Fifth & Mission

If you're among the thousands of Bay Area residents who've skipped the second shot of a two-shot vaccine, you've got health experts worried. You may be better off than people who are fully unvaccinated, but you're at risk of getting sick, especially from the potent "delta" variant, according to new research. Chronicle health reporter Catherine Ho talks about people who haven't returned for second doses, and what officials are doing in response. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beyond the politics and fear, what do the numbers actually show? Chronicle data reporter Susie Neilson explains that even though crime has been falling all over the place for decades, the pandemic spurred distinct trends, including a surge in gun violence in Oakland and a shift from car to home burglaries in San Francisco. Now, crime is returning to pre-pandemic levels, too — for better and for worse. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Karaoke's OK now, right? Packed indoor dining? Concerts? Reporter Kellie Hwang breaks down the new normal with host Cecilia Lei. Plus: Health reporter Erin Allday reflects on this long road back to something like post-pandemic life. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the pandemic hit them hard, LGBTQ youth found solidarity and celebration on the platform. Host Cecilia Lei is joined by reporter Malavika Kannan, who wrote about the community, and 19-year-old content creator Cas Davis of Fairfield, who found their voice there. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lizzie Johnson tells the story of 10-year-old Bre-Anna Valenzuela, whose parents were fighting as her mother fought a terminal disease. But at least their home in Fresno was protected by California's eviction moratorium. Or so they thought. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The powerful San Francisco supervisor, a pivotal figure at City Hall since 2000, acknowledged a problem with alcohol after Chronicle reporters interviewed dozens of his colleagues about a troubling pattern of bullying and apparent intoxication at meetings. City Hall columnist Heather Knight joins Cecilia Lei with the story. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Poor Yelp reviews can spell trouble for restaurants, but food writer Elena Kadvany says difficulty in staffing back up is causing longer wait times and service gaps as the industry recovers from the pandemic. Host Cecilia Lei also speaks to Dennis Leung, a restaurant G.M., and Sevan Araneda, a former bar manager, about what we should expect as we dine and drink in public again. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Water shortages and parched conditions are affecting the entire Bay Area. Reporter Kurtis Alexander gives the latest drought updates to host Cecilia Lei. Then, food writer Tara Duggan explains why farms and ranches will be hit hardest, and grazing specialist Byron Palmer shares how his business is struggling to survive. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of San Francisco's most explosive debates centers on whether the city's policies and "amenities" attract unhoused people and tent camps. Now, the debate extends to public bathrooms. As the Chronicle's Mallory Moench reports, one of the city’s leaders in the homelessness crisis has advocated for the removal of portable toilets from some sites. The pushback was fierce, with some activists and officials saying we need more bathrooms, which are essential to human dignity. Next up is a public hearing on the issue. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An earlier version of this episode was published with old audio. That version has been fixed, and we've also republished the correct audio here. For a while, the state wasn't doing much to monitor the spread of coronavirus variants in communities. That has changed, reporter Erin Allday says. More widespread genomic sequencing of the virus may help us respond more quickly to flare-ups, protect vulnerable communities and understand if vaccines are working. It's a breakthrough that may provide benefits even after the pandemic is over. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For a while, the state wasn't doing much to monitor the spread of coronavirus variants in communities. That has changed, reporter Erin Allday says. More widespread genomic sequencing of the virus may help us respond more quickly to flare-ups, protect vulnerable communities and understand if vaccines are working. It's a breakthrough that may provide benefits even after the pandemic is over. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In just a few decades, the waterline is expected to rise by almost a foot, which will impact nearly every facet of life in the region. Chronicle urban design critic John King joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss his new four-part series, "Rising Reality," which looks at how Bay Area communities are bracing for rising sea levels. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The coronavirus pandemic's toll on San Francisco public schools may be felt for years. More than 1,700 students have left, which could cost the district millions of dollars. Some families left the city, others switched to private schools whose campuses were open. Will they come back, and what happens if they don't? Reporter Jill Tucker talks about what schools are grappling with. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mayor London Breed wants to spend that much over the next two years. Reporter Trisha Thadani joins Cecilia Lei to talk about how the mayor plans to spend the money, and homeless advocate Juthaporn Chaloeicheep gives her reaction to the huge price tag. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Monica Gandhi of UCSF has gained national attention with her controversial critiques of the Bay Area’s conservative pandemic response, which she argues has done more harm than good for some populations, especially schoolchildren. Before the pandemic, Gandhi was known locally as a long-time HIV/AIDS care provider who ran San Francisco General’s Ward 86. She talks with Erin Allday about how that work — and experiences in her personal life over the past year and a half — influenced her reaction to the coronavirus pandemic. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reporter Sarah Ravani and photographer Gabrielle Lurie talk with Cecilia Lei about their reporting on dementia patients at Gordon Manor, an assisted living facility in Redwood City. Dementia patients have been particularly vulnerable during the pandemic, as they have trouble following safety protocols, which also disrupt the routines that keep them healthy and safe, including contact with family. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After more than a year of lockdowns, people are ready to shove aside their "travel guilt" and get away, with more than three-quarters of Americans saying they're planning trips. But reporter Greg Thomas tells Demian Bulwa that not everything is back to normal: Shorter road trips might win out over long flights, and usually bustling San Francisco might have a long road to recovery as a tourist hub. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We tend to look at mass shootings as isolated events. But Guardian reporter Abené Clayton tells Cecilia Lei "the repercussions of gun violence spread like a virus," and we should be thinking about tragedies like the San Jose shooting as a public health disaster. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few issues have been as critical in the past year as keeping people in their homes, even as they struggle to pay rent. Now, as the pandemic eases, San Francisco and California face pressure to ward off a wave of potential evictions. Reporter Emma Talley has the latest on San Francisco's eviction moratorium, which was expected to be extended. And reporter Mallory Moench discusses a more controversial proposal to excuse some city businesses from paying rent if they'd been required to shut down. Landlords are pushing back on that one. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the year since George Floyd’s death, local city leaders have launched a variety of police reform initiatives, from cutting budgets to reallocating funds to the community. But do they go far enough? Reporters Sarah Ravani and Megan Cassidy give Cecilia Lei an update on how major Bay Area cities responded to last summer's protests, and whether progress has been made. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices