When Walgreens said it would close five stores in the city, the reaction was a firestorm. Why? Because the company blamed shoplifting, reigniting a polarizing debate over whether San Francisco is tough enough on property crimes. Reporters Shwanika Narayan and Susie Neilson join host Demian Bulwa to discuss the Chronicle's findings: that statistics on reported shoplifting cases from the SFPD do not support Walgreens' explanation. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about ...
Oct 19, 2021•17 min
The state is entering the home stretch for drawing new maps for congressional and legislative seats based on 2020 Census data. The redistricting will shape partisan control as well as determine the power of minority voters, and the power lies in the hands of a 14-member nonpartisan commission. Washington correspondent Tal Kopan joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about the key dynamics at play as the deadline nears. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. V...
Oct 18, 2021•18 min
After years of funding discrepancies and generations of racial division, the Marin County district was ordered by the California attorney general to desegregate. This fall, the district combined the student populations of mostly Black Marin City with the wealthy, predominantly white population of Sausalito. Cecilia Lei visits the district to check in on how it's going at the new, unified, two-campus school — and what comes next. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about ...
Oct 15, 2021•26 min
The state is going it alone on one of the most controversial subjects in the nation: Reparations for African Americans. A task force is meeting this week to document California's little-known and seldom-taught history of slavery and recommend to the Legislature what to do about it. But the details are complicated, including what reparations should look like and who should qualify. Tammerlin Drummond of the ACLU of Northern California and Chronicle reporter Dustin Gardiner tell host Demian Bulwa ...
Oct 14, 2021•22 min
Santa Clara County is home to Silicon Valley giants — and enduring poverty and homelessness. Reporter Lauren Hepler talks to host Dominic Fracassa about how officials want to house more than a thousand homeless families, and how they’ve given themselves a year to do it. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 13, 2021•17 min
Gov. Newsom wrapped up the legislative session by signing 770 new laws and vetoing 66. Chronicle reporter Dustin Gardiner joins host Cecilia Lei to chat about what the governor decided to sign, from banning new gas-powered leaf blowers and "stealthing" to requiring ethnic studies in high school and gender-neutral children's sections in large stores. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 12, 2021•21 min
By causing some of California's most destructive blazes in recent years, the utility put its own survival at risk. Now, under a new CEO, PG&E is marching out plans designed to cut down on the ignitions. Chronicle reporter J.D. Morris tells host Demian Bulwa that PG&E's hope is to bury 10,000 miles of power lines underground. But what will this and other projects cost customers, and will it restore the company's tarnished reputation? | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn...
Oct 11, 2021•18 min
Baseball writer John Shea calls it the sport's greatest rivalry — with apologies to the Yankees and Red Sox. He and Giants beat writer Susan Slusser join Cecilia Lei to talk about why San Francisco had an incredible season, as well as what they think it will take for the Giants to win what could be a classic series, the first postseason meeting between the fierce enemies since 1889. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Related: Susan and John preview the series on Giants Splash: pod...
Oct 08, 2021•19 min
Public health officials are set to establish new rules for when, where and how we can begin to uncover our faces. Meanwhile, a rush of San Francisco workers have been getting vaccinated to meet a city deadline, proving that vax mandates work, whether you’re a building inspector, a cop or a Golden State Warrior. Health reporter Erin Allday joins host Demian Bulwa to discuss two emerging pandemic storylines in the Bay Area. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad...
Oct 07, 2021•19 min
After 18 months of upheaval and school board controversies, the latest blow to the San Francisco Unified School District is its massive $116 million shortfall. The financial situation is so dire that the state is stepping in to help the district figure out how to cut 13% of its annual budget, or else risk a total state takeover of the district. Chronicle reporter Jill Tucker joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss how the district arrived here, and what it may mean for students. Learn more about your ...
Oct 06, 2021•16 min
Golden State's starting small forward initially refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine, saying his back was "against the wall." He risked much of his multimillion-dollar salary because of San Francisco's indoor vaccination mandate but finally reversed his stance on Sunday. The drama around Wiggins, though, missed the real issue, says Chronicle columnist Justin Phillips: Lack of access to health care and information in the Black community. He joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about it. | Unlimited Chro...
Oct 05, 2021•21 min
Last week, the University of California approved a $312 million plan to develop student housing at People's Park, which has been the site of activism since the 1960's, and a safe haven for unhoused residents to camp. Producer Caron Creighton reports from Berkeley to understand how the university's new housing plan may affect the legacy of the historic park and displace its community members. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 04, 2021•15 min
Gov. Gavin Newsom announces a first-in-the-nation order — which will go into effect when vaccines get full authorization from the FDA. Reporter Alexei Koseff joins host Demian Bulwa to talk about the order and what it means. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 01, 2021•11 min
With vaccinations rising and shots for young children coming soon, the Bay Area is a very different place than it was a year ago. But what does that mean as we enter the holiday season? Are we witnessing, at least locally, the last gasp of the pandemic? Chronicle health reporter Erin Allday gives host Demian Bulwa the big picture — the positive signs she is seeing for the months ahead as well as the nagging factors that still worry her. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn mor...
Oct 01, 2021•17 min
Some of the city's most powerful politicians are on the move, with Mayor London Breed at the controls. Dennis Herrera is departing his role as city attorney to lead the Public Utilities Commission. David Chiu is leaving the state Assembly to replace him. Matt Haney and David Campos want Chiu's Assembly seat. And more dominoes still might fall. Chronicle City Hall reporters Trisha Thadani and Mallory Moench join host Demian Bulwa to discuss what it all means amid multiple corruption scandals. | U...
Sep 30, 2021•14 min
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-growing small businesses. Total SF podcast hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight also weigh in on the de...
Sep 29, 2021•17 min
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 Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice...
Sep 28, 2021•18 min
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 having on their families. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about y...
Sep 27, 2021•20 min
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 effect. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 24, 2021•20 min
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 ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 23, 2021•15 min
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 pedestrian-only havens. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Listen to Total SF, hoste...
Sep 22, 2021•19 min
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 access: sfchronicle.com/pod Listen to Total SF, hosted by Heather Knight and Peter Hartlau...
Sep 22, 2021•19 min
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: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 21, 2021•22 min
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 charged debates on policing. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad ch...
Sep 20, 2021•22 min
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 on the history and legal landscape of vaccine mandates. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com...
Sep 17, 2021•21 min
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 more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 16, 2021•18 min
"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 Listen to Kosseff's interview with Newsom on It's All Political: pod.fo/e/e708c Chronicle election co...
Sep 15, 2021•24 min
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 Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Listen to Kosseff's interview with Newsom on It's All Political: pod.f...
Sep 14, 2021•17 min
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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 13, 2021•16 min
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. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...
Sep 10, 2021•18 min
