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Fifth & Mission

San Francisco Chroniclecms.megaphone.fm
The flagship news podcast of the San Francisco Chronicle. Producer/host Cecilia Lei and co-host Laura Wenus discuss the biggest stories of the day with Chronicle journalists and newsmakers from around the Bay Area. | Get full digital access to the Chronicle: sfchronicle.com/pod
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Episodes

Teen Crime Plunge

In a rare good-news crime story, reporters Jill Tucker, Evan Sernoffsky and Joaquin Palomino have been tracking historic drops in crime among teens. They talk about that and their investigation into the surge of kids tried in adult courts in the past two decades — under policies now seen as too severe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 07, 201919 min

Visiting Our Underwater Future

Culture Desk Reporter Ryan Kost spent four days wandering the Bay Area to explore future flood zones, areas that scientists expect to be swallowed up by rising sea levels. He tells Audrey Cooper about what he learned there. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 04, 201916 min

What Is Bay Area Culture?

The Bay Area is a quirky place. And The Chronicle is launching an effort to explore all of those quirks that make us hella Bay. Sarah Feldberg joins Audrey Cooper to debut the Culture Desk, a new coverage focus that will explore everything from wealth to sex to health and parenting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 03, 201922 min

Rocks and Hard Places on Clinton Park

Heather Knight and Kevin Fagan join Demian Bulwa to talk about the infamous boulders on Clinton Park alley, which have become a symbol for San Francisco's inability to provide basic services for its homeless population or to enforce laws when street behavior turns dark and violent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 01, 201915 min

BART vs. Fare Evasion and Suicide

Transportation reporter Rachel Swan talks about BART's plan for fare gates that scofflaws might find harder to hurdle or squeeze through, and the agency's frustration over trying to prevent suicides. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 30, 201915 min

Soleil Ho on Restaurants, Culture and Politics

The San Francisco Chronicle's restaurant critic talks with Audrey Cooper about how she wants to challenge readers to think about where they dine and how that intersects with politics and influences local culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 27, 201930 min

Pelosi Pulls the Impeachment Trigger

Political reporter Joe Garofoli and editorial page editor John Diaz join Demian Bulwa to talk about Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that the House of Representatives will open an impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Will her strategy of waiting pay off? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 25, 201919 min

San Francisco's Broken Mental Health System

Reporter Trisha Thadani talks about The Chronicle series "Broken Care," which explores breakdowns in the way San Francisco aids its most vulnerable residents — those who are homeless, addicted and mentally ill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 24, 201917 min

A Brother’s Heartbreak on San Francisco’s Streets

When a photo of a desperate, homeless heroin addict ran in The Chronicle, the man's brother — with help from reporter Kevin Fagan — launched an effort to find and help him. Incredibly, he succeeded, but the story ended in tragedy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 22, 201924 min

Transportation, Housing and Climate Change

Much of the Bay Area's new housing is in distant San Joaquin County. Reporter J.K. Dineen talks about the environmental impact of that. Plus: Rachel Swan on California falling short of its emissions goals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 20, 201926 min

Protecting San Francisco From the Bay

Urban design critic John King on why we need to start planning now to prepare the Bay Area for the impacts of sea level rise — and why the development of vulnerable spots like Treasure Island is still taking place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 18, 201918 min

California's "Underground" Climate Fight

Washington correspondent Tal Kopan on the growing divide between President Trump's denial of climate change and California's effort to do something about it. Part of the cooperative Climate Week media project. See sfchronicle.com/climatechallenge for more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 16, 201925 min

The Symphony in Blue Jeans

As the San Francisco Symphony opens its final season under Michael Tilson Thomas, classical music critic Joshua Kosman talks about the longtime conductor's legacy, and advises first-time symphony-goers to relax. Come as you are. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 13, 201926 min

The Life and Death of Braden Varney

The Cal Fire bulldozer operator reported to the Ferguson Fire last summer to protect his community. It was his last call. Lizzie Johnson on the remarkable recovery operation that ensued as his friends and family grappled with their loss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 12, 201917 min

The Cops Who Sleep in Their Cars

San Mateo has a plan to house police officers who've become super-commuters because they can't afford the sky-high prices in that city. Reporter J.K. Dineen explains. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 09, 201915 min

The Ghost Ship Verdicts

Reporter Megan Cassidy on the scene in the Alameda County courthouse as Max Harris is acquitted on 36 charges of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the 2016 warehouse fire. The jury hung on charges for master tenant Derick Almena. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 06, 201919 min

Silicon Valley’s $15 million Teardown

A wealthy couple buys a big new mansion in Hillsborough. Is it their dream home? Nope. It’s a teardown. Reporter Matthias Gafni on the latest stunner in Bay Area housing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 05, 201915 min

Backlash Over Ethnic Studies Curriculum

Educators who want ethnic studies taught statewide in California schools are getting pushback from critics who say they support the idea in principle, but that the proposed teaching guidelines push racially divisive themes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 03, 201916 min

Best of Fifth & Mission: Photographing Homelessness

In this episode first published July 29, photographers Gabrielle Lurie and Jessica Christian discuss photographing homelessness during the Chronicle's 24-hour project. They talk about the challenges of photographing for 24 hours straight, keeping safe on the streets and making moving imagery under tough circumstances. We also learn about Jessica’s subject “Shorty,” and how he lives as a disabled homeless man on the streets of San Francisco. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad...

Sep 02, 201932 min

BBQ in the Bay

In a region that has nearly every type of cuisine, good barbecue restaurants have been hard to find. That seems to be changing with an explosion of pop-ups and even some brick-and-mortars springing up in unexpected places. Can they thrive in the Bay? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 30, 201929 min

Meet Mission Bay

Urban design critic John King explores the history of San Francisco's newest neighborhood, what went wrong in designing it and what he thinks of the Warriors' arena plopped in the middle of it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 28, 201924 min

Broken Promises at the Hunters Point Shipyard

What led federal and city officials to back away from voter-demanded promises to completely clean radiological contamination and what is next for the nation’s most complex Superfund site? Note: An earlier edit of this episode contained an error about the timing of the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests. They began after World War II. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 26, 201920 min

Esther Mobley on How to Drink Wine

The Chronicle’s wine critic shares her secrets and brings her spit bucket for a tasting session. Plus: How California vintners are adjusting to climate change, which threatens Cabernet Sauvignon, the state’s most important grape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 23, 201930 min

Oakland's Warehouse Scene After Ghost Ship

A crackdown on people living and making art in warehouses followed the deadly 2016 fire at an unsanctioned music event. But as Rachel Swan reports, bigger changes came as a result of another shift: the legalization of marijuana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 21, 201916 min

The Doctor Accused of Murder

Health reporter Erin Allday on Dr. Thomas McNeese Keller, the Santa Rosa physician who, already under investigation by the state medical board, has been charged with murder in the deaths of five patients who suffered opioid overdoses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 19, 201913 min

Justin Phillips on Black Culture in the Bay Area

San Francisco Chronicle reporter Justin Phillips talks to editor in chief Audrey Cooper about his new column on the African American experience in and around San Francisco. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 16, 201920 min

How the Town Beats the City on Housing

Oakland has historically underproduced housing, but in 2019, it's on pace to finish about 2,000 more new units than San Francisco. Reporter J.K. Dineen talks about what's changed in the East Bay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 15, 201912 min

SF City Insider: An Epidemic of Untreated Mental Illness

Fifth & Mission presents an episode of the Chronicle podcast San Francisco City Insider. The city is compelling far fewer mentally ill people into mandated treatment. Columnist Heather Knight and City Hall reporter Dominic Fracassa discuss the rise in clearly untreated mental illness on San Francisco’s sidewalks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 14, 201918 min

Should San Francisco Buy PG&E's Power Lines?

The utility's wildfire-related bankruptcy has San Francisco looking to take over its power operation in the city. Reporters J.D. Morris and Dominic Fracassa talk about the opportunities and risks the multibillion-dollar move would present. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 12, 201918 min

Swag: It’s Fun! It’s Free! It Works! It’s a Nightmare!

It’s a constant in the tech industry and has been for ages. The data says swag is an effective marketing tool, and sometimes the goodies are nice. But there’s a cost for the environment. Owen Thomas and Carolyn Said on “stuff we all get.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 09, 201912 min
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