San Francisco will be one of the inaugural counties to start using CARE court in October. The program could refer mentally ill homeless people to court-ordered treatment but some activists have disability rights concerns, and both critics and proponents of the law wonder if the city will be ready to provide comprehensive treatment. Chronicle reporters Sophia Bollag and Mallory Moench join host Cecilia Lei to talk about the state mandate and how CARE Court will function.

Chloe Cole, an 18-year-old from the Central Valley, has sued Kaiser Permanente over gender-affirming care she was provided when she was younger. Cole says she has de-transitioned, and though her story is rare, she has been embraced by conservatives. As reporter Erin Allday tells host Demian Bulwa, Cole's lawsuit comes as efforts to expand transgender rights have met a fierce backlash that is now playing out in California courts.

In a wide-raging onstage conversation with host Cecilia Lei, the comic, host of CNN's "United Shades of America," producer and director of "We Have to Talk About Cosby" and co-author of "Do the Work: An Antiracist Activity Book" says being progressive is about just that — doing the work. This episode was recorded live at Manny’s in San Francisco as part of Fifth & Mission’s 1,000th episode celebration.

Unite Here Local 2 president Anand Singh and Platformer managing editor Zoë Schiffer join host Cecilia Lei onstage to talk about how the pandemic has changed labor organizing. Work stoppages and strikes increased during the pandemic across industries. What does that mean for tech workers who face massive layoffs? This episode was recorded live at Manny’s in San Francisco as part of Fifth & Mission’s 1,000th episode celebration.

A San Francisco pilot initiative has been swarming the Castro’s neediest unhoused residents with services and support. It's had astonishing success, but it may be impossible to expand.

In announcing her candidacy to become only the third Black woman in the history of the body, Lee says that representation matters. She also tells It’s All Political on Fifth & Mission host Joe Garofoli that while it’s harder for Black women progressives to raise funds, she’s proven herself up to the challenge in the past.

In the 1990s, Portugal was facing a heroin crisis so widespread that it was almost impossible to find a family unaffected by the opioid. The government responded by aggressively adding health and social services, and by decriminalizing drug possession. Are there takeaways for San Francisco? An episode of The Chronicle's Fixing Our City podcast.

As The Chronicle's food critic, Soleil Ho has spent the past four years reviewing the Bay Area restaurant scene, and they won a James Beard Award for it last year. Now, they're moving to the Chronicle Opinion Section. Ho joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss why they're making that move.

The decades-old policy was enacted in the worst days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and while it's been relaxed some in recent years, the latest change represents a major loosening of rules that gay rights activists have long said are needlessly stigmatizing and discriminatory. Reporter Erin Allday and state Sen. Scott Weiner join host Demian Bulwa to talk about the policy change and the concerns that remain.

Chronicle Washington correspondent Shira Stein joins host and lead political writer Joe Garofolli to talk about what Dianne Feinstein has now said will be her final term in the Senate. They discuss a career marked by tragedy and perseverance — from the assassinations of Harvey Milk and George Moscone to more recent battles over the issue most associated with her, gun safety.

The 2017 law forces local governments to streamline construction projects if they don’t meet their state-mandated targets. It’s working to get housing built in San Francisco, but it’s set to expire at the end of 2025. Sen. Scott Wiener wants to make it permanent to fix California’s housing crisis. Chronicle reporter Dustin Gardiner joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss SB35's impact and why some are opposed to extending it.

The San Francisco district attorney intends to drop the historic prosecution of an SFPD officer who shot and killed an unarmed man. She claims her predecessor, Chesa Boudin, filed the manslaughter charges against Christopher Samayoa for political reasons, while Boudin says Jenkins is not interested in holding police accountable. Reporter Joshua Sharpe joins host Demian Bulwa to talk about the death of Keita O’Neil and what it means in the context of the police reform movement nationally.

"You can write us off, but you better write in pencil," said London Breed in her state of the city address Thursday. City Hall reporter Mallory Moench joins host Joe Garofoli to talk about the mayor's vision for San Francisco, including plans to build 82,000 new housing units and bolster SFPD staffing numbers.

Street prostitution has been an issue on Capp Street in the Mission District for decades.

Over 7,000 people have been killed in Turkey and Syria from major earthquakes this week. How prepared are Bay Area cities for a similar quake? Geologist Austin Elliott of the USGS joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about the probability of the Bay Area's next "big one" and how to prepare for it.

The federal government has been providing emergency funds to tackle food insecurity since the start of the pandemic, but that support will end this month. Meg Davidson from the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about the local action that's needed now.

San Francisco has half a dozen teams responding to people in crisis on the streets. Have these teams been effective? Chronicle reporter Mallory Moench joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about the city’s new pilot program to address homelessness, and what the data tells us about the impact of San Francisco's crisis teams.

The LGBTQ community is facing aggression on both the legislative and community levels. New S.F. Pride president Nguyen Pham joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about how recent challenges for the queer community are informing his leadership.

Last month's mass shooting highlighted problems that have long existed: Exploited populations living in substandard conditions on California farms. Reporters Matthias Gafni and Nora Mishanec join host Cecilia Lei to talk about what's been exposed since the shooting, and Darlene Tenes of Farmworker Caravan shares why deplorable living conditions at farms have been a long-standing crisis across the state.

Tthe state wants to limit carbon emissions by going all-electric — in your home and in your car. But it also needs to keep the lights on, building a stronger and more innovative power grid.

Intense storms like the ones that just rolled through California, combined with rising sea levels, are endangering scenic shoreline areas like West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz, where large chunks of bluffs fell into the sea earlier this month. Reporter Kurtis Alexander tells host Cecilia Lei that coastal cities are having to deal with problems like this years before they thought they’d have to.

Law enforcement officials have released recordings that document what happened before and after the attack on Paul Pelosi in the home he shares with then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Abner Hauge, editor-in-chief of Left Coast Right Watch, which monitors alt-right extremism, joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about attacker David Wayne DePape and his extremist rhetoric.

Almost two years before Election Day, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff have tossed their hats in the ring, and Barbara Lee is making plans. Washington correspondent Shira Stein joins host Joe Garofoli to talk about who else might run for the seat now held by Dianne Feinstein, who's expected to retire, and how they'll raise the enormous amounts of money required.

Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong is on paid administrative leave after a report said he mishandled an officer misconduct investigation.

The state has some of the strictest gun laws in the country, including background checks and bans on assault-style weapons, but mass shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay this week have left the state reeling. Assembly Member Evan Low joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss the limits of state legislation — and the support that AAPI communities need now.