Storied: San Francisco

Since she was a little girl, Aireene Espiritu has searched for a place where she felt she belonged. In this podcast, Aireene, who today is a musician, talks about her childhood in the Philippenes and on the East Coast. Her mom had to work three jobs to support her and her brother, and so Aireene came west to live with family in Milpitas. She eventually found her way to San Francisco, when she enro...

In a way, Jan Yanehiro's career has come full circle. In this podcast, Jan traces her work in Bay Area broadcast journalism, from humble beginnings in radio to hosting a nationally syndicated show for more than a decade. After leaving the field, the Academy of Art University asked Jan to establish and run its Multimedia Communications department, where she's been director for 12 years now. If you...

Jan Yanehiro defied familial pressures to follow her dream. In this podcast, Jan traces her story back to Hawaii, where she grew up a third-generation Japanese-American. She braved upsetting her parents to go to college in California, and after a short stint as a flight attendant following graduation, she came to San Francisco and got a job at a local radio station. We recorded this podcast at the...

Sometimes, it's the whackier ideas that stick. In this podcast, Adam picks up where he left off in  Part 1 , telling the story of how he came to own the  Balboa Theater . Along with the theater's general manager, Chloe Ginnever, he tells some of the history of the building and the theater itself. Adam and Chloe talk about some of the programming they do at the Balboa, and Adam ends the episode loo...

Adam Bergeron's parents are awesome. In this podcast, Adam, who today owns and operates the  Balboa Theater , shares the story of a cross-country roadtrip his family took back in 1977, and how they ended up in San Francisco at a particularly important moment in cinematic history. The family moved around quite a bit but ended up back on the East Coast, where Adam went to high school and college. He...

This episode is a little different for us. For starters, it's a little longer than what you're used to. But for good cause. In it, Dayna talks in some detail about the many cycles she's been through in her life of addiction-rehab-repeat. In between one of her cycles, she managed to get a degree in broadcasting, which helped her land jobs DJing at several Bay Area radio stations later. After her la...

Dayna Keyes never knew her real dad. In this podcast,  Dayna  talks about growing up in Mississippi. Her mom soon met the man who ended up helping to raise Dayna, and the family soon moved to Southern California. Dayna's love of make-believe and escape hinted at her young adulthood of acting, voiceover work, and eventually, drugs. ​We recorded this podcast at Caffe Trieste in North Beach in Februa...

Some people's trash is other people's art ... or, in George Rocha's case, their business. In this episode, George tells the story of his cross-country move to San Francisco. He found his own place in the Outer Sunset, a rental where he eventually built a backyard pool to skate in. A few years later, he started taking his old skateboards and making new ones out of them, the inspiration for  Iris Sk...

Skating and building ramps consumed much of George Rocha's childhood. In this podcast, George, who today owns and operates  Iris Skateboards , recounts various tales from his childhood on four wheels. He took a roadtrip to Portland right out of high school, his first taste of the West Coast and a world he had been reading about and seeing pictures of in magazines and videos. He would end up moving...

P. Segal wants San Francisco to be a city full of culture again. In this episode, P. charts her return to the city after college and a trip to Europe. She ran in art and intellectual circles in North Beach until her eviction from a place she lived there. She found an enormous house in the Western Addition and soon joined the Cacophony Society. Later, she opened Cafe Proust down the street. These d...

When she was a teenager, P. Segal was held by her father under what she calls "house arrest." In this podcast, P. talks about her Sicilian roots, her many warm memories of growing up in San Francisco, leaving for college in Los Angeles, and her eventual return to the city. We recorded this podcast at P.'s home in the Western Addition in February 2020. Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather

In his book, San Francisco: Year Zero , Lincoln Mitchell ties together threads of the Giants, punk rock, and the political upheaval that hit the city in November 1978. In this podcast, Lincoln talks at some length about those three topics: baseball, counterculture, and the assassinations and their aftermath of Harvey Milk and George Moscone. If you missed  Part 1 , please go back and check that ou...

Lincoln Mitchell's family came to San Francisco from New York City in the 1970s. In this podcast, Lincoln talks about growing up in the city and being a fan of the Yankees  and  the Giants. He discusses how he came to love baseball, his family's and his own sense of politics, schools he went to here, and both the differences and similarities between New York and our city. ​ We recorded this podcas...

There's the wrong way to move into a neighborhood, and then there's the Social Study. In this podcast, Social Study owner and operator Harmony Fraga shares the story of opening her day and evening lounge in the Fillmore, picking up where she left off in  Part 1  (please listen if you haven't already). She talks about the history she's learned of the neighborhood and, specifically, the spot her bus...

Harmony Fraga grew up mostly in the East Bay, with San Francisco always just a scenic drive over the Bay Bridge. In this podcast, Harmony, who today owns and operates the  Social Study in the Fillmore , talks about her early life, schools she went to, graduation and spending more and more time in the city, and eventually moving over after getting her first job here. That job lead to another, and t...

Bob Buckter's painting and color consulting business is responsible for the look and feel of more than 17,000 homes and businesses in San Francisco. In this podcast, Bob picks up where he left off in  Part 1 . He talks about the early years of his painting business, the  Colorist Movement , the history and meaning of the term "painted ladies," his brief early retirement, a failed marriage, the rec...

Some of us talk about making the world a better place. Bob Buckter, aka Dr. Color , has spent the last 50 years doing just that. In this podcast, Bob, a born-and-raised San Franciscan, reflects on his childhood in the Excelsior and Outer Sunset Districts. Check back Thursday for Part 2, when Bob will talk about how he got started painting historic Victorian houses, among other things. We recorded...

For 15 years, starting on the day he moved to the Mission, Sam was Jeff's corner-store guy. In this podcast, Sam talks about his move to the U.S. from Jordan as a teenager. He and his brother Joe ended up in Daly City, where Sam finished high school. Shortly after that, Sam had the opportunity to own a store on Mission just south of Army Street. Then in the late-'80s, he bought Golden Eagle Market...

In  Part 1 ,  Cassandra Dallett  took us on one helluva ride, from Haight and Fillmore and over to North Beach and shows at the Mab. In this podcast, she tells the story of enrolling in school and making some unlikely friends, a few relationships she had back in the late-'80s, and some friends from back east who she bumped into here in San Francisco. She closes the show out talking about her journ...

When Cassandra Dallett moved to San Francisco in the mid-1980s, she hit the ground running ... Welcome to Season 3 of Storied: San Francisco! It's good to be back at it, capturing the spirit of the people still here making this city one hell of a special place. Cassandra is the perfect person to get us started. In this podcast, Cassandra talks about her early life in New England and what drew here...

In this last podcast of Season 2, Chloe Jackman talks about various office and service jobs she had before she was inspired and able to pursue her photography full-time. She also talks about the realities of being a working artist in San Francisco, especially when it comes to renting. If you missed  Part 1 , please go back and listen. Michelle and Jeff will be taking a few weeks off as they prepar...

Chloe Jackman  grew up all over San Francisco. In this podcast, she takes us on a journey through several different neighborhoods she lived in and schools she went to. After high school, she lived in Santa Barbara long enough to graduate and realized how good we have it here in the Bay. Check back Thursday for Part 2, our final podcast of Season 2. We recorded this podcast at Chloe's studio in the...

Brian Goggin created Defenestration in 1995. The idea originated when Brian was working with an artist in Paris, and it came to life on the corner of Sixth and Howard in San Francisco. In this podcast, Brian shares the story of how the full-building work of art came to be. He also talks about his large-scale work, currently up on Ninth Street between Mission and Market, called Caruso's Dream — sev...

Brian Goggin moved to San Francisco from Davis, California, in 1988. His first visits to the city came as a kid when his parents enrolled him in a class at the SFMoMA where he studied animation and sculpture. In this episode, Brian reflects on his childhood, arriving in San Francisco, why he left and what it was like to return, his early art explorations, and how he began to fuse his interests of...

In this podcast, Dara charts her path from educational work to going back to grad school for non-profit program management. That led her to helping start  The Dinner Party , a non-profit with the goal of bringing people who are experiencing loss together over potluck dinners. That served as a segue to  Reimagine: End of Life , a festival that kicks off this week with 250+ events all over the city...