Kcbs In Depth

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