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
1126
Immigration Politics in a Word: Chilling
Senior political writer Joe Garofoli explains the politics behind the citizenship question on the census, the federal immigration raids, the new asylum laws and President Trump’s racist tweets about four House members who are women of color.
18 min
1127
What Google's $1 Billion Housing Plan Means
The tech giant's big Bay Area housing commitment is one of the largest of its kind and a sign that even the wealthiest companies are burdened by high rents. But many details are unclear.
17 min
1128
Can Co-Living Help Make San Francisco More Affo...
While young people have long shared housing in cities, an increasing number of real estate developers are betting that co-living can work on a much larger scale. In this episode we talk about the trend, focusing on San Francisco’s starcity, which is building a 270 bedroom coliving project in San Francisco and 800-room complex in San Jose.
18 min
1129
New Turn in Rideshare Rapist Case
A defense attorney in SF’s infamous “Rideshare Rapist” case says an illegal DNA search led police to the suspect.
15 min
1130
SF Mayor London Breed -- One Year In
With Mayor London Breed poised to cruise into a full term in office, Chronicle Editor In Chief Audrey Cooper and City Hall reporter Dominic Fracassa take stock of her past year in Room 200, and look ahead for what's in store for Breed over the next four years.
20 min
1131
Employees Versus Contractors: California’s Big ...
A new law will formalize a California Supreme Court ruling in a case called Dynamex that will make many workers employees instead of contractors. Reporter Carolyn Said explains why this matters to everyone from nail salon operators to investors in Uber and Lyft.
18 min
1132
Best Of: Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants With Sole...
The Chronicle’s new restaurant critic sat down with Audrey Cooper to talk about taking over longtime critic Michael Bauer’s signature list, what “top” means to her, and what’s different about the list this year.
27 min
1133
Best Of: Rebuilding of Aisha
From May: Aisha McCain spent years in prison after getting busted in a massive San Francisco gang crackdown, then she felt a lump in her breast and everything changed.
23 min
1134
Fentanyl Takes Hold in SF
Fentanyl overdoses killed 57 people in San Francisco last year – more than heroin or prescription pain pills. The synthetic opioid that’s 100 times stronger than morphine is now fully embedded in the SF street drug scene, public health experts say.
16 min
1135
Pot in Wine Country?
A local citizens group wants to legalize commercial cannabis cultivation in Napa County. But opponents claim that pot could threaten the success of America’s most famous wine growing region.
19 min
1136
Transbay Transit Center Reopening
Nine months after discovery of a cracked steel girder forced the closure of the Transbay Transit Center, the $2.2 billion transit hub, retail center and rooftop park has been repaired, inspected and is ready to reopen but without buses for now.
11 min
1137
Why Oakland Decriminalized Psychedelics
In early June, Oakland became the second city in the U.S. to decriminalize natural psychedelics like magic mushrooms. That initiative was sparked by growing interest – especially in the Bay Area – in using psychedelics for mental health.
15 min
1138
Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants With Soleil Ho
The Chronicle’s new restaurant critic sits down with Audrey Cooper to talk about taking over longtime critic Michael Bauer’s signature list, what “top” means to her, and what’s different about the list this year.
27 min
1139
How a Chronicle Food Writer Found the Most Impo...
Food Reporter Justin Phillips and Metro Editor Demian Bulwa discuss the scarcity of black food writers and how Kwame Onwuachi has changed the country’s celebrity chef landscape.
27 min
1140
Can California Avoid A Third Year of Deadly Fire?
Firefighters, policymakers and emergency responders are trying to make the state safe from fire, but they have a long way to go.
19 min
1141
Columnist Leah Garchik On Her 47-Year Career
Chronicle columnist Leah Garchik announced in her May 1 column that today, she is leaving the newspaper after 47 years. Host Peter Hartlaub and reporter Steve Rubenstein sat down with Garchik to talk about her first day in San Francisco, her beginnings as a columnist and what she plans to do next.
37 min
1142
Inside Juul’s Fraught Relationship With San Fra...
Editor in chief Audrey Cooper and business reporter Catherine Ho discuss the latest in San Francisco’s efforts to ban the sale of e-cigarettes — and how Juul, the nation’s largest e-cigarette company and a fast-growing presence in the city, is pushing back.
17 min
1143
Muni's Mess and Mayor Breed
San Francisco Mayor London Breed didn't campaign on transportation issues, but she zeroed in on them once she took office. Rachel Swan on why the mayor is gunning for Muni, and the future of transit in the city.
13 min
1144
Taxing Wealthy Companies to Solve SF's Problems
Should San Francisco raise taxes on prosperous companies to help pay for the city's most gripping problems? Between a tax on IPO's, Uber and Lyft and exorbitantly paid CEO's voters will have plenty of options to choose from in November. We break down the three business tax proposals headed to November's ballot, focusing on the most recent one that would raise money for a new mental health care system.
14 min
1145
The California Legislature's Key Bills to Watch
What bills are alive in the California Legislature after a month of big deadlines? We have the rundown, from proposals to expand housing to vaccine exemptions to a push to let bars serve until 4 a.m.
19 min
1146
Why SF's North Beach Is Struggling
San Francisco's Little Italy has seen a spike in empty storefronts. Residents, business owners and city officials blame a slow permitting process, earthquake construction and other challenges.
21 min
1147
Halfway Through the Ghost Ship Trial
Crime reporter Megan Cassidy speaks to Metro Editor Demian Bulwa at the halfway point through the criminal trial of the Ghost Ship fire, where two men are charged in the deaths of 36 people who died in the 2016 blaze.
16 min
1148
The Bay Area's Crumbling Streets and Bridges
Drivers, it's not your imagination: the Bay Area has the worst roads in the nation. We also have concrete crumbling from bridges and freeway overpasses. How did we get to this point -- and what will it take to fix it?
15 min
1149
Palo Alto's Private Park
Reporter Michael Cabanatuan joins Demian Bulwa to talk about 1,400-acre Foothills Park. It's usually populated with wildflowers, deer and lawbreakers. That is, anyone who doesn't live in Palo Alto. The park is restricted to residents.
11 min
1150
Why California Teachers Who Get Sick Have to Pa...
A strange state law allows school districts to charge teachers who get very sick for their own substitutes. But San Francisco Unified School District appears to be as strict as possible on the subject - including prohibiting a Lowell High teacher who needed a liver transplant from using his colleagues' donated sick time.
17 min