Fifth & Mission

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

News
Politics
701
Is Your Vaccination a Ticket to Freedom?
Once you get vaccinated against COVID-19, can you change your behavior? See your family? Get rid of masks and distancing? Yes and no. Reporter Erin Allday has the latest advice from medical experts, plus an update coronavirus variants.
17 min
702
Newsom Scoreboard: Vaccines Up, Polls Down
California's vaccine rollout is improving. Still, Gov. Gavin Newsom's poll numbers have dropped, and a recall effort is humming along. Sacramento reporters Alexei Koseff and Dustin Gardiner have the latest.
17 min
703
SF vs. SF: City Hall Sues the Schools
Chronicle Exclusive: City Attorney Dennis Herrera is suing the San Francisco Unified School district and Board of Education in an attempt to force classroom doors open after 11 months of distance learning.
17 min
704
Why Lowell High is Dropping Selective Admissions
Reporter Jill Tucker talks about the San Francisco school board's proposal for the elite public school, which has long been a feeder to the UC system. The move has upset some Asian Americans, who make up a disproportionate percentage of the enrollment at Lowell.
18 min
705
Feeding the Hungry During a Pandemic
Paul Ash, longtime executive director of the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, just retired, and Tanis Crosby has signed on to replace him. She explains to host Heather Knight why she wanted the demanding job and her plans for feeding swelling lines of hungry people.
11 min
706
A Whiplash Week in the Pandemic
Reporters Alexei Koseff and Jill Tucker talk to Demian Bulwa about the extended eviction moratorium, vaccine distribution, a school reopening plan stalling and Gov. Newsom feeling political heat.
21 min
707
San Francisco's School Renaming Revolution
A stand against the racist legacies of slaveholders and oppressors, or an unnecessary and expensive distraction from the crisis caused by coronavirus? And: Renaming Lincoln High? Really? Jill Tucker on the controversy.
19 min
708
Is San Francisco Really Over? (Again?)
From the end of the Gold Rush to COVID-19, people have predicted San Francisco's demise whenever times have gotten hard. Total SF host Peter Hartlaub says the city has always rebounded from disaster, and will do it again this time.
24 min
709
The Man Who Finds Bodies
Keith Cormican has a very unusual job: he finds and retrieves dead bodies in lakes and rivers across the country.
26 min
710
How Scary Are COVID-19 Variants?
As scientists race to understand the newly discovered coronavirus mutations, Erin Allday explains how they might change the trajectory of the pandemic. Plus: Aidin Vaziri shares some practical tips we can all take to protect ourselves.
16 min
711
COVID-19 Crushed Mayor Breed's Homeless Plan
Shortly after she took office, San Francisco Mayor London Breed pledged to add 1,000 shelter beds to help with the city’s homelessness crisis. But after the coronavirus pandemic emptied out shelters, the city has been forced to recast its goals around homelessness. Chronicle City Hall reporter Trisha Thadani talks about the state of the city’s shelter system.
14 min
712
"Ding Dong the Devil Is Gone"
The center of the resistance reacts to Inauguration Day: Residents of San Francisco and Oakland describe an unusual mix of relief and optimism after watching President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris get sworn in.
14 min
713
New President, New COVID-19 Response
How quickly can Joe Biden change the course of the coronavirus pandemic? Dr. George Rutherford, an infectious disease doctor at UCSF, is optimistic about the new Biden-Harris administration.
20 min
714
Virus Mutation and a Bad Vaccine Batch
A new coronavirus variant is spreading, and it might be even more contagious. Meanwhile, thousands of vaccine doses are shelved after several people reported allergic reactions. Reporters Catherine Ho and Erin Allday have details.
17 min
715
Why One Tech Titan Is Committing to San Francisco
Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson tweeted a thread that went viral calling for his fellow tech leaders to #committothebay. He says he's tired of them packing up for Austin or Miami and "dunking" on San Francisco on the way out.
23 min
716
California's Unemployment Benefits Nightmare
California has suspended 1.4 million unemployment accounts in its quest to crack down on fraud -- but hundreds of thousands of legitimately unemployed people got caught in the freeze. Business reporter Carolyn Said talks with Demian Bulwa about the issue, and what California is doing to fix it.
15 min
717
Vaccination Frustration
Why has California fallen behind almost every other state in getting COVID-19 vaccines into people’s arms?
17 min
718
The Impeachment of Donald Trump, Part 2
No president had ever been impeached twice before the House passed a resolution charging Trump with “incitement of insurrection.” in this joint episode of Fifth & Mission & It's All Political, Heather Knight and Joe Garofoli talk about what's next.
16 min
719
The Top 25 Restaurants in the Bay Area
Restaurant critic Soleil Ho has a brand new list of the region's best eats, which she'll update quarterly to reflect the quickly changing restaurant scene during the pandemic.
17 min
720
House Barrels Toward Impeachment
Introducing an article of impeachment, House Democrats accuse President Trump of “inciting violence against the government.” The pressure is on Republicans, say Tal Kopan and Joe Garofoli in this joint episode with It's All Political.
17 min
721
Sick for the Long Haul With COVID-19
Charlie McCone, 31, got the coronavirus in March. It's wrecked his life. The "long-hauler," as doctors call people like him, still has brutal symptoms and wants to warn other young healthy people not to be cavalier about the disease.
27 min
722
Should the President be Removed?
On a joint episode of Fifth & Mission and It’s all Political, Demian Bulwa and Joe Garofoli talk about attempts to remove President Trump. Plus reporter Chase DiFeliciantonio on Facebook and Twitter finally cracking down.
23 min
723
President Trump's Mob
Encouraged by a president trying to hijack the election he lost, a mob of extremists stormed the U.S. Capitol. How did the chaos unfold? How did we get here? And what happens now? Tal Kopan, Joe Garofoli and John Diaz talk it over.
20 min
724
What Georgia's Senate Runoff Results Mean
With Raphael Warnock declared the winner over Kelly Loeffler and Jon Ossoff close to victory over David Perdue, Washington correspondent Tal Kopan talks about how the result will affect the Biden administration — and California.
11 min
725
The State of the COVID-19 Surge
Hospitals are filling up just as a more contagious variant of coronavirus invades California. Reporters Erin Allday and Jill Tucker talk about vaccine distribution, patients waiting hours for treatment, and what's happening with schools.
20 min