grown on a shelf, plants recombined to taste just like meat: these days the future of food is arriving at breakneck speeds, but will that future be any better than where we’ve already been?
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we take a closer look at some of the emerging high tech innovations in food, and consider whether or not they're likely to live up to their promise.
Guest: Larissa Zimberoff, investigative journalist | author, “Technically Food: Inside Silicon Valley’s Mission to Change What We Eat”
Host: Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we check in on the California economy to get a sense of how quickly the state might return to business as usual, as officials prepare to lift many Covid restrictions in the coming week.
Guests: Leila Bengali, economist, UCLA Anderson Forecast Sarah Bohn, vice president of research, senior fellow, Public Policy Institute of California
Host:Keith Menconi
Just how did the Covid-19 pandemic spread to humans? It’s a question that for many already seemed to have an answer, but in recent weeks a growing number of scientists -- and now even the president -- are calling for a second look.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we reexamine the competing theories about the origin of the virus that causes Covid-19.
Guests: Dr. David Relman, professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology, Stanford University Josh Rogin, foreign policy columnist, Washington Post | author, “Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi and the Battle for the 21st Century”
Host: Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we reflect on the tragic toll of this week's mass shooting in San Jose and also consider what reforms might follow.
Guests: Raul Peralez, city councilmember, San Jose Adam Winkler, constitutional law professor, UCLA School of Law | author, "Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America" Dr. Garen Wintemute, director, Violence Prevention Research Program at UC Davis
Host: Keith Menconi
All this past week KCBS Radio reporters have been presenting a special series examining California's growing water crisis from a number of different angles. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we put all the pieces together and consider what’s in store next for our increasingly dry state.
Guests: Kathy Novak, reporter, KCBS Radio Peter Gleick, climate scientist | co-founder, the Pacific Institute Felicia Marcus, visiting fellow, Stanford University’s Water in the West program | former chair, California State Water Resources Control Board Megan Goldsby, reporter, KCBS Radio
Host:Keith Menconi
Earlier this week the CDC changed its mask guidance, advising that those who are fully vaccinated can go mask free in most circumstances. It's a major milestone in the pandemic fight, but after a year when we’ve faced one deadly surge after another, what makes federal health authorities so sure loosening the rules will be safe? On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we consider the positive vaccine data that's reassuring medical experts.
Guests: Dr. Monica Gandhi, infectious disease physician and professor of medicine, UC San Francisco Dr. Michele Barry, professor, Stanford University’s School of Medicine | director, Center for Innovation in Global Health
Host: Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak with USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page who has written a new biography of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi entitled, "Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power." Drawing on 10 sit-down interviews with the San Francisco lawmaker, the book offers a comprehensive look at Pelosi's rise in politics as well as the pivotal moments in American history that she helped shape.
Host:Keith Menconi
Over the past year Americans have come to rely more and more on Amazon and the convenience of the retail giant's at-home delivery service. It certainly has been a handy tool during a time when any trip out the door came fraught with pandemic risks, but what if this one-click lifestyle comes with hidden costs?
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak with Alec MacGillis, a veteran journalist who set out to understand the massive changes that have swept American life in recent decades: What he found when he went looking--again and again--were stories that ran directly through an Amazon warehouse. He tells those stories in his new book, "Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America."
Host:Keith Menconi
The news this past Tuesday of former police officer Derek Chauvin’s conviction in the murder trial for George Floyd was met by advocates for police reform with celebration, including here in the Bay Area. But after a year of activism and organizing for criminal justice reform what’s really changed, and where is the reform movement headed next?
Guests: Rev. Jethroe Moore, president, San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP Clayborne Carson, professor emeritus of history, Stanford University | founder, Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute
Host:Keith Menconi
As California hurtles toward the planned June 15th reopening, the end of the state’s protracted lockdown could very well be less than two months away, but as we’ve learned over the past year, during a pandemic, two months can be a long time. On this edition of KCBS In Depth we think through the possible bumps in the road that may still lie ahead.
Guests: Dr. George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology, University of California, San Francisco Kiran Savage-Sangwan, executive director, the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
Host:Keith Menconi
The president’s new infrastructure plan aims to do more than just shore up the nation’s roads and bridges: it’s also an effort to tackle climate change. So on this edition of KCBS In Depth, we’re going to get some local perspective on what building a green economy might look like here in the Bay Area, and also hear why it’s fair to say that in many communities the work of getting there is already well underway.
Guest:Andreas Karelas, founder and executive director, RE-volv | author, "Climate Courage: How Tackling Climate Change Can Build Community, Transform the Economy, and Bridge the Political Divide in America"
Host:Keith Menconi
After decades of shame and hurt, the head of a major South Bay homeless shelter group is now speaking up about her own experience with homelessness during her teenage years. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss what she wants more people to understand about what it means to be homeless. Then in the second half of the program, we hear from a leading advocate for homeless youth in California about how the past year of pandemic disruptions have made the lives of the young and unhoused even more precarious.
Guests: Andrea Urton, CEO, HomeFirst Services Jevon Wilkes, executive director, California Coalition for Youth
Host:Keith Menconi
The artificial intelligence revolution is now well underway, but where it's headed remains very uncertain: Will our jobs all get automated away? Will soulless algorithms end up running more and more of our lives? Or, will we find a way to make technology work for us?
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak with New York Times Tech Columnist Kevin Roose, who believes the future we do end up getting will depend to a great extent on what choices we humans make today. He lays out some advice for how to make those decisions better in his new book, “Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation.”
Host:Keith Menconi
A new chapter in California politics opened up this week with the news that the backers of a recall effort against Governor Gavin Newsom likely have the signatures they need to qualify for a recall election. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss the campaign to oust Newsom, and also take a look back at the last time a California governor faced recall.
Guests: Carla Marinucci, senior writer, Politico’s California Playbook Larry Gerston, political science professor emeritus, San Jose State | author, “Recall: California’s Political Earthquake”
Host:Keith Menconi
It’s been one year now since this pandemic was officially declared by the WHO, and in just a few days we’re going to hit another sobering milestone as well: One year since much of the Bay Area went on lockdown. On this edition of KCBS In Depth we take stock of how the pandemic fight has shaped up over these past twelve months and also consider where we might be headed next.
Guests: Dr. Paul Silka, director of emergency medicine, Regional Medical Center, San Jose Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and infectious disease expert, UCSF
Host:Keith Menconi
The debate over policing has become one of the most polarized topics in all of American politics: Do you back the blue, or do you want to see the police defunded?
Today we speak with someone who’s studied the challenges and shortcomings of police work from both sides of the thin blue line: That's Rosa Brooks, a well-known Georgetown law professor, who, in her 40's, made the unlikely decision to join the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department as a reserve officer. She wrote about that experience in her new book, "Tangled Up in Blue: Policing the American City."
Host:Keith Menconi
Since the pandemic began, state and local officials have been racing against time to get homeless Californians off the streets and into shelter, but after a year of effort, will the progress that's been made last?
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we discuss the hope that the momentum toward permanent housing built up over the past year could continue. We also consider why solutions to California's homelessness crisis have, so far, proven elusive.
Guests: Andrea Urton, chief executive officer, HomeFirst Services of Santa Clara County Margot Kushel, professor of medicine, UCSF | director, UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations
Host: Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we hear from Professor Avi Loeb of Harvard University about Oumuamua, a mysterious space object that flew through our solar system back in 2017, and why he believes it could actually be a piece of ancient alien technology. Really!
Guest:Avi Loeb, professor and former chair of Harvard’s astronomy department | author, "Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth"
Hosts:Keith Menconi, Jeff Bell
As families throughout the Bay Area celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday many within the Asian American community are also getting organized in response to a series of recent attacks. On this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak with a few of the leading advocates about what solutions they’re pushing towards.
Then later in the program we speak with a local healthcare leader in San Francisco's Chinatown about how the neighborhood managed to defy early expectations and keep infection rates among the lowest in the city.
Guest:
Russell Jeung, professor of Asian American Studies, San Francisco State University | co-founder, Stop AAPI Hate
Cynthia Choi, co-executive director, Chinese for Affirmative Action | co-founder, stop AAPI Hate
Dr. Jian Zhang, chief executive officer, Chinese Hospital in San Francisco
Host:Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we take a break from our regular Covid-19 programming to discuss another health crisis facing the American public: excessive salt consumption.
Guest:Dr. Michael Jacobson, scientist, longtime consumer advocate and the author of the new book, “Salt Wars: The Battle Over the Biggest Killer in the American Diet”
Host:Keith Menconi
2020 was bad enough, but with the economy still in shock, much of society still in lockdown and the virus still spreading, the year that seemed like it would never end has left behind a wicked hangover.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we consider the lingering challenges of 2020 and what could be done to meet them.
Guests: Alex Padilla, U.S. Senator representing California John Fensterwald, a writer for EdSource, an online education news outlet based in Oakland Vivian Ho, West Coast reporter for the Guardian US
Host:Keith Menconi
During the four years that President Trump was in office, California found itself at odds with the White House time and time again. So now that President Biden has moved into the oval office, how much is going to change?
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we take stock of the many ways that the Trump era has reshaped California and then consider how the new administration may shake things up once again.
Guest: Joe Garofoli, senior political writer, San Francisco Chronicle | host, It’s All Political podcast Bill Hing, professor of law and migration studies, University of San Francisco
Host:Keith Menconi
Chaos, frustration and a whole lot of unused doses: California’s vaccine rollout to date has been even more challenging than expected, so what’s it going to take to get the Golden State back on track as Covid-19 continues to spread? We look for answers on this edition of KCBS In Depth.
Guests: Victoria Colliver, California-based health reporter for Politico Dr. Robert Wachter, professor, chair of UC San Francisco’s Department of Medicine
Host:Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we consider what the Democrats’ new voting majority in the Senate will mean for the incoming Biden-Harris Administration.
For some local perspective on that question, we speak with two California political watchers, who do their political watching from different sides of the partisan divide.
Guests: Aimee Allison, founder of She the People Mike Madrid, Republican political consultant; partner, GrassrootsLab; co-founder, The Lincoln Project
Host:Keith Menconi
2020 was certainly a year for the history books, but now that it’s finally over and done with what will be its lasting legacy? On this edition of KCBS In Depth we reflect on a very challenging year for the Bay Area with some of the newsmakers and experts who understand those challenges best.
Guests: Dr. John Swartzberg, emeritus professor of Public Health at UC Berkeley’s Division of Infectious Disease Chris Dicus, professor of wildland fire and fuels management at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Cat Brooks, co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project in Oakland
Host:Keith Menconi
It’s a cruel paradox of the Covid-19 pandemic: Many of the communities that have been the most heavily impacted are also among the very hardest for health officials to reach.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we turn our focus to the health crisis facing the Bay Area’s Latino community and the local organizers who have stepped up to bridge the gap.
Guests: Jacqueline Franco, co-founder, META Saúl Ramos, deputy director, SOMOS Mayfair
Host:Keith Menconi
One of the key officials helping to shape San Francisco’s response to the pandemic just got bumped up to statewide office: That’s San Francisco Health Officer Dr. Tomas Aragon, who will soon be moving on to lead California’s Department of Public Health as both director and health officer.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we speak with Dr. Aragon about his leadership in San Francisco as well as the very important job he has waiting for him just ahead.
Host:Keith Menconi
Faced with a rapidly growing Covid-19 surge, six Bay Area counties over this past week called an early start to the governor’s stay at home order. On this edition of KCBS In Depth we’ll be hearing why one county decided to hold off.
Then in the second half of the program we discuss a continuing area of disagreement in the pandemic response: Which activities pose the greatest Covid danger.
Guests: Louise Rogers, chief of San Mateo County Health Apoorva Mandavilli, New York Times reporter focusing on science and global health
Host:Keith Menconi
The third wave of Covid-19 is gathering force in the Bay Area, so on this edition of KCBS In Depth we take a closer look at the effort to make sure the region is ready for what's coming.
First up, we'll discuss the latest health orders that have come down this past week and how effective they might be. Then in the second half we'll check in with a major hospital system to hear what they’re doing to prepare as the ICU beds fill up.
Guests: Dr. Art Reingold, a professor with UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health where he heads up the Division of Epidemiology Dr. Stephen Parodi, an infectious disease specialist and an associate executive director with Kaiser Permanente
Host:Keith Menconi
The days are growing colder, the nights are growing longer, but all the same challenges we’ve been facing in 2020 are still very much with us. Take it all together and many Bay Area nonprofits fear we could soon hit a breaking point.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we discuss the soaring needs facing low-income residents as we enter the holiday season, as well as what could be done to help.
Guests: Leslie Bacho, CEO, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley Bridget Balajadia, program manager of parish engagement, Catholic Charities Santa Clara County
Host:Keith Menconi
It’s now been almost three weeks since election day, but the political tumult isn’t letting up, and the shockwaves are being felt all across the nation including right here in the Bay Area.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we discuss how this time of political division is impacting the lives of average Bay Area residents and also consider what could be done to bridge the gap.
Guest: Eric Liu, co-founder and CEO, Citizen University
Host:Keith Menconi
Misleading stories, conspiracy theories, outright lies: This election cycle seems likely to have been targeted by disinformation on an even larger scale than we saw in 2016.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we'll hear about the efforts taking place on the airwaves and online to push back against the false claims and help the truth rise to the surface.
Guests: Alex Stamos, director, Stanford Internet Observatory; former chief security officer, Facebook Edward Wasserman, dean emeritus and professor of media ethics, Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley
Host:Keith Menconi
Among the biggest "surprises" that election night 2020 served up, President Trump’s significant gains among Latino voters in key regions throughout the country. On this edition of KCBS In Depth we discuss what's behind the shift and why many political analysts aren't terribly surprised at all. Then in the second half we consider the shape of politics to come here in California where Latinos make up the second largest ethnic voting bloc.
Guests: Mike Madrid, Republican political consultant; partner, GrassrootsLab; co-founder, The Lincoln Project Gary Segura, dean of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs; co-founder, Latino Decisions
Host:Keith Menconi
It’s among the most highly anticipated elections in modern US history, but what will election night 2020 look like from here in California?
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we break down the top state races, so you’ll be ready to follow all the returns when they start coming in.
Guests: Doug Sovern, KCBS Political Reporter David McCuan, professor of American politics at Sonoma State University
Host:Keith Menconi
After months and months on lockdown, Bay Area medical experts weigh in on possible paths forward.
Guests: Dr. Marm Kilpatrick, who studies infectious diseases at UC Santa Cruz’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease physician at UC San Francisco
Host:Keith Menconi
The Covid-19 lockdown is credited with saving countless people from infection and death, but it’s come at a great cost, and with the toll only mounting a group of public health experts recently took a very public stand to make the case that the lockdown should be ended.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak to one of the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, calling for a complete overhaul of our approach to this pandemic. Then we also hear from one the declaration's many critics, who warns the plan it proposes would lead to the very surge in Covid-19 deaths that we've been trying to avoid since the pandemic began.
Guests: Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, professor of medicine, Stanford University; one of three co-authors for the Great Barrington Declaration Dr. John Swartzberg, emeritus professor of public health at UC, Berkeley’s Division of Infectious Disease
Host:Keith Menconi
The last seven months of pandemic and lockdown have been anything but business as usual for the Bay Area's economy, but little by little the Covid restrictions are loosening and businesses are getting a chance to open back up.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we're going to take a closer look at what the lockdown has meant for the Bay Area’s business sector and how much of a difference these incremental reopenings could make.
Guests: Scott Knies, executive director, San Jose Downtown Association Sean Randolph, senior director, Bay Area Council Economic Institute
Host:Keith Menconi
With the cycle of fire disaster picking up once again in Napa and Sonoma counties, we take a closer look at how Wine Country became so combustible and, also, how the hard-hit wine industry is responding to the crisis.
Guests: Holly Quan, reporter, KCBS Radio Lenya Quinn-Davidson, fire adviser, UC Cooperative Extension Michael Haney, executive director, Sonoma County Vintners
Host:Keith Menconi
KCBS Radio is joining with the national I'm Listening campaign to promote awareness about suicide prevention and end the stigma around mental health. In this edition of KCBS In Depth, we highlight the work of Bay Area community groups that are stepping up their efforts to provide mental health support during this time of crisis and uncertainty.
Guests: Van Hedwall, director of programs, San Francisco Suicide Prevention, part of Felton Institute, a Bay Area mental health agency Meg Sierra, hotline manager, San Francisco Suicide Prevention The organizers behind SafeSpace, the Love Not Blood Campaign and the National First Responders Fund
Host:Keith Menconi and Patti Reising
The Bay Area and California seem to be making progress on the Covid-19 pandemic, but as summer becomes fall another public health risk is approaching: the annual flu season.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss why public health experts are worried the seasonal flu could make the pandemic even worse and also what they’re hoping residents will do to prepare.
Guests: Dr. George Han, deputy health officer for Santa Clara County’s Public Health Department Dr. Michael Matthay, a professor of medicine with UC San Francisco who specializes in severe lung disease
Host:Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, as wildfires throughout the state spread with unprecedented speed, we consider what it takes to keep those in the path of the flames safe.
Guests: Kipp Goding, chief warrant officer, California Army National Guard 40th Combat Aviation Brigade Chris Dicus, professor of wildland fire and fuels management at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
Hosts:Keith Menconi and Kathy Novak
Another start to fire season, another reminder that we are living in a new, far more destructive normal. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss why this new normal is the result of some pretty abnormal fire management in California, and what it might take to bring our wildlands back to a more natural, fire resilient state.
Guests: Bill Stewart, a forestry specialist with UC Berkeley and the co-director of Berkeley Forests Malcolm North, a forest ecologist with the US Forest Service and a professor at UC Davis
Host:Keith Menconi
After generations battling wildfires, California has among the most robust fire fighting systems in the world, but as the last two weeks have demonstrated even the golden state has its limits. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we take stock of California’s firefighting resources after weeks of major fire disasters that have stretched those resources to their breaking point.
Guest: Brice Bennett, deputy state fire marshal and spokesperson, Cal Fire
Host:Keith Menconi
As we mark the 100-year anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, KCBS In Depth takes a look back at the suffrage movement in California -- what it achieved and what was left unfinished -- and also consider how the legacy of activism that the suffrage movement helped create is still reshaping politics today.
Guests: Elaine Elinson, writer, co-author of “Wherever There's a Fight: How Runaway Slaves, Suffragists, Immigrants, Strikers and Poets Shaped Civil Liberties in California” Aimee Allison, founder of She the People
Hosts:Keith Menconi, Melissa Culross
It's now been 75 years since the nuclear attacks against Hiroshima and Nagasaki ushered in the beginning of the atomic age, but the threat of nuclear devastation is still very much with us. Our guests this week warn, though, that it’s not a sudden surprise attack that we should be most worried about, but instead, a sudden surprise mistake.
Former Secretary of Defense William Perry and the Ploughshares Fund's Tom Collina join us to lay out that that warning and discuss their new book, “The Button: The New Nuclear Arms Race and Presidential Power from Truman to Trump."
Guests: William Perry, a former secretary of defense and a professor of international relations at Stanford University Tom Collina, the policy director for the San Francisco-based Ploughshares Fund
Host:Keith Menconi
With no end in sight for the Covid-19 pandemic, the November elections are shaping up to be an unprecedented test of the nation’s voting system. So, on this edition of KCBS In Depth, as election officials surge vote by mail systems and harden polling places, we take a closer look at the effort to create a socially distanced election. Then in the second half we speak with a longtime election reform advocate about what voters need to know to make sure their votes do indeed get counted this fall.
Guests: Nate Persily, a Stanford law professor, who earlier this year helped launch the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project Kim Alexander, the president of the California Voter Foundation
Host:Keith Menconi
Face masks: they don’t just catch Covid, they also catch plenty of controversy. But what does the science have to tell us about them and how much protection they could bring to this pandemic? On this edition of KCBS In Depth we dig into the latest and greatest mask science with a local health expert to find some answers.
Guest:
Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, a Bay Area infectious disease physician and also a biosecurity fellow with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
Host:Keith Menconi
The global Covid-19 pandemic is testing the healthcare systems of countries all around world, and this test is revealing an awful lot about what is working and what isn't. But across all these many national attempts to get healthcare right, who is doing it best? Obviously that question is much bigger than even this crisis, but physician and bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel takes it on in his new book, "Which Country Has the World’s Best Healthcare?” He joins us to discuss the answers he's found (spoiler alert: yes, there's more than one) and how those answers could guide reform here in the US.
Guest:Ezekiel Emanuel, professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania where he co-directs the Healthcare Transformation Institute. He was also a top health policy adviser in the Obama administration.
Host:Keith Menconi
After a promising start to California’s fight against Covid-19, how do we find ourselves here all the way in mid July now sliding back? On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we trace the course of the state's pandemic response and discuss the role that politics has played along the way. Then -- since it it seems like we'll be here for a while -- in the second half we discuss how we can learn to keep living our lives even in the face of pandemic risk.
Guests: Jeremy White, who covers California politics for Politico and also co-writes the California Playbook Julia Marcus, a professor of population medicine at Harvard Medical School’s Department of Population Medicine
Host:Keith Menconi
As counties and school districts begin releasing their plans for the fall term, they’re facing push back from teachers concerned that the classroom just won’t be a safe place to learn in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we take a closer look at how this debate is shaping up in the Bay Area and also discuss why emerging science about the virus is offering some glimmers of hope.
Guests: John Fensterwald, a writer for EdSource, an online education news outlet based in Oakland Dr Yasuko Fukuda, the Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics in California and a primary care pediatrician practicing in San Francisco
Host:Keith Menconi
After more than two decades heading the Silicon Valley Leadership Group -- a tenure in which he helped oversee 15 ballot initiative campaigns, raising billions of dollars for housing, transportation, homeless services and more -- Carl Guardino is hanging up his spurs.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we invite Guardino on to discuss his storied time as president and CEO of this influential South Bay advocacy group as well as his perspective on what it’s going to take to get the region's economy back on track as the pandemic risks continue.
Host:Keith Menconi
The process of reopening has been moving forward slowly and steadily for more than a month now, but a recent surge in Covid-19 cases taking place across the country is forcing some counties to reassess their plans. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we take a closer look at the troubling rise in the Bay Area’s own Covid case numbers and consider what they could mean for reopening.
Guests: Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, professor of pediatrics and epidemiology, Stanford University School of Medicine Dr. Nicholas Moss, acting director for the Division of Communicable Disease Control & Prevention, Alameda County Public Health Department
Host:Keith Menconi
Weeks of demonstrations against police brutality have thrust police reform into the center of the national conversation, but just how deep will those reforms go? On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we consider the growing calls to defund police as well as the stiff push back against them.
Guests: Shamann Walton, San Francisco supervisor who has been among the city’s leading voices for police reform Tony Montoya, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, which recently joined with other big city police unions to release a full page newspaper ad outlining their own reform proposals
Host:Keith Menconi
It was nice while it lasted, but those empty Bay Area roads are filling up again pretty quickly as lockdown orders ease and residents begin heading back to work. An awful lot has changed though over the past few months: public transit agencies are now facing major budget challenges as they contend with low ridership, and, meantime, many commuters have gotten quite used to working from home and may just keep on doing so. So just what will the transit picture look like in a post-lockdown world? We discuss on this edition of KCBS In Depth.
Guest:Randy Rentschler, the director of legislation and public affairs for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Host:Keith Menconi
The killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police has ignited waves of heated demonstrations that have swept across the Bay Area and the country. Of course protests against police brutality and calls for reform are nothing new, but many believe this moment is different. So on this edition of KCBS In Depth we consider what could be done to meet the demands of those who have been taking to the streets, from reforming police departments, to pushing for broader social changes outside of police work.
Guests: Rev. Jethroe Moore II, president of the San Jose Silicon Valley NAACP Richard Corriea, director of the University of San Francisco International Institute of Criminal Justice Leadership
Host:Keith Menconi
As the weather warms the great outdoors is beginning to beckon, and California’s much-loved parks, campgrounds and beaches are starting to fill up. But with Covid-19 still circulating and lockdown orders still in place, are these outdoor excursions really safe?
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we get the view from both a virologist and an outdoors expert as to how all this fun in the sun can be enjoyed responsibly.
Guests: Tom Stienstra, KCBS and San Francisco Chronicle outdoors editor Paula Cannon, professor of microbiology and immunology with the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California
Host:Keith Menconi
It’s been a long slow journey, but it’s looking a lot like the Bay Area has indeed managed to bend the curve on this pandemic, but the question now is, what’s going to happen as we begin to reopen?
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we consider the work that's been done to step up preparedness since the lockdown began -- from boosting hospital capacity, to buying up protective gear, to expanding testing and tracing -- and then ask how far that effort has gone toward making us safer.
Guests:
- Dr. John Swartzberg, emeritus professor of public health at UC, Berkeley’s Division of Infectious Disease
- Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
Host: Keith Menconi
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we focus on just one corner of the Bay Area: San Francisco’s Bayview District, which has been among the city’s hardest hit by the virus, but with a strong network of community groups already present before the pandemic began, it’s also been the site of a whirlwind of organizing and outreach. We speak with the community leaders behind that work to find out what it's taken to meet the needs of their community during this trying time.
Guests:
- Shamann Walton, San Francisco Supervisor whose district includes the Bayview and Hunters Point neighborhoods
- Joi Jackson-Morgan, executive director, 3rd Street Youth Center and Clinic
- Kristin Houk, owner and operator of three restaurants in Bayview, All Good Pizza, Tato, and Cafe Alma
Hosts: Keith Menconi, Melissa Culross
For nearly two months now life here in the Bay Area has been kept to a near standstill, but this time is being used in important ways. Even as most residents shelter-in-place at home, armies of health workers and medical professionals are hard at work, helping to prepare the region for the day when the lockdown is lifted.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we discuss that work and why health officials say to reopen safely a lot more of it still needs to be done. Then in the second half of the program we take a deep dive into just one of the major efforts underway: contact tracing. We'll hear what it is and why state officials are racing to train thousands of workers to make it happen.
Guests:
- Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County health officer
- Dr. George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology at UC San Francisco
Host: Keith Menconi
We’ve had a few months now to get to know this new coronavirus and because it is so new there’s been a lot to learn - how it infects new people, how it changes over time, just how deadly it might be. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we check in with some of the Bay Area scientists who have been studying this pandemic to hear from them what they’ve managed to learn so far.
Guests:
Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, chief of infectious diseases at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and professor of epidemiology at Stanford's School of Medicine
Dr. Marm Kilpatrick, who studies infectious diseases at UC Santa Cruz’s Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Host:
Keith Menconi
Since the pandemic began, the Bay Area has been racing to protect one of its most vulnerable populations: the homeless. And a lot of work has already been done -- hotel rooms have been opened, tests have been administered, shelters have stepped up social distancing -- but in the face of historic risks, will these efforts be enough?
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we speak with one researcher who has applied some science to that question, and has some major concerns about the current pace of change. But speed isn't everything, and in the second half of the program, we also hear from an advocate warning of dire consequences for those placed in emergency shelters if authorities fail to also provide adequate services and support.
Guests:
Coco Auerswald, community health science professor at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health
Sam Cobbs, chief executive officer of Tipping Point Community
Host:
Keith Menconi
Even if there may be a glimmer of light at the end of this coronavirus tunnel, the lockdown is still causing massive disruptions, and for those just on the cusp of major life events the timing couldn’t have been worse.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak with a Bay Area wedding planner about how soon-to-be brides and grooms are dealing with these challenges, and also how the rest of us planning lesser events can cope as well. Then later in the program: Believe it or not, even with the lock down in place, dating sites are seeing a surge in popularity. We speak with a San Francisco matchmaker about the brave new world of socially-distanced dating as the lockdown forces date-night into the virtual world.
Guests:
Mary Hughes, KCBS Radio production assistant
Lally Clark, the owner of Lally Events, a Bay Area wedding and event planning company
Courtney Kay, San Francisco-based matchmaker and dating coach
Host:
Keith Menconi
With the coronavirus continuing to spread it seems every day there’s something new to worry about -- new outbreaks, new restrictions, new layoffs -- so for many of us meeting this moment also means learning to manage our own stress and anxiety.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we hear from a stress and anxiety expert about how we can all better cope in these trying times. Then later in the program, we discuss how Bay Area residents are confronting the other scourge of mental well being during this lockdown, isolation and loneliness.
Guests:
- Dr. Jonathan Horowitz, a clinical psychologist and the director of the San Francisco Stress and Anxiety Center
- Cathy Michalec, executive director of Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly, San Francisco
Host: Keith Menconi
There’s been a lot of new lessons to learn for Bay Area residents since we began life on coronavirus lockdown, but one lesson that could still use some more work it seems would be how to socially distance properly.
On this edition of KCBS In Depth we discuss why some of our social distancing hasn’t gone far enough and how we can do it better. Then in the second half of the program, since we are going to be spending so much more time in our homes, we hear from an infectious disease specialist to get expert cleaning advice on how to keep those homes safe and virus free.
Guests:
- Carolyn Cannuscio, a social epidemiologist and the director of research at the Center for Public Health Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania
- Annelys Roque Gardner, a clinical fellow of infectious diseases at UC San Francisco
Host: Keith Menconi