At the end of a long day, Matthias Gafni is able to report back to evacuated residents of Solar Hills Drive who'd asked him to check on their homes: The fire came right up to the houses, but they're still standing. He also sees wildlife starting to return and neighbors putting out water and "Vacaville Strong" signs. Elsewhere in the region, though, fires are out of control. | Full wildfires coverage: sfchronicle.com/wildfires Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 21, 2020•5 min
Reporting from hard-hit English Hills Road, Matthias Gafni describes Vacaville on Thursday afternoon as people return to the area, sort through their damaged homes and, in some cases, breathe a sigh of relief that they were spared. | Full wildfires coverage: sfchronicle.com/wildfires Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 20, 2020•7 min
Chronicle reporter Matthias Gafni interviews Jimmy Santos, a Vacaville homeowner he'd met Wednesday night as Santos and his wife waited for word about whether their “dream house” — bought only two months ago — would be saved by firefighters. It was. | Full wildfires coverage: sfchronicle.com/wildfires Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 20, 2020•9 min
Joe Wilson, executive director of a homeless shelter in the Tenderloin, talks about the grueling nature of the job for those who do nonprofit work during the coronavirus crisis. Requests for mental health leaves are on the rise. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 20, 2020•22 min
The wildfires burning through California are raising difficult new questions: How to evacuate while social distancing? Is the state prepared to fight the blazes? How bad is the air quality throughout the region? What about wineries and their workers? Chronicle reporters Joaquin Palomino, Trisha Thadani, Aidin Vaziri and Esther Mobley break it all down. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 20, 2020•22 min
Matthias Gafni reports from the scene in Vacaville, where flames swallowed dozens of homes early Wednesday. A fast-moving fire raced into the town from the northwest, prompting frantic evacuations and rescues. Gafni speaks from a parking lot, where families are waiting in their cars to find out if their homes have been destroyed. | Full wildfires coverage: sfchronicle.com/wildfires Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 19, 2020•15 min
Prices have dropped 20% in some neighborhoods and are expected to keep falling in the coronavirus crisis. Landlords are begging tenants to stay, offering reductions, weeks of free rent and even gift cards worth thousands of dollars. Reporter J.K. Dineen talks about whether the perks are working and what the market change means for the city long term. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 19, 2020•16 min
Amid a historic heat wave, millions could lose power in the first rolling blackouts since the electrical crisis two decades ago. Reporter J.D. Morris talks about how California got here, who's to blame and what you can do to help and stay safe. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 18, 2020•17 min
School is starting remotely in the Bay Area, and as working parents try to juggle jobs and distance learning, data and real-life stories show mothers are bearing the brunt of the extra work. Reporter Mallory Moench talks about the major reduction of women in the workforce as moms are finding something has to give. | Coronavirus coverage: sfchronicle.com/coronavirus | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 17, 2020•14 min
If the City Council has its way, cops will no longer make traffic stops or respond to mental health crises. Different city workers will take on those jobs, leaving police to investigate violent crime. Reporter Ryan Kost wrote about Berkeley’s initiative in The Throughline. He discusses how policing across America might change as a result of Black Lives Matter protests. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 16, 2020•18 min
The financial crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic has BART on the ropes. But reporter Rachel Swan explains that the election for key board seats may be decided by another issue that has long haunted the agency: Police reform. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 15, 2020•21 min
Assemblyman David Chiu of San Francisco has a plan to stem the wave of evictions expected to hit California in September, but just over two weeks to get it through the Legislature. He's also deeply concerned about the state's severely backed-up unemployment office, which owes more than 1 million people money. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 14, 2020•25 min
Developers of two of the most promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates are seeking volunteers in San Francisco, Oakland and Santa Clara County. Health reporter Erin Allday talks about how the studies work, how close we are to a real vaccine, and how some big challenges lie ahead. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 13, 2020•19 min
Covering your face is good, but new research suggests that how you do it is important. Many help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but some are not as effective as others. Reporter Aidin Vaziri has the details. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com Related episode: Do Face Shields Work? (Aug. 5, 2020) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 12, 2020•14 min
The former San Francisco DA and California attorney general is in position to make history. Political reporters Tal Kopan and Joe Garofoli break down why Biden wants Harris as his running mate and how her past will factor into the campaign ahead. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 11, 2020•21 min
A data glitch and a problematic public statement by Gov. Gavin Newsom prompts a changing of the guard in Sacramento, where Dr. Sonia Angell suddenly resigned as the state's top public health officer. Health reporter Erin Allday talks about the fallout. | Full Coronavirus coverage: sfchronicle.com/coronavirus | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 11, 2020•16 min
During the coronavirus pandemic, our ever-worsening screen time obsession has increased. From working, going to school, exercising, socializing and recreational time, nearly everything involves a device. Chronicle reporter Sam Whiting interviewed a Stanford professor who runs a screen use lab about the phenomena and what it’s doing to our brains and social lives. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 10, 2020•13 min
California is entering its worst months for wildfires, and the danger is only exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. What do Bay Area residents need to know about the conditions on the ground, PG&E power outages and socially distant evacuations? Reporter J.D. Morris has the answers. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 08, 2020•23 min
Now that their companies are allowing them to work remotely for the duration, tech workers are fleeing high-priced San Francisco. What does that mean for the city's future as an internationally important tech center? Jennifer Stojkovic, executive director of sf.citi, a Chamber of Commerce-style group for tech companies, expects some companies will move their headquarters out of San Francisco — and take crucial tax dollars with them. | Coronavirus coverage: sfchronicle.com/coronavirus | Full Chro...
Aug 07, 2020•30 min
Why can't we defeat the pandemic by allowing the coronavirus to infect the majority of the population? Health reporter Erin Allday breaks down the science behind the idea, how it factors into the outbreaks at San Quentin prison and in Sweden, and how it would perpetuate racial disparities. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 06, 2020•20 min
Just as Bay Area residents got used to wearing masks, a new coronavirus accessory has cropped up: face shields. Reporter Aidin Vaziri explains their pluses and minuses. He also discusses how a data glitch might be causing an undercounting of cases around California. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 05, 2020•14 min
One in seven Californians can't make their rent, and a freeze on state courts processing evictions during the coronavirus crisis is about to end. Reporter Alexei Koseff describes two different proposals to keep people in their homes during the current economic crisis. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 04, 2020•19 min
The coronavirus pandemic is battering restaurants like few other industries. Some are moving outdoors and switching menus, others are laying off staff or closing altogether. Justin Phillips, co-host of the Extra Spicy podcast, wrote about how restaurants are adjusting in The Throughline. He goes inside the industry and its uncertain future. | Get unlimited Chronicle coverage: sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 03, 2020•20 min
Civil rights attorney John Burris' clients have included Rodney King and the family of Oscar Grant. He talks about the George Floyd killing, the Black Lives Matter and Defund the Police movements, and his current work on controversial police brutality cases in Oakland and Vallejo. | Get unlimited Chronicle coverage: sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 01, 2020•39 min
Five Oakland City Council seats are up for grabs in November, and with them the potential to reshape the city’s political leadership. Reporter Rachel Swan talks about the most closely watched races, and why defunding the police has emerged as a central theme throughout them. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 31, 2020•16 min
The coronavirus has killed more than 150,000 Americans — more than World War I or Vietnam. But scientists haven't come to a consensus on how likely it is that anyone infected will die. Chronicle health reporter Erin Allday talks about the complex numbers. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 30, 2020•20 min
Chronicle photographer Gabrielle Lurie and reporter Sarah Ravani talk about the year they spent following Theo, who's been homeless his whole life, and his mom, Naomi, as they navigate the streets, parks and temporary housing sites of Berkeley. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 29, 2020•26 min
Jarvis Masters, a condemned inmate and COVID-19 sufferer speaking from San Quentin death row, talks with reporter Jason Fagone about what he calls the "incompetence" that led the prison to become California's worst coronavirus hot spot. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod See also: Masters' Dear Governor podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 28, 2020•24 min
The coronavirus pandemic accelerated an ongoing loss of arts infrastructure in the Bay Area — studios, galleries, performance spaces, working artists who can afford the cost of living. But, as Samantha Nobles-Block writes in The Throughline, the disruption, along with the energy of the racial justice protest movement, could be offering an opportunity to create accessible spaces, support communities, and make art. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices....
Jul 27, 2020•21 min
A wedding was quietly held at SS Peter & Paul's Catholic Church in San Francisco, even after church leaders were warned not to break coronavirus rules. Now the bride, the groom and some guests have tested positive. Reporter Matthias Gafni talks about his exclusive story. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 27, 2020•19 min
