Total SF

Episode 83 of The Big Event is a conversation with Will Durst, who is about to start a new column with the San Francisco Chronicle. Durst, who has been involved in the Bay Area comedy scene since the 1970s, begins by interviewing host Peter Hartlaub. Then Hartlaub and Durst talk about the plans for the column, his history as a column writer and why Durst is still optimistic about San Francisco. Pr...

Episode 82 of The Big Event is an interview with David Perlman, who covered the Apollo 11 moon landing for the San Francisco Chronicle on July 20, 1969. Science writer Perlman, 100, who retired from The Chronicle in 2017 at age 98, remembers what it was like near Mission Control in Houston, his expense report, the excitement in San Francisco and his thoughts about space travel in 2019. Perlman is...

Episode 81 of The Big Event is a history of the Skate Patrol and Golden Gate Park roller skating tribute with David Miles Jr., the park's "Sk8father" who has been made roller skating in San Francisco a career for most of the past 40 years. Miles Jr. talks about his first time in San Francisco, how he got involved with lobbying City Hall on behalf of skaters, and the group's plans for the 40th anni...

Episode 80 of The Big Event is an interview with Dan "the Automator" Nakamura, the San Francisco native who has made unexpected and memorable music with Handsome Boy Mordeling School, the Gorillaz and Dr. Octagon. Dan the Automator comes to the Chronicle archive studio to speak with host Peter Hartlaub with two new movie projects, helping shape the band Hello Peril's sound in the Netflix hit "Alwa...

In Episode 79 of The Big Event is a flashback episode to November 2018. TV star and maker Adam Savage joins host Peter Hartlaub to talk about living in San Francisco, his past working in local theater and special effects, and his new Science Channel show "Mythbusters Jr." Savage, who worked on the original "Mythbusters" for 13 seasons, has lived in San Francisco for 30 years, He also talks about h...

This bonus flashback The Big Event episode is a 2018 interview with 49ers great Jerry Rice, who appears in the documentary "In Search of Greatness," now available for download on iTunes and Amazon. The wide receiver talks to host Peter Hartlaub about his first trip into S.F. to be introduced as a 49er - also his first time in a plane - and his continued love for the fans. Produced by Peter Hartlau...

Episode 77 of The Big Event is an interview with Jonas Rivera, producer of Pixar's "Toy Story 4," which is out on June 21. Rivera started working as a Pixar intern before the original "Toy Story" came out, and won Academy Awards for producing "Up" and "Inside Out." He's also a lifetime Bay Area resident and Oakland Athletics superfan. Chronicle Oakland A's beat writer Susan Slusser joins the discu...

Episode 76 of The Big Event is a tribute to Oracle Arena, home of the Golden State Warriors for most of the last half century, and premiere Bay Area concert venue. Host Peter Hartlaub is joined by two more longtime Bay Area residents, Chronicle sports columnist Ann Killion and metro editor Demian Bulwa. They talk Oracle Arena history, favorite moments, and what the legacy will be after the Warrior...

“The Last Black Man in San Francisco” director Joe Talbot and star Jimmie Fails come to The Big Event archive studio to talk about the scrappy road to making the indie movie that the longtime friends co-wrote. Host Peter Hartlaub asks about the 5-year production of the film, and the struggles (and heartwarming joy) of relying on the kindness of strangers for location scouting. And Hartlaub, Talbot...

Episode 73 of The Big Event is an interview with Taron Egerton, who plays Elton John in the new biopic "Rocketman." Host Peter Hartlaub talks asks Egerton about his friendship with Elton John, his approach to singing classic songs and what memorabilia he kept from the "Rocketman" shoot. (It's big, and going in his kitchen.) Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Sh...

A crossover episode of The Big Event and San Francisco City Insider podcasts, recorded live on May 16, 2019, at the Betabrand Podcast Theater in the Mission District. San Francisco Chronicle pop culture critic Peter Hartlaub and San Francisco columnist Heather Knight interview BFF.fm online radio founder Amanda Guest, The Nocturnists podcast host Dr. Emily Silverman and Muni Diaries co-hosts Tara...

Episode 72 of The Big Event is an interview with Penelope Houston, lead singer of the legendary 1970s punk band the Avengers. Houston joins host Peter Hartlaub and Chronicle music critic Aidin Vaziri to talk about San Francisco, her solo career (including most recent album "On Market Street"), and her work at the S.F. Public Library, where she's curating a punk rock archive. And she talks about wh...

Episode 70 of The Big Event is a tribute to the 1997 movie "The Game," by David Fincher. Chronicle columnist Beth Spotswood and The Big Event host Peter Hartlaub celebrate the greatness of the movie, name a few flaws, discuss David Fincher's dislike for the film (and whether that matters) and estimate how much a real-life The Game would cost. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Ris...

Chronicle columnist Leah Garchik announced in her May 1 column that in June, she will leave the newspaper after 47 years. Host Peter Hartlaub and reporter Steve Rubenstein sat down with Garchik to talk about her first day in San Francisco, her beginnings as a columnist and what she plans to do next. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Theme music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks. Learn mor...

Kaseem Bentley, the son of a Muni bus driver, moved to Los Angeles a couple years ago. But he came back to record his debut comedy album, "Lakeview," filled with crowd interactions, storytelling and seemingly endless Bay Area references, from the 5 Fulton bus to the Serramonte Mall. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks. Learn more about your ad choices...

Episode 69 of The Big Event is a conversation with Art Spander, the former San Francisco Chronicle journalist who started covering the Warriors for the newspaper in 1965. Now in his 80s, Spander continues to cover the team for his web site www.artspander.com. The sports reporter talks about his beginnings as a reporter in 1960, and why he has no intentions to retire. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Th...

Episode 68 of The Big Event is The Bands We Follow with San Francisco Chronicle sports columnist Ann Killion. Killion talks to host Peter Hartlaub about The Avett Brothers, who she has seen in concert 20 times since son introduced her to the band. She also talks about her father Leo, who wrote a hit song in the 1940s, her early sports fandom and her path to becoming a sports columnist.  Produced b...

Episode 67 of The Big Event is a tribute to the Richmond District. Recorded at the historic Balboa Theatre before their screening of "So I Married an Axe Murderer," host Peter Hartlaub and San Francisco columnist Heather Knight interview Supervisor Sandra Fewer, former Green Apple Books co-owner Kevin Hunsanger, Balboa owner Adam Bergeron, Richmond resident and affordable housing analyst Sophie Ha...

Episode 66 of The Big Event is an interview with Michael Pritchard, a Bay Area comedian and social worker. Pritchard was one of the biggest rising stars in the early 1980s, winning the San Francisco International Comedy Competition in 1980 and appearing on "The Tonight Show" the following year. But Pritchard rejected Hollywood to work in juvenile halls, with the homeless and in anti-bullying progr...

Episode 66 of The Big Event is a tribute to the 1993 San Francisco movie "So I Married an Axe Murderer," which was filled with strife during production and was a box office disaster, but has endured as a classic. San Francisco Chronicle editor-in-chief Audrey Cooper and San Francisco columnist Heather Knight join host Peter Hartlaub to induct "Axe Murderer" in the SF Cinema Greatest of All Time. ...

Episode 65 of The Big Event is a tribute to San Francisco's neighborhood theaters, past and present. Balboa and Vogue theater proprietor Adam Bergeron joins host Peter Hartlaub and San Francisco columnist Heather Knight to talk about their first theater memories, talk San Francisco theater history and announce a new Total SF event. "So I Married an Axe Murderer" screens 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 4...

Episode 64 of The Big Event is an interview with new San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic Soleil Ho. Food editor Paolo Lucchesi and host Peter Hartlaub speak with Ho about her upcoming first reviews, her background as a writer and cultural critic, how writing on culture and race will fit into her food coverage and how she'd been managing to review restaurants without driving. Ho also tries he...

In Episode 62 of The Big Event, Muni thought leader MC Allen and Chronicle San Francisco columnist Heather Knight join host Peter Hartlaub to talk about the best and worst Muni lines in the city. Inspired by Total Muni 2018, where Knight and Hartlaub rode every Muni line in one day, Allen spent last summer traveling on every Muni line end to end with his children. The group discusses what makes a...

In Episode 61 of The Big Event, Jesse Thorn, host of NPR's "Bullseye," owner of the Maximum Fun podcasting network and San Francisco native, comes to the archive podcasting studio. We also invited his dad, protester, activist and frequent Chronicle article subject Lee Thorn. Jesse talks about his foundational San Francisco years at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, building his podcast network and wh...

In Episode 60 of The Big Event, ex-SFPD officer, photographer and "Lands End" author Bill Fox joins host Peter Hartlaub snd Chronicle librarian Bill Van Niekerken to talk about Feb. 5, 1976 - the last time it snowed in S.F.. Burlingame natives Hartlaub and Van Niekerken have their own memories of the event. But Fox was getting off his shift as a cop and took some stunning photos from his Diamond H...