KCBS Radio In Depth

Two years ago the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus journeyed outside of San Francisco to tour the nation's southern states. Setting out in the wake of the divisive 2016 election, the group made a point of visiting states that had passed laws restricting the rights of LGBTQ people with the aim of confronting religious and political divides and building bridges through music.

That journey was chronicled in “Gay Chorus Deep South," a documentary film premiering in San Francisco this coming weekend. In this edition of KCBS In Depth we discuss the film and what it took to build those bridges. 

Guests: 

• Tim Seelig, the artistic director and conductor of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus
• David Charles Rodrigues, the film's director 

Hosts: KCBS Radio reporter Keith Menconi and KCBS Radio entertainment reporter Jan Wahl 

Film showings: 

The film opens in San Francisco Friday November 22nd at the Roxie Theater where it will have a limited run. It’s also going to broadcast on MTV next year.

As the number of high school students playing football in California declines, coaches, trainers and state officials are working to retool the game to make it safer to play. In this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak with some of those carrying out this work to learn what emerging medical science has to teach us about the risks posed to young players' developing brains and how the sport is adapting in the face of those risks.  

Guests: 

Ron Nocetti, the executive director of the California Interscholastic Federation

Geoffrey Manley, a professor of neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco, and a co-director of the university's Brain and Spinal Injury Center

Steve Henderson, a football coach at Aragon High School in San Mateo and a senior trainer with The Positive Coaching Alliance

Host: KCBS reporter Keith Menconi 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the number of high school students playing football in California declines, coaches, trainers and state officials are working to retool the game to make it safer to play. In this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak with some of those carrying out this work to learn what emerging medical science has to teach us about the risks posed to young players' developing brains and how the sport is adapting in the face of those risks.  

Guests: 

• Ron Nocetti, the executive director of the California Interscholastic Federation
• Geoffrey Manley, a professor of neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco, and a co-director of the university's Brain and Spinal Injury Center
• Steve Henderson, a football coach at Aragon High School in San Mateo and a senior trainer with The Positive Coaching Alliance

Host: KCBS reporter Keith Menconi 

It’s been quite a week and a half for the Bay Area: It began with strong, dangerous winds storms; those led to massive power shut offs and also whipped up damaging fires; those fires led to mass evacuations, including record-setting evacuations in Sonoma County. 

On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss what this unprecedented series of events has meant for Bay Area residents. Then in the second half we consider how changes to California's power grid might one day decrease the state's fire risk along with the need for safety shutoffs. 

Guests: 

KCBS Reporter Jeffrey Schaub 

Severin Borenstein, the faculty director at the Energy Institute at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and a member of the California Independent System Operator Board of Governors

Michael Wara, senior research scholar at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University

Daniel Kammen, professor of energy at UC Berkeley and former science envoy for the US State Department

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s been quite a week and a half for the Bay Area: It began with strong, dangerous winds storms; those led to massive power shut offs and also whipped up damaging fires; those fires led to mass evacuations, including record-setting evacuations in Sonoma County. 

On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss what this unprecedented series of events has meant for Bay Area residents. Then in the second half we consider how changes to California's power grid might one day decrease the state's fire risk along with the need for safety shutoffs. 

Guests: 

• KCBS Reporter Jeffrey Schaub 
• Severin Borenstein, the faculty director at the Energy Institute at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and a member of the California Independent System Operator Board of Governors
• Michael Wara, senior research scholar at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University
• Daniel Kammen, professor of energy at UC Berkeley and former science envoy for the US State Department

That acceptance letter into college, it's supposed to be a passport to the American dream, but for too many students it’s actually leading nowhere at all. That’s the unfortunate outcome for the four out of ten students who make it into college but never manage to graduate, and UC Berkeley professor of public policy David Kirp says that we should see that number as a scandalous waste of potential. In this week's show we discuss some of the solutions detailed in his new book, "The College Dropout Scandal." 

Host: KCBS Radio reporter Keith Menconi

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

That acceptance letter into college, it's supposed to be a passport to the American dream, but for too many students it’s actually leading nowhere at all. That’s the unfortunate outcome for the four out of ten students who make it into college but never manage to graduate, and UC Berkeley professor of public policy David Kirp says that we should see that number as a scandalous waste of potential. In this week's show we discuss some of the solutions detailed in his new book, "The College Dropout Scandal." 

Host: KCBS Radio reporter Keith Menconi

To mark the 30-year anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake KCBS Radio hosted an hour-long broadcast of retrospective coverage. It began at 5:04 p.m on Thursday October 17th, making its start time 30 years to the minute after the disaster struck in 1989. 

In this  special edition of KCBS In Depth we play portions of that hour as we reflect upon how far we've come since the disaster, and try to find out, are we ready for the next big one?

Programming note: 

This is an abridged version of the program. Click here to find the complete hour-long broadcast. 

Guests: 

Capt. Erica Arteseros, the program coordinator for the San Francisco Fire Department's Neighborhood Emergency Response Team

Richard Allen, the director of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory

Mark Schwettmann, a design director in the San Francisco office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Thomas Hall, spokesperson for the Water Emergency Transportation Authority 

Phil Matier, San Francisco Chronicle Columnist 

Host: KCBS Radio anchor Stan Bunger 

KCBS Radio Contributing Reporters:Mike Colgan, Keith Menconi, Jeffrey Schaub, John Atkinson, Megan Goldsby, Jim Taylor

This edition of In Depth was produced by Nic Palmer, Eric Brooks and Don Bastida 

Special thanks to Jeff Levine 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To mark the 30-year anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake KCBS Radio hosted an hour-long broadcast of retrospective coverage. It began at 5:04 p.m on Thursday October 17th, making its start time 30 years to the minute after the disaster struck in 1989. 

In this  special edition of KCBS In Depth we play portions of that hour as we reflect upon how far we've come since the disaster, and try to find out, are we ready for the next big one?

Programming note: 

This is an abridged version of the program. Click here to find the complete hour-long broadcast. 

Guests: 

• Capt. Erica Arteseros, the program coordinator for the San Francisco Fire Department's Neighborhood Emergency Response Team
• Richard Allen, the director of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory
• Mark Schwettmann, a design director in the San Francisco office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
• Thomas Hall, spokesperson for the Water Emergency Transportation Authority 
• Phil Matier, San Francisco Chronicle Columnist 

Host: KCBS Radio anchor Stan Bunger 

KCBS Radio Contributing Reporters: Mike Colgan, Keith Menconi, Jeffrey Schaub, John Atkinson, Megan Goldsby, Jim Taylor

This edition of In Depth was produced by Nic Palmer, Eric Brooks and Don Bastida 

Special thanks to Jeff Levine 

There’s more than just water and fish out there in the San Francisco Bay, and a new study shows it’s not all pretty. A three-year review of the Bay Area's waterways has found that an estimated 7 trillion tiny pieces of plastic -- from plastic packaging, utensils, tire tread and even synthetic fabrics -- are washed away by rainwater into the Bay each and every year. It's an astronomical number that suggests that if we haven't already reached an ecological tipping point yet, we are on track to get there eventually. 

On this edition of KCBS In Depth we speak with some of the researchers behind the study to learn more about what all this plastic could be doing to the Bay's delicate ecosystem, and what could be changed to stem the flow of plastic particles. 

Guests:

Rebecca Sutton, a senior scientist with the San Francisco Estuary Institute

Carolynn Box, who works as the science programs director at 5 Gyres, a nonprofit research group searching for ways to reduce plastic pollution

Host: KCBS Radio reporter Keith Menconi 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.