Kcbs In Depth

"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

SAG-AFTRA members picket outside of Netflix headquarters in Los Gatos. The Screen Actors Guild joined the Writers Guild of America, who have been engaged on the frontlines of this dispute with studios since May 2nd, 2023. Its also the first time the two unions have been on a simultaneous strike since 1960.  At the heart of the strikes is something that is familiar to many of us: Financial stability. But there's something new in there that we're having to grapple with these days: Artificial intelligence, and the role it will play in our lives.  With negotiations between the unions and the studios currently at a standstill what does this mean for Hollywood going forwards. when all is said and done will there still be a space for those who dream of making it big on the silver, and even the smaller screen.  To make sense of all of this KCBS Radio's Mary Huges turns to Kate Fortmueller, Associate Professor of Film and Media History at Georgia State University.

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 S

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