Fifth & Mission

4.4 (314)
POLITICS
UPDATED DAILY

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

10/30/2023

"From Victim to Actor": What Ballroom Dance Means for Asian Seniors

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 dancing helps them find their personal power. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Got a tip, comment, question? Email us: fifth@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

22 min
10/30/2023

Thank You For Listening

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 min
10/27/2023

San Francisco Drug Arrests Are Surging. Here’s What That Means.

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 latest in a series of enforcement pushes, and this time, state agencies are involved. But even within the city’s own government, this is a deeply controversial strategy. And, as City Hall reporter Aldo Toledo and data reporter Susie Neilson tell Laura Wenus, neighborhood denizens are not yet seeing the desired results. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Got a tip, comment, question? Email us: fifth@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

22 min
10/26/2023

Political activist, TV host and author Van Jones

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 book “Beyond the Messy Truth,” his early years as an activist in the Bay Area and his friendship with Prince. Theme music is "Cattle Call" by Randy Clark’s Crowsong. Opening signature by Leah Garchik.| Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Got a tip, comment, question? Email us: fifth@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

50 min
10/25/2023

A Celebrated Food Hall Closes in the Tenderloin

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 and food reporter Mario Cortez join host Cecilia Lei to discuss whether the closure is a symptom of the city’s larger struggles and what the loss means for the food hall’s resident vendors and Tenderloin neighbors. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Got a tip, comment, question? Email us: fifth@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

23 min
10/24/2023

The Price of Fighting California’s Wildfires

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 six months investigating the impacts of wildfire smoke on firefighters, and spoke to a dozen men and women diagnosed with grave diseases who all suspect that smoke was a factor. She tells host Cecilia Lei that for decades fire agencies have struggled to provide meaningful protection for their workers, but that progress could be coming. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Got a tip, comment, question? Email us: fifth@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

23 min
10/23/2023

The Controversial Plan to Save California's Giant Sequoias

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: sfchronicle.com/pod Got a tip, comment, question? Email us: fifth@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16 min
10/20/2023

"What Help?" Lessons From California's Largest Homeless Study in Decades

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 of money could have prevented it for almost everyone. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Got a tip, comment, question? Email us: fifth@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

19 min

See All (1.2K)

4.4

out of 5

314 Ratings

John Muir Stanford Partnership

12/01/2022

Learner Ann

This investigative reporting was excellent and a genuine public service. So many questions remain: What is Stanford’s role in overseeing how its “name” and perceived quality of care is used? Where is the John Muir Board of trustees in this equation? What kind of oversight does the State of CA have? My condolences to the families.
Thank you for a great show

11/10/2023

HalogenL

Sad to hear it ending. Thank you for a great show
Thank You💫

10/31/2023

Hija de La Orisha

I am sorry to hear that podcast will no longer be broadcasted. I enjoyed host Cecilia Lei, the podcast team and all of subject topics covered. We need your important voices. Thank you!!
The Chronicle’s disappointing decision

10/30/2023

Manderson_Jr

Because of my disabilities, audio media is easier for me to process than written media. The Chronicle’s decision to shut down their audio division is not only disappointing to the jobs they are displacing, but to people like me who will now struggle to keep up with local news. Shame on you for this inequitable decision.

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