Beyond The Fog Radio

Welcome to Season 3 of BTFR! We are honored to start off with musician, actor & SF native Martin Luther McCoy and his artist & activist wife Jeanne Anyanwu McCoy. This talented and stylish 1970’s “Soul Train” couple play an extensive role in the Bay Area’s art and activism communities. Martin Luther was fundamental in the 1990s Bay Area neo-soul scene and is a recent member of the SFJAZZ Collectiv...

Beyond The Fog Radio Season 3 launches NEXT WEEK! We couldn't be more excited to share more amazing stories from the Bay Area — and this will be our biggest season yet! To tide over our loyal listeners (and ourselves) for the next seven days, we have one more episode to revisit: our conversation with Naizar Mubarak, Executive Chef at Florio Restaurant in San Francisco (Season 2 Episode 12). Mubar...

Welcome back to Beyond The Fog Radio! We're almost ready to launch Season 3 — can you believe it? Before the new season begins, the team is looking back at some of our favorite episodes from the first two seasons. This week, we're revisiting our interview with award-winning artist and educator Margo Hall, the new Artistic Director of the Lorraine Hansbury Theater in San Francisco (Season 2 Episode...

Welcome back to Beyond The Fog Radio! Recording for Season 3 is still underway, but in the meantime, our team is looking back at some of our favorite episodes from our first two seasons. This week, we're rediscovering Touch of Class Choir (Season 2 Episode 11) and the man behind its magic — Mr. Gregory Cole! Mr. Cole has taught music and made a difference for Bay Area children for over 40 years, t...

Welcome back to Beyond The Fog Radio! Recording for Season 3 is underway, but in the meantime, our team wanted to take a look back at some of our favorite episodes from both Season 1 and Season 2. This week, we're rediscovering our episode on San Francisco's North Beach (Season 1 Episode 18). Our esteemed guests are three 80-years-young North Beach residents who are just as lively as the neighborh...

Welcome to Beyond The Fog Radio! Recording for Season 3 is underway, but in the meantime, our team wanted to take a look back at some of our favorite episodes from both Season 1 and Season 2. This week, our spotlight is on the culturally and historically rich community of Chinatown — and who better to tell us about this amazing neighborhood than the equally amazing David Lei? In April of 2021, the...

Shelley Lindgren is a Bay Area-based wine sommelier and a restaurateur. She co-founded restaurant and wine spot A16 in 2004, focusing on the food and wine of Southern Italy. Shelley trained under two of San Francisco’s most well known Chefs and Restaurateurs Hubert Keller and Maurice Rouas, owners of the top SF French restaurant Fleur de Lys. This training inspired her passion for wine and fine di...

Mr. Antoine Hunter, also known as Purple Fire Crow, is an award winning Deaf, Disable, African, Indigenous producer, choreographer, Founder and Artistic Director of the Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival, as well as the Founder and Artistic Director of the Urban Jazz Dance Company. Antoine studied dance at The California Institute of the Arts and the Paul Taylor Dance School in New York Ci...

It would not be the Holidays if we did not take the time to thank our listeners, our team and everyone who helps us each week with producing this podcast. We began this amazing journey in September 2020 when the world was still dormant from the Pandemic lockdown. Many places were closed, a vaccine had not been released yet and people were working and attending school from home. My friend Jae Yee c...

Robert Moses is the Founder, Artistic Director and Choreographer of the internationally acclaimed dance company Robert Moses’ Kin. Since 1995 Robert Moses’ Kin has told complex stories about human nature through contemporary dance, focusing on expanding the expressiveness of the human body and speaking often from his African American heritage. The company’s dynamic works are distinct from other da...

Our first guest in the History of Dance series is a Dancer, Choreographer, Haitian Dance teacher, and mother of our Co-Host and Producer, Susan. Blanche Brown began dancing while studying at San Francisco State University, and although she initially left to support her husband’s political career and raise their three children, she returned at 35 to receive her Masters in Physical Education with an...

Every city has its legendary places that reflect its personality and charm, that are “living museums” of its rich history. This week we interviewed two entrepreneurs who’ve cultivated two of San Francisco’s iconic restaurants. The first, Flicka McGurrin, is a sixth generation San Francisco native who launched Pier 23 Cafe over 35 years ago. It has consistently been a local favorite, not just for t...

Jonathan Moscone is a champion of arts and activism. A long-time theater director and current Chief Producer at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), he has devoted his career to interweaving arts organizations with civic life and community in an impactful way. With his Civic Engagement practice at YBCA, Moscone has created youth fellowships, artist residencies in the City’s public schools,...

An Oakland resident for many years now, England-born Zoë Elton has colored the Bay Area’s film and theater world with her many talents. She is a film curator, writer, cartoonist, interviewer, director, jewelry-designer, and the long-time Program Director for the Mill Valley Film Festival. Not only has her leadership and dedication to filmmaking helped the international Festival flourish, but her k...

Margo Hall is an award-winning activist, educator, actor, director, playwright, and newly-appointed Artistic Director of the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, San Francisco’s premier African American Theatre. Originally from Detroit, Hall has been an active director and performer in the Bay Area for over 30 years. She recently directed "How I Learned What I Learned" at the Marin Theatre Compan...

Brendon Chan is a singer, dancer, actor, and native San Franciscan. He graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a Dance degree, and began his professional career traveling the world performing on cruise ships. He then moved to New York City to pursue musical theater. His years of performing and hard work have proved fruitful, as he was most recently featured in the San Francisco cast of "Hamilton...

Jo Schuman Silver was the producer, director, and writer of the legendary Beach Blanket Babylon. A gem of the city's culture, Beach Blanket Babylon was the world's longest-running musical revue in live theater history, and was started by Jo’s late husband, Steve Silver, in 1974. Beach Blanket Babylon was often described to be “as San Francisco as it gets,” with elaborate costumes and extravagant h...

As an artistic hub, The San Francisco Bay Area has a long history of theater and film production. The rich landscape of performers, audiences, and artistic innovation makes it home to some of the best community and experimental theater in the country. Its idyllic location, with ocean views, historic landmarks, and a lush natural landscape, draws filmmakers from all over the world as well. In parti...

Naizar Mubarak is a native Sri Lankan who used his love for cooking to find success in the Bay Area’s culinary world. Mubarak began his career at the age of 19 working at the Galle Dutch Fort, a UNIESCO World Heritage site in Sri Lanka. He also worked for American actor and writer Charles G. Hulls, learning from Hull’s private chef how to prepare food for European customers. After emigrating to th...

Every high school has an adult who has made it their life’s mission to help young people in every way that they can–– a teacher who brings an extra lunch for a hungry student, or a counselor who helps kids with their homework at recess. This week’s guest is one of those people. Mr. Gregory Cole is a musician, vocal and instrumental instructor, music director and educator who has gone the extra mil...

This week’s esteemed guest has been the Director of the San Francisco Opera Chorus for 34 years and is an incredible conductor and musician. A Scotland native, Robertson moved to the States and joined the SF Opera Company in 1987 and led the Opera Chorus in 342 productions, including world premiere commissions and significant expansions of the company’s repertoire and performance capacity. Among t...

This week we sat down with Skyler Jett, a vocalist, songwriter, producer and humanitarian activist. Raised by a single mother across the bay in Oakland, Skyler found a love for music from singing with his family at their church. Fostering his talents and passions from a young age, Skyler has now grown to not only be Grammy-recognized, but also perform and record with an impressive range of artists...

Raz Kennedy is a premier vocal coach, producer, singer, and a magical human being. Born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, Raz has lived in the Bay Area now for over 40 years. Music is his life’s work, and he has been involved with every aspect of it. From promotion to producing, to vocal coaching and singing alongside some of the world’s leading artists like Whitney Houston and Sting, Raz has experie...

Russell “Big Russ” Gatewood has been a staple name in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 25 years. This DJ’s career started in tandem with the rise of turntables as a hip hop instrument in the 1980’s. From there Big Russ set off and staked his claim in the Bay Area’s music scene. Today, evidence of his influence can be found in many genres of the last 40 years. Even more well known is the World F...