Chronicle reporter Shwanika Narayan tells host Demian Bulwa how bad the Delta surge is getting in Northern California's rural counties, and Dr. Stephanie Dittmer, a physician in Humboldt County, describes being right in the middle of it.

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.

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.

Chronicle reporters went to the local ZIP codes with the lowest vaccination rates and asked people why they hadn't gotten the shots. Reporter Julie Johnson says people offered a surprising mix of reasons. Plus: Reporter Ryan Kost on the immunocrompromised.

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.

From Khaled Hosseini, author of “The Kite Runner," to an Afghan-American professor, to twin sisters who made it back to the U.S. just before the fall of Kabul — Cecilia Lei talks to local Afghans about their hopes and fears for Afghanistan

California’s recall election is now a legitimate threat for Gov. Newsom. Dustin Gardiner, the Chronicle's state capitol reporter, and senior political writer Joe Garofoli discuss the latest.

Fifth & Mission presents an episode of the Chronicle's politics podcast, It's All Political, featuring Rep. Barbara Lee, who talks to Joe Garofoli about her famous no vote on war authorization, and opens up about her personal life.

Lizzie Johnson, who covered wildfires for the Chronicle for five years, talks about her new book, "Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire," about the 2018 Camp Fire and what we can learn from it as new fires rage.

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. Reporters Trisha Thadani and Janelle Bitker talk with Demian Bulwa about the strict new mandate.

The Fruitvale has a low vaccination rate and high COVID case rate. Reporter Deepa Fernandes joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss an outreach program that's hoping to change that with the help of the children of immigrants.

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.

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.

Host Demian Bulwa talks to Margaret Elysia Garcia, who wrote a "Eulogy for Greenville" for the Plumas News after the Dixie Fire devastated the town, and Melissa Geissinger, who lost her home in the 2017 Tubbs Fire and writes about surviving trauma.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 debate.

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 distancing. She talks about how students are transitioning back. And she discusses the prospect of potential lockdowns in the future.

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 president of the San Francisco Bar Owner Alliance, explains why implementing the vaccination requirement was a no-brainer decision.

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.

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.

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.

Eight years after his fiancee died of a rare liver disease at 23, Joshua Barbeau, still grieving, began texting with an artificial intelligence simulation of her. Barbeau and the Chronicle's Jason Fagone join Cecilia Lei to tell the story.