Fifth & Mission

San Franciscans rejoiced when El Farolito announced its new North Beach location but the beloved Mission taqueria's plans were halted because of the city's "formula retail" laws, which consider El Farolito to be a chain. Business reporter Shwanika Narayan joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss the city's ban on chains and whether the laws are actually hurting, rather than helping, local and fast-growin...

The deadly opioid has overtaken the city's drug supply and is responsible for soaring overdose deaths, which have worsened during the coronavirus pandemic. City Hall reporter Trisha Thadani joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss the city's newly launched Street Overdose Response Team. Later, S.F. resident Joshua Weens talks about what it's like to step in after witnessing an overdose death. | Unlimited...

The U.S. is allowing more than 80,000 visas to vanish at the end of September, despite having a backlog of more than a million skilled immigrants who have been waiting — sometimes as long as decades — for their green cards. Most of them are tech workers from India, including in Silicon Valley. Chronicle reporter Deepa Fernandes joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about their desperation, and the impact...

It's been three weeks since Texas passed the most restrictive abortion law in the country. Since then, women have been fleeing to other states to obtain the procedure, including in one Oklahoma clinic that Chronicle photographer Gabrielle Lurie has been shadowing. She chats with host Cecilia Lei about the Texas women she met with, and how they've navigated the abortion ban since it went into effec...

In July, Mayor London Breed and Police Chief Bill Scott rebutted the narrative that the city is overwhelmed by rampant lawlessness. But as retail thefts have persisted, the leaders unveiled a multi-pronged approach to combat robberies. Chronicle reporter Megan Cassidy joins host Cecilia Lei to explain the city's new strategy. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your...

Republished to fix an editing error: Columnist Heather Knight joins host Demian Bulwa with exclusive news: San Francisco leaders may be on a path toward removing cars permanently from scenic John F. Kennedy Drive through Golden Gate Park. The decision is certain to intensify a larger debate over whether the city should turn famed roadways, including the Great Highway and Twin Peaks Boulevard, into...

Columnist Heather Knight joins host Demian Bulwa with exclusive news: San Francisco leaders may be on a path toward removing cars permanently from scenic John F. Kennedy Drive through Golden Gate Park. The decision is certain to intensify a larger debate over whether the city should turn famed roadways, including the Great Highway and Twin Peaks Boulevard, into pedestrian-only havens. | Unlimited...

Chronicle senior arts and entertainment editor Mariecar Mendoza talks to host Cecilia Lei about inadvertently capturing video of London Breed breaking her own mask mandate as she sang and danced at an impromptu Tony! Toni! Toné! reunion performance at the Black Cat in the Tenderloin, and Heather Knight chats about the possible political consequences for the mayor. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfc...

Violent attacks have left some residents demanding increased police presence. But others say it sends the wrong message about the actual public safety needs of the neighborhood, and that it pits the Asian community against other communities of color. Reporting from Chinatown, Cecilia Lei speaks to residents, activists and merchants to explore how it's become ground zero for some of the most charge...

Two of the Bay Area's biggest public school districts will decide next week whether to require COVID-19 vaccinations for all staffers and students 12 or older. But an effort to bring normalcy back to their campuses is already drawing opposition — and may bring legal challenges. Host Demian Bulwa speaks to reporter Rachel Swan and Professor Dorit Reiss of UC Hastings College of the Law, an expert o...

After 19 months of the pandemic, many of us feel like COVID-19 experts but still have plenty of questions about what we should be doing. Is the delta variant surge finally waning in the Bay Area? Who needs third vaccine booster shots? Chronicle health reporter Erin Allday joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about the latest coronavirus updates. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn mo...

"We said yes to pluralism," the governor said after Californians voted overwhelmingly to let him finish his term. With the recall attempt behind him, does Newsom have the wind at his back? Chronicle reporters Joe Garofoli, Dustin Gardiner and Alexei Koseff join host Demian Bulwa on this joint episode of Fifth & Mission and It's All Political. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Liste...

After over a year of pandemic upheaval and partisan rage, Californians will finally decide whether Gov. Gavin Newsom will remain in office. Reporter Alexei Kosseff interviewed Newsom this weekend and he joins host Cecilia Lei to chat about what Newsom had to say about the recall — and that infamous French Laundry dinner — and what voters can expect as election results roll in. | Unlimited Chronicl...

Two Bay Area residents have filed class-action lawsuits against the century-old practice of chalking tires as a form of parking enforcement. One suit claims it's a violation of drivers' Fourth Amendment rights, and similar lawsuits have popped up across the country. Reporter Rachel Swan joins host Cecilia Lei to explain the debate. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about...

After over a year of escalated racism, turmoil and violent attacks on elders, the Asian American community got its first Marvel superhero in the film "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," set partially in San Francisco. Simu Liu joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss how the film is elevating Asian representation in Hollywood and how he brought authenticity to his lead role in the blockbuster. |...

Nearly 3,000 lives were lost in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, changing the world forever. In the wake of the tragedy, wars raged, national security efforts increased and Muslims in the United States faced mass scrutiny and profiling. Chronicle reporter Deepa Fernandes shares the story of two Bay Area Muslim women who came of age in the aftermath of 9/11 and how they supported their...

With the Delta variant booming, cases of COVID-19 are rising faster among children than among people over 50. It's a scary time for parents and kids alike as they've mostly returned to in-person school. Reporter Aidin Vaziri has spoken with a variety of public health experts and he tells host Cecilia Lei their best advice for keeping kids safe. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Lea...

The Sultani family of Milpitas, who've been living in California since 2017, were visiting relatives in Kabul this summer when the Taliban seized power. Reporter Deepa Fernandes talks to Demian Bulwa about their struggle to get home, and what lies ahead for them and others in the area's large, and now growing, Afghan community. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about you...

Quentin Kopp had such a long and influential career as a member of the Board of Supervisors, a state senator and a judge that the I-380 freeway is named after him. He's still going strong at 93, and on this episode of the TotalSF podcast, he's paid a visit by hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight, who have received plenty of Kopp's angry letters. Fifth & Mission is bringing you this episode of o...

Are abortion rights in California at risk as Gov. Newsom faces a recall? Texas just outlawed abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and the Supreme Court formally rejected requests by abortion providers to block the law. Now, California and the rest of the nation brace for the impact of the ban. Host Cecilia Lei discusses what's at stake with Khiara Bridges, a professor at UC Berkeley, and Shannon...

As voters are deciding whether to keep or dump Gov. Newsom, a new poll makes the recall look like a longshot. Today’s Fifth & Mission episode features a portion of the Chronicle’s It’s All Political podcast, hosted by senior political writer Joe Garofoli. He sits down with Sacramento reporters Alexei Koseff and Dustin Gardiner to break down the poll results and explore what Republican Larry Elder...

A day after an unprecedented citywide evacuation in South Lake Tahoe due to the Caldor Fire, host Cecilia Lei checks in with evacuees who share what it's been like to leave their houses behind, what the Tahoe community means to them and how they're coping with the uncertainty they face in the days ahead. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Chronicle Fire Map & Tracker: sfchronicle.co...

The go-to vacation destination for Bay Area residents is also home to more than 20,000 locals who have been forced to leave. Chronicle photographer Carlos Avila Gonzalez joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss what he's witnessing on the front lines, and Bay Area native Katie MacBride talks about what it's like to potentially lose a cabin that's been in her family for generations. | Unlimited Chronicle...

In a small but telling flare-up of the housing wars, a Corona Heights homeowner wanted to add units, including affordable ones, on his spacious corner lot. Neighbors objected and called him a profiteer, zoning laws stood in his way, and pro-housing politicians balked at stepping in. City Hall columnist Heather Knight interviews Scott Pluta, the homeowner, then talks to host Demian Bulwa about why...

California's blazes are bigger and hotter, and they're jumping highways and mountains, including in the Sierra Nevada. Reporter Julie Johnson joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about how this season compares to previous years, how the drought factors into fire behavior, and what firefighters will have to face in the months ahead. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Chronicle Fire Map & T...