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
Episodes
October 30, 2023 • 8 mins
In a final farewell, Fifth and Mission host and executive producer Cecilia Lei explains why the show is ending and what making the show has meant to the team. To share any thoughts or messages with the production crew before they leave, visit sfchronicle.com/fifthandmissiongoodbye or leave a message at 415-777-6156.
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Mark as Played
October 30, 2023 • 21 mins
The Fifth and Mission podcast has ended its run. Here is one last favorite episode from the archives that exemplifies what we've loved about making this show. Today's pick is from host and executive producer, Cecilia Lei.
After tragedy struck an Asian ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park, host Cecilia Lei reports from ballroom studios and social dances in Oakland and San Francisco to see how Asian seniors are responding — and how...
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October 27, 2023 • 22 mins
The Fifth & Mission team is not producing any new episodes this week. Instead, we are sharing some of our favorite past episodes that exemplify what we've loved about making this show. Today's pick is from Co-Host Laura Wenus.
Drug users and dealers are being arrested in unusually high numbers in San Francisco’s troubled Tenderloin neighborhood amid a spike in overdose deaths and complaints about street conditions. It’s just the l...
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October 26, 2023 • 50 mins
The Fifth and Mission team is not producing any new episodes this week. Instead, we are sharing some of our favorite past episodes that exemplify what we've loved about making this show. Today's pick is from 2017, chosen by It's All Political on Fifth and Mission host, Joe Garofoli.
In episode 9 of It’s All Political (recorded in October 2017), CNN star Van Jones comes to the Chronicle archive podcast studio to talk about his new b...
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October 25, 2023 • 22 mins
The Fifth & Mission team is not producing any new episodes this week. Instead, we are sharing some of our favorite past episodes that exemplify what we've loved about making this show. Today's pick is from audio engineer Gary Baca.
La Cocina Municipal Marketplace was heralded as a springboard for immigrant- and women-owned food businesses when it opened in 2021. Now, its food kiosks are closing down. Opinion columnist Soleil Ho an...
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October 24, 2023 • 22 mins
The Fifth and Mission team is not producing any new episodes this week. Instead, we are sharing some of our favorite past episodes that exemplify what we've loved about making this show. Today's pick is from producer Keith Menconi.
Wildland firefighting has long been recognized as dangerous, dirty work. Now, there is growing evidence that it can also cause serious long-term health problems. Chronicle reporter Julie Johnson spent si...
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October 23, 2023 • 16 mins
Best of 5M: Wildfires have devastated giant sequoias, the world’s largest trees. Now national park officials want to restore the iconic California species by replanting them, but the plan is facing pushback. Reporter Kurtis Alexander joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss scientists' concerns and why debates like this will only become more common as we confront the devastation wreaked by climate change. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfc...
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October 20, 2023 • 19 mins
Best of 5M: “This is a story of deep poverty in a state with incredibly high housing costs.” That’s how Dr. Margot Kushel, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, describes the takeaway from California’s largest study of homeless adults in three decades. As Kushel, the study's lead investigator, tells host Cecilia Lei, the majority of respondents became homeless in California — and relatively small amounts...
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October 19, 2023 • 27 mins
Rachel Maddow’s new book, “Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism,” tells the largely overlooked story of America’s own Nazi movement during World War II — and the people who battled it at great personal risk. Ahead of a live appearance in San Francisco, she joins It’s All Political on Fifth & Mission host Joe Garofoli to share the alarming history and why it resonates so deeply today. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle....
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October 18, 2023 • 17 mins
As demand for food support skyrocketed during the early days of the pandemic, Bay Area food banks redoubled their efforts, boosting food distribution and adding services. Years later, the need remains high, even as pandemic-era funding sources run dry. Reporter Carolyn Said tells host Laura Wenus why the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank will be paring back its services, and how that might affect clients. | Unlimited Chronicle access: ...
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October 17, 2023 • 21 mins
Driverless car companies have faced some bumps in the road as they roll out services in San Francisco. But in Phoenix, Arizona, Waymo has been operating robotaxis since 2020 with little pushback. Transportation reporter Ricardo Cano, fresh off a trip to Arizona to see them in action, takes Fifth & Mission producer Keith Menconi on an autonomous vehicle ride to see why the driverless future is looking so different between the two ci...
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October 16, 2023 • 1 min
With the 2024 election a year away, we want to hear from you: Have you had difficult or contentious conversations with friends and family over divisive local issues? Are political frictions in the Bay Area weighing on you? We’d like to hear your story. Email us at fifth@sfchronicle.com or leave a message at 415-777-6156, and you might be part of a future episode. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod
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October 16, 2023 • 27 mins
After Navy veteran Joseph Carl Roberts was expelled from Savannah State University amid accusations of sexual harassment, he became a poster child for men claiming they were falsely accused and successfully lobbied for rollbacks to Obama-era Title IX reforms. That activism earned him national media attention and a seat on a local Republican committee in San Francisco. Today, Roberts faces much more serious charges: He is on trial f...
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October 13, 2023 • 22 mins
Car thefts are on the rise in San Francisco, and when owners find their stolen vehicles, the windshields often have an unexpected addition: parking tickets. Why are parking control officers citing stolen vehicles instead of helping to recover them? Chronicle reporters St. John "Sinjin" Barned-Smith and Susie Neilson join host Cecilia Lei to explain what they found when they looked into the city's practice, and how Mayor London Bree...
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October 12, 2023 • 17 mins
Water reservoirs across California have been overflowing thanks to last year’s record-breaking rainy season, but California state officials are still rolling out new usage restrictions. Chronicle reporter Kurtis Alexander joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss the state’s new plan to make water conservation permanent and how the water cuts may affect Bay Area residents. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod
Got a tip, commen...
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October 11, 2023 • 17 mins
The wait is almost over: In 2025, a new WNBA expansion team will begin playing in the Bay Area. The long-anticipated squad will be part of the Golden State Warriors franchise, benefiting from the Golden State brand and owner Joe Lacob’s deep pockets. Will women’s sports fans in the Bay Area ensure it thrives? Sports columnist Ann Killion analyzes what the move means for basketball and the Bay Area with host Laura Wenus. | Unlimited...
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October 10, 2023 • 24 mins
Wealthy tech investors recently unveiled their plans to build a utopian city in southeast Solano County, calling it California Forever. They’re promising idyllic streets and “good paying local jobs,” many of the same things touted for the development of Mountain House, a city built from scratch two decades ago in San Joaquin County. Chronicle urban design critic John King visited Mountain House, and joins host Cecilia Lei to discus...
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October 9, 2023 • 35 mins
In 1969, Native activist Richard Oakes led a group representing several tribes to occupy Alcatraz Island, claiming it as the site of a new Native nation. Three years later, the charismatic face of the Red Power movement was dead, shot by a white neighbor in rural Sonoma. What happened? And how did Oakes’ killing change the course of Native activism? Reporters Jason Fagone and Julie Johnson dug into the past to uncover truths that h...
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October 6, 2023 • 22 mins
The Senate minority leader freezing on camera; California’s senior senator dying in office at age 90: This year has served up a number of reminders that America’s elected leaders are now – on average – far older than the constituents they serve. It’s a trend that has led progressive advocate Amanda Litman to say the U.S. has become a gerontocracy. She joins It’s All Political on Fifth & Mission Host Joe Garofoli to discuss the gray...
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October 5, 2023 • 26 mins
Last month, Fifth & Mission gathered people on the front lines of the drug overdose crisis in the Bay Area to pose an urgent question: How do we end fatal overdoses? In front of a live audience at Manny’s, our panel of peer counselors, public health employees and medical practitioners joined host Cecilia Lei to discuss access to treatment, harm reduction strategies, the role of the police and the importance of housing — and hope. |...
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