Storied: San Francisco

There's wine grapes being grown in San Francisco. In Part 2, Christopher tells us all about the  280 Project , a viticulture apprenticeship and wine school. He partnered with a winemaker from Napa, a professor at UC Davis, and others back at home to bring BIPOC, LGBTQIA, and people who feel marginalized and want to learn anything at all about wine together to do just that. The 280 Project is a ver...

Christopher Renfro moved to San Francisco 16 years ago and ran into a lot of what some might call luck. In this episode, we talk about Christopher's work with Alemany Farm . The largest agricultural site in The City, volunteers grow, harvest, and distribute vegetables and fruit from the 3.5-acre plot just below Bernal Hill. He also tells us about the work he and Haley Garabato began with the  Feed...

In Part 4, we meet Rob Thompson , federal preservation officer at the Presidio Trust. Rob shares the history of San Francisco's pet cemetery, which dates back to 1952. The pet cemetery sits in a part of the Presidio known as Cavalry Bowl, which for a century was dedicated to animal management when the Presidio was home to the U.S. Army. The cemetery was established by Army families during that tim...

In Part 3, Courtney tells us all about Alma deBretteville Spreckels, the San Francisco sugar baroness who built the Legion of Honor at Lincoln Park, the cemetery-turned-golf course in the northwest corner of The City. From there, we recount the history of the "Big Four" cemeteries, which were located in and around the intersection of Geary and Masonic. Then we hand things over to Kathy McCall, dir...

In Part 2 of our four-part series, we first hear from Courtney Minick of Here Lies a Story about the parking lot just outside of Mission Dolores. Then we meet Andy Galvan, the Mission's curator. He tells us all about his work and his Ohlone/Bay Miwok ancestral connection to the place, including the graveyard. We end this episode with a walking tour of the graveyard, which Andy guided us on. Among...

San Francisco's cemetery history is rich, to say the least. It goes something like this: Mission Dolores cemetery Yerba Buena cemetery San Francisco National Cemetery (in the Presidio) City Cemetery/Golden Gate Cemetery The Big 4—Calvary, Odd Fellows (including the Columbarium), Masonic, Laurel Hill In Part 1 of the four-part series we're doing on San Francisco Cemeteries , we'll meet Courtney Min...

Funny thing: Do a podcast like ours long enough, and the most random and randomly awesome tidbits will pop in and make the cut. Last episode, it was the Doc Ellis "LSD" perfect game that MLB doesn't like to talk about. In Part 2 of this episode, it's New Orleans and P.T. Barnum. Musée Mécanique owner Dan Zelinsky shares the story of how his dad, Ed, bought the collection of the original San Franci...

It can get really loud inside Musée Méchanique. Walk in the place and you're immediately transformed, in both time and space, to another world, another era. The magic almost slaps you in the face, hitting all five senses at the same time. And you can't help but feel the nostalgia coursing through your veins. In Part 1 of this episode, meet the arcade's roller-skating owner, Dan Zelinsky. Dan trace...

Bear with us a moment. We're gonna go stats nerd on you. As of the publication of this episode, the  San Francisco Giants  have played a total of 1,892 games at the stadium known these days as Oracle Park. Each of those games sees a minimum of 27 at-bats for Giants players. That leaves us with at least 51,057 chances for a hitter to send a home run ball into the waters of  McCovey Cove . And it's...

Here we go. Our first episode of Season 5 was recorded out on the water.  McCovey Cove  is familiar to Giants fans, whether you've been in the water or not. It's that tiny waterway nestled between the ballpark (PacBell Park, SBC Park, AT&T Park, Oracle Park ...) and the strip of human-engineered land across the way. Baseball players sometimes hit baseballs out of the ballpark and into the water. B...

Folks, we made it. Welcome to the fifth season of Storied: San Francisco. For five years, we've highlighted humans—artists, doctors, teachers, small business owners—who make this place what it is. Now we turn our attention to places around The City that do exactly the same—help create the mystique around this complicated, beautiful, wondrous place we all call home. In this prequel episode of sorts...

Like many businesses, Secession Art and Design  had to pivot in 2020. In this special episode between seasons, Secession's founder,  Eden Stein , shares stories of opening a gallery in the Mission/Bernal 15 years ago. Starting Aug. 4 and running through Aug. 7,  Secession  will celebrate 15 years of business with a four-day pop-up up the hill on Cortland. Details about the event can be found below...

In this postseason special episode, Jeff reflects on his 22 years in San Francisco. Looking back brings us to today, where there's still so much to love about The City, but there's also plenty of fuckery, including yet another right-wing–originated recall. Here are some resources if you're still on the fence about how to vote by June 7. Hint: Only one SF media outlet is for the recall, and we won'...

In this, the last new episode of Season 4 of this podcast, Caitlyn picks up where she left off in Part 1 . She and a friend she'd been gardening with started selling salad mix and herbs to places like Tartine and other nearby restaurants. They also established a small CSA for folks in the building where their garden was as well as a few neighbors. The success of this project had them thinking on a...

There's an unused square block in the Portola District that's Ground Zero in the fight over land in San Francisco. In this podcast, we learn all about the Greenhouse Project . Volunteer Caitlyn Galloway  shares some of the history of the block bordered by Woolsey, Bowdoin, Wayland, and Hamilton streets as well as the efforts underway to reclaim the area as a green space in The City's southeast sid...

In this podcast, Doug picks up where he left off in Part 1 . He shares stories of his Jewish family's escape from Nazi Germany and their journey to the U.S. His dad went to Basel, Switzerland, first. So many of his friends died in World War II that, after the war ended, he came to New York. Being highly educated and speaking five or six languages, he got a job as an editor at the Academy of Scienc...

Doug Salin  has trouble doing anything longer than one hour. In this podcast, the career photographer shares his life story with us. We recorded in Doug's house in the Sunnyside, the same place we met and talked with ex-San Francisco poet laureate, Kim Shuck ( Part 1  / Part 2 ). Kim is Doug's life partner, in fact. These days, Doug works as a robotics mentor for high school students in The City....

In this episode, Christopher picks up where he left off in Part 1 . He tried college up north for a couple years, but that ended when he lost his scholarship. His dad knew a guy at the San Francisco Art Institute and encouraged Christopher to come see the school. The idea was that he would finish his education learning how to make movies. On that visit, Christopher met George Kuchar, who would lat...

Christopher Coppola  wants to tell you about his dad. In this episode, the filmmaker from the very famous filmmaking family shares his life story with us. Born and raised in Long Beach, he and his brother, Nicolas, spent a lot of time in San Francisco with their uncle, Francis. Christopher starts things off with his dad, August Coppola . According to him, August carried an old family tradition of...

In this episode, Emmy picks up where she left off in Part 1 , with the story of opening her own place. She'd been kicking around the idea of opening her own restaurant. Her classmates had more or less shot it down. Her dad, a restaurant-owner himself, wasn't crazy about the idea either. He couldn't see her raising the kind of money she'd need. But Emmy started saving. And saving. And saving. She w...

Emmy Kaplan and her friends in the restaurant business just wanted somewhere to go after their shifts. In this podcast, Jeff fulfills a 20ish-year dream meeting and recording with Emmy, the namesake behind Emmy's Spaghetti Shack. Today located on Mission Street just below Cesar Chavez, the restaurant recently celebrated 21 years in business. Emmy was born in San Francisco and shares her and family...

In this episode, Maggie picks up where she left off in Part 1 , with her taking over programming duties at GFE 10 years ago. She dives into the story of how GFE was founded more than 30 years ago amid a historic drought in California. The intent was always to create a teaching space, something that distinguishes GFE from other gardens around The City. We talk about biodiversity and how that's such...

Maggie Marks  has deep roots in San Francisco, and that's not a gardening pun. In this episode, Maggie, who today is the director of Garden for the Environment  (GFE) in the Inner Sunset, traces her family's history in The City. Her mom's side goes back at least two generations here; and her dad's side includes the family that owns Guerra Quality Meats . Her parents lived in various spots around t...

In this podcast, Vandor picks up where he left off in Part 1 . He traces his family history back to his grandfather, who moved from Mobile, Alabama, to San Francisco around the time of the Second Migration and met his wife (Vandor's grandma) here in The City. She was born and raised here; he was a quiet, strong man who learned how to dress from his new wife. When he was two, ​Vandor's dad left the...

There's a dude in the Mission who makes vegan donuts and break-dances. In this episode, we meet Vandor Hill . Vandor was born and raised in The City. He recently turned 40. He shares the story of how he came to love baking. It starts in the predominantly female house he grew up in. Surrounded by his grandma and aunt, Vandor says a lot of his baking went uncredited. No one believed that he was the...