Storied: San Francisco

In this episode, Morris picks up where he left off in Part 1 , sharing some of the pot edibles he was making with a friend. This was back when California had legalized medicinal marijuana, but not yet recreational. And the US government, as they still do to this day, more than frowned upon even this limited use. Morris walks us through the evolution of his business, from a medicinal marijuana cult...

Morris Kelly 's great-grandfather was a sharecropper who bought his own freedom. In this podcast, Morris, who today owns SF Roots  cannabis company, shares the story of how he came to grow up in The City. He chronicles the various schools he went to, talks about Muni rides to arcades and movie theaters all over town, and car rides with his grandparents on which they'd visit non-chain stores and re...

In this podcast, Alia picks up where she left off in Part 1 , sharing stories of joining her mom on pot-brownie runs in The City in the late-'70s. She pivots from there to just a few years later, when Alia witnessed the devastation of AIDS first-hand. She also speaks of communities coming together around the epidemic to provide support for those who needed it. We fast-forward to around 2000, when...

It isn't every episode that we get to learn more about the main character in a book. First of all, if you haven't already read Home Baked , Alia Volz's autobiography about her mom, her dad, and the pot brownie business they had in San Francisco in the 1970s, please do. In this podcast, Alia, who was born and raised amid that booming business four decades ago, dives deeper into her parents' stories...

This one's pretty much all about San Francisco politics 20 years ago. Matt talks about how it was that he ended up running for political office to begin with. He walks us through Tom Ammiano's write-in campaign for mayor in 1999 and Matt's eventual ascension to the Board of Supervisors the next year. What brought him into my sphere was Matt's run for mayor in 2003 against Willie Brown heir-apparen...

Matt Gonzalez's life could've turned out very different. ​Born in McAllen, Texas, and raised there and across the river in Reynoso, Tamaulipas (Mexico), Matt recalls spending a lot of time camping and playing football when he was a kid. His family moved around a bit—Louisville, Baltimore, New Orleans—before returning to South Texas, where Matt finished school and played more football. The sport ev...

Arthur Gaus  came of age in the Golden Era of comedy in San Francisco. Picking up where he left off in Part 1 , Arthur sets the stage for his beginnings doing stand-up by describing the comedy scene in The City in the 1980s. He rattles off a list of funny folks who got their start here—Will Durst, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Greg Proops—and talks about comedy venues in San Francisco, some of...

Arthur Gaus  grew up on a famous block in The City. In this podcast, the native San Francisco comedian traces his story back to his parents' choice to buy a house on Ashbury just off Haight Street in the late-'70s. Arthur shares stories of growing up in his family's Victorian and hanging out on Haight Street, in Golden Gate Park (despite how dangerous everyone said it was back then), and in his ba...

Renel grew up going to Giants games at Candlestick Park. So when the team reached out to her in 1999 about the possibility of becoming the PA announcer in their brand-new stadium, she immediately thought of her family and the long line of baseball fans she's a part of. Renel shares her experience auditioning for the job at Candlestick in November 1999 and takes us through her journey as she approa...

Renel has always enjoyed entertaining people. Born in Oakland and raised there, in Berkeley, and in Richmond, Renel suffered when her family moved to Menlo Park on the Peninsula. She went to Mills for college, where she studied classical voice and sang in a band with some guys who went to UC Berkeley. After college, she got an entry-level job at KCBS radio and worked her way to writing copy for on...

A couple days ago on this show, Chronicle journalist Kevin Fagan  told you all about his latest project: the untold story of the Doodler, a new documentary podcast series from Ugly Duckling Films. On his show, Kevin dives into the archive of his paper and the San Francisco Police Department in search of a serial killer known for drawing portraits of his victims. This killer, known as the Doodler,...

Welcome to the soft launch of Storied: San Francisco, Season 4! We love catching up with friends and past guests of the show. For Kevin   Fagan  ( S1E13 ), we were kinda blown away by what he's been up to, though we probably shouldn't be surprised. In San Francisco in 1974 and '75, there was a serial killer on the loose. His MO was to sketch or doodle his victims in public—in cafes, bars, and the...

In this special episode of our podcast, Jeff reads three of our favorite love letters to San Francisco  written in January 2020 at our event of the same name. You'll get a sample of our new Season 4 theme music, created and curated by Joe   Bagale . And we're pretty sure that the third letter was written by Season 3 storyteller P Segal. We hope you enjoy these as much as we do. They speak to the c...

In this podcast, our very last of Season 3, Jesus and Randy pick up where they off in Part 1 . They talk in more depth about the challenges that Gay American Indians (Randy's group) and Gay Latino Alliance (Jesus's) faced, despite the fact that San Francisco was already a more accepting place than most in the United States. The two spend the remainder of the podcast reflecting on the evolution on...

If you've been with us for a while, you already know Randy Burns ( Part 1 , Part 2 ). Randy is definitely a friend of the show. He introduced us to his friend, Jesus Barragan , whom we had on the show earlier this season ( Part 1 , Part 2 ). To close out our third season, we wanted to have these two longtime friends talk about the POC gay rights movements they were each very much a part of back in...

In this podcast, Tony Carracci  picks up where he left off in Part 1 , talking about closing his kitchen inside the Cat Club and using that space instead as a second dance floor. It was around this time that the '80s-themed night 1984 started. But Tony wanted a live-music venue. He found a spot in Hunter's Point that happened to have a kitchen, and so, The Pound SF was born. After running that pla...

Tony Carracci 's life revolves around water. Tony's parents met in Seattle, where his mom was from. His dad, who is from from New Orleans, met his mom up north during a stint in the Merchant Marines. When they were expecting their first child, Tony, the young couple decided to relocate to another port town: San Francisco, away from the cold and rain of Seattle and the heat and mugginess in New Orl...

​In this podcast, Gillian picks up where she left off in Part 1 , with some bartending jobs she had while she went to college. After she graduated, she took up an offer to go to the Dominican Republic. What started off as a trip turned into four years on the island. Next came her move to The City in 2005. Gillian shares some of her first impressions of San Francisco, contrasting those with ideas s...

Gillian Fitzgerald  was born in Hospital (a town in Ireland). In this podcast, the owner of Casements Bar  in the Mission traces her lineage back to when her Irish parents met. The family moved from County Limerick in the southwest to County Meade, just north of Dublin. That is where Gillian did most of her growing up, smalltown stories she shares in this episode. In addition to playing many sport...

In this podcast, Marcell  picks up where he left off in Part 1. He talks about work he almost got before landing a dream job. Marcell shares the story of how he got started taking pictures when he was a kid. He goes on to talk about people's reaction to his art over the years and the film he's in the process of making about his life as a Black father, photographer, father, and yes, filmmaker. Plea...

Marcell Turner  found his home in San Francisco. In this podcast, the photographer shares the story of his childhood in Southern California. He skateboarded, loved punk rock music, and breakdanced in his teen years. Then, a road trip up north with a friend was all it took for Marcell to relocate up to the Bay Area. We recorded this podcast in Yerba Buena Gardens  in December 2020. Photography by M...

In this episode, Ike picks up where he left off in Part 1 . After a short time in Davis, he came back to The City and found work in a market at 16th and Mission. He would make sandwiches for himself on the job, and one day, a customer who caught a whiff of what Ike was cooking up asked for a very specific type of sandwich. It was the origins of his now-famous "dirty sauce." Fast-forward a few year...

Ike Shehadeh has pretty much always made sandwiches. In this podcast, the founder of Ike's Love and Sandwiches takes us back to 1968, when his dad arrived in San Francisco from Saudi Arabia. A decade or so later, his dad met his mom, and Ike, the first of a few kids for the couple, was born. He describes what it was like to grow up going to various schools in The City, especially the parts involvi...

In this podcast, Brenda and Libby  pick up right where they left off in Part 1 , with the story of their meeting. It involves Delessio Market and Martuni's, two San Francisco spots we love. The bulk of this episode is the story of opening a restaurant in San Francisco that was an almost-immediate smashing success. Brenda's French Soul Food (2007) begat Brenda's Meat and Three (2014) begat Brenda's...

Brenda Buenviaje  grew up across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. In this podcast, we get to know Brenda and her life/business partner, Libby Truesdell . Brenda describes her mixed heritage (Filipino and Creole, mostly) and shares stories of growing up in southern Louisiana, fishing and foraging, among other things. Libby contrasts her Iowa upbringing with the multifaceted food and culture...