Storied: San Francisco

In Part 2, we pick up more or less where we left off in Part 1, hearing the story of how Randall and Al came to love all things neon. Their enthusiasm kicked into high gear when they started noticing neon signs coming down, and they decided to try to do something about it. That something started with documenting the signs. And with that came a bit of a learning curv...

The story of how Randall Ann Homan got her name is a unique one.

In this episode, meet and get to know Randall and her partner, in life and in neon, Al Barna. Today, the couple are all about all things San Francisco neon. But we'll get to that.

When Randall's dad was ...

In Part 2, we pick up where we left off in Part 1, with that fateful visit Saikat took to The Mission. He and friends worked a lot, but didn't have a lot of money (sound familiar?). To learn The City and have some fun, they signed up for as many walking tours as they could find. After a few months living in Park Merced, Saikat relocated to The Mission—16th and Hoff,...

The story of Saikat Chakrabarti begins in a time when his parents' and ancestors' country was being torn apart, almost literally.

In this episode, meet and get to know Saikat. These days, he's busy knocking on doors and otherwise hitting the ground in a bid to represent San Francisco in the US Congress. As I write th...

Listen in as I chat with SFFILM's Soph Schultz Rocha and Keith Zwolfer all about this year's Schools at Doc Stories program, which runs Nov. 6–10.

Learn more about this year's film festival at SFFILM's website.

We recorded this podcast at SFFILM's Filmhouse in South o...

In Part 2, we pick up where we left off in Part 1. Ian and I talk about how big baseball was in his life in his high school and early college years. He was a left-handed pitcher, which made him attractive to coaches. By the time he transferred to UC Berkeley, though, sports receded and academics took over. He played what's called club ball, which Ian explains is som...

Listen in as I chat with Tommy Leyva, who has been decorating the fuck out of his home on Divisadero for nearly 20 years.

Whether you're able to drop by, now or until a few days after Halloween, check out the video below the photos on this page.

Follow Tommy and the D...

This one starts out a little differently. Ian Paratore was born and raised in San Francisco, but he's moving away. This week. To Oakland.

Ian's dad, Vince Paratore, moved into a Victorian in The Haight in the late-Seventies/early Eighties, and is still there. That's the house Ian grew up in starting roughly 10 years ...

In Part 2, we pick up where we left off in Part 1.

It was 2010, and seeing that guy with the broken guitar on Risa's next visit to SF was the nail in the coffin, so to speak. She was moving here. One of her friends who already lived here found a spot in The Sunset for her. She packed up a car and drove north with her...

Risa Iwasaki Culbertson was born in Japan.

In this episode, meet and get to know Risa, one of the 12 artists in Every Kinda People, our group show at Mini Bar. Please join us this Sunday, Oct. 19, from 4–7 p.m. at Mini Bar for our Closing Party happy hour. Some of the artists will be on hand, as will friendly bartend...

Listen in as I chat with Broke-Ass Stuart about, well, a lot of stuff. But we also talk about Stuart's new book, The Worst of Broke-Ass Stuart: 20 Years of Love, Death, and Dive Bars.

The book is available at your favorite local indie bookstore and also at Bookshop.org. And get very affordable tickets for next Friday...

In Part 2, we pick up where we left off in Part 1.

To get us caught up to what Lisa is doing these days, we go back to her arrival in The Bay. Her work at the prop shop led to some other jobs, but competition was fierce and she sought a way to integrate art into the labor she undertook. She found it when the producti...

Lisa Davidson is an ironworker with Local 377 San Francisco. Her team currently does ironwork on the Golden Gate Bridge. But we'll get to that.

In this episode, S8 E3, meet and get to know Lisa. I first did that back in May at our Keep It Local art show at Babylon Burning (thanks, Mike and Judy!). Someone at the part...

Listen in as I chat with Joanna Lioce all about the new Mabuhay Gardens.

Joanna is booking monthly shows in the new legendary North Beach punk venue through the end of the year. Get tickets for the Oct. 3, 2025, Mabuhay Gardens show featuring Kelley Stoltz, White Lightning (PDX), and The Boars at EventBrite.

In Part 2, we pick up where we left off in Part 1. Although it made all kinds of sense for Shrey to move halfway around the world to go to art school, he says it was "an uphill battle" convincing his parents of the plan. Still, his mom was and is a champion of her son and his art.

It was 2018 and Shrey was 20. We tal...

Shrey Purohit is the kind of person everyone should know. Not know about (although obviously that's what this podcast aims to do), but know personally.

In this podcast, Episode 2 of Season 8 of Storied: San Francisco, meet and get to know Shrey. A few of his art pieces are up at Mini Bar through Oct. 19 in our Every ...

Part 2 picks up where we left off in Part 1. Marga had just arrived in San Francisco and lived in a collective house with a lesbian and two gay men ("of course, the decorations were fabulous"). It was a bit of a party house, known for throwing spectacular Halloween fests. Marga talks about collective living, chore charts and stuff like that. Eventually, the woman Ma...

Marga Gomez grew up in Washington Heights, New York City, immersed in a family of Spanish-language entertainers.

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 1 of Storied: San Francisco. I first learned of Marga more than a decade ago, through comedy and performance circles I was adjacent to. Because I don't have the world's best me...