Fifth & Mission

California voters approved a high-speed rail line in 2008, but years of political and fiscal barriers have delayed the project. Last week, rail authorities approved a bullet train link that would zoom passengers from the Central Valley into downtown San Francisco. State Capitol reporter Dustin Gardiner joins host Cecilia Lei to explain why the state's super fast mode of transit is having a moment. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Has Texas’ largest city found the key to ending chronic homelessness? Houston has drastically reduced the number of homeless people counted every other year, and its collaborative housing-first approach has garnered national attention. In this episode of The Chronicle's Fixing Our City podcast, two Houston homelessness leaders outline their strategy, and San Francisco’s top homelessness official responds with what could be learned and what’s already in progress. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Fixing Our City is part of The San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext Project Got a tip, question, comment? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Warming temperatures in the Bay Area have made for good small talk. The Chronicle's new weather team is here to level up those conversations. Weather science editor Hannah Hagemann and the newsroom's first meteorologist, Gerry Diaz, join host Cecilia Lei to talk about lightning, fog, climate change and the science of daily forecasts. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Summer's over for SFUSD students, who are returning to the classroom this week. After dealing with the pandemic and various school board controversies in recent years, what do students face? Education reporter Jill Tucker joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss the work that the district has cut out for it this year, and what it'll have to prove. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The San Francisco district attorney visited the Chronicle newsroom Monday to defend her six-figure consultancy work for a nonprofit linked to the Recall Chesa Boudin campaign. Co-host and Chronicle director of news Demian Bulwa and crime reporter Megan Cassidy join host Cecilia Lei to discuss Jenkins' defense and what to expect the in the months ahead as the DA's race heats up. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California is in its third year of a historic drought but climate change also brings the risk of more intense and severe storms that could cause catastrophic flooding. Climate scientist Daniel Swain joins host Cecilia Lei to share findings from a new research study he co-authored, which details how a worse case scenario flood event could devastate the California. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mayor Libby Schaaf's $50 million initiative will give secondary education scholarships to Oakland's low-income students and college savings accounts to every baby born to a low-income family. Mayor Schaaf joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about how the ambitious initiative will end generational poverty, and what it means for her legacy as mayor. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former longterm Republican strategist Tim Miller, a Never Trumper and author of the bestselling “Why We Did It: A Travelogue From the Republican Road to Hell," talks to Joe Garofoli about the state of the Republican Party, whether anyone can beat Trump, and his own journey out of the GOP. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most of the criticisms aimed at San Francisco's new district attorney have been about her policy positions — until now. A new report shows that she was paid more than $100,000 from a nonprofit tied to a wealthy backer of the Recall Chesa Boudin campaign. In this conversation recorded one day before the controversy broke, Jenkins shares with host Cecilia Lei her vision for public safety in San Francisco. But will she be able to fulfill it? | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A handful of chefs have been running small restaurants out of their homes for years. They're often low-income people of color operating underground, serving their specialties to neighbors and homesick immigrants. But pandemic lockdowns prompted a surge in interest — and a government move to inspect and license the businesses, with uneven results. Chronicle reporter Elgin Nelson and critic Cesar Hernandez join host Demian Bulwa to discuss who's opening home restaurants, who's showing up for the food, and why the business is much more complicated than it might appear. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The San Francisco school board formally admonished new board member Ann Hsu for her comments, which blamed Black and brown families for racial gaps in academic achievement. The debate over whether she should resign has been heated and emotional. Chronicle columnist Justin Phillips joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss what's missing from the scandal's fallout —and why blaming parents isn't a solution. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People's Park in Berkeley is a symbol of the city's long legacy of activism and protest but UC Berkeley is constructing new development on the site to address its student housing shortage. Protesters clashed with police as construction began on Wednesday. Chronicle reporter Michael Cabanatuan joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss what went down and why this battle is more about culture than housing. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brooke Jenkins was appointed by a mayor intent on busting up the city's open-air drug markets. So it was no surprise when Jenkins announced her plans to increase punishment for dealers, while calling her predecessor, Chesa Boudin, too lenient. Chronicle reporter Megan Cassidy joins host Demian Bulwa to outline those plans and explain why many progressives are outraged by what they call a return to failed policies. She also digs into the harsh rhetoric between the Boudin and Jenkins camps. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After years of mismanagement and scandal, federal regulators decertified San Francisco's huge nursing home. Now the hospital is dealing with botched patient transfers and the potential end of critical care to patients. Chronicle columnist Heather Knight calls the bureaucracy "draconian." She joins host Cecilia Lei to explain why and how patient families are suffering. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The onset of the pandemic offered a brief silver lining — lower rents. But it didn't last. The average price of a 2-bedroom apartment means you need to make $61 an hour to afford one. Reporter Lauren Hepler joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about what happened. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As monkeypox cases spread across California, the virus is inflicting an uneven toll on gay and bisexual men, according to new state data. But while San Francisco declared a state of emergency, members of the LGBTQ community are furious at limited vaccine access — and fearful of discrimination. Chronicle reporters Dustin Gardiner and Tony Bravo join host Demian Bulwa to discuss the latest on the disease and the faltering effort to fight it. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Residents of the Wood Street encampment in West Oakland are fighting a pending eviction after a two-alarm fire broke out on CalTrans property at the site in mid-July. About 300 people live in the encampment, which spans roughly 25 city blocks and which advocates say has been neglected for years. Now, city and state officials, who have struggled to deal with the encampment, want it shut down. They say that Wood Street poses safety hazards, which have become more urgent after the recent fire. Residents say this is their home. On today's episode of Fifth & Mission, producer and reporter Caron Creighton takes us to the Wood Street encampment. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco, which has seen a decades-long exodus of Black residents, now has a Black mayor, police chief, district attorney and president of the Board of Supervisors. Yet Chronicle columnist Justin Phillips says that the city's Black residents are not well represented in meaningful ways. He explains in a conversation with host Demian Bulwa that Black politicians must navigate a political structure that wasn’t created for them to succeed. And he argues that moves toward more moderate or conservative policies, such as arresting street drug users and replacing DA Chesa Boudin with Brooke Jenkins, stand to perpetuate long-standing inequities. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wine consultants have become essential to the production of Napa Valley's signature product: Cabernet Sauvignon. As more wineries rely on a handful of elite winemakers, the field has become more competitive. Senior wine critic Esther Mobley joins host Cecilia Lei, to explain how the economics of winemaking factor in and why some fear the wines could become homogeneous. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of an Ohio 10-year-old rape victim who traveled to Indiana for an abortion made headlines across the globe. It spotlighted the potential risks of mandated reporting for out-of-state abortion patients and their health providers. Chronicle reporter Sophia Bollag joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss the potential legal ramifications CA abortion providers as more out-of-state patients arrive in the state. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Oakland, a federal security guard was shot and killed. The murderer was later discovered to be Steven Carrillo, a member of the Boogaloo Bois, a far right, anti-government extremist group. Chronicle reporter Joshua Sharpe joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss how Carrillo was radicalized online, and why extremists like him are closely watching the prosecutions of the January 6 Capitol insurrection. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the three San Francisco school board members appointed after this year's recall is already facing calls to resign. The member, Ann Hsu, made a racist statement in a candidate questionnaire ahead of November's election, saying that one of the biggest challenges for marginalized students, “especially in the Black and brown community,” was their “unstable family environments” and lack of family support and parental encouragement. Hsu has apologized, but her future is uncertain. Chronicle reporter Jill Tucker tells host Demian Bulwa why the controversy has touched many nerves in the a school system struggling with wide racial disparities in achievement. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oakland’s Understory restaurant won a James Beard award. But can it change the industry? Members of the radical collective Jenabi Pareja and Diana Wu speak with host Cecilia Lei about why worker’s rights are foundational to their restaurant and why they have mixed feelings about the award. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yasmin Radjy, the new leader of Swing Left, explains how Democrats have a path forward to hold the House in November's midterm elections. Radjy speaks with host Joe Garofoli about her history in San Francisco, abortion rights, and flipping house seats. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Monday, advocates protested outside the U.S. Health and Human Services office in San Francisco to call out the slow federal response to the monkeypox outbreak and the low supply of monkeypox vaccines. Members of the LGBTQ community say the inattention is reminiscent of another public health crisis: the HIV/AIDs crisis of the 1980's. San Francisco AIDS Foundation CEO Dr. Tyler TerMeer joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss why, and Chronicle health reporter Erin Allday shares the current risk for wider community transmission of monkeypox. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As President Biden drops in the polls, some Democrats are shopping for a 2024 candidate. Newsom says he isn’t running, but the way he’s taking on high profile Republicans, including Florida governor Ron DeSantis, is making some wonder whether he’s defending Democratic ideals or prepping in case Biden fades. Chronicle reporter Sophia Bollag joins It's All Political on Fifth and Mission host Joe Garofoli to discuss Newsom's offensive strategy against conservatives. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Five months after city voters tossed out three school board members in a landslide recall, things have changed. The board, once lambasted for infighting and focusing on issues like renaming schools, is vowing to pivot back to a core issue — student performance. And the challenges are great, including disparities among racial groups and soaring absenteeism. Just 58% of students were deemed proficient in reading last year. Chronicle education reporter Jill Tucker tells host Demian Bulwa why members of the beleaguered board are also simply trying to learn how to do their jobs better. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Racial disparities in traffic and pedestrian stops by law enforcement have been a historical problem, but now California has the data to see how bad it actually is. Chronicle reporters Dustin Gardiner and Susie Neilson join host Cecilia Lei to discuss the most recent data and how racial profiling in the Bay Area compares to other major cities in the state, as well as the limits of data collection. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The latest Covid-19 pandemic twist is the new Omicron subvariant BA.5, which evades immunity from vaccinations, boosters and previous infections. Dr. Bob Wachter, UCSF's chair of medicine, joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about what makes this variant different, and offers guidance on future boosters and how to calculate risks. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An Alameda County grand jury report has found that the local mental health system is making the area's homeless crisis worse. Among the findings is a lack of basic consensus on solutions, which cause mentally ill residents to cycle in and out of ERs and jails. Chronicle reporter Lauren Hepler joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss the holes in the county's social services. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mayor London Breed appointed former Recall Chesa Boudin spokesperson Brooke Jenkins as San Francisco's new district attorney last week. The prosecutor has promised to bring accountability and balance to the office, but critics say the mayor’s pick is a return to tough-on-crime policies. Reporters Mallory Moench and Rachel Swan discuss with host Cecilia Lei the changes that Jenkins might bring to the city, and SFSU professor Jason McDaniel explains why Breed's pick is "risky". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of The Chronicle's Total SF podcast: Longtime Castro Theatre organ player David Hegarty got a scare earlier this year, when Another Planet Entertainment took over operations of the 100-year-old cinema and the future seemed unclear. But the music will go on — the Castro is continuing to employ Hegarty, has been screening movies and a new generation will get to hear "San Francisco" before every show. Hegarty talks about his start as an organ player (including a stint at Pizza & Pipes) and the new digital organ for the theater that is close to reality. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at sfchronicle.com/totalsf Fifth & Mission will return with new episodes on July 11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First published March 21: For months, a rooster living in a Tenderloin yard has been terrorizing the neighborhood with its all-day crowing. Longtime resident Adriel Lively wanted to do something about it, but she only found dead ends. Chronicle reporter Ryan Kost joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss Lively's ordeal and why a story about an annoying bird -- in a neighborhood riddled with serious problems -- still matters. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Fifth & Mission will return with new episodes on July 11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First published Feb. 3, 2022: San Francisco's death toll from fentanyl overdoses is nearly double the toll of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chronicle reporter Trisha Thadani takes us into the center of the city's fentanyl crisis and introduces us to people who are suffering from addiction firsthand — and she explores the limits of the city's strategy to curb the deadly opioid. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Fifth & Mission will return with new episodes on July 11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The debut episode of The Chronicle’s new podcast seeking solutions for San Francisco’s seemingly intractable problems: A 2015 apartment building fire at Mission and 22nd streets killed one person and displaced 50. Seven years later, there’s an empty lot, gathering trash and growing weeds. In the middle of a housing crisis. Why has nothing been built in the years since? The answers to that question are painfully emblematic of some of the biggest problems facing San Francisco.| Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Follow Fixing Our City on your favorite app: sfchronicle.com/fixing Got a tip, question, comment? Email Fixing Our City at [email protected] Fifth & Mission will return with new episodes on July 11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California drivers will pay about 3 cents more per gallon in gas taxes after state legislators rejected a push to suspend the increase amid soaring costs at the pump. The tax is built into the price of gas in California, which is about $6.30 per gallon — by far the highest in the nation. Chronicle reporter Dustin Gardiner speaks with host Dominic Fracassa about why this change went into effect. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Fifth & Mission will return with new episodes on Monday, July 11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As abortion clinics close around the country after the fall of Roe v. Wade, residents in states where abortion is now illegal will have to seek services elsewhere. Their digital footprints, including Google searches and text messages, leave them vulnerable to prosecution. Chronicle reporter Camryn Pak joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about the risks that face abortion seekers — and how they could protect themselves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The deciding factor on whether the Oakland A's will be able to move forward with their $12 billion development plan for a ballpark at Howard Terminal lies in the hands of one key state agency. Port workers are concerned, while others see it as a critical part of Oakland's future. Chronicle reporter Sarah Ravani joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss what's at stake in Thursday's vote. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will we ever be able to get ahead of this relentless virus? It's surpassed the expectations of health experts and scientists: With each mutation, it's been able to evade immunity and become more infectious. Pandemic fatigue nothwithstanding, the coronavirus will still play a major role in our lives. Chronicle health reporter Erin Allday explains the evolution of the virus to host Cecilia Lei. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis says the six justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade have discredited the court. Talking to It's All Political on Fifth & Mission host Joe Garofoli, she also says she’s also worried about whether a national abortion ban would supersede California’s laws protecting the right to choose. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, there are countless questions about what comes next. Will people who travel out of state for abortions face arrest? Will the doctors who counsel them be prosecuted? And will California be able to maintain its status as an abortion haven in a post-Roe world? Carole Joffe is a UCSF professor and an expert on the societal impacts of reproductive health care. She joins host Dominic Fracassa to talk about the consequences of ending Roe, and why she’s worried the anti-abortion movement isn’t done yet. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For months, Fifth & Mission has been talking to health care workers, advocates and people who have had personal experience with abortion care about what a post-Roe world would look like. Now that we're in that world, listen to some of what they've said. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California has long been a pioneering mecca for LGBTQ politicians. But John Bauters, one of just eight out mayors in the state, says it can also be exhausting and scary as leaders like him face attacks and threats. It's All Political on Fifth & Mission host Joe Garofoli sits down with Bauters to talk about those tensions and how he's trying to use his platform to help younger LGBTQ people. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why have some people managed to avoid catching the virus despite the latest variants being highly transmissible? And will they eventually become infected? Chronicle reporter Danielle Echeverria joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss what health experts have to say about dodging COVID and why that is still worth the effort. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Drag Queen Story Hour is a beloved community program where drag queens perform songs and tell stories to children in libraries. The program originated in San Francisco, and it's become fodder for right-wing media. A recent disruption by protesters at a San Lorenzo library has the LGBTQ community on edge. Chronicle reporter Ryan Kost joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss the anxiety among Bay Area drag queens, and Per Sia — one of the founding queens of Drag Queen Story Hour — shares her perspective. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the Supreme Court expected to overturn Roe v. Wade soon, California is preparing for an influx of out-state patients who will be seeking abortion care. Chronicle reporter Lauren Hepler joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss the myth that the state is a post-Roe "sanctuary" and how reproductive services have already been limited in the Central Valley. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new Chronicle podcast aims to find solutions to San Francisco's biggest challenges. As part of the SFNext initiative, Fixing Our City is tackling issues like housing and affordability by talking directly to community residents. The team behind the show, Laura Wenus and Cintia Lopez, joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about the premiere episode, which examines why a vacant lot in the Mission is emblematic of why the city's problems seem so intractable. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Unlike impeachment or the Mueller hearings, the committee is putting on a show, and the ratings have been good. San Jose Rep. Zoe Lofgren had a star turn. But who is the audience, and what outcomes might be possible? Washington correspondent Tal Kopan joins Joe Garofoli on It's All Political on Fifth & Mission to talk about how the explosive hearings have gone so far and ask why those close to Trump who told him his election fraud claims were nonsense didn't speak out then. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few issues have roiled San Francisco politics like the fight over admissions to prestigious Lowell High. And a school board with three new members — the result of a recall — must decide what to do going forward. The options: stick with a lottery-based admissions system designed to promote diversity, or revert to the competitive system that Lowell used for years. Chronicle reporter Jill Tucker tells host Demian Bulwa how she expects the vote to go, and how the debate will continue. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hot, dry weather in California means the state will face persistent problems this summer: increasing water restrictions, rolling blackouts, wildfires and smoke. Chronicle reporter Kurtis Alexander joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about what Bay Area residents should expect. Plus: State Capitol reporter Dustin Gardiner analyzes why Gov. Gavin Newsom has been hesitant to issue statewide water restrictions. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices