Storied: San Francisco

Renel has always enjoyed entertaining people.

Born in Oakland and raised there, in Berkeley, and in Richmond, Renel suffered when her family moved to Menlo Park on the Peninsula.

She went to Mills for college, where she studied classical voice and sang in a band with some guys who went to UC Berkeley. After college, she got an entry-level job at KCBS radio and worked her way to writing copy for on-air talent. Four years later, she ...

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 larger scale—they wanted to est...

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 side.

Then we hear about Cai...

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 Sciences. An uncle had immigrated to ...

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. He's been doing photograp...

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 later become Christopher's mentor. ...

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 creativity and "stick-to-it-ivene...

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 worked on getting her...

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's stories with us. Her mom...

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 a motivator for the work they d...

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 town before settling in...

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 family. But he was surround...

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 one who made whatever delicious ...

In this podcast, Mason picks up where they left off in Part 1. We continue our conversation about Mason's background as a photographer.

In 2010, they were, as they say, dating someone out of their league. They were celebrating New Years at a joint in South of Market and needed to pee. Naturally, they went outside. When it was their partner's turn, she gave Mason her purse. An SFPD cop approached and questioned what Mason wa...

Note: Our guest this week raises issues, true stories from their own life, of sexual and gender-based violence. Listener discretion is advised.

This story starts in 1978. A young San Francisco punk rock woman with two kids saw that many of her peers were getting hooked on drugs. Suddenly, there was an influx of abandoned children and she decided to do something about it. She established a foster home.

Fast-forward 10 years and newb...

​In this podcast, we continue our visit at Sisterhood Gardens and our series on City Gardens. Today, we meet Sisterhood volunteer Tim Wong. Tim shares his life story with us. He grew up on the Peninsula and moved to The City in 2016. This coincided with the founding of Sisterhood Gardens. Tim grew up in an area replete with butterflies, something he was drawn to from a young age. He was interested in the insects and their relatio...

Our City Gardens series continues with a visit to Sisterhood Gardens. Located on Brotherhood Way (get it?) in the OMI area of southwest San Francisco, the garden was established in 2016.

In this podcast, we meet master gardener and Sisterhood volunteer Jamie Chan. In addition to her work at Sisterhood, Jamie teaches at SF State, where she's also a doctoral student.

Jamie shares her story with us. A fourth-generation San Francis...

In our last episode, we met Danielle Fernandez briefly when she told us all about the 10-year vision she's realizing out at Calibird and Bee Pollinator Sanctuary. In this podcast, we get to know Danielle. Danielle's parents were born and raised in San Francisco. They met at Sears and Roebuck on Geary and Masonic in the Sixties. After they were married and started having kids, the young couple moved down the Peninsula, but ...

In this podcast, Isaiah Powell (Part 1/Part 2) catches us up with what's been going on since his Storied: SF episodes back in the summer of 2020. Between the land he and Danielle stewarded at Florence Fang Community Farm and today, they were at Adam Rogers Park. The philosophy behind Dragonspunk has always been that they go where the help is needed; it's never been about a single location. That brings us today and the place...