Jason Fagone
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Author of THE WOMAN WHO SMASHED CODES, HORSEMEN OF THE ESOPHAGUS & INGENIOUS. jason.fagone@sfchronicle.com, jfagone.substack.com
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Articles by Jason Fagone
Elizebeth Smith, la mujer que descifró los secretos de Hitler
El libro 'La mujer que rompió los códigos' (Pinolia) rescata la historia de la mujer que desenmascaró a los espías nazis en Sudamérica y que fue olvidada por el paso del tiempo, cuyo trabajo ayudó a ganar la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Te descubrimos en exclusiva un extracto de su primer capítulo. Elizebeth Smith fue una de las mujeres más importantes y desconocidas de la historia de la criptografía, el arte de descifrar mensajes secretos.
BART halts some S.F. service due to police activity
Jason Fagone is a narrative writer with The Chronicle, focusing on in-depth stories and investigations. He joined the staff in the fall of 2017 after publishing his third nonfiction book, The Woman Who Smashed Codes, about a puzzle-solving heroine of the world wars. Previously he reported for a variety of magazines and sites, including GQ, The New York Times Magazine, Wired, Highline, Mother Jones, and Philadelphia. He has a journalism degree from Penn State University.
S.F.’s school district is facing huge changes. Behind the drama: Two lawyers who can’t stand each other
A long-running feud between a Bay Area attorney and a rival lawyer in Southern California is spilling over into San Francisco politics, potentially triggering huge changes to the city’s public school system — and underscoring flaws in a powerful state law that often allows private attorneys to shape public policy. Scott Rafferty of Walnut Creek and Kevin Shenkman of Malibu have never liked each other, to say the least.
‘Our stolen relatives’: This investigator digs into cold cases for California’s largest tribe
Julia Oliveira has one of the most sprawling territories of any law enforcement officer in California. An Indigenous person originally from Oklahoma, she investigates cold cases — unsolved killings and disappearances — for the Yurok Tribe of Northern California, whose reservation stretches through the soaring sequoias of rural Humboldt and Del Norte counties. It’s a 2½-hour journey to drive across the tribe’s land; there’s only cellphone service for 10 to 20 minutes of that trip.
A rusty chain has been a fixture of countless Golden Gate Bridge photos. Now it’s going away
At first blush, it might not seem like a big deal that the National Park Service is removing a corroded, sea-weathered chain railing at the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. But the barrier, it turns out, is surprisingly beloved. Located on Marine Drive heading to Fort Point, the chain is visible in the foreground of countless bridge photographs on Instagram, its rusty metal links adding a texture of warmth and decay to one of America’s most breathtaking natural views.
How conservative Christians are taking over California school boards
One Dr. Takesha Cooper never imagined she would get into politics, but in 2022, she volunteered to fill a vacant spot on her local school board in Murrieta, a city of 110,000 in Riverside County. A child psychiatrist, Black woman and mother, Cooper had grown concerned about the mental health of kids in Murrieta. During the pandemic, while treating young patients at the UC Riverside School of Medicine, “I was seeing so much anxiety and depression,” Cooper said.
A powerful California law is reshaping how you vote. Lawyers are making millions off it
At first, Deidre Siguenza couldn’t make sense of the legal threat against her school district, even though she’s a lawyer. The threat arrived in the mail in October 2017: a brief, blunt letter. It was addressed to her, as clerk and past president of the school board in Martinez, her small hometown in the East Bay. The sender was an attorney in Malibu she’d never heard of, Kevin Shenkman. The letter made allegations about the way the board conducted its elections.
Hero or opportunist? Pugilistic Malibu lawyer remakes California voting
One Waiting for someone to turn on the microphone clipped to his blue button-down shirt, Malibu attorney Kevin Shenkman cracked a joke at his own expense. He struck a pose like one of those personal-injury lawyers who advertise on billboards, holding out his right arm and pointing. “I will fight for YOU,” he said, laughing. It was a weekday in June, and Shenkman stood at a podium in an auditorium at UC Law San Francisco, facing an audience of professors. He might have been a bit nervous.
What We Know About Autism - And How To Treat It - Could Change After New Study
SAN FRANCISCO — By fusing the power of artificial intelligence with new molecular techniques that also seem ripped from science fiction, researchers at UCSF have mapped the microscopic world of autism spectrum disorder in unprecedented detail, pointing toward possible therapies for a subset of patients who have specific genetic mutations, according to a new study.
What we know about autism-and how to treat it-could change after new UCSF study
By fusing the power of artificial intelligence with new molecular techniques that also seem ripped from science fiction, researchers at UCSF have mapped the microscopic world of autism spectrum disorder in unprecedented detail, pointing toward possible therapies for a subset of patients who have specific genetic mutations, according to a new study.
What we know about autism — and how to treat it — could change after new UCSF study
By fusing the power of artificial intelligence with new molecular techniques that also seem ripped from science fiction, researchers at UCSF have mapped the microscopic world of autism spectrum disorder in unprecedented detail, pointing toward possible therapies for a subset of patients who have specific genetic mutations, according to a new study.
New California traffic law aims to save lives with speed cameras
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Surveillance cameras that automatically catch speeding drivers in school zones and ‚Äúsafety corridors‚ÄĚ will be legal in California for the first time next year, thanks to a controversial traffic-safety bill that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law on Friday. The bill, AB645, was championed by dozens of cities and community groups ‚ÄĒ and opposed by some privacy watchdogs.
Richard Oakes led the Alcatraz occupation — and was killed in his prime
In 1969, Native activist Richard Oakes led a group representing several tribes to occupy Alcatraz Island, claiming it as the site of a new Native nation. Three years later, the charismatic face of the Red Power movement was dead, shot by a white neighbor in rural Sonoma. What happened? And how did Oakes’ killing change the course of Native activism? Reporters Jason Fagone and Julie Johnson dug into the past to uncover truths that have been buried for 50 years.
‘White Man’s Justice’: Untold story of a killing that changed history
The county was still pretty rugged then. Ranchers drank at bars with loggers and back-to-the-land hippies.
He was the face of Red Power. The true story of his killing has gone untold — until now
The sheriff’s office destroyed his notes long ago, but the detective still remembers. He knows where to find the spot of cracked pavement under towering coastal redwoods where so much went wrong. At 90, and long retired, Erwin “Butch” Carlstedt drove there one day last autumn, snaking through the rugged hills of northwest Sonoma County, 110 miles north of San Francisco.
‘Drop everything now and read this’: The backstory of that viral article on listening to Taylor Swift in prison
“It was quite a short piece,” recalled Gross, 32. “I wasn’t sure.” But he began exchanging messages with the author, Joe Garcia — a former marijuana dealer and 53-year-old resident of San Quentin State Prison, serving a life sentence for second-degree murder in the 2003 killing of a fellow dealer in Los Angeles.
Book Club - The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies — George C. Marshall International Center
Joining the ranks of Hidden Figures and In the Garden of Beasts, the incredible true story of the greatest codebreaking duo that ever lived, an American woman and her husband who invented the modern science of cryptology together and used it to confront the evils of their time, solving puzzles that unmasked Nazi spies and helped win World War II. In 1912, at the height of World War I, brilliant Shakespeare expert Elizebeth Smith went to work for an eccentric tycoon on his estate outside Chicago.
Reparations panel, in historic vote, proposes payments, reforms and apology for Black Californians
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Reparations panel, in historic vote, proposes payments, reforms and apology for Black Californians
The report gives a rough estimate of the financial harm of systemic racism: up to $1.2 million per person over a lifetime. This isn’t necessarily the size of the potential compensation payment, only an assessment of damage. As for who can claim such compensation, the task force would limit eligibility to those who can directly trace their lineage to chattel slavery, or descendants of a free Black person living in the U.S. before 1900.
Puzzle-themed holiday cards from a famous codebreaking couple
A few years ago, when I began researching what would become The Woman Who Smashed Codes, I spent weeks poring through the personal papers of Elizebeth Friedman, the codebreaking Quaker poet and war hero. She gave 22 boxes of documents to a library before she died in 1980. The library is an amazing place — it’s part of the George Marshall Foundation in Virginia. And those 22 boxes are full of the most wondrous stuff.
‘Jessica Simulation’ wins Best American Newspaper Narrative writing contest
The award was given as part of the annual Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, a prestigious event for writers hosted in Dallas by the University of North Texas. Its writing contests award cash prizes and publishing opportunities for authors of book manuscripts, unpublished essays and longform journalism. All honorees in the Best American Newspaper Narrative Contest will be published next year in an anthology by the university press.
Dennis Riordan, Bay Area attorney known for freeing the wrongfully imprisoned, dies at 73
Aug. 14—Dennis Riordan, a relentless and uncannily persuasive San Francisco appeals lawyer who represented people convicted of serious felonies and repeatedly won their freedom, often by finding new evidence of their innocence and by exposing deep flaws in old trials, died Thursday of cancer. He was 73. "He never gives up.
Dennis Riordan, Bay Area attorney known for freeing the wrongfully imprisoned, dies at 73
“Man, he cared about his cases,” said J. Anthony Kline, who recently retired as the state’s top appellate judge and observed Riordan in dozens of cases over 40 years. Kline called Riordan the best criminal appellate attorney in the state — someone who blended passion, knowledge and a sense of humor into an “incredibly effective” legal method that kept judges and prosecutors on their toes and leveled the playing field for his incarcerated clients, many of whom were non-white and blue-collar.
It was a secret road map for breaking the law to get an abortion. Now, ‘The List’ and its tactics are resurfacing
July 10, 2022Updated: July 11, 2022 1:36 p.m. 1. She flew to San Francisco in June 1968 to meet a friend who knew someone who knew someone. Karen L. was 24 and eight weeks pregnant, arriving from Los Angeles. The woman picked her up at San Francisco International and carefully explained what to do next. There was a phone number; there was a code phrase. From the friend’s apartment, Karen dialed the number and spoke the phrase: “Patricia Maginnis sent me.” A female voice greeted her.
Why this COVID expert says variant BA.5 is ‘a different beast’
“Neither is a joyful scenario,” he added. The number of new COVID cases per day has plateaued nationally and is down significantly since January. The same is true for the number of COVID hospitalizations in the UCSF health system, Wachter said. However, the true spread of COVID is harder to know these days, because so many people are testing themselves with at-home kits.
Why this COVID expert says variant BA.5 is ‘a different beast’
The new BA.5 strain of the COVID-causing virus is “a different beast” from ones we’ve already seen — more infectious and better able to evade immune responses — and “we need to change our thinking” about how to defend against it, according to a data-packed Twitter thread posted today by Dr. Bob Wachter, UCSF’s chair of medicine.
Why UCSF’s Bob Wachter says COVID variant BA.5 is ‘a different beast’
“Neither is a joyful scenario,” he added. The number of new COVID cases per day has plateaued nationally and is down significantly since January. The same is true for the number of COVID hospitalizations in the UCSF health system, Watchter said. However, the true spread of COVID is harder to know these days, because so many people are testing themselves with at-home kits.
Rices Fire: All evacuation orders lifted as fire holds at 904 acres
Evacuation orders and road closures were lifted near the 904-acre Rices Fire in Nevada County Monday morning. The wildfire, fueled by dry vegetation and drought-stressed trees, was 65% contained as of Monday morning, Cal Fire reported. Hundreds of people have been displaced by the fire after evacuation orders forced people to flee their homes last month. Firefighters have so far been successful in preventing the blaze from crossing the Yuba River.
5 shot, 1 killed in Sacramento shooting
Four adults were injured, and one killed, in a mass shooting earlier this morning close to the state capitol building in Sacramento, according to the Sacramento Police Department. The shooting occured near 15th and L Streets. Police said on social media that they were conducting a homicide investigation and asked members of the public with any video evidence to submit it. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. Jason Fagone (he/him) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening make 'Jerry & Marge Go Large' a low-key winner
“Jerry & Marge Go Large” is a charmer. It’s a low-key, fact-based caper movie that overcomes some broad comedy leanings to settle into the sweet stuff in the soft center. It’s bolstered by a funny script and dependably sharp performances by Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening. Pull Quote Jerry (Cranston) and Marge Selbee (Bening) live quietly in one of those Michigan factory towns so small, everybody knows each other.
Jerry and Marge Go Large (2022) ⭐ 6.9 | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Original title: Jerry & Marge Go Large 2022 PG-13 1h 36m Based on the true story about long-married couple Jerry and Marge Selbee, who win the lottery and use the money to revive their small town.Based on the true story about long-married couple Jerry and Marge Selbee, who win the lottery and use the money to revive their small town.Based on the true story about long-married couple Jerry and Marge Selbee, who win the lottery and use the money to revive their small town.
'Jerry & Marge Go Large' review: Cranston, Bening find a winner
“Jerry & Marge Go Large” is a charmer. It’s a low-key, fact-based caper movie that overcomes some broad comedy leanings to settle into the sweet stuff in the soft center. It’s bolstered by a funny script and dependably sharp performances by Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening. Jerry (Cranston) and Marge Selbee (Bening) live quietly in one of those Michigan factory towns so small, everybody knows each other.
S.F. grand jury warns of looming threat at shipyard Original
Yet the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury report warns that groundwater could carry dangerous buried substances to the surface as the water table rises at the site, which was contaminated decades ago with heavy metals, volatile organic compounds and radioactive substances. The result could be catastrophic “for health, for environmental safety, and for the resilience of future development,” the report notes.
S.F. Chronicle coverage honored in 2022 California Journalism Awards
The awards included first place for writing, photography, website design and arts & entertainment coverage SFChroniclePR May 27, 2022Updated: May 27, 2022 7:57 p.m. From Editor for Newsroom Product Mozes Zarate: The San Francisco Chronicle took home a total of 43 honors in this year’s California Journalism Awards, including first places for photography, feature writing, arts & entertainment coverage and the layout and design of www.sfchronicle.com.
California Literary Review
Non-Fiction Reviews But rather than trace the rise of the institution of eating, Fagone focuses on the eaters themselves, and it is in extracting the details of eaters lives where he excels. Horsemen of the Esophagus: Competitive Eating and the Big Fat American Dream Crown Publishers, 302 pp.
S.F. Chronicle wins four honors in News Leaders Association, Best of the West competitions
The Chronicle took home four national and regional journalism honors this week, including first-place awards for writing excellence and longform features. Reporter Jason Fagone won the Deborah Howell Award for Writing Excellence for “The Jessica Simulation,” the mournful story of a Canadian freelance writer who built and bonded with an A.I.-powered chatbot that replicated the voice of his deceased fiance Jessica Pereira.
The Man Who Payed for America's Fear
Jason Fagone The San Francisco Chronicle March 11, 2022 (Daniel Kim/The Sacramento Bee via AP, File) It was hardly a secret: He had written his real name on the application, and anyone who Googled him could find dozens of articles. But he was hired without a problem, earning $16.25 an hour to unload delivery trucks for Amazon at a fulfillment center near the Stockton airport.
He was wrongly linked to a terror cell. Freed after 14 years in jail and prison, he is still paying for America’s fear
From the moment he applied for his job at the warehouse two years ago, Hamid Hayat worried that his co-workers would find out about his past. It was hardly a secret: He had written his real name on the application, and anyone who Googled him could find dozens of articles. But he was hired without a problem, earning $16.25 an hour to unload delivery trucks for Amazon at a fulfillment center near the Stockton airport.
"The Simulation of Jessica:" Jason Fagone follows the creation, life and death of a chatbot romance | Nieman Storyboard
Photo by Possessed Photography via Unsplash Whether we like it or not, artificial intelligence is a part of our daily lives. Based on the principle that machines can be made to simulate human intelligence, A.I. is at work every time we tell Siri to make a phone call, ask Alexa to play a song, speedily transcribe a recorded interview, or, for the well-heeled, hands-free drive a Tesla. But can A.I. ‘talk” with the dead?
Rights to SFChronicle's 'Jessica Simulation' snapped up by Hollywood production company
Dozens of Hollywood production companies inquired about acquiring the rights to the project, with seven ultimately bidding for the rights to the story, which has been read by more than 500,000 people since publishing July 23. “Blindspot” creator Martin Gero, whose Quinn’s House production company has a deal with Universal, will be the writer and executive producer for the project. Storied Media Group represented The Chronicle in the auction; the terms of the deal haven’t been finalized.
He couldn’t get over his fiancee’s death. So he brought her back as an A.I. chatbot
One night last fall, unable to sleep, Joshua Barbeau logged onto a mysterious chat website called Project December. An old-fashioned terminal window greeted him, stark white text on a black square: 14 November 1982 RHINEHOLD DATA SYSTEMS, PLC Unauthorized access is forbidden! Enter electronic mail address: It was Sept. 24, around 3 a.m., and Joshua was on the couch, next to a bookcase crammed with board games and Dungeons & Dragons strategy guides.
Why was a Cal State professor allowed to teach Black and Latino students they were less smart?
Story by Jason Fagone Visuals by Yalonda M. James, Santiago Mejia, Alex K. Fong, Noah Berger June 24, 2021 | Updated: July 18, 2021 4:34 a.m. With one painful exception that she still thinks about today, Marisol Schowengerdt enjoyed her classes at Cal State East Bay. She enrolled in 2014 at age 41, older than most students, but no one gave her a hard time.
MAA Blog: Mathematical Summer Reading — MATH VALUES
By Darren Glass, Gettysburg College One of the hats I wear is as the book reviews editor for the American Mathematical Monthly. A recent issue featured a number of our colleagues listing their‘Mathematical Comfort Foods’— mathy books that they have found themselves returning to for comfort during this strange year.
Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening to Star in 'Jerry and Marge Go Large'
Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening to star in ‘Jerry and Marge Go Large’ (Photo Credit: L to R: Bryan Cranston: Rene Cervantes; Annette Bening: Jon Rou) Oscar nominee Bryan Cranston and four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening have signed on to star in the Paramount+ original film, Jerry and Marge Go Large. The comedy will be directed by Oscar-winner David Frankel and is inspired by a true story involving a Michigan couple who won the Massachusetts lottery.
Will Smith's memoir will release on November 9
LOS ANGELES Will Smith is ready to open up about his life story. Penguin Press announced Sunday that Smith will release his memoir called "Will" on Nov. 9. The actor-rapper shared a photo of the book's cover art to more than 54 million of his followers on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CQTl_HUhcRA/ https://www.instagram.com/reel/CQTl_HUhcRA/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading Smith said he is "finally ready" to release the memoir after working on the book for two years.
Pedestrian becomes San Jose's 18th traffic death
May 22, 2021Updated: May 22, 2021 9:21 a.m. A pedestrian was hit by a vehicle and killed Friday night in San Jose, according to the police department’s Twitter account. The driver cooperated with investigators, staying at the scene after the accident, which occurred at 10:48 p.m. in the 2900 block of Senter Road, near Los Lagos Golf Course. The death was the city’s 18th traffic fatality in 2021.
Happy Harvey Milk Day. Here's what you need to know about S.F.'s civil rights icon
Gov. Gavin Newsom just proclaimed May 22 to be “Harvey Milk Day,” in honor of the trailblazing San Francisco politician and gay rights activist. Here’s what why Milk is an icon and hero to millions: — Born in 1930, Milk grew up in New York, working on Wall Street and serving in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. A diving officer on a submarine rescue ship stationed in San Diego, he left the service after four years in 1955 under disputed circumstances.
Judge OKs $6.3 million settlement in shipyard homeowner suit
A federal judge has tentatively approved a $6.3 million settlement for current and former homeowners at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard who said they were misled about the extent of radioactive contamination at the site and problems with the cleanup. The March 17 court order paves the way for developers Lennar Corp.
Women in White Coats
How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine Narrated by: Jean Ann Douglass Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins 4.5 out of 5 stars 4.5 (149 ratings) Prime member exclusive: pick 2 free titles with trial. Pick 1 title (2 titles for Prime members) from our collection of bestsellers and new releases. Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts. Your Premium Plus plan will continue for $14.95 a month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.
The UCSF-led team racing to find a COVID cure may have found a promising candidate
Aplidium albicans is a marine invertebrate that lives off the shores of a tiny, uninhabited island in the Mediterranean Sea. Aplidium albicans is a marine invertebrate that lives off the shores of a tiny, uninhabited island in the Mediterranean Sea. Photo: Courtesy Of Pharma Mar Photo: Courtesy Of Pharma Mar Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Image 1 of 3 Aplidium albicans is a marine invertebrate that lives off the shores of a tiny, uninhabited island in the Mediterranean Sea.
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