KCBS Radio In Depth

It was a big week for one of San Francisco’s busiest streets: On Wednesday much of Market Street -- a thoroughfare cutting right through the heart of the city’s downtown -- made the switch from car friendly to car free with with new rules banning all private traffic.

On this edition of KCBS In Depth we take a look at how the first day of this car free conversion went and then examine where the broader movement for pedestrian-friendly cities might be headed next. 

Guests: 

• Stan Bunger, anchor for KCBS Radio
• Holly Quan, reporter for KCBS Radio
• Karen Philbrick, executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University
• Marta Lindsey, communications director for Walk San Francisco

Host: KCBS Radio reporter Keith Menconi 

We were promised a future of jet packs and trips to the moon, but here we are at the start of a new decade in the 21st Century, and it’s fair to say it hasn’t quite turned out that way. However, there is one sci-fi dream that looks like it might soon become reality: flying cars, or at least things that work an awful lot like flying cars.

On this edition of KCBS In Depth we talk about the emerging industry of short-distance personal flying transport.

We'll start with the very new -- but very real -- flying shuttle services that are available right now at a helipad near you. Then we discuss the emerging technologies that are driving down the cost of flight and bringing every day commuter air travel out of the realm of science fiction and into the realm of science … hey, it could happen!

Guests: 

• Jim Taylor, KCBS Radio reporter 
• Dr. Brien Seeley, president of the Sustainable Aviation Foundation
• Karen Tung Cate, the Advanced Air Mobility deputy project manager at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View

Host: KCBS Radio reporter Keith Menconi 

We were promised a future of jet packs and trips to the moon, but here we are at the start of a new decade in the 21st Century, and it’s fair to say it hasn’t quite turned out that way. However, there is one sci-fi dream that looks like it might soon become reality: flying cars, or at least things that work an awful lot like flying cars.

On this edition of KCBS In Depth we talk about the emerging industry of short-distance personal flying transport.

We'll start with the very new -- but very real -- flying shuttle services that are available right now at a helipad near you. Then we discuss the emerging technologies that are driving down the cost of flight and bringing every day commuter air travel out of the realm of science fiction and into the realm of science … hey, it could happen!

Guests: 

Jim Taylor, KCBS Radio reporter 

Dr. Brien Seeley, president of the Sustainable Aviation Foundation

Karen Tung Cate, the Advanced Air Mobility deputy project manager at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View

Host: KCBS Radio reporter Keith Menconi

For many in California, the unfolding wild land fire disaster in Australia is all too familiar: Just as we saw during California’s own fires in recent years, in Australia, dry, hot conditions and strong winds are producing fast moving fires and devastation on a scale few were prepared for. 

With so much in common, on this edition of KCBS In Depth, we’re going to ask the question, what lessons might Australia’s unfolding tragedy have for California?

In the first half we’ll be hearing how firefighters on both sides of the Pacific are working together to fight these blazes and what they’re learning in the process. Then in the second half fire scientists weigh in on what role climate change is playing in creating the conditions for fire in Australia and around the globe.  

Guests: 

Kim Zagaris, wildfire policy and technology adviser for the Western Fire Chiefs Association

Crystal Kolden, professor with the University of Idaho’s Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences department

Scott Stephens, professor of fire science and the chair of the Division of Ecosystem Science at UC Berkeley 

Host: KCBS reporter Keith Menconi

For many in California, the unfolding wild land fire disaster in Australia is all too familiar: Just as we saw during California’s own fires in recent years, in Australia, dry, hot conditions and strong winds are producing fast moving fires and devastation on a scale few were prepared for. 

With so much in common, on this edition of KCBS In Depth, we’re going to ask the question, what lessons might Australia’s unfolding tragedy have for California?

In the first half we’ll be hearing how firefighters on both sides of the Pacific are working together to fight these blazes and what they’re learning in the process. Then in the second half fire scientists weigh in on what role climate change is playing in creating the conditions for fire in Australia and around the globe.  

Guests: 

• Kim Zagaris, wildfire policy and technology adviser for the Western Fire Chiefs Association
• Crystal Kolden, professor with the University of Idaho’s Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences department
• Scott Stephens, professor of fire science and the chair of the Division of Ecosystem Science at UC Berkeley 

Host: KCBS reporter Keith Menconi 

It’s been a tense few weeks in US-Iran relations with hostilities for a time seeming to spiral beyond control following the US strike against Iranian general Qassim Suleimani.

So, many heaved a sigh of relief when Iran’s retaliation, which came in the form of a missile strike on two military bases in Iraq, resulted in no casualties. They then heaved a second sigh following the strike as leaders in both the US and Iran seemed to signal a desire to deescalate the crisis. But after all that, is this really where the story ends?

In this edition of KCBS In Depth, after this series of attacks and counter attacks, we check in with two Iran watchers to find out what happens next in this simmering feud between the US and Iran.

Then, so long as we have our attention on international affairs, we check in with KCBS Radio's resident crisis watcher, Jason Brooks, to hear from him what other global hot spots may boil over in the year ahead.

Guests: 

Abbas Milani, the director of Iranian studies at Stanford University and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution

Dalia Dassa Kaye, the director of the Center for Middle East Public Policy at the RAND Corporation

Jason Brooks, KCBS Radio business reporter and the host of The Crisis Next Door podcast

Host: KCBS Radio reporter Keith Menconi 

 

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It’s been a tense few weeks in US-Iran relations with hostilities for a time seeming to spiral beyond control following the US strike against Iranian general Qassim Suleimani.

So, many heaved a sigh of relief when Iran’s retaliation, which came in the form of a missile strike on two military bases in Iraq, resulted in no casualties. They then heaved a second sigh following the strike as leaders in both the US and Iran seemed to signal a desire to deescalate the crisis. But after all that, is this really where the story ends?

In this edition of KCBS In Depth, after this series of attacks and counter attacks, we check in with two Iran watchers to find out what happens next in this simmering feud between the US and Iran.

Then, so long as we have our attention on international affairs, we check in with KCBS Radio's resident crisis watcher, Jason Brooks, to hear from him what other global hot spots may boil over in the year ahead.

Guests: 

• Abbas Milani, the director of Iranian studies at Stanford University and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution
• Dalia Dassa Kaye, the director of the Center for Middle East Public Policy at the RAND Corporation
• Jason Brooks, KCBS Radio business reporter and the host of The Crisis Next Door podcast

Host: KCBS Radio reporter Keith Menconi 

 

In just a few short days we’re going to reach the close of another decade, and here in the Bay Area an awful lot has happened over the course of that decade -- from athletic triumphs, to the tech boom and backlash, to a series of punishing wildfire disasters -- so after a whole decade of nonstop Bay Area news, the question is what’s still worth remembering? 

On this edition of KCBS In Depth we look back at some of the biggest Bay Area news stories from the past ten years to find out what they might have to teach us about the next ten. 

Guests: 

Roger Noll, a Stanford emeritus professor of economics who specializes in the business of sports

Richard Walker, an emeritus professor of economic geography at UC Berkeley and the author of "Pictures of a Gone City: Tech and the Dark Side of Prosperity in the San Francisco Bay Area" 

Dr. Scott Stephens, a professor of fire science and the chair of the Division of Ecosystem Science at UC Berkeley specializing in wildfire science, fire ecology and forest policy management

Hosts: KCBS Radio reporters Keith Menconi, Doug Sovern, Matt Bigler, Margie Shafer and KCBS Sports Anchor Kevin Radich 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In just a few short days we’re going to reach the close of another decade, and here in the Bay Area an awful lot has happened over the course of that decade -- from athletic triumphs, to the tech boom and backlash, to a series of punishing wildfire disasters -- so after a whole decade of nonstop Bay Area news, the question is what’s still worth remembering? 

On this edition of KCBS In Depth we look back at some of the biggest Bay Area news stories from the past ten years to find out what they might have to teach us about the next ten. 

Guests: 

• Roger Noll, a Stanford emeritus professor of economics who specializes in the business of sports
• Richard Walker, an emeritus professor of economic geography at UC Berkeley and the author of "Pictures of a Gone City: Tech and the Dark Side of Prosperity in the San Francisco Bay Area" 
• Dr. Scott Stephens, a professor of fire science and the chair of the Division of Ecosystem Science at UC Berkeley specializing in wildfire science, fire ecology and forest policy management

Hosts: KCBS Radio reporters Keith Menconi, Doug Sovern, Matt Bigler, Margie Shafer and KCBS Sports Anchor Kevin Radich 

Here in the Bay Area it’s boom times for the tech sector. In fact, much of the region has added tens of thousands of tech jobs just over the past decade or so. And for the most part all these new jobs have been celebrated, but there’s growing concern that this supercharged tech economy has come along with some serious costs -- from traffic gridlock to spiraling housing prices -- and now, some are raising the question, would the Bay Area be better off if some of those tech jobs went somewhere else? 

On this edition of KCBS In Depth we take on a new report out from the Brookings Institution that suggests that the high concentration of tech work here isn’t just causing problems for the Bay Area, it’s also stunting growth in cities throughout the country.

Guests: 

Mark Muro, a co-author for the report as well as a senior fellow and the policy director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program.

Jim Wunderman, the president and CEO of the Bay Area Council, a San Francisco-based business association and advocacy group. 

Host: KCBS Radio reporter Keith Menconi 

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