KCBS Radio In Depth

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.