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, publisher and mayoral candidate. He became an influencer offline before social media made influencer viable a career choice.

Homelessness among older adults is on the rise in California. Nearly half of all single homeless adults in the state are age 50 and older, and many of them are experiencing homelessness for the first time, according to a 2024 study from the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. On Sept. 30, the Public Press hosted a screening of “No Place to Grow Old,” a documentary directed by Davey Schaupp that explores of the inner lives of three seniors experiencing homelessness in Portland, Oregon. Following comments from the director, Public Press reporter Madison Alvarado moderated a discussion that examined examined why homelessness is rising among older adults, and how San Franciscans be a part of the solution. Panelists included Joe Wilson, executive director of Hospitality House, Amy Fairweather, director of policy at Swords to Plowshares, and Armando Bravo Martinez, a member of the Bernal Heights RV community and Coalition on Homelessness. The conversation touched on the criminalization of homelessness, the human costs of capitalism and strategies to combat this crisis.

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 studies at the Veterans Administration, critical research is stalling, science students are losing opportunities to train and launch careers, and veterans are left without lifesaving care. Hear how universities, courts, and Congress are scrambling to protect the future of science as we unpack the political fight behind the cuts — and what’s at stake for you. We also explore how veterans are pushing back. To learn more, go to commondefense.us.

Staffing cuts, office closures and stricter rules are straining the Social Security system. In this episode, we hear from beneficiaries, workers, and advocates about increasingly long wait times and unanswered phone calls, what’s breaking down — and what it means for the more than 100,000 San Francisco residents who rely on the program to survive.

Chronic hepatitis B can lay dormant for years until the infection has caused life-threatening damage to the liver. We hear the stories of patients living with the disease, and about how a lack of resources and infection patterns put Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders at greater risk. Researchers are working on a cure as activists and medical professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area create a unique model of care for the disease that is being copied around the U.S.

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 — championed as “efficiency reforms” by the Trump administration — threaten to strip away critical services. In this episode, we take an in-depth look at the human toll of sweeping layoffs and the privatization push at the VA. And we spotlight community resilience, with programs like Vets in Tech, co-founded by Craig Newmark, helping veterans transition into Silicon Valley careers—without tapping into their VA benefits. Learn more: vetsintech.co

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 Ricardo Sandoval-Palos, the public editor at PBS, and Lila LaHood, executive director of the San Francisco Public Press. In addition to discussing how journalists can do better covering issues their audiences care about in a political environment that is fraught with conflict, how PBS engages with listeners and viewers about their critiques and concerns, and why public media newsrooms aim to reflect the diversity of the communities they serve, Sandoval-Palos and LaHood talked about what might happen if the federal government were to cut funding to PBS and NPR, which receive a portion of their funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The next day, President Trump signed an executive order attempting to do just that.

The U.S. news media, broadly, is under attack by a leader who calls journalists the enemy of the people. But the destruction of local newspapers has been underway for years with hedge fund owners buying up publications, laying off staff, and selling valuable assets, usually real estate, for a quick profit. In this episode, we talk with Rick Goldsmith to explore this topic and discuss his documentary, “Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink.”

San Francisco's immigrant communities are facing a crisis as the Trump administration threatens mass deportations. For four decades, San Francisco has been a refuge for immigrants seeking a better life and a battleground for justice when federal policies target vulnerable communities. Today, legal aid networks, rapid response teams, and mass protests are showing that the city will not stand by while so many of its residents are at risk. In this episode, we’ll hear from people affected by mass deportation efforts. We’ll also hear from experts with a historical perspective, and resistance movement organizers.

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 its largest drone attack yet, causing widespread destruction and civilian casualties. Days later, the U.S. voted against a U.N. resolution calling for Russia’s withdrawal. In this episode, we revisit conversations first aired on April 7, 2022 — just six weeks after the invasion began — as San Francisco residents with deep ties to Ukraine were fearing for loved ones and desperately trying to help. From sending vital medical supplies to welcoming refugees into the Bay Area, their stories remain powerful and urgent as the crisis continues.

Ever since the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, emboldened anti-abortion activists have used increasingly aggressive efforts to shut down abortion access in San Francisco. In October, an anti-abortion crusader entered the local Planned Parenthood brandishing a gun. And a new anti-abortion movement that launched in San Francisco is gaining popularity through TikTok posts of members performing clinic invasions. City officials stepped up abortion protections with new legislation and Proposition O — a ballot measure to support women seeking abortions, which passed with 84% of the vote. That’s in keeping with a long San Francisco tradition of fighting for abortion access going back to the mid-1960s when a trial widely known as the San Francisco Nine sparked a nationwide movement that led to loosened restrictions. In this episode, we take a look at San Francisco’s 60-year history in the battle for reproductive rights, a new increasingly aggressive anti-abortion movement, and what reproductive justice activists are doing to keep up the fight.

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LGBTQ Latin Americans come to San Francisco seeking relief from oppression and hostility. But when they join substance use disorder support groups, many encounter scorn — especially if they’re transgender. When one San Francisco couple heard that transgender Latin Americans were facing hostility in peer support groups, they formed their own. Now LGBTQ people in addiction recovery across the U.S. and Latin America are turning to their group as a welcoming place to heal.

The Navy conducted radiation experiments on humans at San Francisco's Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, turning hundreds of servicemen and shipyard workers into unwitting “volunteers” for Cold War scientists’ biology and safety research.

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. Neighbors in Bayview-Hunters Point are demanding accountability for the toxic legacy amid charges of environmental racism.

Watch for a special investigative 2 episode podcast dropping Monday, November 25th.

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 homes compared with other ethnic groups. Widespread depression and anxiety resulting from the trauma led to a grassroots effort to heal the community. That’s when a UCSF psychiatrist asked them to test a new therapy that combines an app with trained coaches chosen from amongst members of their community. Now locals are envisioning a brighter future, and the project is getting kudos from the White House.

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 coastal thoroughfare, to car traffic, so it could later become a park. Residents are divided: some welcome the idea of a park for families and community gatherings, while others worry that it will make north-south travel on the west side more difficult, making it harder to connect with their families and communities. In this episode, we hear from residents about why this space matters to them—whether as a road or as a park.