Storied: San Francisco

​In this episode, David picks up where he left off in Part 1 . He had just met Rose, whom he would eventually successfully woo. It was the heyday of roller skating, with thousands of skaters flooding Golden Gate Park on the regular. But there was a large and growing number of naysayers. Early in his San Francisco skating days, David joined Skate Patrol at the park. It's a colorful story that he te...

David G. Miles, Jr. , is the godfather of skate in San Francisco. In this podcast, the founder of the Church of 8 Wheels joins us to share his life story. David came from a multi-ethnic family and grew up in Kansas City. On one side, his grandparents were Irish and Indian, while his dad's family hailed from the South. His single mom, a nurse, raised David and his sisters. The Black baseball legend...

Hear Kitten on the Keys, our guest on the show this week, play tunes on the piano at Royal Cuckoo Market ! "Twin Peaks Theme" "Just Like Heaven" "Get Out and Get Under the Moon" If you missed them, here's Part 1 and Part 2 with Kitten. Photography by  Michelle Kilfeather

In this podcast, Kitten picks up where she left off in Part 1 . In 1981, she started going to school at SF State. It was her official move to The City. She talks about dorm life, which involved lots of music and stereo wars. She kept going to see live shows, something she began doing as a teenager when she lived in the East Bay. Kitten catalogs bands she was in during her time in college, includin...

Kitten on the Keys 's musician dad was born with crossed-eyes. In this podcast, Kitten, a musician in her own right, traces her story back to her parents. Both were born and raised in southeastern Missouri. Her dad made his way out as a traveling musician when he was 14. Her mom took a job after college in Washington, DC. Eventually, the two made their ways back to their shared hometown: East Prai...

In this episode, Matt picks up where he left off in Part 1 . He talks about places in the US that his family traveled before Matt went to college in Santa Cruz. He shares what went into his decision to stay close to home for school. He graduated in five years and stayed one extra because he didn't want to leave. Then he came back to what is essentially his hometown: San Francisco. His first place...

One side of Matt Sterling's lineage is a big, Irish Catholic family. In this podcast, the bartender and pub quiz host delves into his family's history in San Francisco. Three generations ago, great-grandparents came here from Ireland, established their roots, and had kids. Matt's maternal grandma was one of them. She grew up in Ingleside and raised seven kids of her own, including Matt's mom. Matt...

In this podcast, Shizue picks up where she left off in Part 1 . Her paternal grandmother, Shige, had just located her husband in Stockton. Shizue goes into more depth about her grandmother's life. Her dad, Barry, grew up in Stockton and went to UC Berkeley. He was set to graduate in June 1942. But then Pearl Harbor was bombed in December 1941. The order to "relocate" Japanese-Americans to internme...

This podcast is almost totally about Shizue Seigel 's ancestors. In the episode, the poet and author digs deep into her family's history, which goes back to Japan just two generations ago. Sakuichi Tsutsumi and Umematsu Yokote Tsutsumi were from Kyushu, a large island in the south of Japan. Irene Yoshiko Tsutsumi Saiki, Shizue's mom, was born in Hawaii. Her family moved there to work on sugar plan...

In this episode, Andrew picks up where he left off in Part 1 . He starts with the different bands and music projects he took part in during high school. He got a guitar and started writing solo songs when he was 16. Andrew shares the story of how he got his stage name. (Surprise! Andrew St. James isn't his real name.) It involves being totally smitten with a woman way, way older than he was at the...

Andrew St. James 's birth mom was a tour caterer for the Rolling Stones. In this episode, the musician traces his lineage back to his being adopted by a young San Francisco couple. Carol moved to San Francisco in 1971. She worked at the Gap and what used to be Live 105 and KMEL. Nathan was born in Brooklyn to Holocaust survivor parents. After his New York marriage fizzled, he hopped on a motorcycl...

We start with the honeymoon, time away from The City. Jeff and Erin spent two weeks in northern New Mexico, bouncing around between Taos, Santa Fe, and the small town of Dixon (about halfway between Taos and Santa Fe), where old friends of Jeff have some land with a house, a casita, a tiny house, a large garden, and some chickens. Then we back up to start chronicling Thursday, October 14, 2021. Je...

In this podcast, Yeva picks up where she left off in Part 1 . She backs up from her time in Brazil to tell us about peace camps she went to as a kid, and how that took her to places like Tanzania. As the kids who went the camps got older, they started having reunions they dubbed "seminar camps." As a teen, Yeva went to one such reunion the French Alps. Years later, as a college student in Brazil,...

Yeva Johnson was born in Detroit by necessity. In this podcast, we welcome Yeva back to the show. We first met her back in 2018 at Working With Death , the show we did that year with Reimagine End of Life . Her family moved from Michigan to Washington, DC, when Yeva was young. She often joined her siblings and parents at various marches in the capital city—for the ERA , peace marches, etc. As a st...

In this episode, Bishop Megan  talks about their trans identity. Through popular culture and with age, they knew they were queer around the time they went to college. Eventually, as the world and language evolved, "trans" became what they identify with. ​One of their children is also trans, and Bishop Megan shares their perspective of what it's like to parent the kid. Then they us about life after...

The Rev. Dr. Bishop Megan Rohrer 's ancestors must've liked the cold. In this podcast, Bishop Megan traces their South Dakota family lineage back to Switzerland, Germany, and Norway. In the new country, they lived in barns and farmed the land. Their great-grandmother carried a bucket of lard with a piece of bread in it when she went to school. Eventually, their family survived the Depression. They...

In this podcast, Mike picks up where he left off in Part 1 . He tells us about a comedy class he took at SF State that had a pretty profound effect on him. From there, the conversation turns to how Mike discovered that he's funny. He shares the story of a secret show he put on for fellow college students that you just have to  hear. Around this time, Mike started doing comedy at Mutiny Radio ( Pam...

Mike Evans, Jr. , is a funny guy. In this podcast, the young comedian traces his family history back to his parents, who were both born in San Francisco and met here. They raised Mike and his two older sisters in Diamond Heights as long as they could before moving to Vallejo for more space. But the family still commuted back to work in The City and brought their young son with them to go to school...

In this episode, Midgett picks up where she left off in Part 1 . She had just escaped an abusive relationship out east and decided to make her way to San Francisco. One of her brothers was in the Navy and already in the Bay Area. Another had just moved out here, and so Midgett had people already in place. Her mom had left an apartment on Jones Street in The City that she was able to move into with...

Ed note: I was off-mic for this one, so my part is a little ... quieter. I hope that doesn't take away from Midgett's incredible life story. — Jeff In this podcast, the 85-year-old ex-school teacher shares the story of her life with us. It starts in the British West Indies, where Midgett's mom was born. That family moved to Boston, where her mom met her dad. Midgett was the only girl in a family o...

In Part 1 , you heard about Stuart Schuffman's ancestors and his life up to the point when he moved to San Francisco. Now, in Part 2, Stuart picks up where he left off, chronicling jobs, zines, TV shows, books, and other stuff he's started from the ground-up. He ends with his vision for San Francisco post-pandemic. Broke-Ass Stuart's Goddam Website Broke-Ass Stuart's Guide to Living Cheaply in San...

Let's try this  again. Back in Season 1, ​we met our friend Stuart Schuffman , aka, Broke-Ass Stuart , for a recording at The Willows. We have to admit: What we did for the podcast back then is much different than what we do now. Let's just say that the episode is more about Stuart's whacky San Francisco stories than about his total being. Fast-forward to this summer, and we sat down with this aff...

In this episode, Marcy picks up where she left off in Part 1 . She came out to friends on a walk across the country, but then, when she returned to California, had to go through that process again with her parents. Turns out her mother had "met someone" too. Her dad didn't take the news so well. Marcy made the move to San Francisco in 1994. She talks about what we now call the LGBTQ community in t...

The California Central Valley and its agriculture aren't too far from the Bay Area. But, as Marcy Coburn  knows well, they're worlds apart. ​Today, Marcy is the creative director at San Francisco's Pier 70 , a mixed-use development just south of Oracle Park. Her mom's family moved west from Oklahoma and her dad migrated to California from his childhood home in Central Florida. The two met at Cal P...

In this podcast, Khafre picks up where he left off in Part 1 , with the changes he underwent after taking part in the 2003 protest against the Iraq War in San Francisco. He was rapping with Richie Cunning and later with a group called B-Pos. He was also putting on shows and touring the country. ​Khafre talks about the systemic racism coupled with capitalism that he experienced negatively when tryi...