KCBS Radio In Depth

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