Fifth & Mission

Maksym Zubkov was working on his PhD at UC Berkeley when Russia invaded his native Ukraine. He talks to host Cecilia Lei about what it's like to watch the war from the Bay Area. Plus: Four Ukrainians share what they're witnessing in their homeland. For information on how you can help people in Ukraine, visit Maksym Zubkov's website: maksymzubkov.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...

Chronicle health reporter Erin Allday breaks down a wave of changes coming to the Bay Area due to the retreat of the omicron variant. The federal government is shifting its guidance, and California is poised to drop its school mask mandate. Also, reporter Chase DiFeliciantonio tells host Demian Bulwa about San Francisco's new push to get office workers off Zoom and back downtown to spend money. Ha...

The violence on the other side of the planet doesn’t seem far away to those with Ukrainian or Russian heritage, or their allies. UC Berkeley political science professor M. Steven Fish joins host Cecilia Lei to explain why there are larger consequences for all Americans, what Putin’s motives are and how he might be stopped. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad...

The fight is heating up as parents, teachers unions, district officials and public health experts all have different ideas about the best way forward. Education reporter Jill Tucker joins host Demian Bulwa to talk about the different views between and within districts. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nearby city residents have leveraged an environmental law to try to cap the university's enrollment numbers and stop campus expansion projects. Now, the California Supreme Court will decide whether the school will have to slash undergraduate admissions by more than 3,000 slots. But state Sen. Scott Wiener has introduced a bill that might let the state's colleges skip the lengthy environmental revi...

Nearby city residents have leveraged an environmental law to try to cap the university's enrollment numbers and stop campus expansion projects. Now, the California Supreme Court will decide whether the school will have to slash undergraduate admissions by more than 3,000 slots. But state Sen. Scott Wiener has introduced a bill that might let the state's colleges skip the lengthy environmental revi...

The school board recall spotlighted how Asian Americans are flexing their political muscle, especially Chinese voters. Chronicle reporter Roland Li joins host Cecilia Lei to explain why. Later, activist Gaynorann Siataga shares how Pacific Islanders are often rendered invisible in discussions about the AAPI vote. She talks about the impact of the recall of Faauuga Moliga, the first Pacific Islande...

As Season 3 of the Chronicle's food podcast approaches, we want to share one of our favorite episodes. Writer Liana Aghajanian talks about the role places like Chuck E. Cheese, Sizzler and IKEA play in the immigrant experience. Join host Soleil Ho for Season 3 of Extra Spicy by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. Extra Spicy will stimulate your mind and your appetite. Learn more about your...

President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on Feb. 19, 1942, forcing the relocation of nearly 8,000 Japanese Bay Area residents into internment camps. Chronicle columnist and Total SF podcast co-host Peter Hartlaub joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about how the discovery of one archive photo led him to tracing the family history of Paul Miyamoto, San Francisco's sheriff. | Unlimited Ch...

The City Council votes Thursday on whether to certify the environmental review of the A’s $12 billion waterfront ballpark project near Jack London Square. The development has raised community concerns around displacement and environmental impacts. Chronicle reporter Sarah Ravani joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about the Howard Terminal project, which would be one of the largest developments in stat...

Voters overwhelmingly recall board President Gabriela López and members Alison Collins and Faauuga Moliga. On It's All Political on Fifth & Mission, reporters Joe Garofoli and Jill Tucker and host Demian Bulwa talk about the surprisingly decisive result and what it means for the attempt to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about you...

The district attorney says his office has learned that a woman was connected to a property crime via evidence from a years-old rape exam. SFPD Chief Bill Scott says if an investigation confirms the allegation, "I’m committed to ending the practice,” which might be unconstitutional and could have a chilling effect on people reporting sexual assaults. Reporter Megan Cassidy talks to host Cecilia Lei...

As city leaders and residents anguish over the growing annual homicide rate — from 69 to 124 in the past five years — reporter Raheem Hosseini finds lessons in a past rise and fall of bloodshed in Oakland. He tells host Demian Bulwa that a previous crime surge launched the innovative Ceasefire program, which uses a collaborative, carrot-and-stick approach to try to reach people most at risk of bec...

Sensational news headlines about burglaries and thefts don't tell the whole story. Data reporting can help. Chronicle reporter Susie Neilson joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about how crime trends differ by neighborhood and why digging into data is a critical component of understanding trends in the city. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap...

COVID eviction battles are moving to Bay Area suburbs, which don't have the same tenant protections as urban centers like San Francisco and Oakland. Chronicle reporter Lauren Hepler joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss how evictions are playing out in places like San Pablo and Palo Alto, and housing researcher Tim Thomas explains why tenant evictions in the suburbs are a civil rights issue that dates...

The state has announced that its indoor mask mandate will end on Feb. 16. Health reporter Erin Allday chats with host Cecilia Lei about how the latest in a long line of recalculations was made on the heels of the omicron surge, and how the Bay Area is approaching its own local directives. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic...

The Oakland school board will decide Tuesday night whether it will close or consolidate 16 of the district’s 80 schools. Chronicle education reporter Jill Tucker joins Cecilia Lei to discuss the controversial proposal touted as a cost-saving strategy by the district. We also hear from an OUSD employee who is on a hunger strike against the decision. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod...

AB 1400 was supposed to be the nation’s first government-funded health care system, but the legislation didn't even get a vote in the state Assembly. Supporters of the bill are angry with its author, Assemblymember Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, for pulling it from the floor. In this episode of It's All Political on Fifth and Mission, Kalra explains his decision to Joe Garofoli and responds to his critics...

The relationship between San Francisco's cops and its progressive district attorney was tense from the start. But on the eve of the brutality trial of a cop, an allegation of misconduct against Boudin's office has prompted a bitter legal and political battle. Chronicle reporters Megan Cassidy and Rachel Swan join host Demian Bulwa to dig into the accusation, Boudin's response, and the concern that...

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 Learn m...

Is it time to move away from school mask requirements in the Bay Area? Chronicle reporter Jill Tucker tells host Demian Bulwa why some previously pro-mask parents and doctors are urging health officials to make them optional — and why others call that effort too early and too dangerous. Also, reporter Annie Vainshtein explains the anger and the fallout over Oakland’s decision to close and merge so...

Gov. Gavin Newsom says hundreds of condemned men will be transferred as death row closes. But while Newsom opposes capital punishment, the practice remains popular among voters — and he's not setting aside sentences. Reporter Kevin Fagan digs into the news and the political calculations with host Demian Bulwa, while recalling the times he's witnessed executions in the death chamber. | Unlimited Ch...

Lunar New Year is typically the busiest time in San Francisco Chinatown, but decreased tourism and the omicron surge are causing businesses to suffer. Chronicle reporter Janelle Bitker chats with host Cecilia Lei about how the neighborhood is surviving and what its future may look like. Then, Janet Chan shares her one-woman mission to save Chinatown, one business at a time, which she's documenting...

The omicron surge has made it hard for restaurant owners to operate safely, and steep declines in revenue are threatening permanent closures. Workers are being sidelined because of COVID-19 exposures and risk losing their critical health care coverage. Producer Caron Creighton reports on the struggles of the food industry and how once-celebrated workers now feel forgotten, despite still being on t...

San Francisco police say they're "closer than ever" to solving the case of the Doodler, a serial killer who terrorized San Francisco's gay community in the 1970s. They're identifying a probable sixth victim: Warren Andrews, a 52-year-old lawyer who was beaten and left for dead at Lands End on April 27, 1975. Chronicle reporter Kevin Fagan, who has been investigating the slayings for years, tells h...