Kcbs In Depth

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. Le

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