Fifth & Mission

It's a holiday tradition that brings the flavor of Victorian London to the Cow Palace. But some participants are boycotting over what they say is the parent company's failure to make the fair safe and inclusive for all. LaToya Tooles and Arielle Kesweder join host Cecilia Lei to talk about the problems haunting the event. Get unlimited Chronicle access for 26 weeks for 99 cents: sfchronicle.com/po...

What you need to know about the emergence of the omicron variant of COVID-19 in Northern California. Chronicle health reporter Erin Allday talks to host Demian Bulwa about how contagious and dangerous it is, and how well vaccinations and boosters protect against it. Allday also discusses the rising number of cases in the Bay Area heading into the holidays, and explains the link between the world's...

The small and mighty East Bay city is on track to exceed its regional housing development goals, unlike other cities in the Bay Area. Emeryville has long had a reputation of welcoming development of all kinds, including affordable housing. Chronicle reporter J.K. Dineen joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss why the city is uniquely positioned to do so, and what other cities can learn from its approach...

They've been a lifeline to restaurants, who were thrilled when the city made them permanent. But a slew of new rules might mean many will have to go. Zack Schwab, who owns the Pacific Heights bar the Snug, and Chronicle food reporter Janelle Bitker join Cecilia Lei to talk about it. Get unlimited Chronicle access for 26 weeks for 99 cents: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...

Fifth & Mission Host Demian Bulwa speaks with columnist Heather Knight and photographer Gabrielle Lurie about their story following a mother's desperate search to find her daughter in San Francisco, and get her clean from fentanyl. Laurie Steves quit her job, left her home in a Seattle suburb and moved to San Francisco with the desperate hope that she would not lose another child to drug addiction...

The Covid-19 pandemic, worker shortages and even global warming are all factors that have contributed to what is known as 'the supply chain crisis'. Chronicle food reporter Janelle Bitker joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss how local Bay Area restaurants are impacted, and business reporter Carolyn Said explains why supply chain issues might stick around for awhile. Get unlimited Chronicle access for...

A resident becomes the first case of the latest COVID-19 variant in the United States. Chronicle health reporter Erin Allday joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about what the detection means for the Bay Area, how vaccines hold up against the variant and whether we should change our behavior now that omicron is here. Get unlimited Chronicle access for 26 weeks for 99 cents: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn mo...

Cities across the Bay Area have been jolted by a spree of retail thefts. On Monday, struggling Oakland cannabis merchants made a plea to city and state leaders for more protection — and a tax break. Chronicle reporter Rachel Swan joins host Cecilia Lei to explain their demands and how conversations about retail crime are becoming increasingly politicized. Get unlimited Chronicle access for 26 week...

As the latest coronavirus variant spreads across the globe, Chronicle health reporter Erin Allday joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss why it's worrying health experts and why we should feel hopeful. Plus: Reporter Kellie Hwang shares what five local experts say about staying safe for the rest of the holiday season. Get unlimited Chronicle access for 26 weeks for 99 cents: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn m...

Transportation reporter Ricardo Cano joins guest host Heather Knight to answer questions from listeners and readers submitted via the Bay Area Transportation Project Roadmap. As the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency prepares to make limited service restorations in 2022, tune in to hear all about transit, safe streets, car-free JFK Drive and more. You can send more questions to sfchroni...

Since last spring, the city has moved thousands of unhoused residents into hotel rooms as emergency shelter during the pandemic. The program, Project RoomKey, is federally funded and the Biden Administration has extended that funding through April 1. But San Francisco has been closing the shelter-in-place hotels for months, despite protests from homeless advocates. Producer Caron Creighton reports...

Chronicle health reporter Erin Allday joins host Demian Bulwa to talk COVID-19 boosters: Who should be getting them and why is California being aggressive with them? She talks about whether the push for boosters has merit and whether we’re going to need shots every six months — or every year — for life. And what about the fear of a winter surge? What are the latest predictions on what we’ll see in...

Chronicle investigative reporters Alexandria Bordas and Cynthia Dizikes lay out their new investigation finding years of problems in a civic and charitable organization that helped launch the careers of numerous politicians. They include Richard Nixon, Barry Goldwater and former Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli, who has denied more than a dozen women's allegations of sexual assault. The group, Active...

Mayor London Breed is hoping to acquire a building San Francisco can use to open a site where people can use drugs under medical supervision as early as spring 2022. One roadblock: It's against state and federal law. Reporter Trisha Thadani joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about the plan. Plus: Data reporter Yoohyun Jung talks about The Chronicle's new Overdose Tracker. | Unlimited Chronicle access:...

On this episode of the It's All Political podcast, Rep. Jackie Speier talks with The Chronicle's Joe Garofoli, Tal Kopan and Kevin Fagan shortly after announcing that she won't run for reelection in 2022. Speier, who first ran for office after she was wounded in the Jonestown massacre in 1978, has represented San Mateo County and part of San Francisco for decades and has been in Congress since 200...

Mayor Libby Schaaf is announcing a program Tuesday that will give 200 struggling households about $700 a month with no strings attached. The privately funded subsidy comes as Oakland continues to grapple with a sharp increase in unhoused residents during the pandemic. Chronicle reporter Sarah Ravani joins host Cecilia Lei to explain how it may help the city's homelessness crisis. | Unlimited Chron...

The 1968 Fair Housing Act outlawed discriminatory housing covenants, but remnants of redlining provisions linger on housing deeds today. Chronicle reporter Lauren Hepler joins host Cecilia Lei to explain how one affluent Peninsula community, Ladera, started a grassroots campaign to amend them, and the conversations that effort has stirred about present-day housing segregation. | Unlimited Chronicl...

Reporter Alexei Koseff joins host Dominic Fracassa to talk about his investigation showing that some state lobbying firms improperly received pandemic-relief loans they weren't eligible for. It’s yet another example of the slapdash rollout of PPP loans during the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a...

San Francisco was the first large city to implement a vaccine mandate for city employees. Reporter Rachel Swan joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about how the requirement is working with the SFPD. Then, education reporter Jill Tucker discusses school staff vaccination rates in California, and why Gov. Newsom has been uneven in requiring COVID-19 vaccines. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com...

Chronicle staff writer Aidin Vaziri joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss why the Bay Area is seeing a jump in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, and engagement reporter Gwendolyn Wu explains why people with mental health illnesses are now eligible for vaccine booster shots. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Supervisor Matt Haney has said he'll introduce a resolution Tuesday apologizing to the Chinese community for the city's history of racism against early immigrants. Reporter Shwanika Narayan joins host Cecilia Lei to explain the history, and community advocates Dennis Wu and Drew Min — who suggested the resolution to Haney — share what it symbolizes. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/po...

Some members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors say they're pro-housing, but they end up voting down a lot of new construction. Heather Knight and Joe Garofoli join Cecilia Lei to talk about the latest gut check over how the city addresses housing issues, and the implications the controversy is creating in races for statewide office. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn m...

Chronicle reporter Susie Neilson cuts through an intense San Francisco debate by breaking down exclusive figures showing how the district attorney is charging people for crimes including murder, rape, theft and drug dealing. She tells host Demian Bulwa why rape prosecutions are up and theft cases are down as Boudin seeks to fight off a recall attempt. Then: Reporter Rachel Swan discusses a bike th...

Comedian Dave Chapelle is opening his latest tour at San Francisco’s Chase Center, despite receiving fierce criticism for his recent comments about the transgender community. Many say his views are transphobic and harmful at a time of record-breaking anti-trans legislation. Chronicle culture critic Tony Bravo and Aria Sai’d, the executive director of San Francisco’s Transgender District, join host...

They grew up there. They owned homes. And they lost everything. The Chronicle spent five months shadowing four longtime Oakland residents to understand how people with deep roots in the community wound up among the city's unhoused. Host Cecilia Lei welcomes reporters Kevin Fagan and Sarah Ravani and photographer Gabrielle Lurie, who share the story of 70-year-old Delbra Taylor, one of the unhoused...