Fifth & Mission

As monkeypox cases spread across California, the virus is inflicting an uneven toll on gay and bisexual men, according to new state data. But while San Francisco declared a state of emergency, members of the LGBTQ community are furious at limited vaccine access — and fearful of discrimination. Chronicle reporters Dustin Gardiner and Tony Bravo join host Demian Bulwa to discuss the latest on the disease and the faltering effort to fight it.  | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Residents of the Wood Street encampment in West Oakland are fighting a pending eviction after a two-alarm fire broke out on CalTrans property at the site in mid-July. About 300 people live in the encampment, which spans roughly 25 city blocks and which advocates say has been neglected for years. Now, city and state officials, who have struggled to deal with the encampment, want it shut down. They say that Wood Street poses safety hazards, which have become more urgent after the recent fire. Residents say this is their home. On today's episode of Fifth & Mission, producer and reporter Caron Creighton takes us to the Wood Street encampment. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco, which has seen a decades-long exodus of Black residents, now has a Black mayor, police chief, district attorney and president of the Board of Supervisors. Yet Chronicle columnist Justin Phillips says that the city's Black residents are not well represented in meaningful ways. He explains in a conversation with host Demian Bulwa that Black politicians must navigate a political structure that wasn’t created for them to succeed. And he argues that moves toward more moderate or conservative policies, such as arresting street drug users and replacing DA Chesa Boudin with Brooke Jenkins, stand to perpetuate long-standing inequities. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wine consultants have become essential to the production of Napa Valley's signature product: Cabernet Sauvignon. As more wineries rely on a handful of elite winemakers, the field has become more competitive. Senior wine critic Esther Mobley joins host Cecilia Lei, to explain how the economics of winemaking factor in and why some fear the wines could become homogeneous. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of an Ohio 10-year-old rape victim who traveled to Indiana for an abortion made headlines across the globe. It spotlighted the potential risks of mandated reporting for out-of-state abortion patients and their health providers. Chronicle reporter Sophia Bollag joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss the potential legal ramifications CA abortion providers as more out-of-state patients arrive in the state. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Oakland, a federal security guard was shot and killed. The murderer was later discovered to be Steven Carrillo, a member of the Boogaloo Bois, a far right, anti-government extremist group. Chronicle reporter Joshua Sharpe joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss how Carrillo was radicalized online, and why extremists like him are closely watching the prosecutions of the January 6 Capitol insurrection. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the three San Francisco school board members appointed after this year's recall is already facing calls to resign. The member, Ann Hsu, made a racist statement in a candidate questionnaire ahead of November's election, saying that one of the biggest challenges for marginalized students, “especially in the Black and brown community,” was their “unstable family environments” and lack of family support and parental encouragement. Hsu has apologized, but her future is uncertain. Chronicle reporter Jill Tucker tells host Demian Bulwa why the controversy has touched many nerves in the a school system struggling with wide racial disparities in achievement. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oakland’s Understory restaurant won a James Beard award. But can it change the industry? Members of the radical collective Jenabi Pareja and Diana Wu speak with host Cecilia Lei about why worker’s rights are foundational to their restaurant and why they have mixed feelings about the award. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yasmin Radjy, the new leader of Swing Left, explains how Democrats have a path forward to hold the House in November's midterm elections. Radjy speaks with host Joe Garofoli about her history in San Francisco, abortion rights, and flipping house seats. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Monday, advocates protested outside the U.S. Health and Human Services office in San Francisco to call out the slow federal response to the monkeypox outbreak and the low supply of monkeypox vaccines. Members of the LGBTQ community say the inattention is reminiscent of another public health crisis: the HIV/AIDs crisis of the 1980's. San Francisco AIDS Foundation CEO Dr. Tyler TerMeer joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss why, and Chronicle health reporter Erin Allday shares the current risk for wider community transmission of monkeypox. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As President Biden drops in the polls, some Democrats are shopping for a 2024 candidate. Newsom says he isn’t running, but the way he’s taking on high profile Republicans, including Florida governor Ron DeSantis, is making some wonder whether he’s defending Democratic ideals or prepping in case Biden fades. Chronicle reporter Sophia Bollag joins It's All Political on Fifth and Mission host Joe Garofoli to discuss Newsom's offensive strategy against conservatives. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Five months after city voters tossed out three school board members in a landslide recall, things have changed. The board, once lambasted for infighting and focusing on issues like renaming schools, is vowing to pivot back to a core issue — student performance. And the challenges are great, including disparities among racial groups and soaring absenteeism. Just 58% of students were deemed proficient in reading last year. Chronicle education reporter Jill Tucker tells host Demian Bulwa why members of the beleaguered board are also simply trying to learn how to do their jobs better. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Racial disparities in traffic and pedestrian stops by law enforcement have been a historical problem, but now California has the data to see how bad it actually is. Chronicle reporters Dustin Gardiner and Susie Neilson join host Cecilia Lei to discuss the most recent data and how racial profiling in the Bay Area compares to other major cities in the state, as well as the limits of data collection. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The latest Covid-19 pandemic twist is the new Omicron subvariant BA.5, which evades immunity from vaccinations, boosters and previous infections. Dr. Bob Wachter, UCSF's chair of medicine, joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about what makes this variant different, and offers guidance on future boosters and how to calculate risks. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An Alameda County grand jury report has found that the local mental health system is making the area's homeless crisis worse. Among the findings is a lack of basic consensus on solutions, which cause mentally ill residents to cycle in and out of ERs and jails. Chronicle reporter Lauren Hepler joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss the holes in the county's social services. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices