Total SF

Tom Ammiano was ahead of his time as a San Francisco supervisor, Assemblyman and the first openly gay member of the SF Board of Education. But he still has stories to tell — about working as a teacher in Vietnam during the war, struggling as a gay comic and his not-always-friendly rivalry with Dianne Feinstein. Total SF co-host Peter Hartlaub flies solo this week, listening to good stories and San...

Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight introduce the Total SF Book Club, interviewing "Home Baked" author Alia Volz. The San Francisco memoir, featuring Volz growing up around her cannabis brownie-dealing parents, is the first book in the new club in partnership with the San Francisco Public Library and Green Apple Books. Volz joins Hartlaub and Knight for a conversation across the stree...

Ultrarunner Luke Wicker joins the Total SF crew to talk about how he conquered every San Francisco peak in one 65-mile day, and pay tribute by recording on the top of Mt. Davidson, Wicker's favorite peak, Co-hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight also talk bathrooms, post-ultrarun meals and find out why Wicker ran 76 peaks in one day (with 10,000 feet of elevation climb!) and why the UK native is...

The Total SF team makes a case for keeping JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park car-free forever, and conducts a Slow Streets draft, picking which of the SFMTA reduced traffic street should stay forever - and who should be the mayor of each street. Co-hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight also update on the Oasis SF telethon from the D'Arcy Drollinger episode, and offer some thoughts about the decision...

Craig Brewer, whose love for filmmaking started in Vallejo, talks about falling in love with movies, old school video rental shops and his new film "Coming 2 America." Brewer, who also directed "Hustle & Flow" and "Dolemite is My Name," has directed Eddie Murphy's last two films, and explains what it's like being on a set filled with legends. "Coming 2 America" is out on Amazon Prime Video March 5...

In a special bonus Total SF, D'Arcy Drollinger talks about being a drag performer and small business owner, and the fight to save the Oasis nightclub with an old school telethon. Co-hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight join Drollinger on the roof of the nightclub at 11th and Folsom streets to learn about the struggles of one nightclub owner — who is trying to raise $100,000 on Saturday, March 6...

With cable cars gone from San Francisco indefinitely, co-hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight pay tribute to the landmark transit, with wild history (including the time The Chronicle tried to kill the cable cars) and thoughts about cable cars going future. In the second half of the episode, they replay an interview with cable call bell-ringing champ Byron Cobb, who gives a bell-ringing demonstr...

Artist Amos Goldbaum talks about his new mural on the Sanchez Slow Street, as co-hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight make their first in-person podcast recording in a year. Hartlaub and Knight also pay tribute to Slow Streets, and talk about the recent Richmond District Slow Streets Art Hunt. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Co...

Dr. Bob Wachter, UCSF Medical Center chair of the Department of Medicine, joins hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight to talk about how he got to San Francisco, his emergence as a go-to on Twitter for COVID information and his new gig as a fill-in host for Andy Slavitt's "In the Bubble" podcast. Wachter also talks about being a communicator, how San Francisco might be viewed when the crisis is o...

""A River of Stars" and "Deceit and Other Possibilities" author Vanessa Hua joins hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight to pay tribute to "Always Be My Maybe," the 2019 Netflix movie starring Ali Wong and Randall Park. "Always Be My Maybe" is also the next Total SF virtual movie night, starting at 7 p.m. on Saturday Feb. 13. Also, support the Richmond District and its small businesses with the h...

Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight talk about the San Francisco Board of Education approval to rename 44 schools, they defend Dianne Feinstein as worthy of the school name she's set to lose — and the co-hosts pick some unproblematic citizens whose name should be on a school. Willie Mays, Maya Angelou and Emperor Norton are the starting point. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise...

Hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight pay tribute to Twin Peaks, which has been car-free for most of the pandemic but perhaps not for long. Hartlaub shares some Twin Peaks history, including plans for a waterfall, And the hosts pick other pandemic changes that they hope stay around through 2021 and beyond. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off the...

After the success of the Total SF "Star Trek IV" movie night, host Peter Hartlaub interviews Kirk Thatcher, who played the punk on the bus and was an associate producer on the film. In addition to all things "ST IV," Thatcher talks about the rest of his career, including getting hired by Industrial Light & Magic as a teen to work on "Return of the Jedi," and writing and directing many Muppets proj...

The Chronicle archive has photos dating back to the 19th Century. Total SF host Peter Hartlaub and librarian Bill Van Niekerken share secrets from the archive, including their favorite 1906 earthquake finds, some of their favorite finds and Bill's first day on the job. Van Niekerken retired this month, and the archive is now named the Van Niekerken Library. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "Th...

Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight talk about the highs, lows and pure heroism in 2020, and predict good things for San Francisco in 2021. Hartlaub and Knight also end the year with a lightning round, choosing their takeout food MVPs, some of the small businesses that inspired them and what they're looking forward to the most in a post-vaccine world. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music...

In this flashback podcast to a Total SF recorded on Dec. 31,, 2019, Paula Poundstone returns for her annual end-of-year trip to the San Francisco Chronicle archive. During the recording, right before her New Year's Eve show, Poundstone talks to host Peter Hartlaub about her year as a San Francisco bike messenger, shares some Comedy Day in the Park memories and talks about her love of the TV show "...

Nathan "Nate1" Tan was a graffiti artist in his teens, then became a clothing designer creating the NewSkool line that specialized in hip-hop influences and San Francisco civic pride. He started a new unexpected career chapter during the pandemic — Uncle Nate of "Uncle Nate's Creativity Time," a series of worksheets and now videos on SFGovTV. Tan joins host Peter Hartlaub to talk about old school...

"Star Trek IV" is "the one with the whales" and it's also the one featuring San Francisco. Carly Severn and Taylor Kate Brown join host Peter Hartlaub to pay tribute to the 1986 film, covering the humor, the environmental message, the punk on the Muni bus and local history of the film. (Including why the San Francisco Chronicle didn't make a cameo.) Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide W...

Comedian and social worker Michael Pritchard returns to give us a motivational speech for the end of 2020. Pritchard re-joins host Peter Hartlaub and Chronicle homelessness reporter Kevin Fagan to give reason for hope and faith in humanity as we end a tough year with a vaccine in sight. He shares stories about Robin Williams, offers advice for coping with anger and frustration, and talks about wha...

With "Toy Story" turning 25 years old on Thanksgiving 2020, we spoke with Pixar's Andrew Stanton and Bob Pauley about the making of the movie. "Finding Nemo" and "WALL-E" director Stanton and "Toy Story 3" and "Toy Story 4" production designer Pauley talk about the highs and lows of making the movie, Steve Jobs and what it was like making the movie in Point Richmond. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Mu...

Pixar producer Jonas Rivera and senior historian Christine Freeman join Total SF host Peter Hartlaub to tell stories from the Pixar archive on the 25th anniversary of the groundbreaking computer animated film "Toy Story.." They talk about how the archive started, some of the stranger things that are stored there and why a coffee cup stain or even a bank phone number on a piece of artwork is part o...

Hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight pay tribute to and break down the 1993 film "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit," joined by @sisterractivism superfan Sarah Katz-Hyman and a cameo from "Sister Act 2" director Bill Duke. Hartlaub, Knight and Katz-Hyman discuss the movie's poor reviews and resurgence, the music and the excellent performance by a pre-fame Lauryn Hill. They also discuss the possib...

One of the positives of the pandemic has been live music, and no band has rocked a front porch harder than teen East Bay death metal quintet Iron Front. Band members Topey Plourde (vocals, senior in high school) and Max Mahmood (drums, 7th grade) join host Peter Hartlaub to talk about making music while going to school during the pandemic, how crowds have responded to their music and some of their...

Total SF interviews Brian Stokle, a San Francisco resident who created a new San Francisco flag, and has distributed 200 this year — mostly since the shelter in place started. Stokle and S.F. flag researcher John Lumea join host Peter Hartlaub to talk about the history of the San Francisco flag, how Stokle came up with his new flag design, and their thoughts about some kind of city-wide contest in...

This interview and live podcast features Kevin Dublin, a Bay Area poet and educator who proposed to his girlfriend on the SkyStar observation ferris wheel at Golden Gate Park. Dublin joined Total SF co-hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight days before the planned engagement. Lewin and Dublin are interviewed on the day of the proposal, and Dublin reads his engagement poem - writing that is also a...