Total SF

Michael C. Healy joins Total SF to talk about his years as a BART spokesman, which started before the transit agency opened in 1972. Host Peter Hartlaub and current BART chief communications officer Alicia Trost coax stories from Healy, including the time Atari put arcade games on a BART platform, whether BART could have really crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and comedian Henny Youngman's time in a...

With the California Academy of Sciences reopening to the public on Oct. 23, Total SF is joined by Bart Shepherd, the senior director of Steinhart Aquarium. Shepherd and host Peter Hartlaub talk about Shepherd's early years working at the old aquarium, the move to 875 Howard Street, and what managing an aquarium has been like during the pandemic. Shepherd also provides an update on Methuselah the L...

San Francisco legend Emperor Norton joins Total SF co-hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight to talk about the early years of San Francisco and answer Knight's lightning round. Also on the podcast is Joseph Amster, who works in the tourism business in the city and is struggling like many others during the pandemic. Amster talks about how he got his start, and why he didn't pick Mark Twain as his...

With the pandemic leading to more outdoor hiking opportunities, co-hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight share their favorite hikes during the pandemic. Selections include multiple hikes on the 49 Mile Scenic Route, two hikes in the South Bay and one creative biking trip from the East Bay to San Francisco. Hartlaub and Knight also give a recap of their recent Walk SF Peak 2 Peak hike. Produced b...

On the one-month anniversary of the day the skies turned orange in San Francisco, host Peter Hartlaub and SF Chronicle photographer look back at the phenomenon known as Orange Skies Day in the Bay Area and beyond. Christian talks about her travels that day, taking iconic photos that were shared on social media by former President Barack Obama. And Hartlaub and Christian talk about how the day will...

Total SF invites our Muni Diaries friends Tara Ramroop and Eugenia Chien to talk about our last Muni rides before the pandemic, our hopes for Muni's future and pick the Muni lines we miss the most. Hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight also talk with Ramroop and Chien about the sounds of Muni, and the underrated joys of the 36 Teresita and the 39 Coit. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The T...

Raina Telgemeier is one of the most popular authors in Bay Area history, selling millions of copies of her young adult graphic novels including "Smile," "Ghosts" and her most recent memoir "Guts" — about her middle school anxiety and panic attacks. The San Francisco native joins host Peter Hartlaub as part of independent bookstore tribute month, talking about her relationship with Green Apple Book...

We're putting together an official "2020 Can Take the 38 Geary-Rapid Straight to Hell" Time Capsule. What should we put in it. Co-hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight offer their suggestions, including masks, off-brand hand sanitizer, murder hornets and a video of Kimberly Guilfoyle's RNC speech. There are some positives too, including all the great porch bands and wonderful photography. Produc...

Urban Hiker founder Alexandra Kenin comes on Total SF to talk about her project personally climbing and documenting San Francisco's 900+ public stairways, and sharing some of her favorites. Hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight also ask Alexandra about coyote sightings, her favorite public restrooms and the most floors she's climbed in a day. See Alexandra's stairway project at Urbanhikerrsf.com...

With Cinemark announcing that it's done with the Corte Madera theater, host Peter Hartlaub invites two of his Mill Valley friends - The Incomparable host Jason Snell and Alta magazine digital editor Beth Spotswood - to pay tribute to the single-screen giant. Corte Madera was the home of blockbusters for decades, opening with "2001: A Space Odyssey" in 1969. In separate interviews, Jason and Beth t...

Jorma Taccone, director of "MacGruber," co-director of "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping" and member of The Lonely Island music/comedy group, has written a children's book. The Berkeley native comes on Total SF to speak with host Peter Hartlaub about why he made "Little Fox and the Wild Imagination" with illustrator Dan Santat. He also talks about fatherhood, scraper bikes, the time he appeared...

Lt. Eleanor Sadler from San Francisco Animal Care & Control has been bringing joy to Twitter and Instagram as "Officer Edith" for years. Sadler joins hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight to talk about how the account started, some of her more interesting animal encounters over the years, the coyotes of San Francisco and how animal lovers sheltering in place can help her small and scrappy city-f...

In a flashback episode from June 4, 2019, “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 f...

When the shelter in place started, Chris Colin founded the newspaper Six Feet of Separation, written entirely by children with Colin acting as publisher. After national attention including a positive review by Dan Rather, the Bernal Heights newspaper has inspired many more local kid-staffed newspapers. Colin joins Total SF to talk about Six Feet, a writing project involving kids for the San Franci...

San Francisco singer/songwriter Chuck Prophet returns to talk about his life in San Francisco during his longest touring break in decades, his last gig before the shutdown and his new album, "The Land That Time Forgot." Host Peter Hartlaub invites San Francisco Chronicle pop music critic Aidin Vaziri for a short conversation before the interview and to interview Prophet - Vaziri profiles the music...

Peter Schwartz has been working as a futurist and scenario planner for more than 45 years, and he says the pandemic is an event like no other in his lifetime. But he also remains optimistic about where we can go from here. Total SF host Peter Hartlaub interviews the Salesforce senior VP of about his future-obsessed childhood, the changing attitudes about surveillance in the U.S. and the consulting...

"Pearls Before Swine: comic strip artist Stephan Pastis was a lawyer who hated his job before starting the strip 20 years ago. The Santa Rosa resident still feels pressure to perform, which has led to some of his best work — including recent strips tackling the COVID-19 crisis. Pastis also talks with host Peter Hartlaub about co-writing the Disney+ "Timmy Failure" movie, meeting his hero Charles S...

Romance novelist Jasmine Guillory joins host Peter Hartlaub to talk about the five novels she's written in the last three years, including the new one "Party of Two." The Bishop O'Dowd grad and lifetime East Bay resident talks about her love of Oakland, why she like to include food details in her writing and her favorite romantic movie. Guillory and Hartlaub also pay tribute to local bookstores -...

Total SF welcomes Judd Winick, author and former "The Real World" cast member, to talk about the 20th anniversary of his AIDS education graphic novel "Pedro and Me" — and to pay tribute to his favorite Bay Area comic book shops. To kick off Total SF indie bookstore month, Winick talks about his successful new series "Hilo," what kept him and his family in San Francisco and why local book stores ar...

Hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight talk about what they've been reading during the shelter in place, and pay tribute to the Bay Area independent bookstores and comic book shops they hope will survive. Selections include "The Wedding Date" by Jasmine Guillory, "What Unites Us" by Dan Rather and "Cool Gray City of Love" by Gary Kamiya. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" b...

Chronicle theater critic Lily Janiak joins host Peter Hartlaub to talk about her bike-first lifestyle as a critic, and her thoughts about the future of bicycling in San Francisco. With the San Francisco Chronicle's new The Throughline section mapping out a possible biking/walking future, Hartlaub and Janiak suggest a few priorities — and offer listeners help feeling more comfortable biking into th...

The San Francisco Chronicle reporter Kevin Fagan is once again at the center of the reporting on a new homelessness project, talks about his own experience with homelessness. He also introduces two songs that he's written about the homeless, and recalls his early music career, which included busking in the UK and New Zealand. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset...

Chronicle restaurant critic Soleil Ho and food writer Justin Phillips return to Total SF to introduce their new podcast Extra Spicy. Ho and Phillips talk to host Peter Hartlaub about how they met, the story behind their awesome new salsa logo design and how the themes of race and diversity in the food world are more important than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ho, Phillips and Hartlaub also m...

After last week's death of David Perlman at age 101, host Peter Hartlaub and reporter Kevin Fagan pay tribute to the legendary former Chronicle science writer, who started at the newspaper in 1940 and worked until his 2017 retirement. After the tribute, we play our 2019 interview with Perlman, celebrating his 100th birthday. Perlman talks about his start at the newspaper, how he became a science w...

This Total SF flashback is an interview with Renel Brooks-Moon, longtime Bay Area radio personality, and public address announcer for the San Francisco Giants since 1999. Recording on Aug. 13, 2019, Brooks-Moon visited the Chronicle archive, to speak with host Peter Hartlaub about her early years at KMEL (and one year at KFRC with Dr. Donald D. Rose), her work as a Giants PA announcer and the infl...