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....

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 r...

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 abo...

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 m...

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 Chronic...

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: sfch...

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...

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/adchoic...

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 Fran...

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 He...

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....

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. |...

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...

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:...

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 di...

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...

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 struct...

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...

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...

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 p...

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 famil...

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/adchoi...

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...