Shows / Civic
Civic
Civic is the flagship audio program from the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit news institution, covering important local issues and the unique experiences of living and working in San Francisco. The radio program airs Tuesdays and Thursdays on KSFP -LP 102.5 FM in San Francisco.
Episodes
CivicSomebody's Watching You Part 1: America's Long History of Spying on Its Own
Who's watching us, what does it mean for our privacy and civil liberties, and how did we get here? In Somebody's Watching You, a three-part investigative…
CivicSan Francisco's AI Housing Crisis Is Breaking the Rules of Econ 101
This episode of “Civic” explores the history of displacement among San Francisco's technology booms and busts. Today, major job losses are coinciding with…
CivicCivic Special: Who’s Spending Big on San Francisco’s Election?
The League of Women Voters organized this panel discussion on money in San Francisco’s November election, held at the Internet Archive on Oct. 8. Lila LaHood…
CivicCivic Special: Short takes on the San Francisco and State Ballot Propositions
Make sense of the numerous November 2026 San Francisco and California ballot measures, with these one-minute explanations by reporters from the San Francisco…
CivicCivic Special: Inside Your San Francisco Election Ballot
he November 2026 election is pivotal at the national, state and local levels. San Francisco voters will weigh local races and propositions on Muni funding…
CivicEnd of a Healthcare Revolution: How San Francisco is Unraveling its Groundbreaking Program for Youth in Crisis
For nearly 60 years, San Francisco built a pioneering system to care for young people in crisis. What began during the Summer of Love with the nation's first…
CivicDebate Over San Francisco Props C and D
June 2026 San Francisco Public Press Election Guide Yes on D campaign Chamber of Commerce Voter Guide
CivicInside San Francisco’s Women’s Jail
After at least 19 women in San Francisco’s county jail alleged they were subjected to a mass strip search while deputies recorded on body-worn cameras…
CivicCivic Presents - Rival San Francisco Chinatown Clubs Hold Congressional Candidate Forum
Read the story in The San Francisco Public Press.
CivicCivic Special - Crossing State Lines for Abortion Access
About the panelists Diana Greene Foster is a demographer and professor at the University of California, San Francisco. She studies the causes and consequences…
CivicWho Decides? Trans Youth, Federal Power and the Battle Over Care
In this episode of Civic, reporter Sylvie Sturm examines how federal policy — through executive orders, funding threats and regulatory pressure — is reshaping…
CivicCivic Special - Local experts illuminate candidate races and expected measures on city ballots in June and November
What’s on the ballot this coming June and November? The San Francisco Public Press and The Frisc hosted a panel discussion to discuss the key issues. These…
CivicCivic Special - Formerly Incarcerated Performers Headline Berkeley Rep’s Mainstage
Formerly Incarcerated Perform at Berkeley Rep
CivicCivic Special - San Francisco “Family Zoning” Housing Plan
As part of an effort to meet state mandated housing requirements, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has introduced a "Family Zoning Plan" that would increase…
CivicBroke-Ass Stuart, Pioneer Offline-Online Influencer, Looks Back at 20 Years of Love, Death and Dive Bars.
Stuart Schuffman, aka Broke-Ass Stuart, started with a homemade zine, listing cheap eats, drinks and events. Along the way he became a TV travel host…
CivicWhy Are So Many Older Adults Unhoused, and What Can You Do About It?
“No Place to Grow Old” San Francisco Public Press
CivicHow Federal Cuts Threaten Research and Lives
When federal science budgets are gutted, the fallout reaches far beyond labs. From Alzheimer’s trials at the University of California San Francisco to cancer…
CivicWhat Medicaid Cuts Mean for San Francisco
President Trump calls it “One Big Beautiful Bill,” but critics say the latest federal budget will slash more than a trillion dollars from Medicaid over the…
CivicSocial Security Under Strain
If you’ve experienced issues with Social Security — missed checks, delayed responses, or inaccessible services — you can file a complaint with the California…
CivicThe Silent Killer — Chronic Hepatitis B Threatens the Health of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
About the ‘Silent Killer’ Series The San Francisco Public Press examined recent efforts to step up diagnosis, vaccination and treatment for hepatitis B…
CivicSidelined After Service: What Federal Cuts Mean for Veterans
Veterans and advocates are sounding the alarm as massive federal job cuts and plans to eliminate 83,000 positions at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs —…
CivicHow Do We Respond to Attacks on Public Media, DEI and Democracy?
The San Francisco Public Press on April 30, 2025, hosted a fireside chat recorded for this “Civic” episode about attacks on diversity, democracy and media with…
CivicProgress or Political Theater? Factions Disagree on How to Clean Up San Francisco Street Conditions
San Francisco's mayor and police department are facing praise and scorn for cracking down on homelessness and visible substance use amidst shelter and…
CivicJournalists Are Fighting Back Against Investors Dismantling Newspapers Around the Country
Join the San Francisco Public Press for a screening of “Stripped for Parts” in San Francisco on Thursday, March 13. Details and tickets…
CivicThousands Across Bay Area Are Mobilizing Against Mass Deportation
San Francisco's immigrant communities are facing a crisis as the Trump administration threatens mass deportations. For four decades, San Francisco has been a…
CivicRE-RELEASE: Ukrainians in SF Are Anxious and Angry
This week marks three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the conflict shows no signs of ending. On the eve of this grim anniversary, Russia launched…
CivicA New Aggressive Anti-Abortion Group Was Founded in San Francisco
Ever since the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, emboldened anti-abortion activists have used increasingly aggressive efforts to shut down abortion access in…
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Thank you for listening 2024
Thank you for listening. To support this work, visit: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/donate/
CivicLGBTQ Latin Americans Offer Safety From Hostile Substance Use Recovery Groups
LGBTQ Latin Americans come to San Francisco seeking relief from oppression and hostility. But when they join substance use disorder support groups, many…
CivicWhy the Navy Conducted Radiation Experiments on Humans - Exposed episode 2
The Navy conducted radiation experiments on humans at San Francisco's Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, turning hundreds of servicemen and shipyard workers into…
CivicA Community of Color Contends With the Navy’s Toxic Legacy - Exposed episode 1
Decades after the Navy closed a Cold War radiation research lab at San Francisco's Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, the mess isn't completely cleaned up…
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Special Civic episodes coming Monday
Watch for a special investigative 2 episode podcast dropping Monday, November 25th.
CivicLatinx in SF Use Tech for Post-COVID Trauma Recovery
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, San Francisco’s Latinx residents experienced higher rates of infection and deaths, and greater losses of income and…
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Should SF’s Great Highway Be a Park or a Roadway?
San Francisco’s proposition K is the most heated issue in this year’s local election. It asks whether the city should close a segment of the Great Highway, a…
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Proposition G: Making Housing Truly Affordable for Seniors in San Francisco
Affordable housing is too expensive for many in San Francisco, leaving people in untenable living situations: rentals they can’t afford, overcrowded single…
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Bonus: San Francisco Propositions November 2024
In the November, 2024 election San Francisco voters are being asked to decide whether to approve a wide range of issues in the form of 15 local ballot…
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Commission Impossible: San Francisco Governance on the Ballot
San Francisco commission reform is on the November 2024 ballot. If either Proposition D or E passes, they will change the city’s commissions in different ways…
CivicOverdose Prevention Centers Save Lives, But Is SF Listening?
There’s a glimmer of hope in San Francisco’s overdose crisis as the rate at which people are dying appears to be slowing down. But the city’s health director…
CivicFighting Secrecy in Local Government
Decisions by local and state governments have major impacts on our daily lives. But as transparency about those decisions decreases, and underfunded newsrooms…
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Is San Francisco a Sanctuary When You Don’t Have Housing?
Increases in the number of migrants arriving in San Francisco have stress-tested the city’s shelter system, revealing the dire need for more housing and…
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Unheard: The Plight of Maya Struggling with Addiction in SF
The impact of the COVID 19 pandemic led to a rise in fatal overdoses among the tens of thousands of Indigenous Maya living in the Bay area. That alarmed Latinx…
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Forgetting the Lessons and Losses of Covid
The first years of the COVID-19 pandemic are behind us and it’s time for an early reckoning of our successes and failures. An epidemiologist shares how a lack…
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Group Helps Asian American Communities Feel Safe
Three years ago, when violence against Asian Americans spiked, local organizations took action to improve public safety. One group, the Coalition for Community…
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Civic Roundtable: Three San Francisco Reporters Talk About Covering Drug Use and Overdoses
Lila LaHood, publisher of the San Francisco Public Press, talks with Nuala Bishari from the San Francisco Chronicle, Sydney Johnson from KQED, and Sylvie Sturm…
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What You Might Find on Your San Francisco Ballot: Party County Central Committees
Election Special: Voters in San Francisco registered with the Peace & Freedom, Green, Republican or Democratic parties have extra choices in the March 5th…
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Proposition F: Tying Cash Welfare to Drug Screening
March 2024 Election Special: Mayor London Breed is facing one of the most pivotal moments of her political career as she campaigns for reelection amidst a dual…
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Making Sense of Voting on Judges in San Francisco
March 2024 Election Special: Why are San Francisco residents being asked to vote on County Superior Court Judges? We talk to University of San Francisco…
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FIXED: The Grassroots Effort to Save Lives: San Francisco and the Overdose Crisis Part 6
*Audio fixed - Previously uploaded episode was the wrong audio and has been fixed* Fentanyl-related deaths among teens more than tripled across the U.S. from…
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The Grassroots Effort to Save Lives: San Francisco and the Overdose Crisis Part 6
Fentanyl-related deaths among teens more than tripled across the U.S. from 2019 to 2021. And the CDC reports that two thirds of teens who died had someone…
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The Fight for Safe Consumption Sites: San Francisco and the Overdose Crisis Part 5
The Fight for Safe Consumption Sites: San Francisco and the Overdose Crisis Part 5 As overdose fatalities reach two to three deaths a day in San Francisco…
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The War on Drugs Revisited: San Francisco and the Overdose Crisis Part 4
The War on Drugs Revisited: San Francisco and the Overdose Crisis Some San Francisco city officials are advocating jail for unhoused people who use drugs and…
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Criminalizing Drug Use: San Francisco and the Overdose Crisis Part 3
San Francisco and the Overdose Crisis Part 3 *Content Warning: Explicit language and a description of an overdose experience.* San Francisco city officials…
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How Drug Addiction and Homelessness Connect: San Francisco and the Overdose Crisis Part 2
Civic Presents: San Francisco and the Overdose Crisis Part 2 While San Francisco is on track to break records for the highest number of fatal overdoses in one…
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The Origins of Rampant Opioid Addiction: San Francisco and the Overdose Crisis Part 1
Civic Presents: San Francisco and the Overdose Crisis San Francisco is experiencing its worst rate of drug-related fatalities ever, and as city officials…
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Update: Maya and Sebastian
Seven months after being violently removed from their grandmother’s Santa Cruz home and taken to reunification therapy, Maya and Sebastian take to social media…
CivicWhy Black San Franciscans Are Fighting for Reparations
San Francisco is considering reparations for Black San Franciscans. To understand why advocates are pushing for reparations in the city, we dive deep into the…
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Report Card: SF and Winter Storms
The extreme winter storms put San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management to the test. Early in the storm cycle, the department faced challenges…
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Reunification Camp Survivor Recounts Horrific Experience
Content Warning: Audio of children in distress, discussions of child sexual abuse and child abuse, & swearing When a family court rules that a child was…
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The Industry of Defending Child Abusers
Family court judges routinely grant full custody to a parent after a child alleges they’re abusing them. That’s because they believe the other parent…