Storied: San Francisco

These days, Dara Kosberg is the program director for the non-profit  Reimagine: End of Life , a 10-day gathering with more than 250 events all over SF and the Bay Area that explore topics around death, dying, grief, and living life to the fullest. But her journey to San Francisco was no straight line. In this podcast, Dara talks about her life in Massachusetts and New Orleans before moving here in...

In this episode, Chris talks about "making" photographs with Polaroid cameras. He explains his method of shooting pictures then leaving his photos to marinate, as it were, in various mixtures of bleach, whiskey, and whatever other liquids he can think of. He goes on to share aspects of his work at  SFMoMA , which further satisfies many of his artistic expressions. If you missed Part 1 , please go...

Photographer  Chris Macias  grew up in the Los Angeles area. He came to San Francisco to go to art school, and his school happened to be in the Tenderloin. In this podcast, Chris talks about arriving in the city and coming to learn San Francisco on the streets of the Tenderloin. Check back Thursday for Part 2, when Chris will go into depth about his art and his work at SFMoMA. Film photography by...

In this podcast, recorded as part of an  SF Cultural History Museum  pop-up over the summer, TJ and Quiver talk more about the work they do with  Street Sheet  and the Coalition on Homelessness. If you missed Part 1 , please go back and listen. Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather

In this podcast,  Street Sheet  editors Quiver and TJ talk about their early lives and moving to the Bay Area. They go into how they each got started in thinking about, writing, and other ways of working on social justice issues. Be sure to read the article TJ references, " Nonprofit Execs Get Rich Off Homelessness ." And thanks to the  San Francisco Cultural History Museum  for asking us to host...

In this podcast, Ava starts off with more memories of Chinatown and the story of her mom growing up there. She talks about the two bands she's in at the moment-- Preschool  and  The Gonks  (w/Sonny of Sonny and the Sunsets). And she ends the episode sharing some of her favorite SF and Bay Area bands around right now. If you missed Part 1 , please go back and listen. Film photography by Michelle Ki...

Ava Lynch just started college. In this podcast, Ava (the daughter of S1E47 storyteller Mike Lynch) talks about growing up in Visitacion Valley, going to preschool and her grandma's house in Chinatown, feeling free to express herself at  SF Waldorf School , and a show at  San Francisco Rock Project  that inspired her nine-year journey of playing drums and singing. She's currently in two bands, whi...

Bowen Dwelle lives in his van. In this podcast,  Bowen  talks about leaving his hometown of San Francisco after high school, what it was that brought him back, some jobs and businesses he's had, his love of the outdoors, and his latest venture:  Second Sight  coaching. If you missed Part 1, please go back and listen. We recorded this podcast on the Upper Sanchez steps in August 2019. Film photogra...

Bowen Dwelle is a San Francisco native writer, athlete, and life coach in-training. In this podcast, Bowen talks about his paper route near the house he grew up in on Liberty Hill, being a young entrepreneur, the open-air "drug market" that was his high school, and the strange disappearance of a young friend. Check back Thursday, when Bowen will talk about his life after high school. We recorded t...

Taler Nicols wanted to paint. In this podcast, Taler begins by rattling off bars and restaurants in San Francisco that she used to frequent. She then talks of leaving a job she'd been at for a decade to help open  Let It Bleed Tattoo  in the Tenderloin in 2009. She ends the episode reflecting on the changes in the city over the last decade, as well as some signs of hope she's seeing now. If you mi...

Taler Nicols  is a fifth-generation San Franciscan. Her family here dates back to Potrero Hill when it was called Goat Hill. In this podcast, Taler, who is a tattooer now, talks about growing up in bars and restaurants in North Beach, thanks to her man-about-town dad. She ends the episode talking about neighborhoods and the changes in San Francisco this decade, ending on a positive, hopeful note....

Sherri Franklin loves animals. This episode, she starts off talking about Heidi—an eight-year-old Bassett hound who inspired Sherri to do something about senior dog care. And so, she founded Muttvile Senior Dog Rescue in 2007. Today, Muttville has found forever homes for more than 7,000 senior dogs, and they place 1,110 dogs in homes every year. If you're interested in fostering or adopting a seni...

How do you go from being a successful hair stylist who uprooted herself to move to the Bay Area to founding a senior dog rescue non-profit? That's the story of  Muttville  Founder and CEO Sherri Franklin. In this podcast, Sherri takes us on a journey from LA to the Bay Area. She shares her experiences in the 1989 earthquake. She ends this episode with her early volunteer work with the  SFSPCA . Ch...

This podcast picks up right where  Part 1  left off: With Danny Mac telling us about Emperor Norton's dogs, Bummer and Lazarus, as well as Norton's currency system. Danny goes on to talk about growing up in the Excelsior in the 1950s and '60s, the Vietnam War, his evolution as an artist and his dad's influence on it, and explorations of art theory. We recorded this podcast at  Macchiarini Creative...

Macchiarini Creative Designs  has been in North Beach since 1948. Today, it enjoys legacy business status. ​In this podcast, the studio's owner, Danny Mac as he's known to his friends and loved ones, talks about his father's involvement in the Bohemians (one of our city's early counter-culture groups) of the 1930s in San Francisco. He goes into detail about the group's plans to erect a giant statu...

What if, in the early days of your new job, you were tasked with these two things: 1. Moving a fabled city's collection of thousands of historical records (official papers, photos, ephemera, etc.) to a new building, and 2. Essentially establishing and adding to that city's archives. That's what life was like for San Francisco city archivist Susan Goldstein back when the public library moved into i...

San Francisco city archivist Susan Goldstein was drawn to history from a young age. She left her childhood home in Southern California to go to college out east. After a stint in Phoenix, she went to Austin where she worked in photo archiving at the University of Texas. In 1984, she came to the Bay Area to work on union archives at SF State. In this podcast, she talks about her evolution as an arc...

Uncle Damien is doing his part to make a positive difference in the world. In this podcast,  Uncle Damien  (Damien Posey) talks about Uncle Damien Speaks, his motivational speaking work. He found inspiration through a stint in federal prison,  Rudy Corpuz  and  United Playaz , and fellow motivational speaker  Eric Thomas . Damien ends the podcast talking about his love of San Francisco and doing w...

Motivational speaker  Uncle Damien  went through a lot to get here. In this podcast, Damien Posey, who was born and raised in San Francisco, talks about the journey that got him to where he is today. It's a story of a young man who had no positive male role models, who got shot at a young age, and who ended up in federal prison. But without those bad circumstances and decisions, he might never hav...

Patrick played some songs for us when we recorded. Three of those songs are featured here (the fourth appears at the end of  Part 2 ). Patrick's album  Welcome to the  End of the Empire , is available from Bottom Feeder Records.  Enjoy! Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather

For Patrick O'Malley, music and politics evolved side-by-side. In this podcast, Patrick talks about how he came to understand housing policy, both in San Francisco and statewide in California, through his day job. He goes on to tell us about some public-transit advocacy work he's done in light of Google busses and ride share companies in the city. He ends the episode talking about the various musi...

Patrick O'Malley started playing guitar at an early age. But it wasn't until his time in Santa Barbara that his music took on a new meaning for him—one of political activism. In this podcast, Patrick talks about growing up in Southern California and his arrival in San Francisco in the late-1990s. Among other things, he points to the write-in mayoral candidacy of Tom Ammiano in 1999 that really spa...

In this podcast,  Avengers  vocalist Penelope Houston talks about the legendary Sex Pistols show at Winterland that the Avengers opened. It's a story that includes Sid Vicious ODing (but surviving) at the afterparty. She goes on to talk about her solo musical career and resurrecting the Avengers. She ends with her work at the SF Public Library putting together its punk rock collection. If you miss...

Penelope Houston's family moved around the country quite a bit when she was a kid, eventually settling up in Washington state long enough for her to go to high school. She came to San Francisco to go to the Art Institute for visual arts, but quickly started going to shows and became friends with other kids who wanted to be up on stage. In this podcast, Penelope talks about the nascent San Francisc...