Fifth & Mission

A year and a half into the pandemic, hospitals in Northern California's rural counties are running out of room, stricken with a contagious delta variant and communities with low vaccination rates. Patients are suffering. Doctors and nurses are exhausted and pleading with the public to get the shots before it's too late. On this episode of the Fifth & Mission podcast, Chronicle reporter Shwanika Na...

An Alameda County Superior Court judge striking down the measure is a win for Uber and Lyft drivers and others, but reporter Carolyn Said tells host Cecilia Lei that there are more legal battles ahead before companies must classify them as employees. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The utility has been linked to some of California's most destructive and deadliest wildfires, and fire victims have had to wait for compensation — none longer than survivors of the 2015 Butte Fire. Reporter J.D. Morris joins host Cecilia Lei to explain why the amount they’ll be able to collect could be affected by the company’s role in the massive Dixie Fire, which is burning now. | Unlimited Chro...

Chronicle reporters went to the Bay Area ZIP codes with the lowest vaccination rates and asked people why they hadn't gotten the shots. Reporter Julie Johnson tells host Demian Bulwa that people offered a mix of reasons, from lack of trust in medical authorities to belief in conspiracies, from laziness to lack of access. Plus: Reporter Ryan Kost digs into the plight of the immunocompromised as the...

In 2019, Christina Lalanne found a century-old diary in her San Francisco home. She spent two years chasing its ghosts around the city and across the Atlantic, uncovering a love story that was almost lost to history. Sarah Feldberg reports. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan continues to develop, for some California residents the latest news is more than a headline. Host Cecilia Lei talks to local Afghans and Afghan Americans about their hopes and fears for their home country, including Khaled Hosseini, author of “The Kite Runner,” Afghan-American professor Halima Kazem, and two 16-year-old twin sisters who made it back to the U....

California’s recall election may have begun as a right wing endeavor, but it is now a legitimate threat for Gov. Newsom. Will Democrats be able to mobilize enough of the state’s voter base to counter any dissatisfaction with Newsom’s handling of issues like wildfires, homelessness or the pandemic? Cecilia Lei discusses the latest on the recall with the Chronicle’s state capitol reporter, Dustin Ga...

Fifth & Mission presents an episode of the Chronicle's politics podcast, It's All Political, featuring Rep. Barbara Lee. The progressive icon talks to host Joe Garofoli about her famous no vote on war authorization, how her East Bay district is the "wokest" in America, the personal struggles she overcame — something she's rarely discussed publicly — and the new documentary about her, “Barbara Lee:...

The Camp Fire, the nation's deadliest wildfire in a century, destroyed the Butte County town of Paradise in 2018. Former Chronicle reporter Lizzie Johnson, now with the Washington Post, tenaciously covered the tragedy, from training with firefighters to interviewing hundreds of Paradise residents. She joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about her new book, "Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an A...

Proof of vaccination will be required starting Aug. 20 at many businesses in San Francisco, including restaurants, bars, gyms and some of the biggest event venues. The city decided to put in one of the nation's toughest mandates, both to keep people safer from COVID-19 and to push holdouts to get their shots. Trisha Thadani talks to host Demian Bulwa about how the new rules work, and Janelle Bitke...

The Fruitvale neighborhood has one of the lowest vaccination rates and highest COVID case rates in Alameda County. Reporter Deepa Fernandes joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss an outreach program that's hoping to change that with the help of key ambassadors in the community: children of immigrants. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...

The enhanced federal safety net has helped keep more than a million Californians from poverty this year, but the extra payouts are set to end on Labor Day. Chronicle reporter Carolyn Said joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about who will be affected the most and how jobless people will have to cope in the months ahead as the delta variant continues to threaten the economy. | Unlimited Chronicle access...

With the delta variant on the rise, concerned parents are demanding a distance learning option from school districts. Education reporter Jill Tucker joins Cecilia Lei to talk about this week's bumpy start to the new in-person school year. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's happened again: A California community wiped out by flames. The Dixie Fire tore through the Gold Country town of Greenville last week even as neighborhoods in places like Santa Rosa, Redding and Paradise continue to rebuild after past catastrophes. What's it like to lose everything? Host Demian Bulwa talks to Margaret Elysia Garcia, who was evacuated from Greenville, and Melissa Geissinger, w...

The Delta variant has been a tough reality check, so Chronicle reporters went out into the field to ask Bay Area residents about how they're feeling at this stage of the pandemic. Internationally known stress scientist Dr. Elissa Epel joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss how we can maintain our emotional health, even as a prolonged pandemic stirs strong emotions of anger and frustration.  | Get full...

All over the Bay Area, the pandemic left hundreds of thousands of people and families unable to afford their rent. But as Chronicle reporter Lauren Helper reports, government programs designed to provide aid and shore up local communities have been slow to disperse the funds. As of mid-July, only 10% of $889 million in available aid had been distributed. Hepler tells host Demian Bulwa how these pr...

Indoor mask mandates are back in seven Bay Area counties because of the highly transmissible delta variant, and the risk isn't just for unvaccinated people: post-vaccination cases are also on the rise. UCSF's Dr. Bob Wachter joins host Cecilia Lei to explain breakthrough cases, and what the latest public health guidance means for the future of the pandemic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Many Bay Area residents moved away from cities like San Francisco and Oakland during the pandemic and landed in the places that are most vulnerable to wildfires. Chronicle reporter Susie Neilson joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss the trend and why some people are knowingly placing themselves closer to the blazes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For more than four decades, Gilbert Baker's iconic rainbow flag has been the global symbol of the LGBTQ community. But critics say it's time for the flag to be updated and inclusive of other groups, including Black and transgender people. The Chronicle's Tony Bravo joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss what's happening with the flagpole at Castro and Market streets, which stands at the center of the d...

It's another huge moment in the pandemic: the full return of in-person instruction at Bay Area public schools. But what will that look like? And are we ready amid the frightening surge of the delta variant of the coronavirus? Chronicle health reporter Jill Tucker tells host Demian Bulwa how school officials are preparing, including what they are requiring in terms of vaccinations, masks and social...

Thanks to the delta variant, the Bay Area is now an emerging coronavirus hotspot and now, restaurant and bar owners are taking matters into their own hands to protect the health of their workers and businesses. Chronicle food and wine editor Tanay Warerkar joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about how the vaccination requirement movement is gaining momentum in the Bay Area, and Ben Bleiman, the preside...

The effort to oust California's governor started as a fringe right-wing movement, but things have gotten serious. While Californians oppose the recall generally, likely voters are closely split with the election mere weeks away. Reporter Alexei Koseff talks to host Cecilia Lei about how the governor has to motivate what's so far been an unenthusiastic Democratic base. | Unlimited Chronicle access:...

As two major fires burn in the Sierra, reporter J.D. Morris joins Cecilia Lei to talk about what Northern California should brace itself for, what we've learned from previous disasters and how major stakeholders like PG&E are shifting their strategies. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thanks to the delta variant, Bay Area coronavirus cases are rising yet again, just six weeks after California's big reopening. But this is a different kind of surge with very different lessons, says Chronicle health reporter Erin Allday. She tells host Demian Bulwa why the latest case rates may be a flawed measurement, and talks about what we need to know about breakthrough infections and booster...

Joshua Barbeau was 26 when his fiancee, Jessica Pereira, died from a rare liver disease. Eight years later, still grieving, he turned to Project December, a website that allowed him to text with an artificial intelligence simulation of Jessica. The Chronicle's Jason Fagone talks to host Cecilia Lei about his story about love and A.I., and Joshua Barbeau discusses how a chatbot helped him cope with...