Storied: San Francisco

Del Seymour got interested in politics early in his life, in the 1960s in Chicago. In this podcast, Del walks us through the early years of his life. He attended a Catholic school in Chicago and went to seminary to be a priest. But that didn't last long, and he soon joined the military as a medic. After that, he moved to Los Angeles to get away from the snow and cold weather. Within his first year...

We first met and got to know Liz Beeson in 2019. At the time, she was raising money for a Caring Cowgirl minivan to cart around her therapy mini dwarf horse and mini donkey. (Please go back and listen to Part 1 and Part 2 of her podcast with us.) Fast-forward to earlier this month, when we caught up with Liz to hear what's been going on in her and the minis's lives. Among other stories in this spe...

Catch up with Season 2, Episode 41 storyteller ( Part 1 and Part 2 ), Muttville founder and CEO Sherri Franklin . Sherri talks about everything her non-profit senior dog rescue has gone through during quarantine as well as some exciting plans for the near future. We're excited to announce that tickets are now available for the Muttville Gala! This year's theme:  Mutts on the Moon . Get your  ticke...

In this podcast, Yuka picks up where she left off in Part 1 , with her and her husband Kris's arrival in San Francisco. She worked a number of bartending jobs in The City before the couple decided to open their own place in 2012. She talks about lessons she learned at those bartending gigs. Those, along with observations she had made of how her parents ran in their business back in Japan, informed...

Yuka Ioroi's family name dates back to the 700s. She grew up in Shizuoka prefecture in Japan with Mt. Fuji nearby. Her parents ran a business, and Yuka sees some of their ways of operating reflected in her own running of  Cassava . She moved to Los Angeles when she was 15. In the podcast, she describes some culture shock she experienced as well as a diversity she didn't see at home. After college,...

You got to know Gordon Szeto in S1E42. Michelle and Jeff checked in with Gordon and Glass Key co-owner Matt Osborne for this special episode to see how they're handling all the changes that COVID-19 and the subsequent shelter-in-place have brought. Glass Key Photo is open Mondays through Fridays from 2 to 4 p.m. You can browse their cameras for sale  here . We recorded this special podcast at Glas...

In this podcast, Eskender picks up where he left off in Part 1 . After working for Joyce Goldstein at Square One, he went to Campton Place, where he worked with and learned a lot from chef Daniel Humm. He started doing an underground restaurant in his home, and that became his full-time gig starting in 2005. It was the birth of Radio Africa Kitchen. The owner of  Velo Rogue suggested that Eskender...

When he was a teenager, Eskender Aseged fled his home country on foot. In this podcast, the  Radio Africa  owner shares the story of walking from Communist Ethiopia to Sudan in the early 1980s. He found work in Khartoum and learned English, and he and his brother eventually got refugee status from the U.S. They arrived in Newark, New Jersey in 1986, and Eskender soon moved to New York City, where...

First it was punk rock. Then, dogs saved Pali Boucher's life. In this podcast, Pali picks up where she left off in  Part 1 , with her return to San Francisco after a short time in LA. A teenager with bright red hair, she fell in with the SF punk scene, then in its very early days. Pali describes a wild ride through addiction and eventually, getting sober. It was a rather circuitous route that led...

Pali Boucher had what many would consider a wild childhood. In this podcast, the  Rocket Dog Rescue  founder takes us on a colorful journey through her early years. Let's just say that her parents liked to party. Pali spent her first 10 years with her mom, moving all around the greater Bay Area (and even Mexico). After her mom died, she and her brother were separated when she went to live with her...

In this episode, Tongo picks up where he left off in Part 1 , describing the changes he saw in his hometown of San Francisco after spending a few years in New York. It was obvious that money had done its part to stifle, displace, and erase art and the working class. He started teaching with SF YMCA's CARE program, which works with imprisoned youth in The City, but some shady goings on in the progr...

Poet Tongo Eisen-Martin was born into a revolutionary home. Tongo's parents met in Chicago but moved to San Francisco soon after. He was born and raised in an apartment at 25th and Valencia, part of a communal environment that taught him to question and analyze institutions from a young age. He got started with poetry in elementary school doing a rap for Jesse Jackson when Jackson ran for presiden...

Mike Soracco has had the same job for 50 years. In this podcast, Mike, who today owns Liguria Bakery in North Beach, takes us back to the founding of this neighborhood staple. Mike's grandfather came to the US in 1907 from near Genoa, Italy. He worked in bakeries in North Beach for a few years before opening his own at the location where Liguria operates to this day (that's 109 years, for those ke...

The story of Dragonspunk Grows, the Black-owned organic farm in the Bayview, starts with the Chinese community. In this episode, Isaiah, whom you got to know in  Part 1 , takes us on a tour of  Florence Fang community garden . Isaiah's work at the garden inspired him to join forces with Faheem Carter, to carve out a large section of the existing land to establish Dragonspunk Grows. It started out...

NYC hip-hop artist turned SF city gardener? Why the hell not? In this podcast, Dragonspunk Grows gardener Isaiah Powell charts the early stories of his life's journey. His family moved all over the East Coast when he was young. He went to four different high schools, then got into the University of Miami immediately as a 17-year-old. At such a young age, Isaiah didn't take college seriously and he...

In this podcast, Josiah picks up where he left off in Part 1 , sharing stories from his time with Molotov Mouths, the touring poetry collective from the 1990s. He pivots to talking about the gentrification he saw happening first-hand in the Mission in the late-'90s/early-2000s. Josiah has been working at  City Lights Books  in North Beach for the last several years, and he talks about his job at t...

Josiah Luis Alderete's poetry speaks for a people devastated by gentrification and colonization. In this podcast, Josiah traces his life back to his parents' union at a club in North Beach roughly 50 years ago. He moved around the Bay Area a bit, from various spots in the Mission to Marin and back. He tells stories from the back room at Cafe Babar, including his first time to read poetry in front...

In this podcast, Dave the Butcher picks up where he left off in Part 1. He started traveling to Europe every year, and eventually moved to Berlin. While living there, he traveled to Spain and then over to Morocco. Dave came back to San Francisco and worked at Falletti Foods for a short time, then got a job as manager at Marina Meats in 2007, where he works to this day. As butchery exploded, Dave s...

Dave Budworth's great-grandfather, who trained in Allsace, had a butcher shop in San Francisco at Polk and Green more than a century ago. In this episode, Dave the Butcher , as he's known, talks about growing up in Santa Rosa. His mom exposed him to culture, but also dog shows, which formed the backdrop of Dave's first impressions of San Francisco. Dave tells stories of a trip to Australia when he...

Jesus Barragan is a fighter. He left his job at the VA after he was victorious in suing them. From there, he went to Child Protective Services in The City, where he caught mistranslated material that discriminated against Spanish-speaking parents. After he retired, Jesus met David Campos and started volunteering in Campos's office at City Hall, which is where he met  Hillary   Ronen . He stayed on...

Jesus Barragan was born in the segregated town of Glendale, Arizona, and grew up with bigotry all around him. In this podcast, Jesus talks about his move to San Jose as a young boy and the education systems of Arizona vs. California, where he quickly encountered difficulties. He moved to San Francisco in 1975, but he ran into prejudice and discrimination at the jobs he got here, both directed at h...

In this podcast, Kevin picks up where he left off in Part 1 , talking about various bars he worked in all around San Francisco. He and his wife loved Emmy's Spaghetti Shack in Bernal Heights, and got to know Josey (host) and Sarah (chef). A few years later, Josey and Sarah asked Kevin to open a restaurant with them, and that's the story of how The Front Porch got started. Kevin shares the history...

Kevin Cline grew up in Florida, but he got out just about as soon as he could. In this podcast, Kevin, who co-owns  Front Porch restaurant in Bernal Heights, shares stories of journeys that led him to San Francisco. First was a trip from Boston to Los Angeles, then from LA to San Francisco on bicycle. Then, based on what a good time he had in The City during that first visit, he decided to ride hi...

In this podcast, Nico picks up where she left off in Part 1 , with some office jobs she had when she first moved here before switching to screenprinting full-time. She met the folks who run Workshop SF , and starting screenprinting and teaching classes there. Through Workshop, she also started connecting with more creative, "work hard, play hard" types, which whom she identified. She decided to op...

Coldwater, OH, has seven stoplights, by Nico Schwieterman's last count. In this podcast, Nico, who opened and owns  Fleet Wood  in the Tenderloin, shares stories of growing up in the small town of Coldwater. Her dad ran a shop where, as a kid, she helped him print shirts. She was your fairly typical teenager, and ended up going to college in Cincinnati. A college internship in 2004 brought her to...