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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

California's Child Care Crisis

Amid the state's sputtering reopening efforts, child care providers across are confronting a crushing choice: Stay closed and risk financial ruin, or reopen at a reduced capacity and expose children and staff to the coronavirus. Reporter Rachel Swan talks about whether they can survive. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 25, 202020 min

Pandemic Pods: Solution or Problem?

Faced with the prospect of having to again stick their kids in front of screens for distance learning, some parents of means are cobbling together an alternative. Education reporter Jill Tucker talks about the implications for everyone. | Full coronavirus coverage: sfchronicle.com/coronavirus | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 24, 202020 min

Will Coronavirus Baseball Work?

The Giants and A’s are starting their seasons under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic — with a shortened schedule, new rules and empty stadiums. Giants beat writer Henry Schulman, host of the Giants Splash podcast, and A's beat writer Susan Slusser, host of A's Plus, talk about what fans can expect, and about manager Gabe Kapler and two Giants players kneeling for the national anthem. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adc...

Jul 23, 202027 min

Death of a Nurse in Oakland

Janine Paiste-Ponder, a 59-year-old nurse treating COVID-19 patients, died on July 17 after contracting the disease herself. The coronavirus has killed more than 100 health care workers in California. While the public hails them as heroes, reporter Mallory Moench says health care workers say they feel more like sacrificial lambs as they cry out for hospital execs to do more to protect them. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfhcronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...

Jul 22, 202015 min

Federal Agents in Portland: Is Oakland Next?

As images of Homeland Security agents in camouflage attacking peaceful protesters in Portland go viral, President Trump has threatened to send federal forces to the Bay Area. Political reporter Joe Garofoli talks about the reaction and the election-year politics driving the story. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 21, 202018 min

Universal Basic Income: Can It Work?

The idea of putting, say, $1,000 a month in the hands of every American is gaining currency amid the economic shocks of the coronavirus pandemic. Reporter Jason Fagone, who wrote about UBI for The Throughline, talks about his exploration of what it could mean not only to Bay Area residents who've been pinched by inequality, but to the cities where they live. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 20, 202028 min

Should Wineries Be Open?

People are drinking more, which is a boon for California wineries, but the industry's also struggling with shutdown orders as the coronavirus pandemic worsens. Wine critic Esther Mobley talks about the confusion at tasting rooms and the efforts to protect vineyard workers. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 18, 202017 min

Defund the Police: Berkeley Tries It

Pressed by the killing of George Floyd and demonstrations for racial justice, Berkeley is promising big changes designed to reduce bias. But as reporter Brett Simpson and columnist Otis Taylor Jr. explain, the real work begins now. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 17, 202023 min

San Francisco Zoo Is Back in Business

Director Tanya Peterson had to feed 2,000 animals with no ticket revenue coming in since March because of the coronavirus shutdown. She's delighted the zoo is open again, and she says she can tell the animals are too. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 16, 202023 min

Caltrain Could Be Derailed

Under the strange governance system that rules the Peninsula train system, two San Francisco supervisors were able to kill a sales tax measure to save it. Caltrain has lost 95% of its riders during the COVID-19 pandemic and says it may have to shut down without the cash infusion. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 16, 202019 min

California's New Shutdown

Gov. Newsom has demanded that a host of activities come to a halt — including nail and hair salons, indoor dining, movie theaters and gyms — as coronavirus cases surge around the state. Health reporter Erin Allday explains why California has taken a U-turn in its reopening plans and what’s likely to come next. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 15, 202022 min

Reopening Schools: Confusion and Frustration

Getting kids back to school is tops on President Trump's agenda, but California districts are increasingly opting for distance learning. Parents and teachers are anxious and upset about the slow plans for how to make this fall work. Education reporter Jill Tucker talks about the latest in a rapidly changing situation. | Coronavirus coverage: sfchronicle.com/coronavirus | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 14, 202026 min

San Francisco As a Biking and Walking Utopia

Bicyclists, pedestrians and public transit fans have long dreamed of major changes to the unsafe streets of San Francisco. In The Throughline, the Chronicle's new section about life in the post-coronavirus-pandemic Bay Area, Peter Hartlaub writes about how those dreams could come true. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 13, 202025 min

Coronavirus Surges on College Campuses

It's a bad trend at UC Berkeley and elsewhere: An outbreak of coronavirus cases tied to fraternity parties. The surge is threatening colleges' plans to reopen for the fall. Reporter Ron Kroichick talks about what campuses will look like, and how many students might opt out entirely. | Full coronavirus coverage: sfchronicle.com/coronavirus | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 10, 202017 min

Baseball Season Is Looking Doubtful

Sports columnist Ann Killion says that given the rough start to training camp — with not enough coronavirus tests and slow results — she's skeptical MLB will be able to launch its season in two weeks, or keep it going for 60 games if so. Plus: New activism among athletes, and cuts at Stanford. | Get unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 09, 202022 min

Muni's Breakdown

San Francisco's love-it-or-hate it transit system is in major trouble with few people willing to step aboard during the coronavirus pandemic and revenue plunging. The city will probably lose 40 of its 68 bus lines permanently — and don't expect to ride the cable cars until there's a vaccine. | Get full Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 08, 202026 min

San Francisco Without its Nightlife

Heklina, one of the city’s best-known drag queens, talks about how bars and nightclubs can eventually reopen safely and why she’s angry bar owners in other parts of the state and country are acting so irresponsibly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 07, 202020 min

SF Homeless Project Takes on COVID-19

Will coronavirus worsen homelessness or provide an opportunity to get people housed? Reporter Kevin Fagan and host Demian Bulwa kick off the SF Homeless Project, a weeklong Chronicle special report that digs deep into the crisis in an effort to find solutions. | Get full Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 06, 202027 min

40 Years in the Wilderness With Tom Stienstra

The Chronicle's outdoors columnist talks about how he landed his plum job after having an epiphany while covering a Raiders-Packers game in Green Bay. Plus: He tells campfire tales about the wildest adventures in his storied career, including an encounter with a crazed wild cow. | Get full Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 03, 202027 min

Black Lives Matter Protests: What Comes Next?

As demonstrations in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd have begun to cool, Sheryl Davis, executive director of San Francisco's Human Rights Commission, has been surveying people of color to ask what they want to see happen next when it comes to police reform and racial justice. | Get full Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 02, 202028 min

Health Officers Facing Threats, Intimidation

Given great power during the coronavirus pandemic, local public health officers are dealing with great scrutiny — and sometimes intimidation and threats. Some have quit. Staff writer Carolyn Said on what's behind this anger and how the health officers are responding. | Get full Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 01, 202016 min

Coronavirus Spike: How Worried Should You Be?

Rising COVID-19 cases in the Bay Area and around the country are forcing communities to pause, and in some cases backtrack, on reopening plans. Health reporter Erin Allday on what's behind the surge and what you should do to stay safe. | Get full Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 30, 202016 min

Coronavirus Means Bad Times for Goodwill

William Rogers, CEO of Goodwill San Francisco, describes having to close all of his shops and furlough the majority of his 600 employees after learning his nonprofit was too big to qualify for federal help. Also, donation drop-offs have reopened and have seen a surge in goods from city residents who've spent the spring deep cleaning. | Coronavirus coverage: sfchronicle.com/coronavirus | Full Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 29, 202025 min

Should You Fly During the Pandemic?

Features editor Sarah Feldberg discusses how airlines are responding and what travelers need to know to be safe from coronavirus if they have to board a plane, or if they want to for pleasure travel. Feldberg also talks about her own thorny decision whether to fly across the country to visit family with her baby daughter. | Full Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 26, 202017 min

California's Alarming COVID-19 Spike

More than 12,000 residents of the state tested positive for the coronavirus in just two days this week, prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to caution Californians to continue being careful or the state's opening could be rolled back. Reporter Peter Fimrite explains. | Get full Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 25, 20209 min

COVID-19 Terror at San Quentin

State prison officials dealt with a coronavirus outbreak at Chino State Prison by transferring untested inmates to San Quentin, and now the virus is ripping through the Marin County facility. Reporters Megan Cassidy and Jason Fagone detail the scenario and why Gov. Gavin Newsom is doing so little to solve it. | Get full Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 24, 202019 min

San Francisco's Toppled Statues

From the removal of Christopher Columbus outside Coit Tower to the toppling of Father Junipero Serra, Francis Scott Key and Ulysses S. Grant in Golden Gate Park, the city's not-so-progressive statues are sparking controversy. Plus: a listen to TotalSF's tribute to legendary Chronicle science writer David Perlman, who died this week at the age of 101. | Get full Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 23, 202021 min

New From The Chronicle: Extra Spicy

Chronicle food writers Soleil Ho and Justin Phillips are hosts of The Chronicle's new food and culture podcast, Extra Spicy. They talk with Heather Knight about why they're launching a food podcast in these troubled times, and they give a sneak peak into what listeners can expect. | Get full Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 22, 202025 min

An Announcement: Goodbye Audrey, Hello Demian

Chronicle Editor in Chief and Fifth & Mission co-host Audrey Cooper says farewell as she heads off for her new job as editor in chief at WNYC in New York. She and co-host Heather Knight welcome Demian Bulwa back to the show. He preceded Heather behind the Fifth & Mission mic, and now he'll succeed Audrey. | Get full Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 21, 20204 min

Coronavirus Survivors Tell Their Stories

Reporters Peter Hartlaub and Annie Vainshtein play excerpts from and talk about their project Surviving the Virus, in which they interviewed people who have recovered from COVID-19. Plus: Rafael Arias, the subject of Matthias Gafni's story I Was Ready to Die, reads from his coronavirus diary. | Get full Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 19, 202022 min
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