KCBS Radio In Depth

Just how did the Covid-19 pandemic spread to humans? It’s a question that for many already seemed to have an answer, but in recent weeks a growing number of scientists -- and now even the president -- are calling for a second look.

On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we reexamine the competing theories about the origin of the virus that causes Covid-19.

Guests: 

• Dr. David Relman, professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology, Stanford University
• Josh Rogin, foreign policy columnist, Washington Post | author, “Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi and the Battle for the 21st Century” 

Host: Keith Menconi 

On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we reflect on the tragic toll of this week's mass shooting in San Jose and also consider what reforms might follow. 

Guests: 

• Raul Peralez, city councilmember, San Jose 
• Adam Winkler, constitutional law professor, UCLA School of Law | author, "Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America" 
• Dr. Garen Wintemute, director, Violence Prevention Research Program at UC Davis

Host: Keith Menconi 

All this past week KCBS Radio reporters have been presenting a special series examining California's growing water crisis from a number of different angles. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we put all the pieces together and consider what’s in store next for our increasingly dry state. 

Guests: 

• Kathy Novak, reporter, KCBS Radio
• Peter Gleick, climate scientist | co-founder, the Pacific Institute
• Felicia Marcus, visiting fellow, Stanford University’s Water in the West program | former chair, California State Water Resources Control Board
• Megan Goldsby, reporter, KCBS Radio

Host: Keith Menconi 

Earlier this week the CDC changed its mask guidance, advising that those who are fully vaccinated can go mask free in most circumstances. It's a major milestone in the pandemic fight, but after a year when we’ve faced one deadly surge after another, what makes federal health authorities so sure loosening the rules will be safe? On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we consider the positive vaccine data that's reassuring medical experts. 

Guests: 

• Dr. Monica Gandhi, infectious disease physician and professor of medicine, UC San Francisco 
• Dr. Michele Barry, professor, Stanford University’s School of Medicine | director, Center for Innovation in Global Health

Host: Keith Menconi 

On this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak with USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page who has written a new biography of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi entitled, "Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power." Drawing on 10 sit-down interviews with the San Francisco lawmaker, the book offers a comprehensive look at Pelosi's rise in politics as well as the pivotal moments in American history that she helped shape. 

Host: Keith Menconi 

Over the past year Americans have come to rely more and more on Amazon and the convenience of the retail giant's at-home delivery service. It certainly has been a handy tool during a time when any trip out the door came fraught with pandemic risks, but what if this one-click lifestyle comes with hidden costs?

On this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak with Alec MacGillis, a veteran journalist who set out to understand the massive changes that have swept American life in recent decades: What he found when he went looking--again and again--were stories that ran directly through an Amazon warehouse. He tells those stories in his new book, "Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America." 

Host: Keith Menconi 

The news this past Tuesday of former police officer Derek Chauvin’s conviction in the murder trial for George Floyd was met by advocates for police reform with celebration, including here in the Bay Area. But after a year of activism and organizing for criminal justice reform what’s really changed, and where is the reform movement headed next? 

Guests: 

• Rev. Jethroe Moore, president, San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP
• Clayborne Carson, professor emeritus of history, Stanford University | founder, Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute

Host: Keith Menconi 

As California hurtles toward the planned June 15th reopening, the end of the state’s protracted lockdown could very well be less than two months away, but as we’ve learned over the past year, during a pandemic, two months can be a long time. On this edition of KCBS In Depth we think through the possible bumps in the road that may still lie ahead.

Guests: 

• Dr. George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology, University of California, San Francisco
• Kiran Savage-Sangwan, executive director, the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network

Host: Keith Menconi 

The president’s new infrastructure plan aims to do more than just shore up the nation’s roads and bridges: it’s also an effort to tackle climate change. So on this edition of KCBS In Depth, we’re going to get some local perspective on what building a green economy might look like here in the Bay Area, and also hear why it’s fair to say that in many communities the work of getting there is already well underway. 

Guest: Andreas Karelas, founder and executive director, RE-volv | author, "Climate Courage: How Tackling Climate Change Can Build Community, Transform the Economy, and Bridge the Political Divide in America"

Host: Keith Menconi

After decades of shame and hurt, the head of a major South Bay homeless shelter group is now speaking up about her own experience with homelessness during her teenage years. On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss what she wants more people to understand about what it means to be homeless. Then in the second half of the program, we hear from a leading advocate for homeless youth in California about how the past year of pandemic disruptions have made the lives of the young and unhoused even more precarious. 

Guests: 

• Andrea Urton, CEO, HomeFirst Services
• Jevon Wilkes, executive director, California Coalition for Youth

Host: Keith Menconi