Fifth & Mission

California voters approved a high-speed rail line in 2008, but years of political and fiscal barriers have delayed the project. Last week, rail authorities approved a bullet train link that would zoom passengers from the Central Valley into downtown San Francisco. State Capitol reporter Dustin Gardiner joins host Cecilia Lei to explain why the state's super fast mode of transit is having a moment. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Has Texas’ largest city found the key to ending chronic homelessness? Houston has drastically reduced the number of homeless people counted every other year, and its collaborative housing-first approach has garnered national attention. In this episode of The Chronicle's Fixing Our City podcast, two Houston homelessness leaders outline their strategy, and San Francisco’s top homelessness official responds with what could be learned and what’s already in progress. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/podFixing Our City is part of The San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext ProjectGot a tip, question, comment? Email us at sfnext@sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Warming temperatures in the Bay Area have made for good small talk. The Chronicle's new weather team is here to level up those conversations. Weather science editor Hannah Hagemann and the newsroom's first meteorologist, Gerry Diaz, join host Cecilia Lei to talk about lightning, fog, climate change and the science of daily forecasts. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Summer's over for SFUSD students, who are returning to the classroom this week. After dealing with the pandemic and various school board controversies in recent years, what do students face? Education reporter Jill Tucker joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss the work that the district has cut out for it this year, and what it'll have to prove. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The San Francisco district attorney visited the Chronicle newsroom Monday to defend her six-figure consultancy work for a nonprofit linked to the Recall Chesa Boudin campaign. Co-host and Chronicle director of news Demian Bulwa and crime reporter Megan Cassidy join host Cecilia Lei to discuss Jenkins' defense and what to expect the in the months ahead as the DA's race heats up. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California is in its third year of a historic drought but climate change also brings the risk of more intense and severe storms that could cause catastrophic flooding. Climate scientist Daniel Swain joins host Cecilia Lei to share findings from a new research study he co-authored, which details how a worse case scenario flood event could devastate the California. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mayor Libby Schaaf's $50 million initiative will give secondary education scholarships to Oakland's low-income students and college savings accounts to every baby born to a low-income family. Mayor Schaaf joins host Cecilia Lei to talk about how the ambitious initiative will end generational poverty, and what it means for her legacy as mayor. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former longterm Republican strategist Tim Miller, a Never Trumper and author of the bestselling “Why We Did It: A Travelogue From the Republican Road to Hell," talks to Joe Garofoli about the state of the Republican Party, whether anyone can beat Trump, and his own journey out of the GOP. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most of the criticisms aimed at San Francisco's new district attorney have been about her policy positions — until now. A new report shows that she was paid more than $100,000 from a nonprofit tied to a wealthy backer of the Recall Chesa Boudin campaign. In this conversation recorded one day before the controversy broke, Jenkins shares with host Cecilia Lei her vision for public safety in San Francisco. But will she be able to fulfill it? | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A handful of chefs have been running small restaurants out of their homes for years. They're often low-income people of color operating underground, serving their specialties to neighbors and homesick immigrants. But pandemic lockdowns prompted a surge in interest — and a government move to inspect and license the businesses, with uneven results. Chronicle reporter Elgin Nelson and critic Cesar Hernandez join host Demian Bulwa to discuss who's opening home restaurants, who's showing up for the food, and why the business is much more complicated than it might appear. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices