KCBS Radio In Depth

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 

Silicon Valley is known for producing companies that move fast and break things, but few have moved faster or broken more things than ride hailing service Uber, a company whose every success has also been accompanied by disruption, dislocation and controversy. 

In this edition of KCBS In Depth we discuss the man largely responsible for shaping Uber’s distinctive approach to business during its formative years: Uber’s founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick.

Along the way we try to answer the question: Can you create a great company without being a jerk? 

Guest: New York Times technology reporter Mike Isaac. His new book is “Super Pumped: the Battle for Uber." 

Host: KCBS reporter Keith Menconi 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Silicon Valley is known for producing companies that move fast and break things, but few have moved faster or broken more things than ride hailing service Uber, a company whose every success has also been accompanied by disruption, dislocation and controversy. 

In this edition of KCBS In Depth we discuss the man largely responsible for shaping Uber’s distinctive approach to business during its formative years: Uber’s founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick.

Along the way we try to answer the question: Can you create a great company without being a jerk? 

Guest: New York Times technology reporter Mike Isaac. His new book is “Super Pumped: the Battle for Uber." 

Host: KCBS reporter Keith Menconi 

During the 2018 midterms women ran in record numbers then won in record numbers, securing more than 100 seats in Congress and many hundreds more in state legislatures across the country. 

The gains led some to dub 2018 The Year of the Woman, but will the changes we saw really only be limited to that one year, or was 2018 just the beginning of a shift in American politics that will see more female candidates winning one year after another. 

On the edition of KCBS In Depth we try to get a better handle on the shifting politics of gender by taking a closer look at some of the winning female candidacies from 2018. 

Guest: Journalist and author Caitlin Moscatello. Her new book is “See Jane Win: The Inspiring Story of the Women Changing American Politics.”

Host: KCBS reporter Keith Menconi 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During the 2018 midterms women ran in record numbers then won in record numbers, securing more than 100 seats in Congress and many hundreds more in state legislatures across the country. 

The gains led some to dub 2018 The Year of the Woman, but will the changes we saw really only be limited to that one year, or was 2018 just the beginning of a shift in American politics that will see more female candidates winning one year after another. 

On the edition of KCBS In Depth we try to get a better handle on the shifting politics of gender by taking a closer look at some of the winning female candidacies from 2018. 

Guest: Journalist and author Caitlin Moscatello. Her new book is “See Jane Win: The Inspiring Story of the Women Changing American Politics.”

Host: KCBS reporter Keith Menconi 

It started with scattered reports of a mysterious lung illness and grew to become a national health scare. Now with the number of vaping-related deaths creeping up each week, California Governor Gavin Newsom is stepping in with an executive order to place stiffer restrictions on e-cigarette products. 

But even as Newsom and other government officials search for a way to respond, we’re still left with more questions than answers about the source of this disease, so at this point it’s still fair to ask: Do we even really understand the enemy we’re fighting yet? 

On this edition of KCBS In Depth we hear from a pair of Bay Area health experts to try to get a better handle on what threats vaping might pose and what could be done about it. 

Guests: 

Dr. Sara Cody, the director of Santa Clara County’s Public Health Department and a county health officer

Dr. Stanton Glantz, a professor of medicine and the Truth Initiative Distinguished Professor of Tobacco Control at University of California, San Francisco

Host: KCBS reporter Keith Menconi 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It started with scattered reports of a mysterious lung illness and grew to become a national health scare. Now with the number of vaping-related deaths creeping up each week, California Governor Gavin Newsom is stepping in with an executive order to place stiffer restrictions on e-cigarette products. 

But even as Newsom and other government officials search for a way to respond, we’re still left with more questions than answers about the source of this disease, so at this point it’s still fair to ask: Do we even really understand the enemy we’re fighting yet? 

On this edition of KCBS In Depth we hear from a pair of Bay Area health experts to try to get a better handle on what threats vaping might pose and what could be done about it. 

Guests: 

• Dr. Sara Cody, the director of Santa Clara County’s Public Health Department and a county health officer
• Dr. Stanton Glantz, a professor of medicine and the Truth Initiative Distinguished Professor of Tobacco Control at University of California, San Francisco

Host: KCBS reporter Keith Menconi 

Conflict, clashes, political strife, social discord: It’s the sort of stuff we report on every day on KCBS Radio, and in recent years it seems like all this tension just keeps ratcheting up and up. But what if the reason the world is becoming a meaner place is actually because we’re becoming meaner people?

On this edition of KCBS In Depth, our guest argues that over the last forty years our world has experienced an erosion of empathy -- that is an erosion in our very ability to understand one another -- and that as the daily news suggests we are living the consequences of that loss every day. We discuss what's behind this loss and how we might turn it around. 

Guest:Jamil Zaki, a professor of psychology at Stanford University and the author of "The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World"

Host: KCBS Radio reporter Keith Menconi 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Conflict, clashes, political strife, social discord: It’s the sort of stuff we report on every day on KCBS Radio, and in recent years it seems like all this tension just keeps ratcheting up and up. But what if the reason the world is becoming a meaner place is actually because we’re becoming meaner people?

On this edition of KCBS In Depth, our guest argues that over the last forty years our world has experienced an erosion of empathy -- that is an erosion in our very ability to understand one another -- and that as the daily news suggests we are living the consequences of that loss every day. We discuss what's behind this loss and how we might turn it around. 

Guest: Jamil Zaki, a professor of psychology at Stanford University and the author of "The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World"

Host: KCBS Radio reporter Keith Menconi 

Just ahead of National Suicide Prevention Week, KCBS Radio is joining a national campaign to raise awareness around mental health.

For this edition of KCBS In Depth we bring you stories from right here in the Bay Area of neighbors helping neighbors to overcome mental health challenges and thrive.

We hear from the Peninsula teenagers taking on tragedy in their own communities; the enterprising therapists bringing mental health care to the homeless; and the beauty queen who won her crown on a platform of mental health awareness. Along the way, we also get practical advice for how to start difficult conversations around mental illness and how to navigate the Bay Area's often fragmented mental health care system.

This program is part of the national "I'm Listening" campaign.

Guest:

Eli Merritt, San Francisco-based Psychiatrist, founder of Merritt Mental Health and author of "Suicide Risk in the Bay Area: A Guide for Families, Physicians, Therapists & Other Professionals"

Host:

Keith Menconi

Reporters:

Holly Quan, Margie Shafer, Jim Taylor, Rebecca Corral and Doug Sovern

Special thanks to:

- CMAP TV, a Gilroy-based community media organization

- Parents Helping Parents, San Jose-based nonprofit providing support to parents of children with special needs

- The Steinberg Institute, advocacy group lobbying for stronger mental health support in California

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.